diff options
334 files changed, 42600 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/30222-0.txt b/30222-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ec279b9 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5637 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30222 *** + +THE + +STRAND MAGAZINE + +_An Illustrated Monthly_ + +Vol. 5, Issue. 27. + +March 1893 + + +[Illustration: "BY HEAVEN," CRIED RUY LOPEZ, "THE DUKE SHALL FINISH HIS +GAME!" + +(_A Game of Chess_.)] + +[Illustration] + + + + +A GAME of CHESS. + +FROM THE FRENCH. + + +I. + +King Phillip II. was playing at chess in the Escurial Palace. His +opponent was Ruy Lopez, a humble priest, but a chess player of great +skill. Being the King's particular favourite, the great player was +permitted to kneel upon a brocaded cushion, whilst the courtiers grouped +about the King were forced to remain standing in constrained and painful +attitudes. + +It was a magnificent morning. The air was perfumed with the orange +groves, and the violet curtains of the splendid hall hardly softened the +burning rays which streamed in through the windows. The blaze of living +light seemed scarcely in harmony with the King's gloomy countenance. His +brow was black as night, and from time to time he bent his eyes +impatiently upon the door. The nobles stood in silence, darting meaning +glances at each other. It was easily to be discerned that some event of +great importance weighed upon the spirits of the assembly. No one paid +any attention to the chess-board except Ruy Lopez, who, as he moved the +pieces, hesitated between the temptation of checkmating his opponent and +the deference due to his King. The silence was unbroken except by the +sound made by the players moving their pieces. + +Suddenly the door opened, and a man of rude and savage aspect advanced +into the hall, and, presenting himself before the King, stood waiting +his commands to speak. This man's appearance was anything but +prepossessing, and on his entrance the nobles, as if animated with one +thought, shrank back with contempt and loathing, as if some unclean +animal had entered into their midst. His massive, herculean figure was +clad in a doublet of black leather, and his face, in which could be seen +no trace of intelligence, expressed, on the contrary, nothing but +vileness and villainy; a great scar, running right across his face and +losing itself in a bushy beard, added still further to the natural +brutality of his countenance. + +An electric thrill ran through the assembly. The new comer was Fernando +Calavar, high executioner of Spain. + +"Is he dead?" asked the King, in an imperious tone. + +"No, sire," replied Calavar, bowing low. + +The King frowned. + +"Great Sovereign of Spain," Calavar continued, "the prisoner has claimed +his privileges, and I cannot take proceedings against a man whose blood +belongs to the noblest in Spain, without having a more imperative order +from your Majesty," and he bowed again. + +The nobles, who had listened with great attention to these words, broke +into a murmur of approbation as the man finished speaking. The proud +Castilian blood rushed like a stream of lava through their veins, and +dyed their faces crimson. The manifestation became general. Young Alonza +D'Ossuna openly asserted his opinion by putting on his plumed cap. His +bold example was followed by the majority of the nobles, and their lofty +nodding crests seemed to proclaim with defiance that their masters +protested in favour of the privilege, which the hidalgos of Spain have +always enjoyed, of covering their heads before their Sovereign. + +The King gave a furious start, and striking his fist violently upon the +chess-board, scattered the chessmen in all directions. + +"He has been judged by our Royal Court of Justice," he cried, "and +condemned to death. What does the traitor demand?" + +"Sire!" replied the executioner, "he asks permission to die upon the +block, and also to pass the three last hours of his life with a priest." + +"Ah, that is granted!" replied Philip, in a tone of relief. "Is not our +confessor in the prison according to our orders?" + +"Yes, sire!" said Calavar, "the holy man is there; but the Duke refuses +to see St. Diaz de Silva. He says he cannot receive absolution from +anyone below the dignity of a Bishop. Such is the privilege of a noble +condemned to death for high treason." + +"Yes, these are our rights!" boldly interrupted the fiery D'Ossuna; "and +we claim from the King our cousin's privileges." + +This demand acted as a signal. + +"Our rights and the King's justice are inseparable," cried Don Diego de +Tarraxas, Count of Valence, an old man of gigantic stature, clothed in +armour, holding in his hands the bâton of Great Constable of Spain, and +leaning upon his long Toledo blade. + +"Our rights and our privileges!" cried the nobles, repeating the words +like an echo. Their audacity made the King start with fury from his +ebony throne. + +"By the bones of Campeador!" he cried. "By the soul of St. Jago! I have +sworn neither to eat nor sleep until the bleeding head of Don Gusman +lies before me. As I have sworn, so shall it be. But Don Tarraxas has +said well, 'The King's justice confirms his subjects' rights.' My Lord +Constable, where does the nearest Bishop reside?" + +"Sire, I have more to do with camp than with the Church," the Constable +replied, somewhat abruptly. "Your Majesty's chaplain, Don Silvas, is +present: he can tell you better than I." + +Don Silvas began to speak in trepidation. + +[Illustration: "WHAT DOES THE TRAITOR DEMAND?"] + +"Sire," he said, humbly, "the Bishop of Segovia is an official of the +King, but he who filled the duty died last week, and the parchment which +names his successor is still upon the Council table, and is yet to be +submitted to the Pope's seal." + +At these words a joyous smile hovered about D'Ossuna's lips. This joy +was but natural, for the young man was of the blood of the Gusmans, and +his cousin, the condemned prisoner, was his dearest friend. The King +perceived the smile, and his eye shot forth lightning. + +"We are the King!" he said, gravely, with the calm which presages a +storm; "our Royal person must be no butt for raillery. This sceptre +appears light, my lords, but he who ridicules it shall be crushed +thereby as with a block of iron. I believe that our holy father the Pope +is somewhat indebted to us, so that we do not fear his displeasure at +the step which we are about to take. Since the King of Spain can make a +Prince, he can also make a Bishop. Rise, then, Don Ruy Lopez. I create +you Bishop of Segovia. Rise, I command you, and take your rank in the +Church." + +The courtiers stood dumfounded. + +Don Ruy Lopez rose mechanically. His head was whirling, and he stammered +as he strove to speak. + +"If your Majesty pleases----" he began. + +"Silence, my Lord Bishop!" replied the King. "Obey your Sovereign. The +formalities of your installation shall be performed another day; our +subjects will not fail to acknowledge our wishes in this affair. Bishop +of Segovia, go with Calavar to the condemned man's cell. Give absolution +to his soul, and in three hours leave his body to the executioner's axe. +As for you, Calavar, I will await you here; you will bring us the +traitor's head. Let justice be accomplished." + +Then Philip turned to Ruy Lopez. + +"I give you my signet ring," he said, "to show the Duke as a token of +the truth of your story." + +The executioner left the chamber, followed by Ruy Lopez. + +"Well, gentlemen," said the King, turning to the others, "do you still +doubt the King's justice?" + +But the nobles answered not a word. + +The King, having taken his seat, made a sign to one of his favourites to +place himself before the chess-board, and Don Ramirez, Count of Biscay, +accordingly knelt down upon the velvet cushion. + +"With a game of chess, gentlemen," said the King, smiling, "and your +company, I cannot fail to make the time pass agreeably. Let no one leave +the chamber until Calavar's return. We cannot spare a single one of +you." + +With these ironical words, Philip commenced a game with Don Ramirez, +whilst the nobles, almost dropping with fatigue, resumed the positions +about their august master which they had occupied at the beginning of +this story. + + +II. + +Calavar, leading the way, conducted the new Bishop to the condemned +man's cell. Ruy Lopez walked like one in a dream. Was he awake, or not? +He hardly knew. At the bottom of his heart he cursed the King and his +Court. He understood perfectly that he had become Bishop of Segovia, but +he felt deeply at what a price he had bought his dignity. What had Don +Gusman done that he should be thus sacrificed? Don Gusman, the best +chess player in Spain! He thought of all this as he proceeded over the +marble flags which led to the State prison, and as he thought he prayed +that the ground would open and swallow him up. + +Don Gusman was pacing impatiently up and down his narrow cell with a +hurried step that betrayed the feverish anxiety of his mind. The cell +was furnished with a massive table and two heavy wooden stools, the +floor being covered with coarse, thick mats. Shut out from all the +noises of the outer world, here silence reigned supreme. A crucifix, +roughly carved, was fixed to the wall in the niche of a high window, +which was carefully barred with iron. Except for this image of +resignation and mercy, the walls were bare. Well might this dungeon +serve as antechamber to the tomb. + +As Ruy Lopez entered the cell a sudden burst of sunshine flooded the +walls as if in bitter mockery of him who was soon to see it no more. + +The Duke saluted the new Bishop with great courtesy. They regarded each +other, and exchanged in that look a thousand words which they alone +could understand. Ruy Lopez felt the painfulness of his position deeply, +and the Duke understood his embarrassment. Their thoughts were both the +same, that in the condemnation of one of the principal favourites of the +King an innocent life was threatened! The proofs of the crime imputed to +the Duke were grave; the most important being a despatch written in Don +Gusman's hand to the French Court, in which he unfolded a scheme for +assassinating Philip II. This had sufficed to condemn him. + +Don Gusman, strong in his innocence, had kept a rigorous silence when +brought before his judges, and the accusation not being denied, +sentence of death was passed upon him. Don Gusman since his +incarceration had not altered. He had braved the storm, and looked upon +death with an unmoved countenance. His last hours had no terrors for +him. If his forehead was overshadowed, if his steps were agitated and +his breathing hurried, it was because there rose before his eye the +image of his betrothed, Dona Estella, who, ignorant of her lover's fate, +was waiting for him in her battlemented castle on the banks of the +Guadalquiver. If he felt weak at this fatal moment, and if a pang shot +through his heart, it was because his thoughts were of her who was to +him the dearest thing in all the world. + +[Illustration: "RUY LOPEZ ENTERED THE CELL."] + +Ruy Lopez had not entered alone. Calavar was at his side; and it was he +who announced to the Duke the King's decision and reply. Ruy Lopez +confirmed the executioner's words, and the Duke, falling on his knees +before the new Bishop, asked his blessing, then turning to Calavar with +a gesture of authority, he dismissed him, saying:-- + +"In three hours I shall be at your disposal." + +Calavar obeyed him and went out, and the Duke and Bishop were left +alone. + +Ruy Lopez was trembling with nervousness, whilst Don Gusman's face wore +a calm and serene expression. He took the Bishop's hand, and wrung it +warmly. There was a pause. The Duke was the first to break the silence. + +"We have met before in happier circumstances," he said, smiling. + +"It is true," stammered Ruy Lopez, who, pale and agitated, resembled +rather the penitent than the confessor. + +"Much happier," repeated the Duke, absently. "Do you remember, when you +played your celebrated game of chess with Paoli Boy, the Sicilian, in +the presence of the King and Court, that it was upon my right arm that +the King leant?" Then after a pause he continued: "Do you remember also, +father, those words of Cervantes, 'Life is a game of chess?' I have +forgotten the exact place in which the passage occurs, but its meaning +is, that upon earth men play different rôles. There are, as in chess, +kings, knights, soldiers, bishops, according to their birth, fate and +fortune; and when the game is over death lays them all as equals in the +tomb, even as we gather together the chessmen into a box." + +"Yes, I remember those words of Don Quixote," replied Don Lopez, +astonished at this singular conversation, "and I remember also Sancho's +reply: 'That however good the comparison was, it was not so new that he +had not heard it before.'" + +"I was your favourite pupil, even your rival," said the Duke, without +appearing to hear Don Lopez. + +"It is true," cried the Bishop. "You are a great master of the game, and +I have been often proud of having such a pupil. But now, on your knees, +my son." + +They knelt down together, and there before the crucifix Don Gusman made +confession to Ruy Lopez, who as he listened could hardly restrain his +tears. + +When the Duke had finished, two hours after--for the confession under +the Church seal was long and touching--the Bishop blessed the prisoner, +and gave him absolution. The face of Don Gusman, as he rose, was calm +and resigned. + +[Illustration: "THEY KNELT DOWN TOGETHER."] + +But there remained still an hour to wait. + +"This delay is torture," cried the Duke. "Why do they not cut off the +prisoners at once, instead of stretching their souls upon such a rack of +agony? An eternity of suffering is in each of these minutes." And the +prisoner began to walk impatiently to and fro, with his eyes constantly +bent upon the door. The Duke's firmness was shaken by the thought of +that weary hour of waiting. Ruy Lopez had fulfilled his duty. The +prisoner's soul was purified, and now the priest could become the +friend. + +As Don Lopez heard Don Gusman utter this exclamation, and saw his face +grow white, he understood what agony he was undergoing, and felt at once +that something must be done to divert his thoughts. But in vain he +racked his brain for an idea. He could think of nothing. What could he +propose to a man about to die? For such as he, the flower has no longer +perfume, woman has no longer beauty. Then suddenly a thought flashed +across his brain. + +"How would a game of chess--" he began, timidly. + +"An excellent idea!" cried Don Gusman, recalled to himself by this +singular proposal. "A farewell game of chess." + +"You consent?" + +"Most readily; but where are the chessmen, my friend?" + +"Am I not always provided with the instruments of war?" said Ruy Lopez, +smiling. Then he pulled forward the two stools and set out upon the +table a microscopic set of chessmen. "Our Lady pardon me!" he continued. +"I often pass my spare time in the confessional in working out some +problem." + +The chessmen being set out, the players took their seats, and were soon +absorbed in the excitement of the game. + +This strange contest, between a priest and a condemned prisoner, made a +picture worthy of the brush of Rembrandt or Salvator Rosa. The light +which streamed from the arched windows fell upon the pale, noble +features of Don Gusman, and upon the venerable head of Ruy Lopez. + +The emotions of the two players were very different. Ruy Lopez played +with a preoccupation which was not usual to him, and which rendered him +much inferior to his ordinary strength. Don Gusman, on the contrary, +stimulated by excitement, played with more than his ordinary skill. At +this moment his noble Castilian blood did not fail him, for never had +the Duke given better proof of the clearness of his mind. Such a flash +of intellect must be compared to the last flickers of the failing lamp, +or to the last song of the dying swan. + +Don Gusman suddenly attacked his adversary with an impetuosity which +nearly gained him a certain victory; but Ruy Lopez, recalled to himself +by this vigorous effort, defended himself bravely. The game became more +and more complicated. The Bishop strove to gain a mate which he saw, or +believed he saw, at hand, whilst Don Gusman played with the eagerness of +certain victory. Everything was forgotten, and time passed unnoticed. +The chess-board was their universe, and a life of anxiety was in each +move. + +The minutes, the quarters, the half-hours flew by, and the fatal hour +arrived at last. + +A distant sound struck on their ears; it grew nearer, it increased, and +the door swinging open gave admittance to Calavar and his assistants, +who advanced into the cell with torches in their hands. They were armed +with swords, and two of them bore the block, covered with a black cloth, +on which lay an axe. + +[Illustration: "THE GAME BECAME MORE AND MORE COMPLICATED."] + +The torches were placed in the receptacle prepared for them, whilst one +of the men scattered cedar sawdust on the floor. All this was the work +of a moment, while the executioner stood waiting for the prisoner. + +As Calavar entered, Ruy Lopez started to his feet, in a tremor of alarm, +but the Duke did not move. His eyes were fixed upon the chess-board. It +was his turn to play. Calavar, seeing his abstracted gaze, advanced to +the Duke's side and placed his hand upon his shoulder. + +"Come," he said. + +The prisoner shuddered as if he had trodden upon a serpent. + +"I must finish this game," he said, imperiously. + +"It is impossible," Calavar replied. + +"But, fellow, the game is mine! I can force mate in a few moves. Let me +play it out." + +"I cannot. It is impossible," repeated the executioner. + +"Are the three hours gone already?" + +"The last stroke has just struck. We must obey the King." + +The assistants, who had until then stood leaning on their swords, came +forward at these words. + +The Duke was sitting against the wall, under the high window, with the +table between him and Calavar. He started to his feet. + +"I shall not move until the game is over. In half an hour my head shall +be at your disposal." + +"My lord," replied Calavar, "I respect you deeply, but I cannot grant +you this request. I answer for your life with mine." + +Don Gusman made a gesture of impatience, and pulling off his diamond +rings, he threw them at the executioner's feet. "I mean to finish the +game," he said, carelessly. + +The jewels sparkled as they rolled and settled in the dust. + +"My orders are imperative," cried Calavar, "and you must pardon us, +noble Duke, if we have to use force; but the King's orders and the law +of Spain must be carried out. Obey, then, and do not waste your last +moments in a useless struggle. Speak to the Duke, my lord Bishop. Tell +him to submit to his fate." + +Ruy Lopez's reply was as prompt as it was decisive. He seized the axe +which lay upon the block and swung it with both hands above his head. + +"By Heaven!" he cried, "the Duke _shall_ finish his game!" + +Scared by the gesture which accompanied these words, Calavar drew back +in such a fright that he stumbled and fell back on his companions. The +swords flashed from their scabbards, and the band prepared for attack. +But Ruy Lopez, who appeared to have put forth the strength of a +Hercules, cast upon the ground his heavy wooden stool. + +"The first of you who passes this limit dies!" he cried in a loud voice. +"Courage, Duke!--to the attack! There are only four of these miscreants. +The last desire of your Grace shall be gratified, were I to lose my life +in the attempt. And you, wretched man, beware how you lay a finger upon +a Bishop of the Church. Down with your swords and respect the Lord's +anointed!" And Ruy Lopez continued to hurl forth, in a jargon of +Spanish and Latin, one of those formulas of excommunication and +malediction which at that period acted so strongly upon the masses of +the people. + +The effect was prompt. The men stood rooted to the spot with terror, +whilst Calavar, thinking that to kill a Bishop without a sealed order +from the King was to run the risk of putting his life in jeopardy in +this world and his soul in the next, avowed himself vanquished. He knew +not what to do next. To rush with the news to the King, who was waiting +impatiently for Don Gusman's head, was only to expose himself. To attack +the prisoner and the priest would be too hazardous, for Ruy Lopez was a +man of no mean strength. The position of affairs was critical. At last +he decided to take the easiest way out of the difficulty--to wait. + +"Will you promise me faithfully to give yourself up in half an hour?" he +demanded of Don Gusman. + +"I promise," replied the Duke. + +"Play on, then," said the executioner. + +The truce being thus concluded, the players returned to their seats and +their game, whilst Calavar and his companions, forming themselves into a +circle, stationed themselves round the two players. Calavar, who was +himself a chess player, looked on with interest, and could not prevent +himself from involuntarily considering each move the players made. + +Don Gusman looked up for an instant upon the circle of faces which +surrounded him, but his _sang froid_ did not abandon him. + +"Never have I played in the presence of such a noble company!" he cried. +"Bear witness, rascals, that at least once in my life I have beaten Don +Lopez." Then he returned to the game with a smile upon his lips. The +Bishop gripped the handle of the axe which he still held in his hand. + +"If I were only sure of escaping from this tigers' den," he thought, "I +would break every head of the four of them." + + +III. + +If three hours had dragged in the prisoner's cell, they had not passed +more quickly in the Royal chamber of King Philip. + +The King had finished his game with Don Ramirez de Biscay, and the +nobles, still compelled from etiquette to remain standing, appeared +almost ready to drop with fatigue, rendered still more painful from the +weight of their armour. + +Don Tarraxas stood motionless, with closed eyes like one of those iron +figures which ornamented the castles of the savage Goths. Young +D'Ossuna, with drooping head, stood propped against a marble pillar, +whilst King Philip strode impatiently about the apartment, only stopping +at intervals to listen to some imaginary noise. According to the +superstitious custom of the age, the King knelt for a few moments at the +foot of a figure of the Virgin placed upon a porphyry pedestal to pray +the Madonna to pardon him the deed of blood which was about to take +place. Silence reigned, for no one, whatever his rank might be, dared to +speak before his Sovereign without his commands. + +As the King's eyes saw the last grain of sand fall in the hour-glass he +uttered an exclamation of joy. + +"The traitor dies!" he cried. + +An almost inaudible murmur ran through the assembly. + +"The hour is passed, Count of Biscay," said Philip, turning to Don +Ramirez, "and with it your enemy." + +"My enemy, sire?" asked Ramirez, affecting surprise. + +"Why do you repeat my words, Count?" replied the King. "Were you not a +rival to Don Gusman in the affections of Dona Estella, and can rivals be +friends? Dona Estella shall be yours. This young girl will bring you her +beauty and her fortune. I have not spoken of this to our Council, but my +Royal word is pledged. If the ingratitude of Sovereigns is ever spoken +of before you, Count, you will be able to reply that we did not forget +the true friend of the King and of Spain who discovered the plot and the +correspondence of Don Gusman with France." + +Don Ramirez de Biscay seemed to listen to the King with uneasiness. He +kept his eyes fixed upon the ground, as if he disliked to be thus +praised in public. Then he made an effort to reply. + +"Sire!" he said, "it was with great repugnance that I fulfilled such a +painful duty"--he hesitated, and then was silent. + +Tarraxas gave a slight start, whilst D'Ossuna struck sharply the pommel +of his sword with his iron glove. + +"Before Dona Estella shall belong to this man," thought D'Ossuna, "I +will have vengeance or perish in the attempt. Tomorrow shall be the day +of my revenge." + +The King continued:-- + +"Your zeal, Don Ramirez, and your devotion must be rewarded. The saviour +of our throne, and perhaps of our dynasty, merits a particular gift. +This morning I ordered you to make out some _lettres-patentes_, which +confer upon you the rank of Duke and Governor of Valence. Are these +ready to be signed?" + +Don Ramirez grew pale with pleasure. He shook like an aspen and his eyes +grew dim. But the King made an impatient movement, and the Count, +drawing a roll of parchment hastily from his breast, presented it on his +knees to the King. + +"My first public duty to-day shall be to sign these papers," said the +King. "The executioner has already punished treason; it is now time for +the King to recompense fidelity." + +The King unrolled the parchment and began to read. As he read, his face +became convulsed with fury, and his eyes shot forth flames of wrath. + +"By my father's soul!" he shouted; "what do I behold?" + + +IV. + +The game of chess was finished. Don Gusman had beaten Ruy Lopez, and his +triumph was complete. He rose to his feet. + +"I am now, as ever, ready to obey the wishes of my King," he said to +Calavar. + +The executioner understood him, and began to prepare the block. Whilst +this was being done Don Gusman advanced towards the crucifix, and said +in a firm voice:-- + +"Oh, Heaven! may this unjust and rash act which is about to take place +fall upon the head of him who is the instigator of this treachery; but +let not my blood recoil upon the head of my King." + +[Illustration: "WHAT DO I BEHOLD?"] + +Ruy Lopez, crouching in a corner of the cell, and burying his face in +his mantle, began to recite the prayers for the dying. + +Calavar approached Don Gusman, and putting his hand upon the Duke's +shoulder began to loosen his ruff. Don Gusman shrank back from the +contact. + +"Nothing that belongs to you, except this axe, shall touch a Gusman," he +said, taking off his ruff himself and placing his head upon the block. +"Strike!" he added, "I am ready!" + +The executioner raised the axe--the King's justice was at last to be +satisfied, when shouts, rapid footsteps and confused voices arrested the +sweep of the executioner's arm. + +The door gave way under the united efforts of a troop of armed men, and +D'Ossuna, rushing into the cell, threw himself between the executioner +and his victim. He was just in time. + +"He lives!" cried Tarraxas. + +"He is saved!" repeated D'Ossuna. "My beloved cousin, I never hoped to +have seen you alive again. God in His mercy has not let the innocent +perish for the guilty. God be praised!" + +"God be praised!" echoed all the spectators, and louder than the rest +rang out the voice of Ruy Lopez. + +"You have arrived in time, my friend," said Don Gusman to his cousin; +"but now I shall have no longer strength to die," and he sank back +fainting on the block. The shock had been too much for him. + +Ruy Lopez seized the Duke in his arms, and, followed by all the nobles, +bore him along the passages to the King's apartment. When Don Gusman +opened his eyes he found himself in the midst of a circle of his +friends, amongst which stood the King, looking down upon him with an +expression of joy. + +Don Gusman could hardly believe his senses. From the axe and the block +he had passed to the King's apartment. He did not understand why this +change had taken place. He did not know that Don Ramirez, in giving his +_lettres-patentes_ to the King to sign, had, in his agitation, given him +instead a paper containing a plot in which he schemed to get rid for +ever of Don Gusman, a detested rival, and one of the firmest supporters +of the throne. He was ignorant of all that had passed, and did not know +how he had escaped from the clutches of the executioner. It was some +time before everything could be made clear to him. + +Three days afterwards, at the same hour as Gusman's miraculous delivery, +Calavar beheaded Don Ramirez, Count of Biscay, traitor and false +witness. Don Gusman was overwhelmed with congratulations on all sides. +King Philip grasped him cordially by his hand. + +"Gusman," he said, "I have been very unjust. I can never forgive my +folly." + +"Sire," replied the Duke, "let us speak of it no more. Such words spoken +by my King are worth a thousand lives." + +But the King continued. + +"I desire," he said, "that henceforth, in commemoration of your almost +miraculous deliverance, you carry upon your escutcheon a silver axe +emblazoned on an azure chess-board. This month we shall celebrate your +marriage with Dona Estella. The marriage shall take place in our +Escurial Palace." + +Then he added, turning to Ruy Lopez:-- + +"I believe that the Church will possess a good servant in its new +Bishop. You shall be consecrated Lord Prelate, with a scarlet robe, +enriched with diamonds; that will be the recompense of your game of +chess with Don Gusman." + +"Sire," replied Don Lopez, "never before this day have I been satisfied +to be checkmated." + +The King smiled, and the courtiers followed his example. + +"Now, my lords," continued Philip, "we invite you all to our Royal +banquet. Let Don Gusman's seat be placed upon our right, and the Bishop +of Segovia's on our left. Give me your arm, Don Gusman." + +[Illustration] + + + + +Illustrated Interviews + +XXL--MR. AND MRS. KENDAL. + + +If one had waited for a few months, "The Kendals" would have been +getting settled in their new home in Portland Place. But, then, the +happiest associations are always centred around the old, and the +pleasantest and frequently the dearest recollections are gathered about +the familiar. That is why I went to them once more to their home of many +years at 145, Harley Street. + +It would be difficult to realize a woman of more striking +characteristics than she who was for so many years known as "Madge" +Robertson, and notwithstanding a very important visit one morning in +August twenty-three years ago to St. Saviour's, Plymouth Grove, +Manchester, when she became the wife of Mr. William Hunter Grimston, +there are many who still know and speak of her by her happily-remembered +maiden name. From that day husband and wife have never played +apart--they have remained sweethearts on the stage and lovers in their +own home. At night--the footlights; by day--home and children. Mrs. +Kendal assured me that neither her eldest daughter, Margaret, nor Ethel, +nor Dorothy--the youngest--nor "Dorrie," who is now at Cambridge, nor +Harold, a "Marlborough" boy, would ever go on the stage. Home, husband, +and children--home, wife, and children, are the embodiment of the life +led by the Kendals. + +[Illustration: THE DRAWING-ROOM + +_From a Photo by Elliott & Fry_.] + +Together with Mr. Kendal we sat down in the drawing-room, and were +joined for a moment by Miss Grimston, a quiet, unaffected young girl, +who looked as though she could never rid herself of a smile, either in +her eyes or about her mouth--a young maiden who suggested "sunshine." +She was carrying Victoria, a pet dog. The mother's whole thoughts seemed +to go out to her daughter. + +"Our Jubilee dog," she cried. "I bought her on Jubilee Day, and, +curiously enough, Mr. Kendal bought one too, neither of us telling the +other we were going to make such canine purchases." + +Then, when Miss Grimston had left the room, her mother turned to me +quietly, and said:-- + +"The image of my brother Tom. The same hair, the same expression of +eyes, the same kind and loving ways. I think he lives in my girl. Come +with me and you shall see his portrait." + +It hung in Miss Grimston's boudoir--an apartment the walls of which were +decorated with pictures of the Comédie-Française Company, the original +designs for the dresses in "A Wife's Secret"; while over the +mantel-board are Mr. and Mrs. Kendal in "The Ironmaster," and many +family portraits are about. + +[Illustration: MISS GRIMSTON'S BOUDOIR. + +_From a Photo by Elliott & Fry._] + +"It is so amusing to hear people talk and write about my eldest brother +Tom and me playing together as children," she said. "My mother was +married when she was eighteen, and my brother was born when she was +nineteen; I was born when she was forty-eight, and was her twenty-second +child! So my brother was a grown man with a moustache when I knew him. I +was brought up with his two children--little Tom and Maude, my own +nephew and niece." + +What a delightful story it was! Little Madge Robertson used to dress up +as a policeman and take Maude into custody before Tom, the younger, as +the judge. And this was the trial:-- + +"What is the prisoner charged with, constable?" asked the judge. + +"Murder, my lord," replied the representative of law and order. + +"Prisoner, are you guilty?" + +"Yes, my lord," answered the poor prisoner. + +"Prisoner, have you anything to say why sentence should not be passed +upon you according to law?" + +"Yes, my lord. _I'm the daughter of the author of 'Caste'._" + +The prisoner always got off, and dear old William Robertson would watch +this little scene and roar with laughter. + +"Yes," Mrs. Kendal said quietly, as we again looked at "Tom's" picture, +"my brother was kindness itself, even from his infancy. I remember +hearing how, when he was a very small boy and living with his aunt, he +went out one summer's day with a new velvet jacket on. He caught sight +of a poor little beggar child his own size, who was in tatters, and, +beckoning him across, at once divested himself of his new coat, put it +on the wondering youngster, and ran away home as fast as he could. His +aunt questioned him, and upon finding out the true circumstances of the +case, and not wishing to damp the kind spirit in the little fellow's +heart, said:-- + +"'Well, we'll go and try to find the boy you gave it to, and buy your +jacket back.' + +"Fortunately the search was successful, and the coat was bought back for +no less a sum than half-a-sovereign. + +"And in later years it was just the same with Tom. He could never pass +by a common cookshop, in front of the windows of which was often a crowd +of men, women, and children, looking on with longing eyes, without +getting them inside and giving them a fill to their hearts' content. +When out driving it was no different. He would stop the horse, and have +all the watching hungry ones inside, and the next moment they would be +revelling in the satisfying properties of thick slices of plum-pudding +and roast beef." + +The house throughout is most artistic. Mr. Kendal is a painter of great +merit, and he "knows" a picture as soon as he sees it. Pictures are his +hobby; hence there is not a room in the house--even to the +kitchen--which does not find a place for some canvas, etching, or +engraving. The entrance-hall is at once striking, with its quaint +thirteenth century furniture, bronzes, and Venetian ware. There are some +fine engravings of Miss Brunton--who became Countess of Craven--Kemble, +Garrick, Phelps, and Mrs. Siddons. A picture of Mrs. Kendal in "The +Falcon" was done at the express wish of, and paid for by, the late Poet +Laureate. Tennyson said it reminded him of a woman he liked and admired. +In the shadow is a fine bust of Macready, given by the great actor to +the father of Mrs. Kendal; resting against the fireplace on either side +are the two lances used in "The Queen's Shilling," and close by are two +huge masks representing a couple of very hirsute individuals. They came +from California, and represent "The King of the Devils" and "The King of +the Winds." + +[Illustration: THE HALL. (_From a Photo, by Elliott & Fry._)] + +[Illustration: THE DINING ROOM. (_From a Photo, by Elliott & Fry._)] + +The entrance to the dining-room is typical of all the other door +decoration in the house--a carving of cream enamel of beautiful design +and workmanship. The walls of this apartment are terra-cotta, with a +finely carved oak-panelling. It is a little treasure room of canvases, +the gem of which is probably C. Van Hannen's "Mask Shop in Venice"--a +painter of a school which Luke Fildes, R.A., has done so much to +popularize. Macbeth is represented by a couple of delightful efforts, +and there are samples of the skill of Eugene Du Blas, Crofts, John Reid, +Andriotti, Sadler, De Haas, Rivers; a grand landscape by Webb--nearly +all of which are Academy works. The decorative articles are as artistic +as in some cases they are peculiar. Running about above the oaken +fireplace, amongst choice bronzes and blue ware, and a black boy who is +trudging along with a very useful clock on his back, are many quaint +animals of polished brass--even mice are not missing, with wonderfully +long tails--that sparkle and glisten in the firelight. Ascending the +staircase you find etchings after Alma Tadema, Briton Riviere, and +others; the walls are covered with them. + +[Illustration: SCENE FROM "THE SQUIRE." _From the Picture by Mr. +Kendal._] + +Here are a series of delightful pictures showing Mr. and Mrs. Kendal in +Gilbert's "Sweethearts," and I am reminded that the gifted actor and +actress were the first to appear before the Queen after a period of +five-and-twenty years, during which Her Majesty had never seen a play, +the performance that night consisting of "Sweethearts" and Theyre +Smith's "Uncle's Will." And as one takes note of many rare works--the +bedroom is almost entirely given up to Doré's marvellous creations, +though near the window is a splendid specimen of the photographer's art: +a head of Miss Mary Anderson--one cannot fail to observe the family +spirit everywhere--sometimes portraits of children, sometimes small and +dainty pencil studies made of them by their father. Occasionally +theatrical sketches by Mr. Kendal appear. Here are some of the principal +members of the old St. James's Company, who used to give Mr. Kendal +sittings between the acts--here a capital bit of artistic work depicting +a scene from "The Squire," made from stray memorandums and with the aid +of a looking-glass for securing the actor-artist's face. + +Leaving Mr. Kendal for a time, Mrs. Kendal and I returned to the +drawing-room. It overlooks Harley Street and is a handsome two-roomed +apartment, the prevailing tone of blue, cream, and gold harmonizing to +perfection. It is positively one huge collection of curios. + +The screen at the far end is rather shuddery, not to say creepy, to +those of nervous temperament. It is decorated with tomahawks of fearful +and wonderful shapes and sizes, and other Indian implements of warfare. + +"These came from California," Mrs. Kendal explained. "No sooner are you +out of the train than the Indians tomahawk you! Look at this bow and +arrow." + +The pots of palms and ferns all hold American flags. These colours--the +stars and stripes--once surmounted baskets of flowers and floral +emblems--five, six, and even seven feet high--handed to Mrs. Kendal +during her recent tour in the States; and amongst the sweetly-perfumed +blossoms diamonds, pearls, and other precious gems have glistened in the +shape of ornaments. A table near the window tells you of the generosity +of the Americans. It is crowded with silver ornaments and mementos. You +may handle the diminutive silver candlesticks to light "The Kendals" +away--silver jugs, souvenir spoons, frying-pans, coffee-pots--all in +miniature. This silver dollar is only one of a hundred. You touch a +spring, when, lo and behold! the portrait of the donor appears. All +American women have dainty feet. These little ebony and silver lasts for +your boots remind you of this. On this table is a letter from the +Princess of Wales, thanking Mrs. Kendal for "the lovely silver wedding +bells and flowers which you so kindly sent me on the tenth." You may +examine George IV.'s cigar-case--a silver tube in which the King was +wont to carry a single cigar. It is impossible to number all the +treasured odds and ends, but still more difficult to total up the +miniature articles set out in a pair of cabinets. + +[Illustration: NAPOLEON'S WRITING-TABLE _From a Photo by Elliott & +Fry._] + +[Illustration: "SHAKESPEARE AND BACON" _From the Picture by A. E. +Emslie._] + +Mrs. Kendal has a hobby--it lies in the collecting of the tiniest of +tiny things. If her intimate friends come across any curiosity +particularly choice and small, it is at once snapped up and dispatched +to Harley Street. I had some little leaden mice in my hand the size of +half-a-dozen pins' heads. Handkerchiefs an inch square, babies' woollen +shoes, pinafores, shirts, all of the tiniest, but perfectly made, with +buttons and button-holes complete, and even buns with currants no bigger +than a pin's point. Sheep, dogs, cats, monkeys, pigs, giraffes--in +short, convert the entire Zoo into miniature china knick-knacks, and you +have a considerable portion of Mrs. Kendal's collection realized. One +must needs stand for a moment at Napoleon's writing-table, near which +rests a characteristic clay by Van Beers. The pictures here are many. +Millais' work is well represented by several etchings, and a remarkably +clever thing by Emslie, entitled "Shakespeare and Bacon," suggests the +two extremes of taste to a nicety. Whilst a young enthusiast is +declaiming Shakespeare, one of his listeners--doubtless, equally +enthusiastic, but with an eye for victuals--is interrupting a soliloquy +with the remark: "Now! who says bacon?" Every portrait has a +history--Prince and Princess Henry of Battenberg in their wedding +garments, the late Duke of Albany, Professor Huxley, Mrs. Beecher +Stowe, Mr. and Mrs. Pinero, Mr. and Mrs. Bancroft, and many others. +Three suggestive pictures, however, cannot be passed by. This dear +little fellow is the son of Mr. B. J. Farjeon. Mr. Farjeon married "Rip +Van Winkle" Jefferson's daughter, and the youngster is pictured dressed +in the tattered garments of merry, rollicking _Rip_. You know how _Rip_ +always drinks your health? He holds the glass of hollands high up and +cries, "Here's your health and your family's good health, and may they +all live long and prosper!" but Mr. Farjeon's little boy cries out, +"Here's your health, and your family's good health, and may you all live +long and _proper_!" + +[Illustration: GROUP IN CLAY BY JAN VAN BEERS.] + +[Illustration: MRS. KENDAL AS "GALATEA"] + +A photo, of Dr. Pancoast stands near a bust of Mrs. Kendal as _Galatea_, +done when she was seventeen. Dr. Pancoast--a celebrated American +physician--saved Mrs. Kendal's life when her maid accidentally +administered a poisonous drug to her mistress. The poor girl herself +nearly died of fright. + +But perhaps the portrait of the late Duchess of Cambridge, which Mrs. +Kendal now holds in her hand, is more interesting than them all. "Her +late Royal Highness," Mrs. Kendal said, "always addressed me and wrote +to me as Mrs. Grimston. She was paralyzed in her right hand and wrote +with her left; perhaps that is why this letter, written in pencil and +with great effort, is treasured more than it otherwise would have been." + +It was one of the last letters written by Her Royal Highness. The +letters and words were wonderfully legible; it read:-- + + "DEAR MRS. GRIMSTON,--One line only to thank you for sending me + the stalls for my dressers, who enjoyed your and Mr. Grimston's + charming acting immensely. My first deaf one was able to follow + perfectly, thanks to your having kindly let her have the book + previously. Again thanking you, + + "I remain, + + "Yours very sincerely, + AUGUSTA." + + + +And in a little cabinet in the far corner is a beautiful Sèvres bowl. In +the bowl is a telegram from "Princess Mary," asking Mrs. Kendal to come +to St. James's Palace at once. Written on a black-edged envelope were +these words: "To dearest Mrs. Grimston Kendal. A little souvenir. Found +amongst the last wishes of her late Royal Highness the Duchess of +Cambridge." + +It is only just possible to hasten through the collection of substantial +reminiscences which add to the charm of this corner of the house. The +quaint white china hare was given to Mrs. Kendal many years ago by Mr. +John Hare, when playing together at the Court. A curious but vividly +suggestive idea of Japanese wit, in the shape of a couple of +characteristically dressed figures, typifies "Health" and "Wealth"; the +figure, representing "Health" has a countenance of the deepest red, the +other a face all golden and as resplendent as the sun. In a small frame +is the letter from the Goethe Club of New York, making Mrs. Kendal an +honorary member. She is the only woman member of this club. And this +pretty little doll dressed as a Quakeress--a charming compliment to the +recipient--was presented by the Quakeresses of Philadelphia, who never, +never, never go the play, yea, verily! So they sent this as a tribute of +their admiration for the talents and character of the woman who has been +called "The Matron of the Drama." + +[Illustration: MRS. KENDALL'S LITTLE QUAKERESS.] + +We sat down on a settee in front of the fire. The cushions were of white +lawn marked with the initial "M.," and were worked by the late Lady +Eglinton. + +Mrs. Kendal's happy and homely face is familiar to all. She has a truly +tender and sympathetic expression there at all times. Her hair was once +that of the fair one with golden locks, now it is of a rich brown +colour--very neatly and naturally trimmed about her head. She is very +kind--very motherly; just the woman you would single out in time of +trouble and ask, "What would you advise me to do?" I gathered these +impressions whilst listening to many things she said of which I need not +write. Her views on theatrical life are strong, nay, severe. She is not +afraid to speak, and she hits hard and sends her shots home. But you +cannot mistake the earnestness of her manner, the true intent of her +motives. + +"I am only a common-place woman," she said to me. "I used to be ever so +light-hearted--now, I'm a morbid creature. Here we are sitting down by +the fireside. I may tell you happy reminiscences that may make one +merry, and all the time I should be thinking about--what? Cancer! I +return to my dressing-room from the stage at night. As I am passing +along a fellow player may turn to me and say, 'How well the play has +gone to-night!' I am only thinking of those who have trod that same +stage before me. What are they now? Dust--earth--worms!" + +I stirred the fire, and the bright glow from its burning embers lit up +the corner where we sat. And we talked together. + +Margaret Brunton Robertson was born at Great Grimsby on March 15th, +1849--curiously enough these lines will be read on the anniversary of +her birthday. Her grandfather, father, and uncle were all actors. + +"I lived alone with my father and mother," she said, "and the only real +recollection I have of my father is his fine white beard, which he grew +towards the latter days of his life, and a little advice he once gave +me. + +"'Always count twenty,' he said, 'when you are walking across the quay +at Bristol, then you won't hear the sailors swear!' Yet he would use +very bad language to me when he was teaching me my parts; for you know I +commenced acting at a very early age. I was only three when I made my +first appearance--and I ruined the play. It was at the Marylebone +Theatre in the 'Three Poor Travellers,' and I was a blind child. My +nurse was in the front row of the pit--that is, in the very first row, +for there were no stalls. All I thought about was my new shoes--a very +pretty, dainty little pair, and as soon as I stepped on the stage, I +opened my eyes, caught sight of the delighted face of my nurse, and +cried out:-- + +"'Oh! nursey, dear, look at my new shoes!' + +"I played at Chute's Theatre in Bristol in many child's parts. When my +father went to the wall over the Lincoln Circuit, Mr. Chute engaged him +as an actor, and I went with him. I remember in 'A Midsummer Night's +Dream'--I was _Mustard Seed_, I think, or _Peas Blossom_; at any rate, +some small character that required very prettily dressing, and plenty of +flowers on my little costume. I am as fond of flowers to-day as I was +then. Well, when once I got on the stage in my pretty dress--of which I +was particularly proud--before I would leave it, I had to be bought off +with apples and oranges! There they would stand at the wings, and the +price would go up--up--up--two oranges, three oranges, three oranges +and two apples--until I inwardly murmured a childish equivalent for +'sold,' and toddled off. + +"I acted _Eva_ in 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' when I was eight. I think I was +always a sad child--I looked forty when I was fifteen. After little +_Eva_ I used to play anything." + +And they were hard times for little Madge--she worked like the brave +little woman she was. Her childish thoughts were constantly with her +parents--how best could she add to the weekly income. And this is what +the same little Madge would do. Night after night, after playing in a +serious piece, she would appear in burlesque, sing, dance, and crack her +small jokes with the best of them. It was hard work that made her a +woman--it was dearly-bought experience that gave birth to the +sympathetic heart she has to-day. + +[Illustration: MRS. KENDAL. _From a Photo. by Bassano._] + +So at fourteen she was a woman grown--and at fifteen at Hull played +_Lady Macbeth_ to Phelps's _Macbeth_! + +"I was dressed in my mother's clothes," Mrs. Kendal said, "and I fear I +must have looked a fearful guy!" + +At rehearsal Phelps looked upon the young woman. + +"And who--who is this child?" asked the great actor. + +"Madge Robertson," the manager answered; "a rare favourite here. It was +a choice between her and a very old woman, Mr. Phelps." + +"Then let the young woman play, by all means," Phelps said. + +What a night it was! At the end of the play they wanted her on again, +but Phelps was obdurate. A party of men came round, and threatened to +throw Phelps into the Humber! Phelps remained firm. + +"He was kindness itself through it all," Mrs. Kendal assured me, "and +though I did not go on again, he proved his thoughtfulness a little +later on by sending for me to play _Lady Teazle_. I played the leading +parts during the three nights Phelps remained in Hull in 'The Man of the +World,' 'Richelieu,' and 'Macbeth.' On July 29th, 1865, I made my +_début_ in London, at the Haymarket, as _Ophelia_ to the _Hamlet_ of +Walter Montgomery. Poor Montgomery! He was what you would call a +'lady-killer'--very conceited, but, withal, very kind. He once wrote a +letter to my father, and added a postscript, saying: 'Keep this letter. +Should poverty fall upon you or yours, your great-grand-children may be +able to sell it for a good sum of money!' I was only with him six +weeks." + +The only play of her brother's in which Mrs. Kendal has appeared was +"Dreams," when the Gaiety first opened. At this time the managers always +tried to induce Mrs. Kendal to appear in a riding habit--a costume in +which she looked strikingly handsome. + +"Alfred Wigan played in 'Dreams,'" continued Mrs. Kendal. "His wife was +one of the kindest women I ever met. She gave me a gold bracelet for a +very curious little service I used to render her husband every night. He +had to sing a song in 'Dreams,' and one or two of the high notes were +beyond his reach. I used to take these notes for him, and the audience +never guessed the truth." + +"And have you not played _Desdemona_?" I asked. + +"Oh! yes--and to a real black man, and so he did not have to put his +head up the chimney to make himself up for the part! His name was Ira +Aldridge, and scandal said he was the dresser of some great actor whom +he used to imitate. But he had very ingenious ideas as to the character +of _Othello_. He thought him a brute, and played him as such. His great +notion was to get the fairest woman possible for _Desdemona_--and I was +selected, for at that time my hair was quite golden. + +"In one part of the play he would cry out, 'Give me thy hand, +Desdemona!' and certainly the effect of my hand in his huge grasp was +impressive. Then in the last act he would pull me from the couch by the +hair of my head. Oh! there was something in his realism, I can tell +you!" + +Miss Robertson made a great sensation when she appeared as _Blanche +Dumont_, in Dr. Westland Marston's "Hero of Romance," when it was +performed for the first time at the Haymarket Theatre, on March 14th, +1868. Seventeen months after this, on August 7th, 1869, she was Madge +Robertson no longer. On that day she was married to Mr. William Hunter +Grimston, whose stage name is Kendal. It is a charming little story. + +It occurred at Manchester. Mr. Kendal and Miss Robertson were on tour +with the elder Compton, and they were--sweethearts. A convenient time +seemed to have arrived for their wedding day, for on the Thursday, +Friday, and Saturday nights pieces were to be played in which neither of +them would be required. This would mean a nice little honeymoon--and the +two lovers would reappear on the Monday night. So the day was +fixed--Thursday; the church chosen--St. Saviour's, Plymouth Grove; and +the best man booked--Walter Gowing, who used to play under the name of +Walter Gordon. + +Then bad news came. Compton's brother was taken ill, and he had to hurry +away from Cottonopolis. Another play had to be put in the bill, both Mr. +Kendal and Miss Robertson would be needed--for it was "As You Like It," +and the one would be wanted for _Orlando_ and the other for _Rosalind_. +Still, the wedding was proceeded with on Thursday morning, quietly and +happily, and in the evening husband and wife met on the stage in the +Forest of Arden. There, with _Celia_ as the priest, amidst the leafy +trees and grassy pathways, _Orlando_ turns to the merry _Celia_, and +pointing to the far, far happier _Rosalind_, cries out:-- + +"Pray thee, marry us!" + +"Will you, Orlando, have to wife this Rosalind?" + +"I will." + +"Then," _Rosalind_ pertly remarks, "you must say, 'I take thee, +Rosalind, for wife.'" + +"I take thee, Rosalind, for wife," said _Orlando_, earnestly. + +Then _Rosalind_ asked, "Now tell me how long you would have her after +you have possessed her?" + +And _Orlando_ replied--both in the words of Shakespeare and in the +language of his own heart--"For ever and a day!" + +That is the true story of the wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Kendal. It was a +natural desire of each never to play apart from the other, and from that +day they have never separated. For some seven years Mr. and Mrs. Kendal +played at the Haymarket, under Buckstone's management, and the gifted +actress merrily referred to the little jokes played on "Bucky" by some +of the actors. He was stone deaf, and could only take his cues when to +speak from the movements of his fellow-actors' lips, so they would annoy +him by continuing the lip movement, and "Bucky" sometimes got "stuck." + +[Illustration: THE DRAWING-ROOM. _From a Photo. by Elliott & Fry._] + +Little need be said of Mrs. Kendal's subsequent work--her acting at the +Court, the Prince of Wales's, and her labours at the St. James's, when, +in 1881, she appeared there under the joint management of Mr. Kendal and +Mr. Hare. Not only in this country has her name become fondly familiar +in the homes of those who "go to the theatre" and those who "never +would," but in America the artistic acting of herself and husband has +been instantly and enthusiastically recognised. + +I left the drawing-room--pausing, before entering Mr. Kendal's study, to +admire the aviary--a veritable home of song--and to notice one +diminutive member of the feathered tribe in particular, who has been +taught by Miss Grimston to perform tricks _ad lib._, in addition to +giving forth the sweetest of notes. + +The study is a very delicate apartment in terra-cotta and gold--here and +there are quaint blue china vases and many exquisite bronzes. The window +in the recess where the table is--a typical study table, suggesting +plenty of work--is of stained glass, the quartet of divisions +representing the four seasons. A glance round the walls of this room at +once reveals the substantial side of Mr. Kendal's artistic +hobby--pictures. In this apartment there is nothing but water-colours, +save a very clever pen-and-ink sketch by a New York artist, called "Six +Months After Marriage," which Jefferson caught sight of at the New York +Dramatic Bazaar, and reminded Mr. Kendal to "keep his eye on," and a +portrait or two of Mrs. Kendal and the children. "Hetty Sorrell" at her +butter pats, with her thoughts very far from the churning-pan, is a gem. +"The Last of St. Bartholomew" is a magnificent bit of painting, and the +Venetian views at once carry one back to the home of the merry gondolier +and perfect moonlight nights. This picture of Salvini--who its possessor +assured me was the finest tragedian he had ever seen--was painted by Mr. +Kendal himself. The bookcase, running along opposite the window, +contains many rare first editions, of which Mr. Kendal is a very +persevering and successful collector, and a bound manuscript copy of +every play produced by him, together with the original sketches for the +scenery. You may look over the "Scrap of Paper," "The Falcon," "Queen's +Shilling," "Ladies' Battle," "Clancarty," "The Ironmaster," "The Money +Spinner," and "The Squire"--Pinero's play, of which somebody wrote that +it wafted the scent of the new-mown hay across the footlights. + +[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF SALVANI, BY MR. KENDAL.] + +It is interesting to learn how Mr. Kendal first came across Pinero. + +"I only knew him as an actor at the Lyceum," he said, "and had never met +him. He wrote and asked if we would let him read a play to us. As a rule +we never do that; but, remembering that Pinero was himself a player, we +made an exception. So it came about that one day, after a rehearsal, the +actor playwright read his piece to us in the _foyer_ of the St. James's. +We never expected anything at first, but the reading ended in our taking +the play immediately, though we scarcely knew what we should do with it, +seeing it was a two-act play. We found an opportunity, however, and you +know the success it was. It was called 'The Money Spinner.'" + +Mr. Kendal is a striking-looking man--the very ideal of a picturesque +soldier, with a constitution of steel. He talks to you frankly, easily, +for there is not two penny-worth of presumption about him. He lives and +labours very quietly--he enjoys his days, and a good cigar. He divides +his talents between the stage and the brush. His pencil and palette have +been with him in far-off places, and there is always a corner in his +bag for them if he only travels twenty miles from Harley Street. His +peculiarity of painting--so to speak--lies in the fact that he never +fails to chronicle the view obtained from any hotel where he may be +staying. He showed me a book full of these hasty impressions--all of +which were most beautifully done--many of them he could only give ten +minutes or a quarter of an hour to. Two of these I brought away for +reproduction in these pages; they are both unfinished, however--the +pencil reminders of certain little additions tell that. + +[Illustration: SKETCH FROM THE QUEEN's HOTEL, MANCHESTER, BY MR. +KENDAL.] + +The first of these is a view of the Infirmary as seen from Mr. Kendal's +window at the Queen's Hotel, Manchester; the second--done in a quarter +of an hour--shows the way the Americans erect their buildings for +exhibiting a cyclorama--popularly known here as a panorama. It was done +from a back window in an hotel in Cleveland, U.S.A. The actor-artist +never learnt drawing, save for a few hours' lessons he took at the Slade +Schools under the tuition of Le Gros. He draws everything that impresses +him--his painting memory is remarkable. He sees a man's face in the +street, carries it home in his mind, and it will be very faithfully put +on paper or canvas. + +We talked for a long time on "pictures"--he was so happy and earnest +about it that it was some time before we made an attempt to tread the +boards and get behind the footlights. + +Mr. Kendal--William Hunter Grimston--was born at Notting Hill, and just +outside the sound of Bow Bells, on December 16th, 1843. His parents +belonged to the Low Church, and their views of the theatre in general, +and on adopting the stage as a profession in particular, will be readily +understood. Mr. Kendal was intended for the Army--how he came to "go on" +the stage is best told in his own words: + +"I had only been to three or four pantomimes previously," he said, "and +one night--I was about eighteen years of age at the time--I found myself +in the stalls of the old Soho Theatre, in Dean Street, Soho, now known +as the Royalty Theatre. My paper and pencil were out, and I was busily +engaged in making sketches of the various actors and actresses. The +piece was 'Billie Taylor.' Suddenly I felt a gentle tap on the shoulder +from behind. I turned round. + +"'Would you allow me to take those sketches round and show the 'parties' +interested?' a gentleman asked. + +"'Certainly; with pleasure,' I replied. + +"'Perhaps you would like to come behind the scenes as well?' + +"It was just what I wanted, so I followed the person who had so kindly +interested himself in my scribble. He proved to be Mr. Mowbray, the +manager of the theatre. The picture behind the scenes that night was a +perfect Elysium to me. I think Mowbray must have noticed the impression +it made upon me, for he asked if I would like to go on the stage. I +did--as a sort of super." + +[Illustration: SKETCH FROM HOTEL WINDOW, CLEVELAND, U.S.A., BY MR. +KENDAL.] + +Mr. Kendal's first important engagement lasted four or five years at the +Theatre Royal, Glasgow. Here he met and played with such people as Helen +Faucit (Lady Martin), G. V. Brooke, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kean, Dion +Boucicault, Fechter, Miss Bateman (Mrs. Crowe), and the elder Sothern. +When Sothern left, the accomplished young actor played _Dundreary_, and +found himself straying in the footsteps of the famous originator of the +part, even to the hop. One would have thought that people would have +praised the actor for taking such a worthy example--but it displeased +Tom Taylor, and he wrote very wrathfully. Then Mr. Kendal went to the +Haymarket, met Miss Robertson, and from their wedding day their lives +may be said to have been the same in thought, word, and deed. + +As an organizer and man of business his tact and judgment were tested +and proved during his joint management of the St. James's with Mr. Hare +in 1881. For some time previous to this Mr. Kendal had been on the +look-out for a theatre, and his mind wandered towards the St. James's, +but it required a large sum of money spending on it before it could be +opened. + +"One night I was talking to Lord Newry at my club," said Mr. Kendal, +"and happened to say that if £2,000 or so were spent on the St. James's +I might feel inclined to take it. + +"'Suppose I spend that amount of money on the place, will you take it?' +Lord Newry asked. + +"My only reply was that I would think about it. In the meantime I went +to the Court, from there to the Prince of Wales's to play in +'Diplomacy'--it ran a year--'Peril' and 'London Assurance.' Then I +returned to the Court again, and during this time Lord Newry had +practically gutted the old and unlucky St. James's, turned it inside +out--John Hare, my wife and self entered, and we remained there nearly +ten years." + +Mr. and Mrs. Kendal share the same opinion of America--it is the land of +to-day, the land of the future. As to its theatres in comparison with +ours, Mrs. Kendal--who had now joined us--was most enthusiastic. I had +reached the pillars, from which hung curtains of intricate Japanese +workmanship, leading to the hall. Victoria, the Jubilee dog, was barking +a friendly "Good-bye," and the lusty throats of Miss Grimston's +two-and-twenty canaries forced their sweet notes from a far-away room +into the passage. + +"I will give you some idea of what an American theatre is like," said +Mrs. Kendal. "You reach your destination by rail at some small place for +a one-night stay. If it is raining and the ground is wet, men in long +jack-boots catch hold of you and gallantly take you across the puddles. +You do not see a soul about--and you are in fear and trembling as to +where your night's audience is coming from. You get to your hotel, and +then your next thought is--where is the theatre? You expect to find a +little, uncomfortable, band-box of a place, and you set out to see it +with a heavy heart. It is a palace--a marble palace--a positive poem! +And your heart leaps happily--only to drop dull again, for you suddenly +remember that you have seen--nobody, not even the oldest inhabitant. You +turn to the manager. + +"'Yes, yes--but, what about an audience, how are you going to fill it?' +you ask. + +"'Wall,' he replies, 'I don't trouble myself much about that. I reckon +that every seat in this theatre is sold for to-night, that's all!'" + + HARRY HOW. + +[Illustration: MR. KENDAL. _From a Photo. by Maurice Stephens, +Harrogat._] + + + + +"_Author! Author_!" + +BY E. W. HORNUNG. + + +This story has to do with two men and a play, instead of a woman, and it +is none of mine. I had it from an old gentleman I love: only he ought to +have written it himself. This, however, he will never do; having known +intimately in his young days one of the two men concerned. But I have +his leave to repeat the story more or less as he told it--if I can. And +I am going to him for my rebuke--when I dare. + + * * * * * + +"You want to hear the story of poor old Pharazyn and his play? I'm now +going to tell it you. + +"Ah, well! My recollection of the matter dates from one summer's night +at my old rooms in the Adelphi, when he spoilt my night's work by coming +in flushed with an idea of his own. I remember banging the drawer into +which I threw my papers to lock them away for the night; but in a few +minutes I had forgotten my unfinished article, and was glad that +Pharazyn had come. We were young writers, both of us; and, let me tell +you, my good fellow, young writing wasn't in those days what it is now. +I am thinking less of merit than of high prices, and less of high prices +than of cheap notoriety. Neither of us had ever had our names before the +public--not even in the advertised contents of an unread and unreadable +magazine. No one cared about names in my day, save for the half-dozen +great ones that were then among us; so Pharazyn's and mine never used to +appear in the newspapers, though some of them used our stuff. + +"In a manner we were rivals, for we were writing the same sort of thing +for the same sort of publications, and that was how we had come +together; but never was rivalry friendlier, or mutually more helpful. +Our parts were strangely complementary; if I could understand for the +life of me the secret of collaboration, which has always been a mystery +to me, I should say that I might have collaborated with Pharazyn almost +ideally. I had the better of him in point of education, and would have +turned single sentences against him for all he was worth; and I don't +mind saying so, for there my superiority ended. When he had a story to +tell, he told it with a swing and impetus which I coveted him, as well I +might to this day; and if he was oftener without anything to write +about, his ideas would pay twenty shillings in the pound, in strength +and originality, where mine made some contemptible composition in pence. +That is why I have been a failure at fiction--oh, yes, I have! That is +why Pharazyn would have succeeded, if only he had stuck to plain +ordinary narrative prose. + +[Illustration: "HE SKETCHED THE NEW STORY."] + +"The idea he was unable to keep within his own breast, on the evening of +which I am telling you, was as new, and simple, and dramatic as any that +ever intoxicated the soul of story-teller or made a brother author green +with envy. I can see him now, as I watched him that night, flinging to +and fro with his quick, nervous stride, while he sketched the new +story--bit by bit, and often the wrong bit foremost; but all with his +own flashing vividness, which makes me so sorry--so sorry whenever I +think of it. At moments he would stand still before the chair on which I +sat intent, and beat one hand upon the other, and look down at me with a +grand, wondering smile, as though he himself could hardly believe what +the gods had put into his head, or that the gift was real gold, it +glittered so at first sight. On that point I could reassure him. My open +jealousy made me admire soberly. But when he told me, quite suddenly, as +though on an afterthought, that he meant to make a play of it and not a +story, I had the solid satisfaction at that moment of calling him a +fool. + +"The ordinary author of my day, you see, had a certain timorous respect +for the technique of the stage. It never occurred to us to make light of +those literary conventions which it was not our business to understand. +We were behind you fellows in every way. But Pharazyn was a sort of +forerunner: he said that any intelligent person could write a play, if +he wanted to, and provided he could write at all. He said his story was +a born play; and it was, in a way; but I told him I doubted whether he +could train it up with his own hand to be a good-acting one. I knew I +was right. He had neither the experience nor the innate constructive +faculty, one or other of which is absolutely necessary for the writing +of possible plays. I implored him to turn the thing into a good dramatic +novel, and so make his mark at one blow. But no; the fatal fit was on +him, and I saw that it must run its course. Already he could see and +hear his audience laughing and crying, so he said, and I daresay he +could also feel the crinkle of crisp weekly receipts. I only know that +we sat up all night over it, arguing and smoking and drinking whisky +until my windows overlooking the river caught the rising sun at an +angle. Then I gave in. For poor old Pharazyn was more obstinate than +ever, though he thanked me with the greatest good temper for my +well-meant advice. + +"'And look here, my boy,' says he, as he puts on his hat, 'you shan't +hear another word about this till the play's written; and you are to ask +no questions. Is that a bargain? Very well, then. When I've finished +it--down to the very last touches--_you_ shall come and sit up all night +with _me_, and I'll read you every word. And by gad, old chap, if they +give me a call the first night, and want a speech--and I see you sitting +in your stall, like a blessed old fool as you are--by gad, sir, I'll +hold up you and your judgment to the ridicule of the house, so help me +never!' + +[Illustration: "I COULD SMELL HIS PIPE THROUGH THE KEYHOLE."] + +"Well, I am coming to that first night presently. Meanwhile, for the +next six months, I saw very little of Pharazyn, and less still in the +new year. He seldom came to my rooms now; when he did I could never get +him to stay and sit up with me; and once when I climbed up to his garret +(it was literally that), he would not answer me, though I could smell +his pipe through the key-hole, in which he had turned the key. Yet he +was perfectly friendly whenever we did meet. He said he was working very +hard, and indeed I could imagine it; his personal appearance, which he +had never cherished, being even untidier, and I am obliged to add +seedier, than of old. He continued to send me odd magazines in which his +stuff happened to appear, or occasionally a proof for one's opinion and +suggestions; we had done this to each other all along; but either I did +not think about it, or somehow he led me to suppose that his things were +more or less hot from the pen, whereas many of mine had been written a +twelvemonth before one saw them in type. One way or another, I gathered +that he was at work in our common groove, and had shelved, for the +present at all events, his proposed play, about which you will remember +I had undertaken to ask no questions. + +"I was quite mistaken. One night in the following March he came to me +with a haggard face, a beaming eye, and a stout, clean manuscript, which +he brought down with a thud on my desk. It was the play he had sketched +out to me eight or nine months before. I was horrified to hear he had +been at work upon it alone from that night to this. He had written, so +he said, during all this time, not another line, only each line of his +play some ten times over. + +"I recollect looking curiously at his shabby clothes, and then reminding +him that it was at his place, not mine, I was to have heard him read the +play: and how he confessed that he had no chair for me there--that his +room was, in fact, three parts dismantled--that he had sacrificed +everything to the play, which was worth it. I was extremely angry. I +could have helped him so easily, independent as I was of the calling I +loved to follow. But there was about him always an accursed, unnecessary +independence, which has since struck me--and I think I may say so after +all these years--as the mark of a rather humble, very honest origin. + +"He read me the play, and I cried over the third act, and so did he. I +thought then, and still think, that there was genius in that third +act--it took you off your feet. And to me, certainly, it seemed as if +the piece must act as well as it read, though indeed, as I took care to +say and to repeat, my opinion was well-nigh valueless on that point. I +only knew that I could see the thing playing itself, as I walked about +the room (for this time I was the person who was too excited to sit +still), and that was enough to make one sanguine. I became as +enthusiastic about it as though the work were mine (which it never, +never would or could have been), yet I was unable to suggest a single +improvement, or to have so much as a finger-tip in the pie. Nor could I +afterwards account for its invariable reception at the hands of +managers, whose ways were then unknown to me. That night we talked only +of one kind of reception. We were still talking when the sun came +slanting up the river to my windows; you could hardly see them for +tobacco-smoke, and we had emptied a bottle of whisky to the success of +Pharazyn's immortal play. + +[Illustration: "HIS MANUSCRIPT RAGGED BUT UNREAD."] + +"Oh, those nights--those nights once in a way! God forgive me, but I'd +sacrifice many things to be young again and feel clever, and to know the +man who would sit up all night with me to rule the world over a bottle +of honest grog. In the pale light of subsequent revelations I ought, +perhaps, to recall such a night, with that particular companion, +silently and in spiritual ashes. But it is ridiculous, in my opinion, to +fit some sort of consequence to every little insulated act; nor will I +ever admit that poor Pharazyn's ultimate failing was in any appreciable +degree promoted or prepared for by those our youthful full-souled +orgies. I know very well that afterwards, when his life was spent in +waylaying those aforesaid managers, in cold passages, on stage +doorsteps, or, in desperation, under the public portico on the street; +and when a hundred snubs and subterfuges would culminate in the return +of his manuscript, ragged but unread: I know, and I knew then, that the +wreck who would dodge me in Fleet Street, or cut me in the Strand, had +taken to his glass more seriously and more steadily than a man should. +But I am not sure that it matters much--_much_, you understand me--when +that man's heart is broken. + + * * * * * + +"The last words I was ever to exchange with my poor old friend keep +ringing in my head to this day, whenever I think of him; and I can +repeat them every one. It was some few years after our intimacy had +ceased, and when I only knew that he had degenerated into a Fleet Street +loafer of the most dilapidated type, that I caught sight of him one day +outside a theatre. It was the theatre which was for some years a +gold-mine to one Morton Morrison, of whom you may never have heard; but +he was a public pet in his day, I can tell you, and his day was just +then at its high noon. Well, there stood Pharazyn, with his hands in his +pockets and a cutty-pipe sticking out between his ragged beard and +moustache, and his shoulders against the pit door, so that for once he +could not escape me. But he wouldn't take a hand out of his pocket to +shake mine; and when I asked him how he was, without thinking, he +laughed in my face, and it made me feel cruel. He was dreadfully +emaciated, and almost in rags. And as I wondered what I ought to do, and +what to say next, he gave a cough, and spat upon the pavement, and I +could see the blood. + +[Illustration: "THERE STOOD PHARAZYN."] + +"I don't know what you would have done for him--but for all I knew what +had brought him to this, I could think of nothing but a drink. It was +mid-winter, and I tell you the man was in rags. I felt that if I could +get him to a bar he might eat something, too, and that I should get a +hold of him this time which I would never again let go. Judge of my +surprise when he flatly refused to come with me even for a drink. + +"'Can't you see? he said in his hollow voice. 'There'll be a crowd here +directly, and I want the best seat in the pit--the best in the house. +I've been going dry for it these two days, and I'm going dry till I've +seen the piece. No, I've been here an hour already, and there's three +hours more, I know; but I'm not going to risk it, thanks all the same.' + +"By this I had remembered that Morton Morrison was to re-open that night +with a new piece. Indeed, I ought not to have forgotten that, seeing +that I had my order about me somewhere, and it meant a column from my +pen between twelve and one that night. But this sudden, sorry meeting +had put all other thoughts out of my head. + +"'My dear fellow,' I said, with a sort of laugh, 'are you a +first-nighter, too?' + +"'Only at this theatre.' + +"He looked me queerly in the face. + +"'You admire Morrison very much?' + +"'I love him!' + +"I suppose my eyes thawed him, though God knows how hard I was trying +not to hurt him with pitying looks. At all events he began to explain +himself of his own accord, very impetuously; indeed I rather think the +outburst was purely involuntary. + +"'Look here,' he said, with his hoarse voice lowered: 'I hoped never to +see your face again. I hoped you'd never see mine. But now you are here, +don't go this minute, and I'll tell you why I think so much of Morton +Morrison. I don't know him, mind you--he doesn't know me from Adam--but +once long ago I had something to do with him. And God bless him, but +damn every other manager in London, for he was the only one of the lot +that gave me a civil hearing and a kind word!' + +"I knew what he was talking about, and he knew that I knew, for we had +understood one another in the old days. + +"'I took it to him last of all,' he went on, wiping his damp lips with +his hand. 'When I began hawking it about he was an unknown man; when his +turn came he was here. He let me read it to him. Then he asked me to +leave it with him for a week; and when I went back to him, he said what +they had all said--that it would never act! But Morton Morrison said it +nicely. And when he saw how it cut me up, into little bits, he got me to +tell him all about everything; and then he persuaded me to burn the +play, instead of ruining my life for it; and I burnt it in his +dressing-room fire, but the ruin was too far gone to mend. I wrote that +thing with my heart's blood--old man, you know I did! And none of them +would think of it! My God! But Morrison was good about it--he's a good +soul--and that's why you'll see me at every first night of his until the +drink finishes its work.' + +"I had not followed him quite to the end. One thing had amazed me too +much. + +"'You burnt your play,' I could only murmur, 'when it would have turned +into such a novel! Surely you have some draft of it still?' + +"'I burnt the lot when I got home,' Pharazyn replied; 'and by-and-by I +shall join 'em and burn too!' + +"I had nothing to answer to that, and was, besides, tenacious of my +point. 'I don't think much of the kindness that makes one man persuade +another to burn his work and throw up the sponge,' said I, with a good +deal of indignation, for I did feel wroth with that fellow Morrison--a +bread-and-butter drawing-room actor, whose very vogue used to irritate +me. + +[Illustration: "WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS?"] + +"'Then what do you think of this?' asked Pharazyn, as he dipped a hand +within his shabby coat, and cautiously unclenched it under my nose. + +"'Why, it's a five-pound note!' + +"'I know; but wasn't _that_ kind, then?' + +"'So Morrison gave you this!' I exclaimed. + +"Two or three persons had stopped to join us at the pit door, and +Pharazyn hastily put the note back in his pocket. As he did so, his +dreadfully shabby condition gave my heart a fresh cut. + +"'Are you never going to spend that?' I asked in a whisper; and in a +whisper he answered:-- + +"'Never! It is all my play has brought me--all. It was given me as a +charity, but I took it as my earnings--my earnings for all the work and +waiting, and blood and tears, that one thing cost me. Spend it? Not I! +It will bury me as decently as I deserve.' + +"We could converse no more. And the presence of other people prevented +me from giving him my overcoat, though I spoke of it into his ear, +begging and imploring him to come away and take it while there was still +time for him to clip back and get a seat in the front row. But he would +not hear of it, and the way he refused reminded me of his old stubborn +independence; all I got was a promise that he would have a bite with me +after the performance. And so I left him in the frosty dusk, ill-clad +and unkempt, with the new-lit lamp over the pit door shining down upon +the haggard mask that had once been the eager, memorable face of my +cleverest friend. + +"I saw him next the moment I entered the theatre that evening, and I +nodded my head to him, which he rebuked with the slightest shake of his +own. So I looked no more at him before the play began, comprehending +that he desired me not to do so. The temptation, however, was too strong +to go on resisting, for while Pharazyn was in the very centre of the +front row in the pit, I was at one end of the last row of the stalls; +and I was very anxious about him, wanting to make sure that he was there +and not going to escape me again, and nervous of having him out of my +sight for five minutes together. + +"Thus I know more about the gradual change which came over Pharazyn's +poor face, as scene followed scene, than of the developments and merits +of those scenes themselves. My mind was in any case running more on my +lost friend than on the piece; but it was not till near the end of the +first act that the growing oddity of his look first struck me. + +"His eyebrows were raised; it was a look of incredulity chiefly; yet I +could see nothing to impale for improbability in the play as far as it +had gone. I was but lightly attending, for my own purposes, as you +youngsters skim your betters for review; but thus far the situation +struck me as at once feasible and promising. Also it seemed not a little +familiar to me; I could not say why, for watching Pharazyn's face. And +it was his face that told me at last, in the second act. By God, it was +his own play! + +"It was Pharazyn's play, superficially altered all through, nowhere +substantially; but the only play for me, when I knew that, was being +acted in the front row of the pit, and not on the stage, to which I had +turned the side of my head. I watched my old friend's face writhe and +work until it stiffened in a savage calm; and watching, I thought of the +'first night' he had pictured jovially in the old days, when the bare +idea of the piece was bursting his soul; and thinking, I wondered +whether it could add a drop to his bitterness to remember that too. + +"Yet, through all my thoughts, I was listening, intently enough, now. +And in the third act I heard the very words my friend had written: they +had not meddled with his lines in the great scene which had moved us +both to tears long ago in my rooms. And this I swear to, whether you +believe it or no--that at the crisis of that scene, which was just as +Pharazyn made it, the calm ferocity transfiguring his face died away all +at once, and I saw it shining with the sweetest tears our eyes can +shed--the tears of an artist over his own work. + +"And when the act was over he sat with his head on his hand for some +minutes, drinking in the applause, as I well knew; then he left his seat +and squeezed out on my side of the house, and I made sure he was coming +to speak to me over the barrier; and I got up to speak to him; but he +would not see me, but stood against the barrier with a mien as white and +set as chiselled marble. + +"What followed on the first fall of the curtain I shall relate as +rapidly as it happened. Louder call for an author I never heard, and I +turned my eyes to the stage in my intense curiosity to see who would +come forward; for the piece had been brought out anonymously; and I +divined that Morrison himself was about to father it. And so he did; but +as the lie passed his lips, and in the interval before the applause--the +tiny interval between flash and peal--the lie was given him in a roar of +fury from my left; there fell a thud of feet at my side, and Pharazyn +was over the barrier and bolting down the gangway towards the stage. I +think he was near making a leap for the footlights and confronting +Morrison on his own boards; but the orchestra came between, and the +fiddlers rose in their places. Then he turned wildly to us pressmen, and +I will say he had our ear, if not that of the whole house besides, for +the few words he was allowed to utter. + +"'Gentlemen!' he cried at the top of his voice--'Gentlemen, I'm one of +you! I'm a writing man like yourselves, and I wrote this play that +you've seen. That man never wrote it at all--I wrote it myself! That man +has only altered it. I read it to him two years ago--two years ago, +gentlemen! He kept it for a week, and then got me to burn it as +rubbish--when he had made a copy of it! And he gave me this, +gentlemen--he gave me this that I give him back!' + +"It was a matter of only a few seconds, but not till my own last hour +shall I forget Morrison's painted face on the stage, or that sweating +white one beneath the boxes; or the fluttering from Pharazyn's poor +fingers of the five-pound note he had treasured for two years; or the +hush all over the house until the first hand was laid upon his dirty +collar. + +"'What!' he screamed, 'do none of you believe me? Will none of you stand +by me--isn't there a man--not one man among you----' + +"And they threw him out with my name on his lips. And I followed, and +floored a brute who was handling him roughly. And nothing happened to +me--because of what happened to Pharazyn!" + + * * * * * + +The dear old boy sat silent, his grey head on his hand. Presently he +went on, more to himself than to me: "What could I do? What proof had I? +He had burnt them every one. And as long as the public would stand him, +Morrison kept his good name at least. And that play was his great +success!" + +[Illustration: "HE GAVE ME THIS."] + +I ventured gently to inquire what had happened to Pharazyn. + +"He died in my arms," my old friend cried, throwing up his head with an +oath and a tear. "He died in a few minutes, outside the theatre. I could +hear them clapping after he was dead--clapping his piece." + +[Illustration] + + + + +Zig Zags at the Zoo: Conkavian + + +If the gentle reader, full of a general desire for knowledge and a +particular enthusiasm for natural history, will refer to any one of the +great standard works on birds, and, turning to the index, seek for the +family title of the Conkaves, I have every hope and confidence that he +will not find it; because, as a matter of fact, it is a little invention +of my own, and, I may modestly urge, rather a neat thing in scientific +nomenclature, on the whole. It has the advantage of including in one +family the storks and the pelicans, which in all orthodox books on birds +are planted far apart and out of sight of each other, with many orders, +tribes, and families between. Under my title they are gathered amicably +together in the common possession of very long bills, like two tailors +on a man's doorstep. The word is derived, in the proper and regular +manner, from ancient sources; from _conk_, a venerable Eastern word, +signifying a nose or beak, and the Latin _avis_, a bird. And I offer +the term freely as my humble, but I trust useful, contribution to +science; my first contribution. + +The stork is regarded, in many countries, with a certain +semi-superstitious reverence and esteem. After many prolonged and +serious attempts to saturate myself with a similar feeling, I regret to +confess to a certain smallness of esteem for the stork. You can't esteem +a bird that makes ugly digs at your feet and heels with such a very big +beak. Out in their summer quarters the storks are kept in by close wire, +and close wire will give an air of inoffensiveness to most things. But, +away in a by-yard, with a gate marked "private," there stands a shed +wherein the storks are kept warm in winter, behind wooden bars; and +between these bars stork-heads have a way of dropping at the toes of the +favoured passer-by, like to action of a row of roadmen's picks. + +[Illustration: PICKS AND CHEWS.] + +The stork has come off well in the matter of bodily endowment. The +pelican has a tremendous beak--achieved, it would seem, by a skimping of +material in the legs; but the stork has the tremendous beak and legs of +surprising growth as well. His wings, too, are something more than +respectable. At flying, at eating, at portentous solemnity of +demeanour--in all these and in other things the pelican and the stork +score fairly evenly; but at walking the pelican is left behind at once. +This makes one suspect the stork's honesty. The pelican has a good beak +and wings, and pays for them, like an honest bird, out of its legs, just +as the ostrich pays for its neck and legs out of its wings. But the +stork is abnormally lucky in beak, neck, legs, and wings together, and +even then has material left to lay out in superfluous knobs and wens to +hang round its neck, which leads to a suspicion that many of its +personal fittings belong properly to some other bird. I've a notion that +the unlucky kiwi might identify some of the property. + +[Illustration: THE PELICAN LEFT.] + +[Illustration: ARMY.] + +Perhaps the adjutant should be acknowledged king of the conkavians. +Billy, the Zoo adjutant, has, I believe, no doubt on the subject at all. +Billy is an ornament to the military profession--a very fine fellow, +with a thing on the back of his neck like a Tangerine orange, and a wen +on the front of it, which he can blow out whenever he wants to amuse +himself, and everything else handsome about him. He is an old soldier, +too, is Billy, having been Adjutant of the Regent's Park Conkavian Corps +for seventeen years; but if you knew nothing of his age, still you would +call Billy an old soldier--upon a little acquaintance with his habits. + +[Illustration: LAW.] + +There seems no valid reason why the professional aspirations of the +stork should be restricted to the army. If an adjutant, why not a dean? +Why not a proctor? There is the making of a most presentable don about a +stork; and I have caught a stork in an attitude of judicial meditation +that might do honour to any bench. There is no reason why "sober as a +judge" should not be made to read "sober as a stork," except that the +stork is the more solemn creature of the two; and I think that some +species of stork--say the marabou, for instance--might fairly claim +brevet rank as judge, after the example of the adjutant. The elevation +of a beak to the bench might be considered an irregular piece of legal +procedure; but, bless you, it's nothing unusual with a stork. Put any +bench with something to eat on it anywhere within reach of a stork's +beak in this place, and you shall witness that same elevation, precedent +or no precedent. + +[Illustration: UNIVERSITIES.] + +A common white stork hasn't half the solid gravity of an adjutant or a +marabou. He has a feline habit of expressing his displeasure by blowing +and swearing--a habit bad and immoral in a cat, but worse in a stork +accustomed to Church. Church, by-the-bye, is the keeper of all the +conkavians, as well as of the herons, the flamingoes, the ibises, the +egrets, and a number of other birds with names more difficult to spell. +It is impossible to treat disrespectfully a man with such widespread +responsibilities as this, or there might be a temptation to mention that +he is not an unusually high Church, although his services are not always +simple, often involving a matter of doctorin'. But, then, some people +will say anything, temptation or none. And after all, it is pleasant to +know that, whatever a stork or a pelican wants, he always goes to +Church. + +[Illustration: SWEARING.] + +[Illustration: CHURCH.] + +This being the case, there is a proverb about cleanliness that makes one +wonder why the marabou stork doesn't wash himself. It isn't as though he +never wanted it. I have a horrible suspicion about this philosophic old +sloven. I believe his profession of philosophic contemplation is +assumed, because it is the easiest excuse for indolence. Now, a pelican +is not a bird of graceful outline, but he _is_ careful about his +feathers. The pelican is a scrupulous old Dutchman, and the stork is an +uncleanly old Hindu. And uncleanly he must be left, for it takes a deal +to shame a stork. You can't shame a bird that wraps itself in a +convenient philosophy. "Look here--look at me!" you can imagine a +pelican cleanliness-missionary saying to the stork. "See how white and +clean I keep all my feathers!" "Um," says the stork, "it only makes 'em +a different colour." "But observe! I just comb through my pinions with +my beak, so, and they all lie neat and straight!" "Well, and what's the +good of that?" grunts the stork. "And then you see," says the pelican, +ignoring the question, "with a good long beak you can reach everywhere, +over your back and under your wings; see, I'm as clean under my wings as +anywhere else, although it's covered up!" "Beastly vanity," growls the +old Hindu, getting bored. "Then," continues the Dutchman, "you give +yourself a good shake, and there you are!" "And then," says the +philosopher sarcastically, "to-morrow, I suppose, you'll have to do it +all over again?" "Of course!" "Oh! I hate a fool!" says the stork, and +closes the lecture. + +[Illustration] + +Thus the marabou. The ordinary white stork is comparatively respectable, +and so is the adjutant--or comparatively almost respectable, let us say; +you can't be too cautious in giving a personal character to a stork. +For long, long, the stork has enjoyed a reputation for solemn wisdom, +for philosophical dignity. Now for the first time I venture to question +this reputation--to impeach the stork as a humbug. It is easy to achieve +a reputation for profound and ponderous wisdom, so long as one looks +very solemn and says nothing. This is the stork's recipe. Go up to Billy +here, or one of the marabous, as he stands with his shoulders humped up +about his head, and make a joke. He won't see it. He will lift his +eyebrows with a certain look of contempt, and continue to +cogitate--about nothing. If the joke is a very bad pun--such a frightful +pun that even a stork will see and resent it--perhaps he will chatter +his beak savagely, with a noise like the clatter of the lid on an empty +cigar-box; but he will continue his sham meditations. "Ah, my friend," +he seems to say, "you are empty and frivolous--I cogitate the profounder +immensities of esoteric cogibundity." The fact being that he is very +seedy after his previous night's dissipation. + +[Illustration] + +That is the chief secret of the stork's solemnity, I am convinced. He +has a certain reputation to maintain before visitors, but after hours, +when the gates are shut and the keepers are not there to see, the +marabou stork is a sad dog. I haven't quite made up my mind what he +drinks, but if he has brandies and sodas he leaves out too much soda. +Look at that awful nose! It is long past the crimson and pimply +stage--it is taking a decided tinge of blue. It _looks_ worse than +brandy and soda--almost like bad gin--but we will be as charitable as +possible, and only call it brandy and soda. + +I should like to see the marabou stork on his nightly ran-tan, if only +to gloat over his lapse of dignity, just as one would give much to see +Benjamin Franklin with his face blacked, drunk and disorderly and being +locked up. But, as a shocking example, the marabou is quite bad enough +with his awful head in the morning; his awful head and his disreputable +nose, that looks to want a good scraping. I respect Billy, the adjutant, +for his long service and the Tangerine at the back of his neck. The +ordinary stork (although he swears and snaps) I also respect, because +the goody books used to tell pious lies about him. The whale-headed +stork, which is also called the shoe-bird, I respect as a sort of +relative of the shoo-fly that didn't bother somebody. But the marabou +has forfeited all respect--converted it into nose-tint. I must talk to +Church seriously about the marabou. + +[Illustration: THE RAN-TAN.] + +Now, the pelican is no humbug. There is nothing like concealment about +his little dissipations; and he is perfectly sober. Any little +irregularity at the pelican club just opposite the eastern aviary never +goes beyond a quiet round or two for a little fish dinner. It is quite a +select and a most proper club. Indeed, the first rule is, that if any +loose fish be found on the club premises, he is got rid of at once by +the first member who detects him. And the club spirit is such that +disputes frequently occur among members for the honour of carrying out +this salutary rule. The chairman of the club is an old crested pelican, +who, by some oversight, has never been provided with a private name of +his own. I think he should be called Peter, because he can take such a +miraculous draught of fishes. It _is_ a draught; you know--a pelican +doesn't eat fishes--he drinks them down in bulk. For Peter, a dozen or +so fresh herrings is a mere swill round of the mouth. + +[Illustration: A QUIET ROUND OR TWO.] + +Peter walks about the club premises with much dignity, deferred to on +all sides by the other members. His kingship is rarely disputed, having +been achieved by the sort of conquest most familiar in the pelican club; +and his divine right is as much respected as his tremendous left. + +A pelican never bears malice; he hasn't time, especially now, with +competition so keen in the fish business, and Church's fish pails only +of the ordinary size. There is never any ill-feeling after a little +spar, and each proceeds, in the most amicable way, to steal some other +pelican's fish. A spar at this club, by-the-bye, is a joyous and +hilarious sight. Two big birds with stumpy legs and top-heavy beaks, +solemnly prancing and manoeuvring before one another with an +accompaniment of valiant gobbles and a punctuation of occasional +pecks--a gleesome spectacle. + +[Illustration: PETER.] + +[Illustration: A SWILL ROUND.] + +Another sport much exhibited at the pelican club is that of +the broadsword. The school of fence is that of Mr. Vincent +Crummies--one--two--three--four--over; one--two--three--four--under. +You see, when a dozen or two birds with beaks a couple of feet long or +so get together in a small area, and now and again rush all in the same +direction for fish, fencing is certain to develop, sooner or later. So +here you have it, _secundum artem_--one--two--three--four--over; +one--two--three--four--under; and although none have yet attained the +Crummleian degree of knocking out sparks, there is a deal of hollow +noise, as of thumping on a wooden box. But there is never any +after-malice, and in less than five minutes either combatant will +swallow a fish rightfully belonging to the other, with perfect +affability. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +There is a good deal of the philosopher about the pelican, and of a more +genuine sort than characterizes the stork. The pelican always makes the +best of a bad job, without going into an unnecessary tantrum over it. If +another member of the club snatches a fish first, the pelican doesn't +bother, but devotes his attention to the next that Church throws; a fish +in the pouch is worth a shoal in somebody else's. Now and again Peter +loses his temper for a moment if the others catch the first snack, and +lays about him with his bill--but then, when a fellow's chairman, and a +lot of other fellows come snatching the lunch from under his nose--why, +hang it all, you know.... But it is only for a moment, and Peter is soon +in position for the next pouchful. He is artful about this position. +When Church appears at the rails with a pailful of fish most of the +members rush to those rails, jostle together and shove their beaks +through them and over them--any way to get nearer the pail. But the +chairman knows very well that Church doesn't throw the fish outside the +rails, but into the inclosure, somewhere near the middle; and near the +middle the sagacious Peter waits, to his early profit--unless Church is +unusually slow about throwing the fish, in which case Peter is apt to +let his excitement steal his sagacity, and to rush into the pell-mell, +anxious to investigate the delay. + +[Illustration: A LITTLE SOLEING AND HEELING.] + +There is a deal of excellent wear in a pelican. One has been here about +thirty years, and two more have been established on the same premises +for a quarter of a century. All these three are in capital working +repair and will probably last, with a patch or two, and a little soleing +and heeling, for a century or two more; no respectable pelican is ever +bowled out for less than three figures. + +In the winter the club takes up its quarters in the shed behind the +inclosure; a shed sumptuously furnished with certain benches and forms, +whereon the club stands in rows, with a general appearance of a number +of very solemn naughty boys in a Board school. In winter, too, Church +will often put his bucketful of fish on the ground, so that the club may +dine in a clubbier way. But whether you watch this club feeding together +from the pail, each member doing his best to put away the whole pailful +at a gulp, or whether you observe them playing a sort of greedy game of +lacrosse with fish which Church throws them, you will be equally amazed +that the pelican was used as a symbol of charity and brotherly love in +early and middle Christian art. + +[Illustration: SCHOOL.] + +[Illustration: CLUB DINNER.] + +I have seen a pelican enact a most instructive moral lesson at a +pail-dinner. Observe the bill and pouch of a pelican. The pouch is an +elastic fishing-net, and the lower mandible is a mere flexible frame to +carry it. Now, I have observed a pelican to make a bounce at the +fish-pail, with outspread wings, and scoop the whole supply. But then +his trouble began. The whole catch hung weightily low in the end of the +pouch, and jerk and heave as he might, he could never lift the load at +the end of that long beak sufficiently high to bolt it. Meanwhile, his +friends collected about him and remonstrated, with many flops and +gobbles, betting him all his fish to nothing that he would lose it after +all; this way they chased that bag, and that way, while the bagger, in +much trepidation and with many desperate heaves, wildly sought remote +corners away from his persecutors. Now, by the corner of the club +premises stands an appliance, the emblem of authority, the instrument of +justice, and the terror of the evilly-disposed pelican--a birch-broom. +This, brandished in the hands of Church, caused a sudden and awful +collapse of the drag-nets, an opening, a shower of fish and many snaps; +wherefrom walked away many pelicans with fish, and one with none, who +had looked to take all. The moral is plain to the verge of ugliness. + +[Illustration.] + +[Illustration.] + +[Illustration.] + +[Illustration.] + +[Illustration.] + +A pelican has no tongue--or none to speak of. It is a mere little knob +scarcely the size of a cherry. The long, long meditations of the pelican +(lasting between feeding times) are given up to consideration whether or +not the disgrace of this deficiency is counter-balanced by the greater +capacity for fish which it gives the pouch. After all, it is only +another instance of that commercial honesty which makes the pelican pay +for his beak out of his legs; he gives his tongue for a pouch. There +should be a legend of the pelican applying honestly to Adam to buy a +pouch, and the wily stork waiting and waiting on the chance of snatching +one without paying for it, until all had been served out; afterwards +living all its life on earth in covetous dudgeon, unconsoled by its +wealth of beak, legs, wings, and neck, and pining hopelessly for the +lost pouch. There are many legends of this sort which ought to exist, +but don't, owing to the negligence of Indian solar myth merchants, or +whoever it is has charge of that class of misrepresentation. + +[Illustration.] + +The pelican can fly, although you would never believe it, to look at the +club members here. To a Zoo pelican a flight of two feet is an +undertaking to be approached with much circumspection and preparation, +and a summoning of resolution and screwing of courage proper to the +magnitude of the feat. It takes a long time to learn to fly on to a +bottom-up bucket. The Zoo pelican begins on a shadow--not a very dark +one at first--and works his way up by jumping over, darker shadows to +straws and pebbles, before he tries a bucket. The accomplished +bucket-jumper makes a long preliminary survey and circumnavigation of +his bucket before performing, and when he does begin it is with a number +of wild rushes and irresolute stops. When at last he gets the proper +length of run, and the right foot in front, and doesn't see anything to +baulk him, he rises with a great effort, and all the lookers-on who +don't know him stare up over the trees, and are astonished to find him, +after all, only on the bucket. His pinions are cut, poor fellow! If they +were not, what would become of the fishmongers' shops? + + + + +_Shafts from an Eastern Quiver_. + +IX.--MAW-SAYAH: THE KEEPER OF THE GREAT BURMAN NAT. + +By Charles J. Mansford, B.A. + + +I. + +"The fine points of an elephant, sahib," said our guide Hassan, "are a +colour approaching to white, the nails perfectly black, and an intact +tail." + +"I am glad to hear that an elephant has some qualities which recommend +it," said Denviers, good-humouredly. "I should think that the one upon +which we are riding is about as lazy as it is possible to be. I suppose +slowness is an unusually good point, isn't it, Hassan?" The Arab, who +was sitting before us on the elephant, gave it a stir with the +sharply-pointed spear which he held in his hand to urge it on, and then +glancing back at us, as we reclined lazily in the cushioned howdah, he +said inquiringly: "Are the sahibs tired already of travelling thus? Yet +we have fully two hours' journey before us." + +"Hassan," I interposed, "this is a good opportunity for you to tell us +exactly what you heard about that Maw-Sayah when we were at Bhamo. It is +in consequence of that, indeed, that we are going to try to get among +these strange Kachyens; but as we are not quite sure of the details, you +may as well repeat them." + +"The sahib shall be obeyed," responded our guide, and although careful +to keep a good watch in front, he turned his body slightly towards us as +he prepared to begin the narrative. + +[Illustration: "THE SAHIB SHALL BE OBEYED."] + +On reaching Burmah we stayed for several days in Rangoon, the Queen of +the East as it is called nowadays, although only remarkable formerly for +its famous monasteries of Talapoins and as a halting-place for the bands +of pilgrims on their way to the mighty Shway Dagohn pagoda. Thence we +journeyed up the Irawaddy, and having duly paid reverence to some of the +nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine pagodas of Pagan--the outcast +slaves of which city seemed a strange contrast to its otherwise absolute +desertion--we continued our journey by steamer as far as Mandalay. +Having endured the doubtful pleasure of a jaunt in a seatless, jolting +bullock-carriage--the bruises from which were not easily forgotten--we +eventually reached Bhamo, where Hassan entered into conversation with a +hill-man. From the latter he learnt a strange story, which was later on +told to us and the truth of which we hoped before long to fully test, +for soon afterwards we set out on an elephant, our faithful guide in +this new adventure again proving himself of the greatest service. + +"Now, Hassan," said Denviers, "we are quite ready to hear this story +fully, but don't add any imaginary details of your own." + +"By the Koran, sahib," began the Arab, "these are the words which were +those of him to whom I spoke under the shade of the log stockade." + +"Which are, of course, unimpeachable," responded Denviers. "Anyone could +tell that from his shifty eyes, which failed to rest upon us fixed even +for a minute when we spoke to him afterwards." The Arab seemed a little +disconcerted at this, but soon continued:-- + +"The great Spirits or Nats, who guard the prosperity of Burmah, have +become greatly incensed with the Kachyens, not because they failed to +resist stoutly when the monarch was deposed a few years ago----" + +"Then we are to have a modern story, this time, Hassan?" interrupted +Denviers. "I quite expected that you would commence with some long +worn-out tradition." + +"The sahibs shall hear," the Arab went on. "No one who offends the Nats +of Burmah need expect anything but evil to follow. There are the Nats of +the sky, the Nats of the earth, the Nats of the Irawaddy, the Nats of +the five hundred little rivers, and the thousand Nats which guarded the +sacred person of the monarch----" + +"Yes, Hassan," said Denviers, impatiently, "you mentioned them all +before. We haven't time to hear the list enumerated now; go on about +this one particular Nat which you say is causing such havoc among the +hill-tribes." + +"Patience, sahib. The Nats were justly roused to anger because the +deposed monarch was not afterwards taken to the water's edge riding upon +an elephant instead of in a bullock-carriage." + +"Well, Hassan," said Denviers, "judging from our own experience the Nats +seem to be pretty sensible, I must say--but how do they affect the peace +of mind of the Kachyens?" + +"Listen, sahib. High among the hills which may be seen stretching before +us lies a village in which many of the Kachyens dwell, their occupation +being sometimes that of tillers of the land, but more often consisting +in planning and carrying out raids upon other hill-men, or of descending +at times to the plains, and there looting the towns wherein dwell more +peaceable tribes. In all their forays they had been successful, for +whenever their trusty dahs or swords were drawn, those who opposed them +invariably obtained the worst of the encounter. So powerful did they +become that at last those dwelling in the plains--Shans, Karenns, and +Talaings, too--made no resistance against their attacks; and when they +saw the produce of their fields carried away, thought themselves happy +not to have been slain. The reason why the Kachyens became so successful +in all they undertook was that a powerful forest Nat placed them under +its protection, and hence they could not be harmed by their foes. + +"Now it chanced that the King was in great danger through following the +advice of his impetuous ministers, whereupon he summoned the Kachyens to +his assistance--for their fame as warriors had reached his ears long +before. But they, confident of securing their own safety whatever +happened to the monarch, refused to obey his command to march against +the Burman foes. The consequence was that when the indignity which I +have mentioned was offered to the deposed monarch, the Nats throughout +Burmah were furious with that one who ruled the village in which the +Kachyens dwelt, and they sent some of their number to destroy it. The +latter, however, appeased them by making a grim promise, which has been +only too faithfully kept. + +"A few days afterwards a hill-man, who was clearing a part of the land +on the woody slope of the height, _saw the Nat_, which had never before +been visible, and, terrified at the strange form which it had assumed, +he ran hastily to the rest of the tribe, and, gathering them together, +held a consultation as to what should be done to appease it. Some +suggested that upon every tree trunk should be scratched appealing +messages, which the Nat might read; others were in favour of placing a +huge heap of spears and swords near the spot where the embodied Nat had +been seen in order that it might be tempted to destroy all those who +urged it to injure them. The messages and weapons, however, when placed +for the Nat to observe did no good, for one dreadful night a rattling +was heard of the bamboos, which lay before one of the Kachyen's huts, +and the man, going hastily to see what caused it, was swiftly carried +away in the darkness without apparently uttering a single cry! For many +nights in succession a similar scene was enacted, for he at whose door +the dire summons came dared not refuse to answer it lest the whole +household might perish. + +"Nothing more was ever seen of those thus strangely carried off, and the +Kachyens, each of whom feared that his own end might come next, +determined to consult some famous Buddhist priests who dwelt not far +from them, and who held charge over the famous marble slabs which the +great War Prince of Burmah had caused to be engraved concerning their +illustrious traditions. The man whom ye saw me conversing with by the +stockade was the one whom the tribe intrusted with the task; but the +priests, after much consideration among themselves of the object of his +visit, refused to have anything to do with such a tragic affair, and +thereupon dismissed their suppliant. + +[Illustration: "THE BUDDHIST PRIESTS."] + +"This Kachyen, when sorrowfully returning towards the hills, fearing +that the tribe would destroy him because of his non-success, chanced to +meet on his way a Mogul, to whom he repeated the story. The latter, +laying his hand on his red-dyed and fierce-looking beard, advised the +Kachyen to enter a hole in the mountain side and to consult a famous +Maw-Sayah, or juggler, who dwelt there. This juggler promised assistance +if the tribe would pay him a great reward in the event of his success, +and when they agreed to this he entered the village and waited for dusk +to arrive. Again the dreadful rattling was heard, and another Kachyen +stepped out to meet his fate. None of the tribe dared to look at what +transpired, except the juggler, and he too disappeared! The next +morning, however, he came into the village and called its inhabitants +together. When they had solemnly agreed to his conditions, he stated +that the Nat was bent upon destroying them all, and that to attempt to +escape by means of flight would only lead to quicker death. Then he told +them what the result of his intercession for them had been. + +"The Nat had been persuaded to destroy only one victim on each seventh +evening at dusk, and had appointed him to see that certain conditions +were not broken. He was to have a hut at his disposal, and into this the +men were to go by lot, and thus the Nat would obtain a victim when the +time came round. They were forbidden to wander about after sunset, and +whatever noises were made not to hearken to them, since the Maw-Sayah +would see that the others were unharmed. So long had this dreadful +destruction lasted that more than one-half of the men in the Kachyen +village, or town, as it might well be called from the large number who +inhabited it, had perished, and yet the Nat still demanded a victim, and +the Maw-Sayah is there to see that the compact is fulfilled. The man who +told this story, sahibs, declares that the keeper of the Nat has by this +means obtained sway over the Kachyens to such an extent that they have +become his abject slaves, for the custom of drawing lots has been +abolished, and he selects whom he will to sacrifice to the Nat. By some +means this Kachyen offended the Maw-Sayah, who thereupon condemned him, +but he, in terror of the sudden and silent death in store for him, fled +to Bhamo, where he lives in momentary fear of destruction. Such then, +sahibs, is the story, and it is to see this Maw-Sayah and the Nat at +their fell work to-night that even now our faces are turned to the high +land before us, up which we must climb, for there is but one narrow +pathway leading to the village." + +Hassan ceased, and then Denviers turned to me as he said:-- + +"I think that this Maw-Sayah, as Hassan calls him, has about as much +faith in Nats as we have. It suits his purpose to league himself with +something mysterious; whatever it is we will try to find out," and he +glanced at the weapons which we carried. + + +II. + +"The sahibs must dismount here", said Hassan shortly afterwards, and +following to the ground our guide, we began to climb the mountain path +which stretched before us. The ascent was exceedingly steep, and several +times we stopped to rest after pushing our way through the tangled +masses which almost hid the path, which was itself cut here and there +apparently through the rocky strata. When we had reached about +three-fourths of our journey Hassan stopped and pointed out to us one of +the thatched roofs of a hut, which seemed in the distance scarcely +noticeable until his keen eyesight discovered it. The village, we found, +lay a little to the left of the mountain path, for on nearing the summit +we found ourselves passing through a peculiar avenue of trees +interspersed with long bamboo poles. From the tops of the latter there +were stretched across the approach strong, rough-looking cords, which +supported various uncouth emblems, and among which were large triangles, +circles, and stars, cut apparently out of the stems of huge bamboos. +After traversing this avenue for nearly three hundred yards we saw the +tree trunks which Hassan had mentioned, and which were deeply scarred +with cabalistic messages to the fierce Nat, which we could not of course +understand. Affixed to some of the trees farther on we saw a number of +spears and dahs mingled with shorter weapons, the latter being made of +some species of hard wood, and close to them we observed the skulls of +several large animals, one of which we judged was that of an elephant. + +[Illustration: "THE AVENUE."] + +In spite of the fact that the village was a large one, the buildings +were of a very primitive construction, being made of bamboos with +thatched coverings, reaching almost to the piles on which the huts were +placed. We did not observe any openings made to serve as windows, the +only ones noticeable being those by which the Kachyens entered, placed +above a bamboo ladder, which seemed to, serve instead of steps. Although +the sun had scarcely set, the village was wrapped in a strange silence, +the sound of our footsteps alone being heard. The smoke that seemed to +be forcing its way through stray holes in the thatch amply convinced us, +however, that the inhabitants were within doors, and, turning to our +Arab guide, I asked him if he could distinguish among the many huts the +one in which we expected to find the Maw-Sayah. He seemed a little +uncertain at first, but after wandering through the village together we +returned, and then Hassan, who had been very observant the whole time, +pointed to one of the rudely-constructed huts and said:-- + +"I think that is the one into which we seek to enter; it is situated +according to the position in which the Kachyen said it was, and, +besides, it bears a strange proof of the story which ye have listened to +with such ill-concealed disbelief." + +"Why do you think that is the hut, Hassan?" I asked, for, to my eyes, no +difference between that and the others close to it was distinguishable. + +"If the sahib will look at the bamboo ladder and observe it carefully, +he will see that it is unlike the others round," said the Arab. + +"I suppose you refer to these deep scratches upon it, don't you, +Hassan?" asked Denviers, as he pointed to some marks, a few of which +were apparently fairly recent. + +"The sahib guesses rightly," answered our guide. "You will remember that +the Kachyen stated to me that the Nat is accustomed to obtain its victim +now from the abode of the Maw-Sayah; those marks, then, have been made +by it when it dragged its human prey out of the hut." We gazed curiously +at the marks for a few minutes, then Denviers broke the silence by +asking the Arab why it was that the Nat made marks at all. + +"I should have thought that such a powerful spirit could prevent such +evidences of its presence becoming observed," he continued. "My respect +for it is certainly not increased by seeing those deep scars; they seem +to be made by something which has sharp claws." + +"That is because of the shape which it has assumed, sahib," said the +Arab, "for the Nats have wondrous powers----" + +"Very likely, Hassan," interposed Denviers; "I suppose they can do +exactly what they like, can they not?" I was much surprised at the limit +which was, however, placed upon their powers by our guide, for he +responded quickly:-- + +"Not altogether, sahib. There is one thing that a Nat cannot do, +according to the reports of these Kachyens, and that is, they are unable +to move in a direction which is not straight, and hence they are careful +to avoid rough ground, where tangled masses and boulders bar their +progress, so they usually frequent the open avenues, such as the one +which we have just passed through. The symbols above it and the writings +and weapons are all for the Nat's benefit." + +"And the elephant's skull?" asked Denviers, irreverently. "What is that +put up for?" The Arab, however, had an explanation ready, for he +promptly replied:-- + +"That indicates where the supplies of food are to be found when the Nat +requires any." Denviers turned to me for a moment as he said:-- + +"I should have thought it a good plan, then, to have put it upon the hut +of this Maw-Sayah whom we are about to interview. See that your weapons +are in good order, Harold, we may soon need them." Giving a cautious +look at my belt and the weapons thrust into it, I followed Denviers, who +had mounted the short bamboo ladder, and was endeavouring to obtain +admission to the hut. We heard a harsh sound within, then the cry of +someone apparently terror-stricken, and a moment afterwards we had +pushed past the Maw-Sayah, who by no means was willing to allow us to +enter the rude dwelling. + +The single room, which seemed to constitute the hut, was extremely low +and bare of furniture entirely. A few bamboos were spread in one part of +it, while at the far end was a fire, the light from which was partly +obscured by the smoke, which almost suffocated us, so thickly did it +roll up and then spread through the hut. Near the door stood a man +scarcely clothed, upon whose face we saw a look of the most abject +terror, for, as we surmised, the noise of our entry was mistaken by him +for the approach of the fell thing to which he was condemned by the +Maw-Sayah. We moved towards the latter as he threw himself down by the +fire, which he had only left to see who it was that came unbidden to the +hut where to enter was the preceding event to death. He was clothed in a +long blue strip of linen, which wound round his waist and covered his +body, partly leaving his dark chest uncovered. His features were stamped +with an appearance of supreme cunning, his oblique eyes reminding us of +a Chinaman, while the fierce look in them as they glared at us from +either side of an aquiline nose, which betrayed his Burmese descent, did +not increase our confidence in the man as he stretched out his bony +hands over the fire as if for warmth, although outside the hut we had +found the heat almost insupportable. + +"What do ye seek?" he demanded, as he looked into our faces in turn and +seemed astonished at our strange features. + +"We are travellers who wished to see a Kachyen village," responded +Denviers, "and we further desired to see some of its inhabitants; but +as none were visible we entered this hut, even against your will. Where +are the people who dwell here?" The man whom my companion addressed +pointed to the Kachyen near the doorway, as he responded:-- + +"There is one of them, and in a short time even he will never be seen +again." + +[Illustration: "WHAT DO YE SEEK?"] + +"Can you give us food?" hazarded Hassan, in order to get the man to +continue his conversation, for the Arab evidently was expecting that the +Nat would soon arrive upon the scene. The Maw-Sayah rose and pointed to +the entrance as he cried:-- + +"That way ye came, that way shall ye depart. Food for ye I have not, nor +would I give it if I had." I turned to Denviers and said in a low +tone:-- + +"What shall we do, Frank? I don't think our opportunity of seeing what +may transpire will be as good within the hut as without it. Whatever the +solution is to this affair, if we are outside we shall see this Kachyen +dragged away, and may further watch the approach of whatever caused +those strange marks which we observed." + +"One thing is clear," said my companion, "we will attempt to save this +intended victim, at all events. I expect that if we tried we could get +him away easily enough, but that plan would not be of much service. We +must attack this being, whatever it is, with which this Maw-Sayah is +leagued. How I should like to hand him over as a victim instead of that +trembling captive by the door. It shows to what extent this juggler has +acquired power over this tribe, for I notice that his captive is +unbound, and is certainly a much finer built man than the other." + +"It wants less than an hour to dusk, sahibs," said Hassan, who had +listened carefully to our remarks; "if we were to station ourselves a +little away from the hut we could see what took place, and if the Nat +were mortal we might attack it." + +Denviers shrugged his shoulders at the Arab's supposition as he +responded:-- + +"There is little doubt, Hassan, that the Nat would smart if that keen +blade of yours went a little too near it, but I think your plan is a +good one, and we will adopt it, as it falls in with what has already +been said." We gave a final look at the crafty face of the man who was +still seated by the fire, and then brushing past the captive we made for +the open village again. + +"I feel sorry for this Kachyen," said Denviers. "He will have a dreadful +five minutes of it, I expect; but it is our only way of preventing, if +possible, such an affair from occurring again." On leaving the hut we +stationed ourselves almost opposite to it, and then began to keep watch. +What we should see pass up the avenue we could only surmise, but our +suppositions certainly did not lead us to imagine in the faintest degree +the sight which before long was destined to completely startle us. + + +III. + +The grey dusk was becoming night when among the dark stems of the trees +we saw some black form move over the ground. We could scarcely +distinguish it as it crawled over the bamboo logs and made a rasping +noise as it clung to the ladder. The door of the hut yielded to it, and +a minute after it again emerged and bore with it the terrified Kachyen. +We crept after it as it dragged its captive down the avenue, striving +our utmost to make out its shape. One thing we could tell, which was +that the creature was not upright; but our movement behind it was +apparently known, for it struggled to move quicker over the ground with +its human burden. + +[Illustration: "IT AGAIN EMERGED."] + +"Shall I shoot it?" I whispered to Denviers, as my nerves seemed to be +almost unstrung at the unknowableness of the creeping thing. + +"You would more likely kill the man," he responded. "Follow as +noiselessly as you can--it will not let its prey escape, be sure of +that. Once we track it to its haunt we will soon dispatch it, big and +fierce as it seems." + +We drew nearer and nearer to it, until it had passed half-way down the +avenue, then it seemed to become lost to our view, although we were, as +we knew, close to it. I felt Denviers' hand upon my shoulder, and then +he whispered:-- + +"The Kachyen is being dragged up a tree just in front--look!" I could +just distinguish something moving up the trunk, when suddenly the +captive, who had hitherto been apparently paralyzed with terror, uttered +a cry and then must have succeeded in disengaging himself from the +dreadful thing that had held him, for the noise of someone falling to +the ground was heard, and a minute after we distinguished the form of a +man rushing headlong back to the village for safety. + +We did not anticipate such an event, and were contemplating a search for +the captor of the Kachyen, when a cold sweat broke out upon me, for the +clammy claws of the man-hunter had touched me! The sensation which +seized me was only of short duration, for I felt myself released just as +Denviers said:-- + +"Harold, the Kachyen has fled, and his captor, determined to secure its +prey, has betaken its crawling body after him. If only we had a light! I +saw something like a black shadow moving onwards; get your pistol ready +and follow." I just distinguished Denviers as he passed on in front of +me, Hassan coming last. When we reached the hut of the Maw-Sayah we +stopped at once, for, from the cry which came from it, we rightly +surmised that the terrible seeker for human prey had made for this +place, thinking, in its dull intelligence, that its captive had +returned. We thrust ourselves into the hut, and saw by the red firelight +a sanguinary contest between the Maw-Sayah and the black object which we +had endeavoured to track. Thinking that the Kachyen was being destroyed, +the juggler had not fastened his door, and the enraged man-eater had +seized him as he rested on the ground, quite at its mercy! + +The Maw-Sayah was struggling with his bony hands to extricate himself +from the clutches of a monstrous tree-spider! We had seen, on an island +in the South Seas, several cocoa-nut crabs, and this reptile somewhat +resembled them, but was even larger. Grasping the juggler with several +of its long, furry-looking claws, it fixed its glaring red eyes in mad +anger upon him as he grasped in each hand one of its front pair of +legs, which were armed with strong, heavy-looking pincers. He besought +us wildly to shoot, even if we killed him, held as he was by his +relentless foe. + +"Harold," cried my companion, "keep clear, and look out for yourself +when I fire at this reptile; most likely it will make for one of us." He +drew right close to it, and thrusting the barrel of his pistol between +its eyes touched the trigger. The explosion shook the hut, its effect +upon the spider being to cause it to rush frantically about the floor, +dragging the Maw-Sayah as if he were some slight burden scarcely +observable. + +[Illustration: "A RELENTLESS FOE."] + +"You missed it!" I cried. "Look out, Hassan, guard the doorway!" The +Arab stood, sword in hand, waiting for it to make for the entrance, +while Denviers exclaimed:-- + +"I shot it through the head!" and a minute afterwards the trueness of +his aim was manifest, for the claws released, and the Maw-Sayah, wounded +badly, but saved, stood free from the muscular twitchings of the dead +spider. + +"You scoundrel!" said Denviers to him, "I have a good mind to serve you +the same. You deserve to die as so many of these simple-minded, +credulous Kachyens have done." I thought for one brief second that my +companion was about to kill the juggler, for through all our adventures +I had never seen him so thoroughly roused. I stood between them; then, +when Denviers quickly recovered his self-command, I turned to the +Maw-Sayah and asked:-- + +"If we spare your life, will you promise to leave this village and never +to return?" He turned his evil-looking but scared face towards us +eagerly as he replied:-- + +"I will do whatever you wish." Denviers motioned to him to rest upon the +ground, which he did, then turning to me, said:-- + +"It is pretty apparent what this juggler has done. The man who first +reported the discovery of this Nat, as the foolish Kachyens call it, +simply disturbed a monstrous spider which had lived in the trees which +he felled--that accounts for his seeing it. Finding animal food scarce, +the reptile ventured into this village and tried to get into one of the +huts. Its exertions were rewarded by the Kachyen coming to the door, +whom it accordingly seized. To continue its plan, which proved so +successful, needed very little reasoning power on the part of such a +cunning creature. No doubt this Maw-Sayah purposely left the door of his +hut unfastened each seventh night, and the spider thus became accustomed +to seek for its victim there, I daresay it came the other nights, but +the juggler was then careful enough to keep his hut well fastened." + +"What do the sahibs propose to do?" interrupted Hassan. Denviers turned +to him, as he responded:-- + +"We will wait for daybreak; then, having dragged the dead spider out +where the Kachyens may see that it is no longer able to harm them, we +will take this Maw-Sayah down the mountain path away from the village as +poor as he came." + +[Illustration: "YOU SCOUNDREL!"] + +"A good plan," I assented, and we followed it out, eventually leaving +the juggler, and climbing once more into the howdah upon the elephant, +which we found close to the spot where we had left it, secured from +wandering far away by the rope which Hassan had used to hinder its +movements. + +We entered Bhamo, and while we took a much-needed rest, our guide--as we +afterwards learnt--searched for and found the fugitive Kachyen, who, on +hearing that his safety was secured, hastily departed to the village to +rejoice with the rest of his tribe that the so-called Nat would not do +them any more injury. + + + + +_From Behind the Speaker's Chair._ + +III. + +(VIEWED BY HENRY W. LUCY.) + +[Illustration: "OBSTRUCTION."] + +It is thirteen years since a new Parliament last blithely started on its +way with Mr. Gladstone sitting in the seat of the Premier. Since March, +1880, a great deal has happened, not least in the change of +circumstances under which the business of the House of Commons is +conducted. The majority of the House of Commons may be Liberal or +Conservative, according to a passing flood of conviction on the part of +the constituencies. When presumptuous hands are stretched forth to touch +the Ark of its procedure, its instincts are all Tory. For more than two +hundred years preceding the advent of a Tory Ministry in 1886, this was +so. Mr. Gladstone, driven to desperation in the second Session of the +Parliament of 1880-5, endeavoured to reform procedure so that +obstruction might be fought on even terms. He was met by such resolute +and persistent opposition from the Conservative side that, even with an +overwhelming majority at his back, he succeeded only in tinkering the +pot. Oddly enough, it was left for the Conservatives when they came into +office to revolutionize the system upon which, through the ages, +Parliamentary business had been carried on. + +There was nothing in the reforms more startling to the old +Parliamentarian than the proposal automatically to close debate at +midnight. A dozen years ago members of the House of Commons assembled at +four o'clock for prayers. Questions began at half-past four, and no one +could say at what hour of the night or of the next morning the cry "Who +goes home?" might echo through the lobby. In those days Mr. O'Donnell +was master of the situation, and he had many imitators. A debate carried +on through several nights might seem to be approaching a conclusion. The +Leader of the Opposition, rising between eleven o'clock and midnight, +spoke in a crowded House. The Premier, or his lieutenant, followed, +assuming to wind up the debate. Members wearied of the long sitting were +prepared to go forth to the division lobby; when from below the gangway +on the left there uprose a familiar figure, and there was heard a +well-known voice. + +[Illustration: F. H. O'DONNELL.] + +These usually belonged to Mr. O'Donnell bent upon vindicating the right +of a private member to interpose when the constituted authorities of the +House had agreed in the opinion that a debate had been continued long +enough. A roar of execration from the fagged legislators greeted the +intruder. He expected this, and was in no degree perturbed. In earliest +practice he had a way of dropping his eye-glass as if startled by the +uproar, and searched for it with puzzled, preoccupied expression, +apparently debating with himself what this outburst might portend. He +did not love the British House of Commons, and delighted in thwarting +its purposes. But he knew what was due to it in the way of respect, and, +however angry passions might rise, however turbulent the scene, he would +never address it looking upon it with the naked eye. As his eye-glass +was constantly tumbling out, and as search for it was preternaturally +deliberate, it played an appreciable part in the prolongation of +successive Sessions. + +[Illustration: "EYE-GLASS PLAY."] + +What has become of Frank Hugh now, I wonder? Vanishing from the House of +Commons, he reappeared for a while on the scene, characteristically +acting the part of the petrel that heralded the storm Mr. Pigott +ineffectively tried to ride. It must be a consolation to Mr. O'Donnell, +in his retirement, wherever it is passed, to reflect on the fact that it +was he who directly brought about the appointment of the Parnell +Commission, with all it effected. His action for libel brought against +the _Times_ preluded and inevitably led up to the formal investigation +of the famous Charges and Allegations. + +The member for Dungarvan was, in his day, the most thoroughly disliked +man in the House of Commons, distaste for Mr. Parnell and for Mr. Biggar +in his early prime being softened by contrast with his subtler +provocation. An exceedingly clever debater, he was a phrase maker, some +of whose epigrams Mr. Disraeli would not have disowned. He was a +parliamentary type of ancient standing, and apparently ineradicable +growth. In the present House of Commons fresh developments are presented +by Mr. Seymour Keay and Mr. Morton. These are distinct varieties, but +from the unmistakable root. Both are gifted with boundless volubility, +unhampered by ordinary considerations of coherency and cogency. Neither +is influenced by that sense of the dread majesty of the House of Commons +which keeps some members dumb all through their parliamentary life, and +to the last, as in the case of Mr. Bright, weighs upon even great +orators. The difference between the older and the new development is +that whilst over Mr. O'Donnell's intentional and deliberate vacuity of +speech there gleamed frequent flashes of wit, Mr. Morton and Mr. Keay +are only occasionally funny, and then the effect was undesigned. + +[Illustration: O'DONNELL'S LAST APPEARANCE.] + +[Illustration: MR. SEYMOUR KEAY.] + +Since we have these two gentlemen still with us, it would be rash to say +that if Mr. O'Donnell could revisit the glimpses of Big Ben he would +find his occupation gone. He would certainly discover that his +opportunities had been limited, and would have to recommence practice +under greatly altered conditions. One of the former member for +Dungarvan's famous achievements took place in the infancy of the +Parliament of 1880-5, and, apart from its dramatic interest, is valuable +as illustrating the change effected in parliamentary procedure by the +New Rules. On that particular June night the paper was loaded with +questions in a fashion unfamiliar in the last Parliament, though there +are not lacking signs of renewed activity since political parties +changed places. Question No. 23 stood in the name of Mr. O'Donnell, and +contained in his best literary style a serious indictment of M. +Challemel-Lacour, just nominated by the French Government as their +representative at the Court of St. James. + +[Illustration: MR. A. C. MORTON.] + +Sir Charles Dilke, then Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, made +categorical reply, directly traversing all the points in the indictment. +When he resumed his seat Mr. O'Donnell rose in his usual deliberate +manner, captured his eye-glass, and having fixed it to his satisfaction, +remarked in his drawling voice that it was "perfectly impossible to +accept the explanation of the Government." Being interrupted with cries +of "Order! Order!" he quietly played his trump card: "If I am not +allowed to explain," he said, "I will conclude with a motion." + +[Illustration: SIR CHARLES DILKE.] + +The House howled again, but it was a cry of despair. Mr. O'Donnell, they +knew, had the whip hand. In those good old days he, or any other member +desiring to obstruct ordinary procedure, might, in the middle of +questions, start a debate on any subject under the sun. This and other +outrages were doubtless recalled by the House of Commons when revising +its Rules. It then ordered that no member might, during the progress of +questions, interpose with a motion on which to found debate. If, in this +current month of March, Mr. O'Donnell, being a member of the House of +Commons, had wanted to attack M. Challemel-Lacour, he must needs have +waited till the last question on the paper was disposed of, and could +then have moved the adjournment only if his description of the +question--as one of urgent public importance--was approved by the +Speaker, and if, thereafter, forty members rose to support the request +for a hearing. + +In June, 1880, all that was left for the crowded House to do was to roar +with resentment. Mr. O'Donnell was used to this incentive, and had it +been withheld would probably have shown signs of failing vigour. As it +was, he produced a pocket-handkerchief, took down his eye-glass and +carefully polished it, whilst members yelled and tossed about on their +seats with impotent fury. Under the existing Rules this scene, if it had +ever opened, would have been promptly blotted out. The closure would +have been moved, probably a division taken, and the business of the +evening would have gone forward. There was no closure in those days, and +Mr. Gladstone, after hurried consultation with Sir Erskine May, hastily +moved that Mr. O'Donnell be not heard. + +A shout of savage exultation rising from every bench, save those on +which the Irish members sat, hailed a stroke that promised to deliver +the House from the thraldom of Mr. O'Donnell at the very moment when its +chains had taken a final twist. In ordinary circumstances this +resolution would have played the part of the as yet unconsecrated +closure. A division would have followed, the motion carried by an +overwhelming majority, and Mr. O'Donnell would have been temporarily +shut up. + +But those were not ordinary times. The Fourth Party was in the prime of +its vigour. Lord Randolph Churchill's quick eye discovered an opening +for irritating Mr. Gladstone and damaging the Government by making what +should have been a business night one long turmoil. Mr. Parnell, whilst +disclaiming any personal sympathy with Mr. O'Donnell, moved the +adjournment of the debate, and poor, placid Sir Stafford Northcote, +egged on by the young bloods below the gangway, raised various points of +order. Finally, at eight o'clock, the House dividing on Mr. Parnell's +amendment, Sir Stafford Northcote voted with the Irish members, leading +a hundred men of the Party of Law and Order into the same lobby. + +[Illustration: STIRRING UP SIR STAFFORD.] + +Hour after hour the riot continued. At one time blameless Sir William +Harcourt, then Home Secretary, appearing at the table, a Conservative +member, amid tumultuous shouts, moved that he be not heard. When members +grew tired of shouting at each other they divided on fresh motions for +the adjournment, and it was not till one o'clock on the following +morning that Mr. O'Donnell, grateful for a pleasant evening, was good +enough to undertake that before he recurred to the question he would +give due notice, so that the Speaker might exercise his discretion in +revising its terms. At five minutes past one in the morning, after a +wrangle full eight hours long, the Speaker, with a pretty assumption of +nothing particular having happened, called on the next question on the +paper, which was Number 24. + +All this might happen again on any night of this month save for the +beneficent action of the New Rules a long-suffering Parliament was +finally induced to adopt. On the threshold of a new Parliament it is +useful to recall the scene as an assistance in calculating what may be +accomplished by the Parliament elected in 1892, as compared with that +which began its history in 1880. On the face of it, Parliament to-day +has much less time at its disposal for the accomplishment of work than +it had a dozen years ago. Then, the duration of a sitting was +indefinite. The House might, as it did in February, 1881, meet at four +o'clock on a Monday afternoon and sit continuously till Wednesday +morning. Now, the Speaker takes the Chair at three o'clock; public +business commences at half-past three; and at midnight, save in cases +where the Standing Order has been formally suspended, the Speaker leaves +the Chair, and the House adjourns, whoever may be on his feet. + +[Illustration: "DISGUST."] + +The influence of this automatic procedure is beneficially felt +throughout the whole of debate. One wholesome influence works in the +direction of using up the early hours of the sitting, an arrangement +which carries comfort to countless printing offices and editorial +sanctums. Some time before the New Rules came into operation, Mr. +Gladstone discovered for himself the convenience and desirability of +taking part in debate at the earliest possible hour of a sitting. His +earlier associations drifted round a directly opposite course. In the +good old days the champions of debate did not interpose till close upon +midnight, when they had the advantage of audiences sustained and +exhilarated by dinner. That was before the era of special wires to the +provincial papers, early morning trams, and vastly increased circulation +for the London journals. Mr. Gladstone discovered that he was more +carefully reported and his observations more deliberately discussed if +he spoke between five and seven o'clock in the evening than if, +following his earlier habit, he addressed the House between eleven and +one in the morning. He has, accordingly, for some years been accustomed, +when he has an important speech to deliver, to interpose in debate +immediately after questions. + +This habit has become general, even compulsory, with members who may, +within certain limits, choose their own time for speaking. All the cream +of debate is now skimmed before the dinner-hour. At the close of a +pitched battle, the two Leaders of Party, as heretofore, wind up the +debate. But their opportunity for orating is severely circumscribed. The +audience in the House of Commons does not begin to reassemble after +dinner till half-past ten. Rising at that hour, the Leader of the +Opposition, if he fairly divides the available time with the right +honourable gentleman opposite, must not speak more than three-quarters +of an hour, and should not exceed forty minutes. + +This is a necessity desirable not less in the orator's interest than in +that of the audience. Except for the exposition of an intricate measure, +twenty minutes is ample time for any man to say what is useful for his +fellow-men to hear. All Mr. Disraeli's best speeches were made within +half an hour, and if he thought it necessary, from a sense of the +importance of his position, to prolong them, his stock of good things +was exhausted in twenty minutes, the rest being what Carlyle +disrespectfully described as thrice-boiled cole-wort. Mr. Gladstone can +go on indefinitely, and in very recent times has been known to hold his +audience spell-bound for three hours. But even he has profited by the +beneficent tyranny that now rules the limit of debate, and, rising with +the knowledge that he has but forty minutes to speak in, has excelled +himself. For less exuberant speakers not gifted with his genius, the new +discipline is even more marked in its benefits. + +[Illustration: MR. KEIR HARDIE.] + + * * * * * + +It is too soon to endeavour to estimate the general characteristics of +the _personnel_ of the new Parliament. It will probably turn out to be +very much of the same class as the innumerable army of its predecessors. +When Mr. Keir Hardie came down on the opening day in a wagonette, with +flags flying and accordions playing, it was cried aloud in some quarters +that the end was at hand. This apprehension was strengthened when Mr. +Hardie strolled about the House with a tweed travelling cap on his head, +the Speaker at the time being in the chair. This, as Dr. Johnson +explained, when the lady asked him why he had described the horse's +pastern as its knee, was "ignorance, pure ignorance." Mr. Hardie is not +a man of the quietest manners, as was testified to by the apparition in +Palace Yard of the wagonette and its musical party; but in the +much-talked-of incident of the cap he sinned inadvertently. Before the +Speaker took the chair he had seen members walking about with their hats +on. He had observed that even in his presence they remained seated with +their heads covered. The shade of etiquette which approves this fashion +whilst it sternly prohibits a member from keeping his hat on when in +motion, even to the extent of leaning over to speak to a friend on the +bench below him, was too fine to catch the eye of a new member. + +Mr. Keir Hardie has done much worse things than this in his public +appearances during the recess, and since the Session opened there has +not been lacking evidence of resolve to keep himself in the front of the +stage where the gallery may see him. But this is no new thing, to be +cited in proof of the deterioration of the composition and style of the +House of Commons. It has been done repeatedly in various fashions within +recent memory, and always with the same result. No man, not even Mr. +Biggar--and he may be cited as the most ruthless experimenter--has +successfully struggled against the subtle disciplinary influence of the +House of Commons. + +From the first the member for Cavan set himself in deliberate fashion to +outrage Parliamentary traditions and usages. He finished by becoming a +punctilious practitioner of Parliamentary forms, a stickler for the +minutest observation of order. Whilst Mr. Gladstone and other members of +old standing were content to preface their speeches with the +monosyllable "Sir," nothing less than "Mr. Speaker, sir," would satisfy +Mr. Biggar. No one who has not heard the inflection of tone with which +this was uttered, nor seen the oratorical sweep of the hand that +launched it on its course, can realize how much of combined deference +and authority the phrase is capable of. Mr. Biggar, having in his early +Parliamentary days defied the Chair and affronted the sensibilities of +the House, alike in the matter of dress and deportment, developed into a +portly gentleman of almost smug appearance, a terror to new members. Woe +to any who in his ignorance passed between the Chair and the member +addressing it; who walked in from a division with his hat on; or who +stood an inch or two within the Bar whilst debate was going forward. Mr. +Biggar's strident cry of "Order! Order!" reverberated through the House. +Others joined in the shout, and the abashed offender hastily withdrew +into obscurity. + +[Illustration: THE LATE MR. BIGGAR.] + +It is the same with others of less strongly marked character. Vanity or +garrulity may force a new member into a position of notoriety. He may, +according to his measure of determination, try a fall again and again +with the House, and may sometimes, as in the case of Mr. O'Donnell, seem +to win. But in the end the House of Commons proves victorious. It is a +sort of whetstone on which blades of various temperature operate. In +time, they either forego the practice or wear themselves away. In either +case the whetstone remains. + +This is a rule without exception, and is a reassuring reflection in view +of the talk about the degeneracy of the House of Commons, and the +decadence of its standard of manner. It would not be difficult to show +that the House at present in Session will, from the point of view of +manners, favourably compare with any that have gone before--though, to +be just, the comparison should be sought with Parliaments elected under +similar conditions, with the Liberals in office and the Conservatives in +opposition. That is an arrangement always found to be more conducive to +lively proceedings than when parties are disposed in the contrary order. +The Parliament dissolved last year was decorously dull. Mr. Gladstone in +opposition is not prone to show sport, and no encouragement was held out +to enterprising groups below the gangway to bait the Government. It was +very different in the Parliament of 1880-5, of which fact the +Challemel-Lacour episode is an illustration, only a little more piquant +in flavour than the average supply. + +There are already signs that the new Parliament will not lie under the +charge of deplorable dulness brought against its predecessor. But these +varying moods are due to waves of political passion, and do not affect +the question whether the House of Commons as a body of English gentlemen +met for the discharge of public business has or has not deteriorated. I +have an engraving of a picture of the House of Commons in pre-Reform +days. It was carefully drawn in the Session of 1842. A more respectable +body of the gentlemen of England it would be difficult to gather +together. With the possible exception of one or two political +adventurers like the then member for Shrewsbury, there is probably not a +man in the House who is not well born or at least rich. Mr. Keir Hardie +would look strange indeed in these serried ranks of portly gentlemen +with high coat collars, cravats up to their chin, short-bodied coats +showing the waistcoat beneath, and the tightly trousered legs. Yet this +House, and its equally prim successors, had its obstruction, its +personal wrangles, and its occasional duel. Peel was attacked by +Disraeli in a fashion and in language that would not be tolerated in the +House of Commons now, even though the target were Mr. Gladstone. + +It is not necessary to go back as far as the days of Peel or +Parliamentary Reform to sustain the bold assertion that, so far from +having degenerated, the manners of the House of Commons have improved. +In the Parliament elected in 1874 there sat on the Conservative side a +gentleman named Smollet, who early distinguished himself by bringing +Parliamentary debate down to the level of conversation in "Roderick +Random." In those days Mr. Gladstone was down after the General +Election, and Mr. Smollet, to the uproarious delight of gentlemen near +him, savagely kicked him. + +[Illustration: "MOBBING HIM."] + +It was in the second year of this same Parliament, less than twenty +years ago, that Mr. Gladstone, issuing from a division lobby, was +suddenly pounced upon by some fifty or sixty Conservative members, and +howled at for the space of several moments. It is, happily, possible for +Mr. Gladstone to forget, or at least to forgive, personal attacks made +upon him through his long career. In this very month of the new Session +he may be nightly seen working in cordial fashion with ancient +adversaries from Ireland, describing as "my honourable friends" +gentlemen who, ten years ago and for some time subsequently, heaped on +his head the coarsest vituperation permitted by practised manipulation +of Parliamentary forms. But this scene in the division lobby on the 12th +of April, 1875, is burned into his recollection. I have heard him, +within the last few months, refer to it in those tones of profound +indignation and with that flashing fire in his eyes only seen when he is +deeply moved. He mentioned, what I think was not known, that Lord +Hartington happened to be walking with him at the time. But there was no +mistake for whom the angry cries were meant. Mr. Gladstone spoke with +the profounder indignation because, as he said, he had on this occasion +gone out to vote on behalf of a man whose character he detested, because +he saw in the action taken against him an attack upon one of the +privileges of Parliament. + +That scene was an outburst of political animosity; and the movements of +political animosity, like the dicta of taste, are not to be disputed. +But on the question of good manners, the only one here under +consideration, it may be affirmed that the present House of Commons +would be safe from lapse into such an exhibition. To this better state +of things the operation of the New Rules has conspicuously contributed, +and though, as we know, they have not operated to the absolute +extinction of Parliamentary scenes, they have appreciably limited +opportunity and incentive. + + + + +_Portraits of Celebrities at Different Times of their Lives_. + + +LORD BATTERSEA. + +[Illustration: AGE 14. + +_From a Daguerreotype._] + +BORN 1843. + + +Lord Battersea, who was until recently known to the world as Mr. Cyril +Flower, M.P., is a son of the late Mr. P. W. Flower, of Streatham, and +was educated at Harrow and at Trinity College, Cambridge. + +[Illustration: AGE 21. + +_From a Photo, by Mayland, Cambridge._] + +He was called to the Bar at the age of twenty-seven, and became Liberal +Member for Brecknock in 1880, and for the Luton Division of Bedfordshire +in 1885 and 1886, in which later year he was one of Mr. Gladstone's +"Whips." He married the daughter of the late Sir Anthony Rothschild, and +both he and his wife are much interested in the welfare of the lower +classes of London. Lord Battersea was unanimously reputed the handsomest +man in the House of Commons, and is now, in every sense of the word, an +ornament of the House of Lords. + +[Illustration: AGE 40. + +_From a Drawing._] + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photograph by Bassano, 35, Old Bond Street, W._.] + + +W. Q. ORCHARDSON, R.A. + +BORN 1835. + +[Illustration: AGE 16. + +_From an Oil Sketch by himself._] + +[Illustration: AGE 35. + +_From a Photograph by Walery, Marseilles._] + +[Illustration: AGE 44. + +_From a Photograph._] + +Mr. William Quiller Orchardson was born in Edinburgh, and at the age of +fifteen entered the Trustees' Academy of that city, his first pictures +being exhibited in the Royal Scottish Academy. At the age of +twenty-eight he came to London, and the same year exhibited at the Royal +Academy for the first time, his contributions being entitled, "An Old +English Song" and "Portraits," the latter a life-size composition of +three young ladies. In 1865 he painted "The Challenge," which won a +prize of £100 given by Mr. Wallace, and one of the very few Medals +awarded to English painters at the Paris Universal Exhibition. In 1866 +came "The Story of a Life"--an aged nun relating her experiences to a +group of novices. Two years later, when he had only been four years in +London, he was elected an A.R.A. Among his more recent pictures may be +mentioned "Napoleon on Board the _Bellerophon_" (1880), "The Salon of +Madame Recamier" (1885), "The Young Duke" (1889), and "St. Helena" +(1892). Mr. Orchardson was elected an R.A. in 1877, and a D.C.L. of +Oxford in 1890. + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photo. by Elliott & Fry._] + + +LADY HALLÉ. + +[Illustration: AGE 10. + +_From a Drawing._] + +[Illustration: AGE 23. + +_From a Photograph._] + +Lady Hallé, whose maiden name was Wilhelmine Néruda, was born at Brünn, +where her father was organist of the cathedral. She was a pupil of +Jansa, and made her first appearance at Vienna at the age of six, and in +London at the age of nine. After this she returned to the Continent, and +in 1864 she married Ludwig Norman, a Swedish musician. Since 1869 she +has been in England every winter, playing especially at the concerts of +Sir Charles Hallé, whom she married in 1888. + +[Illustration: AGE 35. + +_From a Photograph._] + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photo by Burraud_.] + + +SIR CHARLES HALLÉ. + +[Illustration: AGE 20. + +_From a Painting._] + +Sir Charles Hallé is a native of Germany, but at an early age he +established himself in Paris, where he acquired a great reputation by +his refined and classical rendering of the compositions of the great +musicians; but the Revolution of 1843 drove him to England, where he has +ever since resided. He soon established himself at Manchester, and as +the founder of the annual series of orchestral and choral concerts there +and in London, which have become, perhaps, the most important series in +Europe, he has rendered the most valuable service to musical art. + +[Illustration: AGE 31. + +_From a Painting._] + +[Illustration: AGE 45. + +_From a Photo, by H. Hering, Regent Street, W._] + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photo. by Mayall & Co., 164, New Bond Street, W._] + + +DR. HERMANN ADLER, + +CHIEF RABBI. + +[Illustration: AGE 24. + +_From a Photograph by McLean & Haes, Haymarket._] + +Born 1839. + +Dr. Adler, son of Dr. Nathan Marcus Adler, was born in Hanover, and came +to London with his father at the age of six. He studied at University +College, took his B. A. degree at the University of London at twenty, +and that of Ph. D., at Leipzig, at twenty-two. In the following year he +was ordained Rabbi by the famous Rapoport, Chief Rabbi of Prague, and +became in succession Principal of the Jews' College in London and Chief +Minister of the Bayswater Synagogue. In 1890 his father, the Chief +Rabbi, died, and Dr. Adler was elected in his place. Dr. Adler is well +known not only by his powerful and scholarly writings, but by his work +among the poorer Jews of London. + +[Illustration: AGE 37. + +_From a Photograph by J. R. Sawyer, Norwich._] + +[Illustration: AGE 44. + +_From a Photograph by Fradella, 216, Regent Street, W._] + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photograph by The Photographic Co._] + + +SIR ARCHIBALD ALISON, BART., K.C.B. + +Born 1826. + +General Alison, son of Sir Archibald Alison, the first Baronet, who was +the well-known author of "The History of Europe," was born at Edinburgh, +and entered the Army at the age of twenty. He served in the Crimea, at +the siege and fall of Sebastopol, at which date our second portrait +represents him. During the Indian Mutiny he lost an arm at the relief of +Lucknow. In 1882 he commanded the 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, during the +expedition to Egypt, and at the decisive battle of Tel-el-Kebir he led +the Highland Brigade which fought so gallantly on that memorable +occasion, and after Arabi's surrender he was left in Egypt with the +command of the British army of 12,000 men to restore order and protect +the Khedive. Sir Archibald was included in the thanks of Parliament for +his energy and gallantry, and was promoted to the rank of +Lieutenant-General; he received his appointment as General in 1889. In +1869 Sir Archibald Alison published an able treatise, "On Army +Organization." + +[Illustration: AGE 3. + +_From a Miniature._] + +[Illustration: AGE 31. + +_From a Daguerreotype by Werge, Glasgow._] + +[Illustration: AGE 47. + +_From a Photograph by Jacklett, Aldershot._] + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photo, by Barraud._] + + +MADAME JANE HADING. + +[Illustration: AGE 3. + +_From a Photo. by Chalot et Cie., Paris._] + +[Illustration: AGE 5. + +_From a Photo. by Chalot et Cie., Paris._] + +Madame Jane Hading, the well-known French actress, was born at +Marseilles, in 1863, where her father was popular as a leading actor, +with whom she appeared when only three years of age as little _Blanche +de Caylus_ in "Le Bossu." At the age of thirteen she began work in +earnest, having won "le prix de solfège" at the Marseille Conservatoire, +and her talent having come to the ears of Mr. Plunkett, the director of +the Palais Royal, he engaged her for the Palais Royal in Paris, where +she created the part of _La Chaste Suzanne_, by Paul Ferrier. Giving up +comic opera for comedy, Jane Hading went to the Gymnase, where she +created the part of _Claire de Beaulieu_ in "Le Maître de Forges." +London had the opportunity of seeing her in that and "Prince Zilah," by +Jules Claretie, later on, and fully indorsed the Parisian verdict. These +conspicuous successes were followed by others almost as notable, and her +subsequent tour in America won her golden opinions, and was so +successful that it was extended some months. Her latest Parisian success +was "Le Prince d'Aurec," which added greatly to her laurels, putting her +in the very front rank of great artists. + +[Illustration: AGE 15. + +_From a Photo. by Fabre, Marseilles._] + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photo, by Reutlinger, Paris._] + + + + +_The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes_. + +XVI.--THE ADVENTURE OF THE STOCKBROKER'S CLERK. + +BY A. CONAN DOYLE. + + +Shortly after my marriage I had bought a connection in the Paddington +district. Old Mr. Farquhar, from whom I purchased it, had at one time an +excellent general practice, but his age, and an affliction of the nature +of St. Vitus' dance, from which he suffered, had very much thinned it. +The public, not unnaturally, goes upon the principle that he who would +heal others must himself be whole, and looks askance at the curative +powers of the man whose own case is beyond the reach of his drugs. Thus, +as my predecessor weakened, his practice declined, until when I +purchased it from him it had sunk from twelve hundred to little more +than three hundred a year. I had confidence, however, in my own youth +and energy, and was convinced that in a very few years the concern would +be as flourishing as ever. + +For three months after taking over the practice I was kept very closely +at work, and saw little of my friend Sherlock Holmes, for I was too busy +to visit Baker Street, and he seldom went anywhere himself save upon +professional business. I was surprised, therefore, when one morning in +June, as I sat reading the _British Medical Journal_ after breakfast, I +heard a ring at the bell followed by the high, somewhat strident, tones +of my old companion's voice. + +"Ah, my dear Watson," said he, striding into the room. "I am very +delighted to see you. I trust that Mrs. Watson has entirely recovered +from all the little excitements connected with our adventure of the +'Sign of Four.'" + +"Thank you, we are both very well," said I, shaking him warmly by the +hand. + +"And I hope also," he continued, sitting down in the rocking-chair, +"that the cares of medical practice have not entirely obliterated the +interest which you used to take in our little deductive problems." + +"On the contrary," I answered; "it was only last night that I was +looking over my old notes and classifying some of our past results." + +"I trust that you don't consider your collection closed?" + +"Not at all. I should wish nothing better than to have some more of such +experiences." + +"To-day, for example?" + +"Yes; to-day, if you like." + +"And as far off as Birmingham?" + +"Certainly, if you wish it." + +"And the practice?" + +"I do my neighbour's when he goes. He is always ready to work off the +debt." + +[Illustration: "'NOTHING COULD BE BETTER,' SAID HOLMES."] + +"Ha! Nothing could be better!" said Holmes, leaning back in his chair +and looking keenly at me from under his half-closed lids. "I perceive +that you have been unwell lately. Summer colds are always a little +trying." + +"I was confined to the house by a severe chill for three days last week. +I thought, however, that I had cast off every trace of it." + +"So you have. You look remarkably robust." + +"How, then, did you know of it?" + +"My dear fellow, you know my methods." + +"You deduced it, then?" + +"Certainly." + +"And from what?" + +"From your slippers." + +I glanced down at the new patent leathers which I was wearing. "How on +earth----?" I began, but Holmes answered my question before it was +asked. + +"Your slippers are new," he said. "You could not have had them more than +a few weeks. The soles which you are at this moment presenting to me are +slightly scorched. For a moment I thought they might have got wet and +been burned in the drying. But near the instep there is a small circular +wafer of paper with the shopman's hieroglyphics upon it. Damp would of +course have removed this. You had then been sitting with your feet +outstretched to the fire, which a man would hardly do even in so wet a +June as this if he were in his full health." + +Like all Holmes's reasoning the thing seemed simplicity itself when it +was once explained. He read the thought upon my features, and his smile +had a tinge of bitterness. + +"I am afraid that I rather give myself away when I explain," said he. +"Results without causes are much more impressive. You are ready to come +to Birmingham, then?" + +"Certainly. What is the case?" + +"You shall hear it all in the train. My client is outside in a +four-wheeler. Can you come at once?" + +"In an instant." I scribbled a note to my neighbour, rushed upstairs to +explain the matter to my wife, and joined Holmes upon the doorstep. + +"Your neighbour is a doctor?" said he, nodding at the brass plate. + +"Yes. He bought a practice as I did." + +"An old-established one?" + +"Just the same as mine. Both have been ever since the houses were +built." + +"Ah, then you got hold of the best of the two." + +"I think I did. But how do you know?" + +"By the steps, my boy. Yours are worn three inches deeper than his. But +this gentleman in the cab is my client, Mr. Hall Pycroft. Allow me to +introduce you to him. Whip your horse up, cabby, for we have only just +time to catch our train." + +The man whom I found myself facing was a well-built, fresh-complexioned +young fellow with a frank, honest face and a slight, crisp, yellow +moustache. He wore a very shiny top-hat and a neat suit of sober black, +which made him look what he was--a smart young City man, of the class +who have been labelled Cockneys, but who give us our crack Volunteer +regiments, and who turn out more fine athletes and sportsmen than any +body of men in these islands. His round, ruddy face was naturally full +of cheeriness, but the corners of his mouth seemed to me to be pulled +down in a half-comical distress. It was not, however, until we were all +in a first-class carriage and well started upon our journey to +Birmingham, that I was able to learn what the trouble was which had +driven him to Sherlock Holmes. + +"We have a clear run here of seventy minutes," Holmes remarked. "I want +you, Mr. Hall Pycroft, to tell my friend your very interesting +experience exactly as you have told it to me, or with more detail if +possible. It will be of use to me to hear the succession of events +again. It is a case, Watson, which may prove to have something in it, or +may prove to have nothing, but which at least presents those unusual and +_outré_ features which are as dear to you as they are to me. Now, Mr. +Pycroft, I shall not interrupt you again." + +Our young companion looked at me with a twinkle in his eye. + +"The worst of the story is," said he, "that I show myself up as such a +confounded fool. Of course, it may work out all right, and I don't see +that I could have done otherwise; but if I have lost my crib and get +nothing in exchange, I shall feel what a soft Johnny I have been. I'm +not very good at telling a story, Dr. Watson, but it is like this with +me. + +"I used to have a billet at Coxon and Woodhouse, of Drapers' Gardens, +but they were let in early in the spring through the Venezuelan loan, as +no doubt you remember, and came a nasty cropper. I had been with them +five years, and old Coxon gave me a ripping good testimonial when the +smash came; but, of course, we clerks were all turned adrift, the +twenty-seven of us. I tried here and tried there, but there were lots of +other chaps on the same lay as myself, and it was a perfect frost for a +long time. I had been taking three pounds a week at Coxon's, and I had +saved about seventy of them, but I soon worked my way through that and +out at the other end. I was fairly at the end of my tether at last, and +could hardly find the stamps to answer the advertisements or the +envelopes to stick them to. I had worn out my boots padding up office +stairs, and I seemed just as far from getting a billet as ever. + +"At last I saw a vacancy at Mawson and Williams', the great stockbroking +firm in Lombard Street. I daresay E. C. is not much in your line, but I +can tell you that this is about the richest house in London. The +advertisement was to be answered by letter only. I sent in my +testimonial and application, but without the least hope of getting it. +Back came an answer by return saying that if I would appear next Monday +I might take over my new duties at once, provided that my appearance was +satisfactory. No one knows how these things are worked. Some people say +the manager just plunges his hand into the heap and takes the first that +comes. Anyhow, it was my innings that time, and I don't ever wish to +feel better pleased. The screw was a pound a week rise, and the duties +just about the same as at Coxon's. + +"And now I come to the queer part of the business. I was in diggings out +Hampstead way--17, Potter's Terrace, was the address. Well, I was +sitting doing a smoke that very evening after I had been promised the +appointment, when up came my landlady with a card which had 'Arthur +Pinner, financial agent,' printed upon it. I had never heard the name +before, and could not imagine what he wanted with me, but of course I +asked her to show him up. In he walked--a middle-sized, dark-haired, +dark-eyed, black-bearded man, with a touch of the sheeny about his nose. +He had a brisk kind of way with him and spoke sharply, like a man that +knew the value of time. + +[Illustration: "'MR. HALL PYCROFT, I BELIEVE?' SAID HE."] + +"'Mr. Hall Pycroft, I believe?' said he. + +"'Yes, sir,' I answered, and pushed a chair towards him. + +"'Lately engaged at Coxon and Woodhouse's?' + +"'Yes, sir.' + +"And now on the staff of Mawson's?' + +"'Quite so.' + +"'Well,' said he. 'The fact is that I have heard some really +extraordinary stories about your financial ability. You remember Parker +who used to be Coxon's manager? He can never say enough about it.' + +"Of course I was pleased to hear this. I had always been pretty smart in +the office, but I had never dreamed that I was talked about in the City +in this fashion. + +"'You have a good memory?' said he. + +"'Pretty fair,' I answered, modestly. + +"'Have you kept in touch with the market while you have been out of +work?' he asked. + +"'Yes; I read the Stock Exchange List every morning.' + +"'Now, that shows real application!' he cried. 'That is the way to +prosper! You won't mind my testing you, will you? Let me see! How are +Ayrshires?' + +"'One hundred and six and a quarter to one hundred and five and +seven-eighths,' I answered. + +"'And New Zealand Consolidated?' + +"'A hundred and four.' + +"'And British Broken Hills?' + +"'Seven to seven and six.' + +"'Wonderful!' he cried, with his hands up. 'This quite fits in with all +that I had heard. My boy, my boy, you are very much too good to be a +clerk at Mawson's!' + +"This outburst rather astonished me, as you can think. 'Well,' said I, +'other people don't think quite so much of me as you seem to do, Mr. +Pinner. I had a hard enough fight to get this berth, and I am very glad +to have it.' + +"'Pooh, man, you should soar above it. You are not in your true sphere. +Now I'll tell you how it stands with me. What I have to offer is little +enough when measured by your ability, but when compared with Mawson's it +is light to dark. Let me see! When do you go to Mawson's?' + +"'On Monday.' + +"'Ha! ha! I think I would risk a little sporting flutter that you don't +go there at all.' + +"'Not go to Mawson's?' + +"'No, sir. By that day you will be the business manager of the +Franco-Midland Hardware Company, Limited, with one hundred and +thirty-four branches in the towns and villages of France, not counting +one in Brussels and one in San Remo.' + +"This took my breath away. 'I never heard of it,' said I. + +"'Very likely not. It has been kept very quiet, for the capital was all +privately subscribed, and it is too good a thing to let the public into. +My brother, Harry Pinner, is promoter, and joins the board after +allotment as managing director. He knew that I was in the swim down +here, and he asked me to pick up a good man cheap--a young, pushing man +with plenty of snap about him. Parker spoke of you, and that brought me +here to-night. We can only offer you a beggarly five hundred to start +with----' + +"'Five hundred a year!' I shouted. + +"'Only that at the beginning, but you are to have an over-riding +commission of 1 per cent, on all business done by your agents, and you +may take my word for it that this will come to more than your salary.' + +"'But I know nothing about hardware.' + +"'Tut, my boy, you know about figures.' + +"My head buzzed, and I could hardly sit still in the chair. But suddenly +a little chill of doubt came over me. + +"'I must be frank with you,' said I. 'Mawson only gives me two hundred, +but Mawson is safe. Now, really, I know so little about your company +that----' + +"'Ah, smart, smart!' he cried, in a kind of ecstasy of delight. 'You are +the very man for us! You are not to be talked over, and quite right too. +Now, here's a note for a hundred pounds; and if you think that we can do +business you may just slip it into your pocket as an advance upon your +salary.' + +"'That is very handsome,' said I. 'When should I take over my new +duties?' + +"'Be in Birmingham to-morrow at one,' said he. 'I have a note in my +pocket here which you will take to my brother. You will find him at +126B, Corporation Street, where the temporary offices of the company are +situated. Of course he must confirm your engagement, but between +ourselves it will be all right.' + +"'Really, I hardly know how to express my gratitude, Mr. Pinner,' said +I. + +"'Not at all, my boy. You have only got your deserts. There are one or +two small things--mere formalities--which I must arrange with you. You +have a bit of paper beside you there. Kindly write upon it, "I am +perfectly willing to act as business manager to the Franco-Midland +Hardware Company, Limited, at a minimum salary of £500."' + +"I did as he asked, and he put the paper in his pocket. + +"'There is one other detail,' said he. 'What do you intend to do about +Mawson's?' + +"I had forgotten all about Mawson's in my joy. + +"'I'll write and resign,' said I. + +"'Precisely what I don't want you to do. I had a row over you with +Mawson's manager. I had gone up to ask him about you, and he was very +offensive--accused me of coaxing you away from the service of the firm, +and that sort of thing. At last I fairly lost my temper. "If you want +good men you should pay them a good price," said I. "He would rather +have our small price than your big one," said he. "I'll lay you a +fiver," said I, "that when he has my offer you will never so much as +hear from him again." "Done!" said he. "We picked him out of the gutter, +and he won't leave us so easily." Those were his very words.' + +"'The impudent scoundrel!' I cried. 'I've never so much as seen him in +my life. Why should I consider him in any way? I shall certainly not +write if you would rather that I didn't.' + +"'Good! That's a promise!' said he, rising from his chair. 'Well, I am +delighted to have got so good a man for my brother. Here is your +advance of a hundred pounds, and here is the letter. Make a note of the +address, 126B, Corporation Street, and remember that one o'clock +to-morrow is your appointment. Good-night, and may you have all the +fortune that you deserve.' + +"That's just about all that passed between us as near as I can remember +it. You can imagine, Dr. Watson, how pleased I was at such an +extraordinary bit of good fortune. I sat up half the night hugging +myself over it, and next day I was off to Birmingham in a train that +would take me in plenty of time for my appointment. I took my things to +an hotel in New Street, and then I made my way to the address which had +been given me. + +"It was a quarter of an hour before my time, but I thought that would +make no difference. 126B was a passage between two large shops which led +to a winding stone stair, from which there were many flats, let as +offices to companies or professional men. The names of the occupants +were painted up at the bottom on the wall, but there was no such name as +the Franco-Midland Hardware Company, Limited. I stood for a few minutes +with my heart in my boots, wondering whether the whole thing was an +elaborate hoax or not, when up came a man and addressed me. He was very +like the chap that I had seen the night before, the same figure and +voice, but he was clean shaven and his hair was lighter. + +[Illustration: "UP CAME A MAN AND ADDRESSED ME."] + +"'Are you Mr. Hall Pycroft?' he asked. + +"'Yes,' said I. + +"'Ah! I was expecting you, but you are a trifle before your time. I had +a note from my brother this morning, in which he sang your praises very +loudly.' + +"'I was just looking for the offices when you came.' + +"'We have not got our name up yet, for we only secured these temporary +premises last week. Come up with me and we will talk the matter over.' + +"I followed him to the top of a very lofty stair, and there right under +the slates were a couple of empty and dusty little rooms, uncarpeted and +uncurtained, into which he led me. I had thought of a great office with +shining tables and rows of clerks such as I was used to, and I daresay I +stared rather straight at the two deal chairs and one little table, +which, with a ledger and a waste-paper basket, made up the whole +furniture. + +"'Don't be disheartened, Mr. Pycroft,' said my new acquaintance, seeing +the length of my face. 'Rome was not built in a day, and we have lots of +money at our backs, though we don't cut much dash yet in offices. Pray +sit down and let me have your letter.' + +"I gave it to him, and he read it over very carefully. + +"'You seem to have made a vast impression upon my brother, Arthur,' said +he, 'and I know that he is a pretty shrewd judge. He swears by London, +you know, and I by Birmingham, but this time I shall follow his advice. +Pray consider yourself definitely engaged.' + +"'What are my duties?' I asked. + +"'You will eventually manage the great depôt in Paris, which will pour a +flood of English crockery into the shops of one hundred and thirty-four +agents in France. The purchase will be completed in a week, and +meanwhile you will remain in Birmingham and make yourself useful.' + +"'How?' + +"For answer he took a big red book out of a drawer. 'This is a directory +of Paris,' said he, 'with the trades after the names of the people. I +want you to take it home with you, and to mark off all the hardware +sellers with their addresses. It would be of the greatest use to me to +have them.' + +"'Surely, there are classified lists?' I suggested. + +"'Not reliable ones. Their system is different to ours. Stick at it and +let me have the lists by Monday, at twelve. Good-day, Mr. Pycroft; if +you continue to show zeal and intelligence, you will find the company a +good master.' + +"I went back to the hotel with the big book under my arm, and with very +conflicting feelings in my breast. On the one hand I was definitely +engaged, and had a hundred pounds in my pocket. On the other, the look +of the offices, the absence of name on the wall, and other of the points +which would strike a business man had left a bad impression as to the +position of my employers. However, come what might, I had my money, so I +settled down to my task. All Sunday I was kept hard at work, and yet by +Monday I had only got as far as H. I went round to my employer, found +him in the same dismantled kind of room, and was told to keep at it +until Wednesday, and then come again. On Wednesday it was still +unfinished, so I hammered away until Friday--that is, yesterday. Then I +brought it round to Mr. Harry Pinner. + +"'Thank you very much,' said he. 'I fear that I underrated the +difficulty of the task. This list will be of very material assistance to +me.' + +"'It took some time,' said I. + +"'And now,' said he, 'I want you to make a list of the furniture shops, +for they all sell crockery.' + +"'Very good.' + +"'And you can come up to-morrow evening at seven, and let me know how +you are getting on. Don't overwork yourself. A couple of hours at Day's +Music-Hall in the evening would do you no harm after your labours.' He +laughed as he spoke, and I saw with a thrill that his second tooth upon +the left-hand side had been very badly stuffed with gold." + +Sherlock Holmes rubbed his hands with delight, and I stared in +astonishment at our client. + +"You may well look surprised, Dr. Watson, but it is this way," said he. +"When I was speaking to the other chap in London at the time that he +laughed at my not going to Mawson's, I happened to notice that his tooth +was stuffed in this very identical fashion. The glint of the gold in +each case caught my eye, you see. When I put that with the voice and +figure being the same, and only those things altered which might be +changed by a razor or a wig, I could not doubt that it was the same man. +Of course, you expect two brothers to be alike, but not that they should +have the same tooth stuffed in the same way. He bowed me out and I found +myself in the street, hardly knowing whether I was on my head or my +heels. Back I went to my hotel, put my head in a basin of cold water, +and tried to think it out. Why had he sent me from London to Birmingham; +why had he got there before me; and why had he written a letter from +himself to himself? It was altogether too much for me, and I could make +no sense of it. And then suddenly it struck me that what was dark to me +might be very light to Mr. Sherlock Holmes. I had just time to get up to +town by the night train, to see him this morning, and to bring you both +back with me to Birmingham." + +There was a pause after the stockbroker's clerk had concluded his +surprising experience. Then Sherlock Holmes cocked his eye at me, +leaning back on the cushions with a pleased and yet critical face, like +a connoisseur who had just taken his first sip of a comet vintage. + +"Rather fine, Watson, is it not?" said he. "There are points in it which +please me. I think you will agree with me that an interview with Mr. +Arthur Harry Pinner in the temporary offices of the Franco-Midland +Hardware Company, Limited, would be a rather interesting experience for +both of us." + +"But how can we do it?" I asked. + +"Oh, easily enough," said Hall Pycroft, cheerily. "You are two friends +of mine who are in want of a billet, and what could be more natural than +that I should bring you both round to the managing director?" + +"Quite so! Of course!" said Holmes. "I should like to have a look at the +gentleman and see if I can make anything of his little game. What +qualities have you, my friend, which would make your services so +valuable? or is it possible that----" he began biting his nails and +staring blankly out of the window, and we hardly drew another word from +him until we were in New Street. + + * * * * * + +At seven o'clock that evening we were walking, the three of us, down +Corporation Street to the company's offices. + +"It is of no use our being at all before our time," said our client. "He +only comes there to see me apparently, for the place is deserted up to +the very hour he names." + +"That is suggestive," remarked Holmes. + +"By Jove, I told you so!" cried the clerk. "That's he walking ahead of +us there." + +He pointed to a smallish, blonde, well-dressed man, who was bustling +along the other side of the road. As we watched him he looked across at +a boy who was bawling out the latest edition of the evening paper, and, +running over among the cabs and 'buses, he bought one from him. Then +clutching it in his hand he vanished through a doorway. + +"There he goes!" cried Hall Pycroft. "Those are the company's offices +into which he has gone. Come with me and I'll fix it up as easily as +possible." + +Following his lead we ascended five stories, until we found ourselves +outside a half-opened door, at which our client tapped. A voice within +bade us "Come in," and we entered a bare, unfurnished room, such as Hall +Pycroft had described. At the single table sat the man whom we had seen +in the street, with his evening paper spread out in front of him, and as +he looked up at us it seemed to me that I had never looked upon a face +which bore such marks of grief, and of something beyond grief--of a +horror such as comes to few men in a lifetime. His brow glistened with +perspiration, his cheeks were of the dull dead white of a fish's belly, +and his eyes were wild and staring. He looked at his clerk as though he +failed to recognise him, and I could see, by the astonishment depicted +upon our conductor's face, that this was by no means the usual +appearance of his employer. + +[Illustration: "HE LOOKED UP AT US."] + +"You look ill, Mr. Pinner," he exclaimed. + +"Yes, I am not very well," answered the other, making obvious efforts to +pull himself together, and licking his dry lips before he spoke. "Who +are these gentlemen whom you have brought with you?" + +"One is Mr. Harris, of Bermondsey, and the other is Mr. Price, of this +town," said our clerk, glibly. "They are friends of mine, and gentlemen +of experience, but they have been out of a place for some little time, +and they hoped that perhaps you might find an opening for them in the +company's employment." + +"Very possibly! Very possibly!" cried Mr. Pinner, with a ghastly smile. +"Yes, I have no doubt that we shall be able to do something for you. +What is your particular line, Mr. Harris?" + +"I am an accountant," said Holmes. + +"Ah, yes, we shall want something of the sort. And you, Mr. Price?" + +"A clerk," said I. + +"I have every hope that the company may accommodate you. I will let you +know about it as soon as we come to any conclusion. And now I beg that +you will go. For God's sake, leave me to myself!" + +These last words were shot out of him, as though the constraint which he +was evidently setting upon himself had suddenly and utterly burst +asunder. Holmes and I glanced at each other, and Hall Pycroft took a +step towards the table. + +"You forget, Mr. Pinner, that I am here by appointment to receive some +directions from you," said he. + +"Certainly, Mr. Pycroft, certainly," the other answered in a calmer +tone. "You may wait here a moment, and there is no reason why your +friends should not wait with you. I will be entirely at your service in +three minutes, if I might trespass upon your patience so far." He rose +with a very courteous air, and bowing to us he passed out through a door +at the further end of the room, which he closed behind him. + +"What now?" whispered Holmes. "Is he giving us the slip?" + +"Impossible," answered Pycroft. + +"Why so?" + +"That door leads into an inner room." + +"There is no exit?" + +"None." + +"Is it furnished?" + +"It was empty yesterday." + +"Then what on earth can he be doing? There is something which I don't +understand in this matter. If ever a man was three parts mad with +terror, that man's name is Pinner. What can have put the shivers on +him?" + +"He suspects that we are detectives," I suggested. + +"That's it," said Pycroft. + +Holmes shook his head. "He did not turn pale. He _was_ pale when we +entered the room," said he. "It is just possible that----" + +His words were interrupted by a sharp rat-tat from the direction of the +inner door. + +"What the deuce is he knocking at his own door for?" cried the clerk. + +Again and much louder came the rat-tat-tat. We all gazed expectantly at +the closed door. Glancing at Holmes I saw his face turn rigid, and he +leaned forward in intense excitement. Then suddenly came a low gurgling, +gargling sound and a brisk drumming upon woodwork. Holmes sprang +frantically across the room and pushed at the door. It was fastened on +the inner side. Following his example, we threw ourselves upon it with +all our weight. One hinge snapped, then the other, and down came the +door with a crash. Rushing over it we found ourselves in the inner room. + +[Illustration: "WE FOUND OURSELVES IN THE INNER ROOM."] + +It was empty. + +But it was only for a moment that we were at fault. At one corner, the +corner nearest the room which we had left, there was a second door. +Holmes sprang to it and pulled it open. A coat and waistcoat were lying +on the floor, and from a hook behind the door, with his own braces round +his neck, was hanging the managing director of the Franco-Midland +Hardware Company. His knees were drawn up, his head hung at a dreadful +angle to his body, and the clatter of his heels against the door made +the noise which had broken in upon our conversation. In an instant I had +caught him round the waist and held him up, while Holmes and Pycroft +untied the elastic bands which had disappeared between the livid creases +of skin. Then we carried him into the other room, where he lay with a +clay-coloured face, puffing his purple lips in and out with every +breath--a dreadful wreck of all that he had been but five minutes +before. + +"What do you think of him, Watson?" asked Holmes. + +I stooped over him and examined him. + +His pulse was feeble and intermittent, but his breathing grew longer, +and there was a little shivering of his eyelids which showed a thin +white slit of ball beneath. + +"It has been touch and go with him," said I, "but he'll live now. Just +open that window and hand me the water carafe." I undid his collar, +poured the cold water over his face, and raised and sank his arms until +he drew a long natural breath. + +"It's only a question of time now," said I, as I turned away from him. + +Holmes stood by the table with his hands deep in his trousers pockets +and his chin upon his breast. + +"I suppose we ought to call the police in now," said he; "and yet I +confess that I like to give them a complete case when they come." + +"It's a blessed mystery to me," cried Pycroft, scratching his head. +"Whatever they wanted to bring me all the way up here for, and then----" + +"Pooh! All that is clear enough," said Holmes, impatiently. "It is this +last sudden move." + +"You understand the rest, then?" + +"I think that it is fairly obvious. What do you say, Watson?" + +I shrugged my shoulders. + +"I must confess that I am out of my depths," said I. + +"Oh, surely, if you consider the events at first they can only point to +one conclusion." + +"What do you make of them?" + +"Well, the whole thing hinges upon two points. The first is the making +of Pycroft write a declaration by which he entered the service of this +preposterous company. Do you not see how very suggestive that is?" + +"I am afraid I miss the point." + +"Well, why did they want him to do it? Not as a business matter, for +these arrangements are usually verbal, and there was no earthly business +reason why this should be an exception. Don't you see, my young friend, +that they were very anxious to obtain a specimen of your handwriting, +and had no other way of doing it?" + +"And why?" + +"Quite so. Why? When we answer that, we have made some progress with our +little problem. Why? There can be only one adequate reason. Someone +wanted to learn to imitate your writing, and had to procure a specimen +of it first. And now if we pass on to the second point, we find that +each throws light upon the other. That point is the request made by +Pinner that you should not resign your place, but should leave the +manager of this important business in the full expectation that a Mr. +Hall Pycroft, whom he had never seen, was about to enter the office upon +the Monday morning." + +"My God!" cried our client, "what a blind beetle I have been!" + +"Now you see the point about the handwriting. Suppose that someone +turned up in your place who wrote a completely different hand from that +in which you had applied for the vacancy, of course the game would have +been up. But in the interval the rogue learnt to imitate you, and his +position was therefore secure, as I presume that nobody in the office +had ever set eyes upon you?" + +"Not a soul," groaned Hall Pycroft. + +"Very good. Of course, it was of the utmost importance to prevent you +from thinking better of it, and also to keep you from coming into +contact with anyone who might tell you that your double was at work in +Mawson's office. Therefore they gave you a handsome advance on your +salary, and ran you off to the Midlands, where they gave you enough work +to do to prevent your going to London, where you might have burst their +little game up. That is all plain enough." + +"But why should this man pretend to be his own brother?" + +"Well, that is pretty clear also. There are evidently only two of them +in it. The other is personating you at the office. This one acted as +your engager, and then found that he could not find you an employer +without admitting a third person into his plot. That he was most +unwilling to do. He changed his appearance as far as he could, and +trusted that the likeness, which you could not fail to observe, would be +put down to a family resemblance. But for the happy chance of the gold +stuffing your suspicions would probably have never been aroused." + +Hall Pycroft shook his clenched hands in the air. "Good Lord!" he cried. +"While I have been fooled in this way, what has this other Hall Pycroft +been doing at Mawson's? What should we do, Mr. Holmes? Tell me what to +do!" + +"We must wire to Mawson's." + +"They shut at twelve on Saturdays." + +"Never mind; there may be some doorkeeper or attendant----" + +"Ah, yes; they keep a permanent guard there on account of the value of +the securities that they hold. I remember hearing it talked of in the +City." + +[Illustration: "PYCROFT SHOOK HIS CLENCHED HANDS IN THE AIR."] + +"Very good, we shall wire to him, and see if all is well, and if a clerk +of your name is working there. That is clear enough, but what is not so +clear is why at sight of us one of the rogues should instantly walk out +of the room and hang himself." + +"The paper!" croaked a voice behind us. The man was sitting up, blanched +and ghastly, with returning reason in his eyes, and hands which rubbed +nervously at the broad red band which still encircled his throat. + +"The paper! Of course!" yelled Holmes, in a paroxysm of excitement. +"Idiot that I was! I thought so much of our visit that the paper never +entered my head for an instant. To be sure the secret must lie there." +He flattened it out upon the table, and a cry of triumph burst from his +lips. + +"Look at this, Watson!" he cried. "It is a London paper, an early +edition of the _Evening Standard_. Here is what we want. Look at the +headlines--'Crime in the City. Murder at Mawson and Williams'. Gigantic +Attempted Robbery; Capture of the Criminal.' Here, Watson, we are all +equally anxious to hear it, so kindly read it aloud to us." + +It appeared from its position in the paper to have been the one event of +importance in town, and the account of it ran in this way:-- + +"A desperate attempt at robbery, culminating in the death of one man and +the capture of the criminal, occurred this afternoon in the City. For +some time back Mawson and Williams, the famous financial house, have +been the guardians of securities which amount in the aggregate to a sum +of considerably over a million sterling. So conscious was the manager of +the responsibility which devolved upon him in consequence of the great +interests at stake, that safes of the very latest construction have been +employed, and an armed watchman has been left day and night in the +building. It appears that last week a new clerk, named Hall Pycroft, was +engaged by the firm. This person appears to have been none other than +Beddington, the famous forger and cracksman, who, with his brother, has +only recently emerged from a five years' spell of penal servitude. By +some means, which are not yet clear, he succeeded in winning, under a +false name, this official position in the office, which he utilized in +order to obtain mouldings of various locks, and a thorough knowledge of +the position of the strong room and the safes. + +"It is customary at Mawson's for the clerks to leave at midday on +Saturday. Sergeant Tuson, of the City Police, was somewhat surprised +therefore to see a gentleman with a carpet bag come down the steps at +twenty minutes past one. His suspicions being aroused, the sergeant +followed the man, and with the aid of Constable Pollock succeeded, after +a most desperate resistance, in arresting him. It was at once clear that +a daring and gigantic robbery had been committed. Nearly a hundred +thousand pounds worth of American railway bonds, with a large amount of +scrip in other mines and companies, were discovered in the bag. On +examining the premises the body of the unfortunate watchman was found +doubled up and thrust into the largest of the safes, where it would not +have been discovered until Monday morning had it not been for the prompt +action of Sergeant Tuson. The man's skull had been shattered by a blow +from a poker, delivered from behind. There could be no doubt that +Beddington had obtained entrance by pretending that he had left +something behind him, and having murdered the watchman, rapidly rifled +the large safe, and then made off with his booty. His brother, who +usually works with him, has not appeared in this job, so far as can at +present be ascertained, although the police are making energetic +inquiries as to his whereabouts." + +[Illustration: "GLANCING AT THE HAGGARD FIGURE."] + +"Well, we may save the police some little trouble in that direction," +said Holmes, glancing at the haggard figure huddled up by the window. +"Human nature is a strange mixture, Watson. You see that even a villain +and a murderer can inspire such affection that his brother turns to +suicide when he learns that his neck is forfeited. However, we have no +choice as to our action. The doctor and I will remain on guard, Mr. +Pycroft, if you will have the kindness to step out for the police." + + + + +_Beauties._ + +[Illustration: FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY MESSRS. ELLIOTT AND FRY, BAKER +STREET, W.] + +[Illustration: Miss Webster + +Madame Shirmer-Mapleson + +Madame Sigrid Arnoldson] + +[Illustration: Miss ALICE LETHBRIDGE + +Miss Flo Henderson + +Mdlle. Del Torre] + + + + +_Hands._ + +BY BECKLES WILLSON. + +II. + + +[Illustration: CASTING A HAND FROM LIFE. + +(_Studio of Mr. Onslow Ford, A.R.A._)] + +The sculptor's practice of casting in plaster the hands of his client is +of comparatively recent growth. The artist of the old school--and he is +followed in this by many of the new--disdained so mechanical a means to +fidelity. Very few, indeed, among the British painters and sculptors of +the past will be found who took the pains to see that the hands or even +the figures of their counterfeit presentments on canvas or in marble +tallied with the originals. Sir Joshua Reynolds, as we know, would have +regarded this as the essence of finical vulgarity. + +The principal drawback in making casts from life is to be found in the +discomfort, not to speak of the actual torment, it often causes the +sitter by the adhesion of the plaster to the hairy growth of the skin. +Various methods are resorted to with a view to obviate this, and in some +cases successfully. + +The hands of Thomas Carlyle--stubborn, combative, mystical--which appear +in the present paper, will amply repay the closest scrutiny. These hands +are unwontedly realistic, and emphasize their distinctiveness in every +vein and wrinkle. They appear to be themselves endowed with each of +those various qualities which caused their possessor to be regarded as +one of the most puissant figures in the century's literature. The hand +is not one, to use Charles Lamb's expressive phrase, to be looked at +_standing on one leg_. It deserves a keener examination. + +[Illustration: THOMAS CARLYLE'S HANDS.] + +Mention has been made of the hand of a distinguished prelate, Cardinal +Manning. It will not be out of place to compare it with the hands of +the late Archbishop of Canterbury, which were cast posthumously. +Scarcely anything could be more antagonistic. The nervous personality of +Manning is wanting here. The hands of the Archbishop seem more to belong +to the order of the benevolent Bishop Myriel than to that of the +enthusiast and ascetic. + +[Illustration: THE LATE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY'S HANDS.] + +[Illustration: LORD PALMERSTON'S HAND.] + +Plenty of opportunity to study the hands of statesmen is afforded in +those of Lord Palmerston, Count Cavour, Sir Stratford Canning, and Lord +Melbourne. The fallacy of attaching special qualities to any distinctive +trait in the hand of an eminent person is most readily discernible here. +One should avoid _à posteriori_ reasoning. It would be the same for a +physiognomist to argue a man a statesman from a facial resemblance to +Mr. Gladstone, or that he is fit to write tragedies because he owns the +exact facial proportions of Sardou. + +[Illustration: COUNT CAVOUR'S HANDS.] + +[Illustration: SIR STRATFORD CANNING'S HANDS.] + +Among these the hand of Lord Palmerston will stand forth most +prominently to the reader. Its characteristics are, on the whole, +sufficiently obvious, in the appended cast, to be thought accentuated. +It might not unprofitably be noted in connection with those of Stratford +Canning, Viscount de Redcliffe (for fifty years British Ambassador in +India), whose statue by Boehm, with Tennyson's famous epitaph: + + Thou third great Canning, stand among our best + And noblest, now thy long day's work hath ceased, + Here, silent in our Minster of the West, + Who wert the voice of England in the East! + +is in a nave of the Abbey. With these should be joined the hand of +Viscount Melbourne, the predecessor of Sir Robert Peel in the +Premiership, and the great statesman after whom the city of Melbourne +was named, in order to range this British galaxy against the hands of +the Italian patriots, Count Cavour and Joseph Garibaldi, whose labours +resulted in that master stroke of latter-day politics, the unification +of Italy. Those of the former were cast separately in different +positions, it being the intention of the sculptor for the right hand to +rest lightly upon a column and the left to grasp a roll of parchment. +Garibaldi's hand may be described as both virile and nervous. + +[Illustration: LORD MELBOURNE'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: HAND OF JOHN BURNS, M.P.] + +[Illustration: HAND OF JOSEPH ARCH, M.P.] + +[Illustration: GARIBALDI'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: SIR E. BOEHM'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: HAND OF JOHN JACKSON, R.A.] + +Another type of hand is exemplified in the hands of Messrs. Joseph Arch +and John Burns. Both of these belong to self-made men, accustomed to +hard manual labour from childhood. Their powerful ruggedness is +admirably set off by the exquisite symmetry and feminine proportions of +the hand of John Jackson a Royal Academician and great painter of his +time. For symmetry, combined with grace, this hand is not surpassed. + +The hand of Sir Edgar Boehm was cast by his assistant, Professor +Lantéri, for the former's statue of Sir Francis Drake. It will be +observed that the fingers grasp a pair of compasses, the original of +those which appear in the bronze at Plymouth. + +[Illustration: LADY BLESSINGTON'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: MRS. CARLYLE'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: MRS. THORNYCROFT'S HAND.] + +Reverting to the ladies again, interest will, no doubt, centre upon the +hand of the celebrated Lady Blessington, accounted the wittiest hostess +of her day; and not least attractive will appear Mrs. Carlyle's and +those of Mrs. Thornycroft and the celebrated Madame Tussaud. The wife of +the Chelsea sage was herself, as is known, an authoress of no mean +repute. + +A comparison of the hand of Mr. Bancroft with that of Mr. Irving, given +last month, will prove interesting, if not instructive. + +[Illustration: MME. TUSSAUD'S HAND.] + +It has been said that the hands of Carlyle are characteristic; that they +possess, with those of Wilkie Collins, the merit of being precisely the +sort of hands one would expect to see so labelled. We now present a +third candidate for this merit of candour in casts of the hands of the +notorious Arthur Orton, better known under the sobriquet of the +Claimant. They are pulseless, chubby, oblique: yet they are remarkable. +In scrutinizing them, it is difficult not to feel that one looks upon +hands very remote indeed from the ordinary. + +[Illustration: MR. BANCROFT'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: HANDS OF THE TICHBORNE CLAIMANT.] + +Next we look upon the hand of a giant even superior to Anak, in +Loushkin, the Russian. But physically great as was the Muscovite, it is +to be doubted if he really attained the world-wide celebrity of the +little American, Charles Stratton (otherwise known as "Tom Thumb"), +whose extremity serves as a foil to his rival for exhibition honours. + +Another Boehm relic requires some explanation. Every visitor to the +Metropolis has doubtless seen and admired the heroic equestrian statue +of the Duke of Wellington, opposite Apsley House. They may even have +noticed the right hand, which is represented as lightly holding the rein +of the animal. The appended was cast from the original model in clay of +the hand of the Duke, no cast direct from life ever having been +executed. + +[Illustration: THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S HAND.] + +It is sufficient to say that the subjoined hand and arm of Lady +Cardigan, wife of the noted Crimean warrior, was one greatly admired by +Sir Edgar, in whose studio it hung for many years. In like manner will +the hand of Lady Richard Grosvenor be found the possessor of many +beautiful and interesting traits. + +[Illustration: THE HANDS OF "TOM THUMB" AND LOUSHKIN, THE RUSSIAN +GIANT.] + +[Illustration: LADY CARDIGAN'S HAND.] + +A member not altogether dissimilar to that of the musician Liszt is the +hand of Carl von Angeli, Court painter to Her Majesty, and like that +also in setting at naught the conclusions too often arrived at by the +chirognomist. For there is here breadth without symmetry, and an utter +absence of the poise which we look for in the ideal hand of the artist. +It is instructive to compare it to the hand of the painter, John +Jackson. + +[Illustration: LADY RICHARD GROSVENOR'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: CARL ANGELI'S HAND.] + +Observe the massive, masculine fingers and disproportionately small +finger-nails in the hands of Professor Weekes, the sculptor. There is +scarcely any perceptible tapering at the third joint, and the fingers +all exhibit very little prominence of knuckle or contour. It is anything +but an artistic hand, and yet its owner was a man of the keenest +artistic perceptions. + +In Frederick Baring's (Lord Ashburton) we find the thick-set fingers, +and what the chirognomist calls the "lack of manual repose," of the +great financier. But as his lordship was statesman with a talent for +debate as well as man of commerce, it will not unlikely be found that +the hand presented combines the both temperaments. + +[Illustration: PROFESSOR WEEKES' HANDS.] + +[Illustration: LORD ASHBURTON'S HAND.] + +I have been enabled, through the kindness of Mr. J. T. Tussaud, to +embellish the present collection by an ancient cast of the hand of the +Comte de Lorge, a famous prisoner in the Bastille. This cast was taken, +together with a death mask, after death, by the great-grandmother of the +sculptor, to whom both relics have descended. + +The Queen's hands, which appeared in the last issue of this Magazine, +were cast by John Francis, a famous sculptor of the day. Mr. Hamo +Thorneycroft, R.A., writes me to say that "While the moulds were being +made Her Majesty removed all the rings from her fingers _except_ the +wedding ring. This she was most anxious should not come off, and was in +considerable fear lest the moulding process might remove it." + +[Illustration: COMTE DE LORGE'S HAND.] + + +[_The original drawings of the illustrations in this Magazine are always +on view, and on sale, in the Art Gallery at these offices, which is open +to the public without charge._] + + + + +[Illustration: ROSITA] + +FROM THE FRENCH OF PITRE CHEVALIER. + + +I. + + +It was harvest day at a house in the little village of Panola, in +Castile, on the 25th of August, 1838. The great sheaves of corn had been +borne, amidst universal rejoicing, to their resting-place in the +granary. All the village inhabitants had shared in this pleasant task, +and now, following an ancient custom, they had erected a trophy composed +of a few last sheaves of corn, round which the young girls and men began +to dance gaily, to the sound of guitars and castanets. + +Within the house, in a room which overlooked this charming scene, were +two men. + +The first, seated at a table, was an old man over sixty, but enfeebled +rather by cares than by age. His venerable head, crowned with white +hair, drooped upon his breast with patriarchal dignity. The old man, who +had been a soldier in the Spanish army, was Don Pedro de la Sarga, a +Castilian as noble as he was poor. His companion was his son, Don +Stephano, a young man of twenty, considered the most accomplished man in +Panola. He was handsome; his warm, brown skin, his large, black eyes, +the regular features, which wore that expression of national pride which +distinguishes a Castilian from any other race, and his raven-black hair +were eminently the Spanish type in all its grace and haughtiness. The +young man wore the Spanish holiday costume, the richness of which has +made travellers exclaim, more than once, that no European prince is +clothed like a simple peasant of Castile. Stephano had on a short vest +of black cloth, lined with yellow silk, ornamented with fringes and +bunches of ribbons; an embroidered shirt with open collar revealing a +waistcoat with gilt buttons, knee-breeches of black silk confined at the +knees by bunches of ribbons, shoes and gaiters of fine brown leather, +while a black felt hat with drooping plume completed his costume. + +Stephano's gloomy face contrasted with his gay attire. He leant against +the open window, carelessly holding in his hand a bouquet of faded +jasmine, whilst he gazed with melancholy eyes upon the festive scene +before him, and only by a shake of the head and a sad smile replied to +the light badinage of the dancers as they passed the window. But now and +then his eyes lighted up, and he sighed deeply as a certain dancer, +prettier than the rest, approached him. + +"How pretty she is!" he murmured, as he followed her retreating form. + +"Stephano!" called out the old man, who had been watching his son for +some time. + +"How gracefully she dances," continued the handsome dreamer, wrapt in +his thoughts. + +"Stephano!" repeated the old man. + +"Yes, father," cried Stephano, with a start, and coming forward. "Do you +wish to speak to me?" + +"From your mysterious air and endless sighs these last few days, +Stephano, I conclude that you are in love," said his father. + +"In love!" stammered the young man. "You think I am in love?" + +"I do not think, my son--I am sure of it; and I have only one reproach +to make to you, and that is that you have not made me a confidant of +your secret before." + +"You shall know all, father," said Stephano, drawing a chair close to +Don Pedro. + +"For the last month," he continued, "I have had in my heart a love which +nothing can subdue, and the object of my passion is a young girl here, a +glance from whose eyes is worth more to me than all the world besides; +but she shuns my love, and on every occasion strives to avoid me. She +hardly permits me to speak to her for fear that the passion she reads in +my eyes will break into words." + +"Bah!" said the old man, merrily; "it is very likely that she shuns you +for the reason of your not opening your mouth; you scare the young girl +with your morose airs." + +"Oh, if that were only true," sighed the disconsolate swain. + +"Now," said the old man, "there only remains for me to know the name of +my future daughter-in-law." + +The young man was about to pronounce the name which already trembled on +his lips when a sudden clamour interrupted the most interesting portion +of this conversation. The peasants, followed by the partners, were +rushing towards the house, and in the twinkling of an eye the room was +filled with the animated and noisy throng. The new-comers wore rich +costumes, more or less copies of Stephano's; some carried guitars, +others castanets, while most of them leaned upon tall peeled rods, +forked at the top, and ornamented with ribbons of all colours; each +carried on the left side of his vest a bouquet similar to that of +Stephano. The young girls in their silken bodices, short skirts, red +stockings and mantillas, rattled their castanets as they entered with +their partners. The joyous crowd surrounded Don Pedro, whilst cries of +"Rosita! Rosita!" resounded from all sides. + +"Well, well, my children, what is it you want?" demanded the village +Nestor of his clamorous audience. + +"We want Mlle. Rosita," they repeated. + +"What, my niece? But is she not with you? I thought it was she whom you +were leading just now round the corn sheaves." + +"That is true," replied one of the foremost of the crowd; "everything +went smoothly until we wished her to take part in our usual ceremony of +'The Maiden's Choice.'" + +"Did you explain to her," asked the old man, "what is the ceremony?" + +"Yes, we told her all that was necessary: that it is an old custom in +Panola on harvest day, after having escorted the daughter of the house +round the last sheaves of corn, for all her admirers in the village to +present her, each in his turn, with a bouquet; that she must then choose +the one she loves amongst them by retaining his bouquet, whilst the +others are rejected. She answered us by saying that she had only been in +Panola a few months, and was therefore not forced to adopt our customs, +and leaving us with these words she fled from us and escaped through the +little granary door." + +"The little shrew!" Don Pedro exclaimed, who, like an amiable old man, +was always on the side of the young folk. "But my friends," he added, +"you are but poor Lotharios to be flouted by a young girl; you must +follow her and bring her back." + +"That is just what we have done; but one cannot catch a bird without +also having wings. She seemed to fly as we followed her, and on reaching +the granary she entered and slammed the door in our faces; so we have +come, as a last resource, to you, Don Pedro, to ask her to comply with +our wishes." + +"You are right," replied the old man, with all the gravity of a judge, +"you must be satisfied at once"; and he looked round for Don Stephano, +who was standing more moody than ever behind a giggling group of young +peasants. + +"My son," he said, "go and bring your cousin here. If she refuses, tell +her that I particularly wish her to come." + +"I will go, father," said Stephano, after a second's hesitation; and he +went out. + +There was a slight pause; then shouts and acclamations and rattling of +castanets burst forth, as Rosita, with downcast eyes, entered the room, +led by Stephano. Well might they welcome with fervour such a charming +creature. Rosita was just eighteen. She wore upon her golden brown hair +a black lace mantilla, which contrasted with her creamy complexion and +the liquid depth of her large brown eyes. A brown velvet bodice showed +off to perfection her slight yet rounded figure; and her silk skirts +just revealed her pretty ankles and small feet in their silk stockings +and neat shoes. + +Rosita was a native of Navarre. She had quitted Tafalla, her native +village, on the death of her father and mother, who had been victims of +the Civil War which at this time desolated the country, and had been +conducted not without peril to her uncle's house at Panola, in which she +had since taken up her abode. + +"Rosita," said Don Pedro to his niece, taking her hand, "I have made +your apologies to your friends for the trick you have played them. It is +your turn now to atone for your misdeed, by submitting to an old custom. +Among the brave Castilians who surround you there are many suitors for +your hand. There must be one among them whom you secretly favour. Your +choice is entirely free, and even the favoured one after the ceremony +will then have only the right to please you and to merit your hand." + +"But, uncle----" faltered the young girl. + +"I will take no denial, my dear," interrupted the old man. + +Rosita strove in vain to protest, but her imperturbable uncle would not +listen, and gave a sign to the peasants to begin the ceremony, in which +he seemed to take as keen an interest as they did themselves. Thereupon +the majority of the young men, darting furious glances of jealousy at +one another, prepared for the contest. Rosita, at her uncle's side, +stood at one end of the room. At her right and left were grouped the +young peasant girls, admiring without envy the queen of the _fête_, and +forming her court. Stephano stood behind with dejected mien. Those with +guitars touched their instruments lightly now and then, and upon this +scene, worthy of the pencil of Leopold Roberts, the sun, now setting at +the horizon, cast a calm and solemn light. + +The first peasant who came forward was a tall young man, with a ruddy +complexion. + +"My name is Geronimo Caldaroz, and I am twenty-five. It has been the +talk of the village why I did not marry, and it has been said it was +because I had never yet seen a maiden beautiful enough to please me. But +now I have found her; it is you, Rosita. Will you accept my bouquet?" He +presented his bouquet to the young girl, who blushed as she received it, +and then let it fall. + +"Refused! Refused!" whispered the spectators, whilst the young man +disappeared into the crowd, and a second one took his place. But the +same thing occurred, and with the same result. Soon the jasmine bouquets +covered the ground round the young girl's feet. The rejected suitors +multiplied so fast that they could no longer hide their discomfiture +amongst the others. Restless and smiling, Don Pedro wondered why his +niece was so severe, and the remaining suitors seemed to hesitate +whether to advance into the lists or not. Then the last three timidly +advanced one by one toward Rosita. The two first were not even heard to +the end of their speech, and then all eyes were fixed with interest upon +the last. Rosita let him finish his discourse, took his bouquet, which +she scrutinized demurely, and then uttering a deep sigh let it fall upon +the amorous trophy piled at her feet. + +A murmur rose amongst the stupefied villagers. Don Pedro approached his +niece. + +"Well, my child," he said, "have you thought of what you have done?" + +"Yes, uncle," Rosita replied. "Did you not tell me yourself that I was +perfectly free?" + +"Free to choose, without doubt; but not to send all your suitors away." + +Rosita cast down her eyes and made no reply. + +"Pardon me, father, but there still remains one," said Stephano, +breaking the silence. + +"Where is he?" everyone asked at once. + +"Here he is." + +Rosita trembled so violently that she was compelled to lean for support +upon her uncle's arm, and Don Pedro, more astonished than anyone, rushed +towards his son. + +"What, Stephano?" he said joyfully. "It is your cousin whom----" + +"Yes, father," replied the young man. "It is she whom I love." + +In the midst of such general interest Stephano, pale with emotion, +advanced towards his cousin. + +"Rosita, I love you," he said, simply. "Will you keep this bouquet which +I offer to you?" + +The young man pronounced these words with a voice so sweet and +expressive, and the gesture with which he offered the symbolic flower +was so imploring and passionate, that a sympathetic thrill ran through +the spectators, and tears bedimmed Don Pedro's eyes. + +[Illustration: "'ROSITA, I LOVE YOU,' HE SAID."] + +Rosita, not less pale than her cousin, took the bouquet with a trembling +hand, gazed upon it tenderly, then made a movement as if to throw it +down, paused, and then at last, with head turned aside, let it fall. + +"Santa Maria! He also!" cried the crowd, mournfully. + +"Do not condemn me without hearing my justification," cried Rosita, +turning to Don Pedro. + +"Your justification?" repeated Stephano, with relief. + +"Uncle," she said, after a pause, "there is a secret which I may have +been wrong in concealing from you hitherto, but I must confide it to you +alone." + +"To me!" cried the astonished old man. + +"I will come with you at once," and, seizing Rosita's hand, he led her +away, making signs to the peasants as he did so to disperse. + +Stephano strolled out to breathe the air upon the hills, whose shadows +were beginning to slope down into the valley. The sky was lighted only +by the afterglow of the red, sunken sun; the evening breeze carried +along in the warm air the perfume of the jasmine flowers and orange +groves in bloom, and no sound was heard but the music of guitars and +castanets, mingled sometimes with the faint tinkle of sheep bells. + +When Stephano re-entered he found his father and cousin in the lower +hall. Rosita, on perceiving him, made a pretext for rising, and +hurriedly left the room. Don Pedro and his son were left alone. + +"One word, father," said Stephano. "Does Rosita love me, and will she +also become my wife?" + +"You must forget Rosita," replied the old man. "You must tear from your +heart even the remembrance of your love." + +The young man abandoned himself to despair. + +"I shall never forget her," he said, passionately. "My love for Rosita +will only cease with my life." + +And he rushed from the room, leaving the old man wondering. + + +II. + +For some weeks the inmates of Don Pedro's house were forced to remain +prisoners, for rebel soldiers filled the neighbouring villages, and +troops of guerillas were being mustered to put them to flight. It was a +morning, early in September, just after the sun had peered above the +horizon. A fine rain had fallen during the night, and the drops which +rested on the foliage sparkled like myriads of diamonds. The streets +were as yet deserted; some muleteers alone passed along them at +intervals. Don Pedro's house was the only one astir. + +Don Stephano, according to his custom, had risen with the dawn, and was +now alone in the lower hall, standing opposite the window which +overlooked the high road. He was occupied in fixing an iron lance upon a +wooden rod, at which he gazed abstractedly. + +The sound of a voice filling the air with song attracted his attention; +it was singing the Moorish romance of "Adlemar and Adalifa," and to the +quick perception of a Spanish ear was marked with a slight Ultramontaine +accent, which Stephano discerned like a true Castilian. Without moving +he listened to the song which awoke the echoes of the valley. The +amorous words recalled to Stephano's mind the thought of Rosita, and he +sighed deeply. Then he listened anew to the voice, which grew nearer and +nearer, and in which, in spite of its strange accent, he seemed to hear +an understrain of singular emotion. His conjectures were not long, +however. A man enveloped in a large mantle peered in at the open window, +and after throwing a rapid glance behind him leapt into the room. +Stephano recoiled at the sight of such a strange visitor, and felt +tempted to seize the man, whom he took at first for a robber. Then a +troop of horsemen dashed past the house. The stranger gave a sigh of +relief. Then for the first time he caught sight of Stephano. + +"I must be careful," the soldier muttered, as he drew his cloak more +carefully round him. "This Spaniard does not look over benevolent." + +"Who can this man be?" thought Stephano, as he instinctively put his +hand on his pistols; but on seeing the stranger advance towards him with +a pleasant smile, he paused. + +"Noble Castilian," said the stranger, "are you a man to oblige an enemy +in peril, and who for a quarter of an hour wishes you no more harm than +if you were his brother?" + +Before replying, Stephano scrutinized his questioner. He saw before him +a man of about twenty-eight, with a frank face and light hair and +moustache. His accent, and the blue pantaloons which appeared under the +brown mantle, proclaimed him a Frenchman. + +[Illustration: "THE STRANGER."] + +"No unarmed man is my enemy," replied Stephano, "and from the moment my +roof was over your head you became my guest." + +"Shake hands on it! You are a fine fellow," cried the soldier, holding +out his hand. At the same time he drew aside his mantle, and Stephano +recognised the uniform worn by the French volunteers of Don Carlos's +army. "Now, if you have a drop of anything to drink handy, I will tell +you in a few words what has brought me here." + +Stephano opened the sideboard, and brought out a bottle and glasses. The +soldier wiped his moustache as he began. + +"You see before you," he said, with frank abruptness, "Charles +Dulaurier, a soldier by birth and profession, lieutenant in the +Grenadiers of His Majesty Charles V.--pardon me, Don Carlos. Being +stationed some few miles from here, I asked for leave of absence this +morning to join some troops which (pardon me) are going to make a raid +upon this very village this morning. But, thanks to my foolhardiness in +starting off alone, I soon found myself in the hands of guerillas. I +escaped. They pursued me. But I, though alone in a strange country and +unarmed, led them a nice dance for half an hour. I was just about to +fall again into their hands when I came in sight of this house. I duped +them by my ruse of pitching my voice in such a manner as to lead them to +think I was beyond the village, whilst I at the same time took refuge +here. To conclude, my worthy fellow, no doubt the guerillas are not +blind, and not finding any trace of me upon the route, will return to +Panola. Consequently, if you are a host to my liking you will----" + +"Conceal you," said Stephano, quickly. "You are right!" and he glanced +round with uneasiness. The lieutenant struck him on the shoulder. "One +minute," he said; "the guerillas cannot reappear for half an hour. This +little expedition, as you may imagine, was not my only motive for coming +to Panola, and I must again abuse your patience in asking you some +questions upon a certain subject which is the motive of my expedition." + +"Go on," replied Stephano, with resignation. + +"I came here to look for a young girl," said the Frenchman, twisting his +moustache, "and as, perhaps, you will be so good as to give me some +information on this point, it would be better for you to know the story. +Last year my regiment, after a vigorous resistance, entered a village in +Navarre." + +"A village in Navarre?" repeated Stephano, and his brow darkened. + +"One house had been so well defended, indeed, that it was found +necessary to surround it, and our infuriated soldiers, drunk with +carnage, determined to massacre everyone within. I luckily surprised +them as they drew their sabres upon two poor old creatures and their +young daughter. I threw myself between the victims and their butchers; +the wretches turned upon me and I fell wounded by a bayonet thrust, but +they were saved. The kind people who owed me their lives bore me to +their house, and gave me every care. The young girl watched at my +bedside for more than a fortnight. Briefly the beauty, the tenderness of +the little girl, won my heart. Losing no time, I declared my passion. +She whispered, blushing, that I might speak to her parents. As soon as I +was well enough to walk, I hastened to the worthy old man, who, after +the shock he had received, became mortally ill, and felt his end +approach. I had no sooner asked him for his daughter's hand than he +exclaimed, 'God be praised! I shall not now die without having +recompensed our deliverer.' At the same time he took the young girl's +hand and mine, and, after making us exchange rings, clasped them +together. Then he stretched forth his trembling hands above our heads to +bless us, whilst on our knees by the bedside we swore eternal fidelity +to each other. Three days after the good man died, and the same day my +regiment left for Castile. Seven months passed without my hearing any +news from my betrothed, and it was only by chance I learned that on her +mother's death she had quitted Navarre to take up her abode in her +uncle's house at Panola. + +"But what is the matter?" said the lieutenant, as Stephano rose +hurriedly. + +"I know enough," replied the young man in a hollow voice. "The village +was Tafalla, and the young girl's name is Rosita." + +"But what is there in that?" cried the lieutenant, who understood +nothing of Stephano's emotion. "You know Rosita? She is here? You are +silent. Heavens! Is she dead--or married?" + +"No, no," replied Stephano, with an effort. "Rosita is here. No doubt +she loves you and watches for your return with impatience." + +"Where, then, shall I find my betrothed?" + +Stephano was about to reply to this question when the tramp of horses +was heard. It was the troop returning. + +"Softly!" whispered Dulaurier as he crept towards the window. "Yes, +these are my friends. Where will you hide me?" + +Stephano regarded him with a savage gleam in his eyes and muttered to +himself, "This man comes here to blast my happiness, and I must protect +his life at the peril of my own." + +"What am I to do?" repeated Dulaurier. + +"Take this dagger," said Stephano, "put on your mantle and follow me." +He unfastened a little door which opened upon a staircase which led into +the garden, and descended, followed by Dulaurier. They stole along +behind a thick hedge of hawthorn until they came to the trees of a +little orchard, from which rose the roof of a ruined summer-house. On +reaching this spot Stephano installed the lieutenant so that he could +watch both the road and the garden; then having arranged upon the course +they should take, Stephano hastened back to the house. + +[Illustration: "THEY STOLE ALONG."] + +Don Pedro was in the lower hall, alone, when his son entered. + +"I have a request to make to you," said the young man, clasping his +father's hand convulsively. "I want you to let me start at once to join +my brothers and to fight for Spain." + +"Can you then leave your cousin?" said Don Pedro, sadly. "And you do not +know----" + +"I know more than you, father, more than Rosita herself about this +affair," interrupted Stephano. "Is not Rosita betrothed to a French +volunteer in Don Carlos's army, and is this not the secret she confided +to you on harvest day?" + +"It is true. But how have you discovered it?" + +"From a man flying from the pursuit of guerillas; no other than the man +himself, Lieutenant Charles Dulaurier!" + +"Is it possible?" exclaimed the stupefied old man. + +"You see, father, that it is absolutely necessary for me to go," cried +Stephano. "I cannot wait until Rosita and Dulaurier are united. Their +happiness would be more than I could bear, and I have thought of a plan +by which the lieutenant can be saved without putting off my departure. I +shall join the troop of guerillas who are seeking Dulaurier in the +village. Seeing me become one of themselves their suspicions will be +lulled, and I shall save my rival by departing with his enemies." + +"You are right," replied his father, after a painful pause, but he could +not utter a word more. + +The young man proceeded to take down from the wall his pistols and his +gun; he placed the former in his belt and the latter on his shoulder, +took his hat and stepped forward to bid his father farewell. But as he +threw himself into the arms of the weeping old man, the door opened and +Rosita entered. + +The young girl glanced quickly from one to the other, and then her eyes +remained fixed on Stephano. + +"What are you going to do?" she asked, examining his equipment. + +"I am going away," replied Stephano. "Farewell, Rosita, be happy. +Farewell, father," he added, embracing Don Pedro. + +"He is going," said Rosita, her eyes dim with tears, "without one +friendly smile, without one clasp of his hand. Oh! Stephano," she +exclaimed, springing forward. "You cannot part from me thus!" + +"You are keeping me!" said the bewildered young man. + +"Yes," she replied, seizing his hand. "Stay, Stephano, do not go. I +implore you!" + +"Remain!" cried the young man, passionately. "Remain to see you in the +arms of another? Never!" + +As he moved towards the door, Rosita sprang towards him with +outstretched arms. "And what if it is you whom I love, Stephano? What if +I have never loved anyone but you?" A thunderbolt would hardly have +produced more effect than did these words. + +"You love me?" he repeated, approaching his cousin. "Rosita, for mercy's +sake, repeat those words once more, so that I may be sure of having +heard aright." + +"Yes, I love you," repeated the young girl, tenderly; "no one but you! +Will you stay now?" + +"For ever, if you wish it!" cried the enraptured youth, throwing down +his gun and pistols. "Look at me, Rosita, that I may read in your eyes +that word which gives me life, and which I have waited for so long. How +blind and foolish I have been! But that will be all right now, will it +not, my beloved?" As he spoke he embraced her passionately. By both of +them the world was forgotten. + +Through the open window came the clink of spurs and rattling of sabres. +This sound, to which Stephano and Rosita were deaf, struck on the ear of +Don Pedro and paralyzed him with terror. + +"Stephano!" he cried at last. "Remember Lieutenant Dulaurier!" + +[Illustration: "REMEMBER LIEUTENANT DULAURIER!"] + +"Ah!" groaned Stephano, rudely torn from his ecstasy of happiness; and +he fixed his gaze upon his cousin. + +The girl had not even heard Don Pedro. + +"Rosita," said her lover, "you say you love me, but you have a +_fiancé!_" + +"Dulaurier!" cried the startled girl. "Great Heaven! pardon me, I had +forgotten." + +"If this man," continued Stephano, "came here to claim your promise, you +would reply, would you not, that friendship alone, not love, had drawn +you towards him, and that your hand, promised when you hardly knew what +you did, would now be given without your heart?" + +"Yes, that is what I should answer; but he is not likely to come here, +Stephano." + +"And what if he were here already?" asked an impressive voice. + +Don Pedro at the same time stepped forward between the young people, and +before the severe face of the Spaniard their eyes drooped. + +"Father!" faltered the young man. + +"Silence!" cried the old man. "Your duty is clear. What if Dulaurier +were in the house, Rosita--what if, more faithful than you, he had come +to claim his promise, made at the death-bed of your father? I ask you +what you would answer." + +Trembling and submissive as a criminal before his judge, the young girl +turned her eyes from Stephano to Don Pedro. + +"I should reply to Lieutenant Dulaurier that, before God and man, I am +his betrothed bride, and that while he lives no other can be my +husband." + +"Come then, my child, prepare to receive your _fiancé_," and Don Pedro +held out his hand to his niece to lead her away. + +"You are destroying my happiness!" cried Stephano. + +"But in return I give you back your honour," replied Don Pedro. "Look +after the lieutenant, for here come the guerillas!" and he went out. + +"What a dream, and what an awakening!" murmured Stephano as he was left +alone. "Rosita vows she loves me, and at the same time declares she will +never be mine while Dulaurier lives. _While he lives!_ And I must take +upon myself the peril of saving him, when I have only to let him----Oh, +how despair tempts us to horrible deeds! Is there time to fly, to quit +this spot where each thought is torture: to hasten and join the +guerillas before they enter the house? For, alas! if they enter now and +demand where their enemy is--by Heaven! I shall not have the strength to +resist--I must fly!" + +Picking up his gun and pistols he rushed towards the door, but recoiled +at the sight of a man in the uniform of a captain of guerillas, who by a +gesture forced him to pause. + +[Illustration: "IT IS TOO LATE!"] + +"Malediction--it is too late!" murmured the young man, as he dropped +upon a chair, and let his unheeded weapons fall to the ground. + +"Two sentinels before each door and window," called out the captain to +the soldiers who followed him. "This is the last house in which our +prisoner could take refuge," he continued, striking impatiently the butt +end of his rifle upon the ground. "Search well, comrades; you know he +who takes the Frenchman prisoner is to have the honour of firing the +first shot upon him, and is also to receive twenty douros for reward." +Thereupon he advanced into the room. "Well, my good fellow," he said to +Stephano; "what are you going to do with these weapons? Are they to +defend yourself or to protect the officer whom you have hidden here?" + +"No one is hidden in this house," replied the young man, with the +courage which peril bestows. "The La Sargas are known throughout the +country to be devoted to Spain and the Queen. I have three brothers in +the national army, and I have just picked up these weapons with the +intention of joining your troops." + +The captain looked at him with a sneering smile. Then he turned to his +companions, who had just returned from searching the house. + +"Well, have you found anything?" + +"Only a young girl and an old man," was the reply. + +"Bring the old man here," said the captain; then he turned to Stephano. +"And you, sir, go with my lieutenant and these three men, and show them +every room there is"; then he murmured in the lieutenant's ear, +slipping at the same time a purse of gold into his hand: "Spare neither +threats nor persuasion to gain this young man over to our side. Whatever +it costs, I must recapture our prisoner." + +Stephano felt tempted to resist these orders, but he reflected that this +would only draw suspicion upon him, and he led the way up the stairs, +which were placed in a corner of the room. + +At the same time Don Pedro entered, guarded by two soldiers and leaning +on his staff. Then an interval ensued, and the minutes flew past. +Suddenly a pistol shot was heard. Everyone gave a start of alarm. Then +one of the guards who had gone out with Stephano came rushing down the +stairs and into the room. + +"The bird is snared, or will be in a few minutes," he cried. "Our +prisoner," he continued, pointing through the window, "is in that +building which you see at the bottom of the garden." + +"How do you know this?" asked the captain. + +"From the young man who is upstairs with the lieutenant." + +"From Stephano!" cried the old man, growing pale with horror. + +"Ah, ah!" laughed the captain, "your son does not seem very hard to +persuade." + +"The lieutenant having discovered nothing," the man went on, "told three +of us to go and search the granary, and took advantage of the occasion +to take the young man aside. I watched them. A purse of gold and the +barrel of a pistol have been the principal inducements. The sly fellow +at first was very obstinate, and it was then that the lieutenant fired +the pistol at him to frighten him. The young man seemed to be moved in a +singular manner by the shot. He gave way with good grace, and pointed +the pavilion out to us." + +Whilst the captain lent a joyful ear to this narrative, Don Pedro, on +the contrary, listened with terror mingled with incredulity. At these +last words he could contain himself no longer, and broke in violently:-- + +"Enough, wretch; enough!" he cried. "What you say is impossible! It is +an infamous calumny! My son is quite incapable of such villainy!" + +"Look, senor," replied the man, pointing to the stairs. + +Stephano in truth was descending with the lieutenant, holding the purse +in his hand. His pale and agitated face seemed to proclaim his guilt, +and Don Pedro sank back fainting on a seat. Stephano crossed the room +with a faltering step without observing his father, and, reaching the +window, gazed out upon the road. + +In recalling to mind his son's jealousy of Dulaurier, Don Pedro +understood the facts of the matter--that he had sold his guest to get +rid of a detested rival. Maddened by passion, he had without doubt lost +all control over himself. After having exchanged some words in a low +voice with his lieutenant, the captain made a sign to two of his men. + +"Remain with this fellow," he said, in a tone of contempt, pointing to +Stephano, "until we reach the pavilion; if he makes one movement shoot +him, and when a volley announces to you that we are not deceived, join +us to start upon our route." + +"Very good, captain," answered the two soldiers, taking up their +position on each side of Stephano, whilst the others went out softly. + +A mournful silence reigned in the chamber. + +Stephano stood erect before the window, with haggard eyes fixed upon the +road; Don Pedro, mute and motionless in his chair, seemed like a man +bereft of all at a single blow. Then, his misery overwhelming him, he +covered his face with his hands and wept. Stephano turned round quickly, +and for the first time saw his father. + +"Great Heavens! He was there, and heard all!" he murmured. "Father!" he +cried imploringly. + +"Call me your father no more," cried the old man, with flaming eyes, +"unless you can tell me that I am blind and deaf, or that I have dreamed +that my son was a coward, a traitor, an assassin! Tell me so, Stephano, +for pity's sake!" + +The young man made an effort as if he were about to speak, but paused at +the sight of his two guards; the strain was so painful that he was +forced to lean for support on one of the guerilla's arms. Then he turned +away; Don Pedro rose from his seat and came towards his son. + +"His eye never quits this fatal window," he murmured to himself. "It +looks as if he watched to see the success of his perfidy, that he wishes +to assure himself that his rival does not escape. Wretch!" he burst +forth, "if this is so, may you be----" + +Suddenly a hand was laid softly upon the old man's arm. It was Rosita. + +"Ah! it is you, Rosita!" said Don Pedro with a bewildered stare. +"Wretched man that I am, what was I about to do?" he added, passing his +hand over his forehead. + +Rosita came farther forward into the room. + +"Stephano guarded by two soldiers!" she cried. "Holy Virgin! what does +this mean, and what has happened?" + +And she made an instinctive movement towards her cousin. Her uncle +stopped her. + +"Keep away from this wretched man!" he cried, "for he is a coward and a +traitor; he has betrayed your betrothed!" + +"Betrayed my betrothed!" cried the girl, with horror. "It is +impossible!" + +"Not only has he betrayed him," continued the old man, taking his +niece's hand, "but he is watching for the success of his treason. Do you +recognise my son, Rosita?" he added, with heartrending despair, "or the +man whom you loved?" + +Here the poor old man broke down completely, and sank back into his +chair. The girl gazed at him with consternation. Even the rough soldiers +were touched by the scene, and turned their heads aside. + +[Illustration: "THE POOR OLD MAN BROKE DOWN COMPLETELY."] + +At that instant a loud report shook the walls. It was the captain's +volley. The two soldiers exchanged a meaning glance and disappeared. As +soon as they went out Rosita threw herself in Don Pedro's arms. + +"Dulaurier is dead!" said the old man, gloomily. + +"He is saved!" cried Stephano, coming forward, and throwing from him as +he did so the purse of gold. "Yes, father, yes, Rosita, the lieutenant +is safe and sound, and will be with us in a few seconds." + +"How can that be?" cried Don Pedro, passing from despair to joy. + +"Before leaving Dulaurier in the pavilion we had arranged that he was to +be informed by a pistol shot when he must leave his hiding-place for the +granary whilst his enemies were searching the pavilion. You understand +now how the guerilla's shot agitated me. For, of course, Dulaurier, +taking the report for the signal agreed upon, would leave the pavilion +for the granary, and would then fall into the hands of his pursuers. The +only plan to save him was to get the soldiers away from the granary, +which I did by feigning to betray Dulaurier, by accepting the purse, and +pointing out the pavilion as his hiding-place. For a quarter of an hour +I have endured the tortures of hell, but I have saved the man who +confided in me, and I am still worthy of you both!" + +The young man had hardly finished his narrative when his father and +Rosita were at his feet begging for forgiveness. Then Stephano hastened +to the granary, and called the lieutenant's name, but there was no +response, and soon Stephano's surprise was changed to uneasiness. He +rushed into the granary. It was empty. Stephano reappeared, pale, +tottering and breathless. + +"Dulaurier is not in the granary," he cried. "He cannot have taken the +pistol shot for my signal. He must have remained, and that report we +heard was his death-shot." + +He paused abruptly. Don Pedro and Rosita understood, and burst forth +into an exclamation of horror. + +"Victory! Victory!" cried a hundred voices. + +Their despair and consternation were changed to the most lively +astonishment, when a detachment of Don Carlos's volunteers entered the +house, led by Dulaurier himself. + +"Dulaurier!" exclaimed Stephano, Don Pedro, and Rosita at the same time. + +"Our enemies!" said the old Castilian, whilst his niece shrank behind +him. + +"Say rather friends," replied Dulaurier, pressing Stephano's hand +warmly. + +"But how has all this happened?" began the bewildered Stephano. + +"One minute's attention. For half an hour I waited patiently after your +departure in the little pavilion, when I heard the signal we arranged on +of the pistol shot. I quitted my hiding-place at once, and was preparing +to creep towards the granary, when, casting a glance upon the road, I +recognised the uniforms of the volunteers of my regiment. Briefly," +continued Dulaurier, showing the soldiers who surrounded him, "here are +the gentlemen, whom I have the honour of presenting to you. Like good +comrades, they determined to avenge me, and we caught the guerillas in +an ambush as they were searching the pavilion. Bang! a general +discharge, and thirty men were lying on the ground, and the rest running +away for their lives." + +"The volley of which we believed you the victim!" interrupted Stephano. + +"You understand the rest. Not wishing to quit Panola without thanking +you, and also wishing to see about that little matter which I mentioned +to you this morning, we came on here. And now," he added to Stephano, +with the air of a man who has no time to lose, "I must thank you most +warmly for all you have done for me." + +There was such a tone of kindness in these words that Stephano could do +nothing but grasp his hand cordially in return. + +"Anyone else?" cried the effusive officer, looking quickly round. "You +have a father, a mother, a wife, perhaps? Where are they? This noble old +man must be your father," and upon Stephano's making an affirmative sign +he grasped the old man's hand, and wrung it with force. + +"Are there no ladies in your family?" asked Dulaurier with a gallant +air. + +It was then that in spite of Rosita's efforts to avoid his attention he +caught sight of her as she hid behind Don Pedro's high-backed chair. + +"Ah! here is one!" he said, without recognising his betrothed. He +stepped forward towards her. + +"Most amiable senora," he began politely, "permit me----" He paused, +gazing with stupefied eyes upon the young girl, and then made a sign to +his soldiers to leave them. + +"Good Heavens!" he exclaimed, "if I am not deceived it is Rosita, my +pretty _fiancée_!" + +"You are right; it is I, Monsieur Dulaurier," faltered the young girl. + +The light of happiness vanished from all the faces in the room except +the lieutenant's. + +"You can easily understand, my pretty one, what has led me to Panola," +said Dulaurier. + +"I presume you have come to remind Rosita," answered Don Pedro, "of the +promise that she gave you at her dying father's bedside. She has not +forgotten it, senor. She recognises her duty, and you have only one word +to say----" + +"Will you answer me yourself, Rosita?" interrupted Dulaurier, marking +her extreme pallor and agitation. "You know what I have the right of +claiming; are you still able to give it me freely?" + +"Without doubt," she murmured; "if I give you my hand, my heart will go +with it." + +"Words, nothing but words!" thought the lieutenant, who grew pale in his +turn. "All women are weathercocks. It is clear I am superseded," and he +bit his lip until it bled. "But I should like to know who is my +substitute," and he turned mechanically to Stephano. He found him as +mute and as troubled as Rosita. The truth flashed across him. "I cannot +blame the brave young man," he murmured to himself, "for falling in love +with his cousin. It has not prevented him from saving my life at the +expense of his love and honour, and as I have no wish for a heart not +wholly mine, I have now to render sacrifice for sacrifice, and to keep +the reputation of France equal to that of Spain." He turned to Rosita +with a smile. + +"Mademoiselle," he began, "when we plighted our troth, and I told you +that I loved you devotedly, I was as sincere as I am to-day, only I took +upon myself too much, and have contracted several other engagements, +more or less similar to yours." He gave a forced laugh as he pronounced +these words. + +"That is enough, senor," said Don Pedro. "But why have you then come to +Panola to claim her promise?" + +"Who said that I was here for that purpose?" asked Dulaurier, abruptly. +Stephano, indeed, recollected that the Frenchman had not said a single +word which implied that he came to claim Rosita's hand. "I implore +Mademoiselle Rosita to pardon me," pursued Dulaurier, "and I propose +that we exchange rings again." + +[Illustration: "I PROPOSE THAT WE EXCHANGE RINGS AGAIN."] + +It was no sooner said than done. Dulaurier turned and clasped Stephano's +hand again, and now the young man saw with apprehension that Dulaurier's +eyes were dim with tears. Dulaurier could keep up the farce no longer, +and his heart was breaking behind the smile upon his lips. + +"Dulaurier!" said the young man, "you weep: you are unhappy! What you +have said has been only a sublime falsehood! You love Rosita--you wish +to marry her--and if you have the generosity to renounce all for me, it +must not be at the expense of your happiness." + +"Hush!" said Dulaurier, as he took him aside. "Do not undo my work. But +since you have found it out, you are right. I did come back to claim +Rosita. I have always loved her, and have loved none but her. But do not +breathe a word of this. Let no thought of my unhappiness cast a shadow +on her life. Sacrifice for sacrifice, young man. France is equal to +Spain, and we are quits. + +"Farewell, brave Castilians," he cried aloud, "celebrate the marriage +merrily: and let us hope that we shall never meet upon the battlefield +of this unhappy country." + +"Farewell!" replied Stephano, huskily. + +Dulaurier pressed Don Pedro's and Stephano's hands, kissed that of +Rosita, and joined his comrades outside. + +"Wheel to the right--forward!" he shouted, at the head of his battalion. + +Then came the roll of the drum, and they all marched past the window. + +"Rosita," said Stephano to his cousin, "you are free, and we are going +to be happy; but never let us forget Lieutenant Dulaurier!" + + + + +_The Queer Side of Things._ + + +The N. P. M. C + +[Illustration] + +Let us return for a space to the two spirits William and James, whose +conversations we described in past numbers. Some readers may possibly +recall how the spirit James, while wandering through the darkness of +unoccupied Space (about five-and-twenty billions of eons before the +commencement of Eternity), conceived a wild idea of the possibility of +the existence of worlds--worlds occupied by an impracticability called +"man." It will be recollected how the wiser spirit William cast +well-merited ridicule upon this insanely impossible phantasy of a +disordered mind; nay, even condescended to crush, by perspicuous and +irrefutable logic, the grotesque and preposterous idea. + +Very well; it is now William's turn. + +"James," he said one day as they chanced to sight each other in the +awful solitude of Space, "I have been thinking over that world of yours, +and your crowning absurdity, 'man.' Pray do not become too inflated with +weak conceit at my condescending to think about such trivialities; for +the fact is, any subject of thought--however hopelessly foolish--is a +relief amid the tediousness of Space. Well, I have been reflecting upon +that characteristic which you conceive as distinguishing your puppet +'man'--I allude to _intelligence_. I think you suggested that he would +possess intelligence?" + +James only fidgeted uneasily, and made a feeble sign of affirmation. + +"Very well," continued William. "Now, I have been putting two and two +together, and have found out the nature of that quality which you +mistake for intelligence; its true name is 'low cunning.' Every fresh +piece of absurdity which you have told me touching the tricks of your +queer creatures has supplied new evidence of this. Your creatures were +to feed upon the substance of the 'world' on which they lived, and, ever +increasing in numbers, would logically in course of time find there was +not a mouthful apiece. I think we agreed about that? Well, let us +consider that period, some time before the creatures should actually +become exterminated by the natural evolution of events--the time when +all the eatable products of their world would be growing scarce. You +went so far as to imagine a great many products----" + +"Yes!" said James, gazing afar off in the absorption of his imagination. +"Yes--there were eggs, and oysters, and poultry, and mushrooms, and----" + +"Ah!