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- Chambers’s Journal, by Various&mdash;A Project Gutenberg eBook
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-
-<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, Fifth Series, No. 16, Vol. I, April 19, 1884, by Various</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
-most other parts of the world 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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you
-are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the
-country where you are located before using this eBook.
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, Fifth Series, No. 16, Vol. I, April 19, 1884</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Editor: Various</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: June 7, 2021 [eBook #65543]</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Susan Skinner, Eric Hutton and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)</div>
-
-<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL OF POPULAR LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART, FIFTH SERIES, NO. 16, VOL. I, APRIL 19, 1884 ***</div>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">{241}</span></p>
-
-<h1>CHAMBERS’S JOURNAL<br />
-OF<br />
-POPULAR<br />
-LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART.</h1>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak">CONTENTS</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='center'>
-
-
-
-<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. -->
-
-<a href="#SUDDEN_FORTUNES">SUDDEN FORTUNES.</a><br />
-<a href="#BY_MEAD_AND_STREAM">BY MEAD AND STREAM.</a><br />
-<a href="#THE_HOMING_PIGEON">THE HOMING PIGEON.</a><br />
-<a href="#A_WITNESS_FOR_THE_DEFENCE">A WITNESS FOR THE DEFENCE.</a><br />
-<a href="#COIN_TREASURES">COIN TREASURES.</a><br />
-<a href="#MY_FELLOW-PASSENGER">MY FELLOW-PASSENGER.</a><br />
-<a href="#A_SKATING_REGIMENT">A SKATING REGIMENT.</a><br />
-<a href="#ECHOES">ECHOES.</a><br />
-
-<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. -->
-
-</p>
-
-<hr class="full" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<div class="figcenter w100" id="header" style="max-width: 43.75em;">
- <img class="w100" src="images/header.jpg" alt="Chambers’s Journal of Popular Literature, Science,
-and Art. Fifth Series. Established by William and Robert Chambers, 1832. Conducted by R. Chambers (Secundus)." />
-</div>
-
-
-<hr class="full" />
-<div class="center">
-<div class="header">
-<p class="floatl"><span class="smcap">No. 16.—Vol. I.</span></p>
-<p class="floatr"><span class="smcap">Price</span> 1½<em>d.</em></p>
-<p class="floatc">SATURDAY, APRIL 19, 1884.</p>
-</div></div></div>
-
-<hr class="full" />
-
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="SUDDEN_FORTUNES">SUDDEN FORTUNES.</h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">Few</span> things are so fascinating to read as stories
-of fortunes suddenly made. They lend to the
-adventures of miners in gold or diamond fields
-an interest possessed by enterprises of no other
-kind; they also impart a most seductive glamour
-to accounts published in continental newspapers
-of prize-winners in big lotteries. When the
-French annual state lotteries were abolished in
-1837, a writer of some distinction, M. Alphonse
-Karr, protested energetically against what he
-called a hardship for the poor. His defence
-was curious. ‘For five sous,’ he said, ‘the most
-miserable of beings may purchase the chance
-of becoming a millionaire; by suppressing this
-chance, you take away the ray of hope from
-the poor man’s life.’</p>
-
-<p>Almost any man can relate from his own
-experience tales of suddenly acquired wealth;
-and by this we do not mean the riches that
-may be inherited through the death of a
-relative, or those which are won by speculation.
-The professed money-hunter who succeeds
-on ’Change is like the sportsman who brings
-home a good bag—his spoils, though they may
-be large, are not unexpected. But there is the
-man who goes out without any thought of
-sport, and returns with a plump bird that has
-dropped into his hands; or the man who,
-wandering on the seashore, picks up a pearl. It
-is with persons of this description that we may
-compare those lucky individuals who, awaiting
-nothing from fortune, are suddenly overwhelmed
-by her favours. A few examples of such luck
-may induce the reader who sees no signs of
-wealth on his path just yet, never to despair.</p>
-
-<p>At the beginning of 1870, the Hôtel des
-Réservoirs at Versailles was for sale. It was the
-largest hotel in the city; but as Versailles had
-become a sleepy place, almost deserted in winter,
-and only frequented in summer by casual tourists
-and Sunday excursionists, the landlord had
-scarcely been able to pay his way. The hotel
-was disposed of in January for a very low figure,
-and the new proprietor entered upon his tenancy
-on the first of April. He soon repented of his
-bargain. The season of 1870 brought fewer
-excursionists than usual; and when, in the middle
-of July, war was declared against Germany, all
-the landlord’s chances of recouping himself during
-the months when foreign tourists abound, seemed
-gone, so that he had serious thoughts of reselling
-the house. Within eight weeks, the whole of his
-prospects were altered. The French were defeated,
-Paris was invested, Versailles became the headquarters
-of the invading armies, and suddenly
-the Hôtel des Réservoirs entered upon a period
-of such prosperity as doubtless could not be
-matched by the records of any other hostelry.