--the very things I've been reflecting about. Well, I've been +dreaming that, at the period of which I speak, when all the commodities +were becoming scarce, your human beings would agree to make poisonous +artificial articles of consumption with which to poison themselves by +degrees, and thus reduce the population to convenient limits." + +"No!" cried James, pondering deeply. "Their idea would be to poison not +_themselves_, but _each other_!" + +[Illustration: "POISON."] + +"Ah! I see. Then they would make some sort of effort to prevent +themselves being poisoned?" + +"Oh, yes; they would pass Adulteration Acts for the purpose." + +"I see; and any creature who did not wish to be poisoned could take +advantage of these Acts to protect himself?" + +"Certainly. The Acts would be very stringent. Let us suppose, for +example, that a certain man suspected that the butter supplied to him +was not butter at all, but a deleterious compound--well, all he would +have to do would be to go to the shop, accompanied by a guardian of the +peace, and, standing on one leg, with both hands on the counter and one +eye shut, order a pound of the butter in certain words prescribed by the +Act. He would then say to the tradesman, 'I am about to divide this +pound of butter into three equal portions for the purposes of analysis'; +and, taking the butter-man's knife in his left hand, and passing it to +his right, would cut the butter into three portions exactly equal. + +"After this, hermetically sealing the three portions in three jars +provided for the purpose, he would hand one jar to the tradesman, the +second to the guardian of the peace, and retain the third. Then he would +bring an action; and (provided that all the conditions had been +accurately fulfilled, without the slightest flaw) the erring tradesman +would be told by the Court not to do it again; while the complainant +would have to pay all costs, and possibly a fine; and would be sneered +at by the magistrate as a fussy idiot and a common informer. + +"If, on the other hand, the complainant should omit to secure the +company of a custodian of the peace, or fail to stand on one leg with +both hands on the counter, or take the knife in his right hand first, or +should leave out the prescribed words, or blink his eye, or stammer, or +sneeze, or in any other way fail to observe the regulations of the Act; +he would, of course, have no case or remedy. The Adulteration Acts would +be extremely stringent----" + +"Against the victim of adulteration?" + +"Ye--es," murmured James, a little nonplussed. + +[Illustration: "THE SHOP."] + +"Ah--well, then, I think we can afford to ignore these Adulteration +Acts--like the adulterators and the public authorities would--and +proceed with the question of the adulteration. I had a most vivid vision +or dream of the details of this adulteration as they would be carried +out on your world at the period we are now considering. I imagined that +I was actually in a part of your world called 'America,' and that one of +your human beings politely invited me to walk through his factory and +see how things were made. I think you mentioned 'oysters'----" + +[Illustration: "NO CASE."] + +"Yes," said James, "that's one name the article of food would possess; +newspaper writers, however, would not recognise them by that name--they +would only know them as 'the succulent bivalve.'" + +"The very idea!" exclaimed William. "That's exactly what I seemed to +have become--a newspaper writer. I fancied I went to see the factory, +and then sent in the following account:-- + +"One of the most interesting factories in America is the stately +building of the Ephraim Q. Knickerbocker Natural Products Manufacturing +Corporation, of Spread Eagle Springs, N.J. That the structure is itself +an imposing one may well be imagined in view of the vast productive +energy expended within its walls; and the feebleness and inefficiency of +the productive operations of Nature are never so fully realized as after +a visit to this marvellous factory, and a comparison of the two systems. + +"It was, therefore, with no little satisfaction that we lately received +a courteous invitation from the able and energetic managing director +General Sardanapalus J. Van Biene to inspect the operations of the +Corporation at its factory. Accordingly, we proceeded to the New York +terminus of the Natural Products Manufacturing Corporation's New York, +Sumner Ferry, Thanksgiving Flats, and Spread Eagle Springs Railroad, +along which a special train speedily whirled us to the front door of the +works. On the steps stood the genial managing director, supported by the +principal manager Colonel Exodus V. Rooster, the head chemist Major +Madison B. Jefferson, and the assistant chemists Judge Vansittart J. +Sumner and Admiral Hudson W. Killigrew. + +"They received us with open arms, and, after entertaining us at a +_recherché_ lunch, conducted us to the chemistry and analysis section +occupying a little over seventeen acres and employing a permanent staff +of thirteen thousand four hundred and thirty-two, assistants, among whom +are chemists, microscopists, sub-inventors, etc., etc. There it is that +the productive operations of Nature are studied and improved upon. + +"'You must not imagine that we have any kind of sympathy or admiration +for Nature's system,' explained General S. J. Van Biene, hastening to +sweep away any false impression which we might have formed. + +[Illustration: "THEY RECEIVED US WITH OPEN ARMS."] + +"'On the contrary, we just entirely despise her and her ways, and should +have discarded her way back but for the prejudices of the consuming +public. It's just like this--the consumers still believe in natural +products, and so we have to go on reproducing them instead of starting +right away on our own lines and bringing out new and original +commodities far in advance of anything Nature can do. How we're +stultified you'll see as we work through. We just have to copy, anyway, +in place of originating. We make oysters, for example. Now quite a while +ago, our head chemist Major Madison B. Jefferson invented a new edible +way, finer in every essential than the oyster; but the consumers +wouldn't have it: they shied at it, and declared it wasn't wholesome; +and we had the whole stock on our hands, and had to vat it down again, +and recolour it, and make tomatoes of it. Then they took it down and +just chaired it round. Of course, we have to say we _grow_ the +products--that's another effect of popular prejudice; if we had said we +made those tomatoes, the public would have started right off again, and +talked of "adulteration," although our tomatoes whip Nature's by 50 per +cent, in all the elements of nutrition and flavour. Just taste this +one.' + +"We hesitated, and the director, perceiving it, promptly consumed +another from the same case. Thus reassured, we ventured to nibble at the +artificial vegetable, and found it excellent in every respect--decidedly +superior to the natural product, as he had stated. + +"'But,' we asked, 'do you not suffer considerable losses when these +products--necessarily perishable in the natural course of things--begin +to decay?' + +[Illustration: "JUST TASTE THIS ONE."] + +"'That's just another point where we show our superiority to Nature. +_Our_ products _don't_ decay; on the contrary, they improve by keeping. +Here is a tomato seven years old,' he continued, taking down another +case. 'Try it.' + +"We did. The other was not to be compared with it. The older tomato had +matured and mellowed, the skin having a finer colour and lovelier gloss, +the flesh possessing a firmer body and more delicate flavour; it was far +in advance of any tomato we had ever conceived. + +"'Wonderful!' we exclaimed. + +"'A very simple matter,' said the director. 'All that is required is a +thorough mastery of chemistry. In all our goods we employ a special +patent preservative of our own, which is naturally a secret. We +calculate it to be worth one hundred and fifty quadrillions of dollars. + +"'But let us show you how we make oysters! See, these are the tanks +which contain the mixture--the compound which forms the body of the +bivalve. This tank contains the beard-mixture; and this one the +gristle.' + +"'And what are the principal ingredients?' + +"'Glue, made from horses' heels. This is a very important factor in our +products. This glue, after undergoing a peculiar treatment which +prevents its hardening and losing its elasticity in the course of years, +is flavoured and coloured in various ways. This great tank contains the +composition for the internal parts of the oyster--nearly black, you +perceive; that tank over there contains the compound for the flesh that +covers the internal parts; that tank farther along holds the beard +mixture; and the one beyond that the gristle which attaches the oyster +to the shell. First, the flesh of the oyster is run into moulds, each +oyster being in two parts; then the inside of the animal is run into +another mould, and the two halves of the body are automatically placed +around it and cemented together. + +"'Meanwhile the beards have been rolled, stamped, frilled, and coloured +along the edge by special automatic machinery. The body of the oyster +then passes to the fixing-up room, where the beard is cemented to it by +hand, and finishing touches of colour added; and then it passes along +and has the gristle attached: and the oyster itself is complete.' + +[Illustration: The Oyster Factory Affixing the Beards.] + +"'But it wants a shell!' + +"'Just so. As far as the supply will go, we buy up old shells from +dustyards and use them; but most of them are damaged by previous +opening, so we make the bulk of our shells, and they're a good deal more +natural than the real ones. They're made of lime.' + +"'All alike?' + +"'Not in the least. You see, we have some thousands of moulds, every one +differing slightly from the rest. There's a special department for +hingeing the two shells together. We had some trouble to find a +substance for the hinge; but at last one of our chemists hit on a way of +subjecting old hide-scraps to a peculiar process, and that did the +thing. The mother-of-pearl is made of a sort of soft glass, somewhat +after the appearance of Venetian glass, and put on the shell hot. +Lastly, the oyster is attached to the shells by its cartilage; a little +liquor is put in, and the shells are closed up.' + +"'But surely people must observe that they are not alive?' we said. 'For +instance, they can't open their shells!' + +"'That's just where you're astray,' replied the General. 'Owing to the +mechanical action of salt upon the composition of the cartilage, the +oyster opens when placed in salt water. Iron, however, exercises an +electro-magnetic influence upon the composition forming the body of the +bivalve, causing a sudden contraction--so that, on a knife being +introduced into the shell, the latter closes in the most natural way. We +manufacture pearls on the premises, and advertise that one oyster in +every gross taken from our beds contains a pearl of more or less value; +and there's a greater demand for our oysters than for any others in the +world. Our oyster beds are way down along the coast, about ten miles +off; and are inspected by thousands yearly. Taste this egg.' + +[Illustration: The Pearl.] + +"He took up a fine specimen of a new-laid egg, and proceeded to break it +into a glass. It was a delightful egg. 'That's our latest pattern of +egg,' explained the General, 'You perceive that it has three lines +around it, where the substance of the shell is weaker than elsewhere; +the lines near each end enable a person about to consume the egg in a +boiled state to easily cut off the top or bottom with a knife, or run +his nail around it; while the line about the middle greatly assists +cooks in breaking it into a basin. There is also a thin spot at either +end, to facilitate sucking. These eggs are always new-laid; we send tons +to Europe, particularly to Great Britain, where ours are the only fresh +eggs they ever get.' + +[Illustration: The London Egg] + +"'But you must find some difficulty in making an egg?' + +"'Just as easy as smiling. The white is simply jelly-fish subjected to a +chemical process--jelly-fish aren't costly. This tank is full of the +liquor. The main ingredient of the yolk is the horse-heel glue mentioned +before; we also boil down vast quantities of rats--they come cheap, too; +it's only the cost of catching them; and then there's a vegetable +colouring, and the preservative, and a few other trifles. First, the two +halves of the white are made in two moulds, and frozen; then the two +frozen halves are frozen together, and the yolk-mixture poured in +through a small hole, which is then closed. Then comes the skin; and +that is the most expensive part, for it contains a certain quantity of +rubber. We have tried in vain to find a substitute for rubber, but +failed hitherto. The rubber is mixed with a gum from a South American +tree, and the mixture is applied with a brush over the frozen egg; and +then the egg, still frozen, is dipped in a lime composition very nearly +identical with the oyster-shell mixture; and, lastly, the whole thing is +passed through the finishing machine, which turns the three thin lines +and the two thin spots, imitates the pores of the shell, and delivers +the finished egg to the warehouse.' + +"'Marvellous!' we involuntarily exclaimed. + +"'Oh, that's nothing at all,' said the director. 'We're meditating +turning out eggs that will hatch and become fowls. At present we have to +manufacture fowls; but we calculate to make a great saving by producing +them from the eggs we make. That building over yonder is the terrapin +factory; we turn out eleven tons of terrapin weekly. We make clams, of +course--in the oyster department. In this next house we make kidneys and +sweetbreads. Fruit? Oh, yes, we turn out masses of fruit; peaches pay +best, but we do very well with nuts.' + +"We were then conducted to the show-room, where we tasted a number of +other products of the wonderful factory; and we had just said a grateful +farewell to our courteous guide, when we were seized with pains of the +most acute description. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: The Pain.] + +"The arrangements of the hospital were admirable. The kindliness and +attention we received made our five years' sojourn there a time to look +back upon with feelings of gratitude. We are assured that, with strict +diet and unremitting care, we may last some time yet--possibly even +three months." + + * * * * * + +"It was a marvellous vision," said James, fervently, as the voice of +William ceased. "Surely after that you must think better of those beings +of mine?" + +But William merely sniffed. + + J. F. SULLIVAN. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: A TURNIP RESEMBLING A HUMAN HAND.] + +The above photographs represent two views of an extraordinary turnip +grown by Alderman David Evans, Llangennech Park, Carmarthenshire. We are +indebted for the photographs to Mr. Morgan W. James, of Llanelly. + + +[Illustration: A ROOM PAPERED WITH STAMPS.] + +The above photograph represents the study of Mr. C. Whitfield King, of +Morpeth House, Ipswich, which he has papered with 44,068 _unused_ +foreign postage stamps, bearing the value of £699 16s. 9d., and +containing 48 varieties of different sizes and colours, presenting an +example of mosaic work which is altogether unique of its kind. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: Drinking] + +[Illustration: VESSELS OF ALL] + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: A CROCODILE STORY.] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Strand Magazine, Volume V, Issue +27, March 1893, by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30222 *** diff --git a/30222-8.txt b/30222-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..12693f7 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6032 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Strand Magazine, Volume V, Issue 27, +March 1893, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Strand Magazine, Volume V, Issue 27, March 1893 + An Illustrated Monthly + +Author: Various + +Editor: George Newnes + +Release Date: October 9, 2009 [EBook #30222] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STRAND MAGAZINE, MARCH 1893 *** + + + + +Produced by Victorian/Edwardian Pictorial Magazines, +Jonathan Ingram, Josephine Paolucci and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +THE + +STRAND MAGAZINE + +_An Illustrated Monthly_ + +Vol. 5, Issue. 27. + +March 1893 + + +[Illustration: "BY HEAVEN," CRIED RUY LOPEZ, "THE DUKE SHALL FINISH HIS +GAME!" + +(_A Game of Chess_.)] + +[Illustration] + + + + +A GAME of CHESS. + +FROM THE FRENCH. + + +I. + +King Phillip II. was playing at chess in the Escurial Palace. His +opponent was Ruy Lopez, a humble priest, but a chess player of great +skill. Being the King's particular favourite, the great player was +permitted to kneel upon a brocaded cushion, whilst the courtiers grouped +about the King were forced to remain standing in constrained and painful +attitudes. + +It was a magnificent morning. The air was perfumed with the orange +groves, and the violet curtains of the splendid hall hardly softened the +burning rays which streamed in through the windows. The blaze of living +light seemed scarcely in harmony with the King's gloomy countenance. His +brow was black as night, and from time to time he bent his eyes +impatiently upon the door. The nobles stood in silence, darting meaning +glances at each other. It was easily to be discerned that some event of +great importance weighed upon the spirits of the assembly. No one paid +any attention to the chess-board except Ruy Lopez, who, as he moved the +pieces, hesitated between the temptation of checkmating his opponent and +the deference due to his King. The silence was unbroken except by the +sound made by the players moving their pieces. + +Suddenly the door opened, and a man of rude and savage aspect advanced +into the hall, and, presenting himself before the King, stood waiting +his commands to speak. This man's appearance was anything but +prepossessing, and on his entrance the nobles, as if animated with one +thought, shrank back with contempt and loathing, as if some unclean +animal had entered into their midst. His massive, herculean figure was +clad in a doublet of black leather, and his face, in which could be seen +no trace of intelligence, expressed, on the contrary, nothing but +vileness and villainy; a great scar, running right across his face and +losing itself in a bushy beard, added still further to the natural +brutality of his countenance. + +An electric thrill ran through the assembly. The new comer was Fernando +Calavar, high executioner of Spain. + +"Is he dead?" asked the King, in an imperious tone. + +"No, sire," replied Calavar, bowing low. + +The King frowned. + +"Great Sovereign of Spain," Calavar continued, "the prisoner has claimed +his privileges, and I cannot take proceedings against a man whose blood +belongs to the noblest in Spain, without having a more imperative order +from your Majesty," and he bowed again. + +The nobles, who had listened with great attention to these words, broke +into a murmur of approbation as the man finished speaking. The proud +Castilian blood rushed like a stream of lava through their veins, and +dyed their faces crimson. The manifestation became general. Young Alonza +D'Ossuna openly asserted his opinion by putting on his plumed cap. His +bold example was followed by the majority of the nobles, and their lofty +nodding crests seemed to proclaim with defiance that their masters +protested in favour of the privilege, which the hidalgos of Spain have +always enjoyed, of covering their heads before their Sovereign. + +The King gave a furious start, and striking his fist violently upon the +chess-board, scattered the chessmen in all directions. + +"He has been judged by our Royal Court of Justice," he cried, "and +condemned to death. What does the traitor demand?" + +"Sire!" replied the executioner, "he asks permission to die upon the +block, and also to pass the three last hours of his life with a priest." + +"Ah, that is granted!" replied Philip, in a tone of relief. "Is not our +confessor in the prison according to our orders?" + +"Yes, sire!" said Calavar, "the holy man is there; but the Duke refuses +to see St. Diaz de Silva. He says he cannot receive absolution from +anyone below the dignity of a Bishop. Such is the privilege of a noble +condemned to death for high treason." + +"Yes, these are our rights!" boldly interrupted the fiery D'Ossuna; "and +we claim from the King our cousin's privileges." + +This demand acted as a signal. + +"Our rights and the King's justice are inseparable," cried Don Diego de +Tarraxas, Count of Valence, an old man of gigantic stature, clothed in +armour, holding in his hands the bâton of Great Constable of Spain, and +leaning upon his long Toledo blade. + +"Our rights and our privileges!" cried the nobles, repeating the words +like an echo. Their audacity made the King start with fury from his +ebony throne. + +"By the bones of Campeador!" he cried. "By the soul of St. Jago! I have +sworn neither to eat nor sleep until the bleeding head of Don Gusman +lies before me. As I have sworn, so shall it be. But Don Tarraxas has +said well, 'The King's justice confirms his subjects' rights.' My Lord +Constable, where does the nearest Bishop reside?" + +"Sire, I have more to do with camp than with the Church," the Constable +replied, somewhat abruptly. "Your Majesty's chaplain, Don Silvas, is +present: he can tell you better than I." + +Don Silvas began to speak in trepidation. + +[Illustration: "WHAT DOES THE TRAITOR DEMAND?"] + +"Sire," he said, humbly, "the Bishop of Segovia is an official of the +King, but he who filled the duty died last week, and the parchment which +names his successor is still upon the Council table, and is yet to be +submitted to the Pope's seal." + +At these words a joyous smile hovered about D'Ossuna's lips. This joy +was but natural, for the young man was of the blood of the Gusmans, and +his cousin, the condemned prisoner, was his dearest friend. The King +perceived the smile, and his eye shot forth lightning. + +"We are the King!" he said, gravely, with the calm which presages a +storm; "our Royal person must be no butt for raillery. This sceptre +appears light, my lords, but he who ridicules it shall be crushed +thereby as with a block of iron. I believe that our holy father the Pope +is somewhat indebted to us, so that we do not fear his displeasure at +the step which we are about to take. Since the King of Spain can make a +Prince, he can also make a Bishop. Rise, then, Don Ruy Lopez. I create +you Bishop of Segovia. Rise, I command you, and take your rank in the +Church." + +The courtiers stood dumfounded. + +Don Ruy Lopez rose mechanically. His head was whirling, and he stammered +as he strove to speak. + +"If your Majesty pleases----" he began. + +"Silence, my Lord Bishop!" replied the King. "Obey your Sovereign. The +formalities of your installation shall be performed another day; our +subjects will not fail to acknowledge our wishes in this affair. Bishop +of Segovia, go with Calavar to the condemned man's cell. Give absolution +to his soul, and in three hours leave his body to the executioner's axe. +As for you, Calavar, I will await you here; you will bring us the +traitor's head. Let justice be accomplished." + +Then Philip turned to Ruy Lopez. + +"I give you my signet ring," he said, "to show the Duke as a token of +the truth of your story." + +The executioner left the chamber, followed by Ruy Lopez. + +"Well, gentlemen," said the King, turning to the others, "do you still +doubt the King's justice?" + +But the nobles answered not a word. + +The King, having taken his seat, made a sign to one of his favourites to +place himself before the chess-board, and Don Ramirez, Count of Biscay, +accordingly knelt down upon the velvet cushion. + +"With a game of chess, gentlemen," said the King, smiling, "and your +company, I cannot fail to make the time pass agreeably. Let no one leave +the chamber until Calavar's return. We cannot spare a single one of +you." + +With these ironical words, Philip commenced a game with Don Ramirez, +whilst the nobles, almost dropping with fatigue, resumed the positions +about their august master which they had occupied at the beginning of +this story. + + +II. + +Calavar, leading the way, conducted the new Bishop to the condemned +man's cell. Ruy Lopez walked like one in a dream. Was he awake, or not? +He hardly knew. At the bottom of his heart he cursed the King and his +Court. He understood perfectly that he had become Bishop of Segovia, but +he felt deeply at what a price he had bought his dignity. What had Don +Gusman done that he should be thus sacrificed? Don Gusman, the best +chess player in Spain! He thought of all this as he proceeded over the +marble flags which led to the State prison, and as he thought he prayed +that the ground would open and swallow him up. + +Don Gusman was pacing impatiently up and down his narrow cell with a +hurried step that betrayed the feverish anxiety of his mind. The cell +was furnished with a massive table and two heavy wooden stools, the +floor being covered with coarse, thick mats. Shut out from all the +noises of the outer world, here silence reigned supreme. A crucifix, +roughly carved, was fixed to the wall in the niche of a high window, +which was carefully barred with iron. Except for this image of +resignation and mercy, the walls were bare. Well might this dungeon +serve as antechamber to the tomb. + +As Ruy Lopez entered the cell a sudden burst of sunshine flooded the +walls as if in bitter mockery of him who was soon to see it no more. + +The Duke saluted the new Bishop with great courtesy. They regarded each +other, and exchanged in that look a thousand words which they alone +could understand. Ruy Lopez felt the painfulness of his position deeply, +and the Duke understood his embarrassment. Their thoughts were both the +same, that in the condemnation of one of the principal favourites of the +King an innocent life was threatened! The proofs of the crime imputed to +the Duke were grave; the most important being a despatch written in Don +Gusman's hand to the French Court, in which he unfolded a scheme for +assassinating Philip II. This had sufficed to condemn him. + +Don Gusman, strong in his innocence, had kept a rigorous silence when +brought before his judges, and the accusation not being denied, +sentence of death was passed upon him. Don Gusman since his +incarceration had not altered. He had braved the storm, and looked upon +death with an unmoved countenance. His last hours had no terrors for +him. If his forehead was overshadowed, if his steps were agitated and +his breathing hurried, it was because there rose before his eye the +image of his betrothed, Dona Estella, who, ignorant of her lover's fate, +was waiting for him in her battlemented castle on the banks of the +Guadalquiver. If he felt weak at this fatal moment, and if a pang shot +through his heart, it was because his thoughts were of her who was to +him the dearest thing in all the world. + +[Illustration: "RUY LOPEZ ENTERED THE CELL."] + +Ruy Lopez had not entered alone. Calavar was at his side; and it was he +who announced to the Duke the King's decision and reply. Ruy Lopez +confirmed the executioner's words, and the Duke, falling on his knees +before the new Bishop, asked his blessing, then turning to Calavar with +a gesture of authority, he dismissed him, saying:-- + +"In three hours I shall be at your disposal." + +Calavar obeyed him and went out, and the Duke and Bishop were left +alone. + +Ruy Lopez was trembling with nervousness, whilst Don Gusman's face wore +a calm and serene expression. He took the Bishop's hand, and wrung it +warmly. There was a pause. The Duke was the first to break the silence. + +"We have met before in happier circumstances," he said, smiling. + +"It is true," stammered Ruy Lopez, who, pale and agitated, resembled +rather the penitent than the confessor. + +"Much happier," repeated the Duke, absently. "Do you remember, when you +played your celebrated game of chess with Paoli Boy, the Sicilian, in +the presence of the King and Court, that it was upon my right arm that +the King leant?" Then after a pause he continued: "Do you remember also, +father, those words of Cervantes, 'Life is a game of chess?' I have +forgotten the exact place in which the passage occurs, but its meaning +is, that upon earth men play different rôles. There are, as in chess, +kings, knights, soldiers, bishops, according to their birth, fate and +fortune; and when the game is over death lays them all as equals in the +tomb, even as we gather together the chessmen into a box." + +"Yes, I remember those words of Don Quixote," replied Don Lopez, +astonished at this singular conversation, "and I remember also Sancho's +reply: 'That however good the comparison was, it was not so new that he +had not heard it before.'" + +"I was your favourite pupil, even your rival," said the Duke, without +appearing to hear Don Lopez. + +"It is true," cried the Bishop. "You are a great master of the game, and +I have been often proud of having such a pupil. But now, on your knees, +my son." + +They knelt down together, and there before the crucifix Don Gusman made +confession to Ruy Lopez, who as he listened could hardly restrain his +tears. + +When the Duke had finished, two hours after--for the confession under +the Church seal was long and touching--the Bishop blessed the prisoner, +and gave him absolution. The face of Don Gusman, as he rose, was calm +and resigned. + +[Illustration: "THEY KNELT DOWN TOGETHER."] + +But there remained still an hour to wait. + +"This delay is torture," cried the Duke. "Why do they not cut off the +prisoners at once, instead of stretching their souls upon such a rack of +agony? An eternity of suffering is in each of these minutes." And the +prisoner began to walk impatiently to and fro, with his eyes constantly +bent upon the door. The Duke's firmness was shaken by the thought of +that weary hour of waiting. Ruy Lopez had fulfilled his duty. The +prisoner's soul was purified, and now the priest could become the +friend. + +As Don Lopez heard Don Gusman utter this exclamation, and saw his face +grow white, he understood what agony he was undergoing, and felt at once +that something must be done to divert his thoughts. But in vain he +racked his brain for an idea. He could think of nothing. What could he +propose to a man about to die? For such as he, the flower has no longer +perfume, woman has no longer beauty. Then suddenly a thought flashed +across his brain. + +"How would a game of chess--" he began, timidly. + +"An excellent idea!" cried Don Gusman, recalled to himself by this +singular proposal. "A farewell game of chess." + +"You consent?" + +"Most readily; but where are the chessmen, my friend?" + +"Am I not always provided with the instruments of war?" said Ruy Lopez, +smiling. Then he pulled forward the two stools and set out upon the +table a microscopic set of chessmen. "Our Lady pardon me!" he continued. +"I often pass my spare time in the confessional in working out some +problem." + +The chessmen being set out, the players took their seats, and were soon +absorbed in the excitement of the game. + +This strange contest, between a priest and a condemned prisoner, made a +picture worthy of the brush of Rembrandt or Salvator Rosa. The light +which streamed from the arched windows fell upon the pale, noble +features of Don Gusman, and upon the venerable head of Ruy Lopez. + +The emotions of the two players were very different. Ruy Lopez played +with a preoccupation which was not usual to him, and which rendered him +much inferior to his ordinary strength. Don Gusman, on the contrary, +stimulated by excitement, played with more than his ordinary skill. At +this moment his noble Castilian blood did not fail him, for never had +the Duke given better proof of the clearness of his mind. Such a flash +of intellect must be compared to the last flickers of the failing lamp, +or to the last song of the dying swan. + +Don Gusman suddenly attacked his adversary with an impetuosity which +nearly gained him a certain victory; but Ruy Lopez, recalled to himself +by this vigorous effort, defended himself bravely. The game became more +and more complicated. The Bishop strove to gain a mate which he saw, or +believed he saw, at hand, whilst Don Gusman played with the eagerness of +certain victory. Everything was forgotten, and time passed unnoticed. +The chess-board was their universe, and a life of anxiety was in each +move. + +The minutes, the quarters, the half-hours flew by, and the fatal hour +arrived at last. + +A distant sound struck on their ears; it grew nearer, it increased, and +the door swinging open gave admittance to Calavar and his assistants, +who advanced into the cell with torches in their hands. They were armed +with swords, and two of them bore the block, covered with a black cloth, +on which lay an axe. + +[Illustration: "THE GAME BECAME MORE AND MORE COMPLICATED."] + +The torches were placed in the receptacle prepared for them, whilst one +of the men scattered cedar sawdust on the floor. All this was the work +of a moment, while the executioner stood waiting for the prisoner. + +As Calavar entered, Ruy Lopez started to his feet, in a tremor of alarm, +but the Duke did not move. His eyes were fixed upon the chess-board. It +was his turn to play. Calavar, seeing his abstracted gaze, advanced to +the Duke's side and placed his hand upon his shoulder. + +"Come," he said. + +The prisoner shuddered as if he had trodden upon a serpent. + +"I must finish this game," he said, imperiously. + +"It is impossible," Calavar replied. + +"But, fellow, the game is mine! I can force mate in a few moves. Let me +play it out." + +"I cannot. It is impossible," repeated the executioner. + +"Are the three hours gone already?" + +"The last stroke has just struck. We must obey the King." + +The assistants, who had until then stood leaning on their swords, came +forward at these words. + +The Duke was sitting against the wall, under the high window, with the +table between him and Calavar. He started to his feet. + +"I shall not move until the game is over. In half an hour my head shall +be at your disposal." + +"My lord," replied Calavar, "I respect you deeply, but I cannot grant +you this request. I answer for your life with mine." + +Don Gusman made a gesture of impatience, and pulling off his diamond +rings, he threw them at the executioner's feet. "I mean to finish the +game," he said, carelessly. + +The jewels sparkled as they rolled and settled in the dust. + +"My orders are imperative," cried Calavar, "and you must pardon us, +noble Duke, if we have to use force; but the King's orders and the law +of Spain must be carried out. Obey, then, and do not waste your last +moments in a useless struggle. Speak to the Duke, my lord Bishop. Tell +him to submit to his fate." + +Ruy Lopez's reply was as prompt as it was decisive. He seized the axe +which lay upon the block and swung it with both hands above his head. + +"By Heaven!" he cried, "the Duke _shall_ finish his game!" + +Scared by the gesture which accompanied these words, Calavar drew back +in such a fright that he stumbled and fell back on his companions. The +swords flashed from their scabbards, and the band prepared for attack. +But Ruy Lopez, who appeared to have put forth the strength of a +Hercules, cast upon the ground his heavy wooden stool. + +"The first of you who passes this limit dies!" he cried in a loud voice. +"Courage, Duke!--to the attack! There are only four of these miscreants. +The last desire of your Grace shall be gratified, were I to lose my life +in the attempt. And you, wretched man, beware how you lay a finger upon +a Bishop of the Church. Down with your swords and respect the Lord's +anointed!" And Ruy Lopez continued to hurl forth, in a jargon of +Spanish and Latin, one of those formulas of excommunication and +malediction which at that period acted so strongly upon the masses of +the people. + +The effect was prompt. The men stood rooted to the spot with terror, +whilst Calavar, thinking that to kill a Bishop without a sealed order +from the King was to run the risk of putting his life in jeopardy in +this world and his soul in the next, avowed himself vanquished. He knew +not what to do next. To rush with the news to the King, who was waiting +impatiently for Don Gusman's head, was only to expose himself. To attack +the prisoner and the priest would be too hazardous, for Ruy Lopez was a +man of no mean strength. The position of affairs was critical. At last +he decided to take the easiest way out of the difficulty--to wait. + +"Will you promise me faithfully to give yourself up in half an hour?" he +demanded of Don Gusman. + +"I promise," replied the Duke. + +"Play on, then," said the executioner. + +The truce being thus concluded, the players returned to their seats and +their game, whilst Calavar and his companions, forming themselves into a +circle, stationed themselves round the two players. Calavar, who was +himself a chess player, looked on with interest, and could not prevent +himself from involuntarily considering each move the players made. + +Don Gusman looked up for an instant upon the circle of faces which +surrounded him, but his _sang froid_ did not abandon him. + +"Never have I played in the presence of such a noble company!" he cried. +"Bear witness, rascals, that at least once in my life I have beaten Don +Lopez." Then he returned to the game with a smile upon his lips. The +Bishop gripped the handle of the axe which he still held in his hand. + +"If I were only sure of escaping from this tigers' den," he thought, "I +would break every head of the four of them." + + +III. + +If three hours had dragged in the prisoner's cell, they had not passed +more quickly in the Royal chamber of King Philip. + +The King had finished his game with Don Ramirez de Biscay, and the +nobles, still compelled from etiquette to remain standing, appeared +almost ready to drop with fatigue, rendered still more painful from the +weight of their armour. + +Don Tarraxas stood motionless, with closed eyes like one of those iron +figures which ornamented the castles of the savage Goths. Young +D'Ossuna, with drooping head, stood propped against a marble pillar, +whilst King Philip strode impatiently about the apartment, only stopping +at intervals to listen to some imaginary noise. According to the +superstitious custom of the age, the King knelt for a few moments at the +foot of a figure of the Virgin placed upon a porphyry pedestal to pray +the Madonna to pardon him the deed of blood which was about to take +place. Silence reigned, for no one, whatever his rank might be, dared to +speak before his Sovereign without his commands. + +As the King's eyes saw the last grain of sand fall in the hour-glass he +uttered an exclamation of joy. + +"The traitor dies!" he cried. + +An almost inaudible murmur ran through the assembly. + +"The hour is passed, Count of Biscay," said Philip, turning to Don +Ramirez, "and with it your enemy." + +"My enemy, sire?" asked Ramirez, affecting surprise. + +"Why do you repeat my words, Count?" replied the King. "Were you not a +rival to Don Gusman in the affections of Dona Estella, and can rivals be +friends? Dona Estella shall be yours. This young girl will bring you her +beauty and her fortune. I have not spoken of this to our Council, but my +Royal word is pledged. If the ingratitude of Sovereigns is ever spoken +of before you, Count, you will be able to reply that we did not forget +the true friend of the King and of Spain who discovered the plot and the +correspondence of Don Gusman with France." + +Don Ramirez de Biscay seemed to listen to the King with uneasiness. He +kept his eyes fixed upon the ground, as if he disliked to be thus +praised in public. Then he made an effort to reply. + +"Sire!" he said, "it was with great repugnance that I fulfilled such a +painful duty"--he hesitated, and then was silent. + +Tarraxas gave a slight start, whilst D'Ossuna struck sharply the pommel +of his sword with his iron glove. + +"Before Dona Estella shall belong to this man," thought D'Ossuna, "I +will have vengeance or perish in the attempt. Tomorrow shall be the day +of my revenge." + +The King continued:-- + +"Your zeal, Don Ramirez, and your devotion must be rewarded. The saviour +of our throne, and perhaps of our dynasty, merits a particular gift. +This morning I ordered you to make out some _lettres-patentes_, which +confer upon you the rank of Duke and Governor of Valence. Are these +ready to be signed?" + +Don Ramirez grew pale with pleasure. He shook like an aspen and his eyes +grew dim. But the King made an impatient movement, and the Count, +drawing a roll of parchment hastily from his breast, presented it on his +knees to the King. + +"My first public duty to-day shall be to sign these papers," said the +King. "The executioner has already punished treason; it is now time for +the King to recompense fidelity." + +The King unrolled the parchment and began to read. As he read, his face +became convulsed with fury, and his eyes shot forth flames of wrath. + +"By my father's soul!" he shouted; "what do I behold?" + + +IV. + +The game of chess was finished. Don Gusman had beaten Ruy Lopez, and his +triumph was complete. He rose to his feet. + +"I am now, as ever, ready to obey the wishes of my King," he said to +Calavar. + +The executioner understood him, and began to prepare the block. Whilst +this was being done Don Gusman advanced towards the crucifix, and said +in a firm voice:-- + +"Oh, Heaven! may this unjust and rash act which is about to take place +fall upon the head of him who is the instigator of this treachery; but +let not my blood recoil upon the head of my King." + +[Illustration: "WHAT DO I BEHOLD?"] + +Ruy Lopez, crouching in a corner of the cell, and burying his face in +his mantle, began to recite the prayers for the dying. + +Calavar approached Don Gusman, and putting his hand upon the Duke's +shoulder began to loosen his ruff. Don Gusman shrank back from the +contact. + +"Nothing that belongs to you, except this axe, shall touch a Gusman," he +said, taking off his ruff himself and placing his head upon the block. +"Strike!" he added, "I am ready!" + +The executioner raised the axe--the King's justice was at last to be +satisfied, when shouts, rapid footsteps and confused voices arrested the +sweep of the executioner's arm. + +The door gave way under the united efforts of a troop of armed men, and +D'Ossuna, rushing into the cell, threw himself between the executioner +and his victim. He was just in time. + +"He lives!" cried Tarraxas. + +"He is saved!" repeated D'Ossuna. "My beloved cousin, I never hoped to +have seen you alive again. God in His mercy has not let the innocent +perish for the guilty. God be praised!" + +"God be praised!" echoed all the spectators, and louder than the rest +rang out the voice of Ruy Lopez. + +"You have arrived in time, my friend," said Don Gusman to his cousin; +"but now I shall have no longer strength to die," and he sank back +fainting on the block. The shock had been too much for him. + +Ruy Lopez seized the Duke in his arms, and, followed by all the nobles, +bore him along the passages to the King's apartment. When Don Gusman +opened his eyes he found himself in the midst of a circle of his +friends, amongst which stood the King, looking down upon him with an +expression of joy. + +Don Gusman could hardly believe his senses. From the axe and the block +he had passed to the King's apartment. He did not understand why this +change had taken place. He did not know that Don Ramirez, in giving his +_lettres-patentes_ to the King to sign, had, in his agitation, given him +instead a paper containing a plot in which he schemed to get rid for +ever of Don Gusman, a detested rival, and one of the firmest supporters +of the throne. He was ignorant of all that had passed, and did not know +how he had escaped from the clutches of the executioner. It was some +time before everything could be made clear to him. + +Three days afterwards, at the same hour as Gusman's miraculous delivery, +Calavar beheaded Don Ramirez, Count of Biscay, traitor and false +witness. Don Gusman was overwhelmed with congratulations on all sides. +King Philip grasped him cordially by his hand. + +"Gusman," he said, "I have been very unjust. I can never forgive my +folly." + +"Sire," replied the Duke, "let us speak of it no more. Such words spoken +by my King are worth a thousand lives." + +But the King continued. + +"I desire," he said, "that henceforth, in commemoration of your almost +miraculous deliverance, you carry upon your escutcheon a silver axe +emblazoned on an azure chess-board. This month we shall celebrate your +marriage with Dona Estella. The marriage shall take place in our +Escurial Palace." + +Then he added, turning to Ruy Lopez:-- + +"I believe that the Church will possess a good servant in its new +Bishop. You shall be consecrated Lord Prelate, with a scarlet robe, +enriched with diamonds; that will be the recompense of your game of +chess with Don Gusman." + +"Sire," replied Don Lopez, "never before this day have I been satisfied +to be checkmated." + +The King smiled, and the courtiers followed his example. + +"Now, my lords," continued Philip, "we invite you all to our Royal +banquet. Let Don Gusman's seat be placed upon our right, and the Bishop +of Segovia's on our left. Give me your arm, Don Gusman." + +[Illustration] + + + + +Illustrated Interviews + +XXL--MR. AND MRS. KENDAL. + + +If one had waited for a few months, "The Kendals" would have been +getting settled in their new home in Portland Place. But, then, the +happiest associations are always centred around the old, and the +pleasantest and frequently the dearest recollections are gathered about +the familiar. That is why I went to them once more to their home of many +years at 145, Harley Street. + +It would be difficult to realize a woman of more striking +characteristics than she who was for so many years known as "Madge" +Robertson, and notwithstanding a very important visit one morning in +August twenty-three years ago to St. Saviour's, Plymouth Grove, +Manchester, when she became the wife of Mr. William Hunter Grimston, +there are many who still know and speak of her by her happily-remembered +maiden name. From that day husband and wife have never played +apart--they have remained sweethearts on the stage and lovers in their +own home. At night--the footlights; by day--home and children. Mrs. +Kendal assured me that neither her eldest daughter, Margaret, nor Ethel, +nor Dorothy--the youngest--nor "Dorrie," who is now at Cambridge, nor +Harold, a "Marlborough" boy, would ever go on the stage. Home, husband, +and children--home, wife, and children, are the embodiment of the life +led by the Kendals. + +[Illustration: THE DRAWING-ROOM + +_From a Photo by Elliott & Fry_.] + +Together with Mr. Kendal we sat down in the drawing-room, and were +joined for a moment by Miss Grimston, a quiet, unaffected young girl, +who looked as though she could never rid herself of a smile, either in +her eyes or about her mouth--a young maiden who suggested "sunshine." +She was carrying Victoria, a pet dog. The mother's whole thoughts seemed +to go out to her daughter. + +"Our Jubilee dog," she cried. "I bought her on Jubilee Day, and, +curiously enough, Mr. Kendal bought one too, neither of us telling the +other we were going to make such canine purchases." + +Then, when Miss Grimston had left the room, her mother turned to me +quietly, and said:-- + +"The image of my brother Tom. The same hair, the same expression of +eyes, the same kind and loving ways. I think he lives in my girl. Come +with me and you shall see his portrait." + +It hung in Miss Grimston's boudoir--an apartment the walls of which were +decorated with pictures of the Comédie-Française Company, the original +designs for the dresses in "A Wife's Secret"; while over the +mantel-board are Mr. and Mrs. Kendal in "The Ironmaster," and many +family portraits are about. + +[Illustration: MISS GRIMSTON'S BOUDOIR. + +_From a Photo by Elliott & Fry._] + +"It is so amusing to hear people talk and write about my eldest brother +Tom and me playing together as children," she said. "My mother was +married when she was eighteen, and my brother was born when she was +nineteen; I was born when she was forty-eight, and was her twenty-second +child! So my brother was a grown man with a moustache when I knew him. I +was brought up with his two children--little Tom and Maude, my own +nephew and niece." + +What a delightful story it was! Little Madge Robertson used to dress up +as a policeman and take Maude into custody before Tom, the younger, as +the judge. And this was the trial:-- + +"What is the prisoner charged with, constable?" asked the judge. + +"Murder, my lord," replied the representative of law and order. + +"Prisoner, are you guilty?" + +"Yes, my lord," answered the poor prisoner. + +"Prisoner, have you anything to say why sentence should not be passed +upon you according to law?" + +"Yes, my lord. _I'm the daughter of the author of 'Caste'._" + +The prisoner always got off, and dear old William Robertson would watch +this little scene and roar with laughter. + +"Yes," Mrs. Kendal said quietly, as we again looked at "Tom's" picture, +"my brother was kindness itself, even from his infancy. I remember +hearing how, when he was a very small boy and living with his aunt, he +went out one summer's day with a new velvet jacket on. He caught sight +of a poor little beggar child his own size, who was in tatters, and, +beckoning him across, at once divested himself of his new coat, put it +on the wondering youngster, and ran away home as fast as he could. His +aunt questioned him, and upon finding out the true circumstances of the +case, and not wishing to damp the kind spirit in the little fellow's +heart, said:-- + +"'Well, we'll go and try to find the boy you gave it to, and buy your +jacket back.' + +"Fortunately the search was successful, and the coat was bought back for +no less a sum than half-a-sovereign. + +"And in later years it was just the same with Tom. He could never pass +by a common cookshop, in front of the windows of which was often a crowd +of men, women, and children, looking on with longing eyes, without +getting them inside and giving them a fill to their hearts' content. +When out driving it was no different. He would stop the horse, and have +all the watching hungry ones inside, and the next moment they would be +revelling in the satisfying properties of thick slices of plum-pudding +and roast beef." + +The house throughout is most artistic. Mr. Kendal is a painter of great +merit, and he "knows" a picture as soon as he sees it. Pictures are his +hobby; hence there is not a room in the house--even to the +kitchen--which does not find a place for some canvas, etching, or +engraving. The entrance-hall is at once striking, with its quaint +thirteenth century furniture, bronzes, and Venetian ware. There are some +fine engravings of Miss Brunton--who became Countess of Craven--Kemble, +Garrick, Phelps, and Mrs. Siddons. A picture of Mrs. Kendal in "The +Falcon" was done at the express wish of, and paid for by, the late Poet +Laureate. Tennyson said it reminded him of a woman he liked and admired. +In the shadow is a fine bust of Macready, given by the great actor to +the father of Mrs. Kendal; resting against the fireplace on either side +are the two lances used in "The Queen's Shilling," and close by are two +huge masks representing a couple of very hirsute individuals. They came +from California, and represent "The King of the Devils" and "The King of +the Winds." + +[Illustration: THE HALL. (_From a Photo, by Elliott & Fry._)] + +[Illustration: THE DINING ROOM. (_From a Photo, by Elliott & Fry._)] + +The entrance to the dining-room is typical of all the other door +decoration in the house--a carving of cream enamel of beautiful design +and workmanship. The walls of this apartment are terra-cotta, with a +finely carved oak-panelling. It is a little treasure room of canvases, +the gem of which is probably C. Van Hannen's "Mask Shop in Venice"--a +painter of a school which Luke Fildes, R.A., has done so much to +popularize. Macbeth is represented by a couple of delightful efforts, +and there are samples of the skill of Eugene Du Blas, Crofts, John Reid, +Andriotti, Sadler, De Haas, Rivers; a grand landscape by Webb--nearly +all of which are Academy works. The decorative articles are as artistic +as in some cases they are peculiar. Running about above the oaken +fireplace, amongst choice bronzes and blue ware, and a black boy who is +trudging along with a very useful clock on his back, are many quaint +animals of polished brass--even mice are not missing, with wonderfully +long tails--that sparkle and glisten in the firelight. Ascending the +staircase you find etchings after Alma Tadema, Briton Riviere, and +others; the walls are covered with them. + +[Illustration: SCENE FROM "THE SQUIRE." _From the Picture by Mr. +Kendal._] + +Here are a series of delightful pictures showing Mr. and Mrs. Kendal in +Gilbert's "Sweethearts," and I am reminded that the gifted actor and +actress were the first to appear before the Queen after a period of +five-and-twenty years, during which Her Majesty had never seen a play, +the performance that night consisting of "Sweethearts" and Theyre +Smith's "Uncle's Will." And as one takes note of many rare works--the +bedroom is almost entirely given up to Doré's marvellous creations, +though near the window is a splendid specimen of the photographer's art: +a head of Miss Mary Anderson--one cannot fail to observe the family +spirit everywhere--sometimes portraits of children, sometimes small and +dainty pencil studies made of them by their father. Occasionally +theatrical sketches by Mr. Kendal appear. Here are some of the principal +members of the old St. James's Company, who used to give Mr. Kendal +sittings between the acts--here a capital bit of artistic work depicting +a scene from "The Squire," made from stray memorandums and with the aid +of a looking-glass for securing the actor-artist's face. + +Leaving Mr. Kendal for a time, Mrs. Kendal and I returned to the +drawing-room. It overlooks Harley Street and is a handsome two-roomed +apartment, the prevailing tone of blue, cream, and gold harmonizing to +perfection. It is positively one huge collection of curios. + +The screen at the far end is rather shuddery, not to say creepy, to +those of nervous temperament. It is decorated with tomahawks of fearful +and wonderful shapes and sizes, and other Indian implements of warfare. + +"These came from California," Mrs. Kendal explained. "No sooner are you +out of the train than the Indians tomahawk you! Look at this bow and +arrow." + +The pots of palms and ferns all hold American flags. These colours--the +stars and stripes--once surmounted baskets of flowers and floral +emblems--five, six, and even seven feet high--handed to Mrs. Kendal +during her recent tour in the States; and amongst the sweetly-perfumed +blossoms diamonds, pearls, and other precious gems have glistened in the +shape of ornaments. A table near the window tells you of the generosity +of the Americans. It is crowded with silver ornaments and mementos. You +may handle the diminutive silver candlesticks to light "The Kendals" +away--silver jugs, souvenir spoons, frying-pans, coffee-pots--all in +miniature. This silver dollar is only one of a hundred. You touch a +spring, when, lo and behold! the portrait of the donor appears. All +American women have dainty feet. These little ebony and silver lasts for +your boots remind you of this. On this table is a letter from the +Princess of Wales, thanking Mrs. Kendal for "the lovely silver wedding +bells and flowers which you so kindly sent me on the tenth." You may +examine George IV.'s cigar-case--a silver tube in which the King was +wont to carry a single cigar. It is impossible to number all the +treasured odds and ends, but still more difficult to total up the +miniature articles set out in a pair of cabinets. + +[Illustration: NAPOLEON'S WRITING-TABLE _From a Photo by Elliott & +Fry._] + +[Illustration: "SHAKESPEARE AND BACON" _From the Picture by A. E. +Emslie._] + +Mrs. Kendal has a hobby--it lies in the collecting of the tiniest of +tiny things. If her intimate friends come across any curiosity +particularly choice and small, it is at once snapped up and dispatched +to Harley Street. I had some little leaden mice in my hand the size of +half-a-dozen pins' heads. Handkerchiefs an inch square, babies' woollen +shoes, pinafores, shirts, all of the tiniest, but perfectly made, with +buttons and button-holes complete, and even buns with currants no bigger +than a pin's point. Sheep, dogs, cats, monkeys, pigs, giraffes--in +short, convert the entire Zoo into miniature china knick-knacks, and you +have a considerable portion of Mrs. Kendal's collection realized. One +must needs stand for a moment at Napoleon's writing-table, near which +rests a characteristic clay by Van Beers. The pictures here are many. +Millais' work is well represented by several etchings, and a remarkably +clever thing by Emslie, entitled "Shakespeare and Bacon," suggests the +two extremes of taste to a nicety. Whilst a young enthusiast is +declaiming Shakespeare, one of his listeners--doubtless, equally +enthusiastic, but with an eye for victuals--is interrupting a soliloquy +with the remark: "Now! who says bacon?" Every portrait has a +history--Prince and Princess Henry of Battenberg in their wedding +garments, the late Duke of Albany, Professor Huxley, Mrs. Beecher +Stowe, Mr. and Mrs. Pinero, Mr. and Mrs. Bancroft, and many others. +Three suggestive pictures, however, cannot be passed by. This dear +little fellow is the son of Mr. B. J. Farjeon. Mr. Farjeon married "Rip +Van Winkle" Jefferson's daughter, and the youngster is pictured dressed +in the tattered garments of merry, rollicking _Rip_. You know how _Rip_ +always drinks your health? He holds the glass of hollands high up and +cries, "Here's your health and your family's good health, and may they +all live long and prosper!" but Mr. Farjeon's little boy cries out, +"Here's your health, and your family's good health, and may you all live +long and _proper_!" + +[Illustration: GROUP IN CLAY BY JAN VAN BEERS.] + +[Illustration: MRS. KENDAL AS "GALATEA"] + +A photo, of Dr. Pancoast stands near a bust of Mrs. Kendal as _Galatea_, +done when she was seventeen. Dr. Pancoast--a celebrated American +physician--saved Mrs. Kendal's life when her maid accidentally +administered a poisonous drug to her mistress. The poor girl herself +nearly died of fright. + +But perhaps the portrait of the late Duchess of Cambridge, which Mrs. +Kendal now holds in her hand, is more interesting than them all. "Her +late Royal Highness," Mrs. Kendal said, "always addressed me and wrote +to me as Mrs. Grimston. She was paralyzed in her right hand and wrote +with her left; perhaps that is why this letter, written in pencil and +with great effort, is treasured more than it otherwise would have been." + +It was one of the last letters written by Her Royal Highness. The +letters and words were wonderfully legible; it read:-- + + "DEAR MRS. GRIMSTON,--One line only to thank you for sending me + the stalls for my dressers, who enjoyed your and Mr. Grimston's + charming acting immensely. My first deaf one was able to follow + perfectly, thanks to your having kindly let her have the book + previously. Again thanking you, + + "I remain, + + "Yours very sincerely, + AUGUSTA." + + + +And in a little cabinet in the far corner is a beautiful Sèvres bowl. In +the bowl is a telegram from "Princess Mary," asking Mrs. Kendal to come +to St. James's Palace at once. Written on a black-edged envelope were +these words: "To dearest Mrs. Grimston Kendal. A little souvenir. Found +amongst the last wishes of her late Royal Highness the Duchess of +Cambridge." + +It is only just possible to hasten through the collection of substantial +reminiscences which add to the charm of this corner of the house. The +quaint white china hare was given to Mrs. Kendal many years ago by Mr. +John Hare, when playing together at the Court. A curious but vividly +suggestive idea of Japanese wit, in the shape of a couple of +characteristically dressed figures, typifies "Health" and "Wealth"; the +figure, representing "Health" has a countenance of the deepest red, the +other a face all golden and as resplendent as the sun. In a small frame +is the letter from the Goethe Club of New York, making Mrs. Kendal an +honorary member. She is the only woman member of this club. And this +pretty little doll dressed as a Quakeress--a charming compliment to the +recipient--was presented by the Quakeresses of Philadelphia, who never, +never, never go the play, yea, verily! So they sent this as a tribute of +their admiration for the talents and character of the woman who has been +called "The Matron of the Drama." + +[Illustration: MRS. KENDALL'S LITTLE QUAKERESS.] + +We sat down on a settee in front of the fire. The cushions were of white +lawn marked with the initial "M.," and were worked by the late Lady +Eglinton. + +Mrs. Kendal's happy and homely face is familiar to all. She has a truly +tender and sympathetic expression there at all times. Her hair was once +that of the fair one with golden locks, now it is of a rich brown +colour--very neatly and naturally trimmed about her head. She is very +kind--very motherly; just the woman you would single out in time of +trouble and ask, "What would you advise me to do?" I gathered these +impressions whilst listening to many things she said of which I need not +write. Her views on theatrical life are strong, nay, severe. She is not +afraid to speak, and she hits hard and sends her shots home. But you +cannot mistake the earnestness of her manner, the true intent of her +motives. + +"I am only a common-place woman," she said to me. "I used to be ever so +light-hearted--now, I'm a morbid creature. Here we are sitting down by +the fireside. I may tell you happy reminiscences that may make one +merry, and all the time I should be thinking about--what? Cancer! I +return to my dressing-room from the stage at night. As I am passing +along a fellow player may turn to me and say, 'How well the play has +gone to-night!' I am only thinking of those who have trod that same +stage before me. What are they now? Dust--earth--worms!" + +I stirred the fire, and the bright glow from its burning embers lit up +the corner where we sat. And we talked together. + +Margaret Brunton Robertson was born at Great Grimsby on March 15th, +1849--curiously enough these lines will be read on the anniversary of +her birthday. Her grandfather, father, and uncle were all actors. + +"I lived alone with my father and mother," she said, "and the only real +recollection I have of my father is his fine white beard, which he grew +towards the latter days of his life, and a little advice he once gave +me. + +"'Always count twenty,' he said, 'when you are walking across the quay +at Bristol, then you won't hear the sailors swear!' Yet he would use +very bad language to me when he was teaching me my parts; for you know I +commenced acting at a very early age. I was only three when I made my +first appearance--and I ruined the play. It was at the Marylebone +Theatre in the 'Three Poor Travellers,' and I was a blind child. My +nurse was in the front row of the pit--that is, in the very first row, +for there were no stalls. All I thought about was my new shoes--a very +pretty, dainty little pair, and as soon as I stepped on the stage, I +opened my eyes, caught sight of the delighted face of my nurse, and +cried out:-- + +"'Oh! nursey, dear, look at my new shoes!' + +"I played at Chute's Theatre in Bristol in many child's parts. When my +father went to the wall over the Lincoln Circuit, Mr. Chute engaged him +as an actor, and I went with him. I remember in 'A Midsummer Night's +Dream'--I was _Mustard Seed_, I think, or _Peas Blossom_; at any rate, +some small character that required very prettily dressing, and plenty of +flowers on my little costume. I am as fond of flowers to-day as I was +then. Well, when once I got on the stage in my pretty dress--of which I +was particularly proud--before I would leave it, I had to be bought off +with apples and oranges! There they would stand at the wings, and the +price would go up--up--up--two oranges, three oranges, three oranges +and two apples--until I inwardly murmured a childish equivalent for +'sold,' and toddled off. + +"I acted _Eva_ in 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' when I was eight. I think I was +always a sad child--I looked forty when I was fifteen. After little +_Eva_ I used to play anything." + +And they were hard times for little Madge--she worked like the brave +little woman she was. Her childish thoughts were constantly with her +parents--how best could she add to the weekly income. And this is what +the same little Madge would do. Night after night, after playing in a +serious piece, she would appear in burlesque, sing, dance, and crack her +small jokes with the best of them. It was hard work that made her a +woman--it was dearly-bought experience that gave birth to the +sympathetic heart she has to-day. + +[Illustration: MRS. KENDAL. _From a Photo. by Bassano._] + +So at fourteen she was a woman grown--and at fifteen at Hull played +_Lady Macbeth_ to Phelps's _Macbeth_! + +"I was dressed in my mother's clothes," Mrs. Kendal said, "and I fear I +must have looked a fearful guy!" + +At rehearsal Phelps looked upon the young woman. + +"And who--who is this child?" asked the great actor. + +"Madge Robertson," the manager answered; "a rare favourite here. It was +a choice between her and a very old woman, Mr. Phelps." + +"Then let the young woman play, by all means," Phelps said. + +What a night it was! At the end of the play they wanted her on again, +but Phelps was obdurate. A party of men came round, and threatened to +throw Phelps into the Humber! Phelps remained firm. + +"He was kindness itself through it all," Mrs. Kendal assured me, "and +though I did not go on again, he proved his thoughtfulness a little +later on by sending for me to play _Lady Teazle_. I played the leading +parts during the three nights Phelps remained in Hull in 'The Man of the +World,' 'Richelieu,' and 'Macbeth.' On July 29th, 1865, I made my +_début_ in London, at the Haymarket, as _Ophelia_ to the _Hamlet_ of +Walter Montgomery. Poor Montgomery! He was what you would call a +'lady-killer'--very conceited, but, withal, very kind. He once wrote a +letter to my father, and added a postscript, saying: 'Keep this letter. +Should poverty fall upon you or yours, your great-grand-children may be +able to sell it for a good sum of money!' I was only with him six +weeks." + +The only play of her brother's in which Mrs. Kendal has appeared was +"Dreams," when the Gaiety first opened. At this time the managers always +tried to induce Mrs. Kendal to appear in a riding habit--a costume in +which she looked strikingly handsome. + +"Alfred Wigan played in 'Dreams,'" continued Mrs. Kendal. "His wife was +one of the kindest women I ever met. She gave me a gold bracelet for a +very curious little service I used to render her husband every night. He +had to sing a song in 'Dreams,' and one or two of the high notes were +beyond his reach. I used to take these notes for him, and the audience +never guessed the truth." + +"And have you not played _Desdemona_?" I asked. + +"Oh! yes--and to a real black man, and so he did not have to put his +head up the chimney to make himself up for the part! His name was Ira +Aldridge, and scandal said he was the dresser of some great actor whom +he used to imitate. But he had very ingenious ideas as to the character +of _Othello_. He thought him a brute, and played him as such. His great +notion was to get the fairest woman possible for _Desdemona_--and I was +selected, for at that time my hair was quite golden. + +"In one part of the play he would cry out, 'Give me thy hand, +Desdemona!' and certainly the effect of my hand in his huge grasp was +impressive. Then in the last act he would pull me from the couch by the +hair of my head. Oh! there was something in his realism, I can tell +you!" + +Miss Robertson made a great sensation when she appeared as _Blanche +Dumont_, in Dr. Westland Marston's "Hero of Romance," when it was +performed for the first time at the Haymarket Theatre, on March 14th, +1868. Seventeen months after this, on August 7th, 1869, she was Madge +Robertson no longer. On that day she was married to Mr. William Hunter +Grimston, whose stage name is Kendal. It is a charming little story. + +It occurred at Manchester. Mr. Kendal and Miss Robertson were on tour +with the elder Compton, and they were--sweethearts. A convenient time +seemed to have arrived for their wedding day, for on the Thursday, +Friday, and Saturday nights pieces were to be played in which neither of +them would be required. This would mean a nice little honeymoon--and the +two lovers would reappear on the Monday night. So the day was +fixed--Thursday; the church chosen--St. Saviour's, Plymouth Grove; and +the best man booked--Walter Gowing, who used to play under the name of +Walter Gordon. + +Then bad news came. Compton's brother was taken ill, and he had to hurry +away from Cottonopolis. Another play had to be put in the bill, both Mr. +Kendal and Miss Robertson would be needed--for it was "As You Like It," +and the one would be wanted for _Orlando_ and the other for _Rosalind_. +Still, the wedding was proceeded with on Thursday morning, quietly and +happily, and in the evening husband and wife met on the stage in the +Forest of Arden. There, with _Celia_ as the priest, amidst the leafy +trees and grassy pathways, _Orlando_ turns to the merry _Celia_, and +pointing to the far, far happier _Rosalind_, cries out:-- + +"Pray thee, marry us!" + +"Will you, Orlando, have to wife this Rosalind?" + +"I will." + +"Then," _Rosalind_ pertly remarks, "you must say, 'I take thee, +Rosalind, for wife.'" + +"I take thee, Rosalind, for wife," said _Orlando_, earnestly. + +Then _Rosalind_ asked, "Now tell me how long you would have her after +you have possessed her?" + +And _Orlando_ replied--both in the words of Shakespeare and in the +language of his own heart--"For ever and a day!" + +That is the true story of the wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Kendal. It was a +natural desire of each never to play apart from the other, and from that +day they have never separated. For some seven years Mr. and Mrs. Kendal +played at the Haymarket, under Buckstone's management, and the gifted +actress merrily referred to the little jokes played on "Bucky" by some +of the actors. He was stone deaf, and could only take his cues when to +speak from the movements of his fellow-actors' lips, so they would annoy +him by continuing the lip movement, and "Bucky" sometimes got "stuck." + +[Illustration: THE DRAWING-ROOM. _From a Photo. by Elliott & Fry._] + +Little need be said of Mrs. Kendal's subsequent work--her acting at the +Court, the Prince of Wales's, and her labours at the St. James's, when, +in 1881, she appeared there under the joint management of Mr. Kendal and +Mr. Hare. Not only in this country has her name become fondly familiar +in the homes of those who "go to the theatre" and those who "never +would," but in America the artistic acting of herself and husband has +been instantly and enthusiastically recognised. + +I left the drawing-room--pausing, before entering Mr. Kendal's study, to +admire the aviary--a veritable home of song--and to notice one +diminutive member of the feathered tribe in particular, who has been +taught by Miss Grimston to perform tricks _ad lib._, in addition to +giving forth the sweetest of notes. + +The study is a very delicate apartment in terra-cotta and gold--here and +there are quaint blue china vases and many exquisite bronzes. The window +in the recess where the table is--a typical study table, suggesting +plenty of work--is of stained glass, the quartet of divisions +representing the four seasons. A glance round the walls of this room at +once reveals the substantial side of Mr. Kendal's artistic +hobby--pictures. In this apartment there is nothing but water-colours, +save a very clever pen-and-ink sketch by a New York artist, called "Six +Months After Marriage," which Jefferson caught sight of at the New York +Dramatic Bazaar, and reminded Mr. Kendal to "keep his eye on," and a +portrait or two of Mrs. Kendal and the children. "Hetty Sorrell" at her +butter pats, with her thoughts very far from the churning-pan, is a gem. +"The Last of St. Bartholomew" is a magnificent bit of painting, and the +Venetian views at once carry one back to the home of the merry gondolier +and perfect moonlight nights. This picture of Salvini--who its possessor +assured me was the finest tragedian he had ever seen--was painted by Mr. +Kendal himself. The bookcase, running along opposite the window, +contains many rare first editions, of which Mr. Kendal is a very +persevering and successful collector, and a bound manuscript copy of +every play produced by him, together with the original sketches for the +scenery. You may look over the "Scrap of Paper," "The Falcon," "Queen's +Shilling," "Ladies' Battle," "Clancarty," "The Ironmaster," "The Money +Spinner," and "The Squire"--Pinero's play, of which somebody wrote that +it wafted the scent of the new-mown hay across the footlights. + +[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF SALVANI, BY MR. KENDAL.] + +It is interesting to learn how Mr. Kendal first came across Pinero. + +"I only knew him as an actor at the Lyceum," he said, "and had never met +him. He wrote and asked if we would let him read a play to us. As a rule +we never do that; but, remembering that Pinero was himself a player, we +made an exception. So it came about that one day, after a rehearsal, the +actor playwright read his piece to us in the _foyer_ of the St. James's. +We never expected anything at first, but the reading ended in our taking +the play immediately, though we scarcely knew what we should do with it, +seeing it was a two-act play. We found an opportunity, however, and you +know the success it was. It was called 'The Money Spinner.'" + +Mr. Kendal is a striking-looking man--the very ideal of a picturesque +soldier, with a constitution of steel. He talks to you frankly, easily, +for there is not two penny-worth of presumption about him. He lives and +labours very quietly--he enjoys his days, and a good cigar. He divides +his talents between the stage and the brush. His pencil and palette have +been with him in far-off places, and there is always a corner in his +bag for them if he only travels twenty miles from Harley Street. His +peculiarity of painting--so to speak--lies in the fact that he never +fails to chronicle the view obtained from any hotel where he may be +staying. He showed me a book full of these hasty impressions--all of +which were most beautifully done--many of them he could only give ten +minutes or a quarter of an hour to. Two of these I brought away for +reproduction in these pages; they are both unfinished, however--the +pencil reminders of certain little additions tell that. + +[Illustration: SKETCH FROM THE QUEEN's HOTEL, MANCHESTER, BY MR. +KENDAL.] + +The first of these is a view of the Infirmary as seen from Mr. Kendal's +window at the Queen's Hotel, Manchester; the second--done in a quarter +of an hour--shows the way the Americans erect their buildings for +exhibiting a cyclorama--popularly known here as a panorama. It was done +from a back window in an hotel in Cleveland, U.S.A. The actor-artist +never learnt drawing, save for a few hours' lessons he took at the Slade +Schools under the tuition of Le Gros. He draws everything that impresses +him--his painting memory is remarkable. He sees a man's face in the +street, carries it home in his mind, and it will be very faithfully put +on paper or canvas. + +We talked for a long time on "pictures"--he was so happy and earnest +about it that it was some time before we made an attempt to tread the +boards and get behind the footlights. + +Mr. Kendal--William Hunter Grimston--was born at Notting Hill, and just +outside the sound of Bow Bells, on December 16th, 1843. His parents +belonged to the Low Church, and their views of the theatre in general, +and on adopting the stage as a profession in particular, will be readily +understood. Mr. Kendal was intended for the Army--how he came to "go on" +the stage is best told in his own words: + +"I had only been to three or four pantomimes previously," he said, "and +one night--I was about eighteen years of age at the time--I found myself +in the stalls of the old Soho Theatre, in Dean Street, Soho, now known +as the Royalty Theatre. My paper and pencil were out, and I was busily +engaged in making sketches of the various actors and actresses. The +piece was 'Billie Taylor.' Suddenly I felt a gentle tap on the shoulder +from behind. I turned round. + +"'Would you allow me to take those sketches round and show the 'parties' +interested?' a gentleman asked. + +"'Certainly; with pleasure,' I replied. + +"'Perhaps you would like to come behind the scenes as well?' + +"It was just what I wanted, so I followed the person who had so kindly +interested himself in my scribble. He proved to be Mr. Mowbray, the +manager of the theatre. The picture behind the scenes that night was a +perfect Elysium to me. I think Mowbray must have noticed the impression +it made upon me, for he asked if I would like to go on the stage. I +did--as a sort of super." + +[Illustration: SKETCH FROM HOTEL WINDOW, CLEVELAND, U.S.A., BY MR. +KENDAL.] + +Mr. Kendal's first important engagement lasted four or five years at the +Theatre Royal, Glasgow. Here he met and played with such people as Helen +Faucit (Lady Martin), G. V. Brooke, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kean, Dion +Boucicault, Fechter, Miss Bateman (Mrs. Crowe), and the elder Sothern. +When Sothern left, the accomplished young actor played _Dundreary_, and +found himself straying in the footsteps of the famous originator of the +part, even to the hop. One would have thought that people would have +praised the actor for taking such a worthy example--but it displeased +Tom Taylor, and he wrote very wrathfully. Then Mr. Kendal went to the +Haymarket, met Miss Robertson, and from their wedding day their lives +may be said to have been the same in thought, word, and deed. + +As an organizer and man of business his tact and judgment were tested +and proved during his joint management of the St. James's with Mr. Hare +in 1881. For some time previous to this Mr. Kendal had been on the +look-out for a theatre, and his mind wandered towards the St. James's, +but it required a large sum of money spending on it before it could be +opened. + +"One night I was talking to Lord Newry at my club," said Mr. Kendal, +"and happened to say that if £2,000 or so were spent on the St. James's +I might feel inclined to take it. + +"'Suppose I spend that amount of money on the place, will you take it?' +Lord Newry asked. + +"My only reply was that I would think about it. In the meantime I went +to the Court, from there to the Prince of Wales's to play in +'Diplomacy'--it ran a year--'Peril' and 'London Assurance.' Then I +returned to the Court again, and during this time Lord Newry had +practically gutted the old and unlucky St. James's, turned it inside +out--John Hare, my wife and self entered, and we remained there nearly +ten years." + +Mr. and Mrs. Kendal share the same opinion of America--it is the land of +to-day, the land of the future. As to its theatres in comparison with +ours, Mrs. Kendal--who had now joined us--was most enthusiastic. I had +reached the pillars, from which hung curtains of intricate Japanese +workmanship, leading to the hall. Victoria, the Jubilee dog, was barking +a friendly "Good-bye," and the lusty throats of Miss Grimston's +two-and-twenty canaries forced their sweet notes from a far-away room +into the passage. + +"I will give you some idea of what an American theatre is like," said +Mrs. Kendal. "You reach your destination by rail at some small place for +a one-night stay. If it is raining and the ground is wet, men in long +jack-boots catch hold of you and gallantly take you across the puddles. +You do not see a soul about--and you are in fear and trembling as to +where your night's audience is coming from. You get to your hotel, and +then your next thought is--where is the theatre? You expect to find a +little, uncomfortable, band-box of a place, and you set out to see it +with a heavy heart. It is a palace--a marble palace--a positive poem! +And your heart leaps happily--only to drop dull again, for you suddenly +remember that you have seen--nobody, not even the oldest inhabitant. You +turn to the manager. + +"'Yes, yes--but, what about an audience, how are you going to fill it?' +you ask. + +"'Wall,' he replies, 'I don't trouble myself much about that. I reckon +that every seat in this theatre is sold for to-night, that's all!'" + + HARRY HOW. + +[Illustration: MR. KENDAL. _From a Photo. by Maurice Stephens, +Harrogat._] + + + + +"_Author! Author_!" + +BY E. W. HORNUNG. + + +This story has to do with two men and a play, instead of a woman, and it +is none of mine. I had it from an old gentleman I love: only he ought to +have written it himself. This, however, he will never do; having known +intimately in his young days one of the two men concerned. But I have +his leave to repeat the story more or less as he told it--if I can. And +I am going to him for my rebuke--when I dare. + + * * * * * + +"You want to hear the story of poor old Pharazyn and his play? I'm now +going to tell it you. + +"Ah, well! My recollection of the matter dates from one summer's night +at my old rooms in the Adelphi, when he spoilt my night's work by coming +in flushed with an idea of his own. I remember banging the drawer into +which I threw my papers to lock them away for the night; but in a few +minutes I had forgotten my unfinished article, and was glad that +Pharazyn had come. We were young writers, both of us; and, let me tell +you, my good fellow, young writing wasn't in those days what it is now. +I am thinking less of merit than of high prices, and less of high prices +than of cheap notoriety. Neither of us had ever had our names before the +public--not even in the advertised contents of an unread and unreadable +magazine. No one cared about names in my day, save for the half-dozen +great ones that were then among us; so Pharazyn's and mine never used to +appear in the newspapers, though some of them used our stuff. + +"In a manner we were rivals, for we were writing the same sort of thing +for the same sort of publications, and that was how we had come +together; but never was rivalry friendlier, or mutually more helpful. +Our parts were strangely complementary; if I could understand for the +life of me the secret of collaboration, which has always been a mystery +to me, I should say that I might have collaborated with Pharazyn almost +ideally. I had the better of him in point of education, and would have +turned single sentences against him for all he was worth; and I don't +mind saying so, for there my superiority ended. When he had a story to +tell, he told it with a swing and impetus which I coveted him, as well I +might to this day; and if he was oftener without anything to write +about, his ideas would pay twenty shillings in the pound, in strength +and originality, where mine made some contemptible composition in pence. +That is why I have been a failure at fiction--oh, yes, I have! That is +why Pharazyn would have succeeded, if only he had stuck to plain +ordinary narrative prose. + +[Illustration: "HE SKETCHED THE NEW STORY."] + +"The idea he was unable to keep within his own breast, on the evening of +which I am telling you, was as new, and simple, and dramatic as any that +ever intoxicated the soul of story-teller or made a brother author green +with envy. I can see him now, as I watched him that night, flinging to +and fro with his quick, nervous stride, while he sketched the new +story--bit by bit, and often the wrong bit foremost; but all with his +own flashing vividness, which makes me so sorry--so sorry whenever I +think of it. At moments he would stand still before the chair on which I +sat intent, and beat one hand upon the other, and look down at me with a +grand, wondering smile, as though he himself could hardly believe what +the gods had put into his head, or that the gift was real gold, it +glittered so at first sight. On that point I could reassure him. My open +jealousy made me admire soberly. But when he told me, quite suddenly, as +though on an afterthought, that he meant to make a play of it and not a +story, I had the solid satisfaction at that moment of calling him a +fool. + +"The ordinary author of my day, you see, had a certain timorous respect +for the technique of the stage. It never occurred to us to make light of +those literary conventions which it was not our business to understand. +We were behind you fellows in every way. But Pharazyn was a sort of +forerunner: he said that any intelligent person could write a play, if +he wanted to, and provided he could write at all. He said his story was +a born play; and it was, in a way; but I told him I doubted whether he +could train it up with his own hand to be a good-acting one. I knew I +was right. He had neither the experience nor the innate constructive +faculty, one or other of which is absolutely necessary for the writing +of possible plays. I implored him to turn the thing into a good dramatic +novel, and so make his mark at one blow. But no; the fatal fit was on +him, and I saw that it must run its course. Already he could see and +hear his audience laughing and crying, so he said, and I daresay he +could also feel the crinkle of crisp weekly receipts. I only know that +we sat up all night over it, arguing and smoking and drinking whisky +until my windows overlooking the river caught the rising sun at an +angle. Then I gave in. For poor old Pharazyn was more obstinate than +ever, though he thanked me with the greatest good temper for my +well-meant advice. + +"'And look here, my boy,' says he, as he puts on his hat, 'you shan't +hear another word about this till the play's written; and you are to ask +no questions. Is that a bargain? Very well, then. When I've finished +it--down to the very last touches--_you_ shall come and sit up all night +with _me_, and I'll read you every word. And by gad, old chap, if they +give me a call the first night, and want a speech--and I see you sitting +in your stall, like a blessed old fool as you are--by gad, sir, I'll +hold up you and your judgment to the ridicule of the house, so help me +never!' + +[Illustration: "I COULD SMELL HIS PIPE THROUGH THE KEYHOLE."] + +"Well, I am coming to that first night presently. Meanwhile, for the +next six months, I saw very little of Pharazyn, and less still in the +new year. He seldom came to my rooms now; when he did I could never get +him to stay and sit up with me; and once when I climbed up to his garret +(it was literally that), he would not answer me, though I could smell +his pipe through the key-hole, in which he had turned the key. Yet he +was perfectly friendly whenever we did meet. He said he was working very +hard, and indeed I could imagine it; his personal appearance, which he +had never cherished, being even untidier, and I am obliged to add +seedier, than of old. He continued to send me odd magazines in which his +stuff happened to appear, or occasionally a proof for one's opinion and +suggestions; we had done this to each other all along; but either I did +not think about it, or somehow he led me to suppose that his things were +more or less hot from the pen, whereas many of mine had been written a +twelvemonth before one saw them in type. One way or another, I gathered +that he was at work in our common groove, and had shelved, for the +present at all events, his proposed play, about which you will remember +I had undertaken to ask no questions. + +"I was quite mistaken. One night in the following March he came to me +with a haggard face, a beaming eye, and a stout, clean manuscript, which +he brought down with a thud on my desk. It was the play he had sketched +out to me eight or nine months before. I was horrified to hear he had +been at work upon it alone from that night to this. He had written, so +he said, during all this time, not another line, only each line of his +play some ten times over. + +"I recollect looking curiously at his shabby clothes, and then reminding +him that it was at his place, not mine, I was to have heard him read the +play: and how he confessed that he had no chair for me there--that his +room was, in fact, three parts dismantled--that he had sacrificed +everything to the play, which was worth it. I was extremely angry. I +could have helped him so easily, independent as I was of the calling I +loved to follow. But there was about him always an accursed, unnecessary +independence, which has since struck me--and I think I may say so after +all these years--as the mark of a rather humble, very honest origin. + +"He read me the play, and I cried over the third act, and so did he. I +thought then, and still think, that there was genius in that third +act--it took you off your feet. And to me, certainly, it seemed as if +the piece must act as well as it read, though indeed, as I took care to +say and to repeat, my opinion was well-nigh valueless on that point. I +only knew that I could see the thing playing itself, as I walked about +the room (for this time I was the person who was too excited to sit +still), and that was enough to make one sanguine. I became as +enthusiastic about it as though the work were mine (which it never, +never would or could have been), yet I was unable to suggest a single +improvement, or to have so much as a finger-tip in the pie. Nor could I +afterwards account for its invariable reception at the hands of +managers, whose ways were then unknown to me. That night we talked only +of one kind of reception. We were still talking when the sun came +slanting up the river to my windows; you could hardly see them for +tobacco-smoke, and we had emptied a bottle of whisky to the success of +Pharazyn's immortal play. + +[Illustration: "HIS MANUSCRIPT RAGGED BUT UNREAD."] + +"Oh, those nights--those nights once in a way! God forgive me, but I'd +sacrifice many things to be young again and feel clever, and to know the +man who would sit up all night with me to rule the world over a bottle +of honest grog. In the pale light of subsequent revelations I ought, +perhaps, to recall such a night, with that particular companion, +silently and in spiritual ashes. But it is ridiculous, in my opinion, to +fit some sort of consequence to every little insulated act; nor will I +ever admit that poor Pharazyn's ultimate failing was in any appreciable +degree promoted or prepared for by those our youthful full-souled +orgies. I know very well that afterwards, when his life was spent in +waylaying those aforesaid managers, in cold passages, on stage +doorsteps, or, in desperation, under the public portico on the street; +and when a hundred snubs and subterfuges would culminate in the return +of his manuscript, ragged but unread: I know, and I knew then, that the +wreck who would dodge me in Fleet Street, or cut me in the Strand, had +taken to his glass more seriously and more steadily than a man should. +But I am not sure that it matters much--_much_, you understand me--when +that man's heart is broken. + + * * * * * + +"The last words I was ever to exchange with my poor old friend keep +ringing in my head to this day, whenever I think of him; and I can +repeat them every one. It was some few years after our intimacy had +ceased, and when I only knew that he had degenerated into a Fleet Street +loafer of the most dilapidated type, that I caught sight of him one day +outside a theatre. It was the theatre which was for some years a +gold-mine to one Morton Morrison, of whom you may never have heard; but +he was a public pet in his day, I can tell you, and his day was just +then at its high noon. Well, there stood Pharazyn, with his hands in his +pockets and a cutty-pipe sticking out between his ragged beard and +moustache, and his shoulders against the pit door, so that for once he +could not escape me. But he wouldn't take a hand out of his pocket to +shake mine; and when I asked him how he was, without thinking, he +laughed in my face, and it made me feel cruel. He was dreadfully +emaciated, and almost in rags. And as I wondered what I ought to do, and +what to say next, he gave a cough, and spat upon the pavement, and I +could see the blood. + +[Illustration: "THERE STOOD PHARAZYN."] + +"I don't know what you would have done for him--but for all I knew what +had brought him to this, I could think of nothing but a drink. It was +mid-winter, and I tell you the man was in rags. I felt that if I could +get him to a bar he might eat something, too, and that I should get a +hold of him this time which I would never again let go. Judge of my +surprise when he flatly refused to come with me even for a drink. + +"'Can't you see? he said in his hollow voice. 'There'll be a crowd here +directly, and I want the best seat in the pit--the best in the house. +I've been going dry for it these two days, and I'm going dry till I've +seen the piece. No, I've been here an hour already, and there's three +hours more, I know; but I'm not going to risk it, thanks all the same.' + +"By this I had remembered that Morton Morrison was to re-open that night +with a new piece. Indeed, I ought not to have forgotten that, seeing +that I had my order about me somewhere, and it meant a column from my +pen between twelve and one that night. But this sudden, sorry meeting +had put all other thoughts out of my head. + +"'My dear fellow,' I said, with a sort of laugh, 'are you a +first-nighter, too?' + +"'Only at this theatre.' + +"He looked me queerly in the face. + +"'You admire Morrison very much?' + +"'I love him!' + +"I suppose my eyes thawed him, though God knows how hard I was trying +not to hurt him with pitying looks. At all events he began to explain +himself of his own accord, very impetuously; indeed I rather think the +outburst was purely involuntary. + +"'Look here,' he said, with his hoarse voice lowered: 'I hoped never to +see your face again. I hoped you'd never see mine. But now you are here, +don't go this minute, and I'll tell you why I think so much of Morton +Morrison. I don't know him, mind you--he doesn't know me from Adam--but +once long ago I had something to do with him. And God bless him, but +damn every other manager in London, for he was the only one of the lot +that gave me a civil hearing and a kind word!' + +"I knew what he was talking about, and he knew that I knew, for we had +understood one another in the old days. + +"'I took it to him last of all,' he went on, wiping his damp lips with +his hand. 'When I began hawking it about he was an unknown man; when his +turn came he was here. He let me read it to him. Then he asked me to +leave it with him for a week; and when I went back to him, he said what +they had all said--that it would never act! But Morton Morrison said it +nicely. And when he saw how it cut me up, into little bits, he got me to +tell him all about everything; and then he persuaded me to burn the +play, instead of ruining my life for it; and I burnt it in his +dressing-room fire, but the ruin was too far gone to mend. I wrote that +thing with my heart's blood--old man, you know I did! And none of them +would think of it! My God! But Morrison was good about it--he's a good +soul--and that's why you'll see me at every first night of his until the +drink finishes its work.' + +"I had not followed him quite to the end. One thing had amazed me too +much. + +"'You burnt your play,' I could only murmur, 'when it would have turned +into such a novel! Surely you have some draft of it still?' + +"'I burnt the lot when I got home,' Pharazyn replied; 'and by-and-by I +shall join 'em and burn too!' + +"I had nothing to answer to that, and was, besides, tenacious of my +point. 'I don't think much of the kindness that makes one man persuade +another to burn his work and throw up the sponge,' said I, with a good +deal of indignation, for I did feel wroth with that fellow Morrison--a +bread-and-butter drawing-room actor, whose very vogue used to irritate +me. + +[Illustration: "WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS?"] + +"'Then what do you think of this?' asked Pharazyn, as he dipped a hand +within his shabby coat, and cautiously unclenched it under my nose. + +"'Why, it's a five-pound note!' + +"'I know; but wasn't _that_ kind, then?' + +"'So Morrison gave you this!' I exclaimed. + +"Two or three persons had stopped to join us at the pit door, and +Pharazyn hastily put the note back in his pocket. As he did so, his +dreadfully shabby condition gave my heart a fresh cut. + +"'Are you never going to spend that?' I asked in a whisper; and in a +whisper he answered:-- + +"'Never! It is all my play has brought me--all. It was given me as a +charity, but I took it as my earnings--my earnings for all the work and +waiting, and blood and tears, that one thing cost me. Spend it? Not I! +It will bury me as decently as I deserve.' + +"We could converse no more. And the presence of other people prevented +me from giving him my overcoat, though I spoke of it into his ear, +begging and imploring him to come away and take it while there was still +time for him to clip back and get a seat in the front row. But he would +not hear of it, and the way he refused reminded me of his old stubborn +independence; all I got was a promise that he would have a bite with me +after the performance. And so I left him in the frosty dusk, ill-clad +and unkempt, with the new-lit lamp over the pit door shining down upon +the haggard mask that had once been the eager, memorable face of my +cleverest friend. + +"I saw him next the moment I entered the theatre that evening, and I +nodded my head to him, which he rebuked with the slightest shake of his +own. So I looked no more at him before the play began, comprehending +that he desired me not to do so. The temptation, however, was too strong +to go on resisting, for while Pharazyn was in the very centre of the +front row in the pit, I was at one end of the last row of the stalls; +and I was very anxious about him, wanting to make sure that he was there +and not going to escape me again, and nervous of having him out of my +sight for five minutes together. + +"Thus I know more about the gradual change which came over Pharazyn's +poor face, as scene followed scene, than of the developments and merits +of those scenes themselves. My mind was in any case running more on my +lost friend than on the piece; but it was not till near the end of the +first act that the growing oddity of his look first struck me. + +"His eyebrows were raised; it was a look of incredulity chiefly; yet I +could see nothing to impale for improbability in the play as far as it +had gone. I was but lightly attending, for my own purposes, as you +youngsters skim your betters for review; but thus far the situation +struck me as at once feasible and promising. Also it seemed not a little +familiar to me; I could not say why, for watching Pharazyn's face. And +it was his face that told me at last, in the second act. By God, it was +his own play! + +"It was Pharazyn's play, superficially altered all through, nowhere +substantially; but the only play for me, when I knew that, was being +acted in the front row of the pit, and not on the stage, to which I had +turned the side of my head. I watched my old friend's face writhe and +work until it stiffened in a savage calm; and watching, I thought of the +'first night' he had pictured jovially in the old days, when the bare +idea of the piece was bursting his soul; and thinking, I wondered +whether it could add a drop to his bitterness to remember that too. + +"Yet, through all my thoughts, I was listening, intently enough, now. +And in the third act I heard the very words my friend had written: they +had not meddled with his lines in the great scene which had moved us +both to tears long ago in my rooms. And this I swear to, whether you +believe it or no--that at the crisis of that scene, which was just as +Pharazyn made it, the calm ferocity transfiguring his face died away all +at once, and I saw it shining with the sweetest tears our eyes can +shed--the tears of an artist over his own work. + +"And when the act was over he sat with his head on his hand for some +minutes, drinking in the applause, as I well knew; then he left his seat +and squeezed out on my side of the house, and I made sure he was coming +to speak to me over the barrier; and I got up to speak to him; but he +would not see me, but stood against the barrier with a mien as white and +set as chiselled marble. + +"What followed on the first fall of the curtain I shall relate as +rapidly as it happened. Louder call for an author I never heard, and I +turned my eyes to the stage in my intense curiosity to see who would +come forward; for the piece had been brought out anonymously; and I +divined that Morrison himself was about to father it. And so he did; but +as the lie passed his lips, and in the interval before the applause--the +tiny interval between flash and peal--the lie was given him in a roar of +fury from my left; there fell a thud of feet at my side, and Pharazyn +was over the barrier and bolting down the gangway towards the stage. I +think he was near making a leap for the footlights and confronting +Morrison on his own boards; but the orchestra came between, and the +fiddlers rose in their places. Then he turned wildly to us pressmen, and +I will say he had our ear, if not that of the whole house besides, for +the few words he was allowed to utter. + +"'Gentlemen!' he cried at the top of his voice--'Gentlemen, I'm one of +you! I'm a writing man like yourselves, and I wrote this play that +you've seen. That man never wrote it at all--I wrote it myself! That man +has only altered it. I read it to him two years ago--two years ago, +gentlemen! He kept it for a week, and then got me to burn it as +rubbish--when he had made a copy of it! And he gave me this, +gentlemen--he gave me this that I give him back!' + +"It was a matter of only a few seconds, but not till my own last hour +shall I forget Morrison's painted face on the stage, or that sweating +white one beneath the boxes; or the fluttering from Pharazyn's poor +fingers of the five-pound note he had treasured for two years; or the +hush all over the house until the first hand was laid upon his dirty +collar. + +"'What!' he screamed, 'do none of you believe me? Will none of you stand +by me--isn't there a man--not one man among you----' + +"And they threw him out with my name on his lips. And I followed, and +floored a brute who was handling him roughly. And nothing happened to +me--because of what happened to Pharazyn!" + + * * * * * + +The dear old boy sat silent, his grey head on his hand. Presently he +went on, more to himself than to me: "What could I do? What proof had I? +He had burnt them every one. And as long as the public would stand him, +Morrison kept his good name at least. And that play was his great +success!" + +[Illustration: "HE GAVE ME THIS."] + +I ventured gently to inquire what had happened to Pharazyn. + +"He died in my arms," my old friend cried, throwing up his head with an +oath and a tear. "He died in a few minutes, outside the theatre. I could +hear them clapping after he was dead--clapping his piece." + +[Illustration] + + + + +Zig Zags at the Zoo: Conkavian + + +If the gentle reader, full of a general desire for knowledge and a +particular enthusiasm for natural history, will refer to any one of the +great standard works on birds, and, turning to the index, seek for the +family title of the Conkaves, I have every hope and confidence that he +will not find it; because, as a matter of fact, it is a little invention +of my own, and, I may modestly urge, rather a neat thing in scientific +nomenclature, on the whole. It has the advantage of including in one +family the storks and the pelicans, which in all orthodox books on birds +are planted far apart and out of sight of each other, with many orders, +tribes, and families between. Under my title they are gathered amicably +together in the common possession of very long bills, like two tailors +on a man's doorstep. The word is derived, in the proper and regular +manner, from ancient sources; from _conk_, a venerable Eastern word, +signifying a nose or beak, and the Latin _avis_, a bird. And I offer +the term freely as my humble, but I trust useful, contribution to +science; my first contribution. + +The stork is regarded, in many countries, with a certain +semi-superstitious reverence and esteem. After many prolonged and +serious attempts to saturate myself with a similar feeling, I regret to +confess to a certain smallness of esteem for the stork. You can't esteem +a bird that makes ugly digs at your feet and heels with such a very big +beak. Out in their summer quarters the storks are kept in by close wire, +and close wire will give an air of inoffensiveness to most things. But, +away in a by-yard, with a gate marked "private," there stands a shed +wherein the storks are kept warm in winter, behind wooden bars; and +between these bars stork-heads have a way of dropping at the toes of the +favoured passer-by, like to action of a row of roadmen's picks. + +[Illustration: PICKS AND CHEWS.] + +The stork has come off well in the matter of bodily endowment. The +pelican has a tremendous beak--achieved, it would seem, by a skimping of +material in the legs; but the stork has the tremendous beak and legs of +surprising growth as well. His wings, too, are something more than +respectable. At flying, at eating, at portentous solemnity of +demeanour--in all these and in other things the pelican and the stork +score fairly evenly; but at walking the pelican is left behind at once. +This makes one suspect the stork's honesty. The pelican has a good beak +and wings, and pays for them, like an honest bird, out of its legs, just +as the ostrich pays for its neck and legs out of its wings. But the +stork is abnormally lucky in beak, neck, legs, and wings together, and +even then has material left to lay out in superfluous knobs and wens to +hang round its neck, which leads to a suspicion that many of its +personal fittings belong properly to some other bird. I've a notion that +the unlucky kiwi might identify some of the property. + +[Illustration: THE PELICAN LEFT.] + +[Illustration: ARMY.] + +Perhaps the adjutant should be acknowledged king of the conkavians. +Billy, the Zoo adjutant, has, I believe, no doubt on the subject at all. +Billy is an ornament to the military profession--a very fine fellow, +with a thing on the back of his neck like a Tangerine orange, and a wen +on the front of it, which he can blow out whenever he wants to amuse +himself, and everything else handsome about him. He is an old soldier, +too, is Billy, having been Adjutant of the Regent's Park Conkavian Corps +for seventeen years; but if you knew nothing of his age, still you would +call Billy an old soldier--upon a little acquaintance with his habits. + +[Illustration: LAW.] + +There seems no valid reason why the professional aspirations of the +stork should be restricted to the army. If an adjutant, why not a dean? +Why not a proctor? There is the making of a most presentable don about a +stork; and I have caught a stork in an attitude of judicial meditation +that might do honour to any bench. There is no reason why "sober as a +judge" should not be made to read "sober as a stork," except that the +stork is the more solemn creature of the two; and I think that some +species of stork--say the marabou, for instance--might fairly claim +brevet rank as judge, after the example of the adjutant. The elevation +of a beak to the bench might be considered an irregular piece of legal +procedure; but, bless you, it's nothing unusual with a stork. Put any +bench with something to eat on it anywhere within reach of a stork's +beak in this place, and you shall witness that same elevation, precedent +or no precedent. + +[Illustration: UNIVERSITIES.] + +A common white stork hasn't half the solid gravity of an adjutant or a +marabou. He has a feline habit of expressing his displeasure by blowing +and swearing--a habit bad and immoral in a cat, but worse in a stork +accustomed to Church. Church, by-the-bye, is the keeper of all the +conkavians, as well as of the herons, the flamingoes, the ibises, the +egrets, and a number of other birds with names more difficult to spell. +It is impossible to treat disrespectfully a man with such widespread +responsibilities as this, or there might be a temptation to mention that +he is not an unusually high Church, although his services are not always +simple, often involving a matter of doctorin'. But, then, some people +will say anything, temptation or none. And after all, it is pleasant to +know that, whatever a stork or a pelican wants, he always goes to +Church. + +[Illustration: SWEARING.] + +[Illustration: CHURCH.] + +This being the case, there is a proverb about cleanliness that makes one +wonder why the marabou stork doesn't wash himself. It isn't as though he +never wanted it. I have a horrible suspicion about this philosophic old +sloven. I believe his profession of philosophic contemplation is +assumed, because it is the easiest excuse for indolence. Now, a pelican +is not a bird of graceful outline, but he _is_ careful about his +feathers. The pelican is a scrupulous old Dutchman, and the stork is an +uncleanly old Hindu. And uncleanly he must be left, for it takes a deal +to shame a stork. You can't shame a bird that wraps itself in a +convenient philosophy. "Look here--look at me!" you can imagine a +pelican cleanliness-missionary saying to the stork. "See how white and +clean I keep all my feathers!" "Um," says the stork, "it only makes 'em +a different colour." "But observe! I just comb through my pinions with +my beak, so, and they all lie neat and straight!" "Well, and what's the +good of that?" grunts the stork. "And then you see," says the pelican, +ignoring the question, "with a good long beak you can reach everywhere, +over your back and under your wings; see, I'm as clean under my wings as +anywhere else, although it's covered up!" "Beastly vanity," growls the +old Hindu, getting bored. "Then," continues the Dutchman, "you give +yourself a good shake, and there you are!" "And then," says the +philosopher sarcastically, "to-morrow, I suppose, you'll have to do it +all over again?" "Of course!" "Oh! I hate a fool!" says the stork, and +closes the lecture. + +[Illustration] + +Thus the marabou. The ordinary white stork is comparatively respectable, +and so is the adjutant--or comparatively almost respectable, let us say; +you can't be too cautious in giving a personal character to a stork. +For long, long, the stork has enjoyed a reputation for solemn wisdom, +for philosophical dignity. Now for the first time I venture to question +this reputation--to impeach the stork as a humbug. It is easy to achieve +a reputation for profound and ponderous wisdom, so long as one looks +very solemn and says nothing. This is the stork's recipe. Go up to Billy +here, or one of the marabous, as he stands with his shoulders humped up +about his head, and make a joke. He won't see it. He will lift his +eyebrows with a certain look of contempt, and continue to +cogitate--about nothing. If the joke is a very bad pun--such a frightful +pun that even a stork will see and resent it--perhaps he will chatter +his beak savagely, with a noise like the clatter of the lid on an empty +cigar-box; but he will continue his sham meditations. "Ah, my friend," +he seems to say, "you are empty and frivolous--I cogitate the profounder +immensities of esoteric cogibundity." The fact being that he is very +seedy after his previous night's dissipation. + +[Illustration] + +That is the chief secret of the stork's solemnity, I am convinced. He +has a certain reputation to maintain before visitors, but after hours, +when the gates are shut and the keepers are not there to see, the +marabou stork is a sad dog. I haven't quite made up my mind what he +drinks, but if he has brandies and sodas he leaves out too much soda. +Look at that awful nose! It is long past the crimson and pimply +stage--it is taking a decided tinge of blue. It _looks_ worse than +brandy and soda--almost like bad gin--but we will be as charitable as +possible, and only call it brandy and soda. + +I should like to see the marabou stork on his nightly ran-tan, if only +to gloat over his lapse of dignity, just as one would give much to see +Benjamin Franklin with his face blacked, drunk and disorderly and being +locked up. But, as a shocking example, the marabou is quite bad enough +with his awful head in the morning; his awful head and his disreputable +nose, that looks to want a good scraping. I respect Billy, the adjutant, +for his long service and the Tangerine at the back of his neck. The +ordinary stork (although he swears and snaps) I also respect, because +the goody books used to tell pious lies about him. The whale-headed +stork, which is also called the shoe-bird, I respect as a sort of +relative of the shoo-fly that didn't bother somebody. But the marabou +has forfeited all respect--converted it into nose-tint. I must talk to +Church seriously about the marabou. + +[Illustration: THE RAN-TAN.] + +Now, the pelican is no humbug. There is nothing like concealment about +his little dissipations; and he is perfectly sober. Any little +irregularity at the pelican club just opposite the eastern aviary never +goes beyond a quiet round or two for a little fish dinner. It is quite a +select and a most proper club. Indeed, the first rule is, that if any +loose fish be found on the club premises, he is got rid of at once by +the first member who detects him. And the club spirit is such that +disputes frequently occur among members for the honour of carrying out +this salutary rule. The chairman of the club is an old crested pelican, +who, by some oversight, has never been provided with a private name of +his own. I think he should be called Peter, because he can take such a +miraculous draught of fishes. It _is_ a draught; you know--a pelican +doesn't eat fishes--he drinks them down in bulk. For Peter, a dozen or +so fresh herrings is a mere swill round of the mouth. + +[Illustration: A QUIET ROUND OR TWO.] + +Peter walks about the club premises with much dignity, deferred to on +all sides by the other members. His kingship is rarely disputed, having +been achieved by the sort of conquest most familiar in the pelican club; +and his divine right is as much respected as his tremendous left. + +A pelican never bears malice; he hasn't time, especially now, with +competition so keen in the fish business, and Church's fish pails only +of the ordinary size. There is never any ill-feeling after a little +spar, and each proceeds, in the most amicable way, to steal some other +pelican's fish. A spar at this club, by-the-bye, is a joyous and +hilarious sight. Two big birds with stumpy legs and top-heavy beaks, +solemnly prancing and manoeuvring before one another with an +accompaniment of valiant gobbles and a punctuation of occasional +pecks--a gleesome spectacle. + +[Illustration: PETER.] + +[Illustration: A SWILL ROUND.] + +Another sport much exhibited at the pelican club is that of +the broadsword. The school of fence is that of Mr. Vincent +Crummies--one--two--three--four--over; one--two--three--four--under. +You see, when a dozen or two birds with beaks a couple of feet long or +so get together in a small area, and now and again rush all in the same +direction for fish, fencing is certain to develop, sooner or later. So +here you have it, _secundum artem_--one--two--three--four--over; +one--two--three--four--under; and although none have yet attained the +Crummleian degree of knocking out sparks, there is a deal of hollow +noise, as of thumping on a wooden box. But there is never any +after-malice, and in less than five minutes either combatant will +swallow a fish rightfully belonging to the other, with perfect +affability. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +There is a good deal of the philosopher about the pelican, and of a more +genuine sort than characterizes the stork. The pelican always makes the +best of a bad job, without going into an unnecessary tantrum over it. If +another member of the club snatches a fish first, the pelican doesn't +bother, but devotes his attention to the next that Church throws; a fish +in the pouch is worth a shoal in somebody else's. Now and again Peter +loses his temper for a moment if the others catch the first snack, and +lays about him with his bill--but then, when a fellow's chairman, and a +lot of other fellows come snatching the lunch from under his nose--why, +hang it all, you know.... But it is only for a moment, and Peter is soon +in position for the next pouchful. He is artful about this position. +When Church appears at the rails with a pailful of fish most of the +members rush to those rails, jostle together and shove their beaks +through them and over them--any way to get nearer the pail. But the +chairman knows very well that Church doesn't throw the fish outside the +rails, but into the inclosure, somewhere near the middle; and near the +middle the sagacious Peter waits, to his early profit--unless Church is +unusually slow about throwing the fish, in which case Peter is apt to +let his excitement steal his sagacity, and to rush into the pell-mell, +anxious to investigate the delay. + +[Illustration: A LITTLE SOLEING AND HEELING.] + +There is a deal of excellent wear in a pelican. One has been here about +thirty years, and two more have been established on the same premises +for a quarter of a century. All these three are in capital working +repair and will probably last, with a patch or two, and a little soleing +and heeling, for a century or two more; no respectable pelican is ever +bowled out for less than three figures. + +In the winter the club takes up its quarters in the shed behind the +inclosure; a shed sumptuously furnished with certain benches and forms, +whereon the club stands in rows, with a general appearance of a number +of very solemn naughty boys in a Board school. In winter, too, Church +will often put his bucketful of fish on the ground, so that the club may +dine in a clubbier way. But whether you watch this club feeding together +from the pail, each member doing his best to put away the whole pailful +at a gulp, or whether you observe them playing a sort of greedy game of +lacrosse with fish which Church throws them, you will be equally amazed +that the pelican was used as a symbol of charity and brotherly love in +early and middle Christian art. + +[Illustration: SCHOOL.] + +[Illustration: CLUB DINNER.] + +I have seen a pelican enact a most instructive moral lesson at a +pail-dinner. Observe the bill and pouch of a pelican. The pouch is an +elastic fishing-net, and the lower mandible is a mere flexible frame to +carry it. Now, I have observed a pelican to make a bounce at the +fish-pail, with outspread wings, and scoop the whole supply. But then +his trouble began. The whole catch hung weightily low in the end of the +pouch, and jerk and heave as he might, he could never lift the load at +the end of that long beak sufficiently high to bolt it. Meanwhile, his +friends collected about him and remonstrated, with many flops and +gobbles, betting him all his fish to nothing that he would lose it after +all; this way they chased that bag, and that way, while the bagger, in +much trepidation and with many desperate heaves, wildly sought remote +corners away from his persecutors. Now, by the corner of the club +premises stands an appliance, the emblem of authority, the instrument of +justice, and the terror of the evilly-disposed pelican--a birch-broom. +This, brandished in the hands of Church, caused a sudden and awful +collapse of the drag-nets, an opening, a shower of fish and many snaps; +wherefrom walked away many pelicans with fish, and one with none, who +had looked to take all. The moral is plain to the verge of ugliness. + +[Illustration.] + +[Illustration.] + +[Illustration.] + +[Illustration.] + +[Illustration.] + +A pelican has no tongue--or none to speak of. It is a mere little knob +scarcely the size of a cherry. The long, long meditations of the pelican +(lasting between feeding times) are given up to consideration whether or +not the disgrace of this deficiency is counter-balanced by the greater +capacity for fish which it gives the pouch. After all, it is only +another instance of that commercial honesty which makes the pelican pay +for his beak out of his legs; he gives his tongue for a pouch. There +should be a legend of the pelican applying honestly to Adam to buy a +pouch, and the wily stork waiting and waiting on the chance of snatching +one without paying for it, until all had been served out; afterwards +living all its life on earth in covetous dudgeon, unconsoled by its +wealth of beak, legs, wings, and neck, and pining hopelessly for the +lost pouch. There are many legends of this sort which ought to exist, +but don't, owing to the negligence of Indian solar myth merchants, or +whoever it is has charge of that class of misrepresentation. + +[Illustration.] + +The pelican can fly, although you would never believe it, to look at the +club members here. To a Zoo pelican a flight of two feet is an +undertaking to be approached with much circumspection and preparation, +and a summoning of resolution and screwing of courage proper to the +magnitude of the feat. It takes a long time to learn to fly on to a +bottom-up bucket. The Zoo pelican begins on a shadow--not a very dark +one at first--and works his way up by jumping over, darker shadows to +straws and pebbles, before he tries a bucket. The accomplished +bucket-jumper makes a long preliminary survey and circumnavigation of +his bucket before performing, and when he does begin it is with a number +of wild rushes and irresolute stops. When at last he gets the proper +length of run, and the right foot in front, and doesn't see anything to +baulk him, he rises with a great effort, and all the lookers-on who +don't know him stare up over the trees, and are astonished to find him, +after all, only on the bucket. His pinions are cut, poor fellow! If they +were not, what would become of the fishmongers' shops? + + + + +_Shafts from an Eastern Quiver_. + +IX.--MAW-SAYAH: THE KEEPER OF THE GREAT BURMAN NAT. + +By Charles J. Mansford, B.A. + + +I. + +"The fine points of an elephant, sahib," said our guide Hassan, "are a +colour approaching to white, the nails perfectly black, and an intact +tail." + +"I am glad to hear that an elephant has some qualities which recommend +it," said Denviers, good-humouredly. "I should think that the one upon +which we are riding is about as lazy as it is possible to be. I suppose +slowness is an unusually good point, isn't it, Hassan?" The Arab, who +was sitting before us on the elephant, gave it a stir with the +sharply-pointed spear which he held in his hand to urge it on, and then +glancing back at us, as we reclined lazily in the cushioned howdah, he +said inquiringly: "Are the sahibs tired already of travelling thus? Yet +we have fully two hours' journey before us." + +"Hassan," I interposed, "this is a good opportunity for you to tell us +exactly what you heard about that Maw-Sayah when we were at Bhamo. It is +in consequence of that, indeed, that we are going to try to get among +these strange Kachyens; but as we are not quite sure of the details, you +may as well repeat them." + +"The sahib shall be obeyed," responded our guide, and although careful +to keep a good watch in front, he turned his body slightly towards us as +he prepared to begin the narrative. + +[Illustration: "THE SAHIB SHALL BE OBEYED."] + +On reaching Burmah we stayed for several days in Rangoon, the Queen of +the East as it is called nowadays, although only remarkable formerly for +its famous monasteries of Talapoins and as a halting-place for the bands +of pilgrims on their way to the mighty Shway Dagohn pagoda. Thence we +journeyed up the Irawaddy, and having duly paid reverence to some of the +nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine pagodas of Pagan--the outcast +slaves of which city seemed a strange contrast to its otherwise absolute +desertion--we continued our journey by steamer as far as Mandalay. +Having endured the doubtful pleasure of a jaunt in a seatless, jolting +bullock-carriage--the bruises from which were not easily forgotten--we +eventually reached Bhamo, where Hassan entered into conversation with a +hill-man. From the latter he learnt a strange story, which was later on +told to us and the truth of which we hoped before long to fully test, +for soon afterwards we set out on an elephant, our faithful guide in +this new adventure again proving himself of the greatest service. + +"Now, Hassan," said Denviers, "we are quite ready to hear this story +fully, but don't add any imaginary details of your own." + +"By the Koran, sahib," began the Arab, "these are the words which were +those of him to whom I spoke under the shade of the log stockade." + +"Which are, of course, unimpeachable," responded Denviers. "Anyone could +tell that from his shifty eyes, which failed to rest upon us fixed even +for a minute when we spoke to him afterwards." The Arab seemed a little +disconcerted at this, but soon continued:-- + +"The great Spirits or Nats, who guard the prosperity of Burmah, have +become greatly incensed with the Kachyens, not because they failed to +resist stoutly when the monarch was deposed a few years ago----" + +"Then we are to have a modern story, this time, Hassan?" interrupted +Denviers. "I quite expected that you would commence with some long +worn-out tradition." + +"The sahibs shall hear," the Arab went on. "No one who offends the Nats +of Burmah need expect anything but evil to follow. There are the Nats of +the sky, the Nats of the earth, the Nats of the Irawaddy, the Nats of +the five hundred little rivers, and the thousand Nats which guarded the +sacred person of the monarch----" + +"Yes, Hassan," said Denviers, impatiently, "you mentioned them all +before. We haven't time to hear the list enumerated now; go on about +this one particular Nat which you say is causing such havoc among the +hill-tribes." + +"Patience, sahib. The Nats were justly roused to anger because the +deposed monarch was not afterwards taken to the water's edge riding upon +an elephant instead of in a bullock-carriage." + +"Well, Hassan," said Denviers, "judging from our own experience the Nats +seem to be pretty sensible, I must say--but how do they affect the peace +of mind of the Kachyens?" + +"Listen, sahib. High among the hills which may be seen stretching before +us lies a village in which many of the Kachyens dwell, their occupation +being sometimes that of tillers of the land, but more often consisting +in planning and carrying out raids upon other hill-men, or of descending +at times to the plains, and there looting the towns wherein dwell more +peaceable tribes. In all their forays they had been successful, for +whenever their trusty dahs or swords were drawn, those who opposed them +invariably obtained the worst of the encounter. So powerful did they +become that at last those dwelling in the plains--Shans, Karenns, and +Talaings, too--made no resistance against their attacks; and when they +saw the produce of their fields carried away, thought themselves happy +not to have been slain. The reason why the Kachyens became so successful +in all they undertook was that a powerful forest Nat placed them under +its protection, and hence they could not be harmed by their foes. + +"Now it chanced that the King was in great danger through following the +advice of his impetuous ministers, whereupon he summoned the Kachyens to +his assistance--for their fame as warriors had reached his ears long +before. But they, confident of securing their own safety whatever +happened to the monarch, refused to obey his command to march against +the Burman foes. The consequence was that when the indignity which I +have mentioned was offered to the deposed monarch, the Nats throughout +Burmah were furious with that one who ruled the village in which the +Kachyens dwelt, and they sent some of their number to destroy it. The +latter, however, appeased them by making a grim promise, which has been +only too faithfully kept. + +"A few days afterwards a hill-man, who was clearing a part of the land +on the woody slope of the height, _saw the Nat_, which had never before +been visible, and, terrified at the strange form which it had assumed, +he ran hastily to the rest of the tribe, and, gathering them together, +held a consultation as to what should be done to appease it. Some +suggested that upon every tree trunk should be scratched appealing +messages, which the Nat might read; others were in favour of placing a +huge heap of spears and swords near the spot where the embodied Nat had +been seen in order that it might be tempted to destroy all those who +urged it to injure them. The messages and weapons, however, when placed +for the Nat to observe did no good, for one dreadful night a rattling +was heard of the bamboos, which lay before one of the Kachyen's huts, +and the man, going hastily to see what caused it, was swiftly carried +away in the darkness without apparently uttering a single cry! For many +nights in succession a similar scene was enacted, for he at whose door +the dire summons came dared not refuse to answer it lest the whole +household might perish. + +"Nothing more was ever seen of those thus strangely carried off, and the +Kachyens, each of whom feared that his own end might come next, +determined to consult some famous Buddhist priests who dwelt not far +from them, and who held charge over the famous marble slabs which the +great War Prince of Burmah had caused to be engraved concerning their +illustrious traditions. The man whom ye saw me conversing with by the +stockade was the one whom the tribe intrusted with the task; but the +priests, after much consideration among themselves of the object of his +visit, refused to have anything to do with such a tragic affair, and +thereupon dismissed their suppliant. + +[Illustration: "THE BUDDHIST PRIESTS."] + +"This Kachyen, when sorrowfully returning towards the hills, fearing +that the tribe would destroy him because of his non-success, chanced to +meet on his way a Mogul, to whom he repeated the story. The latter, +laying his hand on his red-dyed and fierce-looking beard, advised the +Kachyen to enter a hole in the mountain side and to consult a famous +Maw-Sayah, or juggler, who dwelt there. This juggler promised assistance +if the tribe would pay him a great reward in the event of his success, +and when they agreed to this he entered the village and waited for dusk +to arrive. Again the dreadful rattling was heard, and another Kachyen +stepped out to meet his fate. None of the tribe dared to look at what +transpired, except the juggler, and he too disappeared! The next +morning, however, he came into the village and called its inhabitants +together. When they had solemnly agreed to his conditions, he stated +that the Nat was bent upon destroying them all, and that to attempt to +escape by means of flight would only lead to quicker death. Then he told +them what the result of his intercession for them had been. + +"The Nat had been persuaded to destroy only one victim on each seventh +evening at dusk, and had appointed him to see that certain conditions +were not broken. He was to have a hut at his disposal, and into this the +men were to go by lot, and thus the Nat would obtain a victim when the +time came round. They were forbidden to wander about after sunset, and +whatever noises were made not to hearken to them, since the Maw-Sayah +would see that the others were unharmed. So long had this dreadful +destruction lasted that more than one-half of the men in the Kachyen +village, or town, as it might well be called from the large number who +inhabited it, had perished, and yet the Nat still demanded a victim, and +the Maw-Sayah is there to see that the compact is fulfilled. The man who +told this story, sahibs, declares that the keeper of the Nat has by this +means obtained sway over the Kachyens to such an extent that they have +become his abject slaves, for the custom of drawing lots has been +abolished, and he selects whom he will to sacrifice to the Nat. By some +means this Kachyen offended the Maw-Sayah, who thereupon condemned him, +but he, in terror of the sudden and silent death in store for him, fled +to Bhamo, where he lives in momentary fear of destruction. Such then, +sahibs, is the story, and it is to see this Maw-Sayah and the Nat at +their fell work to-night that even now our faces are turned to the high +land before us, up which we must climb, for there is but one narrow +pathway leading to the village." + +Hassan ceased, and then Denviers turned to me as he said:-- + +"I think that this Maw-Sayah, as Hassan calls him, has about as much +faith in Nats as we have. It suits his purpose to league himself with +something mysterious; whatever it is we will try to find out," and he +glanced at the weapons which we carried. + + +II. + +"The sahibs must dismount here", said Hassan shortly afterwards, and +following to the ground our guide, we began to climb the mountain path +which stretched before us. The ascent was exceedingly steep, and several +times we stopped to rest after pushing our way through the tangled +masses which almost hid the path, which was itself cut here and there +apparently through the rocky strata. When we had reached about +three-fourths of our journey Hassan stopped and pointed out to us one of +the thatched roofs of a hut, which seemed in the distance scarcely +noticeable until his keen eyesight discovered it. The village, we found, +lay a little to the left of the mountain path, for on nearing the summit +we found ourselves passing through a peculiar avenue of trees +interspersed with long bamboo poles. From the tops of the latter there +were stretched across the approach strong, rough-looking cords, which +supported various uncouth emblems, and among which were large triangles, +circles, and stars, cut apparently out of the stems of huge bamboos. +After traversing this avenue for nearly three hundred yards we saw the +tree trunks which Hassan had mentioned, and which were deeply scarred +with cabalistic messages to the fierce Nat, which we could not of course +understand. Affixed to some of the trees farther on we saw a number of +spears and dahs mingled with shorter weapons, the latter being made of +some species of hard wood, and close to them we observed the skulls of +several large animals, one of which we judged was that of an elephant. + +[Illustration: "THE AVENUE."] + +In spite of the fact that the village was a large one, the buildings +were of a very primitive construction, being made of bamboos with +thatched coverings, reaching almost to the piles on which the huts were +placed. We did not observe any openings made to serve as windows, the +only ones noticeable being those by which the Kachyens entered, placed +above a bamboo ladder, which seemed to, serve instead of steps. Although +the sun had scarcely set, the village was wrapped in a strange silence, +the sound of our footsteps alone being heard. The smoke that seemed to +be forcing its way through stray holes in the thatch amply convinced us, +however, that the inhabitants were within doors, and, turning to our +Arab guide, I asked him if he could distinguish among the many huts the +one in which we expected to find the Maw-Sayah. He seemed a little +uncertain at first, but after wandering through the village together we +returned, and then Hassan, who had been very observant the whole time, +pointed to one of the rudely-constructed huts and said:-- + +"I think that is the one into which we seek to enter; it is situated +according to the position in which the Kachyen said it was, and, +besides, it bears a strange proof of the story which ye have listened to +with such ill-concealed disbelief." + +"Why do you think that is the hut, Hassan?" I asked, for, to my eyes, no +difference between that and the others close to it was distinguishable. + +"If the sahib will look at the bamboo ladder and observe it carefully, +he will see that it is unlike the others round," said the Arab. + +"I suppose you refer to these deep scratches upon it, don't you, +Hassan?" asked Denviers, as he pointed to some marks, a few of which +were apparently fairly recent. + +"The sahib guesses rightly," answered our guide. "You will remember that +the Kachyen stated to me that the Nat is accustomed to obtain its victim +now from the abode of the Maw-Sayah; those marks, then, have been made +by it when it dragged its human prey out of the hut." We gazed curiously +at the marks for a few minutes, then Denviers broke the silence by +asking the Arab why it was that the Nat made marks at all. + +"I should have thought that such a powerful spirit could prevent such +evidences of its presence becoming observed," he continued. "My respect +for it is certainly not increased by seeing those deep scars; they seem +to be made by something which has sharp claws." + +"That is because of the shape which it has assumed, sahib," said the +Arab, "for the Nats have wondrous powers----" + +"Very likely, Hassan," interposed Denviers; "I suppose they can do +exactly what they like, can they not?" I was much surprised at the limit +which was, however, placed upon their powers by our guide, for he +responded quickly:-- + +"Not altogether, sahib. There is one thing that a Nat cannot do, +according to the reports of these Kachyens, and that is, they are unable +to move in a direction which is not straight, and hence they are careful +to avoid rough ground, where tangled masses and boulders bar their +progress, so they usually frequent the open avenues, such as the one +which we have just passed through. The symbols above it and the writings +and weapons are all for the Nat's benefit." + +"And the elephant's skull?" asked Denviers, irreverently. "What is that +put up for?" The Arab, however, had an explanation ready, for he +promptly replied:-- + +"That indicates where the supplies of food are to be found when the Nat +requires any." Denviers turned to me for a moment as he said:-- + +"I should have thought it a good plan, then, to have put it upon the hut +of this Maw-Sayah whom we are about to interview. See that your weapons +are in good order, Harold, we may soon need them." Giving a cautious +look at my belt and the weapons thrust into it, I followed Denviers, who +had mounted the short bamboo ladder, and was endeavouring to obtain +admission to the hut. We heard a harsh sound within, then the cry of +someone apparently terror-stricken, and a moment afterwards we had +pushed past the Maw-Sayah, who by no means was willing to allow us to +enter the rude dwelling. + +The single room, which seemed to constitute the hut, was extremely low +and bare of furniture entirely. A few bamboos were spread in one part of +it, while at the far end was a fire, the light from which was partly +obscured by the smoke, which almost suffocated us, so thickly did it +roll up and then spread through the hut. Near the door stood a man +scarcely clothed, upon whose face we saw a look of the most abject +terror, for, as we surmised, the noise of our entry was mistaken by him +for the approach of the fell thing to which he was condemned by the +Maw-Sayah. We moved towards the latter as he threw himself down by the +fire, which he had only left to see who it was that came unbidden to the +hut where to enter was the preceding event to death. He was clothed in a +long blue strip of linen, which wound round his waist and covered his +body, partly leaving his dark chest uncovered. His features were stamped +with an appearance of supreme cunning, his oblique eyes reminding us of +a Chinaman, while the fierce look in them as they glared at us from +either side of an aquiline nose, which betrayed his Burmese descent, did +not increase our confidence in the man as he stretched out his bony +hands over the fire as if for warmth, although outside the hut we had +found the heat almost insupportable. + +"What do ye seek?" he demanded, as he looked into our faces in turn and +seemed astonished at our strange features. + +"We are travellers who wished to see a Kachyen village," responded +Denviers, "and we further desired to see some of its inhabitants; but +as none were visible we entered this hut, even against your will. Where +are the people who dwell here?" The man whom my companion addressed +pointed to the Kachyen near the doorway, as he responded:-- + +"There is one of them, and in a short time even he will never be seen +again." + +[Illustration: "WHAT DO YE SEEK?"] + +"Can you give us food?" hazarded Hassan, in order to get the man to +continue his conversation, for the Arab evidently was expecting that the +Nat would soon arrive upon the scene. The Maw-Sayah rose and pointed to +the entrance as he cried:-- + +"That way ye came, that way shall ye depart. Food for ye I have not, nor +would I give it if I had." I turned to Denviers and said in a low +tone:-- + +"What shall we do, Frank? I don't think our opportunity of seeing what +may transpire will be as good within the hut as without it. Whatever the +solution is to this affair, if we are outside we shall see this Kachyen +dragged away, and may further watch the approach of whatever caused +those strange marks which we observed." + +"One thing is clear," said my companion, "we will attempt to save this +intended victim, at all events. I expect that if we tried we could get +him away easily enough, but that plan would not be of much service. We +must attack this being, whatever it is, with which this Maw-Sayah is +leagued. How I should like to hand him over as a victim instead of that +trembling captive by the door. It shows to what extent this juggler has +acquired power over this tribe, for I notice that his captive is +unbound, and is certainly a much finer built man than the other." + +"It wants less than an hour to dusk, sahibs," said Hassan, who had +listened carefully to our remarks; "if we were to station ourselves a +little away from the hut we could see what took place, and if the Nat +were mortal we might attack it." + +Denviers shrugged his shoulders at the Arab's supposition as he +responded:-- + +"There is little doubt, Hassan, that the Nat would smart if that keen +blade of yours went a little too near it, but I think your plan is a +good one, and we will adopt it, as it falls in with what has already +been said." We gave a final look at the crafty face of the man who was +still seated by the fire, and then brushing past the captive we made for +the open village again. + +"I feel sorry for this Kachyen," said Denviers. "He will have a dreadful +five minutes of it, I expect; but it is our only way of preventing, if +possible, such an affair from occurring again." On leaving the hut we +stationed ourselves almost opposite to it, and then began to keep watch. +What we should see pass up the avenue we could only surmise, but our +suppositions certainly did not lead us to imagine in the faintest degree +the sight which before long was destined to completely startle us. + + +III. + +The grey dusk was becoming night when among the dark stems of the trees +we saw some black form move over the ground. We could scarcely +distinguish it as it crawled over the bamboo logs and made a rasping +noise as it clung to the ladder. The door of the hut yielded to it, and +a minute after it again emerged and bore with it the terrified Kachyen. +We crept after it as it dragged its captive down the avenue, striving +our utmost to make out its shape. One thing we could tell, which was +that the creature was not upright; but our movement behind it was +apparently known, for it struggled to move quicker over the ground with +its human burden. + +[Illustration: "IT AGAIN EMERGED."] + +"Shall I shoot it?" I whispered to Denviers, as my nerves seemed to be +almost unstrung at the unknowableness of the creeping thing. + +"You would more likely kill the man," he responded. "Follow as +noiselessly as you can--it will not let its prey escape, be sure of +that. Once we track it to its haunt we will soon dispatch it, big and +fierce as it seems." + +We drew nearer and nearer to it, until it had passed half-way down the +avenue, then it seemed to become lost to our view, although we were, as +we knew, close to it. I felt Denviers' hand upon my shoulder, and then +he whispered:-- + +"The Kachyen is being dragged up a tree just in front--look!" I could +just distinguish something moving up the trunk, when suddenly the +captive, who had hitherto been apparently paralyzed with terror, uttered +a cry and then must have succeeded in disengaging himself from the +dreadful thing that had held him, for the noise of someone falling to +the ground was heard, and a minute after we distinguished the form of a +man rushing headlong back to the village for safety. + +We did not anticipate such an event, and were contemplating a search for +the captor of the Kachyen, when a cold sweat broke out upon me, for the +clammy claws of the man-hunter had touched me! The sensation which +seized me was only of short duration, for I felt myself released just as +Denviers said:-- + +"Harold, the Kachyen has fled, and his captor, determined to secure its +prey, has betaken its crawling body after him. If only we had a light! I +saw something like a black shadow moving onwards; get your pistol ready +and follow." I just distinguished Denviers as he passed on in front of +me, Hassan coming last. When we reached the hut of the Maw-Sayah we +stopped at once, for, from the cry which came from it, we rightly +surmised that the terrible seeker for human prey had made for this +place, thinking, in its dull intelligence, that its captive had +returned. We thrust ourselves into the hut, and saw by the red firelight +a sanguinary contest between the Maw-Sayah and the black object which we +had endeavoured to track. Thinking that the Kachyen was being destroyed, +the juggler had not fastened his door, and the enraged man-eater had +seized him as he rested on the ground, quite at its mercy! + +The Maw-Sayah was struggling with his bony hands to extricate himself +from the clutches of a monstrous tree-spider! We had seen, on an island +in the South Seas, several cocoa-nut crabs, and this reptile somewhat +resembled them, but was even larger. Grasping the juggler with several +of its long, furry-looking claws, it fixed its glaring red eyes in mad +anger upon him as he grasped in each hand one of its front pair of +legs, which were armed with strong, heavy-looking pincers. He besought +us wildly to shoot, even if we killed him, held as he was by his +relentless foe. + +"Harold," cried my companion, "keep clear, and look out for yourself +when I fire at this reptile; most likely it will make for one of us." He +drew right close to it, and thrusting the barrel of his pistol between +its eyes touched the trigger. The explosion shook the hut, its effect +upon the spider being to cause it to rush frantically about the floor, +dragging the Maw-Sayah as if he were some slight burden scarcely +observable. + +[Illustration: "A RELENTLESS FOE."] + +"You missed it!" I cried. "Look out, Hassan, guard the doorway!" The +Arab stood, sword in hand, waiting for it to make for the entrance, +while Denviers exclaimed:-- + +"I shot it through the head!" and a minute afterwards the trueness of +his aim was manifest, for the claws released, and the Maw-Sayah, wounded +badly, but saved, stood free from the muscular twitchings of the dead +spider. + +"You scoundrel!" said Denviers to him, "I have a good mind to serve you +the same. You deserve to die as so many of these simple-minded, +credulous Kachyens have done." I thought for one brief second that my +companion was about to kill the juggler, for through all our adventures +I had never seen him so thoroughly roused. I stood between them; then, +when Denviers quickly recovered his self-command, I turned to the +Maw-Sayah and asked:-- + +"If we spare your life, will you promise to leave this village and never +to return?" He turned his evil-looking but scared face towards us +eagerly as he replied:-- + +"I will do whatever you wish." Denviers motioned to him to rest upon the +ground, which he did, then turning to me, said:-- + +"It is pretty apparent what this juggler has done. The man who first +reported the discovery of this Nat, as the foolish Kachyens call it, +simply disturbed a monstrous spider which had lived in the trees which +he felled--that accounts for his seeing it. Finding animal food scarce, +the reptile ventured into this village and tried to get into one of the +huts. Its exertions were rewarded by the Kachyen coming to the door, +whom it accordingly seized. To continue its plan, which proved so +successful, needed very little reasoning power on the part of such a +cunning creature. No doubt this Maw-Sayah purposely left the door of his +hut unfastened each seventh night, and the spider thus became accustomed +to seek for its victim there, I daresay it came the other nights, but +the juggler was then careful enough to keep his hut well fastened." + +"What do the sahibs propose to do?" interrupted Hassan. Denviers turned +to him, as he responded:-- + +"We will wait for daybreak; then, having dragged the dead spider out +where the Kachyens may see that it is no longer able to harm them, we +will take this Maw-Sayah down the mountain path away from the village as +poor as he came." + +[Illustration: "YOU SCOUNDREL!"] + +"A good plan," I assented, and we followed it out, eventually leaving +the juggler, and climbing once more into the howdah upon the elephant, +which we found close to the spot where we had left it, secured from +wandering far away by the rope which Hassan had used to hinder its +movements. + +We entered Bhamo, and while we took a much-needed rest, our guide--as we +afterwards learnt--searched for and found the fugitive Kachyen, who, on +hearing that his safety was secured, hastily departed to the village to +rejoice with the rest of his tribe that the so-called Nat would not do +them any more injury. + + + + +_From Behind the Speaker's Chair._ + +III. + +(VIEWED BY HENRY W. LUCY.) + +[Illustration: "OBSTRUCTION."] + +It is thirteen years since a new Parliament last blithely started on its +way with Mr. Gladstone sitting in the seat of the Premier. Since March, +1880, a great deal has happened, not least in the change of +circumstances under which the business of the House of Commons is +conducted. The majority of the House of Commons may be Liberal or +Conservative, according to a passing flood of conviction on the part of +the constituencies. When presumptuous hands are stretched forth to touch +the Ark of its procedure, its instincts are all Tory. For more than two +hundred years preceding the advent of a Tory Ministry in 1886, this was +so. Mr. Gladstone, driven to desperation in the second Session of the +Parliament of 1880-5, endeavoured to reform procedure so that +obstruction might be fought on even terms. He was met by such resolute +and persistent opposition from the Conservative side that, even with an +overwhelming majority at his back, he succeeded only in tinkering the +pot. Oddly enough, it was left for the Conservatives when they came into +office to revolutionize the system upon which, through the ages, +Parliamentary business had been carried on. + +There was nothing in the reforms more startling to the old +Parliamentarian than the proposal automatically to close debate at +midnight. A dozen years ago members of the House of Commons assembled at +four o'clock for prayers. Questions began at half-past four, and no one +could say at what hour of the night or of the next morning the cry "Who +goes home?" might echo through the lobby. In those days Mr. O'Donnell +was master of the situation, and he had many imitators. A debate carried +on through several nights might seem to be approaching a conclusion. The +Leader of the Opposition, rising between eleven o'clock and midnight, +spoke in a crowded House. The Premier, or his lieutenant, followed, +assuming to wind up the debate. Members wearied of the long sitting were +prepared to go forth to the division lobby; when from below the gangway +on the left there uprose a familiar figure, and there was heard a +well-known voice. + +[Illustration: F. H. O'DONNELL.] + +These usually belonged to Mr. O'Donnell bent upon vindicating the right +of a private member to interpose when the constituted authorities of the +House had agreed in the opinion that a debate had been continued long +enough. A roar of execration from the fagged legislators greeted the +intruder. He expected this, and was in no degree perturbed. In earliest +practice he had a way of dropping his eye-glass as if startled by the +uproar, and searched for it with puzzled, preoccupied expression, +apparently debating with himself what this outburst might portend. He +did not love the British House of Commons, and delighted in thwarting +its purposes. But he knew what was due to it in the way of respect, and, +however angry passions might rise, however turbulent the scene, he would +never address it looking upon it with the naked eye. As his eye-glass +was constantly tumbling out, and as search for it was preternaturally +deliberate, it played an appreciable part in the prolongation of +successive Sessions. + +[Illustration: "EYE-GLASS PLAY."] + +What has become of Frank Hugh now, I wonder? Vanishing from the House of +Commons, he reappeared for a while on the scene, characteristically +acting the part of the petrel that heralded the storm Mr. Pigott +ineffectively tried to ride. It must be a consolation to Mr. O'Donnell, +in his retirement, wherever it is passed, to reflect on the fact that it +was he who directly brought about the appointment of the Parnell +Commission, with all it effected. His action for libel brought against +the _Times_ preluded and inevitably led up to the formal investigation +of the famous Charges and Allegations. + +The member for Dungarvan was, in his day, the most thoroughly disliked +man in the House of Commons, distaste for Mr. Parnell and for Mr. Biggar +in his early prime being softened by contrast with his subtler +provocation. An exceedingly clever debater, he was a phrase maker, some +of whose epigrams Mr. Disraeli would not have disowned. He was a +parliamentary type of ancient standing, and apparently ineradicable +growth. In the present House of Commons fresh developments are presented +by Mr. Seymour Keay and Mr. Morton. These are distinct varieties, but +from the unmistakable root. Both are gifted with boundless volubility, +unhampered by ordinary considerations of coherency and cogency. Neither +is influenced by that sense of the dread majesty of the House of Commons +which keeps some members dumb all through their parliamentary life, and +to the last, as in the case of Mr. Bright, weighs upon even great +orators. The difference between the older and the new development is +that whilst over Mr. O'Donnell's intentional and deliberate vacuity of +speech there gleamed frequent flashes of wit, Mr. Morton and Mr. Keay +are only occasionally funny, and then the effect was undesigned. + +[Illustration: O'DONNELL'S LAST APPEARANCE.] + +[Illustration: MR. SEYMOUR KEAY.] + +Since we have these two gentlemen still with us, it would be rash to say +that if Mr. O'Donnell could revisit the glimpses of Big Ben he would +find his occupation gone. He would certainly discover that his +opportunities had been limited, and would have to recommence practice +under greatly altered conditions. One of the former member for +Dungarvan's famous achievements took place in the infancy of the +Parliament of 1880-5, and, apart from its dramatic interest, is valuable +as illustrating the change effected in parliamentary procedure by the +New Rules. On that particular June night the paper was loaded with +questions in a fashion unfamiliar in the last Parliament, though there +are not lacking signs of renewed activity since political parties +changed places. Question No. 23 stood in the name of Mr. O'Donnell, and +contained in his best literary style a serious indictment of M. +Challemel-Lacour, just nominated by the French Government as their +representative at the Court of St. James. + +[Illustration: MR. A. C. MORTON.] + +Sir Charles Dilke, then Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, made +categorical reply, directly traversing all the points in the indictment. +When he resumed his seat Mr. O'Donnell rose in his usual deliberate +manner, captured his eye-glass, and having fixed it to his satisfaction, +remarked in his drawling voice that it was "perfectly impossible to +accept the explanation of the Government." Being interrupted with cries +of "Order! Order!" he quietly played his trump card: "If I am not +allowed to explain," he said, "I will conclude with a motion." + +[Illustration: SIR CHARLES DILKE.] + +The House howled again, but it was a cry of despair. Mr. O'Donnell, they +knew, had the whip hand. In those good old days he, or any other member +desiring to obstruct ordinary procedure, might, in the middle of +questions, start a debate on any subject under the sun. This and other +outrages were doubtless recalled by the House of Commons when revising +its Rules. It then ordered that no member might, during the progress of +questions, interpose with a motion on which to found debate. If, in this +current month of March, Mr. O'Donnell, being a member of the House of +Commons, had wanted to attack M. Challemel-Lacour, he must needs have +waited till the last question on the paper was disposed of, and could +then have moved the adjournment only if his description of the +question--as one of urgent public importance--was approved by the +Speaker, and if, thereafter, forty members rose to support the request +for a hearing. + +In June, 1880, all that was left for the crowded House to do was to roar +with resentment. Mr. O'Donnell was used to this incentive, and had it +been withheld would probably have shown signs of failing vigour. As it +was, he produced a pocket-handkerchief, took down his eye-glass and +carefully polished it, whilst members yelled and tossed about on their +seats with impotent fury. Under the existing Rules this scene, if it had +ever opened, would have been promptly blotted out. The closure would +have been moved, probably a division taken, and the business of the +evening would have gone forward. There was no closure in those days, and +Mr. Gladstone, after hurried consultation with Sir Erskine May, hastily +moved that Mr. O'Donnell be not heard. + +A shout of savage exultation rising from every bench, save those on +which the Irish members sat, hailed a stroke that promised to deliver +the House from the thraldom of Mr. O'Donnell at the very moment when its +chains had taken a final twist. In ordinary circumstances this +resolution would have played the part of the as yet unconsecrated +closure. A division would have followed, the motion carried by an +overwhelming majority, and Mr. O'Donnell would have been temporarily +shut up. + +But those were not ordinary times. The Fourth Party was in the prime of +its vigour. Lord Randolph Churchill's quick eye discovered an opening +for irritating Mr. Gladstone and damaging the Government by making what +should have been a business night one long turmoil. Mr. Parnell, whilst +disclaiming any personal sympathy with Mr. O'Donnell, moved the +adjournment of the debate, and poor, placid Sir Stafford Northcote, +egged on by the young bloods below the gangway, raised various points of +order. Finally, at eight o'clock, the House dividing on Mr. Parnell's +amendment, Sir Stafford Northcote voted with the Irish members, leading +a hundred men of the Party of Law and Order into the same lobby. + +[Illustration: STIRRING UP SIR STAFFORD.] + +Hour after hour the riot continued. At one time blameless Sir William +Harcourt, then Home Secretary, appearing at the table, a Conservative +member, amid tumultuous shouts, moved that he be not heard. When members +grew tired of shouting at each other they divided on fresh motions for +the adjournment, and it was not till one o'clock on the following +morning that Mr. O'Donnell, grateful for a pleasant evening, was good +enough to undertake that before he recurred to the question he would +give due notice, so that the Speaker might exercise his discretion in +revising its terms. At five minutes past one in the morning, after a +wrangle full eight hours long, the Speaker, with a pretty assumption of +nothing particular having happened, called on the next question on the +paper, which was Number 24. + +All this might happen again on any night of this month save for the +beneficent action of the New Rules a long-suffering Parliament was +finally induced to adopt. On the threshold of a new Parliament it is +useful to recall the scene as an assistance in calculating what may be +accomplished by the Parliament elected in 1892, as compared with that +which began its history in 1880. On the face of it, Parliament to-day +has much less time at its disposal for the accomplishment of work than +it had a dozen years ago. Then, the duration of a sitting was +indefinite. The House might, as it did in February, 1881, meet at four +o'clock on a Monday afternoon and sit continuously till Wednesday +morning. Now, the Speaker takes the Chair at three o'clock; public +business commences at half-past three; and at midnight, save in cases +where the Standing Order has been formally suspended, the Speaker leaves +the Chair, and the House adjourns, whoever may be on his feet. + +[Illustration: "DISGUST."] + +The influence of this automatic procedure is beneficially felt +throughout the whole of debate. One wholesome influence works in the +direction of using up the early hours of the sitting, an arrangement +which carries comfort to countless printing offices and editorial +sanctums. Some time before the New Rules came into operation, Mr. +Gladstone discovered for himself the convenience and desirability of +taking part in debate at the earliest possible hour of a sitting. His +earlier associations drifted round a directly opposite course. In the +good old days the champions of debate did not interpose till close upon +midnight, when they had the advantage of audiences sustained and +exhilarated by dinner. That was before the era of special wires to the +provincial papers, early morning trams, and vastly increased circulation +for the London journals. Mr. Gladstone discovered that he was more +carefully reported and his observations more deliberately discussed if +he spoke between five and seven o'clock in the evening than if, +following his earlier habit, he addressed the House between eleven and +one in the morning. He has, accordingly, for some years been accustomed, +when he has an important speech to deliver, to interpose in debate +immediately after questions. + +This habit has become general, even compulsory, with members who may, +within certain limits, choose their own time for speaking. All the cream +of debate is now skimmed before the dinner-hour. At the close of a +pitched battle, the two Leaders of Party, as heretofore, wind up the +debate. But their opportunity for orating is severely circumscribed. The +audience in the House of Commons does not begin to reassemble after +dinner till half-past ten. Rising at that hour, the Leader of the +Opposition, if he fairly divides the available time with the right +honourable gentleman opposite, must not speak more than three-quarters +of an hour, and should not exceed forty minutes. + +This is a necessity desirable not less in the orator's interest than in +that of the audience. Except for the exposition of an intricate measure, +twenty minutes is ample time for any man to say what is useful for his +fellow-men to hear. All Mr. Disraeli's best speeches were made within +half an hour, and if he thought it necessary, from a sense of the +importance of his position, to prolong them, his stock of good things +was exhausted in twenty minutes, the rest being what Carlyle +disrespectfully described as thrice-boiled cole-wort. Mr. Gladstone can +go on indefinitely, and in very recent times has been known to hold his +audience spell-bound for three hours. But even he has profited by the +beneficent tyranny that now rules the limit of debate, and, rising with +the knowledge that he has but forty minutes to speak in, has excelled +himself. For less exuberant speakers not gifted with his genius, the new +discipline is even more marked in its benefits. + +[Illustration: MR. KEIR HARDIE.] + + * * * * * + +It is too soon to endeavour to estimate the general characteristics of +the _personnel_ of the new Parliament. It will probably turn out to be +very much of the same class as the innumerable army of its predecessors. +When Mr. Keir Hardie came down on the opening day in a wagonette, with +flags flying and accordions playing, it was cried aloud in some quarters +that the end was at hand. This apprehension was strengthened when Mr. +Hardie strolled about the House with a tweed travelling cap on his head, +the Speaker at the time being in the chair. This, as Dr. Johnson +explained, when the lady asked him why he had described the horse's +pastern as its knee, was "ignorance, pure ignorance." Mr. Hardie is not +a man of the quietest manners, as was testified to by the apparition in +Palace Yard of the wagonette and its musical party; but in the +much-talked-of incident of the cap he sinned inadvertently. Before the +Speaker took the chair he had seen members walking about with their hats +on. He had observed that even in his presence they remained seated with +their heads covered. The shade of etiquette which approves this fashion +whilst it sternly prohibits a member from keeping his hat on when in +motion, even to the extent of leaning over to speak to a friend on the +bench below him, was too fine to catch the eye of a new member. + +Mr. Keir Hardie has done much worse things than this in his public +appearances during the recess, and since the Session opened there has +not been lacking evidence of resolve to keep himself in the front of the +stage where the gallery may see him. But this is no new thing, to be +cited in proof of the deterioration of the composition and style of the +House of Commons. It has been done repeatedly in various fashions within +recent memory, and always with the same result. No man, not even Mr. +Biggar--and he may be cited as the most ruthless experimenter--has +successfully struggled against the subtle disciplinary influence of the +House of Commons. + +From the first the member for Cavan set himself in deliberate fashion to +outrage Parliamentary traditions and usages. He finished by becoming a +punctilious practitioner of Parliamentary forms, a stickler for the +minutest observation of order. Whilst Mr. Gladstone and other members of +old standing were content to preface their speeches with the +monosyllable "Sir," nothing less than "Mr. Speaker, sir," would satisfy +Mr. Biggar. No one who has not heard the inflection of tone with which +this was uttered, nor seen the oratorical sweep of the hand that +launched it on its course, can realize how much of combined deference +and authority the phrase is capable of. Mr. Biggar, having in his early +Parliamentary days defied the Chair and affronted the sensibilities of +the House, alike in the matter of dress and deportment, developed into a +portly gentleman of almost smug appearance, a terror to new members. Woe +to any who in his ignorance passed between the Chair and the member +addressing it; who walked in from a division with his hat on; or who +stood an inch or two within the Bar whilst debate was going forward. Mr. +Biggar's strident cry of "Order! Order!" reverberated through the House. +Others joined in the shout, and the abashed offender hastily withdrew +into obscurity. + +[Illustration: THE LATE MR. BIGGAR.] + +It is the same with others of less strongly marked character. Vanity or +garrulity may force a new member into a position of notoriety. He may, +according to his measure of determination, try a fall again and again +with the House, and may sometimes, as in the case of Mr. O'Donnell, seem +to win. But in the end the House of Commons proves victorious. It is a +sort of whetstone on which blades of various temperature operate. In +time, they either forego the practice or wear themselves away. In either +case the whetstone remains. + +This is a rule without exception, and is a reassuring reflection in view +of the talk about the degeneracy of the House of Commons, and the +decadence of its standard of manner. It would not be difficult to show +that the House at present in Session will, from the point of view of +manners, favourably compare with any that have gone before--though, to +be just, the comparison should be sought with Parliaments elected under +similar conditions, with the Liberals in office and the Conservatives in +opposition. That is an arrangement always found to be more conducive to +lively proceedings than when parties are disposed in the contrary order. +The Parliament dissolved last year was decorously dull. Mr. Gladstone in +opposition is not prone to show sport, and no encouragement was held out +to enterprising groups below the gangway to bait the Government. It was +very different in the Parliament of 1880-5, of which fact the +Challemel-Lacour episode is an illustration, only a little more piquant +in flavour than the average supply. + +There are already signs that the new Parliament will not lie under the +charge of deplorable dulness brought against its predecessor. But these +varying moods are due to waves of political passion, and do not affect +the question whether the House of Commons as a body of English gentlemen +met for the discharge of public business has or has not deteriorated. I +have an engraving of a picture of the House of Commons in pre-Reform +days. It was carefully drawn in the Session of 1842. A more respectable +body of the gentlemen of England it would be difficult to gather +together. With the possible exception of one or two political +adventurers like the then member for Shrewsbury, there is probably not a +man in the House who is not well born or at least rich. Mr. Keir Hardie +would look strange indeed in these serried ranks of portly gentlemen +with high coat collars, cravats up to their chin, short-bodied coats +showing the waistcoat beneath, and the tightly trousered legs. Yet this +House, and its equally prim successors, had its obstruction, its +personal wrangles, and its occasional duel. Peel was attacked by +Disraeli in a fashion and in language that would not be tolerated in the +House of Commons now, even though the target were Mr. Gladstone. + +It is not necessary to go back as far as the days of Peel or +Parliamentary Reform to sustain the bold assertion that, so far from +having degenerated, the manners of the House of Commons have improved. +In the Parliament elected in 1874 there sat on the Conservative side a +gentleman named Smollet, who early distinguished himself by bringing +Parliamentary debate down to the level of conversation in "Roderick +Random." In those days Mr. Gladstone was down after the General +Election, and Mr. Smollet, to the uproarious delight of gentlemen near +him, savagely kicked him. + +[Illustration: "MOBBING HIM."] + +It was in the second year of this same Parliament, less than twenty +years ago, that Mr. Gladstone, issuing from a division lobby, was +suddenly pounced upon by some fifty or sixty Conservative members, and +howled at for the space of several moments. It is, happily, possible for +Mr. Gladstone to forget, or at least to forgive, personal attacks made +upon him through his long career. In this very month of the new Session +he may be nightly seen working in cordial fashion with ancient +adversaries from Ireland, describing as "my honourable friends" +gentlemen who, ten years ago and for some time subsequently, heaped on +his head the coarsest vituperation permitted by practised manipulation +of Parliamentary forms. But this scene in the division lobby on the 12th +of April, 1875, is burned into his recollection. I have heard him, +within the last few months, refer to it in those tones of profound +indignation and with that flashing fire in his eyes only seen when he is +deeply moved. He mentioned, what I think was not known, that Lord +Hartington happened to be walking with him at the time. But there was no +mistake for whom the angry cries were meant. Mr. Gladstone spoke with +the profounder indignation because, as he said, he had on this occasion +gone out to vote on behalf of a man whose character he detested, because +he saw in the action taken against him an attack upon one of the +privileges of Parliament. + +That scene was an outburst of political animosity; and the movements of +political animosity, like the dicta of taste, are not to be disputed. +But on the question of good manners, the only one here under +consideration, it may be affirmed that the present House of Commons +would be safe from lapse into such an exhibition. To this better state +of things the operation of the New Rules has conspicuously contributed, +and though, as we know, they have not operated to the absolute +extinction of Parliamentary scenes, they have appreciably limited +opportunity and incentive. + + + + +_Portraits of Celebrities at Different Times of their Lives_. + + +LORD BATTERSEA. + +[Illustration: AGE 14. + +_From a Daguerreotype._] + +BORN 1843. + + +Lord Battersea, who was until recently known to the world as Mr. Cyril +Flower, M.P., is a son of the late Mr. P. W. Flower, of Streatham, and +was educated at Harrow and at Trinity College, Cambridge. + +[Illustration: AGE 21. + +_From a Photo, by Mayland, Cambridge._] + +He was called to the Bar at the age of twenty-seven, and became Liberal +Member for Brecknock in 1880, and for the Luton Division of Bedfordshire +in 1885 and 1886, in which later year he was one of Mr. Gladstone's +"Whips." He married the daughter of the late Sir Anthony Rothschild, and +both he and his wife are much interested in the welfare of the lower +classes of London. Lord Battersea was unanimously reputed the handsomest +man in the House of Commons, and is now, in every sense of the word, an +ornament of the House of Lords. + +[Illustration: AGE 40. + +_From a Drawing._] + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photograph by Bassano, 35, Old Bond Street, W._.] + + +W. Q. ORCHARDSON, R.A. + +BORN 1835. + +[Illustration: AGE 16. + +_From an Oil Sketch by himself._] + +[Illustration: AGE 35. + +_From a Photograph by Walery, Marseilles._] + +[Illustration: AGE 44. + +_From a Photograph._] + +Mr. William Quiller Orchardson was born in Edinburgh, and at the age of +fifteen entered the Trustees' Academy of that city, his first pictures +being exhibited in the Royal Scottish Academy. At the age of +twenty-eight he came to London, and the same year exhibited at the Royal +Academy for the first time, his contributions being entitled, "An Old +English Song" and "Portraits," the latter a life-size composition of +three young ladies. In 1865 he painted "The Challenge," which won a +prize of £100 given by Mr. Wallace, and one of the very few Medals +awarded to English painters at the Paris Universal Exhibition. In 1866 +came "The Story of a Life"--an aged nun relating her experiences to a +group of novices. Two years later, when he had only been four years in +London, he was elected an A.R.A. Among his more recent pictures may be +mentioned "Napoleon on Board the _Bellerophon_" (1880), "The Salon of +Madame Recamier" (1885), "The Young Duke" (1889), and "St. Helena" +(1892). Mr. Orchardson was elected an R.A. in 1877, and a D.C.L. of +Oxford in 1890. + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photo. by Elliott & Fry._] + + +LADY HALLÉ. + +[Illustration: AGE 10. + +_From a Drawing._] + +[Illustration: AGE 23. + +_From a Photograph._] + +Lady Hallé, whose maiden name was Wilhelmine Néruda, was born at Brünn, +where her father was organist of the cathedral. She was a pupil of +Jansa, and made her first appearance at Vienna at the age of six, and in +London at the age of nine. After this she returned to the Continent, and +in 1864 she married Ludwig Norman, a Swedish musician. Since 1869 she +has been in England every winter, playing especially at the concerts of +Sir Charles Hallé, whom she married in 1888. + +[Illustration: AGE 35. + +_From a Photograph._] + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photo by Burraud_.] + + +SIR CHARLES HALLÉ. + +[Illustration: AGE 20. + +_From a Painting._] + +Sir Charles Hallé is a native of Germany, but at an early age he +established himself in Paris, where he acquired a great reputation by +his refined and classical rendering of the compositions of the great +musicians; but the Revolution of 1843 drove him to England, where he has +ever since resided. He soon established himself at Manchester, and as +the founder of the annual series of orchestral and choral concerts there +and in London, which have become, perhaps, the most important series in +Europe, he has rendered the most valuable service to musical art. + +[Illustration: AGE 31. + +_From a Painting._] + +[Illustration: AGE 45. + +_From a Photo, by H. Hering, Regent Street, W._] + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photo. by Mayall & Co., 164, New Bond Street, W._] + + +DR. HERMANN ADLER, + +CHIEF RABBI. + +[Illustration: AGE 24. + +_From a Photograph by McLean & Haes, Haymarket._] + +Born 1839. + +Dr. Adler, son of Dr. Nathan Marcus Adler, was born in Hanover, and came +to London with his father at the age of six. He studied at University +College, took his B. A. degree at the University of London at twenty, +and that of Ph. D., at Leipzig, at twenty-two. In the following year he +was ordained Rabbi by the famous Rapoport, Chief Rabbi of Prague, and +became in succession Principal of the Jews' College in London and Chief +Minister of the Bayswater Synagogue. In 1890 his father, the Chief +Rabbi, died, and Dr. Adler was elected in his place. Dr. Adler is well +known not only by his powerful and scholarly writings, but by his work +among the poorer Jews of London. + +[Illustration: AGE 37. + +_From a Photograph by J. R. Sawyer, Norwich._] + +[Illustration: AGE 44. + +_From a Photograph by Fradella, 216, Regent Street, W._] + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photograph by The Photographic Co._] + + +SIR ARCHIBALD ALISON, BART., K.C.B. + +Born 1826. + +General Alison, son of Sir Archibald Alison, the first Baronet, who was +the well-known author of "The History of Europe," was born at Edinburgh, +and entered the Army at the age of twenty. He served in the Crimea, at +the siege and fall of Sebastopol, at which date our second portrait +represents him. During the Indian Mutiny he lost an arm at the relief of +Lucknow. In 1882 he commanded the 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, during the +expedition to Egypt, and at the decisive battle of Tel-el-Kebir he led +the Highland Brigade which fought so gallantly on that memorable +occasion, and after Arabi's surrender he was left in Egypt with the +command of the British army of 12,000 men to restore order and protect +the Khedive. Sir Archibald was included in the thanks of Parliament for +his energy and gallantry, and was promoted to the rank of +Lieutenant-General; he received his appointment as General in 1889. In +1869 Sir Archibald Alison published an able treatise, "On Army +Organization." + +[Illustration: AGE 3. + +_From a Miniature._] + +[Illustration: AGE 31. + +_From a Daguerreotype by Werge, Glasgow._] + +[Illustration: AGE 47. + +_From a Photograph by Jacklett, Aldershot._] + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photo, by Barraud._] + + +MADAME JANE HADING. + +[Illustration: AGE 3. + +_From a Photo. by Chalot et Cie., Paris._] + +[Illustration: AGE 5. + +_From a Photo. by Chalot et Cie., Paris._] + +Madame Jane Hading, the well-known French actress, was born at +Marseilles, in 1863, where her father was popular as a leading actor, +with whom she appeared when only three years of age as little _Blanche +de Caylus_ in "Le Bossu." At the age of thirteen she began work in +earnest, having won "le prix de solfège" at the Marseille Conservatoire, +and her talent having come to the ears of Mr. Plunkett, the director of +the Palais Royal, he engaged her for the Palais Royal in Paris, where +she created the part of _La Chaste Suzanne_, by Paul Ferrier. Giving up +comic opera for comedy, Jane Hading went to the Gymnase, where she +created the part of _Claire de Beaulieu_ in "Le Maître de Forges." +London had the opportunity of seeing her in that and "Prince Zilah," by +Jules Claretie, later on, and fully indorsed the Parisian verdict. These +conspicuous successes were followed by others almost as notable, and her +subsequent tour in America won her golden opinions, and was so +successful that it was extended some months. Her latest Parisian success +was "Le Prince d'Aurec," which added greatly to her laurels, putting her +in the very front rank of great artists. + +[Illustration: AGE 15. + +_From a Photo. by Fabre, Marseilles._] + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photo, by Reutlinger, Paris._] + + + + +_The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes_. + +XVI.--THE ADVENTURE OF THE STOCKBROKER'S CLERK. + +BY A. CONAN DOYLE. + + +Shortly after my marriage I had bought a connection in the Paddington +district. Old Mr. Farquhar, from whom I purchased it, had at one time an +excellent general practice, but his age, and an affliction of the nature +of St. Vitus' dance, from which he suffered, had very much thinned it. +The public, not unnaturally, goes upon the principle that he who would +heal others must himself be whole, and looks askance at the curative +powers of the man whose own case is beyond the reach of his drugs. Thus, +as my predecessor weakened, his practice declined, until when I +purchased it from him it had sunk from twelve hundred to little more +than three hundred a year. I had confidence, however, in my own youth +and energy, and was convinced that in a very few years the concern would +be as flourishing as ever. + +For three months after taking over the practice I was kept very closely +at work, and saw little of my friend Sherlock Holmes, for I was too busy +to visit Baker Street, and he seldom went anywhere himself save upon +professional business. I was surprised, therefore, when one morning in +June, as I sat reading the _British Medical Journal_ after breakfast, I +heard a ring at the bell followed by the high, somewhat strident, tones +of my old companion's voice. + +"Ah, my dear Watson," said he, striding into the room. "I am very +delighted to see you. I trust that Mrs. Watson has entirely recovered +from all the little excitements connected with our adventure of the +'Sign of Four.'" + +"Thank you, we are both very well," said I, shaking him warmly by the +hand. + +"And I hope also," he continued, sitting down in the rocking-chair, +"that the cares of medical practice have not entirely obliterated the +interest which you used to take in our little deductive problems." + +"On the contrary," I answered; "it was only last night that I was +looking over my old notes and classifying some of our past results." + +"I trust that you don't consider your collection closed?" + +"Not at all. I should wish nothing better than to have some more of such +experiences." + +"To-day, for example?" + +"Yes; to-day, if you like." + +"And as far off as Birmingham?" + +"Certainly, if you wish it." + +"And the practice?" + +"I do my neighbour's when he goes. He is always ready to work off the +debt." + +[Illustration: "'NOTHING COULD BE BETTER,' SAID HOLMES."] + +"Ha! Nothing could be better!" said Holmes, leaning back in his chair +and looking keenly at me from under his half-closed lids. "I perceive +that you have been unwell lately. Summer colds are always a little +trying." + +"I was confined to the house by a severe chill for three days last week. +I thought, however, that I had cast off every trace of it." + +"So you have. You look remarkably robust." + +"How, then, did you know of it?" + +"My dear fellow, you know my methods." + +"You deduced it, then?" + +"Certainly." + +"And from what?" + +"From your slippers." + +I glanced down at the new patent leathers which I was wearing. "How on +earth----?" I began, but Holmes answered my question before it was +asked. + +"Your slippers are new," he said. "You could not have had them more than +a few weeks. The soles which you are at this moment presenting to me are +slightly scorched. For a moment I thought they might have got wet and +been burned in the drying. But near the instep there is a small circular +wafer of paper with the shopman's hieroglyphics upon it. Damp would of +course have removed this. You had then been sitting with your feet +outstretched to the fire, which a man would hardly do even in so wet a +June as this if he were in his full health." + +Like all Holmes's reasoning the thing seemed simplicity itself when it +was once explained. He read the thought upon my features, and his smile +had a tinge of bitterness. + +"I am afraid that I rather give myself away when I explain," said he. +"Results without causes are much more impressive. You are ready to come +to Birmingham, then?" + +"Certainly. What is the case?" + +"You shall hear it all in the train. My client is outside in a +four-wheeler. Can you come at once?" + +"In an instant." I scribbled a note to my neighbour, rushed upstairs to +explain the matter to my wife, and joined Holmes upon the doorstep. + +"Your neighbour is a doctor?" said he, nodding at the brass plate. + +"Yes. He bought a practice as I did." + +"An old-established one?" + +"Just the same as mine. Both have been ever since the houses were +built." + +"Ah, then you got hold of the best of the two." + +"I think I did. But how do you know?" + +"By the steps, my boy. Yours are worn three inches deeper than his. But +this gentleman in the cab is my client, Mr. Hall Pycroft. Allow me to +introduce you to him. Whip your horse up, cabby, for we have only just +time to catch our train." + +The man whom I found myself facing was a well-built, fresh-complexioned +young fellow with a frank, honest face and a slight, crisp, yellow +moustache. He wore a very shiny top-hat and a neat suit of sober black, +which made him look what he was--a smart young City man, of the class +who have been labelled Cockneys, but who give us our crack Volunteer +regiments, and who turn out more fine athletes and sportsmen than any +body of men in these islands. His round, ruddy face was naturally full +of cheeriness, but the corners of his mouth seemed to me to be pulled +down in a half-comical distress. It was not, however, until we were all +in a first-class carriage and well started upon our journey to +Birmingham, that I was able to learn what the trouble was which had +driven him to Sherlock Holmes. + +"We have a clear run here of seventy minutes," Holmes remarked. "I want +you, Mr. Hall Pycroft, to tell my friend your very interesting +experience exactly as you have told it to me, or with more detail if +possible. It will be of use to me to hear the succession of events +again. It is a case, Watson, which may prove to have something in it, or +may prove to have nothing, but which at least presents those unusual and +_outré_ features which are as dear to you as they are to me. Now, Mr. +Pycroft, I shall not interrupt you again." + +Our young companion looked at me with a twinkle in his eye. + +"The worst of the story is," said he, "that I show myself up as such a +confounded fool. Of course, it may work out all right, and I don't see +that I could have done otherwise; but if I have lost my crib and get +nothing in exchange, I shall feel what a soft Johnny I have been. I'm +not very good at telling a story, Dr. Watson, but it is like this with +me. + +"I used to have a billet at Coxon and Woodhouse, of Drapers' Gardens, +but they were let in early in the spring through the Venezuelan loan, as +no doubt you remember, and came a nasty cropper. I had been with them +five years, and old Coxon gave me a ripping good testimonial when the +smash came; but, of course, we clerks were all turned adrift, the +twenty-seven of us. I tried here and tried there, but there were lots of +other chaps on the same lay as myself, and it was a perfect frost for a +long time. I had been taking three pounds a week at Coxon's, and I had +saved about seventy of them, but I soon worked my way through that and +out at the other end. I was fairly at the end of my tether at last, and +could hardly find the stamps to answer the advertisements or the +envelopes to stick them to. I had worn out my boots padding up office +stairs, and I seemed just as far from getting a billet as ever. + +"At last I saw a vacancy at Mawson and Williams', the great stockbroking +firm in Lombard Street. I daresay E. C. is not much in your line, but I +can tell you that this is about the richest house in London. The +advertisement was to be answered by letter only. I sent in my +testimonial and application, but without the least hope of getting it. +Back came an answer by return saying that if I would appear next Monday +I might take over my new duties at once, provided that my appearance was +satisfactory. No one knows how these things are worked. Some people say +the manager just plunges his hand into the heap and takes the first that +comes. Anyhow, it was my innings that time, and I don't ever wish to +feel better pleased. The screw was a pound a week rise, and the duties +just about the same as at Coxon's. + +"And now I come to the queer part of the business. I was in diggings out +Hampstead way--17, Potter's Terrace, was the address. Well, I was +sitting doing a smoke that very evening after I had been promised the +appointment, when up came my landlady with a card which had 'Arthur +Pinner, financial agent,' printed upon it. I had never heard the name +before, and could not imagine what he wanted with me, but of course I +asked her to show him up. In he walked--a middle-sized, dark-haired, +dark-eyed, black-bearded man, with a touch of the sheeny about his nose. +He had a brisk kind of way with him and spoke sharply, like a man that +knew the value of time. + +[Illustration: "'MR. HALL PYCROFT, I BELIEVE?' SAID HE."] + +"'Mr. Hall Pycroft, I believe?' said he. + +"'Yes, sir,' I answered, and pushed a chair towards him. + +"'Lately engaged at Coxon and Woodhouse's?' + +"'Yes, sir.' + +"And now on the staff of Mawson's?' + +"'Quite so.' + +"'Well,' said he. 'The fact is that I have heard some really +extraordinary stories about your financial ability. You remember Parker +who used to be Coxon's manager? He can never say enough about it.' + +"Of course I was pleased to hear this. I had always been pretty smart in +the office, but I had never dreamed that I was talked about in the City +in this fashion. + +"'You have a good memory?' said he. + +"'Pretty fair,' I answered, modestly. + +"'Have you kept in touch with the market while you have been out of +work?' he asked. + +"'Yes; I read the Stock Exchange List every morning.' + +"'Now, that shows real application!' he cried. 'That is the way to +prosper! You won't mind my testing you, will you? Let me see! How are +Ayrshires?' + +"'One hundred and six and a quarter to one hundred and five and +seven-eighths,' I answered. + +"'And New Zealand Consolidated?' + +"'A hundred and four.' + +"'And British Broken Hills?' + +"'Seven to seven and six.' + +"'Wonderful!' he cried, with his hands up. 'This quite fits in with all +that I had heard. My boy, my boy, you are very much too good to be a +clerk at Mawson's!' + +"This outburst rather astonished me, as you can think. 'Well,' said I, +'other people don't think quite so much of me as you seem to do, Mr. +Pinner. I had a hard enough fight to get this berth, and I am very glad +to have it.' + +"'Pooh, man, you should soar above it. You are not in your true sphere. +Now I'll tell you how it stands with me. What I have to offer is little +enough when measured by your ability, but when compared with Mawson's it +is light to dark. Let me see! When do you go to Mawson's?' + +"'On Monday.' + +"'Ha! ha! I think I would risk a little sporting flutter that you don't +go there at all.' + +"'Not go to Mawson's?' + +"'No, sir. By that day you will be the business manager of the +Franco-Midland Hardware Company, Limited, with one hundred and +thirty-four branches in the towns and villages of France, not counting +one in Brussels and one in San Remo.' + +"This took my breath away. 'I never heard of it,' said I. + +"'Very likely not. It has been kept very quiet, for the capital was all +privately subscribed, and it is too good a thing to let the public into. +My brother, Harry Pinner, is promoter, and joins the board after +allotment as managing director. He knew that I was in the swim down +here, and he asked me to pick up a good man cheap--a young, pushing man +with plenty of snap about him. Parker spoke of you, and that brought me +here to-night. We can only offer you a beggarly five hundred to start +with----' + +"'Five hundred a year!' I shouted. + +"'Only that at the beginning, but you are to have an over-riding +commission of 1 per cent, on all business done by your agents, and you +may take my word for it that this will come to more than your salary.' + +"'But I know nothing about hardware.' + +"'Tut, my boy, you know about figures.' + +"My head buzzed, and I could hardly sit still in the chair. But suddenly +a little chill of doubt came over me. + +"'I must be frank with you,' said I. 'Mawson only gives me two hundred, +but Mawson is safe. Now, really, I know so little about your company +that----' + +"'Ah, smart, smart!' he cried, in a kind of ecstasy of delight. 'You are +the very man for us! You are not to be talked over, and quite right too. +Now, here's a note for a hundred pounds; and if you think that we can do +business you may just slip it into your pocket as an advance upon your +salary.' + +"'That is very handsome,' said I. 'When should I take over my new +duties?' + +"'Be in Birmingham to-morrow at one,' said he. 'I have a note in my +pocket here which you will take to my brother. You will find him at +126B, Corporation Street, where the temporary offices of the company are +situated. Of course he must confirm your engagement, but between +ourselves it will be all right.' + +"'Really, I hardly know how to express my gratitude, Mr. Pinner,' said +I. + +"'Not at all, my boy. You have only got your deserts. There are one or +two small things--mere formalities--which I must arrange with you. You +have a bit of paper beside you there. Kindly write upon it, "I am +perfectly willing to act as business manager to the Franco-Midland +Hardware Company, Limited, at a minimum salary of £500."' + +"I did as he asked, and he put the paper in his pocket. + +"'There is one other detail,' said he. 'What do you intend to do about +Mawson's?' + +"I had forgotten all about Mawson's in my joy. + +"'I'll write and resign,' said I. + +"'Precisely what I don't want you to do. I had a row over you with +Mawson's manager. I had gone up to ask him about you, and he was very +offensive--accused me of coaxing you away from the service of the firm, +and that sort of thing. At last I fairly lost my temper. "If you want +good men you should pay them a good price," said I. "He would rather +have our small price than your big one," said he. "I'll lay you a +fiver," said I, "that when he has my offer you will never so much as +hear from him again." "Done!" said he. "We picked him out of the gutter, +and he won't leave us so easily." Those were his very words.' + +"'The impudent scoundrel!' I cried. 'I've never so much as seen him in +my life. Why should I consider him in any way? I shall certainly not +write if you would rather that I didn't.' + +"'Good! That's a promise!' said he, rising from his chair. 'Well, I am +delighted to have got so good a man for my brother. Here is your +advance of a hundred pounds, and here is the letter. Make a note of the +address, 126B, Corporation Street, and remember that one o'clock +to-morrow is your appointment. Good-night, and may you have all the +fortune that you deserve.' + +"That's just about all that passed between us as near as I can remember +it. You can imagine, Dr. Watson, how pleased I was at such an +extraordinary bit of good fortune. I sat up half the night hugging +myself over it, and next day I was off to Birmingham in a train that +would take me in plenty of time for my appointment. I took my things to +an hotel in New Street, and then I made my way to the address which had +been given me. + +"It was a quarter of an hour before my time, but I thought that would +make no difference. 126B was a passage between two large shops which led +to a winding stone stair, from which there were many flats, let as +offices to companies or professional men. The names of the occupants +were painted up at the bottom on the wall, but there was no such name as +the Franco-Midland Hardware Company, Limited. I stood for a few minutes +with my heart in my boots, wondering whether the whole thing was an +elaborate hoax or not, when up came a man and addressed me. He was very +like the chap that I had seen the night before, the same figure and +voice, but he was clean shaven and his hair was lighter. + +[Illustration: "UP CAME A MAN AND ADDRESSED ME."] + +"'Are you Mr. Hall Pycroft?' he asked. + +"'Yes,' said I. + +"'Ah! I was expecting you, but you are a trifle before your time. I had +a note from my brother this morning, in which he sang your praises very +loudly.' + +"'I was just looking for the offices when you came.' + +"'We have not got our name up yet, for we only secured these temporary +premises last week. Come up with me and we will talk the matter over.' + +"I followed him to the top of a very lofty stair, and there right under +the slates were a couple of empty and dusty little rooms, uncarpeted and +uncurtained, into which he led me. I had thought of a great office with +shining tables and rows of clerks such as I was used to, and I daresay I +stared rather straight at the two deal chairs and one little table, +which, with a ledger and a waste-paper basket, made up the whole +furniture. + +"'Don't be disheartened, Mr. Pycroft,' said my new acquaintance, seeing +the length of my face. 'Rome was not built in a day, and we have lots of +money at our backs, though we don't cut much dash yet in offices. Pray +sit down and let me have your letter.' + +"I gave it to him, and he read it over very carefully. + +"'You seem to have made a vast impression upon my brother, Arthur,' said +he, 'and I know that he is a pretty shrewd judge. He swears by London, +you know, and I by Birmingham, but this time I shall follow his advice. +Pray consider yourself definitely engaged.' + +"'What are my duties?' I asked. + +"'You will eventually manage the great depôt in Paris, which will pour a +flood of English crockery into the shops of one hundred and thirty-four +agents in France. The purchase will be completed in a week, and +meanwhile you will remain in Birmingham and make yourself useful.' + +"'How?' + +"For answer he took a big red book out of a drawer. 'This is a directory +of Paris,' said he, 'with the trades after the names of the people. I +want you to take it home with you, and to mark off all the hardware +sellers with their addresses. It would be of the greatest use to me to +have them.' + +"'Surely, there are classified lists?' I suggested. + +"'Not reliable ones. Their system is different to ours. Stick at it and +let me have the lists by Monday, at twelve. Good-day, Mr. Pycroft; if +you continue to show zeal and intelligence, you will find the company a +good master.' + +"I went back to the hotel with the big book under my arm, and with very +conflicting feelings in my breast. On the one hand I was definitely +engaged, and had a hundred pounds in my pocket. On the other, the look +of the offices, the absence of name on the wall, and other of the points +which would strike a business man had left a bad impression as to the +position of my employers. However, come what might, I had my money, so I +settled down to my task. All Sunday I was kept hard at work, and yet by +Monday I had only got as far as H. I went round to my employer, found +him in the same dismantled kind of room, and was told to keep at it +until Wednesday, and then come again. On Wednesday it was still +unfinished, so I hammered away until Friday--that is, yesterday. Then I +brought it round to Mr. Harry Pinner. + +"'Thank you very much,' said he. 'I fear that I underrated the +difficulty of the task. This list will be of very material assistance to +me.' + +"'It took some time,' said I. + +"'And now,' said he, 'I want you to make a list of the furniture shops, +for they all sell crockery.' + +"'Very good.' + +"'And you can come up to-morrow evening at seven, and let me know how +you are getting on. Don't overwork yourself. A couple of hours at Day's +Music-Hall in the evening would do you no harm after your labours.' He +laughed as he spoke, and I saw with a thrill that his second tooth upon +the left-hand side had been very badly stuffed with gold." + +Sherlock Holmes rubbed his hands with delight, and I stared in +astonishment at our client. + +"You may well look surprised, Dr. Watson, but it is this way," said he. +"When I was speaking to the other chap in London at the time that he +laughed at my not going to Mawson's, I happened to notice that his tooth +was stuffed in this very identical fashion. The glint of the gold in +each case caught my eye, you see. When I put that with the voice and +figure being the same, and only those things altered which might be +changed by a razor or a wig, I could not doubt that it was the same man. +Of course, you expect two brothers to be alike, but not that they should +have the same tooth stuffed in the same way. He bowed me out and I found +myself in the street, hardly knowing whether I was on my head or my +heels. Back I went to my hotel, put my head in a basin of cold water, +and tried to think it out. Why had he sent me from London to Birmingham; +why had he got there before me; and why had he written a letter from +himself to himself? It was altogether too much for me, and I could make +no sense of it. And then suddenly it struck me that what was dark to me +might be very light to Mr. Sherlock Holmes. I had just time to get up to +town by the night train, to see him this morning, and to bring you both +back with me to Birmingham." + +There was a pause after the stockbroker's clerk had concluded his +surprising experience. Then Sherlock Holmes cocked his eye at me, +leaning back on the cushions with a pleased and yet critical face, like +a connoisseur who had just taken his first sip of a comet vintage. + +"Rather fine, Watson, is it not?" said he. "There are points in it which +please me. I think you will agree with me that an interview with Mr. +Arthur Harry Pinner in the temporary offices of the Franco-Midland +Hardware Company, Limited, would be a rather interesting experience for +both of us." + +"But how can we do it?" I asked. + +"Oh, easily enough," said Hall Pycroft, cheerily. "You are two friends +of mine who are in want of a billet, and what could be more natural than +that I should bring you both round to the managing director?" + +"Quite so! Of course!" said Holmes. "I should like to have a look at the +gentleman and see if I can make anything of his little game. What +qualities have you, my friend, which would make your services so +valuable? or is it possible that----" he began biting his nails and +staring blankly out of the window, and we hardly drew another word from +him until we were in New Street. + + * * * * * + +At seven o'clock that evening we were walking, the three of us, down +Corporation Street to the company's offices. + +"It is of no use our being at all before our time," said our client. "He +only comes there to see me apparently, for the place is deserted up to +the very hour he names." + +"That is suggestive," remarked Holmes. + +"By Jove, I told you so!" cried the clerk. "That's he walking ahead of +us there." + +He pointed to a smallish, blonde, well-dressed man, who was bustling +along the other side of the road. As we watched him he looked across at +a boy who was bawling out the latest edition of the evening paper, and, +running over among the cabs and 'buses, he bought one from him. Then +clutching it in his hand he vanished through a doorway. + +"There he goes!" cried Hall Pycroft. "Those are the company's offices +into which he has gone. Come with me and I'll fix it up as easily as +possible." + +Following his lead we ascended five stories, until we found ourselves +outside a half-opened door, at which our client tapped. A voice within +bade us "Come in," and we entered a bare, unfurnished room, such as Hall +Pycroft had described. At the single table sat the man whom we had seen +in the street, with his evening paper spread out in front of him, and as +he looked up at us it seemed to me that I had never looked upon a face +which bore such marks of grief, and of something beyond grief--of a +horror such as comes to few men in a lifetime. His brow glistened with +perspiration, his cheeks were of the dull dead white of a fish's belly, +and his eyes were wild and staring. He looked at his clerk as though he +failed to recognise him, and I could see, by the astonishment depicted +upon our conductor's face, that this was by no means the usual +appearance of his employer. + +[Illustration: "HE LOOKED UP AT US."] + +"You look ill, Mr. Pinner," he exclaimed. + +"Yes, I am not very well," answered the other, making obvious efforts to +pull himself together, and licking his dry lips before he spoke. "Who +are these gentlemen whom you have brought with you?" + +"One is Mr. Harris, of Bermondsey, and the other is Mr. Price, of this +town," said our clerk, glibly. "They are friends of mine, and gentlemen +of experience, but they have been out of a place for some little time, +and they hoped that perhaps you might find an opening for them in the +company's employment." + +"Very possibly! Very possibly!" cried Mr. Pinner, with a ghastly smile. +"Yes, I have no doubt that we shall be able to do something for you. +What is your particular line, Mr. Harris?" + +"I am an accountant," said Holmes. + +"Ah, yes, we shall want something of the sort. And you, Mr. Price?" + +"A clerk," said I. + +"I have every hope that the company may accommodate you. I will let you +know about it as soon as we come to any conclusion. And now I beg that +you will go. For God's sake, leave me to myself!" + +These last words were shot out of him, as though the constraint which he +was evidently setting upon himself had suddenly and utterly burst +asunder. Holmes and I glanced at each other, and Hall Pycroft took a +step towards the table. + +"You forget, Mr. Pinner, that I am here by appointment to receive some +directions from you," said he. + +"Certainly, Mr. Pycroft, certainly," the other answered in a calmer +tone. "You may wait here a moment, and there is no reason why your +friends should not wait with you. I will be entirely at your service in +three minutes, if I might trespass upon your patience so far." He rose +with a very courteous air, and bowing to us he passed out through a door +at the further end of the room, which he closed behind him. + +"What now?" whispered Holmes. "Is he giving us the slip?" + +"Impossible," answered Pycroft. + +"Why so?" + +"That door leads into an inner room." + +"There is no exit?" + +"None." + +"Is it furnished?" + +"It was empty yesterday." + +"Then what on earth can he be doing? There is something which I don't +understand in this matter. If ever a man was three parts mad with +terror, that man's name is Pinner. What can have put the shivers on +him?" + +"He suspects that we are detectives," I suggested. + +"That's it," said Pycroft. + +Holmes shook his head. "He did not turn pale. He _was_ pale when we +entered the room," said he. "It is just possible that----" + +His words were interrupted by a sharp rat-tat from the direction of the +inner door. + +"What the deuce is he knocking at his own door for?" cried the clerk. + +Again and much louder came the rat-tat-tat. We all gazed expectantly at +the closed door. Glancing at Holmes I saw his face turn rigid, and he +leaned forward in intense excitement. Then suddenly came a low gurgling, +gargling sound and a brisk drumming upon woodwork. Holmes sprang +frantically across the room and pushed at the door. It was fastened on +the inner side. Following his example, we threw ourselves upon it with +all our weight. One hinge snapped, then the other, and down came the +door with a crash. Rushing over it we found ourselves in the inner room. + +[Illustration: "WE FOUND OURSELVES IN THE INNER ROOM."] + +It was empty. + +But it was only for a moment that we were at fault. At one corner, the +corner nearest the room which we had left, there was a second door. +Holmes sprang to it and pulled it open. A coat and waistcoat were lying +on the floor, and from a hook behind the door, with his own braces round +his neck, was hanging the managing director of the Franco-Midland +Hardware Company. His knees were drawn up, his head hung at a dreadful +angle to his body, and the clatter of his heels against the door made +the noise which had broken in upon our conversation. In an instant I had +caught him round the waist and held him up, while Holmes and Pycroft +untied the elastic bands which had disappeared between the livid creases +of skin. Then we carried him into the other room, where he lay with a +clay-coloured face, puffing his purple lips in and out with every +breath--a dreadful wreck of all that he had been but five minutes +before. + +"What do you think of him, Watson?" asked Holmes. + +I stooped over him and examined him. + +His pulse was feeble and intermittent, but his breathing grew longer, +and there was a little shivering of his eyelids which showed a thin +white slit of ball beneath. + +"It has been touch and go with him," said I, "but he'll live now. Just +open that window and hand me the water carafe." I undid his collar, +poured the cold water over his face, and raised and sank his arms until +he drew a long natural breath. + +"It's only a question of time now," said I, as I turned away from him. + +Holmes stood by the table with his hands deep in his trousers pockets +and his chin upon his breast. + +"I suppose we ought to call the police in now," said he; "and yet I +confess that I like to give them a complete case when they come." + +"It's a blessed mystery to me," cried Pycroft, scratching his head. +"Whatever they wanted to bring me all the way up here for, and then----" + +"Pooh! All that is clear enough," said Holmes, impatiently. "It is this +last sudden move." + +"You understand the rest, then?" + +"I think that it is fairly obvious. What do you say, Watson?" + +I shrugged my shoulders. + +"I must confess that I am out of my depths," said I. + +"Oh, surely, if you consider the events at first they can only point to +one conclusion." + +"What do you make of them?" + +"Well, the whole thing hinges upon two points. The first is the making +of Pycroft write a declaration by which he entered the service of this +preposterous company. Do you not see how very suggestive that is?" + +"I am afraid I miss the point." + +"Well, why did they want him to do it? Not as a business matter, for +these arrangements are usually verbal, and there was no earthly business +reason why this should be an exception. Don't you see, my young friend, +that they were very anxious to obtain a specimen of your handwriting, +and had no other way of doing it?" + +"And why?" + +"Quite so. Why? When we answer that, we have made some progress with our +little problem. Why? There can be only one adequate reason. Someone +wanted to learn to imitate your writing, and had to procure a specimen +of it first. And now if we pass on to the second point, we find that +each throws light upon the other. That point is the request made by +Pinner that you should not resign your place, but should leave the +manager of this important business in the full expectation that a Mr. +Hall Pycroft, whom he had never seen, was about to enter the office upon +the Monday morning." + +"My God!" cried our client, "what a blind beetle I have been!" + +"Now you see the point about the handwriting. Suppose that someone +turned up in your place who wrote a completely different hand from that +in which you had applied for the vacancy, of course the game would have +been up. But in the interval the rogue learnt to imitate you, and his +position was therefore secure, as I presume that nobody in the office +had ever set eyes upon you?" + +"Not a soul," groaned Hall Pycroft. + +"Very good. Of course, it was of the utmost importance to prevent you +from thinking better of it, and also to keep you from coming into +contact with anyone who might tell you that your double was at work in +Mawson's office. Therefore they gave you a handsome advance on your +salary, and ran you off to the Midlands, where they gave you enough work +to do to prevent your going to London, where you might have burst their +little game up. That is all plain enough." + +"But why should this man pretend to be his own brother?" + +"Well, that is pretty clear also. There are evidently only two of them +in it. The other is personating you at the office. This one acted as +your engager, and then found that he could not find you an employer +without admitting a third person into his plot. That he was most +unwilling to do. He changed his appearance as far as he could, and +trusted that the likeness, which you could not fail to observe, would be +put down to a family resemblance. But for the happy chance of the gold +stuffing your suspicions would probably have never been aroused." + +Hall Pycroft shook his clenched hands in the air. "Good Lord!" he cried. +"While I have been fooled in this way, what has this other Hall Pycroft +been doing at Mawson's? What should we do, Mr. Holmes? Tell me what to +do!" + +"We must wire to Mawson's." + +"They shut at twelve on Saturdays." + +"Never mind; there may be some doorkeeper or attendant----" + +"Ah, yes; they keep a permanent guard there on account of the value of +the securities that they hold. I remember hearing it talked of in the +City." + +[Illustration: "PYCROFT SHOOK HIS CLENCHED HANDS IN THE AIR."] + +"Very good, we shall wire to him, and see if all is well, and if a clerk +of your name is working there. That is clear enough, but what is not so +clear is why at sight of us one of the rogues should instantly walk out +of the room and hang himself." + +"The paper!" croaked a voice behind us. The man was sitting up, blanched +and ghastly, with returning reason in his eyes, and hands which rubbed +nervously at the broad red band which still encircled his throat. + +"The paper! Of course!" yelled Holmes, in a paroxysm of excitement. +"Idiot that I was! I thought so much of our visit that the paper never +entered my head for an instant. To be sure the secret must lie there." +He flattened it out upon the table, and a cry of triumph burst from his +lips. + +"Look at this, Watson!" he cried. "It is a London paper, an early +edition of the _Evening Standard_. Here is what we want. Look at the +headlines--'Crime in the City. Murder at Mawson and Williams'. Gigantic +Attempted Robbery; Capture of the Criminal.' Here, Watson, we are all +equally anxious to hear it, so kindly read it aloud to us." + +It appeared from its position in the paper to have been the one event of +importance in town, and the account of it ran in this way:-- + +"A desperate attempt at robbery, culminating in the death of one man and +the capture of the criminal, occurred this afternoon in the City. For +some time back Mawson and Williams, the famous financial house, have +been the guardians of securities which amount in the aggregate to a sum +of considerably over a million sterling. So conscious was the manager of +the responsibility which devolved upon him in consequence of the great +interests at stake, that safes of the very latest construction have been +employed, and an armed watchman has been left day and night in the +building. It appears that last week a new clerk, named Hall Pycroft, was +engaged by the firm. This person appears to have been none other than +Beddington, the famous forger and cracksman, who, with his brother, has +only recently emerged from a five years' spell of penal servitude. By +some means, which are not yet clear, he succeeded in winning, under a +false name, this official position in the office, which he utilized in +order to obtain mouldings of various locks, and a thorough knowledge of +the position of the strong room and the safes. + +"It is customary at Mawson's for the clerks to leave at midday on +Saturday. Sergeant Tuson, of the City Police, was somewhat surprised +therefore to see a gentleman with a carpet bag come down the steps at +twenty minutes past one. His suspicions being aroused, the sergeant +followed the man, and with the aid of Constable Pollock succeeded, after +a most desperate resistance, in arresting him. It was at once clear that +a daring and gigantic robbery had been committed. Nearly a hundred +thousand pounds worth of American railway bonds, with a large amount of +scrip in other mines and companies, were discovered in the bag. On +examining the premises the body of the unfortunate watchman was found +doubled up and thrust into the largest of the safes, where it would not +have been discovered until Monday morning had it not been for the prompt +action of Sergeant Tuson. The man's skull had been shattered by a blow +from a poker, delivered from behind. There could be no doubt that +Beddington had obtained entrance by pretending that he had left +something behind him, and having murdered the watchman, rapidly rifled +the large safe, and then made off with his booty. His brother, who +usually works with him, has not appeared in this job, so far as can at +present be ascertained, although the police are making energetic +inquiries as to his whereabouts." + +[Illustration: "GLANCING AT THE HAGGARD FIGURE."] + +"Well, we may save the police some little trouble in that direction," +said Holmes, glancing at the haggard figure huddled up by the window. +"Human nature is a strange mixture, Watson. You see that even a villain +and a murderer can inspire such affection that his brother turns to +suicide when he learns that his neck is forfeited. However, we have no +choice as to our action. The doctor and I will remain on guard, Mr. +Pycroft, if you will have the kindness to step out for the police." + + + + +_Beauties._ + +[Illustration: FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY MESSRS. ELLIOTT AND FRY, BAKER +STREET, W.] + +[Illustration: Miss Webster + +Madame Shirmer-Mapleson + +Madame Sigrid Arnoldson] + +[Illustration: Miss ALICE LETHBRIDGE + +Miss Flo Henderson + +Mdlle. Del Torre] + + + + +_Hands._ + +BY BECKLES WILLSON. + +II. + + +[Illustration: CASTING A HAND FROM LIFE. + +(_Studio of Mr. Onslow Ford, A.R.A._)] + +The sculptor's practice of casting in plaster the hands of his client is +of comparatively recent growth. The artist of the old school--and he is +followed in this by many of the new--disdained so mechanical a means to +fidelity. Very few, indeed, among the British painters and sculptors of +the past will be found who took the pains to see that the hands or even +the figures of their counterfeit presentments on canvas or in marble +tallied with the originals. Sir Joshua Reynolds, as we know, would have +regarded this as the essence of finical vulgarity. + +The principal drawback in making casts from life is to be found in the +discomfort, not to speak of the actual torment, it often causes the +sitter by the adhesion of the plaster to the hairy growth of the skin. +Various methods are resorted to with a view to obviate this, and in some +cases successfully. + +The hands of Thomas Carlyle--stubborn, combative, mystical--which appear +in the present paper, will amply repay the closest scrutiny. These hands +are unwontedly realistic, and emphasize their distinctiveness in every +vein and wrinkle. They appear to be themselves endowed with each of +those various qualities which caused their possessor to be regarded as +one of the most puissant figures in the century's literature. The hand +is not one, to use Charles Lamb's expressive phrase, to be looked at +_standing on one leg_. It deserves a keener examination. + +[Illustration: THOMAS CARLYLE'S HANDS.] + +Mention has been made of the hand of a distinguished prelate, Cardinal +Manning. It will not be out of place to compare it with the hands of +the late Archbishop of Canterbury, which were cast posthumously. +Scarcely anything could be more antagonistic. The nervous personality of +Manning is wanting here. The hands of the Archbishop seem more to belong +to the order of the benevolent Bishop Myriel than to that of the +enthusiast and ascetic. + +[Illustration: THE LATE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY'S HANDS.] + +[Illustration: LORD PALMERSTON'S HAND.] + +Plenty of opportunity to study the hands of statesmen is afforded in +those of Lord Palmerston, Count Cavour, Sir Stratford Canning, and Lord +Melbourne. The fallacy of attaching special qualities to any distinctive +trait in the hand of an eminent person is most readily discernible here. +One should avoid _à posteriori_ reasoning. It would be the same for a +physiognomist to argue a man a statesman from a facial resemblance to +Mr. Gladstone, or that he is fit to write tragedies because he owns the +exact facial proportions of Sardou. + +[Illustration: COUNT CAVOUR'S HANDS.] + +[Illustration: SIR STRATFORD CANNING'S HANDS.] + +Among these the hand of Lord Palmerston will stand forth most +prominently to the reader. Its characteristics are, on the whole, +sufficiently obvious, in the appended cast, to be thought accentuated. +It might not unprofitably be noted in connection with those of Stratford +Canning, Viscount de Redcliffe (for fifty years British Ambassador in +India), whose statue by Boehm, with Tennyson's famous epitaph: + + Thou third great Canning, stand among our best + And noblest, now thy long day's work hath ceased, + Here, silent in our Minster of the West, + Who wert the voice of England in the East! + +is in a nave of the Abbey. With these should be joined the hand of +Viscount Melbourne, the predecessor of Sir Robert Peel in the +Premiership, and the great statesman after whom the city of Melbourne +was named, in order to range this British galaxy against the hands of +the Italian patriots, Count Cavour and Joseph Garibaldi, whose labours +resulted in that master stroke of latter-day politics, the unification +of Italy. Those of the former were cast separately in different +positions, it being the intention of the sculptor for the right hand to +rest lightly upon a column and the left to grasp a roll of parchment. +Garibaldi's hand may be described as both virile and nervous. + +[Illustration: LORD MELBOURNE'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: HAND OF JOHN BURNS, M.P.] + +[Illustration: HAND OF JOSEPH ARCH, M.P.] + +[Illustration: GARIBALDI'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: SIR E. BOEHM'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: HAND OF JOHN JACKSON, R.A.] + +Another type of hand is exemplified in the hands of Messrs. Joseph Arch +and John Burns. Both of these belong to self-made men, accustomed to +hard manual labour from childhood. Their powerful ruggedness is +admirably set off by the exquisite symmetry and feminine proportions of +the hand of John Jackson a Royal Academician and great painter of his +time. For symmetry, combined with grace, this hand is not surpassed. + +The hand of Sir Edgar Boehm was cast by his assistant, Professor +Lantéri, for the former's statue of Sir Francis Drake. It will be +observed that the fingers grasp a pair of compasses, the original of +those which appear in the bronze at Plymouth. + +[Illustration: LADY BLESSINGTON'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: MRS. CARLYLE'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: MRS. THORNYCROFT'S HAND.] + +Reverting to the ladies again, interest will, no doubt, centre upon the +hand of the celebrated Lady Blessington, accounted the wittiest hostess +of her day; and not least attractive will appear Mrs. Carlyle's and +those of Mrs. Thornycroft and the celebrated Madame Tussaud. The wife of +the Chelsea sage was herself, as is known, an authoress of no mean +repute. + +A comparison of the hand of Mr. Bancroft with that of Mr. Irving, given +last month, will prove interesting, if not instructive. + +[Illustration: MME. TUSSAUD'S HAND.] + +It has been said that the hands of Carlyle are characteristic; that they +possess, with those of Wilkie Collins, the merit of being precisely the +sort of hands one would expect to see so labelled. We now present a +third candidate for this merit of candour in casts of the hands of the +notorious Arthur Orton, better known under the sobriquet of the +Claimant. They are pulseless, chubby, oblique: yet they are remarkable. +In scrutinizing them, it is difficult not to feel that one looks upon +hands very remote indeed from the ordinary. + +[Illustration: MR. BANCROFT'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: HANDS OF THE TICHBORNE CLAIMANT.] + +Next we look upon the hand of a giant even superior to Anak, in +Loushkin, the Russian. But physically great as was the Muscovite, it is +to be doubted if he really attained the world-wide celebrity of the +little American, Charles Stratton (otherwise known as "Tom Thumb"), +whose extremity serves as a foil to his rival for exhibition honours. + +Another Boehm relic requires some explanation. Every visitor to the +Metropolis has doubtless seen and admired the heroic equestrian statue +of the Duke of Wellington, opposite Apsley House. They may even have +noticed the right hand, which is represented as lightly holding the rein +of the animal. The appended was cast from the original model in clay of +the hand of the Duke, no cast direct from life ever having been +executed. + +[Illustration: THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S HAND.] + +It is sufficient to say that the subjoined hand and arm of Lady +Cardigan, wife of the noted Crimean warrior, was one greatly admired by +Sir Edgar, in whose studio it hung for many years. In like manner will +the hand of Lady Richard Grosvenor be found the possessor of many +beautiful and interesting traits. + +[Illustration: THE HANDS OF "TOM THUMB" AND LOUSHKIN, THE RUSSIAN +GIANT.] + +[Illustration: LADY CARDIGAN'S HAND.] + +A member not altogether dissimilar to that of the musician Liszt is the +hand of Carl von Angeli, Court painter to Her Majesty, and like that +also in setting at naught the conclusions too often arrived at by the +chirognomist. For there is here breadth without symmetry, and an utter +absence of the poise which we look for in the ideal hand of the artist. +It is instructive to compare it to the hand of the painter, John +Jackson. + +[Illustration: LADY RICHARD GROSVENOR'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: CARL ANGELI'S HAND.] + +Observe the massive, masculine fingers and disproportionately small +finger-nails in the hands of Professor Weekes, the sculptor. There is +scarcely any perceptible tapering at the third joint, and the fingers +all exhibit very little prominence of knuckle or contour. It is anything +but an artistic hand, and yet its owner was a man of the keenest +artistic perceptions. + +In Frederick Baring's (Lord Ashburton) we find the thick-set fingers, +and what the chirognomist calls the "lack of manual repose," of the +great financier. But as his lordship was statesman with a talent for +debate as well as man of commerce, it will not unlikely be found that +the hand presented combines the both temperaments. + +[Illustration: PROFESSOR WEEKES' HANDS.] + +[Illustration: LORD ASHBURTON'S HAND.] + +I have been enabled, through the kindness of Mr. J. T. Tussaud, to +embellish the present collection by an ancient cast of the hand of the +Comte de Lorge, a famous prisoner in the Bastille. This cast was taken, +together with a death mask, after death, by the great-grandmother of the +sculptor, to whom both relics have descended. + +The Queen's hands, which appeared in the last issue of this Magazine, +were cast by John Francis, a famous sculptor of the day. Mr. Hamo +Thorneycroft, R.A., writes me to say that "While the moulds were being +made Her Majesty removed all the rings from her fingers _except_ the +wedding ring. This she was most anxious should not come off, and was in +considerable fear lest the moulding process might remove it." + +[Illustration: COMTE DE LORGE'S HAND.] + + +[_The original drawings of the illustrations in this Magazine are always +on view, and on sale, in the Art Gallery at these offices, which is open +to the public without charge._] + + + + +[Illustration: ROSITA] + +FROM THE FRENCH OF PITRE CHEVALIER. + + +I. + + +It was harvest day at a house in the little village of Panola, in +Castile, on the 25th of August, 1838. The great sheaves of corn had been +borne, amidst universal rejoicing, to their resting-place in the +granary. All the village inhabitants had shared in this pleasant task, +and now, following an ancient custom, they had erected a trophy composed +of a few last sheaves of corn, round which the young girls and men began +to dance gaily, to the sound of guitars and castanets. + +Within the house, in a room which overlooked this charming scene, were +two men. + +The first, seated at a table, was an old man over sixty, but enfeebled +rather by cares than by age. His venerable head, crowned with white +hair, drooped upon his breast with patriarchal dignity. The old man, who +had been a soldier in the Spanish army, was Don Pedro de la Sarga, a +Castilian as noble as he was poor. His companion was his son, Don +Stephano, a young man of twenty, considered the most accomplished man in +Panola. He was handsome; his warm, brown skin, his large, black eyes, +the regular features, which wore that expression of national pride which +distinguishes a Castilian from any other race, and his raven-black hair +were eminently the Spanish type in all its grace and haughtiness. The +young man wore the Spanish holiday costume, the richness of which has +made travellers exclaim, more than once, that no European prince is +clothed like a simple peasant of Castile. Stephano had on a short vest +of black cloth, lined with yellow silk, ornamented with fringes and +bunches of ribbons; an embroidered shirt with open collar revealing a +waistcoat with gilt buttons, knee-breeches of black silk confined at the +knees by bunches of ribbons, shoes and gaiters of fine brown leather, +while a black felt hat with drooping plume completed his costume. + +Stephano's gloomy face contrasted with his gay attire. He leant against +the open window, carelessly holding in his hand a bouquet of faded +jasmine, whilst he gazed with melancholy eyes upon the festive scene +before him, and only by a shake of the head and a sad smile replied to +the light badinage of the dancers as they passed the window. But now and +then his eyes lighted up, and he sighed deeply as a certain dancer, +prettier than the rest, approached him. + +"How pretty she is!" he murmured, as he followed her retreating form. + +"Stephano!" called out the old man, who had been watching his son for +some time. + +"How gracefully she dances," continued the handsome dreamer, wrapt in +his thoughts. + +"Stephano!" repeated the old man. + +"Yes, father," cried Stephano, with a start, and coming forward. "Do you +wish to speak to me?" + +"From your mysterious air and endless sighs these last few days, +Stephano, I conclude that you are in love," said his father. + +"In love!" stammered the young man. "You think I am in love?" + +"I do not think, my son--I am sure of it; and I have only one reproach +to make to you, and that is that you have not made me a confidant of +your secret before." + +"You shall know all, father," said Stephano, drawing a chair close to +Don Pedro. + +"For the last month," he continued, "I have had in my heart a love which +nothing can subdue, and the object of my passion is a young girl here, a +glance from whose eyes is worth more to me than all the world besides; +but she shuns my love, and on every occasion strives to avoid me. She +hardly permits me to speak to her for fear that the passion she reads in +my eyes will break into words." + +"Bah!" said the old man, merrily; "it is very likely that she shuns you +for the reason of your not opening your mouth; you scare the young girl +with your morose airs." + +"Oh, if that were only true," sighed the disconsolate swain. + +"Now," said the old man, "there only remains for me to know the name of +my future daughter-in-law." + +The young man was about to pronounce the name which already trembled on +his lips when a sudden clamour interrupted the most interesting portion +of this conversation. The peasants, followed by the partners, were +rushing towards the house, and in the twinkling of an eye the room was +filled with the animated and noisy throng. The new-comers wore rich +costumes, more or less copies of Stephano's; some carried guitars, +others castanets, while most of them leaned upon tall peeled rods, +forked at the top, and ornamented with ribbons of all colours; each +carried on the left side of his vest a bouquet similar to that of +Stephano. The young girls in their silken bodices, short skirts, red +stockings and mantillas, rattled their castanets as they entered with +their partners. The joyous crowd surrounded Don Pedro, whilst cries of +"Rosita! Rosita!" resounded from all sides. + +"Well, well, my children, what is it you want?" demanded the village +Nestor of his clamorous audience. + +"We want Mlle. Rosita," they repeated. + +"What, my niece? But is she not with you? I thought it was she whom you +were leading just now round the corn sheaves." + +"That is true," replied one of the foremost of the crowd; "everything +went smoothly until we wished her to take part in our usual ceremony of +'The Maiden's Choice.'" + +"Did you explain to her," asked the old man, "what is the ceremony?" + +"Yes, we told her all that was necessary: that it is an old custom in +Panola on harvest day, after having escorted the daughter of the house +round the last sheaves of corn, for all her admirers in the village to +present her, each in his turn, with a bouquet; that she must then choose +the one she loves amongst them by retaining his bouquet, whilst the +others are rejected. She answered us by saying that she had only been in +Panola a few months, and was therefore not forced to adopt our customs, +and leaving us with these words she fled from us and escaped through the +little granary door." + +"The little shrew!" Don Pedro exclaimed, who, like an amiable old man, +was always on the side of the young folk. "But my friends," he added, +"you are but poor Lotharios to be flouted by a young girl; you must +follow her and bring her back." + +"That is just what we have done; but one cannot catch a bird without +also having wings. She seemed to fly as we followed her, and on reaching +the granary she entered and slammed the door in our faces; so we have +come, as a last resource, to you, Don Pedro, to ask her to comply with +our wishes." + +"You are right," replied the old man, with all the gravity of a judge, +"you must be satisfied at once"; and he looked round for Don Stephano, +who was standing more moody than ever behind a giggling group of young +peasants. + +"My son," he said, "go and bring your cousin here. If she refuses, tell +her that I particularly wish her to come." + +"I will go, father," said Stephano, after a second's hesitation; and he +went out. + +There was a slight pause; then shouts and acclamations and rattling of +castanets burst forth, as Rosita, with downcast eyes, entered the room, +led by Stephano. Well might they welcome with fervour such a charming +creature. Rosita was just eighteen. She wore upon her golden brown hair +a black lace mantilla, which contrasted with her creamy complexion and +the liquid depth of her large brown eyes. A brown velvet bodice showed +off to perfection her slight yet rounded figure; and her silk skirts +just revealed her pretty ankles and small feet in their silk stockings +and neat shoes. + +Rosita was a native of Navarre. She had quitted Tafalla, her native +village, on the death of her father and mother, who had been victims of +the Civil War which at this time desolated the country, and had been +conducted not without peril to her uncle's house at Panola, in which she +had since taken up her abode. + +"Rosita," said Don Pedro to his niece, taking her hand, "I have made +your apologies to your friends for the trick you have played them. It is +your turn now to atone for your misdeed, by submitting to an old custom. +Among the brave Castilians who surround you there are many suitors for +your hand. There must be one among them whom you secretly favour. Your +choice is entirely free, and even the favoured one after the ceremony +will then have only the right to please you and to merit your hand." + +"But, uncle----" faltered the young girl. + +"I will take no denial, my dear," interrupted the old man. + +Rosita strove in vain to protest, but her imperturbable uncle would not +listen, and gave a sign to the peasants to begin the ceremony, in which +he seemed to take as keen an interest as they did themselves. Thereupon +the majority of the young men, darting furious glances of jealousy at +one another, prepared for the contest. Rosita, at her uncle's side, +stood at one end of the room. At her right and left were grouped the +young peasant girls, admiring without envy the queen of the _fête_, and +forming her court. Stephano stood behind with dejected mien. Those with +guitars touched their instruments lightly now and then, and upon this +scene, worthy of the pencil of Leopold Roberts, the sun, now setting at +the horizon, cast a calm and solemn light. + +The first peasant who came forward was a tall young man, with a ruddy +complexion. + +"My name is Geronimo Caldaroz, and I am twenty-five. It has been the +talk of the village why I did not marry, and it has been said it was +because I had never yet seen a maiden beautiful enough to please me. But +now I have found her; it is you, Rosita. Will you accept my bouquet?" He +presented his bouquet to the young girl, who blushed as she received it, +and then let it fall. + +"Refused! Refused!" whispered the spectators, whilst the young man +disappeared into the crowd, and a second one took his place. But the +same thing occurred, and with the same result. Soon the jasmine bouquets +covered the ground round the young girl's feet. The rejected suitors +multiplied so fast that they could no longer hide their discomfiture +amongst the others. Restless and smiling, Don Pedro wondered why his +niece was so severe, and the remaining suitors seemed to hesitate +whether to advance into the lists or not. Then the last three timidly +advanced one by one toward Rosita. The two first were not even heard to +the end of their speech, and then all eyes were fixed with interest upon +the last. Rosita let him finish his discourse, took his bouquet, which +she scrutinized demurely, and then uttering a deep sigh let it fall upon +the amorous trophy piled at her feet. + +A murmur rose amongst the stupefied villagers. Don Pedro approached his +niece. + +"Well, my child," he said, "have you thought of what you have done?" + +"Yes, uncle," Rosita replied. "Did you not tell me yourself that I was +perfectly free?" + +"Free to choose, without doubt; but not to send all your suitors away." + +Rosita cast down her eyes and made no reply. + +"Pardon me, father, but there still remains one," said Stephano, +breaking the silence. + +"Where is he?" everyone asked at once. + +"Here he is." + +Rosita trembled so violently that she was compelled to lean for support +upon her uncle's arm, and Don Pedro, more astonished than anyone, rushed +towards his son. + +"What, Stephano?" he said joyfully. "It is your cousin whom----" + +"Yes, father," replied the young man. "It is she whom I love." + +In the midst of such general interest Stephano, pale with emotion, +advanced towards his cousin. + +"Rosita, I love you," he said, simply. "Will you keep this bouquet which +I offer to you?" + +The young man pronounced these words with a voice so sweet and +expressive, and the gesture with which he offered the symbolic flower +was so imploring and passionate, that a sympathetic thrill ran through +the spectators, and tears bedimmed Don Pedro's eyes. + +[Illustration: "'ROSITA, I LOVE YOU,' HE SAID."] + +Rosita, not less pale than her cousin, took the bouquet with a trembling +hand, gazed upon it tenderly, then made a movement as if to throw it +down, paused, and then at last, with head turned aside, let it fall. + +"Santa Maria! He also!" cried the crowd, mournfully. + +"Do not condemn me without hearing my justification," cried Rosita, +turning to Don Pedro. + +"Your justification?" repeated Stephano, with relief. + +"Uncle," she said, after a pause, "there is a secret which I may have +been wrong in concealing from you hitherto, but I must confide it to you +alone." + +"To me!" cried the astonished old man. + +"I will come with you at once," and, seizing Rosita's hand, he led her +away, making signs to the peasants as he did so to disperse. + +Stephano strolled out to breathe the air upon the hills, whose shadows +were beginning to slope down into the valley. The sky was lighted only +by the afterglow of the red, sunken sun; the evening breeze carried +along in the warm air the perfume of the jasmine flowers and orange +groves in bloom, and no sound was heard but the music of guitars and +castanets, mingled sometimes with the faint tinkle of sheep bells. + +When Stephano re-entered he found his father and cousin in the lower +hall. Rosita, on perceiving him, made a pretext for rising, and +hurriedly left the room. Don Pedro and his son were left alone. + +"One word, father," said Stephano. "Does Rosita love me, and will she +also become my wife?" + +"You must forget Rosita," replied the old man. "You must tear from your +heart even the remembrance of your love." + +The young man abandoned himself to despair. + +"I shall never forget her," he said, passionately. "My love for Rosita +will only cease with my life." + +And he rushed from the room, leaving the old man wondering. + + +II. + +For some weeks the inmates of Don Pedro's house were forced to remain +prisoners, for rebel soldiers filled the neighbouring villages, and +troops of guerillas were being mustered to put them to flight. It was a +morning, early in September, just after the sun had peered above the +horizon. A fine rain had fallen during the night, and the drops which +rested on the foliage sparkled like myriads of diamonds. The streets +were as yet deserted; some muleteers alone passed along them at +intervals. Don Pedro's house was the only one astir. + +Don Stephano, according to his custom, had risen with the dawn, and was +now alone in the lower hall, standing opposite the window which +overlooked the high road. He was occupied in fixing an iron lance upon a +wooden rod, at which he gazed abstractedly. + +The sound of a voice filling the air with song attracted his attention; +it was singing the Moorish romance of "Adlemar and Adalifa," and to the +quick perception of a Spanish ear was marked with a slight Ultramontaine +accent, which Stephano discerned like a true Castilian. Without moving +he listened to the song which awoke the echoes of the valley. The +amorous words recalled to Stephano's mind the thought of Rosita, and he +sighed deeply. Then he listened anew to the voice, which grew nearer and +nearer, and in which, in spite of its strange accent, he seemed to hear +an understrain of singular emotion. His conjectures were not long, +however. A man enveloped in a large mantle peered in at the open window, +and after throwing a rapid glance behind him leapt into the room. +Stephano recoiled at the sight of such a strange visitor, and felt +tempted to seize the man, whom he took at first for a robber. Then a +troop of horsemen dashed past the house. The stranger gave a sigh of +relief. Then for the first time he caught sight of Stephano. + +"I must be careful," the soldier muttered, as he drew his cloak more +carefully round him. "This Spaniard does not look over benevolent." + +"Who can this man be?" thought Stephano, as he instinctively put his +hand on his pistols; but on seeing the stranger advance towards him with +a pleasant smile, he paused. + +"Noble Castilian," said the stranger, "are you a man to oblige an enemy +in peril, and who for a quarter of an hour wishes you no more harm than +if you were his brother?" + +Before replying, Stephano scrutinized his questioner. He saw before him +a man of about twenty-eight, with a frank face and light hair and +moustache. His accent, and the blue pantaloons which appeared under the +brown mantle, proclaimed him a Frenchman. + +[Illustration: "THE STRANGER."] + +"No unarmed man is my enemy," replied Stephano, "and from the moment my +roof was over your head you became my guest." + +"Shake hands on it! You are a fine fellow," cried the soldier, holding +out his hand. At the same time he drew aside his mantle, and Stephano +recognised the uniform worn by the French volunteers of Don Carlos's +army. "Now, if you have a drop of anything to drink handy, I will tell +you in a few words what has brought me here." + +Stephano opened the sideboard, and brought out a bottle and glasses. The +soldier wiped his moustache as he began. + +"You see before you," he said, with frank abruptness, "Charles +Dulaurier, a soldier by birth and profession, lieutenant in the +Grenadiers of His Majesty Charles V.--pardon me, Don Carlos. Being +stationed some few miles from here, I asked for leave of absence this +morning to join some troops which (pardon me) are going to make a raid +upon this very village this morning. But, thanks to my foolhardiness in +starting off alone, I soon found myself in the hands of guerillas. I +escaped. They pursued me. But I, though alone in a strange country and +unarmed, led them a nice dance for half an hour. I was just about to +fall again into their hands when I came in sight of this house. I duped +them by my ruse of pitching my voice in such a manner as to lead them to +think I was beyond the village, whilst I at the same time took refuge +here. To conclude, my worthy fellow, no doubt the guerillas are not +blind, and not finding any trace of me upon the route, will return to +Panola. Consequently, if you are a host to my liking you will----" + +"Conceal you," said Stephano, quickly. "You are right!" and he glanced +round with uneasiness. The lieutenant struck him on the shoulder. "One +minute," he said; "the guerillas cannot reappear for half an hour. This +little expedition, as you may imagine, was not my only motive for coming +to Panola, and I must again abuse your patience in asking you some +questions upon a certain subject which is the motive of my expedition." + +"Go on," replied Stephano, with resignation. + +"I came here to look for a young girl," said the Frenchman, twisting his +moustache, "and as, perhaps, you will be so good as to give me some +information on this point, it would be better for you to know the story. +Last year my regiment, after a vigorous resistance, entered a village in +Navarre." + +"A village in Navarre?" repeated Stephano, and his brow darkened. + +"One house had been so well defended, indeed, that it was found +necessary to surround it, and our infuriated soldiers, drunk with +carnage, determined to massacre everyone within. I luckily surprised +them as they drew their sabres upon two poor old creatures and their +young daughter. I threw myself between the victims and their butchers; +the wretches turned upon me and I fell wounded by a bayonet thrust, but +they were saved. The kind people who owed me their lives bore me to +their house, and gave me every care. The young girl watched at my +bedside for more than a fortnight. Briefly the beauty, the tenderness of +the little girl, won my heart. Losing no time, I declared my passion. +She whispered, blushing, that I might speak to her parents. As soon as I +was well enough to walk, I hastened to the worthy old man, who, after +the shock he had received, became mortally ill, and felt his end +approach. I had no sooner asked him for his daughter's hand than he +exclaimed, 'God be praised! I shall not now die without having +recompensed our deliverer.' At the same time he took the young girl's +hand and mine, and, after making us exchange rings, clasped them +together. Then he stretched forth his trembling hands above our heads to +bless us, whilst on our knees by the bedside we swore eternal fidelity +to each other. Three days after the good man died, and the same day my +regiment left for Castile. Seven months passed without my hearing any +news from my betrothed, and it was only by chance I learned that on her +mother's death she had quitted Navarre to take up her abode in her +uncle's house at Panola. + +"But what is the matter?" said the lieutenant, as Stephano rose +hurriedly. + +"I know enough," replied the young man in a hollow voice. "The village +was Tafalla, and the young girl's name is Rosita." + +"But what is there in that?" cried the lieutenant, who understood +nothing of Stephano's emotion. "You know Rosita? She is here? You are +silent. Heavens! Is she dead--or married?" + +"No, no," replied Stephano, with an effort. "Rosita is here. No doubt +she loves you and watches for your return with impatience." + +"Where, then, shall I find my betrothed?" + +Stephano was about to reply to this question when the tramp of horses +was heard. It was the troop returning. + +"Softly!" whispered Dulaurier as he crept towards the window. "Yes, +these are my friends. Where will you hide me?" + +Stephano regarded him with a savage gleam in his eyes and muttered to +himself, "This man comes here to blast my happiness, and I must protect +his life at the peril of my own." + +"What am I to do?" repeated Dulaurier. + +"Take this dagger," said Stephano, "put on your mantle and follow me." +He unfastened a little door which opened upon a staircase which led into +the garden, and descended, followed by Dulaurier. They stole along +behind a thick hedge of hawthorn until they came to the trees of a +little orchard, from which rose the roof of a ruined summer-house. On +reaching this spot Stephano installed the lieutenant so that he could +watch both the road and the garden; then having arranged upon the course +they should take, Stephano hastened back to the house. + +[Illustration: "THEY STOLE ALONG."] + +Don Pedro was in the lower hall, alone, when his son entered. + +"I have a request to make to you," said the young man, clasping his +father's hand convulsively. "I want you to let me start at once to join +my brothers and to fight for Spain." + +"Can you then leave your cousin?" said Don Pedro, sadly. "And you do not +know----" + +"I know more than you, father, more than Rosita herself about this +affair," interrupted Stephano. "Is not Rosita betrothed to a French +volunteer in Don Carlos's army, and is this not the secret she confided +to you on harvest day?" + +"It is true. But how have you discovered it?" + +"From a man flying from the pursuit of guerillas; no other than the man +himself, Lieutenant Charles Dulaurier!" + +"Is it possible?" exclaimed the stupefied old man. + +"You see, father, that it is absolutely necessary for me to go," cried +Stephano. "I cannot wait until Rosita and Dulaurier are united. Their +happiness would be more than I could bear, and I have thought of a plan +by which the lieutenant can be saved without putting off my departure. I +shall join the troop of guerillas who are seeking Dulaurier in the +village. Seeing me become one of themselves their suspicions will be +lulled, and I shall save my rival by departing with his enemies." + +"You are right," replied his father, after a painful pause, but he could +not utter a word more. + +The young man proceeded to take down from the wall his pistols and his +gun; he placed the former in his belt and the latter on his shoulder, +took his hat and stepped forward to bid his father farewell. But as he +threw himself into the arms of the weeping old man, the door opened and +Rosita entered. + +The young girl glanced quickly from one to the other, and then her eyes +remained fixed on Stephano. + +"What are you going to do?" she asked, examining his equipment. + +"I am going away," replied Stephano. "Farewell, Rosita, be happy. +Farewell, father," he added, embracing Don Pedro. + +"He is going," said Rosita, her eyes dim with tears, "without one +friendly smile, without one clasp of his hand. Oh! Stephano," she +exclaimed, springing forward. "You cannot part from me thus!" + +"You are keeping me!" said the bewildered young man. + +"Yes," she replied, seizing his hand. "Stay, Stephano, do not go. I +implore you!" + +"Remain!" cried the young man, passionately. "Remain to see you in the +arms of another? Never!" + +As he moved towards the door, Rosita sprang towards him with +outstretched arms. "And what if it is you whom I love, Stephano? What if +I have never loved anyone but you?" A thunderbolt would hardly have +produced more effect than did these words. + +"You love me?" he repeated, approaching his cousin. "Rosita, for mercy's +sake, repeat those words once more, so that I may be sure of having +heard aright." + +"Yes, I love you," repeated the young girl, tenderly; "no one but you! +Will you stay now?" + +"For ever, if you wish it!" cried the enraptured youth, throwing down +his gun and pistols. "Look at me, Rosita, that I may read in your eyes +that word which gives me life, and which I have waited for so long. How +blind and foolish I have been! But that will be all right now, will it +not, my beloved?" As he spoke he embraced her passionately. By both of +them the world was forgotten. + +Through the open window came the clink of spurs and rattling of sabres. +This sound, to which Stephano and Rosita were deaf, struck on the ear of +Don Pedro and paralyzed him with terror. + +"Stephano!" he cried at last. "Remember Lieutenant Dulaurier!" + +[Illustration: "REMEMBER LIEUTENANT DULAURIER!"] + +"Ah!" groaned Stephano, rudely torn from his ecstasy of happiness; and +he fixed his gaze upon his cousin. + +The girl had not even heard Don Pedro. + +"Rosita," said her lover, "you say you love me, but you have a +_fiancé!_" + +"Dulaurier!" cried the startled girl. "Great Heaven! pardon me, I had +forgotten." + +"If this man," continued Stephano, "came here to claim your promise, you +would reply, would you not, that friendship alone, not love, had drawn +you towards him, and that your hand, promised when you hardly knew what +you did, would now be given without your heart?" + +"Yes, that is what I should answer; but he is not likely to come here, +Stephano." + +"And what if he were here already?" asked an impressive voice. + +Don Pedro at the same time stepped forward between the young people, and +before the severe face of the Spaniard their eyes drooped. + +"Father!" faltered the young man. + +"Silence!" cried the old man. "Your duty is clear. What if Dulaurier +were in the house, Rosita--what if, more faithful than you, he had come +to claim his promise, made at the death-bed of your father? I ask you +what you would answer." + +Trembling and submissive as a criminal before his judge, the young girl +turned her eyes from Stephano to Don Pedro. + +"I should reply to Lieutenant Dulaurier that, before God and man, I am +his betrothed bride, and that while he lives no other can be my +husband." + +"Come then, my child, prepare to receive your _fiancé_," and Don Pedro +held out his hand to his niece to lead her away. + +"You are destroying my happiness!" cried Stephano. + +"But in return I give you back your honour," replied Don Pedro. "Look +after the lieutenant, for here come the guerillas!" and he went out. + +"What a dream, and what an awakening!" murmured Stephano as he was left +alone. "Rosita vows she loves me, and at the same time declares she will +never be mine while Dulaurier lives. _While he lives!_ And I must take +upon myself the peril of saving him, when I have only to let him----Oh, +how despair tempts us to horrible deeds! Is there time to fly, to quit +this spot where each thought is torture: to hasten and join the +guerillas before they enter the house? For, alas! if they enter now and +demand where their enemy is--by Heaven! I shall not have the strength to +resist--I must fly!" + +Picking up his gun and pistols he rushed towards the door, but recoiled +at the sight of a man in the uniform of a captain of guerillas, who by a +gesture forced him to pause. + +[Illustration: "IT IS TOO LATE!"] + +"Malediction--it is too late!" murmured the young man, as he dropped +upon a chair, and let his unheeded weapons fall to the ground. + +"Two sentinels before each door and window," called out the captain to +the soldiers who followed him. "This is the last house in which our +prisoner could take refuge," he continued, striking impatiently the butt +end of his rifle upon the ground. "Search well, comrades; you know he +who takes the Frenchman prisoner is to have the honour of firing the +first shot upon him, and is also to receive twenty douros for reward." +Thereupon he advanced into the room. "Well, my good fellow," he said to +Stephano; "what are you going to do with these weapons? Are they to +defend yourself or to protect the officer whom you have hidden here?" + +"No one is hidden in this house," replied the young man, with the +courage which peril bestows. "The La Sargas are known throughout the +country to be devoted to Spain and the Queen. I have three brothers in +the national army, and I have just picked up these weapons with the +intention of joining your troops." + +The captain looked at him with a sneering smile. Then he turned to his +companions, who had just returned from searching the house. + +"Well, have you found anything?" + +"Only a young girl and an old man," was the reply. + +"Bring the old man here," said the captain; then he turned to Stephano. +"And you, sir, go with my lieutenant and these three men, and show them +every room there is"; then he murmured in the lieutenant's ear, +slipping at the same time a purse of gold into his hand: "Spare neither +threats nor persuasion to gain this young man over to our side. Whatever +it costs, I must recapture our prisoner." + +Stephano felt tempted to resist these orders, but he reflected that this +would only draw suspicion upon him, and he led the way up the stairs, +which were placed in a corner of the room. + +At the same time Don Pedro entered, guarded by two soldiers and leaning +on his staff. Then an interval ensued, and the minutes flew past. +Suddenly a pistol shot was heard. Everyone gave a start of alarm. Then +one of the guards who had gone out with Stephano came rushing down the +stairs and into the room. + +"The bird is snared, or will be in a few minutes," he cried. "Our +prisoner," he continued, pointing through the window, "is in that +building which you see at the bottom of the garden." + +"How do you know this?" asked the captain. + +"From the young man who is upstairs with the lieutenant." + +"From Stephano!" cried the old man, growing pale with horror. + +"Ah, ah!" laughed the captain, "your son does not seem very hard to +persuade." + +"The lieutenant having discovered nothing," the man went on, "told three +of us to go and search the granary, and took advantage of the occasion +to take the young man aside. I watched them. A purse of gold and the +barrel of a pistol have been the principal inducements. The sly fellow +at first was very obstinate, and it was then that the lieutenant fired +the pistol at him to frighten him. The young man seemed to be moved in a +singular manner by the shot. He gave way with good grace, and pointed +the pavilion out to us." + +Whilst the captain lent a joyful ear to this narrative, Don Pedro, on +the contrary, listened with terror mingled with incredulity. At these +last words he could contain himself no longer, and broke in violently:-- + +"Enough, wretch; enough!" he cried. "What you say is impossible! It is +an infamous calumny! My son is quite incapable of such villainy!" + +"Look, senor," replied the man, pointing to the stairs. + +Stephano in truth was descending with the lieutenant, holding the purse +in his hand. His pale and agitated face seemed to proclaim his guilt, +and Don Pedro sank back fainting on a seat. Stephano crossed the room +with a faltering step without observing his father, and, reaching the +window, gazed out upon the road. + +In recalling to mind his son's jealousy of Dulaurier, Don Pedro +understood the facts of the matter--that he had sold his guest to get +rid of a detested rival. Maddened by passion, he had without doubt lost +all control over himself. After having exchanged some words in a low +voice with his lieutenant, the captain made a sign to two of his men. + +"Remain with this fellow," he said, in a tone of contempt, pointing to +Stephano, "until we reach the pavilion; if he makes one movement shoot +him, and when a volley announces to you that we are not deceived, join +us to start upon our route." + +"Very good, captain," answered the two soldiers, taking up their +position on each side of Stephano, whilst the others went out softly. + +A mournful silence reigned in the chamber. + +Stephano stood erect before the window, with haggard eyes fixed upon the +road; Don Pedro, mute and motionless in his chair, seemed like a man +bereft of all at a single blow. Then, his misery overwhelming him, he +covered his face with his hands and wept. Stephano turned round quickly, +and for the first time saw his father. + +"Great Heavens! He was there, and heard all!" he murmured. "Father!" he +cried imploringly. + +"Call me your father no more," cried the old man, with flaming eyes, +"unless you can tell me that I am blind and deaf, or that I have dreamed +that my son was a coward, a traitor, an assassin! Tell me so, Stephano, +for pity's sake!" + +The young man made an effort as if he were about to speak, but paused at +the sight of his two guards; the strain was so painful that he was +forced to lean for support on one of the guerilla's arms. Then he turned +away; Don Pedro rose from his seat and came towards his son. + +"His eye never quits this fatal window," he murmured to himself. "It +looks as if he watched to see the success of his perfidy, that he wishes +to assure himself that his rival does not escape. Wretch!" he burst +forth, "if this is so, may you be----" + +Suddenly a hand was laid softly upon the old man's arm. It was Rosita. + +"Ah! it is you, Rosita!" said Don Pedro with a bewildered stare. +"Wretched man that I am, what was I about to do?" he added, passing his +hand over his forehead. + +Rosita came farther forward into the room. + +"Stephano guarded by two soldiers!" she cried. "Holy Virgin! what does +this mean, and what has happened?" + +And she made an instinctive movement towards her cousin. Her uncle +stopped her. + +"Keep away from this wretched man!" he cried, "for he is a coward and a +traitor; he has betrayed your betrothed!" + +"Betrayed my betrothed!" cried the girl, with horror. "It is +impossible!" + +"Not only has he betrayed him," continued the old man, taking his +niece's hand, "but he is watching for the success of his treason. Do you +recognise my son, Rosita?" he added, with heartrending despair, "or the +man whom you loved?" + +Here the poor old man broke down completely, and sank back into his +chair. The girl gazed at him with consternation. Even the rough soldiers +were touched by the scene, and turned their heads aside. + +[Illustration: "THE POOR OLD MAN BROKE DOWN COMPLETELY."] + +At that instant a loud report shook the walls. It was the captain's +volley. The two soldiers exchanged a meaning glance and disappeared. As +soon as they went out Rosita threw herself in Don Pedro's arms. + +"Dulaurier is dead!" said the old man, gloomily. + +"He is saved!" cried Stephano, coming forward, and throwing from him as +he did so the purse of gold. "Yes, father, yes, Rosita, the lieutenant +is safe and sound, and will be with us in a few seconds." + +"How can that be?" cried Don Pedro, passing from despair to joy. + +"Before leaving Dulaurier in the pavilion we had arranged that he was to +be informed by a pistol shot when he must leave his hiding-place for the +granary whilst his enemies were searching the pavilion. You understand +now how the guerilla's shot agitated me. For, of course, Dulaurier, +taking the report for the signal agreed upon, would leave the pavilion +for the granary, and would then fall into the hands of his pursuers. The +only plan to save him was to get the soldiers away from the granary, +which I did by feigning to betray Dulaurier, by accepting the purse, and +pointing out the pavilion as his hiding-place. For a quarter of an hour +I have endured the tortures of hell, but I have saved the man who +confided in me, and I am still worthy of you both!" + +The young man had hardly finished his narrative when his father and +Rosita were at his feet begging for forgiveness. Then Stephano hastened +to the granary, and called the lieutenant's name, but there was no +response, and soon Stephano's surprise was changed to uneasiness. He +rushed into the granary. It was empty. Stephano reappeared, pale, +tottering and breathless. + +"Dulaurier is not in the granary," he cried. "He cannot have taken the +pistol shot for my signal. He must have remained, and that report we +heard was his death-shot." + +He paused abruptly. Don Pedro and Rosita understood, and burst forth +into an exclamation of horror. + +"Victory! Victory!" cried a hundred voices. + +Their despair and consternation were changed to the most lively +astonishment, when a detachment of Don Carlos's volunteers entered the +house, led by Dulaurier himself. + +"Dulaurier!" exclaimed Stephano, Don Pedro, and Rosita at the same time. + +"Our enemies!" said the old Castilian, whilst his niece shrank behind +him. + +"Say rather friends," replied Dulaurier, pressing Stephano's hand +warmly. + +"But how has all this happened?" began the bewildered Stephano. + +"One minute's attention. For half an hour I waited patiently after your +departure in the little pavilion, when I heard the signal we arranged on +of the pistol shot. I quitted my hiding-place at once, and was preparing +to creep towards the granary, when, casting a glance upon the road, I +recognised the uniforms of the volunteers of my regiment. Briefly," +continued Dulaurier, showing the soldiers who surrounded him, "here are +the gentlemen, whom I have the honour of presenting to you. Like good +comrades, they determined to avenge me, and we caught the guerillas in +an ambush as they were searching the pavilion. Bang! a general +discharge, and thirty men were lying on the ground, and the rest running +away for their lives." + +"The volley of which we believed you the victim!" interrupted Stephano. + +"You understand the rest. Not wishing to quit Panola without thanking +you, and also wishing to see about that little matter which I mentioned +to you this morning, we came on here. And now," he added to Stephano, +with the air of a man who has no time to lose, "I must thank you most +warmly for all you have done for me." + +There was such a tone of kindness in these words that Stephano could do +nothing but grasp his hand cordially in return. + +"Anyone else?" cried the effusive officer, looking quickly round. "You +have a father, a mother, a wife, perhaps? Where are they? This noble old +man must be your father," and upon Stephano's making an affirmative sign +he grasped the old man's hand, and wrung it with force. + +"Are there no ladies in your family?" asked Dulaurier with a gallant +air. + +It was then that in spite of Rosita's efforts to avoid his attention he +caught sight of her as she hid behind Don Pedro's high-backed chair. + +"Ah! here is one!" he said, without recognising his betrothed. He +stepped forward towards her. + +"Most amiable senora," he began politely, "permit me----" He paused, +gazing with stupefied eyes upon the young girl, and then made a sign to +his soldiers to leave them. + +"Good Heavens!" he exclaimed, "if I am not deceived it is Rosita, my +pretty _fiancée_!" + +"You are right; it is I, Monsieur Dulaurier," faltered the young girl. + +The light of happiness vanished from all the faces in the room except +the lieutenant's. + +"You can easily understand, my pretty one, what has led me to Panola," +said Dulaurier. + +"I presume you have come to remind Rosita," answered Don Pedro, "of the +promise that she gave you at her dying father's bedside. She has not +forgotten it, senor. She recognises her duty, and you have only one word +to say----" + +"Will you answer me yourself, Rosita?" interrupted Dulaurier, marking +her extreme pallor and agitation. "You know what I have the right of +claiming; are you still able to give it me freely?" + +"Without doubt," she murmured; "if I give you my hand, my heart will go +with it." + +"Words, nothing but words!" thought the lieutenant, who grew pale in his +turn. "All women are weathercocks. It is clear I am superseded," and he +bit his lip until it bled. "But I should like to know who is my +substitute," and he turned mechanically to Stephano. He found him as +mute and as troubled as Rosita. The truth flashed across him. "I cannot +blame the brave young man," he murmured to himself, "for falling in love +with his cousin. It has not prevented him from saving my life at the +expense of his love and honour, and as I have no wish for a heart not +wholly mine, I have now to render sacrifice for sacrifice, and to keep +the reputation of France equal to that of Spain." He turned to Rosita +with a smile. + +"Mademoiselle," he began, "when we plighted our troth, and I told you +that I loved you devotedly, I was as sincere as I am to-day, only I took +upon myself too much, and have contracted several other engagements, +more or less similar to yours." He gave a forced laugh as he pronounced +these words. + +"That is enough, senor," said Don Pedro. "But why have you then come to +Panola to claim her promise?" + +"Who said that I was here for that purpose?" asked Dulaurier, abruptly. +Stephano, indeed, recollected that the Frenchman had not said a single +word which implied that he came to claim Rosita's hand. "I implore +Mademoiselle Rosita to pardon me," pursued Dulaurier, "and I propose +that we exchange rings again." + +[Illustration: "I PROPOSE THAT WE EXCHANGE RINGS AGAIN."] + +It was no sooner said than done. Dulaurier turned and clasped Stephano's +hand again, and now the young man saw with apprehension that Dulaurier's +eyes were dim with tears. Dulaurier could keep up the farce no longer, +and his heart was breaking behind the smile upon his lips. + +"Dulaurier!" said the young man, "you weep: you are unhappy! What you +have said has been only a sublime falsehood! You love Rosita--you wish +to marry her--and if you have the generosity to renounce all for me, it +must not be at the expense of your happiness." + +"Hush!" said Dulaurier, as he took him aside. "Do not undo my work. But +since you have found it out, you are right. I did come back to claim +Rosita. I have always loved her, and have loved none but her. But do not +breathe a word of this. Let no thought of my unhappiness cast a shadow +on her life. Sacrifice for sacrifice, young man. France is equal to +Spain, and we are quits. + +"Farewell, brave Castilians," he cried aloud, "celebrate the marriage +merrily: and let us hope that we shall never meet upon the battlefield +of this unhappy country." + +"Farewell!" replied Stephano, huskily. + +Dulaurier pressed Don Pedro's and Stephano's hands, kissed that of +Rosita, and joined his comrades outside. + +"Wheel to the right--forward!" he shouted, at the head of his battalion. + +Then came the roll of the drum, and they all marched past the window. + +"Rosita," said Stephano to his cousin, "you are free, and we are going +to be happy; but never let us forget Lieutenant Dulaurier!" + + + + +_The Queer Side of Things._ + + +The N. P. M. C + +[Illustration] + +Let us return for a space to the two spirits William and James, whose +conversations we described in past numbers. Some readers may possibly +recall how the spirit James, while wandering through the darkness of +unoccupied Space (about five-and-twenty billions of eons before the +commencement of Eternity), conceived a wild idea of the possibility of +the existence of worlds--worlds occupied by an impracticability called +"man." It will be recollected how the wiser spirit William cast +well-merited ridicule upon this insanely impossible phantasy of a +disordered mind; nay, even condescended to crush, by perspicuous and +irrefutable logic, the grotesque and preposterous idea. + +Very well; it is now William's turn. + +"James," he said one day as they chanced to sight each other in the +awful solitude of Space, "I have been thinking over that world of yours, +and your crowning absurdity, 'man.' Pray do not become too inflated with +weak conceit at my condescending to think about such trivialities; for +the fact is, any subject of thought--however hopelessly foolish--is a +relief amid the tediousness of Space. Well, I have been reflecting upon +that characteristic which you conceive as distinguishing your puppet +'man'--I allude to _intelligence_. I think you suggested that he would +possess intelligence?" + +James only fidgeted uneasily, and made a feeble sign of affirmation. + +"Very well," continued William. "Now, I have been putting two and two +together, and have found out the nature of that quality which you +mistake for intelligence; its true name is 'low cunning.' Every fresh +piece of absurdity which you have told me touching the tricks of your +queer creatures has supplied new evidence of this. Your creatures were +to feed upon the substance of the 'world' on which they lived, and, ever +increasing in numbers, would logically in course of time find there was +not a mouthful apiece. I think we agreed about that? Well, let us +consider that period, some time before the creatures should actually +become exterminated by the natural evolution of events--the time when +all the eatable products of their world would be growing scarce. You +went so far as to imagine a great many products----" + +"Yes!" said James, gazing afar off in the absorption of his imagination. +"Yes--there were eggs, and oysters, and poultry, and mushrooms, and----" + +"Ah!--the very things I've been reflecting about. Well, I've been +dreaming that, at the period of which I speak, when all the commodities +were becoming scarce, your human beings would agree to make poisonous +artificial articles of consumption with which to poison themselves by +degrees, and thus reduce the population to convenient limits." + +"No!" cried James, pondering deeply. "Their idea would be to poison not +_themselves_, but _each other_!" + +[Illustration: "POISON."] + +"Ah! I see. Then they would make some sort of effort to prevent +themselves being poisoned?" + +"Oh, yes; they would pass Adulteration Acts for the purpose." + +"I see; and any creature who did not wish to be poisoned could take +advantage of these Acts to protect himself?" + +"Certainly. The Acts would be very stringent. Let us suppose, for +example, that a certain man suspected that the butter supplied to him +was not butter at all, but a deleterious compound--well, all he would +have to do would be to go to the shop, accompanied by a guardian of the +peace, and, standing on one leg, with both hands on the counter and one +eye shut, order a pound of the butter in certain words prescribed by the +Act. He would then say to the tradesman, 'I am about to divide this +pound of butter into three equal portions for the purposes of analysis'; +and, taking the butter-man's knife in his left hand, and passing it to +his right, would cut the butter into three portions exactly equal. + +"After this, hermetically sealing the three portions in three jars +provided for the purpose, he would hand one jar to the tradesman, the +second to the guardian of the peace, and retain the third. Then he would +bring an action; and (provided that all the conditions had been +accurately fulfilled, without the slightest flaw) the erring tradesman +would be told by the Court not to do it again; while the complainant +would have to pay all costs, and possibly a fine; and would be sneered +at by the magistrate as a fussy idiot and a common informer. + +"If, on the other hand, the complainant should omit to secure the +company of a custodian of the peace, or fail to stand on one leg with +both hands on the counter, or take the knife in his right hand first, or +should leave out the prescribed words, or blink his eye, or stammer, or +sneeze, or in any other way fail to observe the regulations of the Act; +he would, of course, have no case or remedy. The Adulteration Acts would +be extremely stringent----" + +"Against the victim of adulteration?" + +"Ye--es," murmured James, a little nonplussed. + +[Illustration: "THE SHOP."] + +"Ah--well, then, I think we can afford to ignore these Adulteration +Acts--like the adulterators and the public authorities would--and +proceed with the question of the adulteration. I had a most vivid vision +or dream of the details of this adulteration as they would be carried +out on your world at the period we are now considering. I imagined that +I was actually in a part of your world called 'America,' and that one of +your human beings politely invited me to walk through his factory and +see how things were made. I think you mentioned 'oysters'----" + +[Illustration: "NO CASE."] + +"Yes," said James, "that's one name the article of food would possess; +newspaper writers, however, would not recognise them by that name--they +would only know them as 'the succulent bivalve.'" + +"The very idea!" exclaimed William. "That's exactly what I seemed to +have become--a newspaper writer. I fancied I went to see the factory, +and then sent in the following account:-- + +"One of the most interesting factories in America is the stately +building of the Ephraim Q. Knickerbocker Natural Products Manufacturing +Corporation, of Spread Eagle Springs, N.J. That the structure is itself +an imposing one may well be imagined in view of the vast productive +energy expended within its walls; and the feebleness and inefficiency of +the productive operations of Nature are never so fully realized as after +a visit to this marvellous factory, and a comparison of the two systems. + +"It was, therefore, with no little satisfaction that we lately received +a courteous invitation from the able and energetic managing director +General Sardanapalus J. Van Biene to inspect the operations of the +Corporation at its factory. Accordingly, we proceeded to the New York +terminus of the Natural Products Manufacturing Corporation's New York, +Sumner Ferry, Thanksgiving Flats, and Spread Eagle Springs Railroad, +along which a special train speedily whirled us to the front door of the +works. On the steps stood the genial managing director, supported by the +principal manager Colonel Exodus V. Rooster, the head chemist Major +Madison B. Jefferson, and the assistant chemists Judge Vansittart J. +Sumner and Admiral Hudson W. Killigrew. + +"They received us with open arms, and, after entertaining us at a +_recherché_ lunch, conducted us to the chemistry and analysis section +occupying a little over seventeen acres and employing a permanent staff +of thirteen thousand four hundred and thirty-two, assistants, among whom +are chemists, microscopists, sub-inventors, etc., etc. There it is that +the productive operations of Nature are studied and improved upon. + +"'You must not imagine that we have any kind of sympathy or admiration +for Nature's system,' explained General S. J. Van Biene, hastening to +sweep away any false impression which we might have formed. + +[Illustration: "THEY RECEIVED US WITH OPEN ARMS."] + +"'On the contrary, we just entirely despise her and her ways, and should +have discarded her way back but for the prejudices of the consuming +public. It's just like this--the consumers still believe in natural +products, and so we have to go on reproducing them instead of starting +right away on our own lines and bringing out new and original +commodities far in advance of anything Nature can do. How we're +stultified you'll see as we work through. We just have to copy, anyway, +in place of originating. We make oysters, for example. Now quite a while +ago, our head chemist Major Madison B. Jefferson invented a new edible +way, finer in every essential than the oyster; but the consumers +wouldn't have it: they shied at it, and declared it wasn't wholesome; +and we had the whole stock on our hands, and had to vat it down again, +and recolour it, and make tomatoes of it. Then they took it down and +just chaired it round. Of course, we have to say we _grow_ the +products--that's another effect of popular prejudice; if we had said we +made those tomatoes, the public would have started right off again, and +talked of "adulteration," although our tomatoes whip Nature's by 50 per +cent, in all the elements of nutrition and flavour. Just taste this +one.' + +"We hesitated, and the director, perceiving it, promptly consumed +another from the same case. Thus reassured, we ventured to nibble at the +artificial vegetable, and found it excellent in every respect--decidedly +superior to the natural product, as he had stated. + +"'But,' we asked, 'do you not suffer considerable losses when these +products--necessarily perishable in the natural course of things--begin +to decay?' + +[Illustration: "JUST TASTE THIS ONE."] + +"'That's just another point where we show our superiority to Nature. +_Our_ products _don't_ decay; on the contrary, they improve by keeping. +Here is a tomato seven years old,' he continued, taking down another +case. 'Try it.' + +"We did. The other was not to be compared with it. The older tomato had +matured and mellowed, the skin having a finer colour and lovelier gloss, +the flesh possessing a firmer body and more delicate flavour; it was far +in advance of any tomato we had ever conceived. + +"'Wonderful!' we exclaimed. + +"'A very simple matter,' said the director. 'All that is required is a +thorough mastery of chemistry. In all our goods we employ a special +patent preservative of our own, which is naturally a secret. We +calculate it to be worth one hundred and fifty quadrillions of dollars. + +"'But let us show you how we make oysters! See, these are the tanks +which contain the mixture--the compound which forms the body of the +bivalve. This tank contains the beard-mixture; and this one the +gristle.' + +"'And what are the principal ingredients?' + +"'Glue, made from horses' heels. This is a very important factor in our +products. This glue, after undergoing a peculiar treatment which +prevents its hardening and losing its elasticity in the course of years, +is flavoured and coloured in various ways. This great tank contains the +composition for the internal parts of the oyster--nearly black, you +perceive; that tank over there contains the compound for the flesh that +covers the internal parts; that tank farther along holds the beard +mixture; and the one beyond that the gristle which attaches the oyster +to the shell. First, the flesh of the oyster is run into moulds, each +oyster being in two parts; then the inside of the animal is run into +another mould, and the two halves of the body are automatically placed +around it and cemented together. + +"'Meanwhile the beards have been rolled, stamped, frilled, and coloured +along the edge by special automatic machinery. The body of the oyster +then passes to the fixing-up room, where the beard is cemented to it by +hand, and finishing touches of colour added; and then it passes along +and has the gristle attached: and the oyster itself is complete.' + +[Illustration: The Oyster Factory Affixing the Beards.] + +"'But it wants a shell!' + +"'Just so. As far as the supply will go, we buy up old shells from +dustyards and use them; but most of them are damaged by previous +opening, so we make the bulk of our shells, and they're a good deal more +natural than the real ones. They're made of lime.' + +"'All alike?' + +"'Not in the least. You see, we have some thousands of moulds, every one +differing slightly from the rest. There's a special department for +hingeing the two shells together. We had some trouble to find a +substance for the hinge; but at last one of our chemists hit on a way of +subjecting old hide-scraps to a peculiar process, and that did the +thing. The mother-of-pearl is made of a sort of soft glass, somewhat +after the appearance of Venetian glass, and put on the shell hot. +Lastly, the oyster is attached to the shells by its cartilage; a little +liquor is put in, and the shells are closed up.' + +"'But surely people must observe that they are not alive?' we said. 'For +instance, they can't open their shells!' + +"'That's just where you're astray,' replied the General. 'Owing to the +mechanical action of salt upon the composition of the cartilage, the +oyster opens when placed in salt water. Iron, however, exercises an +electro-magnetic influence upon the composition forming the body of the +bivalve, causing a sudden contraction--so that, on a knife being +introduced into the shell, the latter closes in the most natural way. We +manufacture pearls on the premises, and advertise that one oyster in +every gross taken from our beds contains a pearl of more or less value; +and there's a greater demand for our oysters than for any others in the +world. Our oyster beds are way down along the coast, about ten miles +off; and are inspected by thousands yearly. Taste this egg.' + +[Illustration: The Pearl.] + +"He took up a fine specimen of a new-laid egg, and proceeded to break it +into a glass. It was a delightful egg. 'That's our latest pattern of +egg,' explained the General, 'You perceive that it has three lines +around it, where the substance of the shell is weaker than elsewhere; +the lines near each end enable a person about to consume the egg in a +boiled state to easily cut off the top or bottom with a knife, or run +his nail around it; while the line about the middle greatly assists +cooks in breaking it into a basin. There is also a thin spot at either +end, to facilitate sucking. These eggs are always new-laid; we send tons +to Europe, particularly to Great Britain, where ours are the only fresh +eggs they ever get.' + +[Illustration: The London Egg] + +"'But you must find some difficulty in making an egg?' + +"'Just as easy as smiling. The white is simply jelly-fish subjected to a +chemical process--jelly-fish aren't costly. This tank is full of the +liquor. The main ingredient of the yolk is the horse-heel glue mentioned +before; we also boil down vast quantities of rats--they come cheap, too; +it's only the cost of catching them; and then there's a vegetable +colouring, and the preservative, and a few other trifles. First, the two +halves of the white are made in two moulds, and frozen; then the two +frozen halves are frozen together, and the yolk-mixture poured in +through a small hole, which is then closed. Then comes the skin; and +that is the most expensive part, for it contains a certain quantity of +rubber. We have tried in vain to find a substitute for rubber, but +failed hitherto. The rubber is mixed with a gum from a South American +tree, and the mixture is applied with a brush over the frozen egg; and +then the egg, still frozen, is dipped in a lime composition very nearly +identical with the oyster-shell mixture; and, lastly, the whole thing is +passed through the finishing machine, which turns the three thin lines +and the two thin spots, imitates the pores of the shell, and delivers +the finished egg to the warehouse.' + +"'Marvellous!' we involuntarily exclaimed. + +"'Oh, that's nothing at all,' said the director. 'We're meditating +turning out eggs that will hatch and become fowls. At present we have to +manufacture fowls; but we calculate to make a great saving by producing +them from the eggs we make. That building over yonder is the terrapin +factory; we turn out eleven tons of terrapin weekly. We make clams, of +course--in the oyster department. In this next house we make kidneys and +sweetbreads. Fruit? Oh, yes, we turn out masses of fruit; peaches pay +best, but we do very well with nuts.' + +"We were then conducted to the show-room, where we tasted a number of +other products of the wonderful factory; and we had just said a grateful +farewell to our courteous guide, when we were seized with pains of the +most acute description. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: The Pain.] + +"The arrangements of the hospital were admirable. The kindliness and +attention we received made our five years' sojourn there a time to look +back upon with feelings of gratitude. We are assured that, with strict +diet and unremitting care, we may last some time yet--possibly even +three months." + + * * * * * + +"It was a marvellous vision," said James, fervently, as the voice of +William ceased. "Surely after that you must think better of those beings +of mine?" + +But William merely sniffed. + + J. F. SULLIVAN. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: A TURNIP RESEMBLING A HUMAN HAND.] + +The above photographs represent two views of an extraordinary turnip +grown by Alderman David Evans, Llangennech Park, Carmarthenshire. We are +indebted for the photographs to Mr. Morgan W. James, of Llanelly. + + +[Illustration: A ROOM PAPERED WITH STAMPS.] + +The above photograph represents the study of Mr. C. Whitfield King, of +Morpeth House, Ipswich, which he has papered with 44,068 _unused_ +foreign postage stamps, bearing the value of £699 16s. 9d., and +containing 48 varieties of different sizes and colours, presenting an +example of mosaic work which is altogether unique of its kind. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: Drinking] + +[Illustration: VESSELS OF ALL] + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: A CROCODILE STORY.] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Strand Magazine, Volume V, Issue +27, March 1893, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STRAND MAGAZINE, MARCH 1893 *** + +***** This file should be named 30222-8.txt or 30222-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/2/2/30222/ + +Produced by Victorian/Edwardian Pictorial Magazines, +Jonathan Ingram, Josephine Paolucci and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/30222-8.zip b/30222-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c3b0794 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-8.zip diff --git a/30222-h.zip b/30222-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..65a316c --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h.zip diff --git a/30222-h/30222-h.htm b/30222-h/30222-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6e889b9 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/30222-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6198 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Strand, Volume 5, Issue 27, march, 1893. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + .right {text-align: right;} + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 1em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i8 {display: block; margin-left: 4em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30222 ***</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE</h2> + +<h1>STRAND MAGAZINE</h1> + +<h2><i>An Illustrated Monthly</i></h2> + +<h3>Vol. 5, Issue. 27.</h3> + +<h4>March 1893</h4> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2>Contents</h2> + +<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. --> +<p> +<a href="#A_GAME_of_CHESS"><b>A Game Of Chess.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#Illustrated_Interviews"><b>Illustrated Interviews: XXI.--Mr. and Mrs. Kendal.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#Author_Author"><b>"Author! Author!"</b></a><br /> +<a href="#Zig_Zags_at_the_Zoo_Conkavian"><b>Zig Zags at the Zoo: Conkavian.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#Shafts_from_an_Eastern_Quiver"><b>Shafts from an Eastern Quiver IX.--Maw-Sayah: The Keeper of the Great Burman.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#From_Behind_the_Speakers_Chair"><b>From Behind the Speaker's Chair III.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#Portraits_of_Celebrities_at_Different_Times_of_their_Lives"><b>Portraits of Celebrities at Different Times of their Lives.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#The_Adventures_of_Sherlock_Holmes"><b>The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes XVI.--The Adventure of the Stockbroker's Clerk.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#Beauties"><b>Beauties.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#Hands"><b>Hands II.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#Illustration_ROSITA"><b>Rosita.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#The_Queer_Side_of_Things"><b>The Queer Side of Things.</b></a><br /> +</p> +<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 320px;"> +<img src="images/image219.jpg" width="320" height="500" alt=""By Heaven," cried Ruy Lopez, "the Duke shall finish his +Game!"" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"By Heaven," cried Ruy Lopez, "the Duke shall finish his +Game!"<br /> + +(<i>A Game of Chess.</i>)</span> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 650px;"> +<img src="images/image220.jpg" width="650" height="452" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<p><a name="A_GAME_of_CHESS" id="A_GAME_of_CHESS"></a></p> + +<h3><span class="smcap">From the French.</span></h3> + + +<h4>I.</h4> + +<p>King Phillip II. was playing at chess in the Escurial Palace. His +opponent was Ruy Lopez, a humble priest, but a chess player of great +skill. Being the King's particular favourite, the great player was +permitted to kneel upon a brocaded cushion, whilst the courtiers grouped +about the King were forced to remain standing in constrained and painful +attitudes.</p> + +<p>It was a magnificent morning. The air was perfumed with the orange +groves, and the violet curtains of the splendid hall hardly softened the +burning rays which streamed in through the windows. The blaze of living +light seemed scarcely in harmony with the King's gloomy countenance. His +brow was black as night, and from time to time he bent his eyes +impatiently upon the door. The nobles stood in silence, darting meaning +glances at each other. It was easily to be discerned that some event of +great importance weighed upon the spirits of the assembly. No one paid +any attention to the chess-board except Ruy Lopez, who, as he moved the +pieces, hesitated between the temptation of checkmating his opponent and +the deference due to his King. The silence was unbroken except by the +sound made by the players moving their pieces.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the door opened, and a man of rude and savage aspect advanced +into the hall, and, presenting himself before the King, stood waiting +his commands to speak. This man's appearance was anything but +prepossessing, and on his entrance the nobles, as if animated with one +thought, shrank back with contempt and loathing, as if some unclean +animal had entered into their midst. His massive, herculean figure was +clad in a doublet of black leather, and his face, in which could be seen +no trace of intelligence, expressed, on the contrary, nothing but +vileness and villainy; a great scar, running right across his face and +losing itself in a bushy beard, added still further to the natural +brutality of his countenance.</p> + +<p>An electric thrill ran through the assembly. The new comer was Fernando +Calavar, high executioner of Spain.</p> + +<p>"Is he dead?" asked the King, in an imperious tone.</p> + +<p>"No, sire," replied Calavar, bowing low.</p> + +<p>The King frowned.</p> + +<p>"Great Sovereign of Spain," Calavar continued, "the prisoner has claimed +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>his privileges, and I cannot take proceedings against a man whose blood +belongs to the noblest in Spain, without having a more imperative order +from your Majesty," and he bowed again.</p> + +<p>The nobles, who had listened with great attention to these words, broke +into a murmur of approbation as the man finished speaking. The proud +Castilian blood rushed like a stream of lava through their veins, and +dyed their faces crimson. The manifestation became general. Young Alonza +D'Ossuna openly asserted his opinion by putting on his plumed cap. His +bold example was followed by the majority of the nobles, and their lofty +nodding crests seemed to proclaim with defiance that their masters +protested in favour of the privilege, which the hidalgos of Spain have +always enjoyed, of covering their heads before their Sovereign.</p> + +<p>The King gave a furious start, and striking his fist violently upon the +chess-board, scattered the chessmen in all directions.</p> + +<p>"He has been judged by our Royal Court of Justice," he cried, "and +condemned to death. What does the traitor demand?"</p> + +<p>"Sire!" replied the executioner, "he asks permission to die upon the +block, and also to pass the three last hours of his life with a priest."</p> + +<p>"Ah, that is granted!" replied Philip, in a tone of relief. "Is not our +confessor in the prison according to our orders?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sire!" said Calavar, "the holy man is there; but the Duke refuses +to see St. Diaz de Silva. He says he cannot receive absolution from +anyone below the dignity of a Bishop. Such is the privilege of a noble +condemned to death for high treason."</p> + +<p>"Yes, these are our rights!" boldly interrupted the fiery D'Ossuna; "and +we claim from the King our cousin's privileges."</p> + +<p>This demand acted as a signal.</p> + +<p>"Our rights and the King's justice are inseparable," cried Don Diego de +Tarraxas, Count of Valence, an old man of gigantic stature, clothed in +armour, holding in his hands the bâton of Great Constable of Spain, and +leaning upon his long Toledo blade.</p> + +<p>"Our rights and our privileges!" cried the nobles, repeating the words +like an echo. Their audacity made the King start with fury from his +ebony throne.</p> + +<p>"By the bones of Campeador!" he cried. "By the soul of St. Jago! I have +sworn neither to eat nor sleep until the bleeding head of Don Gusman +lies before me. As I have sworn, so shall it be. But Don Tarraxas has +said well, 'The King's justice confirms his subjects' rights.' My Lord +Constable, where does the nearest Bishop reside?"</p> + +<p>"Sire, I have more to do with camp than with the Church," the Constable +replied, somewhat abruptly. "Your Majesty's chaplain, Don Silvas, is +present: he can tell you better than I."</p> + +<p>Don Silvas began to speak in trepidation.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/image221.jpg" width="450" height="345" alt=""WHAT DOES THE TRAITOR DEMAND?"" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"WHAT DOES THE TRAITOR DEMAND?"</span> +</div> + +<p>"Sire," he said, humbly, "the Bishop of Segovia is an official of the +King, but he who filled the duty died last week, and the parchment which +names his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> successor is still upon the Council table, and is yet to be +submitted to the Pope's seal."</p> + +<p>At these words a joyous smile hovered about D'Ossuna's lips. This joy +was but natural, for the young man was of the blood of the Gusmans, and +his cousin, the condemned prisoner, was his dearest friend. The King +perceived the smile, and his eye shot forth lightning.</p> + +<p>"We are the King!" he said, gravely, with the calm which presages a +storm; "our Royal person must be no butt for raillery. This sceptre +appears light, my lords, but he who ridicules it shall be crushed +thereby as with a block of iron. I believe that our holy father the Pope +is somewhat indebted to us, so that we do not fear his displeasure at +the step which we are about to take. Since the King of Spain can make a +Prince, he can also make a Bishop. Rise, then, Don Ruy Lopez. I create +you Bishop of Segovia. Rise, I command you, and take your rank in the +Church."</p> + +<p>The courtiers stood dumfounded.</p> + +<p>Don Ruy Lopez rose mechanically. His head was whirling, and he stammered +as he strove to speak.</p> + +<p>"If your Majesty pleases——" he began.</p> + +<p>"Silence, my Lord Bishop!" replied the King. "Obey your Sovereign. The +formalities of your installation shall be performed another day; our +subjects will not fail to acknowledge our wishes in this affair. Bishop +of Segovia, go with Calavar to the condemned man's cell. Give absolution +to his soul, and in three hours leave his body to the executioner's axe. +As for you, Calavar, I will await you here; you will bring us the +traitor's head. Let justice be accomplished."</p> + +<p>Then Philip turned to Ruy Lopez.</p> + +<p>"I give you my signet ring," he said, "to show the Duke as a token of +the truth of your story."</p> + +<p>The executioner left the chamber, followed by Ruy Lopez.</p> + +<p>"Well, gentlemen," said the King, turning to the others, "do you still +doubt the King's justice?"</p> + +<p>But the nobles answered not a word.</p> + +<p>The King, having taken his seat, made a sign to one of his favourites to +place himself before the chess-board, and Don Ramirez, Count of Biscay, +accordingly knelt down upon the velvet cushion.</p> + +<p>"With a game of chess, gentlemen," said the King, smiling, "and your +company, I cannot fail to make the time pass agreeably. Let no one leave +the chamber until Calavar's return. We cannot spare a single one of +you."</p> + +<p>With these ironical words, Philip commenced a game with Don Ramirez, +whilst the nobles, almost dropping with fatigue, resumed the positions +about their august master which they had occupied at the beginning of +this story.</p> + + +<h4>II.</h4> + +<p>Calavar, leading the way, conducted the new Bishop to the condemned +man's cell. Ruy Lopez walked like one in a dream. Was he awake, or not? +He hardly knew. At the bottom of his heart he cursed the King and his +Court. He understood perfectly that he had become Bishop of Segovia, but +he felt deeply at what a price he had bought his dignity. What had Don +Gusman done that he should be thus sacrificed? Don Gusman, the best +chess player in Spain! He thought of all this as he proceeded over the +marble flags which led to the State prison, and as he thought he prayed +that the ground would open and swallow him up.</p> + +<p>Don Gusman was pacing impatiently up and down his narrow cell with a +hurried step that betrayed the feverish anxiety of his mind. The cell +was furnished with a massive table and two heavy wooden stools, the +floor being covered with coarse, thick mats. Shut out from all the +noises of the outer world, here silence reigned supreme. A crucifix, +roughly carved, was fixed to the wall in the niche of a high window, +which was carefully barred with iron. Except for this image of +resignation and mercy, the walls were bare. Well might this dungeon +serve as antechamber to the tomb.</p> + +<p>As Ruy Lopez entered the cell a sudden burst of sunshine flooded the +walls as if in bitter mockery of him who was soon to see it no more.</p> + +<p>The Duke saluted the new Bishop with great courtesy. They regarded each +other, and exchanged in that look a thousand words which they alone +could understand. Ruy Lopez felt the painfulness of his position deeply, +and the Duke understood his embarrassment. Their thoughts were both the +same, that in the condemnation of one of the principal favourites of the +King an innocent life was threatened! The proofs of the crime imputed to +the Duke were grave; the most important being a despatch written in Don +Gusman's hand to the French Court, in which he unfolded a scheme for +assassinating Philip II. This had sufficed to condemn him.</p> + +<p>Don Gusman, strong in his innocence, had kept a rigorous silence when +brought before<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> his judges, and the accusation not being denied, +sentence of death was passed upon him. Don Gusman since his +incarceration had not altered. He had braved the storm, and looked upon +death with an unmoved countenance. His last hours had no terrors for +him. If his forehead was overshadowed, if his steps were agitated and +his breathing hurried, it was because there rose before his eye the +image of his betrothed, Dona Estella, who, ignorant of her lover's fate, +was waiting for him in her battlemented castle on the banks of the +Guadalquiver. If he felt weak at this fatal moment, and if a pang shot +through his heart, it was because his thoughts were of her who was to +him the dearest thing in all the world.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 359px;"> +<img src="images/image223.jpg" width="359" height="450" alt=""RUY LOPEZ ENTERED THE CELL."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"RUY LOPEZ ENTERED THE CELL."</span> +</div> + +<p>Ruy Lopez had not entered alone. Calavar was at his side; and it was he +who announced to the Duke the King's decision and reply. Ruy Lopez +confirmed the executioner's words, and the Duke, falling on his knees +before the new Bishop, asked his blessing, then turning to Calavar with +a gesture of authority, he dismissed him, saying:—</p> + +<p>"In three hours I shall be at your disposal."</p> + +<p>Calavar obeyed him and went out, and the Duke and Bishop were left +alone.</p> + +<p>Ruy Lopez was trembling with nervousness, whilst Don Gusman's face wore +a calm and serene expression. He took the Bishop's hand, and wrung it +warmly. There was a pause. The Duke was the first to break the silence.</p> + +<p>"We have met before in happier circumstances," he said, smiling.</p> + +<p>"It is true," stammered Ruy Lopez, who, pale and agitated, resembled +rather the penitent than the confessor.</p> + +<p>"Much happier," repeated the Duke, absently. "Do you remember, when you +played your celebrated game of chess with Paoli Boy, the Sicilian, in +the presence of the King and Court, that it was upon my right arm that +the King leant?" Then after a pause he continued: "Do you remember also, +father, those words of Cervantes, 'Life is a game of chess?' I have +forgotten the exact place in which the passage occurs, but its meaning +is, that upon earth men play different rôles. There are, as in chess, +kings, knights, soldiers, bishops, according to their birth, fate and +fortune; and when the game is over death lays them all as equals in the +tomb, even as we gather together the chessmen into a box."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I remember those words of Don Quixote," replied Don Lopez, +astonished at this singular conversation, "and I remember also Sancho's +reply: 'That however good the comparison was, it was not so new that he +had not heard it before.'"</p> + +<p>"I was your favourite pupil, even your rival," said the Duke, without +appearing to hear Don Lopez.</p> + +<p>"It is true," cried the Bishop. "You are a great master of the game, and +I have been often proud of having such a pupil. But now, on your knees, +my son."</p> + +<p>They knelt down together, and there before the crucifix Don Gusman made +confession to Ruy Lopez, who as he listened could hardly restrain his +tears.</p> + +<p>When the Duke had finished, two hours after—for the confession under +the Church seal was long and touching—the Bishop<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> blessed the prisoner, +and gave him absolution. The face of Don Gusman, as he rose, was calm +and resigned.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 327px;"> +<img src="images/image224.jpg" width="327" height="500" alt=""THEY KNELT DOWN TOGETHER."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"THEY KNELT DOWN TOGETHER."</span> +</div> + +<p>But there remained still an hour to wait.</p> + +<p>"This delay is torture," cried the Duke. "Why do they not cut off the +prisoners at once, instead of stretching their souls upon such a rack of +agony? An eternity of suffering is in each of these minutes." And the +prisoner began to walk impatiently to and fro, with his eyes constantly +bent upon the door. The Duke's firmness was shaken by the thought of +that weary hour of waiting. Ruy Lopez had fulfilled his duty. The +prisoner's soul was purified, and now the priest could become the +friend.</p> + +<p>As Don Lopez heard Don Gusman utter this exclamation, and saw his face +grow white, he understood what agony he was undergoing, and felt at once +that something must be done to divert his thoughts. But in vain he +racked his brain for an idea. He could think of nothing. What could he +propose to a man about to die? For such as he, the flower has no longer +perfume, woman has no longer beauty. Then suddenly a thought flashed +across his brain.</p> + +<p>"How would a game of chess—" he began, timidly.</p> + +<p>"An excellent idea!" cried Don Gusman, recalled to himself by this +singular proposal. "A farewell game of chess."</p> + +<p>"You consent?"</p> + +<p>"Most readily; but where are the chessmen, my friend?"</p> + +<p>"Am I not always provided with the instruments of war?" said Ruy Lopez, +smiling. Then he pulled forward the two stools and set out upon the +table a microscopic set of chessmen. "Our Lady pardon me!" he continued. +"I often pass my spare time in the confessional in working out some +problem."</p> + +<p>The chessmen being set out, the players took their seats, and were soon +absorbed in the excitement of the game.</p> + +<p>This strange contest, between a priest and a condemned prisoner, made a +picture worthy of the brush of Rembrandt or Salvator Rosa. The light +which streamed from the arched windows fell upon the pale, noble +features of Don Gusman, and upon the venerable head of Ruy Lopez.</p> + +<p>The emotions of the two players were very different. Ruy Lopez played +with a preoccupation which was not usual to him, and which rendered him +much inferior to his ordinary strength. Don Gusman, on the contrary, +stimulated by excitement, played with more than his ordinary skill. At +this moment his noble Castilian blood did not fail him, for never had +the Duke given better proof of the clearness of his mind. Such a flash +of intellect must be compared to the last flickers of the failing lamp, +or to the last song of the dying swan.</p> + +<p>Don Gusman suddenly attacked his adversary with an impetuosity which +nearly gained him a certain victory; but Ruy Lopez, recalled to himself +by this vigorous effort, defended himself bravely. The game became more +and more complicated. The Bishop strove to gain a mate which he saw, or +believed he saw, at hand, whilst Don Gusman played with the eagerness of +certain victory. Everything was forgotten, and time passed unnoticed. +The chess-board was their universe, and a life of anxiety was in each +move.</p> + +<p>The minutes, the quarters, the half-hours flew by, and the fatal hour +arrived at last.</p> + +<p>A distant sound struck on their ears; it grew nearer, it increased, and +the door swinging<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> open gave admittance to Calavar and his assistants, +who advanced into the cell with torches in their hands. They were armed +with swords, and two of them bore the block, covered with a black cloth, +on which lay an axe.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image225.jpg" width="500" height="364" alt=""THE GAME BECAME MORE AND MORE COMPLICATED."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"THE GAME BECAME MORE AND MORE COMPLICATED."</span> +</div> + +<p>The torches were placed in the receptacle prepared for them, whilst one +of the men scattered cedar sawdust on the floor. All this was the work +of a moment, while the executioner stood waiting for the prisoner.</p> + +<p>As Calavar entered, Ruy Lopez started to his feet, in a tremor of alarm, +but the Duke did not move. His eyes were fixed upon the chess-board. It +was his turn to play. Calavar, seeing his abstracted gaze, advanced to +the Duke's side and placed his hand upon his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Come," he said.</p> + +<p>The prisoner shuddered as if he had trodden upon a serpent.</p> + +<p>"I must finish this game," he said, imperiously.</p> + +<p>"It is impossible," Calavar replied.</p> + +<p>"But, fellow, the game is mine! I can force mate in a few moves. Let me +play it out."</p> + +<p>"I cannot. It is impossible," repeated the executioner.</p> + +<p>"Are the three hours gone already?"</p> + +<p>"The last stroke has just struck. We must obey the King."</p> + +<p>The assistants, who had until then stood leaning on their swords, came +forward at these words.</p> + +<p>The Duke was sitting against the wall, under the high window, with the +table between him and Calavar. He started to his feet.</p> + +<p>"I shall not move until the game is over. In half an hour my head shall +be at your disposal."</p> + +<p>"My lord," replied Calavar, "I respect you deeply, but I cannot grant +you this request. I answer for your life with mine."</p> + +<p>Don Gusman made a gesture of impatience, and pulling off his diamond +rings, he threw them at the executioner's feet. "I mean to finish the +game," he said, carelessly.</p> + +<p>The jewels sparkled as they rolled and settled in the dust.</p> + +<p>"My orders are imperative," cried Calavar, "and you must pardon us, +noble Duke, if we have to use force; but the King's orders and the law +of Spain must be carried out. Obey, then, and do not waste your last +moments in a useless struggle. Speak to the Duke, my lord Bishop. Tell +him to submit to his fate."</p> + +<p>Ruy Lopez's reply was as prompt as it was decisive. He seized the axe +which lay upon the block and swung it with both hands above his head.</p> + +<p>"By Heaven!" he cried, "the Duke <i>shall</i> finish his game!"</p> + +<p>Scared by the gesture which accompanied these words, Calavar drew back +in such a fright that he stumbled and fell back on his companions. The +swords flashed from their scabbards, and the band prepared for attack. +But Ruy Lopez, who appeared to have put forth the strength of a +Hercules, cast upon the ground his heavy wooden stool.</p> + +<p>"The first of you who passes this limit dies!" he cried in a loud voice. +"Courage, Duke!—to the attack! There are only four of these miscreants. +The last desire of your Grace shall be gratified, were I to lose my life +in the attempt. And you, wretched man, beware how you lay a finger upon +a Bishop of the Church. Down with your swords and respect the Lord's +anointed!" And Ruy Lopez continued to hurl forth, in a jargon of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> +Spanish and Latin, one of those formulas of excommunication and +malediction which at that period acted so strongly upon the masses of +the people.</p> + +<p>The effect was prompt. The men stood rooted to the spot with terror, +whilst Calavar, thinking that to kill a Bishop without a sealed order +from the King was to run the risk of putting his life in jeopardy in +this world and his soul in the next, avowed himself vanquished. He knew +not what to do next. To rush with the news to the King, who was waiting +impatiently for Don Gusman's head, was only to expose himself. To attack +the prisoner and the priest would be too hazardous, for Ruy Lopez was a +man of no mean strength. The position of affairs was critical. At last +he decided to take the easiest way out of the difficulty—to wait.</p> + +<p>"Will you promise me faithfully to give yourself up in half an hour?" he +demanded of Don Gusman.</p> + +<p>"I promise," replied the Duke.</p> + +<p>"Play on, then," said the executioner.</p> + +<p>The truce being thus concluded, the players returned to their seats and +their game, whilst Calavar and his companions, forming themselves into a +circle, stationed themselves round the two players. Calavar, who was +himself a chess player, looked on with interest, and could not prevent +himself from involuntarily considering each move the players made.</p> + +<p>Don Gusman looked up for an instant upon the circle of faces which +surrounded him, but his <i>sang froid</i> did not abandon him.</p> + +<p>"Never have I played in the presence of such a noble company!" he cried. +"Bear witness, rascals, that at least once in my life I have beaten Don +Lopez." Then he returned to the game with a smile upon his lips. The +Bishop gripped the handle of the axe which he still held in his hand.</p> + +<p>"If I were only sure of escaping from this tigers' den," he thought, "I +would break every head of the four of them."</p> + + +<h4>III.</h4> + +<p>If three hours had dragged in the prisoner's cell, they had not passed +more quickly in the Royal chamber of King Philip.</p> + +<p>The King had finished his game with Don Ramirez de Biscay, and the +nobles, still compelled from etiquette to remain standing, appeared +almost ready to drop with fatigue, rendered still more painful from the +weight of their armour.</p> + +<p>Don Tarraxas stood motionless, with closed eyes like one of those iron +figures which ornamented the castles of the savage Goths. Young +D'Ossuna, with drooping head, stood propped against a marble pillar, +whilst King Philip strode impatiently about the apartment, only stopping +at intervals to listen to some imaginary noise. According to the +superstitious custom of the age, the King knelt for a few moments at the +foot of a figure of the Virgin placed upon a porphyry pedestal to pray +the Madonna to pardon him the deed of blood which was about to take +place. Silence reigned, for no one, whatever his rank might be, dared to +speak before his Sovereign without his commands.</p> + +<p>As the King's eyes saw the last grain of sand fall in the hour-glass he +uttered an exclamation of joy.</p> + +<p>"The traitor dies!" he cried.</p> + +<p>An almost inaudible murmur ran through the assembly.</p> + +<p>"The hour is passed, Count of Biscay," said Philip, turning to Don +Ramirez, "and with it your enemy."</p> + +<p>"My enemy, sire?" asked Ramirez, affecting surprise.</p> + +<p>"Why do you repeat my words, Count?" replied the King. "Were you not a +rival to Don Gusman in the affections of Dona Estella, and can rivals be +friends? Dona Estella shall be yours. This young girl will bring you her +beauty and her fortune. I have not spoken of this to our Council, but my +Royal word is pledged. If the ingratitude of Sovereigns is ever spoken +of before you, Count, you will be able to reply that we did not forget +the true friend of the King and of Spain who discovered the plot and the +correspondence of Don Gusman with France."</p> + +<p>Don Ramirez de Biscay seemed to listen to the King with uneasiness. He +kept his eyes fixed upon the ground, as if he disliked to be thus +praised in public. Then he made an effort to reply.</p> + +<p>"Sire!" he said, "it was with great repugnance that I fulfilled such a +painful duty"—he hesitated, and then was silent.</p> + +<p>Tarraxas gave a slight start, whilst D'Ossuna struck sharply the pommel +of his sword with his iron glove.</p> + +<p>"Before Dona Estella shall belong to this man," thought D'Ossuna, "I +will have vengeance or perish in the attempt. Tomorrow shall be the day +of my revenge."</p> + +<p>The King continued:—</p> + +<p>"Your zeal, Don Ramirez, and your devotion must be rewarded. The saviour +of our throne, and perhaps of our dynasty, merits a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> particular gift. +This morning I ordered you to make out some <i>lettres-patentes</i>, which +confer upon you the rank of Duke and Governor of Valence. Are these +ready to be signed?"</p> + +<p>Don Ramirez grew pale with pleasure. He shook like an aspen and his eyes +grew dim. But the King made an impatient movement, and the Count, +drawing a roll of parchment hastily from his breast, presented it on his +knees to the King.</p> + +<p>"My first public duty to-day shall be to sign these papers," said the +King. "The executioner has already punished treason; it is now time for +the King to recompense fidelity."</p> + +<p>The King unrolled the parchment and began to read. As he read, his face +became convulsed with fury, and his eyes shot forth flames of wrath.</p> + +<p>"By my father's soul!" he shouted; "what do I behold?"</p> + + +<h4>IV.</h4> + +<p>The game of chess was finished. Don Gusman had beaten Ruy Lopez, and his +triumph was complete. He rose to his feet.</p> + +<p>"I am now, as ever, ready to obey the wishes of my King," he said to +Calavar.</p> + +<p>The executioner understood him, and began to prepare the block. Whilst +this was being done Don Gusman advanced towards the crucifix, and said +in a firm voice:—</p> + +<p>"Oh, Heaven! may this unjust and rash act which is about to take place +fall upon the head of him who is the instigator of this treachery; but +let not my blood recoil upon the head of my King."</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 337px;"> +<img src="images/image227.jpg" width="337" height="500" alt=""WHAT DO I BEHOLD?"" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"WHAT DO I BEHOLD?"</span> +</div> + +<p>Ruy Lopez, crouching in a corner of the cell, and burying his face in +his mantle, began to recite the prayers for the dying.</p> + +<p>Calavar approached Don Gusman, and putting his hand upon the Duke's +shoulder began to loosen his ruff. Don Gusman shrank back from the +contact.</p> + +<p>"Nothing that belongs to you, except this axe, shall touch a Gusman," he +said, taking off his ruff himself and placing his head upon the block. +"Strike!" he added, "I am ready!"</p> + +<p>The executioner raised the axe—the King's justice was at last to be +satisfied, when shouts, rapid footsteps and confused voices arrested the +sweep of the executioner's arm.</p> + +<p>The door gave way under the united efforts of a troop of armed men, and +D'Ossuna, rushing into the cell, threw himself between the executioner +and his victim. He was just in time.</p> + +<p>"He lives!" cried Tarraxas.</p> + +<p>"He is saved!" repeated D'Ossuna. "My beloved cousin, I never hoped to +have seen you alive again. God in His mercy has not let the innocent +perish for the guilty. God be praised!"</p> + +<p>"God be praised!" echoed all the spectators, and louder than the rest +rang out the voice of Ruy Lopez.</p> + +<p>"You have arrived in time, my friend," said Don Gusman to his cousin; +"but now I shall have no longer strength to die," and he sank back +fainting on the block. The shock had been too much for him.</p> + +<p>Ruy Lopez seized the Duke in his arms, and, followed by all the nobles, +bore him along the passages to the King's apartment. When Don Gusman +opened his eyes he found himself in the midst of a circle of his +friends, amongst which stood<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> the King, looking down upon him with an +expression of joy.</p> + +<p>Don Gusman could hardly believe his senses. From the axe and the block +he had passed to the King's apartment. He did not understand why this +change had taken place. He did not know that Don Ramirez, in giving his +<i>lettres-patentes</i> to the King to sign, had, in his agitation, given him +instead a paper containing a plot in which he schemed to get rid for +ever of Don Gusman, a detested rival, and one of the firmest supporters +of the throne. He was ignorant of all that had passed, and did not know +how he had escaped from the clutches of the executioner. It was some +time before everything could be made clear to him.</p> + +<p>Three days afterwards, at the same hour as Gusman's miraculous delivery, +Calavar beheaded Don Ramirez, Count of Biscay, traitor and false +witness. Don Gusman was overwhelmed with congratulations on all sides. +King Philip grasped him cordially by his hand.</p> + +<p>"Gusman," he said, "I have been very unjust. I can never forgive my +folly."</p> + +<p>"Sire," replied the Duke, "let us speak of it no more. Such words spoken +by my King are worth a thousand lives."</p> + +<p>But the King continued.</p> + +<p>"I desire," he said, "that henceforth, in commemoration of your almost +miraculous deliverance, you carry upon your escutcheon a silver axe +emblazoned on an azure chess-board. This month we shall celebrate your +marriage with Dona Estella. The marriage shall take place in our +Escurial Palace."</p> + +<p>Then he added, turning to Ruy Lopez:—</p> + +<p>"I believe that the Church will possess a good servant in its new +Bishop. You shall be consecrated Lord Prelate, with a scarlet robe, +enriched with diamonds; that will be the recompense of your game of +chess with Don Gusman."</p> + +<p>"Sire," replied Don Lopez, "never before this day have I been satisfied +to be checkmated."</p> + +<p>The King smiled, and the courtiers followed his example.</p> + +<p>"Now, my lords," continued Philip, "we invite you all to our Royal +banquet. Let Don Gusman's seat be placed upon our right, and the Bishop +of Segovia's on our left. Give me your arm, Don Gusman."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 407px;"> +<img src="images/image228.jpg" width="407" height="450" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Illustrated_Interviews" id="Illustrated_Interviews"></a>Illustrated Interviews</h2> + +<h3>XXL—MR. AND MRS. KENDAL.</h3> + + +<p>If one had waited for a few months, "The Kendals" would have been +getting settled in their new home in Portland Place. But, then, the +happiest associations are always centred around the old, and the +pleasantest and frequently the dearest recollections are gathered about +the familiar. That is why I went to them once more to their home of many +years at 145, Harley Street.</p> + +<p>It would be difficult to realize a woman of more striking +characteristics than she who was for so many years known as "Madge" +Robertson, and notwithstanding a very important visit one morning in +August twenty-three years ago to St. Saviour's, Plymouth Grove, +Manchester, when she became the wife of Mr. William Hunter Grimston, +there are many who still know and speak of her by her happily-remembered +maiden name. From that day husband and wife have never played +apart—they have remained sweethearts on the stage and lovers in their +own home. At night—the footlights; by day—home and children. Mrs. +Kendal assured me that neither her eldest daughter, Margaret, nor Ethel, +nor Dorothy—the youngest—nor "Dorrie," who is now at Cambridge, nor +Harold, a "Marlborough" boy, would ever go on the stage. Home, husband, +and children—home, wife, and children, are the embodiment of the life +led by the Kendals.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 550px;"> +<img src="images/image229.jpg" width="550" height="411" alt="THE DRAWING-ROOM" title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE DRAWING-ROOM<br /> + +<i>From a Photo by Elliott & Fry.</i></span> +</div> + +<p>Together with Mr. Kendal we sat down in the drawing-room, and were +joined for a moment by Miss Grimston, a quiet, unaffected young girl, +who looked as though she could never rid herself of a smile, either in +her eyes or about her mouth—a young maiden who suggested "sunshine." +She was carrying Victoria, a pet dog. The mother's whole thoughts seemed +to go out to her daughter.</p> + +<p>"Our Jubilee dog," she cried. "I bought her on Jubilee Day, and, +curiously enough, Mr. Kendal bought one too, neither of us telling the +other we were going to make such canine purchases."</p> + +<p>Then, when Miss Grimston had left the room, her mother turned to me +quietly, and said:—</p> + +<p>"The image of my brother Tom. The same hair, the same expression of +eyes, the same kind and loving ways. I think he lives in my girl. Come +with me and you shall see his portrait."</p> + +<p>It hung in Miss Grimston's boudoir—an apartment the walls of which were +decorated with pictures of the Comédie-Française<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> Company, the original +designs for the dresses in "A Wife's Secret"; while over the +mantel-board are Mr. and Mrs. Kendal in "The Ironmaster," and many +family portraits are about.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image230.jpg" width="500" height="373" alt="MISS GRIMSTON'S BOUDOIR." title="" /> +<span class="caption">MISS GRIMSTON'S BOUDOIR.<br /> + +<i>From a Photo by Elliott & Fry.</i></span> +</div> + +<p>"It is so amusing to hear people talk and write about my eldest brother +Tom and me playing together as children," she said. "My mother was +married when she was eighteen, and my brother was born when she was +nineteen; I was born when she was forty-eight, and was her twenty-second +child! So my brother was a grown man with a moustache when I knew him. I +was brought up with his two children—little Tom and Maude, my own +nephew and niece."</p> + +<p>What a delightful story it was! Little Madge Robertson used to dress up +as a policeman and take Maude into custody before Tom, the younger, as +the judge. And this was the trial:—</p> + +<p>"What is the prisoner charged with, constable?" asked the judge.</p> + +<p>"Murder, my lord," replied the representative of law and order.</p> + +<p>"Prisoner, are you guilty?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my lord," answered the poor prisoner.</p> + +<p>"Prisoner, have you anything to say why sentence should not be passed +upon you according to law?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my lord. <i>I'm the daughter of the author of 'Caste'.</i>"</p> + +<p>The prisoner always got off, and dear old William Robertson would watch +this little scene and roar with laughter.</p> + +<p>"Yes," Mrs. Kendal said quietly, as we again looked at "Tom's" picture, +"my brother was kindness itself, even from his infancy. I remember +hearing how, when he was a very small boy and living with his aunt, he +went out one summer's day with a new velvet jacket on. He caught sight +of a poor little beggar child his own size, who was in tatters, and, +beckoning him across, at once divested himself of his new coat, put it +on the wondering youngster, and ran away home as fast as he could. His +aunt questioned him, and upon finding out the true circumstances of the +case, and not wishing to damp the kind spirit in the little fellow's +heart, said:—</p> + +<p>"'Well, we'll go and try to find the boy you gave it to, and buy your +jacket back.'</p> + +<p>"Fortunately the search was successful, and the coat was bought back for +no less a sum than half-a-sovereign.</p> + +<p>"And in later years it was just the same with Tom. He could never pass +by a common cookshop, in front of the windows of which was often a crowd +of men, women, and children, looking on with longing eyes, without +getting them inside and giving them a fill to their hearts' content. +When out driving it was no different. He would stop the horse, and have +all the watching hungry ones inside, and the next moment they would be +revelling in the satisfying properties of thick slices of plum-pudding +and roast beef."</p> + +<p>The house throughout is most artistic. Mr. Kendal is a painter of great +merit, and he "knows" a picture as soon as he sees it. Pictures are his +hobby; hence there is not a room in the house—even to the +kitchen—which does not find a place for some canvas, etching, or +engraving. The entrance-hall is at once striking, with its quaint +thirteenth century furniture, bronzes, and Venetian ware. There are some +fine engravings of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> Miss Brunton—who became Countess of Craven—Kemble, +Garrick, Phelps, and Mrs. Siddons. A picture of Mrs. Kendal in "The +Falcon" was done at the express wish of, and paid for by, the late Poet +Laureate. Tennyson said it reminded him of a woman he liked and admired. +In the shadow is a fine bust of Macready, given by the great actor to +the father of Mrs. Kendal; resting against the fireplace on either side +are the two lances used in "The Queen's Shilling," and close by are two +huge masks representing a couple of very hirsute individuals. They came +from California, and represent "The King of the Devils" and "The King of +the Winds."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 550px;"> +<img src="images/image231-1.jpg" width="550" height="422" alt="THE HALL. (From a Photo, by Elliott & Fry.)" title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE HALL. (<i>From a Photo, by Elliott & Fry.</i>)</span> +</div><p><br /><br /></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 539px;"> +<img src="images/image231-2.jpg" width="539" height="400" alt="THE DINING ROOM. (From a Photo, by Elliott & Fry.)" title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE DINING ROOM. (<i>From a Photo, by Elliott & Fry.</i>)</span> +</div> + +<p>The entrance to the dining-room is typical of all the other door +decoration in the house—a carving of cream enamel of beautiful design +and workmanship. The walls of this apartment are terra-cotta, with a +finely carved oak-panelling. It is a little treasure room of canvases, +the gem of which is probably C. Van Hannen's "Mask Shop in Venice"—a +painter of a school which Luke Fildes, R.A., has done so much to +popularize. Macbeth is represented by a couple of delightful efforts, +and there are samples of the skill of Eugene Du Blas, Crofts, John Reid, +Andriotti, Sadler, De Haas, Rivers; a grand landscape by Webb—nearly +all of which are Academy works. The decorative articles are as artistic +as in some cases they are peculiar. Running about above the oaken +fireplace, amongst choice bronzes and blue ware, and a black boy who is +trudging along with a very useful clock on his back, are many quaint +animals of polished brass—even mice are not missing, with wonderfully +long tails—that sparkle and glisten in the firelight. Ascending the +staircase you find etchings<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> after Alma Tadema, Briton Riviere, and +others; the walls are covered with them.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 550px;"> +<img src="images/image232.jpg" width="550" height="364" alt="SCENE FROM "THE SQUIRE." From the Picture by Mr. +Kendal." title="" /> +<span class="caption">SCENE FROM "THE SQUIRE." <i>From the Picture by Mr. +Kendal.</i></span> +</div> + +<p>Here are a series of delightful pictures showing Mr. and Mrs. Kendal in +Gilbert's "Sweethearts," and I am reminded that the gifted actor and +actress were the first to appear before the Queen after a period of +five-and-twenty years, during which Her Majesty had never seen a play, +the performance that night consisting of "Sweethearts" and Theyre +Smith's "Uncle's Will." And as one takes note of many rare works—the +bedroom is almost entirely given up to Doré's marvellous creations, +though near the window is a splendid specimen of the photographer's art: +a head of Miss Mary Anderson—one cannot fail to observe the family +spirit everywhere—sometimes portraits of children, sometimes small and +dainty pencil studies made of them by their father. Occasionally +theatrical sketches by Mr. Kendal appear. Here are some of the principal +members of the old St. James's Company, who used to give Mr. Kendal +sittings between the acts—here a capital bit of artistic work depicting +a scene from "The Squire," made from stray memorandums and with the aid +of a looking-glass for securing the actor-artist's face.</p> + +<p>Leaving Mr. Kendal for a time, Mrs. Kendal and I returned to the +drawing-room. It overlooks Harley Street and is a handsome two-roomed +apartment, the prevailing tone of blue, cream, and gold harmonizing to +perfection. It is positively one huge collection of curios.</p> + +<p>The screen at the far end is rather shuddery, not to say creepy, to +those of nervous temperament. It is decorated with tomahawks of fearful +and wonderful shapes and sizes, and other Indian implements of warfare.</p> + +<p>"These came from California," Mrs. Kendal explained. "No sooner are you +out of the train than the Indians tomahawk you! Look at this bow and +arrow."</p> + +<p>The pots of palms and ferns all hold American flags. These colours—the +stars and stripes—once surmounted baskets of flowers and floral +emblems—five, six, and even seven feet high—handed to Mrs. Kendal +during her recent tour in the States; and amongst the sweetly-perfumed +blossoms diamonds, pearls, and other precious gems have glistened in the +shape of ornaments. A table near the window tells you of the generosity +of the Americans. It is crowded with silver ornaments and mementos. You +may handle the diminutive silver candlesticks to light "The Kendals" +away—silver jugs, souvenir spoons, frying-pans, coffee-pots—all in +miniature. This silver dollar is only one of a hundred. You touch a +spring, when, lo and behold! the portrait of the donor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> appears. All +American women have dainty feet. These little ebony and silver lasts for +your boots remind you of this. On this table is a letter from the +Princess of Wales, thanking Mrs. Kendal for "the lovely silver wedding +bells and flowers which you so kindly sent me on the tenth." You may +examine George IV.'s cigar-case—a silver tube in which the King was +wont to carry a single cigar. It is impossible to number all the +treasured odds and ends, but still more difficult to total up the +miniature articles set out in a pair of cabinets.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/image233-1.jpg" width="450" height="294" alt="NAPOLEON'S WRITING-TABLE From a Photo by Elliott & +Fry." title="" /> +<span class="caption">NAPOLEON'S WRITING-TABLE <i>From a Photo by Elliott & +Fry.</i></span> +</div> +<p><br /><br /></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 550px;"> +<img src="images/image233-2.jpg" width="550" height="382" alt=""SHAKESPEARE AND BACON" From the Picture by A. E. +Emslie." title="" /> +<span class="caption">"SHAKESPEARE AND BACON" <i>From the Picture by A. E. +Emslie.</i></span> +</div> + +<p>Mrs. Kendal has a hobby—it lies in the collecting of the tiniest of +tiny things. If her intimate friends come across any curiosity +particularly choice and small, it is at once snapped up and dispatched +to Harley Street. I had some little leaden mice in my hand the size of +half-a-dozen pins' heads. Handkerchiefs an inch square, babies' woollen +shoes, pinafores, shirts, all of the tiniest, but perfectly made, with +buttons and button-holes complete, and even buns with currants no bigger +than a pin's point. Sheep, dogs, cats, monkeys, pigs, giraffes—in +short, convert the entire Zoo into miniature china knick-knacks, and you +have a considerable portion of Mrs. Kendal's collection realized. One +must needs stand for a moment at Napoleon's writing-table, near which +rests a characteristic clay by Van Beers. The pictures here are many. +Millais' work is well represented by several etchings, and a remarkably +clever thing by Emslie, entitled "Shakespeare and Bacon," suggests the +two extremes of taste to a nicety. Whilst a young enthusiast is +declaiming Shakespeare, one of his listeners—doubtless, equally +enthusiastic, but with an eye for victuals—is interrupting a soliloquy +with the remark: "Now! who says bacon?" Every portrait has a +history—Prince and Princess Henry of Battenberg in their wedding +garments,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> the late Duke of Albany, Professor Huxley, Mrs. Beecher +Stowe, Mr. and Mrs. Pinero, Mr. and Mrs. Bancroft, and many others. +Three suggestive pictures, however, cannot be passed by. This dear +little fellow is the son of Mr. B. J. Farjeon. Mr. Farjeon married "Rip +Van Winkle" Jefferson's daughter, and the youngster is pictured dressed +in the tattered garments of merry, rollicking <i>Rip</i>. You know how <i>Rip</i> +always drinks your health? He holds the glass of hollands high up and +cries, "Here's your health and your family's good health, and may they +all live long and prosper!" but Mr. Farjeon's little boy cries out, +"Here's your health, and your family's good health, and may you all live +long and <i>proper</i>!"</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 291px;"> +<img src="images/image234-1.jpg" width="291" height="350" alt="GROUP IN CLAY BY JAN VAN BEERS." title="" /> +<span class="caption">GROUP IN CLAY BY JAN VAN BEERS.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 214px;"> +<img src="images/image234-2.jpg" width="214" height="350" alt="MRS. KENDAL AS "GALATEA"" title="" /> +<span class="caption">MRS. KENDAL AS "GALATEA"</span> +</div> + +<p>A photo, of Dr. Pancoast stands near a bust of Mrs. Kendal as <i>Galatea</i>, +done when she was seventeen. Dr. Pancoast—a celebrated American +physician—saved Mrs. Kendal's life when her maid accidentally +administered a poisonous drug to her mistress. The poor girl herself +nearly died of fright.</p> + +<p>But perhaps the portrait of the late Duchess of Cambridge, which Mrs. +Kendal now holds in her hand, is more interesting than them all. "Her +late Royal Highness," Mrs. Kendal said, "always addressed me and wrote +to me as Mrs. Grimston. She was paralyzed in her right hand and wrote +with her left; perhaps that is why this letter, written in pencil and +with great effort, is treasured more than it otherwise would have been."</p> + +<p>It was one of the last letters written by Her Royal Highness. The +letters and words were wonderfully legible; it read:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Mrs. Grimston</span>,—One line only to thank you for sending me +the stalls for my dressers, who enjoyed your and Mr. Grimston's +charming acting immensely. My first deaf one was able to follow +perfectly, thanks to your having kindly let her have the book +previously. Again thanking you,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"I remain,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">"Yours very sincerely,<br /></span> +<span class="i8"><span class="smcap">Augusta</span>."<br /></span> +</div></div> +</div> + +<p>And in a little cabinet in the far corner is a beautiful Sèvres bowl. In +the bowl is a telegram from "Princess Mary," asking Mrs. Kendal to come +to St. James's Palace at once. Written on a black-edged envelope were +these words: "To dearest Mrs. Grimston Kendal. A little souvenir. Found +amongst the last wishes of her late Royal Highness the Duchess of +Cambridge."</p> + +<p>It is only just possible to hasten through the collection of substantial +reminiscences which add to the charm of this corner of the house. The +quaint white china hare was given to Mrs. Kendal many years ago by Mr. +John Hare, when playing together at the Court. A curious but vividly +suggestive idea of Japanese wit, in the shape of a couple of +characteristically dressed figures, typifies "Health" and "Wealth"; the +figure, representing "Health" has a countenance of the deepest red, the +other a face all golden and as resplendent as the sun. In a small frame +is the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> letter from the Goethe Club of New York, making Mrs. Kendal an +honorary member. She is the only woman member of this club. And this +pretty little doll dressed as a Quakeress—a charming compliment to the +recipient—was presented by the Quakeresses of Philadelphia, who never, +never, never go the play, yea, verily! So they sent this as a tribute of +their admiration for the talents and character of the woman who has been +called "The Matron of the Drama."</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 217px;"> +<img src="images/image235.jpg" width="217" height="350" alt="MRS. KENDALL'S LITTLE QUAKERESS." title="" /> +<span class="caption">MRS. KENDALL'S LITTLE QUAKERESS.</span> +</div> + +<p>We sat down on a settee in front of the fire. The cushions were of white +lawn marked with the initial "M.," and were worked by the late Lady +Eglinton.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Kendal's happy and homely face is familiar to all. She has a truly +tender and sympathetic expression there at all times. Her hair was once +that of the fair one with golden locks, now it is of a rich brown +colour—very neatly and naturally trimmed about her head. She is very +kind—very motherly; just the woman you would single out in time of +trouble and ask, "What would you advise me to do?" I gathered these +impressions whilst listening to many things she said of which I need not +write. Her views on theatrical life are strong, nay, severe. She is not +afraid to speak, and she hits hard and sends her shots home. But you +cannot mistake the earnestness of her manner, the true intent of her +motives.</p> + +<p>"I am only a common-place woman," she said to me. "I used to be ever so +light-hearted—now, I'm a morbid creature. Here we are sitting down by +the fireside. I may tell you happy reminiscences that may make one +merry, and all the time I should be thinking about—what? Cancer! I +return to my dressing-room from the stage at night. As I am passing +along a fellow player may turn to me and say, 'How well the play has +gone to-night!' I am only thinking of those who have trod that same +stage before me. What are they now? Dust—earth—worms!"</p> + +<p>I stirred the fire, and the bright glow from its burning embers lit up +the corner where we sat. And we talked together.</p> + +<p>Margaret Brunton Robertson was born at Great Grimsby on March 15th, +1849—curiously enough these lines will be read on the anniversary of +her birthday. Her grandfather, father, and uncle were all actors.</p> + +<p>"I lived alone with my father and mother," she said, "and the only real +recollection I have of my father is his fine white beard, which he grew +towards the latter days of his life, and a little advice he once gave +me.</p> + +<p>"'Always count twenty,' he said, 'when you are walking across the quay +at Bristol, then you won't hear the sailors swear!' Yet he would use +very bad language to me when he was teaching me my parts; for you know I +commenced acting at a very early age. I was only three when I made my +first appearance—and I ruined the play. It was at the Marylebone +Theatre in the 'Three Poor Travellers,' and I was a blind child. My +nurse was in the front row of the pit—that is, in the very first row, +for there were no stalls. All I thought about was my new shoes—a very +pretty, dainty little pair, and as soon as I stepped on the stage, I +opened my eyes, caught sight of the delighted face of my nurse, and +cried out:—</p> + +<p>"'Oh! nursey, dear, look at my new shoes!'</p> + +<p>"I played at Chute's Theatre in Bristol in many child's parts. When my +father went to the wall over the Lincoln Circuit, Mr. Chute engaged him +as an actor, and I went with him. I remember in 'A Midsummer Night's +Dream'—I was <i>Mustard Seed</i>, I think, or <i>Peas Blossom</i>; at any rate, +some small character that required very prettily dressing, and plenty of +flowers on my little costume. I am as fond of flowers to-day as I was +then. Well, when once I got on the stage in my pretty dress—of which I +was particularly proud—before I would leave it, I had to be bought off +with apples and oranges! There they would stand at the wings, and the +price<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> would go up—up—up—two oranges, three oranges, three oranges +and two apples—until I inwardly murmured a childish equivalent for +'sold,' and toddled off.</p> + +<p>"I acted <i>Eva</i> in 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' when I was eight. I think I was +always a sad child—I looked forty when I was fifteen. After little +<i>Eva</i> I used to play anything."</p> + +<p>And they were hard times for little Madge—she worked like the brave +little woman she was. Her childish thoughts were constantly with her +parents—how best could she add to the weekly income. And this is what +the same little Madge would do. Night after night, after playing in a +serious piece, she would appear in burlesque, sing, dance, and crack her +small jokes with the best of them. It was hard work that made her a +woman—it was dearly-bought experience that gave birth to the +sympathetic heart she has to-day.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 237px;"> +<img src="images/image236.jpg" width="237" height="350" alt="MRS. KENDAL. From a Photo. by Bassano." title="" /> +<span class="caption">MRS. KENDAL. <i>From a Photo. by Bassano.</i></span> +</div> + +<p>So at fourteen she was a woman grown—and at fifteen at Hull played +<i>Lady Macbeth</i> to Phelps's <i>Macbeth</i>!</p> + +<p>"I was dressed in my mother's clothes," Mrs. Kendal said, "and I fear I +must have looked a fearful guy!"</p> + +<p>At rehearsal Phelps looked upon the young woman.</p> + +<p>"And who—who is this child?" asked the great actor.</p> + +<p>"Madge Robertson," the manager answered; "a rare favourite here. It was +a choice between her and a very old woman, Mr. Phelps."</p> + +<p>"Then let the young woman play, by all means," Phelps said.</p> + +<p>What a night it was! At the end of the play they wanted her on again, +but Phelps was obdurate. A party of men came round, and threatened to +throw Phelps into the Humber! Phelps remained firm.</p> + +<p>"He was kindness itself through it all," Mrs. Kendal assured me, "and +though I did not go on again, he proved his thoughtfulness a little +later on by sending for me to play <i>Lady Teazle</i>. I played the leading +parts during the three nights Phelps remained in Hull in 'The Man of the +World,' 'Richelieu,' and 'Macbeth.' On July 29th, 1865, I made my +<i>début</i> in London, at the Haymarket, as <i>Ophelia</i> to the <i>Hamlet</i> of +Walter Montgomery. Poor Montgomery! He was what you would call a +'lady-killer'—very conceited, but, withal, very kind. He once wrote a +letter to my father, and added a postscript, saying: 'Keep this letter. +Should poverty fall upon you or yours, your great-grand-children may be +able to sell it for a good sum of money!' I was only with him six +weeks."</p> + +<p>The only play of her brother's in which Mrs. Kendal has appeared was +"Dreams," when the Gaiety first opened. At this time the managers always +tried to induce Mrs. Kendal to appear in a riding habit—a costume in +which she looked strikingly handsome.</p> + +<p>"Alfred Wigan played in 'Dreams,'" continued Mrs. Kendal. "His wife was +one of the kindest women I ever met. She gave me a gold bracelet for a +very curious little service I used to render her husband every night. He +had to sing a song in 'Dreams,' and one or two of the high notes were +beyond his reach. I used to take these notes for him, and the audience +never guessed the truth."</p> + +<p>"And have you not played <i>Desdemona</i>?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"Oh! yes—and to a real black man, and so he did not have to put his +head up the chimney to make himself up for the part! His name was Ira +Aldridge, and scandal said he was the dresser of some great actor whom +he used to imitate. But he had very ingenious ideas as to the character +of <i>Othello</i>. He thought him a brute, and played him as such. His great +notion was to get the fairest woman possible for <i>Desdemona</i>—and I was +selected, for at that time my hair was quite golden.</p> + +<p>"In one part of the play he would cry out, 'Give me thy hand, +Desdemona!' and certainly the effect of my hand in his huge grasp was +impressive. Then in the last act he would pull me from the couch by the +hair of my head. Oh! there was something in his realism, I can tell +you!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span></p> + +<p>Miss Robertson made a great sensation when she appeared as <i>Blanche +Dumont</i>, in Dr. Westland Marston's "Hero of Romance," when it was +performed for the first time at the Haymarket Theatre, on March 14th, +1868. Seventeen months after this, on August 7th, 1869, she was Madge +Robertson no longer. On that day she was married to Mr. William Hunter +Grimston, whose stage name is Kendal. It is a charming little story.</p> + +<p>It occurred at Manchester. Mr. Kendal and Miss Robertson were on tour +with the elder Compton, and they were—sweethearts. A convenient time +seemed to have arrived for their wedding day, for on the Thursday, +Friday, and Saturday nights pieces were to be played in which neither of +them would be required. This would mean a nice little honeymoon—and the +two lovers would reappear on the Monday night. So the day was +fixed—Thursday; the church chosen—St. Saviour's, Plymouth Grove; and +the best man booked—Walter Gowing, who used to play under the name of +Walter Gordon.</p> + +<p>Then bad news came. Compton's brother was taken ill, and he had to hurry +away from Cottonopolis. Another play had to be put in the bill, both Mr. +Kendal and Miss Robertson would be needed—for it was "As You Like It," +and the one would be wanted for <i>Orlando</i> and the other for <i>Rosalind</i>. +Still, the wedding was proceeded with on Thursday morning, quietly and +happily, and in the evening husband and wife met on the stage in the +Forest of Arden. There, with <i>Celia</i> as the priest, amidst the leafy +trees and grassy pathways, <i>Orlando</i> turns to the merry <i>Celia</i>, and +pointing to the far, far happier <i>Rosalind</i>, cries out:—</p> + +<p>"Pray thee, marry us!"</p> + +<p>"Will you, Orlando, have to wife this Rosalind?"</p> + +<p>"I will."</p> + +<p>"Then," <i>Rosalind</i> pertly remarks, "you must say, 'I take thee, +Rosalind, for wife.'"</p> + +<p>"I take thee, Rosalind, for wife," said <i>Orlando</i>, earnestly.</p> + +<p>Then <i>Rosalind</i> asked, "Now tell me how long you would have her after +you have possessed her?"</p> + +<p>And <i>Orlando</i> replied—both in the words of Shakespeare and in the +language of his own heart—"For ever and a day!"</p> + +<p>That is the true story of the wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Kendal. It was a +natural desire of each never to play apart from the other, and from that +day they have never separated. For some seven years Mr. and Mrs. Kendal +played at the Haymarket, under Buckstone's management, and the gifted +actress merrily referred to the little jokes played on "Bucky" by some +of the actors. He was stone deaf, and could only take his cues when to +speak from the movements of his fellow-actors' lips, so they would annoy +him by continuing the lip movement, and "Bucky" sometimes got "stuck."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 539px;"> +<img src="images/image237.jpg" width="539" height="400" alt="THE DRAWING-ROOM. From a Photo. by Elliott & Fry." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE DRAWING-ROOM. <i>From a Photo. by Elliott & Fry.</i></span> +</div> + +<p>Little need be said of Mrs. Kendal's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> subsequent work—her acting at the +Court, the Prince of Wales's, and her labours at the St. James's, when, +in 1881, she appeared there under the joint management of Mr. Kendal and +Mr. Hare. Not only in this country has her name become fondly familiar +in the homes of those who "go to the theatre" and those who "never +would," but in America the artistic acting of herself and husband has +been instantly and enthusiastically recognised.</p> + +<p>I left the drawing-room—pausing, before entering Mr. Kendal's study, to +admire the aviary—a veritable home of song—and to notice one +diminutive member of the feathered tribe in particular, who has been +taught by Miss Grimston to perform tricks <i>ad lib.</i>, in addition to +giving forth the sweetest of notes.</p> + +<p>The study is a very delicate apartment in terra-cotta and gold—here and +there are quaint blue china vases and many exquisite bronzes. The window +in the recess where the table is—a typical study table, suggesting +plenty of work—is of stained glass, the quartet of divisions +representing the four seasons. A glance round the walls of this room at +once reveals the substantial side of Mr. Kendal's artistic +hobby—pictures. In this apartment there is nothing but water-colours, +save a very clever pen-and-ink sketch by a New York artist, called "Six +Months After Marriage," which Jefferson caught sight of at the New York +Dramatic Bazaar, and reminded Mr. Kendal to "keep his eye on," and a +portrait or two of Mrs. Kendal and the children. "Hetty Sorrell" at her +butter pats, with her thoughts very far from the churning-pan, is a gem. +"The Last of St. Bartholomew" is a magnificent bit of painting, and the +Venetian views at once carry one back to the home of the merry gondolier +and perfect moonlight nights. This picture of Salvini—who its possessor +assured me was the finest tragedian he had ever seen—was painted by Mr. +Kendal himself. The bookcase, running along opposite the window, +contains many rare first editions, of which Mr. Kendal is a very +persevering and successful collector, and a bound manuscript copy of +every play produced by him, together with the original sketches for the +scenery. You may look over the "Scrap of Paper," "The Falcon," "Queen's +Shilling," "Ladies' Battle," "Clancarty," "The Ironmaster," "The Money +Spinner," and "The Squire"—Pinero's play, of which somebody wrote that +it wafted the scent of the new-mown hay across the footlights.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 314px;"> +<img src="images/image238.jpg" width="314" height="450" alt="PORTRAIT OF SALVANI, BY MR. KENDAL." title="" /> +<span class="caption">PORTRAIT OF SALVANI, BY MR. KENDAL.</span> +</div> + +<p>It is interesting to learn how Mr. Kendal first came across Pinero.</p> + +<p>"I only knew him as an actor at the Lyceum," he said, "and had never met +him. He wrote and asked if we would let him read a play to us. As a rule +we never do that; but, remembering that Pinero was himself a player, we +made an exception. So it came about that one day, after a rehearsal, the +actor playwright read his piece to us in the <i>foyer</i> of the St. James's. +We never expected anything at first, but the reading ended in our taking +the play immediately, though we scarcely knew what we should do with it, +seeing it was a two-act play. We found an opportunity, however, and you +know the success it was. It was called 'The Money Spinner.'"</p> + +<p>Mr. Kendal is a striking-looking man—the very ideal of a picturesque +soldier, with a constitution of steel. He talks to you frankly, easily, +for there is not two penny-worth of presumption about him. He lives and +labours very quietly—he enjoys his days, and a good cigar. He divides +his talents between the stage and the brush. His pencil and palette have +been with him in far-off<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> places, and there is always a corner in his +bag for them if he only travels twenty miles from Harley Street. His +peculiarity of painting—so to speak—lies in the fact that he never +fails to chronicle the view obtained from any hotel where he may be +staying. He showed me a book full of these hasty impressions—all of +which were most beautifully done—many of them he could only give ten +minutes or a quarter of an hour to. Two of these I brought away for +reproduction in these pages; they are both unfinished, however—the +pencil reminders of certain little additions tell that.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image239.jpg" width="500" height="362" alt="SKETCH FROM THE QUEEN's HOTEL, MANCHESTER, BY MR. +KENDAL." title="" /> +<span class="caption">SKETCH FROM THE QUEEN's HOTEL, MANCHESTER, BY MR. +KENDAL.</span> +</div> + +<p>The first of these is a view of the Infirmary as seen from Mr. Kendal's +window at the Queen's Hotel, Manchester; the second—done in a quarter +of an hour—shows the way the Americans erect their buildings for +exhibiting a cyclorama—popularly known here as a panorama. It was done +from a back window in an hotel in Cleveland, U.S.A. The actor-artist +never learnt drawing, save for a few hours' lessons he took at the Slade +Schools under the tuition of Le Gros. He draws everything that impresses +him—his painting memory is remarkable. He sees a man's face in the +street, carries it home in his mind, and it will be very faithfully put +on paper or canvas.</p> + +<p>We talked for a long time on "pictures"—he was so happy and earnest +about it that it was some time before we made an attempt to tread the +boards and get behind the footlights.</p> + +<p>Mr. Kendal—William Hunter Grimston—was born at Notting Hill, and just +outside the sound of Bow Bells, on December 16th, 1843. His parents +belonged to the Low Church, and their views of the theatre in general, +and on adopting the stage as a profession in particular, will be readily +understood. Mr. Kendal was intended for the Army—how he came to "go on" +the stage is best told in his own words:</p> + +<p>"I had only been to three or four pantomimes previously," he said, "and +one night—I was about eighteen years of age at the time—I found myself +in the stalls of the old Soho Theatre, in Dean Street, Soho, now known +as the Royalty Theatre. My paper and pencil were out, and I was busily +engaged in making sketches of the various actors and actresses. The +piece was 'Billie Taylor.' Suddenly I felt a gentle tap on the shoulder +from behind. I turned round.</p> + +<p>"'Would you allow me to take those sketches round and show the 'parties' +interested?' a gentleman asked.</p> + +<p>"'Certainly; with pleasure,' I replied.</p> + +<p>"'Perhaps you would like to come behind the scenes as well?'</p> + +<p>"It was just what I wanted, so I followed the person who had so kindly +interested himself in my scribble. He proved to be Mr. Mowbray, the +manager of the theatre. The picture behind the scenes that night was a +perfect Elysium to me. I think Mowbray must have noticed the impression +it made upon me, for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> he asked if I would like to go on the stage. I +did—as a sort of super."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image240.jpg" width="500" height="366" alt="SKETCH FROM HOTEL WINDOW, CLEVELAND, U.S.A., BY MR. +KENDAL." title="" /> +<span class="caption">SKETCH FROM HOTEL WINDOW, CLEVELAND, U.S.A., BY MR. +KENDAL.</span> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Kendal's first important engagement lasted four or five years at the +Theatre Royal, Glasgow. Here he met and played with such people as Helen +Faucit (Lady Martin), G. V. Brooke, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kean, Dion +Boucicault, Fechter, Miss Bateman (Mrs. Crowe), and the elder Sothern. +When Sothern left, the accomplished young actor played <i>Dundreary</i>, and +found himself straying in the footsteps of the famous originator of the +part, even to the hop. One would have thought that people would have +praised the actor for taking such a worthy example—but it displeased +Tom Taylor, and he wrote very wrathfully. Then Mr. Kendal went to the +Haymarket, met Miss Robertson, and from their wedding day their lives +may be said to have been the same in thought, word, and deed.</p> + +<p>As an organizer and man of business his tact and judgment were tested +and proved during his joint management of the St. James's with Mr. Hare +in 1881. For some time previous to this Mr. Kendal had been on the +look-out for a theatre, and his mind wandered towards the St. James's, +but it required a large sum of money spending on it before it could be +opened.</p> + +<p>"One night I was talking to Lord Newry at my club," said Mr. Kendal, +"and happened to say that if £2,000 or so were spent on the St. James's +I might feel inclined to take it.</p> + +<p>"'Suppose I spend that amount of money on the place, will you take it?' +Lord Newry asked.</p> + +<p>"My only reply was that I would think about it. In the meantime I went +to the Court, from there to the Prince of Wales's to play in +'Diplomacy'—it ran a year—'Peril' and 'London Assurance.' Then I +returned to the Court again, and during this time Lord Newry had +practically gutted the old and unlucky St. James's, turned it inside +out—John Hare, my wife and self entered, and we remained there nearly +ten years."</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Kendal share the same opinion of America—it is the land of +to-day, the land of the future. As to its theatres in comparison with +ours, Mrs. Kendal—who had now joined us—was most enthusiastic. I had +reached the pillars, from which hung curtains of intricate Japanese +workmanship, leading to the hall. Victoria, the Jubilee dog, was barking +a friendly "Good-bye," and the lusty throats of Miss Grimston's +two-and-twenty canaries forced their sweet notes from a far-away room +into the passage.</p> + +<p>"I will give you some idea of what an American theatre is like," said +Mrs. Kendal. "You reach your destination by rail at some small place for +a one-night stay. If it is raining and the ground is wet, men in long +jack-boots catch hold of you and gallantly take you across the puddles. +You do not see a soul about—and you are in fear and trembling as to +where your night's audience<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> is coming from. You get to your hotel, and +then your next thought is—where is the theatre? You expect to find a +little, uncomfortable, band-box of a place, and you set out to see it +with a heavy heart. It is a palace—a marble palace—a positive poem! +And your heart leaps happily—only to drop dull again, for you suddenly +remember that you have seen—nobody, not even the oldest inhabitant. You +turn to the manager.</p> + +<p>"'Yes, yes—but, what about an audience, how are you going to fill it?' +you ask.</p> + +<p>"'Wall,' he replies, 'I don't trouble myself much about that. I reckon +that every seat in this theatre is sold for to-night, that's all!'"</p> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Harry How.</span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 388px;"> +<img src="images/image241.jpg" width="388" height="500" alt="MR. KENDAL. From a Photo. by Maurice Stephens, +Harrogat." title="" /> +<span class="caption">MR. KENDAL. From a Photo. by Maurice Stephens, +Harrogat.</span> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Author_Author" id="Author_Author"></a>"<i>Author! Author</i>!"</h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By E. W. Hornung.</span></h3> + + +<p>This story has to do with two men and a play, instead of a woman, and it +is none of mine. I had it from an old gentleman I love: only he ought to +have written it himself. This, however, he will never do; having known +intimately in his young days one of the two men concerned. But I have +his leave to repeat the story more or less as he told it—if I can. And +I am going to him for my rebuke—when I dare.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>"You want to hear the story of poor old Pharazyn and his play? I'm now +going to tell it you.</p> + +<p>"Ah, well! My recollection of the matter dates from one summer's night +at my old rooms in the Adelphi, when he spoilt my night's work by coming +in flushed with an idea of his own. I remember banging the drawer into +which I threw my papers to lock them away for the night; but in a few +minutes I had forgotten my unfinished article, and was glad that +Pharazyn had come. We were young writers, both of us; and, let me tell +you, my good fellow, young writing wasn't in those days what it is now. +I am thinking less of merit than of high prices, and less of high prices +than of cheap notoriety. Neither of us had ever had our names before the +public—not even in the advertised contents of an unread and unreadable +magazine. No one cared about names in my day, save for the half-dozen +great ones that were then among us; so Pharazyn's and mine never used to +appear in the newspapers, though some of them used our stuff.</p> + +<p>"In a manner we were rivals, for we were writing the same sort of thing +for the same sort of publications, and that was how we had come +together; but never was rivalry friendlier, or mutually more helpful. +Our parts were strangely complementary; if I could understand for the +life of me the secret of collaboration, which has always been a mystery +to me, I should say that I might have collaborated with Pharazyn almost +ideally. I had the better of him in point of education, and would have +turned single sentences against him for all he was worth; and I don't +mind saying so, for there my superiority ended. When he had a story to +tell, he told it with a swing and impetus which I coveted him, as well I +might to this day; and if he was oftener without anything to write +about, his ideas would pay twenty shillings in the pound, in strength +and originality, where mine made some contemptible composition in pence. +That is why I have been a failure at fiction—oh, yes, I have! That is +why Pharazyn would have succeeded, if only he had stuck to plain +ordinary narrative prose.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 447px;"> +<img src="images/image242.jpg" width="447" height="450" alt=""HE SKETCHED THE NEW STORY."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"HE SKETCHED THE NEW STORY."</span> +</div> + +<p>"The idea he was unable to keep within his own breast, on the evening of +which I am telling you, was as new, and simple, and dramatic as any that +ever intoxicated the soul of story-teller or made a brother author green +with envy. I can see him now, as I watched him that night, flinging to +and fro with his quick, nervous stride, while he sketched the new +story—bit by bit, and often the wrong bit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> foremost; but all with his +own flashing vividness, which makes me so sorry—so sorry whenever I +think of it. At moments he would stand still before the chair on which I +sat intent, and beat one hand upon the other, and look down at me with a +grand, wondering smile, as though he himself could hardly believe what +the gods had put into his head, or that the gift was real gold, it +glittered so at first sight. On that point I could reassure him. My open +jealousy made me admire soberly. But when he told me, quite suddenly, as +though on an afterthought, that he meant to make a play of it and not a +story, I had the solid satisfaction at that moment of calling him a +fool.</p> + +<p>"The ordinary author of my day, you see, had a certain timorous respect +for the technique of the stage. It never occurred to us to make light of +those literary conventions which it was not our business to understand. +We were behind you fellows in every way. But Pharazyn was a sort of +forerunner: he said that any intelligent person could write a play, if +he wanted to, and provided he could write at all. He said his story was +a born play; and it was, in a way; but I told him I doubted whether he +could train it up with his own hand to be a good-acting one. I knew I +was right. He had neither the experience nor the innate constructive +faculty, one or other of which is absolutely necessary for the writing +of possible plays. I implored him to turn the thing into a good dramatic +novel, and so make his mark at one blow. But no; the fatal fit was on +him, and I saw that it must run its course. Already he could see and +hear his audience laughing and crying, so he said, and I daresay he +could also feel the crinkle of crisp weekly receipts. I only know that +we sat up all night over it, arguing and smoking and drinking whisky +until my windows overlooking the river caught the rising sun at an +angle. Then I gave in. For poor old Pharazyn was more obstinate than +ever, though he thanked me with the greatest good temper for my +well-meant advice.</p> + +<p>"'And look here, my boy,' says he, as he puts on his hat, 'you shan't +hear another word about this till the play's written; and you are to ask +no questions. Is that a bargain? Very well, then. When I've finished +it—down to the very last touches—<i>you</i> shall come and sit up all night +with <i>me</i>, and I'll read you every word. And by gad, old chap, if they +give me a call the first night, and want a speech—and I see you sitting +in your stall, like a blessed old fool as you are—by gad, sir, I'll +hold up you and your judgment to the ridicule of the house, so help me +never!'</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 325px;"> +<img src="images/image243.jpg" width="325" height="500" alt=""I COULD SMELL HIS PIPE THROUGH THE KEYHOLE."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"I COULD SMELL HIS PIPE THROUGH THE KEYHOLE."</span> +</div> + +<p>"Well, I am coming to that first night presently. Meanwhile, for the +next six months, I saw very little of Pharazyn, and less still in the +new year. He seldom came to my rooms now; when he did I could never get +him to stay and sit up with me; and once when I climbed up to his garret +(it was literally that), he would not answer me, though I could smell +his pipe through the key-hole, in which he had turned the key. Yet he +was perfectly friendly whenever we did meet. He said he was working very +hard, and indeed I could imagine it; his personal appearance, which he +had never cherished, being even untidier, and I am obliged to add +seedier, than of old. He continued to send me odd magazines in which his +stuff happened to appear, or occasionally a proof for one's opinion and +suggestions; we had done this to each other all along; but either I did +not think about it, or somehow he led me to suppose that his things were +more or less hot from the pen, whereas many of mine had been written a +twelvemonth before one saw them in type. One way or another, I gathered +that he was at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> work in our common groove, and had shelved, for the +present at all events, his proposed play, about which you will remember +I had undertaken to ask no questions.</p> + +<p>"I was quite mistaken. One night in the following March he came to me +with a haggard face, a beaming eye, and a stout, clean manuscript, which +he brought down with a thud on my desk. It was the play he had sketched +out to me eight or nine months before. I was horrified to hear he had +been at work upon it alone from that night to this. He had written, so +he said, during all this time, not another line, only each line of his +play some ten times over.</p> + +<p>"I recollect looking curiously at his shabby clothes, and then reminding +him that it was at his place, not mine, I was to have heard him read the +play: and how he confessed that he had no chair for me there—that his +room was, in fact, three parts dismantled—that he had sacrificed +everything to the play, which was worth it. I was extremely angry. I +could have helped him so easily, independent as I was of the calling I +loved to follow. But there was about him always an accursed, unnecessary +independence, which has since struck me—and I think I may say so after +all these years—as the mark of a rather humble, very honest origin.</p> + +<p>"He read me the play, and I cried over the third act, and so did he. I +thought then, and still think, that there was genius in that third +act—it took you off your feet. And to me, certainly, it seemed as if +the piece must act as well as it read, though indeed, as I took care to +say and to repeat, my opinion was well-nigh valueless on that point. I +only knew that I could see the thing playing itself, as I walked about +the room (for this time I was the person who was too excited to sit +still), and that was enough to make one sanguine. I became as +enthusiastic about it as though the work were mine (which it never, +never would or could have been), yet I was unable to suggest a single +improvement, or to have so much as a finger-tip in the pie. Nor could I +afterwards account for its invariable reception at the hands of +managers, whose ways were then unknown to me. That night we talked only +of one kind of reception. We were still talking when the sun came +slanting up the river to my windows; you could hardly see them for +tobacco-smoke, and we had emptied a bottle of whisky to the success of +Pharazyn's immortal play.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 349px;"> +<img src="images/image244.jpg" width="349" height="450" alt=""HIS MANUSCRIPT RAGGED BUT UNREAD."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"HIS MANUSCRIPT RAGGED BUT UNREAD."</span> +</div> + +<p>"Oh, those nights—those nights once in a way! God forgive me, but I'd +sacrifice many things to be young again and feel clever, and to know the +man who would sit up all night with me to rule the world over a bottle +of honest grog. In the pale light of subsequent revelations I ought, +perhaps, to recall such a night, with that particular companion, +silently and in spiritual ashes. But it is ridiculous, in my opinion, to +fit some sort of consequence to every little insulated act; nor will I +ever admit that poor Pharazyn's ultimate failing was in any appreciable +degree promoted or prepared for by those our youthful full-souled +orgies. I know very well that afterwards, when his life was spent in +waylaying those aforesaid managers, in cold passages, on stage +doorsteps, or, in desperation, under the public portico on the street; +and when a hundred snubs and subterfuges would culminate in the return +of his manuscript, ragged but unread: I know, and I knew then, that the +wreck who would dodge me in Fleet Street,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> or cut me in the Strand, had +taken to his glass more seriously and more steadily than a man should. +But I am not sure that it matters much—<i>much</i>, you understand me—when +that man's heart is broken.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>"The last words I was ever to exchange with my poor old friend keep +ringing in my head to this day, whenever I think of him; and I can +repeat them every one. It was some few years after our intimacy had +ceased, and when I only knew that he had degenerated into a Fleet Street +loafer of the most dilapidated type, that I caught sight of him one day +outside a theatre. It was the theatre which was for some years a +gold-mine to one Morton Morrison, of whom you may never have heard; but +he was a public pet in his day, I can tell you, and his day was just +then at its high noon. Well, there stood Pharazyn, with his hands in his +pockets and a cutty-pipe sticking out between his ragged beard and +moustache, and his shoulders against the pit door, so that for once he +could not escape me. But he wouldn't take a hand out of his pocket to +shake mine; and when I asked him how he was, without thinking, he +laughed in my face, and it made me feel cruel. He was dreadfully +emaciated, and almost in rags. And as I wondered what I ought to do, and +what to say next, he gave a cough, and spat upon the pavement, and I +could see the blood.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 334px;"> +<img src="images/image245.jpg" width="334" height="500" alt=""THERE STOOD PHARAZYN."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"THERE STOOD PHARAZYN."</span> +</div> + +<p>"I don't know what you would have done for him—but for all I knew what +had brought him to this, I could think of nothing but a drink. It was +mid-winter, and I tell you the man was in rags. I felt that if I could +get him to a bar he might eat something, too, and that I should get a +hold of him this time which I would never again let go. Judge of my +surprise when he flatly refused to come with me even for a drink.</p> + +<p>"'Can't you see? he said in his hollow voice. 'There'll be a crowd here +directly, and I want the best seat in the pit—the best in the house. +I've been going dry for it these two days, and I'm going dry till I've +seen the piece. No, I've been here an hour already, and there's three +hours more, I know; but I'm not going to risk it, thanks all the same.'</p> + +<p>"By this I had remembered that Morton Morrison was to re-open that night +with a new piece. Indeed, I ought not to have forgotten that, seeing +that I had my order about me somewhere, and it meant a column from my +pen between twelve and one that night. But this sudden, sorry meeting +had put all other thoughts out of my head.</p> + +<p>"'My dear fellow,' I said, with a sort of laugh, 'are you a +first-nighter, too?'</p> + +<p>"'Only at this theatre.'</p> + +<p>"He looked me queerly in the face.</p> + +<p>"'You admire Morrison very much?'</p> + +<p>"'I love him!'</p> + +<p>"I suppose my eyes thawed him, though God knows how hard I was trying +not to hurt him with pitying looks. At all events he began to explain +himself of his own accord, very impetuously; indeed I rather think the +outburst was purely involuntary.</p> + +<p>"'Look here,' he said, with his hoarse voice lowered: 'I hoped never to +see your face again. I hoped you'd never see mine. But now you are here, +don't go this minute, and I'll tell you why I think so much of Morton +Morrison. I don't know him, mind you—he doesn't know me from Adam—but +once long ago I had something to do with him. And God bless him, but +damn every other manager in London, for he was the only one of the lot +that gave me a civil hearing and a kind word!'</p> + +<p>"I knew what he was talking about, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> he knew that I knew, for we had +understood one another in the old days.</p> + +<p>"'I took it to him last of all,' he went on, wiping his damp lips with +his hand. 'When I began hawking it about he was an unknown man; when his +turn came he was here. He let me read it to him. Then he asked me to +leave it with him for a week; and when I went back to him, he said what +they had all said—that it would never act! But Morton Morrison said it +nicely. And when he saw how it cut me up, into little bits, he got me to +tell him all about everything; and then he persuaded me to burn the +play, instead of ruining my life for it; and I burnt it in his +dressing-room fire, but the ruin was too far gone to mend. I wrote that +thing with my heart's blood—old man, you know I did! And none of them +would think of it! My God! But Morrison was good about it—he's a good +soul—and that's why you'll see me at every first night of his until the +drink finishes its work.'</p> + +<p>"I had not followed him quite to the end. One thing had amazed me too +much.</p> + +<p>"'You burnt your play,' I could only murmur, 'when it would have turned +into such a novel! Surely you have some draft of it still?'</p> + +<p>"'I burnt the lot when I got home,' Pharazyn replied; 'and by-and-by I +shall join 'em and burn too!'</p> + +<p>"I had nothing to answer to that, and was, besides, tenacious of my +point. 'I don't think much of the kindness that makes one man persuade +another to burn his work and throw up the sponge,' said I, with a good +deal of indignation, for I did feel wroth with that fellow Morrison—a +bread-and-butter drawing-room actor, whose very vogue used to irritate +me.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/image246.jpg" width="450" height="376" alt=""WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS?"" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS?"</span> +</div> + +<p>"'Then what do you think of this?' asked Pharazyn, as he dipped a hand +within his shabby coat, and cautiously unclenched it under my nose.</p> + +<p>"'Why, it's a five-pound note!'</p> + +<p>"'I know; but wasn't <i>that</i> kind, then?'</p> + +<p>"'So Morrison gave you this!' I exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Two or three persons had stopped to join us at the pit door, and +Pharazyn hastily put the note back in his pocket. As he did so, his +dreadfully shabby condition gave my heart a fresh cut.</p> + +<p>"'Are you never going to spend that?' I asked in a whisper; and in a +whisper he answered:—</p> + +<p>"'Never! It is all my play has brought me—all. It was given me as a +charity, but I took it as my earnings—my earnings for all the work and +waiting, and blood and tears, that one thing cost me. Spend it? Not I! +It will bury me as decently as I deserve.'</p> + +<p>"We could converse no more. And the presence of other people prevented +me from giving him my overcoat, though I spoke of it into his ear, +begging and imploring him to come away and take it while there was still +time for him to clip back and get a seat in the front row. But he would +not hear of it, and the way he refused reminded me of his old stubborn +independence; all I got was a promise that he would have a bite with me +after the performance. And so I left him in the frosty dusk, ill-clad +and unkempt, with the new-lit lamp over the pit door shining down upon +the haggard mask that had once been the eager, memorable face of my +cleverest friend.</p> + +<p>"I saw him next the moment I entered the theatre that evening, and I +nodded my head to him, which he rebuked with the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> slightest shake of his +own. So I looked no more at him before the play began, comprehending +that he desired me not to do so. The temptation, however, was too strong +to go on resisting, for while Pharazyn was in the very centre of the +front row in the pit, I was at one end of the last row of the stalls; +and I was very anxious about him, wanting to make sure that he was there +and not going to escape me again, and nervous of having him out of my +sight for five minutes together.</p> + +<p>"Thus I know more about the gradual change which came over Pharazyn's +poor face, as scene followed scene, than of the developments and merits +of those scenes themselves. My mind was in any case running more on my +lost friend than on the piece; but it was not till near the end of the +first act that the growing oddity of his look first struck me.</p> + +<p>"His eyebrows were raised; it was a look of incredulity chiefly; yet I +could see nothing to impale for improbability in the play as far as it +had gone. I was but lightly attending, for my own purposes, as you +youngsters skim your betters for review; but thus far the situation +struck me as at once feasible and promising. Also it seemed not a little +familiar to me; I could not say why, for watching Pharazyn's face. And +it was his face that told me at last, in the second act. By God, it was +his own play!</p> + +<p>"It was Pharazyn's play, superficially altered all through, nowhere +substantially; but the only play for me, when I knew that, was being +acted in the front row of the pit, and not on the stage, to which I had +turned the side of my head. I watched my old friend's face writhe and +work until it stiffened in a savage calm; and watching, I thought of the +'first night' he had pictured jovially in the old days, when the bare +idea of the piece was bursting his soul; and thinking, I wondered +whether it could add a drop to his bitterness to remember that too.</p> + +<p>"Yet, through all my thoughts, I was listening, intently enough, now. +And in the third act I heard the very words my friend had written: they +had not meddled with his lines in the great scene which had moved us +both to tears long ago in my rooms. And this I swear to, whether you +believe it or no—that at the crisis of that scene, which was just as +Pharazyn made it, the calm ferocity transfiguring his face died away all +at once, and I saw it shining with the sweetest tears our eyes can +shed—the tears of an artist over his own work.</p> + +<p>"And when the act was over he sat with his head on his hand for some +minutes, drinking in the applause, as I well knew; then he left his seat +and squeezed out on my side of the house, and I made sure he was coming +to speak to me over the barrier; and I got up to speak to him; but he +would not see me, but stood against the barrier with a mien as white and +set as chiselled marble.</p> + +<p>"What followed on the first fall of the curtain I shall relate as +rapidly as it happened. Louder call for an author I never heard, and I +turned my eyes to the stage in my intense curiosity to see who would +come forward; for the piece had been brought out anonymously; and I +divined that Morrison himself was about to father it. And so he did; but +as the lie passed his lips, and in the interval before the applause—the +tiny interval between flash and peal—the lie was given him in a roar of +fury from my left; there fell a thud of feet at my side, and Pharazyn +was over the barrier and bolting down the gangway towards the stage. I +think he was near making a leap for the footlights and confronting +Morrison on his own boards; but the orchestra came between, and the +fiddlers rose in their places. Then he turned wildly to us pressmen, and +I will say he had our ear, if not that of the whole house besides, for +the few words he was allowed to utter.</p> + +<p>"'Gentlemen!' he cried at the top of his voice—'Gentlemen, I'm one of +you! I'm a writing man like yourselves, and I wrote this play that +you've seen. That man never wrote it at all—I wrote it myself! That man +has only altered it. I read it to him two years ago—two years ago, +gentlemen! He kept it for a week, and then got me to burn it as +rubbish—when he had made a copy of it! And he gave me this, +gentlemen—he gave me this that I give him back!'</p> + +<p>"It was a matter of only a few seconds, but not till my own last hour +shall I forget Morrison's painted face on the stage, or that sweating +white one beneath the boxes; or the fluttering from Pharazyn's poor +fingers of the five-pound note he had treasured for two years; or the +hush all over the house until the first hand was laid upon his dirty +collar.</p> + +<p>"'What!' he screamed, 'do none of you believe me? Will none of you stand +by me—isn't there a man—not one man among you——'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And they threw him out with my name on his lips. And I followed, and +floored a brute who was handling him roughly. And nothing happened to +me—because of what happened to Pharazyn!"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The dear old boy sat silent, his grey head on his hand. Presently he +went on, more to himself than to me: "What could I do? What proof had I? +He had burnt them every one. And as long as the public would stand him, +Morrison kept his good name at least. And that play was his great +success!"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/image248.jpg" width="450" height="399" alt=""HE GAVE ME THIS."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"HE GAVE ME THIS."</span> +</div> + +<p>I ventured gently to inquire what had happened to Pharazyn.</p> + +<p>"He died in my arms," my old friend cried, throwing up his head with an +oath and a tear. "He died in a few minutes, outside the theatre. I could +hear them clapping after he was dead—clapping his piece."</p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"> +<img src="images/image249.jpg" width="700" height="967" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<p><a name="Zig_Zags_at_the_Zoo_Conkavian" id="Zig_Zags_at_the_Zoo_Conkavian"></a></p> + + +<p>If the gentle reader, full of a general desire for knowledge and a +particular enthusiasm for natural history, will refer to any one of the +great standard works on birds, and, turning to the index, seek for the +family title of the Conkaves, I have every hope and confidence that he +will not find it; because, as a matter of fact, it is a little invention +of my own, and, I may modestly urge, rather a neat thing in scientific +nomenclature, on the whole. It has the advantage of including in one +family the storks and the pelicans, which in all orthodox books on birds +are planted far apart and out of sight of each other, with many orders, +tribes, and families between. Under my title they are gathered amicably +together in the common possession of very long bills, like two tailors +on a man's doorstep. The word is derived, in the proper and regular +manner, from ancient sources; from <i>conk</i>, a venerable Eastern word, +signifying a nose or beak, and the Latin <i>avis</i>, a bird.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> And I offer +the term freely as my humble, but I trust useful, contribution to +science; my first contribution.</p> + +<p>The stork is regarded, in many countries, with a certain +semi-superstitious reverence and esteem. After many prolonged and +serious attempts to saturate myself with a similar feeling, I regret to +confess to a certain smallness of esteem for the stork. You can't esteem +a bird that makes ugly digs at your feet and heels with such a very big +beak. Out in their summer quarters the storks are kept in by close wire, +and close wire will give an air of inoffensiveness to most things. But, +away in a by-yard, with a gate marked "private," there stands a shed +wherein the storks are kept warm in winter, behind wooden bars; and +between these bars stork-heads have a way of dropping at the toes of the +favoured passer-by, like to action of a row of roadmen's picks.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/image250-1.jpg" width="450" height="407" alt="PICKS AND CHEWS." title="" /> +<span class="caption">PICKS AND CHEWS.</span> +</div> + +<p>The stork has come off well in the matter of bodily endowment. The +pelican has a tremendous beak—achieved, it would seem, by a skimping of +material in the legs; but the stork has the tremendous beak and legs of +surprising growth as well. His wings, too, are something more than +respectable. At flying, at eating, at portentous solemnity of +demeanour—in all these and in other things the pelican and the stork +score fairly evenly; but at walking the pelican is left behind at once. +This makes one suspect the stork's honesty. The pelican has a good beak +and wings, and pays for them, like an honest bird, out of its legs, just +as the ostrich pays for its neck and legs out of its wings. But the +stork is abnormally lucky in beak, neck, legs, and wings together, and +even then has material left to lay out in superfluous knobs and wens to +hang round its neck, which leads to a suspicion that many of its +personal fittings belong properly to some other bird. I've a notion that +the unlucky kiwi might identify some of the property.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 435px;"> +<img src="images/image250-2.jpg" width="435" height="400" alt="THE PELICAN LEFT." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE PELICAN LEFT.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image250-3.jpg" width="500" height="252" alt="ARMY." title="" /> +<span class="caption">ARMY.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span></p> + +<p>Perhaps the adjutant should be acknowledged king of the conkavians. +Billy, the Zoo adjutant, has, I believe, no doubt on the subject at all. +Billy is an ornament to the military profession—a very fine fellow, +with a thing on the back of his neck like a Tangerine orange, and a wen +on the front of it, which he can blow out whenever he wants to amuse +himself, and everything else handsome about him. He is an old soldier, +too, is Billy, having been Adjutant of the Regent's Park Conkavian Corps +for seventeen years; but if you knew nothing of his age, still you would +call Billy an old soldier—upon a little acquaintance with his habits.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 350px;"> +<img src="images/image251-3.jpg" width="350" height="283" alt="LAW." title="" /> +<span class="caption">LAW.</span> +</div> + +<p>There seems no valid reason why the professional aspirations of the +stork should be restricted to the army. If an adjutant, why not a dean? +Why not a proctor? There is the making of a most presentable don about a +stork; and I have caught a stork in an attitude of judicial meditation +that might do honour to any bench. There is no reason why "sober as a +judge" should not be made to read "sober as a stork," except that the +stork is the more solemn creature of the two; and I think that some +species of stork—say the marabou, for instance—might fairly claim +brevet rank as judge, after the example of the adjutant. The elevation +of a beak to the bench might be considered an irregular piece of legal +procedure; but, bless you, it's nothing unusual with a stork. Put any +bench with something to eat on it anywhere within reach of a stork's +beak in this place, and you shall witness that same elevation, precedent +or no precedent.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 193px;"> +<img src="images/image251-1.jpg" width="193" height="350" alt="UNIVERSITIES." title="" /> +<span class="caption">UNIVERSITIES.</span> +</div> + +<p>A common white stork hasn't half the solid gravity of an adjutant or a +marabou. He has a feline habit of expressing his displeasure by blowing +and swearing—a habit bad and immoral in a cat, but worse in a stork +accustomed to Church. Church, by-the-bye, is the keeper of all the +conkavians, as well as of the herons, the flamingoes, the ibises, the +egrets, and a number of other birds with names more difficult to spell. +It is impossible to treat disrespectfully a man with such widespread +responsibilities as this, or there might be a temptation to mention that +he is not an unusually high Church, although his services are not always +simple, often involving a matter of doctorin'. But, then, some people +will say anything, temptation or none. And after all, it is pleasant to +know that, whatever a stork or a pelican wants, he always goes to +Church.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 277px;"> +<img src="images/image251-4.jpg" width="277" height="300" alt="SWEARING." title="" /> +<span class="caption">SWEARING.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 325px;"> +<img src="images/image251-2.jpg" width="325" height="370" alt="CHURCH." title="" /> +<span class="caption">CHURCH.</span> +</div> + +<p>This being the case, there is a proverb about cleanliness that makes one +wonder why the marabou stork doesn't wash himself. It isn't as though he +never wanted it. I have a horrible suspicion about this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> philosophic old +sloven. I believe his profession of philosophic contemplation is +assumed, because it is the easiest excuse for indolence. Now, a pelican +is not a bird of graceful outline, but he <i>is</i> careful about his +feathers. The pelican is a scrupulous old Dutchman, and the stork is an +uncleanly old Hindu. And uncleanly he must be left, for it takes a deal +to shame a stork. You can't shame a bird that wraps itself in a +convenient philosophy. "Look here—look at me!" you can imagine a +pelican cleanliness-missionary saying to the stork. "See how white and +clean I keep all my feathers!" "Um," says the stork, "it only makes 'em +a different colour." "But observe! I just comb through my pinions with +my beak, so, and they all lie neat and straight!" "Well, and what's the +good of that?" grunts the stork. "And then you see," says the pelican, +ignoring the question, "with a good long beak you can reach everywhere, +over your back and under your wings; see, I'm as clean under my wings as +anywhere else, although it's covered up!" "Beastly vanity," growls the +old Hindu, getting bored. "Then," continues the Dutchman, "you give +yourself a good shake, and there you are!" "And then," says the +philosopher sarcastically, "to-morrow, I suppose, you'll have to do it +all over again?" "Of course!" "Oh! I hate a fool!" says the stork, and +closes the lecture.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 549px;"> +<img src="images/image252.jpg" width="549" height="800" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p>Thus the marabou. The ordinary white stork is comparatively respectable, +and so is the adjutant—or comparatively almost respectable, let us say; +you can't be too cautious in giving a personal character to a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> stork. +For long, long, the stork has enjoyed a reputation for solemn wisdom, +for philosophical dignity. Now for the first time I venture to question +this reputation—to impeach the stork as a humbug. It is easy to achieve +a reputation for profound and ponderous wisdom, so long as one looks +very solemn and says nothing. This is the stork's recipe. Go up to Billy +here, or one of the marabous, as he stands with his shoulders humped up +about his head, and make a joke. He won't see it. He will lift his +eyebrows with a certain look of contempt, and continue to +cogitate—about nothing. If the joke is a very bad pun—such a frightful +pun that even a stork will see and resent it—perhaps he will chatter +his beak savagely, with a noise like the clatter of the lid on an empty +cigar-box; but he will continue his sham meditations. "Ah, my friend," +he seems to say, "you are empty and frivolous—I cogitate the profounder +immensities of esoteric cogibundity." The fact being that he is very +seedy after his previous night's dissipation.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 172px;"> +<img src="images/image253-1.jpg" width="172" height="400" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p>That is the chief secret of the stork's solemnity, I am convinced. He +has a certain reputation to maintain before visitors, but after hours, +when the gates are shut and the keepers are not there to see, the +marabou stork is a sad dog. I haven't quite made up my mind what he +drinks, but if he has brandies and sodas he leaves out too much soda. +Look at that awful nose! It is long past the crimson and pimply +stage—it is taking a decided tinge of blue. It <i>looks</i> worse than +brandy and soda—almost like bad gin—but we will be as charitable as +possible, and only call it brandy and soda.</p> + +<p>I should like to see the marabou stork on his nightly ran-tan, if only +to gloat over his lapse of dignity, just as one would give much to see +Benjamin Franklin with his face blacked, drunk and disorderly and being +locked up. But, as a shocking example, the marabou is quite bad enough +with his awful head in the morning; his awful head and his disreputable +nose, that looks to want a good scraping. I respect Billy, the adjutant, +for his long service and the Tangerine at the back of his neck. The +ordinary stork (although he swears and snaps) I also respect, because +the goody books used to tell pious lies about him. The whale-headed +stork, which is also called the shoe-bird, I respect as a sort of +relative of the shoo-fly that didn't bother somebody. But the marabou +has forfeited all respect—converted it into nose-tint. I must talk to +Church seriously about the marabou.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 404px;"> +<img src="images/image253-2.jpg" width="404" height="450" alt="THE RAN-TAN." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE RAN-TAN.</span> +</div> + +<p>Now, the pelican is no humbug. There is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> nothing like concealment about +his little dissipations; and he is perfectly sober. Any little +irregularity at the pelican club just opposite the eastern aviary never +goes beyond a quiet round or two for a little fish dinner. It is quite a +select and a most proper club. Indeed, the first rule is, that if any +loose fish be found on the club premises, he is got rid of at once by +the first member who detects him. And the club spirit is such that +disputes frequently occur among members for the honour of carrying out +this salutary rule. The chairman of the club is an old crested pelican, +who, by some oversight, has never been provided with a private name of +his own. I think he should be called Peter, because he can take such a +miraculous draught of fishes. It <i>is</i> a draught; you know—a pelican +doesn't eat fishes—he drinks them down in bulk. For Peter, a dozen or +so fresh herrings is a mere swill round of the mouth.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/image254-1.jpg" width="450" height="219" alt="A QUIET ROUND OR TWO." title="" /> +<span class="caption">A QUIET ROUND OR TWO.</span> +</div> + +<p>Peter walks about the club premises with much dignity, deferred to on +all sides by the other members. His kingship is rarely disputed, having +been achieved by the sort of conquest most familiar in the pelican club; +and his divine right is as much respected as his tremendous left.</p> + +<p>A pelican never bears malice; he hasn't time, especially now, with +competition so keen in the fish business, and Church's fish pails only +of the ordinary size. There is never any ill-feeling after a little +spar, and each proceeds, in the most amicable way, to steal some other +pelican's fish. A spar at this club, by-the-bye, is a joyous and +hilarious sight. Two big birds with stumpy legs and top-heavy beaks, +solemnly prancing and manœuvring before one another with an +accompaniment of valiant gobbles and a punctuation of occasional +pecks—a gleesome spectacle.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 335px;"> +<img src="images/image254-2.jpg" width="335" height="300" alt="PETER." title="" /> +<span class="caption">PETER.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 426px;"> +<img src="images/image254-3.jpg" width="426" height="300" alt="A SWILL ROUND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">A SWILL ROUND.</span> +</div> + +<p>Another sport much exhibited at the pelican club is that of +the broadsword. The school of fence is that of Mr. Vincent +Crummies—one—two—three—four—over; one—two—three—four—under. +You<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> see, when a dozen or two birds with beaks a couple of feet long or +so get together in a small area, and now and again rush all in the same +direction for fish, fencing is certain to develop, sooner or later. So +here you have it, <i>secundum artem</i>—one—two—three—four—over; +one—two—three—four—under; and although none have yet attained the +Crummleian degree of knocking out sparks, there is a deal of hollow +noise, as of thumping on a wooden box. But there is never any +after-malice, and in less than five minutes either combatant will +swallow a fish rightfully belonging to the other, with perfect +affability.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 350px;"> +<img src="images/image255-1.jpg" width="350" height="252" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/image255-2.jpg" width="450" height="244" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 236px;"> +<img src="images/image255-3.jpg" width="236" height="300" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 357px;"> +<img src="images/image255-4.jpg" width="357" height="350" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p>There is a good deal of the philosopher about the pelican, and of a more +genuine sort than characterizes the stork. The pelican always makes the +best of a bad job, without going into an unnecessary tantrum over it. If +another member of the club snatches a fish first, the pelican doesn't +bother, but devotes his attention to the next that Church throws; a fish +in the pouch is worth a shoal in somebody else's. Now and again Peter +loses his temper for a moment if the others catch the first snack, and +lays about him with his bill—but then, when a fellow's chairman, and a +lot of other fellows come snatching the lunch from under his nose—why, +hang it all, you know.... But it is only for a moment, and Peter is soon +in position for the next pouchful. He is artful about this position. +When Church appears at the rails with a pailful of fish most of the +members rush to those rails, jostle together and shove their beaks +through them and over them—any way to get nearer the pail. But the +chairman<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> knows very well that Church doesn't throw the fish outside the +rails, but into the inclosure, somewhere near the middle; and near the +middle the sagacious Peter waits, to his early profit—unless Church is +unusually slow about throwing the fish, in which case Peter is apt to +let his excitement steal his sagacity, and to rush into the pell-mell, +anxious to investigate the delay.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 341px;"> +<img src="images/image256-1.jpg" width="341" height="350" alt="A LITTLE SOLEING AND HEELING." title="" /> +<span class="caption">A LITTLE SOLEING AND HEELING.</span> +</div> + +<p>There is a deal of excellent wear in a pelican. One has been here about +thirty years, and two more have been established on the same premises +for a quarter of a century. All these three are in capital working +repair and will probably last, with a patch or two, and a little soleing +and heeling, for a century or two more; no respectable pelican is ever +bowled out for less than three figures.</p> + +<p>In the winter the club takes up its quarters in the shed behind the +inclosure; a shed sumptuously furnished with certain benches and forms, +whereon the club stands in rows, with a general appearance of a number +of very solemn naughty boys in a Board school. In winter, too, Church +will often put his bucketful of fish on the ground, so that the club may +dine in a clubbier way. But whether you watch this club feeding together +from the pail, each member doing his best to put away the whole pailful +at a gulp, or whether you observe them playing a sort of greedy game of +lacrosse with fish which Church throws them, you will be equally amazed +that the pelican was used as a symbol of charity and brotherly love in +early and middle Christian art.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/image256-2.jpg" width="400" height="240" alt="SCHOOL." title="" /> +<span class="caption">SCHOOL.</span> +</div><p><br /><br /></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/image256-3.jpg" width="400" height="212" alt="CLUB DINNER." title="" /> +<span class="caption">CLUB DINNER.</span> +</div> + +<p>I have seen a pelican enact a most instructive moral lesson at a +pail-dinner. Observe the bill and pouch of a pelican. The pouch is an +elastic fishing-net, and the lower mandible is a mere flexible frame to +carry it. Now, I have observed a pelican to make a bounce at the +fish-pail, with outspread wings, and scoop the whole supply. But then +his trouble began. The whole catch hung weightily low in the end of the +pouch, and jerk and heave as he might, he could never lift the load at +the end of that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> long beak sufficiently high to bolt it. Meanwhile, his +friends collected about him and remonstrated, with many flops and +gobbles, betting him all his fish to nothing that he would lose it after +all; this way they chased that bag, and that way, while the bagger, in +much trepidation and with many desperate heaves, wildly sought remote +corners away from his persecutors. Now, by the corner of the club +premises stands an appliance, the emblem of authority, the instrument of +justice, and the terror of the evilly-disposed pelican—a birch-broom. +This, brandished in the hands of Church, caused a sudden and awful +collapse of the drag-nets, an opening, a shower of fish and many snaps; +wherefrom walked away many pelicans with fish, and one with none, who +had looked to take all. The moral is plain to the verge of ugliness.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 250px;"> +<img src="images/image257-1.jpg" width="250" height="233" alt="." title="" /> +<span class="caption">.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 321px;"> +<img src="images/image257-1a.jpg" width="321" height="300" alt="." title="" /> +<span class="caption">.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 358px;"> +<img src="images/image257-2.jpg" width="358" height="200" alt="." title="" /> +<span class="caption">.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/image257-3.jpg" width="450" height="361" alt="." title="" /> +<span class="caption">.</span> +</div> + +<p>A pelican has no tongue—or none to speak of. It is a mere little knob +scarcely the size of a cherry. The long, long meditations of the pelican +(lasting between feeding times) are given up to consideration whether or +not the disgrace of this deficiency is counter-balanced by the greater +capacity for fish which it gives the pouch. After all, it is only +another instance of that commercial honesty which makes the pelican pay +for his beak out of his legs; he gives his tongue for a pouch. There +should be a legend of the pelican applying honestly to Adam to buy a +pouch, and the wily stork waiting and waiting on the chance of snatching +one without paying for it, until all had been served out; afterwards +living all its life<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> on earth in covetous dudgeon, unconsoled by its +wealth of beak, legs, wings, and neck, and pining hopelessly for the +lost pouch. There are many legends of this sort which ought to exist, +but don't, owing to the negligence of Indian solar myth merchants, or +whoever it is has charge of that class of misrepresentation.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image258-1.jpg" width="500" height="116" alt="." title="" /> +<span class="caption">.</span> +</div> +<div class="figright" style="width: 210px;"> +<img src="images/image258-2.jpg" width="210" height="600" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<p>The pelican can fly, although you would never believe it, to look at the +club members here. To a Zoo pelican a flight of two feet is an +undertaking to be approached with much circumspection and preparation, +and a summoning of resolution and screwing of courage proper to the +magnitude of the feat. It takes a long time to learn to fly on to a +bottom-up bucket. The Zoo pelican begins on a shadow—not a very dark +one at first—and works his way up by jumping over, darker shadows to +straws and pebbles, before he tries a bucket. The accomplished +bucket-jumper makes a long preliminary survey and circumnavigation of +his bucket before performing, and when he does begin it is with a number +of wild rushes and irresolute stops. When at last he gets the proper +length of run, and the right foot in front, and doesn't see anything to +baulk him, he rises with a great effort, and all the lookers-on who +don't know him stare up over the trees, and are astonished to find him, +after all, only on the bucket. His pinions are cut, poor fellow! If they +were not, what would become of the fishmongers' shops?</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Shafts_from_an_Eastern_Quiver" id="Shafts_from_an_Eastern_Quiver"></a><i>Shafts from an Eastern Quiver</i>.</h2> + +<h3>IX.—MAW-SAYAH: THE KEEPER OF THE GREAT BURMAN NAT.</h3> + +<h3>By Charles J. Mansford, B.A.</h3> + + +<h4>I.</h4> + +<p>"The fine points of an elephant, sahib," said our guide Hassan, "are a +colour approaching to white, the nails perfectly black, and an intact +tail."</p> + +<p>"I am glad to hear that an elephant has some qualities which recommend +it," said Denviers, good-humouredly. "I should think that the one upon +which we are riding is about as lazy as it is possible to be. I suppose +slowness is an unusually good point, isn't it, Hassan?" The Arab, who +was sitting before us on the elephant, gave it a stir with the +sharply-pointed spear which he held in his hand to urge it on, and then +glancing back at us, as we reclined lazily in the cushioned howdah, he +said inquiringly: "Are the sahibs tired already of travelling thus? Yet +we have fully two hours' journey before us."</p> + +<p>"Hassan," I interposed, "this is a good opportunity for you to tell us +exactly what you heard about that Maw-Sayah when we were at Bhamo. It is +in consequence of that, indeed, that we are going to try to get among +these strange Kachyens; but as we are not quite sure of the details, you +may as well repeat them."</p> + +<p>"The sahib shall be obeyed," responded our guide, and although careful +to keep a good watch in front, he turned his body slightly towards us as +he prepared to begin the narrative.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 372px;"> +<img src="images/image259.jpg" width="372" height="450" alt=""THE SAHIB SHALL BE OBEYED."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"THE SAHIB SHALL BE OBEYED."</span> +</div> + +<p>On reaching Burmah we stayed for several days in Rangoon, the Queen of +the East as it is called nowadays, although only remarkable formerly for +its famous monasteries of Talapoins and as a halting-place for the bands +of pilgrims on their way to the mighty Shway Dagohn pagoda. Thence we +journeyed up the Irawaddy, and having duly paid reverence to some of the +nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine pagodas of Pagan—the outcast +slaves of which city seemed a strange contrast to its otherwise absolute +desertion—we continued our journey by steamer as far as Mandalay. +Having endured the doubtful pleasure of a jaunt in a seatless, jolting +bullock-carriage—the bruises from which were not easily forgotten—we +eventually reached Bhamo, where Hassan entered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> into conversation with a +hill-man. From the latter he learnt a strange story, which was later on +told to us and the truth of which we hoped before long to fully test, +for soon afterwards we set out on an elephant, our faithful guide in +this new adventure again proving himself of the greatest service.</p> + +<p>"Now, Hassan," said Denviers, "we are quite ready to hear this story +fully, but don't add any imaginary details of your own."</p> + +<p>"By the Koran, sahib," began the Arab, "these are the words which were +those of him to whom I spoke under the shade of the log stockade."</p> + +<p>"Which are, of course, unimpeachable," responded Denviers. "Anyone could +tell that from his shifty eyes, which failed to rest upon us fixed even +for a minute when we spoke to him afterwards." The Arab seemed a little +disconcerted at this, but soon continued:—</p> + +<p>"The great Spirits or Nats, who guard the prosperity of Burmah, have +become greatly incensed with the Kachyens, not because they failed to +resist stoutly when the monarch was deposed a few years ago——"</p> + +<p>"Then we are to have a modern story, this time, Hassan?" interrupted +Denviers. "I quite expected that you would commence with some long +worn-out tradition."</p> + +<p>"The sahibs shall hear," the Arab went on. "No one who offends the Nats +of Burmah need expect anything but evil to follow. There are the Nats of +the sky, the Nats of the earth, the Nats of the Irawaddy, the Nats of +the five hundred little rivers, and the thousand Nats which guarded the +sacred person of the monarch——"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Hassan," said Denviers, impatiently, "you mentioned them all +before. We haven't time to hear the list enumerated now; go on about +this one particular Nat which you say is causing such havoc among the +hill-tribes."</p> + +<p>"Patience, sahib. The Nats were justly roused to anger because the +deposed monarch was not afterwards taken to the water's edge riding upon +an elephant instead of in a bullock-carriage."</p> + +<p>"Well, Hassan," said Denviers, "judging from our own experience the Nats +seem to be pretty sensible, I must say—but how do they affect the peace +of mind of the Kachyens?"</p> + +<p>"Listen, sahib. High among the hills which may be seen stretching before +us lies a village in which many of the Kachyens dwell, their occupation +being sometimes that of tillers of the land, but more often consisting +in planning and carrying out raids upon other hill-men, or of descending +at times to the plains, and there looting the towns wherein dwell more +peaceable tribes. In all their forays they had been successful, for +whenever their trusty dahs or swords were drawn, those who opposed them +invariably obtained the worst of the encounter. So powerful did they +become that at last those dwelling in the plains—Shans, Karenns, and +Talaings, too—made no resistance against their attacks; and when they +saw the produce of their fields carried away, thought themselves happy +not to have been slain. The reason why the Kachyens became so successful +in all they undertook was that a powerful forest Nat placed them under +its protection, and hence they could not be harmed by their foes.</p> + +<p>"Now it chanced that the King was in great danger through following the +advice of his impetuous ministers, whereupon he summoned the Kachyens to +his assistance—for their fame as warriors had reached his ears long +before. But they, confident of securing their own safety whatever +happened to the monarch, refused to obey his command to march against +the Burman foes. The consequence was that when the indignity which I +have mentioned was offered to the deposed monarch, the Nats throughout +Burmah were furious with that one who ruled the village in which the +Kachyens dwelt, and they sent some of their number to destroy it. The +latter, however, appeased them by making a grim promise, which has been +only too faithfully kept.</p> + +<p>"A few days afterwards a hill-man, who was clearing a part of the land +on the woody slope of the height, <i>saw the Nat</i>, which had never before +been visible, and, terrified at the strange form which it had assumed, +he ran hastily to the rest of the tribe, and, gathering them together, +held a consultation as to what should be done to appease it. Some +suggested that upon every tree trunk should be scratched appealing +messages, which the Nat might read; others were in favour of placing a +huge heap of spears and swords near the spot where the embodied Nat had +been seen in order that it might be tempted to destroy all those who +urged it to injure them. The messages and weapons, however, when placed +for the Nat to observe did no good, for one dreadful night a rattling +was heard of the bamboos, which lay before one of the Kachyen's huts, +and the man, going hastily to see what caused it, was swiftly carried +away in the darkness without apparently uttering a single cry! For many +nights in succession a similar scene was enacted, for he at whose<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> door +the dire summons came dared not refuse to answer it lest the whole +household might perish.</p> + +<p>"Nothing more was ever seen of those thus strangely carried off, and the +Kachyens, each of whom feared that his own end might come next, +determined to consult some famous Buddhist priests who dwelt not far +from them, and who held charge over the famous marble slabs which the +great War Prince of Burmah had caused to be engraved concerning their +illustrious traditions. The man whom ye saw me conversing with by the +stockade was the one whom the tribe intrusted with the task; but the +priests, after much consideration among themselves of the object of his +visit, refused to have anything to do with such a tragic affair, and +thereupon dismissed their suppliant.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 412px;"> +<img src="images/image261.jpg" width="412" height="400" alt=""THE BUDDHIST PRIESTS."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"THE BUDDHIST PRIESTS."</span> +</div> + +<p>"This Kachyen, when sorrowfully returning towards the hills, fearing +that the tribe would destroy him because of his non-success, chanced to +meet on his way a Mogul, to whom he repeated the story. The latter, +laying his hand on his red-dyed and fierce-looking beard, advised the +Kachyen to enter a hole in the mountain side and to consult a famous +Maw-Sayah, or juggler, who dwelt there. This juggler promised assistance +if the tribe would pay him a great reward in the event of his success, +and when they agreed to this he entered the village and waited for dusk +to arrive. Again the dreadful rattling was heard, and another Kachyen +stepped out to meet his fate. None of the tribe dared to look at what +transpired, except the juggler, and he too disappeared! The next +morning, however, he came into the village and called its inhabitants +together. When they had solemnly agreed to his conditions, he stated +that the Nat was bent upon destroying them all, and that to attempt to +escape by means of flight would only lead to quicker death. Then he told +them what the result of his intercession for them had been.</p> + +<p>"The Nat had been persuaded to destroy only one victim on each seventh +evening at dusk, and had appointed him to see that certain conditions +were not broken. He was to have a hut at his disposal, and into this the +men were to go by lot, and thus the Nat would obtain a victim when the +time came round. They were forbidden to wander about after sunset, and +whatever noises were made not to hearken to them, since the Maw-Sayah +would see that the others were unharmed. So long had this dreadful +destruction lasted that more than one-half of the men in the Kachyen +village, or town, as it might well be called from the large number who +inhabited it, had perished, and yet the Nat still demanded a victim, and +the Maw-Sayah is there to see that the compact is fulfilled. The man who +told this story, sahibs, declares that the keeper of the Nat has by this +means obtained sway over the Kachyens to such an extent that they have +become his abject slaves, for the custom of drawing lots has been +abolished, and he selects whom he will to sacrifice to the Nat. By some +means this Kachyen offended the Maw-Sayah, who thereupon condemned him, +but he, in terror of the sudden and silent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> death in store for him, fled +to Bhamo, where he lives in momentary fear of destruction. Such then, +sahibs, is the story, and it is to see this Maw-Sayah and the Nat at +their fell work to-night that even now our faces are turned to the high +land before us, up which we must climb, for there is but one narrow +pathway leading to the village."</p> + +<p>Hassan ceased, and then Denviers turned to me as he said:—</p> + +<p>"I think that this Maw-Sayah, as Hassan calls him, has about as much +faith in Nats as we have. It suits his purpose to league himself with +something mysterious; whatever it is we will try to find out," and he +glanced at the weapons which we carried.</p> + + +<h4>II.</h4> + +<p>"The sahibs must dismount here", said Hassan shortly afterwards, and +following to the ground our guide, we began to climb the mountain path +which stretched before us. The ascent was exceedingly steep, and several +times we stopped to rest after pushing our way through the tangled +masses which almost hid the path, which was itself cut here and there +apparently through the rocky strata. When we had reached about +three-fourths of our journey Hassan stopped and pointed out to us one of +the thatched roofs of a hut, which seemed in the distance scarcely +noticeable until his keen eyesight discovered it. The village, we found, +lay a little to the left of the mountain path, for on nearing the summit +we found ourselves passing through a peculiar avenue of trees +interspersed with long bamboo poles. From the tops of the latter there +were stretched across the approach strong, rough-looking cords, which +supported various uncouth emblems, and among which were large triangles, +circles, and stars, cut apparently out of the stems of huge bamboos. +After traversing this avenue for nearly three hundred yards we saw the +tree trunks which Hassan had mentioned, and which were deeply scarred +with cabalistic messages to the fierce Nat, which we could not of course +understand. Affixed to some of the trees farther on we saw a number of +spears and dahs mingled with shorter weapons, the latter being made of +some species of hard wood, and close to them we observed the skulls of +several large animals, one of which we judged was that of an elephant.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 298px;"> +<img src="images/image262.jpg" width="298" height="450" alt=""THE AVENUE."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"THE AVENUE."</span> +</div> + +<p>In spite of the fact that the village was a large one, the buildings +were of a very primitive construction, being made of bamboos with +thatched coverings, reaching almost to the piles on which the huts were +placed. We did not observe any openings made to serve as windows, the +only ones noticeable being those by which the Kachyens entered, placed +above a bamboo ladder, which seemed to, serve instead of steps. Although +the sun had scarcely set, the village was wrapped in a strange silence, +the sound of our footsteps alone being heard. The smoke that seemed to +be forcing its way through stray holes in the thatch amply convinced us, +however, that the inhabitants were within doors, and, turning to our +Arab guide, I asked him if he could distinguish among the many huts the +one in which we expected to find the Maw-Sayah. He seemed a little +uncertain at first, but after wandering through the village together we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> +returned, and then Hassan, who had been very observant the whole time, +pointed to one of the rudely-constructed huts and said:—</p> + +<p>"I think that is the one into which we seek to enter; it is situated +according to the position in which the Kachyen said it was, and, +besides, it bears a strange proof of the story which ye have listened to +with such ill-concealed disbelief."</p> + +<p>"Why do you think that is the hut, Hassan?" I asked, for, to my eyes, no +difference between that and the others close to it was distinguishable.</p> + +<p>"If the sahib will look at the bamboo ladder and observe it carefully, +he will see that it is unlike the others round," said the Arab.</p> + +<p>"I suppose you refer to these deep scratches upon it, don't you, +Hassan?" asked Denviers, as he pointed to some marks, a few of which +were apparently fairly recent.</p> + +<p>"The sahib guesses rightly," answered our guide. "You will remember that +the Kachyen stated to me that the Nat is accustomed to obtain its victim +now from the abode of the Maw-Sayah; those marks, then, have been made +by it when it dragged its human prey out of the hut." We gazed curiously +at the marks for a few minutes, then Denviers broke the silence by +asking the Arab why it was that the Nat made marks at all.</p> + +<p>"I should have thought that such a powerful spirit could prevent such +evidences of its presence becoming observed," he continued. "My respect +for it is certainly not increased by seeing those deep scars; they seem +to be made by something which has sharp claws."</p> + +<p>"That is because of the shape which it has assumed, sahib," said the +Arab, "for the Nats have wondrous powers——"</p> + +<p>"Very likely, Hassan," interposed Denviers; "I suppose they can do +exactly what they like, can they not?" I was much surprised at the limit +which was, however, placed upon their powers by our guide, for he +responded quickly:—</p> + +<p>"Not altogether, sahib. There is one thing that a Nat cannot do, +according to the reports of these Kachyens, and that is, they are unable +to move in a direction which is not straight, and hence they are careful +to avoid rough ground, where tangled masses and boulders bar their +progress, so they usually frequent the open avenues, such as the one +which we have just passed through. The symbols above it and the writings +and weapons are all for the Nat's benefit."</p> + +<p>"And the elephant's skull?" asked Denviers, irreverently. "What is that +put up for?" The Arab, however, had an explanation ready, for he +promptly replied:—</p> + +<p>"That indicates where the supplies of food are to be found when the Nat +requires any." Denviers turned to me for a moment as he said:—</p> + +<p>"I should have thought it a good plan, then, to have put it upon the hut +of this Maw-Sayah whom we are about to interview. See that your weapons +are in good order, Harold, we may soon need them." Giving a cautious +look at my belt and the weapons thrust into it, I followed Denviers, who +had mounted the short bamboo ladder, and was endeavouring to obtain +admission to the hut. We heard a harsh sound within, then the cry of +someone apparently terror-stricken, and a moment afterwards we had +pushed past the Maw-Sayah, who by no means was willing to allow us to +enter the rude dwelling.</p> + +<p>The single room, which seemed to constitute the hut, was extremely low +and bare of furniture entirely. A few bamboos were spread in one part of +it, while at the far end was a fire, the light from which was partly +obscured by the smoke, which almost suffocated us, so thickly did it +roll up and then spread through the hut. Near the door stood a man +scarcely clothed, upon whose face we saw a look of the most abject +terror, for, as we surmised, the noise of our entry was mistaken by him +for the approach of the fell thing to which he was condemned by the +Maw-Sayah. We moved towards the latter as he threw himself down by the +fire, which he had only left to see who it was that came unbidden to the +hut where to enter was the preceding event to death. He was clothed in a +long blue strip of linen, which wound round his waist and covered his +body, partly leaving his dark chest uncovered. His features were stamped +with an appearance of supreme cunning, his oblique eyes reminding us of +a Chinaman, while the fierce look in them as they glared at us from +either side of an aquiline nose, which betrayed his Burmese descent, did +not increase our confidence in the man as he stretched out his bony +hands over the fire as if for warmth, although outside the hut we had +found the heat almost insupportable.</p> + +<p>"What do ye seek?" he demanded, as he looked into our faces in turn and +seemed astonished at our strange features.</p> + +<p>"We are travellers who wished to see a Kachyen village," responded +Denviers, "and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> we further desired to see some of its inhabitants; but +as none were visible we entered this hut, even against your will. Where +are the people who dwell here?" The man whom my companion addressed +pointed to the Kachyen near the doorway, as he responded:—</p> + +<p>"There is one of them, and in a short time even he will never be seen +again."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/image264.jpg" width="450" height="371" alt=""WHAT DO YE SEEK?"" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"WHAT DO YE SEEK?"</span> +</div> + +<p>"Can you give us food?" hazarded Hassan, in order to get the man to +continue his conversation, for the Arab evidently was expecting that the +Nat would soon arrive upon the scene. The Maw-Sayah rose and pointed to +the entrance as he cried:—</p> + +<p>"That way ye came, that way shall ye depart. Food for ye I have not, nor +would I give it if I had." I turned to Denviers and said in a low +tone:—</p> + +<p>"What shall we do, Frank? I don't think our opportunity of seeing what +may transpire will be as good within the hut as without it. Whatever the +solution is to this affair, if we are outside we shall see this Kachyen +dragged away, and may further watch the approach of whatever caused +those strange marks which we observed."</p> + +<p>"One thing is clear," said my companion, "we will attempt to save this +intended victim, at all events. I expect that if we tried we could get +him away easily enough, but that plan would not be of much service. We +must attack this being, whatever it is, with which this Maw-Sayah is +leagued. How I should like to hand him over as a victim instead of that +trembling captive by the door. It shows to what extent this juggler has +acquired power over this tribe, for I notice that his captive is +unbound, and is certainly a much finer built man than the other."</p> + +<p>"It wants less than an hour to dusk, sahibs," said Hassan, who had +listened carefully to our remarks; "if we were to station ourselves a +little away from the hut we could see what took place, and if the Nat +were mortal we might attack it."</p> + +<p>Denviers shrugged his shoulders at the Arab's supposition as he +responded:—</p> + +<p>"There is little doubt, Hassan, that the Nat would smart if that keen +blade of yours went a little too near it, but I think your plan is a +good one, and we will adopt it, as it falls in with what has already +been said." We gave a final look at the crafty face of the man who was +still seated by the fire, and then brushing past the captive we made for +the open village again.</p> + +<p>"I feel sorry for this Kachyen," said Denviers. "He will have a dreadful +five minutes of it, I expect; but it is our only way of preventing, if +possible, such an affair from occurring again." On leaving the hut we +stationed ourselves almost opposite to it, and then began to keep watch. +What we should see pass up the avenue we could only surmise, but our +suppositions certainly did not lead us to imagine in the faintest degree +the sight which before long was destined to completely startle us.</p> + + +<h4>III.</h4> + +<p>The grey dusk was becoming night when among the dark stems of the trees +we saw some black form move over the ground. We could scarcely +distinguish it as it crawled over the bamboo logs and made a rasping<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> +noise as it clung to the ladder. The door of the hut yielded to it, and +a minute after it again emerged and bore with it the terrified Kachyen. +We crept after it as it dragged its captive down the avenue, striving +our utmost to make out its shape. One thing we could tell, which was +that the creature was not upright; but our movement behind it was +apparently known, for it struggled to move quicker over the ground with +its human burden.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 371px;"> +<img src="images/image265.jpg" width="371" height="450" alt=""IT AGAIN EMERGED."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"IT AGAIN EMERGED."</span> +</div> + +<p>"Shall I shoot it?" I whispered to Denviers, as my nerves seemed to be +almost unstrung at the unknowableness of the creeping thing.</p> + +<p>"You would more likely kill the man," he responded. "Follow as +noiselessly as you can—it will not let its prey escape, be sure of +that. Once we track it to its haunt we will soon dispatch it, big and +fierce as it seems."</p> + +<p>We drew nearer and nearer to it, until it had passed half-way down the +avenue, then it seemed to become lost to our view, although we were, as +we knew, close to it. I felt Denviers' hand upon my shoulder, and then +he whispered:—</p> + +<p>"The Kachyen is being dragged up a tree just in front—look!" I could +just distinguish something moving up the trunk, when suddenly the +captive, who had hitherto been apparently paralyzed with terror, uttered +a cry and then must have succeeded in disengaging himself from the +dreadful thing that had held him, for the noise of someone falling to +the ground was heard, and a minute after we distinguished the form of a +man rushing headlong back to the village for safety.</p> + +<p>We did not anticipate such an event, and were contemplating a search for +the captor of the Kachyen, when a cold sweat broke out upon me, for the +clammy claws of the man-hunter had touched me! The sensation which +seized me was only of short duration, for I felt myself released just as +Denviers said:—</p> + +<p>"Harold, the Kachyen has fled, and his captor, determined to secure its +prey, has betaken its crawling body after him. If only we had a light! I +saw something like a black shadow moving onwards; get your pistol ready +and follow." I just distinguished Denviers as he passed on in front of +me, Hassan coming last. When we reached the hut of the Maw-Sayah we +stopped at once, for, from the cry which came from it, we rightly +surmised that the terrible seeker for human prey had made for this +place, thinking, in its dull intelligence, that its captive had +returned. We thrust ourselves into the hut, and saw by the red firelight +a sanguinary contest between the Maw-Sayah and the black object which we +had endeavoured to track. Thinking that the Kachyen was being destroyed, +the juggler had not fastened his door, and the enraged man-eater had +seized him as he rested on the ground, quite at its mercy!</p> + +<p>The Maw-Sayah was struggling with his bony hands to extricate himself +from the clutches of a monstrous tree-spider! We had seen, on an island +in the South Seas, several cocoa-nut crabs, and this reptile somewhat +resembled them, but was even larger. Grasping the juggler with several +of its long, furry-looking claws, it fixed its glaring red eyes in mad +anger upon him as he grasped in each<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> hand one of its front pair of +legs, which were armed with strong, heavy-looking pincers. He besought +us wildly to shoot, even if we killed him, held as he was by his +relentless foe.</p> + +<p>"Harold," cried my companion, "keep clear, and look out for yourself +when I fire at this reptile; most likely it will make for one of us." He +drew right close to it, and thrusting the barrel of his pistol between +its eyes touched the trigger. The explosion shook the hut, its effect +upon the spider being to cause it to rush frantically about the floor, +dragging the Maw-Sayah as if he were some slight burden scarcely +observable.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/image266.jpg" width="450" height="320" alt=""A RELENTLESS FOE."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"A RELENTLESS FOE."</span> +</div> + +<p>"You missed it!" I cried. "Look out, Hassan, guard the doorway!" The +Arab stood, sword in hand, waiting for it to make for the entrance, +while Denviers exclaimed:—</p> + +<p>"I shot it through the head!" and a minute afterwards the trueness of +his aim was manifest, for the claws released, and the Maw-Sayah, wounded +badly, but saved, stood free from the muscular twitchings of the dead +spider.</p> + +<p>"You scoundrel!" said Denviers to him, "I have a good mind to serve you +the same. You deserve to die as so many of these simple-minded, +credulous Kachyens have done." I thought for one brief second that my +companion was about to kill the juggler, for through all our adventures +I had never seen him so thoroughly roused. I stood between them; then, +when Denviers quickly recovered his self-command, I turned to the +Maw-Sayah and asked:—</p> + +<p>"If we spare your life, will you promise to leave this village and never +to return?" He turned his evil-looking but scared face towards us +eagerly as he replied:—</p> + +<p>"I will do whatever you wish." Denviers motioned to him to rest upon the +ground, which he did, then turning to me, said:—</p> + +<p>"It is pretty apparent what this juggler has done. The man who first +reported the discovery of this Nat, as the foolish Kachyens call it, +simply disturbed a monstrous spider which had lived in the trees which +he felled—that accounts for his seeing it. Finding animal food scarce, +the reptile ventured into this village and tried to get into one of the +huts. Its exertions were rewarded by the Kachyen coming to the door, +whom it accordingly seized. To continue its plan, which proved so +successful, needed very little reasoning power on the part of such a +cunning creature. No doubt this Maw-Sayah purposely left the door of his +hut unfastened each seventh night, and the spider thus became accustomed +to seek for its victim there, I daresay it came the other nights, but +the juggler was then careful enough to keep his hut well fastened."</p> + +<p>"What do the sahibs propose to do?" interrupted Hassan. Denviers turned +to him, as he responded:—</p> + +<p>"We will wait for daybreak; then, having dragged the dead spider out +where the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> Kachyens may see that it is no longer able to harm them, we +will take this Maw-Sayah down the mountain path away from the village as +poor as he came."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 422px;"> +<img src="images/image267.jpg" width="422" height="373" alt=""YOU SCOUNDREL!"" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"YOU SCOUNDREL!"</span> +</div> + +<p>"A good plan," I assented, and we followed it out, eventually leaving +the juggler, and climbing once more into the howdah upon the elephant, +which we found close to the spot where we had left it, secured from +wandering far away by the rope which Hassan had used to hinder its +movements.</p> + +<p>We entered Bhamo, and while we took a much-needed rest, our guide—as we +afterwards learnt—searched for and found the fugitive Kachyen, who, on +hearing that his safety was secured, hastily departed to the village to +rejoice with the rest of his tribe that the so-called Nat would not do +them any more injury.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="From_Behind_the_Speakers_Chair" id="From_Behind_the_Speakers_Chair"></a><i>From Behind the Speaker's Chair.</i></h2> + +<h3>III.</h3> + +<h3>(VIEWED BY HENRY W. LUCY.)</h3> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/image268-1.jpg" width="450" height="174" alt=""OBSTRUCTION."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"OBSTRUCTION."</span> +</div> + +<p>It is thirteen years since a new Parliament last blithely started on its +way with Mr. Gladstone sitting in the seat of the Premier. Since March, +1880, a great deal has happened, not least in the change of +circumstances under which the business of the House of Commons is +conducted. The majority of the House of Commons may be Liberal or +Conservative, according to a passing flood of conviction on the part of +the constituencies. When presumptuous hands are stretched forth to touch +the Ark of its procedure, its instincts are all Tory. For more than two +hundred years preceding the advent of a Tory Ministry in 1886, this was +so. Mr. Gladstone, driven to desperation in the second Session of the +Parliament of 1880-5, endeavoured to reform procedure so that +obstruction might be fought on even terms. He was met by such resolute +and persistent opposition from the Conservative side that, even with an +overwhelming majority at his back, he succeeded only in tinkering the +pot. Oddly enough, it was left for the Conservatives when they came into +office to revolutionize the system upon which, through the ages, +Parliamentary business had been carried on.</p> + +<p>There was nothing in the reforms more startling to the old +Parliamentarian than the proposal automatically to close debate at +midnight. A dozen years ago members of the House of Commons assembled at +four o'clock for prayers. Questions began at half-past four, and no one +could say at what hour of the night or of the next morning the cry "Who +goes home?" might echo through the lobby. In those days Mr. O'Donnell +was master of the situation, and he had many imitators. A debate carried +on through several nights might seem to be approaching a conclusion. The +Leader of the Opposition, rising between eleven o'clock and midnight, +spoke in a crowded House. The Premier, or his lieutenant, followed, +assuming to wind up the debate. Members wearied of the long sitting were +prepared to go forth to the division lobby; when from below the gangway +on the left there uprose a familiar figure, and there was heard a +well-known voice.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 342px;"> +<img src="images/image268-2.jpg" width="342" height="350" alt="F. H. O'DONNELL." title="" /> +<span class="caption">F. H. O'DONNELL.</span> +</div> + +<p>These usually belonged to Mr. O'Donnell<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> bent upon vindicating the right +of a private member to interpose when the constituted authorities of the +House had agreed in the opinion that a debate had been continued long +enough. A roar of execration from the fagged legislators greeted the +intruder. He expected this, and was in no degree perturbed. In earliest +practice he had a way of dropping his eye-glass as if startled by the +uproar, and searched for it with puzzled, preoccupied expression, +apparently debating with himself what this outburst might portend. He +did not love the British House of Commons, and delighted in thwarting +its purposes. But he knew what was due to it in the way of respect, and, +however angry passions might rise, however turbulent the scene, he would +never address it looking upon it with the naked eye. As his eye-glass +was constantly tumbling out, and as search for it was preternaturally +deliberate, it played an appreciable part in the prolongation of +successive Sessions.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 244px;"> +<img src="images/image269-1.jpg" width="244" height="250" alt=""EYE-GLASS PLAY."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"EYE-GLASS PLAY."</span> +</div> + +<p>What has become of Frank Hugh now, I wonder? Vanishing from the House of +Commons, he reappeared for a while on the scene, characteristically +acting the part of the petrel that heralded the storm Mr. Pigott +ineffectively tried to ride. It must be a consolation to Mr. O'Donnell, +in his retirement, wherever it is passed, to reflect on the fact that it +was he who directly brought about the appointment of the Parnell +Commission, with all it effected. His action for libel brought against +the <i>Times</i> preluded and inevitably led up to the formal investigation +of the famous Charges and Allegations.</p> + +<p>The member for Dungarvan was, in his day, the most thoroughly disliked +man in the House of Commons, distaste for Mr. Parnell and for Mr. Biggar +in his early prime being softened by contrast with his subtler +provocation. An exceedingly clever debater, he was a phrase maker, some +of whose epigrams Mr. Disraeli would not have disowned. He was a +parliamentary type of ancient standing, and apparently ineradicable +growth. In the present House of Commons fresh developments are presented +by Mr. Seymour Keay and Mr. Morton. These are distinct varieties, but +from the unmistakable root. Both are gifted with boundless volubility, +unhampered by ordinary considerations of coherency and cogency. Neither +is influenced by that sense of the dread majesty of the House of Commons +which keeps some members dumb all through their parliamentary life, and +to the last, as in the case of Mr. Bright, weighs upon even great +orators. The difference between the older and the new development is +that whilst over Mr. O'Donnell's intentional and deliberate vacuity of +speech there gleamed frequent flashes of wit, Mr. Morton and Mr. Keay +are only occasionally funny, and then the effect was undesigned.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 233px;"> +<img src="images/image269-2.jpg" width="233" height="400" alt="O'DONNELL'S LAST APPEARANCE." title="" /> +<span class="caption">O'DONNELL'S LAST APPEARANCE.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 152px;"> +<img src="images/image269-3.jpg" width="152" height="350" alt="MR. SEYMOUR KEAY." title="" /> +<span class="caption">MR. SEYMOUR KEAY.</span> +</div> + +<p>Since we have these two gentlemen still with us, it would be rash to say +that if Mr. O'Donnell could revisit the glimpses of Big Ben he would +find his occupation gone. He would certainly discover that his +opportunities had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> been limited, and would have to recommence practice +under greatly altered conditions. One of the former member for +Dungarvan's famous achievements took place in the infancy of the +Parliament of 1880-5, and, apart from its dramatic interest, is valuable +as illustrating the change effected in parliamentary procedure by the +New Rules. On that particular June night the paper was loaded with +questions in a fashion unfamiliar in the last Parliament, though there +are not lacking signs of renewed activity since political parties +changed places. Question No. 23 stood in the name of Mr. O'Donnell, and +contained in his best literary style a serious indictment of M. +Challemel-Lacour, just nominated by the French Government as their +representative at the Court of St. James.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 185px;"> +<img src="images/image270-1.jpg" width="185" height="400" alt="MR. A. C. MORTON." title="" /> +<span class="caption">MR. A. C. MORTON.</span> +</div> + +<p>Sir Charles Dilke, then Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, made +categorical reply, directly traversing all the points in the indictment. +When he resumed his seat Mr. O'Donnell rose in his usual deliberate +manner, captured his eye-glass, and having fixed it to his satisfaction, +remarked in his drawling voice that it was "perfectly impossible to +accept the explanation of the Government." Being interrupted with cries +of "Order! Order!" he quietly played his trump card: "If I am not +allowed to explain," he said, "I will conclude with a motion."</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 252px;"> +<img src="images/image270-2.jpg" width="252" height="350" alt="SIR CHARLES DILKE." title="" /> +<span class="caption">SIR CHARLES DILKE.</span> +</div> + +<p>The House howled again, but it was a cry of despair. Mr. O'Donnell, they +knew, had the whip hand. In those good old days he, or any other member +desiring to obstruct ordinary procedure, might, in the middle of +questions, start a debate on any subject under the sun. This and other +outrages were doubtless recalled by the House of Commons when revising +its Rules. It then ordered that no member might, during the progress of +questions, interpose with a motion on which to found debate. If, in this +current month of March, Mr. O'Donnell, being a member of the House of +Commons, had wanted to attack M. Challemel-Lacour, he must needs have +waited till the last question on the paper was disposed of, and could +then have moved the adjournment only if his description of the +question—as one of urgent public importance—was approved by the +Speaker, and if, thereafter, forty members rose to support the request +for a hearing.</p> + +<p>In June, 1880, all that was left for the crowded House to do was to roar +with resentment. Mr. O'Donnell was used to this incentive, and had it +been withheld would probably have shown signs of failing vigour. As it +was, he produced a pocket-handkerchief, took down his eye-glass and +carefully polished it, whilst members yelled and tossed about on their +seats with impotent fury. Under the existing Rules this scene, if it had +ever opened, would have been promptly blotted out. The closure would +have been moved, probably a division taken, and the business of the +evening would have gone forward. There was no closure in those days, and +Mr. Gladstone, after hurried consultation with Sir Erskine May, hastily +moved that Mr. O'Donnell be not heard.</p> + +<p>A shout of savage exultation rising from every bench, save those on +which the Irish members sat, hailed a stroke that promised to deliver +the House from the thraldom of Mr. O'Donnell at the very moment when its +chains had taken a final twist. In ordinary circumstances this +resolution would have played the part of the as yet unconsecrated +closure. A division would have followed, the motion carried by an +overwhelming majority, and Mr. O'Donnell would have been temporarily +shut up.</p> + +<p>But those were not ordinary times. The Fourth Party was in the prime of +its vigour. Lord Randolph Churchill's quick eye discovered an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> opening +for irritating Mr. Gladstone and damaging the Government by making what +should have been a business night one long turmoil. Mr. Parnell, whilst +disclaiming any personal sympathy with Mr. O'Donnell, moved the +adjournment of the debate, and poor, placid Sir Stafford Northcote, +egged on by the young bloods below the gangway, raised various points of +order. Finally, at eight o'clock, the House dividing on Mr. Parnell's +amendment, Sir Stafford Northcote voted with the Irish members, leading +a hundred men of the Party of Law and Order into the same lobby.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/image271-1.jpg" width="400" height="360" alt="STIRRING UP SIR STAFFORD." title="" /> +<span class="caption">STIRRING UP SIR STAFFORD.</span> +</div> + +<p>Hour after hour the riot continued. At one time blameless Sir William +Harcourt, then Home Secretary, appearing at the table, a Conservative +member, amid tumultuous shouts, moved that he be not heard. When members +grew tired of shouting at each other they divided on fresh motions for +the adjournment, and it was not till one o'clock on the following +morning that Mr. O'Donnell, grateful for a pleasant evening, was good +enough to undertake that before he recurred to the question he would +give due notice, so that the Speaker might exercise his discretion in +revising its terms. At five minutes past one in the morning, after a +wrangle full eight hours long, the Speaker, with a pretty assumption of +nothing particular having happened, called on the next question on the +paper, which was Number 24.</p> + +<p>All this might happen again on any night of this month save for the +beneficent action of the New Rules a long-suffering Parliament was +finally induced to adopt. On the threshold of a new Parliament it is +useful to recall the scene as an assistance in calculating what may be +accomplished by the Parliament elected in 1892, as compared with that +which began its history in 1880. On the face of it, Parliament to-day +has much less time at its disposal for the accomplishment of work than +it had a dozen years ago. Then, the duration of a sitting was +indefinite. The House might, as it did in February, 1881, meet at four +o'clock on a Monday afternoon and sit continuously till Wednesday +morning. Now, the Speaker takes the Chair at three o'clock; public +business commences at half-past three; and at midnight, save in cases +where the Standing Order has been formally suspended, the Speaker leaves +the Chair, and the House adjourns, whoever may be on his feet.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 229px;"> +<img src="images/image271-2.jpg" width="229" height="300" alt=""DISGUST."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"DISGUST."</span> +</div> + +<p>The influence of this automatic procedure is beneficially felt +throughout the whole of debate. One wholesome influence works in the +direction of using up the early hours of the sitting, an arrangement +which carries comfort to countless printing offices and editorial +sanctums. Some time before the New Rules came into operation, Mr. +Gladstone discovered for himself the convenience and desirability of +taking part in debate at the earliest possible hour of a sitting. His +earlier associations drifted round a directly opposite course. In the +good old days the champions of debate did not interpose till close upon +midnight, when they had the advantage of audiences sustained and +exhilarated by dinner. That was before the era of special wires to the +provincial papers, early morning trams, and vastly increased circulation +for the London journals. Mr. Gladstone discovered that he was more +carefully reported and his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> observations more deliberately discussed if +he spoke between five and seven o'clock in the evening than if, +following his earlier habit, he addressed the House between eleven and +one in the morning. He has, accordingly, for some years been accustomed, +when he has an important speech to deliver, to interpose in debate +immediately after questions.</p> + +<p>This habit has become general, even compulsory, with members who may, +within certain limits, choose their own time for speaking. All the cream +of debate is now skimmed before the dinner-hour. At the close of a +pitched battle, the two Leaders of Party, as heretofore, wind up the +debate. But their opportunity for orating is severely circumscribed. The +audience in the House of Commons does not begin to reassemble after +dinner till half-past ten. Rising at that hour, the Leader of the +Opposition, if he fairly divides the available time with the right +honourable gentleman opposite, must not speak more than three-quarters +of an hour, and should not exceed forty minutes.</p> + +<p>This is a necessity desirable not less in the orator's interest than in +that of the audience. Except for the exposition of an intricate measure, +twenty minutes is ample time for any man to say what is useful for his +fellow-men to hear. All Mr. Disraeli's best speeches were made within +half an hour, and if he thought it necessary, from a sense of the +importance of his position, to prolong them, his stock of good things +was exhausted in twenty minutes, the rest being what Carlyle +disrespectfully described as thrice-boiled cole-wort. Mr. Gladstone can +go on indefinitely, and in very recent times has been known to hold his +audience spell-bound for three hours. But even he has profited by the +beneficent tyranny that now rules the limit of debate, and, rising with +the knowledge that he has but forty minutes to speak in, has excelled +himself. For less exuberant speakers not gifted with his genius, the new +discipline is even more marked in its benefits.</p> + + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 136px;"> +<img src="images/image272.jpg" width="136" height="400" alt="MR. KEIR HARDIE." title="" /> +<span class="caption">MR. KEIR HARDIE.</span> +</div> +<p>It is too soon to endeavour to estimate the general characteristics of +the <i>personnel</i> of the new Parliament. It will probably turn out to be +very much of the same class as the innumerable army of its predecessors. +When Mr. Keir Hardie came down on the opening day in a wagonette, with +flags flying and accordions playing, it was cried aloud in some quarters +that the end was at hand. This apprehension was strengthened when Mr. +Hardie strolled about the House with a tweed travelling cap on his head, +the Speaker at the time being in the chair. This, as Dr. Johnson +explained, when the lady asked him why he had described the horse's +pastern as its knee, was "ignorance, pure ignorance." Mr. Hardie is not +a man of the quietest manners, as was testified to by the apparition in +Palace Yard of the wagonette and its musical party; but in the +much-talked-of incident of the cap he sinned inadvertently. Before the +Speaker took the chair he had seen members walking about with their hats +on. He had observed that even in his presence they remained seated with +their heads covered. The shade of etiquette which approves this fashion +whilst it sternly prohibits a member from keeping his hat on when in +motion, even to the extent of leaning over to speak to a friend on the +bench below him, was too fine to catch the eye of a new member.</p> + +<p>Mr. Keir Hardie has done much worse things than this in his public +appearances during the recess, and since the Session opened there has +not been lacking evidence of resolve to keep himself in the front of the +stage where the gallery may see him. But this is no new thing, to be +cited in proof of the deterioration of the composition and style of the +House of Commons. It has been done repeatedly in various fashions within +recent memory, and always with the same result. No man, not even Mr. +Biggar—and he may be cited as the most ruthless experimenter—has +successfully struggled against the subtle disciplinary influence of the +House of Commons.</p> + +<p>From the first the member for Cavan set himself in deliberate fashion to +outrage Parliamentary traditions and usages. He finished by becoming a +punctilious practitioner of Parliamentary forms, a stickler for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> +minutest observation of order. Whilst Mr. Gladstone and other members of +old standing were content to preface their speeches with the +monosyllable "Sir," nothing less than "Mr. Speaker, sir," would satisfy +Mr. Biggar. No one who has not heard the inflection of tone with which +this was uttered, nor seen the oratorical sweep of the hand that +launched it on its course, can realize how much of combined deference +and authority the phrase is capable of. Mr. Biggar, having in his early +Parliamentary days defied the Chair and affronted the sensibilities of +the House, alike in the matter of dress and deportment, developed into a +portly gentleman of almost smug appearance, a terror to new members. Woe +to any who in his ignorance passed between the Chair and the member +addressing it; who walked in from a division with his hat on; or who +stood an inch or two within the Bar whilst debate was going forward. Mr. +Biggar's strident cry of "Order! Order!" reverberated through the House. +Others joined in the shout, and the abashed offender hastily withdrew +into obscurity.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 244px;"> +<img src="images/image273.jpg" width="244" height="200" alt="THE LATE MR. BIGGAR." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE LATE MR. BIGGAR.</span> +</div> + +<p>It is the same with others of less strongly marked character. Vanity or +garrulity may force a new member into a position of notoriety. He may, +according to his measure of determination, try a fall again and again +with the House, and may sometimes, as in the case of Mr. O'Donnell, seem +to win. But in the end the House of Commons proves victorious. It is a +sort of whetstone on which blades of various temperature operate. In +time, they either forego the practice or wear themselves away. In either +case the whetstone remains.</p> + +<p>This is a rule without exception, and is a reassuring reflection in view +of the talk about the degeneracy of the House of Commons, and the +decadence of its standard of manner. It would not be difficult to show +that the House at present in Session will, from the point of view of +manners, favourably compare with any that have gone before—though, to +be just, the comparison should be sought with Parliaments elected under +similar conditions, with the Liberals in office and the Conservatives in +opposition. That is an arrangement always found to be more conducive to +lively proceedings than when parties are disposed in the contrary order. +The Parliament dissolved last year was decorously dull. Mr. Gladstone in +opposition is not prone to show sport, and no encouragement was held out +to enterprising groups below the gangway to bait the Government. It was +very different in the Parliament of 1880-5, of which fact the +Challemel-Lacour episode is an illustration, only a little more piquant +in flavour than the average supply.</p> + +<p>There are already signs that the new Parliament will not lie under the +charge of deplorable dulness brought against its predecessor. But these +varying moods are due to waves of political passion, and do not affect +the question whether the House of Commons as a body of English gentlemen +met for the discharge of public business has or has not deteriorated. I +have an engraving of a picture of the House of Commons in pre-Reform +days. It was carefully drawn in the Session of 1842. A more respectable +body of the gentlemen of England it would be difficult to gather +together. With the possible exception of one or two political +adventurers like the then member for Shrewsbury, there is probably not a +man in the House who is not well born or at least rich. Mr. Keir Hardie +would look strange indeed in these serried ranks of portly gentlemen +with high coat collars, cravats up to their chin, short-bodied coats +showing the waistcoat beneath, and the tightly trousered legs. Yet this +House, and its equally prim successors, had its obstruction, its +personal wrangles, and its occasional duel. Peel was attacked by +Disraeli in a fashion and in language that would not be tolerated in the +House of Commons now, even though the target were Mr. Gladstone.</p> + +<p>It is not necessary to go back as far as the days of Peel or +Parliamentary Reform to sustain the bold assertion that, so far from +having degenerated, the manners of the House of Commons have improved. +In the Parliament elected in 1874 there sat on the Conservative side a +gentleman named Smollet, who early distinguished himself by bringing +Parliamentary debate down to the level of conversation in "Roderick +Random." In those days Mr. Gladstone was down after the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> General +Election, and Mr. Smollet, to the uproarious delight of gentlemen near +him, savagely kicked him.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 406px;"> +<img src="images/image274.jpg" width="406" height="400" alt=""MOBBING HIM."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"MOBBING HIM."</span> +</div> + +<p>It was in the second year of this same Parliament, less than twenty +years ago, that Mr. Gladstone, issuing from a division lobby, was +suddenly pounced upon by some fifty or sixty Conservative members, and +howled at for the space of several moments. It is, happily, possible for +Mr. Gladstone to forget, or at least to forgive, personal attacks made +upon him through his long career. In this very month of the new Session +he may be nightly seen working in cordial fashion with ancient +adversaries from Ireland, describing as "my honourable friends" +gentlemen who, ten years ago and for some time subsequently, heaped on +his head the coarsest vituperation permitted by practised manipulation +of Parliamentary forms. But this scene in the division lobby on the 12th +of April, 1875, is burned into his recollection. I have heard him, +within the last few months, refer to it in those tones of profound +indignation and with that flashing fire in his eyes only seen when he is +deeply moved. He mentioned, what I think was not known, that Lord +Hartington happened to be walking with him at the time. But there was no +mistake for whom the angry cries were meant. Mr. Gladstone spoke with +the profounder indignation because, as he said, he had on this occasion +gone out to vote on behalf of a man whose character he detested, because +he saw in the action taken against him an attack upon one of the +privileges of Parliament.</p> + +<p>That scene was an outburst of political animosity; and the movements of +political animosity, like the dicta of taste, are not to be disputed. +But on the question of good manners, the only one here under +consideration, it may be affirmed that the present House of Commons +would be safe from lapse into such an exhibition. To this better state +of things the operation of the New Rules has conspicuously contributed, +and though, as we know, they have not operated to the absolute +extinction of Parliamentary scenes, they have appreciably limited +opportunity and incentive.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Portraits_of_Celebrities_at_Different_Times_of_their_Lives" id="Portraits_of_Celebrities_at_Different_Times_of_their_Lives"></a><i>Portraits of Celebrities at Different Times of their Lives</i>.</h2> + + +<h3>LORD BATTERSEA.</h3> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Born 1843.</span></h4><div class="figleft" style="width: 330px;"> +<img src="images/image275-1.jpg" width="330" height="425" alt="AGE 14." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AGE 14.<br /> + +From a Daguerreotype.</span> +</div> + +<p>Lord Battersea, who was until recently known to the world as Mr. Cyril +Flower, M.P., is a son of the late Mr. P. W. Flower, of Streatham, and +was educated at Harrow and at Trinity College, Cambridge.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 235px;"> +<img src="images/image275-2.jpg" width="235" height="300" alt="AGE 21." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AGE 21.<br /> + +From a Photo, by Mayland, Cambridge.</span> +</div> + +<p>He was called to the Bar at the age of twenty-seven, and became Liberal +Member for Brecknock in 1880, and for the Luton Division of Bedfordshire +in 1885 and 1886, in which later year he was one of Mr. Gladstone's +"Whips." He married the daughter of the late Sir Anthony Rothschild, and +both he and his wife are much interested in the welfare of the lower +classes of London. Lord Battersea was unanimously reputed the handsomest +man in the House of Commons, and is now, in every sense of the word, an +ornament of the House of Lords.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 251px;"> +<img src="images/image275-3.jpg" width="251" height="350" alt="AGE 40. +." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AGE 40.<br /> + +From a Drawing.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 409px;"> +<img src="images/image275-4.jpg" width="409" height="450" alt="PRESENT DAY. +" title="" /> +<span class="caption">PRESENT DAY.<br /> + +From a Photograph by Bassano, 35, Old Bond Street, W.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span></p> + + +<h3>W. Q. ORCHARDSON, R.A.</h3> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Born</span> 1835.</h4> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 313px;"> +<img src="images/image276-1.jpg" width="313" height="375" alt="AGE 16. + +From an Oil Sketch by himself." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AGE 16.<br /> + +From an Oil Sketch by himself.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 270px;"> +<img src="images/image276-2.jpg" width="270" height="400" alt="AGE 35. + +From a Photograph by Walery, Marseilles." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AGE 35. +<br /> +From a Photograph by Walery, Marseilles.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 274px;"> +<img src="images/image276-3.jpg" width="274" height="400" alt="AGE 44. + +From a Photograph." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AGE 44.<br /> + +From a Photograph.</span> +</div> + +<p>Mr. William Quiller Orchardson was born in Edinburgh, and at the age of +fifteen entered the Trustees' Academy of that city, his first pictures +being exhibited in the Royal Scottish Academy. At the age of +twenty-eight he came to London, and the same year exhibited at the Royal +Academy for the first time, his contributions being entitled, "An Old +English Song" and "Portraits," the latter a life-size composition of +three young ladies. In 1865 he painted "The Challenge," which won a +prize of £100 given by Mr. Wallace, and one of the very few Medals +awarded to English painters at the Paris Universal Exhibition. In 1866 +came "The Story of a Life"—an aged nun relating her experiences to a +group of novices. Two years later, when he had only been four years in +London, he was elected an A.R.A. Among his more recent pictures may be +mentioned "Napoleon on Board the <i>Bellerophon</i>" (1880), "The Salon of +Madame Recamier" (1885), "The Young Duke" (1889), and "St. Helena" +(1892). Mr. Orchardson was elected an R.A. in 1877, and a D.C.L. of +Oxford in 1890.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 327px;"> +<img src="images/image276-4.jpg" width="327" height="400" alt="PRESENT DAY. + +From a Photo. by Elliott & Fry." title="" /> +<span class="caption">PRESENT DAY. + +From a Photo. by Elliott & Fry.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span></p> + + +<h3>LADY HALLÉ.</h3> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 257px;"> +<img src="images/image277-1.jpg" width="257" height="400" alt="AGE 10. + +From a Drawing." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AGE 10. + +From a Drawing.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 293px;"> +<img src="images/image277-3.jpg" width="293" height="450" alt="AGE 23." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AGE 23. + +From a Photograph.</span> +</div> + +<p>Lady Hallé, whose maiden name was Wilhelmine Néruda, was born at Brünn, +where her father was organist of the cathedral. She was a pupil of +Jansa, and made her first appearance at Vienna at the age of six, and in +London at the age of nine. After this she returned to the Continent, and +in 1864 she married Ludwig Norman, a Swedish musician. Since 1869 she +has been in England every winter, playing especially at the concerts of +Sir Charles Hallé, whom she married in 1888.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 328px;"> +<img src="images/image277-2.jpg" width="328" height="400" alt="AGE 35." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AGE 35.<br /><br /> + +From a Photograph.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 252px;"> +<img src="images/image277-4.jpg" width="252" height="450" alt="PRESENT DAY." title="" /> +<span class="caption">PRESENT DAY.<br /> + +From a Photo by Burraud.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span></p> + + +<h3>SIR CHARLES HALLÉ.</h3> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 302px;"> +<img src="images/image278-1.jpg" width="302" height="420" alt="AGE 20. + +From a Painting." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AGE 20.<br /> + +From a Painting.</span> +</div> + +<p>Sir Charles Hallé is a native of Germany, but at an early age he +established himself in Paris, where he acquired a great reputation by +his refined and classical rendering of the compositions of the great +musicians; but the Revolution of 1843 drove him to England, where he has +ever since resided. He soon established himself at Manchester, and as +the founder of the annual series of orchestral and choral concerts there +and in London, which have become, perhaps, the most important series in +Europe, he has rendered the most valuable service to musical art.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 304px;"> +<img src="images/image278-2.jpg" width="304" height="400" alt="AGE 31. + +From a Painting." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AGE 31. + +From a Painting.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 258px;"> +<img src="images/image278-3.jpg" width="258" height="450" alt="AGE 45. + +From a Photo, by H. Hering, Regent Street, W." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AGE 45. + +From a Photo, by H. Hering, Regent Street, W.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 308px;"> +<img src="images/image278-4.jpg" width="308" height="400" alt="PRESENT DAY. + +From a Photo. by Mayall & Co., 164, New Bond Street, W." title="" /> +<span class="caption">PRESENT DAY. + +From a Photo. by Mayall & Co., 164, New Bond Street, W.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span></p> + + +<h3>DR. HERMANN ADLER,</h3> + +<h4>CHIEF RABBI.</h4> + +<h4>Born 1839.</h4> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 305px;"> +<img src="images/image279-1.jpg" width="305" height="400" alt="AGE 24. + +From a Photograph by McLean & Haes, Haymarket." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AGE 24. + +From a Photograph by McLean & Haes, Haymarket.</span> +</div> + + + +<p>Dr. Adler, son of Dr. Nathan Marcus Adler, was born in Hanover, and came +to London with his father at the age of six. He studied at University +College, took his B. A. degree at the University of London at twenty, +and that of Ph. D., at Leipzig, at twenty-two. In the following year he +was ordained Rabbi by the famous Rapoport, Chief Rabbi of Prague, and +became in succession Principal of the Jews' College in London and Chief +Minister of the Bayswater Synagogue. In 1890 his father, the Chief +Rabbi, died, and Dr. Adler was elected in his place. Dr. Adler is well +known not only by his powerful and scholarly writings, but by his work +among the poorer Jews of London.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 294px;"> +<img src="images/image279-2.jpg" width="294" height="450" alt="AGE 37. + +From a Photograph by J. R. Sawyer, Norwich." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AGE 37. + +From a Photograph by J. R. Sawyer, Norwich.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 261px;"> +<img src="images/image279-3.jpg" width="261" height="400" alt="AGE 44. + +From a Photograph by Fradella, 216, Regent Street, W." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AGE 44. + +From a Photograph by Fradella, 216, Regent Street, W.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 295px;"> +<img src="images/image279-4.jpg" width="295" height="350" alt="PRESENT DAY. + +From a Photograph by The Photographic Co." title="" /> +<span class="caption">PRESENT DAY. + +From a Photograph by The Photographic Co.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span></p> + + +<h3>SIR ARCHIBALD ALISON, BART., K.C.B.</h3> + +<h4>Born 1826.</h4> + +<p>General Alison, son of Sir Archibald Alison, the first Baronet, who was +the well-known author of "The History of Europe," was born at Edinburgh, +and entered the Army at the age of twenty. He served in the Crimea, at +the siege and fall of Sebastopol, at which date our second portrait +represents him. During the Indian Mutiny he lost an arm at the relief of +Lucknow. In 1882 he commanded the 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, during the +expedition to Egypt, and at the decisive battle of Tel-el-Kebir he led +the Highland Brigade which fought so gallantly on that memorable +occasion, and after Arabi's surrender he was left in Egypt with the +command of the British army of 12,000 men to restore order and protect +the Khedive. Sir Archibald was included in the thanks of Parliament for +his energy and gallantry, and was promoted to the rank of +Lieutenant-General; he received his appointment as General in 1889. In +1869 Sir Archibald Alison published an able treatise, "On Army +Organization."</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 316px;"> +<img src="images/image280-1.jpg" width="316" height="650" alt="AGE 3." title="" /> +</div> + + +<div class="figright" style="width: 240px;"> +<img src="images/image280-2.jpg" width="240" height="450" alt="AGE 47. + +From a Photograph by Jacklett, Aldershot." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AGE 47. + +From a Photograph by Jacklett, Aldershot.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 326px;"> +<img src="images/image280-3.jpg" width="326" height="400" alt="PRESENT DAY. + +From a Photo, by Barraud." title="" /> +<span class="caption">PRESENT DAY. + +From a Photo, by Barraud.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span></p> + + +<h3>MADAME JANE HADING.</h3> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 750px;"> +<img src="images/image281.jpg" width="750" height="1153" alt="AGE 3. + +From a Photo. by Chalot et Cie., Paris." title="" /> +</div> + +<p>Madame Jane Hading, the well-known French actress, was born at +Marseilles, in 1863, where her father was popular as a leading actor, +with whom she appeared when only three years of age as little <i>Blanche +de Caylus</i> in "Le Bossu." At the age of thirteen she began work in +earnest, having won "le prix de solfège" at the Marseille Conservatoire, +and her talent having come to the ears of Mr. Plunkett, the director of +the Palais Royal, he engaged her for the Palais Royal in Paris, where +she created the part of <i>La Chaste Suzanne</i>, by Paul Ferrier. Giving up +comic opera for comedy, Jane Hading went to the Gymnase, where she +created the part of <i>Claire de Beaulieu</i> in "Le Maître de Forges." +London had the opportunity of seeing her in that and "Prince Zilah," by +Jules Claretie, later on, and fully indorsed the Parisian verdict. These +conspicuous successes were followed by others almost as notable, and her +subsequent tour in America won her golden opinions, and was so +successful that it was extended some months. Her latest Parisian success +was "Le Prince d'Aurec," which added greatly to her laurels, putting her +in the very front rank of great artists.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="The_Adventures_of_Sherlock_Holmes" id="The_Adventures_of_Sherlock_Holmes"></a><i>The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes</i>.</h2> + +<h3>XVI.—THE ADVENTURE OF THE STOCKBROKER'S CLERK.</h3> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By A. Conan Doyle.</span></h3> + + +<p>Shortly after my marriage I had bought a connection in the Paddington +district. Old Mr. Farquhar, from whom I purchased it, had at one time an +excellent general practice, but his age, and an affliction of the nature +of St. Vitus' dance, from which he suffered, had very much thinned it. +The public, not unnaturally, goes upon the principle that he who would +heal others must himself be whole, and looks askance at the curative +powers of the man whose own case is beyond the reach of his drugs. Thus, +as my predecessor weakened, his practice declined, until when I +purchased it from him it had sunk from twelve hundred to little more +than three hundred a year. I had confidence, however, in my own youth +and energy, and was convinced that in a very few years the concern would +be as flourishing as ever.</p> + +<p>For three months after taking over the practice I was kept very closely +at work, and saw little of my friend Sherlock Holmes, for I was too busy +to visit Baker Street, and he seldom went anywhere himself save upon +professional business. I was surprised, therefore, when one morning in +June, as I sat reading the <i>British Medical Journal</i> after breakfast, I +heard a ring at the bell followed by the high, somewhat strident, tones +of my old companion's voice.</p> + +<p>"Ah, my dear Watson," said he, striding into the room. "I am very +delighted to see you. I trust that Mrs. Watson has entirely recovered +from all the little excitements connected with our adventure of the +'Sign of Four.'"</p> + +<p>"Thank you, we are both very well," said I, shaking him warmly by the +hand.</p> + +<p>"And I hope also," he continued, sitting down in the rocking-chair, +"that the cares of medical practice have not entirely obliterated the +interest which you used to take in our little deductive problems."</p> + +<p>"On the contrary," I answered; "it was only last night that I was +looking over my old notes and classifying some of our past results."</p> + +<p>"I trust that you don't consider your collection closed?"</p> + +<p>"Not at all. I should wish nothing better than to have some more of such +experiences."</p> + +<p>"To-day, for example?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; to-day, if you like."</p> + +<p>"And as far off as Birmingham?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly, if you wish it."</p> + +<p>"And the practice?"</p> + +<p>"I do my neighbour's when he goes. He is always ready to work off the +debt."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image282.jpg" width="500" height="316" alt=""'NOTHING COULD BE BETTER,' SAID HOLMES."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"'NOTHING COULD BE BETTER,' SAID HOLMES."</span> +</div> + +<p>"Ha! Nothing could be better!" said Holmes, leaning back in his chair +and looking keenly at me from under his half-closed lids. "I perceive +that you have been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> unwell lately. Summer colds are always a little +trying."</p> + +<p>"I was confined to the house by a severe chill for three days last week. +I thought, however, that I had cast off every trace of it."</p> + +<p>"So you have. You look remarkably robust."</p> + +<p>"How, then, did you know of it?"</p> + +<p>"My dear fellow, you know my methods."</p> + +<p>"You deduced it, then?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly."</p> + +<p>"And from what?"</p> + +<p>"From your slippers."</p> + +<p>I glanced down at the new patent leathers which I was wearing. "How on +earth——?" I began, but Holmes answered my question before it was +asked.</p> + +<p>"Your slippers are new," he said. "You could not have had them more than +a few weeks. The soles which you are at this moment presenting to me are +slightly scorched. For a moment I thought they might have got wet and +been burned in the drying. But near the instep there is a small circular +wafer of paper with the shopman's hieroglyphics upon it. Damp would of +course have removed this. You had then been sitting with your feet +outstretched to the fire, which a man would hardly do even in so wet a +June as this if he were in his full health."</p> + +<p>Like all Holmes's reasoning the thing seemed simplicity itself when it +was once explained. He read the thought upon my features, and his smile +had a tinge of bitterness.</p> + +<p>"I am afraid that I rather give myself away when I explain," said he. +"Results without causes are much more impressive. You are ready to come +to Birmingham, then?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly. What is the case?"</p> + +<p>"You shall hear it all in the train. My client is outside in a +four-wheeler. Can you come at once?"</p> + +<p>"In an instant." I scribbled a note to my neighbour, rushed upstairs to +explain the matter to my wife, and joined Holmes upon the doorstep.</p> + +<p>"Your neighbour is a doctor?" said he, nodding at the brass plate.</p> + +<p>"Yes. He bought a practice as I did."</p> + +<p>"An old-established one?"</p> + +<p>"Just the same as mine. Both have been ever since the houses were +built."</p> + +<p>"Ah, then you got hold of the best of the two."</p> + +<p>"I think I did. But how do you know?"</p> + +<p>"By the steps, my boy. Yours are worn three inches deeper than his. But +this gentleman in the cab is my client, Mr. Hall Pycroft. Allow me to +introduce you to him. Whip your horse up, cabby, for we have only just +time to catch our train."</p> + +<p>The man whom I found myself facing was a well-built, fresh-complexioned +young fellow with a frank, honest face and a slight, crisp, yellow +moustache. He wore a very shiny top-hat and a neat suit of sober black, +which made him look what he was—a smart young City man, of the class +who have been labelled Cockneys, but who give us our crack Volunteer +regiments, and who turn out more fine athletes and sportsmen than any +body of men in these islands. His round, ruddy face was naturally full +of cheeriness, but the corners of his mouth seemed to me to be pulled +down in a half-comical distress. It was not, however, until we were all +in a first-class carriage and well started upon our journey to +Birmingham, that I was able to learn what the trouble was which had +driven him to Sherlock Holmes.</p> + +<p>"We have a clear run here of seventy minutes," Holmes remarked. "I want +you, Mr. Hall Pycroft, to tell my friend your very interesting +experience exactly as you have told it to me, or with more detail if +possible. It will be of use to me to hear the succession of events +again. It is a case, Watson, which may prove to have something in it, or +may prove to have nothing, but which at least presents those unusual and +<i>outré</i> features which are as dear to you as they are to me. Now, Mr. +Pycroft, I shall not interrupt you again."</p> + +<p>Our young companion looked at me with a twinkle in his eye.</p> + +<p>"The worst of the story is," said he, "that I show myself up as such a +confounded fool. Of course, it may work out all right, and I don't see +that I could have done otherwise; but if I have lost my crib and get +nothing in exchange, I shall feel what a soft Johnny I have been. I'm +not very good at telling a story, Dr. Watson, but it is like this with +me.</p> + +<p>"I used to have a billet at Coxon and Woodhouse, of Drapers' Gardens, +but they were let in early in the spring through the Venezuelan loan, as +no doubt you remember, and came a nasty cropper. I had been with them +five years, and old Coxon gave me a ripping good testimonial when the +smash came; but, of course, we clerks were all turned adrift, the +twenty-seven of us. I tried here and tried there, but there were lots of +other chaps on the same lay as myself, and it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> was a perfect frost for a +long time. I had been taking three pounds a week at Coxon's, and I had +saved about seventy of them, but I soon worked my way through that and +out at the other end. I was fairly at the end of my tether at last, and +could hardly find the stamps to answer the advertisements or the +envelopes to stick them to. I had worn out my boots padding up office +stairs, and I seemed just as far from getting a billet as ever.</p> + +<p>"At last I saw a vacancy at Mawson and Williams', the great stockbroking +firm in Lombard Street. I daresay E. C. is not much in your line, but I +can tell you that this is about the richest house in London. The +advertisement was to be answered by letter only. I sent in my +testimonial and application, but without the least hope of getting it. +Back came an answer by return saying that if I would appear next Monday +I might take over my new duties at once, provided that my appearance was +satisfactory. No one knows how these things are worked. Some people say +the manager just plunges his hand into the heap and takes the first that +comes. Anyhow, it was my innings that time, and I don't ever wish to +feel better pleased. The screw was a pound a week rise, and the duties +just about the same as at Coxon's.</p> + +<p>"And now I come to the queer part of the business. I was in diggings out +Hampstead way—17, Potter's Terrace, was the address. Well, I was +sitting doing a smoke that very evening after I had been promised the +appointment, when up came my landlady with a card which had 'Arthur +Pinner, financial agent,' printed upon it. I had never heard the name +before, and could not imagine what he wanted with me, but of course I +asked her to show him up. In he walked—a middle-sized, dark-haired, +dark-eyed, black-bearded man, with a touch of the sheeny about his nose. +He had a brisk kind of way with him and spoke sharply, like a man that +knew the value of time.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 331px;"> +<img src="images/image284.jpg" width="331" height="450" alt=""'MR. HALL PYCROFT, I BELIEVE?' SAID HE."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"'MR. HALL PYCROFT, I BELIEVE?' SAID HE."</span> +</div> + +<p>"'Mr. Hall Pycroft, I believe?' said he.</p> + +<p>"'Yes, sir,' I answered, and pushed a chair towards him.</p> + +<p>"'Lately engaged at Coxon and Woodhouse's?'</p> + +<p>"'Yes, sir.'</p> + +<p>"And now on the staff of Mawson's?'</p> + +<p>"'Quite so.'</p> + +<p>"'Well,' said he. 'The fact is that I have heard some really +extraordinary stories about your financial ability. You remember Parker +who used to be Coxon's manager? He can never say enough about it.'</p> + +<p>"Of course I was pleased to hear this. I had always been pretty smart in +the office, but I had never dreamed that I was talked about in the City +in this fashion.</p> + +<p>"'You have a good memory?' said he.</p> + +<p>"'Pretty fair,' I answered, modestly.</p> + +<p>"'Have you kept in touch with the market while you have been out of +work?' he asked.</p> + +<p>"'Yes; I read the Stock Exchange List every morning.'</p> + +<p>"'Now, that shows real application!' he cried. 'That is the way to +prosper! You won't mind my testing you, will you? Let me see! How are +Ayrshires?'</p> + +<p>"'One hundred and six and a quarter to one hundred and five and +seven-eighths,' I answered.</p> + +<p>"'And New Zealand Consolidated?'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span></p> + +<p>"'A hundred and four.'</p> + +<p>"'And British Broken Hills?'</p> + +<p>"'Seven to seven and six.'</p> + +<p>"'Wonderful!' he cried, with his hands up. 'This quite fits in with all +that I had heard. My boy, my boy, you are very much too good to be a +clerk at Mawson's!'</p> + +<p>"This outburst rather astonished me, as you can think. 'Well,' said I, +'other people don't think quite so much of me as you seem to do, Mr. +Pinner. I had a hard enough fight to get this berth, and I am very glad +to have it.'</p> + +<p>"'Pooh, man, you should soar above it. You are not in your true sphere. +Now I'll tell you how it stands with me. What I have to offer is little +enough when measured by your ability, but when compared with Mawson's it +is light to dark. Let me see! When do you go to Mawson's?'</p> + +<p>"'On Monday.'</p> + +<p>"'Ha! ha! I think I would risk a little sporting flutter that you don't +go there at all.'</p> + +<p>"'Not go to Mawson's?'</p> + +<p>"'No, sir. By that day you will be the business manager of the +Franco-Midland Hardware Company, Limited, with one hundred and +thirty-four branches in the towns and villages of France, not counting +one in Brussels and one in San Remo.'</p> + +<p>"This took my breath away. 'I never heard of it,' said I.</p> + +<p>"'Very likely not. It has been kept very quiet, for the capital was all +privately subscribed, and it is too good a thing to let the public into. +My brother, Harry Pinner, is promoter, and joins the board after +allotment as managing director. He knew that I was in the swim down +here, and he asked me to pick up a good man cheap—a young, pushing man +with plenty of snap about him. Parker spoke of you, and that brought me +here to-night. We can only offer you a beggarly five hundred to start +with——'</p> + +<p>"'Five hundred a year!' I shouted.</p> + +<p>"'Only that at the beginning, but you are to have an over-riding +commission of 1 per cent, on all business done by your agents, and you +may take my word for it that this will come to more than your salary.'</p> + +<p>"'But I know nothing about hardware.'</p> + +<p>"'Tut, my boy, you know about figures.'</p> + +<p>"My head buzzed, and I could hardly sit still in the chair. But suddenly +a little chill of doubt came over me.</p> + +<p>"'I must be frank with you,' said I. 'Mawson only gives me two hundred, +but Mawson is safe. Now, really, I know so little about your company +that——'</p> + +<p>"'Ah, smart, smart!' he cried, in a kind of ecstasy of delight. 'You are +the very man for us! You are not to be talked over, and quite right too. +Now, here's a note for a hundred pounds; and if you think that we can do +business you may just slip it into your pocket as an advance upon your +salary.'</p> + +<p>"'That is very handsome,' said I. 'When should I take over my new +duties?'</p> + +<p>"'Be in Birmingham to-morrow at one,' said he. 'I have a note in my +pocket here which you will take to my brother. You will find him at +126B, Corporation Street, where the temporary offices of the company are +situated. Of course he must confirm your engagement, but between +ourselves it will be all right.'</p> + +<p>"'Really, I hardly know how to express my gratitude, Mr. Pinner,' said +I.</p> + +<p>"'Not at all, my boy. You have only got your deserts. There are one or +two small things—mere formalities—which I must arrange with you. You +have a bit of paper beside you there. Kindly write upon it, "I am +perfectly willing to act as business manager to the Franco-Midland +Hardware Company, Limited, at a minimum salary of £500."'</p> + +<p>"I did as he asked, and he put the paper in his pocket.</p> + +<p>"'There is one other detail,' said he. 'What do you intend to do about +Mawson's?'</p> + +<p>"I had forgotten all about Mawson's in my joy.</p> + +<p>"'I'll write and resign,' said I.</p> + +<p>"'Precisely what I don't want you to do. I had a row over you with +Mawson's manager. I had gone up to ask him about you, and he was very +offensive—accused me of coaxing you away from the service of the firm, +and that sort of thing. At last I fairly lost my temper. "If you want +good men you should pay them a good price," said I. "He would rather +have our small price than your big one," said he. "I'll lay you a +fiver," said I, "that when he has my offer you will never so much as +hear from him again." "Done!" said he. "We picked him out of the gutter, +and he won't leave us so easily." Those were his very words.'</p> + +<p>"'The impudent scoundrel!' I cried. 'I've never so much as seen him in +my life. Why should I consider him in any way? I shall certainly not +write if you would rather that I didn't.'</p> + +<p>"'Good! That's a promise!' said he, rising from his chair. 'Well, I am +delighted to have got so good a man for my brother.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> Here is your +advance of a hundred pounds, and here is the letter. Make a note of the +address, 126B, Corporation Street, and remember that one o'clock +to-morrow is your appointment. Good-night, and may you have all the +fortune that you deserve.'</p> + +<p>"That's just about all that passed between us as near as I can remember +it. You can imagine, Dr. Watson, how pleased I was at such an +extraordinary bit of good fortune. I sat up half the night hugging +myself over it, and next day I was off to Birmingham in a train that +would take me in plenty of time for my appointment. I took my things to +an hotel in New Street, and then I made my way to the address which had +been given me.</p> + +<p>"It was a quarter of an hour before my time, but I thought that would +make no difference. 126B was a passage between two large shops which led +to a winding stone stair, from which there were many flats, let as +offices to companies or professional men. The names of the occupants +were painted up at the bottom on the wall, but there was no such name as +the Franco-Midland Hardware Company, Limited. I stood for a few minutes +with my heart in my boots, wondering whether the whole thing was an +elaborate hoax or not, when up came a man and addressed me. He was very +like the chap that I had seen the night before, the same figure and +voice, but he was clean shaven and his hair was lighter.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 311px;"> +<img src="images/image286.jpg" width="311" height="450" alt=""UP CAME A MAN AND ADDRESSED ME."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"UP CAME A MAN AND ADDRESSED ME."</span> +</div> + +<p>"'Are you Mr. Hall Pycroft?' he asked.</p> + +<p>"'Yes,' said I.</p> + +<p>"'Ah! I was expecting you, but you are a trifle before your time. I had +a note from my brother this morning, in which he sang your praises very +loudly.'</p> + +<p>"'I was just looking for the offices when you came.'</p> + +<p>"'We have not got our name up yet, for we only secured these temporary +premises last week. Come up with me and we will talk the matter over.'</p> + +<p>"I followed him to the top of a very lofty stair, and there right under +the slates were a couple of empty and dusty little rooms, uncarpeted and +uncurtained, into which he led me. I had thought of a great office with +shining tables and rows of clerks such as I was used to, and I daresay I +stared rather straight at the two deal chairs and one little table, +which, with a ledger and a waste-paper basket, made up the whole +furniture.</p> + +<p>"'Don't be disheartened, Mr. Pycroft,' said my new acquaintance, seeing +the length of my face. 'Rome was not built in a day, and we have lots of +money at our backs, though we don't cut much dash yet in offices. Pray +sit down and let me have your letter.'</p> + +<p>"I gave it to him, and he read it over very carefully.</p> + +<p>"'You seem to have made a vast impression upon my brother, Arthur,' said +he, 'and I know that he is a pretty shrewd judge. He swears by London, +you know, and I by Birmingham, but this time I shall follow his advice. +Pray consider yourself definitely engaged.'</p> + +<p>"'What are my duties?' I asked.</p> + +<p>"'You will eventually manage the great depôt in Paris, which will pour a +flood of English crockery into the shops of one hundred and thirty-four +agents in France. The purchase will be completed in a week, and +meanwhile you will remain in Birmingham and make yourself useful.'</p> + +<p>"'How?'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span></p> + +<p>"For answer he took a big red book out of a drawer. 'This is a directory +of Paris,' said he, 'with the trades after the names of the people. I +want you to take it home with you, and to mark off all the hardware +sellers with their addresses. It would be of the greatest use to me to +have them.'</p> + +<p>"'Surely, there are classified lists?' I suggested.</p> + +<p>"'Not reliable ones. Their system is different to ours. Stick at it and +let me have the lists by Monday, at twelve. Good-day, Mr. Pycroft; if +you continue to show zeal and intelligence, you will find the company a +good master.'</p> + +<p>"I went back to the hotel with the big book under my arm, and with very +conflicting feelings in my breast. On the one hand I was definitely +engaged, and had a hundred pounds in my pocket. On the other, the look +of the offices, the absence of name on the wall, and other of the points +which would strike a business man had left a bad impression as to the +position of my employers. However, come what might, I had my money, so I +settled down to my task. All Sunday I was kept hard at work, and yet by +Monday I had only got as far as H. I went round to my employer, found +him in the same dismantled kind of room, and was told to keep at it +until Wednesday, and then come again. On Wednesday it was still +unfinished, so I hammered away until Friday—that is, yesterday. Then I +brought it round to Mr. Harry Pinner.</p> + +<p>"'Thank you very much,' said he. 'I fear that I underrated the +difficulty of the task. This list will be of very material assistance to +me.'</p> + +<p>"'It took some time,' said I.</p> + +<p>"'And now,' said he, 'I want you to make a list of the furniture shops, +for they all sell crockery.'</p> + +<p>"'Very good.'</p> + +<p>"'And you can come up to-morrow evening at seven, and let me know how +you are getting on. Don't overwork yourself. A couple of hours at Day's +Music-Hall in the evening would do you no harm after your labours.' He +laughed as he spoke, and I saw with a thrill that his second tooth upon +the left-hand side had been very badly stuffed with gold."</p> + +<p>Sherlock Holmes rubbed his hands with delight, and I stared in +astonishment at our client.</p> + +<p>"You may well look surprised, Dr. Watson, but it is this way," said he. +"When I was speaking to the other chap in London at the time that he +laughed at my not going to Mawson's, I happened to notice that his tooth +was stuffed in this very identical fashion. The glint of the gold in +each case caught my eye, you see. When I put that with the voice and +figure being the same, and only those things altered which might be +changed by a razor or a wig, I could not doubt that it was the same man. +Of course, you expect two brothers to be alike, but not that they should +have the same tooth stuffed in the same way. He bowed me out and I found +myself in the street, hardly knowing whether I was on my head or my +heels. Back I went to my hotel, put my head in a basin of cold water, +and tried to think it out. Why had he sent me from London to Birmingham; +why had he got there before me; and why had he written a letter from +himself to himself? It was altogether too much for me, and I could make +no sense of it. And then suddenly it struck me that what was dark to me +might be very light to Mr. Sherlock Holmes. I had just time to get up to +town by the night train, to see him this morning, and to bring you both +back with me to Birmingham."</p> + +<p>There was a pause after the stockbroker's clerk had concluded his +surprising experience. Then Sherlock Holmes cocked his eye at me, +leaning back on the cushions with a pleased and yet critical face, like +a connoisseur who had just taken his first sip of a comet vintage.</p> + +<p>"Rather fine, Watson, is it not?" said he. "There are points in it which +please me. I think you will agree with me that an interview with Mr. +Arthur Harry Pinner in the temporary offices of the Franco-Midland +Hardware Company, Limited, would be a rather interesting experience for +both of us."</p> + +<p>"But how can we do it?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"Oh, easily enough," said Hall Pycroft, cheerily. "You are two friends +of mine who are in want of a billet, and what could be more natural than +that I should bring you both round to the managing director?"</p> + +<p>"Quite so! Of course!" said Holmes. "I should like to have a look at the +gentleman and see if I can make anything of his little game. What +qualities have you, my friend, which would make your services so +valuable? or is it possible that——" he began biting his nails and +staring blankly out of the window, and we hardly drew another word from +him until we were in New Street.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>At seven o'clock that evening we were walking, the three of us, down +Corporation Street to the company's offices.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It is of no use our being at all before our time," said our client. "He +only comes there to see me apparently, for the place is deserted up to +the very hour he names."</p> + +<p>"That is suggestive," remarked Holmes.</p> + +<p>"By Jove, I told you so!" cried the clerk. "That's he walking ahead of +us there."</p> + +<p>He pointed to a smallish, blonde, well-dressed man, who was bustling +along the other side of the road. As we watched him he looked across at +a boy who was bawling out the latest edition of the evening paper, and, +running over among the cabs and 'buses, he bought one from him. Then +clutching it in his hand he vanished through a doorway.</p> + +<p>"There he goes!" cried Hall Pycroft. "Those are the company's offices +into which he has gone. Come with me and I'll fix it up as easily as +possible."</p> + +<p>Following his lead we ascended five stories, until we found ourselves +outside a half-opened door, at which our client tapped. A voice within +bade us "Come in," and we entered a bare, unfurnished room, such as Hall +Pycroft had described. At the single table sat the man whom we had seen +in the street, with his evening paper spread out in front of him, and as +he looked up at us it seemed to me that I had never looked upon a face +which bore such marks of grief, and of something beyond grief—of a +horror such as comes to few men in a lifetime. His brow glistened with +perspiration, his cheeks were of the dull dead white of a fish's belly, +and his eyes were wild and staring. He looked at his clerk as though he +failed to recognise him, and I could see, by the astonishment depicted +upon our conductor's face, that this was by no means the usual +appearance of his employer.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/image288.jpg" width="450" height="337" alt=""HE LOOKED UP AT US."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"HE LOOKED UP AT US."</span> +</div> + +<p>"You look ill, Mr. Pinner," he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am not very well," answered the other, making obvious efforts to +pull himself together, and licking his dry lips before he spoke. "Who +are these gentlemen whom you have brought with you?"</p> + +<p>"One is Mr. Harris, of Bermondsey, and the other is Mr. Price, of this +town," said our clerk, glibly. "They are friends of mine, and gentlemen +of experience, but they have been out of a place for some little time, +and they hoped that perhaps you might find an opening for them in the +company's employment."</p> + +<p>"Very possibly! Very possibly!" cried Mr. Pinner, with a ghastly smile. +"Yes, I have no doubt that we shall be able to do something for you. +What is your particular line, Mr. Harris?"</p> + +<p>"I am an accountant," said Holmes.</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes, we shall want something of the sort. And you, Mr. Price?"</p> + +<p>"A clerk," said I.</p> + +<p>"I have every hope that the company may accommodate you. I will let you +know about it as soon as we come to any conclusion. And now I beg that +you will go. For God's sake, leave me to myself!"</p> + +<p>These last words were shot out of him, as though the constraint which he +was evidently setting upon himself had suddenly and utterly burst +asunder. Holmes and I glanced at each other, and Hall Pycroft took a +step towards the table.</p> + +<p>"You forget, Mr. Pinner, that I am here<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> by appointment to receive some +directions from you," said he.</p> + +<p>"Certainly, Mr. Pycroft, certainly," the other answered in a calmer +tone. "You may wait here a moment, and there is no reason why your +friends should not wait with you. I will be entirely at your service in +three minutes, if I might trespass upon your patience so far." He rose +with a very courteous air, and bowing to us he passed out through a door +at the further end of the room, which he closed behind him.</p> + +<p>"What now?" whispered Holmes. "Is he giving us the slip?"</p> + +<p>"Impossible," answered Pycroft.</p> + +<p>"Why so?"</p> + +<p>"That door leads into an inner room."</p> + +<p>"There is no exit?"</p> + +<p>"None."</p> + +<p>"Is it furnished?"</p> + +<p>"It was empty yesterday."</p> + +<p>"Then what on earth can he be doing? There is something which I don't +understand in this matter. If ever a man was three parts mad with +terror, that man's name is Pinner. What can have put the shivers on +him?"</p> + +<p>"He suspects that we are detectives," I suggested.</p> + +<p>"That's it," said Pycroft.</p> + +<p>Holmes shook his head. "He did not turn pale. He <i>was</i> pale when we +entered the room," said he. "It is just possible that——"</p> + +<p>His words were interrupted by a sharp rat-tat from the direction of the +inner door.</p> + +<p>"What the deuce is he knocking at his own door for?" cried the clerk.</p> + +<p>Again and much louder came the rat-tat-tat. We all gazed expectantly at +the closed door. Glancing at Holmes I saw his face turn rigid, and he +leaned forward in intense excitement. Then suddenly came a low gurgling, +gargling sound and a brisk drumming upon woodwork. Holmes sprang +frantically across the room and pushed at the door. It was fastened on +the inner side. Following his example, we threw ourselves upon it with +all our weight. One hinge snapped, then the other, and down came the +door with a crash. Rushing over it we found ourselves in the inner room.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 319px;"> +<img src="images/image289.jpg" width="319" height="450" alt=""WE FOUND OURSELVES IN THE INNER ROOM."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"WE FOUND OURSELVES IN THE INNER ROOM."</span> +</div> + +<p>It was empty.</p> + +<p>But it was only for a moment that we were at fault. At one corner, the +corner nearest the room which we had left, there was a second door. +Holmes sprang to it and pulled it open. A coat and waistcoat were lying +on the floor, and from a hook behind the door, with his own braces round +his neck, was hanging the managing director of the Franco-Midland +Hardware Company. His knees were drawn up, his head hung at a dreadful +angle to his body, and the clatter of his heels against the door made +the noise which had broken in upon our conversation. In an instant I had +caught him round the waist and held him up, while Holmes and Pycroft +untied the elastic bands which had disappeared between the livid creases +of skin. Then we carried him into the other room, where he lay with a +clay-coloured face, puffing his purple lips in and out with every +breath—a dreadful wreck of all that he had been but five minutes +before.</p> + +<p>"What do you think of him, Watson?" asked Holmes.</p> + +<p>I stooped over him and examined him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span></p> + +<p>His pulse was feeble and intermittent, but his breathing grew longer, +and there was a little shivering of his eyelids which showed a thin +white slit of ball beneath.</p> + +<p>"It has been touch and go with him," said I, "but he'll live now. Just +open that window and hand me the water carafe." I undid his collar, +poured the cold water over his face, and raised and sank his arms until +he drew a long natural breath.</p> + +<p>"It's only a question of time now," said I, as I turned away from him.</p> + +<p>Holmes stood by the table with his hands deep in his trousers pockets +and his chin upon his breast.</p> + +<p>"I suppose we ought to call the police in now," said he; "and yet I +confess that I like to give them a complete case when they come."</p> + +<p>"It's a blessed mystery to me," cried Pycroft, scratching his head. +"Whatever they wanted to bring me all the way up here for, and then——"</p> + +<p>"Pooh! All that is clear enough," said Holmes, impatiently. "It is this +last sudden move."</p> + +<p>"You understand the rest, then?"</p> + +<p>"I think that it is fairly obvious. What do you say, Watson?"</p> + +<p>I shrugged my shoulders.</p> + +<p>"I must confess that I am out of my depths," said I.</p> + +<p>"Oh, surely, if you consider the events at first they can only point to +one conclusion."</p> + +<p>"What do you make of them?"</p> + +<p>"Well, the whole thing hinges upon two points. The first is the making +of Pycroft write a declaration by which he entered the service of this +preposterous company. Do you not see how very suggestive that is?"</p> + +<p>"I am afraid I miss the point."</p> + +<p>"Well, why did they want him to do it? Not as a business matter, for +these arrangements are usually verbal, and there was no earthly business +reason why this should be an exception. Don't you see, my young friend, +that they were very anxious to obtain a specimen of your handwriting, +and had no other way of doing it?"</p> + +<p>"And why?"</p> + +<p>"Quite so. Why? When we answer that, we have made some progress with our +little problem. Why? There can be only one adequate reason. Someone +wanted to learn to imitate your writing, and had to procure a specimen +of it first. And now if we pass on to the second point, we find that +each throws light upon the other. That point is the request made by +Pinner that you should not resign your place, but should leave the +manager of this important business in the full expectation that a Mr. +Hall Pycroft, whom he had never seen, was about to enter the office upon +the Monday morning."</p> + +<p>"My God!" cried our client, "what a blind beetle I have been!"</p> + +<p>"Now you see the point about the handwriting. Suppose that someone +turned up in your place who wrote a completely different hand from that +in which you had applied for the vacancy, of course the game would have +been up. But in the interval the rogue learnt to imitate you, and his +position was therefore secure, as I presume that nobody in the office +had ever set eyes upon you?"</p> + +<p>"Not a soul," groaned Hall Pycroft.</p> + +<p>"Very good. Of course, it was of the utmost importance to prevent you +from thinking better of it, and also to keep you from coming into +contact with anyone who might tell you that your double was at work in +Mawson's office. Therefore they gave you a handsome advance on your +salary, and ran you off to the Midlands, where they gave you enough work +to do to prevent your going to London, where you might have burst their +little game up. That is all plain enough."</p> + +<p>"But why should this man pretend to be his own brother?"</p> + +<p>"Well, that is pretty clear also. There are evidently only two of them +in it. The other is personating you at the office. This one acted as +your engager, and then found that he could not find you an employer +without admitting a third person into his plot. That he was most +unwilling to do. He changed his appearance as far as he could, and +trusted that the likeness, which you could not fail to observe, would be +put down to a family resemblance. But for the happy chance of the gold +stuffing your suspicions would probably have never been aroused."</p> + +<p>Hall Pycroft shook his clenched hands in the air. "Good Lord!" he cried. +"While I have been fooled in this way, what has this other Hall Pycroft +been doing at Mawson's? What should we do, Mr. Holmes? Tell me what to +do!"</p> + +<p>"We must wire to Mawson's."</p> + +<p>"They shut at twelve on Saturdays."</p> + +<p>"Never mind; there may be some doorkeeper or attendant——"</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes; they keep a permanent guard there on account of the value of +the securities that they hold. I remember hearing it talked of in the +City."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 353px;"> +<img src="images/image291.jpg" width="353" height="450" alt=""PYCROFT SHOOK HIS CLENCHED HANDS IN THE AIR."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"PYCROFT SHOOK HIS CLENCHED HANDS IN THE AIR."</span> +</div> + +<p>"Very good, we shall wire to him, and see if all is well, and if a clerk +of your name is working there. That is clear enough, but what is not so +clear is why at sight of us one of the rogues should instantly walk out +of the room and hang himself."</p> + +<p>"The paper!" croaked a voice behind us. The man was sitting up, blanched +and ghastly, with returning reason in his eyes, and hands which rubbed +nervously at the broad red band which still encircled his throat.</p> + +<p>"The paper! Of course!" yelled Holmes, in a paroxysm of excitement. +"Idiot that I was! I thought so much of our visit that the paper never +entered my head for an instant. To be sure the secret must lie there." +He flattened it out upon the table, and a cry of triumph burst from his +lips.</p> + +<p>"Look at this, Watson!" he cried. "It is a London paper, an early +edition of the <i>Evening Standard</i>. Here is what we want. Look at the +headlines—'Crime in the City. Murder at Mawson and Williams'. Gigantic +Attempted Robbery; Capture of the Criminal.' Here, Watson, we are all +equally anxious to hear it, so kindly read it aloud to us."</p> + +<p>It appeared from its position in the paper to have been the one event of +importance in town, and the account of it ran in this way:—</p> + +<p>"A desperate attempt at robbery, culminating in the death of one man and +the capture of the criminal, occurred this afternoon in the City. For +some time back Mawson and Williams, the famous financial house, have +been the guardians of securities which amount in the aggregate to a sum +of considerably over a million sterling. So conscious was the manager of +the responsibility which devolved upon him in consequence of the great +interests at stake, that safes of the very latest construction have been +employed, and an armed watchman has been left day and night in the +building. It appears that last week a new clerk, named Hall Pycroft, was +engaged by the firm. This person appears to have been none other than +Beddington, the famous forger and cracksman, who, with his brother, has +only recently emerged from a five years' spell of penal servitude. By +some means, which are not yet clear, he succeeded in winning, under a +false name, this official position in the office, which he utilized in +order to obtain mouldings of various locks, and a thorough knowledge of +the position of the strong room and the safes.</p> + +<p>"It is customary at Mawson's for the clerks to leave at midday on +Saturday. Sergeant Tuson, of the City Police, was somewhat surprised +therefore to see a gentleman with a carpet bag come down the steps at +twenty minutes past one. His suspicions being aroused, the sergeant +followed the man, and with the aid of Constable Pollock succeeded, after +a most desperate resistance, in arresting him. It was at once clear that +a daring and gigantic robbery had been committed. Nearly a hundred +thousand pounds worth of American railway bonds, with a large amount of +scrip in other mines<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> and companies, were discovered in the bag. On +examining the premises the body of the unfortunate watchman was found +doubled up and thrust into the largest of the safes, where it would not +have been discovered until Monday morning had it not been for the prompt +action of Sergeant Tuson. The man's skull had been shattered by a blow +from a poker, delivered from behind. There could be no doubt that +Beddington had obtained entrance by pretending that he had left +something behind him, and having murdered the watchman, rapidly rifled +the large safe, and then made off with his booty. His brother, who +usually works with him, has not appeared in this job, so far as can at +present be ascertained, although the police are making energetic +inquiries as to his whereabouts."