-From the middle of September till the following
-February it was the lodging-place of Grand
-Dukes and Princes, as many as it would hold;
-whilst its dining-rooms were resorted to by all
-the wealthiest officers in the German forces. As
-the siege operations kept troops in movement
-at all hours, meals were served at every time of
-the day and night. Three relays of cooks and
-as many of waiters had to be hired; and the
-consumption of wines, spirits, and liqueurs beggars
-all reckoning. Princes and rich officers going
-into action or returning from victory are naturally
-free with their money; every triumph of German
-arms was a pretext for banquets and toasts. In
-fact, from the 1st of October to the date when
-the occupation of the city ceased—a period of
-about one hundred and thirty days—the average
-number of champagne bottles uncorked every
-day exceeded five hundred! As the Prussians
-held Rheims, the landlord was enabled to renew
-his stock of champagne as often as was necessary;
-but he could not renew his stock of Bordeaux—the
-Bordelais being in French hands, so that
-towards the end of the war he was selling his
-clarets at fancy prices.</p>
-
-<p>The Germans marched away in February;
-but still the Hôtel des Réservoirs’ marvellous
-run of luck continued. In March the Communist
-insurrection broke out; the National
-Assembly transferred its sittings to Versailles,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">{242}</span>
-which was proclaimed the political capital of
-France; and during the second siege of Paris
-the hotel was crowded with ministers, foreign
-ambassadors, deputies, and other persons of
-note. The result of all this and of the steady
-custom which the hotel received so long as
-Versailles remained the seat of government, was
-that the landlord, who was at the point of ruin
-in 1870, retired in 1875 worth one hundred and
-twenty thousand pounds, after selling the hotel
-for three times what he had paid for it. We may
-add that in 1870 other very fine hauls of money
-were made by hotel-keepers in cities which the
-German armies occupied, and at Tours and
-Bordeaux, which were successively the seats of
-the French Government of National Defence.</p>
-
-<p>But it will be objected that such fortunes as
-war, revolutions, and other great commotions
-bring to the few, in compensation for the ruin
-which they scatter among the many, are not to
-be met with in lands enjoying profound peace
-like England. Well, there are local convulsions
-too in England. An obscure village becomes the
-scene of a murder or a railway accident; an
-inquest is held; reporters are sent down from
-London; idlers by the trainful come to view
-the spot where the mishap occurred; and the
-village public-house, which had been doing a
-poor business, all at once finds itself taking gold
-and silver like a first-class London <i>buffet</i>. Such
-things happen pretty often; indeed, Fortune now
-and then knocks at houses whose inmates, from
-sheer bewilderment or stupidity, do not know
-how to take advantage of her unexpected visit.
-We have the recollection of a publican in a village
-on the Great Western line who positively spurned
-a chance of handsome gains thrown into his way
-by a snowstorm. An express train had got
-snowed up in the night; with infinite difficulty,
-by reason of the darkness, the passengers crawled
-out, and made across the fields for a public-house
-about a mile distant; but on arriving there, they
-met with anything but a hospitable reception.
-The landlord had been roused from sleep; he
-could not serve drink, he said, because it was
-past hours; he had no spare-room for travellers;
-there was only one ounce of tea in his
-house; and so forth. In the end, most of the
-benighted party found a refuge at the vicarage.