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 647px;"> +<img src="images/image292.jpg" width="647" height="450" alt=""GLANCING AT THE HAGGARD FIGURE."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"GLANCING AT THE HAGGARD FIGURE."</span> +</div> + +<p>"Well, we may save the police some little trouble in that direction," +said Holmes, glancing at the haggard figure huddled up by the window. +"Human nature is a strange mixture, Watson. You see that even a villain +and a murderer can inspire such affection that his brother turns to +suicide when he learns that his neck is forfeited. However, we have no +choice as to our action. The doctor and I will remain on guard, Mr. +Pycroft, if you will have the kindness to step out for the police."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Beauties" id="Beauties"></a><i>Beauties.</i></h2> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 750px;"> +<img src="images/image293.jpg" width="750" height="1148" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 750px;"> +<img src="images/image294.jpg" width="750" height="1141" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 750px;"> +<img src="images/image295.jpg" width="750" height="1193" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Hands" id="Hands"></a><i>Hands.</i></h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By Beckles Willson.</span></h3> + +<h4>II.</h4> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image296-1.jpg" width="600" height="420" alt="CASTING A HAND FROM LIFE." title="" /> +<span class="caption">CASTING A HAND FROM LIFE.<br /> +(<i>Studio of Mr. Onslow Ford, A.R.A.</i>)</span> +</div> + +<p>The sculptor's practice of casting in plaster the hands of his client is +of comparatively recent growth. The artist of the old school—and he is +followed in this by many of the new—disdained so mechanical a means to +fidelity. Very few, indeed, among the British painters and sculptors of +the past will be found who took the pains to see that the hands or even +the figures of their counterfeit presentments on canvas or in marble +tallied with the originals. Sir Joshua Reynolds, as we know, would have +regarded this as the essence of finical vulgarity.</p> + +<p>The principal drawback in making casts from life is to be found in the +discomfort, not to speak of the actual torment, it often causes the +sitter by the adhesion of the plaster to the hairy growth of the skin. +Various methods are resorted to with a view to obviate this, and in some +cases successfully.</p> + +<p>The hands of Thomas Carlyle—stubborn, combative, mystical—which appear +in the present paper, will amply repay the closest scrutiny. These hands +are unwontedly realistic, and emphasize their distinctiveness in every +vein and wrinkle. They appear to be themselves endowed with each of +those various qualities which caused their possessor to be regarded as +one of the most puissant figures in the century's literature. The hand +is not one, to use Charles Lamb's expressive phrase, to be looked at +<i>standing on one leg</i>. It deserves a keener examination.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 347px;"> +<img src="images/image296-2.jpg" width="347" height="250" alt="THOMAS CARLYLE'S HANDS." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THOMAS CARLYLE'S HANDS.</span> +</div> + +<p>Mention has been made of the hand of a distinguished prelate, Cardinal +Manning.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> It will not be out of place to compare it with the hands of +the late Archbishop of Canterbury, which were cast posthumously. +Scarcely anything could be more antagonistic. The nervous personality of +Manning is wanting here. The hands of the Archbishop seem more to belong +to the order of the benevolent Bishop Myriel than to that of the +enthusiast and ascetic.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/image297-1.jpg" width="400" height="225" alt="THE LATE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY'S HANDS." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE LATE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY'S HANDS.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 463px;"> +<img src="images/image297-2.jpg" width="463" height="300" alt="LORD PALMERSTON'S HAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">LORD PALMERSTON'S HAND.</span> +</div> + + +<p>Plenty of opportunity to study the hands of statesmen is afforded in +those of Lord Palmerston, Count Cavour, Sir Stratford Canning, and Lord +Melbourne. The fallacy of attaching special qualities to any distinctive +trait in the hand of an eminent person is most readily discernible here. +One should avoid <i>à posteriori</i> reasoning. It would be the same for a +physiognomist to argue a man a statesman from a facial resemblance to +Mr. Gladstone, or that he is fit to write tragedies because he owns the +exact facial proportions of Sardou.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 371px;"> +<img src="images/image297-1a.jpg" width="371" height="275" alt="COUNT CAVOUR'S HANDS." title="" /> +<span class="caption">COUNT CAVOUR'S HANDS.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 411px;"> +<img src="images/image297-2a.jpg" width="411" height="300" alt="SIR STRATFORD CANNING'S HANDS." title="" /> +<span class="caption">SIR STRATFORD CANNING'S HANDS.</span> +</div> + +<p>Among these the hand of Lord Palmerston will stand forth most +prominently to the reader. Its characteristics are, on the whole, +sufficiently obvious, in the appended cast, to be thought accentuated. +It might not unprofitably be noted in connection with those of Stratford +Canning, Viscount de Redcliffe (for fifty years British Ambassador in +India), whose statue by Boehm, with Tennyson's famous epitaph:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Thou third great Canning, stand among our best<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And noblest, now thy long day's work hath ceased,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Here, silent in our Minster of the West,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Who wert the voice of England in the East!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>is in a nave of the Abbey. With these should be joined the hand of +Viscount Melbourne, the predecessor of Sir Robert Peel in the +Premiership, and the great statesman after whom the city of Melbourne +was named, in order<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> to range this British galaxy against the hands of +the Italian patriots, Count Cavour and Joseph Garibaldi, whose labours +resulted in that master stroke of latter-day politics, the unification +of Italy. Those of the former were cast separately in different +positions, it being the intention of the sculptor for the right hand to +rest lightly upon a column and the left to grasp a roll of parchment. +Garibaldi's hand may be described as both virile and nervous.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 338px;"> +<img src="images/image298-1.jpg" width="338" height="300" alt="LORD MELBOURNE'S HAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">LORD MELBOURNE'S HAND.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 244px;"> +<img src="images/image298-2.jpg" width="244" height="361" alt="HAND OF JOHN BURNS, M.P." title="" /> +<span class="caption">HAND OF JOHN BURNS, M.P.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 337px;"> +<img src="images/image298-3.jpg" width="337" height="250" alt="HAND OF JOSEPH ARCH, M.P." title="" /> +<span class="caption">HAND OF JOSEPH ARCH, M.P.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 326px;"> +<img src="images/image298-4.jpg" width="326" height="250" alt="GARIBALDI'S HAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">GARIBALDI'S HAND.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 360px;"> +<img src="images/image298-5.jpg" width="360" height="200" alt="SIR E. BOEHM'S HAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">SIR E. BOEHM'S HAND.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 356px;"> +<img src="images/image298-6.jpg" width="356" height="200" alt="HAND OF JOHN JACKSON, R.A." title="" /> +<span class="caption">HAND OF JOHN JACKSON, R.A.</span> +</div> + +<p>Another type of hand is exemplified in the hands of Messrs. Joseph Arch +and John Burns. Both of these belong to self-made men, accustomed to +hard manual labour from childhood. Their powerful ruggedness is +admirably set off by the exquisite symmetry and feminine proportions of +the hand of John Jackson a Royal Academician and great painter of his +time. For symmetry, combined with grace, this hand is not surpassed.</p> + +<p>The hand of Sir Edgar Boehm was cast by his assistant, Professor +Lantéri, for the former's statue of Sir Francis Drake. It will be +observed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> that the fingers grasp a pair of compasses, the original of +those which appear in the bronze at Plymouth.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image299-1.jpg" width="500" height="274" alt="LADY BLESSINGTON'S HAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">LADY BLESSINGTON'S HAND.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 358px;"> +<img src="images/image299-2.jpg" width="358" height="225" alt="MRS. CARLYLE'S HAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">MRS. CARLYLE'S HAND.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 372px;"> +<img src="images/image299-3.jpg" width="372" height="250" alt="MRS. THORNYCROFT'S HAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">MRS. THORNYCROFT'S HAND.</span> +</div> + +<p>Reverting to the ladies again, interest will, no doubt, centre upon the +hand of the celebrated Lady Blessington, accounted the wittiest hostess +of her day; and not least attractive will appear Mrs. Carlyle's and +those of Mrs. Thornycroft and the celebrated Madame Tussaud. The wife of +the Chelsea sage was herself, as is known, an authoress of no mean +repute.</p> + +<p>A comparison of the hand of Mr. Bancroft with that of Mr. Irving, given +last month, will prove interesting, if not instructive.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 209px;"> +<img src="images/image299-4.jpg" width="209" height="350" alt="MME. TUSSAUD'S HAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">MME. TUSSAUD'S HAND.</span> +</div> + +<p>It has been said that the hands of Carlyle are characteristic; that they +possess, with those of Wilkie Collins, the merit of being precisely the +sort of hands one would expect <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span>to see so labelled. We now present a +third candidate for this merit of candour in casts of the hands of the +notorious Arthur Orton, better known under the sobriquet of the +Claimant. They are pulseless, chubby, oblique: yet they are remarkable. +In scrutinizing them, it is difficult not to feel that one looks upon +hands very remote indeed from the ordinary.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 359px;"> +<img src="images/image299-5.jpg" width="359" height="250" alt="MR. BANCROFT'S HAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">MR. BANCROFT'S HAND.</span> +</div> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 395px;"> +<img src="images/image300-1.jpg" width="395" height="400" alt="HANDS OF THE TICHBORNE CLAIMANT." title="" /> +<span class="caption">HANDS OF THE TICHBORNE CLAIMANT.</span> +</div> + +<p>Next we look upon the hand of a giant even superior to Anak, in +Loushkin, the Russian. But physically great as was the Muscovite, it is +to be doubted if he really attained the world-wide celebrity of the +little American, Charles Stratton (otherwise known as "Tom Thumb"), +whose extremity serves as a foil to his rival for exhibition honours.</p> + +<p>Another Boehm relic requires some explanation. Every visitor to the +Metropolis has doubtless seen and admired the heroic equestrian statue +of the Duke of Wellington, opposite Apsley House. They may even have +noticed the right hand, which is represented as lightly holding the rein +of the animal. The appended was cast from the original model in clay of +the hand of the Duke, no cast direct from life ever having been +executed.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 286px;"> +<img src="images/image300-2.jpg" width="286" height="400" alt="THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S HAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S HAND.</span> +</div> + +<p>It is sufficient to say that the subjoined hand and arm of Lady +Cardigan, wife of the noted Crimean warrior, was one greatly admired by +Sir Edgar, in whose studio it hung for many years. In like manner will +the hand of Lady Richard Grosvenor be found the possessor of many +beautiful and interesting traits.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 548px;"> +<img src="images/image300-3.jpg" width="548" height="300" alt="THE HANDS OF "TOM THUMB" AND LOUSHKIN, THE RUSSIAN +GIANT." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE HANDS OF "TOM THUMB" AND LOUSHKIN, THE RUSSIAN +GIANT.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/image301-1.jpg" width="450" height="152" alt="LADY CARDIGAN'S HAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">LADY CARDIGAN'S HAND.</span> +</div> + +<p>A member not altogether dissimilar to that of the musician Liszt is the +hand of Carl von Angeli, Court painter to Her Majesty, and like that +also in setting at naught the conclusions too often arrived at by the +chirognomist. For there is here breadth without symmetry, and an utter +absence of the poise which we look for in the ideal hand of the artist. +It is instructive to compare it to the hand of the painter, John +Jackson.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/image301-2.jpg" width="400" height="172" alt="LADY RICHARD GROSVENOR'S HAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">LADY RICHARD GROSVENOR'S HAND.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 244px;"> +<img src="images/image301-3.jpg" width="244" height="350" alt="CARL ANGELI'S HAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">CARL ANGELI'S HAND.</span> +</div> + +<p>Observe the massive, masculine fingers and disproportionately small +finger-nails in the hands of Professor Weekes, the sculptor. There is +scarcely any perceptible tapering at the third joint, and the fingers +all exhibit very little prominence of knuckle or contour. It is anything +but an artistic hand, and yet its owner was a man of the keenest +artistic perceptions.</p> + +<p>In Frederick Baring's (Lord Ashburton) we find the thick-set fingers, +and what the chirognomist calls the "lack of manual repose," of the +great financier. But as his lordship was statesman with a talent for +debate as well as man of commerce, it will not unlikely be found that +the hand presented combines the both temperaments.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 372px;"> +<img src="images/image301-4.jpg" width="372" height="300" alt="PROFESSOR WEEKES' HANDS." title="" /> +<span class="caption">PROFESSOR WEEKES' HANDS.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 333px;"> +<img src="images/image301-5.jpg" width="333" height="250" alt="LORD ASHBURTON'S HAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">LORD ASHBURTON'S HAND.</span> +</div> + +<p>I have been enabled, through the kindness of Mr. J. T. Tussaud, to +embellish the present collection by an ancient cast of the hand of the +Comte<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> de Lorge, a famous prisoner in the Bastille. This cast was taken, +together with a death mask, after death, by the great-grandmother of the +sculptor, to whom both relics have descended.</p> + +<p>The Queen's hands, which appeared in the last issue of this Magazine, +were cast by John Francis, a famous sculptor of the day. Mr. Hamo +Thorneycroft, R.A., writes me to say that "While the moulds were being +made Her Majesty removed all the rings from her fingers <i>except</i> the +wedding ring. This she was most anxious should not come off, and was in +considerable fear lest the moulding process might remove it."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 239px;"> +<img src="images/image302.jpg" width="239" height="393" alt="COMTE DE LORGE'S HAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">COMTE DE LORGE'S HAND.</span> +</div> + + +<p>[<i>The original drawings of the illustrations in this Magazine are always +on view, and on sale, in the Art Gallery at these offices, which is open +to the public without charge.</i>]</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span></p> +<p><a name="Illustration_ROSITA" id="Illustration_ROSITA"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 650px;"> +<img src="images/image303.jpg" width="650" height="499" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">From the French of Pitre Chevalier.</span></h3> + + +<h4>I.</h4> + + +<p>It was harvest day at a house in the little village of Panola, in +Castile, on the 25th of August, 1838. The great sheaves of corn had been +borne, amidst universal rejoicing, to their resting-place in the +granary. All the village inhabitants had shared in this pleasant task, +and now, following an ancient custom, they had erected a trophy composed +of a few last sheaves of corn, round which the young girls and men began +to dance gaily, to the sound of guitars and castanets.</p> + +<p>Within the house, in a room which overlooked this charming scene, were +two men.</p> + +<p>The first, seated at a table, was an old man over sixty, but enfeebled +rather by cares than by age. His venerable head, crowned with white +hair, drooped upon his breast with patriarchal dignity. The old man, who +had been a soldier in the Spanish army, was Don Pedro de la Sarga, a +Castilian as noble as he was poor. His companion was his son, Don +Stephano, a young man of twenty, considered the most accomplished man in +Panola. He was handsome; his warm, brown skin, his large, black eyes, +the regular features, which wore that expression of national pride which +distinguishes a Castilian from any other race, and his raven-black hair +were eminently the Spanish type in all its grace and haughtiness. The +young man wore the Spanish holiday costume, the richness of which has +made travellers exclaim, more than once, that no European prince is +clothed like a simple peasant of Castile. Stephano had on a short vest +of black cloth, lined with yellow silk, ornamented with fringes and +bunches of ribbons; an embroidered shirt with open collar revealing a +waistcoat with gilt buttons, knee-breeches of black silk confined at the +knees by bunches of ribbons, shoes and gaiters of fine brown leather, +while a black felt hat with drooping plume completed his costume.</p> + +<p>Stephano's gloomy face contrasted with his gay attire. He leant against +the open window, carelessly holding in his hand a bouquet of faded +jasmine, whilst he gazed with melancholy eyes upon the festive scene +before him, and only by a shake of the head and a sad smile replied to +the light badinage of the dancers as they passed the window. But now and +then his eyes lighted up, and he sighed deeply as a certain dancer, +prettier than the rest, approached him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span></p> + +<p>"How pretty she is!" he murmured, as he followed her retreating form.</p> + +<p>"Stephano!" called out the old man, who had been watching his son for +some time.</p> + +<p>"How gracefully she dances," continued the handsome dreamer, wrapt in +his thoughts.</p> + +<p>"Stephano!" repeated the old man.</p> + +<p>"Yes, father," cried Stephano, with a start, and coming forward. "Do you +wish to speak to me?"</p> + +<p>"From your mysterious air and endless sighs these last few days, +Stephano, I conclude that you are in love," said his father.</p> + +<p>"In love!" stammered the young man. "You think I am in love?"</p> + +<p>"I do not think, my son—I am sure of it; and I have only one reproach +to make to you, and that is that you have not made me a confidant of +your secret before."</p> + +<p>"You shall know all, father," said Stephano, drawing a chair close to +Don Pedro.</p> + +<p>"For the last month," he continued, "I have had in my heart a love which +nothing can subdue, and the object of my passion is a young girl here, a +glance from whose eyes is worth more to me than all the world besides; +but she shuns my love, and on every occasion strives to avoid me. She +hardly permits me to speak to her for fear that the passion she reads in +my eyes will break into words."</p> + +<p>"Bah!" said the old man, merrily; "it is very likely that she shuns you +for the reason of your not opening your mouth; you scare the young girl +with your morose airs."</p> + +<p>"Oh, if that were only true," sighed the disconsolate swain.</p> + +<p>"Now," said the old man, "there only remains for me to know the name of +my future daughter-in-law."</p> + +<p>The young man was about to pronounce the name which already trembled on +his lips when a sudden clamour interrupted the most interesting portion +of this conversation. The peasants, followed by the partners, were +rushing towards the house, and in the twinkling of an eye the room was +filled with the animated and noisy throng. The new-comers wore rich +costumes, more or less copies of Stephano's; some carried guitars, +others castanets, while most of them leaned upon tall peeled rods, +forked at the top, and ornamented with ribbons of all colours; each +carried on the left side of his vest a bouquet similar to that of +Stephano. The young girls in their silken bodices, short skirts, red +stockings and mantillas, rattled their castanets as they entered with +their partners. The joyous crowd surrounded Don Pedro, whilst cries of +"Rosita! Rosita!" resounded from all sides.</p> + +<p>"Well, well, my children, what is it you want?" demanded the village +Nestor of his clamorous audience.</p> + +<p>"We want Mlle. Rosita," they repeated.</p> + +<p>"What, my niece? But is she not with you? I thought it was she whom you +were leading just now round the corn sheaves."</p> + +<p>"That is true," replied one of the foremost of the crowd; "everything +went smoothly until we wished her to take part in our usual ceremony of +'The Maiden's Choice.'"</p> + +<p>"Did you explain to her," asked the old man, "what is the ceremony?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, we told her all that was necessary: that it is an old custom in +Panola on harvest day, after having escorted the daughter of the house +round the last sheaves of corn, for all her admirers in the village to +present her, each in his turn, with a bouquet; that she must then choose +the one she loves amongst them by retaining his bouquet, whilst the +others are rejected. She answered us by saying that she had only been in +Panola a few months, and was therefore not forced to adopt our customs, +and leaving us with these words she fled from us and escaped through the +little granary door."</p> + +<p>"The little shrew!" Don Pedro exclaimed, who, like an amiable old man, +was always on the side of the young folk. "But my friends," he added, +"you are but poor Lotharios to be flouted by a young girl; you must +follow her and bring her back."</p> + +<p>"That is just what we have done; but one cannot catch a bird without +also having wings. She seemed to fly as we followed her, and on reaching +the granary she entered and slammed the door in our faces; so we have +come, as a last resource, to you, Don Pedro, to ask her to comply with +our wishes."</p> + +<p>"You are right," replied the old man, with all the gravity of a judge, +"you must be satisfied at once"; and he looked round for Don Stephano, +who was standing more moody than ever behind a giggling group of young +peasants.</p> + +<p>"My son," he said, "go and bring your cousin here. If she refuses, tell +her that I particularly wish her to come."</p> + +<p>"I will go, father," said Stephano, after a second's hesitation; and he +went out.</p> + +<p>There was a slight pause; then shouts and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> acclamations and rattling of +castanets burst forth, as Rosita, with downcast eyes, entered the room, +led by Stephano. Well might they welcome with fervour such a charming +creature. Rosita was just eighteen. She wore upon her golden brown hair +a black lace mantilla, which contrasted with her creamy complexion and +the liquid depth of her large brown eyes. A brown velvet bodice showed +off to perfection her slight yet rounded figure; and her silk skirts +just revealed her pretty ankles and small feet in their silk stockings +and neat shoes.</p> + +<p>Rosita was a native of Navarre. She had quitted Tafalla, her native +village, on the death of her father and mother, who had been victims of +the Civil War which at this time desolated the country, and had been +conducted not without peril to her uncle's house at Panola, in which she +had since taken up her abode.</p> + +<p>"Rosita," said Don Pedro to his niece, taking her hand, "I have made +your apologies to your friends for the trick you have played them. It is +your turn now to atone for your misdeed, by submitting to an old custom. +Among the brave Castilians who surround you there are many suitors for +your hand. There must be one among them whom you secretly favour. Your +choice is entirely free, and even the favoured one after the ceremony +will then have only the right to please you and to merit your hand."</p> + +<p>"But, uncle——" faltered the young girl.</p> + +<p>"I will take no denial, my dear," interrupted the old man.</p> + +<p>Rosita strove in vain to protest, but her imperturbable uncle would not +listen, and gave a sign to the peasants to begin the ceremony, in which +he seemed to take as keen an interest as they did themselves. Thereupon +the majority of the young men, darting furious glances of jealousy at +one another, prepared for the contest. Rosita, at her uncle's side, +stood at one end of the room. At her right and left were grouped the +young peasant girls, admiring without envy the queen of the <i>fête</i>, and +forming her court. Stephano stood behind with dejected mien. Those with +guitars touched their instruments lightly now and then, and upon this +scene, worthy of the pencil of Leopold Roberts, the sun, now setting at +the horizon, cast a calm and solemn light.</p> + +<p>The first peasant who came forward was a tall young man, with a ruddy +complexion.</p> + +<p>"My name is Geronimo Caldaroz, and I am twenty-five. It has been the +talk of the village why I did not marry, and it has been said it was +because I had never yet seen a maiden beautiful enough to please me. But +now I have found her; it is you, Rosita. Will you accept my bouquet?" He +presented his bouquet to the young girl, who blushed as she received it, +and then let it fall.</p> + +<p>"Refused! Refused!" whispered the spectators, whilst the young man +disappeared into the crowd, and a second one took his place. But the +same thing occurred, and with the same result. Soon the jasmine bouquets +covered the ground round the young girl's feet. The rejected suitors +multiplied so fast that they could no longer hide their discomfiture +amongst the others. Restless and smiling, Don Pedro wondered why his +niece was so severe, and the remaining suitors seemed to hesitate +whether to advance into the lists or not. Then the last three timidly +advanced one by one toward Rosita. The two first were not even heard to +the end of their speech, and then all eyes were fixed with interest upon +the last. Rosita let him finish his discourse, took his bouquet, which +she scrutinized demurely, and then uttering a deep sigh let it fall upon +the amorous trophy piled at her feet.</p> + +<p>A murmur rose amongst the stupefied villagers. Don Pedro approached his +niece.</p> + +<p>"Well, my child," he said, "have you thought of what you have done?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, uncle," Rosita replied. "Did you not tell me yourself that I was +perfectly free?"</p> + +<p>"Free to choose, without doubt; but not to send all your suitors away."</p> + +<p>Rosita cast down her eyes and made no reply.</p> + +<p>"Pardon me, father, but there still remains one," said Stephano, +breaking the silence.</p> + +<p>"Where is he?" everyone asked at once.</p> + +<p>"Here he is."</p> + +<p>Rosita trembled so violently that she was compelled to lean for support +upon her uncle's arm, and Don Pedro, more astonished than anyone, rushed +towards his son.</p> + +<p>"What, Stephano?" he said joyfully. "It is your cousin whom——"</p> + +<p>"Yes, father," replied the young man. "It is she whom I love."</p> + +<p>In the midst of such general interest Stephano, pale with emotion, +advanced towards his cousin.</p> + +<p>"Rosita, I love you," he said, simply. "Will you keep this bouquet which +I offer to you?"</p> + +<p>The young man pronounced these words with a voice so sweet and +expressive, and the gesture with which he offered the symbolic<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> flower +was so imploring and passionate, that a sympathetic thrill ran through +the spectators, and tears bedimmed Don Pedro's eyes.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 345px;"> +<img src="images/image306.jpg" width="345" height="450" alt=""'ROSITA, I LOVE YOU,' HE SAID."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"'ROSITA, I LOVE YOU,' HE SAID."</span> +</div> + +<p>Rosita, not less pale than her cousin, took the bouquet with a trembling +hand, gazed upon it tenderly, then made a movement as if to throw it +down, paused, and then at last, with head turned aside, let it fall.</p> + +<p>"Santa Maria! He also!" cried the crowd, mournfully.</p> + +<p>"Do not condemn me without hearing my justification," cried Rosita, +turning to Don Pedro.</p> + +<p>"Your justification?" repeated Stephano, with relief.</p> + +<p>"Uncle," she said, after a pause, "there is a secret which I may have +been wrong in concealing from you hitherto, but I must confide it to you +alone."</p> + +<p>"To me!" cried the astonished old man.</p> + +<p>"I will come with you at once," and, seizing Rosita's hand, he led her +away, making signs to the peasants as he did so to disperse.</p> + +<p>Stephano strolled out to breathe the air upon the hills, whose shadows +were beginning to slope down into the valley. The sky was lighted only +by the afterglow of the red, sunken sun; the evening breeze carried +along in the warm air the perfume of the jasmine flowers and orange +groves in bloom, and no sound was heard but the music of guitars and +castanets, mingled sometimes with the faint tinkle of sheep bells.</p> + +<p>When Stephano re-entered he found his father and cousin in the lower +hall. Rosita, on perceiving him, made a pretext for rising, and +hurriedly left the room. Don Pedro and his son were left alone.</p> + +<p>"One word, father," said Stephano. "Does Rosita love me, and will she +also become my wife?"</p> + +<p>"You must forget Rosita," replied the old man. "You must tear from your +heart even the remembrance of your love."</p> + +<p>The young man abandoned himself to despair.</p> + +<p>"I shall never forget her," he said, passionately. "My love for Rosita +will only cease with my life."</p> + +<p>And he rushed from the room, leaving the old man wondering.</p> + + +<h4>II.</h4> + +<p>For some weeks the inmates of Don Pedro's house were forced to remain +prisoners, for rebel soldiers filled the neighbouring villages, and +troops of guerillas were being<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> mustered to put them to flight. It was a +morning, early in September, just after the sun had peered above the +horizon. A fine rain had fallen during the night, and the drops which +rested on the foliage sparkled like myriads of diamonds. The streets +were as yet deserted; some muleteers alone passed along them at +intervals. Don Pedro's house was the only one astir.</p> + +<p>Don Stephano, according to his custom, had risen with the dawn, and was +now alone in the lower hall, standing opposite the window which +overlooked the high road. He was occupied in fixing an iron lance upon a +wooden rod, at which he gazed abstractedly.</p> + +<p>The sound of a voice filling the air with song attracted his attention; +it was singing the Moorish romance of "Adlemar and Adalifa," and to the +quick perception of a Spanish ear was marked with a slight Ultramontaine +accent, which Stephano discerned like a true Castilian. Without moving +he listened to the song which awoke the echoes of the valley. The +amorous words recalled to Stephano's mind the thought of Rosita, and he +sighed deeply. Then he listened anew to the voice, which grew nearer and +nearer, and in which, in spite of its strange accent, he seemed to hear +an understrain of singular emotion. His conjectures were not long, +however. A man enveloped in a large mantle peered in at the open window, +and after throwing a rapid glance behind him leapt into the room. +Stephano recoiled at the sight of such a strange visitor, and felt +tempted to seize the man, whom he took at first for a robber. Then a +troop of horsemen dashed past the house. The stranger gave a sigh of +relief. Then for the first time he caught sight of Stephano.</p> + +<p>"I must be careful," the soldier muttered, as he drew his cloak more +carefully round him. "This Spaniard does not look over benevolent."</p> + +<p>"Who can this man be?" thought Stephano, as he instinctively put his +hand on his pistols; but on seeing the stranger advance towards him with +a pleasant smile, he paused.</p> + +<p>"Noble Castilian," said the stranger, "are you a man to oblige an enemy +in peril, and who for a quarter of an hour wishes you no more harm than +if you were his brother?"</p> + +<p>Before replying, Stephano scrutinized his questioner. He saw before him +a man of about twenty-eight, with a frank face and light hair and +moustache. His accent, and the blue pantaloons which appeared under the +brown mantle, proclaimed him a Frenchman.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 326px;"> +<img src="images/image307.jpg" width="326" height="450" alt=""THE STRANGER."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"THE STRANGER."</span> +</div> + +<p>"No unarmed man is my enemy," replied Stephano, "and from the moment my +roof was over your head you became my guest."</p> + +<p>"Shake hands on it! You are a fine fellow," cried the soldier, holding +out his hand. At the same time he drew aside his mantle, and Stephano +recognised the uniform worn by the French volunteers of Don Carlos's +army. "Now, if you have a drop of anything to drink handy, I will tell +you in a few words what has brought me here."</p> + +<p>Stephano opened the sideboard, and brought out a bottle and glasses. The +soldier wiped his moustache as he began.</p> + +<p>"You see before you," he said, with frank abruptness, "Charles +Dulaurier, a soldier by birth and profession, lieutenant in the +Grenadiers of His Majesty Charles V.—pardon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> me, Don Carlos. Being +stationed some few miles from here, I asked for leave of absence this +morning to join some troops which (pardon me) are going to make a raid +upon this very village this morning. But, thanks to my foolhardiness in +starting off alone, I soon found myself in the hands of guerillas. I +escaped. They pursued me. But I, though alone in a strange country and +unarmed, led them a nice dance for half an hour. I was just about to +fall again into their hands when I came in sight of this house. I duped +them by my ruse of pitching my voice in such a manner as to lead them to +think I was beyond the village, whilst I at the same time took refuge +here. To conclude, my worthy fellow, no doubt the guerillas are not +blind, and not finding any trace of me upon the route, will return to +Panola. Consequently, if you are a host to my liking you will——"</p> + +<p>"Conceal you," said Stephano, quickly. "You are right!" and he glanced +round with uneasiness. The lieutenant struck him on the shoulder. "One +minute," he said; "the guerillas cannot reappear for half an hour. This +little expedition, as you may imagine, was not my only motive for coming +to Panola, and I must again abuse your patience in asking you some +questions upon a certain subject which is the motive of my expedition."</p> + +<p>"Go on," replied Stephano, with resignation.</p> + +<p>"I came here to look for a young girl," said the Frenchman, twisting his +moustache, "and as, perhaps, you will be so good as to give me some +information on this point, it would be better for you to know the story. +Last year my regiment, after a vigorous resistance, entered a village in +Navarre."</p> + +<p>"A village in Navarre?" repeated Stephano, and his brow darkened.</p> + +<p>"One house had been so well defended, indeed, that it was found +necessary to surround it, and our infuriated soldiers, drunk with +carnage, determined to massacre everyone within. I luckily surprised +them as they drew their sabres upon two poor old creatures and their +young daughter. I threw myself between the victims and their butchers; +the wretches turned upon me and I fell wounded by a bayonet thrust, but +they were saved. The kind people who owed me their lives bore me to +their house, and gave me every care. The young girl watched at my +bedside for more than a fortnight. Briefly the beauty, the tenderness of +the little girl, won my heart. Losing no time, I declared my passion. +She whispered, blushing, that I might speak to her parents. As soon as I +was well enough to walk, I hastened to the worthy old man, who, after +the shock he had received, became mortally ill, and felt his end +approach. I had no sooner asked him for his daughter's hand than he +exclaimed, 'God be praised! I shall not now die without having +recompensed our deliverer.' At the same time he took the young girl's +hand and mine, and, after making us exchange rings, clasped them +together. Then he stretched forth his trembling hands above our heads to +bless us, whilst on our knees by the bedside we swore eternal fidelity +to each other. Three days after the good man died, and the same day my +regiment left for Castile. Seven months passed without my hearing any +news from my betrothed, and it was only by chance I learned that on her +mother's death she had quitted Navarre to take up her abode in her +uncle's house at Panola.</p> + +<p>"But what is the matter?" said the lieutenant, as Stephano rose +hurriedly.</p> + +<p>"I know enough," replied the young man in a hollow voice. "The village +was Tafalla, and the young girl's name is Rosita."</p> + +<p>"But what is there in that?" cried the lieutenant, who understood +nothing of Stephano's emotion. "You know Rosita? She is here? You are +silent. Heavens! Is she dead—or married?"</p> + +<p>"No, no," replied Stephano, with an effort. "Rosita is here. No doubt +she loves you and watches for your return with impatience."</p> + +<p>"Where, then, shall I find my betrothed?"</p> + +<p>Stephano was about to reply to this question when the tramp of horses +was heard. It was the troop returning.</p> + +<p>"Softly!" whispered Dulaurier as he crept towards the window. "Yes, +these are my friends. Where will you hide me?"</p> + +<p>Stephano regarded him with a savage gleam in his eyes and muttered to +himself, "This man comes here to blast my happiness, and I must protect +his life at the peril of my own."</p> + +<p>"What am I to do?" repeated Dulaurier.</p> + +<p>"Take this dagger," said Stephano, "put on your mantle and follow me." +He unfastened a little door which opened upon a staircase which led into +the garden, and descended, followed by Dulaurier. They stole along +behind a thick hedge of hawthorn until they came to the trees of a +little orchard, from which rose the roof of a ruined summer-house. On +reaching this spot<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> Stephano installed the lieutenant so that he could +watch both the road and the garden; then having arranged upon the course +they should take, Stephano hastened back to the house.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 448px;"> +<img src="images/image309.jpg" width="448" height="450" alt=""THEY STOLE ALONG."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"THEY STOLE ALONG."</span> +</div> + +<p>Don Pedro was in the lower hall, alone, when his son entered.</p> + +<p>"I have a request to make to you," said the young man, clasping his +father's hand convulsively. "I want you to let me start at once to join +my brothers and to fight for Spain."</p> + +<p>"Can you then leave your cousin?" said Don Pedro, sadly. "And you do not +know——"</p> + +<p>"I know more than you, father, more than Rosita herself about this +affair," interrupted Stephano. "Is not Rosita betrothed to a French +volunteer in Don Carlos's army, and is this not the secret she confided +to you on harvest day?"</p> + +<p>"It is true. But how have you discovered it?"</p> + +<p>"From a man flying from the pursuit of guerillas; no other than the man +himself, Lieutenant Charles Dulaurier!"</p> + +<p>"Is it possible?" exclaimed the stupefied old man.</p> + +<p>"You see, father, that it is absolutely necessary for me to go," cried +Stephano. "I cannot wait until Rosita and Dulaurier are united. Their +happiness would be more than I could bear, and I have thought of a plan +by which the lieutenant can be saved without putting off my departure. I +shall join the troop of guerillas who are seeking Dulaurier in the +village. Seeing me become one of themselves their suspicions will be +lulled, and I shall save my rival by departing with his enemies."</p> + +<p>"You are right," replied his father, after a painful pause, but he could +not utter a word more.</p> + +<p>The young man proceeded to take down from the wall his pistols and his +gun; he placed the former in his belt and the latter on his shoulder, +took his hat and stepped forward to bid his father farewell. But as he +threw himself into the arms of the weeping old man, the door opened and +Rosita entered.</p> + +<p>The young girl glanced quickly from one to the other, and then her eyes +remained fixed on Stephano.</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do?" she asked, examining his equipment.</p> + +<p>"I am going away," replied Stephano. "Farewell, Rosita, be happy. +Farewell, father," he added, embracing Don Pedro.</p> + +<p>"He is going," said Rosita, her eyes dim with tears, "without one +friendly smile, without one clasp of his hand. Oh! Stephano," she +exclaimed, springing forward. "You cannot part from me thus!"</p> + +<p>"You are keeping me!" said the bewildered young man.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she replied, seizing his hand. "Stay, Stephano, do not go. I +implore you!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Remain!" cried the young man, passionately. "Remain to see you in the +arms of another? Never!"</p> + +<p>As he moved towards the door, Rosita sprang towards him with +outstretched arms. "And what if it is you whom I love, Stephano? What if +I have never loved anyone but you?" A thunderbolt would hardly have +produced more effect than did these words.</p> + +<p>"You love me?" he repeated, approaching his cousin. "Rosita, for mercy's +sake, repeat those words once more, so that I may be sure of having +heard aright."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I love you," repeated the young girl, tenderly; "no one but you! +Will you stay now?"</p> + +<p>"For ever, if you wish it!" cried the enraptured youth, throwing down +his gun and pistols. "Look at me, Rosita, that I may read in your eyes +that word which gives me life, and which I have waited for so long. How +blind and foolish I have been! But that will be all right now, will it +not, my beloved?" As he spoke he embraced her passionately. By both of +them the world was forgotten.</p> + +<p>Through the open window came the clink of spurs and rattling of sabres. +This sound, to which Stephano and Rosita were deaf, struck on the ear of +Don Pedro and paralyzed him with terror.</p> + +<p>"Stephano!" he cried at last. "Remember Lieutenant Dulaurier!"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 465px;"> +<img src="images/image310.jpg" width="465" height="450" alt=""REMEMBER LIEUTENANT DULAURIER!"" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"REMEMBER LIEUTENANT DULAURIER!"</span> +</div> + +<p>"Ah!" groaned Stephano, rudely torn from his ecstasy of happiness; and +he fixed his gaze upon his cousin.</p> + +<p>The girl had not even heard Don Pedro.</p> + +<p>"Rosita," said her lover, "you say you love me, but you have a +<i>fiancé!</i>"</p> + +<p>"Dulaurier!" cried the startled girl. "Great Heaven! pardon me, I had +forgotten."</p> + +<p>"If this man," continued Stephano, "came here to claim your promise, you +would reply, would you not, that friendship alone, not love, had drawn +you towards him, and that your hand, promised when you hardly knew what +you did, would now be given without your heart?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, that is what I should answer; but he is not likely to come here, +Stephano."</p> + +<p>"And what if he were here already?" asked an impressive voice.</p> + +<p>Don Pedro at the same time stepped forward between the young people, and +before the severe face of the Spaniard their eyes drooped.</p> + +<p>"Father!" faltered the young man.</p> + +<p>"Silence!" cried the old man. "Your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> duty is clear. What if Dulaurier +were in the house, Rosita—what if, more faithful than you, he had come +to claim his promise, made at the death-bed of your father? I ask you +what you would answer."</p> + +<p>Trembling and submissive as a criminal before his judge, the young girl +turned her eyes from Stephano to Don Pedro.</p> + +<p>"I should reply to Lieutenant Dulaurier that, before God and man, I am +his betrothed bride, and that while he lives no other can be my +husband."</p> + +<p>"Come then, my child, prepare to receive your <i>fiancé</i>," and Don Pedro +held out his hand to his niece to lead her away.</p> + +<p>"You are destroying my happiness!" cried Stephano.</p> + +<p>"But in return I give you back your honour," replied Don Pedro. "Look +after the lieutenant, for here come the guerillas!" and he went out.</p> + +<p>"What a dream, and what an awakening!" murmured Stephano as he was left +alone. "Rosita vows she loves me, and at the same time declares she will +never be mine while Dulaurier lives. <i>While he lives!</i> And I must take +upon myself the peril of saving him, when I have only to let him——Oh, +how despair tempts us to horrible deeds! Is there time to fly, to quit +this spot where each thought is torture: to hasten and join the +guerillas before they enter the house? For, alas! if they enter now and +demand where their enemy is—by Heaven! I shall not have the strength to +resist—I must fly!"</p> + +<p>Picking up his gun and pistols he rushed towards the door, but recoiled +at the sight of a man in the uniform of a captain of guerillas, who by a +gesture forced him to pause.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 283px;"> +<img src="images/image311.jpg" width="283" height="500" alt=""IT IS TOO LATE!"" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"IT IS TOO LATE!"</span> +</div> + +<p>"Malediction—it is too late!" murmured the young man, as he dropped +upon a chair, and let his unheeded weapons fall to the ground.</p> + +<p>"Two sentinels before each door and window," called out the captain to +the soldiers who followed him. "This is the last house in which our +prisoner could take refuge," he continued, striking impatiently the butt +end of his rifle upon the ground. "Search well, comrades; you know he +who takes the Frenchman prisoner is to have the honour of firing the +first shot upon him, and is also to receive twenty douros for reward." +Thereupon he advanced into the room. "Well, my good fellow," he said to +Stephano; "what are you going to do with these weapons? Are they to +defend yourself or to protect the officer whom you have hidden here?"</p> + +<p>"No one is hidden in this house," replied the young man, with the +courage which peril bestows. "The La Sargas are known throughout the +country to be devoted to Spain and the Queen. I have three brothers in +the national army, and I have just picked up these weapons with the +intention of joining your troops."</p> + +<p>The captain looked at him with a sneering smile. Then he turned to his +companions, who had just returned from searching the house.</p> + +<p>"Well, have you found anything?"</p> + +<p>"Only a young girl and an old man," was the reply.</p> + +<p>"Bring the old man here," said the captain; then he turned to Stephano. +"And you, sir, go with my lieutenant and these three men, and show them +every room there is"; then he murmured in the lieutenant's ear,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> +slipping at the same time a purse of gold into his hand: "Spare neither +threats nor persuasion to gain this young man over to our side. Whatever +it costs, I must recapture our prisoner."</p> + +<p>Stephano felt tempted to resist these orders, but he reflected that this +would only draw suspicion upon him, and he led the way up the stairs, +which were placed in a corner of the room.</p> + +<p>At the same time Don Pedro entered, guarded by two soldiers and leaning +on his staff. Then an interval ensued, and the minutes flew past. +Suddenly a pistol shot was heard. Everyone gave a start of alarm. Then +one of the guards who had gone out with Stephano came rushing down the +stairs and into the room.</p> + +<p>"The bird is snared, or will be in a few minutes," he cried. "Our +prisoner," he continued, pointing through the window, "is in that +building which you see at the bottom of the garden."</p> + +<p>"How do you know this?" asked the captain.</p> + +<p>"From the young man who is upstairs with the lieutenant."</p> + +<p>"From Stephano!" cried the old man, growing pale with horror.</p> + +<p>"Ah, ah!" laughed the captain, "your son does not seem very hard to +persuade."</p> + +<p>"The lieutenant having discovered nothing," the man went on, "told three +of us to go and search the granary, and took advantage of the occasion +to take the young man aside. I watched them. A purse of gold and the +barrel of a pistol have been the principal inducements. The sly fellow +at first was very obstinate, and it was then that the lieutenant fired +the pistol at him to frighten him. The young man seemed to be moved in a +singular manner by the shot. He gave way with good grace, and pointed +the pavilion out to us."</p> + +<p>Whilst the captain lent a joyful ear to this narrative, Don Pedro, on +the contrary, listened with terror mingled with incredulity. At these +last words he could contain himself no longer, and broke in violently:—</p> + +<p>"Enough, wretch; enough!" he cried. "What you say is impossible! It is +an infamous calumny! My son is quite incapable of such villainy!"</p> + +<p>"Look, senor," replied the man, pointing to the stairs.</p> + +<p>Stephano in truth was descending with the lieutenant, holding the purse +in his hand. His pale and agitated face seemed to proclaim his guilt, +and Don Pedro sank back fainting on a seat. Stephano crossed the room +with a faltering step without observing his father, and, reaching the +window, gazed out upon the road.</p> + +<p>In recalling to mind his son's jealousy of Dulaurier, Don Pedro +understood the facts of the matter—that he had sold his guest to get +rid of a detested rival. Maddened by passion, he had without doubt lost +all control over himself. After having exchanged some words in a low +voice with his lieutenant, the captain made a sign to two of his men.</p> + +<p>"Remain with this fellow," he said, in a tone of contempt, pointing to +Stephano, "until we reach the pavilion; if he makes one movement shoot +him, and when a volley announces to you that we are not deceived, join +us to start upon our route."</p> + +<p>"Very good, captain," answered the two soldiers, taking up their +position on each side of Stephano, whilst the others went out softly.</p> + +<p>A mournful silence reigned in the chamber.</p> + +<p>Stephano stood erect before the window, with haggard eyes fixed upon the +road; Don Pedro, mute and motionless in his chair, seemed like a man +bereft of all at a single blow. Then, his misery overwhelming him, he +covered his face with his hands and wept. Stephano turned round quickly, +and for the first time saw his father.</p> + +<p>"Great Heavens! He was there, and heard all!" he murmured. "Father!" he +cried imploringly.</p> + +<p>"Call me your father no more," cried the old man, with flaming eyes, +"unless you can tell me that I am blind and deaf, or that I have dreamed +that my son was a coward, a traitor, an assassin! Tell me so, Stephano, +for pity's sake!"</p> + +<p>The young man made an effort as if he were about to speak, but paused at +the sight of his two guards; the strain was so painful that he was +forced to lean for support on one of the guerilla's arms. Then he turned +away; Don Pedro rose from his seat and came towards his son.</p> + +<p>"His eye never quits this fatal window," he murmured to himself. "It +looks as if he watched to see the success of his perfidy, that he wishes +to assure himself that his rival does not escape. Wretch!" he burst +forth, "if this is so, may you be——"</p> + +<p>Suddenly a hand was laid softly upon the old man's arm. It was Rosita.</p> + +<p>"Ah! it is you, Rosita!" said Don Pedro with a bewildered stare. +"Wretched man that I am, what was I about to do?" he added, passing his +hand over his forehead.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span></p> + +<p>Rosita came farther forward into the room.</p> + +<p>"Stephano guarded by two soldiers!" she cried. "Holy Virgin! what does +this mean, and what has happened?"</p> + +<p>And she made an instinctive movement towards her cousin. Her uncle +stopped her.</p> + +<p>"Keep away from this wretched man!" he cried, "for he is a coward and a +traitor; he has betrayed your betrothed!"</p> + +<p>"Betrayed my betrothed!" cried the girl, with horror. "It is +impossible!"</p> + +<p>"Not only has he betrayed him," continued the old man, taking his +niece's hand, "but he is watching for the success of his treason. Do you +recognise my son, Rosita?" he added, with heartrending despair, "or the +man whom you loved?"</p> + +<p>Here the poor old man broke down completely, and sank back into his +chair. The girl gazed at him with consternation. Even the rough soldiers +were touched by the scene, and turned their heads aside.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 435px;"> +<img src="images/image313.jpg" width="435" height="450" alt=""THE POOR OLD MAN BROKE DOWN COMPLETELY."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"THE POOR OLD MAN BROKE DOWN COMPLETELY."</span> +</div> + +<p>At that instant a loud report shook the walls. It was the captain's +volley. The two soldiers exchanged a meaning glance and disappeared. As +soon as they went out Rosita threw herself in Don Pedro's arms.</p> + +<p>"Dulaurier is dead!" said the old man, gloomily.</p> + +<p>"He is saved!" cried Stephano, coming forward, and throwing from him as +he did so the purse of gold. "Yes, father, yes, Rosita, the lieutenant +is safe and sound, and will be with us in a few seconds."</p> + +<p>"How can that be?" cried Don Pedro, passing from despair to joy.</p> + +<p>"Before leaving Dulaurier in the pavilion we had arranged that he was to +be informed by a pistol shot when he must leave his hiding-place for the +granary whilst his enemies were searching the pavilion. You understand +now how the guerilla's shot agitated me. For, of course, Dulaurier, +taking the report for the signal agreed upon, would leave the pavilion +for the granary, and would then fall into the hands of his pursuers. The +only plan to save him was to get the soldiers away from the granary, +which I did by feigning to betray Dulaurier, by accepting the purse, and +pointing out the pavilion as his hiding-place. For a quarter of an hour +I have endured the tortures of hell, but I have saved the man who +confided in me, and I am still worthy of you both!"</p> + +<p>The young man had hardly finished his narrative when his father and +Rosita were at his feet begging for forgiveness. Then Stephano hastened +to the granary, and called the lieutenant's name, but there was no +response, and soon Stephano's surprise was changed to uneasiness. He +rushed into the granary. It was empty. Stephano reappeared, pale, +tottering and breathless.</p> + +<p>"Dulaurier is not in the granary," he cried. "He cannot have taken the +pistol shot for my signal. He must have remained, and that report we +heard was his death-shot."</p> + +<p>He paused abruptly. Don Pedro and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> Rosita understood, and burst forth +into an exclamation of horror.</p> + +<p>"Victory! Victory!" cried a hundred voices.</p> + +<p>Their despair and consternation were changed to the most lively +astonishment, when a detachment of Don Carlos's volunteers entered the +house, led by Dulaurier himself.</p> + +<p>"Dulaurier!" exclaimed Stephano, Don Pedro, and Rosita at the same time.</p> + +<p>"Our enemies!" said the old Castilian, whilst his niece shrank behind +him.</p> + +<p>"Say rather friends," replied Dulaurier, pressing Stephano's hand +warmly.</p> + +<p>"But how has all this happened?" began the bewildered Stephano.</p> + +<p>"One minute's attention. For half an hour I waited patiently after your +departure in the little pavilion, when I heard the signal we arranged on +of the pistol shot. I quitted my hiding-place at once, and was preparing +to creep towards the granary, when, casting a glance upon the road, I +recognised the uniforms of the volunteers of my regiment. Briefly," +continued Dulaurier, showing the soldiers who surrounded him, "here are +the gentlemen, whom I have the honour of presenting to you. Like good +comrades, they determined to avenge me, and we caught the guerillas in +an ambush as they were searching the pavilion. Bang! a general +discharge, and thirty men were lying on the ground, and the rest running +away for their lives."</p> + +<p>"The volley of which we believed you the victim!" interrupted Stephano.</p> + +<p>"You understand the rest. Not wishing to quit Panola without thanking +you, and also wishing to see about that little matter which I mentioned +to you this morning, we came on here. And now," he added to Stephano, +with the air of a man who has no time to lose, "I must thank you most +warmly for all you have done for me."</p> + +<p>There was such a tone of kindness in these words that Stephano could do +nothing but grasp his hand cordially in return.</p> + +<p>"Anyone else?" cried the effusive officer, looking quickly round. "You +have a father, a mother, a wife, perhaps? Where are they? This noble old +man must be your father," and upon Stephano's making an affirmative sign +he grasped the old man's hand, and wrung it with force.</p> + +<p>"Are there no ladies in your family?" asked Dulaurier with a gallant +air.</p> + +<p>It was then that in spite of Rosita's efforts to avoid his attention he +caught sight of her as she hid behind Don Pedro's high-backed chair.</p> + +<p>"Ah! here is one!" he said, without recognising his betrothed. He +stepped forward towards her.</p> + +<p>"Most amiable senora," he began politely, "permit me——" He paused, +gazing with stupefied eyes upon the young girl, and then made a sign to +his soldiers to leave them.</p> + +<p>"Good Heavens!" he exclaimed, "if I am not deceived it is Rosita, my +pretty <i>fiancée</i>!"</p> + +<p>"You are right; it is I, Monsieur Dulaurier," faltered the young girl.</p> + +<p>The light of happiness vanished from all the faces in the room except +the lieutenant's.</p> + +<p>"You can easily understand, my pretty one, what has led me to Panola," +said Dulaurier.</p> + +<p>"I presume you have come to remind Rosita," answered Don Pedro, "of the +promise that she gave you at her dying father's bedside. She has not +forgotten it, senor. She recognises her duty, and you have only one word +to say——"</p> + +<p>"Will you answer me yourself, Rosita?" interrupted Dulaurier, marking +her extreme pallor and agitation. "You know what I have the right of +claiming; are you still able to give it me freely?"</p> + +<p>"Without doubt," she murmured; "if I give you my hand, my heart will go +with it."</p> + +<p>"Words, nothing but words!" thought the lieutenant, who grew pale in his +turn. "All women are weathercocks. It is clear I am superseded," and he +bit his lip until it bled. "But I should like to know who is my +substitute," and he turned mechanically to Stephano. He found him as +mute and as troubled as Rosita. The truth flashed across him. "I cannot +blame the brave young man," he murmured to himself, "for falling in love +with his cousin. It has not prevented him from saving my life at the +expense of his love and honour, and as I have no wish for a heart not +wholly mine, I have now to render sacrifice for sacrifice, and to keep +the reputation of France equal to that of Spain." He turned to Rosita +with a smile.</p> + +<p>"Mademoiselle," he began, "when we plighted our troth, and I told you +that I loved you devotedly, I was as sincere as I am to-day, only I took +upon myself too much, and have contracted several other engagements, +more or less similar to yours." He gave a forced laugh as he pronounced +these words.</p> + +<p>"That is enough, senor," said Don Pedro. "But why have you then come to +Panola to claim her promise?"</p> + +<p>"Who said that I was here for that purpose?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> asked Dulaurier, abruptly. +Stephano, indeed, recollected that the Frenchman had not said a single +word which implied that he came to claim Rosita's hand. "I implore +Mademoiselle Rosita to pardon me," pursued Dulaurier, "and I propose +that we exchange rings again."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 494px;"> +<img src="images/image315.jpg" width="494" height="450" alt=""I PROPOSE THAT WE EXCHANGE RINGS AGAIN."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"I PROPOSE THAT WE EXCHANGE RINGS AGAIN."</span> +</div> + +<p>It was no sooner said than done. Dulaurier turned and clasped Stephano's +hand again, and now the young man saw with apprehension that Dulaurier's +eyes were dim with tears. Dulaurier could keep up the farce no longer, +and his heart was breaking behind the smile upon his lips.</p> + +<p>"Dulaurier!" said the young man, "you weep: you are unhappy! What you +have said has been only a sublime falsehood! You love Rosita—you wish +to marry her—and if you have the generosity to renounce all for me, it +must not be at the expense of your happiness."</p> + +<p>"Hush!" said Dulaurier, as he took him aside. "Do not undo my work. But +since you have found it out, you are right. I did come back to claim +Rosita. I have always loved her, and have loved none but her. But do not +breathe a word of this. Let no thought of my unhappiness cast a shadow +on her life. Sacrifice for sacrifice, young man. France is equal to +Spain, and we are quits.</p> + +<p>"Farewell, brave Castilians," he cried aloud, "celebrate the marriage +merrily: and let us hope that we shall never meet upon the battlefield +of this unhappy country."</p> + +<p>"Farewell!" replied Stephano, huskily.</p> + +<p>Dulaurier pressed Don Pedro's and Stephano's hands, kissed that of +Rosita, and joined his comrades outside.</p> + +<p>"Wheel to the right—forward!" he shouted, at the head of his battalion.</p> + +<p>Then came the roll of the drum, and they all marched past the window.</p> + +<p>"Rosita," said Stephano to his cousin, "you are free, and we are going +to be happy; but never let us forget Lieutenant Dulaurier!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="The_Queer_Side_of_Things" id="The_Queer_Side_of_Things"></a><i>The Queer Side of Things.</i></h2> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 650px;"> +<img src="images/image316.jpg" width="650" height="411" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p>Let us return for a space to the two spirits William and James, whose +conversations we described in past numbers. Some readers may possibly +recall how the spirit James, while wandering through the darkness of +unoccupied Space (about five-and-twenty billions of eons before the +commencement of Eternity), conceived a wild idea of the possibility of +the existence of worlds—worlds occupied by an impracticability called +"man." It will be recollected how the wiser spirit William cast +well-merited ridicule upon this insanely impossible phantasy of a +disordered mind; nay, even condescended to crush, by perspicuous and +irrefutable logic, the grotesque and preposterous idea.</p> + +<p>Very well; it is now William's turn.</p> + +<p>"James," he said one day as they chanced to sight each other in the +awful solitude of Space, "I have been thinking over that world of yours, +and your crowning absurdity, 'man.' Pray do not become too inflated with +weak conceit at my condescending to think about such trivialities; for +the fact is, any subject of thought—however hopelessly foolish—is a +relief amid the tediousness of Space. Well, I have been reflecting upon +that characteristic which you conceive as distinguishing your puppet +'man'—I allude to <i>intelligence</i>. I think you suggested that he would +possess intelligence?"</p> + +<p>James only fidgeted uneasily, and made a feeble sign of affirmation.</p> + +<p>"Very well," continued William. "Now, I have been putting two and two +together, and have found out the nature of that quality which you +mistake for intelligence; its true name is 'low cunning.' Every fresh +piece of absurdity which you have told me touching the tricks of your +queer creatures has supplied new evidence of this. Your creatures were +to feed upon the substance of the 'world' on which they lived, and, ever +increasing in numbers, would logically in course of time find there was +not a mouthful apiece. I think we agreed about that? Well, let us +consider that period, some time before the creatures should actually +become exterminated by the natural evolution of events—the time when +all the eatable products of their world would be growing scarce. You +went so far as to imagine a great many products——"</p> + +<p>"Yes!" said James, gazing afar off in the absorption of his imagination. +"Yes—there were eggs, and oysters, and poultry, and mushrooms, and——"</p> + +<p>"Ah!—the very things I've been reflecting about. Well, I've been +dreaming that, at the period of which I speak, when all the commodities +were becoming scarce, your human beings would agree to make poisonous +artificial articles of consumption with which to poison themselves by +degrees, and thus reduce the population to convenient limits."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No!" cried James, pondering deeply. "Their idea would be to poison not +<i>themselves</i>, but <i>each other</i>!"</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 410px;"> +<img src="images/image317-1.jpg" width="410" height="300" alt=""POISON."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"POISON."</span> +</div> + +<p>"Ah! I see. Then they would make some sort of effort to prevent +themselves being poisoned?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes; they would pass Adulteration Acts for the purpose."</p> + +<p>"I see; and any creature who did not wish to be poisoned could take +advantage of these Acts to protect himself?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly. The Acts would be very stringent. Let us suppose, for +example, that a certain man suspected that the butter supplied to him +was not butter at all, but a deleterious compound—well, all he would +have to do would be to go to the shop, accompanied by a guardian of the +peace, and, standing on one leg, with both hands on the counter and one +eye shut, order a pound of the butter in certain words prescribed by the +Act. He would then say to the tradesman, 'I am about to divide this +pound of butter into three equal portions for the purposes of analysis'; +and, taking the butter-man's knife in his left hand, and passing it to +his right, would cut the butter into three portions exactly equal.</p> + +<p>"After this, hermetically sealing the three portions in three jars +provided for the purpose, he would hand one jar to the tradesman, the +second to the guardian of the peace, and retain the third. Then he would +bring an action; and (provided that all the conditions had been +accurately fulfilled, without the slightest flaw) the erring tradesman +would be told by the Court not to do it again; while the complainant +would have to pay all costs, and possibly a fine; and would be sneered +at by the magistrate as a fussy idiot and a common informer.</p> + +<p>"If, on the other hand, the complainant should omit to secure the +company of a custodian of the peace, or fail to stand on one leg with +both hands on the counter, or take the knife in his right hand first, or +should leave out the prescribed words, or blink his eye, or stammer, or +sneeze, or in any other way fail to observe the regulations of the Act; +he would, of course, have no case or remedy. The Adulteration Acts would +be extremely stringent——"</p> + +<p>"Against the victim of adulteration?"</p> + +<p>"Ye—es," murmured James, a little nonplussed.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 572px;"> +<img src="images/image317-2.jpg" width="572" height="450" alt=""THE SHOP."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"THE SHOP."</span> +</div> + +<p>"Ah—well, then, I think we can afford to ignore these Adulteration +Acts—like the adulterators and the public authorities would—and +proceed with the question of the adulteration. I had a most vivid vision +or dream of the details of this adulteration as they would be carried +out on your world at the period we are now considering. I imagined that +I was actually in a part of your world called 'America,' and that one of +your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span> human beings politely invited me to walk through his factory and +see how things were made. I think you mentioned 'oysters'——"</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 300px;"> +<img src="images/image318-1.jpg" width="300" height="269" alt=""NO CASE."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"NO CASE."</span> +</div> + +<p>"Yes," said James, "that's one name the article of food would possess; +newspaper writers, however, would not recognise them by that name—they +would only know them as 'the succulent bivalve.'"</p> + +<p>"The very idea!" exclaimed William. "That's exactly what I seemed to +have become—a newspaper writer. I fancied I went to see the factory, +and then sent in the following account:—</p> + +<p>"One of the most interesting factories in America is the stately +building of the Ephraim Q. Knickerbocker Natural Products Manufacturing +Corporation, of Spread Eagle Springs, N.J. That the structure is itself +an imposing one may well be imagined in view of the vast productive +energy expended within its walls; and the feebleness and inefficiency of +the productive operations of Nature are never so fully realized as after +a visit to this marvellous factory, and a comparison of the two systems.</p> + +<p>"It was, therefore, with no little satisfaction that we lately received +a courteous invitation from the able and energetic managing director +General Sardanapalus J. Van Biene to inspect the operations of the +Corporation at its factory. Accordingly, we proceeded to the New York +terminus of the Natural Products Manufacturing Corporation's New York, +Sumner Ferry, Thanksgiving Flats, and Spread Eagle Springs Railroad, +along which a special train speedily whirled us to the front door of the +works. On the steps stood the genial managing director, supported by the +principal manager Colonel Exodus V. Rooster, the head chemist Major +Madison B. Jefferson, and the assistant chemists Judge Vansittart J. +Sumner and Admiral Hudson W. Killigrew.</p> + +<p>"They received us with open arms, and, after entertaining us at a +<i>recherché</i> lunch, conducted us to the chemistry and analysis section +occupying a little over seventeen acres and employing a permanent staff +of thirteen thousand four hundred and thirty-two, assistants, among whom +are chemists, microscopists, sub-inventors, etc., etc. There it is that +the productive operations of Nature are studied and improved upon.</p> + +<p>"'You must not imagine that we have any kind of sympathy or admiration +for Nature's system,' explained General S. J. Van Biene, hastening to +sweep away any false impression which we might have formed.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 428px;"> +<img src="images/image318-2.jpg" width="428" height="450" alt=""THEY RECEIVED US WITH OPEN ARMS."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"THEY RECEIVED US WITH OPEN ARMS."</span> +</div> + +<p>"'On the contrary, we just entirely despise her and her ways, and should +have discarded her way back but for the prejudices<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> of the consuming +public. It's just like this—the consumers still believe in natural +products, and so we have to go on reproducing them instead of starting +right away on our own lines and bringing out new and original +commodities far in advance of anything Nature can do. How we're +stultified you'll see as we work through. We just have to copy, anyway, +in place of originating. We make oysters, for example. Now quite a while +ago, our head chemist Major Madison B. Jefferson invented a new edible +way, finer in every essential than the oyster; but the consumers +wouldn't have it: they shied at it, and declared it wasn't wholesome; +and we had the whole stock on our hands, and had to vat it down again, +and recolour it, and make tomatoes of it. Then they took it down and +just chaired it round. Of course, we have to say we <i>grow</i> the +products—that's another effect of popular prejudice; if we had said we +made those tomatoes, the public would have started right off again, and +talked of "adulteration," although our tomatoes whip Nature's by 50 per +cent, in all the elements of nutrition and flavour. Just taste this +one.'</p> + +<p>"We hesitated, and the director, perceiving it, promptly consumed +another from the same case. Thus reassured, we ventured to nibble at the +artificial vegetable, and found it excellent in every respect—decidedly +superior to the natural product, as he had stated.</p> + +<p>"'But,' we asked, 'do you not suffer considerable losses when these +products—necessarily perishable in the natural course of things—begin +to decay?'</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 396px;"> +<img src="images/image319.jpg" width="396" height="450" alt=""JUST TASTE THIS ONE."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"JUST TASTE THIS ONE."</span> +</div> + +<p>"'That's just another point where we show our superiority to Nature. +<i>Our</i> products <i>don't</i> decay; on the contrary, they improve by keeping. +Here is a tomato seven years old,' he continued, taking down another +case. 'Try it.'</p> + +<p>"We did. The other was not to be compared with it. The older tomato had +matured and mellowed, the skin having a finer colour and lovelier gloss, +the flesh possessing a firmer body and more delicate flavour; it was far +in advance of any tomato we had ever conceived.</p> + +<p>"'Wonderful!' we exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"'A very simple matter,' said the director. 'All that is required is a +thorough mastery of chemistry. In all our goods we employ a special +patent preservative of our own, which is naturally a secret. We +calculate it to be worth one hundred and fifty quadrillions of dollars.</p> + +<p>"'But let us show you how we make oysters! See, these are the tanks +which contain the mixture—the compound which forms the body of the +bivalve. This tank contains the beard-mixture; and this one the +gristle.'</p> + +<p>"'And what are the principal ingredients?'</p> + +<p>"'Glue, made from horses' heels. This is a very important factor in our +products. This glue, after undergoing a peculiar treatment which +prevents its hardening and losing its elasticity in the course of years, +is flavoured and coloured in various ways. This great tank contains the +composition for the internal parts of the oyster—nearly black, you +perceive; that tank over there contains the compound for the flesh that +covers the internal parts; that tank farther along holds the beard +mixture; and the one beyond that the gristle which attaches the oyster +to the shell. First, the flesh of the oyster is run into moulds, each +oyster being in two parts; then the inside of the animal is run into +another mould, and the two halves of the body are automatically placed +around it and cemented together.</p> + +<p>"'Meanwhile the beards have been rolled, stamped, frilled, and coloured +along the edge by special automatic machinery. The body of the oyster +then passes to the fixing-up room, where the beard is cemented to it by +hand, and finishing touches of colour added; and then it passes along +and has the gristle attached: and the oyster itself is complete.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 322px;"> +<img src="images/image320-1.jpg" width="322" height="450" alt="The Oyster Factory Affixing the Beards." title="" /> +<span class="caption">The Oyster Factory Affixing the Beards.</span> +</div> + +<p>"'But it wants a shell!'</p> + +<p>"'Just so. As far as the supply will go, we buy up old shells from +dustyards and use them; but most of them are damaged by previous +opening, so we make the bulk of our shells, and they're a good deal more +natural than the real ones. They're made of lime.'</p> + +<p>"'All alike?'</p> + +<p>"'Not in the least. You see, we have some thousands of moulds, every one +differing slightly from the rest. There's a special department for +hingeing the two shells together. We had some trouble to find a +substance for the hinge; but at last one of our chemists hit on a way of +subjecting old hide-scraps to a peculiar process, and that did the +thing. The mother-of-pearl is made of a sort of soft glass, somewhat +after the appearance of Venetian glass, and put on the shell hot. +Lastly, the oyster is attached to the shells by its cartilage; a little +liquor is put in, and the shells are closed up.'</p> + +<p>"'But surely people must observe that they are not alive?' we said. 'For +instance, they can't open their shells!'</p> + +<p>"'That's just where you're astray,' replied the General. 'Owing to the +mechanical action of salt upon the composition of the cartilage, the +oyster opens when placed in salt water. Iron, however, exercises an +electro-magnetic influence upon the composition forming the body of the +bivalve, causing a sudden contraction—so that, on a knife being +introduced into the shell, the latter closes in the most natural way. We +manufacture pearls on the premises, and advertise that one oyster in +every gross taken from our beds contains a pearl of more or less value; +and there's a greater demand for our oysters than for any others in the +world. Our oyster beds are way down along the coast, about ten miles +off; and are inspected by thousands yearly. Taste this egg.'</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 361px;"> +<img src="images/image320-2.jpg" width="361" height="450" alt="The Pearl." title="" /> +<span class="caption">The Pearl.</span> +</div> + +<p>"He took up a fine specimen of a new-laid egg, and proceeded to break it +into a glass. It was a delightful egg. 'That's our latest pattern of +egg,' explained the General, 'You perceive that it has three lines +around it, where the substance of the shell is weaker than elsewhere; +the lines near each end enable a person about to consume the egg in a +boiled state to easily cut off the top or bottom with a knife, or run +his nail around it; while the line about the middle greatly assists +cooks in breaking it into a basin. There is also a thin spot at either +end, to facilitate sucking. These eggs are always new-laid; we send tons +to Europe, particularly to Great Britain, where ours are the only fresh +eggs they ever get.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 357px;"> +<img src="images/image321-1.jpg" width="357" height="400" alt="The London Egg" title="" /> +<span class="caption">The London Egg</span> +</div> + +<p>"'But you must find some difficulty in making an egg?'</p> + +<p>"'Just as easy as smiling. The white is simply jelly-fish subjected to a +chemical process—jelly-fish aren't costly. This tank is full of the +liquor. The main ingredient of the yolk is the horse-heel glue mentioned +before; we also boil down vast quantities of rats—they come cheap, too; +it's only the cost of catching them; and then there's a vegetable +colouring, and the preservative, and a few other trifles. First, the two +halves of the white are made in two moulds, and frozen; then the two +frozen halves are frozen together, and the yolk-mixture poured in +through a small hole, which is then closed. Then comes the skin; and +that is the most expensive part, for it contains a certain quantity of +rubber. We have tried in vain to find a substitute for rubber, but +failed hitherto. The rubber is mixed with a gum from a South American +tree, and the mixture is applied with a brush over the frozen egg; and +then the egg, still frozen, is dipped in a lime composition very nearly +identical with the oyster-shell mixture; and, lastly, the whole thing is +passed through the finishing machine, which turns the three thin lines +and the two thin spots, imitates the pores of the shell, and delivers +the finished egg to the warehouse.'</p> + +<p>"'Marvellous!' we involuntarily exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"'Oh, that's nothing at all,' said the director. 'We're meditating +turning out eggs that will hatch and become fowls. At present we have to +manufacture fowls; but we calculate to make a great saving by producing +them from the eggs we make. That building over yonder is the terrapin +factory; we turn out eleven tons of terrapin weekly. We make clams, of +course—in the oyster department. In this next house we make kidneys and +sweetbreads. Fruit? Oh, yes, we turn out masses of fruit; peaches pay +best, but we do very well with nuts.'</p> + +<p>"We were then conducted to the show-room, where we tasted a number of +other products of the wonderful factory; and we had just said a grateful +farewell to our courteous guide, when we were seized with pains of the +most acute description.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 259px;"> +<img src="images/image321-2.jpg" width="259" height="450" alt="The Pain." title="" /> +<span class="caption">The Pain.</span> +</div> + +<p>"The arrangements of the hospital were admirable. The kindliness and +attention we received made our five years' sojourn there a time to look +back upon with feelings of gratitude. We are assured that, with strict +diet and unremitting care, we may last some time yet—possibly even +three months."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>"It was a marvellous vision," said James, fervently, as the voice of +William ceased. "Surely after that you must think better of those beings +of mine?"</p> + +<p>But William merely sniffed.</p> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">J. F. Sullivan.</span></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 550px;"> +<img src="images/image322-1.jpg" width="550" height="286" alt="A TURNIP RESEMBLING A HUMAN HAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">A TURNIP RESEMBLING A HUMAN HAND.</span> +</div> + +<p>The above photographs represent two views of an extraordinary turnip +grown by Alderman David Evans, Llangennech Park, Carmarthenshire. We are +indebted for the photographs to Mr. Morgan W. James, of Llanelly.</p> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 550px;"> +<img src="images/image322-2.jpg" width="550" height="370" alt="A ROOM PAPERED WITH STAMPS." title="" /> +<span class="caption">A ROOM PAPERED WITH STAMPS.</span> +</div> + +<p>The above photograph represents the study of Mr. C. Whitfield King, of +Morpeth House, Ipswich, which he has papered with 44,068 <i>unused</i> +foreign postage stamps, bearing the value of £699 16s. 9d., and +containing 48 varieties of different sizes and colours, presenting an +example of mosaic work which is altogether unique of its kind.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span></p> +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 750px;"> +<img src="images/image323.jpg" width="750" height="1147" alt="Drinking" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Drinking</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 750px;"> +<img src="images/image324.jpg" width="750" height="1108" alt="VESSELS OF ALL" title="" /> +<span class="caption">VESSELS OF ALL</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span></p> +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 750px;"> +<img src="images/image325.jpg" width="750" height="1075" alt="A CROCODILE STORY." title="" /> +<span class="caption">A CROCODILE STORY.</span> +</div> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30222 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/30222-h/images/image219.jpg b/30222-h/images/image219.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..754201d --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image219.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image220.jpg b/30222-h/images/image220.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1ffc83d --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image220.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image221.jpg b/30222-h/images/image221.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d0b47a2 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image221.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image223.jpg b/30222-h/images/image223.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..19e4c83 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image223.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image224.jpg b/30222-h/images/image224.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..082424b --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image224.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image225.jpg b/30222-h/images/image225.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f8b3bd5 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image225.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image227.jpg b/30222-h/images/image227.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..13c30ce --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image227.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image228.jpg b/30222-h/images/image228.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..44db25e --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image228.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image229.jpg b/30222-h/images/image229.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8b1bbd6 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image229.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image230.jpg b/30222-h/images/image230.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8917912 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image230.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image231-1.jpg b/30222-h/images/image231-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e53fc12 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image231-1.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image231-2.jpg b/30222-h/images/image231-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3c37b88 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image231-2.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image232.jpg b/30222-h/images/image232.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6e293da --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image232.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image233-1.jpg b/30222-h/images/image233-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..819cefc --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image233-1.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image233-2.jpg b/30222-h/images/image233-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f8677e9 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image233-2.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image234-1.jpg b/30222-h/images/image234-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b7c317d --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image234-1.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image234-2.jpg b/30222-h/images/image234-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0b9c007 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image234-2.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image235.jpg b/30222-h/images/image235.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8b0076f --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image235.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image236.jpg b/30222-h/images/image236.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fc6c248 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image236.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image237.jpg b/30222-h/images/image237.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..90edae1 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image237.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image238.jpg b/30222-h/images/image238.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..85401af --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image238.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image239.jpg b/30222-h/images/image239.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ee8b413 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image239.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image240.jpg b/30222-h/images/image240.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2aa0cc2 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image240.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image241.jpg b/30222-h/images/image241.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..66a5ca2 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image241.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image242.jpg b/30222-h/images/image242.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e9cd28a --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image242.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image243.jpg b/30222-h/images/image243.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3491ca3 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image243.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image244.jpg b/30222-h/images/image244.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fabc835 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image244.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image245.jpg b/30222-h/images/image245.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1509ea7 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image245.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image246.jpg b/30222-h/images/image246.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c1bc503 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image246.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image248.jpg b/30222-h/images/image248.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9a09dd1 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image248.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image249.jpg b/30222-h/images/image249.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ba985d6 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image249.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image250-1.jpg b/30222-h/images/image250-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..81d10eb --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image250-1.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image250-2.jpg b/30222-h/images/image250-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..557969b --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image250-2.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image250-3.jpg b/30222-h/images/image250-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..dbd8697 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image250-3.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image251-1.jpg b/30222-h/images/image251-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..112a111 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image251-1.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image251-2.jpg b/30222-h/images/image251-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b288794 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image251-2.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image251-3.jpg b/30222-h/images/image251-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..874f5c8 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image251-3.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image251-4.jpg b/30222-h/images/image251-4.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fce0857 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image251-4.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image252.jpg b/30222-h/images/image252.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..501adb2 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image252.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image253-1.jpg b/30222-h/images/image253-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0553606 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image253-1.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image253-2.jpg b/30222-h/images/image253-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d5bd75f --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image253-2.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image254-1.jpg b/30222-h/images/image254-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bf1cef0 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image254-1.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image254-2.jpg b/30222-h/images/image254-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..065ab7f --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image254-2.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image254-3.jpg b/30222-h/images/image254-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4dbed81 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image254-3.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image255-1.jpg b/30222-h/images/image255-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5a7ee49 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image255-1.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image255-2.jpg b/30222-h/images/image255-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..84c8d17 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image255-2.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image255-3.jpg b/30222-h/images/image255-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3496424 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image255-3.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image255-4.jpg b/30222-h/images/image255-4.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..59c14a3 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image255-4.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image256-1.jpg b/30222-h/images/image256-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..482abbb --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image256-1.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image256-2.jpg b/30222-h/images/image256-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bfb9aa2 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image256-2.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image256-3.jpg b/30222-h/images/image256-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5fa7ed8 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image256-3.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image257-1.jpg b/30222-h/images/image257-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c5d8286 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image257-1.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image257-1a.jpg b/30222-h/images/image257-1a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8883b4a --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image257-1a.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image257-2.jpg b/30222-h/images/image257-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bdafad8 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image257-2.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image257-3.jpg b/30222-h/images/image257-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..61d7331 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image257-3.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image258-1.jpg b/30222-h/images/image258-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..96baf3e --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image258-1.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image258-2.jpg b/30222-h/images/image258-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5abccb0 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image258-2.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image259.jpg b/30222-h/images/image259.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ae16011 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image259.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image261.jpg b/30222-h/images/image261.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fd544b1 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image261.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image262.jpg b/30222-h/images/image262.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d4cde62 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image262.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image264.jpg b/30222-h/images/image264.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ad9b72a --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image264.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image265.jpg b/30222-h/images/image265.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..40e482a --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image265.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image266.jpg b/30222-h/images/image266.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5d78a89 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image266.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image267.jpg b/30222-h/images/image267.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..31f368a --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image267.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image268-1.jpg b/30222-h/images/image268-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..09ff5d3 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image268-1.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image268-2.jpg b/30222-h/images/image268-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f811f9d --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image268-2.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image269-1.jpg b/30222-h/images/image269-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4e08385 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image269-1.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image269-2.jpg b/30222-h/images/image269-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3195376 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image269-2.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image269-3.jpg b/30222-h/images/image269-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2d844bf --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image269-3.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image270-1.jpg b/30222-h/images/image270-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f306231 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image270-1.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image270-2.jpg b/30222-h/images/image270-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3d0cc09 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image270-2.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image271-1.jpg b/30222-h/images/image271-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ee38ea5 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image271-1.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image271-2.jpg b/30222-h/images/image271-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2c0b999 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image271-2.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image272.jpg b/30222-h/images/image272.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..aec33d2 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image272.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image273.jpg b/30222-h/images/image273.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..af84d21 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image273.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image274.jpg b/30222-h/images/image274.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0324721 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image274.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image275-1.jpg b/30222-h/images/image275-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3232799 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image275-1.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image275-2.jpg b/30222-h/images/image275-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f5e8f59 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image275-2.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image275-3.jpg b/30222-h/images/image275-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1470168 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image275-3.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image275-4.jpg b/30222-h/images/image275-4.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5c21e8c --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image275-4.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image276-1.jpg b/30222-h/images/image276-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ab1962f --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image276-1.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image276-2.jpg b/30222-h/images/image276-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f30c418 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image276-2.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image276-3.jpg b/30222-h/images/image276-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6105faf --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image276-3.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image276-4.jpg b/30222-h/images/image276-4.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b4d72c0 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image276-4.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image277-1.jpg b/30222-h/images/image277-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..89106eb --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image277-1.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image277-2.jpg b/30222-h/images/image277-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..96f2bb9 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image277-2.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image277-3.jpg b/30222-h/images/image277-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2c9c475 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image277-3.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image277-4.jpg b/30222-h/images/image277-4.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ec0432e --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image277-4.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image278-1.jpg b/30222-h/images/image278-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..968183a --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image278-1.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image278-2.jpg b/30222-h/images/image278-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..cad3872 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image278-2.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image278-3.jpg b/30222-h/images/image278-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..af293bd --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image278-3.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image278-4.jpg b/30222-h/images/image278-4.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..690b6dc --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image278-4.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image279-1.jpg b/30222-h/images/image279-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bf7ab0a --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image279-1.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image279-2.jpg b/30222-h/images/image279-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a06c56d --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image279-2.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image279-3.jpg b/30222-h/images/image279-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..42e063d --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image279-3.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image279-4.jpg b/30222-h/images/image279-4.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e18f3bb --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image279-4.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image280-1.jpg b/30222-h/images/image280-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6c6adb2 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image280-1.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image280-2.jpg b/30222-h/images/image280-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9c580fa --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image280-2.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image280-3.jpg b/30222-h/images/image280-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b91f4c5 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image280-3.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image281.jpg b/30222-h/images/image281.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fc388d5 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image281.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image282.jpg b/30222-h/images/image282.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..421dacd --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image282.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image284.jpg b/30222-h/images/image284.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8080461 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image284.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image286.jpg b/30222-h/images/image286.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e576a08 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image286.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image288.jpg b/30222-h/images/image288.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1c2e69a --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image288.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image289.jpg b/30222-h/images/image289.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..cd3bc88 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image289.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image291.jpg b/30222-h/images/image291.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..92072f7 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image291.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image292.jpg b/30222-h/images/image292.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..03ab909 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image292.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image293.jpg b/30222-h/images/image293.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5b33d7c --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image293.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image294.jpg b/30222-h/images/image294.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4a103ee --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image294.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image295.jpg b/30222-h/images/image295.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..45bf307 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image295.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image296-1.jpg b/30222-h/images/image296-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2ef3025 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image296-1.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image296-2.jpg b/30222-h/images/image296-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4a7386a --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image296-2.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image297-1.jpg b/30222-h/images/image297-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4ecda98 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image297-1.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image297-1a.jpg b/30222-h/images/image297-1a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1d989df --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image297-1a.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image297-2.jpg b/30222-h/images/image297-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d848a9f --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image297-2.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image297-2a.jpg b/30222-h/images/image297-2a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a0f41b2 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image297-2a.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image298-1.jpg b/30222-h/images/image298-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..01cfdd8 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image298-1.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image298-2.jpg b/30222-h/images/image298-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..eeb0c28 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image298-2.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image298-3.jpg b/30222-h/images/image298-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b0e5c6c --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image298-3.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image298-4.jpg b/30222-h/images/image298-4.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2e802a0 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image298-4.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image298-5.jpg b/30222-h/images/image298-5.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b40a5bf --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image298-5.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image298-6.jpg b/30222-h/images/image298-6.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5255950 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image298-6.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image299-1.jpg b/30222-h/images/image299-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..050fbf9 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image299-1.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image299-2.jpg b/30222-h/images/image299-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..029e56e --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image299-2.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image299-3.jpg b/30222-h/images/image299-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..56d8d68 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image299-3.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image299-4.jpg b/30222-h/images/image299-4.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0659860 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image299-4.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image299-5.jpg b/30222-h/images/image299-5.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4e96ace --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image299-5.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image300-1.jpg b/30222-h/images/image300-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0d45e61 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image300-1.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image300-2.jpg b/30222-h/images/image300-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..174684d --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image300-2.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image300-3.jpg b/30222-h/images/image300-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..33acd06 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image300-3.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image301-1.jpg b/30222-h/images/image301-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1236b03 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image301-1.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image301-2.jpg b/30222-h/images/image301-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..18e23e1 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image301-2.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image301-3.jpg b/30222-h/images/image301-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..774d306 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image301-3.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image301-4.jpg b/30222-h/images/image301-4.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..afb9e75 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image301-4.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image301-5.jpg b/30222-h/images/image301-5.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..78516fa --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image301-5.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image302.jpg b/30222-h/images/image302.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..de68900 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image302.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image303.jpg b/30222-h/images/image303.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b98b5e9 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image303.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image306.jpg b/30222-h/images/image306.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..14d0af3 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image306.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image307.jpg b/30222-h/images/image307.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8647849 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image307.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image309.jpg b/30222-h/images/image309.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2c73f1c --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image309.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image310.jpg b/30222-h/images/image310.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7eac6e3 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image310.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image311.jpg b/30222-h/images/image311.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bea4762 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image311.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image313.jpg b/30222-h/images/image313.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..738592c --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image313.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image315.jpg b/30222-h/images/image315.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b261ef5 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image315.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image316.jpg b/30222-h/images/image316.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..801e970 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image316.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image317-1.jpg b/30222-h/images/image317-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d47bbb3 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image317-1.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image317-2.jpg b/30222-h/images/image317-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4ec849f --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image317-2.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image318-1.jpg b/30222-h/images/image318-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..01f3566 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image318-1.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image318-2.jpg b/30222-h/images/image318-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ac8b301 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image318-2.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image319.jpg b/30222-h/images/image319.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..faad697 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image319.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image320-1.jpg b/30222-h/images/image320-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0dd9cea --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image320-1.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image320-2.jpg b/30222-h/images/image320-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f08b410 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image320-2.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image321-1.jpg b/30222-h/images/image321-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..435b5d2 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image321-1.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image321-2.jpg b/30222-h/images/image321-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a6c3e8a --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image321-2.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image322-1.jpg b/30222-h/images/image322-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..96cb8b0 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image322-1.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image322-2.jpg b/30222-h/images/image322-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2f8cb38 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image322-2.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image323.jpg b/30222-h/images/image323.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e85f4a5 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image323.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image324.jpg b/30222-h/images/image324.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3a92646 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image324.jpg diff --git a/30222-h/images/image325.jpg b/30222-h/images/image325.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..354cf83 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222-h/images/image325.jpg diff --git a/30222.txt b/30222.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..18f6476 --- /dev/null +++ b/30222.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6032 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Strand Magazine, Volume V, Issue 27, +March 1893, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Strand Magazine, Volume V, Issue 27, March 1893 + An Illustrated Monthly + +Author: Various + +Editor: George Newnes + +Release Date: October 9, 2009 [EBook #30222] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STRAND MAGAZINE, MARCH 1893 *** + + + + +Produced by Victorian/Edwardian Pictorial Magazines, +Jonathan Ingram, Josephine Paolucci and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +THE + +STRAND MAGAZINE + +_An Illustrated Monthly_ + +Vol. 5, Issue. 27. + +March 1893 + + +[Illustration: "BY HEAVEN," CRIED RUY LOPEZ, "THE DUKE SHALL FINISH HIS +GAME!" + +(_A Game of Chess_.)] + +[Illustration] + + + + +A GAME of CHESS. + +FROM THE FRENCH. + + +I. + +King Phillip II. was playing at chess in the Escurial Palace. His +opponent was Ruy Lopez, a humble priest, but a chess player of great +skill. Being the King's particular favourite, the great player was +permitted to kneel upon a brocaded cushion, whilst the courtiers grouped +about the King were forced to remain standing in constrained and painful +attitudes. + +It was a magnificent morning. The air was perfumed with the orange +groves, and the violet curtains of the splendid hall hardly softened the +burning rays which streamed in through the windows. The blaze of living +light seemed scarcely in harmony with the King's gloomy countenance. His +brow was black as night, and from time to time he bent his eyes +impatiently upon the door. The nobles stood in silence, darting meaning +glances at each other. It was easily to be discerned that some event of +great importance weighed upon the spirits of the assembly. No one paid +any attention to the chess-board except Ruy Lopez, who, as he moved the +pieces, hesitated between the temptation of checkmating his opponent and +the deference due to his King. The silence was unbroken except by the +sound made by the players moving their pieces. + +Suddenly the door opened, and a man of rude and savage aspect advanced +into the hall, and, presenting himself before the King, stood waiting +his commands to speak. This man's appearance was anything but +prepossessing, and on his entrance the nobles, as if animated with one +thought, shrank back with contempt and loathing, as if some unclean +animal had entered into their midst. His massive, herculean figure was +clad in a doublet of black leather, and his face, in which could be seen +no trace of intelligence, expressed, on the contrary, nothing but +vileness and villainy; a great scar, running right across his face and +losing itself in a bushy beard, added still further to the natural +brutality of his countenance. + +An electric thrill ran through the assembly. The new comer was Fernando +Calavar, high executioner of Spain. + +"Is he dead?" asked the King, in an imperious tone. + +"No, sire," replied Calavar, bowing low. + +The King frowned. + +"Great Sovereign of Spain," Calavar continued, "the prisoner has claimed +his privileges, and I cannot take proceedings against a man whose blood +belongs to the noblest in Spain, without having a more imperative order +from your Majesty," and he bowed again. + +The nobles, who had listened with great attention to these words, broke +into a murmur of approbation as the man finished speaking. The proud +Castilian blood rushed like a stream of lava through their veins, and +dyed their faces crimson. The manifestation became general. Young Alonza +D'Ossuna openly asserted his opinion by putting on his plumed cap. His +bold example was followed by the majority of the nobles, and their lofty +nodding crests seemed to proclaim with defiance that their masters +protested in favour of the privilege, which the hidalgos of Spain have +always enjoyed, of covering their heads before their Sovereign. + +The King gave a furious start, and striking his fist violently upon the +chess-board, scattered the chessmen in all directions. + +"He has been judged by our Royal Court of Justice," he cried, "and +condemned to death. What does the traitor demand?" + +"Sire!" replied the executioner, "he asks permission to die upon the +block, and also to pass the three last hours of his life with a priest." + +"Ah, that is granted!" replied Philip, in a tone of relief. "Is not our +confessor in the prison according to our orders?" + +"Yes, sire!" said Calavar, "the holy man is there; but the Duke refuses +to see St. Diaz de Silva. He says he cannot receive absolution from +anyone below the dignity of a Bishop. Such is the privilege of a noble +condemned to death for high treason." + +"Yes, these are our rights!" boldly interrupted the fiery D'Ossuna; "and +we claim from the King our cousin's privileges." + +This demand acted as a signal. + +"Our rights and the King's justice are inseparable," cried Don Diego de +Tarraxas, Count of Valence, an old man of gigantic stature, clothed in +armour, holding in his hands the baton of Great Constable of Spain, and +leaning upon his long Toledo blade. + +"Our rights and our privileges!" cried the nobles, repeating the words +like an echo. Their audacity made the King start with fury from his +ebony throne. + +"By the bones of Campeador!" he cried. "By the soul of St. Jago! I have +sworn neither to eat nor sleep until the bleeding head of Don Gusman +lies before me. As I have sworn, so shall it be. But Don Tarraxas has +said well, 'The King's justice confirms his subjects' rights.' My Lord +Constable, where does the nearest Bishop reside?" + +"Sire, I have more to do with camp than with the Church," the Constable +replied, somewhat abruptly. "Your Majesty's chaplain, Don Silvas, is +present: he can tell you better than I." + +Don Silvas began to speak in trepidation. + +[Illustration: "WHAT DOES THE TRAITOR DEMAND?"] + +"Sire," he said, humbly, "the Bishop of Segovia is an official of the +King, but he who filled the duty died last week, and the parchment which +names his successor is still upon the Council table, and is yet to be +submitted to the Pope's seal." + +At these words a joyous smile hovered about D'Ossuna's lips. This joy +was but natural, for the young man was of the blood of the Gusmans, and +his cousin, the condemned prisoner, was his dearest friend. The King +perceived the smile, and his eye shot forth lightning. + +"We are the King!" he said, gravely, with the calm which presages a +storm; "our Royal person must be no butt for raillery. This sceptre +appears light, my lords, but he who ridicules it shall be crushed +thereby as with a block of iron. I believe that our holy father the Pope +is somewhat indebted to us, so that we do not fear his displeasure at +the step which we are about to take. Since the King of Spain can make a +Prince, he can also make a Bishop. Rise, then, Don Ruy Lopez. I create +you Bishop of Segovia. Rise, I command you, and take your rank in the +Church." + +The courtiers stood dumfounded. + +Don Ruy Lopez rose mechanically. His head was whirling, and he stammered +as he strove to speak. + +"If your Majesty pleases----" he began. + +"Silence, my Lord Bishop!" replied the King. "Obey your Sovereign. The +formalities of your installation shall be performed another day; our +subjects will not fail to acknowledge our wishes in this affair. Bishop +of Segovia, go with Calavar to the condemned man's cell. Give absolution +to his soul, and in three hours leave his body to the executioner's axe. +As for you, Calavar, I will await you here; you will bring us the +traitor's head. Let justice be accomplished." + +Then Philip turned to Ruy Lopez. + +"I give you my signet ring," he said, "to show the Duke as a token of +the truth of your story." + +The executioner left the chamber, followed by Ruy Lopez. + +"Well, gentlemen," said the King, turning to the others, "do you still +doubt the King's justice?" + +But the nobles answered not a word. + +The King, having taken his seat, made a sign to one of his favourites to +place himself before the chess-board, and Don Ramirez, Count of Biscay, +accordingly knelt down upon the velvet cushion. + +"With a game of chess, gentlemen," said the King, smiling, "and your +company, I cannot fail to make the time pass agreeably. Let no one leave +the chamber until Calavar's return. We cannot spare a single one of +you." + +With these ironical words, Philip commenced a game with Don Ramirez, +whilst the nobles, almost dropping with fatigue, resumed the positions +about their august master which they had occupied at the beginning of +this story. + + +II. + +Calavar, leading the way, conducted the new Bishop to the condemned +man's cell. Ruy Lopez walked like one in a dream. Was he awake, or not? +He hardly knew. At the bottom of his heart he cursed the King and his +Court. He understood perfectly that he had become Bishop of Segovia, but +he felt deeply at what a price he had bought his dignity. What had Don +Gusman done that he should be thus sacrificed? Don Gusman, the best +chess player in Spain! He thought of all this as he proceeded over the +marble flags which led to the State prison, and as he thought he prayed +that the ground would open and swallow him up. + +Don Gusman was pacing impatiently up and down his narrow cell with a +hurried step that betrayed the feverish anxiety of his mind. The cell +was furnished with a massive table and two heavy wooden stools, the +floor being covered with coarse, thick mats. Shut out from all the +noises of the outer world, here silence reigned supreme. A crucifix, +roughly carved, was fixed to the wall in the niche of a high window, +which was carefully barred with iron. Except for this image of +resignation and mercy, the walls were bare. Well might this dungeon +serve as antechamber to the tomb. + +As Ruy Lopez entered the cell a sudden burst of sunshine flooded the +walls as if in bitter mockery of him who was soon to see it no more. + +The Duke saluted the new Bishop with great courtesy. They regarded each +other, and exchanged in that look a thousand words which they alone +could understand. Ruy Lopez felt the painfulness of his position deeply, +and the Duke understood his embarrassment. Their thoughts were both the +same, that in the condemnation of one of the principal favourites of the +King an innocent life was threatened! The proofs of the crime imputed to +the Duke were grave; the most important being a despatch written in Don +Gusman's hand to the French Court, in which he unfolded a scheme for +assassinating Philip II. This had sufficed to condemn him. + +Don Gusman, strong in his innocence, had kept a rigorous silence when +brought before his judges, and the accusation not being denied, +sentence of death was passed upon him. Don Gusman since his +incarceration had not altered. He had braved the storm, and looked upon +death with an unmoved countenance. His last hours had no terrors for +him. If his forehead was overshadowed, if his steps were agitated and +his breathing hurried, it was because there rose before his eye the +image of his betrothed, Dona Estella, who, ignorant of her lover's fate, +was waiting for him in her battlemented castle on the banks of the +Guadalquiver. If he felt weak at this fatal moment, and if a pang shot +through his heart, it was because his thoughts were of her who was to +him the dearest thing in all the world. + +[Illustration: "RUY LOPEZ ENTERED THE CELL."] + +Ruy Lopez had not entered alone. Calavar was at his side; and it was he +who announced to the Duke the King's decision and reply. Ruy Lopez +confirmed the executioner's words, and the Duke, falling on his knees +before the new Bishop, asked his blessing, then turning to Calavar with +a gesture of authority, he dismissed him, saying:-- + +"In three hours I shall be at your disposal." + +Calavar obeyed him and went out, and the Duke and Bishop were left +alone. + +Ruy Lopez was trembling with nervousness, whilst Don Gusman's face wore +a calm and serene expression. He took the Bishop's hand, and wrung it +warmly. There was a pause. The Duke was the first to break the silence. + +"We have met before in happier circumstances," he said, smiling. + +"It is true," stammered Ruy Lopez, who, pale and agitated, resembled +rather the penitent than the confessor. + +"Much happier," repeated the Duke, absently. "Do you remember, when you +played your celebrated game of chess with Paoli Boy, the Sicilian, in +the presence of the King and Court, that it was upon my right arm that +the King leant?" Then after a pause he continued: "Do you remember also, +father, those words of Cervantes, 'Life is a game of chess?' I have +forgotten the exact place in which the passage occurs, but its meaning +is, that upon earth men play different roles. There are, as in chess, +kings, knights, soldiers, bishops, according to their birth, fate and +fortune; and when the game is over death lays them all as equals in the +tomb, even as we gather together the chessmen into a box." + +"Yes, I remember those words of Don Quixote," replied Don Lopez, +astonished at this singular conversation, "and I remember also Sancho's +reply: 'That however good the comparison was, it was not so new that he +had not heard it before.'" + +"I was your favourite pupil, even your rival," said the Duke, without +appearing to hear Don Lopez. + +"It is true," cried the Bishop. "You are a great master of the game, and +I have been often proud of having such a pupil. But now, on your knees, +my son." + +They knelt down together, and there before the crucifix Don Gusman made +confession to Ruy Lopez, who as he listened could hardly restrain his +tears. + +When the Duke had finished, two hours after--for the confession under +the Church seal was long and touching--the Bishop blessed the prisoner, +and gave him absolution. The face of Don Gusman, as he rose, was calm +and resigned. + +[Illustration: "THEY KNELT DOWN TOGETHER."] + +But there remained still an hour to wait. + +"This delay is torture," cried the Duke. "Why do they not cut off the +prisoners at once, instead of stretching their souls upon such a rack of +agony? An eternity of suffering is in each of these minutes." And the +prisoner began to walk impatiently to and fro, with his eyes constantly +bent upon the door. The Duke's firmness was shaken by the thought of +that weary hour of waiting. Ruy Lopez had fulfilled his duty. The +prisoner's soul was purified, and now the priest could become the +friend. + +As Don Lopez heard Don Gusman utter this exclamation, and saw his face +grow white, he understood what agony he was undergoing, and felt at once +that something must be done to divert his thoughts. But in vain he +racked his brain for an idea. He could think of nothing. What could he +propose to a man about to die? For such as he, the flower has no longer +perfume, woman has no longer beauty. Then suddenly a thought flashed +across his brain. + +"How would a game of chess--" he began, timidly. + +"An excellent idea!" cried Don Gusman, recalled to himself by this +singular proposal. "A farewell game of chess." + +"You consent?" + +"Most readily; but where are the chessmen, my friend?" + +"Am I not always provided with the instruments of war?" said Ruy Lopez, +smiling. Then he pulled forward the two stools and set out upon the +table a microscopic set of chessmen. "Our Lady pardon me!" he continued. +"I often pass my spare time in the confessional in working out some +problem." + +The chessmen being set out, the players took their seats, and were soon +absorbed in the excitement of the game. + +This strange contest, between a priest and a condemned prisoner, made a +picture worthy of the brush of Rembrandt or Salvator Rosa. The light +which streamed from the arched windows fell upon the pale, noble +features of Don Gusman, and upon the venerable head of Ruy Lopez. + +The emotions of the two players were very different. Ruy Lopez played +with a preoccupation which was not usual to him, and which rendered him +much inferior to his ordinary strength. Don Gusman, on the contrary, +stimulated by excitement, played with more than his ordinary skill. At +this moment his noble Castilian blood did not fail him, for never had +the Duke given better proof of the clearness of his mind. Such a flash +of intellect must be compared to the last flickers of the failing lamp, +or to the last song of the dying swan. + +Don Gusman suddenly attacked his adversary with an impetuosity which +nearly gained him a certain victory; but Ruy Lopez, recalled to himself +by this vigorous effort, defended himself bravely. The game became more +and more complicated. The Bishop strove to gain a mate which he saw, or +believed he saw, at hand, whilst Don Gusman played with the eagerness of +certain victory. Everything was forgotten, and time passed unnoticed. +The chess-board was their universe, and a life of anxiety was in each +move. + +The minutes, the quarters, the half-hours flew by, and the fatal hour +arrived at last. + +A distant sound struck on their ears; it grew nearer, it increased, and +the door swinging open gave admittance to Calavar and his assistants, +who advanced into the cell with torches in their hands. They were armed +with swords, and two of them bore the block, covered with a black cloth, +on which lay an axe. + +[Illustration: "THE GAME BECAME MORE AND MORE COMPLICATED."] + +The torches were placed in the receptacle prepared for them, whilst one +of the men scattered cedar sawdust on the floor. All this was the work +of a moment, while the executioner stood waiting for the prisoner. + +As Calavar entered, Ruy Lopez started to his feet, in a tremor of alarm, +but the Duke did not move. His eyes were fixed upon the chess-board. It +was his turn to play. Calavar, seeing his abstracted gaze, advanced to +the Duke's side and placed his hand upon his shoulder. + +"Come," he said. + +The prisoner shuddered as if he had trodden upon a serpent. + +"I must finish this game," he said, imperiously. + +"It is impossible," Calavar replied. + +"But, fellow, the game is mine! I can force mate in a few moves. Let me +play it out." + +"I cannot. It is impossible," repeated the executioner. + +"Are the three hours gone already?" + +"The last stroke has just struck. We must obey the King." + +The assistants, who had until then stood leaning on their swords, came +forward at these words. + +The Duke was sitting against the wall, under the high window, with the +table between him and Calavar. He started to his feet. + +"I shall not move until the game is over. In half an hour my head shall +be at your disposal." + +"My lord," replied Calavar, "I respect you deeply, but I cannot grant +you this request. I answer for your life with mine." + +Don Gusman made a gesture of impatience, and pulling off his diamond +rings, he threw them at the executioner's feet. "I mean to finish the +game," he said, carelessly. + +The jewels sparkled as they rolled and settled in the dust. + +"My orders are imperative," cried Calavar, "and you must pardon us, +noble Duke, if we have to use force; but the King's orders and the law +of Spain must be carried out. Obey, then, and do not waste your last +moments in a useless struggle. Speak to the Duke, my lord Bishop. Tell +him to submit to his fate." + +Ruy Lopez's reply was as prompt as it was decisive. He seized the axe +which lay upon the block and swung it with both hands above his head. + +"By Heaven!" he cried, "the Duke _shall_ finish his game!" + +Scared by the gesture which accompanied these words, Calavar drew back +in such a fright that he stumbled and fell back on his companions. The +swords flashed from their scabbards, and the band prepared for attack. +But Ruy Lopez, who appeared to have put forth the strength of a +Hercules, cast upon the ground his heavy wooden stool. + +"The first of you who passes this limit dies!" he cried in a loud voice. +"Courage, Duke!--to the attack! There are only four of these miscreants. +The last desire of your Grace shall be gratified, were I to lose my life +in the attempt. And you, wretched man, beware how you lay a finger upon +a Bishop of the Church. Down with your swords and respect the Lord's +anointed!" And Ruy Lopez continued to hurl forth, in a jargon of +Spanish and Latin, one of those formulas of excommunication and +malediction which at that period acted so strongly upon the masses of +the people. + +The effect was prompt. The men stood rooted to the spot with terror, +whilst Calavar, thinking that to kill a Bishop without a sealed order +from the King was to run the risk of putting his life in jeopardy in +this world and his soul in the next, avowed himself vanquished. He knew +not what to do next. To rush with the news to the King, who was waiting +impatiently for Don Gusman's head, was only to expose himself. To attack +the prisoner and the priest would be too hazardous, for Ruy Lopez was a +man of no mean strength. The position of affairs was critical. At last +he decided to take the easiest way out of the difficulty--to wait. + +"Will you promise me faithfully to give yourself up in half an hour?" he +demanded of Don Gusman. + +"I promise," replied the Duke. + +"Play on, then," said the executioner. + +The truce being thus concluded, the players returned to their seats and +their game, whilst Calavar and his companions, forming themselves into a +circle, stationed themselves round the two players. Calavar, who was +himself a chess player, looked on with interest, and could not prevent +himself from involuntarily considering each move the players made. + +Don Gusman looked up for an instant upon the circle of faces which +surrounded him, but his _sang froid_ did not abandon him. + +"Never have I played in the presence of such a noble company!" he cried. +"Bear witness, rascals, that at least once in my life I have beaten Don +Lopez." Then he returned to the game with a smile upon his lips. The +Bishop gripped the handle of the axe which he still held in his hand. + +"If I were only sure of escaping from this tigers' den," he thought, "I +would break every head of the four of them." + + +III. + +If three hours had dragged in the prisoner's cell, they had not passed +more quickly in the Royal chamber of King Philip. + +The King had finished his game with Don Ramirez de Biscay, and the +nobles, still compelled from etiquette to remain standing, appeared +almost ready to drop with fatigue, rendered still more painful from the +weight of their armour. + +Don Tarraxas stood motionless, with closed eyes like one of those iron +figures which ornamented the castles of the savage Goths. Young +D'Ossuna, with drooping head, stood propped against a marble pillar, +whilst King Philip strode impatiently about the apartment, only stopping +at intervals to listen to some imaginary noise. According to the +superstitious custom of the age, the King knelt for a few moments at the +foot of a figure of the Virgin placed upon a porphyry pedestal to pray +the Madonna to pardon him the deed of blood which was about to take +place. Silence reigned, for no one, whatever his rank might be, dared to +speak before his Sovereign without his commands. + +As the King's eyes saw the last grain of sand fall in the hour-glass he +uttered an exclamation of joy. + +"The traitor dies!" he cried. + +An almost inaudible murmur ran through the assembly. + +"The hour is passed, Count of Biscay," said Philip, turning to Don +Ramirez, "and with it your enemy." + +"My enemy, sire?" asked Ramirez, affecting surprise. + +"Why do you repeat my words, Count?" replied the King. "Were you not a +rival to Don Gusman in the affections of Dona Estella, and can rivals be +friends? Dona Estella shall be yours. This young girl will bring you her +beauty and her fortune. I have not spoken of this to our Council, but my +Royal word is pledged. If the ingratitude of Sovereigns is ever spoken +of before you, Count, you will be able to reply that we did not forget +the true friend of the King and of Spain who discovered the plot and the +correspondence of Don Gusman with France." + +Don Ramirez de Biscay seemed to listen to the King with uneasiness. He +kept his eyes fixed upon the ground, as if he disliked to be thus +praised in public. Then he made an effort to reply. + +"Sire!" he said, "it was with great repugnance that I fulfilled such a +painful duty"--he hesitated, and then was silent. + +Tarraxas gave a slight start, whilst D'Ossuna struck sharply the pommel +of his sword with his iron glove. + +"Before Dona Estella shall belong to this man," thought D'Ossuna, "I +will have vengeance or perish in the attempt. Tomorrow shall be the day +of my revenge." + +The King continued:-- + +"Your zeal, Don Ramirez, and your devotion must be rewarded. The saviour +of our throne, and perhaps of our dynasty, merits a particular gift. +This morning I ordered you to make out some _lettres-patentes_, which +confer upon you the rank of Duke and Governor of Valence. Are these +ready to be signed?" + +Don Ramirez grew pale with pleasure. He shook like an aspen and his eyes +grew dim. But the King made an impatient movement, and the Count, +drawing a roll of parchment hastily from his breast, presented it on his +knees to the King. + +"My first public duty to-day shall be to sign these papers," said the +King. "The executioner has already punished treason; it is now time for +the King to recompense fidelity." + +The King unrolled the parchment and began to read. As he read, his face +became convulsed with fury, and his eyes shot forth flames of wrath. + +"By my father's soul!" he shouted; "what do I behold?" + + +IV. + +The game of chess was finished. Don Gusman had beaten Ruy Lopez, and his +triumph was complete. He rose to his feet. + +"I am now, as ever, ready to obey the wishes of my King," he said to +Calavar. + +The executioner understood him, and began to prepare the block. Whilst +this was being done Don Gusman advanced towards the crucifix, and said +in a firm voice:-- + +"Oh, Heaven! may this unjust and rash act which is about to take place +fall upon the head of him who is the instigator of this treachery; but +let not my blood recoil upon the head of my King." + +[Illustration: "WHAT DO I BEHOLD?"] + +Ruy Lopez, crouching in a corner of the cell, and burying his face in +his mantle, began to recite the prayers for the dying. + +Calavar approached Don Gusman, and putting his hand upon the Duke's +shoulder began to loosen his ruff. Don Gusman shrank back from the +contact. + +"Nothing that belongs to you, except this axe, shall touch a Gusman," he +said, taking off his ruff himself and placing his head upon the block. +"Strike!" he added, "I am ready!" + +The executioner raised the axe--the King's justice was at last to be +satisfied, when shouts, rapid footsteps and confused voices arrested the +sweep of the executioner's arm. + +The door gave way under the united efforts of a troop of armed men, and +D'Ossuna, rushing into the cell, threw himself between the executioner +and his victim. He was just in time. + +"He lives!" cried Tarraxas. + +"He is saved!" repeated D'Ossuna. "My beloved cousin, I never hoped to +have seen you alive again. God in His mercy has not let the innocent +perish for the guilty. God be praised!" + +"God be praised!" echoed all the spectators, and louder than the rest +rang out the voice of Ruy Lopez. + +"You have arrived in time, my friend," said Don Gusman to his cousin; +"but now I shall have no longer strength to die," and he sank back +fainting on the block. The shock had been too much for him. + +Ruy Lopez seized the Duke in his arms, and, followed by all the nobles, +bore him along the passages to the King's apartment. When Don Gusman +opened his eyes he found himself in the midst of a circle of his +friends, amongst which stood the King, looking down upon him with an +expression of joy. + +Don Gusman could hardly believe his senses. From the axe and the block +he had passed to the King's apartment. He did not understand why this +change had taken place. He did not know that Don Ramirez, in giving his +_lettres-patentes_ to the King to sign, had, in his agitation, given him +instead a paper containing a plot in which he schemed to get rid for +ever of Don Gusman, a detested rival, and one of the firmest supporters +of the throne. He was ignorant of all that had passed, and did not know +how he had escaped from the clutches of the executioner. It was some +time before everything could be made clear to him. + +Three days afterwards, at the same hour as Gusman's miraculous delivery, +Calavar beheaded Don Ramirez, Count of Biscay, traitor and false +witness. Don Gusman was overwhelmed with congratulations on all sides. +King Philip grasped him cordially by his hand. + +"Gusman," he said, "I have been very unjust. I can never forgive my +folly." + +"Sire," replied the Duke, "let us speak of it no more. Such words spoken +by my King are worth a thousand lives." + +But the King continued. + +"I desire," he said, "that henceforth, in commemoration of your almost +miraculous deliverance, you carry upon your escutcheon a silver axe +emblazoned on an azure chess-board. This month we shall celebrate your +marriage with Dona Estella. The marriage shall take place in our +Escurial Palace." + +Then he added, turning to Ruy Lopez:-- + +"I believe that the Church will possess a good servant in its new +Bishop. You shall be consecrated Lord Prelate, with a scarlet robe, +enriched with diamonds; that will be the recompense of your game of +chess with Don Gusman." + +"Sire," replied Don Lopez, "never before this day have I been satisfied +to be checkmated." + +The King smiled, and the courtiers followed his example. + +"Now, my lords," continued Philip, "we invite you all to our Royal +banquet. Let Don Gusman's seat be placed upon our right, and the Bishop +of Segovia's on our left. Give me your arm, Don Gusman." + +[Illustration] + + + + +Illustrated Interviews + +XXL--MR. AND MRS. KENDAL. + + +If one had waited for a few months, "The Kendals" would have been +getting settled in their new home in Portland Place. But, then, the +happiest associations are always centred around the old, and the +pleasantest and frequently the dearest recollections are gathered about +the familiar. That is why I went to them once more to their home of many +years at 145, Harley Street. + +It would be difficult to realize a woman of more striking +characteristics than she who was for so many years known as "Madge" +Robertson, and notwithstanding a very important visit one morning in +August twenty-three years ago to St. Saviour's, Plymouth Grove, +Manchester, when she became the wife of Mr. William Hunter Grimston, +there are many who still know and speak of her by her happily-remembered +maiden name. From that day husband and wife have never played +apart--they have remained sweethearts on the stage and lovers in their +own home. At night--the footlights; by day--home and children. Mrs. +Kendal assured me that neither her eldest daughter, Margaret, nor Ethel, +nor Dorothy--the youngest--nor "Dorrie," who is now at Cambridge, nor +Harold, a "Marlborough" boy, would ever go on the stage. Home, husband, +and children--home, wife, and children, are the embodiment of the life +led by the Kendals. + +[Illustration: THE DRAWING-ROOM + +_From a Photo by Elliott & Fry_.] + +Together with Mr. Kendal we sat down in the drawing-room, and were +joined for a moment by Miss Grimston, a quiet, unaffected young girl, +who looked as though she could never rid herself of a smile, either in +her eyes or about her mouth--a young maiden who suggested "sunshine." +She was carrying Victoria, a pet dog. The mother's whole thoughts seemed +to go out to her daughter. + +"Our Jubilee dog," she cried. "I bought her on Jubilee Day, and, +curiously enough, Mr. Kendal bought one too, neither of us telling the +other we were going to make such canine purchases." + +Then, when Miss Grimston had left the room, her mother turned to me +quietly, and said:-- + +"The image of my brother Tom. The same hair, the same expression of +eyes, the same kind and loving ways. I think he lives in my girl. Come +with me and you shall see his portrait." + +It hung in Miss Grimston's boudoir--an apartment the walls of which were +decorated with pictures of the Comedie-Francaise Company, the original +designs for the dresses in "A Wife's Secret"; while over the +mantel-board are Mr. and Mrs. Kendal in "The Ironmaster," and many +family portraits are about. + +[Illustration: MISS GRIMSTON'S BOUDOIR. + +_From a Photo by Elliott & Fry._] + +"It is so amusing to hear people talk and write about my eldest brother +Tom and me playing together as children," she said. "My mother was +married when she was eighteen, and my brother was born when she was +nineteen; I was born when she was forty-eight, and was her twenty-second +child! So my brother was a grown man with a moustache when I knew him. I +was brought up with his two children--little Tom and Maude, my own +nephew and niece." + +What a delightful story it was! Little Madge Robertson used to dress up +as a policeman and take Maude into custody before Tom, the younger, as +the judge. And this was the trial:-- + +"What is the prisoner charged with, constable?" asked the judge. + +"Murder, my lord," replied the representative of law and order. + +"Prisoner, are you guilty?" + +"Yes, my lord," answered the poor prisoner. + +"Prisoner, have you anything to say why sentence should not be passed +upon you according to law?" + +"Yes, my lord. _I'm the daughter of the author of 'Caste'._" + +The prisoner always got off, and dear old William Robertson would watch +this little scene and roar with laughter. + +"Yes," Mrs. Kendal said quietly, as we again looked at "Tom's" picture, +"my brother was kindness itself, even from his infancy. I remember +hearing how, when he was a very small boy and living with his aunt, he +went out one summer's day with a new velvet jacket on. He caught sight +of a poor little beggar child his own size, who was in tatters, and, +beckoning him across, at once divested himself of his new coat, put it +on the wondering youngster, and ran away home as fast as he could. His +aunt questioned him, and upon finding out the true circumstances of the +case, and not wishing to damp the kind spirit in the little fellow's +heart, said:-- + +"'Well, we'll go and try to find the boy you gave it to, and buy your +jacket back.' + +"Fortunately the search was successful, and the coat was bought back for +no less a sum than half-a-sovereign. + +"And in later years it was just the same with Tom. He could never pass +by a common cookshop, in front of the windows of which was often a crowd +of men, women, and children, looking on with longing eyes, without +getting them inside and giving them a fill to their hearts' content. +When out driving it was no different. He would stop the horse, and have +all the watching hungry ones inside, and the next moment they would be +revelling in the satisfying properties of thick slices of plum-pudding +and roast beef." + +The house throughout is most artistic. Mr. Kendal is a painter of great +merit, and he "knows" a picture as soon as he sees it. Pictures are his +hobby; hence there is not a room in the house--even to the +kitchen--which does not find a place for some canvas, etching, or +engraving. The entrance-hall is at once striking, with its quaint +thirteenth century furniture, bronzes, and Venetian ware. There are some +fine engravings of Miss Brunton--who became Countess of Craven--Kemble, +Garrick, Phelps, and Mrs. Siddons. A picture of Mrs. Kendal in "The +Falcon" was done at the express wish of, and paid for by, the late Poet +Laureate. Tennyson said it reminded him of a woman he liked and admired. +In the shadow is a fine bust of Macready, given by the great actor to +the father of Mrs. Kendal; resting against the fireplace on either side +are the two lances used in "The Queen's Shilling," and close by are two +huge masks representing a couple of very hirsute individuals. They came +from California, and represent "The King of the Devils" and "The King of +the Winds." + +[Illustration: THE HALL. (_From a Photo, by Elliott & Fry._)] + +[Illustration: THE DINING ROOM. (_From a Photo, by Elliott & Fry._)] + +The entrance to the dining-room is typical of all the other door +decoration in the house--a carving of cream enamel of beautiful design +and workmanship. The walls of this apartment are terra-cotta, with a +finely carved oak-panelling. It is a little treasure room of canvases, +the gem of which is probably C. Van Hannen's "Mask Shop in Venice"--a +painter of a school which Luke Fildes, R.A., has done so much to +popularize. Macbeth is represented by a couple of delightful efforts, +and there are samples of the skill of Eugene Du Blas, Crofts, John Reid, +Andriotti, Sadler, De Haas, Rivers; a grand landscape by Webb--nearly +all of which are Academy works. The decorative articles are as artistic +as in some cases they are peculiar. Running about above the oaken +fireplace, amongst choice bronzes and blue ware, and a black boy who is +trudging along with a very useful clock on his back, are many quaint +animals of polished brass--even mice are not missing, with wonderfully +long tails--that sparkle and glisten in the firelight. Ascending the +staircase you find etchings after Alma Tadema, Briton Riviere, and +others; the walls are covered with them. + +[Illustration: SCENE FROM "THE SQUIRE." _From the Picture by Mr. +Kendal._] + +Here are a series of delightful pictures showing Mr. and Mrs. Kendal in +Gilbert's "Sweethearts," and I am reminded that the gifted actor and +actress were the first to appear before the Queen after a period of +five-and-twenty years, during which Her Majesty had never seen a play, +the performance that night consisting of "Sweethearts" and Theyre +Smith's "Uncle's Will." And as one takes note of many rare works--the +bedroom is almost entirely given up to Dore's marvellous creations, +though near the window is a splendid specimen of the photographer's art: +a head of Miss Mary Anderson--one cannot fail to observe the family +spirit everywhere--sometimes portraits of children, sometimes small and +dainty pencil studies made of them by their father. Occasionally +theatrical sketches by Mr. Kendal appear. Here are some of the principal +members of the old St. James's Company, who used to give Mr. Kendal +sittings between the acts--here a capital bit of artistic work depicting +a scene from "The Squire," made from stray memorandums and with the aid +of a looking-glass for securing the actor-artist's face. + +Leaving Mr. Kendal for a time, Mrs. Kendal and I returned to the +drawing-room. It overlooks Harley Street and is a handsome two-roomed +apartment, the prevailing tone of blue, cream, and gold harmonizing to +perfection. It is positively one huge collection of curios. + +The screen at the far end is rather shuddery, not to say creepy, to +those of nervous temperament. It is decorated with tomahawks of fearful +and wonderful shapes and sizes, and other Indian implements of warfare. + +"These came from California," Mrs. Kendal explained. "No sooner are you +out of the train than the Indians tomahawk you! Look at this bow and +arrow." + +The pots of palms and ferns all hold American flags. These colours--the +stars and stripes--once surmounted baskets of flowers and floral +emblems--five, six, and even seven feet high--handed to Mrs. Kendal +during her recent tour in the States; and amongst the sweetly-perfumed +blossoms diamonds, pearls, and other precious gems have glistened in the +shape of ornaments. A table near the window tells you of the generosity +of the Americans. It is crowded with silver ornaments and mementos. You +may handle the diminutive silver candlesticks to light "The Kendals" +away--silver jugs, souvenir spoons, frying-pans, coffee-pots--all in +miniature. This silver dollar is only one of a hundred. You touch a +spring, when, lo and behold! the portrait of the donor appears. All +American women have dainty feet. These little ebony and silver lasts for +your boots remind you of this. On this table is a letter from the +Princess of Wales, thanking Mrs. Kendal for "the lovely silver wedding +bells and flowers which you so kindly sent me on the tenth." You may +examine George IV.'s cigar-case--a silver tube in which the King was +wont to carry a single cigar. It is impossible to number all the +treasured odds and ends, but still more difficult to total up the +miniature articles set out in a pair of cabinets. + +[Illustration: NAPOLEON'S WRITING-TABLE _From a Photo by Elliott & +Fry._] + +[Illustration: "SHAKESPEARE AND BACON" _From the Picture by A. E. +Emslie._] + +Mrs. Kendal has a hobby--it lies in the collecting of the tiniest of +tiny things. If her intimate friends come across any curiosity +particularly choice and small, it is at once snapped up and dispatched +to Harley Street. I had some little leaden mice in my hand the size of +half-a-dozen pins' heads. Handkerchiefs an inch square, babies' woollen +shoes, pinafores, shirts, all of the tiniest, but perfectly made, with +buttons and button-holes complete, and even buns with currants no bigger +than a pin's point. Sheep, dogs, cats, monkeys, pigs, giraffes--in +short, convert the entire Zoo into miniature china knick-knacks, and you +have a considerable portion of Mrs. Kendal's collection realized. One +must needs stand for a moment at Napoleon's writing-table, near which +rests a characteristic clay by Van Beers. The pictures here are many. +Millais' work is well represented by several etchings, and a remarkably +clever thing by Emslie, entitled "Shakespeare and Bacon," suggests the +two extremes of taste to a nicety. Whilst a young enthusiast is +declaiming Shakespeare, one of his listeners--doubtless, equally +enthusiastic, but with an eye for victuals--is interrupting a soliloquy +with the remark: "Now! who says bacon?" Every portrait has a +history--Prince and Princess Henry of Battenberg in their wedding +garments, the late Duke of Albany, Professor Huxley, Mrs. Beecher +Stowe, Mr. and Mrs. Pinero, Mr. and Mrs. Bancroft, and many others. +Three suggestive pictures, however, cannot be passed by. This dear +little fellow is the son of Mr. B. J. Farjeon. Mr. Farjeon married "Rip +Van Winkle" Jefferson's daughter, and the youngster is pictured dressed +in the tattered garments of merry, rollicking _Rip_. You know how _Rip_ +always drinks your health? He holds the glass of hollands high up and +cries, "Here's your health and your family's good health, and may they +all live long and prosper!" but Mr. Farjeon's little boy cries out, +"Here's your health, and your family's good health, and may you all live +long and _proper_!" + +[Illustration: GROUP IN CLAY BY JAN VAN BEERS.] + +[Illustration: MRS. KENDAL AS "GALATEA"] + +A photo, of Dr. Pancoast stands near a bust of Mrs. Kendal as _Galatea_, +done when she was seventeen. Dr. Pancoast--a celebrated American +physician--saved Mrs. Kendal's life when her maid accidentally +administered a poisonous drug to her mistress. The poor girl herself +nearly died of fright. + +But perhaps the portrait of the late Duchess of Cambridge, which Mrs. +Kendal now holds in her hand, is more interesting than them all. "Her +late Royal Highness," Mrs. Kendal said, "always addressed me and wrote +to me as Mrs. Grimston. She was paralyzed in her right hand and wrote +with her left; perhaps that is why this letter, written in pencil and +with great effort, is treasured more than it otherwise would have been." + +It was one of the last letters written by Her Royal Highness. The +letters and words were wonderfully legible; it read:-- + + "DEAR MRS. GRIMSTON,--One line only to thank you for sending me + the stalls for my dressers, who enjoyed your and Mr. Grimston's + charming acting immensely. My first deaf one was able to follow + perfectly, thanks to your having kindly let her have the book + previously. Again thanking you, + + "I remain, + + "Yours very sincerely, + AUGUSTA." + + + +And in a little cabinet in the far corner is a beautiful Sevres bowl. In +the bowl is a telegram from "Princess Mary," asking Mrs. Kendal to come +to St. James's Palace at once. Written on a black-edged envelope were +these words: "To dearest Mrs. Grimston Kendal. A little souvenir. Found +amongst the last wishes of her late Royal Highness the Duchess of +Cambridge." + +It is only just possible to hasten through the collection of substantial +reminiscences which add to the charm of this corner of the house. The +quaint white china hare was given to Mrs. Kendal many years ago by Mr. +John Hare, when playing together at the Court. A curious but vividly +suggestive idea of Japanese wit, in the shape of a couple of +characteristically dressed figures, typifies "Health" and "Wealth"; the +figure, representing "Health" has a countenance of the deepest red, the +other a face all golden and as resplendent as the sun. In a small frame +is the letter from the Goethe Club of New York, making Mrs. Kendal an +honorary member. She is the only woman member of this club. And this +pretty little doll dressed as a Quakeress--a charming compliment to the +recipient--was presented by the Quakeresses of Philadelphia, who never, +never, never go the play, yea, verily! So they sent this as a tribute of +their admiration for the talents and character of the woman who has been +called "The Matron of the Drama." + +[Illustration: MRS. KENDALL'S LITTLE QUAKERESS.] + +We sat down on a settee in front of the fire. The cushions were of white +lawn marked with the initial "M.," and were worked by the late Lady +Eglinton. + +Mrs. Kendal's happy and homely face is familiar to all. She has a truly +tender and sympathetic expression there at all times. Her hair was once +that of the fair one with golden locks, now it is of a rich brown +colour--very neatly and naturally trimmed about her head. She is very +kind--very motherly; just the woman you would single out in time of +trouble and ask, "What would you advise me to do?" I gathered these +impressions whilst listening to many things she said of which I need not +write. Her views on theatrical life are strong, nay, severe. She is not +afraid to speak, and she hits hard and sends her shots home. But you +cannot mistake the earnestness of her manner, the true intent of her +motives. + +"I am only a common-place woman," she said to me. "I used to be ever so +light-hearted--now, I'm a morbid creature. Here we are sitting down by +the fireside. I may tell you happy reminiscences that may make one +merry, and all the time I should be thinking about--what? Cancer! I +return to my dressing-room from the stage at night. As I am passing +along a fellow player may turn to me and say, 'How well the play has +gone to-night!' I am only thinking of those who have trod that same +stage before me. What are they now? Dust--earth--worms!" + +I stirred the fire, and the bright glow from its burning embers lit up +the corner where we sat. And we talked together. + +Margaret Brunton Robertson was born at Great Grimsby on March 15th, +1849--curiously enough these lines will be read on the anniversary of +her birthday. Her grandfather, father, and uncle were all actors. + +"I lived alone with my father and mother," she said, "and the only real +recollection I have of my father is his fine white beard, which he grew +towards the latter days of his life, and a little advice he once gave +me. + +"'Always count twenty,' he said, 'when you are walking across the quay +at Bristol, then you won't hear the sailors swear!' Yet he would use +very bad language to me when he was teaching me my parts; for you know I +commenced acting at a very early age. I was only three when I made my +first appearance--and I ruined the play. It was at the Marylebone +Theatre in the 'Three Poor Travellers,' and I was a blind child. My +nurse was in the front row of the pit--that is, in the very first row, +for there were no stalls. All I thought about was my new shoes--a very +pretty, dainty little pair, and as soon as I stepped on the stage, I +opened my eyes, caught sight of the delighted face of my nurse, and +cried out:-- + +"'Oh! nursey, dear, look at my new shoes!' + +"I played at Chute's Theatre in Bristol in many child's parts. When my +father went to the wall over the Lincoln Circuit, Mr. Chute engaged him +as an actor, and I went with him. I remember in 'A Midsummer Night's +Dream'--I was _Mustard Seed_, I think, or _Peas Blossom_; at any rate, +some small character that required very prettily dressing, and plenty of +flowers on my little costume. I am as fond of flowers to-day as I was +then. Well, when once I got on the stage in my pretty dress--of which I +was particularly proud--before I would leave it, I had to be bought off +with apples and oranges! There they would stand at the wings, and the +price would go up--up--up--two oranges, three oranges, three oranges +and two apples--until I inwardly murmured a childish equivalent for +'sold,' and toddled off. + +"I acted _Eva_ in 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' when I was eight. I think I was +always a sad child--I looked forty when I was fifteen. After little +_Eva_ I used to play anything." + +And they were hard times for little Madge--she worked like the brave +little woman she was. Her childish thoughts were constantly with her +parents--how best could she add to the weekly income. And this is what +the same little Madge would do. Night after night, after playing in a +serious piece, she would appear in burlesque, sing, dance, and crack her +small jokes with the best of them. It was hard work that made her a +woman--it was dearly-bought experience that gave birth to the +sympathetic heart she has to-day. + +[Illustration: MRS. KENDAL. _From a Photo. by Bassano._] + +So at fourteen she was a woman grown--and at fifteen at Hull played +_Lady Macbeth_ to Phelps's _Macbeth_! + +"I was dressed in my mother's clothes," Mrs. Kendal said, "and I fear I +must have looked a fearful guy!" + +At rehearsal Phelps looked upon the young woman. + +"And who--who is this child?" asked the great actor. + +"Madge Robertson," the manager answered; "a rare favourite here. It was +a choice between her and a very old woman, Mr. Phelps." + +"Then let the young woman play, by all means," Phelps said. + +What a night it was! At the end of the play they wanted her on again, +but Phelps was obdurate. A party of men came round, and threatened to +throw Phelps into the Humber! Phelps remained firm. + +"He was kindness itself through it all," Mrs. Kendal assured me, "and +though I did not go on again, he proved his thoughtfulness a little +later on by sending for me to play _Lady Teazle_. I played the leading +parts during the three nights Phelps remained in Hull in 'The Man of the +World,' 'Richelieu,' and 'Macbeth.' On July 29th, 1865, I made my +_debut_ in London, at the Haymarket, as _Ophelia_ to the _Hamlet_ of +Walter Montgomery. Poor Montgomery! He was what you would call a +'lady-killer'--very conceited, but, withal, very kind. He once wrote a +letter to my father, and added a postscript, saying: 'Keep this letter. +Should poverty fall upon you or yours, your great-grand-children may be +able to sell it for a good sum of money!' I was only with him six +weeks." + +The only play of her brother's in which Mrs. Kendal has appeared was +"Dreams," when the Gaiety first opened. At this time the managers always +tried to induce Mrs. Kendal to appear in a riding habit--a costume in +which she looked strikingly handsome. + +"Alfred Wigan played in 'Dreams,'" continued Mrs. Kendal. "His wife was +one of the kindest women I ever met. She gave me a gold bracelet for a +very curious little service I used to render her husband every night. He +had to sing a song in 'Dreams,' and one or two of the high notes were +beyond his reach. I used to take these notes for him, and the audience +never guessed the truth." + +"And have you not played _Desdemona_?" I asked. + +"Oh! yes--and to a real black man, and so he did not have to put his +head up the chimney to make himself up for the part! His name was Ira +Aldridge, and scandal said he was the dresser of some great actor whom +he used to imitate. But he had very ingenious ideas as to the character +of _Othello_. He thought him a brute, and played him as such. His great +notion was to get the fairest woman possible for _Desdemona_--and I was +selected, for at that time my hair was quite golden. + +"In one part of the play he would cry out, 'Give me thy hand, +Desdemona!' and certainly the effect of my hand in his huge grasp was +impressive. Then in the last act he would pull me from the couch by the +hair of my head. Oh! there was something in his realism, I can tell +you!" + +Miss Robertson made a great sensation when she appeared as _Blanche +Dumont_, in Dr. Westland Marston's "Hero of Romance," when it was +performed for the first time at the Haymarket Theatre, on March 14th, +1868. Seventeen months after this, on August 7th, 1869, she was Madge +Robertson no longer. On that day she was married to Mr. William Hunter +Grimston, whose stage name is Kendal. It is a charming little story. + +It occurred at Manchester. Mr. Kendal and Miss Robertson were on tour +with the elder Compton, and they were--sweethearts. A convenient time +seemed to have arrived for their wedding day, for on the Thursday, +Friday, and Saturday nights pieces were to be played in which neither of +them would be required. This would mean a nice little honeymoon--and the +two lovers would reappear on the Monday night. So the day was +fixed--Thursday; the church chosen--St. Saviour's, Plymouth Grove; and +the best man booked--Walter Gowing, who used to play under the name of +Walter Gordon. + +Then bad news came. Compton's brother was taken ill, and he had to hurry +away from Cottonopolis. Another play had to be put in the bill, both Mr. +Kendal and Miss Robertson would be needed--for it was "As You Like It," +and the one would be wanted for _Orlando_ and the other for _Rosalind_. +Still, the wedding was proceeded with on Thursday morning, quietly and +happily, and in the evening husband and wife met on the stage in the +Forest of Arden. There, with _Celia_ as the priest, amidst the leafy +trees and grassy pathways, _Orlando_ turns to the merry _Celia_, and +pointing to the far, far happier _Rosalind_, cries out:-- + +"Pray thee, marry us!" + +"Will you, Orlando, have to wife this Rosalind?" + +"I will." + +"Then," _Rosalind_ pertly remarks, "you must say, 'I take thee, +Rosalind, for wife.'" + +"I take thee, Rosalind, for wife," said _Orlando_, earnestly. + +Then _Rosalind_ asked, "Now tell me how long you would have her after +you have possessed her?" + +And _Orlando_ replied--both in the words of Shakespeare and in the +language of his own heart--"For ever and a day!" + +That is the true story of the wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Kendal. It was a +natural desire of each never to play apart from the other, and from that +day they have never separated. For some seven years Mr. and Mrs. Kendal +played at the Haymarket, under Buckstone's management, and the gifted +actress merrily referred to the little jokes played on "Bucky" by some +of the actors. He was stone deaf, and could only take his cues when to +speak from the movements of his fellow-actors' lips, so they would annoy +him by continuing the lip movement, and "Bucky" sometimes got "stuck." + +[Illustration: THE DRAWING-ROOM. _From a Photo. by Elliott & Fry._] + +Little need be said of Mrs. Kendal's subsequent work--her acting at the +Court, the Prince of Wales's, and her labours at the St. James's, when, +in 1881, she appeared there under the joint management of Mr. Kendal and +Mr. Hare. Not only in this country has her name become fondly familiar +in the homes of those who "go to the theatre" and those who "never +would," but in America the artistic acting of herself and husband has +been instantly and enthusiastically recognised. + +I left the drawing-room--pausing, before entering Mr. Kendal's study, to +admire the aviary--a veritable home of song--and to notice one +diminutive member of the feathered tribe in particular, who has been +taught by Miss Grimston to perform tricks _ad lib._, in addition to +giving forth the sweetest of notes. + +The study is a very delicate apartment in terra-cotta and gold--here and +there are quaint blue china vases and many exquisite bronzes. The window +in the recess where the table is--a typical study table, suggesting +plenty of work--is of stained glass, the quartet of divisions +representing the four seasons. A glance round the walls of this room at +once reveals the substantial side of Mr. Kendal's artistic +hobby--pictures. In this apartment there is nothing but water-colours, +save a very clever pen-and-ink sketch by a New York artist, called "Six +Months After Marriage," which Jefferson caught sight of at the New York +Dramatic Bazaar, and reminded Mr. Kendal to "keep his eye on," and a +portrait or two of Mrs. Kendal and the children. "Hetty Sorrell" at her +butter pats, with her thoughts very far from the churning-pan, is a gem. +"The Last of St. Bartholomew" is a magnificent bit of painting, and the +Venetian views at once carry one back to the home of the merry gondolier +and perfect moonlight nights. This picture of Salvini--who its possessor +assured me was the finest tragedian he had ever seen--was painted by Mr. +Kendal himself. The bookcase, running along opposite the window, +contains many rare first editions, of which Mr. Kendal is a very +persevering and successful collector, and a bound manuscript copy of +every play produced by him, together with the original sketches for the +scenery. You may look over the "Scrap of Paper," "The Falcon," "Queen's +Shilling," "Ladies' Battle," "Clancarty," "The Ironmaster," "The Money +Spinner," and "The Squire"--Pinero's play, of which somebody wrote that +it wafted the scent of the new-mown hay across the footlights. + +[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF SALVANI, BY MR. KENDAL.] + +It is interesting to learn how Mr. Kendal first came across Pinero. + +"I only knew him as an actor at the Lyceum," he said, "and had never met +him. He wrote and asked if we would let him read a play to us. As a rule +we never do that; but, remembering that Pinero was himself a player, we +made an exception. So it came about that one day, after a rehearsal, the +actor playwright read his piece to us in the _foyer_ of the St. James's. +We never expected anything at first, but the reading ended in our taking +the play immediately, though we scarcely knew what we should do with it, +seeing it was a two-act play. We found an opportunity, however, and you +know the success it was. It was called 'The Money Spinner.'" + +Mr. Kendal is a striking-looking man--the very ideal of a picturesque +soldier, with a constitution of steel. He talks to you frankly, easily, +for there is not two penny-worth of presumption about him. He lives and +labours very quietly--he enjoys his days, and a good cigar. He divides +his talents between the stage and the brush. His pencil and palette have +been with him in far-off places, and there is always a corner in his +bag for them if he only travels twenty miles from Harley Street. His +peculiarity of painting--so to speak--lies in the fact that he never +fails to chronicle the view obtained from any hotel where he may be +staying. He showed me a book full of these hasty impressions--all of +which were most beautifully done--many of them he could only give ten +minutes or a quarter of an hour to. Two of these I brought away for +reproduction in these pages; they are both unfinished, however--the +pencil reminders of certain little additions tell that. + +[Illustration: SKETCH FROM THE QUEEN's HOTEL, MANCHESTER, BY MR. +KENDAL.] + +The first of these is a view of the Infirmary as seen from Mr. Kendal's +window at the Queen's Hotel, Manchester; the second--done in a quarter +of an hour--shows the way the Americans erect their buildings for +exhibiting a cyclorama--popularly known here as a panorama. It was done +from a back window in an hotel in Cleveland, U.S.A. The actor-artist +never learnt drawing, save for a few hours' lessons he took at the Slade +Schools under the tuition of Le Gros. He draws everything that impresses +him--his painting memory is remarkable. He sees a man's face in the +street, carries it home in his mind, and it will be very faithfully put +on paper or canvas. + +We talked for a long time on "pictures"--he was so happy and earnest +about it that it was some time before we made an attempt to tread the +boards and get behind the footlights. + +Mr. Kendal--William Hunter Grimston--was born at Notting Hill, and just +outside the sound of Bow Bells, on December 16th, 1843. His parents +belonged to the Low Church, and their views of the theatre in general, +and on adopting the stage as a profession in particular, will be readily +understood. Mr. Kendal was intended for the Army--how he came to "go on" +the stage is best told in his own words: + +"I had only been to three or four pantomimes previously," he said, "and +one night--I was about eighteen years of age at the time--I found myself +in the stalls of the old Soho Theatre, in Dean Street, Soho, now known +as the Royalty Theatre. My paper and pencil were out, and I was busily +engaged in making sketches of the various actors and actresses. The +piece was 'Billie Taylor.' Suddenly I felt a gentle tap on the shoulder +from behind. I turned round. + +"'Would you allow me to take those sketches round and show the 'parties' +interested?' a gentleman asked. + +"'Certainly; with pleasure,' I replied. + +"'Perhaps you would like to come behind the scenes as well?' + +"It was just what I wanted, so I followed the person who had so kindly +interested himself in my scribble. He proved to be Mr. Mowbray, the +manager of the theatre. The picture behind the scenes that night was a +perfect Elysium to me. I think Mowbray must have noticed the impression +it made upon me, for he asked if I would like to go on the stage. I +did--as a sort of super." + +[Illustration: SKETCH FROM HOTEL WINDOW, CLEVELAND, U.S.A., BY MR. +KENDAL.] + +Mr. Kendal's first important engagement lasted four or five years at the +Theatre Royal, Glasgow. Here he met and played with such people as Helen +Faucit (Lady Martin), G. V. Brooke, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kean, Dion +Boucicault, Fechter, Miss Bateman (Mrs. Crowe), and the elder Sothern. +When Sothern left, the accomplished young actor played _Dundreary_, and +found himself straying in the footsteps of the famous originator of the +part, even to the hop. One would have thought that people would have +praised the actor for taking such a worthy example--but it displeased +Tom Taylor, and he wrote very wrathfully. Then Mr. Kendal went to the +Haymarket, met Miss Robertson, and from their wedding day their lives +may be said to have been the same in thought, word, and deed. + +As an organizer and man of business his tact and judgment were tested +and proved during his joint management of the St. James's with Mr. Hare +in 1881. For some time previous to this Mr. Kendal had been on the +look-out for a theatre, and his mind wandered towards the St. James's, +but it required a large sum of money spending on it before it could be +opened. + +"One night I was talking to Lord Newry at my club," said Mr. Kendal, +"and happened to say that if L2,000 or so were spent on the St. James's +I might feel inclined to take it. + +"'Suppose I spend that amount of money on the place, will you take it?' +Lord Newry asked. + +"My only reply was that I would think about it. In the meantime I went +to the Court, from there to the Prince of Wales's to play in +'Diplomacy'--it ran a year--'Peril' and 'London Assurance.' Then I +returned to the Court again, and during this time Lord Newry had +practically gutted the old and unlucky St. James's, turned it inside +out--John Hare, my wife and self entered, and we remained there nearly +ten years." + +Mr. and Mrs. Kendal share the same opinion of America--it is the land of +to-day, the land of the future. As to its theatres in comparison with +ours, Mrs. Kendal--who had now joined us--was most enthusiastic. I had +reached the pillars, from which hung curtains of intricate Japanese +workmanship, leading to the hall. Victoria, the Jubilee dog, was barking +a friendly "Good-bye," and the lusty throats of Miss Grimston's +two-and-twenty canaries forced their sweet notes from a far-away room +into the passage. + +"I will give you some idea of what an American theatre is like," said +Mrs. Kendal. "You reach your destination by rail at some small place for +a one-night stay. If it is raining and the ground is wet, men in long +jack-boots catch hold of you and gallantly take you across the puddles. +You do not see a soul about--and you are in fear and trembling as to +where your night's audience is coming from. You get to your hotel, and +then your next thought is--where is the theatre? You expect to find a +little, uncomfortable, band-box of a place, and you set out to see it +with a heavy heart. It is a palace--a marble palace--a positive poem! +And your heart leaps happily--only to drop dull again, for you suddenly +remember that you have seen--nobody, not even the oldest inhabitant. You +turn to the manager. + +"'Yes, yes--but, what about an audience, how are you going to fill it?' +you ask. + +"'Wall,' he replies, 'I don't trouble myself much about that. I reckon +that every seat in this theatre is sold for to-night, that's all!'" + + HARRY HOW. + +[Illustration: MR. KENDAL. _From a Photo. by Maurice Stephens, +Harrogat._] + + + + +"_Author! Author_!" + +BY E. W. HORNUNG. + + +This story has to do with two men and a play, instead of a woman, and it +is none of mine. I had it from an old gentleman I love: only he ought to +have written it himself. This, however, he will never do; having known +intimately in his young days one of the two men concerned. But I have +his leave to repeat the story more or less as he told it--if I can. And +I am going to him for my rebuke--when I dare. + + * * * * * + +"You want to hear the story of poor old Pharazyn and his play? I'm now +going to tell it you. + +"Ah, well! My recollection of the matter dates from one summer's night +at my old rooms in the Adelphi, when he spoilt my night's work by coming +in flushed with an idea of his own. I remember banging the drawer into +which I threw my papers to lock them away for the night; but in a few +minutes I had forgotten my unfinished article, and was glad that +Pharazyn had come. We were young writers, both of us; and, let me tell +you, my good fellow, young writing wasn't in those days what it is now. +I am thinking less of merit than of high prices, and less of high prices +than of cheap notoriety. Neither of us had ever had our names before the +public--not even in the advertised contents of an unread and unreadable +magazine. No one cared about names in my day, save for the half-dozen +great ones that were then among us; so Pharazyn's and mine never used to +appear in the newspapers, though some of them used our stuff. + +"In a manner we were rivals, for we were writing the same sort of thing +for the same sort of publications, and that was how we had come +together; but never was rivalry friendlier, or mutually more helpful. +Our parts were strangely complementary; if I could understand for the +life of me the secret of collaboration, which has always been a mystery +to me, I should say that I might have collaborated with Pharazyn almost +ideally. I had the better of him in point of education, and would have +turned single sentences against him for all he was worth; and I don't +mind saying so, for there my superiority ended. When he had a story to +tell, he told it with a swing and impetus which I coveted him, as well I +might to this day; and if he was oftener without anything to write +about, his ideas would pay twenty shillings in the pound, in strength +and originality, where mine made some contemptible composition in pence. +That is why I have been a failure at fiction--oh, yes, I have! That is +why Pharazyn would have succeeded, if only he had stuck to plain +ordinary narrative prose. + +[Illustration: "HE SKETCHED THE NEW STORY."] + +"The idea he was unable to keep within his own breast, on the evening of +which I am telling you, was as new, and simple, and dramatic as any that +ever intoxicated the soul of story-teller or made a brother author green +with envy. I can see him now, as I watched him that night, flinging to +and fro with his quick, nervous stride, while he sketched the new +story--bit by bit, and often the wrong bit foremost; but all with his +own flashing vividness, which makes me so sorry--so sorry whenever I +think of it. At moments he would stand still before the chair on which I +sat intent, and beat one hand upon the other, and look down at me with a +grand, wondering smile, as though he himself could hardly believe what +the gods had put into his head, or that the gift was real gold, it +glittered so at first sight. On that point I could reassure him. My open +jealousy made me admire soberly. But when he told me, quite suddenly, as +though on an afterthought, that he meant to make a play of it and not a +story, I had the solid satisfaction at that moment of calling him a +fool. + +"The ordinary author of my day, you see, had a certain timorous respect +for the technique of the stage. It never occurred to us to make light of +those literary conventions which it was not our business to understand. +We were behind you fellows in every way. But Pharazyn was a sort of +forerunner: he said that any intelligent person could write a play, if +he wanted to, and provided he could write at all. He said his story was +a born play; and it was, in a way; but I told him I doubted whether he +could train it up with his own hand to be a good-acting one. I knew I +was right. He had neither the experience nor the innate constructive +faculty, one or other of which is absolutely necessary for the writing +of possible plays. I implored him to turn the thing into a good dramatic +novel, and so make his mark at one blow. But no; the fatal fit was on +him, and I saw that it must run its course. Already he could see and +hear his audience laughing and crying, so he said, and I daresay he +could also feel the crinkle of crisp weekly receipts. I only know that +we sat up all night over it, arguing and smoking and drinking whisky +until my windows overlooking the river caught the rising sun at an +angle. Then I gave in. For poor old Pharazyn was more obstinate than +ever, though he thanked me with the greatest good temper for my +well-meant advice. + +"'And look here, my boy,' says he, as he puts on his hat, 'you shan't +hear another word about this till the play's written; and you are to ask +no questions. Is that a bargain? Very well, then. When I've finished +it--down to the very last touches--_you_ shall come and sit up all night +with _me_, and I'll read you every word. And by gad, old chap, if they +give me a call the first night, and want a speech--and I see you sitting +in your stall, like a blessed old fool as you are--by gad, sir, I'll +hold up you and your judgment to the ridicule of the house, so help me +never!' + +[Illustration: "I COULD SMELL HIS PIPE THROUGH THE KEYHOLE."] + +"Well, I am coming to that first night presently. Meanwhile, for the +next six months, I saw very little of Pharazyn, and less still in the +new year. He seldom came to my rooms now; when he did I could never get +him to stay and sit up with me; and once when I climbed up to his garret +(it was literally that), he would not answer me, though I could smell +his pipe through the key-hole, in which he had turned the key. Yet he +was perfectly friendly whenever we did meet. He said he was working very +hard, and indeed I could imagine it; his personal appearance, which he +had never cherished, being even untidier, and I am obliged to add +seedier, than of old. He continued to send me odd magazines in which his +stuff happened to appear, or occasionally a proof for one's opinion and +suggestions; we had done this to each other all along; but either I did +not think about it, or somehow he led me to suppose that his things were +more or less hot from the pen, whereas many of mine had been written a +twelvemonth before one saw them in type. One way or another, I gathered +that he was at work in our common groove, and had shelved, for the +present at all events, his proposed play, about which you will remember +I had undertaken to ask no questions. + +"I was quite mistaken. One night in the following March he came to me +with a haggard face, a beaming eye, and a stout, clean manuscript, which +he brought down with a thud on my desk. It was the play he had sketched +out to me eight or nine months before. I was horrified to hear he had +been at work upon it alone from that night to this. He had written, so +he said, during all this time, not another line, only each line of his +play some ten times over. + +"I recollect looking curiously at his shabby clothes, and then reminding +him that it was at his place, not mine, I was to have heard him read the +play: and how he confessed that he had no chair for me there--that his +room was, in fact, three parts dismantled--that he had sacrificed +everything to the play, which was worth it. I was extremely angry. I +could have helped him so easily, independent as I was of the calling I +loved to follow. But there was about him always an accursed, unnecessary +independence, which has since struck me--and I think I may say so after +all these years--as the mark of a rather humble, very honest origin. + +"He read me the play, and I cried over the third act, and so did he. I +thought then, and still think, that there was genius in that third +act--it took you off your feet. And to me, certainly, it seemed as if +the piece must act as well as it read, though indeed, as I took care to +say and to repeat, my opinion was well-nigh valueless on that point. I +only knew that I could see the thing playing itself, as I walked about +the room (for this time I was the person who was too excited to sit +still), and that was enough to make one sanguine. I became as +enthusiastic about it as though the work were mine (which it never, +never would or could have been), yet I was unable to suggest a single +improvement, or to have so much as a finger-tip in the pie. Nor could I +afterwards account for its invariable reception at the hands of +managers, whose ways were then unknown to me. That night we talked only +of one kind of reception. We were still talking when the sun came +slanting up the river to my windows; you could hardly see them for +tobacco-smoke, and we had emptied a bottle of whisky to the success of +Pharazyn's immortal play. + +[Illustration: "HIS MANUSCRIPT RAGGED BUT UNREAD."] + +"Oh, those nights--those nights once in a way! God forgive me, but I'd +sacrifice many things to be young again and feel clever, and to know the +man who would sit up all night with me to rule the world over a bottle +of honest grog. In the pale light of subsequent revelations I ought, +perhaps, to recall such a night, with that particular companion, +silently and in spiritual ashes. But it is ridiculous, in my opinion, to +fit some sort of consequence to every little insulated act; nor will I +ever admit that poor Pharazyn's ultimate failing was in any appreciable +degree promoted or prepared for by those our youthful full-souled +orgies. I know very well that afterwards, when his life was spent in +waylaying those aforesaid managers, in cold passages, on stage +doorsteps, or, in desperation, under the public portico on the street; +and when a hundred snubs and subterfuges would culminate in the return +of his manuscript, ragged but unread: I know, and I knew then, that the +wreck who would dodge me in Fleet Street, or cut me in the Strand, had +taken to his glass more seriously and more steadily than a man should. +But I am not sure that it matters much--_much_, you understand me--when +that man's heart is broken. + + * * * * * + +"The last words I was ever to exchange with my poor old friend keep +ringing in my head to this day, whenever I think of him; and I can +repeat them every one. It was some few years after our intimacy had +ceased, and when I only knew that he had degenerated into a Fleet Street +loafer of the most dilapidated type, that I caught sight of him one day +outside a theatre. It was the theatre which was for some years a +gold-mine to one Morton Morrison, of whom you may never have heard; but +he was a public pet in his day, I can tell you, and his day was just +then at its high noon. Well, there stood Pharazyn, with his hands in his +pockets and a cutty-pipe sticking out between his ragged beard and +moustache, and his shoulders against the pit door, so that for once he +could not escape me. But he wouldn't take a hand out of his pocket to +shake mine; and when I asked him how he was, without thinking, he +laughed in my face, and it made me feel cruel. He was dreadfully +emaciated, and almost in rags. And as I wondered what I ought to do, and +what to say next, he gave a cough, and spat upon the pavement, and I +could see the blood. + +[Illustration: "THERE STOOD PHARAZYN."] + +"I don't know what you would have done for him--but for all I knew what +had brought him to this, I could think of nothing but a drink. It was +mid-winter, and I tell you the man was in rags. I felt that if I could +get him to a bar he might eat something, too, and that I should get a +hold of him this time which I would never again let go. Judge of my +surprise when he flatly refused to come with me even for a drink. + +"'Can't you see? he said in his hollow voice. 'There'll be a crowd here +directly, and I want the best seat in the pit--the best in the house. +I've been going dry for it these two days, and I'm going dry till I've +seen the piece. No, I've been here an hour already, and there's three +hours more, I know; but I'm not going to risk it, thanks all the same.' + +"By this I had remembered that Morton Morrison was to re-open that night +with a new piece. Indeed, I ought not to have forgotten that, seeing +that I had my order about me somewhere, and it meant a column from my +pen between twelve and one that night. But this sudden, sorry meeting +had put all other thoughts out of my head. + +"'My dear fellow,' I said, with a sort of laugh, 'are you a +first-nighter, too?' + +"'Only at this theatre.' + +"He looked me queerly in the face. + +"'You admire Morrison very much?' + +"'I love him!' + +"I suppose my eyes thawed him, though God knows how hard I was trying +not to hurt him with pitying looks. At all events he began to explain +himself of his own accord, very impetuously; indeed I rather think the +outburst was purely involuntary. + +"'Look here,' he said, with his hoarse voice lowered: 'I hoped never to +see your face again. I hoped you'd never see mine. But now you are here, +don't go this minute, and I'll tell you why I think so much of Morton +Morrison. I don't know him, mind you--he doesn't know me from Adam--but +once long ago I had something to do with him. And God bless him, but +damn every other manager in London, for he was the only one of the lot +that gave me a civil hearing and a kind word!' + +"I knew what he was talking about, and he knew that I knew, for we had +understood one another in the old days. + +"'I took it to him last of all,' he went on, wiping his damp lips with +his hand. 'When I began hawking it about he was an unknown man; when his +turn came he was here. He let me read it to him. Then he asked me to +leave it with him for a week; and when I went back to him, he said what +they had all said--that it would never act! But Morton Morrison said it +nicely. And when he saw how it cut me up, into little bits, he got me to +tell him all about everything; and then he persuaded me to burn the +play, instead of ruining my life for it; and I burnt it in his +dressing-room fire, but the ruin was too far gone to mend. I wrote that +thing with my heart's blood--old man, you know I did! And none of them +would think of it! My God! But Morrison was good about it--he's a good +soul--and that's why you'll see me at every first night of his until the +drink finishes its work.' + +"I had not followed him quite to the end. One thing had amazed me too +much. + +"'You burnt your play,' I could only murmur, 'when it would have turned +into such a novel! Surely you have some draft of it still?' + +"'I burnt the lot when I got home,' Pharazyn replied; 'and by-and-by I +shall join 'em and burn too!' + +"I had nothing to answer to that, and was, besides, tenacious of my +point. 'I don't think much of the kindness that makes one man persuade +another to burn his work and throw up the sponge,' said I, with a good +deal of indignation, for I did feel wroth with that fellow Morrison--a +bread-and-butter drawing-room actor, whose very vogue used to irritate +me. + +[Illustration: "WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS?"] + +"'Then what do you think of this?' asked Pharazyn, as he dipped a hand +within his shabby coat, and cautiously unclenched it under my nose. + +"'Why, it's a five-pound note!' + +"'I know; but wasn't _that_ kind, then?' + +"'So Morrison gave you this!' I exclaimed. + +"Two or three persons had stopped to join us at the pit door, and +Pharazyn hastily put the note back in his pocket. As he did so, his +dreadfully shabby condition gave my heart a fresh cut. + +"'Are you never going to spend that?' I asked in a whisper; and in a +whisper he answered:-- + +"'Never! It is all my play has brought me--all. It was given me as a +charity, but I took it as my earnings--my earnings for all the work and +waiting, and blood and tears, that one thing cost me. Spend it? Not I! +It will bury me as decently as I deserve.' + +"We could converse no more. And the presence of other people prevented +me from giving him my overcoat, though I spoke of it into his ear, +begging and imploring him to come away and take it while there was still +time for him to clip back and get a seat in the front row. But he would +not hear of it, and the way he refused reminded me of his old stubborn +independence; all I got was a promise that he would have a bite with me +after the performance. And so I left him in the frosty dusk, ill-clad +and unkempt, with the new-lit lamp over the pit door shining down upon +the haggard mask that had once been the eager, memorable face of my +cleverest friend. + +"I saw him next the moment I entered the theatre that evening, and I +nodded my head to him, which he rebuked with the slightest shake of his +own. So I looked no more at him before the play began, comprehending +that he desired me not to do so. The temptation, however, was too strong +to go on resisting, for while Pharazyn was in the very centre of the +front row in the pit, I was at one end of the last row of the stalls; +and I was very anxious about him, wanting to make sure that he was there +and not going to escape me again, and nervous of having him out of my +sight for five minutes together. + +"Thus I know more about the gradual change which came over Pharazyn's +poor face, as scene followed scene, than of the developments and merits +of those scenes themselves. My mind was in any case running more on my +lost friend than on the piece; but it was not till near the end of the +first act that the growing oddity of his look first struck me. + +"His eyebrows were raised; it was a look of incredulity chiefly; yet I +could see nothing to impale for improbability in the play as far as it +had gone. I was but lightly attending, for my own purposes, as you +youngsters skim your betters for review; but thus far the situation +struck me as at once feasible and promising. Also it seemed not a little +familiar to me; I could not say why, for watching Pharazyn's face. And +it was his face that told me at last, in the second act. By God, it was +his own play! + +"It was Pharazyn's play, superficially altered all through, nowhere +substantially; but the only play for me, when I knew that, was being +acted in the front row of the pit, and not on the stage, to which I had +turned the side of my head. I watched my old friend's face writhe and +work until it stiffened in a savage calm; and watching, I thought of the +'first night' he had pictured jovially in the old days, when the bare +idea of the piece was bursting his soul; and thinking, I wondered +whether it could add a drop to his bitterness to remember that too. + +"Yet, through all my thoughts, I was listening, intently enough, now. +And in the third act I heard the very words my friend had written: they +had not meddled with his lines in the great scene which had moved us +both to tears long ago in my rooms. And this I swear to, whether you +believe it or no--that at the crisis of that scene, which was just as +Pharazyn made it, the calm ferocity transfiguring his face died away all +at once, and I saw it shining with the sweetest tears our eyes can +shed--the tears of an artist over his own work. + +"And when the act was over he sat with his head on his hand for some +minutes, drinking in the applause, as I well knew; then he left his seat +and squeezed out on my side of the house, and I made sure he was coming +to speak to me over the barrier; and I got up to speak to him; but he +would not see me, but stood against the barrier with a mien as white and +set as chiselled marble. + +"What followed on the first fall of the curtain I shall relate as +rapidly as it happened. Louder call for an author I never heard, and I +turned my eyes to the stage in my intense curiosity to see who would +come forward; for the piece had been brought out anonymously; and I +divined that Morrison himself was about to father it. And so he did; but +as the lie passed his lips, and in the interval before the applause--the +tiny interval between flash and peal--the lie was given him in a roar of +fury from my left; there fell a thud of feet at my side, and Pharazyn +was over the barrier and bolting down the gangway towards the stage. I +think he was near making a leap for the footlights and confronting +Morrison on his own boards; but the orchestra came between, and the +fiddlers rose in their places. Then he turned wildly to us pressmen, and +I will say he had our ear, if not that of the whole house besides, for +the few words he was allowed to utter. + +"'Gentlemen!' he cried at the top of his voice--'Gentlemen, I'm one of +you! I'm a writing man like yourselves, and I wrote this play that +you've seen. That man never wrote it at all--I wrote it myself! That man +has only altered it. I read it to him two years ago--two years ago, +gentlemen! He kept it for a week, and then got me to burn it as +rubbish--when he had made a copy of it! And he gave me this, +gentlemen--he gave me this that I give him back!' + +"It was a matter of only a few seconds, but not till my own last hour +shall I forget Morrison's painted face on the stage, or that sweating +white one beneath the boxes; or the fluttering from Pharazyn's poor +fingers of the five-pound note he had treasured for two years; or the +hush all over the house until the first hand was laid upon his dirty +collar. + +"'What!' he screamed, 'do none of you believe me? Will none of you stand +by me--isn't there a man--not one man among you----' + +"And they threw him out with my name on his lips. And I followed, and +floored a brute who was handling him roughly. And nothing happened to +me--because of what happened to Pharazyn!" + + * * * * * + +The dear old boy sat silent, his grey head on his hand. Presently he +went on, more to himself than to me: "What could I do? What proof had I? +He had burnt them every one. And as long as the public would stand him, +Morrison kept his good name at least. And that play was his great +success!" + +[Illustration: "HE GAVE ME THIS."] + +I ventured gently to inquire what had happened to Pharazyn. + +"He died in my arms," my old friend cried, throwing up his head with an +oath and a tear. "He died in a few minutes, outside the theatre. I could +hear them clapping after he was dead--clapping his piece." + +[Illustration] + + + + +Zig Zags at the Zoo: Conkavian + + +If the gentle reader, full of a general desire for knowledge and a +particular enthusiasm for natural history, will refer to any one of the +great standard works on birds, and, turning to the index, seek for the +family title of the Conkaves, I have every hope and confidence that he +will not find it; because, as a matter of fact, it is a little invention +of my own, and, I may modestly urge, rather a neat thing in scientific +nomenclature, on the whole. It has the advantage of including in one +family the storks and the pelicans, which in all orthodox books on birds +are planted far apart and out of sight of each other, with many orders, +tribes, and families between. Under my title they are gathered amicably +together in the common possession of very long bills, like two tailors +on a man's doorstep. The word is derived, in the proper and regular +manner, from ancient sources; from _conk_, a venerable Eastern word, +signifying a nose or beak, and the Latin _avis_, a bird. And I offer +the term freely as my humble, but I trust useful, contribution to +science; my first contribution. + +The stork is regarded, in many countries, with a certain +semi-superstitious reverence and esteem. After many prolonged and +serious attempts to saturate myself with a similar feeling, I regret to +confess to a certain smallness of esteem for the stork. You can't esteem +a bird that makes ugly digs at your feet and heels with such a very big +beak. Out in their summer quarters the storks are kept in by close wire, +and close wire will give an air of inoffensiveness to most things. But, +away in a by-yard, with a gate marked "private," there stands a shed +wherein the storks are kept warm in winter, behind wooden bars; and +between these bars stork-heads have a way of dropping at the toes of the +favoured passer-by, like to action of a row of roadmen's picks. + +[Illustration: PICKS AND CHEWS.] + +The stork has come off well in the matter of bodily endowment. The +pelican has a tremendous beak--achieved, it would seem, by a skimping of +material in the legs; but the stork has the tremendous beak and legs of +surprising growth as well. His wings, too, are something more than +respectable. At flying, at eating, at portentous solemnity of +demeanour--in all these and in other things the pelican and the stork +score fairly evenly; but at walking the pelican is left behind at once. +This makes one suspect the stork's honesty. The pelican has a good beak +and wings, and pays for them, like an honest bird, out of its legs, just +as the ostrich pays for its neck and legs out of its wings. But the +stork is abnormally lucky in beak, neck, legs, and wings together, and +even then has material left to lay out in superfluous knobs and wens to +hang round its neck, which leads to a suspicion that many of its +personal fittings belong properly to some other bird. I've a notion that +the unlucky kiwi might identify some of the property. + +[Illustration: THE PELICAN LEFT.] + +[Illustration: ARMY.] + +Perhaps the adjutant should be acknowledged king of the conkavians. +Billy, the Zoo adjutant, has, I believe, no doubt on the subject at all. +Billy is an ornament to the military profession--a very fine fellow, +with a thing on the back of his neck like a Tangerine orange, and a wen +on the front of it, which he can blow out whenever he wants to amuse +himself, and everything else handsome about him. He is an old soldier, +too, is Billy, having been Adjutant of the Regent's Park Conkavian Corps +for seventeen years; but if you knew nothing of his age, still you would +call Billy an old soldier--upon a little acquaintance with his habits. + +[Illustration: LAW.] + +There seems no valid reason why the professional aspirations of the +stork should be restricted to the army. If an adjutant, why not a dean? +Why not a proctor? There is the making of a most presentable don about a +stork; and I have caught a stork in an attitude of judicial meditation +that might do honour to any bench. There is no reason why "sober as a +judge" should not be made to read "sober as a stork," except that the +stork is the more solemn creature of the two; and I think that some +species of stork--say the marabou, for instance--might fairly claim +brevet rank as judge, after the example of the adjutant. The elevation +of a beak to the bench might be considered an irregular piece of legal +procedure; but, bless you, it's nothing unusual with a stork. Put any +bench with something to eat on it anywhere within reach of a stork's +beak in this place, and you shall witness that same elevation, precedent +or no precedent. + +[Illustration: UNIVERSITIES.] + +A common white stork hasn't half the solid gravity of an adjutant or a +marabou. He has a feline habit of expressing his displeasure by blowing +and swearing--a habit bad and immoral in a cat, but worse in a stork +accustomed to Church. Church, by-the-bye, is the keeper of all the +conkavians, as well as of the herons, the flamingoes, the ibises, the +egrets, and a number of other birds with names more difficult to spell. +It is impossible to treat disrespectfully a man with such widespread +responsibilities as this, or there might be a temptation to mention that +he is not an unusually high Church, although his services are not always +simple, often involving a matter of doctorin'. But, then, some people +will say anything, temptation or none. And after all, it is pleasant to +know that, whatever a stork or a pelican wants, he always goes to +Church. + +[Illustration: SWEARING.] + +[Illustration: CHURCH.] + +This being the case, there is a proverb about cleanliness that makes one +wonder why the marabou stork doesn't wash himself. It isn't as though he +never wanted it. I have a horrible suspicion about this philosophic old +sloven. I believe his profession of philosophic contemplation is +assumed, because it is the easiest excuse for indolence. Now, a pelican +is not a bird of graceful outline, but he _is_ careful about his +feathers. The pelican is a scrupulous old Dutchman, and the stork is an +uncleanly old Hindu. And uncleanly he must be left, for it takes a deal +to shame a stork. You can't shame a bird that wraps itself in a +convenient philosophy. "Look here--look at me!" you can imagine a +pelican cleanliness-missionary saying to the stork. "See how white and +clean I keep all my feathers!" "Um," says the stork, "it only makes 'em +a different colour." "But observe! I just comb through my pinions with +my beak, so, and they all lie neat and straight!" "Well, and what's the +good of that?" grunts the stork. "And then you see," says the pelican, +ignoring the question, "with a good long beak you can reach everywhere, +over your back and under your wings; see, I'm as clean under my wings as +anywhere else, although it's covered up!" "Beastly vanity," growls the +old Hindu, getting bored. "Then," continues the Dutchman, "you give +yourself a good shake, and there you are!" "And then," says the +philosopher sarcastically, "to-morrow, I suppose, you'll have to do it +all over again?" "Of course!" "Oh! I hate a fool!" says the stork, and +closes the lecture. + +[Illustration] + +Thus the marabou. The ordinary white stork is comparatively respectable, +and so is the adjutant--or comparatively almost respectable, let us say; +you can't be too cautious in giving a personal character to a stork. +For long, long, the stork has enjoyed a reputation for solemn wisdom, +for philosophical dignity. Now for the first time I venture to question +this reputation--to impeach the stork as a humbug. It is easy to achieve +a reputation for profound and ponderous wisdom, so long as one looks +very solemn and says nothing. This is the stork's recipe. Go up to Billy +here, or one of the marabous, as he stands with his shoulders humped up +about his head, and make a joke. He won't see it. He will lift his +eyebrows with a certain look of contempt, and continue to +cogitate--about nothing. If the joke is a very bad pun--such a frightful +pun that even a stork will see and resent it--perhaps he will chatter +his beak savagely, with a noise like the clatter of the lid on an empty +cigar-box; but he will continue his sham meditations. "Ah, my friend," +he seems to say, "you are empty and frivolous--I cogitate the profounder +immensities of esoteric cogibundity." The fact being that he is very +seedy after his previous night's dissipation. + +[Illustration] + +That is the chief secret of the stork's solemnity, I am convinced. He +has a certain reputation to maintain before visitors, but after hours, +when the gates are shut and the keepers are not there to see, the +marabou stork is a sad dog. I haven't quite made up my mind what he +drinks, but if he has brandies and sodas he leaves out too much soda. +Look at that awful nose! It is long past the crimson and pimply +stage--it is taking a decided tinge of blue. It _looks_ worse than +brandy and soda--almost like bad gin--but we will be as charitable as +possible, and only call it brandy and soda. + +I should like to see the marabou stork on his nightly ran-tan, if only +to gloat over his lapse of dignity, just as one would give much to see +Benjamin Franklin with his face blacked, drunk and disorderly and being +locked up. But, as a shocking example, the marabou is quite bad enough +with his awful head in the morning; his awful head and his disreputable +nose, that looks to want a good scraping. I respect Billy, the adjutant, +for his long service and the Tangerine at the back of his neck. The +ordinary stork (although he swears and snaps) I also respect, because +the goody books used to tell pious lies about him. The whale-headed +stork, which is also called the shoe-bird, I respect as a sort of +relative of the shoo-fly that didn't bother somebody. But the marabou +has forfeited all respect--converted it into nose-tint. I must talk to +Church seriously about the marabou. + +[Illustration: THE RAN-TAN.] + +Now, the pelican is no humbug. There is nothing like concealment about +his little dissipations; and he is perfectly sober. Any little +irregularity at the pelican club just opposite the eastern aviary never +goes beyond a quiet round or two for a little fish dinner. It is quite a +select and a most proper club. Indeed, the first rule is, that if any +loose fish be found on the club premises, he is got rid of at once by +the first member who detects him. And the club spirit is such that +disputes frequently occur among members for the honour of carrying out +this salutary rule. The chairman of the club is an old crested pelican, +who, by some oversight, has never been provided with a private name of +his own. I think he should be called Peter, because he can take such a +miraculous draught of fishes. It _is_ a draught; you know--a pelican +doesn't eat fishes--he drinks them down in bulk. For Peter, a dozen or +so fresh herrings is a mere swill round of the mouth. + +[Illustration: A QUIET ROUND OR TWO.] + +Peter walks about the club premises with much dignity, deferred to on +all sides by the other members. His kingship is rarely disputed, having +been achieved by the sort of conquest most familiar in the pelican club; +and his divine right is as much respected as his tremendous left. + +A pelican never bears malice; he hasn't time, especially now, with +competition so keen in the fish business, and Church's fish pails only +of the ordinary size. There is never any ill-feeling after a little +spar, and each proceeds, in the most amicable way, to steal some other +pelican's fish. A spar at this club, by-the-bye, is a joyous and +hilarious sight. Two big birds with stumpy legs and top-heavy beaks, +solemnly prancing and manoeuvring before one another with an +accompaniment of valiant gobbles and a punctuation of occasional +pecks--a gleesome spectacle. + +[Illustration: PETER.] + +[Illustration: A SWILL ROUND.] + +Another sport much exhibited at the pelican club is that of +the broadsword. The school of fence is that of Mr. Vincent +Crummies--one--two--three--four--over; one--two--three--four--under. +You see, when a dozen or two birds with beaks a couple of feet long or +so get together in a small area, and now and again rush all in the same +direction for fish, fencing is certain to develop, sooner or later. So +here you have it, _secundum artem_--one--two--three--four--over; +one--two--three--four--under; and although none have yet attained the +Crummleian degree of knocking out sparks, there is a deal of hollow +noise, as of thumping on a wooden box. But there is never any +after-malice, and in less than five minutes either combatant will +swallow a fish rightfully belonging to the other, with perfect +affability. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +There is a good deal of the philosopher about the pelican, and of a more +genuine sort than characterizes the stork. The pelican always makes the +best of a bad job, without going into an unnecessary tantrum over it. If +another member of the club snatches a fish first, the pelican doesn't +bother, but devotes his attention to the next that Church throws; a fish +in the pouch is worth a shoal in somebody else's. Now and again Peter +loses his temper for a moment if the others catch the first snack, and +lays about him with his bill--but then, when a fellow's chairman, and a +lot of other fellows come snatching the lunch from under his nose--why, +hang it all, you know.... But it is only for a moment, and Peter is soon +in position for the next pouchful. He is artful about this position. +When Church appears at the rails with a pailful of fish most of the +members rush to those rails, jostle together and shove their beaks +through them and over them--any way to get nearer the pail. But the +chairman knows very well that Church doesn't throw the fish outside the +rails, but into the inclosure, somewhere near the middle; and near the +middle the sagacious Peter waits, to his early profit--unless Church is +unusually slow about throwing the fish, in which case Peter is apt to +let his excitement steal his sagacity, and to rush into the pell-mell, +anxious to investigate the delay. + +[Illustration: A LITTLE SOLEING AND HEELING.] + +There is a deal of excellent wear in a pelican. One has been here about +thirty years, and two more have been established on the same premises +for a quarter of a century. All these three are in capital working +repair and will probably last, with a patch or two, and a little soleing +and heeling, for a century or two more; no respectable pelican is ever +bowled out for less than three figures. + +In the winter the club takes up its quarters in the shed behind the +inclosure; a shed sumptuously furnished with certain benches and forms, +whereon the club stands in rows, with a general appearance of a number +of very solemn naughty boys in a Board school. In winter, too, Church +will often put his bucketful of fish on the ground, so that the club may +dine in a clubbier way. But whether you watch this club feeding together +from the pail, each member doing his best to put away the whole pailful +at a gulp, or whether you observe them playing a sort of greedy game of +lacrosse with fish which Church throws them, you will be equally amazed +that the pelican was used as a symbol of charity and brotherly love in +early and middle Christian art. + +[Illustration: SCHOOL.] + +[Illustration: CLUB DINNER.] + +I have seen a pelican enact a most instructive moral lesson at a +pail-dinner. Observe the bill and pouch of a pelican. The pouch is an +elastic fishing-net, and the lower mandible is a mere flexible frame to +carry it. Now, I have observed a pelican to make a bounce at the +fish-pail, with outspread wings, and scoop the whole supply. But then +his trouble began. The whole catch hung weightily low in the end of the +pouch, and jerk and heave as he might, he could never lift the load at +the end of that long beak sufficiently high to bolt it. Meanwhile, his +friends collected about him and remonstrated, with many flops and +gobbles, betting him all his fish to nothing that he would lose it after +all; this way they chased that bag, and that way, while the bagger, in +much trepidation and with many desperate heaves, wildly sought remote +corners away from his persecutors. Now, by the corner of the club +premises stands an appliance, the emblem of authority, the instrument of +justice, and the terror of the evilly-disposed pelican--a birch-broom. +This, brandished in the hands of Church, caused a sudden and awful +collapse of the drag-nets, an opening, a shower of fish and many snaps; +wherefrom walked away many pelicans with fish, and one with none, who +had looked to take all. The moral is plain to the verge of ugliness. + +[Illustration.] + +[Illustration.] + +[Illustration.] + +[Illustration.] + +[Illustration.] + +A pelican has no tongue--or none to speak of. It is a mere little knob +scarcely the size of a cherry. The long, long meditations of the pelican +(lasting between feeding times) are given up to consideration whether or +not the disgrace of this deficiency is counter-balanced by the greater +capacity for fish which it gives the pouch. After all, it is only +another instance of that commercial honesty which makes the pelican pay +for his beak out of his legs; he gives his tongue for a pouch. There +should be a legend of the pelican applying honestly to Adam to buy a +pouch, and the wily stork waiting and waiting on the chance of snatching +one without paying for it, until all had been served out; afterwards +living all its life on earth in covetous dudgeon, unconsoled by its +wealth of beak, legs, wings, and neck, and pining hopelessly for the +lost pouch. There are many legends of this sort which ought to exist, +but don't, owing to the negligence of Indian solar myth merchants, or +whoever it is has charge of that class of misrepresentation. + +[Illustration.] + +The pelican can fly, although you would never believe it, to look at the +club members here. To a Zoo pelican a flight of two feet is an +undertaking to be approached with much circumspection and preparation, +and a summoning of resolution and screwing of courage proper to the +magnitude of the feat. It takes a long time to learn to fly on to a +bottom-up bucket. The Zoo pelican begins on a shadow--not a very dark +one at first--and works his way up by jumping over, darker shadows to +straws and pebbles, before he tries a bucket. The accomplished +bucket-jumper makes a long preliminary survey and circumnavigation of +his bucket before performing, and when he does begin it is with a number +of wild rushes and irresolute stops. When at last he gets the proper +length of run, and the right foot in front, and doesn't see anything to +baulk him, he rises with a great effort, and all the lookers-on who +don't know him stare up over the trees, and are astonished to find him, +after all, only on the bucket. His pinions are cut, poor fellow! If they +were not, what would become of the fishmongers' shops? + + + + +_Shafts from an Eastern Quiver_. + +IX.--MAW-SAYAH: THE KEEPER OF THE GREAT BURMAN NAT. + +By Charles J. Mansford, B.A. + + +I. + +"The fine points of an elephant, sahib," said our guide Hassan, "are a +colour approaching to white, the nails perfectly black, and an intact +tail." + +"I am glad to hear that an elephant has some qualities which recommend +it," said Denviers, good-humouredly. "I should think that the one upon +which we are riding is about as lazy as it is possible to be. I suppose +slowness is an unusually good point, isn't it, Hassan?" The Arab, who +was sitting before us on the elephant, gave it a stir with the +sharply-pointed spear which he held in his hand to urge it on, and then +glancing back at us, as we reclined lazily in the cushioned howdah, he +said inquiringly: "Are the sahibs tired already of travelling thus? Yet +we have fully two hours' journey before us." + +"Hassan," I interposed, "this is a good opportunity for you to tell us +exactly what you heard about that Maw-Sayah when we were at Bhamo. It is +in consequence of that, indeed, that we are going to try to get among +these strange Kachyens; but as we are not quite sure of the details, you +may as well repeat them." + +"The sahib shall be obeyed," responded our guide, and although careful +to keep a good watch in front, he turned his body slightly towards us as +he prepared to begin the narrative. + +[Illustration: "THE SAHIB SHALL BE OBEYED."] + +On reaching Burmah we stayed for several days in Rangoon, the Queen of +the East as it is called nowadays, although only remarkable formerly for +its famous monasteries of Talapoins and as a halting-place for the bands +of pilgrims on their way to the mighty Shway Dagohn pagoda. Thence we +journeyed up the Irawaddy, and having duly paid reverence to some of the +nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine pagodas of Pagan--the outcast +slaves of which city seemed a strange contrast to its otherwise absolute +desertion--we continued our journey by steamer as far as Mandalay. +Having endured the doubtful pleasure of a jaunt in a seatless, jolting +bullock-carriage--the bruises from which were not easily forgotten--we +eventually reached Bhamo, where Hassan entered into conversation with a +hill-man. From the latter he learnt a strange story, which was later on +told to us and the truth of which we hoped before long to fully test, +for soon afterwards we set out on an elephant, our faithful guide in +this new adventure again proving himself of the greatest service. + +"Now, Hassan," said Denviers, "we are quite ready to hear this story +fully, but don't add any imaginary details of your own." + +"By the Koran, sahib," began the Arab, "these are the words which were +those of him to whom I spoke under the shade of the log stockade." + +"Which are, of course, unimpeachable," responded Denviers. "Anyone could +tell that from his shifty eyes, which failed to rest upon us fixed even +for a minute when we spoke to him afterwards." The Arab seemed a little +disconcerted at this, but soon continued:-- + +"The great Spirits or Nats, who guard the prosperity of Burmah, have +become greatly incensed with the Kachyens, not because they failed to +resist stoutly when the monarch was deposed a few years ago----" + +"Then we are to have a modern story, this time, Hassan?" interrupted +Denviers. "I quite expected that you would commence with some long +worn-out tradition." + +"The sahibs shall hear," the Arab went on. "No one who offends the Nats +of Burmah need expect anything but evil to follow. There are the Nats of +the sky, the Nats of the earth, the Nats of the Irawaddy, the Nats of +the five hundred little rivers, and the thousand Nats which guarded the +sacred person of the monarch----" + +"Yes, Hassan," said Denviers, impatiently, "you mentioned them all +before. We haven't time to hear the list enumerated now; go on about +this one particular Nat which you say is causing such havoc among the +hill-tribes." + +"Patience, sahib. The Nats were justly roused to anger because the +deposed monarch was not afterwards taken to the water's edge riding upon +an elephant instead of in a bullock-carriage." + +"Well, Hassan," said Denviers, "judging from our own experience the Nats +seem to be pretty sensible, I must say--but how do they affect the peace +of mind of the Kachyens?" + +"Listen, sahib. High among the hills which may be seen stretching before +us lies a village in which many of the Kachyens dwell, their occupation +being sometimes that of tillers of the land, but more often consisting +in planning and carrying out raids upon other hill-men, or of descending +at times to the plains, and there looting the towns wherein dwell more +peaceable tribes. In all their forays they had been successful, for +whenever their trusty dahs or swords were drawn, those who opposed them +invariably obtained the worst of the encounter. So powerful did they +become that at last those dwelling in the plains--Shans, Karenns, and +Talaings, too--made no resistance against their attacks; and when they +saw the produce of their fields carried away, thought themselves happy +not to have been slain. The reason why the Kachyens became so successful +in all they undertook was that a powerful forest Nat placed them under +its protection, and hence they could not be harmed by their foes. + +"Now it chanced that the King was in great danger through following the +advice of his impetuous ministers, whereupon he summoned the Kachyens to +his assistance--for their fame as warriors had reached his ears long +before. But they, confident of securing their own safety whatever +happened to the monarch, refused to obey his command to march against +the Burman foes. The consequence was that when the indignity which I +have mentioned was offered to the deposed monarch, the Nats throughout +Burmah were furious with that one who ruled the village in which the +Kachyens dwelt, and they sent some of their number to destroy it. The +latter, however, appeased them by making a grim promise, which has been +only too faithfully kept. + +"A few days afterwards a hill-man, who was clearing a part of the land +on the woody slope of the height, _saw the Nat_, which had never before +been visible, and, terrified at the strange form which it had assumed, +he ran hastily to the rest of the tribe, and, gathering them together, +held a consultation as to what should be done to appease it. Some +suggested that upon every tree trunk should be scratched appealing +messages, which the Nat might read; others were in favour of placing a +huge heap of spears and swords near the spot where the embodied Nat had +been seen in order that it might be tempted to destroy all those who +urged it to injure them. The messages and weapons, however, when placed +for the Nat to observe did no good, for one dreadful night a rattling +was heard of the bamboos, which lay before one of the Kachyen's huts, +and the man, going hastily to see what caused it, was swiftly carried +away in the darkness without apparently uttering a single cry! For many +nights in succession a similar scene was enacted, for he at whose door +the dire summons came dared not refuse to answer it lest the whole +household might perish. + +"Nothing more was ever seen of those thus strangely carried off, and the +Kachyens, each of whom feared that his own end might come next, +determined to consult some famous Buddhist priests who dwelt not far +from them, and who held charge over the famous marble slabs which the +great War Prince of Burmah had caused to be engraved concerning their +illustrious traditions. The man whom ye saw me conversing with by the +stockade was the one whom the tribe intrusted with the task; but the +priests, after much consideration among themselves of the object of his +visit, refused to have anything to do with such a tragic affair, and +thereupon dismissed their suppliant. + +[Illustration: "THE BUDDHIST PRIESTS."] + +"This Kachyen, when sorrowfully returning towards the hills, fearing +that the tribe would destroy him because of his non-success, chanced to +meet on his way a Mogul, to whom he repeated the story. The latter, +laying his hand on his red-dyed and fierce-looking beard, advised the +Kachyen to enter a hole in the mountain side and to consult a famous +Maw-Sayah, or juggler, who dwelt there. This juggler promised assistance +if the tribe would pay him a great reward in the event of his success, +and when they agreed to this he entered the village and waited for dusk +to arrive. Again the dreadful rattling was heard, and another Kachyen +stepped out to meet his fate. None of the tribe dared to look at what +transpired, except the juggler, and he too disappeared! The next +morning, however, he came into the village and called its inhabitants +together. When they had solemnly agreed to his conditions, he stated +that the Nat was bent upon destroying them all, and that to attempt to +escape by means of flight would only lead to quicker death. Then he told +them what the result of his intercession for them had been. + +"The Nat had been persuaded to destroy only one victim on each seventh +evening at dusk, and had appointed him to see that certain conditions +were not broken. He was to have a hut at his disposal, and into this the +men were to go by lot, and thus the Nat would obtain a victim when the +time came round. They were forbidden to wander about after sunset, and +whatever noises were made not to hearken to them, since the Maw-Sayah +would see that the others were unharmed. So long had this dreadful +destruction lasted that more than one-half of the men in the Kachyen +village, or town, as it might well be called from the large number who +inhabited it, had perished, and yet the Nat still demanded a victim, and +the Maw-Sayah is there to see that the compact is fulfilled. The man who +told this story, sahibs, declares that the keeper of the Nat has by this +means obtained sway over the Kachyens to such an extent that they have +become his abject slaves, for the custom of drawing lots has been +abolished, and he selects whom he will to sacrifice to the Nat. By some +means this Kachyen offended the Maw-Sayah, who thereupon condemned him, +but he, in terror of the sudden and silent death in store for him, fled +to Bhamo, where he lives in momentary fear of destruction. Such then, +sahibs, is the story, and it is to see this Maw-Sayah and the Nat at +their fell work to-night that even now our faces are turned to the high +land before us, up which we must climb, for there is but one narrow +pathway leading to the village." + +Hassan ceased, and then Denviers turned to me as he said:-- + +"I think that this Maw-Sayah, as Hassan calls him, has about as much +faith in Nats as we have. It suits his purpose to league himself with +something mysterious; whatever it is we will try to find out," and he +glanced at the weapons which we carried. + + +II. + +"The sahibs must dismount here", said Hassan shortly afterwards, and +following to the ground our guide, we began to climb the mountain path +which stretched before us. The ascent was exceedingly steep, and several +times we stopped to rest after pushing our way through the tangled +masses which almost hid the path, which was itself cut here and there +apparently through the rocky strata. When we had reached about +three-fourths of our journey Hassan stopped and pointed out to us one of +the thatched roofs of a hut, which seemed in the distance scarcely +noticeable until his keen eyesight discovered it. The village, we found, +lay a little to the left of the mountain path, for on nearing the summit +we found ourselves passing through a peculiar avenue of trees +interspersed with long bamboo poles. From the tops of the latter there +were stretched across the approach strong, rough-looking cords, which +supported various uncouth emblems, and among which were large triangles, +circles, and stars, cut apparently out of the stems of huge bamboos. +After traversing this avenue for nearly three hundred yards we saw the +tree trunks which Hassan had mentioned, and which were deeply scarred +with cabalistic messages to the fierce Nat, which we could not of course +understand. Affixed to some of the trees farther on we saw a number of +spears and dahs mingled with shorter weapons, the latter being made of +some species of hard wood, and close to them we observed the skulls of +several large animals, one of which we judged was that of an elephant. + +[Illustration: "THE AVENUE."] + +In spite of the fact that the village was a large one, the buildings +were of a very primitive construction, being made of bamboos with +thatched coverings, reaching almost to the piles on which the huts were +placed. We did not observe any openings made to serve as windows, the +only ones noticeable being those by which the Kachyens entered, placed +above a bamboo ladder, which seemed to, serve instead of steps. Although +the sun had scarcely set, the village was wrapped in a strange silence, +the sound of our footsteps alone being heard. The smoke that seemed to +be forcing its way through stray holes in the thatch amply convinced us, +however, that the inhabitants were within doors, and, turning to our +Arab guide, I asked him if he could distinguish among the many huts the +one in which we expected to find the Maw-Sayah. He seemed a little +uncertain at first, but after wandering through the village together we +returned, and then Hassan, who had been very observant the whole time, +pointed to one of the rudely-constructed huts and said:-- + +"I think that is the one into which we seek to enter; it is situated +according to the position in which the Kachyen said it was, and, +besides, it bears a strange proof of the story which ye have listened to +with such ill-concealed disbelief." + +"Why do you think that is the hut, Hassan?" I asked, for, to my eyes, no +difference between that and the others close to it was distinguishable. + +"If the sahib will look at the bamboo ladder and observe it carefully, +he will see that it is unlike the others round," said the Arab. + +"I suppose you refer to these deep scratches upon it, don't you, +Hassan?" asked Denviers, as he pointed to some marks, a few of which +were apparently fairly recent. + +"The sahib guesses rightly," answered our guide. "You will remember that +the Kachyen stated to me that the Nat is accustomed to obtain its victim +now from the abode of the Maw-Sayah; those marks, then, have been made +by it when it dragged its human prey out of the hut." We gazed curiously +at the marks for a few minutes, then Denviers broke the silence by +asking the Arab why it was that the Nat made marks at all. + +"I should have thought that such a powerful spirit could prevent such +evidences of its presence becoming observed," he continued. "My respect +for it is certainly not increased by seeing those deep scars; they seem +to be made by something which has sharp claws." + +"That is because of the shape which it has assumed, sahib," said the +Arab, "for the Nats have wondrous powers----" + +"Very likely, Hassan," interposed Denviers; "I suppose they can do +exactly what they like, can they not?" I was much surprised at the limit +which was, however, placed upon their powers by our guide, for he +responded quickly:-- + +"Not altogether, sahib. There is one thing that a Nat cannot do, +according to the reports of these Kachyens, and that is, they are unable +to move in a direction which is not straight, and hence they are careful +to avoid rough ground, where tangled masses and boulders bar their +progress, so they usually frequent the open avenues, such as the one +which we have just passed through. The symbols above it and the writings +and weapons are all for the Nat's benefit." + +"And the elephant's skull?" asked Denviers, irreverently. "What is that +put up for?" The Arab, however, had an explanation ready, for he +promptly replied:-- + +"That indicates where the supplies of food are to be found when the Nat +requires any." Denviers turned to me for a moment as he said:-- + +"I should have thought it a good plan, then, to have put it upon the hut +of this Maw-Sayah whom we are about to interview. See that your weapons +are in good order, Harold, we may soon need them." Giving a cautious +look at my belt and the weapons thrust into it, I followed Denviers, who +had mounted the short bamboo ladder, and was endeavouring to obtain +admission to the hut. We heard a harsh sound within, then the cry of +someone apparently terror-stricken, and a moment afterwards we had +pushed past the Maw-Sayah, who by no means was willing to allow us to +enter the rude dwelling. + +The single room, which seemed to constitute the hut, was extremely low +and bare of furniture entirely. A few bamboos were spread in one part of +it, while at the far end was a fire, the light from which was partly +obscured by the smoke, which almost suffocated us, so thickly did it +roll up and then spread through the hut. Near the door stood a man +scarcely clothed, upon whose face we saw a look of the most abject +terror, for, as we surmised, the noise of our entry was mistaken by him +for the approach of the fell thing to which he was condemned by the +Maw-Sayah. We moved towards the latter as he threw himself down by the +fire, which he had only left to see who it was that came unbidden to the +hut where to enter was the preceding event to death. He was clothed in a +long blue strip of linen, which wound round his waist and covered his +body, partly leaving his dark chest uncovered. His features were stamped +with an appearance of supreme cunning, his oblique eyes reminding us of +a Chinaman, while the fierce look in them as they glared at us from +either side of an aquiline nose, which betrayed his Burmese descent, did +not increase our confidence in the man as he stretched out his bony +hands over the fire as if for warmth, although outside the hut we had +found the heat almost insupportable. + +"What do ye seek?" he demanded, as he looked into our faces in turn and +seemed astonished at our strange features. + +"We are travellers who wished to see a Kachyen village," responded +Denviers, "and we further desired to see some of its inhabitants; but +as none were visible we entered this hut, even against your will. Where +are the people who dwell here?" The man whom my companion addressed +pointed to the Kachyen near the doorway, as he responded:-- + +"There is one of them, and in a short time even he will never be seen +again." + +[Illustration: "WHAT DO YE SEEK?"] + +"Can you give us food?" hazarded Hassan, in order to get the man to +continue his conversation, for the Arab evidently was expecting that the +Nat would soon arrive upon the scene. The Maw-Sayah rose and pointed to +the entrance as he cried:-- + +"That way ye came, that way shall ye depart. Food for ye I have not, nor +would I give it if I had." I turned to Denviers and said in a low +tone:-- + +"What shall we do, Frank? I don't think our opportunity of seeing what +may transpire will be as good within the hut as without it. Whatever the +solution is to this affair, if we are outside we shall see this Kachyen +dragged away, and may further watch the approach of whatever caused +those strange marks which we observed." + +"One thing is clear," said my companion, "we will attempt to save this +intended victim, at all events. I expect that if we tried we could get +him away easily enough, but that plan would not be of much service. We +must attack this being, whatever it is, with which this Maw-Sayah is +leagued. How I should like to hand him over as a victim instead of that +trembling captive by the door. It shows to what extent this juggler has +acquired power over this tribe, for I notice that his captive is +unbound, and is certainly a much finer built man than the other." + +"It wants less than an hour to dusk, sahibs," said Hassan, who had +listened carefully to our remarks; "if we were to station ourselves a +little away from the hut we could see what took place, and if the Nat +were mortal we might attack it." + +Denviers shrugged his shoulders at the Arab's supposition as he +responded:-- + +"There is little doubt, Hassan, that the Nat would smart if that keen +blade of yours went a little too near it, but I think your plan is a +good one, and we will adopt it, as it falls in with what has already +been said." We gave a final look at the crafty face of the man who was +still seated by the fire, and then brushing past the captive we made for +the open village again. + +"I feel sorry for this Kachyen," said Denviers. "He will have a dreadful +five minutes of it, I expect; but it is our only way of preventing, if +possible, such an affair from occurring again." On leaving the hut we +stationed ourselves almost opposite to it, and then began to keep watch. +What we should see pass up the avenue we could only surmise, but our +suppositions certainly did not lead us to imagine in the faintest degree +the sight which before long was destined to completely startle us. + + +III. + +The grey dusk was becoming night when among the dark stems of the trees +we saw some black form move over the ground. We could scarcely +distinguish it as it crawled over the bamboo logs and made a rasping +noise as it clung to the ladder. The door of the hut yielded to it, and +a minute after it again emerged and bore with it the terrified Kachyen. +We crept after it as it dragged its captive down the avenue, striving +our utmost to make out its shape. One thing we could tell, which was +that the creature was not upright; but our movement behind it was +apparently known, for it struggled to move quicker over the ground with +its human burden. + +[Illustration: "IT AGAIN EMERGED."] + +"Shall I shoot it?" I whispered to Denviers, as my nerves seemed to be +almost unstrung at the unknowableness of the creeping thing. + +"You would more likely kill the man," he responded. "Follow as +noiselessly as you can--it will not let its prey escape, be sure of +that. Once we track it to its haunt we will soon dispatch it, big and +fierce as it seems." + +We drew nearer and nearer to it, until it had passed half-way down the +avenue, then it seemed to become lost to our view, although we were, as +we knew, close to it. I felt Denviers' hand upon my shoulder, and then +he whispered:-- + +"The Kachyen is being dragged up a tree just in front--look!" I could +just distinguish something moving up the trunk, when suddenly the +captive, who had hitherto been apparently paralyzed with terror, uttered +a cry and then must have succeeded in disengaging himself from the +dreadful thing that had held him, for the noise of someone falling to +the ground was heard, and a minute after we distinguished the form of a +man rushing headlong back to the village for safety. + +We did not anticipate such an event, and were contemplating a search for +the captor of the Kachyen, when a cold sweat broke out upon me, for the +clammy claws of the man-hunter had touched me! The sensation which +seized me was only of short duration, for I felt myself released just as +Denviers said:-- + +"Harold, the Kachyen has fled, and his captor, determined to secure its +prey, has betaken its crawling body after him. If only we had a light! I +saw something like a black shadow moving onwards; get your pistol ready +and follow." I just distinguished Denviers as he passed on in front of +me, Hassan coming last. When we reached the hut of the Maw-Sayah we +stopped at once, for, from the cry which came from it, we rightly +surmised that the terrible seeker for human prey had made for this +place, thinking, in its dull intelligence, that its captive had +returned. We thrust ourselves into the hut, and saw by the red firelight +a sanguinary contest between the Maw-Sayah and the black object which we +had endeavoured to track. Thinking that the Kachyen was being destroyed, +the juggler had not fastened his door, and the enraged man-eater had +seized him as he rested on the ground, quite at its mercy! + +The Maw-Sayah was struggling with his bony hands to extricate himself +from the clutches of a monstrous tree-spider! We had seen, on an island +in the South Seas, several cocoa-nut crabs, and this reptile somewhat +resembled them, but was even larger. Grasping the juggler with several +of its long, furry-looking claws, it fixed its glaring red eyes in mad +anger upon him as he grasped in each hand one of its front pair of +legs, which were armed with strong, heavy-looking pincers. He besought +us wildly to shoot, even if we killed him, held as he was by his +relentless foe. + +"Harold," cried my companion, "keep clear, and look out for yourself +when I fire at this reptile; most likely it will make for one of us." He +drew right close to it, and thrusting the barrel of his pistol between +its eyes touched the trigger. The explosion shook the hut, its effect +upon the spider being to cause it to rush frantically about the floor, +dragging the Maw-Sayah as if he were some slight burden scarcely +observable. + +[Illustration: "A RELENTLESS FOE."] + +"You missed it!" I cried. "Look out, Hassan, guard the doorway!" The +Arab stood, sword in hand, waiting for it to make for the entrance, +while Denviers exclaimed:-- + +"I shot it through the head!" and a minute afterwards the trueness of +his aim was manifest, for the claws released, and the Maw-Sayah, wounded +badly, but saved, stood free from the muscular twitchings of the dead +spider. + +"You scoundrel!" said Denviers to him, "I have a good mind to serve you +the same. You deserve to die as so many of these simple-minded, +credulous Kachyens have done." I thought for one brief second that my +companion was about to kill the juggler, for through all our adventures +I had never seen him so thoroughly roused. I stood between them; then, +when Denviers quickly recovered his self-command, I turned to the +Maw-Sayah and asked:-- + +"If we spare your life, will you promise to leave this village and never +to return?" He turned his evil-looking but scared face towards us +eagerly as he replied:-- + +"I will do whatever you wish." Denviers motioned to him to rest upon the +ground, which he did, then turning to me, said:-- + +"It is pretty apparent what this juggler has done. The man who first +reported the discovery of this Nat, as the foolish Kachyens call it, +simply disturbed a monstrous spider which had lived in the trees which +he felled--that accounts for his seeing it. Finding animal food scarce, +the reptile ventured into this village and tried to get into one of the +huts. Its exertions were rewarded by the Kachyen coming to the door, +whom it accordingly seized. To continue its plan, which proved so +successful, needed very little reasoning power on the part of such a +cunning creature. No doubt this Maw-Sayah purposely left the door of his +hut unfastened each seventh night, and the spider thus became accustomed +to seek for its victim there, I daresay it came the other nights, but +the juggler was then careful enough to keep his hut well fastened." + +"What do the sahibs propose to do?" interrupted Hassan. Denviers turned +to him, as he responded:-- + +"We will wait for daybreak; then, having dragged the dead spider out +where the Kachyens may see that it is no longer able to harm them, we +will take this Maw-Sayah down the mountain path away from the village as +poor as he came." + +[Illustration: "YOU SCOUNDREL!"] + +"A good plan," I assented, and we followed it out, eventually leaving +the juggler, and climbing once more into the howdah upon the elephant, +which we found close to the spot where we had left it, secured from +wandering far away by the rope which Hassan had used to hinder its +movements. + +We entered Bhamo, and while we took a much-needed rest, our guide--as we +afterwards learnt--searched for and found the fugitive Kachyen, who, on +hearing that his safety was secured, hastily departed to the village to +rejoice with the rest of his tribe that the so-called Nat would not do +them any more injury. + + + + +_From Behind the Speaker's Chair._ + +III. + +(VIEWED BY HENRY W. LUCY.) + +[Illustration: "OBSTRUCTION."] + +It is thirteen years since a new Parliament last blithely started on its +way with Mr. Gladstone sitting in the seat of the Premier. Since March, +1880, a great deal has happened, not least in the change of +circumstances under which the business of the House of Commons is +conducted. The majority of the House of Commons may be Liberal or +Conservative, according to a passing flood of conviction on the part of +the constituencies. When presumptuous hands are stretched forth to touch +the Ark of its procedure, its instincts are all Tory. For more than two +hundred years preceding the advent of a Tory Ministry in 1886, this was +so. Mr. Gladstone, driven to desperation in the second Session of the +Parliament of 1880-5, endeavoured to reform procedure so that +obstruction might be fought on even terms. He was met by such resolute +and persistent opposition from the Conservative side that, even with an +overwhelming majority at his back, he succeeded only in tinkering the +pot. Oddly enough, it was left for the Conservatives when they came into +office to revolutionize the system upon which, through the ages, +Parliamentary business had been carried on. + +There was nothing in the reforms more startling to the old +Parliamentarian than the proposal automatically to close debate at +midnight. A dozen years ago members of the House of Commons assembled at +four o'clock for prayers. Questions began at half-past four, and no one +could say at what hour of the night or of the next morning the cry "Who +goes home?" might echo through the lobby. In those days Mr. O'Donnell +was master of the situation, and he had many imitators. A debate carried +on through several nights might seem to be approaching a conclusion. The +Leader of the Opposition, rising between eleven o'clock and midnight, +spoke in a crowded House. The Premier, or his lieutenant, followed, +assuming to wind up the debate. Members wearied of the long sitting were +prepared to go forth to the division lobby; when from below the gangway +on the left there uprose a familiar figure, and there was heard a +well-known voice. + +[Illustration: F. H. O'DONNELL.] + +These usually belonged to Mr. O'Donnell bent upon vindicating the right +of a private member to interpose when the constituted authorities of the +House had agreed in the opinion that a debate had been continued long +enough. A roar of execration from the fagged legislators greeted the +intruder. He expected this, and was in no degree perturbed. In earliest +practice he had a way of dropping his eye-glass as if startled by the +uproar, and searched for it with puzzled, preoccupied expression, +apparently debating with himself what this outburst might portend. He +did not love the British House of Commons, and delighted in thwarting +its purposes. But he knew what was due to it in the way of respect, and, +however angry passions might rise, however turbulent the scene, he would +never address it looking upon it with the naked eye. As his eye-glass +was constantly tumbling out, and as search for it was preternaturally +deliberate, it played an appreciable part in the prolongation of +successive Sessions. + +[Illustration: "EYE-GLASS PLAY."] + +What has become of Frank Hugh now, I wonder? Vanishing from the House of +Commons, he reappeared for a while on the scene, characteristically +acting the part of the petrel that heralded the storm Mr. Pigott +ineffectively tried to ride. It must be a consolation to Mr. O'Donnell, +in his retirement, wherever it is passed, to reflect on the fact that it +was he who directly brought about the appointment of the Parnell +Commission, with all it effected. His action for libel brought against +the _Times_ preluded and inevitably led up to the formal investigation +of the famous Charges and Allegations. + +The member for Dungarvan was, in his day, the most thoroughly disliked +man in the House of Commons, distaste for Mr. Parnell and for Mr. Biggar +in his early prime being softened by contrast with his subtler +provocation. An exceedingly clever debater, he was a phrase maker, some +of whose epigrams Mr. Disraeli would not have disowned. He was a +parliamentary type of ancient standing, and apparently ineradicable +growth. In the present House of Commons fresh developments are presented +by Mr. Seymour Keay and Mr. Morton. These are distinct varieties, but +from the unmistakable root. Both are gifted with boundless volubility, +unhampered by ordinary considerations of coherency and cogency. Neither +is influenced by that sense of the dread majesty of the House of Commons +which keeps some members dumb all through their parliamentary life, and +to the last, as in the case of Mr. Bright, weighs upon even great +orators. The difference between the older and the new development is +that whilst over Mr. O'Donnell's intentional and deliberate vacuity of +speech there gleamed frequent flashes of wit, Mr. Morton and Mr. Keay +are only occasionally funny, and then the effect was undesigned. + +[Illustration: O'DONNELL'S LAST APPEARANCE.] + +[Illustration: MR. SEYMOUR KEAY.] + +Since we have these two gentlemen still with us, it would be rash to say +that if Mr. O'Donnell could revisit the glimpses of Big Ben he would +find his occupation gone. He would certainly discover that his +opportunities had been limited, and would have to recommence practice +under greatly altered conditions. One of the former member for +Dungarvan's famous achievements took place in the infancy of the +Parliament of 1880-5, and, apart from its dramatic interest, is valuable +as illustrating the change effected in parliamentary procedure by the +New Rules. On that particular June night the paper was loaded with +questions in a fashion unfamiliar in the last Parliament, though there +are not lacking signs of renewed activity since political parties +changed places. Question No. 23 stood in the name of Mr. O'Donnell, and +contained in his best literary style a serious indictment of M. +Challemel-Lacour, just nominated by the French Government as their +representative at the Court of St. James. + +[Illustration: MR. A. C. MORTON.] + +Sir Charles Dilke, then Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, made +categorical reply, directly traversing all the points in the indictment. +When he resumed his seat Mr. O'Donnell rose in his usual deliberate +manner, captured his eye-glass, and having fixed it to his satisfaction, +remarked in his drawling voice that it was "perfectly impossible to +accept the explanation of the Government." Being interrupted with cries +of "Order! Order!" he quietly played his trump card: "If I am not +allowed to explain," he said, "I will conclude with a motion." + +[Illustration: SIR CHARLES DILKE.] + +The House howled again, but it was a cry of despair. Mr. O'Donnell, they +knew, had the whip hand. In those good old days he, or any other member +desiring to obstruct ordinary procedure, might, in the middle of +questions, start a debate on any subject under the sun. This and other +outrages were doubtless recalled by the House of Commons when revising +its Rules. It then ordered that no member might, during the progress of +questions, interpose with a motion on which to found debate. If, in this +current month of March, Mr. O'Donnell, being a member of the House of +Commons, had wanted to attack M. Challemel-Lacour, he must needs have +waited till the last question on the paper was disposed of, and could +then have moved the adjournment only if his description of the +question--as one of urgent public importance--was approved by the +Speaker, and if, thereafter, forty members rose to support the request +for a hearing. + +In June, 1880, all that was left for the crowded House to do was to roar +with resentment. Mr. O'Donnell was used to this incentive, and had it +been withheld would probably have shown signs of failing vigour. As it +was, he produced a pocket-handkerchief, took down his eye-glass and +carefully polished it, whilst members yelled and tossed about on their +seats with impotent fury. Under the existing Rules this scene, if it had +ever opened, would have been promptly blotted out. The closure would +have been moved, probably a division taken, and the business of the +evening would have gone forward. There was no closure in those days, and +Mr. Gladstone, after hurried consultation with Sir Erskine May, hastily +moved that Mr. O'Donnell be not heard. + +A shout of savage exultation rising from every bench, save those on +which the Irish members sat, hailed a stroke that promised to deliver +the House from the thraldom of Mr. O'Donnell at the very moment when its +chains had taken a final twist. In ordinary circumstances this +resolution would have played the part of the as yet unconsecrated +closure. A division would have followed, the motion carried by an +overwhelming majority, and Mr. O'Donnell would have been temporarily +shut up. + +But those were not ordinary times. The Fourth Party was in the prime of +its vigour. Lord Randolph Churchill's quick eye discovered an opening +for irritating Mr. Gladstone and damaging the Government by making what +should have been a business night one long turmoil. Mr. Parnell, whilst +disclaiming any personal sympathy with Mr. O'Donnell, moved the +adjournment of the debate, and poor, placid Sir Stafford Northcote, +egged on by the young bloods below the gangway, raised various points of +order. Finally, at eight o'clock, the House dividing on Mr. Parnell's +amendment, Sir Stafford Northcote voted with the Irish members, leading +a hundred men of the Party of Law and Order into the same lobby. + +[Illustration: STIRRING UP SIR STAFFORD.] + +Hour after hour the riot continued. At one time blameless Sir William +Harcourt, then Home Secretary, appearing at the table, a Conservative +member, amid tumultuous shouts, moved that he be not heard. When members +grew tired of shouting at each other they divided on fresh motions for +the adjournment, and it was not till one o'clock on the following +morning that Mr. O'Donnell, grateful for a pleasant evening, was good +enough to undertake that before he recurred to the question he would +give due notice, so that the Speaker might exercise his discretion in +revising its terms. At five minutes past one in the morning, after a +wrangle full eight hours long, the Speaker, with a pretty assumption of +nothing particular having happened, called on the next question on the +paper, which was Number 24. + +All this might happen again on any night of this month save for the +beneficent action of the New Rules a long-suffering Parliament was +finally induced to adopt. On the threshold of a new Parliament it is +useful to recall the scene as an assistance in calculating what may be +accomplished by the Parliament elected in 1892, as compared with that +which began its history in 1880. On the face of it, Parliament to-day +has much less time at its disposal for the accomplishment of work than +it had a dozen years ago. Then, the duration of a sitting was +indefinite. The House might, as it did in February, 1881, meet at four +o'clock on a Monday afternoon and sit continuously till Wednesday +morning. Now, the Speaker takes the Chair at three o'clock; public +business commences at half-past three; and at midnight, save in cases +where the Standing Order has been formally suspended, the Speaker leaves +the Chair, and the House adjourns, whoever may be on his feet. + +[Illustration: "DISGUST."] + +The influence of this automatic procedure is beneficially felt +throughout the whole of debate. One wholesome influence works in the +direction of using up the early hours of the sitting, an arrangement +which carries comfort to countless printing offices and editorial +sanctums. Some time before the New Rules came into operation, Mr. +Gladstone discovered for himself the convenience and desirability of +taking part in debate at the earliest possible hour of a sitting. His +earlier associations drifted round a directly opposite course. In the +good old days the champions of debate did not interpose till close upon +midnight, when they had the advantage of audiences sustained and +exhilarated by dinner. That was before the era of special wires to the +provincial papers, early morning trams, and vastly increased circulation +for the London journals. Mr. Gladstone discovered that he was more +carefully reported and his observations more deliberately discussed if +he spoke between five and seven o'clock in the evening than if, +following his earlier habit, he addressed the House between eleven and +one in the morning. He has, accordingly, for some years been accustomed, +when he has an important speech to deliver, to interpose in debate +immediately after questions. + +This habit has become general, even compulsory, with members who may, +within certain limits, choose their own time for speaking. All the cream +of debate is now skimmed before the dinner-hour. At the close of a +pitched battle, the two Leaders of Party, as heretofore, wind up the +debate. But their opportunity for orating is severely circumscribed. The +audience in the House of Commons does not begin to reassemble after +dinner till half-past ten. Rising at that hour, the Leader of the +Opposition, if he fairly divides the available time with the right +honourable gentleman opposite, must not speak more than three-quarters +of an hour, and should not exceed forty minutes. + +This is a necessity desirable not less in the orator's interest than in +that of the audience. Except for the exposition of an intricate measure, +twenty minutes is ample time for any man to say what is useful for his +fellow-men to hear. All Mr. Disraeli's best speeches were made within +half an hour, and if he thought it necessary, from a sense of the +importance of his position, to prolong them, his stock of good things +was exhausted in twenty minutes, the rest being what Carlyle +disrespectfully described as thrice-boiled cole-wort. Mr. Gladstone can +go on indefinitely, and in very recent times has been known to hold his +audience spell-bound for three hours. But even he has profited by the +beneficent tyranny that now rules the limit of debate, and, rising with +the knowledge that he has but forty minutes to speak in, has excelled +himself. For less exuberant speakers not gifted with his genius, the new +discipline is even more marked in its benefits. + +[Illustration: MR. KEIR HARDIE.] + + * * * * * + +It is too soon to endeavour to estimate the general characteristics of +the _personnel_ of the new Parliament. It will probably turn out to be +very much of the same class as the innumerable army of its predecessors. +When Mr. Keir Hardie came down on the opening day in a wagonette, with +flags flying and accordions playing, it was cried aloud in some quarters +that the end was at hand. This apprehension was strengthened when Mr. +Hardie strolled about the House with a tweed travelling cap on his head, +the Speaker at the time being in the chair. This, as Dr. Johnson +explained, when the lady asked him why he had described the horse's +pastern as its knee, was "ignorance, pure ignorance." Mr. Hardie is not +a man of the quietest manners, as was testified to by the apparition in +Palace Yard of the wagonette and its musical party; but in the +much-talked-of incident of the cap he sinned inadvertently. Before the +Speaker took the chair he had seen members walking about with their hats +on. He had observed that even in his presence they remained seated with +their heads covered. The shade of etiquette which approves this fashion +whilst it sternly prohibits a member from keeping his hat on when in +motion, even to the extent of leaning over to speak to a friend on the +bench below him, was too fine to catch the eye of a new member. + +Mr. Keir Hardie has done much worse things than this in his public +appearances during the recess, and since the Session opened there has +not been lacking evidence of resolve to keep himself in the front of the +stage where the gallery may see him. But this is no new thing, to be +cited in proof of the deterioration of the composition and style of the +House of Commons. It has been done repeatedly in various fashions within +recent memory, and always with the same result. No man, not even Mr. +Biggar--and he may be cited as the most ruthless experimenter--has +successfully struggled against the subtle disciplinary influence of the +House of Commons. + +From the first the member for Cavan set himself in deliberate fashion to +outrage Parliamentary traditions and usages. He finished by becoming a +punctilious practitioner of Parliamentary forms, a stickler for the +minutest observation of order. Whilst Mr. Gladstone and other members of +old standing were content to preface their speeches with the +monosyllable "Sir," nothing less than "Mr. Speaker, sir," would satisfy +Mr. Biggar. No one who has not heard the inflection of tone with which +this was uttered, nor seen the oratorical sweep of the hand that +launched it on its course, can realize how much of combined deference +and authority the phrase is capable of. Mr. Biggar, having in his early +Parliamentary days defied the Chair and affronted the sensibilities of +the House, alike in the matter of dress and deportment, developed into a +portly gentleman of almost smug appearance, a terror to new members. Woe +to any who in his ignorance passed between the Chair and the member +addressing it; who walked in from a division with his hat on; or who +stood an inch or two within the Bar whilst debate was going forward. Mr. +Biggar's strident cry of "Order! Order!" reverberated through the House. +Others joined in the shout, and the abashed offender hastily withdrew +into obscurity. + +[Illustration: THE LATE MR. BIGGAR.] + +It is the same with others of less strongly marked character. Vanity or +garrulity may force a new member into a position of notoriety. He may, +according to his measure of determination, try a fall again and again +with the House, and may sometimes, as in the case of Mr. O'Donnell, seem +to win. But in the end the House of Commons proves victorious. It is a +sort of whetstone on which blades of various temperature operate. In +time, they either forego the practice or wear themselves away. In either +case the whetstone remains. + +This is a rule without exception, and is a reassuring reflection in view +of the talk about the degeneracy of the House of Commons, and the +decadence of its standard of manner. It would not be difficult to show +that the House at present in Session will, from the point of view of +manners, favourably compare with any that have gone before--though, to +be just, the comparison should be sought with Parliaments elected under +similar conditions, with the Liberals in office and the Conservatives in +opposition. That is an arrangement always found to be more conducive to +lively proceedings than when parties are disposed in the contrary order. +The Parliament dissolved last year was decorously dull. Mr. Gladstone in +opposition is not prone to show sport, and no encouragement was held out +to enterprising groups below the gangway to bait the Government. It was +very different in the Parliament of 1880-5, of which fact the +Challemel-Lacour episode is an illustration, only a little more piquant +in flavour than the average supply. + +There are already signs that the new Parliament will not lie under the +charge of deplorable dulness brought against its predecessor. But these +varying moods are due to waves of political passion, and do not affect +the question whether the House of Commons as a body of English gentlemen +met for the discharge of public business has or has not deteriorated. I +have an engraving of a picture of the House of Commons in pre-Reform +days. It was carefully drawn in the Session of 1842. A more respectable +body of the gentlemen of England it would be difficult to gather +together. With the possible exception of one or two political +adventurers like the then member for Shrewsbury, there is probably not a +man in the House who is not well born or at least rich. Mr. Keir Hardie +would look strange indeed in these serried ranks of portly gentlemen +with high coat collars, cravats up to their chin, short-bodied coats +showing the waistcoat beneath, and the tightly trousered legs. Yet this +House, and its equally prim successors, had its obstruction, its +personal wrangles, and its occasional duel. Peel was attacked by +Disraeli in a fashion and in language that would not be tolerated in the +House of Commons now, even though the target were Mr. Gladstone. + +It is not necessary to go back as far as the days of Peel or +Parliamentary Reform to sustain the bold assertion that, so far from +having degenerated, the manners of the House of Commons have improved. +In the Parliament elected in 1874 there sat on the Conservative side a +gentleman named Smollet, who early distinguished himself by bringing +Parliamentary debate down to the level of conversation in "Roderick +Random." In those days Mr. Gladstone was down after the General +Election, and Mr. Smollet, to the uproarious delight of gentlemen near +him, savagely kicked him. + +[Illustration: "MOBBING HIM."] + +It was in the second year of this same Parliament, less than twenty +years ago, that Mr. Gladstone, issuing from a division lobby, was +suddenly pounced upon by some fifty or sixty Conservative members, and +howled at for the space of several moments. It is, happily, possible for +Mr. Gladstone to forget, or at least to forgive, personal attacks made +upon him through his long career. In this very month of the new Session +he may be nightly seen working in cordial fashion with ancient +adversaries from Ireland, describing as "my honourable friends" +gentlemen who, ten years ago and for some time subsequently, heaped on +his head the coarsest vituperation permitted by practised manipulation +of Parliamentary forms. But this scene in the division lobby on the 12th +of April, 1875, is burned into his recollection. I have heard him, +within the last few months, refer to it in those tones of profound +indignation and with that flashing fire in his eyes only seen when he is +deeply moved. He mentioned, what I think was not known, that Lord +Hartington happened to be walking with him at the time. But there was no +mistake for whom the angry cries were meant. Mr. Gladstone spoke with +the profounder indignation because, as he said, he had on this occasion +gone out to vote on behalf of a man whose character he detested, because +he saw in the action taken against him an attack upon one of the +privileges of Parliament. + +That scene was an outburst of political animosity; and the movements of +political animosity, like the dicta of taste, are not to be disputed. +But on the question of good manners, the only one here under +consideration, it may be affirmed that the present House of Commons +would be safe from lapse into such an exhibition. To this better state +of things the operation of the New Rules has conspicuously contributed, +and though, as we know, they have not operated to the absolute +extinction of Parliamentary scenes, they have appreciably limited +opportunity and incentive. + + + + +_Portraits of Celebrities at Different Times of their Lives_. + + +LORD BATTERSEA. + +[Illustration: AGE 14. + +_From a Daguerreotype._] + +BORN 1843. + + +Lord Battersea, who was until recently known to the world as Mr. Cyril +Flower, M.P., is a son of the late Mr. P. W. Flower, of Streatham, and +was educated at Harrow and at Trinity College, Cambridge. + +[Illustration: AGE 21. + +_From a Photo, by Mayland, Cambridge._] + +He was called to the Bar at the age of twenty-seven, and became Liberal +Member for Brecknock in 1880, and for the Luton Division of Bedfordshire +in 1885 and 1886, in which later year he was one of Mr. Gladstone's +"Whips." He married the daughter of the late Sir Anthony Rothschild, and +both he and his wife are much interested in the welfare of the lower +classes of London. Lord Battersea was unanimously reputed the handsomest +man in the House of Commons, and is now, in every sense of the word, an +ornament of the House of Lords. + +[Illustration: AGE 40. + +_From a Drawing._] + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photograph by Bassano, 35, Old Bond Street, W._.] + + +W. Q. ORCHARDSON, R.A. + +BORN 1835. + +[Illustration: AGE 16. + +_From an Oil Sketch by himself._] + +[Illustration: AGE 35. + +_From a Photograph by Walery, Marseilles._] + +[Illustration: AGE 44. + +_From a Photograph._] + +Mr. William Quiller Orchardson was born in Edinburgh, and at the age of +fifteen entered the Trustees' Academy of that city, his first pictures +being exhibited in the Royal Scottish Academy. At the age of +twenty-eight he came to London, and the same year exhibited at the Royal +Academy for the first time, his contributions being entitled, "An Old +English Song" and "Portraits," the latter a life-size composition of +three young ladies. In 1865 he painted "The Challenge," which won a +prize of L100 given by Mr. Wallace, and one of the very few Medals +awarded to English painters at the Paris Universal Exhibition. In 1866 +came "The Story of a Life"--an aged nun relating her experiences to a +group of novices. Two years later, when he had only been four years in +London, he was elected an A.R.A. Among his more recent pictures may be +mentioned "Napoleon on Board the _Bellerophon_" (1880), "The Salon of +Madame Recamier" (1885), "The Young Duke" (1889), and "St. Helena" +(1892). Mr. Orchardson was elected an R.A. in 1877, and a D.C.L. of +Oxford in 1890. + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photo. by Elliott & Fry._] + + +LADY HALLE. + +[Illustration: AGE 10. + +_From a Drawing._] + +[Illustration: AGE 23. + +_From a Photograph._] + +Lady Halle, whose maiden name was Wilhelmine Neruda, was born at Bruenn, +where her father was organist of the cathedral. She was a pupil of +Jansa, and made her first appearance at Vienna at the age of six, and in +London at the age of nine. After this she returned to the Continent, and +in 1864 she married Ludwig Norman, a Swedish musician. Since 1869 she +has been in England every winter, playing especially at the concerts of +Sir Charles Halle, whom she married in 1888. + +[Illustration: AGE 35. + +_From a Photograph._] + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photo by Burraud_.] + + +SIR CHARLES HALLE. + +[Illustration: AGE 20. + +_From a Painting._] + +Sir Charles Halle is a native of Germany, but at an early age he +established himself in Paris, where he acquired a great reputation by +his refined and classical rendering of the compositions of the great +musicians; but the Revolution of 1843 drove him to England, where he has +ever since resided. He soon established himself at Manchester, and as +the founder of the annual series of orchestral and choral concerts there +and in London, which have become, perhaps, the most important series in +Europe, he has rendered the most valuable service to musical art. + +[Illustration: AGE 31. + +_From a Painting._] + +[Illustration: AGE 45. + +_From a Photo, by H. Hering, Regent Street, W._] + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photo. by Mayall & Co., 164, New Bond Street, W._] + + +DR. HERMANN ADLER, + +CHIEF RABBI. + +[Illustration: AGE 24. + +_From a Photograph by McLean & Haes, Haymarket._] + +Born 1839. + +Dr. Adler, son of Dr. Nathan Marcus Adler, was born in Hanover, and came +to London with his father at the age of six. He studied at University +College, took his B. A. degree at the University of London at twenty, +and that of Ph. D., at Leipzig, at twenty-two. In the following year he +was ordained Rabbi by the famous Rapoport, Chief Rabbi of Prague, and +became in succession Principal of the Jews' College in London and Chief +Minister of the Bayswater Synagogue. In 1890 his father, the Chief +Rabbi, died, and Dr. Adler was elected in his place. Dr. Adler is well +known not only by his powerful and scholarly writings, but by his work +among the poorer Jews of London. + +[Illustration: AGE 37. + +_From a Photograph by J. R. Sawyer, Norwich._] + +[Illustration: AGE 44. + +_From a Photograph by Fradella, 216, Regent Street, W._] + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photograph by The Photographic Co._] + + +SIR ARCHIBALD ALISON, BART., K.C.B. + +Born 1826. + +General Alison, son of Sir Archibald Alison, the first Baronet, who was +the well-known author of "The History of Europe," was born at Edinburgh, +and entered the Army at the age of twenty. He served in the Crimea, at +the siege and fall of Sebastopol, at which date our second portrait +represents him. During the Indian Mutiny he lost an arm at the relief of +Lucknow. In 1882 he commanded the 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, during the +expedition to Egypt, and at the decisive battle of Tel-el-Kebir he led +the Highland Brigade which fought so gallantly on that memorable +occasion, and after Arabi's surrender he was left in Egypt with the +command of the British army of 12,000 men to restore order and protect +the Khedive. Sir Archibald was included in the thanks of Parliament for +his energy and gallantry, and was promoted to the rank of +Lieutenant-General; he received his appointment as General in 1889. In +1869 Sir Archibald Alison published an able treatise, "On Army +Organization." + +[Illustration: AGE 3. + +_From a Miniature._] + +[Illustration: AGE 31. + +_From a Daguerreotype by Werge, Glasgow._] + +[Illustration: AGE 47. + +_From a Photograph by Jacklett, Aldershot._] + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photo, by Barraud._] + + +MADAME JANE HADING. + +[Illustration: AGE 3. + +_From a Photo. by Chalot et Cie., Paris._] + +[Illustration: AGE 5. + +_From a Photo. by Chalot et Cie., Paris._] + +Madame Jane Hading, the well-known French actress, was born at +Marseilles, in 1863, where her father was popular as a leading actor, +with whom she appeared when only three years of age as little _Blanche +de Caylus_ in "Le Bossu." At the age of thirteen she began work in +earnest, having won "le prix de solfege" at the Marseille Conservatoire, +and her talent having come to the ears of Mr. Plunkett, the director of +the Palais Royal, he engaged her for the Palais Royal in Paris, where +she created the part of _La Chaste Suzanne_, by Paul Ferrier. Giving up +comic opera for comedy, Jane Hading went to the Gymnase, where she +created the part of _Claire de Beaulieu_ in "Le Maitre de Forges." +London had the opportunity of seeing her in that and "Prince Zilah," by +Jules Claretie, later on, and fully indorsed the Parisian verdict. These +conspicuous successes were followed by others almost as notable, and her +subsequent tour in America won her golden opinions, and was so +successful that it was extended some months. Her latest Parisian success +was "Le Prince d'Aurec," which added greatly to her laurels, putting her +in the very front rank of great artists. + +[Illustration: AGE 15. + +_From a Photo. by Fabre, Marseilles._] + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photo, by Reutlinger, Paris._] + + + + +_The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes_. + +XVI.--THE ADVENTURE OF THE STOCKBROKER'S CLERK. + +BY A. CONAN DOYLE. + + +Shortly after my marriage I had bought a connection in the Paddington +district. Old Mr. Farquhar, from whom I purchased it, had at one time an +excellent general practice, but his age, and an affliction of the nature +of St. Vitus' dance, from which he suffered, had very much thinned it. +The public, not unnaturally, goes upon the principle that he who would +heal others must himself be whole, and looks askance at the curative +powers of the man whose own case is beyond the reach of his drugs. Thus, +as my predecessor weakened, his practice declined, until when I +purchased it from him it had sunk from twelve hundred to little more +than three hundred a year. I had confidence, however, in my own youth +and energy, and was convinced that in a very few years the concern would +be as flourishing as ever. + +For three months after taking over the practice I was kept very closely +at work, and saw little of my friend Sherlock Holmes, for I was too busy +to visit Baker Street, and he seldom went anywhere himself save upon +professional business. I was surprised, therefore, when one morning in +June, as I sat reading the _British Medical Journal_ after breakfast, I +heard a ring at the bell followed by the high, somewhat strident, tones +of my old companion's voice. + +"Ah, my dear Watson," said he, striding into the room. "I am very +delighted to see you. I trust that Mrs. Watson has entirely recovered +from all the little excitements connected with our adventure of the +'Sign of Four.'" + +"Thank you, we are both very well," said I, shaking him warmly by the +hand. + +"And I hope also," he continued, sitting down in the rocking-chair, +"that the cares of medical practice have not entirely obliterated the +interest which you used to take in our little deductive problems." + +"On the contrary," I answered; "it was only last night that I was +looking over my old notes and classifying some of our past results." + +"I trust that you don't consider your collection closed?" + +"Not at all. I should wish nothing better than to have some more of such +experiences." + +"To-day, for example?" + +"Yes; to-day, if you like." + +"And as far off as Birmingham?" + +"Certainly, if you wish it." + +"And the practice?" + +"I do my neighbour's when he goes. He is always ready to work off the +debt." + +[Illustration: "'NOTHING COULD BE BETTER,' SAID HOLMES."] + +"Ha! Nothing could be better!" said Holmes, leaning back in his chair +and looking keenly at me from under his half-closed lids. "I perceive +that you have been unwell lately. Summer colds are always a little +trying." + +"I was confined to the house by a severe chill for three days last week. +I thought, however, that I had cast off every trace of it." + +"So you have. You look remarkably robust." + +"How, then, did you know of it?" + +"My dear fellow, you know my methods." + +"You deduced it, then?" + +"Certainly." + +"And from what?" + +"From your slippers." + +I glanced down at the new patent leathers which I was wearing. "How on +earth----?" I began, but Holmes answered my question before it was +asked. + +"Your slippers are new," he said. "You could not have had them more than +a few weeks. The soles which you are at this moment presenting to me are +slightly scorched. For a moment I thought they might have got wet and +been burned in the drying. But near the instep there is a small circular +wafer of paper with the shopman's hieroglyphics upon it. Damp would of +course have removed this. You had then been sitting with your feet +outstretched to the fire, which a man would hardly do even in so wet a +June as this if he were in his full health." + +Like all Holmes's reasoning the thing seemed simplicity itself when it +was once explained. He read the thought upon my features, and his smile +had a tinge of bitterness. + +"I am afraid that I rather give myself away when I explain," said he. +"Results without causes are much more impressive. You are ready to come +to Birmingham, then?" + +"Certainly. What is the case?" + +"You shall hear it all in the train. My client is outside in a +four-wheeler. Can you come at once?" + +"In an instant." I scribbled a note to my neighbour, rushed upstairs to +explain the matter to my wife, and joined Holmes upon the doorstep. + +"Your neighbour is a doctor?" said he, nodding at the brass plate. + +"Yes. He bought a practice as I did." + +"An old-established one?" + +"Just the same as mine. Both have been ever since the houses were +built." + +"Ah, then you got hold of the best of the two." + +"I think I did. But how do you know?" + +"By the steps, my boy. Yours are worn three inches deeper than his. But +this gentleman in the cab is my client, Mr. Hall Pycroft. Allow me to +introduce you to him. Whip your horse up, cabby, for we have only just +time to catch our train." + +The man whom I found myself facing was a well-built, fresh-complexioned +young fellow with a frank, honest face and a slight, crisp, yellow +moustache. He wore a very shiny top-hat and a neat suit of sober black, +which made him look what he was--a smart young City man, of the class +who have been labelled Cockneys, but who give us our crack Volunteer +regiments, and who turn out more fine athletes and sportsmen than any +body of men in these islands. His round, ruddy face was naturally full +of cheeriness, but the corners of his mouth seemed to me to be pulled +down in a half-comical distress. It was not, however, until we were all +in a first-class carriage and well started upon our journey to +Birmingham, that I was able to learn what the trouble was which had +driven him to Sherlock Holmes. + +"We have a clear run here of seventy minutes," Holmes remarked. "I want +you, Mr. Hall Pycroft, to tell my friend your very interesting +experience exactly as you have told it to me, or with more detail if +possible. It will be of use to me to hear the succession of events +again. It is a case, Watson, which may prove to have something in it, or +may prove to have nothing, but which at least presents those unusual and +_outre_ features which are as dear to you as they are to me. Now, Mr. +Pycroft, I shall not interrupt you again." + +Our young companion looked at me with a twinkle in his eye. + +"The worst of the story is," said he, "that I show myself up as such a +confounded fool. Of course, it may work out all right, and I don't see +that I could have done otherwise; but if I have lost my crib and get +nothing in exchange, I shall feel what a soft Johnny I have been. I'm +not very good at telling a story, Dr. Watson, but it is like this with +me. + +"I used to have a billet at Coxon and Woodhouse, of Drapers' Gardens, +but they were let in early in the spring through the Venezuelan loan, as +no doubt you remember, and came a nasty cropper. I had been with them +five years, and old Coxon gave me a ripping good testimonial when the +smash came; but, of course, we clerks were all turned adrift, the +twenty-seven of us. I tried here and tried there, but there were lots of +other chaps on the same lay as myself, and it was a perfect frost for a +long time. I had been taking three pounds a week at Coxon's, and I had +saved about seventy of them, but I soon worked my way through that and +out at the other end. I was fairly at the end of my tether at last, and +could hardly find the stamps to answer the advertisements or the +envelopes to stick them to. I had worn out my boots padding up office +stairs, and I seemed just as far from getting a billet as ever. + +"At last I saw a vacancy at Mawson and Williams', the great stockbroking +firm in Lombard Street. I daresay E. C. is not much in your line, but I +can tell you that this is about the richest house in London. The +advertisement was to be answered by letter only. I sent in my +testimonial and application, but without the least hope of getting it. +Back came an answer by return saying that if I would appear next Monday +I might take over my new duties at once, provided that my appearance was +satisfactory. No one knows how these things are worked. Some people say +the manager just plunges his hand into the heap and takes the first that +comes. Anyhow, it was my innings that time, and I don't ever wish to +feel better pleased. The screw was a pound a week rise, and the duties +just about the same as at Coxon's. + +"And now I come to the queer part of the business. I was in diggings out +Hampstead way--17, Potter's Terrace, was the address. Well, I was +sitting doing a smoke that very evening after I had been promised the +appointment, when up came my landlady with a card which had 'Arthur +Pinner, financial agent,' printed upon it. I had never heard the name +before, and could not imagine what he wanted with me, but of course I +asked her to show him up. In he walked--a middle-sized, dark-haired, +dark-eyed, black-bearded man, with a touch of the sheeny about his nose. +He had a brisk kind of way with him and spoke sharply, like a man that +knew the value of time. + +[Illustration: "'MR. HALL PYCROFT, I BELIEVE?' SAID HE."] + +"'Mr. Hall Pycroft, I believe?' said he. + +"'Yes, sir,' I answered, and pushed a chair towards him. + +"'Lately engaged at Coxon and Woodhouse's?' + +"'Yes, sir.' + +"And now on the staff of Mawson's?' + +"'Quite so.' + +"'Well,' said he. 'The fact is that I have heard some really +extraordinary stories about your financial ability. You remember Parker +who used to be Coxon's manager? He can never say enough about it.' + +"Of course I was pleased to hear this. I had always been pretty smart in +the office, but I had never dreamed that I was talked about in the City +in this fashion. + +"'You have a good memory?' said he. + +"'Pretty fair,' I answered, modestly. + +"'Have you kept in touch with the market while you have been out of +work?' he asked. + +"'Yes; I read the Stock Exchange List every morning.' + +"'Now, that shows real application!' he cried. 'That is the way to +prosper! You won't mind my testing you, will you? Let me see! How are +Ayrshires?' + +"'One hundred and six and a quarter to one hundred and five and +seven-eighths,' I answered. + +"'And New Zealand Consolidated?' + +"'A hundred and four.' + +"'And British Broken Hills?' + +"'Seven to seven and six.' + +"'Wonderful!' he cried, with his hands up. 'This quite fits in with all +that I had heard. My boy, my boy, you are very much too good to be a +clerk at Mawson's!' + +"This outburst rather astonished me, as you can think. 'Well,' said I, +'other people don't think quite so much of me as you seem to do, Mr. +Pinner. I had a hard enough fight to get this berth, and I am very glad +to have it.' + +"'Pooh, man, you should soar above it. You are not in your true sphere. +Now I'll tell you how it stands with me. What I have to offer is little +enough when measured by your ability, but when compared with Mawson's it +is light to dark. Let me see! When do you go to Mawson's?' + +"'On Monday.' + +"'Ha! ha! I think I would risk a little sporting flutter that you don't +go there at all.' + +"'Not go to Mawson's?' + +"'No, sir. By that day you will be the business manager of the +Franco-Midland Hardware Company, Limited, with one hundred and +thirty-four branches in the towns and villages of France, not counting +one in Brussels and one in San Remo.' + +"This took my breath away. 'I never heard of it,' said I. + +"'Very likely not. It has been kept very quiet, for the capital was all +privately subscribed, and it is too good a thing to let the public into. +My brother, Harry Pinner, is promoter, and joins the board after +allotment as managing director. He knew that I was in the swim down +here, and he asked me to pick up a good man cheap--a young, pushing man +with plenty of snap about him. Parker spoke of you, and that brought me +here to-night. We can only offer you a beggarly five hundred to start +with----' + +"'Five hundred a year!' I shouted. + +"'Only that at the beginning, but you are to have an over-riding +commission of 1 per cent, on all business done by your agents, and you +may take my word for it that this will come to more than your salary.' + +"'But I know nothing about hardware.' + +"'Tut, my boy, you know about figures.' + +"My head buzzed, and I could hardly sit still in the chair. But suddenly +a little chill of doubt came over me. + +"'I must be frank with you,' said I. 'Mawson only gives me two hundred, +but Mawson is safe. Now, really, I know so little about your company +that----' + +"'Ah, smart, smart!' he cried, in a kind of ecstasy of delight. 'You are +the very man for us! You are not to be talked over, and quite right too. +Now, here's a note for a hundred pounds; and if you think that we can do +business you may just slip it into your pocket as an advance upon your +salary.' + +"'That is very handsome,' said I. 'When should I take over my new +duties?' + +"'Be in Birmingham to-morrow at one,' said he. 'I have a note in my +pocket here which you will take to my brother. You will find him at +126B, Corporation Street, where the temporary offices of the company are +situated. Of course he must confirm your engagement, but between +ourselves it will be all right.' + +"'Really, I hardly know how to express my gratitude, Mr. Pinner,' said +I. + +"'Not at all, my boy. You have only got your deserts. There are one or +two small things--mere formalities--which I must arrange with you. You +have a bit of paper beside you there. Kindly write upon it, "I am +perfectly willing to act as business manager to the Franco-Midland +Hardware Company, Limited, at a minimum salary of L500."' + +"I did as he asked, and he put the paper in his pocket. + +"'There is one other detail,' said he. 'What do you intend to do about +Mawson's?' + +"I had forgotten all about Mawson's in my joy. + +"'I'll write and resign,' said I. + +"'Precisely what I don't want you to do. I had a row over you with +Mawson's manager. I had gone up to ask him about you, and he was very +offensive--accused me of coaxing you away from the service of the firm, +and that sort of thing. At last I fairly lost my temper. "If you want +good men you should pay them a good price," said I. "He would rather +have our small price than your big one," said he. "I'll lay you a +fiver," said I, "that when he has my offer you will never so much as +hear from him again." "Done!" said he. "We picked him out of the gutter, +and he won't leave us so easily." Those were his very words.' + +"'The impudent scoundrel!' I cried. 'I've never so much as seen him in +my life. Why should I consider him in any way? I shall certainly not +write if you would rather that I didn't.' + +"'Good! That's a promise!' said he, rising from his chair. 'Well, I am +delighted to have got so good a man for my brother. Here is your +advance of a hundred pounds, and here is the letter. Make a note of the +address, 126B, Corporation Street, and remember that one o'clock +to-morrow is your appointment. Good-night, and may you have all the +fortune that you deserve.' + +"That's just about all that passed between us as near as I can remember +it. You can imagine, Dr. Watson, how pleased I was at such an +extraordinary bit of good fortune. I sat up half the night hugging +myself over it, and next day I was off to Birmingham in a train that +would take me in plenty of time for my appointment. I took my things to +an hotel in New Street, and then I made my way to the address which had +been given me. + +"It was a quarter of an hour before my time, but I thought that would +make no difference. 126B was a passage between two large shops which led +to a winding stone stair, from which there were many flats, let as +offices to companies or professional men. The names of the occupants +were painted up at the bottom on the wall, but there was no such name as +the Franco-Midland Hardware Company, Limited. I stood for a few minutes +with my heart in my boots, wondering whether the whole thing was an +elaborate hoax or not, when up came a man and addressed me. He was very +like the chap that I had seen the night before, the same figure and +voice, but he was clean shaven and his hair was lighter. + +[Illustration: "UP CAME A MAN AND ADDRESSED ME."] + +"'Are you Mr. Hall Pycroft?' he asked. + +"'Yes,' said I. + +"'Ah! I was expecting you, but you are a trifle before your time. I had +a note from my brother this morning, in which he sang your praises very +loudly.' + +"'I was just looking for the offices when you came.' + +"'We have not got our name up yet, for we only secured these temporary +premises last week. Come up with me and we will talk the matter over.' + +"I followed him to the top of a very lofty stair, and there right under +the slates were a couple of empty and dusty little rooms, uncarpeted and +uncurtained, into which he led me. I had thought of a great office with +shining tables and rows of clerks such as I was used to, and I daresay I +stared rather straight at the two deal chairs and one little table, +which, with a ledger and a waste-paper basket, made up the whole +furniture. + +"'Don't be disheartened, Mr. Pycroft,' said my new acquaintance, seeing +the length of my face. 'Rome was not built in a day, and we have lots of +money at our backs, though we don't cut much dash yet in offices. Pray +sit down and let me have your letter.' + +"I gave it to him, and he read it over very carefully. + +"'You seem to have made a vast impression upon my brother, Arthur,' said +he, 'and I know that he is a pretty shrewd judge. He swears by London, +you know, and I by Birmingham, but this time I shall follow his advice. +Pray consider yourself definitely engaged.' + +"'What are my duties?' I asked. + +"'You will eventually manage the great depot in Paris, which will pour a +flood of English crockery into the shops of one hundred and thirty-four +agents in France. The purchase will be completed in a week, and +meanwhile you will remain in Birmingham and make yourself useful.' + +"'How?' + +"For answer he took a big red book out of a drawer. 'This is a directory +of Paris,' said he, 'with the trades after the names of the people. I +want you to take it home with you, and to mark off all the hardware +sellers with their addresses. It would be of the greatest use to me to +have them.' + +"'Surely, there are classified lists?' I suggested. + +"'Not reliable ones. Their system is different to ours. Stick at it and +let me have the lists by Monday, at twelve. Good-day, Mr. Pycroft; if +you continue to show zeal and intelligence, you will find the company a +good master.' + +"I went back to the hotel with the big book under my arm, and with very +conflicting feelings in my breast. On the one hand I was definitely +engaged, and had a hundred pounds in my pocket. On the other, the look +of the offices, the absence of name on the wall, and other of the points +which would strike a business man had left a bad impression as to the +position of my employers. However, come what might, I had my money, so I +settled down to my task. All Sunday I was kept hard at work, and yet by +Monday I had only got as far as H. I went round to my employer, found +him in the same dismantled kind of room, and was told to keep at it +until Wednesday, and then come again. On Wednesday it was still +unfinished, so I hammered away until Friday--that is, yesterday. Then I +brought it round to Mr. Harry Pinner. + +"'Thank you very much,' said he. 'I fear that I underrated the +difficulty of the task. This list will be of very material assistance to +me.' + +"'It took some time,' said I. + +"'And now,' said he, 'I want you to make a list of the furniture shops, +for they all sell crockery.' + +"'Very good.' + +"'And you can come up to-morrow evening at seven, and let me know how +you are getting on. Don't overwork yourself. A couple of hours at Day's +Music-Hall in the evening would do you no harm after your labours.' He +laughed as he spoke, and I saw with a thrill that his second tooth upon +the left-hand side had been very badly stuffed with gold." + +Sherlock Holmes rubbed his hands with delight, and I stared in +astonishment at our client. + +"You may well look surprised, Dr. Watson, but it is this way," said he. +"When I was speaking to the other chap in London at the time that he +laughed at my not going to Mawson's, I happened to notice that his tooth +was stuffed in this very identical fashion. The glint of the gold in +each case caught my eye, you see. When I put that with the voice and +figure being the same, and only those things altered which might be +changed by a razor or a wig, I could not doubt that it was the same man. +Of course, you expect two brothers to be alike, but not that they should +have the same tooth stuffed in the same way. He bowed me out and I found +myself in the street, hardly knowing whether I was on my head or my +heels. Back I went to my hotel, put my head in a basin of cold water, +and tried to think it out. Why had he sent me from London to Birmingham; +why had he got there before me; and why had he written a letter from +himself to himself? It was altogether too much for me, and I could make +no sense of it. And then suddenly it struck me that what was dark to me +might be very light to Mr. Sherlock Holmes. I had just time to get up to +town by the night train, to see him this morning, and to bring you both +back with me to Birmingham." + +There was a pause after the stockbroker's clerk had concluded his +surprising experience. Then Sherlock Holmes cocked his eye at me, +leaning back on the cushions with a pleased and yet critical face, like +a connoisseur who had just taken his first sip of a comet vintage. + +"Rather fine, Watson, is it not?" said he. "There are points in it which +please me. I think you will agree with me that an interview with Mr. +Arthur Harry Pinner in the temporary offices of the Franco-Midland +Hardware Company, Limited, would be a rather interesting experience for +both of us." + +"But how can we do it?" I asked. + +"Oh, easily enough," said Hall Pycroft, cheerily. "You are two friends +of mine who are in want of a billet, and what could be more natural than +that I should bring you both round to the managing director?" + +"Quite so! Of course!" said Holmes. "I should like to have a look at the +gentleman and see if I can make anything of his little game. What +qualities have you, my friend, which would make your services so +valuable? or is it possible that----" he began biting his nails and +staring blankly out of the window, and we hardly drew another word from +him until we were in New Street. + + * * * * * + +At seven o'clock that evening we were walking, the three of us, down +Corporation Street to the company's offices. + +"It is of no use our being at all before our time," said our client. "He +only comes there to see me apparently, for the place is deserted up to +the very hour he names." + +"That is suggestive," remarked Holmes. + +"By Jove, I told you so!" cried the clerk. "That's he walking ahead of +us there." + +He pointed to a smallish, blonde, well-dressed man, who was bustling +along the other side of the road. As we watched him he looked across at +a boy who was bawling out the latest edition of the evening paper, and, +running over among the cabs and 'buses, he bought one from him. Then +clutching it in his hand he vanished through a doorway. + +"There he goes!" cried Hall Pycroft. "Those are the company's offices +into which he has gone. Come with me and I'll fix it up as easily as +possible." + +Following his lead we ascended five stories, until we found ourselves +outside a half-opened door, at which our client tapped. A voice within +bade us "Come in," and we entered a bare, unfurnished room, such as Hall +Pycroft had described. At the single table sat the man whom we had seen +in the street, with his evening paper spread out in front of him, and as +he looked up at us it seemed to me that I had never looked upon a face +which bore such marks of grief, and of something beyond grief--of a +horror such as comes to few men in a lifetime. His brow glistened with +perspiration, his cheeks were of the dull dead white of a fish's belly, +and his eyes were wild and staring. He looked at his clerk as though he +failed to recognise him, and I could see, by the astonishment depicted +upon our conductor's face, that this was by no means the usual +appearance of his employer. + +[Illustration: "HE LOOKED UP AT US."] + +"You look ill, Mr. Pinner," he exclaimed. + +"Yes, I am not very well," answered the other, making obvious efforts to +pull himself together, and licking his dry lips before he spoke. "Who +are these gentlemen whom you have brought with you?" + +"One is Mr. Harris, of Bermondsey, and the other is Mr. Price, of this +town," said our clerk, glibly. "They are friends of mine, and gentlemen +of experience, but they have been out of a place for some little time, +and they hoped that perhaps you might find an opening for them in the +company's employment." + +"Very possibly! Very possibly!" cried Mr. Pinner, with a ghastly smile. +"Yes, I have no doubt that we shall be able to do something for you. +What is your particular line, Mr. Harris?" + +"I am an accountant," said Holmes. + +"Ah, yes, we shall want something of the sort. And you, Mr. Price?" + +"A clerk," said I. + +"I have every hope that the company may accommodate you. I will let you +know about it as soon as we come to any conclusion. And now I beg that +you will go. For God's sake, leave me to myself!" + +These last words were shot out of him, as though the constraint which he +was evidently setting upon himself had suddenly and utterly burst +asunder. Holmes and I glanced at each other, and Hall Pycroft took a +step towards the table. + +"You forget, Mr. Pinner, that I am here by appointment to receive some +directions from you," said he. + +"Certainly, Mr. Pycroft, certainly," the other answered in a calmer +tone. "You may wait here a moment, and there is no reason why your +friends should not wait with you. I will be entirely at your service in +three minutes, if I might trespass upon your patience so far." He rose +with a very courteous air, and bowing to us he passed out through a door +at the further end of the room, which he closed behind him. + +"What now?" whispered Holmes. "Is he giving us the slip?" + +"Impossible," answered Pycroft. + +"Why so?" + +"That door leads into an inner room." + +"There is no exit?" + +"None." + +"Is it furnished?" + +"It was empty yesterday." + +"Then what on earth can he be doing? There is something which I don't +understand in this matter. If ever a man was three parts mad with +terror, that man's name is Pinner. What can have put the shivers on +him?" + +"He suspects that we are detectives," I suggested. + +"That's it," said Pycroft. + +Holmes shook his head. "He did not turn pale. He _was_ pale when we +entered the room," said he. "It is just possible that----" + +His words were interrupted by a sharp rat-tat from the direction of the +inner door. + +"What the deuce is he knocking at his own door for?" cried the clerk. + +Again and much louder came the rat-tat-tat. We all gazed expectantly at +the closed door. Glancing at Holmes I saw his face turn rigid, and he +leaned forward in intense excitement. Then suddenly came a low gurgling, +gargling sound and a brisk drumming upon woodwork. Holmes sprang +frantically across the room and pushed at the door. It was fastened on +the inner side. Following his example, we threw ourselves upon it with +all our weight. One hinge snapped, then the other, and down came the +door with a crash. Rushing over it we found ourselves in the inner room. + +[Illustration: "WE FOUND OURSELVES IN THE INNER ROOM."] + +It was empty. + +But it was only for a moment that we were at fault. At one corner, the +corner nearest the room which we had left, there was a second door. +Holmes sprang to it and pulled it open. A coat and waistcoat were lying +on the floor, and from a hook behind the door, with his own braces round +his neck, was hanging the managing director of the Franco-Midland +Hardware Company. His knees were drawn up, his head hung at a dreadful +angle to his body, and the clatter of his heels against the door made +the noise which had broken in upon our conversation. In an instant I had +caught him round the waist and held him up, while Holmes and Pycroft +untied the elastic bands which had disappeared between the livid creases +of skin. Then we carried him into the other room, where he lay with a +clay-coloured face, puffing his purple lips in and out with every +breath--a dreadful wreck of all that he had been but five minutes +before. + +"What do you think of him, Watson?" asked Holmes. + +I stooped over him and examined him. + +His pulse was feeble and intermittent, but his breathing grew longer, +and there was a little shivering of his eyelids which showed a thin +white slit of ball beneath. + +"It has been touch and go with him," said I, "but he'll live now. Just +open that window and hand me the water carafe." I undid his collar, +poured the cold water over his face, and raised and sank his arms until +he drew a long natural breath. + +"It's only a question of time now," said I, as I turned away from him. + +Holmes stood by the table with his hands deep in his trousers pockets +and his chin upon his breast. + +"I suppose we ought to call the police in now," said he; "and yet I +confess that I like to give them a complete case when they come." + +"It's a blessed mystery to me," cried Pycroft, scratching his head. +"Whatever they wanted to bring me all the way up here for, and then----" + +"Pooh! All that is clear enough," said Holmes, impatiently. "It is this +last sudden move." + +"You understand the rest, then?" + +"I think that it is fairly obvious. What do you say, Watson?" + +I shrugged my shoulders. + +"I must confess that I am out of my depths," said I. + +"Oh, surely, if you consider the events at first they can only point to +one conclusion." + +"What do you make of them?" + +"Well, the whole thing hinges upon two points. The first is the making +of Pycroft write a declaration by which he entered the service of this +preposterous company. Do you not see how very suggestive that is?" + +"I am afraid I miss the point." + +"Well, why did they want him to do it? Not as a business matter, for +these arrangements are usually verbal, and there was no earthly business +reason why this should be an exception. Don't you see, my young friend, +that they were very anxious to obtain a specimen of your handwriting, +and had no other way of doing it?" + +"And why?" + +"Quite so. Why? When we answer that, we have made some progress with our +little problem. Why? There can be only one adequate reason. Someone +wanted to learn to imitate your writing, and had to procure a specimen +of it first. And now if we pass on to the second point, we find that +each throws light upon the other. That point is the request made by +Pinner that you should not resign your place, but should leave the +manager of this important business in the full expectation that a Mr. +Hall Pycroft, whom he had never seen, was about to enter the office upon +the Monday morning." + +"My God!" cried our client, "what a blind beetle I have been!" + +"Now you see the point about the handwriting. Suppose that someone +turned up in your place who wrote a completely different hand from that +in which you had applied for the vacancy, of course the game would have +been up. But in the interval the rogue learnt to imitate you, and his +position was therefore secure, as I presume that nobody in the office +had ever set eyes upon you?" + +"Not a soul," groaned Hall Pycroft. + +"Very good. Of course, it was of the utmost importance to prevent you +from thinking better of it, and also to keep you from coming into +contact with anyone who might tell you that your double was at work in +Mawson's office. Therefore they gave you a handsome advance on your +salary, and ran you off to the Midlands, where they gave you enough work +to do to prevent your going to London, where you might have burst their +little game up. That is all plain enough." + +"But why should this man pretend to be his own brother?" + +"Well, that is pretty clear also. There are evidently only two of them +in it. The other is personating you at the office. This one acted as +your engager, and then found that he could not find you an employer +without admitting a third person into his plot. That he was most +unwilling to do. He changed his appearance as far as he could, and +trusted that the likeness, which you could not fail to observe, would be +put down to a family resemblance. But for the happy chance of the gold +stuffing your suspicions would probably have never been aroused." + +Hall Pycroft shook his clenched hands in the air. "Good Lord!" he cried. +"While I have been fooled in this way, what has this other Hall Pycroft +been doing at Mawson's? What should we do, Mr. Holmes? Tell me what to +do!" + +"We must wire to Mawson's." + +"They shut at twelve on Saturdays." + +"Never mind; there may be some doorkeeper or attendant----" + +"Ah, yes; they keep a permanent guard there on account of the value of +the securities that they hold. I remember hearing it talked of in the +City." + +[Illustration: "PYCROFT SHOOK HIS CLENCHED HANDS IN THE AIR."] + +"Very good, we shall wire to him, and see if all is well, and if a clerk +of your name is working there. That is clear enough, but what is not so +clear is why at sight of us one of the rogues should instantly walk out +of the room and hang himself." + +"The paper!" croaked a voice behind us. The man was sitting up, blanched +and ghastly, with returning reason in his eyes, and hands which rubbed +nervously at the broad red band which still encircled his throat. + +"The paper! Of course!" yelled Holmes, in a paroxysm of excitement. +"Idiot that I was! I thought so much of our visit that the paper never +entered my head for an instant. To be sure the secret must lie there." +He flattened it out upon the table, and a cry of triumph burst from his +lips. + +"Look at this, Watson!" he cried. "It is a London paper, an early +edition of the _Evening Standard_. Here is what we want. Look at the +headlines--'Crime in the City. Murder at Mawson and Williams'. Gigantic +Attempted Robbery; Capture of the Criminal.' Here, Watson, we are all +equally anxious to hear it, so kindly read it aloud to us." + +It appeared from its position in the paper to have been the one event of +importance in town, and the account of it ran in this way:-- + +"A desperate attempt at robbery, culminating in the death of one man and +the capture of the criminal, occurred this afternoon in the City. For +some time back Mawson and Williams, the famous financial house, have +been the guardians of securities which amount in the aggregate to a sum +of considerably over a million sterling. So conscious was the manager of +the responsibility which devolved upon him in consequence of the great +interests at stake, that safes of the very latest construction have been +employed, and an armed watchman has been left day and night in the +building. It appears that last week a new clerk, named Hall Pycroft, was +engaged by the firm. This person appears to have been none other than +Beddington, the famous forger and cracksman, who, with his brother, has +only recently emerged from a five years' spell of penal servitude. By +some means, which are not yet clear, he succeeded in winning, under a +false name, this official position in the office, which he utilized in +order to obtain mouldings of various locks, and a thorough knowledge of +the position of the strong room and the safes. + +"It is customary at Mawson's for the clerks to leave at midday on +Saturday. Sergeant Tuson, of the City Police, was somewhat surprised +therefore to see a gentleman with a carpet bag come down the steps at +twenty minutes past one. His suspicions being aroused, the sergeant +followed the man, and with the aid of Constable Pollock succeeded, after +a most desperate resistance, in arresting him. It was at once clear that +a daring and gigantic robbery had been committed. Nearly a hundred +thousand pounds worth of American railway bonds, with a large amount of +scrip in other mines and companies, were discovered in the bag. On +examining the premises the body of the unfortunate watchman was found +doubled up and thrust into the largest of the safes, where it would not +have been discovered until Monday morning had it not been for the prompt +action of Sergeant Tuson. The man's skull had been shattered by a blow +from a poker, delivered from behind. There could be no doubt that +Beddington had obtained entrance by pretending that he had left +something behind him, and having murdered the watchman, rapidly rifled +the large safe, and then made off with his booty. His brother, who +usually works with him, has not appeared in this job, so far as can at +present be ascertained, although the police are making energetic +inquiries as to his whereabouts." + +[Illustration: "GLANCING AT THE HAGGARD FIGURE."] + +"Well, we may save the police some little trouble in that direction," +said Holmes, glancing at the haggard figure huddled up by the window. +"Human nature is a strange mixture, Watson. You see that even a villain +and a murderer can inspire such affection that his brother turns to +suicide when he learns that his neck is forfeited. However, we have no +choice as to our action. The doctor and I will remain on guard, Mr. +Pycroft, if you will have the kindness to step out for the police." + + + + +_Beauties._ + +[Illustration: FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY MESSRS. ELLIOTT AND FRY, BAKER +STREET, W.] + +[Illustration: Miss Webster + +Madame Shirmer-Mapleson + +Madame Sigrid Arnoldson] + +[Illustration: Miss ALICE LETHBRIDGE + +Miss Flo Henderson + +Mdlle. Del Torre] + + + + +_Hands._ + +BY BECKLES WILLSON. + +II. + + +[Illustration: CASTING A HAND FROM LIFE. + +(_Studio of Mr. Onslow Ford, A.R.A._)] + +The sculptor's practice of casting in plaster the hands of his client is +of comparatively recent growth. The artist of the old school--and he is +followed in this by many of the new--disdained so mechanical a means to +fidelity. Very few, indeed, among the British painters and sculptors of +the past will be found who took the pains to see that the hands or even +the figures of their counterfeit presentments on canvas or in marble +tallied with the originals. Sir Joshua Reynolds, as we know, would have +regarded this as the essence of finical vulgarity. + +The principal drawback in making casts from life is to be found in the +discomfort, not to speak of the actual torment, it often causes the +sitter by the adhesion of the plaster to the hairy growth of the skin. +Various methods are resorted to with a view to obviate this, and in some +cases successfully. + +The hands of Thomas Carlyle--stubborn, combative, mystical--which appear +in the present paper, will amply repay the closest scrutiny. These hands +are unwontedly realistic, and emphasize their distinctiveness in every +vein and wrinkle. They appear to be themselves endowed with each of +those various qualities which caused their possessor to be regarded as +one of the most puissant figures in the century's literature. The hand +is not one, to use Charles Lamb's expressive phrase, to be looked at +_standing on one leg_. It deserves a keener examination. + +[Illustration: THOMAS CARLYLE'S HANDS.] + +Mention has been made of the hand of a distinguished prelate, Cardinal +Manning. It will not be out of place to compare it with the hands of +the late Archbishop of Canterbury, which were cast posthumously. +Scarcely anything could be more antagonistic. The nervous personality of +Manning is wanting here. The hands of the Archbishop seem more to belong +to the order of the benevolent Bishop Myriel than to that of the +enthusiast and ascetic. + +[Illustration: THE LATE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY'S HANDS.] + +[Illustration: LORD PALMERSTON'S HAND.] + +Plenty of opportunity to study the hands of statesmen is afforded in +those of Lord Palmerston, Count Cavour, Sir Stratford Canning, and Lord +Melbourne. The fallacy of attaching special qualities to any distinctive +trait in the hand of an eminent person is most readily discernible here. +One should avoid _a posteriori_ reasoning. It would be the same for a +physiognomist to argue a man a statesman from a facial resemblance to +Mr. Gladstone, or that he is fit to write tragedies because he owns the +exact facial proportions of Sardou. + +[Illustration: COUNT CAVOUR'S HANDS.] + +[Illustration: SIR STRATFORD CANNING'S HANDS.] + +Among these the hand of Lord Palmerston will stand forth most +prominently to the reader. Its characteristics are, on the whole, +sufficiently obvious, in the appended cast, to be thought accentuated. +It might not unprofitably be noted in connection with those of Stratford +Canning, Viscount de Redcliffe (for fifty years British Ambassador in +India), whose statue by Boehm, with Tennyson's famous epitaph: + + Thou third great Canning, stand among our best + And noblest, now thy long day's work hath ceased, + Here, silent in our Minster of the West, + Who wert the voice of England in the East! + +is in a nave of the Abbey. With these should be joined the hand of +Viscount Melbourne, the predecessor of Sir Robert Peel in the +Premiership, and the great statesman after whom the city of Melbourne +was named, in order to range this British galaxy against the hands of +the Italian patriots, Count Cavour and Joseph Garibaldi, whose labours +resulted in that master stroke of latter-day politics, the unification +of Italy. Those of the former were cast separately in different +positions, it being the intention of the sculptor for the right hand to +rest lightly upon a column and the left to grasp a roll of parchment. +Garibaldi's hand may be described as both virile and nervous. + +[Illustration: LORD MELBOURNE'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: HAND OF JOHN BURNS, M.P.] + +[Illustration: HAND OF JOSEPH ARCH, M.P.] + +[Illustration: GARIBALDI'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: SIR E. BOEHM'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: HAND OF JOHN JACKSON, R.A.] + +Another type of hand is exemplified in the hands of Messrs. Joseph Arch +and John Burns. Both of these belong to self-made men, accustomed to +hard manual labour from childhood. Their powerful ruggedness is +admirably set off by the exquisite symmetry and feminine proportions of +the hand of John Jackson a Royal Academician and great painter of his +time. For symmetry, combined with grace, this hand is not surpassed. + +The hand of Sir Edgar Boehm was cast by his assistant, Professor +Lanteri, for the former's statue of Sir Francis Drake. It will be +observed that the fingers grasp a pair of compasses, the original of +those which appear in the bronze at Plymouth. + +[Illustration: LADY BLESSINGTON'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: MRS. CARLYLE'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: MRS. THORNYCROFT'S HAND.] + +Reverting to the ladies again, interest will, no doubt, centre upon the +hand of the celebrated Lady Blessington, accounted the wittiest hostess +of her day; and not least attractive will appear Mrs. Carlyle's and +those of Mrs. Thornycroft and the celebrated Madame Tussaud. The wife of +the Chelsea sage was herself, as is known, an authoress of no mean +repute. + +A comparison of the hand of Mr. Bancroft with that of Mr. Irving, given +last month, will prove interesting, if not instructive. + +[Illustration: MME. TUSSAUD'S HAND.] + +It has been said that the hands of Carlyle are characteristic; that they +possess, with those of Wilkie Collins, the merit of being precisely the +sort of hands one would expect to see so labelled. We now present a +third candidate for this merit of candour in casts of the hands of the +notorious Arthur Orton, better known under the sobriquet of the +Claimant. They are pulseless, chubby, oblique: yet they are remarkable. +In scrutinizing them, it is difficult not to feel that one looks upon +hands very remote indeed from the ordinary. + +[Illustration: MR. BANCROFT'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: HANDS OF THE TICHBORNE CLAIMANT.] + +Next we look upon the hand of a giant even superior to Anak, in +Loushkin, the Russian. But physically great as was the Muscovite, it is +to be doubted if he really attained the world-wide celebrity of the +little American, Charles Stratton (otherwise known as "Tom Thumb"), +whose extremity serves as a foil to his rival for exhibition honours. + +Another Boehm relic requires some explanation. Every visitor to the +Metropolis has doubtless seen and admired the heroic equestrian statue +of the Duke of Wellington, opposite Apsley House. They may even have +noticed the right hand, which is represented as lightly holding the rein +of the animal. The appended was cast from the original model in clay of +the hand of the Duke, no cast direct from life ever having been +executed. + +[Illustration: THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S HAND.] + +It is sufficient to say that the subjoined hand and arm of Lady +Cardigan, wife of the noted Crimean warrior, was one greatly admired by +Sir Edgar, in whose studio it hung for many years. In like manner will +the hand of Lady Richard Grosvenor be found the possessor of many +beautiful and interesting traits. + +[Illustration: THE HANDS OF "TOM THUMB" AND LOUSHKIN, THE RUSSIAN +GIANT.] + +[Illustration: LADY CARDIGAN'S HAND.] + +A member not altogether dissimilar to that of the musician Liszt is the +hand of Carl von Angeli, Court painter to Her Majesty, and like that +also in setting at naught the conclusions too often arrived at by the +chirognomist. For there is here breadth without symmetry, and an utter +absence of the poise which we look for in the ideal hand of the artist. +It is instructive to compare it to the hand of the painter, John +Jackson. + +[Illustration: LADY RICHARD GROSVENOR'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: CARL ANGELI'S HAND.] + +Observe the massive, masculine fingers and disproportionately small +finger-nails in the hands of Professor Weekes, the sculptor. There is +scarcely any perceptible tapering at the third joint, and the fingers +all exhibit very little prominence of knuckle or contour. It is anything +but an artistic hand, and yet its owner was a man of the keenest +artistic perceptions. + +In Frederick Baring's (Lord Ashburton) we find the thick-set fingers, +and what the chirognomist calls the "lack of manual repose," of the +great financier. But as his lordship was statesman with a talent for +debate as well as man of commerce, it will not unlikely be found that +the hand presented combines the both temperaments. + +[Illustration: PROFESSOR WEEKES' HANDS.] + +[Illustration: LORD ASHBURTON'S HAND.] + +I have been enabled, through the kindness of Mr. J. T. Tussaud, to +embellish the present collection by an ancient cast of the hand of the +Comte de Lorge, a famous prisoner in the Bastille. This cast was taken, +together with a death mask, after death, by the great-grandmother of the +sculptor, to whom both relics have descended. + +The Queen's hands, which appeared in the last issue of this Magazine, +were cast by John Francis, a famous sculptor of the day. Mr. Hamo +Thorneycroft, R.A., writes me to say that "While the moulds were being +made Her Majesty removed all the rings from her fingers _except_ the +wedding ring. This she was most anxious should not come off, and was in +considerable fear lest the moulding process might remove it." + +[Illustration: COMTE DE LORGE'S HAND.] + + +[_The original drawings of the illustrations in this Magazine are always +on view, and on sale, in the Art Gallery at these offices, which is open +to the public without charge._] + + + + +[Illustration: ROSITA] + +FROM THE FRENCH OF PITRE CHEVALIER. + + +I. + + +It was harvest day at a house in the little village of Panola, in +Castile, on the 25th of August, 1838. The great sheaves of corn had been +borne, amidst universal rejoicing, to their resting-place in the +granary. All the village inhabitants had shared in this pleasant task, +and now, following an ancient custom, they had erected a trophy composed +of a few last sheaves of corn, round which the young girls and men began +to dance gaily, to the sound of guitars and castanets. + +Within the house, in a room which overlooked this charming scene, were +two men. + +The first, seated at a table, was an old man over sixty, but enfeebled +rather by cares than by age. His venerable head, crowned with white +hair, drooped upon his breast with patriarchal dignity. The old man, who +had been a soldier in the Spanish army, was Don Pedro de la Sarga, a +Castilian as noble as he was poor. His companion was his son, Don +Stephano, a young man of twenty, considered the most accomplished man in +Panola. He was handsome; his warm, brown skin, his large, black eyes, +the regular features, which wore that expression of national pride which +distinguishes a Castilian from any other race, and his raven-black hair +were eminently the Spanish type in all its grace and haughtiness. The +young man wore the Spanish holiday costume, the richness of which has +made travellers exclaim, more than once, that no European prince is +clothed like a simple peasant of Castile. Stephano had on a short vest +of black cloth, lined with yellow silk, ornamented with fringes and +bunches of ribbons; an embroidered shirt with open collar revealing a +waistcoat with gilt buttons, knee-breeches of black silk confined at the +knees by bunches of ribbons, shoes and gaiters of fine brown leather, +while a black felt hat with drooping plume completed his costume. + +Stephano's gloomy face contrasted with his gay attire. He leant against +the open window, carelessly holding in his hand a bouquet of faded +jasmine, whilst he gazed with melancholy eyes upon the festive scene +before him, and only by a shake of the head and a sad smile replied to +the light badinage of the dancers as they passed the window. But now and +then his eyes lighted up, and he sighed deeply as a certain dancer, +prettier than the rest, approached him. + +"How pretty she is!" he murmured, as he followed her retreating form. + +"Stephano!" called out the old man, who had been watching his son for +some time. + +"How gracefully she dances," continued the handsome dreamer, wrapt in +his thoughts. + +"Stephano!" repeated the old man. + +"Yes, father," cried Stephano, with a start, and coming forward. "Do you +wish to speak to me?" + +"From your mysterious air and endless sighs these last few days, +Stephano, I conclude that you are in love," said his father. + +"In love!" stammered the young man. "You think I am in love?" + +"I do not think, my son--I am sure of it; and I have only one reproach +to make to you, and that is that you have not made me a confidant of +your secret before." + +"You shall know all, father," said Stephano, drawing a chair close to +Don Pedro. + +"For the last month," he continued, "I have had in my heart a love which +nothing can subdue, and the object of my passion is a young girl here, a +glance from whose eyes is worth more to me than all the world besides; +but she shuns my love, and on every occasion strives to avoid me. She +hardly permits me to speak to her for fear that the passion she reads in +my eyes will break into words." + +"Bah!" said the old man, merrily; "it is very likely that she shuns you +for the reason of your not opening your mouth; you scare the young girl +with your morose airs." + +"Oh, if that were only true," sighed the disconsolate swain. + +"Now," said the old man, "there only remains for me to know the name of +my future daughter-in-law." + +The young man was about to pronounce the name which already trembled on +his lips when a sudden clamour interrupted the most interesting portion +of this conversation. The peasants, followed by the partners, were +rushing towards the house, and in the twinkling of an eye the room was +filled with the animated and noisy throng. The new-comers wore rich +costumes, more or less copies of Stephano's; some carried guitars, +others castanets, while most of them leaned upon tall peeled rods, +forked at the top, and ornamented with ribbons of all colours; each +carried on the left side of his vest a bouquet similar to that of +Stephano. The young girls in their silken bodices, short skirts, red +stockings and mantillas, rattled their castanets as they entered with +their partners. The joyous crowd surrounded Don Pedro, whilst cries of +"Rosita! Rosita!" resounded from all sides. + +"Well, well, my children, what is it you want?" demanded the village +Nestor of his clamorous audience. + +"We want Mlle. Rosita," they repeated. + +"What, my niece? But is she not with you? I thought it was she whom you +were leading just now round the corn sheaves." + +"That is true," replied one of the foremost of the crowd; "everything +went smoothly until we wished her to take part in our usual ceremony of +'The Maiden's Choice.'" + +"Did you explain to her," asked the old man, "what is the ceremony?" + +"Yes, we told her all that was necessary: that it is an old custom in +Panola on harvest day, after having escorted the daughter of the house +round the last sheaves of corn, for all her admirers in the village to +present her, each in his turn, with a bouquet; that she must then choose +the one she loves amongst them by retaining his bouquet, whilst the +others are rejected. She answered us by saying that she had only been in +Panola a few months, and was therefore not forced to adopt our customs, +and leaving us with these words she fled from us and escaped through the +little granary door." + +"The little shrew!" Don Pedro exclaimed, who, like an amiable old man, +was always on the side of the young folk. "But my friends," he added, +"you are but poor Lotharios to be flouted by a young girl; you must +follow her and bring her back." + +"That is just what we have done; but one cannot catch a bird without +also having wings. She seemed to fly as we followed her, and on reaching +the granary she entered and slammed the door in our faces; so we have +come, as a last resource, to you, Don Pedro, to ask her to comply with +our wishes." + +"You are right," replied the old man, with all the gravity of a judge, +"you must be satisfied at once"; and he looked round for Don Stephano, +who was standing more moody than ever behind a giggling group of young +peasants. + +"My son," he said, "go and bring your cousin here. If she refuses, tell +her that I particularly wish her to come." + +"I will go, father," said Stephano, after a second's hesitation; and he +went out. + +There was a slight pause; then shouts and acclamations and rattling of +castanets burst forth, as Rosita, with downcast eyes, entered the room, +led by Stephano. Well might they welcome with fervour such a charming +creature. Rosita was just eighteen. She wore upon her golden brown hair +a black lace mantilla, which contrasted with her creamy complexion and +the liquid depth of her large brown eyes. A brown velvet bodice showed +off to perfection her slight yet rounded figure; and her silk skirts +just revealed her pretty ankles and small feet in their silk stockings +and neat shoes. + +Rosita was a native of Navarre. She had quitted Tafalla, her native +village, on the death of her father and mother, who had been victims of +the Civil War which at this time desolated the country, and had been +conducted not without peril to her uncle's house at Panola, in which she +had since taken up her abode. + +"Rosita," said Don Pedro to his niece, taking her hand, "I have made +your apologies to your friends for the trick you have played them. It is +your turn now to atone for your misdeed, by submitting to an old custom. +Among the brave Castilians who surround you there are many suitors for +your hand. There must be one among them whom you secretly favour. Your +choice is entirely free, and even the favoured one after the ceremony +will then have only the right to please you and to merit your hand." + +"But, uncle----" faltered the young girl. + +"I will take no denial, my dear," interrupted the old man. + +Rosita strove in vain to protest, but her imperturbable uncle would not +listen, and gave a sign to the peasants to begin the ceremony, in which +he seemed to take as keen an interest as they did themselves. Thereupon +the majority of the young men, darting furious glances of jealousy at +one another, prepared for the contest. Rosita, at her uncle's side, +stood at one end of the room. At her right and left were grouped the +young peasant girls, admiring without envy the queen of the _fete_, and +forming her court. Stephano stood behind with dejected mien. Those with +guitars touched their instruments lightly now and then, and upon this +scene, worthy of the pencil of Leopold Roberts, the sun, now setting at +the horizon, cast a calm and solemn light. + +The first peasant who came forward was a tall young man, with a ruddy +complexion. + +"My name is Geronimo Caldaroz, and I am twenty-five. It has been the +talk of the village why I did not marry, and it has been said it was +because I had never yet seen a maiden beautiful enough to please me. But +now I have found her; it is you, Rosita. Will you accept my bouquet?" He +presented his bouquet to the young girl, who blushed as she received it, +and then let it fall. + +"Refused! Refused!" whispered the spectators, whilst the young man +disappeared into the crowd, and a second one took his place. But the +same thing occurred, and with the same result. Soon the jasmine bouquets +covered the ground round the young girl's feet. The rejected suitors +multiplied so fast that they could no longer hide their discomfiture +amongst the others. Restless and smiling, Don Pedro wondered why his +niece was so severe, and the remaining suitors seemed to hesitate +whether to advance into the lists or not. Then the last three timidly +advanced one by one toward Rosita. The two first were not even heard to +the end of their speech, and then all eyes were fixed with interest upon +the last. Rosita let him finish his discourse, took his bouquet, which +she scrutinized demurely, and then uttering a deep sigh let it fall upon +the amorous trophy piled at her feet. + +A murmur rose amongst the stupefied villagers. Don Pedro approached his +niece. + +"Well, my child," he said, "have you thought of what you have done?" + +"Yes, uncle," Rosita replied. "Did you not tell me yourself that I was +perfectly free?" + +"Free to choose, without doubt; but not to send all your suitors away." + +Rosita cast down her eyes and made no reply. + +"Pardon me, father, but there still remains one," said Stephano, +breaking the silence. + +"Where is he?" everyone asked at once. + +"Here he is." + +Rosita trembled so violently that she was compelled to lean for support +upon her uncle's arm, and Don Pedro, more astonished than anyone, rushed +towards his son. + +"What, Stephano?" he said joyfully. "It is your cousin whom----" + +"Yes, father," replied the young man. "It is she whom I love." + +In the midst of such general interest Stephano, pale with emotion, +advanced towards his cousin. + +"Rosita, I love you," he said, simply. "Will you keep this bouquet which +I offer to you?" + +The young man pronounced these words with a voice so sweet and +expressive, and the gesture with which he offered the symbolic flower +was so imploring and passionate, that a sympathetic thrill ran through +the spectators, and tears bedimmed Don Pedro's eyes. + +[Illustration: "'ROSITA, I LOVE YOU,' HE SAID."] + +Rosita, not less pale than her cousin, took the bouquet with a trembling +hand, gazed upon it tenderly, then made a movement as if to throw it +down, paused, and then at last, with head turned aside, let it fall. + +"Santa Maria! He also!" cried the crowd, mournfully. + +"Do not condemn me without hearing my justification," cried Rosita, +turning to Don Pedro. + +"Your justification?" repeated Stephano, with relief. + +"Uncle," she said, after a pause, "there is a secret which I may have +been wrong in concealing from you hitherto, but I must confide it to you +alone." + +"To me!" cried the astonished old man. + +"I will come with you at once," and, seizing Rosita's hand, he led her +away, making signs to the peasants as he did so to disperse. + +Stephano strolled out to breathe the air upon the hills, whose shadows +were beginning to slope down into the valley. The sky was lighted only +by the afterglow of the red, sunken sun; the evening breeze carried +along in the warm air the perfume of the jasmine flowers and orange +groves in bloom, and no sound was heard but the music of guitars and +castanets, mingled sometimes with the faint tinkle of sheep bells. + +When Stephano re-entered he found his father and cousin in the lower +hall. Rosita, on perceiving him, made a pretext for rising, and +hurriedly left the room. Don Pedro and his son were left alone. + +"One word, father," said Stephano. "Does Rosita love me, and will she +also become my wife?" + +"You must forget Rosita," replied the old man. "You must tear from your +heart even the remembrance of your love." + +The young man abandoned himself to despair. + +"I shall never forget her," he said, passionately. "My love for Rosita +will only cease with my life." + +And he rushed from the room, leaving the old man wondering. + + +II. + +For some weeks the inmates of Don Pedro's house were forced to remain +prisoners, for rebel soldiers filled the neighbouring villages, and +troops of guerillas were being mustered to put them to flight. It was a +morning, early in September, just after the sun had peered above the +horizon. A fine rain had fallen during the night, and the drops which +rested on the foliage sparkled like myriads of diamonds. The streets +were as yet deserted; some muleteers alone passed along them at +intervals. Don Pedro's house was the only one astir. + +Don Stephano, according to his custom, had risen with the dawn, and was +now alone in the lower hall, standing opposite the window which +overlooked the high road. He was occupied in fixing an iron lance upon a +wooden rod, at which he gazed abstractedly. + +The sound of a voice filling the air with song attracted his attention; +it was singing the Moorish romance of "Adlemar and Adalifa," and to the +quick perception of a Spanish ear was marked with a slight Ultramontaine +accent, which Stephano discerned like a true Castilian. Without moving +he listened to the song which awoke the echoes of the valley. The +amorous words recalled to Stephano's mind the thought of Rosita, and he +sighed deeply. Then he listened anew to the voice, which grew nearer and +nearer, and in which, in spite of its strange accent, he seemed to hear +an understrain of singular emotion. His conjectures were not long, +however. A man enveloped in a large mantle peered in at the open window, +and after throwing a rapid glance behind him leapt into the room. +Stephano recoiled at the sight of such a strange visitor, and felt +tempted to seize the man, whom he took at first for a robber. Then a +troop of horsemen dashed past the house. The stranger gave a sigh of +relief. Then for the first time he caught sight of Stephano. + +"I must be careful," the soldier muttered, as he drew his cloak more +carefully round him. "This Spaniard does not look over benevolent." + +"Who can this man be?" thought Stephano, as he instinctively put his +hand on his pistols; but on seeing the stranger advance towards him with +a pleasant smile, he paused. + +"Noble Castilian," said the stranger, "are you a man to oblige an enemy +in peril, and who for a quarter of an hour wishes you no more harm than +if you were his brother?" + +Before replying, Stephano scrutinized his questioner. He saw before him +a man of about twenty-eight, with a frank face and light hair and +moustache. His accent, and the blue pantaloons which appeared under the +brown mantle, proclaimed him a Frenchman. + +[Illustration: "THE STRANGER."] + +"No unarmed man is my enemy," replied Stephano, "and from the moment my +roof was over your head you became my guest." + +"Shake hands on it! You are a fine fellow," cried the soldier, holding +out his hand. At the same time he drew aside his mantle, and Stephano +recognised the uniform worn by the French volunteers of Don Carlos's +army. "Now, if you have a drop of anything to drink handy, I will tell +you in a few words what has brought me here." + +Stephano opened the sideboard, and brought out a bottle and glasses. The +soldier wiped his moustache as he began. + +"You see before you," he said, with frank abruptness, "Charles +Dulaurier, a soldier by birth and profession, lieutenant in the +Grenadiers of His Majesty Charles V.--pardon me, Don Carlos. Being +stationed some few miles from here, I asked for leave of absence this +morning to join some troops which (pardon me) are going to make a raid +upon this very village this morning. But, thanks to my foolhardiness in +starting off alone, I soon found myself in the hands of guerillas. I +escaped. They pursued me. But I, though alone in a strange country and +unarmed, led them a nice dance for half an hour. I was just about to +fall again into their hands when I came in sight of this house. I duped +them by my ruse of pitching my voice in such a manner as to lead them to +think I was beyond the village, whilst I at the same time took refuge +here. To conclude, my worthy fellow, no doubt the guerillas are not +blind, and not finding any trace of me upon the route, will return to +Panola. Consequently, if you are a host to my liking you will----" + +"Conceal you," said Stephano, quickly. "You are right!" and he glanced +round with uneasiness. The lieutenant struck him on the shoulder. "One +minute," he said; "the guerillas cannot reappear for half an hour. This +little expedition, as you may imagine, was not my only motive for coming +to Panola, and I must again abuse your patience in asking you some +questions upon a certain subject which is the motive of my expedition." + +"Go on," replied Stephano, with resignation. + +"I came here to look for a young girl," said the Frenchman, twisting his +moustache, "and as, perhaps, you will be so good as to give me some +information on this point, it would be better for you to know the story. +Last year my regiment, after a vigorous resistance, entered a village in +Navarre." + +"A village in Navarre?" repeated Stephano, and his brow darkened. + +"One house had been so well defended, indeed, that it was found +necessary to surround it, and our infuriated soldiers, drunk with +carnage, determined to massacre everyone within. I luckily surprised +them as they drew their sabres upon two poor old creatures and their +young daughter. I threw myself between the victims and their butchers; +the wretches turned upon me and I fell wounded by a bayonet thrust, but +they were saved. The kind people who owed me their lives bore me to +their house, and gave me every care. The young girl watched at my +bedside for more than a fortnight. Briefly the beauty, the tenderness of +the little girl, won my heart. Losing no time, I declared my passion. +She whispered, blushing, that I might speak to her parents. As soon as I +was well enough to walk, I hastened to the worthy old man, who, after +the shock he had received, became mortally ill, and felt his end +approach. I had no sooner asked him for his daughter's hand than he +exclaimed, 'God be praised! I shall not now die without having +recompensed our deliverer.' At the same time he took the young girl's +hand and mine, and, after making us exchange rings, clasped them +together. Then he stretched forth his trembling hands above our heads to +bless us, whilst on our knees by the bedside we swore eternal fidelity +to each other. Three days after the good man died, and the same day my +regiment left for Castile. Seven months passed without my hearing any +news from my betrothed, and it was only by chance I learned that on her +mother's death she had quitted Navarre to take up her abode in her +uncle's house at Panola. + +"But what is the matter?" said the lieutenant, as Stephano rose +hurriedly. + +"I know enough," replied the young man in a hollow voice. "The village +was Tafalla, and the young girl's name is Rosita." + +"But what is there in that?" cried the lieutenant, who understood +nothing of Stephano's emotion. "You know Rosita? She is here? You are +silent. Heavens! Is she dead--or married?" + +"No, no," replied Stephano, with an effort. "Rosita is here. No doubt +she loves you and watches for your return with impatience." + +"Where, then, shall I find my betrothed?" + +Stephano was about to reply to this question when the tramp of horses +was heard. It was the troop returning. + +"Softly!" whispered Dulaurier as he crept towards the window. "Yes, +these are my friends. Where will you hide me?" + +Stephano regarded him with a savage gleam in his eyes and muttered to +himself, "This man comes here to blast my happiness, and I must protect +his life at the peril of my own." + +"What am I to do?" repeated Dulaurier. + +"Take this dagger," said Stephano, "put on your mantle and follow me." +He unfastened a little door which opened upon a staircase which led into +the garden, and descended, followed by Dulaurier. They stole along +behind a thick hedge of hawthorn until they came to the trees of a +little orchard, from which rose the roof of a ruined summer-house. On +reaching this spot Stephano installed the lieutenant so that he could +watch both the road and the garden; then having arranged upon the course +they should take, Stephano hastened back to the house. + +[Illustration: "THEY STOLE ALONG."] + +Don Pedro was in the lower hall, alone, when his son entered. + +"I have a request to make to you," said the young man, clasping his +father's hand convulsively. "I want you to let me start at once to join +my brothers and to fight for Spain." + +"Can you then leave your cousin?" said Don Pedro, sadly. "And you do not +know----" + +"I know more than you, father, more than Rosita herself about this +affair," interrupted Stephano. "Is not Rosita betrothed to a French +volunteer in Don Carlos's army, and is this not the secret she confided +to you on harvest day?" + +"It is true. But how have you discovered it?" + +"From a man flying from the pursuit of guerillas; no other than the man +himself, Lieutenant Charles Dulaurier!" + +"Is it possible?" exclaimed the stupefied old man. + +"You see, father, that it is absolutely necessary for me to go," cried +Stephano. "I cannot wait until Rosita and Dulaurier are united. Their +happiness would be more than I could bear, and I have thought of a plan +by which the lieutenant can be saved without putting off my departure. I +shall join the troop of guerillas who are seeking Dulaurier in the +village. Seeing me become one of themselves their suspicions will be +lulled, and I shall save my rival by departing with his enemies." + +"You are right," replied his father, after a painful pause, but he could +not utter a word more. + +The young man proceeded to take down from the wall his pistols and his +gun; he placed the former in his belt and the latter on his shoulder, +took his hat and stepped forward to bid his father farewell. But as he +threw himself into the arms of the weeping old man, the door opened and +Rosita entered. + +The young girl glanced quickly from one to the other, and then her eyes +remained fixed on Stephano. + +"What are you going to do?" she asked, examining his equipment. + +"I am going away," replied Stephano. "Farewell, Rosita, be happy. +Farewell, father," he added, embracing Don Pedro. + +"He is going," said Rosita, her eyes dim with tears, "without one +friendly smile, without one clasp of his hand. Oh! Stephano," she +exclaimed, springing forward. "You cannot part from me thus!" + +"You are keeping me!" said the bewildered young man. + +"Yes," she replied, seizing his hand. "Stay, Stephano, do not go. I +implore you!" + +"Remain!" cried the young man, passionately. "Remain to see you in the +arms of another? Never!" + +As he moved towards the door, Rosita sprang towards him with +outstretched arms. "And what if it is you whom I love, Stephano? What if +I have never loved anyone but you?" A thunderbolt would hardly have +produced more effect than did these words. + +"You love me?" he repeated, approaching his cousin. "Rosita, for mercy's +sake, repeat those words once more, so that I may be sure of having +heard aright." + +"Yes, I love you," repeated the young girl, tenderly; "no one but you! +Will you stay now?" + +"For ever, if you wish it!" cried the enraptured youth, throwing down +his gun and pistols. "Look at me, Rosita, that I may read in your eyes +that word which gives me life, and which I have waited for so long. How +blind and foolish I have been! But that will be all right now, will it +not, my beloved?" As he spoke he embraced her passionately. By both of +them the world was forgotten. + +Through the open window came the clink of spurs and rattling of sabres. +This sound, to which Stephano and Rosita were deaf, struck on the ear of +Don Pedro and paralyzed him with terror. + +"Stephano!" he cried at last. "Remember Lieutenant Dulaurier!" + +[Illustration: "REMEMBER LIEUTENANT DULAURIER!"] + +"Ah!" groaned Stephano, rudely torn from his ecstasy of happiness; and +he fixed his gaze upon his cousin. + +The girl had not even heard Don Pedro. + +"Rosita," said her lover, "you say you love me, but you have a +_fiance!_" + +"Dulaurier!" cried the startled girl. "Great Heaven! pardon me, I had +forgotten." + +"If this man," continued Stephano, "came here to claim your promise, you +would reply, would you not, that friendship alone, not love, had drawn +you towards him, and that your hand, promised when you hardly knew what +you did, would now be given without your heart?" + +"Yes, that is what I should answer; but he is not likely to come here, +Stephano." + +"And what if he were here already?" asked an impressive voice. + +Don Pedro at the same time stepped forward between the young people, and +before the severe face of the Spaniard their eyes drooped. + +"Father!" faltered the young man. + +"Silence!" cried the old man. "Your duty is clear. What if Dulaurier +were in the house, Rosita--what if, more faithful than you, he had come +to claim his promise, made at the death-bed of your father? I ask you +what you would answer." + +Trembling and submissive as a criminal before his judge, the young girl +turned her eyes from Stephano to Don Pedro. + +"I should reply to Lieutenant Dulaurier that, before God and man, I am +his betrothed bride, and that while he lives no other can be my +husband." + +"Come then, my child, prepare to receive your _fiance_," and Don Pedro +held out his hand to his niece to lead her away. + +"You are destroying my happiness!" cried Stephano. + +"But in return I give you back your honour," replied Don Pedro. "Look +after the lieutenant, for here come the guerillas!" and he went out. + +"What a dream, and what an awakening!" murmured Stephano as he was left +alone. "Rosita vows she loves me, and at the same time declares she will +never be mine while Dulaurier lives. _While he lives!_ And I must take +upon myself the peril of saving him, when I have only to let him----Oh, +how despair tempts us to horrible deeds! Is there time to fly, to quit +this spot where each thought is torture: to hasten and join the +guerillas before they enter the house? For, alas! if they enter now and +demand where their enemy is--by Heaven! I shall not have the strength to +resist--I must fly!" + +Picking up his gun and pistols he rushed towards the door, but recoiled +at the sight of a man in the uniform of a captain of guerillas, who by a +gesture forced him to pause. + +[Illustration: "IT IS TOO LATE!"] + +"Malediction--it is too late!" murmured the young man, as he dropped +upon a chair, and let his unheeded weapons fall to the ground. + +"Two sentinels before each door and window," called out the captain to +the soldiers who followed him. "This is the last house in which our +prisoner could take refuge," he continued, striking impatiently the butt +end of his rifle upon the ground. "Search well, comrades; you know he +who takes the Frenchman prisoner is to have the honour of firing the +first shot upon him, and is also to receive twenty douros for reward." +Thereupon he advanced into the room. "Well, my good fellow," he said to +Stephano; "what are you going to do with these weapons? Are they to +defend yourself or to protect the officer whom you have hidden here?" + +"No one is hidden in this house," replied the young man, with the +courage which peril bestows. "The La Sargas are known throughout the +country to be devoted to Spain and the Queen. I have three brothers in +the national army, and I have just picked up these weapons with the +intention of joining your troops." + +The captain looked at him with a sneering smile. Then he turned to his +companions, who had just returned from searching the house. + +"Well, have you found anything?" + +"Only a young girl and an old man," was the reply. + +"Bring the old man here," said the captain; then he turned to Stephano. +"And you, sir, go with my lieutenant and these three men, and show them +every room there is"; then he murmured in the lieutenant's ear, +slipping at the same time a purse of gold into his hand: "Spare neither +threats nor persuasion to gain this young man over to our side. Whatever +it costs, I must recapture our prisoner." + +Stephano felt tempted to resist these orders, but he reflected that this +would only draw suspicion upon him, and he led the way up the stairs, +which were placed in a corner of the room. + +At the same time Don Pedro entered, guarded by two soldiers and leaning +on his staff. Then an interval ensued, and the minutes flew past. +Suddenly a pistol shot was heard. Everyone gave a start of alarm. Then +one of the guards who had gone out with Stephano came rushing down the +stairs and into the room. + +"The bird is snared, or will be in a few minutes," he cried. "Our +prisoner," he continued, pointing through the window, "is in that +building which you see at the bottom of the garden." + +"How do you know this?" asked the captain. + +"From the young man who is upstairs with the lieutenant." + +"From Stephano!" cried the old man, growing pale with horror. + +"Ah, ah!" laughed the captain, "your son does not seem very hard to +persuade." + +"The lieutenant having discovered nothing," the man went on, "told three +of us to go and search the granary, and took advantage of the occasion +to take the young man aside. I watched them. A purse of gold and the +barrel of a pistol have been the principal inducements. The sly fellow +at first was very obstinate, and it was then that the lieutenant fired +the pistol at him to frighten him. The young man seemed to be moved in a +singular manner by the shot. He gave way with good grace, and pointed +the pavilion out to us." + +Whilst the captain lent a joyful ear to this narrative, Don Pedro, on +the contrary, listened with terror mingled with incredulity. At these +last words he could contain himself no longer, and broke in violently:-- + +"Enough, wretch; enough!" he cried. "What you say is impossible! It is +an infamous calumny! My son is quite incapable of such villainy!" + +"Look, senor," replied the man, pointing to the stairs. + +Stephano in truth was descending with the lieutenant, holding the purse +in his hand. His pale and agitated face seemed to proclaim his guilt, +and Don Pedro sank back fainting on a seat. Stephano crossed the room +with a faltering step without observing his father, and, reaching the +window, gazed out upon the road. + +In recalling to mind his son's jealousy of Dulaurier, Don Pedro +understood the facts of the matter--that he had sold his guest to get +rid of a detested rival. Maddened by passion, he had without doubt lost +all control over himself. After having exchanged some words in a low +voice with his lieutenant, the captain made a sign to two of his men. + +"Remain with this fellow," he said, in a tone of contempt, pointing to +Stephano, "until we reach the pavilion; if he makes one movement shoot +him, and when a volley announces to you that we are not deceived, join +us to start upon our route." + +"Very good, captain," answered the two soldiers, taking up their +position on each side of Stephano, whilst the others went out softly. + +A mournful silence reigned in the chamber. + +Stephano stood erect before the window, with haggard eyes fixed upon the +road; Don Pedro, mute and motionless in his chair, seemed like a man +bereft of all at a single blow. Then, his misery overwhelming him, he +covered his face with his hands and wept. Stephano turned round quickly, +and for the first time saw his father. + +"Great Heavens! He was there, and heard all!" he murmured. "Father!" he +cried imploringly. + +"Call me your father no more," cried the old man, with flaming eyes, +"unless you can tell me that I am blind and deaf, or that I have dreamed +that my son was a coward, a traitor, an assassin! Tell me so, Stephano, +for pity's sake!" + +The young man made an effort as if he were about to speak, but paused at +the sight of his two guards; the strain was so painful that he was +forced to lean for support on one of the guerilla's arms. Then he turned +away; Don Pedro rose from his seat and came towards his son. + +"His eye never quits this fatal window," he murmured to himself. "It +looks as if he watched to see the success of his perfidy, that he wishes +to assure himself that his rival does not escape. Wretch!" he burst +forth, "if this is so, may you be----" + +Suddenly a hand was laid softly upon the old man's arm. It was Rosita. + +"Ah! it is you, Rosita!" said Don Pedro with a bewildered stare. +"Wretched man that I am, what was I about to do?" he added, passing his +hand over his forehead. + +Rosita came farther forward into the room. + +"Stephano guarded by two soldiers!" she cried. "Holy Virgin! what does +this mean, and what has happened?" + +And she made an instinctive movement towards her cousin. Her uncle +stopped her. + +"Keep away from this wretched man!" he cried, "for he is a coward and a +traitor; he has betrayed your betrothed!" + +"Betrayed my betrothed!" cried the girl, with horror. "It is +impossible!" + +"Not only has he betrayed him," continued the old man, taking his +niece's hand, "but he is watching for the success of his treason. Do you +recognise my son, Rosita?" he added, with heartrending despair, "or the +man whom you loved?" + +Here the poor old man broke down completely, and sank back into his +chair. The girl gazed at him with consternation. Even the rough soldiers +were touched by the scene, and turned their heads aside. + +[Illustration: "THE POOR OLD MAN BROKE DOWN COMPLETELY."] + +At that instant a loud report shook the walls. It was the captain's +volley. The two soldiers exchanged a meaning glance and disappeared. As +soon as they went out Rosita threw herself in Don Pedro's arms. + +"Dulaurier is dead!" said the old man, gloomily. + +"He is saved!" cried Stephano, coming forward, and throwing from him as +he did so the purse of gold. "Yes, father, yes, Rosita, the lieutenant +is safe and sound, and will be with us in a few seconds." + +"How can that be?" cried Don Pedro, passing from despair to joy. + +"Before leaving Dulaurier in the pavilion we had arranged that he was to +be informed by a pistol shot when he must leave his hiding-place for the +granary whilst his enemies were searching the pavilion. You understand +now how the guerilla's shot agitated me. For, of course, Dulaurier, +taking the report for the signal agreed upon, would leave the pavilion +for the granary, and would then fall into the hands of his pursuers. The +only plan to save him was to get the soldiers away from the granary, +which I did by feigning to betray Dulaurier, by accepting the purse, and +pointing out the pavilion as his hiding-place. For a quarter of an hour +I have endured the tortures of hell, but I have saved the man who +confided in me, and I am still worthy of you both!" + +The young man had hardly finished his narrative when his father and +Rosita were at his feet begging for forgiveness. Then Stephano hastened +to the granary, and called the lieutenant's name, but there was no +response, and soon Stephano's surprise was changed to uneasiness. He +rushed into the granary. It was empty. Stephano reappeared, pale, +tottering and breathless. + +"Dulaurier is not in the granary," he cried. "He cannot have taken the +pistol shot for my signal. He must have remained, and that report we +heard was his death-shot." + +He paused abruptly. Don Pedro and Rosita understood, and burst forth +into an exclamation of horror. + +"Victory! Victory!" cried a hundred voices. + +Their despair and consternation were changed to the most lively +astonishment, when a detachment of Don Carlos's volunteers entered the +house, led by Dulaurier himself. + +"Dulaurier!" exclaimed Stephano, Don Pedro, and Rosita at the same time. + +"Our enemies!" said the old Castilian, whilst his niece shrank behind +him. + +"Say rather friends," replied Dulaurier, pressing Stephano's hand +warmly. + +"But how has all this happened?" began the bewildered Stephano. + +"One minute's attention. For half an hour I waited patiently after your +departure in the little pavilion, when I heard the signal we arranged on +of the pistol shot. I quitted my hiding-place at once, and was preparing +to creep towards the granary, when, casting a glance upon the road, I +recognised the uniforms of the volunteers of my regiment. Briefly," +continued Dulaurier, showing the soldiers who surrounded him, "here are +the gentlemen, whom I have the honour of presenting to you. Like good +comrades, they determined to avenge me, and we caught the guerillas in +an ambush as they were searching the pavilion. Bang! a general +discharge, and thirty men were lying on the ground, and the rest running +away for their lives." + +"The volley of which we believed you the victim!" interrupted Stephano. + +"You understand the rest. Not wishing to quit Panola without thanking +you, and also wishing to see about that little matter which I mentioned +to you this morning, we came on here. And now," he added to Stephano, +with the air of a man who has no time to lose, "I must thank you most +warmly for all you have done for me." + +There was such a tone of kindness in these words that Stephano could do +nothing but grasp his hand cordially in return. + +"Anyone else?" cried the effusive officer, looking quickly round. "You +have a father, a mother, a wife, perhaps? Where are they? This noble old +man must be your father," and upon Stephano's making an affirmative sign +he grasped the old man's hand, and wrung it with force. + +"Are there no ladies in your family?" asked Dulaurier with a gallant +air. + +It was then that in spite of Rosita's efforts to avoid his attention he +caught sight of her as she hid behind Don Pedro's high-backed chair. + +"Ah! here is one!" he said, without recognising his betrothed. He +stepped forward towards her. + +"Most amiable senora," he began politely, "permit me----" He paused, +gazing with stupefied eyes upon the young girl, and then made a sign to +his soldiers to leave them. + +"Good Heavens!" he exclaimed, "if I am not deceived it is Rosita, my +pretty _fiancee_!" + +"You are right; it is I, Monsieur Dulaurier," faltered the young girl. + +The light of happiness vanished from all the faces in the room except +the lieutenant's. + +"You can easily understand, my pretty one, what has led me to Panola," +said Dulaurier. + +"I presume you have come to remind Rosita," answered Don Pedro, "of the +promise that she gave you at her dying father's bedside. She has not +forgotten it, senor. She recognises her duty, and you have only one word +to say----" + +"Will you answer me yourself, Rosita?" interrupted Dulaurier, marking +her extreme pallor and agitation. "You know what I have the right of +claiming; are you still able to give it me freely?" + +"Without doubt," she murmured; "if I give you my hand, my heart will go +with it." + +"Words, nothing but words!" thought the lieutenant, who grew pale in his +turn. "All women are weathercocks. It is clear I am superseded," and he +bit his lip until it bled. "But I should like to know who is my +substitute," and he turned mechanically to Stephano. He found him as +mute and as troubled as Rosita. The truth flashed across him. "I cannot +blame the brave young man," he murmured to himself, "for falling in love +with his cousin. It has not prevented him from saving my life at the +expense of his love and honour, and as I have no wish for a heart not +wholly mine, I have now to render sacrifice for sacrifice, and to keep +the reputation of France equal to that of Spain." He turned to Rosita +with a smile. + +"Mademoiselle," he began, "when we plighted our troth, and I told you +that I loved you devotedly, I was as sincere as I am to-day, only I took +upon myself too much, and have contracted several other engagements, +more or less similar to yours." He gave a forced laugh as he pronounced +these words. + +"That is enough, senor," said Don Pedro. "But why have you then come to +Panola to claim her promise?" + +"Who said that I was here for that purpose?" asked Dulaurier, abruptly. +Stephano, indeed, recollected that the Frenchman had not said a single +word which implied that he came to claim Rosita's hand. "I implore +Mademoiselle Rosita to pardon me," pursued Dulaurier, "and I propose +that we exchange rings again." + +[Illustration: "I PROPOSE THAT WE EXCHANGE RINGS AGAIN."] + +It was no sooner said than done. Dulaurier turned and clasped Stephano's +hand again, and now the young man saw with apprehension that Dulaurier's +eyes were dim with tears. Dulaurier could keep up the farce no longer, +and his heart was breaking behind the smile upon his lips. + +"Dulaurier!" said the young man, "you weep: you are unhappy! What you +have said has been only a sublime falsehood! You love Rosita--you wish +to marry her--and if you have the generosity to renounce all for me, it +must not be at the expense of your happiness." + +"Hush!" said Dulaurier, as he took him aside. "Do not undo my work. But +since you have found it out, you are right. I did come back to claim +Rosita. I have always loved her, and have loved none but her. But do not +breathe a word of this. Let no thought of my unhappiness cast a shadow +on her life. Sacrifice for sacrifice, young man. France is equal to +Spain, and we are quits. + +"Farewell, brave Castilians," he cried aloud, "celebrate the marriage +merrily: and let us hope that we shall never meet upon the battlefield +of this unhappy country." + +"Farewell!" replied Stephano, huskily. + +Dulaurier pressed Don Pedro's and Stephano's hands, kissed that of +Rosita, and joined his comrades outside. + +"Wheel to the right--forward!" he shouted, at the head of his battalion. + +Then came the roll of the drum, and they all marched past the window. + +"Rosita," said Stephano to his cousin, "you are free, and we are going +to be happy; but never let us forget Lieutenant Dulaurier!" + + + + +_The Queer Side of Things._ + + +The N. P. M. C + +[Illustration] + +Let us return for a space to the two spirits William and James, whose +conversations we described in past numbers. Some readers may possibly +recall how the spirit James, while wandering through the darkness of +unoccupied Space (about five-and-twenty billions of eons before the +commencement of Eternity), conceived a wild idea of the possibility of +the existence of worlds--worlds occupied by an impracticability called +"man." It will be recollected how the wiser spirit William cast +well-merited ridicule upon this insanely impossible phantasy of a +disordered mind; nay, even condescended to crush, by perspicuous and +irrefutable logic, the grotesque and preposterous idea. + +Very well; it is now William's turn. + +"James," he said one day as they chanced to sight each other in the +awful solitude of Space, "I have been thinking over that world of yours, +and your crowning absurdity, 'man.' Pray do not become too inflated with +weak conceit at my condescending to think about such trivialities; for +the fact is, any subject of thought--however hopelessly foolish--is a +relief amid the tediousness of Space. Well, I have been reflecting upon +that characteristic which you conceive as distinguishing your puppet +'man'--I allude to _intelligence_. I think you suggested that he would +possess intelligence?" + +James only fidgeted uneasily, and made a feeble sign of affirmation. + +"Very well," continued William. "Now, I have been putting two and two +together, and have found out the nature of that quality which you +mistake for intelligence; its true name is 'low cunning.' Every fresh +piece of absurdity which you have told me touching the tricks of your +queer creatures has supplied new evidence of this. Your creatures were +to feed upon the substance of the 'world' on which they lived, and, ever +increasing in numbers, would logically in course of time find there was +not a mouthful apiece. I think we agreed about that? Well, let us +consider that period, some time before the creatures should actually +become exterminated by the natural evolution of events--the time when +all the eatable products of their world would be growing scarce. You +went so far as to imagine a great many products----" + +"Yes!" said James, gazing afar off in the absorption of his imagination. +"Yes--there were eggs, and oysters, and poultry, and mushrooms, and----" + +"Ah!--the very things I've been reflecting about. Well, I've been +dreaming that, at the period of which I speak, when all the commodities +were becoming scarce, your human beings would agree to make poisonous +artificial articles of consumption with which to poison themselves by +degrees, and thus reduce the population to convenient limits." + +"No!" cried James, pondering deeply. "Their idea would be to poison not +_themselves_, but _each other_!" + +[Illustration: "POISON."] + +"Ah! I see. Then they would make some sort of effort to prevent +themselves being poisoned?" + +"Oh, yes; they would pass Adulteration Acts for the purpose." + +"I see; and any creature who did not wish to be poisoned could take +advantage of these Acts to protect himself?" + +"Certainly. The Acts would be very stringent. Let us suppose, for +example, that a certain man suspected that the butter supplied to him +was not butter at all, but a deleterious compound--well, all he would +have to do would be to go to the shop, accompanied by a guardian of the +peace, and, standing on one leg, with both hands on the counter and one +eye shut, order a pound of the butter in certain words prescribed by the +Act. He would then say to the tradesman, 'I am about to divide this +pound of butter into three equal portions for the purposes of analysis'; +and, taking the butter-man's knife in his left hand, and passing it to +his right, would cut the butter into three portions exactly equal. + +"After this, hermetically sealing the three portions in three jars +provided for the purpose, he would hand one jar to the tradesman, the +second to the guardian of the peace, and retain the third. Then he would +bring an action; and (provided that all the conditions had been +accurately fulfilled, without the slightest flaw) the erring tradesman +would be told by the Court not to do it again; while the complainant +would have to pay all costs, and possibly a fine; and would be sneered +at by the magistrate as a fussy idiot and a common informer. + +"If, on the other hand, the complainant should omit to secure the +company of a custodian of the peace, or fail to stand on one leg with +both hands on the counter, or take the knife in his right hand first, or +should leave out the prescribed words, or blink his eye, or stammer, or +sneeze, or in any other way fail to observe the regulations of the Act; +he would, of course, have no case or remedy. The Adulteration Acts would +be extremely stringent----" + +"Against the victim of adulteration?" + +"Ye--es," murmured James, a little nonplussed. + +[Illustration: "THE SHOP."] + +"Ah--well, then, I think we can afford to ignore these Adulteration +Acts--like the adulterators and the public authorities would--and +proceed with the question of the adulteration. I had a most vivid vision +or dream of the details of this adulteration as they would be carried +out on your world at the period we are now considering. I imagined that +I was actually in a part of your world called 'America,' and that one of +your human beings politely invited me to walk through his factory and +see how things were made. I think you mentioned 'oysters'----" + +[Illustration: "NO CASE."] + +"Yes," said James, "that's one name the article of food would possess; +newspaper writers, however, would not recognise them by that name--they +would only know them as 'the succulent bivalve.'" + +"The very idea!" exclaimed William. "That's exactly what I seemed to +have become--a newspaper writer. I fancied I went to see the factory, +and then sent in the following account:-- + +"One of the most interesting factories in America is the stately +building of the Ephraim Q. Knickerbocker Natural Products Manufacturing +Corporation, of Spread Eagle Springs, N.J. That the structure is itself +an imposing one may well be imagined in view of the vast productive +energy expended within its walls; and the feebleness and inefficiency of +the productive operations of Nature are never so fully realized as after +a visit to this marvellous factory, and a comparison of the two systems. + +"It was, therefore, with no little satisfaction that we lately received +a courteous invitation from the able and energetic managing director +General Sardanapalus J. Van Biene to inspect the operations of the +Corporation at its factory. Accordingly, we proceeded to the New York +terminus of the Natural Products Manufacturing Corporation's New York, +Sumner Ferry, Thanksgiving Flats, and Spread Eagle Springs Railroad, +along which a special train speedily whirled us to the front door of the +works. On the steps stood the genial managing director, supported by the +principal manager Colonel Exodus V. Rooster, the head chemist Major +Madison B. Jefferson, and the assistant chemists Judge Vansittart J. +Sumner and Admiral Hudson W. Killigrew. + +"They received us with open arms, and, after entertaining us at a +_recherche_ lunch, conducted us to the chemistry and analysis section +occupying a little over seventeen acres and employing a permanent staff +of thirteen thousand four hundred and thirty-two, assistants, among whom +are chemists, microscopists, sub-inventors, etc., etc. There it is that +the productive operations of Nature are studied and improved upon. + +"'You must not imagine that we have any kind of sympathy or admiration +for Nature's system,' explained General S. J. Van Biene, hastening to +sweep away any false impression which we might have formed. + +[Illustration: "THEY RECEIVED US WITH OPEN ARMS."] + +"'On the contrary, we just entirely despise her and her ways, and should +have discarded her way back but for the prejudices of the consuming +public. It's just like this--the consumers still believe in natural +products, and so we have to go on reproducing them instead of starting +right away on our own lines and bringing out new and original +commodities far in advance of anything Nature can do. How we're +stultified you'll see as we work through. We just have to copy, anyway, +in place of originating. We make oysters, for example. Now quite a while +ago, our head chemist Major Madison B. Jefferson invented a new edible +way, finer in every essential than the oyster; but the consumers +wouldn't have it: they shied at it, and declared it wasn't wholesome; +and we had the whole stock on our hands, and had to vat it down again, +and recolour it, and make tomatoes of it. Then they took it down and +just chaired it round. Of course, we have to say we _grow_ the +products--that's another effect of popular prejudice; if we had said we +made those tomatoes, the public would have started right off again, and +talked of "adulteration," although our tomatoes whip Nature's by 50 per +cent, in all the elements of nutrition and flavour. Just taste this +one.' + +"We hesitated, and the director, perceiving it, promptly consumed +another from the same case. Thus reassured, we ventured to nibble at the +artificial vegetable, and found it excellent in every respect--decidedly +superior to the natural product, as he had stated. + +"'But,' we asked, 'do you not suffer considerable losses when these +products--necessarily perishable in the natural course of things--begin +to decay?' + +[Illustration: "JUST TASTE THIS ONE."] + +"'That's just another point where we show our superiority to Nature. +_Our_ products _don't_ decay; on the contrary, they improve by keeping. +Here is a tomato seven years old,' he continued, taking down another +case. 'Try it.' + +"We did. The other was not to be compared with it. The older tomato had +matured and mellowed, the skin having a finer colour and lovelier gloss, +the flesh possessing a firmer body and more delicate flavour; it was far +in advance of any tomato we had ever conceived. + +"'Wonderful!' we exclaimed. + +"'A very simple matter,' said the director. 'All that is required is a +thorough mastery of chemistry. In all our goods we employ a special +patent preservative of our own, which is naturally a secret. We +calculate it to be worth one hundred and fifty quadrillions of dollars. + +"'But let us show you how we make oysters! See, these are the tanks +which contain the mixture--the compound which forms the body of the +bivalve. This tank contains the beard-mixture; and this one the +gristle.' + +"'And what are the principal ingredients?' + +"'Glue, made from horses' heels. This is a very important factor in our +products. This glue, after undergoing a peculiar treatment which +prevents its hardening and losing its elasticity in the course of years, +is flavoured and coloured in various ways. This great tank contains the +composition for the internal parts of the oyster--nearly black, you +perceive; that tank over there contains the compound for the flesh that +covers the internal parts; that tank farther along holds the beard +mixture; and the one beyond that the gristle which attaches the oyster +to the shell. First, the flesh of the oyster is run into moulds, each +oyster being in two parts; then the inside of the animal is run into +another mould, and the two halves of the body are automatically placed +around it and cemented together. + +"'Meanwhile the beards have been rolled, stamped, frilled, and coloured +along the edge by special automatic machinery. The body of the oyster +then passes to the fixing-up room, where the beard is cemented to it by +hand, and finishing touches of colour added; and then it passes along +and has the gristle attached: and the oyster itself is complete.' + +[Illustration: The Oyster Factory Affixing the Beards.] + +"'But it wants a shell!' + +"'Just so. As far as the supply will go, we buy up old shells from +dustyards and use them; but most of them are damaged by previous +opening, so we make the bulk of our shells, and they're a good deal more +natural than the real ones. They're made of lime.' + +"'All alike?' + +"'Not in the least. You see, we have some thousands of moulds, every one +differing slightly from the rest. There's a special department for +hingeing the two shells together. We had some trouble to find a +substance for the hinge; but at last one of our chemists hit on a way of +subjecting old hide-scraps to a peculiar process, and that did the +thing. The mother-of-pearl is made of a sort of soft glass, somewhat +after the appearance of Venetian glass, and put on the shell hot. +Lastly, the oyster is attached to the shells by its cartilage; a little +liquor is put in, and the shells are closed up.' + +"'But surely people must observe that they are not alive?' we said. 'For +instance, they can't open their shells!' + +"'That's just where you're astray,' replied the General. 'Owing to the +mechanical action of salt upon the composition of the cartilage, the +oyster opens when placed in salt water. Iron, however, exercises an +electro-magnetic influence upon the composition forming the body of the +bivalve, causing a sudden contraction--so that, on a knife being +introduced into the shell, the latter closes in the most natural way. We +manufacture pearls on the premises, and advertise that one oyster in +every gross taken from our beds contains a pearl of more or less value; +and there's a greater demand for our oysters than for any others in the +world. Our oyster beds are way down along the coast, about ten miles +off; and are inspected by thousands yearly. Taste this egg.' + +[Illustration: The Pearl.] + +"He took up a fine specimen of a new-laid egg, and proceeded to break it +into a glass. It was a delightful egg. 'That's our latest pattern of +egg,' explained the General, 'You perceive that it has three lines +around it, where the substance of the shell is weaker than elsewhere; +the lines near each end enable a person about to consume the egg in a +boiled state to easily cut off the top or bottom with a knife, or run +his nail around it; while the line about the middle greatly assists +cooks in breaking it into a basin. There is also a thin spot at either +end, to facilitate sucking. These eggs are always new-laid; we send tons +to Europe, particularly to Great Britain, where ours are the only fresh +eggs they ever get.' + +[Illustration: The London Egg] + +"'But you must find some difficulty in making an egg?' + +"'Just as easy as smiling. The white is simply jelly-fish subjected to a +chemical process--jelly-fish aren't costly. This tank is full of the +liquor. The main ingredient of the yolk is the horse-heel glue mentioned +before; we also boil down vast quantities of rats--they come cheap, too; +it's only the cost of catching them; and then there's a vegetable +colouring, and the preservative, and a few other trifles. First, the two +halves of the white are made in two moulds, and frozen; then the two +frozen halves are frozen together, and the yolk-mixture poured in +through a small hole, which is then closed. Then comes the skin; and +that is the most expensive part, for it contains a certain quantity of +rubber. We have tried in vain to find a substitute for rubber, but +failed hitherto. The rubber is mixed with a gum from a South American +tree, and the mixture is applied with a brush over the frozen egg; and +then the egg, still frozen, is dipped in a lime composition very nearly +identical with the oyster-shell mixture; and, lastly, the whole thing is +passed through the finishing machine, which turns the three thin lines +and the two thin spots, imitates the pores of the shell, and delivers +the finished egg to the warehouse.' + +"'Marvellous!' we involuntarily exclaimed. + +"'Oh, that's nothing at all,' said the director. 'We're meditating +turning out eggs that will hatch and become fowls. At present we have to +manufacture fowls; but we calculate to make a great saving by producing +them from the eggs we make. That building over yonder is the terrapin +factory; we turn out eleven tons of terrapin weekly. We make clams, of +course--in the oyster department. In this next house we make kidneys and +sweetbreads. Fruit? Oh, yes, we turn out masses of fruit; peaches pay +best, but we do very well with nuts.' + +"We were then conducted to the show-room, where we tasted a number of +other products of the wonderful factory; and we had just said a grateful +farewell to our courteous guide, when we were seized with pains of the +most acute description. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: The Pain.] + +"The arrangements of the hospital were admirable. The kindliness and +attention we received made our five years' sojourn there a time to look +back upon with feelings of gratitude. We are assured that, with strict +diet and unremitting care, we may last some time yet--possibly even +three months." + + * * * * * + +"It was a marvellous vision," said James, fervently, as the voice of +William ceased. "Surely after that you must think better of those beings +of mine?" + +But William merely sniffed. + + J. F. SULLIVAN. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: A TURNIP RESEMBLING A HUMAN HAND.] + +The above photographs represent two views of an extraordinary turnip +grown by Alderman David Evans, Llangennech Park, Carmarthenshire. We are +indebted for the photographs to Mr. Morgan W. James, of Llanelly. + + +[Illustration: A ROOM PAPERED WITH STAMPS.] + +The above photograph represents the study of Mr. C. Whitfield King, of +Morpeth House, Ipswich, which he has papered with 44,068 _unused_ +foreign postage stamps, bearing the value of L699 16s. 9d., and +containing 48 varieties of different sizes and colours, presenting an +example of mosaic work which is altogether unique of its kind. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: Drinking] + +[Illustration: VESSELS OF ALL] + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: A CROCODILE STORY.] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Strand Magazine, Volume V, Issue +27, March 1893, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STRAND MAGAZINE, MARCH 1893 *** + +***** This file should be named 30222.txt or 30222.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/2/2/30222/ + +Produced by Victorian/Edwardian Pictorial Magazines, +Jonathan Ingram, Josephine Paolucci and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/30222.zip b/30222.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fd119fe --- /dev/null +++ b/30222.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dce32f7 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #30222 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/30222) diff --git a/old/30222-8.txt b/old/30222-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..12693f7 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6032 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Strand Magazine, Volume V, Issue 27, +March 1893, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Strand Magazine, Volume V, Issue 27, March 1893 + An Illustrated Monthly + +Author: Various + +Editor: George Newnes + +Release Date: October 9, 2009 [EBook #30222] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STRAND MAGAZINE, MARCH 1893 *** + + + + +Produced by Victorian/Edwardian Pictorial Magazines, +Jonathan Ingram, Josephine Paolucci and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +THE + +STRAND MAGAZINE + +_An Illustrated Monthly_ + +Vol. 5, Issue. 27. + +March 1893 + + +[Illustration: "BY HEAVEN," CRIED RUY LOPEZ, "THE DUKE SHALL FINISH HIS +GAME!" + +(_A Game of Chess_.)] + +[Illustration] + + + + +A GAME of CHESS. + +FROM THE FRENCH. + + +I. + +King Phillip II. was playing at chess in the Escurial Palace. His +opponent was Ruy Lopez, a humble priest, but a chess player of great +skill. Being the King's particular favourite, the great player was +permitted to kneel upon a brocaded cushion, whilst the courtiers grouped +about the King were forced to remain standing in constrained and painful +attitudes. + +It was a magnificent morning. The air was perfumed with the orange +groves, and the violet curtains of the splendid hall hardly softened the +burning rays which streamed in through the windows. The blaze of living +light seemed scarcely in harmony with the King's gloomy countenance. His +brow was black as night, and from time to time he bent his eyes +impatiently upon the door. The nobles stood in silence, darting meaning +glances at each other. It was easily to be discerned that some event of +great importance weighed upon the spirits of the assembly. No one paid +any attention to the chess-board except Ruy Lopez, who, as he moved the +pieces, hesitated between the temptation of checkmating his opponent and +the deference due to his King. The silence was unbroken except by the +sound made by the players moving their pieces. + +Suddenly the door opened, and a man of rude and savage aspect advanced +into the hall, and, presenting himself before the King, stood waiting +his commands to speak. This man's appearance was anything but +prepossessing, and on his entrance the nobles, as if animated with one +thought, shrank back with contempt and loathing, as if some unclean +animal had entered into their midst. His massive, herculean figure was +clad in a doublet of black leather, and his face, in which could be seen +no trace of intelligence, expressed, on the contrary, nothing but +vileness and villainy; a great scar, running right across his face and +losing itself in a bushy beard, added still further to the natural +brutality of his countenance. + +An electric thrill ran through the assembly. The new comer was Fernando +Calavar, high executioner of Spain. + +"Is he dead?" asked the King, in an imperious tone. + +"No, sire," replied Calavar, bowing low. + +The King frowned. + +"Great Sovereign of Spain," Calavar continued, "the prisoner has claimed +his privileges, and I cannot take proceedings against a man whose blood +belongs to the noblest in Spain, without having a more imperative order +from your Majesty," and he bowed again. + +The nobles, who had listened with great attention to these words, broke +into a murmur of approbation as the man finished speaking. The proud +Castilian blood rushed like a stream of lava through their veins, and +dyed their faces crimson. The manifestation became general. Young Alonza +D'Ossuna openly asserted his opinion by putting on his plumed cap. His +bold example was followed by the majority of the nobles, and their lofty +nodding crests seemed to proclaim with defiance that their masters +protested in favour of the privilege, which the hidalgos of Spain have +always enjoyed, of covering their heads before their Sovereign. + +The King gave a furious start, and striking his fist violently upon the +chess-board, scattered the chessmen in all directions. + +"He has been judged by our Royal Court of Justice," he cried, "and +condemned to death. What does the traitor demand?" + +"Sire!" replied the executioner, "he asks permission to die upon the +block, and also to pass the three last hours of his life with a priest." + +"Ah, that is granted!" replied Philip, in a tone of relief. "Is not our +confessor in the prison according to our orders?" + +"Yes, sire!" said Calavar, "the holy man is there; but the Duke refuses +to see St. Diaz de Silva. He says he cannot receive absolution from +anyone below the dignity of a Bishop. Such is the privilege of a noble +condemned to death for high treason." + +"Yes, these are our rights!" boldly interrupted the fiery D'Ossuna; "and +we claim from the King our cousin's privileges." + +This demand acted as a signal. + +"Our rights and the King's justice are inseparable," cried Don Diego de +Tarraxas, Count of Valence, an old man of gigantic stature, clothed in +armour, holding in his hands the bâton of Great Constable of Spain, and +leaning upon his long Toledo blade. + +"Our rights and our privileges!" cried the nobles, repeating the words +like an echo. Their audacity made the King start with fury from his +ebony throne. + +"By the bones of Campeador!" he cried. "By the soul of St. Jago! I have +sworn neither to eat nor sleep until the bleeding head of Don Gusman +lies before me. As I have sworn, so shall it be. But Don Tarraxas has +said well, 'The King's justice confirms his subjects' rights.' My Lord +Constable, where does the nearest Bishop reside?" + +"Sire, I have more to do with camp than with the Church," the Constable +replied, somewhat abruptly. "Your Majesty's chaplain, Don Silvas, is +present: he can tell you better than I." + +Don Silvas began to speak in trepidation. + +[Illustration: "WHAT DOES THE TRAITOR DEMAND?"] + +"Sire," he said, humbly, "the Bishop of Segovia is an official of the +King, but he who filled the duty died last week, and the parchment which +names his successor is still upon the Council table, and is yet to be +submitted to the Pope's seal." + +At these words a joyous smile hovered about D'Ossuna's lips. This joy +was but natural, for the young man was of the blood of the Gusmans, and +his cousin, the condemned prisoner, was his dearest friend. The King +perceived the smile, and his eye shot forth lightning. + +"We are the King!" he said, gravely, with the calm which presages a +storm; "our Royal person must be no butt for raillery. This sceptre +appears light, my lords, but he who ridicules it shall be crushed +thereby as with a block of iron. I believe that our holy father the Pope +is somewhat indebted to us, so that we do not fear his displeasure at +the step which we are about to take. Since the King of Spain can make a +Prince, he can also make a Bishop. Rise, then, Don Ruy Lopez. I create +you Bishop of Segovia. Rise, I command you, and take your rank in the +Church." + +The courtiers stood dumfounded. + +Don Ruy Lopez rose mechanically. His head was whirling, and he stammered +as he strove to speak. + +"If your Majesty pleases----" he began. + +"Silence, my Lord Bishop!" replied the King. "Obey your Sovereign. The +formalities of your installation shall be performed another day; our +subjects will not fail to acknowledge our wishes in this affair. Bishop +of Segovia, go with Calavar to the condemned man's cell. Give absolution +to his soul, and in three hours leave his body to the executioner's axe. +As for you, Calavar, I will await you here; you will bring us the +traitor's head. Let justice be accomplished." + +Then Philip turned to Ruy Lopez. + +"I give you my signet ring," he said, "to show the Duke as a token of +the truth of your story." + +The executioner left the chamber, followed by Ruy Lopez. + +"Well, gentlemen," said the King, turning to the others, "do you still +doubt the King's justice?" + +But the nobles answered not a word. + +The King, having taken his seat, made a sign to one of his favourites to +place himself before the chess-board, and Don Ramirez, Count of Biscay, +accordingly knelt down upon the velvet cushion. + +"With a game of chess, gentlemen," said the King, smiling, "and your +company, I cannot fail to make the time pass agreeably. Let no one leave +the chamber until Calavar's return. We cannot spare a single one of +you." + +With these ironical words, Philip commenced a game with Don Ramirez, +whilst the nobles, almost dropping with fatigue, resumed the positions +about their august master which they had occupied at the beginning of +this story. + + +II. + +Calavar, leading the way, conducted the new Bishop to the condemned +man's cell. Ruy Lopez walked like one in a dream. Was he awake, or not? +He hardly knew. At the bottom of his heart he cursed the King and his +Court. He understood perfectly that he had become Bishop of Segovia, but +he felt deeply at what a price he had bought his dignity. What had Don +Gusman done that he should be thus sacrificed? Don Gusman, the best +chess player in Spain! He thought of all this as he proceeded over the +marble flags which led to the State prison, and as he thought he prayed +that the ground would open and swallow him up. + +Don Gusman was pacing impatiently up and down his narrow cell with a +hurried step that betrayed the feverish anxiety of his mind. The cell +was furnished with a massive table and two heavy wooden stools, the +floor being covered with coarse, thick mats. Shut out from all the +noises of the outer world, here silence reigned supreme. A crucifix, +roughly carved, was fixed to the wall in the niche of a high window, +which was carefully barred with iron. Except for this image of +resignation and mercy, the walls were bare. Well might this dungeon +serve as antechamber to the tomb. + +As Ruy Lopez entered the cell a sudden burst of sunshine flooded the +walls as if in bitter mockery of him who was soon to see it no more. + +The Duke saluted the new Bishop with great courtesy. They regarded each +other, and exchanged in that look a thousand words which they alone +could understand. Ruy Lopez felt the painfulness of his position deeply, +and the Duke understood his embarrassment. Their thoughts were both the +same, that in the condemnation of one of the principal favourites of the +King an innocent life was threatened! The proofs of the crime imputed to +the Duke were grave; the most important being a despatch written in Don +Gusman's hand to the French Court, in which he unfolded a scheme for +assassinating Philip II. This had sufficed to condemn him. + +Don Gusman, strong in his innocence, had kept a rigorous silence when +brought before his judges, and the accusation not being denied, +sentence of death was passed upon him. Don Gusman since his +incarceration had not altered. He had braved the storm, and looked upon +death with an unmoved countenance. His last hours had no terrors for +him. If his forehead was overshadowed, if his steps were agitated and +his breathing hurried, it was because there rose before his eye the +image of his betrothed, Dona Estella, who, ignorant of her lover's fate, +was waiting for him in her battlemented castle on the banks of the +Guadalquiver. If he felt weak at this fatal moment, and if a pang shot +through his heart, it was because his thoughts were of her who was to +him the dearest thing in all the world. + +[Illustration: "RUY LOPEZ ENTERED THE CELL."] + +Ruy Lopez had not entered alone. Calavar was at his side; and it was he +who announced to the Duke the King's decision and reply. Ruy Lopez +confirmed the executioner's words, and the Duke, falling on his knees +before the new Bishop, asked his blessing, then turning to Calavar with +a gesture of authority, he dismissed him, saying:-- + +"In three hours I shall be at your disposal." + +Calavar obeyed him and went out, and the Duke and Bishop were left +alone. + +Ruy Lopez was trembling with nervousness, whilst Don Gusman's face wore +a calm and serene expression. He took the Bishop's hand, and wrung it +warmly. There was a pause. The Duke was the first to break the silence. + +"We have met before in happier circumstances," he said, smiling. + +"It is true," stammered Ruy Lopez, who, pale and agitated, resembled +rather the penitent than the confessor. + +"Much happier," repeated the Duke, absently. "Do you remember, when you +played your celebrated game of chess with Paoli Boy, the Sicilian, in +the presence of the King and Court, that it was upon my right arm that +the King leant?" Then after a pause he continued: "Do you remember also, +father, those words of Cervantes, 'Life is a game of chess?' I have +forgotten the exact place in which the passage occurs, but its meaning +is, that upon earth men play different rôles. There are, as in chess, +kings, knights, soldiers, bishops, according to their birth, fate and +fortune; and when the game is over death lays them all as equals in the +tomb, even as we gather together the chessmen into a box." + +"Yes, I remember those words of Don Quixote," replied Don Lopez, +astonished at this singular conversation, "and I remember also Sancho's +reply: 'That however good the comparison was, it was not so new that he +had not heard it before.'" + +"I was your favourite pupil, even your rival," said the Duke, without +appearing to hear Don Lopez. + +"It is true," cried the Bishop. "You are a great master of the game, and +I have been often proud of having such a pupil. But now, on your knees, +my son." + +They knelt down together, and there before the crucifix Don Gusman made +confession to Ruy Lopez, who as he listened could hardly restrain his +tears. + +When the Duke had finished, two hours after--for the confession under +the Church seal was long and touching--the Bishop blessed the prisoner, +and gave him absolution. The face of Don Gusman, as he rose, was calm +and resigned. + +[Illustration: "THEY KNELT DOWN TOGETHER."] + +But there remained still an hour to wait. + +"This delay is torture," cried the Duke. "Why do they not cut off the +prisoners at once, instead of stretching their souls upon such a rack of +agony? An eternity of suffering is in each of these minutes." And the +prisoner began to walk impatiently to and fro, with his eyes constantly +bent upon the door. The Duke's firmness was shaken by the thought of +that weary hour of waiting. Ruy Lopez had fulfilled his duty. The +prisoner's soul was purified, and now the priest could become the +friend. + +As Don Lopez heard Don Gusman utter this exclamation, and saw his face +grow white, he understood what agony he was undergoing, and felt at once +that something must be done to divert his thoughts. But in vain he +racked his brain for an idea. He could think of nothing. What could he +propose to a man about to die? For such as he, the flower has no longer +perfume, woman has no longer beauty. Then suddenly a thought flashed +across his brain. + +"How would a game of chess--" he began, timidly. + +"An excellent idea!" cried Don Gusman, recalled to himself by this +singular proposal. "A farewell game of chess." + +"You consent?" + +"Most readily; but where are the chessmen, my friend?" + +"Am I not always provided with the instruments of war?" said Ruy Lopez, +smiling. Then he pulled forward the two stools and set out upon the +table a microscopic set of chessmen. "Our Lady pardon me!" he continued. +"I often pass my spare time in the confessional in working out some +problem." + +The chessmen being set out, the players took their seats, and were soon +absorbed in the excitement of the game. + +This strange contest, between a priest and a condemned prisoner, made a +picture worthy of the brush of Rembrandt or Salvator Rosa. The light +which streamed from the arched windows fell upon the pale, noble +features of Don Gusman, and upon the venerable head of Ruy Lopez. + +The emotions of the two players were very different. Ruy Lopez played +with a preoccupation which was not usual to him, and which rendered him +much inferior to his ordinary strength. Don Gusman, on the contrary, +stimulated by excitement, played with more than his ordinary skill. At +this moment his noble Castilian blood did not fail him, for never had +the Duke given better proof of the clearness of his mind. Such a flash +of intellect must be compared to the last flickers of the failing lamp, +or to the last song of the dying swan. + +Don Gusman suddenly attacked his adversary with an impetuosity which +nearly gained him a certain victory; but Ruy Lopez, recalled to himself +by this vigorous effort, defended himself bravely. The game became more +and more complicated. The Bishop strove to gain a mate which he saw, or +believed he saw, at hand, whilst Don Gusman played with the eagerness of +certain victory. Everything was forgotten, and time passed unnoticed. +The chess-board was their universe, and a life of anxiety was in each +move. + +The minutes, the quarters, the half-hours flew by, and the fatal hour +arrived at last. + +A distant sound struck on their ears; it grew nearer, it increased, and +the door swinging open gave admittance to Calavar and his assistants, +who advanced into the cell with torches in their hands. They were armed +with swords, and two of them bore the block, covered with a black cloth, +on which lay an axe. + +[Illustration: "THE GAME BECAME MORE AND MORE COMPLICATED."] + +The torches were placed in the receptacle prepared for them, whilst one +of the men scattered cedar sawdust on the floor. All this was the work +of a moment, while the executioner stood waiting for the prisoner. + +As Calavar entered, Ruy Lopez started to his feet, in a tremor of alarm, +but the Duke did not move. His eyes were fixed upon the chess-board. It +was his turn to play. Calavar, seeing his abstracted gaze, advanced to +the Duke's side and placed his hand upon his shoulder. + +"Come," he said. + +The prisoner shuddered as if he had trodden upon a serpent. + +"I must finish this game," he said, imperiously. + +"It is impossible," Calavar replied. + +"But, fellow, the game is mine! I can force mate in a few moves. Let me +play it out." + +"I cannot. It is impossible," repeated the executioner. + +"Are the three hours gone already?" + +"The last stroke has just struck. We must obey the King." + +The assistants, who had until then stood leaning on their swords, came +forward at these words. + +The Duke was sitting against the wall, under the high window, with the +table between him and Calavar. He started to his feet. + +"I shall not move until the game is over. In half an hour my head shall +be at your disposal." + +"My lord," replied Calavar, "I respect you deeply, but I cannot grant +you this request. I answer for your life with mine." + +Don Gusman made a gesture of impatience, and pulling off his diamond +rings, he threw them at the executioner's feet. "I mean to finish the +game," he said, carelessly. + +The jewels sparkled as they rolled and settled in the dust. + +"My orders are imperative," cried Calavar, "and you must pardon us, +noble Duke, if we have to use force; but the King's orders and the law +of Spain must be carried out. Obey, then, and do not waste your last +moments in a useless struggle. Speak to the Duke, my lord Bishop. Tell +him to submit to his fate." + +Ruy Lopez's reply was as prompt as it was decisive. He seized the axe +which lay upon the block and swung it with both hands above his head. + +"By Heaven!" he cried, "the Duke _shall_ finish his game!" + +Scared by the gesture which accompanied these words, Calavar drew back +in such a fright that he stumbled and fell back on his companions. The +swords flashed from their scabbards, and the band prepared for attack. +But Ruy Lopez, who appeared to have put forth the strength of a +Hercules, cast upon the ground his heavy wooden stool. + +"The first of you who passes this limit dies!" he cried in a loud voice. +"Courage, Duke!--to the attack! There are only four of these miscreants. +The last desire of your Grace shall be gratified, were I to lose my life +in the attempt. And you, wretched man, beware how you lay a finger upon +a Bishop of the Church. Down with your swords and respect the Lord's +anointed!" And Ruy Lopez continued to hurl forth, in a jargon of +Spanish and Latin, one of those formulas of excommunication and +malediction which at that period acted so strongly upon the masses of +the people. + +The effect was prompt. The men stood rooted to the spot with terror, +whilst Calavar, thinking that to kill a Bishop without a sealed order +from the King was to run the risk of putting his life in jeopardy in +this world and his soul in the next, avowed himself vanquished. He knew +not what to do next. To rush with the news to the King, who was waiting +impatiently for Don Gusman's head, was only to expose himself. To attack +the prisoner and the priest would be too hazardous, for Ruy Lopez was a +man of no mean strength. The position of affairs was critical. At last +he decided to take the easiest way out of the difficulty--to wait. + +"Will you promise me faithfully to give yourself up in half an hour?" he +demanded of Don Gusman. + +"I promise," replied the Duke. + +"Play on, then," said the executioner. + +The truce being thus concluded, the players returned to their seats and +their game, whilst Calavar and his companions, forming themselves into a +circle, stationed themselves round the two players. Calavar, who was +himself a chess player, looked on with interest, and could not prevent +himself from involuntarily considering each move the players made. + +Don Gusman looked up for an instant upon the circle of faces which +surrounded him, but his _sang froid_ did not abandon him. + +"Never have I played in the presence of such a noble company!" he cried. +"Bear witness, rascals, that at least once in my life I have beaten Don +Lopez." Then he returned to the game with a smile upon his lips. The +Bishop gripped the handle of the axe which he still held in his hand. + +"If I were only sure of escaping from this tigers' den," he thought, "I +would break every head of the four of them." + + +III. + +If three hours had dragged in the prisoner's cell, they had not passed +more quickly in the Royal chamber of King Philip. + +The King had finished his game with Don Ramirez de Biscay, and the +nobles, still compelled from etiquette to remain standing, appeared +almost ready to drop with fatigue, rendered still more painful from the +weight of their armour. + +Don Tarraxas stood motionless, with closed eyes like one of those iron +figures which ornamented the castles of the savage Goths. Young +D'Ossuna, with drooping head, stood propped against a marble pillar, +whilst King Philip strode impatiently about the apartment, only stopping +at intervals to listen to some imaginary noise. According to the +superstitious custom of the age, the King knelt for a few moments at the +foot of a figure of the Virgin placed upon a porphyry pedestal to pray +the Madonna to pardon him the deed of blood which was about to take +place. Silence reigned, for no one, whatever his rank might be, dared to +speak before his Sovereign without his commands. + +As the King's eyes saw the last grain of sand fall in the hour-glass he +uttered an exclamation of joy. + +"The traitor dies!" he cried. + +An almost inaudible murmur ran through the assembly. + +"The hour is passed, Count of Biscay," said Philip, turning to Don +Ramirez, "and with it your enemy." + +"My enemy, sire?" asked Ramirez, affecting surprise. + +"Why do you repeat my words, Count?" replied the King. "Were you not a +rival to Don Gusman in the affections of Dona Estella, and can rivals be +friends? Dona Estella shall be yours. This young girl will bring you her +beauty and her fortune. I have not spoken of this to our Council, but my +Royal word is pledged. If the ingratitude of Sovereigns is ever spoken +of before you, Count, you will be able to reply that we did not forget +the true friend of the King and of Spain who discovered the plot and the +correspondence of Don Gusman with France." + +Don Ramirez de Biscay seemed to listen to the King with uneasiness. He +kept his eyes fixed upon the ground, as if he disliked to be thus +praised in public. Then he made an effort to reply. + +"Sire!" he said, "it was with great repugnance that I fulfilled such a +painful duty"--he hesitated, and then was silent. + +Tarraxas gave a slight start, whilst D'Ossuna struck sharply the pommel +of his sword with his iron glove. + +"Before Dona Estella shall belong to this man," thought D'Ossuna, "I +will have vengeance or perish in the attempt. Tomorrow shall be the day +of my revenge." + +The King continued:-- + +"Your zeal, Don Ramirez, and your devotion must be rewarded. The saviour +of our throne, and perhaps of our dynasty, merits a particular gift. +This morning I ordered you to make out some _lettres-patentes_, which +confer upon you the rank of Duke and Governor of Valence. Are these +ready to be signed?" + +Don Ramirez grew pale with pleasure. He shook like an aspen and his eyes +grew dim. But the King made an impatient movement, and the Count, +drawing a roll of parchment hastily from his breast, presented it on his +knees to the King. + +"My first public duty to-day shall be to sign these papers," said the +King. "The executioner has already punished treason; it is now time for +the King to recompense fidelity." + +The King unrolled the parchment and began to read. As he read, his face +became convulsed with fury, and his eyes shot forth flames of wrath. + +"By my father's soul!" he shouted; "what do I behold?" + + +IV. + +The game of chess was finished. Don Gusman had beaten Ruy Lopez, and his +triumph was complete. He rose to his feet. + +"I am now, as ever, ready to obey the wishes of my King," he said to +Calavar. + +The executioner understood him, and began to prepare the block. Whilst +this was being done Don Gusman advanced towards the crucifix, and said +in a firm voice:-- + +"Oh, Heaven! may this unjust and rash act which is about to take place +fall upon the head of him who is the instigator of this treachery; but +let not my blood recoil upon the head of my King." + +[Illustration: "WHAT DO I BEHOLD?"] + +Ruy Lopez, crouching in a corner of the cell, and burying his face in +his mantle, began to recite the prayers for the dying. + +Calavar approached Don Gusman, and putting his hand upon the Duke's +shoulder began to loosen his ruff. Don Gusman shrank back from the +contact. + +"Nothing that belongs to you, except this axe, shall touch a Gusman," he +said, taking off his ruff himself and placing his head upon the block. +"Strike!" he added, "I am ready!" + +The executioner raised the axe--the King's justice was at last to be +satisfied, when shouts, rapid footsteps and confused voices arrested the +sweep of the executioner's arm. + +The door gave way under the united efforts of a troop of armed men, and +D'Ossuna, rushing into the cell, threw himself between the executioner +and his victim. He was just in time. + +"He lives!" cried Tarraxas. + +"He is saved!" repeated D'Ossuna. "My beloved cousin, I never hoped to +have seen you alive again. God in His mercy has not let the innocent +perish for the guilty. God be praised!" + +"God be praised!" echoed all the spectators, and louder than the rest +rang out the voice of Ruy Lopez. + +"You have arrived in time, my friend," said Don Gusman to his cousin; +"but now I shall have no longer strength to die," and he sank back +fainting on the block. The shock had been too much for him. + +Ruy Lopez seized the Duke in his arms, and, followed by all the nobles, +bore him along the passages to the King's apartment. When Don Gusman +opened his eyes he found himself in the midst of a circle of his +friends, amongst which stood the King, looking down upon him with an +expression of joy. + +Don Gusman could hardly believe his senses. From the axe and the block +he had passed to the King's apartment. He did not understand why this +change had taken place. He did not know that Don Ramirez, in giving his +_lettres-patentes_ to the King to sign, had, in his agitation, given him +instead a paper containing a plot in which he schemed to get rid for +ever of Don Gusman, a detested rival, and one of the firmest supporters +of the throne. He was ignorant of all that had passed, and did not know +how he had escaped from the clutches of the executioner. It was some +time before everything could be made clear to him. + +Three days afterwards, at the same hour as Gusman's miraculous delivery, +Calavar beheaded Don Ramirez, Count of Biscay, traitor and false +witness. Don Gusman was overwhelmed with congratulations on all sides. +King Philip grasped him cordially by his hand. + +"Gusman," he said, "I have been very unjust. I can never forgive my +folly." + +"Sire," replied the Duke, "let us speak of it no more. Such words spoken +by my King are worth a thousand lives." + +But the King continued. + +"I desire," he said, "that henceforth, in commemoration of your almost +miraculous deliverance, you carry upon your escutcheon a silver axe +emblazoned on an azure chess-board. This month we shall celebrate your +marriage with Dona Estella. The marriage shall take place in our +Escurial Palace." + +Then he added, turning to Ruy Lopez:-- + +"I believe that the Church will possess a good servant in its new +Bishop. You shall be consecrated Lord Prelate, with a scarlet robe, +enriched with diamonds; that will be the recompense of your game of +chess with Don Gusman." + +"Sire," replied Don Lopez, "never before this day have I been satisfied +to be checkmated." + +The King smiled, and the courtiers followed his example. + +"Now, my lords," continued Philip, "we invite you all to our Royal +banquet. Let Don Gusman's seat be placed upon our right, and the Bishop +of Segovia's on our left. Give me your arm, Don Gusman." + +[Illustration] + + + + +Illustrated Interviews + +XXL--MR. AND MRS. KENDAL. + + +If one had waited for a few months, "The Kendals" would have been +getting settled in their new home in Portland Place. But, then, the +happiest associations are always centred around the old, and the +pleasantest and frequently the dearest recollections are gathered about +the familiar. That is why I went to them once more to their home of many +years at 145, Harley Street. + +It would be difficult to realize a woman of more striking +characteristics than she who was for so many years known as "Madge" +Robertson, and notwithstanding a very important visit one morning in +August twenty-three years ago to St. Saviour's, Plymouth Grove, +Manchester, when she became the wife of Mr. William Hunter Grimston, +there are many who still know and speak of her by her happily-remembered +maiden name. From that day husband and wife have never played +apart--they have remained sweethearts on the stage and lovers in their +own home. At night--the footlights; by day--home and children. Mrs. +Kendal assured me that neither her eldest daughter, Margaret, nor Ethel, +nor Dorothy--the youngest--nor "Dorrie," who is now at Cambridge, nor +Harold, a "Marlborough" boy, would ever go on the stage. Home, husband, +and children--home, wife, and children, are the embodiment of the life +led by the Kendals. + +[Illustration: THE DRAWING-ROOM + +_From a Photo by Elliott & Fry_.] + +Together with Mr. Kendal we sat down in the drawing-room, and were +joined for a moment by Miss Grimston, a quiet, unaffected young girl, +who looked as though she could never rid herself of a smile, either in +her eyes or about her mouth--a young maiden who suggested "sunshine." +She was carrying Victoria, a pet dog. The mother's whole thoughts seemed +to go out to her daughter. + +"Our Jubilee dog," she cried. "I bought her on Jubilee Day, and, +curiously enough, Mr. Kendal bought one too, neither of us telling the +other we were going to make such canine purchases." + +Then, when Miss Grimston had left the room, her mother turned to me +quietly, and said:-- + +"The image of my brother Tom. The same hair, the same expression of +eyes, the same kind and loving ways. I think he lives in my girl. Come +with me and you shall see his portrait." + +It hung in Miss Grimston's boudoir--an apartment the walls of which were +decorated with pictures of the Comédie-Française Company, the original +designs for the dresses in "A Wife's Secret"; while over the +mantel-board are Mr. and Mrs. Kendal in "The Ironmaster," and many +family portraits are about. + +[Illustration: MISS GRIMSTON'S BOUDOIR. + +_From a Photo by Elliott & Fry._] + +"It is so amusing to hear people talk and write about my eldest brother +Tom and me playing together as children," she said. "My mother was +married when she was eighteen, and my brother was born when she was +nineteen; I was born when she was forty-eight, and was her twenty-second +child! So my brother was a grown man with a moustache when I knew him. I +was brought up with his two children--little Tom and Maude, my own +nephew and niece." + +What a delightful story it was! Little Madge Robertson used to dress up +as a policeman and take Maude into custody before Tom, the younger, as +the judge. And this was the trial:-- + +"What is the prisoner charged with, constable?" asked the judge. + +"Murder, my lord," replied the representative of law and order. + +"Prisoner, are you guilty?" + +"Yes, my lord," answered the poor prisoner. + +"Prisoner, have you anything to say why sentence should not be passed +upon you according to law?" + +"Yes, my lord. _I'm the daughter of the author of 'Caste'._" + +The prisoner always got off, and dear old William Robertson would watch +this little scene and roar with laughter. + +"Yes," Mrs. Kendal said quietly, as we again looked at "Tom's" picture, +"my brother was kindness itself, even from his infancy. I remember +hearing how, when he was a very small boy and living with his aunt, he +went out one summer's day with a new velvet jacket on. He caught sight +of a poor little beggar child his own size, who was in tatters, and, +beckoning him across, at once divested himself of his new coat, put it +on the wondering youngster, and ran away home as fast as he could. His +aunt questioned him, and upon finding out the true circumstances of the +case, and not wishing to damp the kind spirit in the little fellow's +heart, said:-- + +"'Well, we'll go and try to find the boy you gave it to, and buy your +jacket back.' + +"Fortunately the search was successful, and the coat was bought back for +no less a sum than half-a-sovereign. + +"And in later years it was just the same with Tom. He could never pass +by a common cookshop, in front of the windows of which was often a crowd +of men, women, and children, looking on with longing eyes, without +getting them inside and giving them a fill to their hearts' content. +When out driving it was no different. He would stop the horse, and have +all the watching hungry ones inside, and the next moment they would be +revelling in the satisfying properties of thick slices of plum-pudding +and roast beef." + +The house throughout is most artistic. Mr. Kendal is a painter of great +merit, and he "knows" a picture as soon as he sees it. Pictures are his +hobby; hence there is not a room in the house--even to the +kitchen--which does not find a place for some canvas, etching, or +engraving. The entrance-hall is at once striking, with its quaint +thirteenth century furniture, bronzes, and Venetian ware. There are some +fine engravings of Miss Brunton--who became Countess of Craven--Kemble, +Garrick, Phelps, and Mrs. Siddons. A picture of Mrs. Kendal in "The +Falcon" was done at the express wish of, and paid for by, the late Poet +Laureate. Tennyson said it reminded him of a woman he liked and admired. +In the shadow is a fine bust of Macready, given by the great actor to +the father of Mrs. Kendal; resting against the fireplace on either side +are the two lances used in "The Queen's Shilling," and close by are two +huge masks representing a couple of very hirsute individuals. They came +from California, and represent "The King of the Devils" and "The King of +the Winds." + +[Illustration: THE HALL. (_From a Photo, by Elliott & Fry._)] + +[Illustration: THE DINING ROOM. (_From a Photo, by Elliott & Fry._)] + +The entrance to the dining-room is typical of all the other door +decoration in the house--a carving of cream enamel of beautiful design +and workmanship. The walls of this apartment are terra-cotta, with a +finely carved oak-panelling. It is a little treasure room of canvases, +the gem of which is probably C. Van Hannen's "Mask Shop in Venice"--a +painter of a school which Luke Fildes, R.A., has done so much to +popularize. Macbeth is represented by a couple of delightful efforts, +and there are samples of the skill of Eugene Du Blas, Crofts, John Reid, +Andriotti, Sadler, De Haas, Rivers; a grand landscape by Webb--nearly +all of which are Academy works. The decorative articles are as artistic +as in some cases they are peculiar. Running about above the oaken +fireplace, amongst choice bronzes and blue ware, and a black boy who is +trudging along with a very useful clock on his back, are many quaint +animals of polished brass--even mice are not missing, with wonderfully +long tails--that sparkle and glisten in the firelight. Ascending the +staircase you find etchings after Alma Tadema, Briton Riviere, and +others; the walls are covered with them. + +[Illustration: SCENE FROM "THE SQUIRE." _From the Picture by Mr. +Kendal._] + +Here are a series of delightful pictures showing Mr. and Mrs. Kendal in +Gilbert's "Sweethearts," and I am reminded that the gifted actor and +actress were the first to appear before the Queen after a period of +five-and-twenty years, during which Her Majesty had never seen a play, +the performance that night consisting of "Sweethearts" and Theyre +Smith's "Uncle's Will." And as one takes note of many rare works--the +bedroom is almost entirely given up to Doré's marvellous creations, +though near the window is a splendid specimen of the photographer's art: +a head of Miss Mary Anderson--one cannot fail to observe the family +spirit everywhere--sometimes portraits of children, sometimes small and +dainty pencil studies made of them by their father. Occasionally +theatrical sketches by Mr. Kendal appear. Here are some of the principal +members of the old St. James's Company, who used to give Mr. Kendal +sittings between the acts--here a capital bit of artistic work depicting +a scene from "The Squire," made from stray memorandums and with the aid +of a looking-glass for securing the actor-artist's face. + +Leaving Mr. Kendal for a time, Mrs. Kendal and I returned to the +drawing-room. It overlooks Harley Street and is a handsome two-roomed +apartment, the prevailing tone of blue, cream, and gold harmonizing to +perfection. It is positively one huge collection of curios. + +The screen at the far end is rather shuddery, not to say creepy, to +those of nervous temperament. It is decorated with tomahawks of fearful +and wonderful shapes and sizes, and other Indian implements of warfare. + +"These came from California," Mrs. Kendal explained. "No sooner are you +out of the train than the Indians tomahawk you! Look at this bow and +arrow." + +The pots of palms and ferns all hold American flags. These colours--the +stars and stripes--once surmounted baskets of flowers and floral +emblems--five, six, and even seven feet high--handed to Mrs. Kendal +during her recent tour in the States; and amongst the sweetly-perfumed +blossoms diamonds, pearls, and other precious gems have glistened in the +shape of ornaments. A table near the window tells you of the generosity +of the Americans. It is crowded with silver ornaments and mementos. You +may handle the diminutive silver candlesticks to light "The Kendals" +away--silver jugs, souvenir spoons, frying-pans, coffee-pots--all in +miniature. This silver dollar is only one of a hundred. You touch a +spring, when, lo and behold! the portrait of the donor appears. All +American women have dainty feet. These little ebony and silver lasts for +your boots remind you of this. On this table is a letter from the +Princess of Wales, thanking Mrs. Kendal for "the lovely silver wedding +bells and flowers which you so kindly sent me on the tenth." You may +examine George IV.'s cigar-case--a silver tube in which the King was +wont to carry a single cigar. It is impossible to number all the +treasured odds and ends, but still more difficult to total up the +miniature articles set out in a pair of cabinets. + +[Illustration: NAPOLEON'S WRITING-TABLE _From a Photo by Elliott & +Fry._] + +[Illustration: "SHAKESPEARE AND BACON" _From the Picture by A. E. +Emslie._] + +Mrs. Kendal has a hobby--it lies in the collecting of the tiniest of +tiny things. If her intimate friends come across any curiosity +particularly choice and small, it is at once snapped up and dispatched +to Harley Street. I had some little leaden mice in my hand the size of +half-a-dozen pins' heads. Handkerchiefs an inch square, babies' woollen +shoes, pinafores, shirts, all of the tiniest, but perfectly made, with +buttons and button-holes complete, and even buns with currants no bigger +than a pin's point. Sheep, dogs, cats, monkeys, pigs, giraffes--in +short, convert the entire Zoo into miniature china knick-knacks, and you +have a considerable portion of Mrs. Kendal's collection realized. One +must needs stand for a moment at Napoleon's writing-table, near which +rests a characteristic clay by Van Beers. The pictures here are many. +Millais' work is well represented by several etchings, and a remarkably +clever thing by Emslie, entitled "Shakespeare and Bacon," suggests the +two extremes of taste to a nicety. Whilst a young enthusiast is +declaiming Shakespeare, one of his listeners--doubtless, equally +enthusiastic, but with an eye for victuals--is interrupting a soliloquy +with the remark: "Now! who says bacon?" Every portrait has a +history--Prince and Princess Henry of Battenberg in their wedding +garments, the late Duke of Albany, Professor Huxley, Mrs. Beecher +Stowe, Mr. and Mrs. Pinero, Mr. and Mrs. Bancroft, and many others. +Three suggestive pictures, however, cannot be passed by. This dear +little fellow is the son of Mr. B. J. Farjeon. Mr. Farjeon married "Rip +Van Winkle" Jefferson's daughter, and the youngster is pictured dressed +in the tattered garments of merry, rollicking _Rip_. You know how _Rip_ +always drinks your health? He holds the glass of hollands high up and +cries, "Here's your health and your family's good health, and may they +all live long and prosper!" but Mr. Farjeon's little boy cries out, +"Here's your health, and your family's good health, and may you all live +long and _proper_!" + +[Illustration: GROUP IN CLAY BY JAN VAN BEERS.] + +[Illustration: MRS. KENDAL AS "GALATEA"] + +A photo, of Dr. Pancoast stands near a bust of Mrs. Kendal as _Galatea_, +done when she was seventeen. Dr. Pancoast--a celebrated American +physician--saved Mrs. Kendal's life when her maid accidentally +administered a poisonous drug to her mistress. The poor girl herself +nearly died of fright. + +But perhaps the portrait of the late Duchess of Cambridge, which Mrs. +Kendal now holds in her hand, is more interesting than them all. "Her +late Royal Highness," Mrs. Kendal said, "always addressed me and wrote +to me as Mrs. Grimston. She was paralyzed in her right hand and wrote +with her left; perhaps that is why this letter, written in pencil and +with great effort, is treasured more than it otherwise would have been." + +It was one of the last letters written by Her Royal Highness. The +letters and words were wonderfully legible; it read:-- + + "DEAR MRS. GRIMSTON,--One line only to thank you for sending me + the stalls for my dressers, who enjoyed your and Mr. Grimston's + charming acting immensely. My first deaf one was able to follow + perfectly, thanks to your having kindly let her have the book + previously. Again thanking you, + + "I remain, + + "Yours very sincerely, + AUGUSTA." + + + +And in a little cabinet in the far corner is a beautiful Sèvres bowl. In +the bowl is a telegram from "Princess Mary," asking Mrs. Kendal to come +to St. James's Palace at once. Written on a black-edged envelope were +these words: "To dearest Mrs. Grimston Kendal. A little souvenir. Found +amongst the last wishes of her late Royal Highness the Duchess of +Cambridge." + +It is only just possible to hasten through the collection of substantial +reminiscences which add to the charm of this corner of the house. The +quaint white china hare was given to Mrs. Kendal many years ago by Mr. +John Hare, when playing together at the Court. A curious but vividly +suggestive idea of Japanese wit, in the shape of a couple of +characteristically dressed figures, typifies "Health" and "Wealth"; the +figure, representing "Health" has a countenance of the deepest red, the +other a face all golden and as resplendent as the sun. In a small frame +is the letter from the Goethe Club of New York, making Mrs. Kendal an +honorary member. She is the only woman member of this club. And this +pretty little doll dressed as a Quakeress--a charming compliment to the +recipient--was presented by the Quakeresses of Philadelphia, who never, +never, never go the play, yea, verily! So they sent this as a tribute of +their admiration for the talents and character of the woman who has been +called "The Matron of the Drama." + +[Illustration: MRS. KENDALL'S LITTLE QUAKERESS.] + +We sat down on a settee in front of the fire. The cushions were of white +lawn marked with the initial "M.," and were worked by the late Lady +Eglinton. + +Mrs. Kendal's happy and homely face is familiar to all. She has a truly +tender and sympathetic expression there at all times. Her hair was once +that of the fair one with golden locks, now it is of a rich brown +colour--very neatly and naturally trimmed about her head. She is very +kind--very motherly; just the woman you would single out in time of +trouble and ask, "What would you advise me to do?" I gathered these +impressions whilst listening to many things she said of which I need not +write. Her views on theatrical life are strong, nay, severe. She is not +afraid to speak, and she hits hard and sends her shots home. But you +cannot mistake the earnestness of her manner, the true intent of her +motives. + +"I am only a common-place woman," she said to me. "I used to be ever so +light-hearted--now, I'm a morbid creature. Here we are sitting down by +the fireside. I may tell you happy reminiscences that may make one +merry, and all the time I should be thinking about--what? Cancer! I +return to my dressing-room from the stage at night. As I am passing +along a fellow player may turn to me and say, 'How well the play has +gone to-night!' I am only thinking of those who have trod that same +stage before me. What are they now? Dust--earth--worms!" + +I stirred the fire, and the bright glow from its burning embers lit up +the corner where we sat. And we talked together. + +Margaret Brunton Robertson was born at Great Grimsby on March 15th, +1849--curiously enough these lines will be read on the anniversary of +her birthday. Her grandfather, father, and uncle were all actors. + +"I lived alone with my father and mother," she said, "and the only real +recollection I have of my father is his fine white beard, which he grew +towards the latter days of his life, and a little advice he once gave +me. + +"'Always count twenty,' he said, 'when you are walking across the quay +at Bristol, then you won't hear the sailors swear!' Yet he would use +very bad language to me when he was teaching me my parts; for you know I +commenced acting at a very early age. I was only three when I made my +first appearance--and I ruined the play. It was at the Marylebone +Theatre in the 'Three Poor Travellers,' and I was a blind child. My +nurse was in the front row of the pit--that is, in the very first row, +for there were no stalls. All I thought about was my new shoes--a very +pretty, dainty little pair, and as soon as I stepped on the stage, I +opened my eyes, caught sight of the delighted face of my nurse, and +cried out:-- + +"'Oh! nursey, dear, look at my new shoes!' + +"I played at Chute's Theatre in Bristol in many child's parts. When my +father went to the wall over the Lincoln Circuit, Mr. Chute engaged him +as an actor, and I went with him. I remember in 'A Midsummer Night's +Dream'--I was _Mustard Seed_, I think, or _Peas Blossom_; at any rate, +some small character that required very prettily dressing, and plenty of +flowers on my little costume. I am as fond of flowers to-day as I was +then. Well, when once I got on the stage in my pretty dress--of which I +was particularly proud--before I would leave it, I had to be bought off +with apples and oranges! There they would stand at the wings, and the +price would go up--up--up--two oranges, three oranges, three oranges +and two apples--until I inwardly murmured a childish equivalent for +'sold,' and toddled off. + +"I acted _Eva_ in 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' when I was eight. I think I was +always a sad child--I looked forty when I was fifteen. After little +_Eva_ I used to play anything." + +And they were hard times for little Madge--she worked like the brave +little woman she was. Her childish thoughts were constantly with her +parents--how best could she add to the weekly income. And this is what +the same little Madge would do. Night after night, after playing in a +serious piece, she would appear in burlesque, sing, dance, and crack her +small jokes with the best of them. It was hard work that made her a +woman--it was dearly-bought experience that gave birth to the +sympathetic heart she has to-day. + +[Illustration: MRS. KENDAL. _From a Photo. by Bassano._] + +So at fourteen she was a woman grown--and at fifteen at Hull played +_Lady Macbeth_ to Phelps's _Macbeth_! + +"I was dressed in my mother's clothes," Mrs. Kendal said, "and I fear I +must have looked a fearful guy!" + +At rehearsal Phelps looked upon the young woman. + +"And who--who is this child?" asked the great actor. + +"Madge Robertson," the manager answered; "a rare favourite here. It was +a choice between her and a very old woman, Mr. Phelps." + +"Then let the young woman play, by all means," Phelps said. + +What a night it was! At the end of the play they wanted her on again, +but Phelps was obdurate. A party of men came round, and threatened to +throw Phelps into the Humber! Phelps remained firm. + +"He was kindness itself through it all," Mrs. Kendal assured me, "and +though I did not go on again, he proved his thoughtfulness a little +later on by sending for me to play _Lady Teazle_. I played the leading +parts during the three nights Phelps remained in Hull in 'The Man of the +World,' 'Richelieu,' and 'Macbeth.' On July 29th, 1865, I made my +_début_ in London, at the Haymarket, as _Ophelia_ to the _Hamlet_ of +Walter Montgomery. Poor Montgomery! He was what you would call a +'lady-killer'--very conceited, but, withal, very kind. He once wrote a +letter to my father, and added a postscript, saying: 'Keep this letter. +Should poverty fall upon you or yours, your great-grand-children may be +able to sell it for a good sum of money!' I was only with him six +weeks." + +The only play of her brother's in which Mrs. Kendal has appeared was +"Dreams," when the Gaiety first opened. At this time the managers always +tried to induce Mrs. Kendal to appear in a riding habit--a costume in +which she looked strikingly handsome. + +"Alfred Wigan played in 'Dreams,'" continued Mrs. Kendal. "His wife was +one of the kindest women I ever met. She gave me a gold bracelet for a +very curious little service I used to render her husband every night. He +had to sing a song in 'Dreams,' and one or two of the high notes were +beyond his reach. I used to take these notes for him, and the audience +never guessed the truth." + +"And have you not played _Desdemona_?" I asked. + +"Oh! yes--and to a real black man, and so he did not have to put his +head up the chimney to make himself up for the part! His name was Ira +Aldridge, and scandal said he was the dresser of some great actor whom +he used to imitate. But he had very ingenious ideas as to the character +of _Othello_. He thought him a brute, and played him as such. His great +notion was to get the fairest woman possible for _Desdemona_--and I was +selected, for at that time my hair was quite golden. + +"In one part of the play he would cry out, 'Give me thy hand, +Desdemona!' and certainly the effect of my hand in his huge grasp was +impressive. Then in the last act he would pull me from the couch by the +hair of my head. Oh! there was something in his realism, I can tell +you!" + +Miss Robertson made a great sensation when she appeared as _Blanche +Dumont_, in Dr. Westland Marston's "Hero of Romance," when it was +performed for the first time at the Haymarket Theatre, on March 14th, +1868. Seventeen months after this, on August 7th, 1869, she was Madge +Robertson no longer. On that day she was married to Mr. William Hunter +Grimston, whose stage name is Kendal. It is a charming little story. + +It occurred at Manchester. Mr. Kendal and Miss Robertson were on tour +with the elder Compton, and they were--sweethearts. A convenient time +seemed to have arrived for their wedding day, for on the Thursday, +Friday, and Saturday nights pieces were to be played in which neither of +them would be required. This would mean a nice little honeymoon--and the +two lovers would reappear on the Monday night. So the day was +fixed--Thursday; the church chosen--St. Saviour's, Plymouth Grove; and +the best man booked--Walter Gowing, who used to play under the name of +Walter Gordon. + +Then bad news came. Compton's brother was taken ill, and he had to hurry +away from Cottonopolis. Another play had to be put in the bill, both Mr. +Kendal and Miss Robertson would be needed--for it was "As You Like It," +and the one would be wanted for _Orlando_ and the other for _Rosalind_. +Still, the wedding was proceeded with on Thursday morning, quietly and +happily, and in the evening husband and wife met on the stage in the +Forest of Arden. There, with _Celia_ as the priest, amidst the leafy +trees and grassy pathways, _Orlando_ turns to the merry _Celia_, and +pointing to the far, far happier _Rosalind_, cries out:-- + +"Pray thee, marry us!" + +"Will you, Orlando, have to wife this Rosalind?" + +"I will." + +"Then," _Rosalind_ pertly remarks, "you must say, 'I take thee, +Rosalind, for wife.'" + +"I take thee, Rosalind, for wife," said _Orlando_, earnestly. + +Then _Rosalind_ asked, "Now tell me how long you would have her after +you have possessed her?" + +And _Orlando_ replied--both in the words of Shakespeare and in the +language of his own heart--"For ever and a day!" + +That is the true story of the wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Kendal. It was a +natural desire of each never to play apart from the other, and from that +day they have never separated. For some seven years Mr. and Mrs. Kendal +played at the Haymarket, under Buckstone's management, and the gifted +actress merrily referred to the little jokes played on "Bucky" by some +of the actors. He was stone deaf, and could only take his cues when to +speak from the movements of his fellow-actors' lips, so they would annoy +him by continuing the lip movement, and "Bucky" sometimes got "stuck." + +[Illustration: THE DRAWING-ROOM. _From a Photo. by Elliott & Fry._] + +Little need be said of Mrs. Kendal's subsequent work--her acting at the +Court, the Prince of Wales's, and her labours at the St. James's, when, +in 1881, she appeared there under the joint management of Mr. Kendal and +Mr. Hare. Not only in this country has her name become fondly familiar +in the homes of those who "go to the theatre" and those who "never +would," but in America the artistic acting of herself and husband has +been instantly and enthusiastically recognised. + +I left the drawing-room--pausing, before entering Mr. Kendal's study, to +admire the aviary--a veritable home of song--and to notice one +diminutive member of the feathered tribe in particular, who has been +taught by Miss Grimston to perform tricks _ad lib._, in addition to +giving forth the sweetest of notes. + +The study is a very delicate apartment in terra-cotta and gold--here and +there are quaint blue china vases and many exquisite bronzes. The window +in the recess where the table is--a typical study table, suggesting +plenty of work--is of stained glass, the quartet of divisions +representing the four seasons. A glance round the walls of this room at +once reveals the substantial side of Mr. Kendal's artistic +hobby--pictures. In this apartment there is nothing but water-colours, +save a very clever pen-and-ink sketch by a New York artist, called "Six +Months After Marriage," which Jefferson caught sight of at the New York +Dramatic Bazaar, and reminded Mr. Kendal to "keep his eye on," and a +portrait or two of Mrs. Kendal and the children. "Hetty Sorrell" at her +butter pats, with her thoughts very far from the churning-pan, is a gem. +"The Last of St. Bartholomew" is a magnificent bit of painting, and the +Venetian views at once carry one back to the home of the merry gondolier +and perfect moonlight nights. This picture of Salvini--who its possessor +assured me was the finest tragedian he had ever seen--was painted by Mr. +Kendal himself. The bookcase, running along opposite the window, +contains many rare first editions, of which Mr. Kendal is a very +persevering and successful collector, and a bound manuscript copy of +every play produced by him, together with the original sketches for the +scenery. You may look over the "Scrap of Paper," "The Falcon," "Queen's +Shilling," "Ladies' Battle," "Clancarty," "The Ironmaster," "The Money +Spinner," and "The Squire"--Pinero's play, of which somebody wrote that +it wafted the scent of the new-mown hay across the footlights. + +[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF SALVANI, BY MR. KENDAL.] + +It is interesting to learn how Mr. Kendal first came across Pinero. + +"I only knew him as an actor at the Lyceum," he said, "and had never met +him. He wrote and asked if we would let him read a play to us. As a rule +we never do that; but, remembering that Pinero was himself a player, we +made an exception. So it came about that one day, after a rehearsal, the +actor playwright read his piece to us in the _foyer_ of the St. James's. +We never expected anything at first, but the reading ended in our taking +the play immediately, though we scarcely knew what we should do with it, +seeing it was a two-act play. We found an opportunity, however, and you +know the success it was. It was called 'The Money Spinner.'" + +Mr. Kendal is a striking-looking man--the very ideal of a picturesque +soldier, with a constitution of steel. He talks to you frankly, easily, +for there is not two penny-worth of presumption about him. He lives and +labours very quietly--he enjoys his days, and a good cigar. He divides +his talents between the stage and the brush. His pencil and palette have +been with him in far-off places, and there is always a corner in his +bag for them if he only travels twenty miles from Harley Street. His +peculiarity of painting--so to speak--lies in the fact that he never +fails to chronicle the view obtained from any hotel where he may be +staying. He showed me a book full of these hasty impressions--all of +which were most beautifully done--many of them he could only give ten +minutes or a quarter of an hour to. Two of these I brought away for +reproduction in these pages; they are both unfinished, however--the +pencil reminders of certain little additions tell that. + +[Illustration: SKETCH FROM THE QUEEN's HOTEL, MANCHESTER, BY MR. +KENDAL.] + +The first of these is a view of the Infirmary as seen from Mr. Kendal's +window at the Queen's Hotel, Manchester; the second--done in a quarter +of an hour--shows the way the Americans erect their buildings for +exhibiting a cyclorama--popularly known here as a panorama. It was done +from a back window in an hotel in Cleveland, U.S.A. The actor-artist +never learnt drawing, save for a few hours' lessons he took at the Slade +Schools under the tuition of Le Gros. He draws everything that impresses +him--his painting memory is remarkable. He sees a man's face in the +street, carries it home in his mind, and it will be very faithfully put +on paper or canvas. + +We talked for a long time on "pictures"--he was so happy and earnest +about it that it was some time before we made an attempt to tread the +boards and get behind the footlights. + +Mr. Kendal--William Hunter Grimston--was born at Notting Hill, and just +outside the sound of Bow Bells, on December 16th, 1843. His parents +belonged to the Low Church, and their views of the theatre in general, +and on adopting the stage as a profession in particular, will be readily +understood. Mr. Kendal was intended for the Army--how he came to "go on" +the stage is best told in his own words: + +"I had only been to three or four pantomimes previously," he said, "and +one night--I was about eighteen years of age at the time--I found myself +in the stalls of the old Soho Theatre, in Dean Street, Soho, now known +as the Royalty Theatre. My paper and pencil were out, and I was busily +engaged in making sketches of the various actors and actresses. The +piece was 'Billie Taylor.' Suddenly I felt a gentle tap on the shoulder +from behind. I turned round. + +"'Would you allow me to take those sketches round and show the 'parties' +interested?' a gentleman asked. + +"'Certainly; with pleasure,' I replied. + +"'Perhaps you would like to come behind the scenes as well?' + +"It was just what I wanted, so I followed the person who had so kindly +interested himself in my scribble. He proved to be Mr. Mowbray, the +manager of the theatre. The picture behind the scenes that night was a +perfect Elysium to me. I think Mowbray must have noticed the impression +it made upon me, for he asked if I would like to go on the stage. I +did--as a sort of super." + +[Illustration: SKETCH FROM HOTEL WINDOW, CLEVELAND, U.S.A., BY MR. +KENDAL.] + +Mr. Kendal's first important engagement lasted four or five years at the +Theatre Royal, Glasgow. Here he met and played with such people as Helen +Faucit (Lady Martin), G. V. Brooke, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kean, Dion +Boucicault, Fechter, Miss Bateman (Mrs. Crowe), and the elder Sothern. +When Sothern left, the accomplished young actor played _Dundreary_, and +found himself straying in the footsteps of the famous originator of the +part, even to the hop. One would have thought that people would have +praised the actor for taking such a worthy example--but it displeased +Tom Taylor, and he wrote very wrathfully. Then Mr. Kendal went to the +Haymarket, met Miss Robertson, and from their wedding day their lives +may be said to have been the same in thought, word, and deed. + +As an organizer and man of business his tact and judgment were tested +and proved during his joint management of the St. James's with Mr. Hare +in 1881. For some time previous to this Mr. Kendal had been on the +look-out for a theatre, and his mind wandered towards the St. James's, +but it required a large sum of money spending on it before it could be +opened. + +"One night I was talking to Lord Newry at my club," said Mr. Kendal, +"and happened to say that if £2,000 or so were spent on the St. James's +I might feel inclined to take it. + +"'Suppose I spend that amount of money on the place, will you take it?' +Lord Newry asked. + +"My only reply was that I would think about it. In the meantime I went +to the Court, from there to the Prince of Wales's to play in +'Diplomacy'--it ran a year--'Peril' and 'London Assurance.' Then I +returned to the Court again, and during this time Lord Newry had +practically gutted the old and unlucky St. James's, turned it inside +out--John Hare, my wife and self entered, and we remained there nearly +ten years." + +Mr. and Mrs. Kendal share the same opinion of America--it is the land of +to-day, the land of the future. As to its theatres in comparison with +ours, Mrs. Kendal--who had now joined us--was most enthusiastic. I had +reached the pillars, from which hung curtains of intricate Japanese +workmanship, leading to the hall. Victoria, the Jubilee dog, was barking +a friendly "Good-bye," and the lusty throats of Miss Grimston's +two-and-twenty canaries forced their sweet notes from a far-away room +into the passage. + +"I will give you some idea of what an American theatre is like," said +Mrs. Kendal. "You reach your destination by rail at some small place for +a one-night stay. If it is raining and the ground is wet, men in long +jack-boots catch hold of you and gallantly take you across the puddles. +You do not see a soul about--and you are in fear and trembling as to +where your night's audience is coming from. You get to your hotel, and +then your next thought is--where is the theatre? You expect to find a +little, uncomfortable, band-box of a place, and you set out to see it +with a heavy heart. It is a palace--a marble palace--a positive poem! +And your heart leaps happily--only to drop dull again, for you suddenly +remember that you have seen--nobody, not even the oldest inhabitant. You +turn to the manager. + +"'Yes, yes--but, what about an audience, how are you going to fill it?' +you ask. + +"'Wall,' he replies, 'I don't trouble myself much about that. I reckon +that every seat in this theatre is sold for to-night, that's all!'" + + HARRY HOW. + +[Illustration: MR. KENDAL. _From a Photo. by Maurice Stephens, +Harrogat._] + + + + +"_Author! Author_!" + +BY E. W. HORNUNG. + + +This story has to do with two men and a play, instead of a woman, and it +is none of mine. I had it from an old gentleman I love: only he ought to +have written it himself. This, however, he will never do; having known +intimately in his young days one of the two men concerned. But I have +his leave to repeat the story more or less as he told it--if I can. And +I am going to him for my rebuke--when I dare. + + * * * * * + +"You want to hear the story of poor old Pharazyn and his play? I'm now +going to tell it you. + +"Ah, well! My recollection of the matter dates from one summer's night +at my old rooms in the Adelphi, when he spoilt my night's work by coming +in flushed with an idea of his own. I remember banging the drawer into +which I threw my papers to lock them away for the night; but in a few +minutes I had forgotten my unfinished article, and was glad that +Pharazyn had come. We were young writers, both of us; and, let me tell +you, my good fellow, young writing wasn't in those days what it is now. +I am thinking less of merit than of high prices, and less of high prices +than of cheap notoriety. Neither of us had ever had our names before the +public--not even in the advertised contents of an unread and unreadable +magazine. No one cared about names in my day, save for the half-dozen +great ones that were then among us; so Pharazyn's and mine never used to +appear in the newspapers, though some of them used our stuff. + +"In a manner we were rivals, for we were writing the same sort of thing +for the same sort of publications, and that was how we had come +together; but never was rivalry friendlier, or mutually more helpful. +Our parts were strangely complementary; if I could understand for the +life of me the secret of collaboration, which has always been a mystery +to me, I should say that I might have collaborated with Pharazyn almost +ideally. I had the better of him in point of education, and would have +turned single sentences against him for all he was worth; and I don't +mind saying so, for there my superiority ended. When he had a story to +tell, he told it with a swing and impetus which I coveted him, as well I +might to this day; and if he was oftener without anything to write +about, his ideas would pay twenty shillings in the pound, in strength +and originality, where mine made some contemptible composition in pence. +That is why I have been a failure at fiction--oh, yes, I have! That is +why Pharazyn would have succeeded, if only he had stuck to plain +ordinary narrative prose. + +[Illustration: "HE SKETCHED THE NEW STORY."] + +"The idea he was unable to keep within his own breast, on the evening of +which I am telling you, was as new, and simple, and dramatic as any that +ever intoxicated the soul of story-teller or made a brother author green +with envy. I can see him now, as I watched him that night, flinging to +and fro with his quick, nervous stride, while he sketched the new +story--bit by bit, and often the wrong bit foremost; but all with his +own flashing vividness, which makes me so sorry--so sorry whenever I +think of it. At moments he would stand still before the chair on which I +sat intent, and beat one hand upon the other, and look down at me with a +grand, wondering smile, as though he himself could hardly believe what +the gods had put into his head, or that the gift was real gold, it +glittered so at first sight. On that point I could reassure him. My open +jealousy made me admire soberly. But when he told me, quite suddenly, as +though on an afterthought, that he meant to make a play of it and not a +story, I had the solid satisfaction at that moment of calling him a +fool. + +"The ordinary author of my day, you see, had a certain timorous respect +for the technique of the stage. It never occurred to us to make light of +those literary conventions which it was not our business to understand. +We were behind you fellows in every way. But Pharazyn was a sort of +forerunner: he said that any intelligent person could write a play, if +he wanted to, and provided he could write at all. He said his story was +a born play; and it was, in a way; but I told him I doubted whether he +could train it up with his own hand to be a good-acting one. I knew I +was right. He had neither the experience nor the innate constructive +faculty, one or other of which is absolutely necessary for the writing +of possible plays. I implored him to turn the thing into a good dramatic +novel, and so make his mark at one blow. But no; the fatal fit was on +him, and I saw that it must run its course. Already he could see and +hear his audience laughing and crying, so he said, and I daresay he +could also feel the crinkle of crisp weekly receipts. I only know that +we sat up all night over it, arguing and smoking and drinking whisky +until my windows overlooking the river caught the rising sun at an +angle. Then I gave in. For poor old Pharazyn was more obstinate than +ever, though he thanked me with the greatest good temper for my +well-meant advice. + +"'And look here, my boy,' says he, as he puts on his hat, 'you shan't +hear another word about this till the play's written; and you are to ask +no questions. Is that a bargain? Very well, then. When I've finished +it--down to the very last touches--_you_ shall come and sit up all night +with _me_, and I'll read you every word. And by gad, old chap, if they +give me a call the first night, and want a speech--and I see you sitting +in your stall, like a blessed old fool as you are--by gad, sir, I'll +hold up you and your judgment to the ridicule of the house, so help me +never!' + +[Illustration: "I COULD SMELL HIS PIPE THROUGH THE KEYHOLE."] + +"Well, I am coming to that first night presently. Meanwhile, for the +next six months, I saw very little of Pharazyn, and less still in the +new year. He seldom came to my rooms now; when he did I could never get +him to stay and sit up with me; and once when I climbed up to his garret +(it was literally that), he would not answer me, though I could smell +his pipe through the key-hole, in which he had turned the key. Yet he +was perfectly friendly whenever we did meet. He said he was working very +hard, and indeed I could imagine it; his personal appearance, which he +had never cherished, being even untidier, and I am obliged to add +seedier, than of old. He continued to send me odd magazines in which his +stuff happened to appear, or occasionally a proof for one's opinion and +suggestions; we had done this to each other all along; but either I did +not think about it, or somehow he led me to suppose that his things were +more or less hot from the pen, whereas many of mine had been written a +twelvemonth before one saw them in type. One way or another, I gathered +that he was at work in our common groove, and had shelved, for the +present at all events, his proposed play, about which you will remember +I had undertaken to ask no questions. + +"I was quite mistaken. One night in the following March he came to me +with a haggard face, a beaming eye, and a stout, clean manuscript, which +he brought down with a thud on my desk. It was the play he had sketched +out to me eight or nine months before. I was horrified to hear he had +been at work upon it alone from that night to this. He had written, so +he said, during all this time, not another line, only each line of his +play some ten times over. + +"I recollect looking curiously at his shabby clothes, and then reminding +him that it was at his place, not mine, I was to have heard him read the +play: and how he confessed that he had no chair for me there--that his +room was, in fact, three parts dismantled--that he had sacrificed +everything to the play, which was worth it. I was extremely angry. I +could have helped him so easily, independent as I was of the calling I +loved to follow. But there was about him always an accursed, unnecessary +independence, which has since struck me--and I think I may say so after +all these years--as the mark of a rather humble, very honest origin. + +"He read me the play, and I cried over the third act, and so did he. I +thought then, and still think, that there was genius in that third +act--it took you off your feet. And to me, certainly, it seemed as if +the piece must act as well as it read, though indeed, as I took care to +say and to repeat, my opinion was well-nigh valueless on that point. I +only knew that I could see the thing playing itself, as I walked about +the room (for this time I was the person who was too excited to sit +still), and that was enough to make one sanguine. I became as +enthusiastic about it as though the work were mine (which it never, +never would or could have been), yet I was unable to suggest a single +improvement, or to have so much as a finger-tip in the pie. Nor could I +afterwards account for its invariable reception at the hands of +managers, whose ways were then unknown to me. That night we talked only +of one kind of reception. We were still talking when the sun came +slanting up the river to my windows; you could hardly see them for +tobacco-smoke, and we had emptied a bottle of whisky to the success of +Pharazyn's immortal play. + +[Illustration: "HIS MANUSCRIPT RAGGED BUT UNREAD."] + +"Oh, those nights--those nights once in a way! God forgive me, but I'd +sacrifice many things to be young again and feel clever, and to know the +man who would sit up all night with me to rule the world over a bottle +of honest grog. In the pale light of subsequent revelations I ought, +perhaps, to recall such a night, with that particular companion, +silently and in spiritual ashes. But it is ridiculous, in my opinion, to +fit some sort of consequence to every little insulated act; nor will I +ever admit that poor Pharazyn's ultimate failing was in any appreciable +degree promoted or prepared for by those our youthful full-souled +orgies. I know very well that afterwards, when his life was spent in +waylaying those aforesaid managers, in cold passages, on stage +doorsteps, or, in desperation, under the public portico on the street; +and when a hundred snubs and subterfuges would culminate in the return +of his manuscript, ragged but unread: I know, and I knew then, that the +wreck who would dodge me in Fleet Street, or cut me in the Strand, had +taken to his glass more seriously and more steadily than a man should. +But I am not sure that it matters much--_much_, you understand me--when +that man's heart is broken. + + * * * * * + +"The last words I was ever to exchange with my poor old friend keep +ringing in my head to this day, whenever I think of him; and I can +repeat them every one. It was some few years after our intimacy had +ceased, and when I only knew that he had degenerated into a Fleet Street +loafer of the most dilapidated type, that I caught sight of him one day +outside a theatre. It was the theatre which was for some years a +gold-mine to one Morton Morrison, of whom you may never have heard; but +he was a public pet in his day, I can tell you, and his day was just +then at its high noon. Well, there stood Pharazyn, with his hands in his +pockets and a cutty-pipe sticking out between his ragged beard and +moustache, and his shoulders against the pit door, so that for once he +could not escape me. But he wouldn't take a hand out of his pocket to +shake mine; and when I asked him how he was, without thinking, he +laughed in my face, and it made me feel cruel. He was dreadfully +emaciated, and almost in rags. And as I wondered what I ought to do, and +what to say next, he gave a cough, and spat upon the pavement, and I +could see the blood. + +[Illustration: "THERE STOOD PHARAZYN."] + +"I don't know what you would have done for him--but for all I knew what +had brought him to this, I could think of nothing but a drink. It was +mid-winter, and I tell you the man was in rags. I felt that if I could +get him to a bar he might eat something, too, and that I should get a +hold of him this time which I would never again let go. Judge of my +surprise when he flatly refused to come with me even for a drink. + +"'Can't you see? he said in his hollow voice. 'There'll be a crowd here +directly, and I want the best seat in the pit--the best in the house. +I've been going dry for it these two days, and I'm going dry till I've +seen the piece. No, I've been here an hour already, and there's three +hours more, I know; but I'm not going to risk it, thanks all the same.' + +"By this I had remembered that Morton Morrison was to re-open that night +with a new piece. Indeed, I ought not to have forgotten that, seeing +that I had my order about me somewhere, and it meant a column from my +pen between twelve and one that night. But this sudden, sorry meeting +had put all other thoughts out of my head. + +"'My dear fellow,' I said, with a sort of laugh, 'are you a +first-nighter, too?' + +"'Only at this theatre.' + +"He looked me queerly in the face. + +"'You admire Morrison very much?' + +"'I love him!' + +"I suppose my eyes thawed him, though God knows how hard I was trying +not to hurt him with pitying looks. At all events he began to explain +himself of his own accord, very impetuously; indeed I rather think the +outburst was purely involuntary. + +"'Look here,' he said, with his hoarse voice lowered: 'I hoped never to +see your face again. I hoped you'd never see mine. But now you are here, +don't go this minute, and I'll tell you why I think so much of Morton +Morrison. I don't know him, mind you--he doesn't know me from Adam--but +once long ago I had something to do with him. And God bless him, but +damn every other manager in London, for he was the only one of the lot +that gave me a civil hearing and a kind word!' + +"I knew what he was talking about, and he knew that I knew, for we had +understood one another in the old days. + +"'I took it to him last of all,' he went on, wiping his damp lips with +his hand. 'When I began hawking it about he was an unknown man; when his +turn came he was here. He let me read it to him. Then he asked me to +leave it with him for a week; and when I went back to him, he said what +they had all said--that it would never act! But Morton Morrison said it +nicely. And when he saw how it cut me up, into little bits, he got me to +tell him all about everything; and then he persuaded me to burn the +play, instead of ruining my life for it; and I burnt it in his +dressing-room fire, but the ruin was too far gone to mend. I wrote that +thing with my heart's blood--old man, you know I did! And none of them +would think of it! My God! But Morrison was good about it--he's a good +soul--and that's why you'll see me at every first night of his until the +drink finishes its work.' + +"I had not followed him quite to the end. One thing had amazed me too +much. + +"'You burnt your play,' I could only murmur, 'when it would have turned +into such a novel! Surely you have some draft of it still?' + +"'I burnt the lot when I got home,' Pharazyn replied; 'and by-and-by I +shall join 'em and burn too!' + +"I had nothing to answer to that, and was, besides, tenacious of my +point. 'I don't think much of the kindness that makes one man persuade +another to burn his work and throw up the sponge,' said I, with a good +deal of indignation, for I did feel wroth with that fellow Morrison--a +bread-and-butter drawing-room actor, whose very vogue used to irritate +me. + +[Illustration: "WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS?"] + +"'Then what do you think of this?' asked Pharazyn, as he dipped a hand +within his shabby coat, and cautiously unclenched it under my nose. + +"'Why, it's a five-pound note!' + +"'I know; but wasn't _that_ kind, then?' + +"'So Morrison gave you this!' I exclaimed. + +"Two or three persons had stopped to join us at the pit door, and +Pharazyn hastily put the note back in his pocket. As he did so, his +dreadfully shabby condition gave my heart a fresh cut. + +"'Are you never going to spend that?' I asked in a whisper; and in a +whisper he answered:-- + +"'Never! It is all my play has brought me--all. It was given me as a +charity, but I took it as my earnings--my earnings for all the work and +waiting, and blood and tears, that one thing cost me. Spend it? Not I! +It will bury me as decently as I deserve.' + +"We could converse no more. And the presence of other people prevented +me from giving him my overcoat, though I spoke of it into his ear, +begging and imploring him to come away and take it while there was still +time for him to clip back and get a seat in the front row. But he would +not hear of it, and the way he refused reminded me of his old stubborn +independence; all I got was a promise that he would have a bite with me +after the performance. And so I left him in the frosty dusk, ill-clad +and unkempt, with the new-lit lamp over the pit door shining down upon +the haggard mask that had once been the eager, memorable face of my +cleverest friend. + +"I saw him next the moment I entered the theatre that evening, and I +nodded my head to him, which he rebuked with the slightest shake of his +own. So I looked no more at him before the play began, comprehending +that he desired me not to do so. The temptation, however, was too strong +to go on resisting, for while Pharazyn was in the very centre of the +front row in the pit, I was at one end of the last row of the stalls; +and I was very anxious about him, wanting to make sure that he was there +and not going to escape me again, and nervous of having him out of my +sight for five minutes together. + +"Thus I know more about the gradual change which came over Pharazyn's +poor face, as scene followed scene, than of the developments and merits +of those scenes themselves. My mind was in any case running more on my +lost friend than on the piece; but it was not till near the end of the +first act that the growing oddity of his look first struck me. + +"His eyebrows were raised; it was a look of incredulity chiefly; yet I +could see nothing to impale for improbability in the play as far as it +had gone. I was but lightly attending, for my own purposes, as you +youngsters skim your betters for review; but thus far the situation +struck me as at once feasible and promising. Also it seemed not a little +familiar to me; I could not say why, for watching Pharazyn's face. And +it was his face that told me at last, in the second act. By God, it was +his own play! + +"It was Pharazyn's play, superficially altered all through, nowhere +substantially; but the only play for me, when I knew that, was being +acted in the front row of the pit, and not on the stage, to which I had +turned the side of my head. I watched my old friend's face writhe and +work until it stiffened in a savage calm; and watching, I thought of the +'first night' he had pictured jovially in the old days, when the bare +idea of the piece was bursting his soul; and thinking, I wondered +whether it could add a drop to his bitterness to remember that too. + +"Yet, through all my thoughts, I was listening, intently enough, now. +And in the third act I heard the very words my friend had written: they +had not meddled with his lines in the great scene which had moved us +both to tears long ago in my rooms. And this I swear to, whether you +believe it or no--that at the crisis of that scene, which was just as +Pharazyn made it, the calm ferocity transfiguring his face died away all +at once, and I saw it shining with the sweetest tears our eyes can +shed--the tears of an artist over his own work. + +"And when the act was over he sat with his head on his hand for some +minutes, drinking in the applause, as I well knew; then he left his seat +and squeezed out on my side of the house, and I made sure he was coming +to speak to me over the barrier; and I got up to speak to him; but he +would not see me, but stood against the barrier with a mien as white and +set as chiselled marble. + +"What followed on the first fall of the curtain I shall relate as +rapidly as it happened. Louder call for an author I never heard, and I +turned my eyes to the stage in my intense curiosity to see who would +come forward; for the piece had been brought out anonymously; and I +divined that Morrison himself was about to father it. And so he did; but +as the lie passed his lips, and in the interval before the applause--the +tiny interval between flash and peal--the lie was given him in a roar of +fury from my left; there fell a thud of feet at my side, and Pharazyn +was over the barrier and bolting down the gangway towards the stage. I +think he was near making a leap for the footlights and confronting +Morrison on his own boards; but the orchestra came between, and the +fiddlers rose in their places. Then he turned wildly to us pressmen, and +I will say he had our ear, if not that of the whole house besides, for +the few words he was allowed to utter. + +"'Gentlemen!' he cried at the top of his voice--'Gentlemen, I'm one of +you! I'm a writing man like yourselves, and I wrote this play that +you've seen. That man never wrote it at all--I wrote it myself! That man +has only altered it. I read it to him two years ago--two years ago, +gentlemen! He kept it for a week, and then got me to burn it as +rubbish--when he had made a copy of it! And he gave me this, +gentlemen--he gave me this that I give him back!' + +"It was a matter of only a few seconds, but not till my own last hour +shall I forget Morrison's painted face on the stage, or that sweating +white one beneath the boxes; or the fluttering from Pharazyn's poor +fingers of the five-pound note he had treasured for two years; or the +hush all over the house until the first hand was laid upon his dirty +collar. + +"'What!' he screamed, 'do none of you believe me? Will none of you stand +by me--isn't there a man--not one man among you----' + +"And they threw him out with my name on his lips. And I followed, and +floored a brute who was handling him roughly. And nothing happened to +me--because of what happened to Pharazyn!" + + * * * * * + +The dear old boy sat silent, his grey head on his hand. Presently he +went on, more to himself than to me: "What could I do? What proof had I? +He had burnt them every one. And as long as the public would stand him, +Morrison kept his good name at least. And that play was his great +success!" + +[Illustration: "HE GAVE ME THIS."] + +I ventured gently to inquire what had happened to Pharazyn. + +"He died in my arms," my old friend cried, throwing up his head with an +oath and a tear. "He died in a few minutes, outside the theatre. I could +hear them clapping after he was dead--clapping his piece." + +[Illustration] + + + + +Zig Zags at the Zoo: Conkavian + + +If the gentle reader, full of a general desire for knowledge and a +particular enthusiasm for natural history, will refer to any one of the +great standard works on birds, and, turning to the index, seek for the +family title of the Conkaves, I have every hope and confidence that he +will not find it; because, as a matter of fact, it is a little invention +of my own, and, I may modestly urge, rather a neat thing in scientific +nomenclature, on the whole. It has the advantage of including in one +family the storks and the pelicans, which in all orthodox books on birds +are planted far apart and out of sight of each other, with many orders, +tribes, and families between. Under my title they are gathered amicably +together in the common possession of very long bills, like two tailors +on a man's doorstep. The word is derived, in the proper and regular +manner, from ancient sources; from _conk_, a venerable Eastern word, +signifying a nose or beak, and the Latin _avis_, a bird. And I offer +the term freely as my humble, but I trust useful, contribution to +science; my first contribution. + +The stork is regarded, in many countries, with a certain +semi-superstitious reverence and esteem. After many prolonged and +serious attempts to saturate myself with a similar feeling, I regret to +confess to a certain smallness of esteem for the stork. You can't esteem +a bird that makes ugly digs at your feet and heels with such a very big +beak. Out in their summer quarters the storks are kept in by close wire, +and close wire will give an air of inoffensiveness to most things. But, +away in a by-yard, with a gate marked "private," there stands a shed +wherein the storks are kept warm in winter, behind wooden bars; and +between these bars stork-heads have a way of dropping at the toes of the +favoured passer-by, like to action of a row of roadmen's picks. + +[Illustration: PICKS AND CHEWS.] + +The stork has come off well in the matter of bodily endowment. The +pelican has a tremendous beak--achieved, it would seem, by a skimping of +material in the legs; but the stork has the tremendous beak and legs of +surprising growth as well. His wings, too, are something more than +respectable. At flying, at eating, at portentous solemnity of +demeanour--in all these and in other things the pelican and the stork +score fairly evenly; but at walking the pelican is left behind at once. +This makes one suspect the stork's honesty. The pelican has a good beak +and wings, and pays for them, like an honest bird, out of its legs, just +as the ostrich pays for its neck and legs out of its wings. But the +stork is abnormally lucky in beak, neck, legs, and wings together, and +even then has material left to lay out in superfluous knobs and wens to +hang round its neck, which leads to a suspicion that many of its +personal fittings belong properly to some other bird. I've a notion that +the unlucky kiwi might identify some of the property. + +[Illustration: THE PELICAN LEFT.] + +[Illustration: ARMY.] + +Perhaps the adjutant should be acknowledged king of the conkavians. +Billy, the Zoo adjutant, has, I believe, no doubt on the subject at all. +Billy is an ornament to the military profession--a very fine fellow, +with a thing on the back of his neck like a Tangerine orange, and a wen +on the front of it, which he can blow out whenever he wants to amuse +himself, and everything else handsome about him. He is an old soldier, +too, is Billy, having been Adjutant of the Regent's Park Conkavian Corps +for seventeen years; but if you knew nothing of his age, still you would +call Billy an old soldier--upon a little acquaintance with his habits. + +[Illustration: LAW.] + +There seems no valid reason why the professional aspirations of the +stork should be restricted to the army. If an adjutant, why not a dean? +Why not a proctor? There is the making of a most presentable don about a +stork; and I have caught a stork in an attitude of judicial meditation +that might do honour to any bench. There is no reason why "sober as a +judge" should not be made to read "sober as a stork," except that the +stork is the more solemn creature of the two; and I think that some +species of stork--say the marabou, for instance--might fairly claim +brevet rank as judge, after the example of the adjutant. The elevation +of a beak to the bench might be considered an irregular piece of legal +procedure; but, bless you, it's nothing unusual with a stork. Put any +bench with something to eat on it anywhere within reach of a stork's +beak in this place, and you shall witness that same elevation, precedent +or no precedent. + +[Illustration: UNIVERSITIES.] + +A common white stork hasn't half the solid gravity of an adjutant or a +marabou. He has a feline habit of expressing his displeasure by blowing +and swearing--a habit bad and immoral in a cat, but worse in a stork +accustomed to Church. Church, by-the-bye, is the keeper of all the +conkavians, as well as of the herons, the flamingoes, the ibises, the +egrets, and a number of other birds with names more difficult to spell. +It is impossible to treat disrespectfully a man with such widespread +responsibilities as this, or there might be a temptation to mention that +he is not an unusually high Church, although his services are not always +simple, often involving a matter of doctorin'. But, then, some people +will say anything, temptation or none. And after all, it is pleasant to +know that, whatever a stork or a pelican wants, he always goes to +Church. + +[Illustration: SWEARING.] + +[Illustration: CHURCH.] + +This being the case, there is a proverb about cleanliness that makes one +wonder why the marabou stork doesn't wash himself. It isn't as though he +never wanted it. I have a horrible suspicion about this philosophic old +sloven. I believe his profession of philosophic contemplation is +assumed, because it is the easiest excuse for indolence. Now, a pelican +is not a bird of graceful outline, but he _is_ careful about his +feathers. The pelican is a scrupulous old Dutchman, and the stork is an +uncleanly old Hindu. And uncleanly he must be left, for it takes a deal +to shame a stork. You can't shame a bird that wraps itself in a +convenient philosophy. "Look here--look at me!" you can imagine a +pelican cleanliness-missionary saying to the stork. "See how white and +clean I keep all my feathers!" "Um," says the stork, "it only makes 'em +a different colour." "But observe! I just comb through my pinions with +my beak, so, and they all lie neat and straight!" "Well, and what's the +good of that?" grunts the stork. "And then you see," says the pelican, +ignoring the question, "with a good long beak you can reach everywhere, +over your back and under your wings; see, I'm as clean under my wings as +anywhere else, although it's covered up!" "Beastly vanity," growls the +old Hindu, getting bored. "Then," continues the Dutchman, "you give +yourself a good shake, and there you are!" "And then," says the +philosopher sarcastically, "to-morrow, I suppose, you'll have to do it +all over again?" "Of course!" "Oh! I hate a fool!" says the stork, and +closes the lecture. + +[Illustration] + +Thus the marabou. The ordinary white stork is comparatively respectable, +and so is the adjutant--or comparatively almost respectable, let us say; +you can't be too cautious in giving a personal character to a stork. +For long, long, the stork has enjoyed a reputation for solemn wisdom, +for philosophical dignity. Now for the first time I venture to question +this reputation--to impeach the stork as a humbug. It is easy to achieve +a reputation for profound and ponderous wisdom, so long as one looks +very solemn and says nothing. This is the stork's recipe. Go up to Billy +here, or one of the marabous, as he stands with his shoulders humped up +about his head, and make a joke. He won't see it. He will lift his +eyebrows with a certain look of contempt, and continue to +cogitate--about nothing. If the joke is a very bad pun--such a frightful +pun that even a stork will see and resent it--perhaps he will chatter +his beak savagely, with a noise like the clatter of the lid on an empty +cigar-box; but he will continue his sham meditations. "Ah, my friend," +he seems to say, "you are empty and frivolous--I cogitate the profounder +immensities of esoteric cogibundity." The fact being that he is very +seedy after his previous night's dissipation. + +[Illustration] + +That is the chief secret of the stork's solemnity, I am convinced. He +has a certain reputation to maintain before visitors, but after hours, +when the gates are shut and the keepers are not there to see, the +marabou stork is a sad dog. I haven't quite made up my mind what he +drinks, but if he has brandies and sodas he leaves out too much soda. +Look at that awful nose! It is long past the crimson and pimply +stage--it is taking a decided tinge of blue. It _looks_ worse than +brandy and soda--almost like bad gin--but we will be as charitable as +possible, and only call it brandy and soda. + +I should like to see the marabou stork on his nightly ran-tan, if only +to gloat over his lapse of dignity, just as one would give much to see +Benjamin Franklin with his face blacked, drunk and disorderly and being +locked up. But, as a shocking example, the marabou is quite bad enough +with his awful head in the morning; his awful head and his disreputable +nose, that looks to want a good scraping. I respect Billy, the adjutant, +for his long service and the Tangerine at the back of his neck. The +ordinary stork (although he swears and snaps) I also respect, because +the goody books used to tell pious lies about him. The whale-headed +stork, which is also called the shoe-bird, I respect as a sort of +relative of the shoo-fly that didn't bother somebody. But the marabou +has forfeited all respect--converted it into nose-tint. I must talk to +Church seriously about the marabou. + +[Illustration: THE RAN-TAN.] + +Now, the pelican is no humbug. There is nothing like concealment about +his little dissipations; and he is perfectly sober. Any little +irregularity at the pelican club just opposite the eastern aviary never +goes beyond a quiet round or two for a little fish dinner. It is quite a +select and a most proper club. Indeed, the first rule is, that if any +loose fish be found on the club premises, he is got rid of at once by +the first member who detects him. And the club spirit is such that +disputes frequently occur among members for the honour of carrying out +this salutary rule. The chairman of the club is an old crested pelican, +who, by some oversight, has never been provided with a private name of +his own. I think he should be called Peter, because he can take such a +miraculous draught of fishes. It _is_ a draught; you know--a pelican +doesn't eat fishes--he drinks them down in bulk. For Peter, a dozen or +so fresh herrings is a mere swill round of the mouth. + +[Illustration: A QUIET ROUND OR TWO.] + +Peter walks about the club premises with much dignity, deferred to on +all sides by the other members. His kingship is rarely disputed, having +been achieved by the sort of conquest most familiar in the pelican club; +and his divine right is as much respected as his tremendous left. + +A pelican never bears malice; he hasn't time, especially now, with +competition so keen in the fish business, and Church's fish pails only +of the ordinary size. There is never any ill-feeling after a little +spar, and each proceeds, in the most amicable way, to steal some other +pelican's fish. A spar at this club, by-the-bye, is a joyous and +hilarious sight. Two big birds with stumpy legs and top-heavy beaks, +solemnly prancing and manoeuvring before one another with an +accompaniment of valiant gobbles and a punctuation of occasional +pecks--a gleesome spectacle. + +[Illustration: PETER.] + +[Illustration: A SWILL ROUND.] + +Another sport much exhibited at the pelican club is that of +the broadsword. The school of fence is that of Mr. Vincent +Crummies--one--two--three--four--over; one--two--three--four--under. +You see, when a dozen or two birds with beaks a couple of feet long or +so get together in a small area, and now and again rush all in the same +direction for fish, fencing is certain to develop, sooner or later. So +here you have it, _secundum artem_--one--two--three--four--over; +one--two--three--four--under; and although none have yet attained the +Crummleian degree of knocking out sparks, there is a deal of hollow +noise, as of thumping on a wooden box. But there is never any +after-malice, and in less than five minutes either combatant will +swallow a fish rightfully belonging to the other, with perfect +affability. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +There is a good deal of the philosopher about the pelican, and of a more +genuine sort than characterizes the stork. The pelican always makes the +best of a bad job, without going into an unnecessary tantrum over it. If +another member of the club snatches a fish first, the pelican doesn't +bother, but devotes his attention to the next that Church throws; a fish +in the pouch is worth a shoal in somebody else's. Now and again Peter +loses his temper for a moment if the others catch the first snack, and +lays about him with his bill--but then, when a fellow's chairman, and a +lot of other fellows come snatching the lunch from under his nose--why, +hang it all, you know.... But it is only for a moment, and Peter is soon +in position for the next pouchful. He is artful about this position. +When Church appears at the rails with a pailful of fish most of the +members rush to those rails, jostle together and shove their beaks +through them and over them--any way to get nearer the pail. But the +chairman knows very well that Church doesn't throw the fish outside the +rails, but into the inclosure, somewhere near the middle; and near the +middle the sagacious Peter waits, to his early profit--unless Church is +unusually slow about throwing the fish, in which case Peter is apt to +let his excitement steal his sagacity, and to rush into the pell-mell, +anxious to investigate the delay. + +[Illustration: A LITTLE SOLEING AND HEELING.] + +There is a deal of excellent wear in a pelican. One has been here about +thirty years, and two more have been established on the same premises +for a quarter of a century. All these three are in capital working +repair and will probably last, with a patch or two, and a little soleing +and heeling, for a century or two more; no respectable pelican is ever +bowled out for less than three figures. + +In the winter the club takes up its quarters in the shed behind the +inclosure; a shed sumptuously furnished with certain benches and forms, +whereon the club stands in rows, with a general appearance of a number +of very solemn naughty boys in a Board school. In winter, too, Church +will often put his bucketful of fish on the ground, so that the club may +dine in a clubbier way. But whether you watch this club feeding together +from the pail, each member doing his best to put away the whole pailful +at a gulp, or whether you observe them playing a sort of greedy game of +lacrosse with fish which Church throws them, you will be equally amazed +that the pelican was used as a symbol of charity and brotherly love in +early and middle Christian art. + +[Illustration: SCHOOL.] + +[Illustration: CLUB DINNER.] + +I have seen a pelican enact a most instructive moral lesson at a +pail-dinner. Observe the bill and pouch of a pelican. The pouch is an +elastic fishing-net, and the lower mandible is a mere flexible frame to +carry it. Now, I have observed a pelican to make a bounce at the +fish-pail, with outspread wings, and scoop the whole supply. But then +his trouble began. The whole catch hung weightily low in the end of the +pouch, and jerk and heave as he might, he could never lift the load at +the end of that long beak sufficiently high to bolt it. Meanwhile, his +friends collected about him and remonstrated, with many flops and +gobbles, betting him all his fish to nothing that he would lose it after +all; this way they chased that bag, and that way, while the bagger, in +much trepidation and with many desperate heaves, wildly sought remote +corners away from his persecutors. Now, by the corner of the club +premises stands an appliance, the emblem of authority, the instrument of +justice, and the terror of the evilly-disposed pelican--a birch-broom. +This, brandished in the hands of Church, caused a sudden and awful +collapse of the drag-nets, an opening, a shower of fish and many snaps; +wherefrom walked away many pelicans with fish, and one with none, who +had looked to take all. The moral is plain to the verge of ugliness. + +[Illustration.] + +[Illustration.] + +[Illustration.] + +[Illustration.] + +[Illustration.] + +A pelican has no tongue--or none to speak of. It is a mere little knob +scarcely the size of a cherry. The long, long meditations of the pelican +(lasting between feeding times) are given up to consideration whether or +not the disgrace of this deficiency is counter-balanced by the greater +capacity for fish which it gives the pouch. After all, it is only +another instance of that commercial honesty which makes the pelican pay +for his beak out of his legs; he gives his tongue for a pouch. There +should be a legend of the pelican applying honestly to Adam to buy a +pouch, and the wily stork waiting and waiting on the chance of snatching +one without paying for it, until all had been served out; afterwards +living all its life on earth in covetous dudgeon, unconsoled by its +wealth of beak, legs, wings, and neck, and pining hopelessly for the +lost pouch. There are many legends of this sort which ought to exist, +but don't, owing to the negligence of Indian solar myth merchants, or +whoever it is has charge of that class of misrepresentation. + +[Illustration.] + +The pelican can fly, although you would never believe it, to look at the +club members here. To a Zoo pelican a flight of two feet is an +undertaking to be approached with much circumspection and preparation, +and a summoning of resolution and screwing of courage proper to the +magnitude of the feat. It takes a long time to learn to fly on to a +bottom-up bucket. The Zoo pelican begins on a shadow--not a very dark +one at first--and works his way up by jumping over, darker shadows to +straws and pebbles, before he tries a bucket. The accomplished +bucket-jumper makes a long preliminary survey and circumnavigation of +his bucket before performing, and when he does begin it is with a number +of wild rushes and irresolute stops. When at last he gets the proper +length of run, and the right foot in front, and doesn't see anything to +baulk him, he rises with a great effort, and all the lookers-on who +don't know him stare up over the trees, and are astonished to find him, +after all, only on the bucket. His pinions are cut, poor fellow! If they +were not, what would become of the fishmongers' shops? + + + + +_Shafts from an Eastern Quiver_. + +IX.