-Had the landlord been a more astute fellow, he
-might have secured some valuable patrons that
-night, for there were wealthy people among the
-passengers; and two of them had to linger for
-more than a week in the village, having fallen
-ill.</p>
-
-<p>Let us now leave publicans, and come to stories
-of sudden professional advancement. All young
-doctors know what uphill work it sometimes is
-to establish a practice. Years will often elapse
-before a doctor gets any return for the money
-which his friends invested in obtaining his
-diploma. On the other hand, a single fortunate
-case may bring patients by the score. About
-twenty years ago, a young doctor who had been
-established three years in London without making
-an income, lost heart, and determined to emigrate
-to Australia. He sold his small house and
-furniture, paid his passage-money, and a week
-before his ship was to sail, went into the country
-to say good-bye to his parents. Having to change
-trains at a junction, he was waiting on the
-platform, when a groom in a smart livery
-galloped up to the station, and calling excitedly
-to a porter, handed him a telegraphic message
-for transmission. From some remarks exchanged
-between the two men, the young doctor understood
-that the Duke of ——, a member of the
-Cabinet, had fallen dangerously ill, and that an
-eminent physician in London was being telegraphed
-for. The groom added that he had
-ridden to the houses of three local doctors, who
-had all been absent, and that ‘Her Grace was
-in a terrible way.’</p>
-
-<p>The young doctor saw his opportunity, and at
-once seized it. ‘I am a medical man,’ he said
-to the groom; ‘and I will go to the Hall to offer
-my assistance till another doctor arrives.’</p>
-
-<p>The groom was evidently attached to his
-master, for he said: ‘Jump on my horse, sir,
-and ride straight down the road for about four
-miles; you can’t miss the Hall; any one will
-tell you where it is.’</p>
-
-<p>The doctor went, was gratefully received by
-the Duchess, and happened to be just in time
-to stop a mistake in treatment of the patient,
-which might have proved fatal if continued for
-a few hours longer. The Duke was suffering
-from typhoid fever; and when the eminent
-physician arrived from town, he declared that
-the young doctor’s management of the case
-had been perfect. The result of this was, that
-the latter was requested to remain at the Hall
-to take charge of the patient; and his name
-figured on the bulletins which were issued during
-the next fortnight, and were printed in all the
-daily newspapers of the kingdom. Such an
-advertisement is always the making of a medical
-man, especially when his patient recovers, as the
-Duke did. Our penniless friend received a fee
-of five hundred guineas; took a house at the
-West End, and from that time to this has been
-at the head of one of the largest practices in
-London.</p>
-
-<p>Curiously enough, his sudden rise was indirectly
-the means of bringing another needy young
-doctor to great fortune. Having abandoned his
-emigration scheme, our friend had made a present
-of his ticket to a former fellow-student of his, a
-shiftless sort of young man, who was loafing about
-town, with no regular work or prospects. This
-ne’er-do-weel had never thought of leaving the
-mother-country, and he accepted the ticket rather
-with the idea of making a pleasant voyage gratis
-than of settling at the antipodes. But on the
-way out, an epidemic of smallpox occurred among
-the passengers; the ship’s surgeon died; and the
-emigrant doctor, stepping into his place, displayed
-such skill and devotion that he won golden
-opinions from all on board. As often happens
-with men of good grit, the sudden call to noble
-work and great responsibilities completely altered
-his character, and he became thenceforth a steady
-fellow. On landing at Sydney, he was presented
-with a handsome cheque by the agents of the
-Steamship Company for his services, and soon
-afterwards was, on their recommendation, appointed
-physician to the quarantine depôt. This
-position put him in the way of forming a first-rate
-private practice and of winning municipal honours.
-He is now one of the most prosperous men in
-the colony, and a member of the colonial legislature.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">{243}</span></p>
-
-<p>Talking of sea-voyages reminds us of a barrister
-who has owed professional success to the mere
-lucky, or let us say providential, hazard which
-sent him out on a trip to China. Having lived
-three or four years in chambers without getting
-a brief, he was almost destitute, when a friend
-of his who was in the tea-trade offered him a free
-passage to Shanghai and back on condition of his
-transacting some piece of business there. On the
-passage out, the barrister had many conversations
-with the captain, who chanced to have lately given
-evidence at Westminster in a lawsuit which was
-of great importance to the shipping interest. But
-he had been disgusted with the ‘stupidity,’ as he
-called it, of the judge and counsel in the case,
-when talking of maritime and commercial customs;
-and he exclaimed: ‘Why don’t some of
-those lawyers who mean to speak in shipping
-cases, study our ways a little?’ These words
-struck the young barrister, who, after thinking
-the matter over for a few days, resolved to live
-at sea for a while.</p>
-
-<p>On his return to England, he sought for a
-situation as purser or secretary on board one of
-the great ocean steamers, and in this capacity
-made several trips. Then he successively tried
-expeditions on board whalers, vessels engaged in
-the cod and herring fisheries, &amp;c.; in fact, he led
-a sailor’s life for rather more than three years,