--MAW-SAYAH: THE KEEPER OF THE GREAT BURMAN NAT. + +By Charles J. Mansford, B.A. + + +I. + +"The fine points of an elephant, sahib," said our guide Hassan, "are a +colour approaching to white, the nails perfectly black, and an intact +tail." + +"I am glad to hear that an elephant has some qualities which recommend +it," said Denviers, good-humouredly. "I should think that the one upon +which we are riding is about as lazy as it is possible to be. I suppose +slowness is an unusually good point, isn't it, Hassan?" The Arab, who +was sitting before us on the elephant, gave it a stir with the +sharply-pointed spear which he held in his hand to urge it on, and then +glancing back at us, as we reclined lazily in the cushioned howdah, he +said inquiringly: "Are the sahibs tired already of travelling thus? Yet +we have fully two hours' journey before us." + +"Hassan," I interposed, "this is a good opportunity for you to tell us +exactly what you heard about that Maw-Sayah when we were at Bhamo. It is +in consequence of that, indeed, that we are going to try to get among +these strange Kachyens; but as we are not quite sure of the details, you +may as well repeat them." + +"The sahib shall be obeyed," responded our guide, and although careful +to keep a good watch in front, he turned his body slightly towards us as +he prepared to begin the narrative. + +[Illustration: "THE SAHIB SHALL BE OBEYED."] + +On reaching Burmah we stayed for several days in Rangoon, the Queen of +the East as it is called nowadays, although only remarkable formerly for +its famous monasteries of Talapoins and as a halting-place for the bands +of pilgrims on their way to the mighty Shway Dagohn pagoda. Thence we +journeyed up the Irawaddy, and having duly paid reverence to some of the +nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine pagodas of Pagan--the outcast +slaves of which city seemed a strange contrast to its otherwise absolute +desertion--we continued our journey by steamer as far as Mandalay. +Having endured the doubtful pleasure of a jaunt in a seatless, jolting +bullock-carriage--the bruises from which were not easily forgotten--we +eventually reached Bhamo, where Hassan entered into conversation with a +hill-man. From the latter he learnt a strange story, which was later on +told to us and the truth of which we hoped before long to fully test, +for soon afterwards we set out on an elephant, our faithful guide in +this new adventure again proving himself of the greatest service. + +"Now, Hassan," said Denviers, "we are quite ready to hear this story +fully, but don't add any imaginary details of your own." + +"By the Koran, sahib," began the Arab, "these are the words which were +those of him to whom I spoke under the shade of the log stockade." + +"Which are, of course, unimpeachable," responded Denviers. "Anyone could +tell that from his shifty eyes, which failed to rest upon us fixed even +for a minute when we spoke to him afterwards." The Arab seemed a little +disconcerted at this, but soon continued:-- + +"The great Spirits or Nats, who guard the prosperity of Burmah, have +become greatly incensed with the Kachyens, not because they failed to +resist stoutly when the monarch was deposed a few years ago----" + +"Then we are to have a modern story, this time, Hassan?" interrupted +Denviers. "I quite expected that you would commence with some long +worn-out tradition." + +"The sahibs shall hear," the Arab went on. "No one who offends the Nats +of Burmah need expect anything but evil to follow. There are the Nats of +the sky, the Nats of the earth, the Nats of the Irawaddy, the Nats of +the five hundred little rivers, and the thousand Nats which guarded the +sacred person of the monarch----" + +"Yes, Hassan," said Denviers, impatiently, "you mentioned them all +before. We haven't time to hear the list enumerated now; go on about +this one particular Nat which you say is causing such havoc among the +hill-tribes." + +"Patience, sahib. The Nats were justly roused to anger because the +deposed monarch was not afterwards taken to the water's edge riding upon +an elephant instead of in a bullock-carriage." + +"Well, Hassan," said Denviers, "judging from our own experience the Nats +seem to be pretty sensible, I must say--but how do they affect the peace +of mind of the Kachyens?" + +"Listen, sahib. High among the hills which may be seen stretching before +us lies a village in which many of the Kachyens dwell, their occupation +being sometimes that of tillers of the land, but more often consisting +in planning and carrying out raids upon other hill-men, or of descending +at times to the plains, and there looting the towns wherein dwell more +peaceable tribes. In all their forays they had been successful, for +whenever their trusty dahs or swords were drawn, those who opposed them +invariably obtained the worst of the encounter. So powerful did they +become that at last those dwelling in the plains--Shans, Karenns, and +Talaings, too--made no resistance against their attacks; and when they +saw the produce of their fields carried away, thought themselves happy +not to have been slain. The reason why the Kachyens became so successful +in all they undertook was that a powerful forest Nat placed them under +its protection, and hence they could not be harmed by their foes. + +"Now it chanced that the King was in great danger through following the +advice of his impetuous ministers, whereupon he summoned the Kachyens to +his assistance--for their fame as warriors had reached his ears long +before. But they, confident of securing their own safety whatever +happened to the monarch, refused to obey his command to march against +the Burman foes. The consequence was that when the indignity which I +have mentioned was offered to the deposed monarch, the Nats throughout +Burmah were furious with that one who ruled the village in which the +Kachyens dwelt, and they sent some of their number to destroy it. The +latter, however, appeased them by making a grim promise, which has been +only too faithfully kept. + +"A few days afterwards a hill-man, who was clearing a part of the land +on the woody slope of the height, _saw the Nat_, which had never before +been visible, and, terrified at the strange form which it had assumed, +he ran hastily to the rest of the tribe, and, gathering them together, +held a consultation as to what should be done to appease it. Some +suggested that upon every tree trunk should be scratched appealing +messages, which the Nat might read; others were in favour of placing a +huge heap of spears and swords near the spot where the embodied Nat had +been seen in order that it might be tempted to destroy all those who +urged it to injure them. The messages and weapons, however, when placed +for the Nat to observe did no good, for one dreadful night a rattling +was heard of the bamboos, which lay before one of the Kachyen's huts, +and the man, going hastily to see what caused it, was swiftly carried +away in the darkness without apparently uttering a single cry! For many +nights in succession a similar scene was enacted, for he at whose door +the dire summons came dared not refuse to answer it lest the whole +household might perish. + +"Nothing more was ever seen of those thus strangely carried off, and the +Kachyens, each of whom feared that his own end might come next, +determined to consult some famous Buddhist priests who dwelt not far +from them, and who held charge over the famous marble slabs which the +great War Prince of Burmah had caused to be engraved concerning their +illustrious traditions. The man whom ye saw me conversing with by the +stockade was the one whom the tribe intrusted with the task; but the +priests, after much consideration among themselves of the object of his +visit, refused to have anything to do with such a tragic affair, and +thereupon dismissed their suppliant. + +[Illustration: "THE BUDDHIST PRIESTS."] + +"This Kachyen, when sorrowfully returning towards the hills, fearing +that the tribe would destroy him because of his non-success, chanced to +meet on his way a Mogul, to whom he repeated the story. The latter, +laying his hand on his red-dyed and fierce-looking beard, advised the +Kachyen to enter a hole in the mountain side and to consult a famous +Maw-Sayah, or juggler, who dwelt there. This juggler promised assistance +if the tribe would pay him a great reward in the event of his success, +and when they agreed to this he entered the village and waited for dusk +to arrive. Again the dreadful rattling was heard, and another Kachyen +stepped out to meet his fate. None of the tribe dared to look at what +transpired, except the juggler, and he too disappeared! The next +morning, however, he came into the village and called its inhabitants +together. When they had solemnly agreed to his conditions, he stated +that the Nat was bent upon destroying them all, and that to attempt to +escape by means of flight would only lead to quicker death. Then he told +them what the result of his intercession for them had been. + +"The Nat had been persuaded to destroy only one victim on each seventh +evening at dusk, and had appointed him to see that certain conditions +were not broken. He was to have a hut at his disposal, and into this the +men were to go by lot, and thus the Nat would obtain a victim when the +time came round. They were forbidden to wander about after sunset, and +whatever noises were made not to hearken to them, since the Maw-Sayah +would see that the others were unharmed. So long had this dreadful +destruction lasted that more than one-half of the men in the Kachyen +village, or town, as it might well be called from the large number who +inhabited it, had perished, and yet the Nat still demanded a victim, and +the Maw-Sayah is there to see that the compact is fulfilled. The man who +told this story, sahibs, declares that the keeper of the Nat has by this +means obtained sway over the Kachyens to such an extent that they have +become his abject slaves, for the custom of drawing lots has been +abolished, and he selects whom he will to sacrifice to the Nat. By some +means this Kachyen offended the Maw-Sayah, who thereupon condemned him, +but he, in terror of the sudden and silent death in store for him, fled +to Bhamo, where he lives in momentary fear of destruction. Such then, +sahibs, is the story, and it is to see this Maw-Sayah and the Nat at +their fell work to-night that even now our faces are turned to the high +land before us, up which we must climb, for there is but one narrow +pathway leading to the village." + +Hassan ceased, and then Denviers turned to me as he said:-- + +"I think that this Maw-Sayah, as Hassan calls him, has about as much +faith in Nats as we have. It suits his purpose to league himself with +something mysterious; whatever it is we will try to find out," and he +glanced at the weapons which we carried. + + +II. + +"The sahibs must dismount here", said Hassan shortly afterwards, and +following to the ground our guide, we began to climb the mountain path +which stretched before us. The ascent was exceedingly steep, and several +times we stopped to rest after pushing our way through the tangled +masses which almost hid the path, which was itself cut here and there +apparently through the rocky strata. When we had reached about +three-fourths of our journey Hassan stopped and pointed out to us one of +the thatched roofs of a hut, which seemed in the distance scarcely +noticeable until his keen eyesight discovered it. The village, we found, +lay a little to the left of the mountain path, for on nearing the summit +we found ourselves passing through a peculiar avenue of trees +interspersed with long bamboo poles. From the tops of the latter there +were stretched across the approach strong, rough-looking cords, which +supported various uncouth emblems, and among which were large triangles, +circles, and stars, cut apparently out of the stems of huge bamboos. +After traversing this avenue for nearly three hundred yards we saw the +tree trunks which Hassan had mentioned, and which were deeply scarred +with cabalistic messages to the fierce Nat, which we could not of course +understand. Affixed to some of the trees farther on we saw a number of +spears and dahs mingled with shorter weapons, the latter being made of +some species of hard wood, and close to them we observed the skulls of +several large animals, one of which we judged was that of an elephant. + +[Illustration: "THE AVENUE."] + +In spite of the fact that the village was a large one, the buildings +were of a very primitive construction, being made of bamboos with +thatched coverings, reaching almost to the piles on which the huts were +placed. We did not observe any openings made to serve as windows, the +only ones noticeable being those by which the Kachyens entered, placed +above a bamboo ladder, which seemed to, serve instead of steps. Although +the sun had scarcely set, the village was wrapped in a strange silence, +the sound of our footsteps alone being heard. The smoke that seemed to +be forcing its way through stray holes in the thatch amply convinced us, +however, that the inhabitants were within doors, and, turning to our +Arab guide, I asked him if he could distinguish among the many huts the +one in which we expected to find the Maw-Sayah. He seemed a little +uncertain at first, but after wandering through the village together we +returned, and then Hassan, who had been very observant the whole time, +pointed to one of the rudely-constructed huts and said:-- + +"I think that is the one into which we seek to enter; it is situated +according to the position in which the Kachyen said it was, and, +besides, it bears a strange proof of the story which ye have listened to +with such ill-concealed disbelief." + +"Why do you think that is the hut, Hassan?" I asked, for, to my eyes, no +difference between that and the others close to it was distinguishable. + +"If the sahib will look at the bamboo ladder and observe it carefully, +he will see that it is unlike the others round," said the Arab. + +"I suppose you refer to these deep scratches upon it, don't you, +Hassan?" asked Denviers, as he pointed to some marks, a few of which +were apparently fairly recent. + +"The sahib guesses rightly," answered our guide. "You will remember that +the Kachyen stated to me that the Nat is accustomed to obtain its victim +now from the abode of the Maw-Sayah; those marks, then, have been made +by it when it dragged its human prey out of the hut." We gazed curiously +at the marks for a few minutes, then Denviers broke the silence by +asking the Arab why it was that the Nat made marks at all. + +"I should have thought that such a powerful spirit could prevent such +evidences of its presence becoming observed," he continued. "My respect +for it is certainly not increased by seeing those deep scars; they seem +to be made by something which has sharp claws." + +"That is because of the shape which it has assumed, sahib," said the +Arab, "for the Nats have wondrous powers----" + +"Very likely, Hassan," interposed Denviers; "I suppose they can do +exactly what they like, can they not?" I was much surprised at the limit +which was, however, placed upon their powers by our guide, for he +responded quickly:-- + +"Not altogether, sahib. There is one thing that a Nat cannot do, +according to the reports of these Kachyens, and that is, they are unable +to move in a direction which is not straight, and hence they are careful +to avoid rough ground, where tangled masses and boulders bar their +progress, so they usually frequent the open avenues, such as the one +which we have just passed through. The symbols above it and the writings +and weapons are all for the Nat's benefit." + +"And the elephant's skull?" asked Denviers, irreverently. "What is that +put up for?" The Arab, however, had an explanation ready, for he +promptly replied:-- + +"That indicates where the supplies of food are to be found when the Nat +requires any." Denviers turned to me for a moment as he said:-- + +"I should have thought it a good plan, then, to have put it upon the hut +of this Maw-Sayah whom we are about to interview. See that your weapons +are in good order, Harold, we may soon need them." Giving a cautious +look at my belt and the weapons thrust into it, I followed Denviers, who +had mounted the short bamboo ladder, and was endeavouring to obtain +admission to the hut. We heard a harsh sound within, then the cry of +someone apparently terror-stricken, and a moment afterwards we had +pushed past the Maw-Sayah, who by no means was willing to allow us to +enter the rude dwelling. + +The single room, which seemed to constitute the hut, was extremely low +and bare of furniture entirely. A few bamboos were spread in one part of +it, while at the far end was a fire, the light from which was partly +obscured by the smoke, which almost suffocated us, so thickly did it +roll up and then spread through the hut. Near the door stood a man +scarcely clothed, upon whose face we saw a look of the most abject +terror, for, as we surmised, the noise of our entry was mistaken by him +for the approach of the fell thing to which he was condemned by the +Maw-Sayah. We moved towards the latter as he threw himself down by the +fire, which he had only left to see who it was that came unbidden to the +hut where to enter was the preceding event to death. He was clothed in a +long blue strip of linen, which wound round his waist and covered his +body, partly leaving his dark chest uncovered. His features were stamped +with an appearance of supreme cunning, his oblique eyes reminding us of +a Chinaman, while the fierce look in them as they glared at us from +either side of an aquiline nose, which betrayed his Burmese descent, did +not increase our confidence in the man as he stretched out his bony +hands over the fire as if for warmth, although outside the hut we had +found the heat almost insupportable. + +"What do ye seek?" he demanded, as he looked into our faces in turn and +seemed astonished at our strange features. + +"We are travellers who wished to see a Kachyen village," responded +Denviers, "and we further desired to see some of its inhabitants; but +as none were visible we entered this hut, even against your will. Where +are the people who dwell here?" The man whom my companion addressed +pointed to the Kachyen near the doorway, as he responded:-- + +"There is one of them, and in a short time even he will never be seen +again." + +[Illustration: "WHAT DO YE SEEK?"] + +"Can you give us food?" hazarded Hassan, in order to get the man to +continue his conversation, for the Arab evidently was expecting that the +Nat would soon arrive upon the scene. The Maw-Sayah rose and pointed to +the entrance as he cried:-- + +"That way ye came, that way shall ye depart. Food for ye I have not, nor +would I give it if I had." I turned to Denviers and said in a low +tone:-- + +"What shall we do, Frank? I don't think our opportunity of seeing what +may transpire will be as good within the hut as without it. Whatever the +solution is to this affair, if we are outside we shall see this Kachyen +dragged away, and may further watch the approach of whatever caused +those strange marks which we observed." + +"One thing is clear," said my companion, "we will attempt to save this +intended victim, at all events. I expect that if we tried we could get +him away easily enough, but that plan would not be of much service. We +must attack this being, whatever it is, with which this Maw-Sayah is +leagued. How I should like to hand him over as a victim instead of that +trembling captive by the door. It shows to what extent this juggler has +acquired power over this tribe, for I notice that his captive is +unbound, and is certainly a much finer built man than the other." + +"It wants less than an hour to dusk, sahibs," said Hassan, who had +listened carefully to our remarks; "if we were to station ourselves a +little away from the hut we could see what took place, and if the Nat +were mortal we might attack it." + +Denviers shrugged his shoulders at the Arab's supposition as he +responded:-- + +"There is little doubt, Hassan, that the Nat would smart if that keen +blade of yours went a little too near it, but I think your plan is a +good one, and we will adopt it, as it falls in with what has already +been said." We gave a final look at the crafty face of the man who was +still seated by the fire, and then brushing past the captive we made for +the open village again. + +"I feel sorry for this Kachyen," said Denviers. "He will have a dreadful +five minutes of it, I expect; but it is our only way of preventing, if +possible, such an affair from occurring again." On leaving the hut we +stationed ourselves almost opposite to it, and then began to keep watch. +What we should see pass up the avenue we could only surmise, but our +suppositions certainly did not lead us to imagine in the faintest degree +the sight which before long was destined to completely startle us. + + +III. + +The grey dusk was becoming night when among the dark stems of the trees +we saw some black form move over the ground. We could scarcely +distinguish it as it crawled over the bamboo logs and made a rasping +noise as it clung to the ladder. The door of the hut yielded to it, and +a minute after it again emerged and bore with it the terrified Kachyen. +We crept after it as it dragged its captive down the avenue, striving +our utmost to make out its shape. One thing we could tell, which was +that the creature was not upright; but our movement behind it was +apparently known, for it struggled to move quicker over the ground with +its human burden. + +[Illustration: "IT AGAIN EMERGED."] + +"Shall I shoot it?" I whispered to Denviers, as my nerves seemed to be +almost unstrung at the unknowableness of the creeping thing. + +"You would more likely kill the man," he responded. "Follow as +noiselessly as you can--it will not let its prey escape, be sure of +that. Once we track it to its haunt we will soon dispatch it, big and +fierce as it seems." + +We drew nearer and nearer to it, until it had passed half-way down the +avenue, then it seemed to become lost to our view, although we were, as +we knew, close to it. I felt Denviers' hand upon my shoulder, and then +he whispered:-- + +"The Kachyen is being dragged up a tree just in front--look!" I could +just distinguish something moving up the trunk, when suddenly the +captive, who had hitherto been apparently paralyzed with terror, uttered +a cry and then must have succeeded in disengaging himself from the +dreadful thing that had held him, for the noise of someone falling to +the ground was heard, and a minute after we distinguished the form of a +man rushing headlong back to the village for safety. + +We did not anticipate such an event, and were contemplating a search for +the captor of the Kachyen, when a cold sweat broke out upon me, for the +clammy claws of the man-hunter had touched me! The sensation which +seized me was only of short duration, for I felt myself released just as +Denviers said:-- + +"Harold, the Kachyen has fled, and his captor, determined to secure its +prey, has betaken its crawling body after him. If only we had a light! I +saw something like a black shadow moving onwards; get your pistol ready +and follow." I just distinguished Denviers as he passed on in front of +me, Hassan coming last. When we reached the hut of the Maw-Sayah we +stopped at once, for, from the cry which came from it, we rightly +surmised that the terrible seeker for human prey had made for this +place, thinking, in its dull intelligence, that its captive had +returned. We thrust ourselves into the hut, and saw by the red firelight +a sanguinary contest between the Maw-Sayah and the black object which we +had endeavoured to track. Thinking that the Kachyen was being destroyed, +the juggler had not fastened his door, and the enraged man-eater had +seized him as he rested on the ground, quite at its mercy! + +The Maw-Sayah was struggling with his bony hands to extricate himself +from the clutches of a monstrous tree-spider! We had seen, on an island +in the South Seas, several cocoa-nut crabs, and this reptile somewhat +resembled them, but was even larger. Grasping the juggler with several +of its long, furry-looking claws, it fixed its glaring red eyes in mad +anger upon him as he grasped in each hand one of its front pair of +legs, which were armed with strong, heavy-looking pincers. He besought +us wildly to shoot, even if we killed him, held as he was by his +relentless foe. + +"Harold," cried my companion, "keep clear, and look out for yourself +when I fire at this reptile; most likely it will make for one of us." He +drew right close to it, and thrusting the barrel of his pistol between +its eyes touched the trigger. The explosion shook the hut, its effect +upon the spider being to cause it to rush frantically about the floor, +dragging the Maw-Sayah as if he were some slight burden scarcely +observable. + +[Illustration: "A RELENTLESS FOE."] + +"You missed it!" I cried. "Look out, Hassan, guard the doorway!" The +Arab stood, sword in hand, waiting for it to make for the entrance, +while Denviers exclaimed:-- + +"I shot it through the head!" and a minute afterwards the trueness of +his aim was manifest, for the claws released, and the Maw-Sayah, wounded +badly, but saved, stood free from the muscular twitchings of the dead +spider. + +"You scoundrel!" said Denviers to him, "I have a good mind to serve you +the same. You deserve to die as so many of these simple-minded, +credulous Kachyens have done." I thought for one brief second that my +companion was about to kill the juggler, for through all our adventures +I had never seen him so thoroughly roused. I stood between them; then, +when Denviers quickly recovered his self-command, I turned to the +Maw-Sayah and asked:-- + +"If we spare your life, will you promise to leave this village and never +to return?" He turned his evil-looking but scared face towards us +eagerly as he replied:-- + +"I will do whatever you wish." Denviers motioned to him to rest upon the +ground, which he did, then turning to me, said:-- + +"It is pretty apparent what this juggler has done. The man who first +reported the discovery of this Nat, as the foolish Kachyens call it, +simply disturbed a monstrous spider which had lived in the trees which +he felled--that accounts for his seeing it. Finding animal food scarce, +the reptile ventured into this village and tried to get into one of the +huts. Its exertions were rewarded by the Kachyen coming to the door, +whom it accordingly seized. To continue its plan, which proved so +successful, needed very little reasoning power on the part of such a +cunning creature. No doubt this Maw-Sayah purposely left the door of his +hut unfastened each seventh night, and the spider thus became accustomed +to seek for its victim there, I daresay it came the other nights, but +the juggler was then careful enough to keep his hut well fastened." + +"What do the sahibs propose to do?" interrupted Hassan. Denviers turned +to him, as he responded:-- + +"We will wait for daybreak; then, having dragged the dead spider out +where the Kachyens may see that it is no longer able to harm them, we +will take this Maw-Sayah down the mountain path away from the village as +poor as he came." + +[Illustration: "YOU SCOUNDREL!"] + +"A good plan," I assented, and we followed it out, eventually leaving +the juggler, and climbing once more into the howdah upon the elephant, +which we found close to the spot where we had left it, secured from +wandering far away by the rope which Hassan had used to hinder its +movements. + +We entered Bhamo, and while we took a much-needed rest, our guide--as we +afterwards learnt--searched for and found the fugitive Kachyen, who, on +hearing that his safety was secured, hastily departed to the village to +rejoice with the rest of his tribe that the so-called Nat would not do +them any more injury. + + + + +_From Behind the Speaker's Chair._ + +III. + +(VIEWED BY HENRY W. LUCY.) + +[Illustration: "OBSTRUCTION."] + +It is thirteen years since a new Parliament last blithely started on its +way with Mr. Gladstone sitting in the seat of the Premier. Since March, +1880, a great deal has happened, not least in the change of +circumstances under which the business of the House of Commons is +conducted. The majority of the House of Commons may be Liberal or +Conservative, according to a passing flood of conviction on the part of +the constituencies. When presumptuous hands are stretched forth to touch +the Ark of its procedure, its instincts are all Tory. For more than two +hundred years preceding the advent of a Tory Ministry in 1886, this was +so. Mr. Gladstone, driven to desperation in the second Session of the +Parliament of 1880-5, endeavoured to reform procedure so that +obstruction might be fought on even terms. He was met by such resolute +and persistent opposition from the Conservative side that, even with an +overwhelming majority at his back, he succeeded only in tinkering the +pot. Oddly enough, it was left for the Conservatives when they came into +office to revolutionize the system upon which, through the ages, +Parliamentary business had been carried on. + +There was nothing in the reforms more startling to the old +Parliamentarian than the proposal automatically to close debate at +midnight. A dozen years ago members of the House of Commons assembled at +four o'clock for prayers. Questions began at half-past four, and no one +could say at what hour of the night or of the next morning the cry "Who +goes home?" might echo through the lobby. In those days Mr. O'Donnell +was master of the situation, and he had many imitators. A debate carried +on through several nights might seem to be approaching a conclusion. The +Leader of the Opposition, rising between eleven o'clock and midnight, +spoke in a crowded House. The Premier, or his lieutenant, followed, +assuming to wind up the debate. Members wearied of the long sitting were +prepared to go forth to the division lobby; when from below the gangway +on the left there uprose a familiar figure, and there was heard a +well-known voice. + +[Illustration: F. H. O'DONNELL.] + +These usually belonged to Mr. O'Donnell bent upon vindicating the right +of a private member to interpose when the constituted authorities of the +House had agreed in the opinion that a debate had been continued long +enough. A roar of execration from the fagged legislators greeted the +intruder. He expected this, and was in no degree perturbed. In earliest +practice he had a way of dropping his eye-glass as if startled by the +uproar, and searched for it with puzzled, preoccupied expression, +apparently debating with himself what this outburst might portend. He +did not love the British House of Commons, and delighted in thwarting +its purposes. But he knew what was due to it in the way of respect, and, +however angry passions might rise, however turbulent the scene, he would +never address it looking upon it with the naked eye. As his eye-glass +was constantly tumbling out, and as search for it was preternaturally +deliberate, it played an appreciable part in the prolongation of +successive Sessions. + +[Illustration: "EYE-GLASS PLAY."] + +What has become of Frank Hugh now, I wonder? Vanishing from the House of +Commons, he reappeared for a while on the scene, characteristically +acting the part of the petrel that heralded the storm Mr. Pigott +ineffectively tried to ride. It must be a consolation to Mr. O'Donnell, +in his retirement, wherever it is passed, to reflect on the fact that it +was he who directly brought about the appointment of the Parnell +Commission, with all it effected. His action for libel brought against +the _Times_ preluded and inevitably led up to the formal investigation +of the famous Charges and Allegations. + +The member for Dungarvan was, in his day, the most thoroughly disliked +man in the House of Commons, distaste for Mr. Parnell and for Mr. Biggar +in his early prime being softened by contrast with his subtler +provocation. An exceedingly clever debater, he was a phrase maker, some +of whose epigrams Mr. Disraeli would not have disowned. He was a +parliamentary type of ancient standing, and apparently ineradicable +growth. In the present House of Commons fresh developments are presented +by Mr. Seymour Keay and Mr. Morton. These are distinct varieties, but +from the unmistakable root. Both are gifted with boundless volubility, +unhampered by ordinary considerations of coherency and cogency. Neither +is influenced by that sense of the dread majesty of the House of Commons +which keeps some members dumb all through their parliamentary life, and +to the last, as in the case of Mr. Bright, weighs upon even great +orators. The difference between the older and the new development is +that whilst over Mr. O'Donnell's intentional and deliberate vacuity of +speech there gleamed frequent flashes of wit, Mr. Morton and Mr. Keay +are only occasionally funny, and then the effect was undesigned. + +[Illustration: O'DONNELL'S LAST APPEARANCE.] + +[Illustration: MR. SEYMOUR KEAY.] + +Since we have these two gentlemen still with us, it would be rash to say +that if Mr. O'Donnell could revisit the glimpses of Big Ben he would +find his occupation gone. He would certainly discover that his +opportunities had been limited, and would have to recommence practice +under greatly altered conditions. One of the former member for +Dungarvan's famous achievements took place in the infancy of the +Parliament of 1880-5, and, apart from its dramatic interest, is valuable +as illustrating the change effected in parliamentary procedure by the +New Rules. On that particular June night the paper was loaded with +questions in a fashion unfamiliar in the last Parliament, though there +are not lacking signs of renewed activity since political parties +changed places. Question No. 23 stood in the name of Mr. O'Donnell, and +contained in his best literary style a serious indictment of M. +Challemel-Lacour, just nominated by the French Government as their +representative at the Court of St. James. + +[Illustration: MR. A. C. MORTON.] + +Sir Charles Dilke, then Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, made +categorical reply, directly traversing all the points in the indictment. +When he resumed his seat Mr. O'Donnell rose in his usual deliberate +manner, captured his eye-glass, and having fixed it to his satisfaction, +remarked in his drawling voice that it was "perfectly impossible to +accept the explanation of the Government." Being interrupted with cries +of "Order! Order!" he quietly played his trump card: "If I am not +allowed to explain," he said, "I will conclude with a motion." + +[Illustration: SIR CHARLES DILKE.] + +The House howled again, but it was a cry of despair. Mr. O'Donnell, they +knew, had the whip hand. In those good old days he, or any other member +desiring to obstruct ordinary procedure, might, in the middle of +questions, start a debate on any subject under the sun. This and other +outrages were doubtless recalled by the House of Commons when revising +its Rules. It then ordered that no member might, during the progress of +questions, interpose with a motion on which to found debate. If, in this +current month of March, Mr. O'Donnell, being a member of the House of +Commons, had wanted to attack M. Challemel-Lacour, he must needs have +waited till the last question on the paper was disposed of, and could +then have moved the adjournment only if his description of the +question--as one of urgent public importance--was approved by the +Speaker, and if, thereafter, forty members rose to support the request +for a hearing. + +In June, 1880, all that was left for the crowded House to do was to roar +with resentment. Mr. O'Donnell was used to this incentive, and had it +been withheld would probably have shown signs of failing vigour. As it +was, he produced a pocket-handkerchief, took down his eye-glass and +carefully polished it, whilst members yelled and tossed about on their +seats with impotent fury. Under the existing Rules this scene, if it had +ever opened, would have been promptly blotted out. The closure would +have been moved, probably a division taken, and the business of the +evening would have gone forward. There was no closure in those days, and +Mr. Gladstone, after hurried consultation with Sir Erskine May, hastily +moved that Mr. O'Donnell be not heard. + +A shout of savage exultation rising from every bench, save those on +which the Irish members sat, hailed a stroke that promised to deliver +the House from the thraldom of Mr. O'Donnell at the very moment when its +chains had taken a final twist. In ordinary circumstances this +resolution would have played the part of the as yet unconsecrated +closure. A division would have followed, the motion carried by an +overwhelming majority, and Mr. O'Donnell would have been temporarily +shut up. + +But those were not ordinary times. The Fourth Party was in the prime of +its vigour. Lord Randolph Churchill's quick eye discovered an opening +for irritating Mr. Gladstone and damaging the Government by making what +should have been a business night one long turmoil. Mr. Parnell, whilst +disclaiming any personal sympathy with Mr. O'Donnell, moved the +adjournment of the debate, and poor, placid Sir Stafford Northcote, +egged on by the young bloods below the gangway, raised various points of +order. Finally, at eight o'clock, the House dividing on Mr. Parnell's +amendment, Sir Stafford Northcote voted with the Irish members, leading +a hundred men of the Party of Law and Order into the same lobby. + +[Illustration: STIRRING UP SIR STAFFORD.] + +Hour after hour the riot continued. At one time blameless Sir William +Harcourt, then Home Secretary, appearing at the table, a Conservative +member, amid tumultuous shouts, moved that he be not heard. When members +grew tired of shouting at each other they divided on fresh motions for +the adjournment, and it was not till one o'clock on the following +morning that Mr. O'Donnell, grateful for a pleasant evening, was good +enough to undertake that before he recurred to the question he would +give due notice, so that the Speaker might exercise his discretion in +revising its terms. At five minutes past one in the morning, after a +wrangle full eight hours long, the Speaker, with a pretty assumption of +nothing particular having happened, called on the next question on the +paper, which was Number 24. + +All this might happen again on any night of this month save for the +beneficent action of the New Rules a long-suffering Parliament was +finally induced to adopt. On the threshold of a new Parliament it is +useful to recall the scene as an assistance in calculating what may be +accomplished by the Parliament elected in 1892, as compared with that +which began its history in 1880. On the face of it, Parliament to-day +has much less time at its disposal for the accomplishment of work than +it had a dozen years ago. Then, the duration of a sitting was +indefinite. The House might, as it did in February, 1881, meet at four +o'clock on a Monday afternoon and sit continuously till Wednesday +morning. Now, the Speaker takes the Chair at three o'clock; public +business commences at half-past three; and at midnight, save in cases +where the Standing Order has been formally suspended, the Speaker leaves +the Chair, and the House adjourns, whoever may be on his feet. + +[Illustration: "DISGUST."] + +The influence of this automatic procedure is beneficially felt +throughout the whole of debate. One wholesome influence works in the +direction of using up the early hours of the sitting, an arrangement +which carries comfort to countless printing offices and editorial +sanctums. Some time before the New Rules came into operation, Mr. +Gladstone discovered for himself the convenience and desirability of +taking part in debate at the earliest possible hour of a sitting. His +earlier associations drifted round a directly opposite course. In the +good old days the champions of debate did not interpose till close upon +midnight, when they had the advantage of audiences sustained and +exhilarated by dinner. That was before the era of special wires to the +provincial papers, early morning trams, and vastly increased circulation +for the London journals. Mr. Gladstone discovered that he was more +carefully reported and his observations more deliberately discussed if +he spoke between five and seven o'clock in the evening than if, +following his earlier habit, he addressed the House between eleven and +one in the morning. He has, accordingly, for some years been accustomed, +when he has an important speech to deliver, to interpose in debate +immediately after questions. + +This habit has become general, even compulsory, with members who may, +within certain limits, choose their own time for speaking. All the cream +of debate is now skimmed before the dinner-hour. At the close of a +pitched battle, the two Leaders of Party, as heretofore, wind up the +debate. But their opportunity for orating is severely circumscribed. The +audience in the House of Commons does not begin to reassemble after +dinner till half-past ten. Rising at that hour, the Leader of the +Opposition, if he fairly divides the available time with the right +honourable gentleman opposite, must not speak more than three-quarters +of an hour, and should not exceed forty minutes. + +This is a necessity desirable not less in the orator's interest than in +that of the audience. Except for the exposition of an intricate measure, +twenty minutes is ample time for any man to say what is useful for his +fellow-men to hear. All Mr. Disraeli's best speeches were made within +half an hour, and if he thought it necessary, from a sense of the +importance of his position, to prolong them, his stock of good things +was exhausted in twenty minutes, the rest being what Carlyle +disrespectfully described as thrice-boiled cole-wort. Mr. Gladstone can +go on indefinitely, and in very recent times has been known to hold his +audience spell-bound for three hours. But even he has profited by the +beneficent tyranny that now rules the limit of debate, and, rising with +the knowledge that he has but forty minutes to speak in, has excelled +himself. For less exuberant speakers not gifted with his genius, the new +discipline is even more marked in its benefits. + +[Illustration: MR. KEIR HARDIE.] + + * * * * * + +It is too soon to endeavour to estimate the general characteristics of +the _personnel_ of the new Parliament. It will probably turn out to be +very much of the same class as the innumerable army of its predecessors. +When Mr. Keir Hardie came down on the opening day in a wagonette, with +flags flying and accordions playing, it was cried aloud in some quarters +that the end was at hand. This apprehension was strengthened when Mr. +Hardie strolled about the House with a tweed travelling cap on his head, +the Speaker at the time being in the chair. This, as Dr. Johnson +explained, when the lady asked him why he had described the horse's +pastern as its knee, was "ignorance, pure ignorance." Mr. Hardie is not +a man of the quietest manners, as was testified to by the apparition in +Palace Yard of the wagonette and its musical party; but in the +much-talked-of incident of the cap he sinned inadvertently. Before the +Speaker took the chair he had seen members walking about with their hats +on. He had observed that even in his presence they remained seated with +their heads covered. The shade of etiquette which approves this fashion +whilst it sternly prohibits a member from keeping his hat on when in +motion, even to the extent of leaning over to speak to a friend on the +bench below him, was too fine to catch the eye of a new member. + +Mr. Keir Hardie has done much worse things than this in his public +appearances during the recess, and since the Session opened there has +not been lacking evidence of resolve to keep himself in the front of the +stage where the gallery may see him. But this is no new thing, to be +cited in proof of the deterioration of the composition and style of the +House of Commons. It has been done repeatedly in various fashions within +recent memory, and always with the same result. No man, not even Mr. +Biggar--and he may be cited as the most ruthless experimenter--has +successfully struggled against the subtle disciplinary influence of the +House of Commons. + +From the first the member for Cavan set himself in deliberate fashion to +outrage Parliamentary traditions and usages. He finished by becoming a +punctilious practitioner of Parliamentary forms, a stickler for the +minutest observation of order. Whilst Mr. Gladstone and other members of +old standing were content to preface their speeches with the +monosyllable "Sir," nothing less than "Mr. Speaker, sir," would satisfy +Mr. Biggar. No one who has not heard the inflection of tone with which +this was uttered, nor seen the oratorical sweep of the hand that +launched it on its course, can realize how much of combined deference +and authority the phrase is capable of. Mr. Biggar, having in his early +Parliamentary days defied the Chair and affronted the sensibilities of +the House, alike in the matter of dress and deportment, developed into a +portly gentleman of almost smug appearance, a terror to new members. Woe +to any who in his ignorance passed between the Chair and the member +addressing it; who walked in from a division with his hat on; or who +stood an inch or two within the Bar whilst debate was going forward. Mr. +Biggar's strident cry of "Order! Order!" reverberated through the House. +Others joined in the shout, and the abashed offender hastily withdrew +into obscurity. + +[Illustration: THE LATE MR. BIGGAR.] + +It is the same with others of less strongly marked character. Vanity or +garrulity may force a new member into a position of notoriety. He may, +according to his measure of determination, try a fall again and again +with the House, and may sometimes, as in the case of Mr. O'Donnell, seem +to win. But in the end the House of Commons proves victorious. It is a +sort of whetstone on which blades of various temperature operate. In +time, they either forego the practice or wear themselves away. In either +case the whetstone remains. + +This is a rule without exception, and is a reassuring reflection in view +of the talk about the degeneracy of the House of Commons, and the +decadence of its standard of manner. It would not be difficult to show +that the House at present in Session will, from the point of view of +manners, favourably compare with any that have gone before--though, to +be just, the comparison should be sought with Parliaments elected under +similar conditions, with the Liberals in office and the Conservatives in +opposition. That is an arrangement always found to be more conducive to +lively proceedings than when parties are disposed in the contrary order. +The Parliament dissolved last year was decorously dull. Mr. Gladstone in +opposition is not prone to show sport, and no encouragement was held out +to enterprising groups below the gangway to bait the Government. It was +very different in the Parliament of 1880-5, of which fact the +Challemel-Lacour episode is an illustration, only a little more piquant +in flavour than the average supply. + +There are already signs that the new Parliament will not lie under the +charge of deplorable dulness brought against its predecessor. But these +varying moods are due to waves of political passion, and do not affect +the question whether the House of Commons as a body of English gentlemen +met for the discharge of public business has or has not deteriorated. I +have an engraving of a picture of the House of Commons in pre-Reform +days. It was carefully drawn in the Session of 1842. A more respectable +body of the gentlemen of England it would be difficult to gather +together. With the possible exception of one or two political +adventurers like the then member for Shrewsbury, there is probably not a +man in the House who is not well born or at least rich. Mr. Keir Hardie +would look strange indeed in these serried ranks of portly gentlemen +with high coat collars, cravats up to their chin, short-bodied coats +showing the waistcoat beneath, and the tightly trousered legs. Yet this +House, and its equally prim successors, had its obstruction, its +personal wrangles, and its occasional duel. Peel was attacked by +Disraeli in a fashion and in language that would not be tolerated in the +House of Commons now, even though the target were Mr. Gladstone. + +It is not necessary to go back as far as the days of Peel or +Parliamentary Reform to sustain the bold assertion that, so far from +having degenerated, the manners of the House of Commons have improved. +In the Parliament elected in 1874 there sat on the Conservative side a +gentleman named Smollet, who early distinguished himself by bringing +Parliamentary debate down to the level of conversation in "Roderick +Random." In those days Mr. Gladstone was down after the General +Election, and Mr. Smollet, to the uproarious delight of gentlemen near +him, savagely kicked him. + +[Illustration: "MOBBING HIM."] + +It was in the second year of this same Parliament, less than twenty +years ago, that Mr. Gladstone, issuing from a division lobby, was +suddenly pounced upon by some fifty or sixty Conservative members, and +howled at for the space of several moments. It is, happily, possible for +Mr. Gladstone to forget, or at least to forgive, personal attacks made +upon him through his long career. In this very month of the new Session +he may be nightly seen working in cordial fashion with ancient +adversaries from Ireland, describing as "my honourable friends" +gentlemen who, ten years ago and for some time subsequently, heaped on +his head the coarsest vituperation permitted by practised manipulation +of Parliamentary forms. But this scene in the division lobby on the 12th +of April, 1875, is burned into his recollection. I have heard him, +within the last few months, refer to it in those tones of profound +indignation and with that flashing fire in his eyes only seen when he is +deeply moved. He mentioned, what I think was not known, that Lord +Hartington happened to be walking with him at the time. But there was no +mistake for whom the angry cries were meant. Mr. Gladstone spoke with +the profounder indignation because, as he said, he had on this occasion +gone out to vote on behalf of a man whose character he detested, because +he saw in the action taken against him an attack upon one of the +privileges of Parliament. + +That scene was an outburst of political animosity; and the movements of +political animosity, like the dicta of taste, are not to be disputed. +But on the question of good manners, the only one here under +consideration, it may be affirmed that the present House of Commons +would be safe from lapse into such an exhibition. To this better state +of things the operation of the New Rules has conspicuously contributed, +and though, as we know, they have not operated to the absolute +extinction of Parliamentary scenes, they have appreciably limited +opportunity and incentive. + + + + +_Portraits of Celebrities at Different Times of their Lives_. + + +LORD BATTERSEA. + +[Illustration: AGE 14. + +_From a Daguerreotype._] + +BORN 1843. + + +Lord Battersea, who was until recently known to the world as Mr. Cyril +Flower, M.P., is a son of the late Mr. P. W. Flower, of Streatham, and +was educated at Harrow and at Trinity College, Cambridge. + +[Illustration: AGE 21. + +_From a Photo, by Mayland, Cambridge._] + +He was called to the Bar at the age of twenty-seven, and became Liberal +Member for Brecknock in 1880, and for the Luton Division of Bedfordshire +in 1885 and 1886, in which later year he was one of Mr. Gladstone's +"Whips." He married the daughter of the late Sir Anthony Rothschild, and +both he and his wife are much interested in the welfare of the lower +classes of London. Lord Battersea was unanimously reputed the handsomest +man in the House of Commons, and is now, in every sense of the word, an +ornament of the House of Lords. + +[Illustration: AGE 40. + +_From a Drawing._] + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photograph by Bassano, 35, Old Bond Street, W._.] + + +W. Q. ORCHARDSON, R.A. + +BORN 1835. + +[Illustration: AGE 16. + +_From an Oil Sketch by himself._] + +[Illustration: AGE 35. + +_From a Photograph by Walery, Marseilles._] + +[Illustration: AGE 44. + +_From a Photograph._] + +Mr. William Quiller Orchardson was born in Edinburgh, and at the age of +fifteen entered the Trustees' Academy of that city, his first pictures +being exhibited in the Royal Scottish Academy. At the age of +twenty-eight he came to London, and the same year exhibited at the Royal +Academy for the first time, his contributions being entitled, "An Old +English Song" and "Portraits," the latter a life-size composition of +three young ladies. In 1865 he painted "The Challenge," which won a +prize of £100 given by Mr. Wallace, and one of the very few Medals +awarded to English painters at the Paris Universal Exhibition. In 1866 +came "The Story of a Life"--an aged nun relating her experiences to a +group of novices. Two years later, when he had only been four years in +London, he was elected an A.R.A. Among his more recent pictures may be +mentioned "Napoleon on Board the _Bellerophon_" (1880), "The Salon of +Madame Recamier" (1885), "The Young Duke" (1889), and "St. Helena" +(1892). Mr. Orchardson was elected an R.A. in 1877, and a D.C.L. of +Oxford in 1890. + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photo. by Elliott & Fry._] + + +LADY HALLÉ. + +[Illustration: AGE 10. + +_From a Drawing._] + +[Illustration: AGE 23. + +_From a Photograph._] + +Lady Hallé, whose maiden name was Wilhelmine Néruda, was born at Brünn, +where her father was organist of the cathedral. She was a pupil of +Jansa, and made her first appearance at Vienna at the age of six, and in +London at the age of nine. After this she returned to the Continent, and +in 1864 she married Ludwig Norman, a Swedish musician. Since 1869 she +has been in England every winter, playing especially at the concerts of +Sir Charles Hallé, whom she married in 1888. + +[Illustration: AGE 35. + +_From a Photograph._] + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photo by Burraud_.] + + +SIR CHARLES HALLÉ. + +[Illustration: AGE 20. + +_From a Painting._] + +Sir Charles Hallé is a native of Germany, but at an early age he +established himself in Paris, where he acquired a great reputation by +his refined and classical rendering of the compositions of the great +musicians; but the Revolution of 1843 drove him to England, where he has +ever since resided. He soon established himself at Manchester, and as +the founder of the annual series of orchestral and choral concerts there +and in London, which have become, perhaps, the most important series in +Europe, he has rendered the most valuable service to musical art. + +[Illustration: AGE 31. + +_From a Painting._] + +[Illustration: AGE 45. + +_From a Photo, by H. Hering, Regent Street, W._] + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photo. by Mayall & Co., 164, New Bond Street, W._] + + +DR. HERMANN ADLER, + +CHIEF RABBI. + +[Illustration: AGE 24. + +_From a Photograph by McLean & Haes, Haymarket._] + +Born 1839. + +Dr. Adler, son of Dr. Nathan Marcus Adler, was born in Hanover, and came +to London with his father at the age of six. He studied at University +College, took his B. A. degree at the University of London at twenty, +and that of Ph. D., at Leipzig, at twenty-two. In the following year he +was ordained Rabbi by the famous Rapoport, Chief Rabbi of Prague, and +became in succession Principal of the Jews' College in London and Chief +Minister of the Bayswater Synagogue. In 1890 his father, the Chief +Rabbi, died, and Dr. Adler was elected in his place. Dr. Adler is well +known not only by his powerful and scholarly writings, but by his work +among the poorer Jews of London. + +[Illustration: AGE 37. + +_From a Photograph by J. R. Sawyer, Norwich._] + +[Illustration: AGE 44. + +_From a Photograph by Fradella, 216, Regent Street, W._] + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photograph by The Photographic Co._] + + +SIR ARCHIBALD ALISON, BART., K.C.B. + +Born 1826. + +General Alison, son of Sir Archibald Alison, the first Baronet, who was +the well-known author of "The History of Europe," was born at Edinburgh, +and entered the Army at the age of twenty. He served in the Crimea, at +the siege and fall of Sebastopol, at which date our second portrait +represents him. During the Indian Mutiny he lost an arm at the relief of +Lucknow. In 1882 he commanded the 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, during the +expedition to Egypt, and at the decisive battle of Tel-el-Kebir he led +the Highland Brigade which fought so gallantly on that memorable +occasion, and after Arabi's surrender he was left in Egypt with the +command of the British army of 12,000 men to restore order and protect +the Khedive. Sir Archibald was included in the thanks of Parliament for +his energy and gallantry, and was promoted to the rank of +Lieutenant-General; he received his appointment as General in 1889. In +1869 Sir Archibald Alison published an able treatise, "On Army +Organization." + +[Illustration: AGE 3. + +_From a Miniature._] + +[Illustration: AGE 31. + +_From a Daguerreotype by Werge, Glasgow._] + +[Illustration: AGE 47. + +_From a Photograph by Jacklett, Aldershot._] + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photo, by Barraud._] + + +MADAME JANE HADING. + +[Illustration: AGE 3. + +_From a Photo. by Chalot et Cie., Paris._] + +[Illustration: AGE 5. + +_From a Photo. by Chalot et Cie., Paris._] + +Madame Jane Hading, the well-known French actress, was born at +Marseilles, in 1863, where her father was popular as a leading actor, +with whom she appeared when only three years of age as little _Blanche +de Caylus_ in "Le Bossu." At the age of thirteen she began work in +earnest, having won "le prix de solfège" at the Marseille Conservatoire, +and her talent having come to the ears of Mr. Plunkett, the director of +the Palais Royal, he engaged her for the Palais Royal in Paris, where +she created the part of _La Chaste Suzanne_, by Paul Ferrier. Giving up +comic opera for comedy, Jane Hading went to the Gymnase, where she +created the part of _Claire de Beaulieu_ in "Le Maître de Forges." +London had the opportunity of seeing her in that and "Prince Zilah," by +Jules Claretie, later on, and fully indorsed the Parisian verdict. These +conspicuous successes were followed by others almost as notable, and her +subsequent tour in America won her golden opinions, and was so +successful that it was extended some months. Her latest Parisian success +was "Le Prince d'Aurec," which added greatly to her laurels, putting her +in the very front rank of great artists. + +[Illustration: AGE 15. + +_From a Photo. by Fabre, Marseilles._] + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photo, by Reutlinger, Paris._] + + + + +_The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes_. + +XVI.--THE ADVENTURE OF THE STOCKBROKER'S CLERK. + +BY A. CONAN DOYLE. + + +Shortly after my marriage I had bought a connection in the Paddington +district. Old Mr. Farquhar, from whom I purchased it, had at one time an +excellent general practice, but his age, and an affliction of the nature +of St. Vitus' dance, from which he suffered, had very much thinned it. +The public, not unnaturally, goes upon the principle that he who would +heal others must himself be whole, and looks askance at the curative +powers of the man whose own case is beyond the reach of his drugs. Thus, +as my predecessor weakened, his practice declined, until when I +purchased it from him it had sunk from twelve hundred to little more +than three hundred a year. I had confidence, however, in my own youth +and energy, and was convinced that in a very few years the concern would +be as flourishing as ever. + +For three months after taking over the practice I was kept very closely +at work, and saw little of my friend Sherlock Holmes, for I was too busy +to visit Baker Street, and he seldom went anywhere himself save upon +professional business. I was surprised, therefore, when one morning in +June, as I sat reading the _British Medical Journal_ after breakfast, I +heard a ring at the bell followed by the high, somewhat strident, tones +of my old companion's voice. + +"Ah, my dear Watson," said he, striding into the room. "I am very +delighted to see you. I trust that Mrs. Watson has entirely recovered +from all the little excitements connected with our adventure of the +'Sign of Four.'" + +"Thank you, we are both very well," said I, shaking him warmly by the +hand. + +"And I hope also," he continued, sitting down in the rocking-chair, +"that the cares of medical practice have not entirely obliterated the +interest which you used to take in our little deductive problems." + +"On the contrary," I answered; "it was only last night that I was +looking over my old notes and classifying some of our past results." + +"I trust that you don't consider your collection closed?" + +"Not at all. I should wish nothing better than to have some more of such +experiences." + +"To-day, for example?" + +"Yes; to-day, if you like." + +"And as far off as Birmingham?" + +"Certainly, if you wish it." + +"And the practice?" + +"I do my neighbour's when he goes. He is always ready to work off the +debt." + +[Illustration: "'NOTHING COULD BE BETTER,' SAID HOLMES."] + +"Ha! Nothing could be better!" said Holmes, leaning back in his chair +and looking keenly at me from under his half-closed lids. "I perceive +that you have been unwell lately. Summer colds are always a little +trying." + +"I was confined to the house by a severe chill for three days last week. +I thought, however, that I had cast off every trace of it." + +"So you have. You look remarkably robust." + +"How, then, did you know of it?" + +"My dear fellow, you know my methods." + +"You deduced it, then?" + +"Certainly." + +"And from what?" + +"From your slippers." + +I glanced down at the new patent leathers which I was wearing. "How on +earth----?" I began, but Holmes answered my question before it was +asked. + +"Your slippers are new," he said. "You could not have had them more than +a few weeks. The soles which you are at this moment presenting to me are +slightly scorched. For a moment I thought they might have got wet and +been burned in the drying. But near the instep there is a small circular +wafer of paper with the shopman's hieroglyphics upon it. Damp would of +course have removed this. You had then been sitting with your feet +outstretched to the fire, which a man would hardly do even in so wet a +June as this if he were in his full health." + +Like all Holmes's reasoning the thing seemed simplicity itself when it +was once explained. He read the thought upon my features, and his smile +had a tinge of bitterness. + +"I am afraid that I rather give myself away when I explain," said he. +"Results without causes are much more impressive. You are ready to come +to Birmingham, then?" + +"Certainly. What is the case?" + +"You shall hear it all in the train. My client is outside in a +four-wheeler. Can you come at once?" + +"In an instant." I scribbled a note to my neighbour, rushed upstairs to +explain the matter to my wife, and joined Holmes upon the doorstep. + +"Your neighbour is a doctor?" said he, nodding at the brass plate. + +"Yes. He bought a practice as I did." + +"An old-established one?" + +"Just the same as mine. Both have been ever since the houses were +built." + +"Ah, then you got hold of the best of the two." + +"I think I did. But how do you know?" + +"By the steps, my boy. Yours are worn three inches deeper than his. But +this gentleman in the cab is my client, Mr. Hall Pycroft. Allow me to +introduce you to him. Whip your horse up, cabby, for we have only just +time to catch our train." + +The man whom I found myself facing was a well-built, fresh-complexioned +young fellow with a frank, honest face and a slight, crisp, yellow +moustache. He wore a very shiny top-hat and a neat suit of sober black, +which made him look what he was--a smart young City man, of the class +who have been labelled Cockneys, but who give us our crack Volunteer +regiments, and who turn out more fine athletes and sportsmen than any +body of men in these islands. His round, ruddy face was naturally full +of cheeriness, but the corners of his mouth seemed to me to be pulled +down in a half-comical distress. It was not, however, until we were all +in a first-class carriage and well started upon our journey to +Birmingham, that I was able to learn what the trouble was which had +driven him to Sherlock Holmes. + +"We have a clear run here of seventy minutes," Holmes remarked. "I want +you, Mr. Hall Pycroft, to tell my friend your very interesting +experience exactly as you have told it to me, or with more detail if +possible. It will be of use to me to hear the succession of events +again. It is a case, Watson, which may prove to have something in it, or +may prove to have nothing, but which at least presents those unusual and +_outré_ features which are as dear to you as they are to me. Now, Mr. +Pycroft, I shall not interrupt you again." + +Our young companion looked at me with a twinkle in his eye. + +"The worst of the story is," said he, "that I show myself up as such a +confounded fool. Of course, it may work out all right, and I don't see +that I could have done otherwise; but if I have lost my crib and get +nothing in exchange, I shall feel what a soft Johnny I have been. I'm +not very good at telling a story, Dr. Watson, but it is like this with +me. + +"I used to have a billet at Coxon and Woodhouse, of Drapers' Gardens, +but they were let in early in the spring through the Venezuelan loan, as +no doubt you remember, and came a nasty cropper. I had been with them +five years, and old Coxon gave me a ripping good testimonial when the +smash came; but, of course, we clerks were all turned adrift, the +twenty-seven of us. I tried here and tried there, but there were lots of +other chaps on the same lay as myself, and it was a perfect frost for a +long time. I had been taking three pounds a week at Coxon's, and I had +saved about seventy of them, but I soon worked my way through that and +out at the other end. I was fairly at the end of my tether at last, and +could hardly find the stamps to answer the advertisements or the +envelopes to stick them to. I had worn out my boots padding up office +stairs, and I seemed just as far from getting a billet as ever. + +"At last I saw a vacancy at Mawson and Williams', the great stockbroking +firm in Lombard Street. I daresay E. C. is not much in your line, but I +can tell you that this is about the richest house in London. The +advertisement was to be answered by letter only. I sent in my +testimonial and application, but without the least hope of getting it. +Back came an answer by return saying that if I would appear next Monday +I might take over my new duties at once, provided that my appearance was +satisfactory. No one knows how these things are worked. Some people say +the manager just plunges his hand into the heap and takes the first that +comes. Anyhow, it was my innings that time, and I don't ever wish to +feel better pleased. The screw was a pound a week rise, and the duties +just about the same as at Coxon's. + +"And now I come to the queer part of the business. I was in diggings out +Hampstead way--17, Potter's Terrace, was the address. Well, I was +sitting doing a smoke that very evening after I had been promised the +appointment, when up came my landlady with a card which had 'Arthur +Pinner, financial agent,' printed upon it. I had never heard the name +before, and could not imagine what he wanted with me, but of course I +asked her to show him up. In he walked--a middle-sized, dark-haired, +dark-eyed, black-bearded man, with a touch of the sheeny about his nose. +He had a brisk kind of way with him and spoke sharply, like a man that +knew the value of time. + +[Illustration: "'MR. HALL PYCROFT, I BELIEVE?' SAID HE."] + +"'Mr. Hall Pycroft, I believe?' said he. + +"'Yes, sir,' I answered, and pushed a chair towards him. + +"'Lately engaged at Coxon and Woodhouse's?' + +"'Yes, sir.' + +"And now on the staff of Mawson's?' + +"'Quite so.' + +"'Well,' said he. 'The fact is that I have heard some really +extraordinary stories about your financial ability. You remember Parker +who used to be Coxon's manager? He can never say enough about it.' + +"Of course I was pleased to hear this. I had always been pretty smart in +the office, but I had never dreamed that I was talked about in the City +in this fashion. + +"'You have a good memory?' said he. + +"'Pretty fair,' I answered, modestly. + +"'Have you kept in touch with the market while you have been out of +work?' he asked. + +"'Yes; I read the Stock Exchange List every morning.' + +"'Now, that shows real application!' he cried. 'That is the way to +prosper! You won't mind my testing you, will you? Let me see! How are +Ayrshires?' + +"'One hundred and six and a quarter to one hundred and five and +seven-eighths,' I answered. + +"'And New Zealand Consolidated?' + +"'A hundred and four.' + +"'And British Broken Hills?' + +"'Seven to seven and six.' + +"'Wonderful!' he cried, with his hands up. 'This quite fits in with all +that I had heard. My boy, my boy, you are very much too good to be a +clerk at Mawson's!' + +"This outburst rather astonished me, as you can think. 'Well,' said I, +'other people don't think quite so much of me as you seem to do, Mr. +Pinner. I had a hard enough fight to get this berth, and I am very glad +to have it.' + +"'Pooh, man, you should soar above it. You are not in your true sphere. +Now I'll tell you how it stands with me. What I have to offer is little +enough when measured by your ability, but when compared with Mawson's it +is light to dark. Let me see! When do you go to Mawson's?' + +"'On Monday.' + +"'Ha! ha! I think I would risk a little sporting flutter that you don't +go there at all.' + +"'Not go to Mawson's?' + +"'No, sir. By that day you will be the business manager of the +Franco-Midland Hardware Company, Limited, with one hundred and +thirty-four branches in the towns and villages of France, not counting +one in Brussels and one in San Remo.' + +"This took my breath away. 'I never heard of it,' said I. + +"'Very likely not. It has been kept very quiet, for the capital was all +privately subscribed, and it is too good a thing to let the public into. +My brother, Harry Pinner, is promoter, and joins the board after +allotment as managing director. He knew that I was in the swim down +here, and he asked me to pick up a good man cheap--a young, pushing man +with plenty of snap about him. Parker spoke of you, and that brought me +here to-night. We can only offer you a beggarly five hundred to start +with----' + +"'Five hundred a year!' I shouted. + +"'Only that at the beginning, but you are to have an over-riding +commission of 1 per cent, on all business done by your agents, and you +may take my word for it that this will come to more than your salary.' + +"'But I know nothing about hardware.' + +"'Tut, my boy, you know about figures.' + +"My head buzzed, and I could hardly sit still in the chair. But suddenly +a little chill of doubt came over me. + +"'I must be frank with you,' said I. 'Mawson only gives me two hundred, +but Mawson is safe. Now, really, I know so little about your company +that----' + +"'Ah, smart, smart!' he cried, in a kind of ecstasy of delight. 'You are +the very man for us! You are not to be talked over, and quite right too. +Now, here's a note for a hundred pounds; and if you think that we can do +business you may just slip it into your pocket as an advance upon your +salary.' + +"'That is very handsome,' said I. 'When should I take over my new +duties?' + +"'Be in Birmingham to-morrow at one,' said he. 'I have a note in my +pocket here which you will take to my brother. You will find him at +126B, Corporation Street, where the temporary offices of the company are +situated. Of course he must confirm your engagement, but between +ourselves it will be all right.' + +"'Really, I hardly know how to express my gratitude, Mr. Pinner,' said +I. + +"'Not at all, my boy. You have only got your deserts. There are one or +two small things--mere formalities--which I must arrange with you. You +have a bit of paper beside you there. Kindly write upon it, "I am +perfectly willing to act as business manager to the Franco-Midland +Hardware Company, Limited, at a minimum salary of £500."' + +"I did as he asked, and he put the paper in his pocket. + +"'There is one other detail,' said he. 'What do you intend to do about +Mawson's?' + +"I had forgotten all about Mawson's in my joy. + +"'I'll write and resign,' said I. + +"'Precisely what I don't want you to do. I had a row over you with +Mawson's manager. I had gone up to ask him about you, and he was very +offensive--accused me of coaxing you away from the service of the firm, +and that sort of thing. At last I fairly lost my temper. "If you want +good men you should pay them a good price," said I. "He would rather +have our small price than your big one," said he. "I'll lay you a +fiver," said I, "that when he has my offer you will never so much as +hear from him again." "Done!" said he. "We picked him out of the gutter, +and he won't leave us so easily." Those were his very words.' + +"'The impudent scoundrel!' I cried. 'I've never so much as seen him in +my life. Why should I consider him in any way? I shall certainly not +write if you would rather that I didn't.' + +"'Good! That's a promise!' said he, rising from his chair. 'Well, I am +delighted to have got so good a man for my brother. Here is your +advance of a hundred pounds, and here is the letter. Make a note of the +address, 126B, Corporation Street, and remember that one o'clock +to-morrow is your appointment. Good-night, and may you have all the +fortune that you deserve.' + +"That's just about all that passed between us as near as I can remember +it. You can imagine, Dr. Watson, how pleased I was at such an +extraordinary bit of good fortune. I sat up half the night hugging +myself over it, and next day I was off to Birmingham in a train that +would take me in plenty of time for my appointment. I took my things to +an hotel in New Street, and then I made my way to the address which had +been given me. + +"It was a quarter of an hour before my time, but I thought that would +make no difference. 126B was a passage between two large shops which led +to a winding stone stair, from which there were many flats, let as +offices to companies or professional men. The names of the occupants +were painted up at the bottom on the wall, but there was no such name as +the Franco-Midland Hardware Company, Limited. I stood for a few minutes +with my heart in my boots, wondering whether the whole thing was an +elaborate hoax or not, when up came a man and addressed me. He was very +like the chap that I had seen the night before, the same figure and +voice, but he was clean shaven and his hair was lighter. + +[Illustration: "UP CAME A MAN AND ADDRESSED ME."] + +"'Are you Mr. Hall Pycroft?' he asked. + +"'Yes,' said I. + +"'Ah! I was expecting you, but you are a trifle before your time. I had +a note from my brother this morning, in which he sang your praises very +loudly.' + +"'I was just looking for the offices when you came.' + +"'We have not got our name up yet, for we only secured these temporary +premises last week. Come up with me and we will talk the matter over.' + +"I followed him to the top of a very lofty stair, and there right under +the slates were a couple of empty and dusty little rooms, uncarpeted and +uncurtained, into which he led me. I had thought of a great office with +shining tables and rows of clerks such as I was used to, and I daresay I +stared rather straight at the two deal chairs and one little table, +which, with a ledger and a waste-paper basket, made up the whole +furniture. + +"'Don't be disheartened, Mr. Pycroft,' said my new acquaintance, seeing +the length of my face. 'Rome was not built in a day, and we have lots of +money at our backs, though we don't cut much dash yet in offices. Pray +sit down and let me have your letter.' + +"I gave it to him, and he read it over very carefully. + +"'You seem to have made a vast impression upon my brother, Arthur,' said +he, 'and I know that he is a pretty shrewd judge. He swears by London, +you know, and I by Birmingham, but this time I shall follow his advice. +Pray consider yourself definitely engaged.' + +"'What are my duties?' I asked. + +"'You will eventually manage the great depôt in Paris, which will pour a +flood of English crockery into the shops of one hundred and thirty-four +agents in France. The purchase will be completed in a week, and +meanwhile you will remain in Birmingham and make yourself useful.' + +"'How?' + +"For answer he took a big red book out of a drawer. 'This is a directory +of Paris,' said he, 'with the trades after the names of the people. I +want you to take it home with you, and to mark off all the hardware +sellers with their addresses. It would be of the greatest use to me to +have them.' + +"'Surely, there are classified lists?' I suggested. + +"'Not reliable ones. Their system is different to ours. Stick at it and +let me have the lists by Monday, at twelve. Good-day, Mr. Pycroft; if +you continue to show zeal and intelligence, you will find the company a +good master.' + +"I went back to the hotel with the big book under my arm, and with very +conflicting feelings in my breast. On the one hand I was definitely +engaged, and had a hundred pounds in my pocket. On the other, the look +of the offices, the absence of name on the wall, and other of the points +which would strike a business man had left a bad impression as to the +position of my employers. However, come what might, I had my money, so I +settled down to my task. All Sunday I was kept hard at work, and yet by +Monday I had only got as far as H. I went round to my employer, found +him in the same dismantled kind of room, and was told to keep at it +until Wednesday, and then come again. On Wednesday it was still +unfinished, so I hammered away until Friday--that is, yesterday. Then I +brought it round to Mr. Harry Pinner. + +"'Thank you very much,' said he. 'I fear that I underrated the +difficulty of the task. This list will be of very material assistance to +me.' + +"'It took some time,' said I. + +"'And now,' said he, 'I want you to make a list of the furniture shops, +for they all sell crockery.' + +"'Very good.' + +"'And you can come up to-morrow evening at seven, and let me know how +you are getting on. Don't overwork yourself. A couple of hours at Day's +Music-Hall in the evening would do you no harm after your labours.' He +laughed as he spoke, and I saw with a thrill that his second tooth upon +the left-hand side had been very badly stuffed with gold." + +Sherlock Holmes rubbed his hands with delight, and I stared in +astonishment at our client. + +"You may well look surprised, Dr. Watson, but it is this way," said he. +"When I was speaking to the other chap in London at the time that he +laughed at my not going to Mawson's, I happened to notice that his tooth +was stuffed in this very identical fashion. The glint of the gold in +each case caught my eye, you see. When I put that with the voice and +figure being the same, and only those things altered which might be +changed by a razor or a wig, I could not doubt that it was the same man. +Of course, you expect two brothers to be alike, but not that they should +have the same tooth stuffed in the same way. He bowed me out and I found +myself in the street, hardly knowing whether I was on my head or my +heels. Back I went to my hotel, put my head in a basin of cold water, +and tried to think it out. Why had he sent me from London to Birmingham; +why had he got there before me; and why had he written a letter from +himself to himself? It was altogether too much for me, and I could make +no sense of it. And then suddenly it struck me that what was dark to me +might be very light to Mr. Sherlock Holmes. I had just time to get up to +town by the night train, to see him this morning, and to bring you both +back with me to Birmingham." + +There was a pause after the stockbroker's clerk had concluded his +surprising experience. Then Sherlock Holmes cocked his eye at me, +leaning back on the cushions with a pleased and yet critical face, like +a connoisseur who had just taken his first sip of a comet vintage. + +"Rather fine, Watson, is it not?" said he. "There are points in it which +please me. I think you will agree with me that an interview with Mr. +Arthur Harry Pinner in the temporary offices of the Franco-Midland +Hardware Company, Limited, would be a rather interesting experience for +both of us." + +"But how can we do it?" I asked. + +"Oh, easily enough," said Hall Pycroft, cheerily. "You are two friends +of mine who are in want of a billet, and what could be more natural than +that I should bring you both round to the managing director?" + +"Quite so! Of course!" said Holmes. "I should like to have a look at the +gentleman and see if I can make anything of his little game. What +qualities have you, my friend, which would make your services so +valuable? or is it possible that----" he began biting his nails and +staring blankly out of the window, and we hardly drew another word from +him until we were in New Street. + + * * * * * + +At seven o'clock that evening we were walking, the three of us, down +Corporation Street to the company's offices. + +"It is of no use our being at all before our time," said our client. "He +only comes there to see me apparently, for the place is deserted up to +the very hour he names." + +"That is suggestive," remarked Holmes. + +"By Jove, I told you so!" cried the clerk. "That's he walking ahead of +us there." + +He pointed to a smallish, blonde, well-dressed man, who was bustling +along the other side of the road. As we watched him he looked across at +a boy who was bawling out the latest edition of the evening paper, and, +running over among the cabs and 'buses, he bought one from him. Then +clutching it in his hand he vanished through a doorway. + +"There he goes!" cried Hall Pycroft. "Those are the company's offices +into which he has gone. Come with me and I'll fix it up as easily as +possible." + +Following his lead we ascended five stories, until we found ourselves +outside a half-opened door, at which our client tapped. A voice within +bade us "Come in," and we entered a bare, unfurnished room, such as Hall +Pycroft had described. At the single table sat the man whom we had seen +in the street, with his evening paper spread out in front of him, and as +he looked up at us it seemed to me that I had never looked upon a face +which bore such marks of grief, and of something beyond grief--of a +horror such as comes to few men in a lifetime. His brow glistened with +perspiration, his cheeks were of the dull dead white of a fish's belly, +and his eyes were wild and staring. He looked at his clerk as though he +failed to recognise him, and I could see, by the astonishment depicted +upon our conductor's face, that this was by no means the usual +appearance of his employer. + +[Illustration: "HE LOOKED UP AT US."] + +"You look ill, Mr. Pinner," he exclaimed. + +"Yes, I am not very well," answered the other, making obvious efforts to +pull himself together, and licking his dry lips before he spoke. "Who +are these gentlemen whom you have brought with you?" + +"One is Mr. Harris, of Bermondsey, and the other is Mr. Price, of this +town," said our clerk, glibly. "They are friends of mine, and gentlemen +of experience, but they have been out of a place for some little time, +and they hoped that perhaps you might find an opening for them in the +company's employment." + +"Very possibly! Very possibly!" cried Mr. Pinner, with a ghastly smile. +"Yes, I have no doubt that we shall be able to do something for you. +What is your particular line, Mr. Harris?" + +"I am an accountant," said Holmes. + +"Ah, yes, we shall want something of the sort. And you, Mr. Price?" + +"A clerk," said I. + +"I have every hope that the company may accommodate you. I will let you +know about it as soon as we come to any conclusion. And now I beg that +you will go. For God's sake, leave me to myself!" + +These last words were shot out of him, as though the constraint which he +was evidently setting upon himself had suddenly and utterly burst +asunder. Holmes and I glanced at each other, and Hall Pycroft took a +step towards the table. + +"You forget, Mr. Pinner, that I am here by appointment to receive some +directions from you," said he. + +"Certainly, Mr. Pycroft, certainly," the other answered in a calmer +tone. "You may wait here a moment, and there is no reason why your +friends should not wait with you. I will be entirely at your service in +three minutes, if I might trespass upon your patience so far." He rose +with a very courteous air, and bowing to us he passed out through a door +at the further end of the room, which he closed behind him. + +"What now?" whispered Holmes. "Is he giving us the slip?" + +"Impossible," answered Pycroft. + +"Why so?" + +"That door leads into an inner room." + +"There is no exit?" + +"None." + +"Is it furnished?" + +"It was empty yesterday." + +"Then what on earth can he be doing? There is something which I don't +understand in this matter. If ever a man was three parts mad with +terror, that man's name is Pinner. What can have put the shivers on +him?" + +"He suspects that we are detectives," I suggested. + +"That's it," said Pycroft. + +Holmes shook his head. "He did not turn pale. He _was_ pale when we +entered the room," said he. "It is just possible that----" + +His words were interrupted by a sharp rat-tat from the direction of the +inner door. + +"What the deuce is he knocking at his own door for?" cried the clerk. + +Again and much louder came the rat-tat-tat. We all gazed expectantly at +the closed door. Glancing at Holmes I saw his face turn rigid, and he +leaned forward in intense excitement. Then suddenly came a low gurgling, +gargling sound and a brisk drumming upon woodwork. Holmes sprang +frantically across the room and pushed at the door. It was fastened on +the inner side. Following his example, we threw ourselves upon it with +all our weight. One hinge snapped, then the other, and down came the +door with a crash. Rushing over it we found ourselves in the inner room. + +[Illustration: "WE FOUND OURSELVES IN THE INNER ROOM."] + +It was empty. + +But it was only for a moment that we were at fault. At one corner, the +corner nearest the room which we had left, there was a second door. +Holmes sprang to it and pulled it open. A coat and waistcoat were lying +on the floor, and from a hook behind the door, with his own braces round +his neck, was hanging the managing director of the Franco-Midland +Hardware Company. His knees were drawn up, his head hung at a dreadful +angle to his body, and the clatter of his heels against the door made +the noise which had broken in upon our conversation. In an instant I had +caught him round the waist and held him up, while Holmes and Pycroft +untied the elastic bands which had disappeared between the livid creases +of skin. Then we carried him into the other room, where he lay with a +clay-coloured face, puffing his purple lips in and out with every +breath--a dreadful wreck of all that he had been but five minutes +before. + +"What do you think of him, Watson?" asked Holmes. + +I stooped over him and examined him. + +His pulse was feeble and intermittent, but his breathing grew longer, +and there was a little shivering of his eyelids which showed a thin +white slit of ball beneath. + +"It has been touch and go with him," said I, "but he'll live now. Just +open that window and hand me the water carafe." I undid his collar, +poured the cold water over his face, and raised and sank his arms until +he drew a long natural breath. + +"It's only a question of time now," said I, as I turned away from him. + +Holmes stood by the table with his hands deep in his trousers pockets +and his chin upon his breast. + +"I suppose we ought to call the police in now," said he; "and yet I +confess that I like to give them a complete case when they come." + +"It's a blessed mystery to me," cried Pycroft, scratching his head. +"Whatever they wanted to bring me all the way up here for, and then----" + +"Pooh! All that is clear enough," said Holmes, impatiently. "It is this +last sudden move." + +"You understand the rest, then?" + +"I think that it is fairly obvious. What do you say, Watson?" + +I shrugged my shoulders. + +"I must confess that I am out of my depths," said I. + +"Oh, surely, if you consider the events at first they can only point to +one conclusion." + +"What do you make of them?" + +"Well, the whole thing hinges upon two points. The first is the making +of Pycroft write a declaration by which he entered the service of this +preposterous company. Do you not see how very suggestive that is?" + +"I am afraid I miss the point." + +"Well, why did they want him to do it? Not as a business matter, for +these arrangements are usually verbal, and there was no earthly business +reason why this should be an exception. Don't you see, my young friend, +that they were very anxious to obtain a specimen of your handwriting, +and had no other way of doing it?" + +"And why?" + +"Quite so. Why? When we answer that, we have made some progress with our +little problem. Why? There can be only one adequate reason. Someone +wanted to learn to imitate your writing, and had to procure a specimen +of it first. And now if we pass on to the second point, we find that +each throws light upon the other. That point is the request made by +Pinner that you should not resign your place, but should leave the +manager of this important business in the full expectation that a Mr. +Hall Pycroft, whom he had never seen, was about to enter the office upon +the Monday morning." + +"My God!" cried our client, "what a blind beetle I have been!" + +"Now you see the point about the handwriting. Suppose that someone +turned up in your place who wrote a completely different hand from that +in which you had applied for the vacancy, of course the game would have +been up. But in the interval the rogue learnt to imitate you, and his +position was therefore secure, as I presume that nobody in the office +had ever set eyes upon you?" + +"Not a soul," groaned Hall Pycroft. + +"Very good. Of course, it was of the utmost importance to prevent you +from thinking better of it, and also to keep you from coming into +contact with anyone who might tell you that your double was at work in +Mawson's office. Therefore they gave you a handsome advance on your +salary, and ran you off to the Midlands, where they gave you enough work +to do to prevent your going to London, where you might have burst their +little game up. That is all plain enough." + +"But why should this man pretend to be his own brother?" + +"Well, that is pretty clear also. There are evidently only two of them +in it. The other is personating you at the office. This one acted as +your engager, and then found that he could not find you an employer +without admitting a third person into his plot. That he was most +unwilling to do. He changed his appearance as far as he could, and +trusted that the likeness, which you could not fail to observe, would be +put down to a family resemblance. But for the happy chance of the gold +stuffing your suspicions would probably have never been aroused." + +Hall Pycroft shook his clenched hands in the air. "Good Lord!" he cried. +"While I have been fooled in this way, what has this other Hall Pycroft +been doing at Mawson's? What should we do, Mr. Holmes? Tell me what to +do!" + +"We must wire to Mawson's." + +"They shut at twelve on Saturdays." + +"Never mind; there may be some doorkeeper or attendant----" + +"Ah, yes; they keep a permanent guard there on account of the value of +the securities that they hold. I remember hearing it talked of in the +City." + +[Illustration: "PYCROFT SHOOK HIS CLENCHED HANDS IN THE AIR."] + +"Very good, we shall wire to him, and see if all is well, and if a clerk +of your name is working there. That is clear enough, but what is not so +clear is why at sight of us one of the rogues should instantly walk out +of the room and hang himself." + +"The paper!" croaked a voice behind us. The man was sitting up, blanched +and ghastly, with returning reason in his eyes, and hands which rubbed +nervously at the broad red band which still encircled his throat. + +"The paper! Of course!" yelled Holmes, in a paroxysm of excitement. +"Idiot that I was! I thought so much of our visit that the paper never +entered my head for an instant. To be sure the secret must lie there." +He flattened it out upon the table, and a cry of triumph burst from his +lips. + +"Look at this, Watson!" he cried. "It is a London paper, an early +edition of the _Evening Standard_. Here is what we want. Look at the +headlines--'Crime in the City. Murder at Mawson and Williams'. Gigantic +Attempted Robbery; Capture of the Criminal.' Here, Watson, we are all +equally anxious to hear it, so kindly read it aloud to us." + +It appeared from its position in the paper to have been the one event of +importance in town, and the account of it ran in this way:-- + +"A desperate attempt at robbery, culminating in the death of one man and +the capture of the criminal, occurred this afternoon in the City. For +some time back Mawson and Williams, the famous financial house, have +been the guardians of securities which amount in the aggregate to a sum +of considerably over a million sterling. So conscious was the manager of +the responsibility which devolved upon him in consequence of the great +interests at stake, that safes of the very latest construction have been +employed, and an armed watchman has been left day and night in the +building. It appears that last week a new clerk, named Hall Pycroft, was +engaged by the firm. This person appears to have been none other than +Beddington, the famous forger and cracksman, who, with his brother, has +only recently emerged from a five years' spell of penal servitude. By +some means, which are not yet clear, he succeeded in winning, under a +false name, this official position in the office, which he utilized in +order to obtain mouldings of various locks, and a thorough knowledge of +the position of the strong room and the safes. + +"It is customary at Mawson's for the clerks to leave at midday on +Saturday. Sergeant Tuson, of the City Police, was somewhat surprised +therefore to see a gentleman with a carpet bag come down the steps at +twenty minutes past one. His suspicions being aroused, the sergeant +followed the man, and with the aid of Constable Pollock succeeded, after +a most desperate resistance, in arresting him. It was at once clear that +a daring and gigantic robbery had been committed. Nearly a hundred +thousand pounds worth of American railway bonds, with a large amount of +scrip in other mines and companies, were discovered in the bag. On +examining the premises the body of the unfortunate watchman was found +doubled up and thrust into the largest of the safes, where it would not +have been discovered until Monday morning had it not been for the prompt +action of Sergeant Tuson. The man's skull had been shattered by a blow +from a poker, delivered from behind. There could be no doubt that +Beddington had obtained entrance by pretending that he had left +something behind him, and having murdered the watchman, rapidly rifled +the large safe, and then made off with his booty. His brother, who +usually works with him, has not appeared in this job, so far as can at +present be ascertained, although the police are making energetic +inquiries as to his whereabouts." + +[Illustration: "GLANCING AT THE HAGGARD FIGURE."] + +"Well, we may save the police some little trouble in that direction," +said Holmes, glancing at the haggard figure huddled up by the window. +"Human nature is a strange mixture, Watson. You see that even a villain +and a murderer can inspire such affection that his brother turns to +suicide when he learns that his neck is forfeited. However, we have no +choice as to our action. The doctor and I will remain on guard, Mr. +Pycroft, if you will have the kindness to step out for the police." + + + + +_Beauties._ + +[Illustration: FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY MESSRS. ELLIOTT AND FRY, BAKER +STREET, W.] + +[Illustration: Miss Webster + +Madame Shirmer-Mapleson + +Madame Sigrid Arnoldson] + +[Illustration: Miss ALICE LETHBRIDGE + +Miss Flo Henderson + +Mdlle. Del Torre] + + + + +_Hands._ + +BY BECKLES WILLSON. + +II. + + +[Illustration: CASTING A HAND FROM LIFE. + +(_Studio of Mr. Onslow Ford, A.R.A._)] + +The sculptor's practice of casting in plaster the hands of his client is +of comparatively recent growth. The artist of the old school--and he is +followed in this by many of the new--disdained so mechanical a means to +fidelity. Very few, indeed, among the British painters and sculptors of +the past will be found who took the pains to see that the hands or even +the figures of their counterfeit presentments on canvas or in marble +tallied with the originals. Sir Joshua Reynolds, as we know, would have +regarded this as the essence of finical vulgarity. + +The principal drawback in making casts from life is to be found in the +discomfort, not to speak of the actual torment, it often causes the +sitter by the adhesion of the plaster to the hairy growth of the skin. +Various methods are resorted to with a view to obviate this, and in some +cases successfully. + +The hands of Thomas Carlyle--stubborn, combative, mystical--which appear +in the present paper, will amply repay the closest scrutiny. These hands +are unwontedly realistic, and emphasize their distinctiveness in every +vein and wrinkle. They appear to be themselves endowed with each of +those various qualities which caused their possessor to be regarded as +one of the most puissant figures in the century's literature. The hand +is not one, to use Charles Lamb's expressive phrase, to be looked at +_standing on one leg_. It deserves a keener examination. + +[Illustration: THOMAS CARLYLE'S HANDS.] + +Mention has been made of the hand of a distinguished prelate, Cardinal +Manning. It will not be out of place to compare it with the hands of +the late Archbishop of Canterbury, which were cast posthumously. +Scarcely anything could be more antagonistic. The nervous personality of +Manning is wanting here. The hands of the Archbishop seem more to belong +to the order of the benevolent Bishop Myriel than to that of the +enthusiast and ascetic. + +[Illustration: THE LATE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY'S HANDS.] + +[Illustration: LORD PALMERSTON'S HAND.] + +Plenty of opportunity to study the hands of statesmen is afforded in +those of Lord Palmerston, Count Cavour, Sir Stratford Canning, and Lord +Melbourne. The fallacy of attaching special qualities to any distinctive +trait in the hand of an eminent person is most readily discernible here. +One should avoid _à posteriori_ reasoning. It would be the same for a +physiognomist to argue a man a statesman from a facial resemblance to +Mr. Gladstone, or that he is fit to write tragedies because he owns the +exact facial proportions of Sardou. + +[Illustration: COUNT CAVOUR'S HANDS.] + +[Illustration: SIR STRATFORD CANNING'S HANDS.] + +Among these the hand of Lord Palmerston will stand forth most +prominently to the reader. Its characteristics are, on the whole, +sufficiently obvious, in the appended cast, to be thought accentuated. +It might not unprofitably be noted in connection with those of Stratford +Canning, Viscount de Redcliffe (for fifty years British Ambassador in +India), whose statue by Boehm, with Tennyson's famous epitaph: + + Thou third great Canning, stand among our best + And noblest, now thy long day's work hath ceased, + Here, silent in our Minster of the West, + Who wert the voice of England in the East! + +is in a nave of the Abbey. With these should be joined the hand of +Viscount Melbourne, the predecessor of Sir Robert Peel in the +Premiership, and the great statesman after whom the city of Melbourne +was named, in order to range this British galaxy against the hands of +the Italian patriots, Count Cavour and Joseph Garibaldi, whose labours +resulted in that master stroke of latter-day politics, the unification +of Italy. Those of the former were cast separately in different +positions, it being the intention of the sculptor for the right hand to +rest lightly upon a column and the left to grasp a roll of parchment. +Garibaldi's hand may be described as both virile and nervous. + +[Illustration: LORD MELBOURNE'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: HAND OF JOHN BURNS, M.P.] + +[Illustration: HAND OF JOSEPH ARCH, M.P.] + +[Illustration: GARIBALDI'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: SIR E. BOEHM'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: HAND OF JOHN JACKSON, R.A.] + +Another type of hand is exemplified in the hands of Messrs. Joseph Arch +and John Burns. Both of these belong to self-made men, accustomed to +hard manual labour from childhood. Their powerful ruggedness is +admirably set off by the exquisite symmetry and feminine proportions of +the hand of John Jackson a Royal Academician and great painter of his +time. For symmetry, combined with grace, this hand is not surpassed. + +The hand of Sir Edgar Boehm was cast by his assistant, Professor +Lantéri, for the former's statue of Sir Francis Drake. It will be +observed that the fingers grasp a pair of compasses, the original of +those which appear in the bronze at Plymouth. + +[Illustration: LADY BLESSINGTON'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: MRS. CARLYLE'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: MRS. THORNYCROFT'S HAND.] + +Reverting to the ladies again, interest will, no doubt, centre upon the +hand of the celebrated Lady Blessington, accounted the wittiest hostess +of her day; and not least attractive will appear Mrs. Carlyle's and +those of Mrs. Thornycroft and the celebrated Madame Tussaud. The wife of +the Chelsea sage was herself, as is known, an authoress of no mean +repute. + +A comparison of the hand of Mr. Bancroft with that of Mr. Irving, given +last month, will prove interesting, if not instructive. + +[Illustration: MME. TUSSAUD'S HAND.] + +It has been said that the hands of Carlyle are characteristic; that they +possess, with those of Wilkie Collins, the merit of being precisely the +sort of hands one would expect to see so labelled. We now present a +third candidate for this merit of candour in casts of the hands of the +notorious Arthur Orton, better known under the sobriquet of the +Claimant. They are pulseless, chubby, oblique: yet they are remarkable. +In scrutinizing them, it is difficult not to feel that one looks upon +hands very remote indeed from the ordinary. + +[Illustration: MR. BANCROFT'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: HANDS OF THE TICHBORNE CLAIMANT.] + +Next we look upon the hand of a giant even superior to Anak, in +Loushkin, the Russian. But physically great as was the Muscovite, it is +to be doubted if he really attained the world-wide celebrity of the +little American, Charles Stratton (otherwise known as "Tom Thumb"), +whose extremity serves as a foil to his rival for exhibition honours. + +Another Boehm relic requires some explanation. Every visitor to the +Metropolis has doubtless seen and admired the heroic equestrian statue +of the Duke of Wellington, opposite Apsley House. They may even have +noticed the right hand, which is represented as lightly holding the rein +of the animal. The appended was cast from the original model in clay of +the hand of the Duke, no cast direct from life ever having been +executed. + +[Illustration: THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S HAND.] + +It is sufficient to say that the subjoined hand and arm of Lady +Cardigan, wife of the noted Crimean warrior, was one greatly admired by +Sir Edgar, in whose studio it hung for many years. In like manner will +the hand of Lady Richard Grosvenor be found the possessor of many +beautiful and interesting traits. + +[Illustration: THE HANDS OF "TOM THUMB" AND LOUSHKIN, THE RUSSIAN +GIANT.] + +[Illustration: LADY CARDIGAN'S HAND.] + +A member not altogether dissimilar to that of the musician Liszt is the +hand of Carl von Angeli, Court painter to Her Majesty, and like that +also in setting at naught the conclusions too often arrived at by the +chirognomist. For there is here breadth without symmetry, and an utter +absence of the poise which we look for in the ideal hand of the artist. +It is instructive to compare it to the hand of the painter, John +Jackson. + +[Illustration: LADY RICHARD GROSVENOR'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: CARL ANGELI'S HAND.] + +Observe the massive, masculine fingers and disproportionately small +finger-nails in the hands of Professor Weekes, the sculptor. There is +scarcely any perceptible tapering at the third joint, and the fingers +all exhibit very little prominence of knuckle or contour. It is anything +but an artistic hand, and yet its owner was a man of the keenest +artistic perceptions. + +In Frederick Baring's (Lord Ashburton) we find the thick-set fingers, +and what the chirognomist calls the "lack of manual repose," of the +great financier. But as his lordship was statesman with a talent for +debate as well as man of commerce, it will not unlikely be found that +the hand presented combines the both temperaments. + +[Illustration: PROFESSOR WEEKES' HANDS.] + +[Illustration: LORD ASHBURTON'S HAND.] + +I have been enabled, through the kindness of Mr. J. T. Tussaud, to +embellish the present collection by an ancient cast of the hand of the +Comte de Lorge, a famous prisoner in the Bastille. This cast was taken, +together with a death mask, after death, by the great-grandmother of the +sculptor, to whom both relics have descended. + +The Queen's hands, which appeared in the last issue of this Magazine, +were cast by John Francis, a famous sculptor of the day. Mr. Hamo +Thorneycroft, R.A., writes me to say that "While the moulds were being +made Her Majesty removed all the rings from her fingers _except_ the +wedding ring. This she was most anxious should not come off, and was in +considerable fear lest the moulding process might remove it." + +[Illustration: COMTE DE LORGE'S HAND.] + + +[_The original drawings of the illustrations in this Magazine are always +on view, and on sale, in the Art Gallery at these offices, which is open +to the public without charge._] + + + + +[Illustration: ROSITA] + +FROM THE FRENCH OF PITRE CHEVALIER. + + +I. + + +It was harvest day at a house in the little village of Panola, in +Castile, on the 25th of August, 1838. The great sheaves of corn had been +borne, amidst universal rejoicing, to their resting-place in the +granary. All the village inhabitants had shared in this pleasant task, +and now, following an ancient custom, they had erected a trophy composed +of a few last sheaves of corn, round which the young girls and men began +to dance gaily, to the sound of guitars and castanets. + +Within the house, in a room which overlooked this charming scene, were +two men. + +The first, seated at a table, was an old man over sixty, but enfeebled +rather by cares than by age. His venerable head, crowned with white +hair, drooped upon his breast with patriarchal dignity. The old man, who +had been a soldier in the Spanish army, was Don Pedro de la Sarga, a +Castilian as noble as he was poor. His companion was his son, Don +Stephano, a young man of twenty, considered the most accomplished man in +Panola. He was handsome; his warm, brown skin, his large, black eyes, +the regular features, which wore that expression of national pride which +distinguishes a Castilian from any other race, and his raven-black hair +were eminently the Spanish type in all its grace and haughtiness. The +young man wore the Spanish holiday costume, the richness of which has +made travellers exclaim, more than once, that no European prince is +clothed like a simple peasant of Castile. Stephano had on a short vest +of black cloth, lined with yellow silk, ornamented with fringes and +bunches of ribbons; an embroidered shirt with open collar revealing a +waistcoat with gilt buttons, knee-breeches of black silk confined at the +knees by bunches of ribbons, shoes and gaiters of fine brown leather, +while a black felt hat with drooping plume completed his costume. + +Stephano's gloomy face contrasted with his gay attire. He leant against +the open window, carelessly holding in his hand a bouquet of faded +jasmine, whilst he gazed with melancholy eyes upon the festive scene +before him, and only by a shake of the head and a sad smile replied to +the light badinage of the dancers as they passed the window. But now and +then his eyes lighted up, and he sighed deeply as a certain dancer, +prettier than the rest, approached him. + +"How pretty she is!" he murmured, as he followed her retreating form. + +"Stephano!" called out the old man, who had been watching his son for +some time. + +"How gracefully she dances," continued the handsome dreamer, wrapt in +his thoughts. + +"Stephano!" repeated the old man. + +"Yes, father," cried Stephano, with a start, and coming forward. "Do you +wish to speak to me?" + +"From your mysterious air and endless sighs these last few days, +Stephano, I conclude that you are in love," said his father. + +"In love!" stammered the young man. "You think I am in love?" + +"I do not think, my son--I am sure of it; and I have only one reproach +to make to you, and that is that you have not made me a confidant of +your secret before." + +"You shall know all, father," said Stephano, drawing a chair close to +Don Pedro. + +"For the last month," he continued, "I have had in my heart a love which +nothing can subdue, and the object of my passion is a young girl here, a +glance from whose eyes is worth more to me than all the world besides; +but she shuns my love, and on every occasion strives to avoid me. She +hardly permits me to speak to her for fear that the passion she reads in +my eyes will break into words." + +"Bah!" said the old man, merrily; "it is very likely that she shuns you +for the reason of your not opening your mouth; you scare the young girl +with your morose airs." + +"Oh, if that were only true," sighed the disconsolate swain. + +"Now," said the old man, "there only remains for me to know the name of +my future daughter-in-law." + +The young man was about to pronounce the name which already trembled on +his lips when a sudden clamour interrupted the most interesting portion +of this conversation. The peasants, followed by the partners, were +rushing towards the house, and in the twinkling of an eye the room was +filled with the animated and noisy throng. The new-comers wore rich +costumes, more or less copies of Stephano's; some carried guitars, +others castanets, while most of them leaned upon tall peeled rods, +forked at the top, and ornamented with ribbons of all colours; each +carried on the left side of his vest a bouquet similar to that of +Stephano. The young girls in their silken bodices, short skirts, red +stockings and mantillas, rattled their castanets as they entered with +their partners. The joyous crowd surrounded Don Pedro, whilst cries of +"Rosita! Rosita!" resounded from all sides. + +"Well, well, my children, what is it you want?" demanded the village +Nestor of his clamorous audience. + +"We want Mlle. Rosita," they repeated. + +"What, my niece? But is she not with you? I thought it was she whom you +were leading just now round the corn sheaves." + +"That is true," replied one of the foremost of the crowd; "everything +went smoothly until we wished her to take part in our usual ceremony of +'The Maiden's Choice.'" + +"Did you explain to her," asked the old man, "what is the ceremony?" + +"Yes, we told her all that was necessary: that it is an old custom in +Panola on harvest day, after having escorted the daughter of the house +round the last sheaves of corn, for all her admirers in the village to +present her, each in his turn, with a bouquet; that she must then choose +the one she loves amongst them by retaining his bouquet, whilst the +others are rejected. She answered us by saying that she had only been in +Panola a few months, and was therefore not forced to adopt our customs, +and leaving us with these words she fled from us and escaped through the +little granary door." + +"The little shrew!" Don Pedro exclaimed, who, like an amiable old man, +was always on the side of the young folk. "But my friends," he added, +"you are but poor Lotharios to be flouted by a young girl; you must +follow her and bring her back." + +"That is just what we have done; but one cannot catch a bird without +also having wings. She seemed to fly as we followed her, and on reaching +the granary she entered and slammed the door in our faces; so we have +come, as a last resource, to you, Don Pedro, to ask her to comply with +our wishes." + +"You are right," replied the old man, with all the gravity of a judge, +"you must be satisfied at once"; and he looked round for Don Stephano, +who was standing more moody than ever behind a giggling group of young +peasants. + +"My son," he said, "go and bring your cousin here. If she refuses, tell +her that I particularly wish her to come." + +"I will go, father," said Stephano, after a second's hesitation; and he +went out. + +There was a slight pause; then shouts and acclamations and rattling of +castanets burst forth, as Rosita, with downcast eyes, entered the room, +led by Stephano. Well might they welcome with fervour such a charming +creature. Rosita was just eighteen. She wore upon her golden brown hair +a black lace mantilla, which contrasted with her creamy complexion and +the liquid depth of her large brown eyes. A brown velvet bodice showed +off to perfection her slight yet rounded figure; and her silk skirts +just revealed her pretty ankles and small feet in their silk stockings +and neat shoes. + +Rosita was a native of Navarre. She had quitted Tafalla, her native +village, on the death of her father and mother, who had been victims of +the Civil War which at this time desolated the country, and had been +conducted not without peril to her uncle's house at Panola, in which she +had since taken up her abode. + +"Rosita," said Don Pedro to his niece, taking her hand, "I have made +your apologies to your friends for the trick you have played them. It is +your turn now to atone for your misdeed, by submitting to an old custom. +Among the brave Castilians who surround you there are many suitors for +your hand. There must be one among them whom you secretly favour. Your +choice is entirely free, and even the favoured one after the ceremony +will then have only the right to please you and to merit your hand." + +"But, uncle----" faltered the young girl. + +"I will take no denial, my dear," interrupted the old man. + +Rosita strove in vain to protest, but her imperturbable uncle would not +listen, and gave a sign to the peasants to begin the ceremony, in which +he seemed to take as keen an interest as they did themselves. Thereupon +the majority of the young men, darting furious glances of jealousy at +one another, prepared for the contest. Rosita, at her uncle's side, +stood at one end of the room. At her right and left were grouped the +young peasant girls, admiring without envy the queen of the _fête_, and +forming her court. Stephano stood behind with dejected mien. Those with +guitars touched their instruments lightly now and then, and upon this +scene, worthy of the pencil of Leopold Roberts, the sun, now setting at +the horizon, cast a calm and solemn light. + +The first peasant who came forward was a tall young man, with a ruddy +complexion. + +"My name is Geronimo Caldaroz, and I am twenty-five. It has been the +talk of the village why I did not marry, and it has been said it was +because I had never yet seen a maiden beautiful enough to please me. But +now I have found her; it is you, Rosita. Will you accept my bouquet?" He +presented his bouquet to the young girl, who blushed as she received it, +and then let it fall. + +"Refused! Refused!" whispered the spectators, whilst the young man +disappeared into the crowd, and a second one took his place. But the +same thing occurred, and with the same result. Soon the jasmine bouquets +covered the ground round the young girl's feet. The rejected suitors +multiplied so fast that they could no longer hide their discomfiture +amongst the others. Restless and smiling, Don Pedro wondered why his +niece was so severe, and the remaining suitors seemed to hesitate +whether to advance into the lists or not. Then the last three timidly +advanced one by one toward Rosita. The two first were not even heard to +the end of their speech, and then all eyes were fixed with interest upon +the last. Rosita let him finish his discourse, took his bouquet, which +she scrutinized demurely, and then uttering a deep sigh let it fall upon +the amorous trophy piled at her feet. + +A murmur rose amongst the stupefied villagers. Don Pedro approached his +niece. + +"Well, my child," he said, "have you thought of what you have done?" + +"Yes, uncle," Rosita replied. "Did you not tell me yourself that I was +perfectly free?" + +"Free to choose, without doubt; but not to send all your suitors away." + +Rosita cast down her eyes and made no reply. + +"Pardon me, father, but there still remains one," said Stephano, +breaking the silence. + +"Where is he?" everyone asked at once. + +"Here he is." + +Rosita trembled so violently that she was compelled to lean for support +upon her uncle's arm, and Don Pedro, more astonished than anyone, rushed +towards his son. + +"What, Stephano?" he said joyfully. "It is your cousin whom----" + +"Yes, father," replied the young man. "It is she whom I love." + +In the midst of such general interest Stephano, pale with emotion, +advanced towards his cousin. + +"Rosita, I love you," he said, simply. "Will you keep this bouquet which +I offer to you?" + +The young man pronounced these words with a voice so sweet and +expressive, and the gesture with which he offered the symbolic flower +was so imploring and passionate, that a sympathetic thrill ran through +the spectators, and tears bedimmed Don Pedro's eyes. + +[Illustration: "'ROSITA, I LOVE YOU,' HE SAID."] + +Rosita, not less pale than her cousin, took the bouquet with a trembling +hand, gazed upon it tenderly, then made a movement as if to throw it +down, paused, and then at last, with head turned aside, let it fall. + +"Santa Maria! He also!" cried the crowd, mournfully. + +"Do not condemn me without hearing my justification," cried Rosita, +turning to Don Pedro. + +"Your justification?" repeated Stephano, with relief. + +"Uncle," she said, after a pause, "there is a secret which I may have +been wrong in concealing from you hitherto, but I must confide it to you +alone." + +"To me!" cried the astonished old man. + +"I will come with you at once," and, seizing Rosita's hand, he led her +away, making signs to the peasants as he did so to disperse. + +Stephano strolled out to breathe the air upon the hills, whose shadows +were beginning to slope down into the valley. The sky was lighted only +by the afterglow of the red, sunken sun; the evening breeze carried +along in the warm air the perfume of the jasmine flowers and orange +groves in bloom, and no sound was heard but the music of guitars and +castanets, mingled sometimes with the faint tinkle of sheep bells. + +When Stephano re-entered he found his father and cousin in the lower +hall. Rosita, on perceiving him, made a pretext for rising, and +hurriedly left the room. Don Pedro and his son were left alone. + +"One word, father," said Stephano. "Does Rosita love me, and will she +also become my wife?" + +"You must forget Rosita," replied the old man. "You must tear from your +heart even the remembrance of your love." + +The young man abandoned himself to despair. + +"I shall never forget her," he said, passionately. "My love for Rosita +will only cease with my life." + +And he rushed from the room, leaving the old man wondering. + + +II. + +For some weeks the inmates of Don Pedro's house were forced to remain +prisoners, for rebel soldiers filled the neighbouring villages, and +troops of guerillas were being mustered to put them to flight. It was a +morning, early in September, just after the sun had peered above the +horizon. A fine rain had fallen during the night, and the drops which +rested on the foliage sparkled like myriads of diamonds. The streets +were as yet deserted; some muleteers alone passed along them at +intervals. Don Pedro's house was the only one astir. + +Don Stephano, according to his custom, had risen with the dawn, and was +now alone in the lower hall, standing opposite the window which +overlooked the high road. He was occupied in fixing an iron lance upon a +wooden rod, at which he gazed abstractedly. + +The sound of a voice filling the air with song attracted his attention; +it was singing the Moorish romance of "Adlemar and Adalifa," and to the +quick perception of a Spanish ear was marked with a slight Ultramontaine +accent, which Stephano discerned like a true Castilian. Without moving +he listened to the song which awoke the echoes of the valley. The +amorous words recalled to Stephano's mind the thought of Rosita, and he +sighed deeply. Then he listened anew to the voice, which grew nearer and +nearer, and in which, in spite of its strange accent, he seemed to hear +an understrain of singular emotion. His conjectures were not long, +however. A man enveloped in a large mantle peered in at the open window, +and after throwing a rapid glance behind him leapt into the room. +Stephano recoiled at the sight of such a strange visitor, and felt +tempted to seize the man, whom he took at first for a robber. Then a +troop of horsemen dashed past the house. The stranger gave a sigh of +relief. Then for the first time he caught sight of Stephano. + +"I must be careful," the soldier muttered, as he drew his cloak more +carefully round him. "This Spaniard does not look over benevolent." + +"Who can this man be?" thought Stephano, as he instinctively put his +hand on his pistols; but on seeing the stranger advance towards him with +a pleasant smile, he paused. + +"Noble Castilian," said the stranger, "are you a man to oblige an enemy +in peril, and who for a quarter of an hour wishes you no more harm than +if you were his brother?" + +Before replying, Stephano scrutinized his questioner. He saw before him +a man of about twenty-eight, with a frank face and light hair and +moustache. His accent, and the blue pantaloons which appeared under the +brown mantle, proclaimed him a Frenchman. + +[Illustration: "THE STRANGER."] + +"No unarmed man is my enemy," replied Stephano, "and from the moment my +roof was over your head you became my guest." + +"Shake hands on it! You are a fine fellow," cried the soldier, holding +out his hand. At the same time he drew aside his mantle, and Stephano +recognised the uniform worn by the French volunteers of Don Carlos's +army. "Now, if you have a drop of anything to drink handy, I will tell +you in a few words what has brought me here." + +Stephano opened the sideboard, and brought out a bottle and glasses. The +soldier wiped his moustache as he began. + +"You see before you," he said, with frank abruptness, "Charles +Dulaurier, a soldier by birth and profession, lieutenant in the +Grenadiers of His Majesty Charles V.--pardon me, Don Carlos. Being +stationed some few miles from here, I asked for leave of absence this +morning to join some troops which (pardon me) are going to make a raid +upon this very village this morning. But, thanks to my foolhardiness in +starting off alone, I soon found myself in the hands of guerillas. I +escaped. They pursued me. But I, though alone in a strange country and +unarmed, led them a nice dance for half an hour. I was just about to +fall again into their hands when I came in sight of this house. I duped +them by my ruse of pitching my voice in such a manner as to lead them to +think I was beyond the village, whilst I at the same time took refuge +here. To conclude, my worthy fellow, no doubt the guerillas are not +blind, and not finding any trace of me upon the route, will return to +Panola. Consequently, if you are a host to my liking you will----" + +"Conceal you," said Stephano, quickly. "You are right!" and he glanced +round with uneasiness. The lieutenant struck him on the shoulder. "One +minute," he said; "the guerillas cannot reappear for half an hour. This +little expedition, as you may imagine, was not my only motive for coming +to Panola, and I must again abuse your patience in asking you some +questions upon a certain subject which is the motive of my expedition." + +"Go on," replied Stephano, with resignation. + +"I came here to look for a young girl," said the Frenchman, twisting his +moustache, "and as, perhaps, you will be so good as to give me some +information on this point, it would be better for you to know the story. +Last year my regiment, after a vigorous resistance, entered a village in +Navarre." + +"A village in Navarre?" repeated Stephano, and his brow darkened. + +"One house had been so well defended, indeed, that it was found +necessary to surround it, and our infuriated soldiers, drunk with +carnage, determined to massacre everyone within. I luckily surprised +them as they drew their sabres upon two poor old creatures and their +young daughter. I threw myself between the victims and their butchers; +the wretches turned upon me and I fell wounded by a bayonet thrust, but +they were saved. The kind people who owed me their lives bore me to +their house, and gave me every care. The young girl watched at my +bedside for more than a fortnight. Briefly the beauty, the tenderness of +the little girl, won my heart. Losing no time, I declared my passion. +She whispered, blushing, that I might speak to her parents. As soon as I +was well enough to walk, I hastened to the worthy old man, who, after +the shock he had received, became mortally ill, and felt his end +approach. I had no sooner asked him for his daughter's hand than he +exclaimed, 'God be praised! I shall not now die without having +recompensed our deliverer.' At the same time he took the young girl's +hand and mine, and, after making us exchange rings, clasped them +together. Then he stretched forth his trembling hands above our heads to +bless us, whilst on our knees by the bedside we swore eternal fidelity +to each other. Three days after the good man died, and the same day my +regiment left for Castile. Seven months passed without my hearing any +news from my betrothed, and it was only by chance I learned that on her +mother's death she had quitted Navarre to take up her abode in her +uncle's house at Panola. + +"But what is the matter?" said the lieutenant, as Stephano rose +hurriedly. + +"I know enough," replied the young man in a hollow voice. "The village +was Tafalla, and the young girl's name is Rosita." + +"But what is there in that?" cried the lieutenant, who understood +nothing of Stephano's emotion. "You know Rosita? She is here? You are +silent. Heavens! Is she dead--or married?" + +"No, no," replied Stephano, with an effort. "Rosita is here. No doubt +she loves you and watches for your return with impatience." + +"Where, then, shall I find my betrothed?" + +Stephano was about to reply to this question when the tramp of horses +was heard. It was the troop returning. + +"Softly!" whispered Dulaurier as he crept towards the window. "Yes, +these are my friends. Where will you hide me?" + +Stephano regarded him with a savage gleam in his eyes and muttered to +himself, "This man comes here to blast my happiness, and I must protect +his life at the peril of my own." + +"What am I to do?" repeated Dulaurier. + +"Take this dagger," said Stephano, "put on your mantle and follow me." +He unfastened a little door which opened upon a staircase which led into +the garden, and descended, followed by Dulaurier. They stole along +behind a thick hedge of hawthorn until they came to the trees of a +little orchard, from which rose the roof of a ruined summer-house. On +reaching this spot Stephano installed the lieutenant so that he could +watch both the road and the garden; then having arranged upon the course +they should take, Stephano hastened back to the house. + +[Illustration: "THEY STOLE ALONG."] + +Don Pedro was in the lower hall, alone, when his son entered. + +"I have a request to make to you," said the young man, clasping his +father's hand convulsively. "I want you to let me start at once to join +my brothers and to fight for Spain." + +"Can you then leave your cousin?" said Don Pedro, sadly. "And you do not +know----" + +"I know more than you, father, more than Rosita herself about this +affair," interrupted Stephano. "Is not Rosita betrothed to a French +volunteer in Don Carlos's army, and is this not the secret she confided +to you on harvest day?" + +"It is true. But how have you discovered it?" + +"From a man flying from the pursuit of guerillas; no other than the man +himself, Lieutenant Charles Dulaurier!" + +"Is it possible?" exclaimed the stupefied old man. + +"You see, father, that it is absolutely necessary for me to go," cried +Stephano. "I cannot wait until Rosita and Dulaurier are united. Their +happiness would be more than I could bear, and I have thought of a plan +by which the lieutenant can be saved without putting off my departure. I +shall join the troop of guerillas who are seeking Dulaurier in the +village. Seeing me become one of themselves their suspicions will be +lulled, and I shall save my rival by departing with his enemies." + +"You are right," replied his father, after a painful pause, but he could +not utter a word more. + +The young man proceeded to take down from the wall his pistols and his +gun; he placed the former in his belt and the latter on his shoulder, +took his hat and stepped forward to bid his father farewell. But as he +threw himself into the arms of the weeping old man, the door opened and +Rosita entered. + +The young girl glanced quickly from one to the other, and then her eyes +remained fixed on Stephano. + +"What are you going to do?" she asked, examining his equipment. + +"I am going away," replied Stephano. "Farewell, Rosita, be happy. +Farewell, father," he added, embracing Don Pedro. + +"He is going," said Rosita, her eyes dim with tears, "without one +friendly smile, without one clasp of his hand. Oh! Stephano," she +exclaimed, springing forward. "You cannot part from me thus!" + +"You are keeping me!" said the bewildered young man. + +"Yes," she replied, seizing his hand. "Stay, Stephano, do not go. I +implore you!" + +"Remain!" cried the young man, passionately. "Remain to see you in the +arms of another? Never!" + +As he moved towards the door, Rosita sprang towards him with +outstretched arms. "And what if it is you whom I love, Stephano? What if +I have never loved anyone but you?" A thunderbolt would hardly have +produced more effect than did these words. + +"You love me?" he repeated, approaching his cousin. "Rosita, for mercy's +sake, repeat those words once more, so that I may be sure of having +heard aright." + +"Yes, I love you," repeated the young girl, tenderly; "no one but you! +Will you stay now?" + +"For ever, if you wish it!" cried the enraptured youth, throwing down +his gun and pistols. "Look at me, Rosita, that I may read in your eyes +that word which gives me life, and which I have waited for so long. How +blind and foolish I have been! But that will be all right now, will it +not, my beloved?" As he spoke he embraced her passionately. By both of +them the world was forgotten. + +Through the open window came the clink of spurs and rattling of sabres. +This sound, to which Stephano and Rosita were deaf, struck on the ear of +Don Pedro and paralyzed him with terror. + +"Stephano!" he cried at last. "Remember Lieutenant Dulaurier!" + +[Illustration: "REMEMBER LIEUTENANT DULAURIER!"] + +"Ah!" groaned Stephano, rudely torn from his ecstasy of happiness; and +he fixed his gaze upon his cousin. + +The girl had not even heard Don Pedro. + +"Rosita," said her lover, "you say you love me, but you have a +_fiancé!_" + +"Dulaurier!" cried the startled girl. "Great Heaven! pardon me, I had +forgotten." + +"If this man," continued Stephano, "came here to claim your promise, you +would reply, would you not, that friendship alone, not love, had drawn +you towards him, and that your hand, promised when you hardly knew what +you did, would now be given without your heart?" + +"Yes, that is what I should answer; but he is not likely to come here, +Stephano." + +"And what if he were here already?" asked an impressive voice. + +Don Pedro at the same time stepped forward between the young people, and +before the severe face of the Spaniard their eyes drooped. + +"Father!" faltered the young man. + +"Silence!" cried the old man. "Your duty is clear. What if Dulaurier +were in the house, Rosita--what if, more faithful than you, he had come +to claim his promise, made at the death-bed of your father? I ask you +what you would answer." + +Trembling and submissive as a criminal before his judge, the young girl +turned her eyes from Stephano to Don Pedro. + +"I should reply to Lieutenant Dulaurier that, before God and man, I am +his betrothed bride, and that while he lives no other can be my +husband." + +"Come then, my child, prepare to receive your _fiancé_," and Don Pedro +held out his hand to his niece to lead her away. + +"You are destroying my happiness!" cried Stephano. + +"But in return I give you back your honour," replied Don Pedro. "Look +after the lieutenant, for here come the guerillas!" and he went out. + +"What a dream, and what an awakening!" murmured Stephano as he was left +alone. "Rosita vows she loves me, and at the same time declares she will +never be mine while Dulaurier lives. _While he lives!_ And I must take +upon myself the peril of saving him, when I have only to let him----Oh, +how despair tempts us to horrible deeds! Is there time to fly, to quit +this spot where each thought is torture: to hasten and join the +guerillas before they enter the house? For, alas! if they enter now and +demand where their enemy is--by Heaven! I shall not have the strength to +resist--I must fly!" + +Picking up his gun and pistols he rushed towards the door, but recoiled +at the sight of a man in the uniform of a captain of guerillas, who by a +gesture forced him to pause. + +[Illustration: "IT IS TOO LATE!"] + +"Malediction--it is too late!" murmured the young man, as he dropped +upon a chair, and let his unheeded weapons fall to the ground. + +"Two sentinels before each door and window," called out the captain to +the soldiers who followed him. "This is the last house in which our +prisoner could take refuge," he continued, striking impatiently the butt +end of his rifle upon the ground. "Search well, comrades; you know he +who takes the Frenchman prisoner is to have the honour of firing the +first shot upon him, and is also to receive twenty douros for reward." +Thereupon he advanced into the room. "Well, my good fellow," he said to +Stephano; "what are you going to do with these weapons? Are they to +defend yourself or to protect the officer whom you have hidden here?" + +"No one is hidden in this house," replied the young man, with the +courage which peril bestows. "The La Sargas are known throughout the +country to be devoted to Spain and the Queen. I have three brothers in +the national army, and I have just picked up these weapons with the +intention of joining your troops." + +The captain looked at him with a sneering smile. Then he turned to his +companions, who had just returned from searching the house. + +"Well, have you found anything?" + +"Only a young girl and an old man," was the reply. + +"Bring the old man here," said the captain; then he turned to Stephano. +"And you, sir, go with my lieutenant and these three men, and show them +every room there is"; then he murmured in the lieutenant's ear, +slipping at the same time a purse of gold into his hand: "Spare neither +threats nor persuasion to gain this young man over to our side. Whatever +it costs, I must recapture our prisoner." + +Stephano felt tempted to resist these orders, but he reflected that this +would only draw suspicion upon him, and he led the way up the stairs, +which were placed in a corner of the room. + +At the same time Don Pedro entered, guarded by two soldiers and leaning +on his staff. Then an interval ensued, and the minutes flew past. +Suddenly a pistol shot was heard. Everyone gave a start of alarm. Then +one of the guards who had gone out with Stephano came rushing down the +stairs and into the room. + +"The bird is snared, or will be in a few minutes," he cried. "Our +prisoner," he continued, pointing through the window, "is in that +building which you see at the bottom of the garden." + +"How do you know this?" asked the captain. + +"From the young man who is upstairs with the lieutenant." + +"From Stephano!" cried the old man, growing pale with horror. + +"Ah, ah!" laughed the captain, "your son does not seem very hard to +persuade." + +"The lieutenant having discovered nothing," the man went on, "told three +of us to go and search the granary, and took advantage of the occasion +to take the young man aside. I watched them. A purse of gold and the +barrel of a pistol have been the principal inducements. The sly fellow +at first was very obstinate, and it was then that the lieutenant fired +the pistol at him to frighten him. The young man seemed to be moved in a +singular manner by the shot. He gave way with good grace, and pointed +the pavilion out to us." + +Whilst the captain lent a joyful ear to this narrative, Don Pedro, on +the contrary, listened with terror mingled with incredulity. At these +last words he could contain himself no longer, and broke in violently:-- + +"Enough, wretch; enough!" he cried. "What you say is impossible! It is +an infamous calumny! My son is quite incapable of such villainy!" + +"Look, senor," replied the man, pointing to the stairs. + +Stephano in truth was descending with the lieutenant, holding the purse +in his hand. His pale and agitated face seemed to proclaim his guilt, +and Don Pedro sank back fainting on a seat. Stephano crossed the room +with a faltering step without observing his father, and, reaching the +window, gazed out upon the road. + +In recalling to mind his son's jealousy of Dulaurier, Don Pedro +understood the facts of the matter--that he had sold his guest to get +rid of a detested rival. Maddened by passion, he had without doubt lost +all control over himself. After having exchanged some words in a low +voice with his lieutenant, the captain made a sign to two of his men. + +"Remain with this fellow," he said, in a tone of contempt, pointing to +Stephano, "until we reach the pavilion; if he makes one movement shoot +him, and when a volley announces to you that we are not deceived, join +us to start upon our route." + +"Very good, captain," answered the two soldiers, taking up their +position on each side of Stephano, whilst the others went out softly. + +A mournful silence reigned in the chamber. + +Stephano stood erect before the window, with haggard eyes fixed upon the +road; Don Pedro, mute and motionless in his chair, seemed like a man +bereft of all at a single blow. Then, his misery overwhelming him, he +covered his face with his hands and wept. Stephano turned round quickly, +and for the first time saw his father. + +"Great Heavens! He was there, and heard all!" he murmured. "Father!" he +cried imploringly. + +"Call me your father no more," cried the old man, with flaming eyes, +"unless you can tell me that I am blind and deaf, or that I have dreamed +that my son was a coward, a traitor, an assassin! Tell me so, Stephano, +for pity's sake!" + +The young man made an effort as if he were about to speak, but paused at +the sight of his two guards; the strain was so painful that he was +forced to lean for support on one of the guerilla's arms. Then he turned +away; Don Pedro rose from his seat and came towards his son. + +"His eye never quits this fatal window," he murmured to himself. "It +looks as if he watched to see the success of his perfidy, that he wishes +to assure himself that his rival does not escape. Wretch!" he burst +forth, "if this is so, may you be----" + +Suddenly a hand was laid softly upon the old man's arm. It was Rosita. + +"Ah! it is you, Rosita!" said Don Pedro with a bewildered stare. +"Wretched man that I am, what was I about to do?" he added, passing his +hand over his forehead. + +Rosita came farther forward into the room. + +"Stephano guarded by two soldiers!" she cried. "Holy Virgin! what does +this mean, and what has happened?" + +And she made an instinctive movement towards her cousin. Her uncle +stopped her. + +"Keep away from this wretched man!" he cried, "for he is a coward and a +traitor; he has betrayed your betrothed!" + +"Betrayed my betrothed!" cried the girl, with horror. "It is +impossible!" + +"Not only has he betrayed him," continued the old man, taking his +niece's hand, "but he is watching for the success of his treason. Do you +recognise my son, Rosita?" he added, with heartrending despair, "or the +man whom you loved?" + +Here the poor old man broke down completely, and sank back into his +chair. The girl gazed at him with consternation. Even the rough soldiers +were touched by the scene, and turned their heads aside. + +[Illustration: "THE POOR OLD MAN BROKE DOWN COMPLETELY."] + +At that instant a loud report shook the walls. It was the captain's +volley. The two soldiers exchanged a meaning glance and disappeared. As +soon as they went out Rosita threw herself in Don Pedro's arms. + +"Dulaurier is dead!" said the old man, gloomily. + +"He is saved!" cried Stephano, coming forward, and throwing from him as +he did so the purse of gold. "Yes, father, yes, Rosita, the lieutenant +is safe and sound, and will be with us in a few seconds." + +"How can that be?" cried Don Pedro, passing from despair to joy. + +"Before leaving Dulaurier in the pavilion we had arranged that he was to +be informed by a pistol shot when he must leave his hiding-place for the +granary whilst his enemies were searching the pavilion. You understand +now how the guerilla's shot agitated me. For, of course, Dulaurier, +taking the report for the signal agreed upon, would leave the pavilion +for the granary, and would then fall into the hands of his pursuers. The +only plan to save him was to get the soldiers away from the granary, +which I did by feigning to betray Dulaurier, by accepting the purse, and +pointing out the pavilion as his hiding-place. For a quarter of an hour +I have endured the tortures of hell, but I have saved the man who +confided in me, and I am still worthy of you both!" + +The young man had hardly finished his narrative when his father and +Rosita were at his feet begging for forgiveness. Then Stephano hastened +to the granary, and called the lieutenant's name, but there was no +response, and soon Stephano's surprise was changed to uneasiness. He +rushed into the granary. It was empty. Stephano reappeared, pale, +tottering and breathless. + +"Dulaurier is not in the granary," he cried. "He cannot have taken the +pistol shot for my signal. He must have remained, and that report we +heard was his death-shot." + +He paused abruptly. Don Pedro and Rosita understood, and burst forth +into an exclamation of horror. + +"Victory! Victory!" cried a hundred voices. + +Their despair and consternation were changed to the most lively +astonishment, when a detachment of Don Carlos's volunteers entered the +house, led by Dulaurier himself. + +"Dulaurier!" exclaimed Stephano, Don Pedro, and Rosita at the same time. + +"Our enemies!" said the old Castilian, whilst his niece shrank behind +him. + +"Say rather friends," replied Dulaurier, pressing Stephano's hand +warmly. + +"But how has all this happened?" began the bewildered Stephano. + +"One minute's attention. For half an hour I waited patiently after your +departure in the little pavilion, when I heard the signal we arranged on +of the pistol shot. I quitted my hiding-place at once, and was preparing +to creep towards the granary, when, casting a glance upon the road, I +recognised the uniforms of the volunteers of my regiment. Briefly," +continued Dulaurier, showing the soldiers who surrounded him, "here are +the gentlemen, whom I have the honour of presenting to you. Like good +comrades, they determined to avenge me, and we caught the guerillas in +an ambush as they were searching the pavilion. Bang! a general +discharge, and thirty men were lying on the ground, and the rest running +away for their lives." + +"The volley of which we believed you the victim!" interrupted Stephano. + +"You understand the rest. Not wishing to quit Panola without thanking +you, and also wishing to see about that little matter which I mentioned +to you this morning, we came on here. And now," he added to Stephano, +with the air of a man who has no time to lose, "I must thank you most +warmly for all you have done for me." + +There was such a tone of kindness in these words that Stephano could do +nothing but grasp his hand cordially in return. + +"Anyone else?" cried the effusive officer, looking quickly round. "You +have a father, a mother, a wife, perhaps? Where are they? This noble old +man must be your father," and upon Stephano's making an affirmative sign +he grasped the old man's hand, and wrung it with force. + +"Are there no ladies in your family?" asked Dulaurier with a gallant +air. + +It was then that in spite of Rosita's efforts to avoid his attention he +caught sight of her as she hid behind Don Pedro's high-backed chair. + +"Ah! here is one!" he said, without recognising his betrothed. He +stepped forward towards her. + +"Most amiable senora," he began politely, "permit me----" He paused, +gazing with stupefied eyes upon the young girl, and then made a sign to +his soldiers to leave them. + +"Good Heavens!" he exclaimed, "if I am not deceived it is Rosita, my +pretty _fiancée_!" + +"You are right; it is I, Monsieur Dulaurier," faltered the young girl. + +The light of happiness vanished from all the faces in the room except +the lieutenant's. + +"You can easily understand, my pretty one, what has led me to Panola," +said Dulaurier. + +"I presume you have come to remind Rosita," answered Don Pedro, "of the +promise that she gave you at her dying father's bedside. She has not +forgotten it, senor. She recognises her duty, and you have only one word +to say----" + +"Will you answer me yourself, Rosita?" interrupted Dulaurier, marking +her extreme pallor and agitation. "You know what I have the right of +claiming; are you still able to give it me freely?" + +"Without doubt," she murmured; "if I give you my hand, my heart will go +with it." + +"Words, nothing but words!" thought the lieutenant, who grew pale in his +turn. "All women are weathercocks. It is clear I am superseded," and he +bit his lip until it bled. "But I should like to know who is my +substitute," and he turned mechanically to Stephano. He found him as +mute and as troubled as Rosita. The truth flashed across him. "I cannot +blame the brave young man," he murmured to himself, "for falling in love +with his cousin. It has not prevented him from saving my life at the +expense of his love and honour, and as I have no wish for a heart not +wholly mine, I have now to render sacrifice for sacrifice, and to keep +the reputation of France equal to that of Spain." He turned to Rosita +with a smile. + +"Mademoiselle," he began, "when we plighted our troth, and I told you +that I loved you devotedly, I was as sincere as I am to-day, only I took +upon myself too much, and have contracted several other engagements, +more or less similar to yours." He gave a forced laugh as he pronounced +these words. + +"That is enough, senor," said Don Pedro. "But why have you then come to +Panola to claim her promise?" + +"Who said that I was here for that purpose?" asked Dulaurier, abruptly. +Stephano, indeed, recollected that the Frenchman had not said a single +word which implied that he came to claim Rosita's hand. "I implore +Mademoiselle Rosita to pardon me," pursued Dulaurier, "and I propose +that we exchange rings again." + +[Illustration: "I PROPOSE THAT WE EXCHANGE RINGS AGAIN."] + +It was no sooner said than done. Dulaurier turned and clasped Stephano's +hand again, and now the young man saw with apprehension that Dulaurier's +eyes were dim with tears. Dulaurier could keep up the farce no longer, +and his heart was breaking behind the smile upon his lips. + +"Dulaurier!" said the young man, "you weep: you are unhappy! What you +have said has been only a sublime falsehood! You love Rosita--you wish +to marry her--and if you have the generosity to renounce all for me, it +must not be at the expense of your happiness." + +"Hush!" said Dulaurier, as he took him aside. "Do not undo my work. But +since you have found it out, you are right. I did come back to claim +Rosita. I have always loved her, and have loved none but her. But do not +breathe a word of this. Let no thought of my unhappiness cast a shadow +on her life. Sacrifice for sacrifice, young man. France is equal to +Spain, and we are quits. + +"Farewell, brave Castilians," he cried aloud, "celebrate the marriage +merrily: and let us hope that we shall never meet upon the battlefield +of this unhappy country." + +"Farewell!" replied Stephano, huskily. + +Dulaurier pressed Don Pedro's and Stephano's hands, kissed that of +Rosita, and joined his comrades outside. + +"Wheel to the right--forward!" he shouted, at the head of his battalion. + +Then came the roll of the drum, and they all marched past the window. + +"Rosita," said Stephano to his cousin, "you are free, and we are going +to be happy; but never let us forget Lieutenant Dulaurier!" + + + + +_The Queer Side of Things._ + + +The N. P. M. C + +[Illustration] + +Let us return for a space to the two spirits William and James, whose +conversations we described in past numbers. Some readers may possibly +recall how the spirit James, while wandering through the darkness of +unoccupied Space (about five-and-twenty billions of eons before the +commencement of Eternity), conceived a wild idea of the possibility of +the existence of worlds--worlds occupied by an impracticability called +"man." It will be recollected how the wiser spirit William cast +well-merited ridicule upon this insanely impossible phantasy of a +disordered mind; nay, even condescended to crush, by perspicuous and +irrefutable logic, the grotesque and preposterous idea. + +Very well; it is now William's turn. + +"James," he said one day as they chanced to sight each other in the +awful solitude of Space, "I have been thinking over that world of yours, +and your crowning absurdity, 'man.' Pray do not become too inflated with +weak conceit at my condescending to think about such trivialities; for +the fact is, any subject of thought--however hopelessly foolish--is a +relief amid the tediousness of Space. Well, I have been reflecting upon +that characteristic which you conceive as distinguishing your puppet +'man'--I allude to _intelligence_. I think you suggested that he would +possess intelligence?" + +James only fidgeted uneasily, and made a feeble sign of affirmation. + +"Very well," continued William. "Now, I have been putting two and two +together, and have found out the nature of that quality which you +mistake for intelligence; its true name is 'low cunning.' Every fresh +piece of absurdity which you have told me touching the tricks of your +queer creatures has supplied new evidence of this. Your creatures were +to feed upon the substance of the 'world' on which they lived, and, ever +increasing in numbers, would logically in course of time find there was +not a mouthful apiece. I think we agreed about that? Well, let us +consider that period, some time before the creatures should actually +become exterminated by the natural evolution of events--the time when +all the eatable products of their world would be growing scarce. You +went so far as to imagine a great many products----" + +"Yes!" said James, gazing afar off in the absorption of his imagination. +"Yes--there were eggs, and oysters, and poultry, and mushrooms, and----" + +"Ah!--the very things I've been reflecting about. Well, I've been +dreaming that, at the period of which I speak, when all the commodities +were becoming scarce, your human beings would agree to make poisonous +artificial articles of consumption with which to poison themselves by +degrees, and thus reduce the population to convenient limits." + +"No!" cried James, pondering deeply. "Their idea would be to poison not +_themselves_, but _each other_!" + +[Illustration: "POISON."] + +"Ah! I see. Then they would make some sort of effort to prevent +themselves being poisoned?" + +"Oh, yes; they would pass Adulteration Acts for the purpose." + +"I see; and any creature who did not wish to be poisoned could take +advantage of these Acts to protect himself?" + +"Certainly. The Acts would be very stringent. Let us suppose, for +example, that a certain man suspected that the butter supplied to him +was not butter at all, but a deleterious compound--well, all he would +have to do would be to go to the shop, accompanied by a guardian of the +peace, and, standing on one leg, with both hands on the counter and one +eye shut, order a pound of the butter in certain words prescribed by the +Act. He would then say to the tradesman, 'I am about to divide this +pound of butter into three equal portions for the purposes of analysis'; +and, taking the butter-man's knife in his left hand, and passing it to +his right, would cut the butter into three portions exactly equal. + +"After this, hermetically sealing the three portions in three jars +provided for the purpose, he would hand one jar to the tradesman, the +second to the guardian of the peace, and retain the third. Then he would +bring an action; and (provided that all the conditions had been +accurately fulfilled, without the slightest flaw) the erring tradesman +would be told by the Court not to do it again; while the complainant +would have to pay all costs, and possibly a fine; and would be sneered +at by the magistrate as a fussy idiot and a common informer. + +"If, on the other hand, the complainant should omit to secure the +company of a custodian of the peace, or fail to stand on one leg with +both hands on the counter, or take the knife in his right hand first, or +should leave out the prescribed words, or blink his eye, or stammer, or +sneeze, or in any other way fail to observe the regulations of the Act; +he would, of course, have no case or remedy. The Adulteration Acts would +be extremely stringent----" + +"Against the victim of adulteration?" + +"Ye--es," murmured James, a little nonplussed. + +[Illustration: "THE SHOP."] + +"Ah--well, then, I think we can afford to ignore these Adulteration +Acts--like the adulterators and the public authorities would--and +proceed with the question of the adulteration. I had a most vivid vision +or dream of the details of this adulteration as they would be carried +out on your world at the period we are now considering. I imagined that +I was actually in a part of your world called 'America,' and that one of +your human beings politely invited me to walk through his factory and +see how things were made. I think you mentioned 'oysters'----" + +[Illustration: "NO CASE."] + +"Yes," said James, "that's one name the article of food would possess; +newspaper writers, however, would not recognise them by that name--they +would only know them as 'the succulent bivalve.'" + +"The very idea!" exclaimed William. "That's exactly what I seemed to +have become--a newspaper writer. I fancied I went to see the factory, +and then sent in the following account:-- + +"One of the most interesting factories in America is the stately +building of the Ephraim Q. Knickerbocker Natural Products Manufacturing +Corporation, of Spread Eagle Springs, N.J. That the structure is itself +an imposing one may well be imagined in view of the vast productive +energy expended within its walls; and the feebleness and inefficiency of +the productive operations of Nature are never so fully realized as after +a visit to this marvellous factory, and a comparison of the two systems. + +"It was, therefore, with no little satisfaction that we lately received +a courteous invitation from the able and energetic managing director +General Sardanapalus J. Van Biene to inspect the operations of the +Corporation at its factory. Accordingly, we proceeded to the New York +terminus of the Natural Products Manufacturing Corporation's New York, +Sumner Ferry, Thanksgiving Flats, and Spread Eagle Springs Railroad, +along which a special train speedily whirled us to the front door of the +works. On the steps stood the genial managing director, supported by the +principal manager Colonel Exodus V. Rooster, the head chemist Major +Madison B. Jefferson, and the assistant chemists Judge Vansittart J. +Sumner and Admiral Hudson W. Killigrew. + +"They received us with open arms, and, after entertaining us at a +_recherché_ lunch, conducted us to the chemistry and analysis section +occupying a little over seventeen acres and employing a permanent staff +of thirteen thousand four hundred and thirty-two, assistants, among whom +are chemists, microscopists, sub-inventors, etc., etc. There it is that +the productive operations of Nature are studied and improved upon. + +"'You must not imagine that we have any kind of sympathy or admiration +for Nature's system,' explained General S. J. Van Biene, hastening to +sweep away any false impression which we might have formed. + +[Illustration: "THEY RECEIVED US WITH OPEN ARMS."] + +"'On the contrary, we just entirely despise her and her ways, and should +have discarded her way back but for the prejudices of the consuming +public. It's just like this--the consumers still believe in natural +products, and so we have to go on reproducing them instead of starting +right away on our own lines and bringing out new and original +commodities far in advance of anything Nature can do. How we're +stultified you'll see as we work through. We just have to copy, anyway, +in place of originating. We make oysters, for example. Now quite a while +ago, our head chemist Major Madison B. Jefferson invented a new edible +way, finer in every essential than the oyster; but the consumers +wouldn't have it: they shied at it, and declared it wasn't wholesome; +and we had the whole stock on our hands, and had to vat it down again, +and recolour it, and make tomatoes of it. Then they took it down and +just chaired it round. Of course, we have to say we _grow_ the +products--that's another effect of popular prejudice; if we had said we +made those tomatoes, the public would have started right off again, and +talked of "adulteration," although our tomatoes whip Nature's by 50 per +cent, in all the elements of nutrition and flavour. Just taste this +one.' + +"We hesitated, and the director, perceiving it, promptly consumed +another from the same case. Thus reassured, we ventured to nibble at the +artificial vegetable, and found it excellent in every respect--decidedly +superior to the natural product, as he had stated. + +"'But,' we asked, 'do you not suffer considerable losses when these +products--necessarily perishable in the natural course of things--begin +to decay?' + +[Illustration: "JUST TASTE THIS ONE."] + +"'That's just another point where we show our superiority to Nature. +_Our_ products _don't_ decay; on the contrary, they improve by keeping. +Here is a tomato seven years old,' he continued, taking down another +case. 'Try it.' + +"We did. The other was not to be compared with it. The older tomato had +matured and mellowed, the skin having a finer colour and lovelier gloss, +the flesh possessing a firmer body and more delicate flavour; it was far +in advance of any tomato we had ever conceived. + +"'Wonderful!' we exclaimed. + +"'A very simple matter,' said the director. 'All that is required is a +thorough mastery of chemistry. In all our goods we employ a special +patent preservative of our own, which is naturally a secret. We +calculate it to be worth one hundred and fifty quadrillions of dollars. + +"'But let us show you how we make oysters! See, these are the tanks +which contain the mixture--the compound which forms the body of the +bivalve. This tank contains the beard-mixture; and this one the +gristle.' + +"'And what are the principal ingredients?' + +"'Glue, made from horses' heels. This is a very important factor in our +products. This glue, after undergoing a peculiar treatment which +prevents its hardening and losing its elasticity in the course of years, +is flavoured and coloured in various ways. This great tank contains the +composition for the internal parts of the oyster--nearly black, you +perceive; that tank over there contains the compound for the flesh that +covers the internal parts; that tank farther along holds the beard +mixture; and the one beyond that the gristle which attaches the oyster +to the shell. First, the flesh of the oyster is run into moulds, each +oyster being in two parts; then the inside of the animal is run into +another mould, and the two halves of the body are automatically placed +around it and cemented together. + +"'Meanwhile the beards have been rolled, stamped, frilled, and coloured +along the edge by special automatic machinery. The body of the oyster +then passes to the fixing-up room, where the beard is cemented to it by +hand, and finishing touches of colour added; and then it passes along +and has the gristle attached: and the oyster itself is complete.' + +[Illustration: The Oyster Factory Affixing the Beards.] + +"'But it wants a shell!' + +"'Just so. As far as the supply will go, we buy up old shells from +dustyards and use them; but most of them are damaged by previous +opening, so we make the bulk of our shells, and they're a good deal more +natural than the real ones. They're made of lime.' + +"'All alike?' + +"'Not in the least. You see, we have some thousands of moulds, every one +differing slightly from the rest. There's a special department for +hingeing the two shells together. We had some trouble to find a +substance for the hinge; but at last one of our chemists hit on a way of +subjecting old hide-scraps to a peculiar process, and that did the +thing. The mother-of-pearl is made of a sort of soft glass, somewhat +after the appearance of Venetian glass, and put on the shell hot. +Lastly, the oyster is attached to the shells by its cartilage; a little +liquor is put in, and the shells are closed up.' + +"'But surely people must observe that they are not alive?' we said. 'For +instance, they can't open their shells!' + +"'That's just where you're astray,' replied the General. 'Owing to the +mechanical action of salt upon the composition of the cartilage, the +oyster opens when placed in salt water. Iron, however, exercises an +electro-magnetic influence upon the composition forming the body of the +bivalve, causing a sudden contraction--so that, on a knife being +introduced into the shell, the latter closes in the most natural way. We +manufacture pearls on the premises, and advertise that one oyster in +every gross taken from our beds contains a pearl of more or less value; +and there's a greater demand for our oysters than for any others in the +world. Our oyster beds are way down along the coast, about ten miles +off; and are inspected by thousands yearly. Taste this egg.' + +[Illustration: The Pearl.] + +"He took up a fine specimen of a new-laid egg, and proceeded to break it +into a glass. It was a delightful egg. 'That's our latest pattern of +egg,' explained the General, 'You perceive that it has three lines +around it, where the substance of the shell is weaker than elsewhere; +the lines near each end enable a person about to consume the egg in a +boiled state to easily cut off the top or bottom with a knife, or run +his nail around it; while the line about the middle greatly assists +cooks in breaking it into a basin. There is also a thin spot at either +end, to facilitate sucking. These eggs are always new-laid; we send tons +to Europe, particularly to Great Britain, where ours are the only fresh +eggs they ever get.' + +[Illustration: The London Egg] + +"'But you must find some difficulty in making an egg?' + +"'Just as easy as smiling. The white is simply jelly-fish subjected to a +chemical process--jelly-fish aren't costly. This tank is full of the +liquor. The main ingredient of the yolk is the horse-heel glue mentioned +before; we also boil down vast quantities of rats--they come cheap, too; +it's only the cost of catching them; and then there's a vegetable +colouring, and the preservative, and a few other trifles. First, the two +halves of the white are made in two moulds, and frozen; then the two +frozen halves are frozen together, and the yolk-mixture poured in +through a small hole, which is then closed. Then comes the skin; and +that is the most expensive part, for it contains a certain quantity of +rubber. We have tried in vain to find a substitute for rubber, but +failed hitherto. The rubber is mixed with a gum from a South American +tree, and the mixture is applied with a brush over the frozen egg; and +then the egg, still frozen, is dipped in a lime composition very nearly +identical with the oyster-shell mixture; and, lastly, the whole thing is +passed through the finishing machine, which turns the three thin lines +and the two thin spots, imitates the pores of the shell, and delivers +the finished egg to the warehouse.' + +"'Marvellous!' we involuntarily exclaimed. + +"'Oh, that's nothing at all,' said the director. 'We're meditating +turning out eggs that will hatch and become fowls. At present we have to +manufacture fowls; but we calculate to make a great saving by producing +them from the eggs we make. That building over yonder is the terrapin +factory; we turn out eleven tons of terrapin weekly. We make clams, of +course--in the oyster department. In this next house we make kidneys and +sweetbreads. Fruit? Oh, yes, we turn out masses of fruit; peaches pay +best, but we do very well with nuts.' + +"We were then conducted to the show-room, where we tasted a number of +other products of the wonderful factory; and we had just said a grateful +farewell to our courteous guide, when we were seized with pains of the +most acute description. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: The Pain.] + +"The arrangements of the hospital were admirable. The kindliness and +attention we received made our five years' sojourn there a time to look +back upon with feelings of gratitude. We are assured that, with strict +diet and unremitting care, we may last some time yet--possibly even +three months." + + * * * * * + +"It was a marvellous vision," said James, fervently, as the voice of +William ceased. "Surely after that you must think better of those beings +of mine?" + +But William merely sniffed. + + J. F. SULLIVAN. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: A TURNIP RESEMBLING A HUMAN HAND.] + +The above photographs represent two views of an extraordinary turnip +grown by Alderman David Evans, Llangennech Park, Carmarthenshire. We are +indebted for the photographs to Mr. Morgan W. James, of Llanelly. + + +[Illustration: A ROOM PAPERED WITH STAMPS.] + +The above photograph represents the study of Mr. C. Whitfield King, of +Morpeth House, Ipswich, which he has papered with 44,068 _unused_ +foreign postage stamps, bearing the value of £699 16s. 9d., and +containing 48 varieties of different sizes and colours, presenting an +example of mosaic work which is altogether unique of its kind. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: Drinking] + +[Illustration: VESSELS OF ALL] + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: A CROCODILE STORY.] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Strand Magazine, Volume V, Issue +27, March 1893, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STRAND MAGAZINE, MARCH 1893 *** + +***** This file should be named 30222-8.txt or 30222-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/2/2/30222/ + +Produced by Victorian/Edwardian Pictorial Magazines, +Jonathan Ingram, Josephine Paolucci and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/30222-8.zip b/old/30222-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c3b0794 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-8.zip diff --git a/old/30222-h.zip b/old/30222-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..65a316c --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h.zip diff --git a/old/30222-h/30222-h.htm b/old/30222-h/30222-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..95478f2 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/30222-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6621 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Strand, Volume 5, Issue 27, march, 1893. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + .right {text-align: right;} + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 1em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i8 {display: block; margin-left: 4em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Strand Magazine, Volume V, Issue 27, +March 1893, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Strand Magazine, Volume V, Issue 27, March 1893 + An Illustrated Monthly + +Author: Various + +Editor: George Newnes + +Release Date: October 9, 2009 [EBook #30222] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STRAND MAGAZINE, MARCH 1893 *** + + + + +Produced by Victorian/Edwardian Pictorial Magazines, +Jonathan Ingram, Josephine Paolucci and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE</h2> + +<h1>STRAND MAGAZINE</h1> + +<h2><i>An Illustrated Monthly</i></h2> + +<h3>Vol. 5, Issue. 27.</h3> + +<h4>March 1893</h4> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2>Contents</h2> + +<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. --> +<p> +<a href="#A_GAME_of_CHESS"><b>A Game Of Chess.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#Illustrated_Interviews"><b>Illustrated Interviews: XXI.--Mr. and Mrs. Kendal.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#Author_Author"><b>"Author! Author!"</b></a><br /> +<a href="#Zig_Zags_at_the_Zoo_Conkavian"><b>Zig Zags at the Zoo: Conkavian.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#Shafts_from_an_Eastern_Quiver"><b>Shafts from an Eastern Quiver IX.--Maw-Sayah: The Keeper of the Great Burman.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#From_Behind_the_Speakers_Chair"><b>From Behind the Speaker's Chair III.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#Portraits_of_Celebrities_at_Different_Times_of_their_Lives"><b>Portraits of Celebrities at Different Times of their Lives.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#The_Adventures_of_Sherlock_Holmes"><b>The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes XVI.--The Adventure of the Stockbroker's Clerk.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#Beauties"><b>Beauties.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#Hands"><b>Hands II.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#Illustration_ROSITA"><b>Rosita.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#The_Queer_Side_of_Things"><b>The Queer Side of Things.</b></a><br /> +</p> +<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 320px;"> +<img src="images/image219.jpg" width="320" height="500" alt=""By Heaven," cried Ruy Lopez, "the Duke shall finish his +Game!"" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"By Heaven," cried Ruy Lopez, "the Duke shall finish his +Game!"<br /> + +(<i>A Game of Chess.</i>)</span> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 650px;"> +<img src="images/image220.jpg" width="650" height="452" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<p><a name="A_GAME_of_CHESS" id="A_GAME_of_CHESS"></a></p> + +<h3><span class="smcap">From the French.</span></h3> + + +<h4>I.</h4> + +<p>King Phillip II. was playing at chess in the Escurial Palace. His +opponent was Ruy Lopez, a humble priest, but a chess player of great +skill. Being the King's particular favourite, the great player was +permitted to kneel upon a brocaded cushion, whilst the courtiers grouped +about the King were forced to remain standing in constrained and painful +attitudes.</p> + +<p>It was a magnificent morning. The air was perfumed with the orange +groves, and the violet curtains of the splendid hall hardly softened the +burning rays which streamed in through the windows. The blaze of living +light seemed scarcely in harmony with the King's gloomy countenance. His +brow was black as night, and from time to time he bent his eyes +impatiently upon the door. The nobles stood in silence, darting meaning +glances at each other. It was easily to be discerned that some event of +great importance weighed upon the spirits of the assembly. No one paid +any attention to the chess-board except Ruy Lopez, who, as he moved the +pieces, hesitated between the temptation of checkmating his opponent and +the deference due to his King. The silence was unbroken except by the +sound made by the players moving their pieces.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the door opened, and a man of rude and savage aspect advanced +into the hall, and, presenting himself before the King, stood waiting +his commands to speak. This man's appearance was anything but +prepossessing, and on his entrance the nobles, as if animated with one +thought, shrank back with contempt and loathing, as if some unclean +animal had entered into their midst. His massive, herculean figure was +clad in a doublet of black leather, and his face, in which could be seen +no trace of intelligence, expressed, on the contrary, nothing but +vileness and villainy; a great scar, running right across his face and +losing itself in a bushy beard, added still further to the natural +brutality of his countenance.</p> + +<p>An electric thrill ran through the assembly. The new comer was Fernando +Calavar, high executioner of Spain.</p> + +<p>"Is he dead?" asked the King, in an imperious tone.</p> + +<p>"No, sire," replied Calavar, bowing low.</p> + +<p>The King frowned.</p> + +<p>"Great Sovereign of Spain," Calavar continued, "the prisoner has claimed +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>his privileges, and I cannot take proceedings against a man whose blood +belongs to the noblest in Spain, without having a more imperative order +from your Majesty," and he bowed again.</p> + +<p>The nobles, who had listened with great attention to these words, broke +into a murmur of approbation as the man finished speaking. The proud +Castilian blood rushed like a stream of lava through their veins, and +dyed their faces crimson. The manifestation became general. Young Alonza +D'Ossuna openly asserted his opinion by putting on his plumed cap. His +bold example was followed by the majority of the nobles, and their lofty +nodding crests seemed to proclaim with defiance that their masters +protested in favour of the privilege, which the hidalgos of Spain have +always enjoyed, of covering their heads before their Sovereign.</p> + +<p>The King gave a furious start, and striking his fist violently upon the +chess-board, scattered the chessmen in all directions.</p> + +<p>"He has been judged by our Royal Court of Justice," he cried, "and +condemned to death. What does the traitor demand?"</p> + +<p>"Sire!" replied the executioner, "he asks permission to die upon the +block, and also to pass the three last hours of his life with a priest."</p> + +<p>"Ah, that is granted!" replied Philip, in a tone of relief. "Is not our +confessor in the prison according to our orders?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sire!" said Calavar, "the holy man is there; but the Duke refuses +to see St. Diaz de Silva. He says he cannot receive absolution from +anyone below the dignity of a Bishop. Such is the privilege of a noble +condemned to death for high treason."</p> + +<p>"Yes, these are our rights!" boldly interrupted the fiery D'Ossuna; "and +we claim from the King our cousin's privileges."</p> + +<p>This demand acted as a signal.</p> + +<p>"Our rights and the King's justice are inseparable," cried Don Diego de +Tarraxas, Count of Valence, an old man of gigantic stature, clothed in +armour, holding in his hands the bâton of Great Constable of Spain, and +leaning upon his long Toledo blade.</p> + +<p>"Our rights and our privileges!" cried the nobles, repeating the words +like an echo. Their audacity made the King start with fury from his +ebony throne.</p> + +<p>"By the bones of Campeador!" he cried. "By the soul of St. Jago! I have +sworn neither to eat nor sleep until the bleeding head of Don Gusman +lies before me. As I have sworn, so shall it be. But Don Tarraxas has +said well, 'The King's justice confirms his subjects' rights.' My Lord +Constable, where does the nearest Bishop reside?"</p> + +<p>"Sire, I have more to do with camp than with the Church," the Constable +replied, somewhat abruptly. "Your Majesty's chaplain, Don Silvas, is +present: he can tell you better than I."</p> + +<p>Don Silvas began to speak in trepidation.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/image221.jpg" width="450" height="345" alt=""WHAT DOES THE TRAITOR DEMAND?"" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"WHAT DOES THE TRAITOR DEMAND?"</span> +</div> + +<p>"Sire," he said, humbly, "the Bishop of Segovia is an official of the +King, but he who filled the duty died last week, and the parchment which +names his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> successor is still upon the Council table, and is yet to be +submitted to the Pope's seal."</p> + +<p>At these words a joyous smile hovered about D'Ossuna's lips. This joy +was but natural, for the young man was of the blood of the Gusmans, and +his cousin, the condemned prisoner, was his dearest friend. The King +perceived the smile, and his eye shot forth lightning.</p> + +<p>"We are the King!" he said, gravely, with the calm which presages a +storm; "our Royal person must be no butt for raillery. This sceptre +appears light, my lords, but he who ridicules it shall be crushed +thereby as with a block of iron. I believe that our holy father the Pope +is somewhat indebted to us, so that we do not fear his displeasure at +the step which we are about to take. Since the King of Spain can make a +Prince, he can also make a Bishop. Rise, then, Don Ruy Lopez. I create +you Bishop of Segovia. Rise, I command you, and take your rank in the +Church."</p> + +<p>The courtiers stood dumfounded.</p> + +<p>Don Ruy Lopez rose mechanically. His head was whirling, and he stammered +as he strove to speak.</p> + +<p>"If your Majesty pleases——" he began.</p> + +<p>"Silence, my Lord Bishop!" replied the King. "Obey your Sovereign. The +formalities of your installation shall be performed another day; our +subjects will not fail to acknowledge our wishes in this affair. Bishop +of Segovia, go with Calavar to the condemned man's cell. Give absolution +to his soul, and in three hours leave his body to the executioner's axe. +As for you, Calavar, I will await you here; you will bring us the +traitor's head. Let justice be accomplished."</p> + +<p>Then Philip turned to Ruy Lopez.</p> + +<p>"I give you my signet ring," he said, "to show the Duke as a token of +the truth of your story."</p> + +<p>The executioner left the chamber, followed by Ruy Lopez.</p> + +<p>"Well, gentlemen," said the King, turning to the others, "do you still +doubt the King's justice?"</p> + +<p>But the nobles answered not a word.</p> + +<p>The King, having taken his seat, made a sign to one of his favourites to +place himself before the chess-board, and Don Ramirez, Count of Biscay, +accordingly knelt down upon the velvet cushion.</p> + +<p>"With a game of chess, gentlemen," said the King, smiling, "and your +company, I cannot fail to make the time pass agreeably. Let no one leave +the chamber until Calavar's return. We cannot spare a single one of +you."</p> + +<p>With these ironical words, Philip commenced a game with Don Ramirez, +whilst the nobles, almost dropping with fatigue, resumed the positions +about their august master which they had occupied at the beginning of +this story.</p> + + +<h4>II.</h4> + +<p>Calavar, leading the way, conducted the new Bishop to the condemned +man's cell. Ruy Lopez walked like one in a dream. Was he awake, or not? +He hardly knew. At the bottom of his heart he cursed the King and his +Court. He understood perfectly that he had become Bishop of Segovia, but +he felt deeply at what a price he had bought his dignity. What had Don +Gusman done that he should be thus sacrificed? Don Gusman, the best +chess player in Spain! He thought of all this as he proceeded over the +marble flags which led to the State prison, and as he thought he prayed +that the ground would open and swallow him up.</p> + +<p>Don Gusman was pacing impatiently up and down his narrow cell with a +hurried step that betrayed the feverish anxiety of his mind. The cell +was furnished with a massive table and two heavy wooden stools, the +floor being covered with coarse, thick mats. Shut out from all the +noises of the outer world, here silence reigned supreme. A crucifix, +roughly carved, was fixed to the wall in the niche of a high window, +which was carefully barred with iron. Except for this image of +resignation and mercy, the walls were bare. Well might this dungeon +serve as antechamber to the tomb.</p> + +<p>As Ruy Lopez entered the cell a sudden burst of sunshine flooded the +walls as if in bitter mockery of him who was soon to see it no more.</p> + +<p>The Duke saluted the new Bishop with great courtesy. They regarded each +other, and exchanged in that look a thousand words which they alone +could understand. Ruy Lopez felt the painfulness of his position deeply, +and the Duke understood his embarrassment. Their thoughts were both the +same, that in the condemnation of one of the principal favourites of the +King an innocent life was threatened! The proofs of the crime imputed to +the Duke were grave; the most important being a despatch written in Don +Gusman's hand to the French Court, in which he unfolded a scheme for +assassinating Philip II. This had sufficed to condemn him.</p> + +<p>Don Gusman, strong in his innocence, had kept a rigorous silence when +brought before<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> his judges, and the accusation not being denied, +sentence of death was passed upon him. Don Gusman since his +incarceration had not altered. He had braved the storm, and looked upon +death with an unmoved countenance. His last hours had no terrors for +him. If his forehead was overshadowed, if his steps were agitated and +his breathing hurried, it was because there rose before his eye the +image of his betrothed, Dona Estella, who, ignorant of her lover's fate, +was waiting for him in her battlemented castle on the banks of the +Guadalquiver. If he felt weak at this fatal moment, and if a pang shot +through his heart, it was because his thoughts were of her who was to +him the dearest thing in all the world.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 359px;"> +<img src="images/image223.jpg" width="359" height="450" alt=""RUY LOPEZ ENTERED THE CELL."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"RUY LOPEZ ENTERED THE CELL."</span> +</div> + +<p>Ruy Lopez had not entered alone. Calavar was at his side; and it was he +who announced to the Duke the King's decision and reply. Ruy Lopez +confirmed the executioner's words, and the Duke, falling on his knees +before the new Bishop, asked his blessing, then turning to Calavar with +a gesture of authority, he dismissed him, saying:—</p> + +<p>"In three hours I shall be at your disposal."</p> + +<p>Calavar obeyed him and went out, and the Duke and Bishop were left +alone.</p> + +<p>Ruy Lopez was trembling with nervousness, whilst Don Gusman's face wore +a calm and serene expression. He took the Bishop's hand, and wrung it +warmly. There was a pause. The Duke was the first to break the silence.</p> + +<p>"We have met before in happier circumstances," he said, smiling.</p> + +<p>"It is true," stammered Ruy Lopez, who, pale and agitated, resembled +rather the penitent than the confessor.</p> + +<p>"Much happier," repeated the Duke, absently. "Do you remember, when you +played your celebrated game of chess with Paoli Boy, the Sicilian, in +the presence of the King and Court, that it was upon my right arm that +the King leant?" Then after a pause he continued: "Do you remember also, +father, those words of Cervantes, 'Life is a game of chess?' I have +forgotten the exact place in which the passage occurs, but its meaning +is, that upon earth men play different rôles. There are, as in chess, +kings, knights, soldiers, bishops, according to their birth, fate and +fortune; and when the game is over death lays them all as equals in the +tomb, even as we gather together the chessmen into a box."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I remember those words of Don Quixote," replied Don Lopez, +astonished at this singular conversation, "and I remember also Sancho's +reply: 'That however good the comparison was, it was not so new that he +had not heard it before.'"</p> + +<p>"I was your favourite pupil, even your rival," said the Duke, without +appearing to hear Don Lopez.</p> + +<p>"It is true," cried the Bishop. "You are a great master of the game, and +I have been often proud of having such a pupil. But now, on your knees, +my son."</p> + +<p>They knelt down together, and there before the crucifix Don Gusman made +confession to Ruy Lopez, who as he listened could hardly restrain his +tears.</p> + +<p>When the Duke had finished, two hours after—for the confession under +the Church seal was long and touching—the Bishop<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> blessed the prisoner, +and gave him absolution. The face of Don Gusman, as he rose, was calm +and resigned.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 327px;"> +<img src="images/image224.jpg" width="327" height="500" alt=""THEY KNELT DOWN TOGETHER."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"THEY KNELT DOWN TOGETHER."</span> +</div> + +<p>But there remained still an hour to wait.</p> + +<p>"This delay is torture," cried the Duke. "Why do they not cut off the +prisoners at once, instead of stretching their souls upon such a rack of +agony? An eternity of suffering is in each of these minutes." And the +prisoner began to walk impatiently to and fro, with his eyes constantly +bent upon the door. The Duke's firmness was shaken by the thought of +that weary hour of waiting. Ruy Lopez had fulfilled his duty. The +prisoner's soul was purified, and now the priest could become the +friend.</p> + +<p>As Don Lopez heard Don Gusman utter this exclamation, and saw his face +grow white, he understood what agony he was undergoing, and felt at once +that something must be done to divert his thoughts. But in vain he +racked his brain for an idea. He could think of nothing. What could he +propose to a man about to die? For such as he, the flower has no longer +perfume, woman has no longer beauty. Then suddenly a thought flashed +across his brain.</p> + +<p>"How would a game of chess—" he began, timidly.</p> + +<p>"An excellent idea!" cried Don Gusman, recalled to himself by this +singular proposal. "A farewell game of chess."</p> + +<p>"You consent?"</p> + +<p>"Most readily; but where are the chessmen, my friend?"</p> + +<p>"Am I not always provided with the instruments of war?" said Ruy Lopez, +smiling. Then he pulled forward the two stools and set out upon the +table a microscopic set of chessmen. "Our Lady pardon me!" he continued. +"I often pass my spare time in the confessional in working out some +problem."</p> + +<p>The chessmen being set out, the players took their seats, and were soon +absorbed in the excitement of the game.</p> + +<p>This strange contest, between a priest and a condemned prisoner, made a +picture worthy of the brush of Rembrandt or Salvator Rosa. The light +which streamed from the arched windows fell upon the pale, noble +features of Don Gusman, and upon the venerable head of Ruy Lopez.</p> + +<p>The emotions of the two players were very different. Ruy Lopez played +with a preoccupation which was not usual to him, and which rendered him +much inferior to his ordinary strength. Don Gusman, on the contrary, +stimulated by excitement, played with more than his ordinary skill. At +this moment his noble Castilian blood did not fail him, for never had +the Duke given better proof of the clearness of his mind. Such a flash +of intellect must be compared to the last flickers of the failing lamp, +or to the last song of the dying swan.</p> + +<p>Don Gusman suddenly attacked his adversary with an impetuosity which +nearly gained him a certain victory; but Ruy Lopez, recalled to himself +by this vigorous effort, defended himself bravely. The game became more +and more complicated. The Bishop strove to gain a mate which he saw, or +believed he saw, at hand, whilst Don Gusman played with the eagerness of +certain victory. Everything was forgotten, and time passed unnoticed. +The chess-board was their universe, and a life of anxiety was in each +move.</p> + +<p>The minutes, the quarters, the half-hours flew by, and the fatal hour +arrived at last.</p> + +<p>A distant sound struck on their ears; it grew nearer, it increased, and +the door swinging<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> open gave admittance to Calavar and his assistants, +who advanced into the cell with torches in their hands. They were armed +with swords, and two of them bore the block, covered with a black cloth, +on which lay an axe.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image225.jpg" width="500" height="364" alt=""THE GAME BECAME MORE AND MORE COMPLICATED."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"THE GAME BECAME MORE AND MORE COMPLICATED."</span> +</div> + +<p>The torches were placed in the receptacle prepared for them, whilst one +of the men scattered cedar sawdust on the floor. All this was the work +of a moment, while the executioner stood waiting for the prisoner.</p> + +<p>As Calavar entered, Ruy Lopez started to his feet, in a tremor of alarm, +but the Duke did not move. His eyes were fixed upon the chess-board. It +was his turn to play. Calavar, seeing his abstracted gaze, advanced to +the Duke's side and placed his hand upon his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Come," he said.</p> + +<p>The prisoner shuddered as if he had trodden upon a serpent.</p> + +<p>"I must finish this game," he said, imperiously.</p> + +<p>"It is impossible," Calavar replied.</p> + +<p>"But, fellow, the game is mine! I can force mate in a few moves. Let me +play it out."</p> + +<p>"I cannot. It is impossible," repeated the executioner.</p> + +<p>"Are the three hours gone already?"</p> + +<p>"The last stroke has just struck. We must obey the King."</p> + +<p>The assistants, who had until then stood leaning on their swords, came +forward at these words.</p> + +<p>The Duke was sitting against the wall, under the high window, with the +table between him and Calavar. He started to his feet.</p> + +<p>"I shall not move until the game is over. In half an hour my head shall +be at your disposal."</p> + +<p>"My lord," replied Calavar, "I respect you deeply, but I cannot grant +you this request. I answer for your life with mine."</p> + +<p>Don Gusman made a gesture of impatience, and pulling off his diamond +rings, he threw them at the executioner's feet. "I mean to finish the +game," he said, carelessly.</p> + +<p>The jewels sparkled as they rolled and settled in the dust.</p> + +<p>"My orders are imperative," cried Calavar, "and you must pardon us, +noble Duke, if we have to use force; but the King's orders and the law +of Spain must be carried out. Obey, then, and do not waste your last +moments in a useless struggle. Speak to the Duke, my lord Bishop. Tell +him to submit to his fate."</p> + +<p>Ruy Lopez's reply was as prompt as it was decisive. He seized the axe +which lay upon the block and swung it with both hands above his head.</p> + +<p>"By Heaven!" he cried, "the Duke <i>shall</i> finish his game!"</p> + +<p>Scared by the gesture which accompanied these words, Calavar drew back +in such a fright that he stumbled and fell back on his companions. The +swords flashed from their scabbards, and the band prepared for attack. +But Ruy Lopez, who appeared to have put forth the strength of a +Hercules, cast upon the ground his heavy wooden stool.</p> + +<p>"The first of you who passes this limit dies!" he cried in a loud voice. +"Courage, Duke!—to the attack! There are only four of these miscreants. +The last desire of your Grace shall be gratified, were I to lose my life +in the attempt. And you, wretched man, beware how you lay a finger upon +a Bishop of the Church. Down with your swords and respect the Lord's +anointed!" And Ruy Lopez continued to hurl forth, in a jargon of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> +Spanish and Latin, one of those formulas of excommunication and +malediction which at that period acted so strongly upon the masses of +the people.</p> + +<p>The effect was prompt. The men stood rooted to the spot with terror, +whilst Calavar, thinking that to kill a Bishop without a sealed order +from the King was to run the risk of putting his life in jeopardy in +this world and his soul in the next, avowed himself vanquished. He knew +not what to do next. To rush with the news to the King, who was waiting +impatiently for Don Gusman's head, was only to expose himself. To attack +the prisoner and the priest would be too hazardous, for Ruy Lopez was a +man of no mean strength. The position of affairs was critical. At last +he decided to take the easiest way out of the difficulty—to wait.</p> + +<p>"Will you promise me faithfully to give yourself up in half an hour?" he +demanded of Don Gusman.</p> + +<p>"I promise," replied the Duke.</p> + +<p>"Play on, then," said the executioner.</p> + +<p>The truce being thus concluded, the players returned to their seats and +their game, whilst Calavar and his companions, forming themselves into a +circle, stationed themselves round the two players. Calavar, who was +himself a chess player, looked on with interest, and could not prevent +himself from involuntarily considering each move the players made.</p> + +<p>Don Gusman looked up for an instant upon the circle of faces which +surrounded him, but his <i>sang froid</i> did not abandon him.</p> + +<p>"Never have I played in the presence of such a noble company!" he cried. +"Bear witness, rascals, that at least once in my life I have beaten Don +Lopez." Then he returned to the game with a smile upon his lips. The +Bishop gripped the handle of the axe which he still held in his hand.</p> + +<p>"If I were only sure of escaping from this tigers' den," he thought, "I +would break every head of the four of them."</p> + + +<h4>III.</h4> + +<p>If three hours had dragged in the prisoner's cell, they had not passed +more quickly in the Royal chamber of King Philip.</p> + +<p>The King had finished his game with Don Ramirez de Biscay, and the +nobles, still compelled from etiquette to remain standing, appeared +almost ready to drop with fatigue, rendered still more painful from the +weight of their armour.</p> + +<p>Don Tarraxas stood motionless, with closed eyes like one of those iron +figures which ornamented the castles of the savage Goths. Young +D'Ossuna, with drooping head, stood propped against a marble pillar, +whilst King Philip strode impatiently about the apartment, only stopping +at intervals to listen to some imaginary noise. According to the +superstitious custom of the age, the King knelt for a few moments at the +foot of a figure of the Virgin placed upon a porphyry pedestal to pray +the Madonna to pardon him the deed of blood which was about to take +place. Silence reigned, for no one, whatever his rank might be, dared to +speak before his Sovereign without his commands.</p> + +<p>As the King's eyes saw the last grain of sand fall in the hour-glass he +uttered an exclamation of joy.</p> + +<p>"The traitor dies!" he cried.</p> + +<p>An almost inaudible murmur ran through the assembly.</p> + +<p>"The hour is passed, Count of Biscay," said Philip, turning to Don +Ramirez, "and with it your enemy."</p> + +<p>"My enemy, sire?" asked Ramirez, affecting surprise.</p> + +<p>"Why do you repeat my words, Count?" replied the King. "Were you not a +rival to Don Gusman in the affections of Dona Estella, and can rivals be +friends? Dona Estella shall be yours. This young girl will bring you her +beauty and her fortune. I have not spoken of this to our Council, but my +Royal word is pledged. If the ingratitude of Sovereigns is ever spoken +of before you, Count, you will be able to reply that we did not forget +the true friend of the King and of Spain who discovered the plot and the +correspondence of Don Gusman with France."</p> + +<p>Don Ramirez de Biscay seemed to listen to the King with uneasiness. He +kept his eyes fixed upon the ground, as if he disliked to be thus +praised in public. Then he made an effort to reply.</p> + +<p>"Sire!" he said, "it was with great repugnance that I fulfilled such a +painful duty"—he hesitated, and then was silent.</p> + +<p>Tarraxas gave a slight start, whilst D'Ossuna struck sharply the pommel +of his sword with his iron glove.</p> + +<p>"Before Dona Estella shall belong to this man," thought D'Ossuna, "I +will have vengeance or perish in the attempt. Tomorrow shall be the day +of my revenge."</p> + +<p>The King continued:—</p> + +<p>"Your zeal, Don Ramirez, and your devotion must be rewarded. The saviour +of our throne, and perhaps of our dynasty, merits a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> particular gift. +This morning I ordered you to make out some <i>lettres-patentes</i>, which +confer upon you the rank of Duke and Governor of Valence. Are these +ready to be signed?"</p> + +<p>Don Ramirez grew pale with pleasure. He shook like an aspen and his eyes +grew dim. But the King made an impatient movement, and the Count, +drawing a roll of parchment hastily from his breast, presented it on his +knees to the King.</p> + +<p>"My first public duty to-day shall be to sign these papers," said the +King. "The executioner has already punished treason; it is now time for +the King to recompense fidelity."</p> + +<p>The King unrolled the parchment and began to read. As he read, his face +became convulsed with fury, and his eyes shot forth flames of wrath.</p> + +<p>"By my father's soul!" he shouted; "what do I behold?"</p> + + +<h4>IV.</h4> + +<p>The game of chess was finished. Don Gusman had beaten Ruy Lopez, and his +triumph was complete. He rose to his feet.</p> + +<p>"I am now, as ever, ready to obey the wishes of my King," he said to +Calavar.</p> + +<p>The executioner understood him, and began to prepare the block. Whilst +this was being done Don Gusman advanced towards the crucifix, and said +in a firm voice:—</p> + +<p>"Oh, Heaven! may this unjust and rash act which is about to take place +fall upon the head of him who is the instigator of this treachery; but +let not my blood recoil upon the head of my King."</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 337px;"> +<img src="images/image227.jpg" width="337" height="500" alt=""WHAT DO I BEHOLD?"" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"WHAT DO I BEHOLD?"</span> +</div> + +<p>Ruy Lopez, crouching in a corner of the cell, and burying his face in +his mantle, began to recite the prayers for the dying.</p> + +<p>Calavar approached Don Gusman, and putting his hand upon the Duke's +shoulder began to loosen his ruff. Don Gusman shrank back from the +contact.</p> + +<p>"Nothing that belongs to you, except this axe, shall touch a Gusman," he +said, taking off his ruff himself and placing his head upon the block. +"Strike!" he added, "I am ready!"</p> + +<p>The executioner raised the axe—the King's justice was at last to be +satisfied, when shouts, rapid footsteps and confused voices arrested the +sweep of the executioner's arm.</p> + +<p>The door gave way under the united efforts of a troop of armed men, and +D'Ossuna, rushing into the cell, threw himself between the executioner +and his victim. He was just in time.</p> + +<p>"He lives!" cried Tarraxas.</p> + +<p>"He is saved!" repeated D'Ossuna. "My beloved cousin, I never hoped to +have seen you alive again. God in His mercy has not let the innocent +perish for the guilty. God be praised!"</p> + +<p>"God be praised!" echoed all the spectators, and louder than the rest +rang out the voice of Ruy Lopez.</p> + +<p>"You have arrived in time, my friend," said Don Gusman to his cousin; +"but now I shall have no longer strength to die," and he sank back +fainting on the block. The shock had been too much for him.</p> + +<p>Ruy Lopez seized the Duke in his arms, and, followed by all the nobles, +bore him along the passages to the King's apartment. When Don Gusman +opened his eyes he found himself in the midst of a circle of his +friends, amongst which stood<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> the King, looking down upon him with an +expression of joy.</p> + +<p>Don Gusman could hardly believe his senses. From the axe and the block +he had passed to the King's apartment. He did not understand why this +change had taken place. He did not know that Don Ramirez, in giving his +<i>lettres-patentes</i> to the King to sign, had, in his agitation, given him +instead a paper containing a plot in which he schemed to get rid for +ever of Don Gusman, a detested rival, and one of the firmest supporters +of the throne. He was ignorant of all that had passed, and did not know +how he had escaped from the clutches of the executioner. It was some +time before everything could be made clear to him.</p> + +<p>Three days afterwards, at the same hour as Gusman's miraculous delivery, +Calavar beheaded Don Ramirez, Count of Biscay, traitor and false +witness. Don Gusman was overwhelmed with congratulations on all sides. +King Philip grasped him cordially by his hand.</p> + +<p>"Gusman," he said, "I have been very unjust. I can never forgive my +folly."</p> + +<p>"Sire," replied the Duke, "let us speak of it no more. Such words spoken +by my King are worth a thousand lives."</p> + +<p>But the King continued.</p> + +<p>"I desire," he said, "that henceforth, in commemoration of your almost +miraculous deliverance, you carry upon your escutcheon a silver axe +emblazoned on an azure chess-board. This month we shall celebrate your +marriage with Dona Estella. The marriage shall take place in our +Escurial Palace."</p> + +<p>Then he added, turning to Ruy Lopez:—</p> + +<p>"I believe that the Church will possess a good servant in its new +Bishop. You shall be consecrated Lord Prelate, with a scarlet robe, +enriched with diamonds; that will be the recompense of your game of +chess with Don Gusman."</p> + +<p>"Sire," replied Don Lopez, "never before this day have I been satisfied +to be checkmated."</p> + +<p>The King smiled, and the courtiers followed his example.</p> + +<p>"Now, my lords," continued Philip, "we invite you all to our Royal +banquet. Let Don Gusman's seat be placed upon our right, and the Bishop +of Segovia's on our left. Give me your arm, Don Gusman."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 407px;"> +<img src="images/image228.jpg" width="407" height="450" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Illustrated_Interviews" id="Illustrated_Interviews"></a>Illustrated Interviews</h2> + +<h3>XXL—MR. AND MRS. KENDAL.</h3> + + +<p>If one had waited for a few months, "The Kendals" would have been +getting settled in their new home in Portland Place. But, then, the +happiest associations are always centred around the old, and the +pleasantest and frequently the dearest recollections are gathered about +the familiar. That is why I went to them once more to their home of many +years at 145, Harley Street.</p> + +<p>It would be difficult to realize a woman of more striking +characteristics than she who was for so many years known as "Madge" +Robertson, and notwithstanding a very important visit one morning in +August twenty-three years ago to St. Saviour's, Plymouth Grove, +Manchester, when she became the wife of Mr. William Hunter Grimston, +there are many who still know and speak of her by her happily-remembered +maiden name. From that day husband and wife have never played +apart—they have remained sweethearts on the stage and lovers in their +own home. At night—the footlights; by day—home and children. Mrs. +Kendal assured me that neither her eldest daughter, Margaret, nor Ethel, +nor Dorothy—the youngest—nor "Dorrie," who is now at Cambridge, nor +Harold, a "Marlborough" boy, would ever go on the stage. Home, husband, +and children—home, wife, and children, are the embodiment of the life +led by the Kendals.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 550px;"> +<img src="images/image229.jpg" width="550" height="411" alt="THE DRAWING-ROOM" title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE DRAWING-ROOM<br /> + +<i>From a Photo by Elliott & Fry.</i></span> +</div> + +<p>Together with Mr. Kendal we sat down in the drawing-room, and were +joined for a moment by Miss Grimston, a quiet, unaffected young girl, +who looked as though she could never rid herself of a smile, either in +her eyes or about her mouth—a young maiden who suggested "sunshine." +She was carrying Victoria, a pet dog. The mother's whole thoughts seemed +to go out to her daughter.</p> + +<p>"Our Jubilee dog," she cried. "I bought her on Jubilee Day, and, +curiously enough, Mr. Kendal bought one too, neither of us telling the +other we were going to make such canine purchases."</p> + +<p>Then, when Miss Grimston had left the room, her mother turned to me +quietly, and said:—</p> + +<p>"The image of my brother Tom. The same hair, the same expression of +eyes, the same kind and loving ways. I think he lives in my girl. Come +with me and you shall see his portrait."</p> + +<p>It hung in Miss Grimston's boudoir—an apartment the walls of which were +decorated with pictures of the Comédie-Française<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> Company, the original +designs for the dresses in "A Wife's Secret"; while over the +mantel-board are Mr. and Mrs. Kendal in "The Ironmaster," and many +family portraits are about.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image230.jpg" width="500" height="373" alt="MISS GRIMSTON'S BOUDOIR." title="" /> +<span class="caption">MISS GRIMSTON'S BOUDOIR.<br /> + +<i>From a Photo by Elliott & Fry.</i></span> +</div> + +<p>"It is so amusing to hear people talk and write about my eldest brother +Tom and me playing together as children," she said. "My mother was +married when she was eighteen, and my brother was born when she was +nineteen; I was born when she was forty-eight, and was her twenty-second +child! So my brother was a grown man with a moustache when I knew him. I +was brought up with his two children—little Tom and Maude, my own +nephew and niece."</p> + +<p>What a delightful story it was! Little Madge Robertson used to dress up +as a policeman and take Maude into custody before Tom, the younger, as +the judge. And this was the trial:—</p> + +<p>"What is the prisoner charged with, constable?" asked the judge.</p> + +<p>"Murder, my lord," replied the representative of law and order.</p> + +<p>"Prisoner, are you guilty?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my lord," answered the poor prisoner.</p> + +<p>"Prisoner, have you anything to say why sentence should not be passed +upon you according to law?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my lord. <i>I'm the daughter of the author of 'Caste'.</i>"</p> + +<p>The prisoner always got off, and dear old William Robertson would watch +this little scene and roar with laughter.</p> + +<p>"Yes," Mrs. Kendal said quietly, as we again looked at "Tom's" picture, +"my brother was kindness itself, even from his infancy. I remember +hearing how, when he was a very small boy and living with his aunt, he +went out one summer's day with a new velvet jacket on. He caught sight +of a poor little beggar child his own size, who was in tatters, and, +beckoning him across, at once divested himself of his new coat, put it +on the wondering youngster, and ran away home as fast as he could. His +aunt questioned him, and upon finding out the true circumstances of the +case, and not wishing to damp the kind spirit in the little fellow's +heart, said:—</p> + +<p>"'Well, we'll go and try to find the boy you gave it to, and buy your +jacket back.'</p> + +<p>"Fortunately the search was successful, and the coat was bought back for +no less a sum than half-a-sovereign.</p> + +<p>"And in later years it was just the same with Tom. He could never pass +by a common cookshop, in front of the windows of which was often a crowd +of men, women, and children, looking on with longing eyes, without +getting them inside and giving them a fill to their hearts' content. +When out driving it was no different. He would stop the horse, and have +all the watching hungry ones inside, and the next moment they would be +revelling in the satisfying properties of thick slices of plum-pudding +and roast beef."</p> + +<p>The house throughout is most artistic. Mr. Kendal is a painter of great +merit, and he "knows" a picture as soon as he sees it. Pictures are his +hobby; hence there is not a room in the house—even to the +kitchen—which does not find a place for some canvas, etching, or +engraving. The entrance-hall is at once striking, with its quaint +thirteenth century furniture, bronzes, and Venetian ware. There are some +fine engravings of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> Miss Brunton—who became Countess of Craven—Kemble, +Garrick, Phelps, and Mrs. Siddons. A picture of Mrs. Kendal in "The +Falcon" was done at the express wish of, and paid for by, the late Poet +Laureate. Tennyson said it reminded him of a woman he liked and admired. +In the shadow is a fine bust of Macready, given by the great actor to +the father of Mrs. Kendal; resting against the fireplace on either side +are the two lances used in "The Queen's Shilling," and close by are two +huge masks representing a couple of very hirsute individuals. They came +from California, and represent "The King of the Devils" and "The King of +the Winds."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 550px;"> +<img src="images/image231-1.jpg" width="550" height="422" alt="THE HALL. (From a Photo, by Elliott & Fry.)" title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE HALL. (<i>From a Photo, by Elliott & Fry.</i>)</span> +</div><p><br /><br /></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 539px;"> +<img src="images/image231-2.jpg" width="539" height="400" alt="THE DINING ROOM. (From a Photo, by Elliott & Fry.)" title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE DINING ROOM. (<i>From a Photo, by Elliott & Fry.</i>)</span> +</div> + +<p>The entrance to the dining-room is typical of all the other door +decoration in the house—a carving of cream enamel of beautiful design +and workmanship. The walls of this apartment are terra-cotta, with a +finely carved oak-panelling. It is a little treasure room of canvases, +the gem of which is probably C. Van Hannen's "Mask Shop in Venice"—a +painter of a school which Luke Fildes, R.A., has done so much to +popularize. Macbeth is represented by a couple of delightful efforts, +and there are samples of the skill of Eugene Du Blas, Crofts, John Reid, +Andriotti, Sadler, De Haas, Rivers; a grand landscape by Webb—nearly +all of which are Academy works. The decorative articles are as artistic +as in some cases they are peculiar. Running about above the oaken +fireplace, amongst choice bronzes and blue ware, and a black boy who is +trudging along with a very useful clock on his back, are many quaint +animals of polished brass—even mice are not missing, with wonderfully +long tails—that sparkle and glisten in the firelight. Ascending the +staircase you find etchings<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> after Alma Tadema, Briton Riviere, and +others; the walls are covered with them.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 550px;"> +<img src="images/image232.jpg" width="550" height="364" alt="SCENE FROM "THE SQUIRE." From the Picture by Mr. +Kendal." title="" /> +<span class="caption">SCENE FROM "THE SQUIRE." <i>From the Picture by Mr. +Kendal.</i></span> +</div> + +<p>Here are a series of delightful pictures showing Mr. and Mrs. Kendal in +Gilbert's "Sweethearts," and I am reminded that the gifted actor and +actress were the first to appear before the Queen after a period of +five-and-twenty years, during which Her Majesty had never seen a play, +the performance that night consisting of "Sweethearts" and Theyre +Smith's "Uncle's Will." And as one takes note of many rare works—the +bedroom is almost entirely given up to Doré's marvellous creations, +though near the window is a splendid specimen of the photographer's art: +a head of Miss Mary Anderson—one cannot fail to observe the family +spirit everywhere—sometimes portraits of children, sometimes small and +dainty pencil studies made of them by their father. Occasionally +theatrical sketches by Mr. Kendal appear. Here are some of the principal +members of the old St. James's Company, who used to give Mr. Kendal +sittings between the acts—here a capital bit of artistic work depicting +a scene from "The Squire," made from stray memorandums and with the aid +of a looking-glass for securing the actor-artist's face.</p> + +<p>Leaving Mr. Kendal for a time, Mrs. Kendal and I returned to the +drawing-room. It overlooks Harley Street and is a handsome two-roomed +apartment, the prevailing tone of blue, cream, and gold harmonizing to +perfection. It is positively one huge collection of curios.</p> + +<p>The screen at the far end is rather shuddery, not to say creepy, to +those of nervous temperament. It is decorated with tomahawks of fearful +and wonderful shapes and sizes, and other Indian implements of warfare.</p> + +<p>"These came from California," Mrs. Kendal explained. "No sooner are you +out of the train than the Indians tomahawk you! Look at this bow and +arrow."</p> + +<p>The pots of palms and ferns all hold American flags. These colours—the +stars and stripes—once surmounted baskets of flowers and floral +emblems—five, six, and even seven feet high—handed to Mrs. Kendal +during her recent tour in the States; and amongst the sweetly-perfumed +blossoms diamonds, pearls, and other precious gems have glistened in the +shape of ornaments. A table near the window tells you of the generosity +of the Americans. It is crowded with silver ornaments and mementos. You +may handle the diminutive silver candlesticks to light "The Kendals" +away—silver jugs, souvenir spoons, frying-pans, coffee-pots—all in +miniature. This silver dollar is only one of a hundred. You touch a +spring, when, lo and behold! the portrait of the donor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> appears. All +American women have dainty feet. These little ebony and silver lasts for +your boots remind you of this. On this table is a letter from the +Princess of Wales, thanking Mrs. Kendal for "the lovely silver wedding +bells and flowers which you so kindly sent me on the tenth." You may +examine George IV.'s cigar-case—a silver tube in which the King was +wont to carry a single cigar. It is impossible to number all the +treasured odds and ends, but still more difficult to total up the +miniature articles set out in a pair of cabinets.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/image233-1.jpg" width="450" height="294" alt="NAPOLEON'S WRITING-TABLE From a Photo by Elliott & +Fry." title="" /> +<span class="caption">NAPOLEON'S WRITING-TABLE <i>From a Photo by Elliott & +Fry.</i></span> +</div> +<p><br /><br /></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 550px;"> +<img src="images/image233-2.jpg" width="550" height="382" alt=""SHAKESPEARE AND BACON" From the Picture by A. E. +Emslie." title="" /> +<span class="caption">"SHAKESPEARE AND BACON" <i>From the Picture by A. E. +Emslie.</i></span> +</div> + +<p>Mrs. Kendal has a hobby—it lies in the collecting of the tiniest of +tiny things. If her intimate friends come across any curiosity +particularly choice and small, it is at once snapped up and dispatched +to Harley Street. I had some little leaden mice in my hand the size of +half-a-dozen pins' heads. Handkerchiefs an inch square, babies' woollen +shoes, pinafores, shirts, all of the tiniest, but perfectly made, with +buttons and button-holes complete, and even buns with currants no bigger +than a pin's point. Sheep, dogs, cats, monkeys, pigs, giraffes—in +short, convert the entire Zoo into miniature china knick-knacks, and you +have a considerable portion of Mrs. Kendal's collection realized. One +must needs stand for a moment at Napoleon's writing-table, near which +rests a characteristic clay by Van Beers. The pictures here are many. +Millais' work is well represented by several etchings, and a remarkably +clever thing by Emslie, entitled "Shakespeare and Bacon," suggests the +two extremes of taste to a nicety. Whilst a young enthusiast is +declaiming Shakespeare, one of his listeners—doubtless, equally +enthusiastic, but with an eye for victuals—is interrupting a soliloquy +with the remark: "Now! who says bacon?" Every portrait has a +history—Prince and Princess Henry of Battenberg in their wedding +garments,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> the late Duke of Albany, Professor Huxley, Mrs. Beecher +Stowe, Mr. and Mrs. Pinero, Mr. and Mrs. Bancroft, and many others. +Three suggestive pictures, however, cannot be passed by. This dear +little fellow is the son of Mr. B. J. Farjeon. Mr. Farjeon married "Rip +Van Winkle" Jefferson's daughter, and the youngster is pictured dressed +in the tattered garments of merry, rollicking <i>Rip</i>. You know how <i>Rip</i> +always drinks your health? He holds the glass of hollands high up and +cries, "Here's your health and your family's good health, and may they +all live long and prosper!" but Mr. Farjeon's little boy cries out, +"Here's your health, and your family's good health, and may you all live +long and <i>proper</i>!"</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 291px;"> +<img src="images/image234-1.jpg" width="291" height="350" alt="GROUP IN CLAY BY JAN VAN BEERS." title="" /> +<span class="caption">GROUP IN CLAY BY JAN VAN BEERS.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 214px;"> +<img src="images/image234-2.jpg" width="214" height="350" alt="MRS. KENDAL AS "GALATEA"" title="" /> +<span class="caption">MRS. KENDAL AS "GALATEA"</span> +</div> + +<p>A photo, of Dr. Pancoast stands near a bust of Mrs. Kendal as <i>Galatea</i>, +done when she was seventeen. Dr. Pancoast—a celebrated American +physician—saved Mrs. Kendal's life when her maid accidentally +administered a poisonous drug to her mistress. The poor girl herself +nearly died of fright.</p> + +<p>But perhaps the portrait of the late Duchess of Cambridge, which Mrs. +Kendal now holds in her hand, is more interesting than them all. "Her +late Royal Highness," Mrs. Kendal said, "always addressed me and wrote +to me as Mrs. Grimston. She was paralyzed in her right hand and wrote +with her left; perhaps that is why this letter, written in pencil and +with great effort, is treasured more than it otherwise would have been."</p> + +<p>It was one of the last letters written by Her Royal Highness. The +letters and words were wonderfully legible; it read:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Mrs. Grimston</span>,—One line only to thank you for sending me +the stalls for my dressers, who enjoyed your and Mr. Grimston's +charming acting immensely. My first deaf one was able to follow +perfectly, thanks to your having kindly let her have the book +previously. Again thanking you,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"I remain,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">"Yours very sincerely,<br /></span> +<span class="i8"><span class="smcap">Augusta</span>."<br /></span> +</div></div> +</div> + +<p>And in a little cabinet in the far corner is a beautiful Sèvres bowl. In +the bowl is a telegram from "Princess Mary," asking Mrs. Kendal to come +to St. James's Palace at once. Written on a black-edged envelope were +these words: "To dearest Mrs. Grimston Kendal. A little souvenir. Found +amongst the last wishes of her late Royal Highness the Duchess of +Cambridge."</p> + +<p>It is only just possible to hasten through the collection of substantial +reminiscences which add to the charm of this corner of the house. The +quaint white china hare was given to Mrs. Kendal many years ago by Mr. +John Hare, when playing together at the Court. A curious but vividly +suggestive idea of Japanese wit, in the shape of a couple of +characteristically dressed figures, typifies "Health" and "Wealth"; the +figure, representing "Health" has a countenance of the deepest red, the +other a face all golden and as resplendent as the sun. In a small frame +is the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> letter from the Goethe Club of New York, making Mrs. Kendal an +honorary member. She is the only woman member of this club. And this +pretty little doll dressed as a Quakeress—a charming compliment to the +recipient—was presented by the Quakeresses of Philadelphia, who never, +never, never go the play, yea, verily! So they sent this as a tribute of +their admiration for the talents and character of the woman who has been +called "The Matron of the Drama."</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 217px;"> +<img src="images/image235.jpg" width="217" height="350" alt="MRS. KENDALL'S LITTLE QUAKERESS." title="" /> +<span class="caption">MRS. KENDALL'S LITTLE QUAKERESS.</span> +</div> + +<p>We sat down on a settee in front of the fire. The cushions were of white +lawn marked with the initial "M.," and were worked by the late Lady +Eglinton.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Kendal's happy and homely face is familiar to all. She has a truly +tender and sympathetic expression there at all times. Her hair was once +that of the fair one with golden locks, now it is of a rich brown +colour—very neatly and naturally trimmed about her head. She is very +kind—very motherly; just the woman you would single out in time of +trouble and ask, "What would you advise me to do?" I gathered these +impressions whilst listening to many things she said of which I need not +write. Her views on theatrical life are strong, nay, severe. She is not +afraid to speak, and she hits hard and sends her shots home. But you +cannot mistake the earnestness of her manner, the true intent of her +motives.</p> + +<p>"I am only a common-place woman," she said to me. "I used to be ever so +light-hearted—now, I'm a morbid creature. Here we are sitting down by +the fireside. I may tell you happy reminiscences that may make one +merry, and all the time I should be thinking about—what? Cancer! I +return to my dressing-room from the stage at night. As I am passing +along a fellow player may turn to me and say, 'How well the play has +gone to-night!' I am only thinking of those who have trod that same +stage before me. What are they now? Dust—earth—worms!"</p> + +<p>I stirred the fire, and the bright glow from its burning embers lit up +the corner where we sat. And we talked together.</p> + +<p>Margaret Brunton Robertson was born at Great Grimsby on March 15th, +1849—curiously enough these lines will be read on the anniversary of +her birthday. Her grandfather, father, and uncle were all actors.</p> + +<p>"I lived alone with my father and mother," she said, "and the only real +recollection I have of my father is his fine white beard, which he grew +towards the latter days of his life, and a little advice he once gave +me.</p> + +<p>"'Always count twenty,' he said, 'when you are walking across the quay +at Bristol, then you won't hear the sailors swear!' Yet he would use +very bad language to me when he was teaching me my parts; for you know I +commenced acting at a very early age. I was only three when I made my +first appearance—and I ruined the play. It was at the Marylebone +Theatre in the 'Three Poor Travellers,' and I was a blind child. My +nurse was in the front row of the pit—that is, in the very first row, +for there were no stalls. All I thought about was my new shoes—a very +pretty, dainty little pair, and as soon as I stepped on the stage, I +opened my eyes, caught sight of the delighted face of my nurse, and +cried out:—</p> + +<p>"'Oh! nursey, dear, look at my new shoes!'</p> + +<p>"I played at Chute's Theatre in Bristol in many child's parts. When my +father went to the wall over the Lincoln Circuit, Mr. Chute engaged him +as an actor, and I went with him. I remember in 'A Midsummer Night's +Dream'—I was <i>Mustard Seed</i>, I think, or <i>Peas Blossom</i>; at any rate, +some small character that required very prettily dressing, and plenty of +flowers on my little costume. I am as fond of flowers to-day as I was +then. Well, when once I got on the stage in my pretty dress—of which I +was particularly proud—before I would leave it, I had to be bought off +with apples and oranges! There they would stand at the wings, and the +price<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> would go up—up—up—two oranges, three oranges, three oranges +and two apples—until I inwardly murmured a childish equivalent for +'sold,' and toddled off.</p> + +<p>"I acted <i>Eva</i> in 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' when I was eight. I think I was +always a sad child—I looked forty when I was fifteen. After little +<i>Eva</i> I used to play anything."</p> + +<p>And they were hard times for little Madge—she worked like the brave +little woman she was. Her childish thoughts were constantly with her +parents—how best could she add to the weekly income. And this is what +the same little Madge would do. Night after night, after playing in a +serious piece, she would appear in burlesque, sing, dance, and crack her +small jokes with the best of them. It was hard work that made her a +woman—it was dearly-bought experience that gave birth to the +sympathetic heart she has to-day.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 237px;"> +<img src="images/image236.jpg" width="237" height="350" alt="MRS. KENDAL. From a Photo. by Bassano." title="" /> +<span class="caption">MRS. KENDAL. <i>From a Photo. by Bassano.</i></span> +</div> + +<p>So at fourteen she was a woman grown—and at fifteen at Hull played +<i>Lady Macbeth</i> to Phelps's <i>Macbeth</i>!</p> + +<p>"I was dressed in my mother's clothes," Mrs. Kendal said, "and I fear I +must have looked a fearful guy!"</p> + +<p>At rehearsal Phelps looked upon the young woman.</p> + +<p>"And who—who is this child?" asked the great actor.</p> + +<p>"Madge Robertson," the manager answered; "a rare favourite here. It was +a choice between her and a very old woman, Mr. Phelps."</p> + +<p>"Then let the young woman play, by all means," Phelps said.</p> + +<p>What a night it was! At the end of the play they wanted her on again, +but Phelps was obdurate. A party of men came round, and threatened to +throw Phelps into the Humber! Phelps remained firm.</p> + +<p>"He was kindness itself through it all," Mrs. Kendal assured me, "and +though I did not go on again, he proved his thoughtfulness a little +later on by sending for me to play <i>Lady Teazle</i>. I played the leading +parts during the three nights Phelps remained in Hull in 'The Man of the +World,' 'Richelieu,' and 'Macbeth.' On July 29th, 1865, I made my +<i>début</i> in London, at the Haymarket, as <i>Ophelia</i> to the <i>Hamlet</i> of +Walter Montgomery. Poor Montgomery! He was what you would call a +'lady-killer'—very conceited, but, withal, very kind. He once wrote a +letter to my father, and added a postscript, saying: 'Keep this letter. +Should poverty fall upon you or yours, your great-grand-children may be +able to sell it for a good sum of money!' I was only with him six +weeks."</p> + +<p>The only play of her brother's in which Mrs. Kendal has appeared was +"Dreams," when the Gaiety first opened. At this time the managers always +tried to induce Mrs. Kendal to appear in a riding habit—a costume in +which she looked strikingly handsome.</p> + +<p>"Alfred Wigan played in 'Dreams,'" continued Mrs. Kendal. "His wife was +one of the kindest women I ever met. She gave me a gold bracelet for a +very curious little service I used to render her husband every night. He +had to sing a song in 'Dreams,' and one or two of the high notes were +beyond his reach. I used to take these notes for him, and the audience +never guessed the truth."</p> + +<p>"And have you not played <i>Desdemona</i>?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"Oh! yes—and to a real black man, and so he did not have to put his +head up the chimney to make himself up for the part! His name was Ira +Aldridge, and scandal said he was the dresser of some great actor whom +he used to imitate. But he had very ingenious ideas as to the character +of <i>Othello</i>. He thought him a brute, and played him as such. His great +notion was to get the fairest woman possible for <i>Desdemona</i>—and I was +selected, for at that time my hair was quite golden.</p> + +<p>"In one part of the play he would cry out, 'Give me thy hand, +Desdemona!' and certainly the effect of my hand in his huge grasp was +impressive. Then in the last act he would pull me from the couch by the +hair of my head. Oh! there was something in his realism, I can tell +you!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span></p> + +<p>Miss Robertson made a great sensation when she appeared as <i>Blanche +Dumont</i>, in Dr. Westland Marston's "Hero of Romance," when it was +performed for the first time at the Haymarket Theatre, on March 14th, +1868. Seventeen months after this, on August 7th, 1869, she was Madge +Robertson no longer. On that day she was married to Mr. William Hunter +Grimston, whose stage name is Kendal. It is a charming little story.</p> + +<p>It occurred at Manchester. Mr. Kendal and Miss Robertson were on tour +with the elder Compton, and they were—sweethearts. A convenient time +seemed to have arrived for their wedding day, for on the Thursday, +Friday, and Saturday nights pieces were to be played in which neither of +them would be required. This would mean a nice little honeymoon—and the +two lovers would reappear on the Monday night. So the day was +fixed—Thursday; the church chosen—St. Saviour's, Plymouth Grove; and +the best man booked—Walter Gowing, who used to play under the name of +Walter Gordon.</p> + +<p>Then bad news came. Compton's brother was taken ill, and he had to hurry +away from Cottonopolis. Another play had to be put in the bill, both Mr. +Kendal and Miss Robertson would be needed—for it was "As You Like It," +and the one would be wanted for <i>Orlando</i> and the other for <i>Rosalind</i>. +Still, the wedding was proceeded with on Thursday morning, quietly and +happily, and in the evening husband and wife met on the stage in the +Forest of Arden. There, with <i>Celia</i> as the priest, amidst the leafy +trees and grassy pathways, <i>Orlando</i> turns to the merry <i>Celia</i>, and +pointing to the far, far happier <i>Rosalind</i>, cries out:—</p> + +<p>"Pray thee, marry us!"</p> + +<p>"Will you, Orlando, have to wife this Rosalind?"</p> + +<p>"I will."</p> + +<p>"Then," <i>Rosalind</i> pertly remarks, "you must say, 'I take thee, +Rosalind, for wife.'"</p> + +<p>"I take thee, Rosalind, for wife," said <i>Orlando</i>, earnestly.</p> + +<p>Then <i>Rosalind</i> asked, "Now tell me how long you would have her after +you have possessed her?"</p> + +<p>And <i>Orlando</i> replied—both in the words of Shakespeare and in the +language of his own heart—"For ever and a day!"</p> + +<p>That is the true story of the wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Kendal. It was a +natural desire of each never to play apart from the other, and from that +day they have never separated. For some seven years Mr. and Mrs. Kendal +played at the Haymarket, under Buckstone's management, and the gifted +actress merrily referred to the little jokes played on "Bucky" by some +of the actors. He was stone deaf, and could only take his cues when to +speak from the movements of his fellow-actors' lips, so they would annoy +him by continuing the lip movement, and "Bucky" sometimes got "stuck."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 539px;"> +<img src="images/image237.jpg" width="539" height="400" alt="THE DRAWING-ROOM. From a Photo. by Elliott & Fry." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE DRAWING-ROOM. <i>From a Photo. by Elliott & Fry.</i></span> +</div> + +<p>Little need be said of Mrs. Kendal's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> subsequent work—her acting at the +Court, the Prince of Wales's, and her labours at the St. James's, when, +in 1881, she appeared there under the joint management of Mr. Kendal and +Mr. Hare. Not only in this country has her name become fondly familiar +in the homes of those who "go to the theatre" and those who "never +would," but in America the artistic acting of herself and husband has +been instantly and enthusiastically recognised.</p> + +<p>I left the drawing-room—pausing, before entering Mr. Kendal's study, to +admire the aviary—a veritable home of song—and to notice one +diminutive member of the feathered tribe in particular, who has been +taught by Miss Grimston to perform tricks <i>ad lib.</i>, in addition to +giving forth the sweetest of notes.</p> + +<p>The study is a very delicate apartment in terra-cotta and gold—here and +there are quaint blue china vases and many exquisite bronzes. The window +in the recess where the table is—a typical study table, suggesting +plenty of work—is of stained glass, the quartet of divisions +representing the four seasons. A glance round the walls of this room at +once reveals the substantial side of Mr. Kendal's artistic +hobby—pictures. In this apartment there is nothing but water-colours, +save a very clever pen-and-ink sketch by a New York artist, called "Six +Months After Marriage," which Jefferson caught sight of at the New York +Dramatic Bazaar, and reminded Mr. Kendal to "keep his eye on," and a +portrait or two of Mrs. Kendal and the children. "Hetty Sorrell" at her +butter pats, with her thoughts very far from the churning-pan, is a gem. +"The Last of St. Bartholomew" is a magnificent bit of painting, and the +Venetian views at once carry one back to the home of the merry gondolier +and perfect moonlight nights. This picture of Salvini—who its possessor +assured me was the finest tragedian he had ever seen—was painted by Mr. +Kendal himself. The bookcase, running along opposite the window, +contains many rare first editions, of which Mr. Kendal is a very +persevering and successful collector, and a bound manuscript copy of +every play produced by him, together with the original sketches for the +scenery. You may look over the "Scrap of Paper," "The Falcon," "Queen's +Shilling," "Ladies' Battle," "Clancarty," "The Ironmaster," "The Money +Spinner," and "The Squire"—Pinero's play, of which somebody wrote that +it wafted the scent of the new-mown hay across the footlights.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 314px;"> +<img src="images/image238.jpg" width="314" height="450" alt="PORTRAIT OF SALVANI, BY MR. KENDAL." title="" /> +<span class="caption">PORTRAIT OF SALVANI, BY MR. KENDAL.</span> +</div> + +<p>It is interesting to learn how Mr. Kendal first came across Pinero.</p> + +<p>"I only knew him as an actor at the Lyceum," he said, "and had never met +him. He wrote and asked if we would let him read a play to us. As a rule +we never do that; but, remembering that Pinero was himself a player, we +made an exception. So it came about that one day, after a rehearsal, the +actor playwright read his piece to us in the <i>foyer</i> of the St. James's. +We never expected anything at first, but the reading ended in our taking +the play immediately, though we scarcely knew what we should do with it, +seeing it was a two-act play. We found an opportunity, however, and you +know the success it was. It was called 'The Money Spinner.'"</p> + +<p>Mr. Kendal is a striking-looking man—the very ideal of a picturesque +soldier, with a constitution of steel. He talks to you frankly, easily, +for there is not two penny-worth of presumption about him. He lives and +labours very quietly—he enjoys his days, and a good cigar. He divides +his talents between the stage and the brush. His pencil and palette have +been with him in far-off<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> places, and there is always a corner in his +bag for them if he only travels twenty miles from Harley Street. His +peculiarity of painting—so to speak—lies in the fact that he never +fails to chronicle the view obtained from any hotel where he may be +staying. He showed me a book full of these hasty impressions—all of +which were most beautifully done—many of them he could only give ten +minutes or a quarter of an hour to. Two of these I brought away for +reproduction in these pages; they are both unfinished, however—the +pencil reminders of certain little additions tell that.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image239.jpg" width="500" height="362" alt="SKETCH FROM THE QUEEN's HOTEL, MANCHESTER, BY MR. +KENDAL." title="" /> +<span class="caption">SKETCH FROM THE QUEEN's HOTEL, MANCHESTER, BY MR. +KENDAL.</span> +</div> + +<p>The first of these is a view of the Infirmary as seen from Mr. Kendal's +window at the Queen's Hotel, Manchester; the second—done in a quarter +of an hour—shows the way the Americans erect their buildings for +exhibiting a cyclorama—popularly known here as a panorama. It was done +from a back window in an hotel in Cleveland, U.S.A. The actor-artist +never learnt drawing, save for a few hours' lessons he took at the Slade +Schools under the tuition of Le Gros. He draws everything that impresses +him—his painting memory is remarkable. He sees a man's face in the +street, carries it home in his mind, and it will be very faithfully put +on paper or canvas.</p> + +<p>We talked for a long time on "pictures"—he was so happy and earnest +about it that it was some time before we made an attempt to tread the +boards and get behind the footlights.</p> + +<p>Mr. Kendal—William Hunter Grimston—was born at Notting Hill, and just +outside the sound of Bow Bells, on December 16th, 1843. His parents +belonged to the Low Church, and their views of the theatre in general, +and on adopting the stage as a profession in particular, will be readily +understood. Mr. Kendal was intended for the Army—how he came to "go on" +the stage is best told in his own words:</p> + +<p>"I had only been to three or four pantomimes previously," he said, "and +one night—I was about eighteen years of age at the time—I found myself +in the stalls of the old Soho Theatre, in Dean Street, Soho, now known +as the Royalty Theatre. My paper and pencil were out, and I was busily +engaged in making sketches of the various actors and actresses. The +piece was 'Billie Taylor.' Suddenly I felt a gentle tap on the shoulder +from behind. I turned round.</p> + +<p>"'Would you allow me to take those sketches round and show the 'parties' +interested?' a gentleman asked.</p> + +<p>"'Certainly; with pleasure,' I replied.</p> + +<p>"'Perhaps you would like to come behind the scenes as well?'</p> + +<p>"It was just what I wanted, so I followed the person who had so kindly +interested himself in my scribble. He proved to be Mr. Mowbray, the +manager of the theatre. The picture behind the scenes that night was a +perfect Elysium to me. I think Mowbray must have noticed the impression +it made upon me, for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> he asked if I would like to go on the stage. I +did—as a sort of super."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image240.jpg" width="500" height="366" alt="SKETCH FROM HOTEL WINDOW, CLEVELAND, U.S.A., BY MR. +KENDAL." title="" /> +<span class="caption">SKETCH FROM HOTEL WINDOW, CLEVELAND, U.S.A., BY MR. +KENDAL.</span> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Kendal's first important engagement lasted four or five years at the +Theatre Royal, Glasgow. Here he met and played with such people as Helen +Faucit (Lady Martin), G. V. Brooke, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kean, Dion +Boucicault, Fechter, Miss Bateman (Mrs. Crowe), and the elder Sothern. +When Sothern left, the accomplished young actor played <i>Dundreary</i>, and +found himself straying in the footsteps of the famous originator of the +part, even to the hop. One would have thought that people would have +praised the actor for taking such a worthy example—but it displeased +Tom Taylor, and he wrote very wrathfully. Then Mr. Kendal went to the +Haymarket, met Miss Robertson, and from their wedding day their lives +may be said to have been the same in thought, word, and deed.</p> + +<p>As an organizer and man of business his tact and judgment were tested +and proved during his joint management of the St. James's with Mr. Hare +in 1881. For some time previous to this Mr. Kendal had been on the +look-out for a theatre, and his mind wandered towards the St. James's, +but it required a large sum of money spending on it before it could be +opened.</p> + +<p>"One night I was talking to Lord Newry at my club," said Mr. Kendal, +"and happened to say that if £2,000 or so were spent on the St. James's +I might feel inclined to take it.</p> + +<p>"'Suppose I spend that amount of money on the place, will you take it?' +Lord Newry asked.</p> + +<p>"My only reply was that I would think about it. In the meantime I went +to the Court, from there to the Prince of Wales's to play in +'Diplomacy'—it ran a year—'Peril' and 'London Assurance.' Then I +returned to the Court again, and during this time Lord Newry had +practically gutted the old and unlucky St. James's, turned it inside +out—John Hare, my wife and self entered, and we remained there nearly +ten years."</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Kendal share the same opinion of America—it is the land of +to-day, the land of the future. As to its theatres in comparison with +ours, Mrs. Kendal—who had now joined us—was most enthusiastic. I had +reached the pillars, from which hung curtains of intricate Japanese +workmanship, leading to the hall. Victoria, the Jubilee dog, was barking +a friendly "Good-bye," and the lusty throats of Miss Grimston's +two-and-twenty canaries forced their sweet notes from a far-away room +into the passage.</p> + +<p>"I will give you some idea of what an American theatre is like," said +Mrs. Kendal. "You reach your destination by rail at some small place for +a one-night stay. If it is raining and the ground is wet, men in long +jack-boots catch hold of you and gallantly take you across the puddles. +You do not see a soul about—and you are in fear and trembling as to +where your night's audience<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> is coming from. You get to your hotel, and +then your next thought is—where is the theatre? You expect to find a +little, uncomfortable, band-box of a place, and you set out to see it +with a heavy heart. It is a palace—a marble palace—a positive poem! +And your heart leaps happily—only to drop dull again, for you suddenly +remember that you have seen—nobody, not even the oldest inhabitant. You +turn to the manager.</p> + +<p>"'Yes, yes—but, what about an audience, how are you going to fill it?' +you ask.</p> + +<p>"'Wall,' he replies, 'I don't trouble myself much about that. I reckon +that every seat in this theatre is sold for to-night, that's all!'"</p> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Harry How.</span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 388px;"> +<img src="images/image241.jpg" width="388" height="500" alt="MR. KENDAL. From a Photo. by Maurice Stephens, +Harrogat." title="" /> +<span class="caption">MR. KENDAL. From a Photo. by Maurice Stephens, +Harrogat.</span> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Author_Author" id="Author_Author"></a>"<i>Author! Author</i>!"</h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By E. W. Hornung.</span></h3> + + +<p>This story has to do with two men and a play, instead of a woman, and it +is none of mine. I had it from an old gentleman I love: only he ought to +have written it himself. This, however, he will never do; having known +intimately in his young days one of the two men concerned. But I have +his leave to repeat the story more or less as he told it—if I can. And +I am going to him for my rebuke—when I dare.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>"You want to hear the story of poor old Pharazyn and his play? I'm now +going to tell it you.</p> + +<p>"Ah, well! My recollection of the matter dates from one summer's night +at my old rooms in the Adelphi, when he spoilt my night's work by coming +in flushed with an idea of his own. I remember banging the drawer into +which I threw my papers to lock them away for the night; but in a few +minutes I had forgotten my unfinished article, and was glad that +Pharazyn had come. We were young writers, both of us; and, let me tell +you, my good fellow, young writing wasn't in those days what it is now. +I am thinking less of merit than of high prices, and less of high prices +than of cheap notoriety. Neither of us had ever had our names before the +public—not even in the advertised contents of an unread and unreadable +magazine. No one cared about names in my day, save for the half-dozen +great ones that were then among us; so Pharazyn's and mine never used to +appear in the newspapers, though some of them used our stuff.</p> + +<p>"In a manner we were rivals, for we were writing the same sort of thing +for the same sort of publications, and that was how we had come +together; but never was rivalry friendlier, or mutually more helpful. +Our parts were strangely complementary; if I could understand for the +life of me the secret of collaboration, which has always been a mystery +to me, I should say that I might have collaborated with Pharazyn almost +ideally. I had the better of him in point of education, and would have +turned single sentences against him for all he was worth; and I don't +mind saying so, for there my superiority ended. When he had a story to +tell, he told it with a swing and impetus which I coveted him, as well I +might to this day; and if he was oftener without anything to write +about, his ideas would pay twenty shillings in the pound, in strength +and originality, where mine made some contemptible composition in pence. +That is why I have been a failure at fiction—oh, yes, I have! That is +why Pharazyn would have succeeded, if only he had stuck to plain +ordinary narrative prose.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 447px;"> +<img src="images/image242.jpg" width="447" height="450" alt=""HE SKETCHED THE NEW STORY."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"HE SKETCHED THE NEW STORY."</span> +</div> + +<p>"The idea he was unable to keep within his own breast, on the evening of +which I am telling you, was as new, and simple, and dramatic as any that +ever intoxicated the soul of story-teller or made a brother author green +with envy. I can see him now, as I watched him that night, flinging to +and fro with his quick, nervous stride, while he sketched the new +story—bit by bit, and often the wrong bit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> foremost; but all with his +own flashing vividness, which makes me so sorry—so sorry whenever I +think of it. At moments he would stand still before the chair on which I +sat intent, and beat one hand upon the other, and look down at me with a +grand, wondering smile, as though he himself could hardly believe what +the gods had put into his head, or that the gift was real gold, it +glittered so at first sight. On that point I could reassure him. My open +jealousy made me admire soberly. But when he told me, quite suddenly, as +though on an afterthought, that he meant to make a play of it and not a +story, I had the solid satisfaction at that moment of calling him a +fool.</p> + +<p>"The ordinary author of my day, you see, had a certain timorous respect +for the technique of the stage. It never occurred to us to make light of +those literary conventions which it was not our business to understand. +We were behind you fellows in every way. But Pharazyn was a sort of +forerunner: he said that any intelligent person could write a play, if +he wanted to, and provided he could write at all. He said his story was +a born play; and it was, in a way; but I told him I doubted whether he +could train it up with his own hand to be a good-acting one. I knew I +was right. He had neither the experience nor the innate constructive +faculty, one or other of which is absolutely necessary for the writing +of possible plays. I implored him to turn the thing into a good dramatic +novel, and so make his mark at one blow. But no; the fatal fit was on +him, and I saw that it must run its course. Already he could see and +hear his audience laughing and crying, so he said, and I daresay he +could also feel the crinkle of crisp weekly receipts. I only know that +we sat up all night over it, arguing and smoking and drinking whisky +until my windows overlooking the river caught the rising sun at an +angle. Then I gave in. For poor old Pharazyn was more obstinate than +ever, though he thanked me with the greatest good temper for my +well-meant advice.</p> + +<p>"'And look here, my boy,' says he, as he puts on his hat, 'you shan't +hear another word about this till the play's written; and you are to ask +no questions. Is that a bargain? Very well, then. When I've finished +it—down to the very last touches—<i>you</i> shall come and sit up all night +with <i>me</i>, and I'll read you every word. And by gad, old chap, if they +give me a call the first night, and want a speech—and I see you sitting +in your stall, like a blessed old fool as you are—by gad, sir, I'll +hold up you and your judgment to the ridicule of the house, so help me +never!'</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 325px;"> +<img src="images/image243.jpg" width="325" height="500" alt=""I COULD SMELL HIS PIPE THROUGH THE KEYHOLE."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"I COULD SMELL HIS PIPE THROUGH THE KEYHOLE."</span> +</div> + +<p>"Well, I am coming to that first night presently. Meanwhile, for the +next six months, I saw very little of Pharazyn, and less still in the +new year. He seldom came to my rooms now; when he did I could never get +him to stay and sit up with me; and once when I climbed up to his garret +(it was literally that), he would not answer me, though I could smell +his pipe through the key-hole, in which he had turned the key. Yet he +was perfectly friendly whenever we did meet. He said he was working very +hard, and indeed I could imagine it; his personal appearance, which he +had never cherished, being even untidier, and I am obliged to add +seedier, than of old. He continued to send me odd magazines in which his +stuff happened to appear, or occasionally a proof for one's opinion and +suggestions; we had done this to each other all along; but either I did +not think about it, or somehow he led me to suppose that his things were +more or less hot from the pen, whereas many of mine had been written a +twelvemonth before one saw them in type. One way or another, I gathered +that he was at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> work in our common groove, and had shelved, for the +present at all events, his proposed play, about which you will remember +I had undertaken to ask no questions.</p> + +<p>"I was quite mistaken. One night in the following March he came to me +with a haggard face, a beaming eye, and a stout, clean manuscript, which +he brought down with a thud on my desk. It was the play he had sketched +out to me eight or nine months before. I was horrified to hear he had +been at work upon it alone from that night to this. He had written, so +he said, during all this time, not another line, only each line of his +play some ten times over.</p> + +<p>"I recollect looking curiously at his shabby clothes, and then reminding +him that it was at his place, not mine, I was to have heard him read the +play: and how he confessed that he had no chair for me there—that his +room was, in fact, three parts dismantled—that he had sacrificed +everything to the play, which was worth it. I was extremely angry. I +could have helped him so easily, independent as I was of the calling I +loved to follow. But there was about him always an accursed, unnecessary +independence, which has since struck me—and I think I may say so after +all these years—as the mark of a rather humble, very honest origin.</p> + +<p>"He read me the play, and I cried over the third act, and so did he. I +thought then, and still think, that there was genius in that third +act—it took you off your feet. And to me, certainly, it seemed as if +the piece must act as well as it read, though indeed, as I took care to +say and to repeat, my opinion was well-nigh valueless on that point. I +only knew that I could see the thing playing itself, as I walked about +the room (for this time I was the person who was too excited to sit +still), and that was enough to make one sanguine. I became as +enthusiastic about it as though the work were mine (which it never, +never would or could have been), yet I was unable to suggest a single +improvement, or to have so much as a finger-tip in the pie. Nor could I +afterwards account for its invariable reception at the hands of +managers, whose ways were then unknown to me. That night we talked only +of one kind of reception. We were still talking when the sun came +slanting up the river to my windows; you could hardly see them for +tobacco-smoke, and we had emptied a bottle of whisky to the success of +Pharazyn's immortal play.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 349px;"> +<img src="images/image244.jpg" width="349" height="450" alt=""HIS MANUSCRIPT RAGGED BUT UNREAD."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"HIS MANUSCRIPT RAGGED BUT UNREAD."</span> +</div> + +<p>"Oh, those nights—those nights once in a way! God forgive me, but I'd +sacrifice many things to be young again and feel clever, and to know the +man who would sit up all night with me to rule the world over a bottle +of honest grog. In the pale light of subsequent revelations I ought, +perhaps, to recall such a night, with that particular companion, +silently and in spiritual ashes. But it is ridiculous, in my opinion, to +fit some sort of consequence to every little insulated act; nor will I +ever admit that poor Pharazyn's ultimate failing was in any appreciable +degree promoted or prepared for by those our youthful full-souled +orgies. I know very well that afterwards, when his life was spent in +waylaying those aforesaid managers, in cold passages, on stage +doorsteps, or, in desperation, under the public portico on the street; +and when a hundred snubs and subterfuges would culminate in the return +of his manuscript, ragged but unread: I know, and I knew then, that the +wreck who would dodge me in Fleet Street,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> or cut me in the Strand, had +taken to his glass more seriously and more steadily than a man should. +But I am not sure that it matters much—<i>much</i>, you understand me—when +that man's heart is broken.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>"The last words I was ever to exchange with my poor old friend keep +ringing in my head to this day, whenever I think of him; and I can +repeat them every one. It was some few years after our intimacy had +ceased, and when I only knew that he had degenerated into a Fleet Street +loafer of the most dilapidated type, that I caught sight of him one day +outside a theatre. It was the theatre which was for some years a +gold-mine to one Morton Morrison, of whom you may never have heard; but +he was a public pet in his day, I can tell you, and his day was just +then at its high noon. Well, there stood Pharazyn, with his hands in his +pockets and a cutty-pipe sticking out between his ragged beard and +moustache, and his shoulders against the pit door, so that for once he +could not escape me. But he wouldn't take a hand out of his pocket to +shake mine; and when I asked him how he was, without thinking, he +laughed in my face, and it made me feel cruel. He was dreadfully +emaciated, and almost in rags. And as I wondered what I ought to do, and +what to say next, he gave a cough, and spat upon the pavement, and I +could see the blood.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 334px;"> +<img src="images/image245.jpg" width="334" height="500" alt=""THERE STOOD PHARAZYN."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"THERE STOOD PHARAZYN."</span> +</div> + +<p>"I don't know what you would have done for him—but for all I knew what +had brought him to this, I could think of nothing but a drink. It was +mid-winter, and I tell you the man was in rags. I felt that if I could +get him to a bar he might eat something, too, and that I should get a +hold of him this time which I would never again let go. Judge of my +surprise when he flatly refused to come with me even for a drink.</p> + +<p>"'Can't you see? he said in his hollow voice. 'There'll be a crowd here +directly, and I want the best seat in the pit—the best in the house. +I've been going dry for it these two days, and I'm going dry till I've +seen the piece. No, I've been here an hour already, and there's three +hours more, I know; but I'm not going to risk it, thanks all the same.'</p> + +<p>"By this I had remembered that Morton Morrison was to re-open that night +with a new piece. Indeed, I ought not to have forgotten that, seeing +that I had my order about me somewhere, and it meant a column from my +pen between twelve and one that night. But this sudden, sorry meeting +had put all other thoughts out of my head.</p> + +<p>"'My dear fellow,' I said, with a sort of laugh, 'are you a +first-nighter, too?'</p> + +<p>"'Only at this theatre.'</p> + +<p>"He looked me queerly in the face.</p> + +<p>"'You admire Morrison very much?'</p> + +<p>"'I love him!'</p> + +<p>"I suppose my eyes thawed him, though God knows how hard I was trying +not to hurt him with pitying looks. At all events he began to explain +himself of his own accord, very impetuously; indeed I rather think the +outburst was purely involuntary.</p> + +<p>"'Look here,' he said, with his hoarse voice lowered: 'I hoped never to +see your face again. I hoped you'd never see mine. But now you are here, +don't go this minute, and I'll tell you why I think so much of Morton +Morrison. I don't know him, mind you—he doesn't know me from Adam—but +once long ago I had something to do with him. And God bless him, but +damn every other manager in London, for he was the only one of the lot +that gave me a civil hearing and a kind word!'</p> + +<p>"I knew what he was talking about, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> he knew that I knew, for we had +understood one another in the old days.</p> + +<p>"'I took it to him last of all,' he went on, wiping his damp lips with +his hand. 'When I began hawking it about he was an unknown man; when his +turn came he was here. He let me read it to him. Then he asked me to +leave it with him for a week; and when I went back to him, he said what +they had all said—that it would never act! But Morton Morrison said it +nicely. And when he saw how it cut me up, into little bits, he got me to +tell him all about everything; and then he persuaded me to burn the +play, instead of ruining my life for it; and I burnt it in his +dressing-room fire, but the ruin was too far gone to mend. I wrote that +thing with my heart's blood—old man, you know I did! And none of them +would think of it! My God! But Morrison was good about it—he's a good +soul—and that's why you'll see me at every first night of his until the +drink finishes its work.'</p> + +<p>"I had not followed him quite to the end. One thing had amazed me too +much.</p> + +<p>"'You burnt your play,' I could only murmur, 'when it would have turned +into such a novel! Surely you have some draft of it still?'</p> + +<p>"'I burnt the lot when I got home,' Pharazyn replied; 'and by-and-by I +shall join 'em and burn too!'</p> + +<p>"I had nothing to answer to that, and was, besides, tenacious of my +point. 'I don't think much of the kindness that makes one man persuade +another to burn his work and throw up the sponge,' said I, with a good +deal of indignation, for I did feel wroth with that fellow Morrison—a +bread-and-butter drawing-room actor, whose very vogue used to irritate +me.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/image246.jpg" width="450" height="376" alt=""WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS?"" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS?"</span> +</div> + +<p>"'Then what do you think of this?' asked Pharazyn, as he dipped a hand +within his shabby coat, and cautiously unclenched it under my nose.</p> + +<p>"'Why, it's a five-pound note!'</p> + +<p>"'I know; but wasn't <i>that</i> kind, then?'</p> + +<p>"'So Morrison gave you this!' I exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Two or three persons had stopped to join us at the pit door, and +Pharazyn hastily put the note back in his pocket. As he did so, his +dreadfully shabby condition gave my heart a fresh cut.</p> + +<p>"'Are you never going to spend that?' I asked in a whisper; and in a +whisper he answered:—</p> + +<p>"'Never! It is all my play has brought me—all. It was given me as a +charity, but I took it as my earnings—my earnings for all the work and +waiting, and blood and tears, that one thing cost me. Spend it? Not I! +It will bury me as decently as I deserve.'</p> + +<p>"We could converse no more. And the presence of other people prevented +me from giving him my overcoat, though I spoke of it into his ear, +begging and imploring him to come away and take it while there was still +time for him to clip back and get a seat in the front row. But he would +not hear of it, and the way he refused reminded me of his old stubborn +independence; all I got was a promise that he would have a bite with me +after the performance. And so I left him in the frosty dusk, ill-clad +and unkempt, with the new-lit lamp over the pit door shining down upon +the haggard mask that had once been the eager, memorable face of my +cleverest friend.</p> + +<p>"I saw him next the moment I entered the theatre that evening, and I +nodded my head to him, which he rebuked with the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> slightest shake of his +own. So I looked no more at him before the play began, comprehending +that he desired me not to do so. The temptation, however, was too strong +to go on resisting, for while Pharazyn was in the very centre of the +front row in the pit, I was at one end of the last row of the stalls; +and I was very anxious about him, wanting to make sure that he was there +and not going to escape me again, and nervous of having him out of my +sight for five minutes together.</p> + +<p>"Thus I know more about the gradual change which came over Pharazyn's +poor face, as scene followed scene, than of the developments and merits +of those scenes themselves. My mind was in any case running more on my +lost friend than on the piece; but it was not till near the end of the +first act that the growing oddity of his look first struck me.</p> + +<p>"His eyebrows were raised; it was a look of incredulity chiefly; yet I +could see nothing to impale for improbability in the play as far as it +had gone. I was but lightly attending, for my own purposes, as you +youngsters skim your betters for review; but thus far the situation +struck me as at once feasible and promising. Also it seemed not a little +familiar to me; I could not say why, for watching Pharazyn's face. And +it was his face that told me at last, in the second act. By God, it was +his own play!</p> + +<p>"It was Pharazyn's play, superficially altered all through, nowhere +substantially; but the only play for me, when I knew that, was being +acted in the front row of the pit, and not on the stage, to which I had +turned the side of my head. I watched my old friend's face writhe and +work until it stiffened in a savage calm; and watching, I thought of the +'first night' he had pictured jovially in the old days, when the bare +idea of the piece was bursting his soul; and thinking, I wondered +whether it could add a drop to his bitterness to remember that too.</p> + +<p>"Yet, through all my thoughts, I was listening, intently enough, now. +And in the third act I heard the very words my friend had written: they +had not meddled with his lines in the great scene which had moved us +both to tears long ago in my rooms. And this I swear to, whether you +believe it or no—that at the crisis of that scene, which was just as +Pharazyn made it, the calm ferocity transfiguring his face died away all +at once, and I saw it shining with the sweetest tears our eyes can +shed—the tears of an artist over his own work.</p> + +<p>"And when the act was over he sat with his head on his hand for some +minutes, drinking in the applause, as I well knew; then he left his seat +and squeezed out on my side of the house, and I made sure he was coming +to speak to me over the barrier; and I got up to speak to him; but he +would not see me, but stood against the barrier with a mien as white and +set as chiselled marble.</p> + +<p>"What followed on the first fall of the curtain I shall relate as +rapidly as it happened. Louder call for an author I never heard, and I +turned my eyes to the stage in my intense curiosity to see who would +come forward; for the piece had been brought out anonymously; and I +divined that Morrison himself was about to father it. And so he did; but +as the lie passed his lips, and in the interval before the applause—the +tiny interval between flash and peal—the lie was given him in a roar of +fury from my left; there fell a thud of feet at my side, and Pharazyn +was over the barrier and bolting down the gangway towards the stage. I +think he was near making a leap for the footlights and confronting +Morrison on his own boards; but the orchestra came between, and the +fiddlers rose in their places. Then he turned wildly to us pressmen, and +I will say he had our ear, if not that of the whole house besides, for +the few words he was allowed to utter.</p> + +<p>"'Gentlemen!' he cried at the top of his voice—'Gentlemen, I'm one of +you! I'm a writing man like yourselves, and I wrote this play that +you've seen. That man never wrote it at all—I wrote it myself! That man +has only altered it. I read it to him two years ago—two years ago, +gentlemen! He kept it for a week, and then got me to burn it as +rubbish—when he had made a copy of it! And he gave me this, +gentlemen—he gave me this that I give him back!'</p> + +<p>"It was a matter of only a few seconds, but not till my own last hour +shall I forget Morrison's painted face on the stage, or that sweating +white one beneath the boxes; or the fluttering from Pharazyn's poor +fingers of the five-pound note he had treasured for two years; or the +hush all over the house until the first hand was laid upon his dirty +collar.</p> + +<p>"'What!' he screamed, 'do none of you believe me? Will none of you stand +by me—isn't there a man—not one man among you——'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And they threw him out with my name on his lips. And I followed, and +floored a brute who was handling him roughly. And nothing happened to +me—because of what happened to Pharazyn!"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The dear old boy sat silent, his grey head on his hand. Presently he +went on, more to himself than to me: "What could I do? What proof had I? +He had burnt them every one. And as long as the public would stand him, +Morrison kept his good name at least. And that play was his great +success!"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/image248.jpg" width="450" height="399" alt=""HE GAVE ME THIS."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"HE GAVE ME THIS."</span> +</div> + +<p>I ventured gently to inquire what had happened to Pharazyn.</p> + +<p>"He died in my arms," my old friend cried, throwing up his head with an +oath and a tear. "He died in a few minutes, outside the theatre. I could +hear them clapping after he was dead—clapping his piece."</p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"> +<img src="images/image249.jpg" width="700" height="967" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<p><a name="Zig_Zags_at_the_Zoo_Conkavian" id="Zig_Zags_at_the_Zoo_Conkavian"></a></p> + + +<p>If the gentle reader, full of a general desire for knowledge and a +particular enthusiasm for natural history, will refer to any one of the +great standard works on birds, and, turning to the index, seek for the +family title of the Conkaves, I have every hope and confidence that he +will not find it; because, as a matter of fact, it is a little invention +of my own, and, I may modestly urge, rather a neat thing in scientific +nomenclature, on the whole. It has the advantage of including in one +family the storks and the pelicans, which in all orthodox books on birds +are planted far apart and out of sight of each other, with many orders, +tribes, and families between. Under my title they are gathered amicably +together in the common possession of very long bills, like two tailors +on a man's doorstep. The word is derived, in the proper and regular +manner, from ancient sources; from <i>conk</i>, a venerable Eastern word, +signifying a nose or beak, and the Latin <i>avis</i>, a bird.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> And I offer +the term freely as my humble, but I trust useful, contribution to +science; my first contribution.</p> + +<p>The stork is regarded, in many countries, with a certain +semi-superstitious reverence and esteem. After many prolonged and +serious attempts to saturate myself with a similar feeling, I regret to +confess to a certain smallness of esteem for the stork. You can't esteem +a bird that makes ugly digs at your feet and heels with such a very big +beak. Out in their summer quarters the storks are kept in by close wire, +and close wire will give an air of inoffensiveness to most things. But, +away in a by-yard, with a gate marked "private," there stands a shed +wherein the storks are kept warm in winter, behind wooden bars; and +between these bars stork-heads have a way of dropping at the toes of the +favoured passer-by, like to action of a row of roadmen's picks.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/image250-1.jpg" width="450" height="407" alt="PICKS AND CHEWS." title="" /> +<span class="caption">PICKS AND CHEWS.</span> +</div> + +<p>The stork has come off well in the matter of bodily endowment. The +pelican has a tremendous beak—achieved, it would seem, by a skimping of +material in the legs; but the stork has the tremendous beak and legs of +surprising growth as well. His wings, too, are something more than +respectable. At flying, at eating, at portentous solemnity of +demeanour—in all these and in other things the pelican and the stork +score fairly evenly; but at walking the pelican is left behind at once. +This makes one suspect the stork's honesty. The pelican has a good beak +and wings, and pays for them, like an honest bird, out of its legs, just +as the ostrich pays for its neck and legs out of its wings. But the +stork is abnormally lucky in beak, neck, legs, and wings together, and +even then has material left to lay out in superfluous knobs and wens to +hang round its neck, which leads to a suspicion that many of its +personal fittings belong properly to some other bird. I've a notion that +the unlucky kiwi might identify some of the property.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 435px;"> +<img src="images/image250-2.jpg" width="435" height="400" alt="THE PELICAN LEFT." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE PELICAN LEFT.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image250-3.jpg" width="500" height="252" alt="ARMY." title="" /> +<span class="caption">ARMY.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span></p> + +<p>Perhaps the adjutant should be acknowledged king of the conkavians. +Billy, the Zoo adjutant, has, I believe, no doubt on the subject at all. +Billy is an ornament to the military profession—a very fine fellow, +with a thing on the back of his neck like a Tangerine orange, and a wen +on the front of it, which he can blow out whenever he wants to amuse +himself, and everything else handsome about him. He is an old soldier, +too, is Billy, having been Adjutant of the Regent's Park Conkavian Corps +for seventeen years; but if you knew nothing of his age, still you would +call Billy an old soldier—upon a little acquaintance with his habits.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 350px;"> +<img src="images/image251-3.jpg" width="350" height="283" alt="LAW." title="" /> +<span class="caption">LAW.</span> +</div> + +<p>There seems no valid reason why the professional aspirations of the +stork should be restricted to the army. If an adjutant, why not a dean? +Why not a proctor? There is the making of a most presentable don about a +stork; and I have caught a stork in an attitude of judicial meditation +that might do honour to any bench. There is no reason why "sober as a +judge" should not be made to read "sober as a stork," except that the +stork is the more solemn creature of the two; and I think that some +species of stork—say the marabou, for instance—might fairly claim +brevet rank as judge, after the example of the adjutant. The elevation +of a beak to the bench might be considered an irregular piece of legal +procedure; but, bless you, it's nothing unusual with a stork. Put any +bench with something to eat on it anywhere within reach of a stork's +beak in this place, and you shall witness that same elevation, precedent +or no precedent.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 193px;"> +<img src="images/image251-1.jpg" width="193" height="350" alt="UNIVERSITIES." title="" /> +<span class="caption">UNIVERSITIES.</span> +</div> + +<p>A common white stork hasn't half the solid gravity of an adjutant or a +marabou. He has a feline habit of expressing his displeasure by blowing +and swearing—a habit bad and immoral in a cat, but worse in a stork +accustomed to Church. Church, by-the-bye, is the keeper of all the +conkavians, as well as of the herons, the flamingoes, the ibises, the +egrets, and a number of other birds with names more difficult to spell. +It is impossible to treat disrespectfully a man with such widespread +responsibilities as this, or there might be a temptation to mention that +he is not an unusually high Church, although his services are not always +simple, often involving a matter of doctorin'. But, then, some people +will say anything, temptation or none. And after all, it is pleasant to +know that, whatever a stork or a pelican wants, he always goes to +Church.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 277px;"> +<img src="images/image251-4.jpg" width="277" height="300" alt="SWEARING." title="" /> +<span class="caption">SWEARING.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 325px;"> +<img src="images/image251-2.jpg" width="325" height="370" alt="CHURCH." title="" /> +<span class="caption">CHURCH.</span> +</div> + +<p>This being the case, there is a proverb about cleanliness that makes one +wonder why the marabou stork doesn't wash himself. It isn't as though he +never wanted it. I have a horrible suspicion about this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> philosophic old +sloven. I believe his profession of philosophic contemplation is +assumed, because it is the easiest excuse for indolence. Now, a pelican +is not a bird of graceful outline, but he <i>is</i> careful about his +feathers. The pelican is a scrupulous old Dutchman, and the stork is an +uncleanly old Hindu. And uncleanly he must be left, for it takes a deal +to shame a stork. You can't shame a bird that wraps itself in a +convenient philosophy. "Look here—look at me!" you can imagine a +pelican cleanliness-missionary saying to the stork. "See how white and +clean I keep all my feathers!" "Um," says the stork, "it only makes 'em +a different colour." "But observe! I just comb through my pinions with +my beak, so, and they all lie neat and straight!" "Well, and what's the +good of that?" grunts the stork. "And then you see," says the pelican, +ignoring the question, "with a good long beak you can reach everywhere, +over your back and under your wings; see, I'm as clean under my wings as +anywhere else, although it's covered up!" "Beastly vanity," growls the +old Hindu, getting bored. "Then," continues the Dutchman, "you give +yourself a good shake, and there you are!" "And then," says the +philosopher sarcastically, "to-morrow, I suppose, you'll have to do it +all over again?" "Of course!" "Oh! I hate a fool!" says the stork, and +closes the lecture.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 549px;"> +<img src="images/image252.jpg" width="549" height="800" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p>Thus the marabou. The ordinary white stork is comparatively respectable, +and so is the adjutant—or comparatively almost respectable, let us say; +you can't be too cautious in giving a personal character to a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> stork. +For long, long, the stork has enjoyed a reputation for solemn wisdom, +for philosophical dignity. Now for the first time I venture to question +this reputation—to impeach the stork as a humbug. It is easy to achieve +a reputation for profound and ponderous wisdom, so long as one looks +very solemn and says nothing. This is the stork's recipe. Go up to Billy +here, or one of the marabous, as he stands with his shoulders humped up +about his head, and make a joke. He won't see it. He will lift his +eyebrows with a certain look of contempt, and continue to +cogitate—about nothing. If the joke is a very bad pun—such a frightful +pun that even a stork will see and resent it—perhaps he will chatter +his beak savagely, with a noise like the clatter of the lid on an empty +cigar-box; but he will continue his sham meditations. "Ah, my friend," +he seems to say, "you are empty and frivolous—I cogitate the profounder +immensities of esoteric cogibundity." The fact being that he is very +seedy after his previous night's dissipation.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 172px;"> +<img src="images/image253-1.jpg" width="172" height="400" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p>That is the chief secret of the stork's solemnity, I am convinced. He +has a certain reputation to maintain before visitors, but after hours, +when the gates are shut and the keepers are not there to see, the +marabou stork is a sad dog. I haven't quite made up my mind what he +drinks, but if he has brandies and sodas he leaves out too much soda. +Look at that awful nose! It is long past the crimson and pimply +stage—it is taking a decided tinge of blue. It <i>looks</i> worse than +brandy and soda—almost like bad gin—but we will be as charitable as +possible, and only call it brandy and soda.</p> + +<p>I should like to see the marabou stork on his nightly ran-tan, if only +to gloat over his lapse of dignity, just as one would give much to see +Benjamin Franklin with his face blacked, drunk and disorderly and being +locked up. But, as a shocking example, the marabou is quite bad enough +with his awful head in the morning; his awful head and his disreputable +nose, that looks to want a good scraping. I respect Billy, the adjutant, +for his long service and the Tangerine at the back of his neck. The +ordinary stork (although he swears and snaps) I also respect, because +the goody books used to tell pious lies about him. The whale-headed +stork, which is also called the shoe-bird, I respect as a sort of +relative of the shoo-fly that didn't bother somebody. But the marabou +has forfeited all respect—converted it into nose-tint. I must talk to +Church seriously about the marabou.