-picking up a full acquaintance with the manners,
-customs, grievances, and wants of those who had
-their business in the great waters. On going back
-to the bar, he almost at once got briefs in the
-Admiralty Court; and becoming known to solicitors
-as an expert on shipping questions, his
-professional fortune was made.</p>
-
-<p>We might quote several cases similar to this
-one where special knowledge, sometimes acquired
-by accident, has put men in the way of getting
-highly honourable and well-paid positions on the
-newspaper press. A gentleman who is now a
-distinguished leader-writer on one of the London
-dailies, got his situation in consequence of having
-broken his leg while travelling in Germany. He
-was laid up for months in lodgings, and there
-became intimate with a Russian refugee, who
-taught him the Russian language and instructed
-him thoroughly in Muscovite politics. This
-occurred at the beginning of the Eastern imbroglio
-in 1876; and when the patient was getting better,
-he sent to a London paper a series of letters which
-exhibited such a familiarity with Russian affairs,
-that they attracted general notice. He was soon
-asked to go to St Petersburg as special correspondent;
-and from that date all things prospered
-with him. At the time when he broke his leg,
-he was about to accept a clerkship in a merchant’s
-office, where he would have had small chance
-of making any figure in the world.</p>
-
-<p>But we fancy we can hear people exclaim
-that talent well directed is pretty sure to make
-a man’s fortune, so that it is never surprising
-to hear of clever men growing rich. True;
-but nevertheless there are chances for those
-who are <i>not</i> clever. We have heard of a
-man who had two thousand pounds a year
-left him because he was civil to an infirm
-old lady in church, finding the hymns for her,
-setting her hassock, &amp;c. He did not know her
-name; but she took care to ascertain his, and
-when she died, he found that she had bequeathed
-to him the bulk of her property ‘as a reward for
-his patient kindness.’ A clergyman of our
-acquaintance obtained a living of good value from
-a baronet in Norfolk for no other reason than
-that he was the only curate within ten miles
-round who had not applied for it when it fell
-vacant. And another clergyman whom we know
-got a still better living for having refused preferment
-offered to him under circumstances derogatory
-to his dignity. He was a fair singer; and
-a vulgar plutocrat who had invited him to dinner
-promised to give him a living if he would sing
-a comic song at dessert. The quiet rebuke which
-the young clergyman administered made the
-plutocrat ashamed of himself, so that the next
-day he proffered the living with a letter of
-apology; but the living was refused, the clergyman
-stating that it would be impossible for him to
-forget the circumstances under which it was first
-tendered. This was the more honourable, as the
-clergyman was very badly off. Another patron,
-hearing of what he had done, appointed him to a
-benefice, as a testimony of his admiration.</p>
-
-<p>We may conclude with a story of a man who
-was suddenly made rich because of his great
-stupidity. He was the only dull man in a bright-witted
-family, and going to dine with a wealthy
-relative who had a horror of fools, he made so
-many silly remarks, that the old man cried in
-exasperation: ‘I must do something for you,
-for you’ll never do anything for yourself. If I
-don’t make a rich man of you, you’ll become a
-laughing-stock to the world and a disgrace to your
-family.’</p>
-
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak x-ebookmaker-important" id="BY_MEAD_AND_STREAM">BY MEAD AND STREAM.</h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XXIV.—THE WORK.</h3>
-
-<p><span class="smcap">Philip</span> spoke lightly to Madge about the
-‘chambers in town;’ but he was not quite satisfied
-with the arrangement, when she told him
-frankly that she did not like it. He confessed
-that the idea pleased him chiefly because it
-would give him a sense of independence, which
-he could never experience so long as he remained
-at Ringsford and the family continued to be in
-the same mood as at present. Very little had
-been said to him there, beyond a few expressions
-of curiosity on the part of the girls, and a cunning
-question from Coutts as to what guarantee Uncle
-Shield could give for the wealth he professed to
-possess.</p>
-
-<p>‘The amount he promised to place at my
-disposal is in the bank,’ Philip answered; ‘and
-that, I fancy, would be sufficient, Coutts, to satisfy
-even you.’</p>
-
-<p>Coutts nodded, was silent, and began privately
-to speculate on the possibility of ingratiating
-himself with this mysterious relative, who seemed
-to have discovered the mines of Golconda.</p>
-
-<p>Nothing more was said. Mr Hadleigh enjoined
-silence on the subject until he should please to
-speak; and he had done so with a sternness
-which effectually checked the tongue even of
-Miss Hadleigh, who, being ‘engaged,’ felt herself
-in some measure released from parental authority.</p>
-
-<p>The consequence was that there had grown
-up a feeling of constraint, which was exceedingly
-irksome to the frank, loving nature of Philip;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">{244}</span>
-and yet he could not divine how he was to
-overcome it. He could not tell whether this
-feeling was due to his own anxiety to reconcile
-two opposing elements, or to the unspoken irritation
-of the family with him for having leagued
-himself with their enemy. It never occurred to
-him that any one of them could be jealous of
-his good fortune.</p>
-
-<p>However, this new arrangement seemed to offer
-an opportunity for making the position clear.