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 404px;"> +<img src="images/image253-2.jpg" width="404" height="450" alt="THE RAN-TAN." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE RAN-TAN.</span> +</div> + +<p>Now, the pelican is no humbug. There is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> nothing like concealment about +his little dissipations; and he is perfectly sober. Any little +irregularity at the pelican club just opposite the eastern aviary never +goes beyond a quiet round or two for a little fish dinner. It is quite a +select and a most proper club. Indeed, the first rule is, that if any +loose fish be found on the club premises, he is got rid of at once by +the first member who detects him. And the club spirit is such that +disputes frequently occur among members for the honour of carrying out +this salutary rule. The chairman of the club is an old crested pelican, +who, by some oversight, has never been provided with a private name of +his own. I think he should be called Peter, because he can take such a +miraculous draught of fishes. It <i>is</i> a draught; you know—a pelican +doesn't eat fishes—he drinks them down in bulk. For Peter, a dozen or +so fresh herrings is a mere swill round of the mouth.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/image254-1.jpg" width="450" height="219" alt="A QUIET ROUND OR TWO." title="" /> +<span class="caption">A QUIET ROUND OR TWO.</span> +</div> + +<p>Peter walks about the club premises with much dignity, deferred to on +all sides by the other members. His kingship is rarely disputed, having +been achieved by the sort of conquest most familiar in the pelican club; +and his divine right is as much respected as his tremendous left.</p> + +<p>A pelican never bears malice; he hasn't time, especially now, with +competition so keen in the fish business, and Church's fish pails only +of the ordinary size. There is never any ill-feeling after a little +spar, and each proceeds, in the most amicable way, to steal some other +pelican's fish. A spar at this club, by-the-bye, is a joyous and +hilarious sight. Two big birds with stumpy legs and top-heavy beaks, +solemnly prancing and manœuvring before one another with an +accompaniment of valiant gobbles and a punctuation of occasional +pecks—a gleesome spectacle.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 335px;"> +<img src="images/image254-2.jpg" width="335" height="300" alt="PETER." title="" /> +<span class="caption">PETER.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 426px;"> +<img src="images/image254-3.jpg" width="426" height="300" alt="A SWILL ROUND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">A SWILL ROUND.</span> +</div> + +<p>Another sport much exhibited at the pelican club is that of +the broadsword. The school of fence is that of Mr. Vincent +Crummies—one—two—three—four—over; one—two—three—four—under. +You<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> see, when a dozen or two birds with beaks a couple of feet long or +so get together in a small area, and now and again rush all in the same +direction for fish, fencing is certain to develop, sooner or later. So +here you have it, <i>secundum artem</i>—one—two—three—four—over; +one—two—three—four—under; and although none have yet attained the +Crummleian degree of knocking out sparks, there is a deal of hollow +noise, as of thumping on a wooden box. But there is never any +after-malice, and in less than five minutes either combatant will +swallow a fish rightfully belonging to the other, with perfect +affability.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 350px;"> +<img src="images/image255-1.jpg" width="350" height="252" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/image255-2.jpg" width="450" height="244" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 236px;"> +<img src="images/image255-3.jpg" width="236" height="300" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 357px;"> +<img src="images/image255-4.jpg" width="357" height="350" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p>There is a good deal of the philosopher about the pelican, and of a more +genuine sort than characterizes the stork. The pelican always makes the +best of a bad job, without going into an unnecessary tantrum over it. If +another member of the club snatches a fish first, the pelican doesn't +bother, but devotes his attention to the next that Church throws; a fish +in the pouch is worth a shoal in somebody else's. Now and again Peter +loses his temper for a moment if the others catch the first snack, and +lays about him with his bill—but then, when a fellow's chairman, and a +lot of other fellows come snatching the lunch from under his nose—why, +hang it all, you know.... But it is only for a moment, and Peter is soon +in position for the next pouchful. He is artful about this position. +When Church appears at the rails with a pailful of fish most of the +members rush to those rails, jostle together and shove their beaks +through them and over them—any way to get nearer the pail. But the +chairman<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> knows very well that Church doesn't throw the fish outside the +rails, but into the inclosure, somewhere near the middle; and near the +middle the sagacious Peter waits, to his early profit—unless Church is +unusually slow about throwing the fish, in which case Peter is apt to +let his excitement steal his sagacity, and to rush into the pell-mell, +anxious to investigate the delay.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 341px;"> +<img src="images/image256-1.jpg" width="341" height="350" alt="A LITTLE SOLEING AND HEELING." title="" /> +<span class="caption">A LITTLE SOLEING AND HEELING.</span> +</div> + +<p>There is a deal of excellent wear in a pelican. One has been here about +thirty years, and two more have been established on the same premises +for a quarter of a century. All these three are in capital working +repair and will probably last, with a patch or two, and a little soleing +and heeling, for a century or two more; no respectable pelican is ever +bowled out for less than three figures.</p> + +<p>In the winter the club takes up its quarters in the shed behind the +inclosure; a shed sumptuously furnished with certain benches and forms, +whereon the club stands in rows, with a general appearance of a number +of very solemn naughty boys in a Board school. In winter, too, Church +will often put his bucketful of fish on the ground, so that the club may +dine in a clubbier way. But whether you watch this club feeding together +from the pail, each member doing his best to put away the whole pailful +at a gulp, or whether you observe them playing a sort of greedy game of +lacrosse with fish which Church throws them, you will be equally amazed +that the pelican was used as a symbol of charity and brotherly love in +early and middle Christian art.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/image256-2.jpg" width="400" height="240" alt="SCHOOL." title="" /> +<span class="caption">SCHOOL.</span> +</div><p><br /><br /></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/image256-3.jpg" width="400" height="212" alt="CLUB DINNER." title="" /> +<span class="caption">CLUB DINNER.</span> +</div> + +<p>I have seen a pelican enact a most instructive moral lesson at a +pail-dinner. Observe the bill and pouch of a pelican. The pouch is an +elastic fishing-net, and the lower mandible is a mere flexible frame to +carry it. Now, I have observed a pelican to make a bounce at the +fish-pail, with outspread wings, and scoop the whole supply. But then +his trouble began. The whole catch hung weightily low in the end of the +pouch, and jerk and heave as he might, he could never lift the load at +the end of that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> long beak sufficiently high to bolt it. Meanwhile, his +friends collected about him and remonstrated, with many flops and +gobbles, betting him all his fish to nothing that he would lose it after +all; this way they chased that bag, and that way, while the bagger, in +much trepidation and with many desperate heaves, wildly sought remote +corners away from his persecutors. Now, by the corner of the club +premises stands an appliance, the emblem of authority, the instrument of +justice, and the terror of the evilly-disposed pelican—a birch-broom. +This, brandished in the hands of Church, caused a sudden and awful +collapse of the drag-nets, an opening, a shower of fish and many snaps; +wherefrom walked away many pelicans with fish, and one with none, who +had looked to take all. The moral is plain to the verge of ugliness.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 250px;"> +<img src="images/image257-1.jpg" width="250" height="233" alt="." title="" /> +<span class="caption">.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 321px;"> +<img src="images/image257-1a.jpg" width="321" height="300" alt="." title="" /> +<span class="caption">.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 358px;"> +<img src="images/image257-2.jpg" width="358" height="200" alt="." title="" /> +<span class="caption">.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/image257-3.jpg" width="450" height="361" alt="." title="" /> +<span class="caption">.</span> +</div> + +<p>A pelican has no tongue—or none to speak of. It is a mere little knob +scarcely the size of a cherry. The long, long meditations of the pelican +(lasting between feeding times) are given up to consideration whether or +not the disgrace of this deficiency is counter-balanced by the greater +capacity for fish which it gives the pouch. After all, it is only +another instance of that commercial honesty which makes the pelican pay +for his beak out of his legs; he gives his tongue for a pouch. There +should be a legend of the pelican applying honestly to Adam to buy a +pouch, and the wily stork waiting and waiting on the chance of snatching +one without paying for it, until all had been served out; afterwards +living all its life<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> on earth in covetous dudgeon, unconsoled by its +wealth of beak, legs, wings, and neck, and pining hopelessly for the +lost pouch. There are many legends of this sort which ought to exist, +but don't, owing to the negligence of Indian solar myth merchants, or +whoever it is has charge of that class of misrepresentation.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image258-1.jpg" width="500" height="116" alt="." title="" /> +<span class="caption">.</span> +</div> +<div class="figright" style="width: 210px;"> +<img src="images/image258-2.jpg" width="210" height="600" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<p>The pelican can fly, although you would never believe it, to look at the +club members here. To a Zoo pelican a flight of two feet is an +undertaking to be approached with much circumspection and preparation, +and a summoning of resolution and screwing of courage proper to the +magnitude of the feat. It takes a long time to learn to fly on to a +bottom-up bucket. The Zoo pelican begins on a shadow—not a very dark +one at first—and works his way up by jumping over, darker shadows to +straws and pebbles, before he tries a bucket. The accomplished +bucket-jumper makes a long preliminary survey and circumnavigation of +his bucket before performing, and when he does begin it is with a number +of wild rushes and irresolute stops. When at last he gets the proper +length of run, and the right foot in front, and doesn't see anything to +baulk him, he rises with a great effort, and all the lookers-on who +don't know him stare up over the trees, and are astonished to find him, +after all, only on the bucket. His pinions are cut, poor fellow! If they +were not, what would become of the fishmongers' shops?</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Shafts_from_an_Eastern_Quiver" id="Shafts_from_an_Eastern_Quiver"></a><i>Shafts from an Eastern Quiver</i>.</h2> + +<h3>IX.—MAW-SAYAH: THE KEEPER OF THE GREAT BURMAN NAT.</h3> + +<h3>By Charles J. Mansford, B.A.</h3> + + +<h4>I.</h4> + +<p>"The fine points of an elephant, sahib," said our guide Hassan, "are a +colour approaching to white, the nails perfectly black, and an intact +tail."</p> + +<p>"I am glad to hear that an elephant has some qualities which recommend +it," said Denviers, good-humouredly. "I should think that the one upon +which we are riding is about as lazy as it is possible to be. I suppose +slowness is an unusually good point, isn't it, Hassan?" The Arab, who +was sitting before us on the elephant, gave it a stir with the +sharply-pointed spear which he held in his hand to urge it on, and then +glancing back at us, as we reclined lazily in the cushioned howdah, he +said inquiringly: "Are the sahibs tired already of travelling thus? Yet +we have fully two hours' journey before us."</p> + +<p>"Hassan," I interposed, "this is a good opportunity for you to tell us +exactly what you heard about that Maw-Sayah when we were at Bhamo. It is +in consequence of that, indeed, that we are going to try to get among +these strange Kachyens; but as we are not quite sure of the details, you +may as well repeat them."</p> + +<p>"The sahib shall be obeyed," responded our guide, and although careful +to keep a good watch in front, he turned his body slightly towards us as +he prepared to begin the narrative.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 372px;"> +<img src="images/image259.jpg" width="372" height="450" alt=""THE SAHIB SHALL BE OBEYED."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"THE SAHIB SHALL BE OBEYED."</span> +</div> + +<p>On reaching Burmah we stayed for several days in Rangoon, the Queen of +the East as it is called nowadays, although only remarkable formerly for +its famous monasteries of Talapoins and as a halting-place for the bands +of pilgrims on their way to the mighty Shway Dagohn pagoda. Thence we +journeyed up the Irawaddy, and having duly paid reverence to some of the +nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine pagodas of Pagan—the outcast +slaves of which city seemed a strange contrast to its otherwise absolute +desertion—we continued our journey by steamer as far as Mandalay. +Having endured the doubtful pleasure of a jaunt in a seatless, jolting +bullock-carriage—the bruises from which were not easily forgotten—we +eventually reached Bhamo, where Hassan entered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> into conversation with a +hill-man. From the latter he learnt a strange story, which was later on +told to us and the truth of which we hoped before long to fully test, +for soon afterwards we set out on an elephant, our faithful guide in +this new adventure again proving himself of the greatest service.</p> + +<p>"Now, Hassan," said Denviers, "we are quite ready to hear this story +fully, but don't add any imaginary details of your own."</p> + +<p>"By the Koran, sahib," began the Arab, "these are the words which were +those of him to whom I spoke under the shade of the log stockade."</p> + +<p>"Which are, of course, unimpeachable," responded Denviers. "Anyone could +tell that from his shifty eyes, which failed to rest upon us fixed even +for a minute when we spoke to him afterwards." The Arab seemed a little +disconcerted at this, but soon continued:—</p> + +<p>"The great Spirits or Nats, who guard the prosperity of Burmah, have +become greatly incensed with the Kachyens, not because they failed to +resist stoutly when the monarch was deposed a few years ago——"</p> + +<p>"Then we are to have a modern story, this time, Hassan?" interrupted +Denviers. "I quite expected that you would commence with some long +worn-out tradition."</p> + +<p>"The sahibs shall hear," the Arab went on. "No one who offends the Nats +of Burmah need expect anything but evil to follow. There are the Nats of +the sky, the Nats of the earth, the Nats of the Irawaddy, the Nats of +the five hundred little rivers, and the thousand Nats which guarded the +sacred person of the monarch——"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Hassan," said Denviers, impatiently, "you mentioned them all +before. We haven't time to hear the list enumerated now; go on about +this one particular Nat which you say is causing such havoc among the +hill-tribes."</p> + +<p>"Patience, sahib. The Nats were justly roused to anger because the +deposed monarch was not afterwards taken to the water's edge riding upon +an elephant instead of in a bullock-carriage."</p> + +<p>"Well, Hassan," said Denviers, "judging from our own experience the Nats +seem to be pretty sensible, I must say—but how do they affect the peace +of mind of the Kachyens?"</p> + +<p>"Listen, sahib. High among the hills which may be seen stretching before +us lies a village in which many of the Kachyens dwell, their occupation +being sometimes that of tillers of the land, but more often consisting +in planning and carrying out raids upon other hill-men, or of descending +at times to the plains, and there looting the towns wherein dwell more +peaceable tribes. In all their forays they had been successful, for +whenever their trusty dahs or swords were drawn, those who opposed them +invariably obtained the worst of the encounter. So powerful did they +become that at last those dwelling in the plains—Shans, Karenns, and +Talaings, too—made no resistance against their attacks; and when they +saw the produce of their fields carried away, thought themselves happy +not to have been slain. The reason why the Kachyens became so successful +in all they undertook was that a powerful forest Nat placed them under +its protection, and hence they could not be harmed by their foes.</p> + +<p>"Now it chanced that the King was in great danger through following the +advice of his impetuous ministers, whereupon he summoned the Kachyens to +his assistance—for their fame as warriors had reached his ears long +before. But they, confident of securing their own safety whatever +happened to the monarch, refused to obey his command to march against +the Burman foes. The consequence was that when the indignity which I +have mentioned was offered to the deposed monarch, the Nats throughout +Burmah were furious with that one who ruled the village in which the +Kachyens dwelt, and they sent some of their number to destroy it. The +latter, however, appeased them by making a grim promise, which has been +only too faithfully kept.</p> + +<p>"A few days afterwards a hill-man, who was clearing a part of the land +on the woody slope of the height, <i>saw the Nat</i>, which had never before +been visible, and, terrified at the strange form which it had assumed, +he ran hastily to the rest of the tribe, and, gathering them together, +held a consultation as to what should be done to appease it. Some +suggested that upon every tree trunk should be scratched appealing +messages, which the Nat might read; others were in favour of placing a +huge heap of spears and swords near the spot where the embodied Nat had +been seen in order that it might be tempted to destroy all those who +urged it to injure them. The messages and weapons, however, when placed +for the Nat to observe did no good, for one dreadful night a rattling +was heard of the bamboos, which lay before one of the Kachyen's huts, +and the man, going hastily to see what caused it, was swiftly carried +away in the darkness without apparently uttering a single cry! For many +nights in succession a similar scene was enacted, for he at whose<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> door +the dire summons came dared not refuse to answer it lest the whole +household might perish.</p> + +<p>"Nothing more was ever seen of those thus strangely carried off, and the +Kachyens, each of whom feared that his own end might come next, +determined to consult some famous Buddhist priests who dwelt not far +from them, and who held charge over the famous marble slabs which the +great War Prince of Burmah had caused to be engraved concerning their +illustrious traditions. The man whom ye saw me conversing with by the +stockade was the one whom the tribe intrusted with the task; but the +priests, after much consideration among themselves of the object of his +visit, refused to have anything to do with such a tragic affair, and +thereupon dismissed their suppliant.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 412px;"> +<img src="images/image261.jpg" width="412" height="400" alt=""THE BUDDHIST PRIESTS."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"THE BUDDHIST PRIESTS."</span> +</div> + +<p>"This Kachyen, when sorrowfully returning towards the hills, fearing +that the tribe would destroy him because of his non-success, chanced to +meet on his way a Mogul, to whom he repeated the story. The latter, +laying his hand on his red-dyed and fierce-looking beard, advised the +Kachyen to enter a hole in the mountain side and to consult a famous +Maw-Sayah, or juggler, who dwelt there. This juggler promised assistance +if the tribe would pay him a great reward in the event of his success, +and when they agreed to this he entered the village and waited for dusk +to arrive. Again the dreadful rattling was heard, and another Kachyen +stepped out to meet his fate. None of the tribe dared to look at what +transpired, except the juggler, and he too disappeared! The next +morning, however, he came into the village and called its inhabitants +together. When they had solemnly agreed to his conditions, he stated +that the Nat was bent upon destroying them all, and that to attempt to +escape by means of flight would only lead to quicker death. Then he told +them what the result of his intercession for them had been.</p> + +<p>"The Nat had been persuaded to destroy only one victim on each seventh +evening at dusk, and had appointed him to see that certain conditions +were not broken. He was to have a hut at his disposal, and into this the +men were to go by lot, and thus the Nat would obtain a victim when the +time came round. They were forbidden to wander about after sunset, and +whatever noises were made not to hearken to them, since the Maw-Sayah +would see that the others were unharmed. So long had this dreadful +destruction lasted that more than one-half of the men in the Kachyen +village, or town, as it might well be called from the large number who +inhabited it, had perished, and yet the Nat still demanded a victim, and +the Maw-Sayah is there to see that the compact is fulfilled. The man who +told this story, sahibs, declares that the keeper of the Nat has by this +means obtained sway over the Kachyens to such an extent that they have +become his abject slaves, for the custom of drawing lots has been +abolished, and he selects whom he will to sacrifice to the Nat. By some +means this Kachyen offended the Maw-Sayah, who thereupon condemned him, +but he, in terror of the sudden and silent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> death in store for him, fled +to Bhamo, where he lives in momentary fear of destruction. Such then, +sahibs, is the story, and it is to see this Maw-Sayah and the Nat at +their fell work to-night that even now our faces are turned to the high +land before us, up which we must climb, for there is but one narrow +pathway leading to the village."</p> + +<p>Hassan ceased, and then Denviers turned to me as he said:—</p> + +<p>"I think that this Maw-Sayah, as Hassan calls him, has about as much +faith in Nats as we have. It suits his purpose to league himself with +something mysterious; whatever it is we will try to find out," and he +glanced at the weapons which we carried.</p> + + +<h4>II.</h4> + +<p>"The sahibs must dismount here", said Hassan shortly afterwards, and +following to the ground our guide, we began to climb the mountain path +which stretched before us. The ascent was exceedingly steep, and several +times we stopped to rest after pushing our way through the tangled +masses which almost hid the path, which was itself cut here and there +apparently through the rocky strata. When we had reached about +three-fourths of our journey Hassan stopped and pointed out to us one of +the thatched roofs of a hut, which seemed in the distance scarcely +noticeable until his keen eyesight discovered it. The village, we found, +lay a little to the left of the mountain path, for on nearing the summit +we found ourselves passing through a peculiar avenue of trees +interspersed with long bamboo poles. From the tops of the latter there +were stretched across the approach strong, rough-looking cords, which +supported various uncouth emblems, and among which were large triangles, +circles, and stars, cut apparently out of the stems of huge bamboos. +After traversing this avenue for nearly three hundred yards we saw the +tree trunks which Hassan had mentioned, and which were deeply scarred +with cabalistic messages to the fierce Nat, which we could not of course +understand. Affixed to some of the trees farther on we saw a number of +spears and dahs mingled with shorter weapons, the latter being made of +some species of hard wood, and close to them we observed the skulls of +several large animals, one of which we judged was that of an elephant.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 298px;"> +<img src="images/image262.jpg" width="298" height="450" alt=""THE AVENUE."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"THE AVENUE."</span> +</div> + +<p>In spite of the fact that the village was a large one, the buildings +were of a very primitive construction, being made of bamboos with +thatched coverings, reaching almost to the piles on which the huts were +placed. We did not observe any openings made to serve as windows, the +only ones noticeable being those by which the Kachyens entered, placed +above a bamboo ladder, which seemed to, serve instead of steps. Although +the sun had scarcely set, the village was wrapped in a strange silence, +the sound of our footsteps alone being heard. The smoke that seemed to +be forcing its way through stray holes in the thatch amply convinced us, +however, that the inhabitants were within doors, and, turning to our +Arab guide, I asked him if he could distinguish among the many huts the +one in which we expected to find the Maw-Sayah. He seemed a little +uncertain at first, but after wandering through the village together we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> +returned, and then Hassan, who had been very observant the whole time, +pointed to one of the rudely-constructed huts and said:—</p> + +<p>"I think that is the one into which we seek to enter; it is situated +according to the position in which the Kachyen said it was, and, +besides, it bears a strange proof of the story which ye have listened to +with such ill-concealed disbelief."</p> + +<p>"Why do you think that is the hut, Hassan?" I asked, for, to my eyes, no +difference between that and the others close to it was distinguishable.</p> + +<p>"If the sahib will look at the bamboo ladder and observe it carefully, +he will see that it is unlike the others round," said the Arab.</p> + +<p>"I suppose you refer to these deep scratches upon it, don't you, +Hassan?" asked Denviers, as he pointed to some marks, a few of which +were apparently fairly recent.</p> + +<p>"The sahib guesses rightly," answered our guide. "You will remember that +the Kachyen stated to me that the Nat is accustomed to obtain its victim +now from the abode of the Maw-Sayah; those marks, then, have been made +by it when it dragged its human prey out of the hut." We gazed curiously +at the marks for a few minutes, then Denviers broke the silence by +asking the Arab why it was that the Nat made marks at all.</p> + +<p>"I should have thought that such a powerful spirit could prevent such +evidences of its presence becoming observed," he continued. "My respect +for it is certainly not increased by seeing those deep scars; they seem +to be made by something which has sharp claws."</p> + +<p>"That is because of the shape which it has assumed, sahib," said the +Arab, "for the Nats have wondrous powers——"</p> + +<p>"Very likely, Hassan," interposed Denviers; "I suppose they can do +exactly what they like, can they not?" I was much surprised at the limit +which was, however, placed upon their powers by our guide, for he +responded quickly:—</p> + +<p>"Not altogether, sahib. There is one thing that a Nat cannot do, +according to the reports of these Kachyens, and that is, they are unable +to move in a direction which is not straight, and hence they are careful +to avoid rough ground, where tangled masses and boulders bar their +progress, so they usually frequent the open avenues, such as the one +which we have just passed through. The symbols above it and the writings +and weapons are all for the Nat's benefit."</p> + +<p>"And the elephant's skull?" asked Denviers, irreverently. "What is that +put up for?" The Arab, however, had an explanation ready, for he +promptly replied:—</p> + +<p>"That indicates where the supplies of food are to be found when the Nat +requires any." Denviers turned to me for a moment as he said:—</p> + +<p>"I should have thought it a good plan, then, to have put it upon the hut +of this Maw-Sayah whom we are about to interview. See that your weapons +are in good order, Harold, we may soon need them." Giving a cautious +look at my belt and the weapons thrust into it, I followed Denviers, who +had mounted the short bamboo ladder, and was endeavouring to obtain +admission to the hut. We heard a harsh sound within, then the cry of +someone apparently terror-stricken, and a moment afterwards we had +pushed past the Maw-Sayah, who by no means was willing to allow us to +enter the rude dwelling.</p> + +<p>The single room, which seemed to constitute the hut, was extremely low +and bare of furniture entirely. A few bamboos were spread in one part of +it, while at the far end was a fire, the light from which was partly +obscured by the smoke, which almost suffocated us, so thickly did it +roll up and then spread through the hut. Near the door stood a man +scarcely clothed, upon whose face we saw a look of the most abject +terror, for, as we surmised, the noise of our entry was mistaken by him +for the approach of the fell thing to which he was condemned by the +Maw-Sayah. We moved towards the latter as he threw himself down by the +fire, which he had only left to see who it was that came unbidden to the +hut where to enter was the preceding event to death. He was clothed in a +long blue strip of linen, which wound round his waist and covered his +body, partly leaving his dark chest uncovered. His features were stamped +with an appearance of supreme cunning, his oblique eyes reminding us of +a Chinaman, while the fierce look in them as they glared at us from +either side of an aquiline nose, which betrayed his Burmese descent, did +not increase our confidence in the man as he stretched out his bony +hands over the fire as if for warmth, although outside the hut we had +found the heat almost insupportable.</p> + +<p>"What do ye seek?" he demanded, as he looked into our faces in turn and +seemed astonished at our strange features.</p> + +<p>"We are travellers who wished to see a Kachyen village," responded +Denviers, "and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> we further desired to see some of its inhabitants; but +as none were visible we entered this hut, even against your will. Where +are the people who dwell here?" The man whom my companion addressed +pointed to the Kachyen near the doorway, as he responded:—</p> + +<p>"There is one of them, and in a short time even he will never be seen +again."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/image264.jpg" width="450" height="371" alt=""WHAT DO YE SEEK?"" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"WHAT DO YE SEEK?"</span> +</div> + +<p>"Can you give us food?" hazarded Hassan, in order to get the man to +continue his conversation, for the Arab evidently was expecting that the +Nat would soon arrive upon the scene. The Maw-Sayah rose and pointed to +the entrance as he cried:—</p> + +<p>"That way ye came, that way shall ye depart. Food for ye I have not, nor +would I give it if I had." I turned to Denviers and said in a low +tone:—</p> + +<p>"What shall we do, Frank? I don't think our opportunity of seeing what +may transpire will be as good within the hut as without it. Whatever the +solution is to this affair, if we are outside we shall see this Kachyen +dragged away, and may further watch the approach of whatever caused +those strange marks which we observed."</p> + +<p>"One thing is clear," said my companion, "we will attempt to save this +intended victim, at all events. I expect that if we tried we could get +him away easily enough, but that plan would not be of much service. We +must attack this being, whatever it is, with which this Maw-Sayah is +leagued. How I should like to hand him over as a victim instead of that +trembling captive by the door. It shows to what extent this juggler has +acquired power over this tribe, for I notice that his captive is +unbound, and is certainly a much finer built man than the other."</p> + +<p>"It wants less than an hour to dusk, sahibs," said Hassan, who had +listened carefully to our remarks; "if we were to station ourselves a +little away from the hut we could see what took place, and if the Nat +were mortal we might attack it."</p> + +<p>Denviers shrugged his shoulders at the Arab's supposition as he +responded:—</p> + +<p>"There is little doubt, Hassan, that the Nat would smart if that keen +blade of yours went a little too near it, but I think your plan is a +good one, and we will adopt it, as it falls in with what has already +been said." We gave a final look at the crafty face of the man who was +still seated by the fire, and then brushing past the captive we made for +the open village again.</p> + +<p>"I feel sorry for this Kachyen," said Denviers. "He will have a dreadful +five minutes of it, I expect; but it is our only way of preventing, if +possible, such an affair from occurring again." On leaving the hut we +stationed ourselves almost opposite to it, and then began to keep watch. +What we should see pass up the avenue we could only surmise, but our +suppositions certainly did not lead us to imagine in the faintest degree +the sight which before long was destined to completely startle us.</p> + + +<h4>III.</h4> + +<p>The grey dusk was becoming night when among the dark stems of the trees +we saw some black form move over the ground. We could scarcely +distinguish it as it crawled over the bamboo logs and made a rasping<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> +noise as it clung to the ladder. The door of the hut yielded to it, and +a minute after it again emerged and bore with it the terrified Kachyen. +We crept after it as it dragged its captive down the avenue, striving +our utmost to make out its shape. One thing we could tell, which was +that the creature was not upright; but our movement behind it was +apparently known, for it struggled to move quicker over the ground with +its human burden.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 371px;"> +<img src="images/image265.jpg" width="371" height="450" alt=""IT AGAIN EMERGED."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"IT AGAIN EMERGED."</span> +</div> + +<p>"Shall I shoot it?" I whispered to Denviers, as my nerves seemed to be +almost unstrung at the unknowableness of the creeping thing.</p> + +<p>"You would more likely kill the man," he responded. "Follow as +noiselessly as you can—it will not let its prey escape, be sure of +that. Once we track it to its haunt we will soon dispatch it, big and +fierce as it seems."</p> + +<p>We drew nearer and nearer to it, until it had passed half-way down the +avenue, then it seemed to become lost to our view, although we were, as +we knew, close to it. I felt Denviers' hand upon my shoulder, and then +he whispered:—</p> + +<p>"The Kachyen is being dragged up a tree just in front—look!" I could +just distinguish something moving up the trunk, when suddenly the +captive, who had hitherto been apparently paralyzed with terror, uttered +a cry and then must have succeeded in disengaging himself from the +dreadful thing that had held him, for the noise of someone falling to +the ground was heard, and a minute after we distinguished the form of a +man rushing headlong back to the village for safety.</p> + +<p>We did not anticipate such an event, and were contemplating a search for +the captor of the Kachyen, when a cold sweat broke out upon me, for the +clammy claws of the man-hunter had touched me! The sensation which +seized me was only of short duration, for I felt myself released just as +Denviers said:—</p> + +<p>"Harold, the Kachyen has fled, and his captor, determined to secure its +prey, has betaken its crawling body after him. If only we had a light! I +saw something like a black shadow moving onwards; get your pistol ready +and follow." I just distinguished Denviers as he passed on in front of +me, Hassan coming last. When we reached the hut of the Maw-Sayah we +stopped at once, for, from the cry which came from it, we rightly +surmised that the terrible seeker for human prey had made for this +place, thinking, in its dull intelligence, that its captive had +returned. We thrust ourselves into the hut, and saw by the red firelight +a sanguinary contest between the Maw-Sayah and the black object which we +had endeavoured to track. Thinking that the Kachyen was being destroyed, +the juggler had not fastened his door, and the enraged man-eater had +seized him as he rested on the ground, quite at its mercy!</p> + +<p>The Maw-Sayah was struggling with his bony hands to extricate himself +from the clutches of a monstrous tree-spider! We had seen, on an island +in the South Seas, several cocoa-nut crabs, and this reptile somewhat +resembled them, but was even larger. Grasping the juggler with several +of its long, furry-looking claws, it fixed its glaring red eyes in mad +anger upon him as he grasped in each<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> hand one of its front pair of +legs, which were armed with strong, heavy-looking pincers. He besought +us wildly to shoot, even if we killed him, held as he was by his +relentless foe.</p> + +<p>"Harold," cried my companion, "keep clear, and look out for yourself +when I fire at this reptile; most likely it will make for one of us." He +drew right close to it, and thrusting the barrel of his pistol between +its eyes touched the trigger. The explosion shook the hut, its effect +upon the spider being to cause it to rush frantically about the floor, +dragging the Maw-Sayah as if he were some slight burden scarcely +observable.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/image266.jpg" width="450" height="320" alt=""A RELENTLESS FOE."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"A RELENTLESS FOE."</span> +</div> + +<p>"You missed it!" I cried. "Look out, Hassan, guard the doorway!" The +Arab stood, sword in hand, waiting for it to make for the entrance, +while Denviers exclaimed:—</p> + +<p>"I shot it through the head!" and a minute afterwards the trueness of +his aim was manifest, for the claws released, and the Maw-Sayah, wounded +badly, but saved, stood free from the muscular twitchings of the dead +spider.</p> + +<p>"You scoundrel!" said Denviers to him, "I have a good mind to serve you +the same. You deserve to die as so many of these simple-minded, +credulous Kachyens have done." I thought for one brief second that my +companion was about to kill the juggler, for through all our adventures +I had never seen him so thoroughly roused. I stood between them; then, +when Denviers quickly recovered his self-command, I turned to the +Maw-Sayah and asked:—</p> + +<p>"If we spare your life, will you promise to leave this village and never +to return?" He turned his evil-looking but scared face towards us +eagerly as he replied:—</p> + +<p>"I will do whatever you wish." Denviers motioned to him to rest upon the +ground, which he did, then turning to me, said:—</p> + +<p>"It is pretty apparent what this juggler has done. The man who first +reported the discovery of this Nat, as the foolish Kachyens call it, +simply disturbed a monstrous spider which had lived in the trees which +he felled—that accounts for his seeing it. Finding animal food scarce, +the reptile ventured into this village and tried to get into one of the +huts. Its exertions were rewarded by the Kachyen coming to the door, +whom it accordingly seized. To continue its plan, which proved so +successful, needed very little reasoning power on the part of such a +cunning creature. No doubt this Maw-Sayah purposely left the door of his +hut unfastened each seventh night, and the spider thus became accustomed +to seek for its victim there, I daresay it came the other nights, but +the juggler was then careful enough to keep his hut well fastened."</p> + +<p>"What do the sahibs propose to do?" interrupted Hassan. Denviers turned +to him, as he responded:—</p> + +<p>"We will wait for daybreak; then, having dragged the dead spider out +where the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> Kachyens may see that it is no longer able to harm them, we +will take this Maw-Sayah down the mountain path away from the village as +poor as he came."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 422px;"> +<img src="images/image267.jpg" width="422" height="373" alt=""YOU SCOUNDREL!"" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"YOU SCOUNDREL!"</span> +</div> + +<p>"A good plan," I assented, and we followed it out, eventually leaving +the juggler, and climbing once more into the howdah upon the elephant, +which we found close to the spot where we had left it, secured from +wandering far away by the rope which Hassan had used to hinder its +movements.</p> + +<p>We entered Bhamo, and while we took a much-needed rest, our guide—as we +afterwards learnt—searched for and found the fugitive Kachyen, who, on +hearing that his safety was secured, hastily departed to the village to +rejoice with the rest of his tribe that the so-called Nat would not do +them any more injury.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="From_Behind_the_Speakers_Chair" id="From_Behind_the_Speakers_Chair"></a><i>From Behind the Speaker's Chair.</i></h2> + +<h3>III.</h3> + +<h3>(VIEWED BY HENRY W. LUCY.)</h3> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/image268-1.jpg" width="450" height="174" alt=""OBSTRUCTION."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"OBSTRUCTION."</span> +</div> + +<p>It is thirteen years since a new Parliament last blithely started on its +way with Mr. Gladstone sitting in the seat of the Premier. Since March, +1880, a great deal has happened, not least in the change of +circumstances under which the business of the House of Commons is +conducted. The majority of the House of Commons may be Liberal or +Conservative, according to a passing flood of conviction on the part of +the constituencies. When presumptuous hands are stretched forth to touch +the Ark of its procedure, its instincts are all Tory. For more than two +hundred years preceding the advent of a Tory Ministry in 1886, this was +so. Mr. Gladstone, driven to desperation in the second Session of the +Parliament of 1880-5, endeavoured to reform procedure so that +obstruction might be fought on even terms. He was met by such resolute +and persistent opposition from the Conservative side that, even with an +overwhelming majority at his back, he succeeded only in tinkering the +pot. Oddly enough, it was left for the Conservatives when they came into +office to revolutionize the system upon which, through the ages, +Parliamentary business had been carried on.</p> + +<p>There was nothing in the reforms more startling to the old +Parliamentarian than the proposal automatically to close debate at +midnight. A dozen years ago members of the House of Commons assembled at +four o'clock for prayers. Questions began at half-past four, and no one +could say at what hour of the night or of the next morning the cry "Who +goes home?" might echo through the lobby. In those days Mr. O'Donnell +was master of the situation, and he had many imitators. A debate carried +on through several nights might seem to be approaching a conclusion. The +Leader of the Opposition, rising between eleven o'clock and midnight, +spoke in a crowded House. The Premier, or his lieutenant, followed, +assuming to wind up the debate. Members wearied of the long sitting were +prepared to go forth to the division lobby; when from below the gangway +on the left there uprose a familiar figure, and there was heard a +well-known voice.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 342px;"> +<img src="images/image268-2.jpg" width="342" height="350" alt="F. H. O'DONNELL." title="" /> +<span class="caption">F. H. O'DONNELL.</span> +</div> + +<p>These usually belonged to Mr. O'Donnell<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> bent upon vindicating the right +of a private member to interpose when the constituted authorities of the +House had agreed in the opinion that a debate had been continued long +enough. A roar of execration from the fagged legislators greeted the +intruder. He expected this, and was in no degree perturbed. In earliest +practice he had a way of dropping his eye-glass as if startled by the +uproar, and searched for it with puzzled, preoccupied expression, +apparently debating with himself what this outburst might portend. He +did not love the British House of Commons, and delighted in thwarting +its purposes. But he knew what was due to it in the way of respect, and, +however angry passions might rise, however turbulent the scene, he would +never address it looking upon it with the naked eye. As his eye-glass +was constantly tumbling out, and as search for it was preternaturally +deliberate, it played an appreciable part in the prolongation of +successive Sessions.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 244px;"> +<img src="images/image269-1.jpg" width="244" height="250" alt=""EYE-GLASS PLAY."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"EYE-GLASS PLAY."</span> +</div> + +<p>What has become of Frank Hugh now, I wonder? Vanishing from the House of +Commons, he reappeared for a while on the scene, characteristically +acting the part of the petrel that heralded the storm Mr. Pigott +ineffectively tried to ride. It must be a consolation to Mr. O'Donnell, +in his retirement, wherever it is passed, to reflect on the fact that it +was he who directly brought about the appointment of the Parnell +Commission, with all it effected. His action for libel brought against +the <i>Times</i> preluded and inevitably led up to the formal investigation +of the famous Charges and Allegations.</p> + +<p>The member for Dungarvan was, in his day, the most thoroughly disliked +man in the House of Commons, distaste for Mr. Parnell and for Mr. Biggar +in his early prime being softened by contrast with his subtler +provocation. An exceedingly clever debater, he was a phrase maker, some +of whose epigrams Mr. Disraeli would not have disowned. He was a +parliamentary type of ancient standing, and apparently ineradicable +growth. In the present House of Commons fresh developments are presented +by Mr. Seymour Keay and Mr. Morton. These are distinct varieties, but +from the unmistakable root. Both are gifted with boundless volubility, +unhampered by ordinary considerations of coherency and cogency. Neither +is influenced by that sense of the dread majesty of the House of Commons +which keeps some members dumb all through their parliamentary life, and +to the last, as in the case of Mr. Bright, weighs upon even great +orators. The difference between the older and the new development is +that whilst over Mr. O'Donnell's intentional and deliberate vacuity of +speech there gleamed frequent flashes of wit, Mr. Morton and Mr. Keay +are only occasionally funny, and then the effect was undesigned.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 233px;"> +<img src="images/image269-2.jpg" width="233" height="400" alt="O'DONNELL'S LAST APPEARANCE." title="" /> +<span class="caption">O'DONNELL'S LAST APPEARANCE.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 152px;"> +<img src="images/image269-3.jpg" width="152" height="350" alt="MR. SEYMOUR KEAY." title="" /> +<span class="caption">MR. SEYMOUR KEAY.</span> +</div> + +<p>Since we have these two gentlemen still with us, it would be rash to say +that if Mr. O'Donnell could revisit the glimpses of Big Ben he would +find his occupation gone. He would certainly discover that his +opportunities had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> been limited, and would have to recommence practice +under greatly altered conditions. One of the former member for +Dungarvan's famous achievements took place in the infancy of the +Parliament of 1880-5, and, apart from its dramatic interest, is valuable +as illustrating the change effected in parliamentary procedure by the +New Rules. On that particular June night the paper was loaded with +questions in a fashion unfamiliar in the last Parliament, though there +are not lacking signs of renewed activity since political parties +changed places. Question No. 23 stood in the name of Mr. O'Donnell, and +contained in his best literary style a serious indictment of M. +Challemel-Lacour, just nominated by the French Government as their +representative at the Court of St. James.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 185px;"> +<img src="images/image270-1.jpg" width="185" height="400" alt="MR. A. C. MORTON." title="" /> +<span class="caption">MR. A. C. MORTON.</span> +</div> + +<p>Sir Charles Dilke, then Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, made +categorical reply, directly traversing all the points in the indictment. +When he resumed his seat Mr. O'Donnell rose in his usual deliberate +manner, captured his eye-glass, and having fixed it to his satisfaction, +remarked in his drawling voice that it was "perfectly impossible to +accept the explanation of the Government." Being interrupted with cries +of "Order! Order!" he quietly played his trump card: "If I am not +allowed to explain," he said, "I will conclude with a motion."</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 252px;"> +<img src="images/image270-2.jpg" width="252" height="350" alt="SIR CHARLES DILKE." title="" /> +<span class="caption">SIR CHARLES DILKE.</span> +</div> + +<p>The House howled again, but it was a cry of despair. Mr. O'Donnell, they +knew, had the whip hand. In those good old days he, or any other member +desiring to obstruct ordinary procedure, might, in the middle of +questions, start a debate on any subject under the sun. This and other +outrages were doubtless recalled by the House of Commons when revising +its Rules. It then ordered that no member might, during the progress of +questions, interpose with a motion on which to found debate. If, in this +current month of March, Mr. O'Donnell, being a member of the House of +Commons, had wanted to attack M. Challemel-Lacour, he must needs have +waited till the last question on the paper was disposed of, and could +then have moved the adjournment only if his description of the +question—as one of urgent public importance—was approved by the +Speaker, and if, thereafter, forty members rose to support the request +for a hearing.</p> + +<p>In June, 1880, all that was left for the crowded House to do was to roar +with resentment. Mr. O'Donnell was used to this incentive, and had it +been withheld would probably have shown signs of failing vigour. As it +was, he produced a pocket-handkerchief, took down his eye-glass and +carefully polished it, whilst members yelled and tossed about on their +seats with impotent fury. Under the existing Rules this scene, if it had +ever opened, would have been promptly blotted out. The closure would +have been moved, probably a division taken, and the business of the +evening would have gone forward. There was no closure in those days, and +Mr. Gladstone, after hurried consultation with Sir Erskine May, hastily +moved that Mr. O'Donnell be not heard.</p> + +<p>A shout of savage exultation rising from every bench, save those on +which the Irish members sat, hailed a stroke that promised to deliver +the House from the thraldom of Mr. O'Donnell at the very moment when its +chains had taken a final twist. In ordinary circumstances this +resolution would have played the part of the as yet unconsecrated +closure. A division would have followed, the motion carried by an +overwhelming majority, and Mr. O'Donnell would have been temporarily +shut up.</p> + +<p>But those were not ordinary times. The Fourth Party was in the prime of +its vigour. Lord Randolph Churchill's quick eye discovered an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> opening +for irritating Mr. Gladstone and damaging the Government by making what +should have been a business night one long turmoil. Mr. Parnell, whilst +disclaiming any personal sympathy with Mr. O'Donnell, moved the +adjournment of the debate, and poor, placid Sir Stafford Northcote, +egged on by the young bloods below the gangway, raised various points of +order. Finally, at eight o'clock, the House dividing on Mr. Parnell's +amendment, Sir Stafford Northcote voted with the Irish members, leading +a hundred men of the Party of Law and Order into the same lobby.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/image271-1.jpg" width="400" height="360" alt="STIRRING UP SIR STAFFORD." title="" /> +<span class="caption">STIRRING UP SIR STAFFORD.</span> +</div> + +<p>Hour after hour the riot continued. At one time blameless Sir William +Harcourt, then Home Secretary, appearing at the table, a Conservative +member, amid tumultuous shouts, moved that he be not heard. When members +grew tired of shouting at each other they divided on fresh motions for +the adjournment, and it was not till one o'clock on the following +morning that Mr. O'Donnell, grateful for a pleasant evening, was good +enough to undertake that before he recurred to the question he would +give due notice, so that the Speaker might exercise his discretion in +revising its terms. At five minutes past one in the morning, after a +wrangle full eight hours long, the Speaker, with a pretty assumption of +nothing particular having happened, called on the next question on the +paper, which was Number 24.</p> + +<p>All this might happen again on any night of this month save for the +beneficent action of the New Rules a long-suffering Parliament was +finally induced to adopt. On the threshold of a new Parliament it is +useful to recall the scene as an assistance in calculating what may be +accomplished by the Parliament elected in 1892, as compared with that +which began its history in 1880. On the face of it, Parliament to-day +has much less time at its disposal for the accomplishment of work than +it had a dozen years ago. Then, the duration of a sitting was +indefinite. The House might, as it did in February, 1881, meet at four +o'clock on a Monday afternoon and sit continuously till Wednesday +morning. Now, the Speaker takes the Chair at three o'clock; public +business commences at half-past three; and at midnight, save in cases +where the Standing Order has been formally suspended, the Speaker leaves +the Chair, and the House adjourns, whoever may be on his feet.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 229px;"> +<img src="images/image271-2.jpg" width="229" height="300" alt=""DISGUST."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"DISGUST."</span> +</div> + +<p>The influence of this automatic procedure is beneficially felt +throughout the whole of debate. One wholesome influence works in the +direction of using up the early hours of the sitting, an arrangement +which carries comfort to countless printing offices and editorial +sanctums. Some time before the New Rules came into operation, Mr. +Gladstone discovered for himself the convenience and desirability of +taking part in debate at the earliest possible hour of a sitting. His +earlier associations drifted round a directly opposite course. In the +good old days the champions of debate did not interpose till close upon +midnight, when they had the advantage of audiences sustained and +exhilarated by dinner. That was before the era of special wires to the +provincial papers, early morning trams, and vastly increased circulation +for the London journals. Mr. Gladstone discovered that he was more +carefully reported and his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> observations more deliberately discussed if +he spoke between five and seven o'clock in the evening than if, +following his earlier habit, he addressed the House between eleven and +one in the morning. He has, accordingly, for some years been accustomed, +when he has an important speech to deliver, to interpose in debate +immediately after questions.</p> + +<p>This habit has become general, even compulsory, with members who may, +within certain limits, choose their own time for speaking. All the cream +of debate is now skimmed before the dinner-hour. At the close of a +pitched battle, the two Leaders of Party, as heretofore, wind up the +debate. But their opportunity for orating is severely circumscribed. The +audience in the House of Commons does not begin to reassemble after +dinner till half-past ten. Rising at that hour, the Leader of the +Opposition, if he fairly divides the available time with the right +honourable gentleman opposite, must not speak more than three-quarters +of an hour, and should not exceed forty minutes.</p> + +<p>This is a necessity desirable not less in the orator's interest than in +that of the audience. Except for the exposition of an intricate measure, +twenty minutes is ample time for any man to say what is useful for his +fellow-men to hear. All Mr. Disraeli's best speeches were made within +half an hour, and if he thought it necessary, from a sense of the +importance of his position, to prolong them, his stock of good things +was exhausted in twenty minutes, the rest being what Carlyle +disrespectfully described as thrice-boiled cole-wort. Mr. Gladstone can +go on indefinitely, and in very recent times has been known to hold his +audience spell-bound for three hours. But even he has profited by the +beneficent tyranny that now rules the limit of debate, and, rising with +the knowledge that he has but forty minutes to speak in, has excelled +himself. For less exuberant speakers not gifted with his genius, the new +discipline is even more marked in its benefits.</p> + + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 136px;"> +<img src="images/image272.jpg" width="136" height="400" alt="MR. KEIR HARDIE." title="" /> +<span class="caption">MR. KEIR HARDIE.</span> +</div> +<p>It is too soon to endeavour to estimate the general characteristics of +the <i>personnel</i> of the new Parliament. It will probably turn out to be +very much of the same class as the innumerable army of its predecessors. +When Mr. Keir Hardie came down on the opening day in a wagonette, with +flags flying and accordions playing, it was cried aloud in some quarters +that the end was at hand. This apprehension was strengthened when Mr. +Hardie strolled about the House with a tweed travelling cap on his head, +the Speaker at the time being in the chair. This, as Dr. Johnson +explained, when the lady asked him why he had described the horse's +pastern as its knee, was "ignorance, pure ignorance." Mr. Hardie is not +a man of the quietest manners, as was testified to by the apparition in +Palace Yard of the wagonette and its musical party; but in the +much-talked-of incident of the cap he sinned inadvertently. Before the +Speaker took the chair he had seen members walking about with their hats +on. He had observed that even in his presence they remained seated with +their heads covered. The shade of etiquette which approves this fashion +whilst it sternly prohibits a member from keeping his hat on when in +motion, even to the extent of leaning over to speak to a friend on the +bench below him, was too fine to catch the eye of a new member.</p> + +<p>Mr. Keir Hardie has done much worse things than this in his public +appearances during the recess, and since the Session opened there has +not been lacking evidence of resolve to keep himself in the front of the +stage where the gallery may see him. But this is no new thing, to be +cited in proof of the deterioration of the composition and style of the +House of Commons. It has been done repeatedly in various fashions within +recent memory, and always with the same result. No man, not even Mr. +Biggar—and he may be cited as the most ruthless experimenter—has +successfully struggled against the subtle disciplinary influence of the +House of Commons.</p> + +<p>From the first the member for Cavan set himself in deliberate fashion to +outrage Parliamentary traditions and usages. He finished by becoming a +punctilious practitioner of Parliamentary forms, a stickler for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> +minutest observation of order. Whilst Mr. Gladstone and other members of +old standing were content to preface their speeches with the +monosyllable "Sir," nothing less than "Mr. Speaker, sir," would satisfy +Mr. Biggar. No one who has not heard the inflection of tone with which +this was uttered, nor seen the oratorical sweep of the hand that +launched it on its course, can realize how much of combined deference +and authority the phrase is capable of. Mr. Biggar, having in his early +Parliamentary days defied the Chair and affronted the sensibilities of +the House, alike in the matter of dress and deportment, developed into a +portly gentleman of almost smug appearance, a terror to new members. Woe +to any who in his ignorance passed between the Chair and the member +addressing it; who walked in from a division with his hat on; or who +stood an inch or two within the Bar whilst debate was going forward. Mr. +Biggar's strident cry of "Order! Order!" reverberated through the House. +Others joined in the shout, and the abashed offender hastily withdrew +into obscurity.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 244px;"> +<img src="images/image273.jpg" width="244" height="200" alt="THE LATE MR. BIGGAR." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE LATE MR. BIGGAR.</span> +</div> + +<p>It is the same with others of less strongly marked character. Vanity or +garrulity may force a new member into a position of notoriety. He may, +according to his measure of determination, try a fall again and again +with the House, and may sometimes, as in the case of Mr. O'Donnell, seem +to win. But in the end the House of Commons proves victorious. It is a +sort of whetstone on which blades of various temperature operate. In +time, they either forego the practice or wear themselves away. In either +case the whetstone remains.</p> + +<p>This is a rule without exception, and is a reassuring reflection in view +of the talk about the degeneracy of the House of Commons, and the +decadence of its standard of manner. It would not be difficult to show +that the House at present in Session will, from the point of view of +manners, favourably compare with any that have gone before—though, to +be just, the comparison should be sought with Parliaments elected under +similar conditions, with the Liberals in office and the Conservatives in +opposition. That is an arrangement always found to be more conducive to +lively proceedings than when parties are disposed in the contrary order. +The Parliament dissolved last year was decorously dull. Mr. Gladstone in +opposition is not prone to show sport, and no encouragement was held out +to enterprising groups below the gangway to bait the Government. It was +very different in the Parliament of 1880-5, of which fact the +Challemel-Lacour episode is an illustration, only a little more piquant +in flavour than the average supply.</p> + +<p>There are already signs that the new Parliament will not lie under the +charge of deplorable dulness brought against its predecessor. But these +varying moods are due to waves of political passion, and do not affect +the question whether the House of Commons as a body of English gentlemen +met for the discharge of public business has or has not deteriorated. I +have an engraving of a picture of the House of Commons in pre-Reform +days. It was carefully drawn in the Session of 1842. A more respectable +body of the gentlemen of England it would be difficult to gather +together. With the possible exception of one or two political +adventurers like the then member for Shrewsbury, there is probably not a +man in the House who is not well born or at least rich. Mr. Keir Hardie +would look strange indeed in these serried ranks of portly gentlemen +with high coat collars, cravats up to their chin, short-bodied coats +showing the waistcoat beneath, and the tightly trousered legs. Yet this +House, and its equally prim successors, had its obstruction, its +personal wrangles, and its occasional duel. Peel was attacked by +Disraeli in a fashion and in language that would not be tolerated in the +House of Commons now, even though the target were Mr. Gladstone.</p> + +<p>It is not necessary to go back as far as the days of Peel or +Parliamentary Reform to sustain the bold assertion that, so far from +having degenerated, the manners of the House of Commons have improved. +In the Parliament elected in 1874 there sat on the Conservative side a +gentleman named Smollet, who early distinguished himself by bringing +Parliamentary debate down to the level of conversation in "Roderick +Random." In those days Mr. Gladstone was down after the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> General +Election, and Mr. Smollet, to the uproarious delight of gentlemen near +him, savagely kicked him.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 406px;"> +<img src="images/image274.jpg" width="406" height="400" alt=""MOBBING HIM."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"MOBBING HIM."</span> +</div> + +<p>It was in the second year of this same Parliament, less than twenty +years ago, that Mr. Gladstone, issuing from a division lobby, was +suddenly pounced upon by some fifty or sixty Conservative members, and +howled at for the space of several moments. It is, happily, possible for +Mr. Gladstone to forget, or at least to forgive, personal attacks made +upon him through his long career. In this very month of the new Session +he may be nightly seen working in cordial fashion with ancient +adversaries from Ireland, describing as "my honourable friends" +gentlemen who, ten years ago and for some time subsequently, heaped on +his head the coarsest vituperation permitted by practised manipulation +of Parliamentary forms. But this scene in the division lobby on the 12th +of April, 1875, is burned into his recollection. I have heard him, +within the last few months, refer to it in those tones of profound +indignation and with that flashing fire in his eyes only seen when he is +deeply moved. He mentioned, what I think was not known, that Lord +Hartington happened to be walking with him at the time. But there was no +mistake for whom the angry cries were meant. Mr. Gladstone spoke with +the profounder indignation because, as he said, he had on this occasion +gone out to vote on behalf of a man whose character he detested, because +he saw in the action taken against him an attack upon one of the +privileges of Parliament.</p> + +<p>That scene was an outburst of political animosity; and the movements of +political animosity, like the dicta of taste, are not to be disputed. +But on the question of good manners, the only one here under +consideration, it may be affirmed that the present House of Commons +would be safe from lapse into such an exhibition. To this better state +of things the operation of the New Rules has conspicuously contributed, +and though, as we know, they have not operated to the absolute +extinction of Parliamentary scenes, they have appreciably limited +opportunity and incentive.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Portraits_of_Celebrities_at_Different_Times_of_their_Lives" id="Portraits_of_Celebrities_at_Different_Times_of_their_Lives"></a><i>Portraits of Celebrities at Different Times of their Lives</i>.</h2> + + +<h3>LORD BATTERSEA.</h3> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Born 1843.</span></h4><div class="figleft" style="width: 330px;"> +<img src="images/image275-1.jpg" width="330" height="425" alt="AGE 14." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AGE 14.<br /> + +From a Daguerreotype.</span> +</div> + +<p>Lord Battersea, who was until recently known to the world as Mr. Cyril +Flower, M.P., is a son of the late Mr. P. W. Flower, of Streatham, and +was educated at Harrow and at Trinity College, Cambridge.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 235px;"> +<img src="images/image275-2.jpg" width="235" height="300" alt="AGE 21." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AGE 21.<br /> + +From a Photo, by Mayland, Cambridge.</span> +</div> + +<p>He was called to the Bar at the age of twenty-seven, and became Liberal +Member for Brecknock in 1880, and for the Luton Division of Bedfordshire +in 1885 and 1886, in which later year he was one of Mr. Gladstone's +"Whips." He married the daughter of the late Sir Anthony Rothschild, and +both he and his wife are much interested in the welfare of the lower +classes of London. Lord Battersea was unanimously reputed the handsomest +man in the House of Commons, and is now, in every sense of the word, an +ornament of the House of Lords.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 251px;"> +<img src="images/image275-3.jpg" width="251" height="350" alt="AGE 40. +." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AGE 40.<br /> + +From a Drawing.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 409px;"> +<img src="images/image275-4.jpg" width="409" height="450" alt="PRESENT DAY. +" title="" /> +<span class="caption">PRESENT DAY.<br /> + +From a Photograph by Bassano, 35, Old Bond Street, W.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span></p> + + +<h3>W. Q. ORCHARDSON, R.A.</h3> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Born</span> 1835.</h4> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 313px;"> +<img src="images/image276-1.jpg" width="313" height="375" alt="AGE 16. + +From an Oil Sketch by himself." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AGE 16.<br /> + +From an Oil Sketch by himself.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 270px;"> +<img src="images/image276-2.jpg" width="270" height="400" alt="AGE 35. + +From a Photograph by Walery, Marseilles." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AGE 35. +<br /> +From a Photograph by Walery, Marseilles.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 274px;"> +<img src="images/image276-3.jpg" width="274" height="400" alt="AGE 44. + +From a Photograph." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AGE 44.<br /> + +From a Photograph.</span> +</div> + +<p>Mr. William Quiller Orchardson was born in Edinburgh, and at the age of +fifteen entered the Trustees' Academy of that city, his first pictures +being exhibited in the Royal Scottish Academy. At the age of +twenty-eight he came to London, and the same year exhibited at the Royal +Academy for the first time, his contributions being entitled, "An Old +English Song" and "Portraits," the latter a life-size composition of +three young ladies. In 1865 he painted "The Challenge," which won a +prize of £100 given by Mr. Wallace, and one of the very few Medals +awarded to English painters at the Paris Universal Exhibition. In 1866 +came "The Story of a Life"—an aged nun relating her experiences to a +group of novices. Two years later, when he had only been four years in +London, he was elected an A.R.A. Among his more recent pictures may be +mentioned "Napoleon on Board the <i>Bellerophon</i>" (1880), "The Salon of +Madame Recamier" (1885), "The Young Duke" (1889), and "St. Helena" +(1892). Mr. Orchardson was elected an R.A. in 1877, and a D.C.L. of +Oxford in 1890.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 327px;"> +<img src="images/image276-4.jpg" width="327" height="400" alt="PRESENT DAY. + +From a Photo. by Elliott & Fry." title="" /> +<span class="caption">PRESENT DAY. + +From a Photo. by Elliott & Fry.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span></p> + + +<h3>LADY HALLÉ.</h3> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 257px;"> +<img src="images/image277-1.jpg" width="257" height="400" alt="AGE 10. + +From a Drawing." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AGE 10. + +From a Drawing.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 293px;"> +<img src="images/image277-3.jpg" width="293" height="450" alt="AGE 23." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AGE 23. + +From a Photograph.</span> +</div> + +<p>Lady Hallé, whose maiden name was Wilhelmine Néruda, was born at Brünn, +where her father was organist of the cathedral. She was a pupil of +Jansa, and made her first appearance at Vienna at the age of six, and in +London at the age of nine. After this she returned to the Continent, and +in 1864 she married Ludwig Norman, a Swedish musician. Since 1869 she +has been in England every winter, playing especially at the concerts of +Sir Charles Hallé, whom she married in 1888.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 328px;"> +<img src="images/image277-2.jpg" width="328" height="400" alt="AGE 35." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AGE 35.<br /><br /> + +From a Photograph.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 252px;"> +<img src="images/image277-4.jpg" width="252" height="450" alt="PRESENT DAY." title="" /> +<span class="caption">PRESENT DAY.<br /> + +From a Photo by Burraud.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span></p> + + +<h3>SIR CHARLES HALLÉ.</h3> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 302px;"> +<img src="images/image278-1.jpg" width="302" height="420" alt="AGE 20. + +From a Painting." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AGE 20.<br /> + +From a Painting.</span> +</div> + +<p>Sir Charles Hallé is a native of Germany, but at an early age he +established himself in Paris, where he acquired a great reputation by +his refined and classical rendering of the compositions of the great +musicians; but the Revolution of 1843 drove him to England, where he has +ever since resided. He soon established himself at Manchester, and as +the founder of the annual series of orchestral and choral concerts there +and in London, which have become, perhaps, the most important series in +Europe, he has rendered the most valuable service to musical art.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 304px;"> +<img src="images/image278-2.jpg" width="304" height="400" alt="AGE 31. + +From a Painting." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AGE 31. + +From a Painting.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 258px;"> +<img src="images/image278-3.jpg" width="258" height="450" alt="AGE 45. + +From a Photo, by H. Hering, Regent Street, W." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AGE 45. + +From a Photo, by H. Hering, Regent Street, W.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 308px;"> +<img src="images/image278-4.jpg" width="308" height="400" alt="PRESENT DAY. + +From a Photo. by Mayall & Co., 164, New Bond Street, W." title="" /> +<span class="caption">PRESENT DAY. + +From a Photo. by Mayall & Co., 164, New Bond Street, W.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span></p> + + +<h3>DR. HERMANN ADLER,</h3> + +<h4>CHIEF RABBI.</h4> + +<h4>Born 1839.</h4> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 305px;"> +<img src="images/image279-1.jpg" width="305" height="400" alt="AGE 24. + +From a Photograph by McLean & Haes, Haymarket." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AGE 24. + +From a Photograph by McLean & Haes, Haymarket.</span> +</div> + + + +<p>Dr. Adler, son of Dr. Nathan Marcus Adler, was born in Hanover, and came +to London with his father at the age of six. He studied at University +College, took his B. A. degree at the University of London at twenty, +and that of Ph. D., at Leipzig, at twenty-two. In the following year he +was ordained Rabbi by the famous Rapoport, Chief Rabbi of Prague, and +became in succession Principal of the Jews' College in London and Chief +Minister of the Bayswater Synagogue. In 1890 his father, the Chief +Rabbi, died, and Dr. Adler was elected in his place. Dr. Adler is well +known not only by his powerful and scholarly writings, but by his work +among the poorer Jews of London.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 294px;"> +<img src="images/image279-2.jpg" width="294" height="450" alt="AGE 37. + +From a Photograph by J. R. Sawyer, Norwich." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AGE 37. + +From a Photograph by J. R. Sawyer, Norwich.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 261px;"> +<img src="images/image279-3.jpg" width="261" height="400" alt="AGE 44. + +From a Photograph by Fradella, 216, Regent Street, W." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AGE 44. + +From a Photograph by Fradella, 216, Regent Street, W.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 295px;"> +<img src="images/image279-4.jpg" width="295" height="350" alt="PRESENT DAY. + +From a Photograph by The Photographic Co." title="" /> +<span class="caption">PRESENT DAY. + +From a Photograph by The Photographic Co.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span></p> + + +<h3>SIR ARCHIBALD ALISON, BART., K.C.B.</h3> + +<h4>Born 1826.</h4> + +<p>General Alison, son of Sir Archibald Alison, the first Baronet, who was +the well-known author of "The History of Europe," was born at Edinburgh, +and entered the Army at the age of twenty. He served in the Crimea, at +the siege and fall of Sebastopol, at which date our second portrait +represents him. During the Indian Mutiny he lost an arm at the relief of +Lucknow. In 1882 he commanded the 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, during the +expedition to Egypt, and at the decisive battle of Tel-el-Kebir he led +the Highland Brigade which fought so gallantly on that memorable +occasion, and after Arabi's surrender he was left in Egypt with the +command of the British army of 12,000 men to restore order and protect +the Khedive. Sir Archibald was included in the thanks of Parliament for +his energy and gallantry, and was promoted to the rank of +Lieutenant-General; he received his appointment as General in 1889. In +1869 Sir Archibald Alison published an able treatise, "On Army +Organization."</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 316px;"> +<img src="images/image280-1.jpg" width="316" height="650" alt="AGE 3." title="" /> +</div> + + +<div class="figright" style="width: 240px;"> +<img src="images/image280-2.jpg" width="240" height="450" alt="AGE 47. + +From a Photograph by Jacklett, Aldershot." title="" /> +<span class="caption">AGE 47. + +From a Photograph by Jacklett, Aldershot.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 326px;"> +<img src="images/image280-3.jpg" width="326" height="400" alt="PRESENT DAY. + +From a Photo, by Barraud." title="" /> +<span class="caption">PRESENT DAY. + +From a Photo, by Barraud.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span></p> + + +<h3>MADAME JANE HADING.</h3> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 750px;"> +<img src="images/image281.jpg" width="750" height="1153" alt="AGE 3. + +From a Photo. by Chalot et Cie., Paris." title="" /> +</div> + +<p>Madame Jane Hading, the well-known French actress, was born at +Marseilles, in 1863, where her father was popular as a leading actor, +with whom she appeared when only three years of age as little <i>Blanche +de Caylus</i> in "Le Bossu." At the age of thirteen she began work in +earnest, having won "le prix de solfège" at the Marseille Conservatoire, +and her talent having come to the ears of Mr. Plunkett, the director of +the Palais Royal, he engaged her for the Palais Royal in Paris, where +she created the part of <i>La Chaste Suzanne</i>, by Paul Ferrier. Giving up +comic opera for comedy, Jane Hading went to the Gymnase, where she +created the part of <i>Claire de Beaulieu</i> in "Le Maître de Forges." +London had the opportunity of seeing her in that and "Prince Zilah," by +Jules Claretie, later on, and fully indorsed the Parisian verdict. These +conspicuous successes were followed by others almost as notable, and her +subsequent tour in America won her golden opinions, and was so +successful that it was extended some months. Her latest Parisian success +was "Le Prince d'Aurec," which added greatly to her laurels, putting her +in the very front rank of great artists.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="The_Adventures_of_Sherlock_Holmes" id="The_Adventures_of_Sherlock_Holmes"></a><i>The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes</i>.</h2> + +<h3>XVI.—THE ADVENTURE OF THE STOCKBROKER'S CLERK.</h3> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By A. Conan Doyle.</span></h3> + + +<p>Shortly after my marriage I had bought a connection in the Paddington +district. Old Mr. Farquhar, from whom I purchased it, had at one time an +excellent general practice, but his age, and an affliction of the nature +of St. Vitus' dance, from which he suffered, had very much thinned it. +The public, not unnaturally, goes upon the principle that he who would +heal others must himself be whole, and looks askance at the curative +powers of the man whose own case is beyond the reach of his drugs. Thus, +as my predecessor weakened, his practice declined, until when I +purchased it from him it had sunk from twelve hundred to little more +than three hundred a year. I had confidence, however, in my own youth +and energy, and was convinced that in a very few years the concern would +be as flourishing as ever.</p> + +<p>For three months after taking over the practice I was kept very closely +at work, and saw little of my friend Sherlock Holmes, for I was too busy +to visit Baker Street, and he seldom went anywhere himself save upon +professional business. I was surprised, therefore, when one morning in +June, as I sat reading the <i>British Medical Journal</i> after breakfast, I +heard a ring at the bell followed by the high, somewhat strident, tones +of my old companion's voice.</p> + +<p>"Ah, my dear Watson," said he, striding into the room. "I am very +delighted to see you. I trust that Mrs. Watson has entirely recovered +from all the little excitements connected with our adventure of the +'Sign of Four.'"</p> + +<p>"Thank you, we are both very well," said I, shaking him warmly by the +hand.</p> + +<p>"And I hope also," he continued, sitting down in the rocking-chair, +"that the cares of medical practice have not entirely obliterated the +interest which you used to take in our little deductive problems."</p> + +<p>"On the contrary," I answered; "it was only last night that I was +looking over my old notes and classifying some of our past results."</p> + +<p>"I trust that you don't consider your collection closed?"</p> + +<p>"Not at all. I should wish nothing better than to have some more of such +experiences."</p> + +<p>"To-day, for example?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; to-day, if you like."</p> + +<p>"And as far off as Birmingham?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly, if you wish it."</p> + +<p>"And the practice?"</p> + +<p>"I do my neighbour's when he goes. He is always ready to work off the +debt."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image282.jpg" width="500" height="316" alt=""'NOTHING COULD BE BETTER,' SAID HOLMES."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"'NOTHING COULD BE BETTER,' SAID HOLMES."</span> +</div> + +<p>"Ha! Nothing could be better!" said Holmes, leaning back in his chair +and looking keenly at me from under his half-closed lids. "I perceive +that you have been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> unwell lately. Summer colds are always a little +trying."</p> + +<p>"I was confined to the house by a severe chill for three days last week. +I thought, however, that I had cast off every trace of it."</p> + +<p>"So you have. You look remarkably robust."</p> + +<p>"How, then, did you know of it?"</p> + +<p>"My dear fellow, you know my methods."</p> + +<p>"You deduced it, then?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly."</p> + +<p>"And from what?"</p> + +<p>"From your slippers."</p> + +<p>I glanced down at the new patent leathers which I was wearing. "How on +earth——?" I began, but Holmes answered my question before it was +asked.</p> + +<p>"Your slippers are new," he said. "You could not have had them more than +a few weeks. The soles which you are at this moment presenting to me are +slightly scorched. For a moment I thought they might have got wet and +been burned in the drying. But near the instep there is a small circular +wafer of paper with the shopman's hieroglyphics upon it. Damp would of +course have removed this. You had then been sitting with your feet +outstretched to the fire, which a man would hardly do even in so wet a +June as this if he were in his full health."</p> + +<p>Like all Holmes's reasoning the thing seemed simplicity itself when it +was once explained. He read the thought upon my features, and his smile +had a tinge of bitterness.</p> + +<p>"I am afraid that I rather give myself away when I explain," said he. +"Results without causes are much more impressive. You are ready to come +to Birmingham, then?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly. What is the case?"</p> + +<p>"You shall hear it all in the train. My client is outside in a +four-wheeler. Can you come at once?"</p> + +<p>"In an instant." I scribbled a note to my neighbour, rushed upstairs to +explain the matter to my wife, and joined Holmes upon the doorstep.</p> + +<p>"Your neighbour is a doctor?" said he, nodding at the brass plate.</p> + +<p>"Yes. He bought a practice as I did."</p> + +<p>"An old-established one?"</p> + +<p>"Just the same as mine. Both have been ever since the houses were +built."</p> + +<p>"Ah, then you got hold of the best of the two."</p> + +<p>"I think I did. But how do you know?"</p> + +<p>"By the steps, my boy. Yours are worn three inches deeper than his. But +this gentleman in the cab is my client, Mr. Hall Pycroft. Allow me to +introduce you to him. Whip your horse up, cabby, for we have only just +time to catch our train."</p> + +<p>The man whom I found myself facing was a well-built, fresh-complexioned +young fellow with a frank, honest face and a slight, crisp, yellow +moustache. He wore a very shiny top-hat and a neat suit of sober black, +which made him look what he was—a smart young City man, of the class +who have been labelled Cockneys, but who give us our crack Volunteer +regiments, and who turn out more fine athletes and sportsmen than any +body of men in these islands. His round, ruddy face was naturally full +of cheeriness, but the corners of his mouth seemed to me to be pulled +down in a half-comical distress. It was not, however, until we were all +in a first-class carriage and well started upon our journey to +Birmingham, that I was able to learn what the trouble was which had +driven him to Sherlock Holmes.</p> + +<p>"We have a clear run here of seventy minutes," Holmes remarked. "I want +you, Mr. Hall Pycroft, to tell my friend your very interesting +experience exactly as you have told it to me, or with more detail if +possible. It will be of use to me to hear the succession of events +again. It is a case, Watson, which may prove to have something in it, or +may prove to have nothing, but which at least presents those unusual and +<i>outré</i> features which are as dear to you as they are to me. Now, Mr. +Pycroft, I shall not interrupt you again."</p> + +<p>Our young companion looked at me with a twinkle in his eye.</p> + +<p>"The worst of the story is," said he, "that I show myself up as such a +confounded fool. Of course, it may work out all right, and I don't see +that I could have done otherwise; but if I have lost my crib and get +nothing in exchange, I shall feel what a soft Johnny I have been. I'm +not very good at telling a story, Dr. Watson, but it is like this with +me.</p> + +<p>"I used to have a billet at Coxon and Woodhouse, of Drapers' Gardens, +but they were let in early in the spring through the Venezuelan loan, as +no doubt you remember, and came a nasty cropper. I had been with them +five years, and old Coxon gave me a ripping good testimonial when the +smash came; but, of course, we clerks were all turned adrift, the +twenty-seven of us. I tried here and tried there, but there were lots of +other chaps on the same lay as myself, and it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> was a perfect frost for a +long time. I had been taking three pounds a week at Coxon's, and I had +saved about seventy of them, but I soon worked my way through that and +out at the other end. I was fairly at the end of my tether at last, and +could hardly find the stamps to answer the advertisements or the +envelopes to stick them to. I had worn out my boots padding up office +stairs, and I seemed just as far from getting a billet as ever.</p> + +<p>"At last I saw a vacancy at Mawson and Williams', the great stockbroking +firm in Lombard Street. I daresay E. C. is not much in your line, but I +can tell you that this is about the richest house in London. The +advertisement was to be answered by letter only. I sent in my +testimonial and application, but without the least hope of getting it. +Back came an answer by return saying that if I would appear next Monday +I might take over my new duties at once, provided that my appearance was +satisfactory. No one knows how these things are worked. Some people say +the manager just plunges his hand into the heap and takes the first that +comes. Anyhow, it was my innings that time, and I don't ever wish to +feel better pleased. The screw was a pound a week rise, and the duties +just about the same as at Coxon's.</p> + +<p>"And now I come to the queer part of the business. I was in diggings out +Hampstead way—17, Potter's Terrace, was the address. Well, I was +sitting doing a smoke that very evening after I had been promised the +appointment, when up came my landlady with a card which had 'Arthur +Pinner, financial agent,' printed upon it. I had never heard the name +before, and could not imagine what he wanted with me, but of course I +asked her to show him up. In he walked—a middle-sized, dark-haired, +dark-eyed, black-bearded man, with a touch of the sheeny about his nose. +He had a brisk kind of way with him and spoke sharply, like a man that +knew the value of time.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 331px;"> +<img src="images/image284.jpg" width="331" height="450" alt=""'MR. HALL PYCROFT, I BELIEVE?' SAID HE."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"'MR. HALL PYCROFT, I BELIEVE?' SAID HE."</span> +</div> + +<p>"'Mr. Hall Pycroft, I believe?' said he.</p> + +<p>"'Yes, sir,' I answered, and pushed a chair towards him.</p> + +<p>"'Lately engaged at Coxon and Woodhouse's?'</p> + +<p>"'Yes, sir.'</p> + +<p>"And now on the staff of Mawson's?'</p> + +<p>"'Quite so.'</p> + +<p>"'Well,' said he. 'The fact is that I have heard some really +extraordinary stories about your financial ability. You remember Parker +who used to be Coxon's manager? He can never say enough about it.'</p> + +<p>"Of course I was pleased to hear this. I had always been pretty smart in +the office, but I had never dreamed that I was talked about in the City +in this fashion.</p> + +<p>"'You have a good memory?' said he.</p> + +<p>"'Pretty fair,' I answered, modestly.</p> + +<p>"'Have you kept in touch with the market while you have been out of +work?' he asked.</p> + +<p>"'Yes; I read the Stock Exchange List every morning.'</p> + +<p>"'Now, that shows real application!' he cried. 'That is the way to +prosper! You won't mind my testing you, will you? Let me see! How are +Ayrshires?'</p> + +<p>"'One hundred and six and a quarter to one hundred and five and +seven-eighths,' I answered.</p> + +<p>"'And New Zealand Consolidated?'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span></p> + +<p>"'A hundred and four.'</p> + +<p>"'And British Broken Hills?'</p> + +<p>"'Seven to seven and six.'</p> + +<p>"'Wonderful!' he cried, with his hands up. 'This quite fits in with all +that I had heard. My boy, my boy, you are very much too good to be a +clerk at Mawson's!'</p> + +<p>"This outburst rather astonished me, as you can think. 'Well,' said I, +'other people don't think quite so much of me as you seem to do, Mr. +Pinner. I had a hard enough fight to get this berth, and I am very glad +to have it.'</p> + +<p>"'Pooh, man, you should soar above it. You are not in your true sphere. +Now I'll tell you how it stands with me. What I have to offer is little +enough when measured by your ability, but when compared with Mawson's it +is light to dark. Let me see! When do you go to Mawson's?'</p> + +<p>"'On Monday.'</p> + +<p>"'Ha! ha! I think I would risk a little sporting flutter that you don't +go there at all.'</p> + +<p>"'Not go to Mawson's?'</p> + +<p>"'No, sir. By that day you will be the business manager of the +Franco-Midland Hardware Company, Limited, with one hundred and +thirty-four branches in the towns and villages of France, not counting +one in Brussels and one in San Remo.'</p> + +<p>"This took my breath away. 'I never heard of it,' said I.</p> + +<p>"'Very likely not. It has been kept very quiet, for the capital was all +privately subscribed, and it is too good a thing to let the public into. +My brother, Harry Pinner, is promoter, and joins the board after +allotment as managing director. He knew that I was in the swim down +here, and he asked me to pick up a good man cheap—a young, pushing man +with plenty of snap about him. Parker spoke of you, and that brought me +here to-night. We can only offer you a beggarly five hundred to start +with——'</p> + +<p>"'Five hundred a year!' I shouted.</p> + +<p>"'Only that at the beginning, but you are to have an over-riding +commission of 1 per cent, on all business done by your agents, and you +may take my word for it that this will come to more than your salary.'</p> + +<p>"'But I know nothing about hardware.'</p> + +<p>"'Tut, my boy, you know about figures.'</p> + +<p>"My head buzzed, and I could hardly sit still in the chair. But suddenly +a little chill of doubt came over me.</p> + +<p>"'I must be frank with you,' said I. 'Mawson only gives me two hundred, +but Mawson is safe. Now, really, I know so little about your company +that——'</p> + +<p>"'Ah, smart, smart!' he cried, in a kind of ecstasy of delight. 'You are +the very man for us! You are not to be talked over, and quite right too. +Now, here's a note for a hundred pounds; and if you think that we can do +business you may just slip it into your pocket as an advance upon your +salary.'</p> + +<p>"'That is very handsome,' said I. 'When should I take over my new +duties?'</p> + +<p>"'Be in Birmingham to-morrow at one,' said he. 'I have a note in my +pocket here which you will take to my brother. You will find him at +126B, Corporation Street, where the temporary offices of the company are +situated. Of course he must confirm your engagement, but between +ourselves it will be all right.'</p> + +<p>"'Really, I hardly know how to express my gratitude, Mr. Pinner,' said +I.</p> + +<p>"'Not at all, my boy. You have only got your deserts. There are one or +two small things—mere formalities—which I must arrange with you. You +have a bit of paper beside you there. Kindly write upon it, "I am +perfectly willing to act as business manager to the Franco-Midland +Hardware Company, Limited, at a minimum salary of £500."'</p> + +<p>"I did as he asked, and he put the paper in his pocket.</p> + +<p>"'There is one other detail,' said he. 'What do you intend to do about +Mawson's?'</p> + +<p>"I had forgotten all about Mawson's in my joy.</p> + +<p>"'I'll write and resign,' said I.</p> + +<p>"'Precisely what I don't want you to do. I had a row over you with +Mawson's manager. I had gone up to ask him about you, and he was very +offensive—accused me of coaxing you away from the service of the firm, +and that sort of thing. At last I fairly lost my temper. "If you want +good men you should pay them a good price," said I. "He would rather +have our small price than your big one," said he. "I'll lay you a +fiver," said I, "that when he has my offer you will never so much as +hear from him again." "Done!" said he. "We picked him out of the gutter, +and he won't leave us so easily." Those were his very words.'</p> + +<p>"'The impudent scoundrel!' I cried. 'I've never so much as seen him in +my life. Why should I consider him in any way? I shall certainly not +write if you would rather that I didn't.'</p> + +<p>"'Good! That's a promise!' said he, rising from his chair. 'Well, I am +delighted to have got so good a man for my brother.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> Here is your +advance of a hundred pounds, and here is the letter. Make a note of the +address, 126B, Corporation Street, and remember that one o'clock +to-morrow is your appointment. Good-night, and may you have all the +fortune that you deserve.'</p> + +<p>"That's just about all that passed between us as near as I can remember +it. You can imagine, Dr. Watson, how pleased I was at such an +extraordinary bit of good fortune. I sat up half the night hugging +myself over it, and next day I was off to Birmingham in a train that +would take me in plenty of time for my appointment. I took my things to +an hotel in New Street, and then I made my way to the address which had +been given me.</p> + +<p>"It was a quarter of an hour before my time, but I thought that would +make no difference. 126B was a passage between two large shops which led +to a winding stone stair, from which there were many flats, let as +offices to companies or professional men. The names of the occupants +were painted up at the bottom on the wall, but there was no such name as +the Franco-Midland Hardware Company, Limited. I stood for a few minutes +with my heart in my boots, wondering whether the whole thing was an +elaborate hoax or not, when up came a man and addressed me. He was very +like the chap that I had seen the night before, the same figure and +voice, but he was clean shaven and his hair was lighter.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 311px;"> +<img src="images/image286.jpg" width="311" height="450" alt=""UP CAME A MAN AND ADDRESSED ME."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"UP CAME A MAN AND ADDRESSED ME."</span> +</div> + +<p>"'Are you Mr. Hall Pycroft?' he asked.</p> + +<p>"'Yes,' said I.</p> + +<p>"'Ah! I was expecting you, but you are a trifle before your time. I had +a note from my brother this morning, in which he sang your praises very +loudly.'</p> + +<p>"'I was just looking for the offices when you came.'</p> + +<p>"'We have not got our name up yet, for we only secured these temporary +premises last week. Come up with me and we will talk the matter over.'</p> + +<p>"I followed him to the top of a very lofty stair, and there right under +the slates were a couple of empty and dusty little rooms, uncarpeted and +uncurtained, into which he led me. I had thought of a great office with +shining tables and rows of clerks such as I was used to, and I daresay I +stared rather straight at the two deal chairs and one little table, +which, with a ledger and a waste-paper basket, made up the whole +furniture.</p> + +<p>"'Don't be disheartened, Mr. Pycroft,' said my new acquaintance, seeing +the length of my face. 'Rome was not built in a day, and we have lots of +money at our backs, though we don't cut much dash yet in offices. Pray +sit down and let me have your letter.'</p> + +<p>"I gave it to him, and he read it over very carefully.</p> + +<p>"'You seem to have made a vast impression upon my brother, Arthur,' said +he, 'and I know that he is a pretty shrewd judge. He swears by London, +you know, and I by Birmingham, but this time I shall follow his advice. +Pray consider yourself definitely engaged.'</p> + +<p>"'What are my duties?' I asked.</p> + +<p>"'You will eventually manage the great depôt in Paris, which will pour a +flood of English crockery into the shops of one hundred and thirty-four +agents in France. The purchase will be completed in a week, and +meanwhile you will remain in Birmingham and make yourself useful.'</p> + +<p>"'How?'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span></p> + +<p>"For answer he took a big red book out of a drawer. 'This is a directory +of Paris,' said he, 'with the trades after the names of the people. I +want you to take it home with you, and to mark off all the hardware +sellers with their addresses. It would be of the greatest use to me to +have them.'</p> + +<p>"'Surely, there are classified lists?' I suggested.</p> + +<p>"'Not reliable ones. Their system is different to ours. Stick at it and +let me have the lists by Monday, at twelve. Good-day, Mr. Pycroft; if +you continue to show zeal and intelligence, you will find the company a +good master.'</p> + +<p>"I went back to the hotel with the big book under my arm, and with very +conflicting feelings in my breast. On the one hand I was definitely +engaged, and had a hundred pounds in my pocket. On the other, the look +of the offices, the absence of name on the wall, and other of the points +which would strike a business man had left a bad impression as to the +position of my employers. However, come what might, I had my money, so I +settled down to my task. All Sunday I was kept hard at work, and yet by +Monday I had only got as far as H. I went round to my employer, found +him in the same dismantled kind of room, and was told to keep at it +until Wednesday, and then come again. On Wednesday it was still +unfinished, so I hammered away until Friday—that is, yesterday. Then I +brought it round to Mr. Harry Pinner.</p> + +<p>"'Thank you very much,' said he. 'I fear that I underrated the +difficulty of the task. This list will be of very material assistance to +me.'</p> + +<p>"'It took some time,' said I.</p> + +<p>"'And now,' said he, 'I want you to make a list of the furniture shops, +for they all sell crockery.'</p> + +<p>"'Very good.'</p> + +<p>"'And you can come up to-morrow evening at seven, and let me know how +you are getting on. Don't overwork yourself. A couple of hours at Day's +Music-Hall in the evening would do you no harm after your labours.' He +laughed as he spoke, and I saw with a thrill that his second tooth upon +the left-hand side had been very badly stuffed with gold."</p> + +<p>Sherlock Holmes rubbed his hands with delight, and I stared in +astonishment at our client.</p> + +<p>"You may well look surprised, Dr. Watson, but it is this way," said he. +"When I was speaking to the other chap in London at the time that he +laughed at my not going to Mawson's, I happened to notice that his tooth +was stuffed in this very identical fashion. The glint of the gold in +each case caught my eye, you see. When I put that with the voice and +figure being the same, and only those things altered which might be +changed by a razor or a wig, I could not doubt that it was the same man. +Of course, you expect two brothers to be alike, but not that they should +have the same tooth stuffed in the same way. He bowed me out and I found +myself in the street, hardly knowing whether I was on my head or my +heels. Back I went to my hotel, put my head in a basin of cold water, +and tried to think it out. Why had he sent me from London to Birmingham; +why had he got there before me; and why had he written a letter from +himself to himself? It was altogether too much for me, and I could make +no sense of it. And then suddenly it struck me that what was dark to me +might be very light to Mr. Sherlock Holmes. I had just time to get up to +town by the night train, to see him this morning, and to bring you both +back with me to Birmingham."</p> + +<p>There was a pause after the stockbroker's clerk had concluded his +surprising experience. Then Sherlock Holmes cocked his eye at me, +leaning back on the cushions with a pleased and yet critical face, like +a connoisseur who had just taken his first sip of a comet vintage.</p> + +<p>"Rather fine, Watson, is it not?" said he. "There are points in it which +please me. I think you will agree with me that an interview with Mr. +Arthur Harry Pinner in the temporary offices of the Franco-Midland +Hardware Company, Limited, would be a rather interesting experience for +both of us."</p> + +<p>"But how can we do it?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"Oh, easily enough," said Hall Pycroft, cheerily. "You are two friends +of mine who are in want of a billet, and what could be more natural than +that I should bring you both round to the managing director?"</p> + +<p>"Quite so! Of course!" said Holmes. "I should like to have a look at the +gentleman and see if I can make anything of his little game. What +qualities have you, my friend, which would make your services so +valuable? or is it possible that——" he began biting his nails and +staring blankly out of the window, and we hardly drew another word from +him until we were in New Street.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>At seven o'clock that evening we were walking, the three of us, down +Corporation Street to the company's offices.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It is of no use our being at all before our time," said our client. "He +only comes there to see me apparently, for the place is deserted up to +the very hour he names."</p> + +<p>"That is suggestive," remarked Holmes.</p> + +<p>"By Jove, I told you so!" cried the clerk. "That's he walking ahead of +us there."</p> + +<p>He pointed to a smallish, blonde, well-dressed man, who was bustling +along the other side of the road. As we watched him he looked across at +a boy who was bawling out the latest edition of the evening paper, and, +running over among the cabs and 'buses, he bought one from him. Then +clutching it in his hand he vanished through a doorway.</p> + +<p>"There he goes!" cried Hall Pycroft. "Those are the company's offices +into which he has gone. Come with me and I'll fix it up as easily as +possible."</p> + +<p>Following his lead we ascended five stories, until we found ourselves +outside a half-opened door, at which our client tapped. A voice within +bade us "Come in," and we entered a bare, unfurnished room, such as Hall +Pycroft had described. At the single table sat the man whom we had seen +in the street, with his evening paper spread out in front of him, and as +he looked up at us it seemed to me that I had never looked upon a face +which bore such marks of grief, and of something beyond grief—of a +horror such as comes to few men in a lifetime. His brow glistened with +perspiration, his cheeks were of the dull dead white of a fish's belly, +and his eyes were wild and staring. He looked at his clerk as though he +failed to recognise him, and I could see, by the astonishment depicted +upon our conductor's face, that this was by no means the usual +appearance of his employer.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/image288.jpg" width="450" height="337" alt=""HE LOOKED UP AT US."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"HE LOOKED UP AT US."</span> +</div> + +<p>"You look ill, Mr. Pinner," he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am not very well," answered the other, making obvious efforts to +pull himself together, and licking his dry lips before he spoke. "Who +are these gentlemen whom you have brought with you?"</p> + +<p>"One is Mr. Harris, of Bermondsey, and the other is Mr. Price, of this +town," said our clerk, glibly. "They are friends of mine, and gentlemen +of experience, but they have been out of a place for some little time, +and they hoped that perhaps you might find an opening for them in the +company's employment."</p> + +<p>"Very possibly! Very possibly!" cried Mr. Pinner, with a ghastly smile. +"Yes, I have no doubt that we shall be able to do something for you. +What is your particular line, Mr. Harris?"</p> + +<p>"I am an accountant," said Holmes.</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes, we shall want something of the sort. And you, Mr. Price?"</p> + +<p>"A clerk," said I.</p> + +<p>"I have every hope that the company may accommodate you. I will let you +know about it as soon as we come to any conclusion. And now I beg that +you will go. For God's sake, leave me to myself!"</p> + +<p>These last words were shot out of him, as though the constraint which he +was evidently setting upon himself had suddenly and utterly burst +asunder. Holmes and I glanced at each other, and Hall Pycroft took a +step towards the table.</p> + +<p>"You forget, Mr. Pinner, that I am here<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> by appointment to receive some +directions from you," said he.</p> + +<p>"Certainly, Mr. Pycroft, certainly," the other answered in a calmer +tone. "You may wait here a moment, and there is no reason why your +friends should not wait with you. I will be entirely at your service in +three minutes, if I might trespass upon your patience so far." He rose +with a very courteous air, and bowing to us he passed out through a door +at the further end of the room, which he closed behind him.</p> + +<p>"What now?" whispered Holmes. "Is he giving us the slip?"</p> + +<p>"Impossible," answered Pycroft.</p> + +<p>"Why so?"</p> + +<p>"That door leads into an inner room."</p> + +<p>"There is no exit?"</p> + +<p>"None."</p> + +<p>"Is it furnished?"</p> + +<p>"It was empty yesterday."</p> + +<p>"Then what on earth can he be doing? There is something which I don't +understand in this matter. If ever a man was three parts mad with +terror, that man's name is Pinner. What can have put the shivers on +him?"</p> + +<p>"He suspects that we are detectives," I suggested.</p> + +<p>"That's it," said Pycroft.</p> + +<p>Holmes shook his head. "He did not turn pale. He <i>was</i> pale when we +entered the room," said he. "It is just possible that——"</p> + +<p>His words were interrupted by a sharp rat-tat from the direction of the +inner door.</p> + +<p>"What the deuce is he knocking at his own door for?" cried the clerk.</p> + +<p>Again and much louder came the rat-tat-tat. We all gazed expectantly at +the closed door. Glancing at Holmes I saw his face turn rigid, and he +leaned forward in intense excitement. Then suddenly came a low gurgling, +gargling sound and a brisk drumming upon woodwork. Holmes sprang +frantically across the room and pushed at the door. It was fastened on +the inner side. Following his example, we threw ourselves upon it with +all our weight. One hinge snapped, then the other, and down came the +door with a crash. Rushing over it we found ourselves in the inner room.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 319px;"> +<img src="images/image289.jpg" width="319" height="450" alt=""WE FOUND OURSELVES IN THE INNER ROOM."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"WE FOUND OURSELVES IN THE INNER ROOM."</span> +</div> + +<p>It was empty.</p> + +<p>But it was only for a moment that we were at fault. At one corner, the +corner nearest the room which we had left, there was a second door. +Holmes sprang to it and pulled it open. A coat and waistcoat were lying +on the floor, and from a hook behind the door, with his own braces round +his neck, was hanging the managing director of the Franco-Midland +Hardware Company. His knees were drawn up, his head hung at a dreadful +angle to his body, and the clatter of his heels against the door made +the noise which had broken in upon our conversation. In an instant I had +caught him round the waist and held him up, while Holmes and Pycroft +untied the elastic bands which had disappeared between the livid creases +of skin. Then we carried him into the other room, where he lay with a +clay-coloured face, puffing his purple lips in and out with every +breath—a dreadful wreck of all that he had been but five minutes +before.</p> + +<p>"What do you think of him, Watson?" asked Holmes.</p> + +<p>I stooped over him and examined him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span></p> + +<p>His pulse was feeble and intermittent, but his breathing grew longer, +and there was a little shivering of his eyelids which showed a thin +white slit of ball beneath.</p> + +<p>"It has been touch and go with him," said I, "but he'll live now. Just +open that window and hand me the water carafe." I undid his collar, +poured the cold water over his face, and raised and sank his arms until +he drew a long natural breath.</p> + +<p>"It's only a question of time now," said I, as I turned away from him.</p> + +<p>Holmes stood by the table with his hands deep in his trousers pockets +and his chin upon his breast.</p> + +<p>"I suppose we ought to call the police in now," said he; "and yet I +confess that I like to give them a complete case when they come."</p> + +<p>"It's a blessed mystery to me," cried Pycroft, scratching his head. +"Whatever they wanted to bring me all the way up here for, and then——"</p> + +<p>"Pooh! All that is clear enough," said Holmes, impatiently. "It is this +last sudden move."</p> + +<p>"You understand the rest, then?"</p> + +<p>"I think that it is fairly obvious. What do you say, Watson?"</p> + +<p>I shrugged my shoulders.</p> + +<p>"I must confess that I am out of my depths," said I.</p> + +<p>"Oh, surely, if you consider the events at first they can only point to +one conclusion."</p> + +<p>"What do you make of them?"</p> + +<p>"Well, the whole thing hinges upon two points. The first is the making +of Pycroft write a declaration by which he entered the service of this +preposterous company. Do you not see how very suggestive that is?"</p> + +<p>"I am afraid I miss the point."</p> + +<p>"Well, why did they want him to do it? Not as a business matter, for +these arrangements are usually verbal, and there was no earthly business +reason why this should be an exception. Don't you see, my young friend, +that they were very anxious to obtain a specimen of your handwriting, +and had no other way of doing it?"</p> + +<p>"And why?"</p> + +<p>"Quite so. Why? When we answer that, we have made some progress with our +little problem. Why? There can be only one adequate reason. Someone +wanted to learn to imitate your writing, and had to procure a specimen +of it first. And now if we pass on to the second point, we find that +each throws light upon the other. That point is the request made by +Pinner that you should not resign your place, but should leave the +manager of this important business in the full expectation that a Mr. +Hall Pycroft, whom he had never seen, was about to enter the office upon +the Monday morning."</p> + +<p>"My God!" cried our client, "what a blind beetle I have been!"</p> + +<p>"Now you see the point about the handwriting. Suppose that someone +turned up in your place who wrote a completely different hand from that +in which you had applied for the vacancy, of course the game would have +been up. But in the interval the rogue learnt to imitate you, and his +position was therefore secure, as I presume that nobody in the office +had ever set eyes upon you?"</p> + +<p>"Not a soul," groaned Hall Pycroft.</p> + +<p>"Very good. Of course, it was of the utmost importance to prevent you +from thinking better of it, and also to keep you from coming into +contact with anyone who might tell you that your double was at work in +Mawson's office. Therefore they gave you a handsome advance on your +salary, and ran you off to the Midlands, where they gave you enough work +to do to prevent your going to London, where you might have burst their +little game up. That is all plain enough."</p> + +<p>"But why should this man pretend to be his own brother?"</p> + +<p>"Well, that is pretty clear also. There are evidently only two of them +in it. The other is personating you at the office. This one acted as +your engager, and then found that he could not find you an employer +without admitting a third person into his plot. That he was most +unwilling to do. He changed his appearance as far as he could, and +trusted that the likeness, which you could not fail to observe, would be +put down to a family resemblance. But for the happy chance of the gold +stuffing your suspicions would probably have never been aroused."</p> + +<p>Hall Pycroft shook his clenched hands in the air. "Good Lord!" he cried. +"While I have been fooled in this way, what has this other Hall Pycroft +been doing at Mawson's? What should we do, Mr. Holmes? Tell me what to +do!"</p> + +<p>"We must wire to Mawson's."</p> + +<p>"They shut at twelve on Saturdays."</p> + +<p>"Never mind; there may be some doorkeeper or attendant——"</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes; they keep a permanent guard there on account of the value of +the securities that they hold. I remember hearing it talked of in the +City."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 353px;"> +<img src="images/image291.jpg" width="353" height="450" alt=""PYCROFT SHOOK HIS CLENCHED HANDS IN THE AIR."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"PYCROFT SHOOK HIS CLENCHED HANDS IN THE AIR."</span> +</div> + +<p>"Very good, we shall wire to him, and see if all is well, and if a clerk +of your name is working there. That is clear enough, but what is not so +clear is why at sight of us one of the rogues should instantly walk out +of the room and hang himself."</p> + +<p>"The paper!" croaked a voice behind us. The man was sitting up, blanched +and ghastly, with returning reason in his eyes, and hands which rubbed +nervously at the broad red band which still encircled his throat.</p> + +<p>"The paper! Of course!" yelled Holmes, in a paroxysm of excitement. +"Idiot that I was! I thought so much of our visit that the paper never +entered my head for an instant. To be sure the secret must lie there." +He flattened it out upon the table, and a cry of triumph burst from his +lips.</p> + +<p>"Look at this, Watson!" he cried. "It is a London paper, an early +edition of the <i>Evening Standard</i>. Here is what we want. Look at the +headlines—'Crime in the City. Murder at Mawson and Williams'. Gigantic +Attempted Robbery; Capture of the Criminal.' Here, Watson, we are all +equally anxious to hear it, so kindly read it aloud to us."</p> + +<p>It appeared from its position in the paper to have been the one event of +importance in town, and the account of it ran in this way:—</p> + +<p>"A desperate attempt at robbery, culminating in the death of one man and +the capture of the criminal, occurred this afternoon in the City. For +some time back Mawson and Williams, the famous financial house, have +been the guardians of securities which amount in the aggregate to a sum +of considerably over a million sterling. So conscious was the manager of +the responsibility which devolved upon him in consequence of the great +interests at stake, that safes of the very latest construction have been +employed, and an armed watchman has been left day and night in the +building. It appears that last week a new clerk, named Hall Pycroft, was +engaged by the firm. This person appears to have been none other than +Beddington, the famous forger and cracksman, who, with his brother, has +only recently emerged from a five years' spell of penal servitude. By +some means, which are not yet clear, he succeeded in winning, under a +false name, this official position in the office, which he utilized in +order to obtain mouldings of various locks, and a thorough knowledge of +the position of the strong room and the safes.</p> + +<p>"It is customary at Mawson's for the clerks to leave at midday on +Saturday. Sergeant Tuson, of the City Police, was somewhat surprised +therefore to see a gentleman with a carpet bag come down the steps at +twenty minutes past one. His suspicions being aroused, the sergeant +followed the man, and with the aid of Constable Pollock succeeded, after +a most desperate resistance, in arresting him. It was at once clear that +a daring and gigantic robbery had been committed. Nearly a hundred +thousand pounds worth of American railway bonds, with a large amount of +scrip in other mines<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> and companies, were discovered in the bag. On +examining the premises the body of the unfortunate watchman was found +doubled up and thrust into the largest of the safes, where it would not +have been discovered until Monday morning had it not been for the prompt +action of Sergeant Tuson. The man's skull had been shattered by a blow +from a poker, delivered from behind. There could be no doubt that +Beddington had obtained entrance by pretending that he had left +something behind him, and having murdered the watchman, rapidly rifled +the large safe, and then made off with his booty. His brother, who +usually works with him, has not appeared in this job, so far as can at +present be ascertained, although the police are making energetic +inquiries as to his whereabouts."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 647px;"> +<img src="images/image292.jpg" width="647" height="450" alt=""GLANCING AT THE HAGGARD FIGURE."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"GLANCING AT THE HAGGARD FIGURE."</span> +</div> + +<p>"Well, we may save the police some little trouble in that direction," +said Holmes, glancing at the haggard figure huddled up by the window. +"Human nature is a strange mixture, Watson. You see that even a villain +and a murderer can inspire such affection that his brother turns to +suicide when he learns that his neck is forfeited. However, we have no +choice as to our action. The doctor and I will remain on guard, Mr. +Pycroft, if you will have the kindness to step out for the police."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Beauties" id="Beauties"></a><i>Beauties.</i></h2> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 750px;"> +<img src="images/image293.jpg" width="750" height="1148" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 750px;"> +<img src="images/image294.jpg" width="750" height="1141" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 750px;"> +<img src="images/image295.jpg" width="750" height="1193" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Hands" id="Hands"></a><i>Hands.</i></h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By Beckles Willson.</span></h3> + +<h4>II.</h4> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image296-1.jpg" width="600" height="420" alt="CASTING A HAND FROM LIFE." title="" /> +<span class="caption">CASTING A HAND FROM LIFE.<br /> +(<i>Studio of Mr. Onslow Ford, A.R.A.</i>)</span> +</div> + +<p>The sculptor's practice of casting in plaster the hands of his client is +of comparatively recent growth. The artist of the old school—and he is +followed in this by many of the new—disdained so mechanical a means to +fidelity. Very few, indeed, among the British painters and sculptors of +the past will be found who took the pains to see that the hands or even +the figures of their counterfeit presentments on canvas or in marble +tallied with the originals. Sir Joshua Reynolds, as we know, would have +regarded this as the essence of finical vulgarity.</p> + +<p>The principal drawback in making casts from life is to be found in the +discomfort, not to speak of the actual torment, it often causes the +sitter by the adhesion of the plaster to the hairy growth of the skin. +Various methods are resorted to with a view to obviate this, and in some +cases successfully.</p> + +<p>The hands of Thomas Carlyle—stubborn, combative, mystical—which appear +in the present paper, will amply repay the closest scrutiny. These hands +are unwontedly realistic, and emphasize their distinctiveness in every +vein and wrinkle. They appear to be themselves endowed with each of +those various qualities which caused their possessor to be regarded as +one of the most puissant figures in the century's literature. The hand +is not one, to use Charles Lamb's expressive phrase, to be looked at +<i>standing on one leg</i>. It deserves a keener examination.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 347px;"> +<img src="images/image296-2.jpg" width="347" height="250" alt="THOMAS CARLYLE'S HANDS." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THOMAS CARLYLE'S HANDS.</span> +</div> + +<p>Mention has been made of the hand of a distinguished prelate, Cardinal +Manning.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> It will not be out of place to compare it with the hands of +the late Archbishop of Canterbury, which were cast posthumously. +Scarcely anything could be more antagonistic. The nervous personality of +Manning is wanting here. The hands of the Archbishop seem more to belong +to the order of the benevolent Bishop Myriel than to that of the +enthusiast and ascetic.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/image297-1.jpg" width="400" height="225" alt="THE LATE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY'S HANDS." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE LATE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY'S HANDS.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 463px;"> +<img src="images/image297-2.jpg" width="463" height="300" alt="LORD PALMERSTON'S HAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">LORD PALMERSTON'S HAND.</span> +</div> + + +<p>Plenty of opportunity to study the hands of statesmen is afforded in +those of Lord Palmerston, Count Cavour, Sir Stratford Canning, and Lord +Melbourne. The fallacy of attaching special qualities to any distinctive +trait in the hand of an eminent person is most readily discernible here. +One should avoid <i>à posteriori</i> reasoning. It would be the same for a +physiognomist to argue a man a statesman from a facial resemblance to +Mr. Gladstone, or that he is fit to write tragedies because he owns the +exact facial proportions of Sardou.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 371px;"> +<img src="images/image297-1a.jpg" width="371" height="275" alt="COUNT CAVOUR'S HANDS." title="" /> +<span class="caption">COUNT CAVOUR'S HANDS.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 411px;"> +<img src="images/image297-2a.jpg" width="411" height="300" alt="SIR STRATFORD CANNING'S HANDS." title="" /> +<span class="caption">SIR STRATFORD CANNING'S HANDS.</span> +</div> + +<p>Among these the hand of Lord Palmerston will stand forth most +prominently to the reader. Its characteristics are, on the whole, +sufficiently obvious, in the appended cast, to be thought accentuated. +It might not unprofitably be noted in connection with those of Stratford +Canning, Viscount de Redcliffe (for fifty years British Ambassador in +India), whose statue by Boehm, with Tennyson's famous epitaph:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Thou third great Canning, stand among our best<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And noblest, now thy long day's work hath ceased,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Here, silent in our Minster of the West,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Who wert the voice of England in the East!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>is in a nave of the Abbey. With these should be joined the hand of +Viscount Melbourne, the predecessor of Sir Robert Peel in the +Premiership, and the great statesman after whom the city of Melbourne +was named, in order<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> to range this British galaxy against the hands of +the Italian patriots, Count Cavour and Joseph Garibaldi, whose labours +resulted in that master stroke of latter-day politics, the unification +of Italy. Those of the former were cast separately in different +positions, it being the intention of the sculptor for the right hand to +rest lightly upon a column and the left to grasp a roll of parchment. +Garibaldi's hand may be described as both virile and nervous.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 338px;"> +<img src="images/image298-1.jpg" width="338" height="300" alt="LORD MELBOURNE'S HAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">LORD MELBOURNE'S HAND.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 244px;"> +<img src="images/image298-2.jpg" width="244" height="361" alt="HAND OF JOHN BURNS, M.P." title="" /> +<span class="caption">HAND OF JOHN BURNS, M.P.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 337px;"> +<img src="images/image298-3.jpg" width="337" height="250" alt="HAND OF JOSEPH ARCH, M.P." title="" /> +<span class="caption">HAND OF JOSEPH ARCH, M.P.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 326px;"> +<img src="images/image298-4.jpg" width="326" height="250" alt="GARIBALDI'S HAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">GARIBALDI'S HAND.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 360px;"> +<img src="images/image298-5.jpg" width="360" height="200" alt="SIR E. BOEHM'S HAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">SIR E. BOEHM'S HAND.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 356px;"> +<img src="images/image298-6.jpg" width="356" height="200" alt="HAND OF JOHN JACKSON, R.A." title="" /> +<span class="caption">HAND OF JOHN JACKSON, R.A.</span> +</div> + +<p>Another type of hand is exemplified in the hands of Messrs. Joseph Arch +and John Burns. Both of these belong to self-made men, accustomed to +hard manual labour from childhood. Their powerful ruggedness is +admirably set off by the exquisite symmetry and feminine proportions of +the hand of John Jackson a Royal Academician and great painter of his +time. For symmetry, combined with grace, this hand is not surpassed.</p> + +<p>The hand of Sir Edgar Boehm was cast by his assistant, Professor +Lantéri, for the former's statue of Sir Francis Drake. It will be +observed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> that the fingers grasp a pair of compasses, the original of +those which appear in the bronze at Plymouth.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image299-1.jpg" width="500" height="274" alt="LADY BLESSINGTON'S HAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">LADY BLESSINGTON'S HAND.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 358px;"> +<img src="images/image299-2.jpg" width="358" height="225" alt="MRS. CARLYLE'S HAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">MRS. CARLYLE'S HAND.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 372px;"> +<img src="images/image299-3.jpg" width="372" height="250" alt="MRS. THORNYCROFT'S HAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">MRS. THORNYCROFT'S HAND.</span> +</div> + +<p>Reverting to the ladies again, interest will, no doubt, centre upon the +hand of the celebrated Lady Blessington, accounted the wittiest hostess +of her day; and not least attractive will appear Mrs. Carlyle's and +those of Mrs. Thornycroft and the celebrated Madame Tussaud. The wife of +the Chelsea sage was herself, as is known, an authoress of no mean +repute.</p> + +<p>A comparison of the hand of Mr. Bancroft with that of Mr. Irving, given +last month, will prove interesting, if not instructive.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 209px;"> +<img src="images/image299-4.jpg" width="209" height="350" alt="MME. TUSSAUD'S HAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">MME. TUSSAUD'S HAND.</span> +</div> + +<p>It has been said that the hands of Carlyle are characteristic; that they +possess, with those of Wilkie Collins, the merit of being precisely the +sort of hands one would expect <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span>to see so labelled. We now present a +third candidate for this merit of candour in casts of the hands of the +notorious Arthur Orton, better known under the sobriquet of the +Claimant. They are pulseless, chubby, oblique: yet they are remarkable. +In scrutinizing them, it is difficult not to feel that one looks upon +hands very remote indeed from the ordinary.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 359px;"> +<img src="images/image299-5.jpg" width="359" height="250" alt="MR. BANCROFT'S HAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">MR. BANCROFT'S HAND.</span> +</div> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 395px;"> +<img src="images/image300-1.jpg" width="395" height="400" alt="HANDS OF THE TICHBORNE CLAIMANT." title="" /> +<span class="caption">HANDS OF THE TICHBORNE CLAIMANT.</span> +</div> + +<p>Next we look upon the hand of a giant even superior to Anak, in +Loushkin, the Russian. But physically great as was the Muscovite, it is +to be doubted if he really attained the world-wide celebrity of the +little American, Charles Stratton (otherwise known as "Tom Thumb"), +whose extremity serves as a foil to his rival for exhibition honours.</p> + +<p>Another Boehm relic requires some explanation. Every visitor to the +Metropolis has doubtless seen and admired the heroic equestrian statue +of the Duke of Wellington, opposite Apsley House. They may even have +noticed the right hand, which is represented as lightly holding the rein +of the animal. The appended was cast from the original model in clay of +the hand of the Duke, no cast direct from life ever having been +executed.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 286px;"> +<img src="images/image300-2.jpg" width="286" height="400" alt="THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S HAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S HAND.</span> +</div> + +<p>It is sufficient to say that the subjoined hand and arm of Lady +Cardigan, wife of the noted Crimean warrior, was one greatly admired by +Sir Edgar, in whose studio it hung for many years. In like manner will +the hand of Lady Richard Grosvenor be found the possessor of many +beautiful and interesting traits.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 548px;"> +<img src="images/image300-3.jpg" width="548" height="300" alt="THE HANDS OF "TOM THUMB" AND LOUSHKIN, THE RUSSIAN +GIANT." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE HANDS OF "TOM THUMB" AND LOUSHKIN, THE RUSSIAN +GIANT.</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/image301-1.jpg" width="450" height="152" alt="LADY CARDIGAN'S HAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">LADY CARDIGAN'S HAND.</span> +</div> + +<p>A member not altogether dissimilar to that of the musician Liszt is the +hand of Carl von Angeli, Court painter to Her Majesty, and like that +also in setting at naught the conclusions too often arrived at by the +chirognomist. For there is here breadth without symmetry, and an utter +absence of the poise which we look for in the ideal hand of the artist. +It is instructive to compare it to the hand of the painter, John +Jackson.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/image301-2.jpg" width="400" height="172" alt="LADY RICHARD GROSVENOR'S HAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">LADY RICHARD GROSVENOR'S HAND.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 244px;"> +<img src="images/image301-3.jpg" width="244" height="350" alt="CARL ANGELI'S HAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">CARL ANGELI'S HAND.</span> +</div> + +<p>Observe the massive, masculine fingers and disproportionately small +finger-nails in the hands of Professor Weekes, the sculptor. There is +scarcely any perceptible tapering at the third joint, and the fingers +all exhibit very little prominence of knuckle or contour. It is anything +but an artistic hand, and yet its owner was a man of the keenest +artistic perceptions.</p> + +<p>In Frederick Baring's (Lord Ashburton) we find the thick-set fingers, +and what the chirognomist calls the "lack of manual repose," of the +great financier. But as his lordship was statesman with a talent for +debate as well as man of commerce, it will not unlikely be found that +the hand presented combines the both temperaments.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 372px;"> +<img src="images/image301-4.jpg" width="372" height="300" alt="PROFESSOR WEEKES' HANDS." title="" /> +<span class="caption">PROFESSOR WEEKES' HANDS.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 333px;"> +<img src="images/image301-5.jpg" width="333" height="250" alt="LORD ASHBURTON'S HAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">LORD ASHBURTON'S HAND.</span> +</div> + +<p>I have been enabled, through the kindness of Mr. J. T. Tussaud, to +embellish the present collection by an ancient cast of the hand of the +Comte<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> de Lorge, a famous prisoner in the Bastille. This cast was taken, +together with a death mask, after death, by the great-grandmother of the +sculptor, to whom both relics have descended.</p> + +<p>The Queen's hands, which appeared in the last issue of this Magazine, +were cast by John Francis, a famous sculptor of the day. Mr. Hamo +Thorneycroft, R.A., writes me to say that "While the moulds were being +made Her Majesty removed all the rings from her fingers <i>except</i> the +wedding ring. This she was most anxious should not come off, and was in +considerable fear lest the moulding process might remove it."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 239px;"> +<img src="images/image302.jpg" width="239" height="393" alt="COMTE DE LORGE'S HAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">COMTE DE LORGE'S HAND.</span> +</div> + + +<p>[<i>The original drawings of the illustrations in this Magazine are always +on view, and on sale, in the Art Gallery at these offices, which is open +to the public without charge.</i>]</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span></p> +<p><a name="Illustration_ROSITA" id="Illustration_ROSITA"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 650px;"> +<img src="images/image303.jpg" width="650" height="499" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">From the French of Pitre Chevalier.</span></h3> + + +<h4>I.</h4> + + +<p>It was harvest day at a house in the little village of Panola, in +Castile, on the 25th of August, 1838. The great sheaves of corn had been +borne, amidst universal rejoicing, to their resting-place in the +granary. All the village inhabitants had shared in this pleasant task, +and now, following an ancient custom, they had erected a trophy composed +of a few last sheaves of corn, round which the young girls and men began +to dance gaily, to the sound of guitars and castanets.</p> + +<p>Within the house, in a room which overlooked this charming scene, were +two men.</p> + +<p>The first, seated at a table, was an old man over sixty, but enfeebled +rather by cares than by age. His venerable head, crowned with white +hair, drooped upon his breast with patriarchal dignity. The old man, who +had been a soldier in the Spanish army, was Don Pedro de la Sarga, a +Castilian as noble as he was poor. His companion was his son, Don +Stephano, a young man of twenty, considered the most accomplished man in +Panola. He was handsome; his warm, brown skin, his large, black eyes, +the regular features, which wore that expression of national pride which +distinguishes a Castilian from any other race, and his raven-black hair +were eminently the Spanish type in all its grace and haughtiness. The +young man wore the Spanish holiday costume, the richness of which has +made travellers exclaim, more than once, that no European prince is +clothed like a simple peasant of Castile. Stephano had on a short vest +of black cloth, lined with yellow silk, ornamented with fringes and +bunches of ribbons; an embroidered shirt with open collar revealing a +waistcoat with gilt buttons, knee-breeches of black silk confined at the +knees by bunches of ribbons, shoes and gaiters of fine brown leather, +while a black felt hat with drooping plume completed his costume.</p> + +<p>Stephano's gloomy face contrasted with his gay attire. He leant against +the open window, carelessly holding in his hand a bouquet of faded +jasmine, whilst he gazed with melancholy eyes upon the festive scene +before him, and only by a shake of the head and a sad smile replied to +the light badinage of the dancers as they passed the window. But now and +then his eyes lighted up, and he sighed deeply as a certain dancer, +prettier than the rest, approached him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span></p> + +<p>"How pretty she is!" he murmured, as he followed her retreating form.</p> + +<p>"Stephano!" called out the old man, who had been watching his son for +some time.</p> + +<p>"How gracefully she dances," continued the handsome dreamer, wrapt in +his thoughts.</p> + +<p>"Stephano!" repeated the old man.</p> + +<p>"Yes, father," cried Stephano, with a start, and coming forward. "Do you +wish to speak to me?"</p> + +<p>"From your mysterious air and endless sighs these last few days, +Stephano, I conclude that you are in love," said his father.</p> + +<p>"In love!" stammered the young man. "You think I am in love?"</p> + +<p>"I do not think, my son—I am sure of it; and I have only one reproach +to make to you, and that is that you have not made me a confidant of +your secret before."</p> + +<p>"You shall know all, father," said Stephano, drawing a chair close to +Don Pedro.</p> + +<p>"For the last month," he continued, "I have had in my heart a love which +nothing can subdue, and the object of my passion is a young girl here, a +glance from whose eyes is worth more to me than all the world besides; +but she shuns my love, and on every occasion strives to avoid me. She +hardly permits me to speak to her for fear that the passion she reads in +my eyes will break into words."</p> + +<p>"Bah!" said the old man, merrily; "it is very likely that she shuns you +for the reason of your not opening your mouth; you scare the young girl +with your morose airs."</p> + +<p>"Oh, if that were only true," sighed the disconsolate swain.</p> + +<p>"Now," said the old man, "there only remains for me to know the name of +my future daughter-in-law."</p> + +<p>The young man was about to pronounce the name which already trembled on +his lips when a sudden clamour interrupted the most interesting portion +of this conversation. The peasants, followed by the partners, were +rushing towards the house, and in the twinkling of an eye the room was +filled with the animated and noisy throng. The new-comers wore rich +costumes, more or less copies of Stephano's; some carried guitars, +others castanets, while most of them leaned upon tall peeled rods, +forked at the top, and ornamented with ribbons of all colours; each +carried on the left side of his vest a bouquet similar to that of +Stephano. The young girls in their silken bodices, short skirts, red +stockings and mantillas, rattled their castanets as they entered with +their partners. The joyous crowd surrounded Don Pedro, whilst cries of +"Rosita! Rosita!" resounded from all sides.</p> + +<p>"Well, well, my children, what is it you want?" demanded the village +Nestor of his clamorous audience.</p> + +<p>"We want Mlle. Rosita," they repeated.</p> + +<p>"What, my niece? But is she not with you? I thought it was she whom you +were leading just now round the corn sheaves."</p> + +<p>"That is true," replied one of the foremost of the crowd; "everything +went smoothly until we wished her to take part in our usual ceremony of +'The Maiden's Choice.'"</p> + +<p>"Did you explain to her," asked the old man, "what is the ceremony?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, we told her all that was necessary: that it is an old custom in +Panola on harvest day, after having escorted the daughter of the house +round the last sheaves of corn, for all her admirers in the village to +present her, each in his turn, with a bouquet; that she must then choose +the one she loves amongst them by retaining his bouquet, whilst the +others are rejected. She answered us by saying that she had only been in +Panola a few months, and was therefore not forced to adopt our customs, +and leaving us with these words she fled from us and escaped through the +little granary door."</p> + +<p>"The little shrew!" Don Pedro exclaimed, who, like an amiable old man, +was always on the side of the young folk. "But my friends," he added, +"you are but poor Lotharios to be flouted by a young girl; you must +follow her and bring her back."</p> + +<p>"That is just what we have done; but one cannot catch a bird without +also having wings. She seemed to fly as we followed her, and on reaching +the granary she entered and slammed the door in our faces; so we have +come, as a last resource, to you, Don Pedro, to ask her to comply with +our wishes."</p> + +<p>"You are right," replied the old man, with all the gravity of a judge, +"you must be satisfied at once"; and he looked round for Don Stephano, +who was standing more moody than ever behind a giggling group of young +peasants.</p> + +<p>"My son," he said, "go and bring your cousin here. If she refuses, tell +her that I particularly wish her to come."</p> + +<p>"I will go, father," said Stephano, after a second's hesitation; and he +went out.</p> + +<p>There was a slight pause; then shouts and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> acclamations and rattling of +castanets burst forth, as Rosita, with downcast eyes, entered the room, +led by Stephano. Well might they welcome with fervour such a charming +creature. Rosita was just eighteen. She wore upon her golden brown hair +a black lace mantilla, which contrasted with her creamy complexion and +the liquid depth of her large brown eyes. A brown velvet bodice showed +off to perfection her slight yet rounded figure; and her silk skirts +just revealed her pretty ankles and small feet in their silk stockings +and neat shoes.</p> + +<p>Rosita was a native of Navarre. She had quitted Tafalla, her native +village, on the death of her father and mother, who had been victims of +the Civil War which at this time desolated the country, and had been +conducted not without peril to her uncle's house at Panola, in which she +had since taken up her abode.</p> + +<p>"Rosita," said Don Pedro to his niece, taking her hand, "I have made +your apologies to your friends for the trick you have played them. It is +your turn now to atone for your misdeed, by submitting to an old custom. +Among the brave Castilians who surround you there are many suitors for +your hand. There must be one among them whom you secretly favour. Your +choice is entirely free, and even the favoured one after the ceremony +will then have only the right to please you and to merit your hand."</p> + +<p>"But, uncle——" faltered the young girl.</p> + +<p>"I will take no denial, my dear," interrupted the old man.</p> + +<p>Rosita strove in vain to protest, but her imperturbable uncle would not +listen, and gave a sign to the peasants to begin the ceremony, in which +he seemed to take as keen an interest as they did themselves. Thereupon +the majority of the young men, darting furious glances of jealousy at +one another, prepared for the contest. Rosita, at her uncle's side, +stood at one end of the room. At her right and left were grouped the +young peasant girls, admiring without envy the queen of the <i>fête</i>, and +forming her court. Stephano stood behind with dejected mien. Those with +guitars touched their instruments lightly now and then, and upon this +scene, worthy of the pencil of Leopold Roberts, the sun, now setting at +the horizon, cast a calm and solemn light.</p> + +<p>The first peasant who came forward was a tall young man, with a ruddy +complexion.</p> + +<p>"My name is Geronimo Caldaroz, and I am twenty-five. It has been the +talk of the village why I did not marry, and it has been said it was +because I had never yet seen a maiden beautiful enough to please me. But +now I have found her; it is you, Rosita. Will you accept my bouquet?" He +presented his bouquet to the young girl, who blushed as she received it, +and then let it fall.</p> + +<p>"Refused! Refused!" whispered the spectators, whilst the young man +disappeared into the crowd, and a second one took his place. But the +same thing occurred, and with the same result. Soon the jasmine bouquets +covered the ground round the young girl's feet. The rejected suitors +multiplied so fast that they could no longer hide their discomfiture +amongst the others. Restless and smiling, Don Pedro wondered why his +niece was so severe, and the remaining suitors seemed to hesitate +whether to advance into the lists or not. Then the last three timidly +advanced one by one toward Rosita. The two first were not even heard to +the end of their speech, and then all eyes were fixed with interest upon +the last. Rosita let him finish his discourse, took his bouquet, which +she scrutinized demurely, and then uttering a deep sigh let it fall upon +the amorous trophy piled at her feet.</p> + +<p>A murmur rose amongst the stupefied villagers. Don Pedro approached his +niece.</p> + +<p>"Well, my child," he said, "have you thought of what you have done?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, uncle," Rosita replied. "Did you not tell me yourself that I was +perfectly free?"</p> + +<p>"Free to choose, without doubt; but not to send all your suitors away."</p> + +<p>Rosita cast down her eyes and made no reply.</p> + +<p>"Pardon me, father, but there still remains one," said Stephano, +breaking the silence.</p> + +<p>"Where is he?" everyone asked at once.</p> + +<p>"Here he is."</p> + +<p>Rosita trembled so violently that she was compelled to lean for support +upon her uncle's arm, and Don Pedro, more astonished than anyone, rushed +towards his son.</p> + +<p>"What, Stephano?" he said joyfully. "It is your cousin whom——"</p> + +<p>"Yes, father," replied the young man. "It is she whom I love."</p> + +<p>In the midst of such general interest Stephano, pale with emotion, +advanced towards his cousin.</p> + +<p>"Rosita, I love you," he said, simply. "Will you keep this bouquet which +I offer to you?"</p> + +<p>The young man pronounced these words with a voice so sweet and +expressive, and the gesture with which he offered the symbolic<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> flower +was so imploring and passionate, that a sympathetic thrill ran through +the spectators, and tears bedimmed Don Pedro's eyes.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 345px;"> +<img src="images/image306.jpg" width="345" height="450" alt=""'ROSITA, I LOVE YOU,' HE SAID."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"'ROSITA, I LOVE YOU,' HE SAID."</span> +</div> + +<p>Rosita, not less pale than her cousin, took the bouquet with a trembling +hand, gazed upon it tenderly, then made a movement as if to throw it +down, paused, and then at last, with head turned aside, let it fall.</p> + +<p>"Santa Maria! He also!" cried the crowd, mournfully.</p> + +<p>"Do not condemn me without hearing my justification," cried Rosita, +turning to Don Pedro.</p> + +<p>"Your justification?" repeated Stephano, with relief.</p> + +<p>"Uncle," she said, after a pause, "there is a secret which I may have +been wrong in concealing from you hitherto, but I must confide it to you +alone."</p> + +<p>"To me!" cried the astonished old man.</p> + +<p>"I will come with you at once," and, seizing Rosita's hand, he led her +away, making signs to the peasants as he did so to disperse.</p> + +<p>Stephano strolled out to breathe the air upon the hills, whose shadows +were beginning to slope down into the valley. The sky was lighted only +by the afterglow of the red, sunken sun; the evening breeze carried +along in the warm air the perfume of the jasmine flowers and orange +groves in bloom, and no sound was heard but the music of guitars and +castanets, mingled sometimes with the faint tinkle of sheep bells.</p> + +<p>When Stephano re-entered he found his father and cousin in the lower +hall. Rosita, on perceiving him, made a pretext for rising, and +hurriedly left the room. Don Pedro and his son were left alone.</p> + +<p>"One word, father," said Stephano. "Does Rosita love me, and will she +also become my wife?"</p> + +<p>"You must forget Rosita," replied the old man. "You must tear from your +heart even the remembrance of your love."</p> + +<p>The young man abandoned himself to despair.</p> + +<p>"I shall never forget her," he said, passionately. "My love for Rosita +will only cease with my life."</p> + +<p>And he rushed from the room, leaving the old man wondering.</p> + + +<h4>II.</h4> + +<p>For some weeks the inmates of Don Pedro's house were forced to remain +prisoners, for rebel soldiers filled the neighbouring villages, and +troops of guerillas were being<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> mustered to put them to flight. It was a +morning, early in September, just after the sun had peered above the +horizon. A fine rain had fallen during the night, and the drops which +rested on the foliage sparkled like myriads of diamonds. The streets +were as yet deserted; some muleteers alone passed along them at +intervals. Don Pedro's house was the only one astir.</p> + +<p>Don Stephano, according to his custom, had risen with the dawn, and was +now alone in the lower hall, standing opposite the window which +overlooked the high road. He was occupied in fixing an iron lance upon a +wooden rod, at which he gazed abstractedly.</p> + +<p>The sound of a voice filling the air with song attracted his attention; +it was singing the Moorish romance of "Adlemar and Adalifa," and to the +quick perception of a Spanish ear was marked with a slight Ultramontaine +accent, which Stephano discerned like a true Castilian. Without moving +he listened to the song which awoke the echoes of the valley. The +amorous words recalled to Stephano's mind the thought of Rosita, and he +sighed deeply. Then he listened anew to the voice, which grew nearer and +nearer, and in which, in spite of its strange accent, he seemed to hear +an understrain of singular emotion. His conjectures were not long, +however. A man enveloped in a large mantle peered in at the open window, +and after throwing a rapid glance behind him leapt into the room. +Stephano recoiled at the sight of such a strange visitor, and felt +tempted to seize the man, whom he took at first for a robber. Then a +troop of horsemen dashed past the house. The stranger gave a sigh of +relief. Then for the first time he caught sight of Stephano.</p> + +<p>"I must be careful," the soldier muttered, as he drew his cloak more +carefully round him. "This Spaniard does not look over benevolent."</p> + +<p>"Who can this man be?" thought Stephano, as he instinctively put his +hand on his pistols; but on seeing the stranger advance towards him with +a pleasant smile, he paused.</p> + +<p>"Noble Castilian," said the stranger, "are you a man to oblige an enemy +in peril, and who for a quarter of an hour wishes you no more harm than +if you were his brother?"</p> + +<p>Before replying, Stephano scrutinized his questioner. He saw before him +a man of about twenty-eight, with a frank face and light hair and +moustache. His accent, and the blue pantaloons which appeared under the +brown mantle, proclaimed him a Frenchman.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 326px;"> +<img src="images/image307.jpg" width="326" height="450" alt=""THE STRANGER."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"THE STRANGER."</span> +</div> + +<p>"No unarmed man is my enemy," replied Stephano, "and from the moment my +roof was over your head you became my guest."</p> + +<p>"Shake hands on it! You are a fine fellow," cried the soldier, holding +out his hand. At the same time he drew aside his mantle, and Stephano +recognised the uniform worn by the French volunteers of Don Carlos's +army. "Now, if you have a drop of anything to drink handy, I will tell +you in a few words what has brought me here."</p> + +<p>Stephano opened the sideboard, and brought out a bottle and glasses. The +soldier wiped his moustache as he began.</p> + +<p>"You see before you," he said, with frank abruptness, "Charles +Dulaurier, a soldier by birth and profession, lieutenant in the +Grenadiers of His Majesty Charles V.—pardon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> me, Don Carlos. Being +stationed some few miles from here, I asked for leave of absence this +morning to join some troops which (pardon me) are going to make a raid +upon this very village this morning. But, thanks to my foolhardiness in +starting off alone, I soon found myself in the hands of guerillas. I +escaped. They pursued me. But I, though alone in a strange country and +unarmed, led them a nice dance for half an hour. I was just about to +fall again into their hands when I came in sight of this house. I duped +them by my ruse of pitching my voice in such a manner as to lead them to +think I was beyond the village, whilst I at the same time took refuge +here. To conclude, my worthy fellow, no doubt the guerillas are not +blind, and not finding any trace of me upon the route, will return to +Panola. Consequently, if you are a host to my liking you will——"</p> + +<p>"Conceal you," said Stephano, quickly. "You are right!" and he glanced +round with uneasiness. The lieutenant struck him on the shoulder. "One +minute," he said; "the guerillas cannot reappear for half an hour. This +little expedition, as you may imagine, was not my only motive for coming +to Panola, and I must again abuse your patience in asking you some +questions upon a certain subject which is the motive of my expedition."</p> + +<p>"Go on," replied Stephano, with resignation.</p> + +<p>"I came here to look for a young girl," said the Frenchman, twisting his +moustache, "and as, perhaps, you will be so good as to give me some +information on this point, it would be better for you to know the story. +Last year my regiment, after a vigorous resistance, entered a village in +Navarre."</p> + +<p>"A village in Navarre?" repeated Stephano, and his brow darkened.</p> + +<p>"One house had been so well defended, indeed, that it was found +necessary to surround it, and our infuriated soldiers, drunk with +carnage, determined to massacre everyone within. I luckily surprised +them as they drew their sabres upon two poor old creatures and their +young daughter. I threw myself between the victims and their butchers; +the wretches turned upon me and I fell wounded by a bayonet thrust, but +they were saved. The kind people who owed me their lives bore me to +their house, and gave me every care. The young girl watched at my +bedside for more than a fortnight. Briefly the beauty, the tenderness of +the little girl, won my heart. Losing no time, I declared my passion. +She whispered, blushing, that I might speak to her parents. As soon as I +was well enough to walk, I hastened to the worthy old man, who, after +the shock he had received, became mortally ill, and felt his end +approach. I had no sooner asked him for his daughter's hand than he +exclaimed, 'God be praised! I shall not now die without having +recompensed our deliverer.' At the same time he took the young girl's +hand and mine, and, after making us exchange rings, clasped them +together. Then he stretched forth his trembling hands above our heads to +bless us, whilst on our knees by the bedside we swore eternal fidelity +to each other. Three days after the good man died, and the same day my +regiment left for Castile. Seven months passed without my hearing any +news from my betrothed, and it was only by chance I learned that on her +mother's death she had quitted Navarre to take up her abode in her +uncle's house at Panola.</p> + +<p>"But what is the matter?" said the lieutenant, as Stephano rose +hurriedly.</p> + +<p>"I know enough," replied the young man in a hollow voice. "The village +was Tafalla, and the young girl's name is Rosita."</p> + +<p>"But what is there in that?" cried the lieutenant, who understood +nothing of Stephano's emotion. "You know Rosita? She is here? You are +silent. Heavens! Is she dead—or married?"</p> + +<p>"No, no," replied Stephano, with an effort. "Rosita is here. No doubt +she loves you and watches for your return with impatience."</p> + +<p>"Where, then, shall I find my betrothed?"</p> + +<p>Stephano was about to reply to this question when the tramp of horses +was heard. It was the troop returning.</p> + +<p>"Softly!" whispered Dulaurier as he crept towards the window. "Yes, +these are my friends. Where will you hide me?"</p> + +<p>Stephano regarded him with a savage gleam in his eyes and muttered to +himself, "This man comes here to blast my happiness, and I must protect +his life at the peril of my own."</p> + +<p>"What am I to do?" repeated Dulaurier.</p> + +<p>"Take this dagger," said Stephano, "put on your mantle and follow me." +He unfastened a little door which opened upon a staircase which led into +the garden, and descended, followed by Dulaurier. They stole along +behind a thick hedge of hawthorn until they came to the trees of a +little orchard, from which rose the roof of a ruined summer-house. On +reaching this spot<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> Stephano installed the lieutenant so that he could +watch both the road and the garden; then having arranged upon the course +they should take, Stephano hastened back to the house.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 448px;"> +<img src="images/image309.jpg" width="448" height="450" alt=""THEY STOLE ALONG."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"THEY STOLE ALONG."</span> +</div> + +<p>Don Pedro was in the lower hall, alone, when his son entered.</p> + +<p>"I have a request to make to you," said the young man, clasping his +father's hand convulsively. "I want you to let me start at once to join +my brothers and to fight for Spain."</p> + +<p>"Can you then leave your cousin?" said Don Pedro, sadly. "And you do not +know——"</p> + +<p>"I know more than you, father, more than Rosita herself about this +affair," interrupted Stephano. "Is not Rosita betrothed to a French +volunteer in Don Carlos's army, and is this not the secret she confided +to you on harvest day?"</p> + +<p>"It is true. But how have you discovered it?"</p> + +<p>"From a man flying from the pursuit of guerillas; no other than the man +himself, Lieutenant Charles Dulaurier!"</p> + +<p>"Is it possible?" exclaimed the stupefied old man.</p> + +<p>"You see, father, that it is absolutely necessary for me to go," cried +Stephano. "I cannot wait until Rosita and Dulaurier are united. Their +happiness would be more than I could bear, and I have thought of a plan +by which the lieutenant can be saved without putting off my departure. I +shall join the troop of guerillas who are seeking Dulaurier in the +village. Seeing me become one of themselves their suspicions will be +lulled, and I shall save my rival by departing with his enemies."</p> + +<p>"You are right," replied his father, after a painful pause, but he could +not utter a word more.</p> + +<p>The young man proceeded to take down from the wall his pistols and his +gun; he placed the former in his belt and the latter on his shoulder, +took his hat and stepped forward to bid his father farewell. But as he +threw himself into the arms of the weeping old man, the door opened and +Rosita entered.</p> + +<p>The young girl glanced quickly from one to the other, and then her eyes +remained fixed on Stephano.</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do?" she asked, examining his equipment.</p> + +<p>"I am going away," replied Stephano. "Farewell, Rosita, be happy. +Farewell, father," he added, embracing Don Pedro.</p> + +<p>"He is going," said Rosita, her eyes dim with tears, "without one +friendly smile, without one clasp of his hand. Oh! Stephano," she +exclaimed, springing forward. "You cannot part from me thus!"</p> + +<p>"You are keeping me!" said the bewildered young man.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she replied, seizing his hand. "Stay, Stephano, do not go. I +implore you!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Remain!" cried the young man, passionately. "Remain to see you in the +arms of another? Never!"</p> + +<p>As he moved towards the door, Rosita sprang towards him with +outstretched arms. "And what if it is you whom I love, Stephano? What if +I have never loved anyone but you?" A thunderbolt would hardly have +produced more effect than did these words.</p> + +<p>"You love me?" he repeated, approaching his cousin. "Rosita, for mercy's +sake, repeat those words once more, so that I may be sure of having +heard aright."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I love you," repeated the young girl, tenderly; "no one but you! +Will you stay now?"</p> + +<p>"For ever, if you wish it!" cried the enraptured youth, throwing down +his gun and pistols. "Look at me, Rosita, that I may read in your eyes +that word which gives me life, and which I have waited for so long. How +blind and foolish I have been! But that will be all right now, will it +not, my beloved?" As he spoke he embraced her passionately. By both of +them the world was forgotten.</p> + +<p>Through the open window came the clink of spurs and rattling of sabres. +This sound, to which Stephano and Rosita were deaf, struck on the ear of +Don Pedro and paralyzed him with terror.</p> + +<p>"Stephano!" he cried at last. "Remember Lieutenant Dulaurier!"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 465px;"> +<img src="images/image310.jpg" width="465" height="450" alt=""REMEMBER LIEUTENANT DULAURIER!"" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"REMEMBER LIEUTENANT DULAURIER!"</span> +</div> + +<p>"Ah!" groaned Stephano, rudely torn from his ecstasy of happiness; and +he fixed his gaze upon his cousin.</p> + +<p>The girl had not even heard Don Pedro.</p> + +<p>"Rosita," said her lover, "you say you love me, but you have a +<i>fiancé!</i>"</p> + +<p>"Dulaurier!" cried the startled girl. "Great Heaven! pardon me, I had +forgotten."</p> + +<p>"If this man," continued Stephano, "came here to claim your promise, you +would reply, would you not, that friendship alone, not love, had drawn +you towards him, and that your hand, promised when you hardly knew what +you did, would now be given without your heart?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, that is what I should answer; but he is not likely to come here, +Stephano."</p> + +<p>"And what if he were here already?" asked an impressive voice.</p> + +<p>Don Pedro at the same time stepped forward between the young people, and +before the severe face of the Spaniard their eyes drooped.</p> + +<p>"Father!" faltered the young man.</p> + +<p>"Silence!" cried the old man. "Your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> duty is clear. What if Dulaurier +were in the house, Rosita—what if, more faithful than you, he had come +to claim his promise, made at the death-bed of your father? I ask you +what you would answer."</p> + +<p>Trembling and submissive as a criminal before his judge, the young girl +turned her eyes from Stephano to Don Pedro.</p> + +<p>"I should reply to Lieutenant Dulaurier that, before God and man, I am +his betrothed bride, and that while he lives no other can be my +husband."</p> + +<p>"Come then, my child, prepare to receive your <i>fiancé</i>," and Don Pedro +held out his hand to his niece to lead her away.</p> + +<p>"You are destroying my happiness!" cried Stephano.</p> + +<p>"But in return I give you back your honour," replied Don Pedro. "Look +after the lieutenant, for here come the guerillas!" and he went out.</p> + +<p>"What a dream, and what an awakening!" murmured Stephano as he was left +alone. "Rosita vows she loves me, and at the same time declares she will +never be mine while Dulaurier lives. <i>While he lives!</i> And I must take +upon myself the peril of saving him, when I have only to let him——Oh, +how despair tempts us to horrible deeds! Is there time to fly, to quit +this spot where each thought is torture: to hasten and join the +guerillas before they enter the house? For, alas! if they enter now and +demand where their enemy is—by Heaven! I shall not have the strength to +resist—I must fly!"</p> + +<p>Picking up his gun and pistols he rushed towards the door, but recoiled +at the sight of a man in the uniform of a captain of guerillas, who by a +gesture forced him to pause.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 283px;"> +<img src="images/image311.jpg" width="283" height="500" alt=""IT IS TOO LATE!"" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"IT IS TOO LATE!"</span> +</div> + +<p>"Malediction—it is too late!" murmured the young man, as he dropped +upon a chair, and let his unheeded weapons fall to the ground.</p> + +<p>"Two sentinels before each door and window," called out the captain to +the soldiers who followed him. "This is the last house in which our +prisoner could take refuge," he continued, striking impatiently the butt +end of his rifle upon the ground. "Search well, comrades; you know he +who takes the Frenchman prisoner is to have the honour of firing the +first shot upon him, and is also to receive twenty douros for reward." +Thereupon he advanced into the room. "Well, my good fellow," he said to +Stephano; "what are you going to do with these weapons? Are they to +defend yourself or to protect the officer whom you have hidden here?"</p> + +<p>"No one is hidden in this house," replied the young man, with the +courage which peril bestows. "The La Sargas are known throughout the +country to be devoted to Spain and the Queen. I have three brothers in +the national army, and I have just picked up these weapons with the +intention of joining your troops."</p> + +<p>The captain looked at him with a sneering smile. Then he turned to his +companions, who had just returned from searching the house.</p> + +<p>"Well, have you found anything?"</p> + +<p>"Only a young girl and an old man," was the reply.</p> + +<p>"Bring the old man here," said the captain; then he turned to Stephano. +"And you, sir, go with my lieutenant and these three men, and show them +every room there is"; then he murmured in the lieutenant's ear,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> +slipping at the same time a purse of gold into his hand: "Spare neither +threats nor persuasion to gain this young man over to our side. Whatever +it costs, I must recapture our prisoner."</p> + +<p>Stephano felt tempted to resist these orders, but he reflected that this +would only draw suspicion upon him, and he led the way up the stairs, +which were placed in a corner of the room.</p> + +<p>At the same time Don Pedro entered, guarded by two soldiers and leaning +on his staff. Then an interval ensued, and the minutes flew past. +Suddenly a pistol shot was heard. Everyone gave a start of alarm. Then +one of the guards who had gone out with Stephano came rushing down the +stairs and into the room.</p> + +<p>"The bird is snared, or will be in a few minutes," he cried. "Our +prisoner," he continued, pointing through the window, "is in that +building which you see at the bottom of the garden."</p> + +<p>"How do you know this?" asked the captain.</p> + +<p>"From the young man who is upstairs with the lieutenant."</p> + +<p>"From Stephano!" cried the old man, growing pale with horror.</p> + +<p>"Ah, ah!" laughed the captain, "your son does not seem very hard to +persuade."</p> + +<p>"The lieutenant having discovered nothing," the man went on, "told three +of us to go and search the granary, and took advantage of the occasion +to take the young man aside. I watched them. A purse of gold and the +barrel of a pistol have been the principal inducements. The sly fellow +at first was very obstinate, and it was then that the lieutenant fired +the pistol at him to frighten him. The young man seemed to be moved in a +singular manner by the shot. He gave way with good grace, and pointed +the pavilion out to us."</p> + +<p>Whilst the captain lent a joyful ear to this narrative, Don Pedro, on +the contrary, listened with terror mingled with incredulity. At these +last words he could contain himself no longer, and broke in violently:—</p> + +<p>"Enough, wretch; enough!" he cried. "What you say is impossible! It is +an infamous calumny! My son is quite incapable of such villainy!"</p> + +<p>"Look, senor," replied the man, pointing to the stairs.</p> + +<p>Stephano in truth was descending with the lieutenant, holding the purse +in his hand. His pale and agitated face seemed to proclaim his guilt, +and Don Pedro sank back fainting on a seat. Stephano crossed the room +with a faltering step without observing his father, and, reaching the +window, gazed out upon the road.</p> + +<p>In recalling to mind his son's jealousy of Dulaurier, Don Pedro +understood the facts of the matter—that he had sold his guest to get +rid of a detested rival. Maddened by passion, he had without doubt lost +all control over himself. After having exchanged some words in a low +voice with his lieutenant, the captain made a sign to two of his men.</p> + +<p>"Remain with this fellow," he said, in a tone of contempt, pointing to +Stephano, "until we reach the pavilion; if he makes one movement shoot +him, and when a volley announces to you that we are not deceived, join +us to start upon our route."</p> + +<p>"Very good, captain," answered the two soldiers, taking up their +position on each side of Stephano, whilst the others went out softly.</p> + +<p>A mournful silence reigned in the chamber.</p> + +<p>Stephano stood erect before the window, with haggard eyes fixed upon the +road; Don Pedro, mute and motionless in his chair, seemed like a man +bereft of all at a single blow. Then, his misery overwhelming him, he +covered his face with his hands and wept. Stephano turned round quickly, +and for the first time saw his father.</p> + +<p>"Great Heavens! He was there, and heard all!" he murmured. "Father!" he +cried imploringly.</p> + +<p>"Call me your father no more," cried the old man, with flaming eyes, +"unless you can tell me that I am blind and deaf, or that I have dreamed +that my son was a coward, a traitor, an assassin! Tell me so, Stephano, +for pity's sake!"</p> + +<p>The young man made an effort as if he were about to speak, but paused at +the sight of his two guards; the strain was so painful that he was +forced to lean for support on one of the guerilla's arms. Then he turned +away; Don Pedro rose from his seat and came towards his son.</p> + +<p>"His eye never quits this fatal window," he murmured to himself. "It +looks as if he watched to see the success of his perfidy, that he wishes +to assure himself that his rival does not escape. Wretch!" he burst +forth, "if this is so, may you be——"</p> + +<p>Suddenly a hand was laid softly upon the old man's arm. It was Rosita.</p> + +<p>"Ah! it is you, Rosita!" said Don Pedro with a bewildered stare. +"Wretched man that I am, what was I about to do?" he added, passing his +hand over his forehead.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span></p> + +<p>Rosita came farther forward into the room.</p> + +<p>"Stephano guarded by two soldiers!" she cried. "Holy Virgin! what does +this mean, and what has happened?"</p> + +<p>And she made an instinctive movement towards her cousin. Her uncle +stopped her.</p> + +<p>"Keep away from this wretched man!" he cried, "for he is a coward and a +traitor; he has betrayed your betrothed!"</p> + +<p>"Betrayed my betrothed!" cried the girl, with horror. "It is +impossible!"</p> + +<p>"Not only has he betrayed him," continued the old man, taking his +niece's hand, "but he is watching for the success of his treason. Do you +recognise my son, Rosita?" he added, with heartrending despair, "or the +man whom you loved?"</p> + +<p>Here the poor old man broke down completely, and sank back into his +chair. The girl gazed at him with consternation. Even the rough soldiers +were touched by the scene, and turned their heads aside.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 435px;"> +<img src="images/image313.jpg" width="435" height="450" alt=""THE POOR OLD MAN BROKE DOWN COMPLETELY."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"THE POOR OLD MAN BROKE DOWN COMPLETELY."</span> +</div> + +<p>At that instant a loud report shook the walls. It was the captain's +volley. The two soldiers exchanged a meaning glance and disappeared. As +soon as they went out Rosita threw herself in Don Pedro's arms.</p> + +<p>"Dulaurier is dead!" said the old man, gloomily.</p> + +<p>"He is saved!" cried Stephano, coming forward, and throwing from him as +he did so the purse of gold. "Yes, father, yes, Rosita, the lieutenant +is safe and sound, and will be with us in a few seconds."</p> + +<p>"How can that be?" cried Don Pedro, passing from despair to joy.</p> + +<p>"Before leaving Dulaurier in the pavilion we had arranged that he was to +be informed by a pistol shot when he must leave his hiding-place for the +granary whilst his enemies were searching the pavilion. You understand +now how the guerilla's shot agitated me. For, of course, Dulaurier, +taking the report for the signal agreed upon, would leave the pavilion +for the granary, and would then fall into the hands of his pursuers. The +only plan to save him was to get the soldiers away from the granary, +which I did by feigning to betray Dulaurier, by accepting the purse, and +pointing out the pavilion as his hiding-place. For a quarter of an hour +I have endured the tortures of hell, but I have saved the man who +confided in me, and I am still worthy of you both!"</p> + +<p>The young man had hardly finished his narrative when his father and +Rosita were at his feet begging for forgiveness. Then Stephano hastened +to the granary, and called the lieutenant's name, but there was no +response, and soon Stephano's surprise was changed to uneasiness. He +rushed into the granary. It was empty. Stephano reappeared, pale, +tottering and breathless.</p> + +<p>"Dulaurier is not in the granary," he cried. "He cannot have taken the +pistol shot for my signal. He must have remained, and that report we +heard was his death-shot."</p> + +<p>He paused abruptly. Don Pedro and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> Rosita understood, and burst forth +into an exclamation of horror.</p> + +<p>"Victory! Victory!" cried a hundred voices.</p> + +<p>Their despair and consternation were changed to the most lively +astonishment, when a detachment of Don Carlos's volunteers entered the +house, led by Dulaurier himself.</p> + +<p>"Dulaurier!" exclaimed Stephano, Don Pedro, and Rosita at the same time.</p> + +<p>"Our enemies!" said the old Castilian, whilst his niece shrank behind +him.</p> + +<p>"Say rather friends," replied Dulaurier, pressing Stephano's hand +warmly.</p> + +<p>"But how has all this happened?" began the bewildered Stephano.</p> + +<p>"One minute's attention. For half an hour I waited patiently after your +departure in the little pavilion, when I heard the signal we arranged on +of the pistol shot. I quitted my hiding-place at once, and was preparing +to creep towards the granary, when, casting a glance upon the road, I +recognised the uniforms of the volunteers of my regiment. Briefly," +continued Dulaurier, showing the soldiers who surrounded him, "here are +the gentlemen, whom I have the honour of presenting to you. Like good +comrades, they determined to avenge me, and we caught the guerillas in +an ambush as they were searching the pavilion. Bang! a general +discharge, and thirty men were lying on the ground, and the rest running +away for their lives."</p> + +<p>"The volley of which we believed you the victim!" interrupted Stephano.</p> + +<p>"You understand the rest. Not wishing to quit Panola without thanking +you, and also wishing to see about that little matter which I mentioned +to you this morning, we came on here. And now," he added to Stephano, +with the air of a man who has no time to lose, "I must thank you most +warmly for all you have done for me."</p> + +<p>There was such a tone of kindness in these words that Stephano could do +nothing but grasp his hand cordially in return.</p> + +<p>"Anyone else?" cried the effusive officer, looking quickly round. "You +have a father, a mother, a wife, perhaps? Where are they? This noble old +man must be your father," and upon Stephano's making an affirmative sign +he grasped the old man's hand, and wrung it with force.</p> + +<p>"Are there no ladies in your family?" asked Dulaurier with a gallant +air.</p> + +<p>It was then that in spite of Rosita's efforts to avoid his attention he +caught sight of her as she hid behind Don Pedro's high-backed chair.</p> + +<p>"Ah! here is one!" he said, without recognising his betrothed. He +stepped forward towards her.</p> + +<p>"Most amiable senora," he began politely, "permit me——" He paused, +gazing with stupefied eyes upon the young girl, and then made a sign to +his soldiers to leave them.</p> + +<p>"Good Heavens!" he exclaimed, "if I am not deceived it is Rosita, my +pretty <i>fiancée</i>!"</p> + +<p>"You are right; it is I, Monsieur Dulaurier," faltered the young girl.</p> + +<p>The light of happiness vanished from all the faces in the room except +the lieutenant's.</p> + +<p>"You can easily understand, my pretty one, what has led me to Panola," +said Dulaurier.</p> + +<p>"I presume you have come to remind Rosita," answered Don Pedro, "of the +promise that she gave you at her dying father's bedside. She has not +forgotten it, senor. She recognises her duty, and you have only one word +to say——"</p> + +<p>"Will you answer me yourself, Rosita?" interrupted Dulaurier, marking +her extreme pallor and agitation. "You know what I have the right of +claiming; are you still able to give it me freely?"</p> + +<p>"Without doubt," she murmured; "if I give you my hand, my heart will go +with it."</p> + +<p>"Words, nothing but words!" thought the lieutenant, who grew pale in his +turn. "All women are weathercocks. It is clear I am superseded," and he +bit his lip until it bled. "But I should like to know who is my +substitute," and he turned mechanically to Stephano. He found him as +mute and as troubled as Rosita. The truth flashed across him. "I cannot +blame the brave young man," he murmured to himself, "for falling in love +with his cousin. It has not prevented him from saving my life at the +expense of his love and honour, and as I have no wish for a heart not +wholly mine, I have now to render sacrifice for sacrifice, and to keep +the reputation of France equal to that of Spain." He turned to Rosita +with a smile.</p> + +<p>"Mademoiselle," he began, "when we plighted our troth, and I told you +that I loved you devotedly, I was as sincere as I am to-day, only I took +upon myself too much, and have contracted several other engagements, +more or less similar to yours." He gave a forced laugh as he pronounced +these words.</p> + +<p>"That is enough, senor," said Don Pedro. "But why have you then come to +Panola to claim her promise?"</p> + +<p>"Who said that I was here for that purpose?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> asked Dulaurier, abruptly. +Stephano, indeed, recollected that the Frenchman had not said a single +word which implied that he came to claim Rosita's hand. "I implore +Mademoiselle Rosita to pardon me," pursued Dulaurier, "and I propose +that we exchange rings again."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 494px;"> +<img src="images/image315.jpg" width="494" height="450" alt=""I PROPOSE THAT WE EXCHANGE RINGS AGAIN."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"I PROPOSE THAT WE EXCHANGE RINGS AGAIN."</span> +</div> + +<p>It was no sooner said than done. Dulaurier turned and clasped Stephano's +hand again, and now the young man saw with apprehension that Dulaurier's +eyes were dim with tears. Dulaurier could keep up the farce no longer, +and his heart was breaking behind the smile upon his lips.</p> + +<p>"Dulaurier!" said the young man, "you weep: you are unhappy! What you +have said has been only a sublime falsehood! You love Rosita—you wish +to marry her—and if you have the generosity to renounce all for me, it +must not be at the expense of your happiness."</p> + +<p>"Hush!" said Dulaurier, as he took him aside. "Do not undo my work. But +since you have found it out, you are right. I did come back to claim +Rosita. I have always loved her, and have loved none but her. But do not +breathe a word of this. Let no thought of my unhappiness cast a shadow +on her life. Sacrifice for sacrifice, young man. France is equal to +Spain, and we are quits.</p> + +<p>"Farewell, brave Castilians," he cried aloud, "celebrate the marriage +merrily: and let us hope that we shall never meet upon the battlefield +of this unhappy country."</p> + +<p>"Farewell!" replied Stephano, huskily.</p> + +<p>Dulaurier pressed Don Pedro's and Stephano's hands, kissed that of +Rosita, and joined his comrades outside.</p> + +<p>"Wheel to the right—forward!" he shouted, at the head of his battalion.</p> + +<p>Then came the roll of the drum, and they all marched past the window.</p> + +<p>"Rosita," said Stephano to his cousin, "you are free, and we are going +to be happy; but never let us forget Lieutenant Dulaurier!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="The_Queer_Side_of_Things" id="The_Queer_Side_of_Things"></a><i>The Queer Side of Things.</i></h2> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 650px;"> +<img src="images/image316.jpg" width="650" height="411" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p>Let us return for a space to the two spirits William and James, whose +conversations we described in past numbers. Some readers may possibly +recall how the spirit James, while wandering through the darkness of +unoccupied Space (about five-and-twenty billions of eons before the +commencement of Eternity), conceived a wild idea of the possibility of +the existence of worlds—worlds occupied by an impracticability called +"man." It will be recollected how the wiser spirit William cast +well-merited ridicule upon this insanely impossible phantasy of a +disordered mind; nay, even condescended to crush, by perspicuous and +irrefutable logic, the grotesque and preposterous idea.</p> + +<p>Very well; it is now William's turn.</p> + +<p>"James," he said one day as they chanced to sight each other in the +awful solitude of Space, "I have been thinking over that world of yours, +and your crowning absurdity, 'man.' Pray do not become too inflated with +weak conceit at my condescending to think about such trivialities; for +the fact is, any subject of thought—however hopelessly foolish—is a +relief amid the tediousness of Space. Well, I have been reflecting upon +that characteristic which you conceive as distinguishing your puppet +'man'—I allude to <i>intelligence</i>. I think you suggested that he would +possess intelligence?"</p> + +<p>James only fidgeted uneasily, and made a feeble sign of affirmation.</p> + +<p>"Very well," continued William. "Now, I have been putting two and two +together, and have found out the nature of that quality which you +mistake for intelligence; its true name is 'low cunning.' Every fresh +piece of absurdity which you have told me touching the tricks of your +queer creatures has supplied new evidence of this. Your creatures were +to feed upon the substance of the 'world' on which they lived, and, ever +increasing in numbers, would logically in course of time find there was +not a mouthful apiece. I think we agreed about that? Well, let us +consider that period, some time before the creatures should actually +become exterminated by the natural evolution of events—the time when +all the eatable products of their world would be growing scarce. You +went so far as to imagine a great many products——"</p> + +<p>"Yes!" said James, gazing afar off in the absorption of his imagination. +"Yes—there were eggs, and oysters, and poultry, and mushrooms, and——"</p> + +<p>"Ah!—the very things I've been reflecting about. Well, I've been +dreaming that, at the period of which I speak, when all the commodities +were becoming scarce, your human beings would agree to make poisonous +artificial articles of consumption with which to poison themselves by +degrees, and thus reduce the population to convenient limits."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No!" cried James, pondering deeply. "Their idea would be to poison not +<i>themselves</i>, but <i>each other</i>!"</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 410px;"> +<img src="images/image317-1.jpg" width="410" height="300" alt=""POISON."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"POISON."</span> +</div> + +<p>"Ah! I see. Then they would make some sort of effort to prevent +themselves being poisoned?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes; they would pass Adulteration Acts for the purpose."</p> + +<p>"I see; and any creature who did not wish to be poisoned could take +advantage of these Acts to protect himself?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly. The Acts would be very stringent. Let us suppose, for +example, that a certain man suspected that the butter supplied to him +was not butter at all, but a deleterious compound—well, all he would +have to do would be to go to the shop, accompanied by a guardian of the +peace, and, standing on one leg, with both hands on the counter and one +eye shut, order a pound of the butter in certain words prescribed by the +Act. He would then say to the tradesman, 'I am about to divide this +pound of butter into three equal portions for the purposes of analysis'; +and, taking the butter-man's knife in his left hand, and passing it to +his right, would cut the butter into three portions exactly equal.</p> + +<p>"After this, hermetically sealing the three portions in three jars +provided for the purpose, he would hand one jar to the tradesman, the +second to the guardian of the peace, and retain the third. Then he would +bring an action; and (provided that all the conditions had been +accurately fulfilled, without the slightest flaw) the erring tradesman +would be told by the Court not to do it again; while the complainant +would have to pay all costs, and possibly a fine; and would be sneered +at by the magistrate as a fussy idiot and a common informer.</p> + +<p>"If, on the other hand, the complainant should omit to secure the +company of a custodian of the peace, or fail to stand on one leg with +both hands on the counter, or take the knife in his right hand first, or +should leave out the prescribed words, or blink his eye, or stammer, or +sneeze, or in any other way fail to observe the regulations of the Act; +he would, of course, have no case or remedy. The Adulteration Acts would +be extremely stringent——"</p> + +<p>"Against the victim of adulteration?"</p> + +<p>"Ye—es," murmured James, a little nonplussed.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 572px;"> +<img src="images/image317-2.jpg" width="572" height="450" alt=""THE SHOP."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"THE SHOP."</span> +</div> + +<p>"Ah—well, then, I think we can afford to ignore these Adulteration +Acts—like the adulterators and the public authorities would—and +proceed with the question of the adulteration. I had a most vivid vision +or dream of the details of this adulteration as they would be carried +out on your world at the period we are now considering. I imagined that +I was actually in a part of your world called 'America,' and that one of +your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span> human beings politely invited me to walk through his factory and +see how things were made. I think you mentioned 'oysters'——"</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 300px;"> +<img src="images/image318-1.jpg" width="300" height="269" alt=""NO CASE."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"NO CASE."</span> +</div> + +<p>"Yes," said James, "that's one name the article of food would possess; +newspaper writers, however, would not recognise them by that name—they +would only know them as 'the succulent bivalve.'"</p> + +<p>"The very idea!" exclaimed William. "That's exactly what I seemed to +have become—a newspaper writer. I fancied I went to see the factory, +and then sent in the following account:—</p> + +<p>"One of the most interesting factories in America is the stately +building of the Ephraim Q. Knickerbocker Natural Products Manufacturing +Corporation, of Spread Eagle Springs, N.J. That the structure is itself +an imposing one may well be imagined in view of the vast productive +energy expended within its walls; and the feebleness and inefficiency of +the productive operations of Nature are never so fully realized as after +a visit to this marvellous factory, and a comparison of the two systems.</p> + +<p>"It was, therefore, with no little satisfaction that we lately received +a courteous invitation from the able and energetic managing director +General Sardanapalus J. Van Biene to inspect the operations of the +Corporation at its factory. Accordingly, we proceeded to the New York +terminus of the Natural Products Manufacturing Corporation's New York, +Sumner Ferry, Thanksgiving Flats, and Spread Eagle Springs Railroad, +along which a special train speedily whirled us to the front door of the +works. On the steps stood the genial managing director, supported by the +principal manager Colonel Exodus V. Rooster, the head chemist Major +Madison B. Jefferson, and the assistant chemists Judge Vansittart J. +Sumner and Admiral Hudson W. Killigrew.</p> + +<p>"They received us with open arms, and, after entertaining us at a +<i>recherché</i> lunch, conducted us to the chemistry and analysis section +occupying a little over seventeen acres and employing a permanent staff +of thirteen thousand four hundred and thirty-two, assistants, among whom +are chemists, microscopists, sub-inventors, etc., etc. There it is that +the productive operations of Nature are studied and improved upon.</p> + +<p>"'You must not imagine that we have any kind of sympathy or admiration +for Nature's system,' explained General S. J. Van Biene, hastening to +sweep away any false impression which we might have formed.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 428px;"> +<img src="images/image318-2.jpg" width="428" height="450" alt=""THEY RECEIVED US WITH OPEN ARMS."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"THEY RECEIVED US WITH OPEN ARMS."</span> +</div> + +<p>"'On the contrary, we just entirely despise her and her ways, and should +have discarded her way back but for the prejudices<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> of the consuming +public. It's just like this—the consumers still believe in natural +products, and so we have to go on reproducing them instead of starting +right away on our own lines and bringing out new and original +commodities far in advance of anything Nature can do. How we're +stultified you'll see as we work through. We just have to copy, anyway, +in place of originating. We make oysters, for example. Now quite a while +ago, our head chemist Major Madison B. Jefferson invented a new edible +way, finer in every essential than the oyster; but the consumers +wouldn't have it: they shied at it, and declared it wasn't wholesome; +and we had the whole stock on our hands, and had to vat it down again, +and recolour it, and make tomatoes of it. Then they took it down and +just chaired it round. Of course, we have to say we <i>grow</i> the +products—that's another effect of popular prejudice; if we had said we +made those tomatoes, the public would have started right off again, and +talked of "adulteration," although our tomatoes whip Nature's by 50 per +cent, in all the elements of nutrition and flavour. Just taste this +one.'</p> + +<p>"We hesitated, and the director, perceiving it, promptly consumed +another from the same case. Thus reassured, we ventured to nibble at the +artificial vegetable, and found it excellent in every respect—decidedly +superior to the natural product, as he had stated.</p> + +<p>"'But,' we asked, 'do you not suffer considerable losses when these +products—necessarily perishable in the natural course of things—begin +to decay?'</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 396px;"> +<img src="images/image319.jpg" width="396" height="450" alt=""JUST TASTE THIS ONE."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"JUST TASTE THIS ONE."</span> +</div> + +<p>"'That's just another point where we show our superiority to Nature. +<i>Our</i> products <i>don't</i> decay; on the contrary, they improve by keeping. +Here is a tomato seven years old,' he continued, taking down another +case. 'Try it.'</p> + +<p>"We did. The other was not to be compared with it. The older tomato had +matured and mellowed, the skin having a finer colour and lovelier gloss, +the flesh possessing a firmer body and more delicate flavour; it was far +in advance of any tomato we had ever conceived.</p> + +<p>"'Wonderful!' we exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"'A very simple matter,' said the director. 'All that is required is a +thorough mastery of chemistry. In all our goods we employ a special +patent preservative of our own, which is naturally a secret. We +calculate it to be worth one hundred and fifty quadrillions of dollars.</p> + +<p>"'But let us show you how we make oysters! See, these are the tanks +which contain the mixture—the compound which forms the body of the +bivalve. This tank contains the beard-mixture; and this one the +gristle.'</p> + +<p>"'And what are the principal ingredients?'</p> + +<p>"'Glue, made from horses' heels. This is a very important factor in our +products. This glue, after undergoing a peculiar treatment which +prevents its hardening and losing its elasticity in the course of years, +is flavoured and coloured in various ways. This great tank contains the +composition for the internal parts of the oyster—nearly black, you +perceive; that tank over there contains the compound for the flesh that +covers the internal parts; that tank farther along holds the beard +mixture; and the one beyond that the gristle which attaches the oyster +to the shell. First, the flesh of the oyster is run into moulds, each +oyster being in two parts; then the inside of the animal is run into +another mould, and the two halves of the body are automatically placed +around it and cemented together.</p> + +<p>"'Meanwhile the beards have been rolled, stamped, frilled, and coloured +along the edge by special automatic machinery. The body of the oyster +then passes to the fixing-up room, where the beard is cemented to it by +hand, and finishing touches of colour added; and then it passes along +and has the gristle attached: and the oyster itself is complete.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 322px;"> +<img src="images/image320-1.jpg" width="322" height="450" alt="The Oyster Factory Affixing the Beards." title="" /> +<span class="caption">The Oyster Factory Affixing the Beards.</span> +</div> + +<p>"'But it wants a shell!'</p> + +<p>"'Just so. As far as the supply will go, we buy up old shells from +dustyards and use them; but most of them are damaged by previous +opening, so we make the bulk of our shells, and they're a good deal more +natural than the real ones. They're made of lime.'</p> + +<p>"'All alike?'</p> + +<p>"'Not in the least. You see, we have some thousands of moulds, every one +differing slightly from the rest. There's a special department for +hingeing the two shells together. We had some trouble to find a +substance for the hinge; but at last one of our chemists hit on a way of +subjecting old hide-scraps to a peculiar process, and that did the +thing. The mother-of-pearl is made of a sort of soft glass, somewhat +after the appearance of Venetian glass, and put on the shell hot. +Lastly, the oyster is attached to the shells by its cartilage; a little +liquor is put in, and the shells are closed up.'</p> + +<p>"'But surely people must observe that they are not alive?' we said. 'For +instance, they can't open their shells!'</p> + +<p>"'That's just where you're astray,' replied the General. 'Owing to the +mechanical action of salt upon the composition of the cartilage, the +oyster opens when placed in salt water. Iron, however, exercises an +electro-magnetic influence upon the composition forming the body of the +bivalve, causing a sudden contraction—so that, on a knife being +introduced into the shell, the latter closes in the most natural way. We +manufacture pearls on the premises, and advertise that one oyster in +every gross taken from our beds contains a pearl of more or less value; +and there's a greater demand for our oysters than for any others in the +world. Our oyster beds are way down along the coast, about ten miles +off; and are inspected by thousands yearly. Taste this egg.'</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 361px;"> +<img src="images/image320-2.jpg" width="361" height="450" alt="The Pearl." title="" /> +<span class="caption">The Pearl.</span> +</div> + +<p>"He took up a fine specimen of a new-laid egg, and proceeded to break it +into a glass. It was a delightful egg. 'That's our latest pattern of +egg,' explained the General, 'You perceive that it has three lines +around it, where the substance of the shell is weaker than elsewhere; +the lines near each end enable a person about to consume the egg in a +boiled state to easily cut off the top or bottom with a knife, or run +his nail around it; while the line about the middle greatly assists +cooks in breaking it into a basin. There is also a thin spot at either +end, to facilitate sucking. These eggs are always new-laid; we send tons +to Europe, particularly to Great Britain, where ours are the only fresh +eggs they ever get.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 357px;"> +<img src="images/image321-1.jpg" width="357" height="400" alt="The London Egg" title="" /> +<span class="caption">The London Egg</span> +</div> + +<p>"'But you must find some difficulty in making an egg?'</p> + +<p>"'Just as easy as smiling. The white is simply jelly-fish subjected to a +chemical process—jelly-fish aren't costly. This tank is full of the +liquor. The main ingredient of the yolk is the horse-heel glue mentioned +before; we also boil down vast quantities of rats—they come cheap, too; +it's only the cost of catching them; and then there's a vegetable +colouring, and the preservative, and a few other trifles. First, the two +halves of the white are made in two moulds, and frozen; then the two +frozen halves are frozen together, and the yolk-mixture poured in +through a small hole, which is then closed. Then comes the skin; and +that is the most expensive part, for it contains a certain quantity of +rubber. We have tried in vain to find a substitute for rubber, but +failed hitherto. The rubber is mixed with a gum from a South American +tree, and the mixture is applied with a brush over the frozen egg; and +then the egg, still frozen, is dipped in a lime composition very nearly +identical with the oyster-shell mixture; and, lastly, the whole thing is +passed through the finishing machine, which turns the three thin lines +and the two thin spots, imitates the pores of the shell, and delivers +the finished egg to the warehouse.'</p> + +<p>"'Marvellous!' we involuntarily exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"'Oh, that's nothing at all,' said the director. 'We're meditating +turning out eggs that will hatch and become fowls. At present we have to +manufacture fowls; but we calculate to make a great saving by producing +them from the eggs we make. That building over yonder is the terrapin +factory; we turn out eleven tons of terrapin weekly. We make clams, of +course—in the oyster department. In this next house we make kidneys and +sweetbreads. Fruit? Oh, yes, we turn out masses of fruit; peaches pay +best, but we do very well with nuts.'</p> + +<p>"We were then conducted to the show-room, where we tasted a number of +other products of the wonderful factory; and we had just said a grateful +farewell to our courteous guide, when we were seized with pains of the +most acute description.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 259px;"> +<img src="images/image321-2.jpg" width="259" height="450" alt="The Pain." title="" /> +<span class="caption">The Pain.</span> +</div> + +<p>"The arrangements of the hospital were admirable. The kindliness and +attention we received made our five years' sojourn there a time to look +back upon with feelings of gratitude. We are assured that, with strict +diet and unremitting care, we may last some time yet—possibly even +three months."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>"It was a marvellous vision," said James, fervently, as the voice of +William ceased. "Surely after that you must think better of those beings +of mine?"</p> + +<p>But William merely sniffed.</p> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">J. F. Sullivan.</span></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 550px;"> +<img src="images/image322-1.jpg" width="550" height="286" alt="A TURNIP RESEMBLING A HUMAN HAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">A TURNIP RESEMBLING A HUMAN HAND.</span> +</div> + +<p>The above photographs represent two views of an extraordinary turnip +grown by Alderman David Evans, Llangennech Park, Carmarthenshire. We are +indebted for the photographs to Mr. Morgan W. James, of Llanelly.</p> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 550px;"> +<img src="images/image322-2.jpg" width="550" height="370" alt="A ROOM PAPERED WITH STAMPS." title="" /> +<span class="caption">A ROOM PAPERED WITH STAMPS.</span> +</div> + +<p>The above photograph represents the study of Mr. C. Whitfield King, of +Morpeth House, Ipswich, which he has papered with 44,068 <i>unused</i> +foreign postage stamps, bearing the value of £699 16s. 9d., and +containing 48 varieties of different sizes and colours, presenting an +example of mosaic work which is altogether unique of its kind.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span></p> +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 750px;"> +<img src="images/image323.jpg" width="750" height="1147" alt="Drinking" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Drinking</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 750px;"> +<img src="images/image324.jpg" width="750" height="1108" alt="VESSELS OF ALL" title="" /> +<span class="caption">VESSELS OF ALL</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span></p> +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 750px;"> +<img src="images/image325.jpg" width="750" height="1075" alt="A CROCODILE STORY." title="" /> +<span class="caption">A CROCODILE STORY.</span> +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Strand Magazine, Volume V, Issue +27, March 1893, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STRAND MAGAZINE, MARCH 1893 *** + +***** This file should be named 30222-h.htm or 30222-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/2/2/30222/ + +Produced by Victorian/Edwardian Pictorial Magazines, +Jonathan Ingram, Josephine Paolucci and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + +</body> +</html> diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image219.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image219.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..754201d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image219.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image220.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image220.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1ffc83d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image220.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image221.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image221.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d0b47a2 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image221.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image223.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image223.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..19e4c83 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image223.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image224.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image224.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..082424b --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image224.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image225.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image225.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f8b3bd5 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image225.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image227.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image227.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..13c30ce --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image227.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image228.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image228.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..44db25e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image228.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image229.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image229.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8b1bbd6 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image229.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image230.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image230.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8917912 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image230.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image231-1.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image231-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e53fc12 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image231-1.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image231-2.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image231-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3c37b88 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image231-2.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image232.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image232.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6e293da --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image232.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image233-1.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image233-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..819cefc --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image233-1.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image233-2.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image233-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f8677e9 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image233-2.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image234-1.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image234-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b7c317d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image234-1.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image234-2.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image234-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0b9c007 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image234-2.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image235.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image235.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8b0076f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image235.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image236.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image236.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fc6c248 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image236.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image237.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image237.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..90edae1 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image237.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image238.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image238.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..85401af --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image238.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image239.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image239.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ee8b413 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image239.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image240.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image240.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2aa0cc2 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image240.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image241.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image241.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..66a5ca2 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image241.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image242.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image242.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e9cd28a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image242.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image243.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image243.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3491ca3 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image243.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image244.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image244.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fabc835 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image244.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image245.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image245.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1509ea7 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image245.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image246.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image246.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c1bc503 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image246.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image248.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image248.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9a09dd1 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image248.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image249.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image249.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ba985d6 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image249.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image250-1.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image250-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..81d10eb --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image250-1.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image250-2.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image250-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..557969b --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image250-2.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image250-3.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image250-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..dbd8697 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image250-3.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image251-1.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image251-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..112a111 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image251-1.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image251-2.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image251-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b288794 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image251-2.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image251-3.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image251-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..874f5c8 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image251-3.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image251-4.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image251-4.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fce0857 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image251-4.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image252.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image252.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..501adb2 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image252.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image253-1.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image253-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0553606 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image253-1.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image253-2.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image253-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d5bd75f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image253-2.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image254-1.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image254-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bf1cef0 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image254-1.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image254-2.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image254-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..065ab7f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image254-2.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image254-3.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image254-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4dbed81 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image254-3.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image255-1.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image255-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5a7ee49 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image255-1.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image255-2.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image255-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..84c8d17 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image255-2.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image255-3.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image255-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3496424 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image255-3.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image255-4.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image255-4.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..59c14a3 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image255-4.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image256-1.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image256-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..482abbb --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image256-1.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image256-2.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image256-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bfb9aa2 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image256-2.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image256-3.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image256-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5fa7ed8 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image256-3.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image257-1.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image257-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c5d8286 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image257-1.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image257-1a.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image257-1a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8883b4a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image257-1a.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image257-2.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image257-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bdafad8 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image257-2.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image257-3.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image257-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..61d7331 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image257-3.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image258-1.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image258-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..96baf3e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image258-1.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image258-2.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image258-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5abccb0 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image258-2.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image259.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image259.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ae16011 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image259.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image261.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image261.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fd544b1 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image261.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image262.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image262.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d4cde62 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image262.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image264.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image264.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ad9b72a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image264.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image265.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image265.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..40e482a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image265.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image266.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image266.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5d78a89 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image266.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image267.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image267.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..31f368a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image267.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image268-1.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image268-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..09ff5d3 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image268-1.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image268-2.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image268-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f811f9d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image268-2.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image269-1.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image269-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4e08385 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image269-1.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image269-2.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image269-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3195376 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image269-2.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image269-3.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image269-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2d844bf --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image269-3.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image270-1.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image270-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f306231 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image270-1.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image270-2.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image270-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3d0cc09 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image270-2.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image271-1.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image271-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ee38ea5 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image271-1.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image271-2.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image271-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2c0b999 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image271-2.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image272.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image272.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..aec33d2 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image272.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image273.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image273.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..af84d21 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image273.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image274.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image274.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0324721 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image274.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image275-1.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image275-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3232799 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image275-1.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image275-2.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image275-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f5e8f59 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image275-2.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image275-3.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image275-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1470168 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image275-3.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image275-4.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image275-4.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5c21e8c --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image275-4.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image276-1.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image276-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ab1962f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image276-1.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image276-2.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image276-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f30c418 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image276-2.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image276-3.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image276-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6105faf --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image276-3.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image276-4.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image276-4.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b4d72c0 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image276-4.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image277-1.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image277-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..89106eb --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image277-1.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image277-2.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image277-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..96f2bb9 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image277-2.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image277-3.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image277-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2c9c475 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image277-3.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image277-4.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image277-4.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ec0432e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image277-4.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image278-1.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image278-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..968183a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image278-1.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image278-2.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image278-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..cad3872 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image278-2.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image278-3.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image278-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..af293bd --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image278-3.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image278-4.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image278-4.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..690b6dc --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image278-4.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image279-1.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image279-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bf7ab0a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image279-1.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image279-2.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image279-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a06c56d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image279-2.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image279-3.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image279-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..42e063d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image279-3.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image279-4.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image279-4.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e18f3bb --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image279-4.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image280-1.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image280-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6c6adb2 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image280-1.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image280-2.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image280-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9c580fa --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image280-2.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image280-3.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image280-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b91f4c5 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image280-3.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image281.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image281.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fc388d5 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image281.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image282.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image282.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..421dacd --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image282.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image284.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image284.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8080461 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image284.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image286.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image286.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e576a08 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image286.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image288.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image288.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1c2e69a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image288.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image289.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image289.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..cd3bc88 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image289.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image291.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image291.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..92072f7 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image291.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image292.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image292.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..03ab909 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image292.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image293.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image293.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5b33d7c --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image293.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image294.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image294.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4a103ee --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image294.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image295.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image295.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..45bf307 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image295.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image296-1.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image296-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2ef3025 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image296-1.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image296-2.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image296-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4a7386a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image296-2.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image297-1.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image297-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4ecda98 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image297-1.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image297-1a.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image297-1a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1d989df --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image297-1a.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image297-2.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image297-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d848a9f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image297-2.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image297-2a.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image297-2a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a0f41b2 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image297-2a.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image298-1.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image298-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..01cfdd8 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image298-1.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image298-2.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image298-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..eeb0c28 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image298-2.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image298-3.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image298-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b0e5c6c --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image298-3.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image298-4.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image298-4.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2e802a0 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image298-4.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image298-5.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image298-5.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b40a5bf --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image298-5.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image298-6.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image298-6.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5255950 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image298-6.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image299-1.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image299-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..050fbf9 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image299-1.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image299-2.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image299-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..029e56e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image299-2.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image299-3.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image299-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..56d8d68 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image299-3.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image299-4.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image299-4.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0659860 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image299-4.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image299-5.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image299-5.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4e96ace --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image299-5.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image300-1.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image300-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0d45e61 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image300-1.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image300-2.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image300-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..174684d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image300-2.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image300-3.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image300-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..33acd06 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image300-3.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image301-1.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image301-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1236b03 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image301-1.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image301-2.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image301-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..18e23e1 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image301-2.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image301-3.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image301-3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..774d306 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image301-3.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image301-4.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image301-4.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..afb9e75 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image301-4.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image301-5.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image301-5.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..78516fa --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image301-5.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image302.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image302.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..de68900 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image302.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image303.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image303.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b98b5e9 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image303.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image306.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image306.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..14d0af3 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image306.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image307.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image307.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8647849 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image307.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image309.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image309.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2c73f1c --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image309.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image310.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image310.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7eac6e3 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image310.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image311.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image311.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bea4762 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image311.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image313.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image313.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..738592c --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image313.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image315.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image315.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b261ef5 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image315.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image316.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image316.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..801e970 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image316.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image317-1.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image317-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d47bbb3 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image317-1.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image317-2.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image317-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4ec849f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image317-2.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image318-1.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image318-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..01f3566 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image318-1.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image318-2.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image318-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ac8b301 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image318-2.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image319.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image319.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..faad697 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image319.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image320-1.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image320-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0dd9cea --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image320-1.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image320-2.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image320-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f08b410 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image320-2.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image321-1.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image321-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..435b5d2 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image321-1.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image321-2.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image321-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a6c3e8a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image321-2.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image322-1.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image322-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..96cb8b0 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image322-1.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image322-2.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image322-2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2f8cb38 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image322-2.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image323.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image323.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e85f4a5 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image323.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image324.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image324.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3a92646 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image324.jpg diff --git a/old/30222-h/images/image325.jpg b/old/30222-h/images/image325.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..354cf83 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222-h/images/image325.jpg diff --git a/old/30222.txt b/old/30222.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..18f6476 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6032 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Strand Magazine, Volume V, Issue 27, +March 1893, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Strand Magazine, Volume V, Issue 27, March 1893 + An Illustrated Monthly + +Author: Various + +Editor: George Newnes + +Release Date: October 9, 2009 [EBook #30222] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STRAND MAGAZINE, MARCH 1893 *** + + + + +Produced by Victorian/Edwardian Pictorial Magazines, +Jonathan Ingram, Josephine Paolucci and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +THE + +STRAND MAGAZINE + +_An Illustrated Monthly_ + +Vol. 5, Issue. 27. + +March 1893 + + +[Illustration: "BY HEAVEN," CRIED RUY LOPEZ, "THE DUKE SHALL FINISH HIS +GAME!" + +(_A Game of Chess_.)] + +[Illustration] + + + + +A GAME of CHESS. + +FROM THE FRENCH. + + +I. + +King Phillip II. was playing at chess in the Escurial Palace. His +opponent was Ruy Lopez, a humble priest, but a chess player of great +skill. Being the King's particular favourite, the great player was +permitted to kneel upon a brocaded cushion, whilst the courtiers grouped +about the King were forced to remain standing in constrained and painful +attitudes. + +It was a magnificent morning. The air was perfumed with the orange +groves, and the violet curtains of the splendid hall hardly softened the +burning rays which streamed in through the windows. The blaze of living +light seemed scarcely in harmony with the King's gloomy countenance. His +brow was black as night, and from time to time he bent his eyes +impatiently upon the door. The nobles stood in silence, darting meaning +glances at each other. It was easily to be discerned that some event of +great importance weighed upon the spirits of the assembly. No one paid +any attention to the chess-board except Ruy Lopez, who, as he moved the +pieces, hesitated between the temptation of checkmating his opponent and +the deference due to his King. The silence was unbroken except by the +sound made by the players moving their pieces. + +Suddenly the door opened, and a man of rude and savage aspect advanced +into the hall, and, presenting himself before the King, stood waiting +his commands to speak. This man's appearance was anything but +prepossessing, and on his entrance the nobles, as if animated with one +thought, shrank back with contempt and loathing, as if some unclean +animal had entered into their midst. His massive, herculean figure was +clad in a doublet of black leather, and his face, in which could be seen +no trace of intelligence, expressed, on the contrary, nothing but +vileness and villainy; a great scar, running right across his face and +losing itself in a bushy beard, added still further to the natural +brutality of his countenance. + +An electric thrill ran through the assembly. The new comer was Fernando +Calavar, high executioner of Spain. + +"Is he dead?" asked the King, in an imperious tone. + +"No, sire," replied Calavar, bowing low. + +The King frowned. + +"Great Sovereign of Spain," Calavar continued, "the prisoner has claimed +his privileges, and I cannot take proceedings against a man whose blood +belongs to the noblest in Spain, without having a more imperative order +from your Majesty," and he bowed again. + +The nobles, who had listened with great attention to these words, broke +into a murmur of approbation as the man finished speaking. The proud +Castilian blood rushed like a stream of lava through their veins, and +dyed their faces crimson. The manifestation became general. Young Alonza +D'Ossuna openly asserted his opinion by putting on his plumed cap. His +bold example was followed by the majority of the nobles, and their lofty +nodding crests seemed to proclaim with defiance that their masters +protested in favour of the privilege, which the hidalgos of Spain have +always enjoyed, of covering their heads before their Sovereign. + +The King gave a furious start, and striking his fist violently upon the +chess-board, scattered the chessmen in all directions. + +"He has been judged by our Royal Court of Justice," he cried, "and +condemned to death. What does the traitor demand?" + +"Sire!" replied the executioner, "he asks permission to die upon the +block, and also to pass the three last hours of his life with a priest." + +"Ah, that is granted!" replied Philip, in a tone of relief. "Is not our +confessor in the prison according to our orders?" + +"Yes, sire!" said Calavar, "the holy man is there; but the Duke refuses +to see St. Diaz de Silva. He says he cannot receive absolution from +anyone below the dignity of a Bishop. Such is the privilege of a noble +condemned to death for high treason." + +"Yes, these are our rights!" boldly interrupted the fiery D'Ossuna; "and +we claim from the King our cousin's privileges." + +This demand acted as a signal. + +"Our rights and the King's justice are inseparable," cried Don Diego de +Tarraxas, Count of Valence, an old man of gigantic stature, clothed in +armour, holding in his hands the baton of Great Constable of Spain, and +leaning upon his long Toledo blade. + +"Our rights and our privileges!" cried the nobles, repeating the words +like an echo. Their audacity made the King start with fury from his +ebony throne. + +"By the bones of Campeador!" he cried. "By the soul of St. Jago! I have +sworn neither to eat nor sleep until the bleeding head of Don Gusman +lies before me. As I have sworn, so shall it be. But Don Tarraxas has +said well, 'The King's justice confirms his subjects' rights.' My Lord +Constable, where does the nearest Bishop reside?" + +"Sire, I have more to do with camp than with the Church," the Constable +replied, somewhat abruptly. "Your Majesty's chaplain, Don Silvas, is +present: he can tell you better than I." + +Don Silvas began to speak in trepidation. + +[Illustration: "WHAT DOES THE TRAITOR DEMAND?"] + +"Sire," he said, humbly, "the Bishop of Segovia is an official of the +King, but he who filled the duty died last week, and the parchment which +names his successor is still upon the Council table, and is yet to be +submitted to the Pope's seal." + +At these words a joyous smile hovered about D'Ossuna's lips. This joy +was but natural, for the young man was of the blood of the Gusmans, and +his cousin, the condemned prisoner, was his dearest friend. The King +perceived the smile, and his eye shot forth lightning. + +"We are the King!" he said, gravely, with the calm which presages a +storm; "our Royal person must be no butt for raillery. This sceptre +appears light, my lords, but he who ridicules it shall be crushed +thereby as with a block of iron. I believe that our holy father the Pope +is somewhat indebted to us, so that we do not fear his displeasure at +the step which we are about to take. Since the King of Spain can make a +Prince, he can also make a Bishop. Rise, then, Don Ruy Lopez. I create +you Bishop of Segovia. Rise, I command you, and take your rank in the +Church." + +The courtiers stood dumfounded. + +Don Ruy Lopez rose mechanically. His head was whirling, and he stammered +as he strove to speak. + +"If your Majesty pleases----" he began. + +"Silence, my Lord Bishop!" replied the King. "Obey your Sovereign. The +formalities of your installation shall be performed another day; our +subjects will not fail to acknowledge our wishes in this affair. Bishop +of Segovia, go with Calavar to the condemned man's cell. Give absolution +to his soul, and in three hours leave his body to the executioner's axe. +As for you, Calavar, I will await you here; you will bring us the +traitor's head. Let justice be accomplished." + +Then Philip turned to Ruy Lopez. + +"I give you my signet ring," he said, "to show the Duke as a token of +the truth of your story." + +The executioner left the chamber, followed by Ruy Lopez. + +"Well, gentlemen," said the King, turning to the others, "do you still +doubt the King's justice?" + +But the nobles answered not a word. + +The King, having taken his seat, made a sign to one of his favourites to +place himself before the chess-board, and Don Ramirez, Count of Biscay, +accordingly knelt down upon the velvet cushion. + +"With a game of chess, gentlemen," said the King, smiling, "and your +company, I cannot fail to make the time pass agreeably. Let no one leave +the chamber until Calavar's return. We cannot spare a single one of +you." + +With these ironical words, Philip commenced a game with Don Ramirez, +whilst the nobles, almost dropping with fatigue, resumed the positions +about their august master which they had occupied at the beginning of +this story. + + +II. + +Calavar, leading the way, conducted the new Bishop to the condemned +man's cell. Ruy Lopez walked like one in a dream. Was he awake, or not? +He hardly knew. At the bottom of his heart he cursed the King and his +Court. He understood perfectly that he had become Bishop of Segovia, but +he felt deeply at what a price he had bought his dignity. What had Don +Gusman done that he should be thus sacrificed? Don Gusman, the best +chess player in Spain! He thought of all this as he proceeded over the +marble flags which led to the State prison, and as he thought he prayed +that the ground would open and swallow him up. + +Don Gusman was pacing impatiently up and down his narrow cell with a +hurried step that betrayed the feverish anxiety of his mind. The cell +was furnished with a massive table and two heavy wooden stools, the +floor being covered with coarse, thick mats. Shut out from all the +noises of the outer world, here silence reigned supreme. A crucifix, +roughly carved, was fixed to the wall in the niche of a high window, +which was carefully barred with iron. Except for this image of +resignation and mercy, the walls were bare. Well might this dungeon +serve as antechamber to the tomb. + +As Ruy Lopez entered the cell a sudden burst of sunshine flooded the +walls as if in bitter mockery of him who was soon to see it no more. + +The Duke saluted the new Bishop with great courtesy. They regarded each +other, and exchanged in that look a thousand words which they alone +could understand. Ruy Lopez felt the painfulness of his position deeply, +and the Duke understood his embarrassment. Their thoughts were both the +same, that in the condemnation of one of the principal favourites of the +King an innocent life was threatened! The proofs of the crime imputed to +the Duke were grave; the most important being a despatch written in Don +Gusman's hand to the French Court, in which he unfolded a scheme for +assassinating Philip II. This had sufficed to condemn him. + +Don Gusman, strong in his innocence, had kept a rigorous silence when +brought before his judges, and the accusation not being denied, +sentence of death was passed upon him. Don Gusman since his +incarceration had not altered. He had braved the storm, and looked upon +death with an unmoved countenance. His last hours had no terrors for +him. If his forehead was overshadowed, if his steps were agitated and +his breathing hurried, it was because there rose before his eye the +image of his betrothed, Dona Estella, who, ignorant of her lover's fate, +was waiting for him in her battlemented castle on the banks of the +Guadalquiver. If he felt weak at this fatal moment, and if a pang shot +through his heart, it was because his thoughts were of her who was to +him the dearest thing in all the world. + +[Illustration: "RUY LOPEZ ENTERED THE CELL."] + +Ruy Lopez had not entered alone. Calavar was at his side; and it was he +who announced to the Duke the King's decision and reply. Ruy Lopez +confirmed the executioner's words, and the Duke, falling on his knees +before the new Bishop, asked his blessing, then turning to Calavar with +a gesture of authority, he dismissed him, saying:-- + +"In three hours I shall be at your disposal." + +Calavar obeyed him and went out, and the Duke and Bishop were left +alone. + +Ruy Lopez was trembling with nervousness, whilst Don Gusman's face wore +a calm and serene expression. He took the Bishop's hand, and wrung it +warmly. There was a pause. The Duke was the first to break the silence. + +"We have met before in happier circumstances," he said, smiling. + +"It is true," stammered Ruy Lopez, who, pale and agitated, resembled +rather the penitent than the confessor. + +"Much happier," repeated the Duke, absently. "Do you remember, when you +played your celebrated game of chess with Paoli Boy, the Sicilian, in +the presence of the King and Court, that it was upon my right arm that +the King leant?" Then after a pause he continued: "Do you remember also, +father, those words of Cervantes, 'Life is a game of chess?' I have +forgotten the exact place in which the passage occurs, but its meaning +is, that upon earth men play different roles. There are, as in chess, +kings, knights, soldiers, bishops, according to their birth, fate and +fortune; and when the game is over death lays them all as equals in the +tomb, even as we gather together the chessmen into a box." + +"Yes, I remember those words of Don Quixote," replied Don Lopez, +astonished at this singular conversation, "and I remember also Sancho's +reply: 'That however good the comparison was, it was not so new that he +had not heard it before.'" + +"I was your favourite pupil, even your rival," said the Duke, without +appearing to hear Don Lopez. + +"It is true," cried the Bishop. "You are a great master of the game, and +I have been often proud of having such a pupil. But now, on your knees, +my son." + +They knelt down together, and there before the crucifix Don Gusman made +confession to Ruy Lopez, who as he listened could hardly restrain his +tears. + +When the Duke had finished, two hours after--for the confession under +the Church seal was long and touching--the Bishop blessed the prisoner, +and gave him absolution. The face of Don Gusman, as he rose, was calm +and resigned. + +[Illustration: "THEY KNELT DOWN TOGETHER."] + +But there remained still an hour to wait. + +"This delay is torture," cried the Duke. "Why do they not cut off the +prisoners at once, instead of stretching their souls upon such a rack of +agony? An eternity of suffering is in each of these minutes." And the +prisoner began to walk impatiently to and fro, with his eyes constantly +bent upon the door. The Duke's firmness was shaken by the thought of +that weary hour of waiting. Ruy Lopez had fulfilled his duty. The +prisoner's soul was purified, and now the priest could become the +friend. + +As Don Lopez heard Don Gusman utter this exclamation, and saw his face +grow white, he understood what agony he was undergoing, and felt at once +that something must be done to divert his thoughts. But in vain he +racked his brain for an idea. He could think of nothing. What could he +propose to a man about to die? For such as he, the flower has no longer +perfume, woman has no longer beauty. Then suddenly a thought flashed +across his brain. + +"How would a game of chess--" he began, timidly. + +"An excellent idea!" cried Don Gusman, recalled to himself by this +singular proposal. "A farewell game of chess." + +"You consent?" + +"Most readily; but where are the chessmen, my friend?" + +"Am I not always provided with the instruments of war?" said Ruy Lopez, +smiling. Then he pulled forward the two stools and set out upon the +table a microscopic set of chessmen. "Our Lady pardon me!" he continued. +"I often pass my spare time in the confessional in working out some +problem." + +The chessmen being set out, the players took their seats, and were soon +absorbed in the excitement of the game. + +This strange contest, between a priest and a condemned prisoner, made a +picture worthy of the brush of Rembrandt or Salvator Rosa. The light +which streamed from the arched windows fell upon the pale, noble +features of Don Gusman, and upon the venerable head of Ruy Lopez. + +The emotions of the two players were very different. Ruy Lopez played +with a preoccupation which was not usual to him, and which rendered him +much inferior to his ordinary strength. Don Gusman, on the contrary, +stimulated by excitement, played with more than his ordinary skill. At +this moment his noble Castilian blood did not fail him, for never had +the Duke given better proof of the clearness of his mind. Such a flash +of intellect must be compared to the last flickers of the failing lamp, +or to the last song of the dying swan. + +Don Gusman suddenly attacked his adversary with an impetuosity which +nearly gained him a certain victory; but Ruy Lopez, recalled to himself +by this vigorous effort, defended himself bravely. The game became more +and more complicated. The Bishop strove to gain a mate which he saw, or +believed he saw, at hand, whilst Don Gusman played with the eagerness of +certain victory. Everything was forgotten, and time passed unnoticed. +The chess-board was their universe, and a life of anxiety was in each +move. + +The minutes, the quarters, the half-hours flew by, and the fatal hour +arrived at last. + +A distant sound struck on their ears; it grew nearer, it increased, and +the door swinging open gave admittance to Calavar and his assistants, +who advanced into the cell with torches in their hands. They were armed +with swords, and two of them bore the block, covered with a black cloth, +on which lay an axe. + +[Illustration: "THE GAME BECAME MORE AND MORE COMPLICATED."] + +The torches were placed in the receptacle prepared for them, whilst one +of the men scattered cedar sawdust on the floor. All this was the work +of a moment, while the executioner stood waiting for the prisoner. + +As Calavar entered, Ruy Lopez started to his feet, in a tremor of alarm, +but the Duke did not move. His eyes were fixed upon the chess-board. It +was his turn to play. Calavar, seeing his abstracted gaze, advanced to +the Duke's side and placed his hand upon his shoulder. + +"Come," he said. + +The prisoner shuddered as if he had trodden upon a serpent. + +"I must finish this game," he said, imperiously. + +"It is impossible," Calavar replied. + +"But, fellow, the game is mine! I can force mate in a few moves. Let me +play it out." + +"I cannot. It is impossible," repeated the executioner. + +"Are the three hours gone already?" + +"The last stroke has just struck. We must obey the King." + +The assistants, who had until then stood leaning on their swords, came +forward at these words. + +The Duke was sitting against the wall, under the high window, with the +table between him and Calavar. He started to his feet. + +"I shall not move until the game is over. In half an hour my head shall +be at your disposal." + +"My lord," replied Calavar, "I respect you deeply, but I cannot grant +you this request. I answer for your life with mine." + +Don Gusman made a gesture of impatience, and pulling off his diamond +rings, he threw them at the executioner's feet. "I mean to finish the +game," he said, carelessly. + +The jewels sparkled as they rolled and settled in the dust. + +"My orders are imperative," cried Calavar, "and you must pardon us, +noble Duke, if we have to use force; but the King's orders and the law +of Spain must be carried out. Obey, then, and do not waste your last +moments in a useless struggle. Speak to the Duke, my lord Bishop. Tell +him to submit to his fate." + +Ruy Lopez's reply was as prompt as it was decisive. He seized the axe +which lay upon the block and swung it with both hands above his head. + +"By Heaven!" he cried, "the Duke _shall_ finish his game!" + +Scared by the gesture which accompanied these words, Calavar drew back +in such a fright that he stumbled and fell back on his companions. The +swords flashed from their scabbards, and the band prepared for attack. +But Ruy Lopez, who appeared to have put forth the strength of a +Hercules, cast upon the ground his heavy wooden stool. + +"The first of you who passes this limit dies!" he cried in a loud voice. +"Courage, Duke!--to the attack! There are only four of these miscreants. +The last desire of your Grace shall be gratified, were I to lose my life +in the attempt. And you, wretched man, beware how you lay a finger upon +a Bishop of the Church. Down with your swords and respect the Lord's +anointed!" And Ruy Lopez continued to hurl forth, in a jargon of +Spanish and Latin, one of those formulas of excommunication and +malediction which at that period acted so strongly upon the masses of +the people. + +The effect was prompt. The men stood rooted to the spot with terror, +whilst Calavar, thinking that to kill a Bishop without a sealed order +from the King was to run the risk of putting his life in jeopardy in +this world and his soul in the next, avowed himself vanquished. He knew +not what to do next. To rush with the news to the King, who was waiting +impatiently for Don Gusman's head, was only to expose himself. To attack +the prisoner and the priest would be too hazardous, for Ruy Lopez was a +man of no mean strength. The position of affairs was critical. At last +he decided to take the easiest way out of the difficulty--to wait. + +"Will you promise me faithfully to give yourself up in half an hour?" he +demanded of Don Gusman. + +"I promise," replied the Duke. + +"Play on, then," said the executioner. + +The truce being thus concluded, the players returned to their seats and +their game, whilst Calavar and his companions, forming themselves into a +circle, stationed themselves round the two players. Calavar, who was +himself a chess player, looked on with interest, and could not prevent +himself from involuntarily considering each move the players made. + +Don Gusman looked up for an instant upon the circle of faces which +surrounded him, but his _sang froid_ did not abandon him. + +"Never have I played in the presence of such a noble company!" he cried. +"Bear witness, rascals, that at least once in my life I have beaten Don +Lopez." Then he returned to the game with a smile upon his lips. The +Bishop gripped the handle of the axe which he still held in his hand. + +"If I were only sure of escaping from this tigers' den," he thought, "I +would break every head of the four of them." + + +III. + +If three hours had dragged in the prisoner's cell, they had not passed +more quickly in the Royal chamber of King Philip. + +The King had finished his game with Don Ramirez de Biscay, and the +nobles, still compelled from etiquette to remain standing, appeared +almost ready to drop with fatigue, rendered still more painful from the +weight of their armour. + +Don Tarraxas stood motionless, with closed eyes like one of those iron +figures which ornamented the castles of the savage Goths. Young +D'Ossuna, with drooping head, stood propped against a marble pillar, +whilst King Philip strode impatiently about the apartment, only stopping +at intervals to listen to some imaginary noise. According to the +superstitious custom of the age, the King knelt for a few moments at the +foot of a figure of the Virgin placed upon a porphyry pedestal to pray +the Madonna to pardon him the deed of blood which was about to take +place. Silence reigned, for no one, whatever his rank might be, dared to +speak before his Sovereign without his commands. + +As the King's eyes saw the last grain of sand fall in the hour-glass he +uttered an exclamation of joy. + +"The traitor dies!" he cried. + +An almost inaudible murmur ran through the assembly. + +"The hour is passed, Count of Biscay," said Philip, turning to Don +Ramirez, "and with it your enemy." + +"My enemy, sire?" asked Ramirez, affecting surprise. + +"Why do you repeat my words, Count?" replied the King. "Were you not a +rival to Don Gusman in the affections of Dona Estella, and can rivals be +friends? Dona Estella shall be yours. This young girl will bring you her +beauty and her fortune. I have not spoken of this to our Council, but my +Royal word is pledged. If the ingratitude of Sovereigns is ever spoken +of before you, Count, you will be able to reply that we did not forget +the true friend of the King and of Spain who discovered the plot and the +correspondence of Don Gusman with France." + +Don Ramirez de Biscay seemed to listen to the King with uneasiness. He +kept his eyes fixed upon the ground, as if he disliked to be thus +praised in public. Then he made an effort to reply. + +"Sire!" he said, "it was with great repugnance that I fulfilled such a +painful duty"--he hesitated, and then was silent. + +Tarraxas gave a slight start, whilst D'Ossuna struck sharply the pommel +of his sword with his iron glove. + +"Before Dona Estella shall belong to this man," thought D'Ossuna, "I +will have vengeance or perish in the attempt. Tomorrow shall be the day +of my revenge." + +The King continued:-- + +"Your zeal, Don Ramirez, and your devotion must be rewarded. The saviour +of our throne, and perhaps of our dynasty, merits a particular gift. +This morning I ordered you to make out some _lettres-patentes_, which +confer upon you the rank of Duke and Governor of Valence. Are these +ready to be signed?" + +Don Ramirez grew pale with pleasure. He shook like an aspen and his eyes +grew dim. But the King made an impatient movement, and the Count, +drawing a roll of parchment hastily from his breast, presented it on his +knees to the King. + +"My first public duty to-day shall be to sign these papers," said the +King. "The executioner has already punished treason; it is now time for +the King to recompense fidelity." + +The King unrolled the parchment and began to read. As he read, his face +became convulsed with fury, and his eyes shot forth flames of wrath. + +"By my father's soul!" he shouted; "what do I behold?" + + +IV. + +The game of chess was finished. Don Gusman had beaten Ruy Lopez, and his +triumph was complete. He rose to his feet. + +"I am now, as ever, ready to obey the wishes of my King," he said to +Calavar. + +The executioner understood him, and began to prepare the block. Whilst +this was being done Don Gusman advanced towards the crucifix, and said +in a firm voice:-- + +"Oh, Heaven! may this unjust and rash act which is about to take place +fall upon the head of him who is the instigator of this treachery; but +let not my blood recoil upon the head of my King." + +[Illustration: "WHAT DO I BEHOLD?"] + +Ruy Lopez, crouching in a corner of the cell, and burying his face in +his mantle, began to recite the prayers for the dying. + +Calavar approached Don Gusman, and putting his hand upon the Duke's +shoulder began to loosen his ruff. Don Gusman shrank back from the +contact. + +"Nothing that belongs to you, except this axe, shall touch a Gusman," he +said, taking off his ruff himself and placing his head upon the block. +"Strike!" he added, "I am ready!" + +The executioner raised the axe--the King's justice was at last to be +satisfied, when shouts, rapid footsteps and confused voices arrested the +sweep of the executioner's arm. + +The door gave way under the united efforts of a troop of armed men, and +D'Ossuna, rushing into the cell, threw himself between the executioner +and his victim. He was just in time. + +"He lives!" cried Tarraxas. + +"He is saved!" repeated D'Ossuna. "My beloved cousin, I never hoped to +have seen you alive again. God in His mercy has not let the innocent +perish for the guilty. God be praised!" + +"God be praised!" echoed all the spectators, and louder than the rest +rang out the voice of Ruy Lopez. + +"You have arrived in time, my friend," said Don Gusman to his cousin; +"but now I shall have no longer strength to die," and he sank back +fainting on the block. The shock had been too much for him. + +Ruy Lopez seized the Duke in his arms, and, followed by all the nobles, +bore him along the passages to the King's apartment. When Don Gusman +opened his eyes he found himself in the midst of a circle of his +friends, amongst which stood the King, looking down upon him with an +expression of joy. + +Don Gusman could hardly believe his senses. From the axe and the block +he had passed to the King's apartment. He did not understand why this +change had taken place. He did not know that Don Ramirez, in giving his +_lettres-patentes_ to the King to sign, had, in his agitation, given him +instead a paper containing a plot in which he schemed to get rid for +ever of Don Gusman, a detested rival, and one of the firmest supporters +of the throne. He was ignorant of all that had passed, and did not know +how he had escaped from the clutches of the executioner. It was some +time before everything could be made clear to him. + +Three days afterwards, at the same hour as Gusman's miraculous delivery, +Calavar beheaded Don Ramirez, Count of Biscay, traitor and false +witness. Don Gusman was overwhelmed with congratulations on all sides. +King Philip grasped him cordially by his hand. + +"Gusman," he said, "I have been very unjust. I can never forgive my +folly." + +"Sire," replied the Duke, "let us speak of it no more. Such words spoken +by my King are worth a thousand lives." + +But the King continued. + +"I desire," he said, "that henceforth, in commemoration of your almost +miraculous deliverance, you carry upon your escutcheon a silver axe +emblazoned on an azure chess-board. This month we shall celebrate your +marriage with Dona Estella. The marriage shall take place in our +Escurial Palace." + +Then he added, turning to Ruy Lopez:-- + +"I believe that the Church will possess a good servant in its new +Bishop. You shall be consecrated Lord Prelate, with a scarlet robe, +enriched with diamonds; that will be the recompense of your game of +chess with Don Gusman." + +"Sire," replied Don Lopez, "never before this day have I been satisfied +to be checkmated." + +The King smiled, and the courtiers followed his example. + +"Now, my lords," continued Philip, "we invite you all to our Royal +banquet. Let Don Gusman's seat be placed upon our right, and the Bishop +of Segovia's on our left. Give me your arm, Don Gusman." + +[Illustration] + + + + +Illustrated Interviews + +XXL--MR. AND MRS. KENDAL. + + +If one had waited for a few months, "The Kendals" would have been +getting settled in their new home in Portland Place. But, then, the +happiest associations are always centred around the old, and the +pleasantest and frequently the dearest recollections are gathered about +the familiar. That is why I went to them once more to their home of many +years at 145, Harley Street. + +It would be difficult to realize a woman of more striking +characteristics than she who was for so many years known as "Madge" +Robertson, and notwithstanding a very important visit one morning in +August twenty-three years ago to St. Saviour's, Plymouth Grove, +Manchester, when she became the wife of Mr. William Hunter Grimston, +there are many who still know and speak of her by her happily-remembered +maiden name. From that day husband and wife have never played +apart--they have remained sweethearts on the stage and lovers in their +own home. At night--the footlights; by day--home and children. Mrs. +Kendal assured me that neither her eldest daughter, Margaret, nor Ethel, +nor Dorothy--the youngest--nor "Dorrie," who is now at Cambridge, nor +Harold, a "Marlborough" boy, would ever go on the stage. Home, husband, +and children--home, wife, and children, are the embodiment of the life +led by the Kendals. + +[Illustration: THE DRAWING-ROOM + +_From a Photo by Elliott & Fry_.] + +Together with Mr. Kendal we sat down in the drawing-room, and were +joined for a moment by Miss Grimston, a quiet, unaffected young girl, +who looked as though she could never rid herself of a smile, either in +her eyes or about her mouth--a young maiden who suggested "sunshine." +She was carrying Victoria, a pet dog. The mother's whole thoughts seemed +to go out to her daughter. + +"Our Jubilee dog," she cried. "I bought her on Jubilee Day, and, +curiously enough, Mr. Kendal bought one too, neither of us telling the +other we were going to make such canine purchases." + +Then, when Miss Grimston had left the room, her mother turned to me +quietly, and said:-- + +"The image of my brother Tom. The same hair, the same expression of +eyes, the same kind and loving ways. I think he lives in my girl. Come +with me and you shall see his portrait." + +It hung in Miss Grimston's boudoir--an apartment the walls of which were +decorated with pictures of the Comedie-Francaise Company, the original +designs for the dresses in "A Wife's Secret"; while over the +mantel-board are Mr. and Mrs. Kendal in "The Ironmaster," and many +family portraits are about. + +[Illustration: MISS GRIMSTON'S BOUDOIR. + +_From a Photo by Elliott & Fry._] + +"It is so amusing to hear people talk and write about my eldest brother +Tom and me playing together as children," she said. "My mother was +married when she was eighteen, and my brother was born when she was +nineteen; I was born when she was forty-eight, and was her twenty-second +child! So my brother was a grown man with a moustache when I knew him. I +was brought up with his two children--little Tom and Maude, my own +nephew and niece." + +What a delightful story it was! Little Madge Robertson used to dress up +as a policeman and take Maude into custody before Tom, the younger, as +the judge. And this was the trial:-- + +"What is the prisoner charged with, constable?" asked the judge. + +"Murder, my lord," replied the representative of law and order. + +"Prisoner, are you guilty?" + +"Yes, my lord," answered the poor prisoner. + +"Prisoner, have you anything to say why sentence should not be passed +upon you according to law?" + +"Yes, my lord. _I'm the daughter of the author of 'Caste'._" + +The prisoner always got off, and dear old William Robertson would watch +this little scene and roar with laughter. + +"Yes," Mrs. Kendal said quietly, as we again looked at "Tom's" picture, +"my brother was kindness itself, even from his infancy. I remember +hearing how, when he was a very small boy and living with his aunt, he +went out one summer's day with a new velvet jacket on. He caught sight +of a poor little beggar child his own size, who was in tatters, and, +beckoning him across, at once divested himself of his new coat, put it +on the wondering youngster, and ran away home as fast as he could. His +aunt questioned him, and upon finding out the true circumstances of the +case, and not wishing to damp the kind spirit in the little fellow's +heart, said:-- + +"'Well, we'll go and try to find the boy you gave it to, and buy your +jacket back.' + +"Fortunately the search was successful, and the coat was bought back for +no less a sum than half-a-sovereign. + +"And in later years it was just the same with Tom. He could never pass +by a common cookshop, in front of the windows of which was often a crowd +of men, women, and children, looking on with longing eyes, without +getting them inside and giving them a fill to their hearts' content. +When out driving it was no different. He would stop the horse, and have +all the watching hungry ones inside, and the next moment they would be +revelling in the satisfying properties of thick slices of plum-pudding +and roast beef." + +The house throughout is most artistic. Mr. Kendal is a painter of great +merit, and he "knows" a picture as soon as he sees it. Pictures are his +hobby; hence there is not a room in the house--even to the +kitchen--which does not find a place for some canvas, etching, or +engraving. The entrance-hall is at once striking, with its quaint +thirteenth century furniture, bronzes, and Venetian ware. There are some +fine engravings of Miss Brunton--who became Countess of Craven--Kemble, +Garrick, Phelps, and Mrs. Siddons. A picture of Mrs. Kendal in "The +Falcon" was done at the express wish of, and paid for by, the late Poet +Laureate. Tennyson said it reminded him of a woman he liked and admired. +In the shadow is a fine bust of Macready, given by the great actor to +the father of Mrs. Kendal; resting against the fireplace on either side +are the two lances used in "The Queen's Shilling," and close by are two +huge masks representing a couple of very hirsute individuals. They came +from California, and represent "The King of the Devils" and "The King of +the Winds." + +[Illustration: THE HALL. (_From a Photo, by Elliott & Fry._)] + +[Illustration: THE DINING ROOM. (_From a Photo, by Elliott & Fry._)] + +The entrance to the dining-room is typical of all the other door +decoration in the house--a carving of cream enamel of beautiful design +and workmanship. The walls of this apartment are terra-cotta, with a +finely carved oak-panelling. It is a little treasure room of canvases, +the gem of which is probably C. Van Hannen's "Mask Shop in Venice"--a +painter of a school which Luke Fildes, R.A., has done so much to +popularize. Macbeth is represented by a couple of delightful efforts, +and there are samples of the skill of Eugene Du Blas, Crofts, John Reid, +Andriotti, Sadler, De Haas, Rivers; a grand landscape by Webb--nearly +all of which are Academy works. The decorative articles are as artistic +as in some cases they are peculiar. Running about above the oaken +fireplace, amongst choice bronzes and blue ware, and a black boy who is +trudging along with a very useful clock on his back, are many quaint +animals of polished brass--even mice are not missing, with wonderfully +long tails--that sparkle and glisten in the firelight. Ascending the +staircase you find etchings after Alma Tadema, Briton Riviere, and +others; the walls are covered with them. + +[Illustration: SCENE FROM "THE SQUIRE." _From the Picture by Mr. +Kendal._] + +Here are a series of delightful pictures showing Mr. and Mrs. Kendal in +Gilbert's "Sweethearts," and I am reminded that the gifted actor and +actress were the first to appear before the Queen after a period of +five-and-twenty years, during which Her Majesty had never seen a play, +the performance that night consisting of "Sweethearts" and Theyre +Smith's "Uncle's Will." And as one takes note of many rare works--the +bedroom is almost entirely given up to Dore's marvellous creations, +though near the window is a splendid specimen of the photographer's art: +a head of Miss Mary Anderson--one cannot fail to observe the family +spirit everywhere--sometimes portraits of children, sometimes small and +dainty pencil studies made of them by their father. Occasionally +theatrical sketches by Mr. Kendal appear. Here are some of the principal +members of the old St. James's Company, who used to give Mr. Kendal +sittings between the acts--here a capital bit of artistic work depicting +a scene from "The Squire," made from stray memorandums and with the aid +of a looking-glass for securing the actor-artist's face. + +Leaving Mr. Kendal for a time, Mrs. Kendal and I returned to the +drawing-room. It overlooks Harley Street and is a handsome two-roomed +apartment, the prevailing tone of blue, cream, and gold harmonizing to +perfection. It is positively one huge collection of curios. + +The screen at the far end is rather shuddery, not to say creepy, to +those of nervous temperament. It is decorated with tomahawks of fearful +and wonderful shapes and sizes, and other Indian implements of warfare. + +"These came from California," Mrs. Kendal explained. "No sooner are you +out of the train than the Indians tomahawk you! Look at this bow and +arrow." + +The pots of palms and ferns all hold American flags. These colours--the +stars and stripes--once surmounted baskets of flowers and floral +emblems--five, six, and even seven feet high--handed to Mrs. Kendal +during her recent tour in the States; and amongst the sweetly-perfumed +blossoms diamonds, pearls, and other precious gems have glistened in the +shape of ornaments. A table near the window tells you of the generosity +of the Americans. It is crowded with silver ornaments and mementos. You +may handle the diminutive silver candlesticks to light "The Kendals" +away--silver jugs, souvenir spoons, frying-pans, coffee-pots--all in +miniature. This silver dollar is only one of a hundred. You touch a +spring, when, lo and behold! the portrait of the donor appears. All +American women have dainty feet. These little ebony and silver lasts for +your boots remind you of this. On this table is a letter from the +Princess of Wales, thanking Mrs. Kendal for "the lovely silver wedding +bells and flowers which you so kindly sent me on the tenth." You may +examine George IV.'s cigar-case--a silver tube in which the King was +wont to carry a single cigar. It is impossible to number all the +treasured odds and ends, but still more difficult to total up the +miniature articles set out in a pair of cabinets. + +[Illustration: NAPOLEON'S WRITING-TABLE _From a Photo by Elliott & +Fry._] + +[Illustration: "SHAKESPEARE AND BACON" _From the Picture by A. E. +Emslie._] + +Mrs. Kendal has a hobby--it lies in the collecting of the tiniest of +tiny things. If her intimate friends come across any curiosity +particularly choice and small, it is at once snapped up and dispatched +to Harley Street. I had some little leaden mice in my hand the size of +half-a-dozen pins' heads. Handkerchiefs an inch square, babies' woollen +shoes, pinafores, shirts, all of the tiniest, but perfectly made, with +buttons and button-holes complete, and even buns with currants no bigger +than a pin's point. Sheep, dogs, cats, monkeys, pigs, giraffes--in +short, convert the entire Zoo into miniature china knick-knacks, and you +have a considerable portion of Mrs. Kendal's collection realized. One +must needs stand for a moment at Napoleon's writing-table, near which +rests a characteristic clay by Van Beers. The pictures here are many. +Millais' work is well represented by several etchings, and a remarkably +clever thing by Emslie, entitled "Shakespeare and Bacon," suggests the +two extremes of taste to a nicety. Whilst a young enthusiast is +declaiming Shakespeare, one of his listeners--doubtless, equally +enthusiastic, but with an eye for victuals--is interrupting a soliloquy +with the remark: "Now! who says bacon?" Every portrait has a +history--Prince and Princess Henry of Battenberg in their wedding +garments, the late Duke of Albany, Professor Huxley, Mrs. Beecher +Stowe, Mr. and Mrs. Pinero, Mr. and Mrs. Bancroft, and many others. +Three suggestive pictures, however, cannot be passed by. This dear +little fellow is the son of Mr. B. J. Farjeon. Mr. Farjeon married "Rip +Van Winkle" Jefferson's daughter, and the youngster is pictured dressed +in the tattered garments of merry, rollicking _Rip_. You know how _Rip_ +always drinks your health? He holds the glass of hollands high up and +cries, "Here's your health and your family's good health, and may they +all live long and prosper!" but Mr. Farjeon's little boy cries out, +"Here's your health, and your family's good health, and may you all live +long and _proper_!" + +[Illustration: GROUP IN CLAY BY JAN VAN BEERS.] + +[Illustration: MRS. KENDAL AS "GALATEA"] + +A photo, of Dr. Pancoast stands near a bust of Mrs. Kendal as _Galatea_, +done when she was seventeen. Dr. Pancoast--a celebrated American +physician--saved Mrs. Kendal's life when her maid accidentally +administered a poisonous drug to her mistress. The poor girl herself +nearly died of fright. + +But perhaps the portrait of the late Duchess of Cambridge, which Mrs. +Kendal now holds in her hand, is more interesting than them all. "Her +late Royal Highness," Mrs. Kendal said, "always addressed me and wrote +to me as Mrs. Grimston. She was paralyzed in her right hand and wrote +with her left; perhaps that is why this letter, written in pencil and +with great effort, is treasured more than it otherwise would have been." + +It was one of the last letters written by Her Royal Highness. The +letters and words were wonderfully legible; it read:-- + + "DEAR MRS. GRIMSTON,--One line only to thank you for sending me + the stalls for my dressers, who enjoyed your and Mr. Grimston's + charming acting immensely. My first deaf one was able to follow + perfectly, thanks to your having kindly let her have the book + previously. Again thanking you, + + "I remain, + + "Yours very sincerely, + AUGUSTA." + + + +And in a little cabinet in the far corner is a beautiful Sevres bowl. In +the bowl is a telegram from "Princess Mary," asking Mrs. Kendal to come +to St. James's Palace at once. Written on a black-edged envelope were +these words: "To dearest Mrs. Grimston Kendal. A little souvenir. Found +amongst the last wishes of her late Royal Highness the Duchess of +Cambridge." + +It is only just possible to hasten through the collection of substantial +reminiscences which add to the charm of this corner of the house. The +quaint white china hare was given to Mrs. Kendal many years ago by Mr. +John Hare, when playing together at the Court. A curious but vividly +suggestive idea of Japanese wit, in the shape of a couple of +characteristically dressed figures, typifies "Health" and "Wealth"; the +figure, representing "Health" has a countenance of the deepest red, the +other a face all golden and as resplendent as the sun. In a small frame +is the letter from the Goethe Club of New York, making Mrs. Kendal an +honorary member. She is the only woman member of this club. And this +pretty little doll dressed as a Quakeress--a charming compliment to the +recipient--was presented by the Quakeresses of Philadelphia, who never, +never, never go the play, yea, verily! So they sent this as a tribute of +their admiration for the talents and character of the woman who has been +called "The Matron of the Drama." + +[Illustration: MRS. KENDALL'S LITTLE QUAKERESS.] + +We sat down on a settee in front of the fire. The cushions were of white +lawn marked with the initial "M.," and were worked by the late Lady +Eglinton. + +Mrs. Kendal's happy and homely face is familiar to all. She has a truly +tender and sympathetic expression there at all times. Her hair was once +that of the fair one with golden locks, now it is of a rich brown +colour--very neatly and naturally trimmed about her head. She is very +kind--very motherly; just the woman you would single out in time of +trouble and ask, "What would you advise me to do?" I gathered these +impressions whilst listening to many things she said of which I need not +write. Her views on theatrical life are strong, nay, severe. She is not +afraid to speak, and she hits hard and sends her shots home. But you +cannot mistake the earnestness of her manner, the true intent of her +motives. + +"I am only a common-place woman," she said to me. "I used to be ever so +light-hearted--now, I'm a morbid creature. Here we are sitting down by +the fireside. I may tell you happy reminiscences that may make one +merry, and all the time I should be thinking about--what? Cancer! I +return to my dressing-room from the stage at night. As I am passing +along a fellow player may turn to me and say, 'How well the play has +gone to-night!' I am only thinking of those who have trod that same +stage before me. What are they now? Dust--earth--worms!" + +I stirred the fire, and the bright glow from its burning embers lit up +the corner where we sat. And we talked together. + +Margaret Brunton Robertson was born at Great Grimsby on March 15th, +1849--curiously enough these lines will be read on the anniversary of +her birthday. Her grandfather, father, and uncle were all actors. + +"I lived alone with my father and mother," she said, "and the only real +recollection I have of my father is his fine white beard, which he grew +towards the latter days of his life, and a little advice he once gave +me. + +"'Always count twenty,' he said, 'when you are walking across the quay +at Bristol, then you won't hear the sailors swear!' Yet he would use +very bad language to me when he was teaching me my parts; for you know I +commenced acting at a very early age. I was only three when I made my +first appearance--and I ruined the play. It was at the Marylebone +Theatre in the 'Three Poor Travellers,' and I was a blind child. My +nurse was in the front row of the pit--that is, in the very first row, +for there were no stalls. All I thought about was my new shoes--a very +pretty, dainty little pair, and as soon as I stepped on the stage, I +opened my eyes, caught sight of the delighted face of my nurse, and +cried out:-- + +"'Oh! nursey, dear, look at my new shoes!' + +"I played at Chute's Theatre in Bristol in many child's parts. When my +father went to the wall over the Lincoln Circuit, Mr. Chute engaged him +as an actor, and I went with him. I remember in 'A Midsummer Night's +Dream'--I was _Mustard Seed_, I think, or _Peas Blossom_; at any rate, +some small character that required very prettily dressing, and plenty of +flowers on my little costume. I am as fond of flowers to-day as I was +then. Well, when once I got on the stage in my pretty dress--of which I +was particularly proud--before I would leave it, I had to be bought off +with apples and oranges! There they would stand at the wings, and the +price would go up--up--up--two oranges, three oranges, three oranges +and two apples--until I inwardly murmured a childish equivalent for +'sold,' and toddled off. + +"I acted _Eva_ in 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' when I was eight. I think I was +always a sad child--I looked forty when I was fifteen. After little +_Eva_ I used to play anything." + +And they were hard times for little Madge--she worked like the brave +little woman she was. Her childish thoughts were constantly with her +parents--how best could she add to the weekly income. And this is what +the same little Madge would do. Night after night, after playing in a +serious piece, she would appear in burlesque, sing, dance, and crack her +small jokes with the best of them. It was hard work that made her a +woman--it was dearly-bought experience that gave birth to the +sympathetic heart she has to-day. + +[Illustration: MRS. KENDAL. _From a Photo. by Bassano._] + +So at fourteen she was a woman grown--and at fifteen at Hull played +_Lady Macbeth_ to Phelps's _Macbeth_! + +"I was dressed in my mother's clothes," Mrs. Kendal said, "and I fear I +must have looked a fearful guy!" + +At rehearsal Phelps looked upon the young woman. + +"And who--who is this child?" asked the great actor. + +"Madge Robertson," the manager answered; "a rare favourite here. It was +a choice between her and a very old woman, Mr. Phelps." + +"Then let the young woman play, by all means," Phelps said. + +What a night it was! At the end of the play they wanted her on again, +but Phelps was obdurate. A party of men came round, and threatened to +throw Phelps into the Humber! Phelps remained firm. + +"He was kindness itself through it all," Mrs. Kendal assured me, "and +though I did not go on again, he proved his thoughtfulness a little +later on by sending for me to play _Lady Teazle_. I played the leading +parts during the three nights Phelps remained in Hull in 'The Man of the +World,' 'Richelieu,' and 'Macbeth.' On July 29th, 1865, I made my +_debut_ in London, at the Haymarket, as _Ophelia_ to the _Hamlet_ of +Walter Montgomery. Poor Montgomery! He was what you would call a +'lady-killer'--very conceited, but, withal, very kind. He once wrote a +letter to my father, and added a postscript, saying: 'Keep this letter. +Should poverty fall upon you or yours, your great-grand-children may be +able to sell it for a good sum of money!' I was only with him six +weeks." + +The only play of her brother's in which Mrs. Kendal has appeared was +"Dreams," when the Gaiety first opened. At this time the managers always +tried to induce Mrs. Kendal to appear in a riding habit--a costume in +which she looked strikingly handsome. + +"Alfred Wigan played in 'Dreams,'" continued Mrs. Kendal. "His wife was +one of the kindest women I ever met. She gave me a gold bracelet for a +very curious little service I used to render her husband every night. He +had to sing a song in 'Dreams,' and one or two of the high notes were +beyond his reach. I used to take these notes for him, and the audience +never guessed the truth." + +"And have you not played _Desdemona_?" I asked. + +"Oh! yes--and to a real black man, and so he did not have to put his +head up the chimney to make himself up for the part! His name was Ira +Aldridge, and scandal said he was the dresser of some great actor whom +he used to imitate. But he had very ingenious ideas as to the character +of _Othello_. He thought him a brute, and played him as such. His great +notion was to get the fairest woman possible for _Desdemona_--and I was +selected, for at that time my hair was quite golden. + +"In one part of the play he would cry out, 'Give me thy hand, +Desdemona!' and certainly the effect of my hand in his huge grasp was +impressive. Then in the last act he would pull me from the couch by the +hair of my head. Oh! there was something in his realism, I can tell +you!" + +Miss Robertson made a great sensation when she appeared as _Blanche +Dumont_, in Dr. Westland Marston's "Hero of Romance," when it was +performed for the first time at the Haymarket Theatre, on March 14th, +1868. Seventeen months after this, on August 7th, 1869, she was Madge +Robertson no longer. On that day she was married to Mr. William Hunter +Grimston, whose stage name is Kendal. It is a charming little story. + +It occurred at Manchester. Mr. Kendal and Miss Robertson were on tour +with the elder Compton, and they were--sweethearts. A convenient time +seemed to have arrived for their wedding day, for on the Thursday, +Friday, and Saturday nights pieces were to be played in which neither of +them would be required. This would mean a nice little honeymoon--and the +two lovers would reappear on the Monday night. So the day was +fixed--Thursday; the church chosen--St. Saviour's, Plymouth Grove; and +the best man booked--Walter Gowing, who used to play under the name of +Walter Gordon. + +Then bad news came. Compton's brother was taken ill, and he had to hurry +away from Cottonopolis. Another play had to be put in the bill, both Mr. +Kendal and Miss Robertson would be needed--for it was "As You Like It," +and the one would be wanted for _Orlando_ and the other for _Rosalind_. +Still, the wedding was proceeded with on Thursday morning, quietly and +happily, and in the evening husband and wife met on the stage in the +Forest of Arden. There, with _Celia_ as the priest, amidst the leafy +trees and grassy pathways, _Orlando_ turns to the merry _Celia_, and +pointing to the far, far happier _Rosalind_, cries out:-- + +"Pray thee, marry us!" + +"Will you, Orlando, have to wife this Rosalind?" + +"I will." + +"Then," _Rosalind_ pertly remarks, "you must say, 'I take thee, +Rosalind, for wife.'" + +"I take thee, Rosalind, for wife," said _Orlando_, earnestly. + +Then _Rosalind_ asked, "Now tell me how long you would have her after +you have possessed her?" + +And _Orlando_ replied--both in the words of Shakespeare and in the +language of his own heart--"For ever and a day!" + +That is the true story of the wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Kendal. It was a +natural desire of each never to play apart from the other, and from that +day they have never separated. For some seven years Mr. and Mrs. Kendal +played at the Haymarket, under Buckstone's management, and the gifted +actress merrily referred to the little jokes played on "Bucky" by some +of the actors. He was stone deaf, and could only take his cues when to +speak from the movements of his fellow-actors' lips, so they would annoy +him by continuing the lip movement, and "Bucky" sometimes got "stuck." + +[Illustration: THE DRAWING-ROOM. _From a Photo. by Elliott & Fry._] + +Little need be said of Mrs. Kendal's subsequent work--her acting at the +Court, the Prince of Wales's, and her labours at the St. James's, when, +in 1881, she appeared there under the joint management of Mr. Kendal and +Mr. Hare. Not only in this country has her name become fondly familiar +in the homes of those who "go to the theatre" and those who "never +would," but in America the artistic acting of herself and husband has +been instantly and enthusiastically recognised. + +I left the drawing-room--pausing, before entering Mr. Kendal's study, to +admire the aviary--a veritable home of song--and to notice one +diminutive member of the feathered tribe in particular, who has been +taught by Miss Grimston to perform tricks _ad lib._, in addition to +giving forth the sweetest of notes. + +The study is a very delicate apartment in terra-cotta and gold--here and +there are quaint blue china vases and many exquisite bronzes. The window +in the recess where the table is--a typical study table, suggesting +plenty of work--is of stained glass, the quartet of divisions +representing the four seasons. A glance round the walls of this room at +once reveals the substantial side of Mr. Kendal's artistic +hobby--pictures. In this apartment there is nothing but water-colours, +save a very clever pen-and-ink sketch by a New York artist, called "Six +Months After Marriage," which Jefferson caught sight of at the New York +Dramatic Bazaar, and reminded Mr. Kendal to "keep his eye on," and a +portrait or two of Mrs. Kendal and the children. "Hetty Sorrell" at her +butter pats, with her thoughts very far from the churning-pan, is a gem. +"The Last of St. Bartholomew" is a magnificent bit of painting, and the +Venetian views at once carry one back to the home of the merry gondolier +and perfect moonlight nights. This picture of Salvini--who its possessor +assured me was the finest tragedian he had ever seen--was painted by Mr. +Kendal himself. The bookcase, running along opposite the window, +contains many rare first editions, of which Mr. Kendal is a very +persevering and successful collector, and a bound manuscript copy of +every play produced by him, together with the original sketches for the +scenery. You may look over the "Scrap of Paper," "The Falcon," "Queen's +Shilling," "Ladies' Battle," "Clancarty," "The Ironmaster," "The Money +Spinner," and "The Squire"--Pinero's play, of which somebody wrote that +it wafted the scent of the new-mown hay across the footlights. + +[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF SALVANI, BY MR. KENDAL.] + +It is interesting to learn how Mr. Kendal first came across Pinero. + +"I only knew him as an actor at the Lyceum," he said, "and had never met +him. He wrote and asked if we would let him read a play to us. As a rule +we never do that; but, remembering that Pinero was himself a player, we +made an exception. So it came about that one day, after a rehearsal, the +actor playwright read his piece to us in the _foyer_ of the St. James's. +We never expected anything at first, but the reading ended in our taking +the play immediately, though we scarcely knew what we should do with it, +seeing it was a two-act play. We found an opportunity, however, and you +know the success it was. It was called 'The Money Spinner.'" + +Mr. Kendal is a striking-looking man--the very ideal of a picturesque +soldier, with a constitution of steel. He talks to you frankly, easily, +for there is not two penny-worth of presumption about him. He lives and +labours very quietly--he enjoys his days, and a good cigar. He divides +his talents between the stage and the brush. His pencil and palette have +been with him in far-off places, and there is always a corner in his +bag for them if he only travels twenty miles from Harley Street. His +peculiarity of painting--so to speak--lies in the fact that he never +fails to chronicle the view obtained from any hotel where he may be +staying. He showed me a book full of these hasty impressions--all of +which were most beautifully done--many of them he could only give ten +minutes or a quarter of an hour to. Two of these I brought away for +reproduction in these pages; they are both unfinished, however--the +pencil reminders of certain little additions tell that. + +[Illustration: SKETCH FROM THE QUEEN's HOTEL, MANCHESTER, BY MR. +KENDAL.] + +The first of these is a view of the Infirmary as seen from Mr. Kendal's +window at the Queen's Hotel, Manchester; the second--done in a quarter +of an hour--shows the way the Americans erect their buildings for +exhibiting a cyclorama--popularly known here as a panorama. It was done +from a back window in an hotel in Cleveland, U.S.A. The actor-artist +never learnt drawing, save for a few hours' lessons he took at the Slade +Schools under the tuition of Le Gros. He draws everything that impresses +him--his painting memory is remarkable. He sees a man's face in the +street, carries it home in his mind, and it will be very faithfully put +on paper or canvas. + +We talked for a long time on "pictures"--he was so happy and earnest +about it that it was some time before we made an attempt to tread the +boards and get behind the footlights. + +Mr. Kendal--William Hunter Grimston--was born at Notting Hill, and just +outside the sound of Bow Bells, on December 16th, 1843. His parents +belonged to the Low Church, and their views of the theatre in general, +and on adopting the stage as a profession in particular, will be readily +understood. Mr. Kendal was intended for the Army--how he came to "go on" +the stage is best told in his own words: + +"I had only been to three or four pantomimes previously," he said, "and +one night--I was about eighteen years of age at the time--I found myself +in the stalls of the old Soho Theatre, in Dean Street, Soho, now known +as the Royalty Theatre. My paper and pencil were out, and I was busily +engaged in making sketches of the various actors and actresses. The +piece was 'Billie Taylor.' Suddenly I felt a gentle tap on the shoulder +from behind. I turned round. + +"'Would you allow me to take those sketches round and show the 'parties' +interested?' a gentleman asked. + +"'Certainly; with pleasure,' I replied. + +"'Perhaps you would like to come behind the scenes as well?' + +"It was just what I wanted, so I followed the person who had so kindly +interested himself in my scribble. He proved to be Mr. Mowbray, the +manager of the theatre. The picture behind the scenes that night was a +perfect Elysium to me. I think Mowbray must have noticed the impression +it made upon me, for he asked if I would like to go on the stage. I +did--as a sort of super." + +[Illustration: SKETCH FROM HOTEL WINDOW, CLEVELAND, U.S.A., BY MR. +KENDAL.] + +Mr. Kendal's first important engagement lasted four or five years at the +Theatre Royal, Glasgow. Here he met and played with such people as Helen +Faucit (Lady Martin), G. V. Brooke, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kean, Dion +Boucicault, Fechter, Miss Bateman (Mrs. Crowe), and the elder Sothern. +When Sothern left, the accomplished young actor played _Dundreary_, and +found himself straying in the footsteps of the famous originator of the +part, even to the hop. One would have thought that people would have +praised the actor for taking such a worthy example--but it displeased +Tom Taylor, and he wrote very wrathfully. Then Mr. Kendal went to the +Haymarket, met Miss Robertson, and from their wedding day their lives +may be said to have been the same in thought, word, and deed. + +As an organizer and man of business his tact and judgment were tested +and proved during his joint management of the St. James's with Mr. Hare +in 1881. For some time previous to this Mr. Kendal had been on the +look-out for a theatre, and his mind wandered towards the St. James's, +but it required a large sum of money spending on it before it could be +opened. + +"One night I was talking to Lord Newry at my club," said Mr. Kendal, +"and happened to say that if L2,000 or so were spent on the St. James's +I might feel inclined to take it. + +"'Suppose I spend that amount of money on the place, will you take it?' +Lord Newry asked. + +"My only reply was that I would think about it. In the meantime I went +to the Court, from there to the Prince of Wales's to play in +'Diplomacy'--it ran a year--'Peril' and 'London Assurance.' Then I +returned to the Court again, and during this time Lord Newry had +practically gutted the old and unlucky St. James's, turned it inside +out--John Hare, my wife and self entered, and we remained there nearly +ten years." + +Mr. and Mrs. Kendal share the same opinion of America--it is the land of +to-day, the land of the future. As to its theatres in comparison with +ours, Mrs. Kendal--who had now joined us--was most enthusiastic. I had +reached the pillars, from which hung curtains of intricate Japanese +workmanship, leading to the hall. Victoria, the Jubilee dog, was barking +a friendly "Good-bye," and the lusty throats of Miss Grimston's +two-and-twenty canaries forced their sweet notes from a far-away room +into the passage. + +"I will give you some idea of what an American theatre is like," said +Mrs. Kendal. "You reach your destination by rail at some small place for +a one-night stay. If it is raining and the ground is wet, men in long +jack-boots catch hold of you and gallantly take you across the puddles. +You do not see a soul about--and you are in fear and trembling as to +where your night's audience is coming from. You get to your hotel, and +then your next thought is--where is the theatre? You expect to find a +little, uncomfortable, band-box of a place, and you set out to see it +with a heavy heart. It is a palace--a marble palace--a positive poem! +And your heart leaps happily--only to drop dull again, for you suddenly +remember that you have seen--nobody, not even the oldest inhabitant. You +turn to the manager. + +"'Yes, yes--but, what about an audience, how are you going to fill it?' +you ask. + +"'Wall,' he replies, 'I don't trouble myself much about that. I reckon +that every seat in this theatre is sold for to-night, that's all!'" + + HARRY HOW. + +[Illustration: MR. KENDAL. _From a Photo. by Maurice Stephens, +Harrogat._] + + + + +"_Author! Author_!" + +BY E. W. HORNUNG. + + +This story has to do with two men and a play, instead of a woman, and it +is none of mine. I had it from an old gentleman I love: only he ought to +have written it himself. This, however, he will never do; having known +intimately in his young days one of the two men concerned. But I have +his leave to repeat the story more or less as he told it--if I can. And +I am going to him for my rebuke--when I dare. + + * * * * * + +"You want to hear the story of poor old Pharazyn and his play? I'm now +going to tell it you. + +"Ah, well! My recollection of the matter dates from one summer's night +at my old rooms in the Adelphi, when he spoilt my night's work by coming +in flushed with an idea of his own. I remember banging the drawer into +which I threw my papers to lock them away for the night; but in a few +minutes I had forgotten my unfinished article, and was glad that +Pharazyn had come. We were young writers, both of us; and, let me tell +you, my good fellow, young writing wasn't in those days what it is now. +I am thinking less of merit than of high prices, and less of high prices +than of cheap notoriety. Neither of us had ever had our names before the +public--not even in the advertised contents of an unread and unreadable +magazine. No one cared about names in my day, save for the half-dozen +great ones that were then among us; so Pharazyn's and mine never used to +appear in the newspapers, though some of them used our stuff. + +"In a manner we were rivals, for we were writing the same sort of thing +for the same sort of publications, and that was how we had come +together; but never was rivalry friendlier, or mutually more helpful. +Our parts were strangely complementary; if I could understand for the +life of me the secret of collaboration, which has always been a mystery +to me, I should say that I might have collaborated with Pharazyn almost +ideally. I had the better of him in point of education, and would have +turned single sentences against him for all he was worth; and I don't +mind saying so, for there my superiority ended. When he had a story to +tell, he told it with a swing and impetus which I coveted him, as well I +might to this day; and if he was oftener without anything to write +about, his ideas would pay twenty shillings in the pound, in strength +and originality, where mine made some contemptible composition in pence. +That is why I have been a failure at fiction--oh, yes, I have! That is +why Pharazyn would have succeeded, if only he had stuck to plain +ordinary narrative prose. + +[Illustration: "HE SKETCHED THE NEW STORY."] + +"The idea he was unable to keep within his own breast, on the evening of +which I am telling you, was as new, and simple, and dramatic as any that +ever intoxicated the soul of story-teller or made a brother author green +with envy. I can see him now, as I watched him that night, flinging to +and fro with his quick, nervous stride, while he sketched the new +story--bit by bit, and often the wrong bit foremost; but all with his +own flashing vividness, which makes me so sorry--so sorry whenever I +think of it. At moments he would stand still before the chair on which I +sat intent, and beat one hand upon the other, and look down at me with a +grand, wondering smile, as though he himself could hardly believe what +the gods had put into his head, or that the gift was real gold, it +glittered so at first sight. On that point I could reassure him. My open +jealousy made me admire soberly. But when he told me, quite suddenly, as +though on an afterthought, that he meant to make a play of it and not a +story, I had the solid satisfaction at that moment of calling him a +fool. + +"The ordinary author of my day, you see, had a certain timorous respect +for the technique of the stage. It never occurred to us to make light of +those literary conventions which it was not our business to understand. +We were behind you fellows in every way. But Pharazyn was a sort of +forerunner: he said that any intelligent person could write a play, if +he wanted to, and provided he could write at all. He said his story was +a born play; and it was, in a way; but I told him I doubted whether he +could train it up with his own hand to be a good-acting one. I knew I +was right. He had neither the experience nor the innate constructive +faculty, one or other of which is absolutely necessary for the writing +of possible plays. I implored him to turn the thing into a good dramatic +novel, and so make his mark at one blow. But no; the fatal fit was on +him, and I saw that it must run its course. Already he could see and +hear his audience laughing and crying, so he said, and I daresay he +could also feel the crinkle of crisp weekly receipts. I only know that +we sat up all night over it, arguing and smoking and drinking whisky +until my windows overlooking the river caught the rising sun at an +angle. Then I gave in. For poor old Pharazyn was more obstinate than +ever, though he thanked me with the greatest good temper for my +well-meant advice. + +"'And look here, my boy,' says he, as he puts on his hat, 'you shan't +hear another word about this till the play's written; and you are to ask +no questions. Is that a bargain? Very well, then. When I've finished +it--down to the very last touches--_you_ shall come and sit up all night +with _me_, and I'll read you every word. And by gad, old chap, if they +give me a call the first night, and want a speech--and I see you sitting +in your stall, like a blessed old fool as you are--by gad, sir, I'll +hold up you and your judgment to the ridicule of the house, so help me +never!' + +[Illustration: "I COULD SMELL HIS PIPE THROUGH THE KEYHOLE."] + +"Well, I am coming to that first night presently. Meanwhile, for the +next six months, I saw very little of Pharazyn, and less still in the +new year. He seldom came to my rooms now; when he did I could never get +him to stay and sit up with me; and once when I climbed up to his garret +(it was literally that), he would not answer me, though I could smell +his pipe through the key-hole, in which he had turned the key. Yet he +was perfectly friendly whenever we did meet. He said he was working very +hard, and indeed I could imagine it; his personal appearance, which he +had never cherished, being even untidier, and I am obliged to add +seedier, than of old. He continued to send me odd magazines in which his +stuff happened to appear, or occasionally a proof for one's opinion and +suggestions; we had done this to each other all along; but either I did +not think about it, or somehow he led me to suppose that his things were +more or less hot from the pen, whereas many of mine had been written a +twelvemonth before one saw them in type. One way or another, I gathered +that he was at work in our common groove, and had shelved, for the +present at all events, his proposed play, about which you will remember +I had undertaken to ask no questions. + +"I was quite mistaken. One night in the following March he came to me +with a haggard face, a beaming eye, and a stout, clean manuscript, which +he brought down with a thud on my desk. It was the play he had sketched +out to me eight or nine months before. I was horrified to hear he had +been at work upon it alone from that night to this. He had written, so +he said, during all this time, not another line, only each line of his +play some ten times over. + +"I recollect looking curiously at his shabby clothes, and then reminding +him that it was at his place, not mine, I was to have heard him read the +play: and how he confessed that he had no chair for me there--that his +room was, in fact, three parts dismantled--that he had sacrificed +everything to the play, which was worth it. I was extremely angry. I +could have helped him so easily, independent as I was of the calling I +loved to follow. But there was about him always an accursed, unnecessary +independence, which has since struck me--and I think I may say so after +all these years--as the mark of a rather humble, very honest origin. + +"He read me the play, and I cried over the third act, and so did he. I +thought then, and still think, that there was genius in that third +act--it took you off your feet. And to me, certainly, it seemed as if +the piece must act as well as it read, though indeed, as I took care to +say and to repeat, my opinion was well-nigh valueless on that point. I +only knew that I could see the thing playing itself, as I walked about +the room (for this time I was the person who was too excited to sit +still), and that was enough to make one sanguine. I became as +enthusiastic about it as though the work were mine (which it never, +never would or could have been), yet I was unable to suggest a single +improvement, or to have so much as a finger-tip in the pie. Nor could I +afterwards account for its invariable reception at the hands of +managers, whose ways were then unknown to me. That night we talked only +of one kind of reception. We were still talking when the sun came +slanting up the river to my windows; you could hardly see them for +tobacco-smoke, and we had emptied a bottle of whisky to the success of +Pharazyn's immortal play. + +[Illustration: "HIS MANUSCRIPT RAGGED BUT UNREAD."] + +"Oh, those nights--those nights once in a way! God forgive me, but I'd +sacrifice many things to be young again and feel clever, and to know the +man who would sit up all night with me to rule the world over a bottle +of honest grog. In the pale light of subsequent revelations I ought, +perhaps, to recall such a night, with that particular companion, +silently and in spiritual ashes. But it is ridiculous, in my opinion, to +fit some sort of consequence to every little insulated act; nor will I +ever admit that poor Pharazyn's ultimate failing was in any appreciable +degree promoted or prepared for by those our youthful full-souled +orgies. I know very well that afterwards, when his life was spent in +waylaying those aforesaid managers, in cold passages, on stage +doorsteps, or, in desperation, under the public portico on the street; +and when a hundred snubs and subterfuges would culminate in the return +of his manuscript, ragged but unread: I know, and I knew then, that the +wreck who would dodge me in Fleet Street, or cut me in the Strand, had +taken to his glass more seriously and more steadily than a man should. +But I am not sure that it matters much--_much_, you understand me--when +that man's heart is broken. + + * * * * * + +"The last words I was ever to exchange with my poor old friend keep +ringing in my head to this day, whenever I think of him; and I can +repeat them every one. It was some few years after our intimacy had +ceased, and when I only knew that he had degenerated into a Fleet Street +loafer of the most dilapidated type, that I caught sight of him one day +outside a theatre. It was the theatre which was for some years a +gold-mine to one Morton Morrison, of whom you may never have heard; but +he was a public pet in his day, I can tell you, and his day was just +then at its high noon. Well, there stood Pharazyn, with his hands in his +pockets and a cutty-pipe sticking out between his ragged beard and +moustache, and his shoulders against the pit door, so that for once he +could not escape me. But he wouldn't take a hand out of his pocket to +shake mine; and when I asked him how he was, without thinking, he +laughed in my face, and it made me feel cruel. He was dreadfully +emaciated, and almost in rags. And as I wondered what I ought to do, and +what to say next, he gave a cough, and spat upon the pavement, and I +could see the blood. + +[Illustration: "THERE STOOD PHARAZYN."] + +"I don't know what you would have done for him--but for all I knew what +had brought him to this, I could think of nothing but a drink. It was +mid-winter, and I tell you the man was in rags. I felt that if I could +get him to a bar he might eat something, too, and that I should get a +hold of him this time which I would never again let go. Judge of my +surprise when he flatly refused to come with me even for a drink. + +"'Can't you see? he said in his hollow voice. 'There'll be a crowd here +directly, and I want the best seat in the pit--the best in the house. +I've been going dry for it these two days, and I'm going dry till I've +seen the piece. No, I've been here an hour already, and there's three +hours more, I know; but I'm not going to risk it, thanks all the same.' + +"By this I had remembered that Morton Morrison was to re-open that night +with a new piece. Indeed, I ought not to have forgotten that, seeing +that I had my order about me somewhere, and it meant a column from my +pen between twelve and one that night. But this sudden, sorry meeting +had put all other thoughts out of my head. + +"'My dear fellow,' I said, with a sort of laugh, 'are you a +first-nighter, too?' + +"'Only at this theatre.' + +"He looked me queerly in the face. + +"'You admire Morrison very much?' + +"'I love him!' + +"I suppose my eyes thawed him, though God knows how hard I was trying +not to hurt him with pitying looks. At all events he began to explain +himself of his own accord, very impetuously; indeed I rather think the +outburst was purely involuntary. + +"'Look here,' he said, with his hoarse voice lowered: 'I hoped never to +see your face again. I hoped you'd never see mine. But now you are here, +don't go this minute, and I'll tell you why I think so much of Morton +Morrison. I don't know him, mind you--he doesn't know me from Adam--but +once long ago I had something to do with him. And God bless him, but +damn every other manager in London, for he was the only one of the lot +that gave me a civil hearing and a kind word!' + +"I knew what he was talking about, and he knew that I knew, for we had +understood one another in the old days. + +"'I took it to him last of all,' he went on, wiping his damp lips with +his hand. 'When I began hawking it about he was an unknown man; when his +turn came he was here. He let me read it to him. Then he asked me to +leave it with him for a week; and when I went back to him, he said what +they had all said--that it would never act! But Morton Morrison said it +nicely. And when he saw how it cut me up, into little bits, he got me to +tell him all about everything; and then he persuaded me to burn the +play, instead of ruining my life for it; and I burnt it in his +dressing-room fire, but the ruin was too far gone to mend. I wrote that +thing with my heart's blood--old man, you know I did! And none of them +would think of it! My God! But Morrison was good about it--he's a good +soul--and that's why you'll see me at every first night of his until the +drink finishes its work.' + +"I had not followed him quite to the end. One thing had amazed me too +much. + +"'You burnt your play,' I could only murmur, 'when it would have turned +into such a novel! Surely you have some draft of it still?' + +"'I burnt the lot when I got home,' Pharazyn replied; 'and by-and-by I +shall join 'em and burn too!' + +"I had nothing to answer to that, and was, besides, tenacious of my +point. 'I don't think much of the kindness that makes one man persuade +another to burn his work and throw up the sponge,' said I, with a good +deal of indignation, for I did feel wroth with that fellow Morrison--a +bread-and-butter drawing-room actor, whose very vogue used to irritate +me. + +[Illustration: "WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS?"] + +"'Then what do you think of this?' asked Pharazyn, as he dipped a hand +within his shabby coat, and cautiously unclenched it under my nose. + +"'Why, it's a five-pound note!' + +"'I know; but wasn't _that_ kind, then?' + +"'So Morrison gave you this!' I exclaimed. + +"Two or three persons had stopped to join us at the pit door, and +Pharazyn hastily put the note back in his pocket. As he did so, his +dreadfully shabby condition gave my heart a fresh cut. + +"'Are you never going to spend that?' I asked in a whisper; and in a +whisper he answered:-- + +"'Never! It is all my play has brought me--all. It was given me as a +charity, but I took it as my earnings--my earnings for all the work and +waiting, and blood and tears, that one thing cost me. Spend it? Not I! +It will bury me as decently as I deserve.' + +"We could converse no more. And the presence of other people prevented +me from giving him my overcoat, though I spoke of it into his ear, +begging and imploring him to come away and take it while there was still +time for him to clip back and get a seat in the front row. But he would +not hear of it, and the way he refused reminded me of his old stubborn +independence; all I got was a promise that he would have a bite with me +after the performance. And so I left him in the frosty dusk, ill-clad +and unkempt, with the new-lit lamp over the pit door shining down upon +the haggard mask that had once been the eager, memorable face of my +cleverest friend. + +"I saw him next the moment I entered the theatre that evening, and I +nodded my head to him, which he rebuked with the slightest shake of his +own. So I looked no more at him before the play began, comprehending +that he desired me not to do so. The temptation, however, was too strong +to go on resisting, for while Pharazyn was in the very centre of the +front row in the pit, I was at one end of the last row of the stalls; +and I was very anxious about him, wanting to make sure that he was there +and not going to escape me again, and nervous of having him out of my +sight for five minutes together. + +"Thus I know more about the gradual change which came over Pharazyn's +poor face, as scene followed scene, than of the developments and merits +of those scenes themselves. My mind was in any case running more on my +lost friend than on the piece; but it was not till near the end of the +first act that the growing oddity of his look first struck me. + +"His eyebrows were raised; it was a look of incredulity chiefly; yet I +could see nothing to impale for improbability in the play as far as it +had gone. I was but lightly attending, for my own purposes, as you +youngsters skim your betters for review; but thus far the situation +struck me as at once feasible and promising. Also it seemed not a little +familiar to me; I could not say why, for watching Pharazyn's face. And +it was his face that told me at last, in the second act. By God, it was +his own play! + +"It was Pharazyn's play, superficially altered all through, nowhere +substantially; but the only play for me, when I knew that, was being +acted in the front row of the pit, and not on the stage, to which I had +turned the side of my head. I watched my old friend's face writhe and +work until it stiffened in a savage calm; and watching, I thought of the +'first night' he had pictured jovially in the old days, when the bare +idea of the piece was bursting his soul; and thinking, I wondered +whether it could add a drop to his bitterness to remember that too. + +"Yet, through all my thoughts, I was listening, intently enough, now. +And in the third act I heard the very words my friend had written: they +had not meddled with his lines in the great scene which had moved us +both to tears long ago in my rooms. And this I swear to, whether you +believe it or no--that at the crisis of that scene, which was just as +Pharazyn made it, the calm ferocity transfiguring his face died away all +at once, and I saw it shining with the sweetest tears our eyes can +shed--the tears of an artist over his own work. + +"And when the act was over he sat with his head on his hand for some +minutes, drinking in the applause, as I well knew; then he left his seat +and squeezed out on my side of the house, and I made sure he was coming +to speak to me over the barrier; and I got up to speak to him; but he +would not see me, but stood against the barrier with a mien as white and +set as chiselled marble. + +"What followed on the first fall of the curtain I shall relate as +rapidly as it happened. Louder call for an author I never heard, and I +turned my eyes to the stage in my intense curiosity to see who would +come forward; for the piece had been brought out anonymously; and I +divined that Morrison himself was about to father it. And so he did; but +as the lie passed his lips, and in the interval before the applause--the +tiny interval between flash and peal--the lie was given him in a roar of +fury from my left; there fell a thud of feet at my side, and Pharazyn +was over the barrier and bolting down the gangway towards the stage. I +think he was near making a leap for the footlights and confronting +Morrison on his own boards; but the orchestra came between, and the +fiddlers rose in their places. Then he turned wildly to us pressmen, and +I will say he had our ear, if not that of the whole house besides, for +the few words he was allowed to utter. + +"'Gentlemen!' he cried at the top of his voice--'Gentlemen, I'm one of +you! I'm a writing man like yourselves, and I wrote this play that +you've seen. That man never wrote it at all--I wrote it myself! That man +has only altered it. I read it to him two years ago--two years ago, +gentlemen! He kept it for a week, and then got me to burn it as +rubbish--when he had made a copy of it! And he gave me this, +gentlemen--he gave me this that I give him back!' + +"It was a matter of only a few seconds, but not till my own last hour +shall I forget Morrison's painted face on the stage, or that sweating +white one beneath the boxes; or the fluttering from Pharazyn's poor +fingers of the five-pound note he had treasured for two years; or the +hush all over the house until the first hand was laid upon his dirty +collar. + +"'What!' he screamed, 'do none of you believe me? Will none of you stand +by me--isn't there a man--not one man among you----' + +"And they threw him out with my name on his lips. And I followed, and +floored a brute who was handling him roughly. And nothing happened to +me--because of what happened to Pharazyn!" + + * * * * * + +The dear old boy sat silent, his grey head on his hand. Presently he +went on, more to himself than to me: "What could I do? What proof had I? +He had burnt them every one. And as long as the public would stand him, +Morrison kept his good name at least. And that play was his great +success!" + +[Illustration: "HE GAVE ME THIS."] + +I ventured gently to inquire what had happened to Pharazyn. + +"He died in my arms," my old friend cried, throwing up his head with an +oath and a tear. "He died in a few minutes, outside the theatre. I could +hear them clapping after he was dead--clapping his piece." + +[Illustration] + + + + +Zig Zags at the Zoo: Conkavian + + +If the gentle reader, full of a general desire for knowledge and a +particular enthusiasm for natural history, will refer to any one of the +great standard works on birds, and, turning to the index, seek for the +family title of the Conkaves, I have every hope and confidence that he +will not find it; because, as a matter of fact, it is a little invention +of my own, and, I may modestly urge, rather a neat thing in scientific +nomenclature, on the whole. It has the advantage of including in one +family the storks and the pelicans, which in all orthodox books on birds +are planted far apart and out of sight of each other, with many orders, +tribes, and families between. Under my title they are gathered amicably +together in the common possession of very long bills, like two tailors +on a man's doorstep. The word is derived, in the proper and regular +manner, from ancient sources; from _conk_, a venerable Eastern word, +signifying a nose or beak, and the Latin _avis_, a bird. And I offer +the term freely as my humble, but I trust useful, contribution to +science; my first contribution. + +The stork is regarded, in many countries, with a certain +semi-superstitious reverence and esteem. After many prolonged and +serious attempts to saturate myself with a similar feeling, I regret to +confess to a certain smallness of esteem for the stork. You can't esteem +a bird that makes ugly digs at your feet and heels with such a very big +beak. Out in their summer quarters the storks are kept in by close wire, +and close wire will give an air of inoffensiveness to most things. But, +away in a by-yard, with a gate marked "private," there stands a shed +wherein the storks are kept warm in winter, behind wooden bars; and +between these bars stork-heads have a way of dropping at the toes of the +favoured passer-by, like to action of a row of roadmen's picks. + +[Illustration: PICKS AND CHEWS.] + +The stork has come off well in the matter of bodily endowment. The +pelican has a tremendous beak--achieved, it would seem, by a skimping of +material in the legs; but the stork has the tremendous beak and legs of +surprising growth as well. His wings, too, are something more than +respectable. At flying, at eating, at portentous solemnity of +demeanour--in all these and in other things the pelican and the stork +score fairly evenly; but at walking the pelican is left behind at once. +This makes one suspect the stork's honesty. The pelican has a good beak +and wings, and pays for them, like an honest bird, out of its legs, just +as the ostrich pays for its neck and legs out of its wings. But the +stork is abnormally lucky in beak, neck, legs, and wings together, and +even then has material left to lay out in superfluous knobs and wens to +hang round its neck, which leads to a suspicion that many of its +personal fittings belong properly to some other bird. I've a notion that +the unlucky kiwi might identify some of the property. + +[Illustration: THE PELICAN LEFT.] + +[Illustration: ARMY.] + +Perhaps the adjutant should be acknowledged king of the conkavians. +Billy, the Zoo adjutant, has, I believe, no doubt on the subject at all. +Billy is an ornament to the military profession--a very fine fellow, +with a thing on the back of his neck like a Tangerine orange, and a wen +on the front of it, which he can blow out whenever he wants to amuse +himself, and everything else handsome about him. He is an old soldier, +too, is Billy, having been Adjutant of the Regent's Park Conkavian Corps +for seventeen years; but if you knew nothing of his age, still you would +call Billy an old soldier--upon a little acquaintance with his habits. + +[Illustration: LAW.] + +There seems no valid reason why the professional aspirations of the +stork should be restricted to the army. If an adjutant, why not a dean? +Why not a proctor? There is the making of a most presentable don about a +stork; and I have caught a stork in an attitude of judicial meditation +that might do honour to any bench. There is no reason why "sober as a +judge" should not be made to read "sober as a stork," except that the +stork is the more solemn creature of the two; and I think that some +species of stork--say the marabou, for instance--might fairly claim +brevet rank as judge, after the example of the adjutant. The elevation +of a beak to the bench might be considered an irregular piece of legal +procedure; but, bless you, it's nothing unusual with a stork. Put any +bench with something to eat on it anywhere within reach of a stork's +beak in this place, and you shall witness that same elevation, precedent +or no precedent. + +[Illustration: UNIVERSITIES.] + +A common white stork hasn't half the solid gravity of an adjutant or a +marabou. He has a feline habit of expressing his displeasure by blowing +and swearing--a habit bad and immoral in a cat, but worse in a stork +accustomed to Church. Church, by-the-bye, is the keeper of all the +conkavians, as well as of the herons, the flamingoes, the ibises, the +egrets, and a number of other birds with names more difficult to spell. +It is impossible to treat disrespectfully a man with such widespread +responsibilities as this, or there might be a temptation to mention that +he is not an unusually high Church, although his services are not always +simple, often involving a matter of doctorin'. But, then, some people +will say anything, temptation or none. And after all, it is pleasant to +know that, whatever a stork or a pelican wants, he always goes to +Church. + +[Illustration: SWEARING.] + +[Illustration: CHURCH.] + +This being the case, there is a proverb about cleanliness that makes one +wonder why the marabou stork doesn't wash himself. It isn't as though he +never wanted it. I have a horrible suspicion about this philosophic old +sloven. I believe his profession of philosophic contemplation is +assumed, because it is the easiest excuse for indolence. Now, a pelican +is not a bird of graceful outline, but he _is_ careful about his +feathers. The pelican is a scrupulous old Dutchman, and the stork is an +uncleanly old Hindu. And uncleanly he must be left, for it takes a deal +to shame a stork. You can't shame a bird that wraps itself in a +convenient philosophy. "Look here--look at me!" you can imagine a +pelican cleanliness-missionary saying to the stork. "See how white and +clean I keep all my feathers!" "Um," says the stork, "it only makes 'em +a different colour." "But observe! I just comb through my pinions with +my beak, so, and they all lie neat and straight!" "Well, and what's the +good of that?" grunts the stork. "And then you see," says the pelican, +ignoring the question, "with a good long beak you can reach everywhere, +over your back and under your wings; see, I'm as clean under my wings as +anywhere else, although it's covered up!" "Beastly vanity," growls the +old Hindu, getting bored. "Then," continues the Dutchman, "you give +yourself a good shake, and there you are!" "And then," says the +philosopher sarcastically, "to-morrow, I suppose, you'll have to do it +all over again?" "Of course!" "Oh! I hate a fool!" says the stork, and +closes the lecture. + +[Illustration] + +Thus the marabou. The ordinary white stork is comparatively respectable, +and so is the adjutant--or comparatively almost respectable, let us say; +you can't be too cautious in giving a personal character to a stork. +For long, long, the stork has enjoyed a reputation for solemn wisdom, +for philosophical dignity. Now for the first time I venture to question +this reputation--to impeach the stork as a humbug. It is easy to achieve +a reputation for profound and ponderous wisdom, so long as one looks +very solemn and says nothing. This is the stork's recipe. Go up to Billy +here, or one of the marabous, as he stands with his shoulders humped up +about his head, and make a joke. He won't see it. He will lift his +eyebrows with a certain look of contempt, and continue to +cogitate--about nothing. If the joke is a very bad pun--such a frightful +pun that even a stork will see and resent it--perhaps he will chatter +his beak savagely, with a noise like the clatter of the lid on an empty +cigar-box; but he will continue his sham meditations. "Ah, my friend," +he seems to say, "you are empty and frivolous--I cogitate the profounder +immensities of esoteric cogibundity." The fact being that he is very +seedy after his previous night's dissipation. + +[Illustration] + +That is the chief secret of the stork's solemnity, I am convinced. He +has a certain reputation to maintain before visitors, but after hours, +when the gates are shut and the keepers are not there to see, the +marabou stork is a sad dog. I haven't quite made up my mind what he +drinks, but if he has brandies and sodas he leaves out too much soda. +Look at that awful nose! It is long past the crimson and pimply +stage--it is taking a decided tinge of blue. It _looks_ worse than +brandy and soda--almost like bad gin--but we will be as charitable as +possible, and only call it brandy and soda. + +I should like to see the marabou stork on his nightly ran-tan, if only +to gloat over his lapse of dignity, just as one would give much to see +Benjamin Franklin with his face blacked, drunk and disorderly and being +locked up. But, as a shocking example, the marabou is quite bad enough +with his awful head in the morning; his awful head and his disreputable +nose, that looks to want a good scraping. I respect Billy, the adjutant, +for his long service and the Tangerine at the back of his neck. The +ordinary stork (although he swears and snaps) I also respect, because +the goody books used to tell pious lies about him. The whale-headed +stork, which is also called the shoe-bird, I respect as a sort of +relative of the shoo-fly that didn't bother somebody. But the marabou +has forfeited all respect--converted it into nose-tint. I must talk to +Church seriously about the marabou. + +[Illustration: THE RAN-TAN.] + +Now, the pelican is no humbug. There is nothing like concealment about +his little dissipations; and he is perfectly sober. Any little +irregularity at the pelican club just opposite the eastern aviary never +goes beyond a quiet round or two for a little fish dinner. It is quite a +select and a most proper club. Indeed, the first rule is, that if any +loose fish be found on the club premises, he is got rid of at once by +the first member who detects him. And the club spirit is such that +disputes frequently occur among members for the honour of carrying out +this salutary rule. The chairman of the club is an old crested pelican, +who, by some oversight, has never been provided with a private name of +his own. I think he should be called Peter, because he can take such a +miraculous draught of fishes. It _is_ a draught; you know--a pelican +doesn't eat fishes--he drinks them down in bulk. For Peter, a dozen or +so fresh herrings is a mere swill round of the mouth. + +[Illustration: A QUIET ROUND OR TWO.] + +Peter walks about the club premises with much dignity, deferred to on +all sides by the other members. His kingship is rarely disputed, having +been achieved by the sort of conquest most familiar in the pelican club; +and his divine right is as much respected as his tremendous left. + +A pelican never bears malice; he hasn't time, especially now, with +competition so keen in the fish business, and Church's fish pails only +of the ordinary size. There is never any ill-feeling after a little +spar, and each proceeds, in the most amicable way, to steal some other +pelican's fish. A spar at this club, by-the-bye, is a joyous and +hilarious sight. Two big birds with stumpy legs and top-heavy beaks, +solemnly prancing and manoeuvring before one another with an +accompaniment of valiant gobbles and a punctuation of occasional +pecks--a gleesome spectacle. + +[Illustration: PETER.] + +[Illustration: A SWILL ROUND.] + +Another sport much exhibited at the pelican club is that of +the broadsword. The school of fence is that of Mr. Vincent +Crummies--one--two--three--four--over; one--two--three--four--under. +You see, when a dozen or two birds with beaks a couple of feet long or +so get together in a small area, and now and again rush all in the same +direction for fish, fencing is certain to develop, sooner or later. So +here you have it, _secundum artem_--one--two--three--four--over; +one--two--three--four--under; and although none have yet attained the +Crummleian degree of knocking out sparks, there is a deal of hollow +noise, as of thumping on a wooden box. But there is never any +after-malice, and in less than five minutes either combatant will +swallow a fish rightfully belonging to the other, with perfect +affability. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +There is a good deal of the philosopher about the pelican, and of a more +genuine sort than characterizes the stork. The pelican always makes the +best of a bad job, without going into an unnecessary tantrum over it. If +another member of the club snatches a fish first, the pelican doesn't +bother, but devotes his attention to the next that Church throws; a fish +in the pouch is worth a shoal in somebody else's. Now and again Peter +loses his temper for a moment if the others catch the first snack, and +lays about him with his bill--but then, when a fellow's chairman, and a +lot of other fellows come snatching the lunch from under his nose--why, +hang it all, you know.... But it is only for a moment, and Peter is soon +in position for the next pouchful. He is artful about this position. +When Church appears at the rails with a pailful of fish most of the +members rush to those rails, jostle together and shove their beaks +through them and over them--any way to get nearer the pail. But the +chairman knows very well that Church doesn't throw the fish outside the +rails, but into the inclosure, somewhere near the middle; and near the +middle the sagacious Peter waits, to his early profit--unless Church is +unusually slow about throwing the fish, in which case Peter is apt to +let his excitement steal his sagacity, and to rush into the pell-mell, +anxious to investigate the delay. + +[Illustration: A LITTLE SOLEING AND HEELING.] + +There is a deal of excellent wear in a pelican. One has been here about +thirty years, and two more have been established on the same premises +for a quarter of a century. All these three are in capital working +repair and will probably last, with a patch or two, and a little soleing +and heeling, for a century or two more; no respectable pelican is ever +bowled out for less than three figures. + +In the winter the club takes up its quarters in the shed behind the +inclosure; a shed sumptuously furnished with certain benches and forms, +whereon the club stands in rows, with a general appearance of a number +of very solemn naughty boys in a Board school. In winter, too, Church +will often put his bucketful of fish on the ground, so that the club may +dine in a clubbier way. But whether you watch this club feeding together +from the pail, each member doing his best to put away the whole pailful +at a gulp, or whether you observe them playing a sort of greedy game of +lacrosse with fish which Church throws them, you will be equally amazed +that the pelican was used as a symbol of charity and brotherly love in +early and middle Christian art. + +[Illustration: SCHOOL.] + +[Illustration: CLUB DINNER.] + +I have seen a pelican enact a most instructive moral lesson at a +pail-dinner. Observe the bill and pouch of a pelican. The pouch is an +elastic fishing-net, and the lower mandible is a mere flexible frame to +carry it. Now, I have observed a pelican to make a bounce at the +fish-pail, with outspread wings, and scoop the whole supply. But then +his trouble began. The whole catch hung weightily low in the end of the +pouch, and jerk and heave as he might, he could never lift the load at +the end of that long beak sufficiently high to bolt it. Meanwhile, his +friends collected about him and remonstrated, with many flops and +gobbles, betting him all his fish to nothing that he would lose it after +all; this way they chased that bag, and that way, while the bagger, in +much trepidation and with many desperate heaves, wildly sought remote +corners away from his persecutors. Now, by the corner of the club +premises stands an appliance, the emblem of authority, the instrument of +justice, and the terror of the evilly-disposed pelican--a birch-broom. +This, brandished in the hands of Church, caused a sudden and awful +collapse of the drag-nets, an opening, a shower of fish and many snaps; +wherefrom walked away many pelicans with fish, and one with none, who +had looked to take all. The moral is plain to the verge of ugliness. + +[Illustration.] + +[Illustration.] + +[Illustration.] + +[Illustration.] + +[Illustration.] + +A pelican has no tongue--or none to speak of. It is a mere little knob +scarcely the size of a cherry. The long, long meditations of the pelican +(lasting between feeding times) are given up to consideration whether or +not the disgrace of this deficiency is counter-balanced by the greater +capacity for fish which it gives the pouch. After all, it is only +another instance of that commercial honesty which makes the pelican pay +for his beak out of his legs; he gives his tongue for a pouch. There +should be a legend of the pelican applying honestly to Adam to buy a +pouch, and the wily stork waiting and waiting on the chance of snatching +one without paying for it, until all had been served out; afterwards +living all its life on earth in covetous dudgeon, unconsoled by its +wealth of beak, legs, wings, and neck, and pining hopelessly for the +lost pouch. There are many legends of this sort which ought to exist, +but don't, owing to the negligence of Indian solar myth merchants, or +whoever it is has charge of that class of misrepresentation. + +[Illustration.] + +The pelican can fly, although you would never believe it, to look at the +club members here. To a Zoo pelican a flight of two feet is an +undertaking to be approached with much circumspection and preparation, +and a summoning of resolution and screwing of courage proper to the +magnitude of the feat. It takes a long time to learn to fly on to a +bottom-up bucket. The Zoo pelican begins on a shadow--not a very dark +one at first--and works his way up by jumping over, darker shadows to +straws and pebbles, before he tries a bucket. The accomplished +bucket-jumper makes a long preliminary survey and circumnavigation of +his bucket before performing, and when he does begin it is with a number +of wild rushes and irresolute stops. When at last he gets the proper +length of run, and the right foot in front, and doesn't see anything to +baulk him, he rises with a great effort, and all the lookers-on who +don't know him stare up over the trees, and are astonished to find him, +after all, only on the bucket. His pinions are cut, poor fellow! If they +were not, what would become of the fishmongers' shops? + + + + +_Shafts from an Eastern Quiver_. + +IX.--MAW-SAYAH: THE KEEPER OF THE GREAT BURMAN NAT. + +By Charles J. Mansford, B.A. + + +I. + +"The fine points of an elephant, sahib," said our guide Hassan, "are a +colour approaching to white, the nails perfectly black, and an intact +tail." + +"I am glad to hear that an elephant has some qualities which recommend +it," said Denviers, good-humouredly. "I should think that the one upon +which we are riding is about as lazy as it is possible to be. I suppose +slowness is an unusually good point, isn't it, Hassan?" The Arab, who +was sitting before us on the elephant, gave it a stir with the +sharply-pointed spear which he held in his hand to urge it on, and then +glancing back at us, as we reclined lazily in the cushioned howdah, he +said inquiringly: "Are the sahibs tired already of travelling thus? Yet +we have fully two hours' journey before us." + +"Hassan," I interposed, "this is a good opportunity for you to tell us +exactly what you heard about that Maw-Sayah when we were at Bhamo. It is +in consequence of that, indeed, that we are going to try to get among +these strange Kachyens; but as we are not quite sure of the details, you +may as well repeat them." + +"The sahib shall be obeyed," responded our guide, and although careful +to keep a good watch in front, he turned his body slightly towards us as +he prepared to begin the narrative. + +[Illustration: "THE SAHIB SHALL BE OBEYED."] + +On reaching Burmah we stayed for several days in Rangoon, the Queen of +the East as it is called nowadays, although only remarkable formerly for +its famous monasteries of Talapoins and as a halting-place for the bands +of pilgrims on their way to the mighty Shway Dagohn pagoda. Thence we +journeyed up the Irawaddy, and having duly paid reverence to some of the +nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine pagodas of Pagan--the outcast +slaves of which city seemed a strange contrast to its otherwise absolute +desertion--we continued our journey by steamer as far as Mandalay. +Having endured the doubtful pleasure of a jaunt in a seatless, jolting +bullock-carriage--the bruises from which were not easily forgotten--we +eventually reached Bhamo, where Hassan entered into conversation with a +hill-man. From the latter he learnt a strange story, which was later on +told to us and the truth of which we hoped before long to fully test, +for soon afterwards we set out on an elephant, our faithful guide in +this new adventure again proving himself of the greatest service. + +"Now, Hassan," said Denviers, "we are quite ready to hear this story +fully, but don't add any imaginary details of your own." + +"By the Koran, sahib," began the Arab, "these are the words which were +those of him to whom I spoke under the shade of the log stockade." + +"Which are, of course, unimpeachable," responded Denviers. "Anyone could +tell that from his shifty eyes, which failed to rest upon us fixed even +for a minute when we spoke to him afterwards." The Arab seemed a little +disconcerted at this, but soon continued:-- + +"The great Spirits or Nats, who guard the prosperity of Burmah, have +become greatly incensed with the Kachyens, not because they failed to +resist stoutly when the monarch was deposed a few years ago----" + +"Then we are to have a modern story, this time, Hassan?" interrupted +Denviers. "I quite expected that you would commence with some long +worn-out tradition." + +"The sahibs shall hear," the Arab went on. "No one who offends the Nats +of Burmah need expect anything but evil to follow. There are the Nats of +the sky, the Nats of the earth, the Nats of the Irawaddy, the Nats of +the five hundred little rivers, and the thousand Nats which guarded the +sacred person of the monarch----" + +"Yes, Hassan," said Denviers, impatiently, "you mentioned them all +before. We haven't time to hear the list enumerated now; go on about +this one particular Nat which you say is causing such havoc among the +hill-tribes." + +"Patience, sahib. The Nats were justly roused to anger because the +deposed monarch was not afterwards taken to the water's edge riding upon +an elephant instead of in a bullock-carriage." + +"Well, Hassan," said Denviers, "judging from our own experience the Nats +seem to be pretty sensible, I must say--but how do they affect the peace +of mind of the Kachyens?" + +"Listen, sahib. High among the hills which may be seen stretching before +us lies a village in which many of the Kachyens dwell, their occupation +being sometimes that of tillers of the land, but more often consisting +in planning and carrying out raids upon other hill-men, or of descending +at times to the plains, and there looting the towns wherein dwell more +peaceable tribes. In all their forays they had been successful, for +whenever their trusty dahs or swords were drawn, those who opposed them +invariably obtained the worst of the encounter. So powerful did they +become that at last those dwelling in the plains--Shans, Karenns, and +Talaings, too--made no resistance against their attacks; and when they +saw the produce of their fields carried away, thought themselves happy +not to have been slain. The reason why the Kachyens became so successful +in all they undertook was that a powerful forest Nat placed them under +its protection, and hence they could not be harmed by their foes. + +"Now it chanced that the King was in great danger through following the +advice of his impetuous ministers, whereupon he summoned the Kachyens to +his assistance--for their fame as warriors had reached his ears long +before. But they, confident of securing their own safety whatever +happened to the monarch, refused to obey his command to march against +the Burman foes. The consequence was that when the indignity which I +have mentioned was offered to the deposed monarch, the Nats throughout +Burmah were furious with that one who ruled the village in which the +Kachyens dwelt, and they sent some of their number to destroy it. The +latter, however, appeased them by making a grim promise, which has been +only too faithfully kept. + +"A few days afterwards a hill-man, who was clearing a part of the land +on the woody slope of the height, _saw the Nat_, which had never before +been visible, and, terrified at the strange form which it had assumed, +he ran hastily to the rest of the tribe, and, gathering them together, +held a consultation as to what should be done to appease it. Some +suggested that upon every tree trunk should be scratched appealing +messages, which the Nat might read; others were in favour of placing a +huge heap of spears and swords near the spot where the embodied Nat had +been seen in order that it might be tempted to destroy all those who +urged it to injure them. The messages and weapons, however, when placed +for the Nat to observe did no good, for one dreadful night a rattling +was heard of the bamboos, which lay before one of the Kachyen's huts, +and the man, going hastily to see what caused it, was swiftly carried +away in the darkness without apparently uttering a single cry! For many +nights in succession a similar scene was enacted, for he at whose door +the dire summons came dared not refuse to answer it lest the whole +household might perish. + +"Nothing more was ever seen of those thus strangely carried off, and the +Kachyens, each of whom feared that his own end might come next, +determined to consult some famous Buddhist priests who dwelt not far +from them, and who held charge over the famous marble slabs which the +great War Prince of Burmah had caused to be engraved concerning their +illustrious traditions. The man whom ye saw me conversing with by the +stockade was the one whom the tribe intrusted with the task; but the +priests, after much consideration among themselves of the object of his +visit, refused to have anything to do with such a tragic affair, and +thereupon dismissed their suppliant. + +[Illustration: "THE BUDDHIST PRIESTS."] + +"This Kachyen, when sorrowfully returning towards the hills, fearing +that the tribe would destroy him because of his non-success, chanced to +meet on his way a Mogul, to whom he repeated the story. The latter, +laying his hand on his red-dyed and fierce-looking beard, advised the +Kachyen to enter a hole in the mountain side and to consult a famous +Maw-Sayah, or juggler, who dwelt there. This juggler promised assistance +if the tribe would pay him a great reward in the event of his success, +and when they agreed to this he entered the village and waited for dusk +to arrive. Again the dreadful rattling was heard, and another Kachyen +stepped out to meet his fate. None of the tribe dared to look at what +transpired, except the juggler, and he too disappeared! The next +morning, however, he came into the village and called its inhabitants +together. When they had solemnly agreed to his conditions, he stated +that the Nat was bent upon destroying them all, and that to attempt to +escape by means of flight would only lead to quicker death. Then he told +them what the result of his intercession for them had been. + +"The Nat had been persuaded to destroy only one victim on each seventh +evening at dusk, and had appointed him to see that certain conditions +were not broken. He was to have a hut at his disposal, and into this the +men were to go by lot, and thus the Nat would obtain a victim when the +time came round. They were forbidden to wander about after sunset, and +whatever noises were made not to hearken to them, since the Maw-Sayah +would see that the others were unharmed. So long had this dreadful +destruction lasted that more than one-half of the men in the Kachyen +village, or town, as it might well be called from the large number who +inhabited it, had perished, and yet the Nat still demanded a victim, and +the Maw-Sayah is there to see that the compact is fulfilled. The man who +told this story, sahibs, declares that the keeper of the Nat has by this +means obtained sway over the Kachyens to such an extent that they have +become his abject slaves, for the custom of drawing lots has been +abolished, and he selects whom he will to sacrifice to the Nat. By some +means this Kachyen offended the Maw-Sayah, who thereupon condemned him, +but he, in terror of the sudden and silent death in store for him, fled +to Bhamo, where he lives in momentary fear of destruction. Such then, +sahibs, is the story, and it is to see this Maw-Sayah and the Nat at +their fell work to-night that even now our faces are turned to the high +land before us, up which we must climb, for there is but one narrow +pathway leading to the village." + +Hassan ceased, and then Denviers turned to me as he said:-- + +"I think that this Maw-Sayah, as Hassan calls him, has about as much +faith in Nats as we have. It suits his purpose to league himself with +something mysterious; whatever it is we will try to find out," and he +glanced at the weapons which we carried. + + +II. + +"The sahibs must dismount here", said Hassan shortly afterwards, and +following to the ground our guide, we began to climb the mountain path +which stretched before us. The ascent was exceedingly steep, and several +times we stopped to rest after pushing our way through the tangled +masses which almost hid the path, which was itself cut here and there +apparently through the rocky strata. When we had reached about +three-fourths of our journey Hassan stopped and pointed out to us one of +the thatched roofs of a hut, which seemed in the distance scarcely +noticeable until his keen eyesight discovered it. The village, we found, +lay a little to the left of the mountain path, for on nearing the summit +we found ourselves passing through a peculiar avenue of trees +interspersed with long bamboo poles. From the tops of the latter there +were stretched across the approach strong, rough-looking cords, which +supported various uncouth emblems, and among which were large triangles, +circles, and stars, cut apparently out of the stems of huge bamboos. +After traversing this avenue for nearly three hundred yards we saw the +tree trunks which Hassan had mentioned, and which were deeply scarred +with cabalistic messages to the fierce Nat, which we could not of course +understand. Affixed to some of the trees farther on we saw a number of +spears and dahs mingled with shorter weapons, the latter being made of +some species of hard wood, and close to them we observed the skulls of +several large animals, one of which we judged was that of an elephant. + +[Illustration: "THE AVENUE."] + +In spite of the fact that the village was a large one, the buildings +were of a very primitive construction, being made of bamboos with +thatched coverings, reaching almost to the piles on which the huts were +placed. We did not observe any openings made to serve as windows, the +only ones noticeable being those by which the Kachyens entered, placed +above a bamboo ladder, which seemed to, serve instead of steps. Although +the sun had scarcely set, the village was wrapped in a strange silence, +the sound of our footsteps alone being heard. The smoke that seemed to +be forcing its way through stray holes in the thatch amply convinced us, +however, that the inhabitants were within doors, and, turning to our +Arab guide, I asked him if he could distinguish among the many huts the +one in which we expected to find the Maw-Sayah. He seemed a little +uncertain at first, but after wandering through the village together we +returned, and then Hassan, who had been very observant the whole time, +pointed to one of the rudely-constructed huts and said:-- + +"I think that is the one into which we seek to enter; it is situated +according to the position in which the Kachyen said it was, and, +besides, it bears a strange proof of the story which ye have listened to +with such ill-concealed disbelief." + +"Why do you think that is the hut, Hassan?" I asked, for, to my eyes, no +difference between that and the others close to it was distinguishable. + +"If the sahib will look at the bamboo ladder and observe it carefully, +he will see that it is unlike the others round," said the Arab. + +"I suppose you refer to these deep scratches upon it, don't you, +Hassan?" asked Denviers, as he pointed to some marks, a few of which +were apparently fairly recent. + +"The sahib guesses rightly," answered our guide. "You will remember that +the Kachyen stated to me that the Nat is accustomed to obtain its victim +now from the abode of the Maw-Sayah; those marks, then, have been made +by it when it dragged its human prey out of the hut." We gazed curiously +at the marks for a few minutes, then Denviers broke the silence by +asking the Arab why it was that the Nat made marks at all. + +"I should have thought that such a powerful spirit could prevent such +evidences of its presence becoming observed," he continued. "My respect +for it is certainly not increased by seeing those deep scars; they seem +to be made by something which has sharp claws." + +"That is because of the shape which it has assumed, sahib," said the +Arab, "for the Nats have wondrous powers----" + +"Very likely, Hassan," interposed Denviers; "I suppose they can do +exactly what they like, can they not?" I was much surprised at the limit +which was, however, placed upon their powers by our guide, for he +responded quickly:-- + +"Not altogether, sahib. There is one thing that a Nat cannot do, +according to the reports of these Kachyens, and that is, they are unable +to move in a direction which is not straight, and hence they are careful +to avoid rough ground, where tangled masses and boulders bar their +progress, so they usually frequent the open avenues, such as the one +which we have just passed through. The symbols above it and the writings +and weapons are all for the Nat's benefit." + +"And the elephant's skull?" asked Denviers, irreverently. "What is that +put up for?" The Arab, however, had an explanation ready, for he +promptly replied:-- + +"That indicates where the supplies of food are to be found when the Nat +requires any." Denviers turned to me for a moment as he said:-- + +"I should have thought it a good plan, then, to have put it upon the hut +of this Maw-Sayah whom we are about to interview. See that your weapons +are in good order, Harold, we may soon need them." Giving a cautious +look at my belt and the weapons thrust into it, I followed Denviers, who +had mounted the short bamboo ladder, and was endeavouring to obtain +admission to the hut. We heard a harsh sound within, then the cry of +someone apparently terror-stricken, and a moment afterwards we had +pushed past the Maw-Sayah, who by no means was willing to allow us to +enter the rude dwelling. + +The single room, which seemed to constitute the hut, was extremely low +and bare of furniture entirely. A few bamboos were spread in one part of +it, while at the far end was a fire, the light from which was partly +obscured by the smoke, which almost suffocated us, so thickly did it +roll up and then spread through the hut. Near the door stood a man +scarcely clothed, upon whose face we saw a look of the most abject +terror, for, as we surmised, the noise of our entry was mistaken by him +for the approach of the fell thing to which he was condemned by the +Maw-Sayah. We moved towards the latter as he threw himself down by the +fire, which he had only left to see who it was that came unbidden to the +hut where to enter was the preceding event to death. He was clothed in a +long blue strip of linen, which wound round his waist and covered his +body, partly leaving his dark chest uncovered. His features were stamped +with an appearance of supreme cunning, his oblique eyes reminding us of +a Chinaman, while the fierce look in them as they glared at us from +either side of an aquiline nose, which betrayed his Burmese descent, did +not increase our confidence in the man as he stretched out his bony +hands over the fire as if for warmth, although outside the hut we had +found the heat almost insupportable. + +"What do ye seek?" he demanded, as he looked into our faces in turn and +seemed astonished at our strange features. + +"We are travellers who wished to see a Kachyen village," responded +Denviers, "and we further desired to see some of its inhabitants; but +as none were visible we entered this hut, even against your will. Where +are the people who dwell here?" The man whom my companion addressed +pointed to the Kachyen near the doorway, as he responded:-- + +"There is one of them, and in a short time even he will never be seen +again." + +[Illustration: "WHAT DO YE SEEK?"] + +"Can you give us food?" hazarded Hassan, in order to get the man to +continue his conversation, for the Arab evidently was expecting that the +Nat would soon arrive upon the scene. The Maw-Sayah rose and pointed to +the entrance as he cried:-- + +"That way ye came, that way shall ye depart. Food for ye I have not, nor +would I give it if I had." I turned to Denviers and said in a low +tone:-- + +"What shall we do, Frank? I don't think our opportunity of seeing what +may transpire will be as good within the hut as without it. Whatever the +solution is to this affair, if we are outside we shall see this Kachyen +dragged away, and may further watch the approach of whatever caused +those strange marks which we observed." + +"One thing is clear," said my companion, "we will attempt to save this +intended victim, at all events. I expect that if we tried we could get +him away easily enough, but that plan would not be of much service. We +must attack this being, whatever it is, with which this Maw-Sayah is +leagued. How I should like to hand him over as a victim instead of that +trembling captive by the door. It shows to what extent this juggler has +acquired power over this tribe, for I notice that his captive is +unbound, and is certainly a much finer built man than the other." + +"It wants less than an hour to dusk, sahibs," said Hassan, who had +listened carefully to our remarks; "if we were to station ourselves a +little away from the hut we could see what took place, and if the Nat +were mortal we might attack it." + +Denviers shrugged his shoulders at the Arab's supposition as he +responded:-- + +"There is little doubt, Hassan, that the Nat would smart if that keen +blade of yours went a little too near it, but I think your plan is a +good one, and we will adopt it, as it falls in with what has already +been said." We gave a final look at the crafty face of the man who was +still seated by the fire, and then brushing past the captive we made for +the open village again. + +"I feel sorry for this Kachyen," said Denviers. "He will have a dreadful +five minutes of it, I expect; but it is our only way of preventing, if +possible, such an affair from occurring again." On leaving the hut we +stationed ourselves almost opposite to it, and then began to keep watch. +What we should see pass up the avenue we could only surmise, but our +suppositions certainly did not lead us to imagine in the faintest degree +the sight which before long was destined to completely startle us. + + +III. + +The grey dusk was becoming night when among the dark stems of the trees +we saw some black form move over the ground. We could scarcely +distinguish it as it crawled over the bamboo logs and made a rasping +noise as it clung to the ladder. The door of the hut yielded to it, and +a minute after it again emerged and bore with it the terrified Kachyen. +We crept after it as it dragged its captive down the avenue, striving +our utmost to make out its shape. One thing we could tell, which was +that the creature was not upright; but our movement behind it was +apparently known, for it struggled to move quicker over the ground with +its human burden. + +[Illustration: "IT AGAIN EMERGED."] + +"Shall I shoot it?" I whispered to Denviers, as my nerves seemed to be +almost unstrung at the unknowableness of the creeping thing. + +"You would more likely kill the man," he responded. "Follow as +noiselessly as you can--it will not let its prey escape, be sure of +that. Once we track it to its haunt we will soon dispatch it, big and +fierce as it seems." + +We drew nearer and nearer to it, until it had passed half-way down the +avenue, then it seemed to become lost to our view, although we were, as +we knew, close to it. I felt Denviers' hand upon my shoulder, and then +he whispered:-- + +"The Kachyen is being dragged up a tree just in front--look!" I could +just distinguish something moving up the trunk, when suddenly the +captive, who had hitherto been apparently paralyzed with terror, uttered +a cry and then must have succeeded in disengaging himself from the +dreadful thing that had held him, for the noise of someone falling to +the ground was heard, and a minute after we distinguished the form of a +man rushing headlong back to the village for safety. + +We did not anticipate such an event, and were contemplating a search for +the captor of the Kachyen, when a cold sweat broke out upon me, for the +clammy claws of the man-hunter had touched me! The sensation which +seized me was only of short duration, for I felt myself released just as +Denviers said:-- + +"Harold, the Kachyen has fled, and his captor, determined to secure its +prey, has betaken its crawling body after him. If only we had a light! I +saw something like a black shadow moving onwards; get your pistol ready +and follow." I just distinguished Denviers as he passed on in front of +me, Hassan coming last. When we reached the hut of the Maw-Sayah we +stopped at once, for, from the cry which came from it, we rightly +surmised that the terrible seeker for human prey had made for this +place, thinking, in its dull intelligence, that its captive had +returned. We thrust ourselves into the hut, and saw by the red firelight +a sanguinary contest between the Maw-Sayah and the black object which we +had endeavoured to track. Thinking that the Kachyen was being destroyed, +the juggler had not fastened his door, and the enraged man-eater had +seized him as he rested on the ground, quite at its mercy! + +The Maw-Sayah was struggling with his bony hands to extricate himself +from the clutches of a monstrous tree-spider! We had seen, on an island +in the South Seas, several cocoa-nut crabs, and this reptile somewhat +resembled them, but was even larger. Grasping the juggler with several +of its long, furry-looking claws, it fixed its glaring red eyes in mad +anger upon him as he grasped in each hand one of its front pair of +legs, which were armed with strong, heavy-looking pincers. He besought +us wildly to shoot, even if we killed him, held as he was by his +relentless foe. + +"Harold," cried my companion, "keep clear, and look out for yourself +when I fire at this reptile; most likely it will make for one of us." He +drew right close to it, and thrusting the barrel of his pistol between +its eyes touched the trigger. The explosion shook the hut, its effect +upon the spider being to cause it to rush frantically about the floor, +dragging the Maw-Sayah as if he were some slight burden scarcely +observable. + +[Illustration: "A RELENTLESS FOE."] + +"You missed it!" I cried. "Look out, Hassan, guard the doorway!" The +Arab stood, sword in hand, waiting for it to make for the entrance, +while Denviers exclaimed:-- + +"I shot it through the head!" and a minute afterwards the trueness of +his aim was manifest, for the claws released, and the Maw-Sayah, wounded +badly, but saved, stood free from the muscular twitchings of the dead +spider. + +"You scoundrel!" said Denviers to him, "I have a good mind to serve you +the same. You deserve to die as so many of these simple-minded, +credulous Kachyens have done." I thought for one brief second that my +companion was about to kill the juggler, for through all our adventures +I had never seen him so thoroughly roused. I stood between them; then, +when Denviers quickly recovered his self-command, I turned to the +Maw-Sayah and asked:-- + +"If we spare your life, will you promise to leave this village and never +to return?" He turned his evil-looking but scared face towards us +eagerly as he replied:-- + +"I will do whatever you wish." Denviers motioned to him to rest upon the +ground, which he did, then turning to me, said:-- + +"It is pretty apparent what this juggler has done. The man who first +reported the discovery of this Nat, as the foolish Kachyens call it, +simply disturbed a monstrous spider which had lived in the trees which +he felled--that accounts for his seeing it. Finding animal food scarce, +the reptile ventured into this village and tried to get into one of the +huts. Its exertions were rewarded by the Kachyen coming to the door, +whom it accordingly seized. To continue its plan, which proved so +successful, needed very little reasoning power on the part of such a +cunning creature. No doubt this Maw-Sayah purposely left the door of his +hut unfastened each seventh night, and the spider thus became accustomed +to seek for its victim there, I daresay it came the other nights, but +the juggler was then careful enough to keep his hut well fastened." + +"What do the sahibs propose to do?" interrupted Hassan. Denviers turned +to him, as he responded:-- + +"We will wait for daybreak; then, having dragged the dead spider out +where the Kachyens may see that it is no longer able to harm them, we +will take this Maw-Sayah down the mountain path away from the village as +poor as he came." + +[Illustration: "YOU SCOUNDREL!"] + +"A good plan," I assented, and we followed it out, eventually leaving +the juggler, and climbing once more into the howdah upon the elephant, +which we found close to the spot where we had left it, secured from +wandering far away by the rope which Hassan had used to hinder its +movements. + +We entered Bhamo, and while we took a much-needed rest, our guide--as we +afterwards learnt--searched for and found the fugitive Kachyen, who, on +hearing that his safety was secured, hastily departed to the village to +rejoice with the rest of his tribe that the so-called Nat would not do +them any more injury. + + + + +_From Behind the Speaker's Chair._ + +III. + +(VIEWED BY HENRY W. LUCY.) + +[Illustration: "OBSTRUCTION."] + +It is thirteen years since a new Parliament last blithely started on its +way with Mr. Gladstone sitting in the seat of the Premier. Since March, +1880, a great deal has happened, not least in the change of +circumstances under which the business of the House of Commons is +conducted. The majority of the House of Commons may be Liberal or +Conservative, according to a passing flood of conviction on the part of +the constituencies. When presumptuous hands are stretched forth to touch +the Ark of its procedure, its instincts are all Tory. For more than two +hundred years preceding the advent of a Tory Ministry in 1886, this was +so. Mr. Gladstone, driven to desperation in the second Session of the +Parliament of 1880-5, endeavoured to reform procedure so that +obstruction might be fought on even terms. He was met by such resolute +and persistent opposition from the Conservative side that, even with an +overwhelming majority at his back, he succeeded only in tinkering the +pot. Oddly enough, it was left for the Conservatives when they came into +office to revolutionize the system upon which, through the ages, +Parliamentary business had been carried on. + +There was nothing in the reforms more startling to the old +Parliamentarian than the proposal automatically to close debate at +midnight. A dozen years ago members of the House of Commons assembled at +four o'clock for prayers. Questions began at half-past four, and no one +could say at what hour of the night or of the next morning the cry "Who +goes home?" might echo through the lobby. In those days Mr. O'Donnell +was master of the situation, and he had many imitators. A debate carried +on through several nights might seem to be approaching a conclusion. The +Leader of the Opposition, rising between eleven o'clock and midnight, +spoke in a crowded House. The Premier, or his lieutenant, followed, +assuming to wind up the debate. Members wearied of the long sitting were +prepared to go forth to the division lobby; when from below the gangway +on the left there uprose a familiar figure, and there was heard a +well-known voice. + +[Illustration: F. H. O'DONNELL.] + +These usually belonged to Mr. O'Donnell bent upon vindicating the right +of a private member to interpose when the constituted authorities of the +House had agreed in the opinion that a debate had been continued long +enough. A roar of execration from the fagged legislators greeted the +intruder. He expected this, and was in no degree perturbed. In earliest +practice he had a way of dropping his eye-glass as if startled by the +uproar, and searched for it with puzzled, preoccupied expression, +apparently debating with himself what this outburst might portend. He +did not love the British House of Commons, and delighted in thwarting +its purposes. But he knew what was due to it in the way of respect, and, +however angry passions might rise, however turbulent the scene, he would +never address it looking upon it with the naked eye. As his eye-glass +was constantly tumbling out, and as search for it was preternaturally +deliberate, it played an appreciable part in the prolongation of +successive Sessions. + +[Illustration: "EYE-GLASS PLAY."] + +What has become of Frank Hugh now, I wonder? Vanishing from the House of +Commons, he reappeared for a while on the scene, characteristically +acting the part of the petrel that heralded the storm Mr. Pigott +ineffectively tried to ride. It must be a consolation to Mr. O'Donnell, +in his retirement, wherever it is passed, to reflect on the fact that it +was he who directly brought about the appointment of the Parnell +Commission, with all it effected. His action for libel brought against +the _Times_ preluded and inevitably led up to the formal investigation +of the famous Charges and Allegations. + +The member for Dungarvan was, in his day, the most thoroughly disliked +man in the House of Commons, distaste for Mr. Parnell and for Mr. Biggar +in his early prime being softened by contrast with his subtler +provocation. An exceedingly clever debater, he was a phrase maker, some +of whose epigrams Mr. Disraeli would not have disowned. He was a +parliamentary type of ancient standing, and apparently ineradicable +growth. In the present House of Commons fresh developments are presented +by Mr. Seymour Keay and Mr. Morton. These are distinct varieties, but +from the unmistakable root. Both are gifted with boundless volubility, +unhampered by ordinary considerations of coherency and cogency. Neither +is influenced by that sense of the dread majesty of the House of Commons +which keeps some members dumb all through their parliamentary life, and +to the last, as in the case of Mr. Bright, weighs upon even great +orators. The difference between the older and the new development is +that whilst over Mr. O'Donnell's intentional and deliberate vacuity of +speech there gleamed frequent flashes of wit, Mr. Morton and Mr. Keay +are only occasionally funny, and then the effect was undesigned. + +[Illustration: O'DONNELL'S LAST APPEARANCE.] + +[Illustration: MR. SEYMOUR KEAY.] + +Since we have these two gentlemen still with us, it would be rash to say +that if Mr. O'Donnell could revisit the glimpses of Big Ben he would +find his occupation gone. He would certainly discover that his +opportunities had been limited, and would have to recommence practice +under greatly altered conditions. One of the former member for +Dungarvan's famous achievements took place in the infancy of the +Parliament of 1880-5, and, apart from its dramatic interest, is valuable +as illustrating the change effected in parliamentary procedure by the +New Rules. On that particular June night the paper was loaded with +questions in a fashion unfamiliar in the last Parliament, though there +are not lacking signs of renewed activity since political parties +changed places. Question No. 23 stood in the name of Mr. O'Donnell, and +contained in his best literary style a serious indictment of M. +Challemel-Lacour, just nominated by the French Government as their +representative at the Court of St. James. + +[Illustration: MR. A. C. MORTON.] + +Sir Charles Dilke, then Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, made +categorical reply, directly traversing all the points in the indictment. +When he resumed his seat Mr. O'Donnell rose in his usual deliberate +manner, captured his eye-glass, and having fixed it to his satisfaction, +remarked in his drawling voice that it was "perfectly impossible to +accept the explanation of the Government." Being interrupted with cries +of "Order! Order!" he quietly played his trump card: "If I am not +allowed to explain," he said, "I will conclude with a motion." + +[Illustration: SIR CHARLES DILKE.] + +The House howled again, but it was a cry of despair. Mr. O'Donnell, they +knew, had the whip hand. In those good old days he, or any other member +desiring to obstruct ordinary procedure, might, in the middle of +questions, start a debate on any subject under the sun. This and other +outrages were doubtless recalled by the House of Commons when revising +its Rules. It then ordered that no member might, during the progress of +questions, interpose with a motion on which to found debate. If, in this +current month of March, Mr. O'Donnell, being a member of the House of +Commons, had wanted to attack M. Challemel-Lacour, he must needs have +waited till the last question on the paper was disposed of, and could +then have moved the adjournment only if his description of the +question--as one of urgent public importance--was approved by the +Speaker, and if, thereafter, forty members rose to support the request +for a hearing. + +In June, 1880, all that was left for the crowded House to do was to roar +with resentment. Mr. O'Donnell was used to this incentive, and had it +been withheld would probably have shown signs of failing vigour. As it +was, he produced a pocket-handkerchief, took down his eye-glass and +carefully polished it, whilst members yelled and tossed about on their +seats with impotent fury. Under the existing Rules this scene, if it had +ever opened, would have been promptly blotted out. The closure would +have been moved, probably a division taken, and the business of the +evening would have gone forward. There was no closure in those days, and +Mr. Gladstone, after hurried consultation with Sir Erskine May, hastily +moved that Mr. O'Donnell be not heard. + +A shout of savage exultation rising from every bench, save those on +which the Irish members sat, hailed a stroke that promised to deliver +the House from the thraldom of Mr. O'Donnell at the very moment when its +chains had taken a final twist. In ordinary circumstances this +resolution would have played the part of the as yet unconsecrated +closure. A division would have followed, the motion carried by an +overwhelming majority, and Mr. O'Donnell would have been temporarily +shut up. + +But those were not ordinary times. The Fourth Party was in the prime of +its vigour. Lord Randolph Churchill's quick eye discovered an opening +for irritating Mr. Gladstone and damaging the Government by making what +should have been a business night one long turmoil. Mr. Parnell, whilst +disclaiming any personal sympathy with Mr. O'Donnell, moved the +adjournment of the debate, and poor, placid Sir Stafford Northcote, +egged on by the young bloods below the gangway, raised various points of +order. Finally, at eight o'clock, the House dividing on Mr. Parnell's +amendment, Sir Stafford Northcote voted with the Irish members, leading +a hundred men of the Party of Law and Order into the same lobby. + +[Illustration: STIRRING UP SIR STAFFORD.] + +Hour after hour the riot continued. At one time blameless Sir William +Harcourt, then Home Secretary, appearing at the table, a Conservative +member, amid tumultuous shouts, moved that he be not heard. When members +grew tired of shouting at each other they divided on fresh motions for +the adjournment, and it was not till one o'clock on the following +morning that Mr. O'Donnell, grateful for a pleasant evening, was good +enough to undertake that before he recurred to the question he would +give due notice, so that the Speaker might exercise his discretion in +revising its terms. At five minutes past one in the morning, after a +wrangle full eight hours long, the Speaker, with a pretty assumption of +nothing particular having happened, called on the next question on the +paper, which was Number 24. + +All this might happen again on any night of this month save for the +beneficent action of the New Rules a long-suffering Parliament was +finally induced to adopt. On the threshold of a new Parliament it is +useful to recall the scene as an assistance in calculating what may be +accomplished by the Parliament elected in 1892, as compared with that +which began its history in 1880. On the face of it, Parliament to-day +has much less time at its disposal for the accomplishment of work than +it had a dozen years ago. Then, the duration of a sitting was +indefinite. The House might, as it did in February, 1881, meet at four +o'clock on a Monday afternoon and sit continuously till Wednesday +morning. Now, the Speaker takes the Chair at three o'clock; public +business commences at half-past three; and at midnight, save in cases +where the Standing Order has been formally suspended, the Speaker leaves +the Chair, and the House adjourns, whoever may be on his feet. + +[Illustration: "DISGUST."] + +The influence of this automatic procedure is beneficially felt +throughout the whole of debate. One wholesome influence works in the +direction of using up the early hours of the sitting, an arrangement +which carries comfort to countless printing offices and editorial +sanctums. Some time before the New Rules came into operation, Mr. +Gladstone discovered for himself the convenience and desirability of +taking part in debate at the earliest possible hour of a sitting. His +earlier associations drifted round a directly opposite course. In the +good old days the champions of debate did not interpose till close upon +midnight, when they had the advantage of audiences sustained and +exhilarated by dinner. That was before the era of special wires to the +provincial papers, early morning trams, and vastly increased circulation +for the London journals. Mr. Gladstone discovered that he was more +carefully reported and his observations more deliberately discussed if +he spoke between five and seven o'clock in the evening than if, +following his earlier habit, he addressed the House between eleven and +one in the morning. He has, accordingly, for some years been accustomed, +when he has an important speech to deliver, to interpose in debate +immediately after questions. + +This habit has become general, even compulsory, with members who may, +within certain limits, choose their own time for speaking. All the cream +of debate is now skimmed before the dinner-hour. At the close of a +pitched battle, the two Leaders of Party, as heretofore, wind up the +debate. But their opportunity for orating is severely circumscribed. The +audience in the House of Commons does not begin to reassemble after +dinner till half-past ten. Rising at that hour, the Leader of the +Opposition, if he fairly divides the available time with the right +honourable gentleman opposite, must not speak more than three-quarters +of an hour, and should not exceed forty minutes. + +This is a necessity desirable not less in the orator's interest than in +that of the audience. Except for the exposition of an intricate measure, +twenty minutes is ample time for any man to say what is useful for his +fellow-men to hear. All Mr. Disraeli's best speeches were made within +half an hour, and if he thought it necessary, from a sense of the +importance of his position, to prolong them, his stock of good things +was exhausted in twenty minutes, the rest being what Carlyle +disrespectfully described as thrice-boiled cole-wort. Mr. Gladstone can +go on indefinitely, and in very recent times has been known to hold his +audience spell-bound for three hours. But even he has profited by the +beneficent tyranny that now rules the limit of debate, and, rising with +the knowledge that he has but forty minutes to speak in, has excelled +himself. For less exuberant speakers not gifted with his genius, the new +discipline is even more marked in its benefits. + +[Illustration: MR. KEIR HARDIE.] + + * * * * * + +It is too soon to endeavour to estimate the general characteristics of +the _personnel_ of the new Parliament. It will probably turn out to be +very much of the same class as the innumerable army of its predecessors. +When Mr. Keir Hardie came down on the opening day in a wagonette, with +flags flying and accordions playing, it was cried aloud in some quarters +that the end was at hand. This apprehension was strengthened when Mr. +Hardie strolled about the House with a tweed travelling cap on his head, +the Speaker at the time being in the chair. This, as Dr. Johnson +explained, when the lady asked him why he had described the horse's +pastern as its knee, was "ignorance, pure ignorance." Mr. Hardie is not +a man of the quietest manners, as was testified to by the apparition in +Palace Yard of the wagonette and its musical party; but in the +much-talked-of incident of the cap he sinned inadvertently. Before the +Speaker took the chair he had seen members walking about with their hats +on. He had observed that even in his presence they remained seated with +their heads covered. The shade of etiquette which approves this fashion +whilst it sternly prohibits a member from keeping his hat on when in +motion, even to the extent of leaning over to speak to a friend on the +bench below him, was too fine to catch the eye of a new member. + +Mr. Keir Hardie has done much worse things than this in his public +appearances during the recess, and since the Session opened there has +not been lacking evidence of resolve to keep himself in the front of the +stage where the gallery may see him. But this is no new thing, to be +cited in proof of the deterioration of the composition and style of the +House of Commons. It has been done repeatedly in various fashions within +recent memory, and always with the same result. No man, not even Mr. +Biggar--and he may be cited as the most ruthless experimenter--has +successfully struggled against the subtle disciplinary influence of the +House of Commons. + +From the first the member for Cavan set himself in deliberate fashion to +outrage Parliamentary traditions and usages. He finished by becoming a +punctilious practitioner of Parliamentary forms, a stickler for the +minutest observation of order. Whilst Mr. Gladstone and other members of +old standing were content to preface their speeches with the +monosyllable "Sir," nothing less than "Mr. Speaker, sir," would satisfy +Mr. Biggar. No one who has not heard the inflection of tone with which +this was uttered, nor seen the oratorical sweep of the hand that +launched it on its course, can realize how much of combined deference +and authority the phrase is capable of. Mr. Biggar, having in his early +Parliamentary days defied the Chair and affronted the sensibilities of +the House, alike in the matter of dress and deportment, developed into a +portly gentleman of almost smug appearance, a terror to new members. Woe +to any who in his ignorance passed between the Chair and the member +addressing it; who walked in from a division with his hat on; or who +stood an inch or two within the Bar whilst debate was going forward. Mr. +Biggar's strident cry of "Order! Order!" reverberated through the House. +Others joined in the shout, and the abashed offender hastily withdrew +into obscurity. + +[Illustration: THE LATE MR. BIGGAR.] + +It is the same with others of less strongly marked character. Vanity or +garrulity may force a new member into a position of notoriety. He may, +according to his measure of determination, try a fall again and again +with the House, and may sometimes, as in the case of Mr. O'Donnell, seem +to win. But in the end the House of Commons proves victorious. It is a +sort of whetstone on which blades of various temperature operate. In +time, they either forego the practice or wear themselves away. In either +case the whetstone remains. + +This is a rule without exception, and is a reassuring reflection in view +of the talk about the degeneracy of the House of Commons, and the +decadence of its standard of manner. It would not be difficult to show +that the House at present in Session will, from the point of view of +manners, favourably compare with any that have gone before--though, to +be just, the comparison should be sought with Parliaments elected under +similar conditions, with the Liberals in office and the Conservatives in +opposition. That is an arrangement always found to be more conducive to +lively proceedings than when parties are disposed in the contrary order. +The Parliament dissolved last year was decorously dull. Mr. Gladstone in +opposition is not prone to show sport, and no encouragement was held out +to enterprising groups below the gangway to bait the Government. It was +very different in the Parliament of 1880-5, of which fact the +Challemel-Lacour episode is an illustration, only a little more piquant +in flavour than the average supply. + +There are already signs that the new Parliament will not lie under the +charge of deplorable dulness brought against its predecessor. But these +varying moods are due to waves of political passion, and do not affect +the question whether the House of Commons as a body of English gentlemen +met for the discharge of public business has or has not deteriorated. I +have an engraving of a picture of the House of Commons in pre-Reform +days. It was carefully drawn in the Session of 1842. A more respectable +body of the gentlemen of England it would be difficult to gather +together. With the possible exception of one or two political +adventurers like the then member for Shrewsbury, there is probably not a +man in the House who is not well born or at least rich. Mr. Keir Hardie +would look strange indeed in these serried ranks of portly gentlemen +with high coat collars, cravats up to their chin, short-bodied coats +showing the waistcoat beneath, and the tightly trousered legs. Yet this +House, and its equally prim successors, had its obstruction, its +personal wrangles, and its occasional duel. Peel was attacked by +Disraeli in a fashion and in language that would not be tolerated in the +House of Commons now, even though the target were Mr. Gladstone. + +It is not necessary to go back as far as the days of Peel or +Parliamentary Reform to sustain the bold assertion that, so far from +having degenerated, the manners of the House of Commons have improved. +In the Parliament elected in 1874 there sat on the Conservative side a +gentleman named Smollet, who early distinguished himself by bringing +Parliamentary debate down to the level of conversation in "Roderick +Random." In those days Mr. Gladstone was down after the General +Election, and Mr. Smollet, to the uproarious delight of gentlemen near +him, savagely kicked him. + +[Illustration: "MOBBING HIM."] + +It was in the second year of this same Parliament, less than twenty +years ago, that Mr. Gladstone, issuing from a division lobby, was +suddenly pounced upon by some fifty or sixty Conservative members, and +howled at for the space of several moments. It is, happily, possible for +Mr. Gladstone to forget, or at least to forgive, personal attacks made +upon him through his long career. In this very month of the new Session +he may be nightly seen working in cordial fashion with ancient +adversaries from Ireland, describing as "my honourable friends" +gentlemen who, ten years ago and for some time subsequently, heaped on +his head the coarsest vituperation permitted by practised manipulation +of Parliamentary forms. But this scene in the division lobby on the 12th +of April, 1875, is burned into his recollection. I have heard him, +within the last few months, refer to it in those tones of profound +indignation and with that flashing fire in his eyes only seen when he is +deeply moved. He mentioned, what I think was not known, that Lord +Hartington happened to be walking with him at the time. But there was no +mistake for whom the angry cries were meant. Mr. Gladstone spoke with +the profounder indignation because, as he said, he had on this occasion +gone out to vote on behalf of a man whose character he detested, because +he saw in the action taken against him an attack upon one of the +privileges of Parliament. + +That scene was an outburst of political animosity; and the movements of +political animosity, like the dicta of taste, are not to be disputed. +But on the question of good manners, the only one here under +consideration, it may be affirmed that the present House of Commons +would be safe from lapse into such an exhibition. To this better state +of things the operation of the New Rules has conspicuously contributed, +and though, as we know, they have not operated to the absolute +extinction of Parliamentary scenes, they have appreciably limited +opportunity and incentive. + + + + +_Portraits of Celebrities at Different Times of their Lives_. + + +LORD BATTERSEA. + +[Illustration: AGE 14. + +_From a Daguerreotype._] + +BORN 1843. + + +Lord Battersea, who was until recently known to the world as Mr. Cyril +Flower, M.P., is a son of the late Mr. P. W. Flower, of Streatham, and +was educated at Harrow and at Trinity College, Cambridge. + +[Illustration: AGE 21. + +_From a Photo, by Mayland, Cambridge._] + +He was called to the Bar at the age of twenty-seven, and became Liberal +Member for Brecknock in 1880, and for the Luton Division of Bedfordshire +in 1885 and 1886, in which later year he was one of Mr. Gladstone's +"Whips." He married the daughter of the late Sir Anthony Rothschild, and +both he and his wife are much interested in the welfare of the lower +classes of London. Lord Battersea was unanimously reputed the handsomest +man in the House of Commons, and is now, in every sense of the word, an +ornament of the House of Lords. + +[Illustration: AGE 40. + +_From a Drawing._] + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photograph by Bassano, 35, Old Bond Street, W._.] + + +W. Q. ORCHARDSON, R.A. + +BORN 1835. + +[Illustration: AGE 16. + +_From an Oil Sketch by himself._] + +[Illustration: AGE 35. + +_From a Photograph by Walery, Marseilles._] + +[Illustration: AGE 44. + +_From a Photograph._] + +Mr. William Quiller Orchardson was born in Edinburgh, and at the age of +fifteen entered the Trustees' Academy of that city, his first pictures +being exhibited in the Royal Scottish Academy. At the age of +twenty-eight he came to London, and the same year exhibited at the Royal +Academy for the first time, his contributions being entitled, "An Old +English Song" and "Portraits," the latter a life-size composition of +three young ladies. In 1865 he painted "The Challenge," which won a +prize of L100 given by Mr. Wallace, and one of the very few Medals +awarded to English painters at the Paris Universal Exhibition. In 1866 +came "The Story of a Life"--an aged nun relating her experiences to a +group of novices. Two years later, when he had only been four years in +London, he was elected an A.R.A. Among his more recent pictures may be +mentioned "Napoleon on Board the _Bellerophon_" (1880), "The Salon of +Madame Recamier" (1885), "The Young Duke" (1889), and "St. Helena" +(1892). Mr. Orchardson was elected an R.A. in 1877, and a D.C.L. of +Oxford in 1890. + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photo. by Elliott & Fry._] + + +LADY HALLE. + +[Illustration: AGE 10. + +_From a Drawing._] + +[Illustration: AGE 23. + +_From a Photograph._] + +Lady Halle, whose maiden name was Wilhelmine Neruda, was born at Bruenn, +where her father was organist of the cathedral. She was a pupil of +Jansa, and made her first appearance at Vienna at the age of six, and in +London at the age of nine. After this she returned to the Continent, and +in 1864 she married Ludwig Norman, a Swedish musician. Since 1869 she +has been in England every winter, playing especially at the concerts of +Sir Charles Halle, whom she married in 1888. + +[Illustration: AGE 35. + +_From a Photograph._] + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photo by Burraud_.] + + +SIR CHARLES HALLE. + +[Illustration: AGE 20. + +_From a Painting._] + +Sir Charles Halle is a native of Germany, but at an early age he +established himself in Paris, where he acquired a great reputation by +his refined and classical rendering of the compositions of the great +musicians; but the Revolution of 1843 drove him to England, where he has +ever since resided. He soon established himself at Manchester, and as +the founder of the annual series of orchestral and choral concerts there +and in London, which have become, perhaps, the most important series in +Europe, he has rendered the most valuable service to musical art. + +[Illustration: AGE 31. + +_From a Painting._] + +[Illustration: AGE 45. + +_From a Photo, by H. Hering, Regent Street, W._] + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photo. by Mayall & Co., 164, New Bond Street, W._] + + +DR. HERMANN ADLER, + +CHIEF RABBI. + +[Illustration: AGE 24. + +_From a Photograph by McLean & Haes, Haymarket._] + +Born 1839. + +Dr. Adler, son of Dr. Nathan Marcus Adler, was born in Hanover, and came +to London with his father at the age of six. He studied at University +College, took his B. A. degree at the University of London at twenty, +and that of Ph. D., at Leipzig, at twenty-two. In the following year he +was ordained Rabbi by the famous Rapoport, Chief Rabbi of Prague, and +became in succession Principal of the Jews' College in London and Chief +Minister of the Bayswater Synagogue. In 1890 his father, the Chief +Rabbi, died, and Dr. Adler was elected in his place. Dr. Adler is well +known not only by his powerful and scholarly writings, but by his work +among the poorer Jews of London. + +[Illustration: AGE 37. + +_From a Photograph by J. R. Sawyer, Norwich._] + +[Illustration: AGE 44. + +_From a Photograph by Fradella, 216, Regent Street, W._] + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photograph by The Photographic Co._] + + +SIR ARCHIBALD ALISON, BART., K.C.B. + +Born 1826. + +General Alison, son of Sir Archibald Alison, the first Baronet, who was +the well-known author of "The History of Europe," was born at Edinburgh, +and entered the Army at the age of twenty. He served in the Crimea, at +the siege and fall of Sebastopol, at which date our second portrait +represents him. During the Indian Mutiny he lost an arm at the relief of +Lucknow. In 1882 he commanded the 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, during the +expedition to Egypt, and at the decisive battle of Tel-el-Kebir he led +the Highland Brigade which fought so gallantly on that memorable +occasion, and after Arabi's surrender he was left in Egypt with the +command of the British army of 12,000 men to restore order and protect +the Khedive. Sir Archibald was included in the thanks of Parliament for +his energy and gallantry, and was promoted to the rank of +Lieutenant-General; he received his appointment as General in 1889. In +1869 Sir Archibald Alison published an able treatise, "On Army +Organization." + +[Illustration: AGE 3. + +_From a Miniature._] + +[Illustration: AGE 31. + +_From a Daguerreotype by Werge, Glasgow._] + +[Illustration: AGE 47. + +_From a Photograph by Jacklett, Aldershot._] + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photo, by Barraud._] + + +MADAME JANE HADING. + +[Illustration: AGE 3. + +_From a Photo. by Chalot et Cie., Paris._] + +[Illustration: AGE 5. + +_From a Photo. by Chalot et Cie., Paris._] + +Madame Jane Hading, the well-known French actress, was born at +Marseilles, in 1863, where her father was popular as a leading actor, +with whom she appeared when only three years of age as little _Blanche +de Caylus_ in "Le Bossu." At the age of thirteen she began work in +earnest, having won "le prix de solfege" at the Marseille Conservatoire, +and her talent having come to the ears of Mr. Plunkett, the director of +the Palais Royal, he engaged her for the Palais Royal in Paris, where +she created the part of _La Chaste Suzanne_, by Paul Ferrier. Giving up +comic opera for comedy, Jane Hading went to the Gymnase, where she +created the part of _Claire de Beaulieu_ in "Le Maitre de Forges." +London had the opportunity of seeing her in that and "Prince Zilah," by +Jules Claretie, later on, and fully indorsed the Parisian verdict. These +conspicuous successes were followed by others almost as notable, and her +subsequent tour in America won her golden opinions, and was so +successful that it was extended some months. Her latest Parisian success +was "Le Prince d'Aurec," which added greatly to her laurels, putting her +in the very front rank of great artists. + +[Illustration: AGE 15. + +_From a Photo. by Fabre, Marseilles._] + +[Illustration: PRESENT DAY. + +_From a Photo, by Reutlinger, Paris._] + + + + +_The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes_. + +XVI.--THE ADVENTURE OF THE STOCKBROKER'S CLERK. + +BY A. CONAN DOYLE. + + +Shortly after my marriage I had bought a connection in the Paddington +district. Old Mr. Farquhar, from whom I purchased it, had at one time an +excellent general practice, but his age, and an affliction of the nature +of St. Vitus' dance, from which he suffered, had very much thinned it. +The public, not unnaturally, goes upon the principle that he who would +heal others must himself be whole, and looks askance at the curative +powers of the man whose own case is beyond the reach of his drugs. Thus, +as my predecessor weakened, his practice declined, until when I +purchased it from him it had sunk from twelve hundred to little more +than three hundred a year. I had confidence, however, in my own youth +and energy, and was convinced that in a very few years the concern would +be as flourishing as ever. + +For three months after taking over the practice I was kept very closely +at work, and saw little of my friend Sherlock Holmes, for I was too busy +to visit Baker Street, and he seldom went anywhere himself save upon +professional business. I was surprised, therefore, when one morning in +June, as I sat reading the _British Medical Journal_ after breakfast, I +heard a ring at the bell followed by the high, somewhat strident, tones +of my old companion's voice. + +"Ah, my dear Watson," said he, striding into the room. "I am very +delighted to see you. I trust that Mrs. Watson has entirely recovered +from all the little excitements connected with our adventure of the +'Sign of Four.'" + +"Thank you, we are both very well," said I, shaking him warmly by the +hand. + +"And I hope also," he continued, sitting down in the rocking-chair, +"that the cares of medical practice have not entirely obliterated the +interest which you used to take in our little deductive problems." + +"On the contrary," I answered; "it was only last night that I was +looking over my old notes and classifying some of our past results." + +"I trust that you don't consider your collection closed?" + +"Not at all. I should wish nothing better than to have some more of such +experiences." + +"To-day, for example?" + +"Yes; to-day, if you like." + +"And as far off as Birmingham?" + +"Certainly, if you wish it." + +"And the practice?" + +"I do my neighbour's when he goes. He is always ready to work off the +debt." + +[Illustration: "'NOTHING COULD BE BETTER,' SAID HOLMES."] + +"Ha! Nothing could be better!" said Holmes, leaning back in his chair +and looking keenly at me from under his half-closed lids. "I perceive +that you have been unwell lately. Summer colds are always a little +trying." + +"I was confined to the house by a severe chill for three days last week. +I thought, however, that I had cast off every trace of it." + +"So you have. You look remarkably robust." + +"How, then, did you know of it?" + +"My dear fellow, you know my methods." + +"You deduced it, then?" + +"Certainly." + +"And from what?" + +"From your slippers." + +I glanced down at the new patent leathers which I was wearing. "How on +earth----?" I began, but Holmes answered my question before it was +asked. + +"Your slippers are new," he said. "You could not have had them more than +a few weeks. The soles which you are at this moment presenting to me are +slightly scorched. For a moment I thought they might have got wet and +been burned in the drying. But near the instep there is a small circular +wafer of paper with the shopman's hieroglyphics upon it. Damp would of +course have removed this. You had then been sitting with your feet +outstretched to the fire, which a man would hardly do even in so wet a +June as this if he were in his full health." + +Like all Holmes's reasoning the thing seemed simplicity itself when it +was once explained. He read the thought upon my features, and his smile +had a tinge of bitterness. + +"I am afraid that I rather give myself away when I explain," said he. +"Results without causes are much more impressive. You are ready to come +to Birmingham, then?" + +"Certainly. What is the case?" + +"You shall hear it all in the train. My client is outside in a +four-wheeler. Can you come at once?" + +"In an instant." I scribbled a note to my neighbour, rushed upstairs to +explain the matter to my wife, and joined Holmes upon the doorstep. + +"Your neighbour is a doctor?" said he, nodding at the brass plate. + +"Yes. He bought a practice as I did." + +"An old-established one?" + +"Just the same as mine. Both have been ever since the houses were +built." + +"Ah, then you got hold of the best of the two." + +"I think I did. But how do you know?" + +"By the steps, my boy. Yours are worn three inches deeper than his. But +this gentleman in the cab is my client, Mr. Hall Pycroft. Allow me to +introduce you to him. Whip your horse up, cabby, for we have only just +time to catch our train." + +The man whom I found myself facing was a well-built, fresh-complexioned +young fellow with a frank, honest face and a slight, crisp, yellow +moustache. He wore a very shiny top-hat and a neat suit of sober black, +which made him look what he was--a smart young City man, of the class +who have been labelled Cockneys, but who give us our crack Volunteer +regiments, and who turn out more fine athletes and sportsmen than any +body of men in these islands. His round, ruddy face was naturally full +of cheeriness, but the corners of his mouth seemed to me to be pulled +down in a half-comical distress. It was not, however, until we were all +in a first-class carriage and well started upon our journey to +Birmingham, that I was able to learn what the trouble was which had +driven him to Sherlock Holmes. + +"We have a clear run here of seventy minutes," Holmes remarked. "I want +you, Mr. Hall Pycroft, to tell my friend your very interesting +experience exactly as you have told it to me, or with more detail if +possible. It will be of use to me to hear the succession of events +again. It is a case, Watson, which may prove to have something in it, or +may prove to have nothing, but which at least presents those unusual and +_outre_ features which are as dear to you as they are to me. Now, Mr. +Pycroft, I shall not interrupt you again." + +Our young companion looked at me with a twinkle in his eye. + +"The worst of the story is," said he, "that I show myself up as such a +confounded fool. Of course, it may work out all right, and I don't see +that I could have done otherwise; but if I have lost my crib and get +nothing in exchange, I shall feel what a soft Johnny I have been. I'm +not very good at telling a story, Dr. Watson, but it is like this with +me. + +"I used to have a billet at Coxon and Woodhouse, of Drapers' Gardens, +but they were let in early in the spring through the Venezuelan loan, as +no doubt you remember, and came a nasty cropper. I had been with them +five years, and old Coxon gave me a ripping good testimonial when the +smash came; but, of course, we clerks were all turned adrift, the +twenty-seven of us. I tried here and tried there, but there were lots of +other chaps on the same lay as myself, and it was a perfect frost for a +long time. I had been taking three pounds a week at Coxon's, and I had +saved about seventy of them, but I soon worked my way through that and +out at the other end. I was fairly at the end of my tether at last, and +could hardly find the stamps to answer the advertisements or the +envelopes to stick them to. I had worn out my boots padding up office +stairs, and I seemed just as far from getting a billet as ever. + +"At last I saw a vacancy at Mawson and Williams', the great stockbroking +firm in Lombard Street. I daresay E. C. is not much in your line, but I +can tell you that this is about the richest house in London. The +advertisement was to be answered by letter only. I sent in my +testimonial and application, but without the least hope of getting it. +Back came an answer by return saying that if I would appear next Monday +I might take over my new duties at once, provided that my appearance was +satisfactory. No one knows how these things are worked. Some people say +the manager just plunges his hand into the heap and takes the first that +comes. Anyhow, it was my innings that time, and I don't ever wish to +feel better pleased. The screw was a pound a week rise, and the duties +just about the same as at Coxon's. + +"And now I come to the queer part of the business. I was in diggings out +Hampstead way--17, Potter's Terrace, was the address. Well, I was +sitting doing a smoke that very evening after I had been promised the +appointment, when up came my landlady with a card which had 'Arthur +Pinner, financial agent,' printed upon it. I had never heard the name +before, and could not imagine what he wanted with me, but of course I +asked her to show him up. In he walked--a middle-sized, dark-haired, +dark-eyed, black-bearded man, with a touch of the sheeny about his nose. +He had a brisk kind of way with him and spoke sharply, like a man that +knew the value of time. + +[Illustration: "'MR. HALL PYCROFT, I BELIEVE?' SAID HE."] + +"'Mr. Hall Pycroft, I believe?' said he. + +"'Yes, sir,' I answered, and pushed a chair towards him. + +"'Lately engaged at Coxon and Woodhouse's?' + +"'Yes, sir.' + +"And now on the staff of Mawson's?' + +"'Quite so.' + +"'Well,' said he. 'The fact is that I have heard some really +extraordinary stories about your financial ability. You remember Parker +who used to be Coxon's manager? He can never say enough about it.' + +"Of course I was pleased to hear this. I had always been pretty smart in +the office, but I had never dreamed that I was talked about in the City +in this fashion. + +"'You have a good memory?' said he. + +"'Pretty fair,' I answered, modestly. + +"'Have you kept in touch with the market while you have been out of +work?' he asked. + +"'Yes; I read the Stock Exchange List every morning.' + +"'Now, that shows real application!' he cried. 'That is the way to +prosper! You won't mind my testing you, will you? Let me see! How are +Ayrshires?' + +"'One hundred and six and a quarter to one hundred and five and +seven-eighths,' I answered. + +"'And New Zealand Consolidated?' + +"'A hundred and four.' + +"'And British Broken Hills?' + +"'Seven to seven and six.' + +"'Wonderful!' he cried, with his hands up. 'This quite fits in with all +that I had heard. My boy, my boy, you are very much too good to be a +clerk at Mawson's!' + +"This outburst rather astonished me, as you can think. 'Well,' said I, +'other people don't think quite so much of me as you seem to do, Mr. +Pinner. I had a hard enough fight to get this berth, and I am very glad +to have it.' + +"'Pooh, man, you should soar above it. You are not in your true sphere. +Now I'll tell you how it stands with me. What I have to offer is little +enough when measured by your ability, but when compared with Mawson's it +is light to dark. Let me see! When do you go to Mawson's?' + +"'On Monday.' + +"'Ha! ha! I think I would risk a little sporting flutter that you don't +go there at all.' + +"'Not go to Mawson's?' + +"'No, sir. By that day you will be the business manager of the +Franco-Midland Hardware Company, Limited, with one hundred and +thirty-four branches in the towns and villages of France, not counting +one in Brussels and one in San Remo.' + +"This took my breath away. 'I never heard of it,' said I. + +"'Very likely not. It has been kept very quiet, for the capital was all +privately subscribed, and it is too good a thing to let the public into. +My brother, Harry Pinner, is promoter, and joins the board after +allotment as managing director. He knew that I was in the swim down +here, and he asked me to pick up a good man cheap--a young, pushing man +with plenty of snap about him. Parker spoke of you, and that brought me +here to-night. We can only offer you a beggarly five hundred to start +with----' + +"'Five hundred a year!' I shouted. + +"'Only that at the beginning, but you are to have an over-riding +commission of 1 per cent, on all business done by your agents, and you +may take my word for it that this will come to more than your salary.' + +"'But I know nothing about hardware.' + +"'Tut, my boy, you know about figures.' + +"My head buzzed, and I could hardly sit still in the chair. But suddenly +a little chill of doubt came over me. + +"'I must be frank with you,' said I. 'Mawson only gives me two hundred, +but Mawson is safe. Now, really, I know so little about your company +that----' + +"'Ah, smart, smart!' he cried, in a kind of ecstasy of delight. 'You are +the very man for us! You are not to be talked over, and quite right too. +Now, here's a note for a hundred pounds; and if you think that we can do +business you may just slip it into your pocket as an advance upon your +salary.' + +"'That is very handsome,' said I. 'When should I take over my new +duties?' + +"'Be in Birmingham to-morrow at one,' said he. 'I have a note in my +pocket here which you will take to my brother. You will find him at +126B, Corporation Street, where the temporary offices of the company are +situated. Of course he must confirm your engagement, but between +ourselves it will be all right.' + +"'Really, I hardly know how to express my gratitude, Mr. Pinner,' said +I. + +"'Not at all, my boy. You have only got your deserts. There are one or +two small things--mere formalities--which I must arrange with you. You +have a bit of paper beside you there. Kindly write upon it, "I am +perfectly willing to act as business manager to the Franco-Midland +Hardware Company, Limited, at a minimum salary of L500."' + +"I did as he asked, and he put the paper in his pocket. + +"'There is one other detail,' said he. 'What do you intend to do about +Mawson's?' + +"I had forgotten all about Mawson's in my joy. + +"'I'll write and resign,' said I. + +"'Precisely what I don't want you to do. I had a row over you with +Mawson's manager. I had gone up to ask him about you, and he was very +offensive--accused me of coaxing you away from the service of the firm, +and that sort of thing. At last I fairly lost my temper. "If you want +good men you should pay them a good price," said I. "He would rather +have our small price than your big one," said he. "I'll lay you a +fiver," said I, "that when he has my offer you will never so much as +hear from him again." "Done!" said he. "We picked him out of the gutter, +and he won't leave us so easily." Those were his very words.' + +"'The impudent scoundrel!' I cried. 'I've never so much as seen him in +my life. Why should I consider him in any way? I shall certainly not +write if you would rather that I didn't.' + +"'Good! That's a promise!' said he, rising from his chair. 'Well, I am +delighted to have got so good a man for my brother. Here is your +advance of a hundred pounds, and here is the letter. Make a note of the +address, 126B, Corporation Street, and remember that one o'clock +to-morrow is your appointment. Good-night, and may you have all the +fortune that you deserve.' + +"That's just about all that passed between us as near as I can remember +it. You can imagine, Dr. Watson, how pleased I was at such an +extraordinary bit of good fortune. I sat up half the night hugging +myself over it, and next day I was off to Birmingham in a train that +would take me in plenty of time for my appointment. I took my things to +an hotel in New Street, and then I made my way to the address which had +been given me. + +"It was a quarter of an hour before my time, but I thought that would +make no difference. 126B was a passage between two large shops which led +to a winding stone stair, from which there were many flats, let as +offices to companies or professional men. The names of the occupants +were painted up at the bottom on the wall, but there was no such name as +the Franco-Midland Hardware Company, Limited. I stood for a few minutes +with my heart in my boots, wondering whether the whole thing was an +elaborate hoax or not, when up came a man and addressed me. He was very +like the chap that I had seen the night before, the same figure and +voice, but he was clean shaven and his hair was lighter. + +[Illustration: "UP CAME A MAN AND ADDRESSED ME."] + +"'Are you Mr. Hall Pycroft?' he asked. + +"'Yes,' said I. + +"'Ah! I was expecting you, but you are a trifle before your time. I had +a note from my brother this morning, in which he sang your praises very +loudly.' + +"'I was just looking for the offices when you came.' + +"'We have not got our name up yet, for we only secured these temporary +premises last week. Come up with me and we will talk the matter over.' + +"I followed him to the top of a very lofty stair, and there right under +the slates were a couple of empty and dusty little rooms, uncarpeted and +uncurtained, into which he led me. I had thought of a great office with +shining tables and rows of clerks such as I was used to, and I daresay I +stared rather straight at the two deal chairs and one little table, +which, with a ledger and a waste-paper basket, made up the whole +furniture. + +"'Don't be disheartened, Mr. Pycroft,' said my new acquaintance, seeing +the length of my face. 'Rome was not built in a day, and we have lots of +money at our backs, though we don't cut much dash yet in offices. Pray +sit down and let me have your letter.' + +"I gave it to him, and he read it over very carefully. + +"'You seem to have made a vast impression upon my brother, Arthur,' said +he, 'and I know that he is a pretty shrewd judge. He swears by London, +you know, and I by Birmingham, but this time I shall follow his advice. +Pray consider yourself definitely engaged.' + +"'What are my duties?' I asked. + +"'You will eventually manage the great depot in Paris, which will pour a +flood of English crockery into the shops of one hundred and thirty-four +agents in France. The purchase will be completed in a week, and +meanwhile you will remain in Birmingham and make yourself useful.' + +"'How?' + +"For answer he took a big red book out of a drawer. 'This is a directory +of Paris,' said he, 'with the trades after the names of the people. I +want you to take it home with you, and to mark off all the hardware +sellers with their addresses. It would be of the greatest use to me to +have them.' + +"'Surely, there are classified lists?' I suggested. + +"'Not reliable ones. Their system is different to ours. Stick at it and +let me have the lists by Monday, at twelve. Good-day, Mr. Pycroft; if +you continue to show zeal and intelligence, you will find the company a +good master.' + +"I went back to the hotel with the big book under my arm, and with very +conflicting feelings in my breast. On the one hand I was definitely +engaged, and had a hundred pounds in my pocket. On the other, the look +of the offices, the absence of name on the wall, and other of the points +which would strike a business man had left a bad impression as to the +position of my employers. However, come what might, I had my money, so I +settled down to my task. All Sunday I was kept hard at work, and yet by +Monday I had only got as far as H. I went round to my employer, found +him in the same dismantled kind of room, and was told to keep at it +until Wednesday, and then come again. On Wednesday it was still +unfinished, so I hammered away until Friday--that is, yesterday. Then I +brought it round to Mr. Harry Pinner. + +"'Thank you very much,' said he. 'I fear that I underrated the +difficulty of the task. This list will be of very material assistance to +me.' + +"'It took some time,' said I. + +"'And now,' said he, 'I want you to make a list of the furniture shops, +for they all sell crockery.' + +"'Very good.' + +"'And you can come up to-morrow evening at seven, and let me know how +you are getting on. Don't overwork yourself. A couple of hours at Day's +Music-Hall in the evening would do you no harm after your labours.' He +laughed as he spoke, and I saw with a thrill that his second tooth upon +the left-hand side had been very badly stuffed with gold." + +Sherlock Holmes rubbed his hands with delight, and I stared in +astonishment at our client. + +"You may well look surprised, Dr. Watson, but it is this way," said he. +"When I was speaking to the other chap in London at the time that he +laughed at my not going to Mawson's, I happened to notice that his tooth +was stuffed in this very identical fashion. The glint of the gold in +each case caught my eye, you see. When I put that with the voice and +figure being the same, and only those things altered which might be +changed by a razor or a wig, I could not doubt that it was the same man. +Of course, you expect two brothers to be alike, but not that they should +have the same tooth stuffed in the same way. He bowed me out and I found +myself in the street, hardly knowing whether I was on my head or my +heels. Back I went to my hotel, put my head in a basin of cold water, +and tried to think it out. Why had he sent me from London to Birmingham; +why had he got there before me; and why had he written a letter from +himself to himself? It was altogether too much for me, and I could make +no sense of it. And then suddenly it struck me that what was dark to me +might be very light to Mr. Sherlock Holmes. I had just time to get up to +town by the night train, to see him this morning, and to bring you both +back with me to Birmingham." + +There was a pause after the stockbroker's clerk had concluded his +surprising experience. Then Sherlock Holmes cocked his eye at me, +leaning back on the cushions with a pleased and yet critical face, like +a connoisseur who had just taken his first sip of a comet vintage. + +"Rather fine, Watson, is it not?" said he. "There are points in it which +please me. I think you will agree with me that an interview with Mr. +Arthur Harry Pinner in the temporary offices of the Franco-Midland +Hardware Company, Limited, would be a rather interesting experience for +both of us." + +"But how can we do it?" I asked. + +"Oh, easily enough," said Hall Pycroft, cheerily. "You are two friends +of mine who are in want of a billet, and what could be more natural than +that I should bring you both round to the managing director?" + +"Quite so! Of course!" said Holmes. "I should like to have a look at the +gentleman and see if I can make anything of his little game. What +qualities have you, my friend, which would make your services so +valuable? or is it possible that----" he began biting his nails and +staring blankly out of the window, and we hardly drew another word from +him until we were in New Street. + + * * * * * + +At seven o'clock that evening we were walking, the three of us, down +Corporation Street to the company's offices. + +"It is of no use our being at all before our time," said our client. "He +only comes there to see me apparently, for the place is deserted up to +the very hour he names." + +"That is suggestive," remarked Holmes. + +"By Jove, I told you so!" cried the clerk. "That's he walking ahead of +us there." + +He pointed to a smallish, blonde, well-dressed man, who was bustling +along the other side of the road. As we watched him he looked across at +a boy who was bawling out the latest edition of the evening paper, and, +running over among the cabs and 'buses, he bought one from him. Then +clutching it in his hand he vanished through a doorway. + +"There he goes!" cried Hall Pycroft. "Those are the company's offices +into which he has gone. Come with me and I'll fix it up as easily as +possible." + +Following his lead we ascended five stories, until we found ourselves +outside a half-opened door, at which our client tapped. A voice within +bade us "Come in," and we entered a bare, unfurnished room, such as Hall +Pycroft had described. At the single table sat the man whom we had seen +in the street, with his evening paper spread out in front of him, and as +he looked up at us it seemed to me that I had never looked upon a face +which bore such marks of grief, and of something beyond grief--of a +horror such as comes to few men in a lifetime. His brow glistened with +perspiration, his cheeks were of the dull dead white of a fish's belly, +and his eyes were wild and staring. He looked at his clerk as though he +failed to recognise him, and I could see, by the astonishment depicted +upon our conductor's face, that this was by no means the usual +appearance of his employer. + +[Illustration: "HE LOOKED UP AT US."] + +"You look ill, Mr. Pinner," he exclaimed. + +"Yes, I am not very well," answered the other, making obvious efforts to +pull himself together, and licking his dry lips before he spoke. "Who +are these gentlemen whom you have brought with you?" + +"One is Mr. Harris, of Bermondsey, and the other is Mr. Price, of this +town," said our clerk, glibly. "They are friends of mine, and gentlemen +of experience, but they have been out of a place for some little time, +and they hoped that perhaps you might find an opening for them in the +company's employment." + +"Very possibly! Very possibly!" cried Mr. Pinner, with a ghastly smile. +"Yes, I have no doubt that we shall be able to do something for you. +What is your particular line, Mr. Harris?" + +"I am an accountant," said Holmes. + +"Ah, yes, we shall want something of the sort. And you, Mr. Price?" + +"A clerk," said I. + +"I have every hope that the company may accommodate you. I will let you +know about it as soon as we come to any conclusion. And now I beg that +you will go. For God's sake, leave me to myself!" + +These last words were shot out of him, as though the constraint which he +was evidently setting upon himself had suddenly and utterly burst +asunder. Holmes and I glanced at each other, and Hall Pycroft took a +step towards the table. + +"You forget, Mr. Pinner, that I am here by appointment to receive some +directions from you," said he. + +"Certainly, Mr. Pycroft, certainly," the other answered in a calmer +tone. "You may wait here a moment, and there is no reason why your +friends should not wait with you. I will be entirely at your service in +three minutes, if I might trespass upon your patience so far." He rose +with a very courteous air, and bowing to us he passed out through a door +at the further end of the room, which he closed behind him. + +"What now?" whispered Holmes. "Is he giving us the slip?" + +"Impossible," answered Pycroft. + +"Why so?" + +"That door leads into an inner room." + +"There is no exit?" + +"None." + +"Is it furnished?" + +"It was empty yesterday." + +"Then what on earth can he be doing? There is something which I don't +understand in this matter. If ever a man was three parts mad with +terror, that man's name is Pinner. What can have put the shivers on +him?" + +"He suspects that we are detectives," I suggested. + +"That's it," said Pycroft. + +Holmes shook his head. "He did not turn pale. He _was_ pale when we +entered the room," said he. "It is just possible that----" + +His words were interrupted by a sharp rat-tat from the direction of the +inner door. + +"What the deuce is he knocking at his own door for?" cried the clerk. + +Again and much louder came the rat-tat-tat. We all gazed expectantly at +the closed door. Glancing at Holmes I saw his face turn rigid, and he +leaned forward in intense excitement. Then suddenly came a low gurgling, +gargling sound and a brisk drumming upon woodwork. Holmes sprang +frantically across the room and pushed at the door. It was fastened on +the inner side. Following his example, we threw ourselves upon it with +all our weight. One hinge snapped, then the other, and down came the +door with a crash. Rushing over it we found ourselves in the inner room. + +[Illustration: "WE FOUND OURSELVES IN THE INNER ROOM."] + +It was empty. + +But it was only for a moment that we were at fault. At one corner, the +corner nearest the room which we had left, there was a second door. +Holmes sprang to it and pulled it open. A coat and waistcoat were lying +on the floor, and from a hook behind the door, with his own braces round +his neck, was hanging the managing director of the Franco-Midland +Hardware Company. His knees were drawn up, his head hung at a dreadful +angle to his body, and the clatter of his heels against the door made +the noise which had broken in upon our conversation. In an instant I had +caught him round the waist and held him up, while Holmes and Pycroft +untied the elastic bands which had disappeared between the livid creases +of skin. Then we carried him into the other room, where he lay with a +clay-coloured face, puffing his purple lips in and out with every +breath--a dreadful wreck of all that he had been but five minutes +before. + +"What do you think of him, Watson?" asked Holmes. + +I stooped over him and examined him. + +His pulse was feeble and intermittent, but his breathing grew longer, +and there was a little shivering of his eyelids which showed a thin +white slit of ball beneath. + +"It has been touch and go with him," said I, "but he'll live now. Just +open that window and hand me the water carafe." I undid his collar, +poured the cold water over his face, and raised and sank his arms until +he drew a long natural breath. + +"It's only a question of time now," said I, as I turned away from him. + +Holmes stood by the table with his hands deep in his trousers pockets +and his chin upon his breast. + +"I suppose we ought to call the police in now," said he; "and yet I +confess that I like to give them a complete case when they come." + +"It's a blessed mystery to me," cried Pycroft, scratching his head. +"Whatever they wanted to bring me all the way up here for, and then----" + +"Pooh! All that is clear enough," said Holmes, impatiently. "It is this +last sudden move." + +"You understand the rest, then?" + +"I think that it is fairly obvious. What do you say, Watson?" + +I shrugged my shoulders. + +"I must confess that I am out of my depths," said I. + +"Oh, surely, if you consider the events at first they can only point to +one conclusion." + +"What do you make of them?" + +"Well, the whole thing hinges upon two points. The first is the making +of Pycroft write a declaration by which he entered the service of this +preposterous company. Do you not see how very suggestive that is?" + +"I am afraid I miss the point." + +"Well, why did they want him to do it? Not as a business matter, for +these arrangements are usually verbal, and there was no earthly business +reason why this should be an exception. Don't you see, my young friend, +that they were very anxious to obtain a specimen of your handwriting, +and had no other way of doing it?" + +"And why?" + +"Quite so. Why? When we answer that, we have made some progress with our +little problem. Why? There can be only one adequate reason. Someone +wanted to learn to imitate your writing, and had to procure a specimen +of it first. And now if we pass on to the second point, we find that +each throws light upon the other. That point is the request made by +Pinner that you should not resign your place, but should leave the +manager of this important business in the full expectation that a Mr. +Hall Pycroft, whom he had never seen, was about to enter the office upon +the Monday morning." + +"My God!" cried our client, "what a blind beetle I have been!" + +"Now you see the point about the handwriting. Suppose that someone +turned up in your place who wrote a completely different hand from that +in which you had applied for the vacancy, of course the game would have +been up. But in the interval the rogue learnt to imitate you, and his +position was therefore secure, as I presume that nobody in the office +had ever set eyes upon you?" + +"Not a soul," groaned Hall Pycroft. + +"Very good. Of course, it was of the utmost importance to prevent you +from thinking better of it, and also to keep you from coming into +contact with anyone who might tell you that your double was at work in +Mawson's office. Therefore they gave you a handsome advance on your +salary, and ran you off to the Midlands, where they gave you enough work +to do to prevent your going to London, where you might have burst their +little game up. That is all plain enough." + +"But why should this man pretend to be his own brother?" + +"Well, that is pretty clear also. There are evidently only two of them +in it. The other is personating you at the office. This one acted as +your engager, and then found that he could not find you an employer +without admitting a third person into his plot. That he was most +unwilling to do. He changed his appearance as far as he could, and +trusted that the likeness, which you could not fail to observe, would be +put down to a family resemblance. But for the happy chance of the gold +stuffing your suspicions would probably have never been aroused." + +Hall Pycroft shook his clenched hands in the air. "Good Lord!" he cried. +"While I have been fooled in this way, what has this other Hall Pycroft +been doing at Mawson's? What should we do, Mr. Holmes? Tell me what to +do!" + +"We must wire to Mawson's." + +"They shut at twelve on Saturdays." + +"Never mind; there may be some doorkeeper or attendant----" + +"Ah, yes; they keep a permanent guard there on account of the value of +the securities that they hold. I remember hearing it talked of in the +City." + +[Illustration: "PYCROFT SHOOK HIS CLENCHED HANDS IN THE AIR."] + +"Very good, we shall wire to him, and see if all is well, and if a clerk +of your name is working there. That is clear enough, but what is not so +clear is why at sight of us one of the rogues should instantly walk out +of the room and hang himself." + +"The paper!" croaked a voice behind us. The man was sitting up, blanched +and ghastly, with returning reason in his eyes, and hands which rubbed +nervously at the broad red band which still encircled his throat. + +"The paper! Of course!" yelled Holmes, in a paroxysm of excitement. +"Idiot that I was! I thought so much of our visit that the paper never +entered my head for an instant. To be sure the secret must lie there." +He flattened it out upon the table, and a cry of triumph burst from his +lips. + +"Look at this, Watson!" he cried. "It is a London paper, an early +edition of the _Evening Standard_. Here is what we want. Look at the +headlines--'Crime in the City. Murder at Mawson and Williams'. Gigantic +Attempted Robbery; Capture of the Criminal.' Here, Watson, we are all +equally anxious to hear it, so kindly read it aloud to us." + +It appeared from its position in the paper to have been the one event of +importance in town, and the account of it ran in this way:-- + +"A desperate attempt at robbery, culminating in the death of one man and +the capture of the criminal, occurred this afternoon in the City. For +some time back Mawson and Williams, the famous financial house, have +been the guardians of securities which amount in the aggregate to a sum +of considerably over a million sterling. So conscious was the manager of +the responsibility which devolved upon him in consequence of the great +interests at stake, that safes of the very latest construction have been +employed, and an armed watchman has been left day and night in the +building. It appears that last week a new clerk, named Hall Pycroft, was +engaged by the firm. This person appears to have been none other than +Beddington, the famous forger and cracksman, who, with his brother, has +only recently emerged from a five years' spell of penal servitude. By +some means, which are not yet clear, he succeeded in winning, under a +false name, this official position in the office, which he utilized in +order to obtain mouldings of various locks, and a thorough knowledge of +the position of the strong room and the safes. + +"It is customary at Mawson's for the clerks to leave at midday on +Saturday. Sergeant Tuson, of the City Police, was somewhat surprised +therefore to see a gentleman with a carpet bag come down the steps at +twenty minutes past one. His suspicions being aroused, the sergeant +followed the man, and with the aid of Constable Pollock succeeded, after +a most desperate resistance, in arresting him. It was at once clear that +a daring and gigantic robbery had been committed. Nearly a hundred +thousand pounds worth of American railway bonds, with a large amount of +scrip in other mines and companies, were discovered in the bag. On +examining the premises the body of the unfortunate watchman was found +doubled up and thrust into the largest of the safes, where it would not +have been discovered until Monday morning had it not been for the prompt +action of Sergeant Tuson. The man's skull had been shattered by a blow +from a poker, delivered from behind. There could be no doubt that +Beddington had obtained entrance by pretending that he had left +something behind him, and having murdered the watchman, rapidly rifled +the large safe, and then made off with his booty. His brother, who +usually works with him, has not appeared in this job, so far as can at +present be ascertained, although the police are making energetic +inquiries as to his whereabouts." + +[Illustration: "GLANCING AT THE HAGGARD FIGURE."] + +"Well, we may save the police some little trouble in that direction," +said Holmes, glancing at the haggard figure huddled up by the window. +"Human nature is a strange mixture, Watson. You see that even a villain +and a murderer can inspire such affection that his brother turns to +suicide when he learns that his neck is forfeited. However, we have no +choice as to our action. The doctor and I will remain on guard, Mr. +Pycroft, if you will have the kindness to step out for the police." + + + + +_Beauties._ + +[Illustration: FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY MESSRS. ELLIOTT AND FRY, BAKER +STREET, W.] + +[Illustration: Miss Webster + +Madame Shirmer-Mapleson + +Madame Sigrid Arnoldson] + +[Illustration: Miss ALICE LETHBRIDGE + +Miss Flo Henderson + +Mdlle. Del Torre] + + + + +_Hands._ + +BY BECKLES WILLSON. + +II. + + +[Illustration: CASTING A HAND FROM LIFE. + +(_Studio of Mr. Onslow Ford, A.R.A._)] + +The sculptor's practice of casting in plaster the hands of his client is +of comparatively recent growth. The artist of the old school--and he is +followed in this by many of the new--disdained so mechanical a means to +fidelity. Very few, indeed, among the British painters and sculptors of +the past will be found who took the pains to see that the hands or even +the figures of their counterfeit presentments on canvas or in marble +tallied with the originals. Sir Joshua Reynolds, as we know, would have +regarded this as the essence of finical vulgarity. + +The principal drawback in making casts from life is to be found in the +discomfort, not to speak of the actual torment, it often causes the +sitter by the adhesion of the plaster to the hairy growth of the skin. +Various methods are resorted to with a view to obviate this, and in some +cases successfully. + +The hands of Thomas Carlyle--stubborn, combative, mystical--which appear +in the present paper, will amply repay the closest scrutiny. These hands +are unwontedly realistic, and emphasize their distinctiveness in every +vein and wrinkle. They appear to be themselves endowed with each of +those various qualities which caused their possessor to be regarded as +one of the most puissant figures in the century's literature. The hand +is not one, to use Charles Lamb's expressive phrase, to be looked at +_standing on one leg_. It deserves a keener examination. + +[Illustration: THOMAS CARLYLE'S HANDS.] + +Mention has been made of the hand of a distinguished prelate, Cardinal +Manning. It will not be out of place to compare it with the hands of +the late Archbishop of Canterbury, which were cast posthumously. +Scarcely anything could be more antagonistic. The nervous personality of +Manning is wanting here. The hands of the Archbishop seem more to belong +to the order of the benevolent Bishop Myriel than to that of the +enthusiast and ascetic. + +[Illustration: THE LATE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY'S HANDS.] + +[Illustration: LORD PALMERSTON'S HAND.] + +Plenty of opportunity to study the hands of statesmen is afforded in +those of Lord Palmerston, Count Cavour, Sir Stratford Canning, and Lord +Melbourne. The fallacy of attaching special qualities to any distinctive +trait in the hand of an eminent person is most readily discernible here. +One should avoid _a posteriori_ reasoning. It would be the same for a +physiognomist to argue a man a statesman from a facial resemblance to +Mr. Gladstone, or that he is fit to write tragedies because he owns the +exact facial proportions of Sardou. + +[Illustration: COUNT CAVOUR'S HANDS.] + +[Illustration: SIR STRATFORD CANNING'S HANDS.] + +Among these the hand of Lord Palmerston will stand forth most +prominently to the reader. Its characteristics are, on the whole, +sufficiently obvious, in the appended cast, to be thought accentuated. +It might not unprofitably be noted in connection with those of Stratford +Canning, Viscount de Redcliffe (for fifty years British Ambassador in +India), whose statue by Boehm, with Tennyson's famous epitaph: + + Thou third great Canning, stand among our best + And noblest, now thy long day's work hath ceased, + Here, silent in our Minster of the West, + Who wert the voice of England in the East! + +is in a nave of the Abbey. With these should be joined the hand of +Viscount Melbourne, the predecessor of Sir Robert Peel in the +Premiership, and the great statesman after whom the city of Melbourne +was named, in order to range this British galaxy against the hands of +the Italian patriots, Count Cavour and Joseph Garibaldi, whose labours +resulted in that master stroke of latter-day politics, the unification +of Italy. Those of the former were cast separately in different +positions, it being the intention of the sculptor for the right hand to +rest lightly upon a column and the left to grasp a roll of parchment. +Garibaldi's hand may be described as both virile and nervous. + +[Illustration: LORD MELBOURNE'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: HAND OF JOHN BURNS, M.P.] + +[Illustration: HAND OF JOSEPH ARCH, M.P.] + +[Illustration: GARIBALDI'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: SIR E. BOEHM'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: HAND OF JOHN JACKSON, R.A.] + +Another type of hand is exemplified in the hands of Messrs. Joseph Arch +and John Burns. Both of these belong to self-made men, accustomed to +hard manual labour from childhood. Their powerful ruggedness is +admirably set off by the exquisite symmetry and feminine proportions of +the hand of John Jackson a Royal Academician and great painter of his +time. For symmetry, combined with grace, this hand is not surpassed. + +The hand of Sir Edgar Boehm was cast by his assistant, Professor +Lanteri, for the former's statue of Sir Francis Drake. It will be +observed that the fingers grasp a pair of compasses, the original of +those which appear in the bronze at Plymouth. + +[Illustration: LADY BLESSINGTON'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: MRS. CARLYLE'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: MRS. THORNYCROFT'S HAND.] + +Reverting to the ladies again, interest will, no doubt, centre upon the +hand of the celebrated Lady Blessington, accounted the wittiest hostess +of her day; and not least attractive will appear Mrs. Carlyle's and +those of Mrs. Thornycroft and the celebrated Madame Tussaud. The wife of +the Chelsea sage was herself, as is known, an authoress of no mean +repute. + +A comparison of the hand of Mr. Bancroft with that of Mr. Irving, given +last month, will prove interesting, if not instructive. + +[Illustration: MME. TUSSAUD'S HAND.] + +It has been said that the hands of Carlyle are characteristic; that they +possess, with those of Wilkie Collins, the merit of being precisely the +sort of hands one would expect to see so labelled. We now present a +third candidate for this merit of candour in casts of the hands of the +notorious Arthur Orton, better known under the sobriquet of the +Claimant. They are pulseless, chubby, oblique: yet they are remarkable. +In scrutinizing them, it is difficult not to feel that one looks upon +hands very remote indeed from the ordinary. + +[Illustration: MR. BANCROFT'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: HANDS OF THE TICHBORNE CLAIMANT.] + +Next we look upon the hand of a giant even superior to Anak, in +Loushkin, the Russian. But physically great as was the Muscovite, it is +to be doubted if he really attained the world-wide celebrity of the +little American, Charles Stratton (otherwise known as "Tom Thumb"), +whose extremity serves as a foil to his rival for exhibition honours. + +Another Boehm relic requires some explanation. Every visitor to the +Metropolis has doubtless seen and admired the heroic equestrian statue +of the Duke of Wellington, opposite Apsley House. They may even have +noticed the right hand, which is represented as lightly holding the rein +of the animal. The appended was cast from the original model in clay of +the hand of the Duke, no cast direct from life ever having been +executed. + +[Illustration: THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S HAND.] + +It is sufficient to say that the subjoined hand and arm of Lady +Cardigan, wife of the noted Crimean warrior, was one greatly admired by +Sir Edgar, in whose studio it hung for many years. In like manner will +the hand of Lady Richard Grosvenor be found the possessor of many +beautiful and interesting traits. + +[Illustration: THE HANDS OF "TOM THUMB" AND LOUSHKIN, THE RUSSIAN +GIANT.] + +[Illustration: LADY CARDIGAN'S HAND.] + +A member not altogether dissimilar to that of the musician Liszt is the +hand of Carl von Angeli, Court painter to Her Majesty, and like that +also in setting at naught the conclusions too often arrived at by the +chirognomist. For there is here breadth without symmetry, and an utter +absence of the poise which we look for in the ideal hand of the artist. +It is instructive to compare it to the hand of the painter, John +Jackson. + +[Illustration: LADY RICHARD GROSVENOR'S HAND.] + +[Illustration: CARL ANGELI'S HAND.] + +Observe the massive, masculine fingers and disproportionately small +finger-nails in the hands of Professor Weekes, the sculptor. There is +scarcely any perceptible tapering at the third joint, and the fingers +all exhibit very little prominence of knuckle or contour. It is anything +but an artistic hand, and yet its owner was a man of the keenest +artistic perceptions. + +In Frederick Baring's (Lord Ashburton) we find the thick-set fingers, +and what the chirognomist calls the "lack of manual repose," of the +great financier. But as his lordship was statesman with a talent for +debate as well as man of commerce, it will not unlikely be found that +the hand presented combines the both temperaments. + +[Illustration: PROFESSOR WEEKES' HANDS.] + +[Illustration: LORD ASHBURTON'S HAND.] + +I have been enabled, through the kindness of Mr. J. T. Tussaud, to +embellish the present collection by an ancient cast of the hand of the +Comte de Lorge, a famous prisoner in the Bastille. This cast was taken, +together with a death mask, after death, by the great-grandmother of the +sculptor, to whom both relics have descended. + +The Queen's hands, which appeared in the last issue of this Magazine, +were cast by John Francis, a famous sculptor of the day. Mr. Hamo +Thorneycroft, R.A., writes me to say that "While the moulds were being +made Her Majesty removed all the rings from her fingers _except_ the +wedding ring. This she was most anxious should not come off, and was in +considerable fear lest the moulding process might remove it." + +[Illustration: COMTE DE LORGE'S HAND.] + + +[_The original drawings of the illustrations in this Magazine are always +on view, and on sale, in the Art Gallery at these offices, which is open +to the public without charge._] + + + + +[Illustration: ROSITA] + +FROM THE FRENCH OF PITRE CHEVALIER. + + +I. + + +It was harvest day at a house in the little village of Panola, in +Castile, on the 25th of August, 1838. The great sheaves of corn had been +borne, amidst universal rejoicing, to their resting-place in the +granary. All the village inhabitants had shared in this pleasant task, +and now, following an ancient custom, they had erected a trophy composed +of a few last sheaves of corn, round which the young girls and men began +to dance gaily, to the sound of guitars and castanets. + +Within the house, in a room which overlooked this charming scene, were +two men. + +The first, seated at a table, was an old man over sixty, but enfeebled +rather by cares than by age. His venerable head, crowned with white +hair, drooped upon his breast with patriarchal dignity. The old man, who +had been a soldier in the Spanish army, was Don Pedro de la Sarga, a +Castilian as noble as he was poor. His companion was his son, Don +Stephano, a young man of twenty, considered the most accomplished man in +Panola. He was handsome; his warm, brown skin, his large, black eyes, +the regular features, which wore that expression of national pride which +distinguishes a Castilian from any other race, and his raven-black hair +were eminently the Spanish type in all its grace and haughtiness. The +young man wore the Spanish holiday costume, the richness of which has +made travellers exclaim, more than once, that no European prince is +clothed like a simple peasant of Castile. Stephano had on a short vest +of black cloth, lined with yellow silk, ornamented with fringes and +bunches of ribbons; an embroidered shirt with open collar revealing a +waistcoat with gilt buttons, knee-breeches of black silk confined at the +knees by bunches of ribbons, shoes and gaiters of fine brown leather, +while a black felt hat with drooping plume completed his costume. + +Stephano's gloomy face contrasted with his gay attire. He leant against +the open window, carelessly holding in his hand a bouquet of faded +jasmine, whilst he gazed with melancholy eyes upon the festive scene +before him, and only by a shake of the head and a sad smile replied to +the light badinage of the dancers as they passed the window. But now and +then his eyes lighted up, and he sighed deeply as a certain dancer, +prettier than the rest, approached him. + +"How pretty she is!" he murmured, as he followed her retreating form. + +"Stephano!" called out the old man, who had been watching his son for +some time. + +"How gracefully she dances," continued the handsome dreamer, wrapt in +his thoughts. + +"Stephano!" repeated the old man. + +"Yes, father," cried Stephano, with a start, and coming forward. "Do you +wish to speak to me?" + +"From your mysterious air and endless sighs these last few days, +Stephano, I conclude that you are in love," said his father. + +"In love!" stammered the young man. "You think I am in love?" + +"I do not think, my son--I am sure of it; and I have only one reproach +to make to you, and that is that you have not made me a confidant of +your secret before." + +"You shall know all, father," said Stephano, drawing a chair close to +Don Pedro. + +"For the last month," he continued, "I have had in my heart a love which +nothing can subdue, and the object of my passion is a young girl here, a +glance from whose eyes is worth more to me than all the world besides; +but she shuns my love, and on every occasion strives to avoid me. She +hardly permits me to speak to her for fear that the passion she reads in +my eyes will break into words." + +"Bah!" said the old man, merrily; "it is very likely that she shuns you +for the reason of your not opening your mouth; you scare the young girl +with your morose airs." + +"Oh, if that were only true," sighed the disconsolate swain. + +"Now," said the old man, "there only remains for me to know the name of +my future daughter-in-law." + +The young man was about to pronounce the name which already trembled on +his lips when a sudden clamour interrupted the most interesting portion +of this conversation. The peasants, followed by the partners, were +rushing towards the house, and in the twinkling of an eye the room was +filled with the animated and noisy throng. The new-comers wore rich +costumes, more or less copies of Stephano's; some carried guitars, +others castanets, while most of them leaned upon tall peeled rods, +forked at the top, and ornamented with ribbons of all colours; each +carried on the left side of his vest a bouquet similar to that of +Stephano. The young girls in their silken bodices, short skirts, red +stockings and mantillas, rattled their castanets as they entered with +their partners. The joyous crowd surrounded Don Pedro, whilst cries of +"Rosita! Rosita!" resounded from all sides. + +"Well, well, my children, what is it you want?" demanded the village +Nestor of his clamorous audience. + +"We want Mlle. Rosita," they repeated. + +"What, my niece? But is she not with you? I thought it was she whom you +were leading just now round the corn sheaves." + +"That is true," replied one of the foremost of the crowd; "everything +went smoothly until we wished her to take part in our usual ceremony of +'The Maiden's Choice.'" + +"Did you explain to her," asked the old man, "what is the ceremony?" + +"Yes, we told her all that was necessary: that it is an old custom in +Panola on harvest day, after having escorted the daughter of the house +round the last sheaves of corn, for all her admirers in the village to +present her, each in his turn, with a bouquet; that she must then choose +the one she loves amongst them by retaining his bouquet, whilst the +others are rejected. She answered us by saying that she had only been in +Panola a few months, and was therefore not forced to adopt our customs, +and leaving us with these words she fled from us and escaped through the +little granary door." + +"The little shrew!" Don Pedro exclaimed, who, like an amiable old man, +was always on the side of the young folk. "But my friends," he added, +"you are but poor Lotharios to be flouted by a young girl; you must +follow her and bring her back." + +"That is just what we have done; but one cannot catch a bird without +also having wings. She seemed to fly as we followed her, and on reaching +the granary she entered and slammed the door in our faces; so we have +come, as a last resource, to you, Don Pedro, to ask her to comply with +our wishes." + +"You are right," replied the old man, with all the gravity of a judge, +"you must be satisfied at once"; and he looked round for Don Stephano, +who was standing more moody than ever behind a giggling group of young +peasants. + +"My son," he said, "go and bring your cousin here. If she refuses, tell +her that I particularly wish her to come." + +"I will go, father," said Stephano, after a second's hesitation; and he +went out. + +There was a slight pause; then shouts and acclamations and rattling of +castanets burst forth, as Rosita, with downcast eyes, entered the room, +led by Stephano. Well might they welcome with fervour such a charming +creature. Rosita was just eighteen. She wore upon her golden brown hair +a black lace mantilla, which contrasted with her creamy complexion and +the liquid depth of her large brown eyes. A brown velvet bodice showed +off to perfection her slight yet rounded figure; and her silk skirts +just revealed her pretty ankles and small feet in their silk stockings +and neat shoes. + +Rosita was a native of Navarre. She had quitted Tafalla, her native +village, on the death of her father and mother, who had been victims of +the Civil War which at this time desolated the country, and had been +conducted not without peril to her uncle's house at Panola, in which she +had since taken up her abode. + +"Rosita," said Don Pedro to his niece, taking her hand, "I have made +your apologies to your friends for the trick you have played them. It is +your turn now to atone for your misdeed, by submitting to an old custom. +Among the brave Castilians who surround you there are many suitors for +your hand. There must be one among them whom you secretly favour. Your +choice is entirely free, and even the favoured one after the ceremony +will then have only the right to please you and to merit your hand." + +"But, uncle----" faltered the young girl. + +"I will take no denial, my dear," interrupted the old man. + +Rosita strove in vain to protest, but her imperturbable uncle would not +listen, and gave a sign to the peasants to begin the ceremony, in which +he seemed to take as keen an interest as they did themselves. Thereupon +the majority of the young men, darting furious glances of jealousy at +one another, prepared for the contest. Rosita, at her uncle's side, +stood at one end of the room. At her right and left were grouped the +young peasant girls, admiring without envy the queen of the _fete_, and +forming her court. Stephano stood behind with dejected mien. Those with +guitars touched their instruments lightly now and then, and upon this +scene, worthy of the pencil of Leopold Roberts, the sun, now setting at +the horizon, cast a calm and solemn light. + +The first peasant who came forward was a tall young man, with a ruddy +complexion. + +"My name is Geronimo Caldaroz, and I am twenty-five. It has been the +talk of the village why I did not marry, and it has been said it was +because I had never yet seen a maiden beautiful enough to please me. But +now I have found her; it is you, Rosita. Will you accept my bouquet?" He +presented his bouquet to the young girl, who blushed as she received it, +and then let it fall. + +"Refused! Refused!" whispered the spectators, whilst the young man +disappeared into the crowd, and a second one took his place. But the +same thing occurred, and with the same result. Soon the jasmine bouquets +covered the ground round the young girl's feet. The rejected suitors +multiplied so fast that they could no longer hide their discomfiture +amongst the others. Restless and smiling, Don Pedro wondered why his +niece was so severe, and the remaining suitors seemed to hesitate +whether to advance into the lists or not. Then the last three timidly +advanced one by one toward Rosita. The two first were not even heard to +the end of their speech, and then all eyes were fixed with interest upon +the last. Rosita let him finish his discourse, took his bouquet, which +she scrutinized demurely, and then uttering a deep sigh let it fall upon +the amorous trophy piled at her feet. + +A murmur rose amongst the stupefied villagers. Don Pedro approached his +niece. + +"Well, my child," he said, "have you thought of what you have done?" + +"Yes, uncle," Rosita replied. "Did you not tell me yourself that I was +perfectly free?" + +"Free to choose, without doubt; but not to send all your suitors away." + +Rosita cast down her eyes and made no reply. + +"Pardon me, father, but there still remains one," said Stephano, +breaking the silence. + +"Where is he?" everyone asked at once. + +"Here he is." + +Rosita trembled so violently that she was compelled to lean for support +upon her uncle's arm, and Don Pedro, more astonished than anyone, rushed +towards his son. + +"What, Stephano?" he said joyfully. "It is your cousin whom----" + +"Yes, father," replied the young man. "It is she whom I love." + +In the midst of such general interest Stephano, pale with emotion, +advanced towards his cousin. + +"Rosita, I love you," he said, simply. "Will you keep this bouquet which +I offer to you?" + +The young man pronounced these words with a voice so sweet and +expressive, and the gesture with which he offered the symbolic flower +was so imploring and passionate, that a sympathetic thrill ran through +the spectators, and tears bedimmed Don Pedro's eyes. + +[Illustration: "'ROSITA, I LOVE YOU,' HE SAID."] + +Rosita, not less pale than her cousin, took the bouquet with a trembling +hand, gazed upon it tenderly, then made a movement as if to throw it +down, paused, and then at last, with head turned aside, let it fall. + +"Santa Maria! He also!" cried the crowd, mournfully. + +"Do not condemn me without hearing my justification," cried Rosita, +turning to Don Pedro. + +"Your justification?" repeated Stephano, with relief. + +"Uncle," she said, after a pause, "there is a secret which I may have +been wrong in concealing from you hitherto, but I must confide it to you +alone." + +"To me!" cried the astonished old man. + +"I will come with you at once," and, seizing Rosita's hand, he led her +away, making signs to the peasants as he did so to disperse. + +Stephano strolled out to breathe the air upon the hills, whose shadows +were beginning to slope down into the valley. The sky was lighted only +by the afterglow of the red, sunken sun; the evening breeze carried +along in the warm air the perfume of the jasmine flowers and orange +groves in bloom, and no sound was heard but the music of guitars and +castanets, mingled sometimes with the faint tinkle of sheep bells. + +When Stephano re-entered he found his father and cousin in the lower +hall. Rosita, on perceiving him, made a pretext for rising, and +hurriedly left the room. Don Pedro and his son were left alone. + +"One word, father," said Stephano. "Does Rosita love me, and will she +also become my wife?" + +"You must forget Rosita," replied the old man. "You must tear from your +heart even the remembrance of your love." + +The young man abandoned himself to despair. + +"I shall never forget her," he said, passionately. "My love for Rosita +will only cease with my life." + +And he rushed from the room, leaving the old man wondering. + + +II. + +For some weeks the inmates of Don Pedro's house were forced to remain +prisoners, for rebel soldiers filled the neighbouring villages, and +troops of guerillas were being mustered to put them to flight. It was a +morning, early in September, just after the sun had peered above the +horizon. A fine rain had fallen during the night, and the drops which +rested on the foliage sparkled like myriads of diamonds. The streets +were as yet deserted; some muleteers alone passed along them at +intervals. Don Pedro's house was the only one astir. + +Don Stephano, according to his custom, had risen with the dawn, and was +now alone in the lower hall, standing opposite the window which +overlooked the high road. He was occupied in fixing an iron lance upon a +wooden rod, at which he gazed abstractedly. + +The sound of a voice filling the air with song attracted his attention; +it was singing the Moorish romance of "Adlemar and Adalifa," and to the +quick perception of a Spanish ear was marked with a slight Ultramontaine +accent, which Stephano discerned like a true Castilian. Without moving +he listened to the song which awoke the echoes of the valley. The +amorous words recalled to Stephano's mind the thought of Rosita, and he +sighed deeply. Then he listened anew to the voice, which grew nearer and +nearer, and in which, in spite of its strange accent, he seemed to hear +an understrain of singular emotion. His conjectures were not long, +however. A man enveloped in a large mantle peered in at the open window, +and after throwing a rapid glance behind him leapt into the room. +Stephano recoiled at the sight of such a strange visitor, and felt +tempted to seize the man, whom he took at first for a robber. Then a +troop of horsemen dashed past the house. The stranger gave a sigh of +relief. Then for the first time he caught sight of Stephano. + +"I must be careful," the soldier muttered, as he drew his cloak more +carefully round him. "This Spaniard does not look over benevolent." + +"Who can this man be?" thought Stephano, as he instinctively put his +hand on his pistols; but on seeing the stranger advance towards him with +a pleasant smile, he paused. + +"Noble Castilian," said the stranger, "are you a man to oblige an enemy +in peril, and who for a quarter of an hour wishes you no more harm than +if you were his brother?" + +Before replying, Stephano scrutinized his questioner. He saw before him +a man of about twenty-eight, with a frank face and light hair and +moustache. His accent, and the blue pantaloons which appeared under the +brown mantle, proclaimed him a Frenchman. + +[Illustration: "THE STRANGER."] + +"No unarmed man is my enemy," replied Stephano, "and from the moment my +roof was over your head you became my guest." + +"Shake hands on it! You are a fine fellow," cried the soldier, holding +out his hand. At the same time he drew aside his mantle, and Stephano +recognised the uniform worn by the French volunteers of Don Carlos's +army. "Now, if you have a drop of anything to drink handy, I will tell +you in a few words what has brought me here." + +Stephano opened the sideboard, and brought out a bottle and glasses. The +soldier wiped his moustache as he began. + +"You see before you," he said, with frank abruptness, "Charles +Dulaurier, a soldier by birth and profession, lieutenant in the +Grenadiers of His Majesty Charles V.--pardon me, Don Carlos. Being +stationed some few miles from here, I asked for leave of absence this +morning to join some troops which (pardon me) are going to make a raid +upon this very village this morning. But, thanks to my foolhardiness in +starting off alone, I soon found myself in the hands of guerillas. I +escaped. They pursued me. But I, though alone in a strange country and +unarmed, led them a nice dance for half an hour. I was just about to +fall again into their hands when I came in sight of this house. I duped +them by my ruse of pitching my voice in such a manner as to lead them to +think I was beyond the village, whilst I at the same time took refuge +here. To conclude, my worthy fellow, no doubt the guerillas are not +blind, and not finding any trace of me upon the route, will return to +Panola. Consequently, if you are a host to my liking you will----" + +"Conceal you," said Stephano, quickly. "You are right!" and he glanced +round with uneasiness. The lieutenant struck him on the shoulder. "One +minute," he said; "the guerillas cannot reappear for half an hour. This +little expedition, as you may imagine, was not my only motive for coming +to Panola, and I must again abuse your patience in asking you some +questions upon a certain subject which is the motive of my expedition." + +"Go on," replied Stephano, with resignation. + +"I came here to look for a young girl," said the Frenchman, twisting his +moustache, "and as, perhaps, you will be so good as to give me some +information on this point, it would be better for you to know the story. +Last year my regiment, after a vigorous resistance, entered a village in +Navarre." + +"A village in Navarre?" repeated Stephano, and his brow darkened. + +"One house had been so well defended, indeed, that it was found +necessary to surround it, and our infuriated soldiers, drunk with +carnage, determined to massacre everyone within. I luckily surprised +them as they drew their sabres upon two poor old creatures and their +young daughter. I threw myself between the victims and their butchers; +the wretches turned upon me and I fell wounded by a bayonet thrust, but +they were saved. The kind people who owed me their lives bore me to +their house, and gave me every care. The young girl watched at my +bedside for more than a fortnight. Briefly the beauty, the tenderness of +the little girl, won my heart. Losing no time, I declared my passion. +She whispered, blushing, that I might speak to her parents. As soon as I +was well enough to walk, I hastened to the worthy old man, who, after +the shock he had received, became mortally ill, and felt his end +approach. I had no sooner asked him for his daughter's hand than he +exclaimed, 'God be praised! I shall not now die without having +recompensed our deliverer.' At the same time he took the young girl's +hand and mine, and, after making us exchange rings, clasped them +together. Then he stretched forth his trembling hands above our heads to +bless us, whilst on our knees by the bedside we swore eternal fidelity +to each other. Three days after the good man died, and the same day my +regiment left for Castile. Seven months passed without my hearing any +news from my betrothed, and it was only by chance I learned that on her +mother's death she had quitted Navarre to take up her abode in her +uncle's house at Panola. + +"But what is the matter?" said the lieutenant, as Stephano rose +hurriedly. + +"I know enough," replied the young man in a hollow voice. "The village +was Tafalla, and the young girl's name is Rosita." + +"But what is there in that?" cried the lieutenant, who understood +nothing of Stephano's emotion. "You know Rosita? She is here? You are +silent. Heavens! Is she dead--or married?" + +"No, no," replied Stephano, with an effort. "Rosita is here. No doubt +she loves you and watches for your return with impatience." + +"Where, then, shall I find my betrothed?" + +Stephano was about to reply to this question when the tramp of horses +was heard. It was the troop returning. + +"Softly!" whispered Dulaurier as he crept towards the window. "Yes, +these are my friends. Where will you hide me?" + +Stephano regarded him with a savage gleam in his eyes and muttered to +himself, "This man comes here to blast my happiness, and I must protect +his life at the peril of my own." + +"What am I to do?" repeated Dulaurier. + +"Take this dagger," said Stephano, "put on your mantle and follow me." +He unfastened a little door which opened upon a staircase which led into +the garden, and descended, followed by Dulaurier. They stole along +behind a thick hedge of hawthorn until they came to the trees of a +little orchard, from which rose the roof of a ruined summer-house. On +reaching this spot Stephano installed the lieutenant so that he could +watch both the road and the garden; then having arranged upon the course +they should take, Stephano hastened back to the house. + +[Illustration: "THEY STOLE ALONG."] + +Don Pedro was in the lower hall, alone, when his son entered. + +"I have a request to make to you," said the young man, clasping his +father's hand convulsively. "I want you to let me start at once to join +my brothers and to fight for Spain." + +"Can you then leave your cousin?" said Don Pedro, sadly. "And you do not +know----" + +"I know more than you, father, more than Rosita herself about this +affair," interrupted Stephano. "Is not Rosita betrothed to a French +volunteer in Don Carlos's army, and is this not the secret she confided +to you on harvest day?" + +"It is true. But how have you discovered it?" + +"From a man flying from the pursuit of guerillas; no other than the man +himself, Lieutenant Charles Dulaurier!" + +"Is it possible?" exclaimed the stupefied old man. + +"You see, father, that it is absolutely necessary for me to go," cried +Stephano. "I cannot wait until Rosita and Dulaurier are united. Their +happiness would be more than I could bear, and I have thought of a plan +by which the lieutenant can be saved without putting off my departure. I +shall join the troop of guerillas who are seeking Dulaurier in the +village. Seeing me become one of themselves their suspicions will be +lulled, and I shall save my rival by departing with his enemies." + +"You are right," replied his father, after a painful pause, but he could +not utter a word more. + +The young man proceeded to take down from the wall his pistols and his +gun; he placed the former in his belt and the latter on his shoulder, +took his hat and stepped forward to bid his father farewell. But as he +threw himself into the arms of the weeping old man, the door opened and +Rosita entered. + +The young girl glanced quickly from one to the other, and then her eyes +remained fixed on Stephano. + +"What are you going to do?" she asked, examining his equipment. + +"I am going away," replied Stephano. "Farewell, Rosita, be happy. +Farewell, father," he added, embracing Don Pedro. + +"He is going," said Rosita, her eyes dim with tears, "without one +friendly smile, without one clasp of his hand. Oh! Stephano," she +exclaimed, springing forward. "You cannot part from me thus!" + +"You are keeping me!" said the bewildered young man. + +"Yes," she replied, seizing his hand. "Stay, Stephano, do not go. I +implore you!" + +"Remain!" cried the young man, passionately. "Remain to see you in the +arms of another? Never!" + +As he moved towards the door, Rosita sprang towards him with +outstretched arms. "And what if it is you whom I love, Stephano? What if +I have never loved anyone but you?" A thunderbolt would hardly have +produced more effect than did these words. + +"You love me?" he repeated, approaching his cousin. "Rosita, for mercy's +sake, repeat those words once more, so that I may be sure of having +heard aright." + +"Yes, I love you," repeated the young girl, tenderly; "no one but you! +Will you stay now?" + +"For ever, if you wish it!" cried the enraptured youth, throwing down +his gun and pistols. "Look at me, Rosita, that I may read in your eyes +that word which gives me life, and which I have waited for so long. How +blind and foolish I have been! But that will be all right now, will it +not, my beloved?" As he spoke he embraced her passionately. By both of +them the world was forgotten. + +Through the open window came the clink of spurs and rattling of sabres. +This sound, to which Stephano and Rosita were deaf, struck on the ear of +Don Pedro and paralyzed him with terror. + +"Stephano!" he cried at last. "Remember Lieutenant Dulaurier!" + +[Illustration: "REMEMBER LIEUTENANT DULAURIER!"] + +"Ah!" groaned Stephano, rudely torn from his ecstasy of happiness; and +he fixed his gaze upon his cousin. + +The girl had not even heard Don Pedro. + +"Rosita," said her lover, "you say you love me, but you have a +_fiance!_" + +"Dulaurier!" cried the startled girl. "Great Heaven! pardon me, I had +forgotten." + +"If this man," continued Stephano, "came here to claim your promise, you +would reply, would you not, that friendship alone, not love, had drawn +you towards him, and that your hand, promised when you hardly knew what +you did, would now be given without your heart?" + +"Yes, that is what I should answer; but he is not likely to come here, +Stephano." + +"And what if he were here already?" asked an impressive voice. + +Don Pedro at the same time stepped forward between the young people, and +before the severe face of the Spaniard their eyes drooped. + +"Father!" faltered the young man. + +"Silence!" cried the old man. "Your duty is clear. What if Dulaurier +were in the house, Rosita--what if, more faithful than you, he had come +to claim his promise, made at the death-bed of your father? I ask you +what you would answer." + +Trembling and submissive as a criminal before his judge, the young girl +turned her eyes from Stephano to Don Pedro. + +"I should reply to Lieutenant Dulaurier that, before God and man, I am +his betrothed bride, and that while he lives no other can be my +husband." + +"Come then, my child, prepare to receive your _fiance_," and Don Pedro +held out his hand to his niece to lead her away. + +"You are destroying my happiness!" cried Stephano. + +"But in return I give you back your honour," replied Don Pedro. "Look +after the lieutenant, for here come the guerillas!" and he went out. + +"What a dream, and what an awakening!" murmured Stephano as he was left +alone. "Rosita vows she loves me, and at the same time declares she will +never be mine while Dulaurier lives. _While he lives!_ And I must take +upon myself the peril of saving him, when I have only to let him----Oh, +how despair tempts us to horrible deeds! Is there time to fly, to quit +this spot where each thought is torture: to hasten and join the +guerillas before they enter the house? For, alas! if they enter now and +demand where their enemy is--by Heaven! I shall not have the strength to +resist--I must fly!" + +Picking up his gun and pistols he rushed towards the door, but recoiled +at the sight of a man in the uniform of a captain of guerillas, who by a +gesture forced him to pause. + +[Illustration: "IT IS TOO LATE!"] + +"Malediction--it is too late!" murmured the young man, as he dropped +upon a chair, and let his unheeded weapons fall to the ground. + +"Two sentinels before each door and window," called out the captain to +the soldiers who followed him. "This is the last house in which our +prisoner could take refuge," he continued, striking impatiently the butt +end of his rifle upon the ground. "Search well, comrades; you know he +who takes the Frenchman prisoner is to have the honour of firing the +first shot upon him, and is also to receive twenty douros for reward." +Thereupon he advanced into the room. "Well, my good fellow," he said to +Stephano; "what are you going to do with these weapons? Are they to +defend yourself or to protect the officer whom you have hidden here?" + +"No one is hidden in this house," replied the young man, with the +courage which peril bestows. "The La Sargas are known throughout the +country to be devoted to Spain and the Queen. I have three brothers in +the national army, and I have just picked up these weapons with the +intention of joining your troops." + +The captain looked at him with a sneering smile. Then he turned to his +companions, who had just returned from searching the house. + +"Well, have you found anything?" + +"Only a young girl and an old man," was the reply. + +"Bring the old man here," said the captain; then he turned to Stephano. +"And you, sir, go with my lieutenant and these three men, and show them +every room there is"; then he murmured in the lieutenant's ear, +slipping at the same time a purse of gold into his hand: "Spare neither +threats nor persuasion to gain this young man over to our side. Whatever +it costs, I must recapture our prisoner." + +Stephano felt tempted to resist these orders, but he reflected that this +would only draw suspicion upon him, and he led the way up the stairs, +which were placed in a corner of the room. + +At the same time Don Pedro entered, guarded by two soldiers and leaning +on his staff. Then an interval ensued, and the minutes flew past. +Suddenly a pistol shot was heard. Everyone gave a start of alarm. Then +one of the guards who had gone out with Stephano came rushing down the +stairs and into the room. + +"The bird is snared, or will be in a few minutes," he cried. "Our +prisoner," he continued, pointing through the window, "is in that +building which you see at the bottom of the garden." + +"How do you know this?" asked the captain. + +"From the young man who is upstairs with the lieutenant." + +"From Stephano!" cried the old man, growing pale with horror. + +"Ah, ah!" laughed the captain, "your son does not seem very hard to +persuade." + +"The lieutenant having discovered nothing," the man went on, "told three +of us to go and search the granary, and took advantage of the occasion +to take the young man aside. I watched them. A purse of gold and the +barrel of a pistol have been the principal inducements. The sly fellow +at first was very obstinate, and it was then that the lieutenant fired +the pistol at him to frighten him. The young man seemed to be moved in a +singular manner by the shot. He gave way with good grace, and pointed +the pavilion out to us." + +Whilst the captain lent a joyful ear to this narrative, Don Pedro, on +the contrary, listened with terror mingled with incredulity. At these +last words he could contain himself no longer, and broke in violently:-- + +"Enough, wretch; enough!" he cried. "What you say is impossible! It is +an infamous calumny! My son is quite incapable of such villainy!" + +"Look, senor," replied the man, pointing to the stairs. + +Stephano in truth was descending with the lieutenant, holding the purse +in his hand. His pale and agitated face seemed to proclaim his guilt, +and Don Pedro sank back fainting on a seat. Stephano crossed the room +with a faltering step without observing his father, and, reaching the +window, gazed out upon the road. + +In recalling to mind his son's jealousy of Dulaurier, Don Pedro +understood the facts of the matter--that he had sold his guest to get +rid of a detested rival. Maddened by passion, he had without doubt lost +all control over himself. After having exchanged some words in a low +voice with his lieutenant, the captain made a sign to two of his men. + +"Remain with this fellow," he said, in a tone of contempt, pointing to +Stephano, "until we reach the pavilion; if he makes one movement shoot +him, and when a volley announces to you that we are not deceived, join +us to start upon our route." + +"Very good, captain," answered the two soldiers, taking up their +position on each side of Stephano, whilst the others went out softly. + +A mournful silence reigned in the chamber. + +Stephano stood erect before the window, with haggard eyes fixed upon the +road; Don Pedro, mute and motionless in his chair, seemed like a man +bereft of all at a single blow. Then, his misery overwhelming him, he +covered his face with his hands and wept. Stephano turned round quickly, +and for the first time saw his father. + +"Great Heavens! He was there, and heard all!" he murmured. "Father!" he +cried imploringly. + +"Call me your father no more," cried the old man, with flaming eyes, +"unless you can tell me that I am blind and deaf, or that I have dreamed +that my son was a coward, a traitor, an assassin! Tell me so, Stephano, +for pity's sake!" + +The young man made an effort as if he were about to speak, but paused at +the sight of his two guards; the strain was so painful that he was +forced to lean for support on one of the guerilla's arms. Then he turned +away; Don Pedro rose from his seat and came towards his son. + +"His eye never quits this fatal window," he murmured to himself. "It +looks as if he watched to see the success of his perfidy, that he wishes +to assure himself that his rival does not escape. Wretch!" he burst +forth, "if this is so, may you be----" + +Suddenly a hand was laid softly upon the old man's arm. It was Rosita. + +"Ah! it is you, Rosita!" said Don Pedro with a bewildered stare. +"Wretched man that I am, what was I about to do?" he added, passing his +hand over his forehead. + +Rosita came farther forward into the room. + +"Stephano guarded by two soldiers!" she cried. "Holy Virgin! what does +this mean, and what has happened?" + +And she made an instinctive movement towards her cousin. Her uncle +stopped her. + +"Keep away from this wretched man!" he cried, "for he is a coward and a +traitor; he has betrayed your betrothed!" + +"Betrayed my betrothed!" cried the girl, with horror. "It is +impossible!" + +"Not only has he betrayed him," continued the old man, taking his +niece's hand, "but he is watching for the success of his treason. Do you +recognise my son, Rosita?" he added, with heartrending despair, "or the +man whom you loved?" + +Here the poor old man broke down completely, and sank back into his +chair. The girl gazed at him with consternation. Even the rough soldiers +were touched by the scene, and turned their heads aside. + +[Illustration: "THE POOR OLD MAN BROKE DOWN COMPLETELY."] + +At that instant a loud report shook the walls. It was the captain's +volley. The two soldiers exchanged a meaning glance and disappeared. As +soon as they went out Rosita threw herself in Don Pedro's arms. + +"Dulaurier is dead!" said the old man, gloomily. + +"He is saved!" cried Stephano, coming forward, and throwing from him as +he did so the purse of gold. "Yes, father, yes, Rosita, the lieutenant +is safe and sound, and will be with us in a few seconds." + +"How can that be?" cried Don Pedro, passing from despair to joy. + +"Before leaving Dulaurier in the pavilion we had arranged that he was to +be informed by a pistol shot when he must leave his hiding-place for the +granary whilst his enemies were searching the pavilion. You understand +now how the guerilla's shot agitated me. For, of course, Dulaurier, +taking the report for the signal agreed upon, would leave the pavilion +for the granary, and would then fall into the hands of his pursuers. The +only plan to save him was to get the soldiers away from the granary, +which I did by feigning to betray Dulaurier, by accepting the purse, and +pointing out the pavilion as his hiding-place. For a quarter of an hour +I have endured the tortures of hell, but I have saved the man who +confided in me, and I am still worthy of you both!" + +The young man had hardly finished his narrative when his father and +Rosita were at his feet begging for forgiveness. Then Stephano hastened +to the granary, and called the lieutenant's name, but there was no +response, and soon Stephano's surprise was changed to uneasiness. He +rushed into the granary. It was empty. Stephano reappeared, pale, +tottering and breathless. + +"Dulaurier is not in the granary," he cried. "He cannot have taken the +pistol shot for my signal. He must have remained, and that report we +heard was his death-shot." + +He paused abruptly. Don Pedro and Rosita understood, and burst forth +into an exclamation of horror. + +"Victory! Victory!" cried a hundred voices. + +Their despair and consternation were changed to the most lively +astonishment, when a detachment of Don Carlos's volunteers entered the +house, led by Dulaurier himself. + +"Dulaurier!" exclaimed Stephano, Don Pedro, and Rosita at the same time. + +"Our enemies!" said the old Castilian, whilst his niece shrank behind +him. + +"Say rather friends," replied Dulaurier, pressing Stephano's hand +warmly. + +"But how has all this happened?" began the bewildered Stephano. + +"One minute's attention. For half an hour I waited patiently after your +departure in the little pavilion, when I heard the signal we arranged on +of the pistol shot. I quitted my hiding-place at once, and was preparing +to creep towards the granary, when, casting a glance upon the road, I +recognised the uniforms of the volunteers of my regiment. Briefly," +continued Dulaurier, showing the soldiers who surrounded him, "here are +the gentlemen, whom I have the honour of presenting to you. Like good +comrades, they determined to avenge me, and we caught the guerillas in +an ambush as they were searching the pavilion. Bang! a general +discharge, and thirty men were lying on the ground, and the rest running +away for their lives." + +"The volley of which we believed you the victim!" interrupted Stephano. + +"You understand the rest. Not wishing to quit Panola without thanking +you, and also wishing to see about that little matter which I mentioned +to you this morning, we came on here. And now," he added to Stephano, +with the air of a man who has no time to lose, "I must thank you most +warmly for all you have done for me." + +There was such a tone of kindness in these words that Stephano could do +nothing but grasp his hand cordially in return. + +"Anyone else?" cried the effusive officer, looking quickly round. "You +have a father, a mother, a wife, perhaps? Where are they? This noble old +man must be your father," and upon Stephano's making an affirmative sign +he grasped the old man's hand, and wrung it with force. + +"Are there no ladies in your family?" asked Dulaurier with a gallant +air. + +It was then that in spite of Rosita's efforts to avoid his attention he +caught sight of her as she hid behind Don Pedro's high-backed chair. + +"Ah! here is one!" he said, without recognising his betrothed. He +stepped forward towards her. + +"Most amiable senora," he began politely, "permit me----" He paused, +gazing with stupefied eyes upon the young girl, and then made a sign to +his soldiers to leave them. + +"Good Heavens!" he exclaimed, "if I am not deceived it is Rosita, my +pretty _fiancee_!" + +"You are right; it is I, Monsieur Dulaurier," faltered the young girl. + +The light of happiness vanished from all the faces in the room except +the lieutenant's. + +"You can easily understand, my pretty one, what has led me to Panola," +said Dulaurier. + +"I presume you have come to remind Rosita," answered Don Pedro, "of the +promise that she gave you at her dying father's bedside. She has not +forgotten it, senor. She recognises her duty, and you have only one word +to say----" + +"Will you answer me yourself, Rosita?" interrupted Dulaurier, marking +her extreme pallor and agitation. "You know what I have the right of +claiming; are you still able to give it me freely?" + +"Without doubt," she murmured; "if I give you my hand, my heart will go +with it." + +"Words, nothing but words!" thought the lieutenant, who grew pale in his +turn. "All women are weathercocks. It is clear I am superseded," and he +bit his lip until it bled. "But I should like to know who is my +substitute," and he turned mechanically to Stephano. He found him as +mute and as troubled as Rosita. The truth flashed across him. "I cannot +blame the brave young man," he murmured to himself, "for falling in love +with his cousin. It has not prevented him from saving my life at the +expense of his love and honour, and as I have no wish for a heart not +wholly mine, I have now to render sacrifice for sacrifice, and to keep +the reputation of France equal to that of Spain." He turned to Rosita +with a smile. + +"Mademoiselle," he began, "when we plighted our troth, and I told you +that I loved you devotedly, I was as sincere as I am to-day, only I took +upon myself too much, and have contracted several other engagements, +more or less similar to yours." He gave a forced laugh as he pronounced +these words. + +"That is enough, senor," said Don Pedro. "But why have you then come to +Panola to claim her promise?" + +"Who said that I was here for that purpose?" asked Dulaurier, abruptly. +Stephano, indeed, recollected that the Frenchman had not said a single +word which implied that he came to claim Rosita's hand. "I implore +Mademoiselle Rosita to pardon me," pursued Dulaurier, "and I propose +that we exchange rings again." + +[Illustration: "I PROPOSE THAT WE EXCHANGE RINGS AGAIN."] + +It was no sooner said than done. Dulaurier turned and clasped Stephano's +hand again, and now the young man saw with apprehension that Dulaurier's +eyes were dim with tears. Dulaurier could keep up the farce no longer, +and his heart was breaking behind the smile upon his lips. + +"Dulaurier!" said the young man, "you weep: you are unhappy! What you +have said has been only a sublime falsehood! You love Rosita--you wish +to marry her--and if you have the generosity to renounce all for me, it +must not be at the expense of your happiness." + +"Hush!" said Dulaurier, as he took him aside. "Do not undo my work. But +since you have found it out, you are right. I did come back to claim +Rosita. I have always loved her, and have loved none but her. But do not +breathe a word of this. Let no thought of my unhappiness cast a shadow +on her life. Sacrifice for sacrifice, young man. France is equal to +Spain, and we are quits. + +"Farewell, brave Castilians," he cried aloud, "celebrate the marriage +merrily: and let us hope that we shall never meet upon the battlefield +of this unhappy country." + +"Farewell!" replied Stephano, huskily. + +Dulaurier pressed Don Pedro's and Stephano's hands, kissed that of +Rosita, and joined his comrades outside. + +"Wheel to the right--forward!" he shouted, at the head of his battalion. + +Then came the roll of the drum, and they all marched past the window. + +"Rosita," said Stephano to his cousin, "you are free, and we are going +to be happy; but never let us forget Lieutenant Dulaurier!" + + + + +_The Queer Side of Things._ + + +The N. P. M. C + +[Illustration] + +Let us return for a space to the two spirits William and James, whose +conversations we described in past numbers. Some readers may possibly +recall how the spirit James, while wandering through the darkness of +unoccupied Space (about five-and-twenty billions of eons before the +commencement of Eternity), conceived a wild idea of the possibility of +the existence of worlds--worlds occupied by an impracticability called +"man." It will be recollected how the wiser spirit William cast +well-merited ridicule upon this insanely impossible phantasy of a +disordered mind; nay, even condescended to crush, by perspicuous and +irrefutable logic, the grotesque and preposterous idea. + +Very well; it is now William's turn. + +"James," he said one day as they chanced to sight each other in the +awful solitude of Space, "I have been thinking over that world of yours, +and your crowning absurdity, 'man.' Pray do not become too inflated with +weak conceit at my condescending to think about such trivialities; for +the fact is, any subject of thought--however hopelessly foolish--is a +relief amid the tediousness of Space. Well, I have been reflecting upon +that characteristic which you conceive as distinguishing your puppet +'man'--I allude to _intelligence_. I think you suggested that he would +possess intelligence?" + +James only fidgeted uneasily, and made a feeble sign of affirmation. + +"Very well," continued William. "Now, I have been putting two and two +together, and have found out the nature of that quality which you +mistake for intelligence; its true name is 'low cunning.' Every fresh +piece of absurdity which you have told me touching the tricks of your +queer creatures has supplied new evidence of this. Your creatures were +to feed upon the substance of the 'world' on which they lived, and, ever +increasing in numbers, would logically in course of time find there was +not a mouthful apiece. I think we agreed about that? Well, let us +consider that period, some time before the creatures should actually +become exterminated by the natural evolution of events--the time when +all the eatable products of their world would be growing scarce. You +went so far as to imagine a great many products----" + +"Yes!" said James, gazing afar off in the absorption of his imagination. +"Yes--there were eggs, and oysters, and poultry, and mushrooms, and----" + +"Ah!--the very things I've been reflecting about. Well, I've been +dreaming that, at the period of which I speak, when all the commodities +were becoming scarce, your human beings would agree to make poisonous +artificial articles of consumption with which to poison themselves by +degrees, and thus reduce the population to convenient limits." + +"No!" cried James, pondering deeply. "Their idea would be to poison not +_themselves_, but _each other_!" + +[Illustration: "POISON."] + +"Ah! I see. Then they would make some sort of effort to prevent +themselves being poisoned?" + +"Oh, yes; they would pass Adulteration Acts for the purpose." + +"I see; and any creature who did not wish to be poisoned could take +advantage of these Acts to protect himself?" + +"Certainly. The Acts would be very stringent. Let us suppose, for +example, that a certain man suspected that the butter supplied to him +was not butter at all, but a deleterious compound--well, all he would +have to do would be to go to the shop, accompanied by a guardian of the +peace, and, standing on one leg, with both hands on the counter and one +eye shut, order a pound of the butter in certain words prescribed by the +Act. He would then say to the tradesman, 'I am about to divide this +pound of butter into three equal portions for the purposes of analysis'; +and, taking the butter-man's knife in his left hand, and passing it to +his right, would cut the butter into three portions exactly equal. + +"After this, hermetically sealing the three portions in three jars +provided for the purpose, he would hand one jar to the tradesman, the +second to the guardian of the peace, and retain the third. Then he would +bring an action; and (provided that all the conditions had been +accurately fulfilled, without the slightest flaw) the erring tradesman +would be told by the Court not to do it again; while the complainant +would have to pay all costs, and possibly a fine; and would be sneered +at by the magistrate as a fussy idiot and a common informer. + +"If, on the other hand, the complainant should omit to secure the +company of a custodian of the peace, or fail to stand on one leg with +both hands on the counter, or take the knife in his right hand first, or +should leave out the prescribed words, or blink his eye, or stammer, or +sneeze, or in any other way fail to observe the regulations of the Act; +he would, of course, have no case or remedy. The Adulteration Acts would +be extremely stringent----" + +"Against the victim of adulteration?" + +"Ye--es," murmured James, a little nonplussed. + +[Illustration: "THE SHOP."] + +"Ah--well, then, I think we can afford to ignore these Adulteration +Acts--like the adulterators and the public authorities would--and +proceed with the question of the adulteration. I had a most vivid vision +or dream of the details of this adulteration as they would be carried +out on your world at the period we are now considering. I imagined that +I was actually in a part of your world called 'America,' and that one of +your human beings politely invited me to walk through his factory and +see how things were made. I think you mentioned 'oysters'----" + +[Illustration: "NO CASE."] + +"Yes," said James, "that's one name the article of food would possess; +newspaper writers, however, would not recognise them by that name--they +would only know them as 'the succulent bivalve.'" + +"The very idea!" exclaimed William. "That's exactly what I seemed to +have become--a newspaper writer. I fancied I went to see the factory, +and then sent in the following account:-- + +"One of the most interesting factories in America is the stately +building of the Ephraim Q. Knickerbocker Natural Products Manufacturing +Corporation, of Spread Eagle Springs, N.J. That the structure is itself +an imposing one may well be imagined in view of the vast productive +energy expended within its walls; and the feebleness and inefficiency of +the productive operations of Nature are never so fully realized as after +a visit to this marvellous factory, and a comparison of the two systems. + +"It was, therefore, with no little satisfaction that we lately received +a courteous invitation from the able and energetic managing director +General Sardanapalus J. Van Biene to inspect the operations of the +Corporation at its factory. Accordingly, we proceeded to the New York +terminus of the Natural Products Manufacturing Corporation's New York, +Sumner Ferry, Thanksgiving Flats, and Spread Eagle Springs Railroad, +along which a special train speedily whirled us to the front door of the +works. On the steps stood the genial managing director, supported by the +principal manager Colonel Exodus V. Rooster, the head chemist Major +Madison B. Jefferson, and the assistant chemists Judge Vansittart J. +Sumner and Admiral Hudson W. Killigrew. + +"They received us with open arms, and, after entertaining us at a +_recherche_ lunch, conducted us to the chemistry and analysis section +occupying a little over seventeen acres and employing a permanent staff +of thirteen thousand four hundred and thirty-two, assistants, among whom +are chemists, microscopists, sub-inventors, etc., etc. There it is that +the productive operations of Nature are studied and improved upon. + +"'You must not imagine that we have any kind of sympathy or admiration +for Nature's system,' explained General S. J. Van Biene, hastening to +sweep away any false impression which we might have formed. + +[Illustration: "THEY RECEIVED US WITH OPEN ARMS."] + +"'On the contrary, we just entirely despise her and her ways, and should +have discarded her way back but for the prejudices of the consuming +public. It's just like this--the consumers still believe in natural +products, and so we have to go on reproducing them instead of starting +right away on our own lines and bringing out new and original +commodities far in advance of anything Nature can do. How we're +stultified you'll see as we work through. We just have to copy, anyway, +in place of originating. We make oysters, for example. Now quite a while +ago, our head chemist Major Madison B. Jefferson invented a new edible +way, finer in every essential than the oyster; but the consumers +wouldn't have it: they shied at it, and declared it wasn't wholesome; +and we had the whole stock on our hands, and had to vat it down again, +and recolour it, and make tomatoes of it. Then they took it down and +just chaired it round. Of course, we have to say we _grow_ the +products--that's another effect of popular prejudice; if we had said we +made those tomatoes, the public would have started right off again, and +talked of "adulteration," although our tomatoes whip Nature's by 50 per +cent, in all the elements of nutrition and flavour. Just taste this +one.' + +"We hesitated, and the director, perceiving it, promptly consumed +another from the same case. Thus reassured, we ventured to nibble at the +artificial vegetable, and found it excellent in every respect--decidedly +superior to the natural product, as he had stated. + +"'But,' we asked, 'do you not suffer considerable losses when these +products--necessarily perishable in the natural course of things--begin +to decay?' + +[Illustration: "JUST TASTE THIS ONE."] + +"'That's just another point where we show our superiority to Nature. +_Our_ products _don't_ decay; on the contrary, they improve by keeping. +Here is a tomato seven years old,' he continued, taking down another +case. 'Try it.' + +"We did. The other was not to be compared with it. The older tomato had +matured and mellowed, the skin having a finer colour and lovelier gloss, +the flesh possessing a firmer body and more delicate flavour; it was far +in advance of any tomato we had ever conceived. + +"'Wonderful!' we exclaimed. + +"'A very simple matter,' said the director. 'All that is required is a +thorough mastery of chemistry. In all our goods we employ a special +patent preservative of our own, which is naturally a secret. We +calculate it to be worth one hundred and fifty quadrillions of dollars. + +"'But let us show you how we make oysters! See, these are the tanks +which contain the mixture--the compound which forms the body of the +bivalve. This tank contains the beard-mixture; and this one the +gristle.' + +"'And what are the principal ingredients?' + +"'Glue, made from horses' heels. This is a very important factor in our +products. This glue, after undergoing a peculiar treatment which +prevents its hardening and losing its elasticity in the course of years, +is flavoured and coloured in various ways. This great tank contains the +composition for the internal parts of the oyster--nearly black, you +perceive; that tank over there contains the compound for the flesh that +covers the internal parts; that tank farther along holds the beard +mixture; and the one beyond that the gristle which attaches the oyster +to the shell. First, the flesh of the oyster is run into moulds, each +oyster being in two parts; then the inside of the animal is run into +another mould, and the two halves of the body are automatically placed +around it and cemented together. + +"'Meanwhile the beards have been rolled, stamped, frilled, and coloured +along the edge by special automatic machinery. The body of the oyster +then passes to the fixing-up room, where the beard is cemented to it by +hand, and finishing touches of colour added; and then it passes along +and has the gristle attached: and the oyster itself is complete.' + +[Illustration: The Oyster Factory Affixing the Beards.] + +"'But it wants a shell!' + +"'Just so. As far as the supply will go, we buy up old shells from +dustyards and use them; but most of them are damaged by previous +opening, so we make the bulk of our shells, and they're a good deal more +natural than the real ones. They're made of lime.' + +"'All alike?' + +"'Not in the least. You see, we have some thousands of moulds, every one +differing slightly from the rest. There's a special department for +hingeing the two shells together. We had some trouble to find a +substance for the hinge; but at last one of our chemists hit on a way of +subjecting old hide-scraps to a peculiar process, and that did the +thing. The mother-of-pearl is made of a sort of soft glass, somewhat +after the appearance of Venetian glass, and put on the shell hot. +Lastly, the oyster is attached to the shells by its cartilage; a little +liquor is put in, and the shells are closed up.' + +"'But surely people must observe that they are not alive?' we said. 'For +instance, they can't open their shells!' + +"'That's just where you're astray,' replied the General. 'Owing to the +mechanical action of salt upon the composition of the cartilage, the +oyster opens when placed in salt water. Iron, however, exercises an +electro-magnetic influence upon the composition forming the body of the +bivalve, causing a sudden contraction--so that, on a knife being +introduced into the shell, the latter closes in the most natural way. We +manufacture pearls on the premises, and advertise that one oyster in +every gross taken from our beds contains a pearl of more or less value; +and there's a greater demand for our oysters than for any others in the +world. Our oyster beds are way down along the coast, about ten miles +off; and are inspected by thousands yearly. Taste this egg.' + +[Illustration: The Pearl.] + +"He took up a fine specimen of a new-laid egg, and proceeded to break it +into a glass. It was a delightful egg. 'That's our latest pattern of +egg,' explained the General, 'You perceive that it has three lines +around it, where the substance of the shell is weaker than elsewhere; +the lines near each end enable a person about to consume the egg in a +boiled state to easily cut off the top or bottom with a knife, or run +his nail around it; while the line about the middle greatly assists +cooks in breaking it into a basin. There is also a thin spot at either +end, to facilitate sucking. These eggs are always new-laid; we send tons +to Europe, particularly to Great Britain, where ours are the only fresh +eggs they ever get.' + +[Illustration: The London Egg] + +"'But you must find some difficulty in making an egg?' + +"'Just as easy as smiling. The white is simply jelly-fish subjected to a +chemical process--jelly-fish aren't costly. This tank is full of the +liquor. The main ingredient of the yolk is the horse-heel glue mentioned +before; we also boil down vast quantities of rats--they come cheap, too; +it's only the cost of catching them; and then there's a vegetable +colouring, and the preservative, and a few other trifles. First, the two +halves of the white are made in two moulds, and frozen; then the two +frozen halves are frozen together, and the yolk-mixture poured in +through a small hole, which is then closed. Then comes the skin; and +that is the most expensive part, for it contains a certain quantity of +rubber. We have tried in vain to find a substitute for rubber, but +failed hitherto. The rubber is mixed with a gum from a South American +tree, and the mixture is applied with a brush over the frozen egg; and +then the egg, still frozen, is dipped in a lime composition very nearly +identical with the oyster-shell mixture; and, lastly, the whole thing is +passed through the finishing machine, which turns the three thin lines +and the two thin spots, imitates the pores of the shell, and delivers +the finished egg to the warehouse.' + +"'Marvellous!' we involuntarily exclaimed. + +"'Oh, that's nothing at all,' said the director. 'We're meditating +turning out eggs that will hatch and become fowls. At present we have to +manufacture fowls; but we calculate to make a great saving by producing +them from the eggs we make. That building over yonder is the terrapin +factory; we turn out eleven tons of terrapin weekly. We make clams, of +course--in the oyster department. In this next house we make kidneys and +sweetbreads. Fruit? Oh, yes, we turn out masses of fruit; peaches pay +best, but we do very well with nuts.' + +"We were then conducted to the show-room, where we tasted a number of +other products of the wonderful factory; and we had just said a grateful +farewell to our courteous guide, when we were seized with pains of the +most acute description. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: The Pain.] + +"The arrangements of the hospital were admirable. The kindliness and +attention we received made our five years' sojourn there a time to look +back upon with feelings of gratitude. We are assured that, with strict +diet and unremitting care, we may last some time yet--possibly even +three months." + + * * * * * + +"It was a marvellous vision," said James, fervently, as the voice of +William ceased. "Surely after that you must think better of those beings +of mine?" + +But William merely sniffed. + + J. F. SULLIVAN. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: A TURNIP RESEMBLING A HUMAN HAND.] + +The above photographs represent two views of an extraordinary turnip +grown by Alderman David Evans, Llangennech Park, Carmarthenshire. We are +indebted for the photographs to Mr. Morgan W. James, of Llanelly. + + +[Illustration: A ROOM PAPERED WITH STAMPS.] + +The above photograph represents the study of Mr. C. Whitfield King, of +Morpeth House, Ipswich, which he has papered with 44,068 _unused_ +foreign postage stamps, bearing the value of L699 16s. 9d., and +containing 48 varieties of different sizes and colours, presenting an +example of mosaic work which is altogether unique of its kind. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: Drinking] + +[Illustration: VESSELS OF ALL] + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: A CROCODILE STORY.] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Strand Magazine, Volume V, Issue +27, March 1893, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STRAND MAGAZINE, MARCH 1893 *** + +***** This file should be named 30222.txt or 30222.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/2/2/30222/ + +Produced by Victorian/Edwardian Pictorial Magazines, +Jonathan Ingram, Josephine Paolucci and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/30222.zip b/old/30222.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fd119fe --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30222.zip |