-Standing apart from the influence of his family,
-he would be able to consider all the circumstances
-of his position with more calmness and
-impartiality than would be otherwise possible.</p>
-
-<p>At the same time, he was a good deal perplexed
-by the conduct of Mr Shield, and was gradually
-beginning to feel something like vexation at it.
-There was the difficulty of seeing him, and then
-the impossibility of getting him to discuss anything
-when he did see him. Mr Shield was still
-at the <i>Langham</i>; and if Philip called without
-having made an appointment, he was either sent
-away with some excuse, which he knew to be
-nothing more than an excuse, or there was a
-great fuss of attendants entering and leaving the
-room before he was admitted. On these occasions
-Philip was conscious of an atmosphere of brandy-and-soda;
-and several times his uncle had been
-served with a glass of this potent mixture during
-their interviews, brief as they were. It was to
-this weakness Philip had been about to refer,
-when speaking to Dame Crawshay, and to it he
-was disposed to attribute much of his uncle’s
-eccentricity of conduct.</p>
-
-<p>But he was always the same roughly good-natured
-man, although short of speech and decided
-in manner.</p>
-
-<p>‘Once for all,’ he said gruffly, when Philip
-made a more strenuous effort than usual to induce
-him to discuss the scheme he was elaborating;
-‘I am not a good talker—see things clearer when
-they are put down on paper for me. You do
-that; and if there is anything that does not please
-me, I’ll tell you fast enough in writing. Then
-there can be no mistakes between us. Had
-enough of mistakes in my time already.’</p>
-
-<p>And notwithstanding his peculiarly jerky mode
-of expressing himself in talking, his letters were
-invariably clear and to the point. They formed,
-indeed, a bewildering contrast to the man as he
-appeared personally, for they were the letters of
-one who had clear vision and cool judgment.
-But as yet Philip had not found any opportunity
-to approach the subject of a reconciliation with
-his father. He kept that object steadily in view,
-however, and waited patiently for the right
-moment in which to speak.</p>
-
-<p>Wrentham was well pleased that Mr Shield
-should keep entirely in the background; it left
-him the more freedom in action; and he was
-delighted with his appointment as general manager
-for Philip. His first transaction in that capacity
-was to sublet his offices in Golden Alley to his
-principal. This saved so much expense, and there
-were the clerks and all the machinery ready for
-conducting any business which might be entered
-upon. Wrentham had agreeable visions of big
-prizes to be won on the Stock Exchange. He
-was confident that the whole theory of exchange
-business was as simple as A B C to him; and
-only the want of a little capital had prevented
-him from making a large fortune long ago. His
-chance had come at last.</p>
-
-<p>Here was this young man, who knew almost
-nothing of business, but possessed capital which
-he desired to employ. He, Martin Wrentham,
-knew how to employ it to the best advantage.
-What more simple, then? He should employ
-the capital; instead of dabbling in hundreds, he
-would be able to deal in thousands, and in no
-time he would double the capital and make his
-own fortune too!</p>
-
-<p>But when the time came for Philip to unfold
-the project which he had been quietly maturing,
-the sanguine and volatile Wrentham was for an
-instant dumb with amazement, then peered
-inquiringly into the face of the young capitalist,
-as if seeking some symptoms of insanity, and
-next laughed outright.</p>
-
-<p>‘That’s the best joke I have heard for a long
-time,’ he exclaimed.</p>
-
-<p>‘Where is the joke?’ asked Philip, a little
-surprised.</p>
-
-<p>‘You don’t mean to say that you are serious in
-thinking of investing your capital in this way?’
-Wrentham’s hilarity disappeared as he spoke.</p>
-
-<p>‘Perfectly serious; and Mr Shield approves of
-the idea.’</p>
-
-<p>‘But you will never make money out of it.’</p>
-
-<p>‘I do not know what you may mean by making
-money; but unless the calculations which have
-been supplied to me by practical men are utterly
-wrong, I shall obtain a fair percentage on the
-capital invested. I do not mean to do anything
-foolish, for I consider the money as held in trust,
-and will do what is in my power to make a good
-use of it.’</p>
-
-<p>‘You want to drive Philanthropy and Business
-in one team; but I never heard of them going
-well in harness together.’</p>
-
-<p>‘I think they have done so, and may do so
-again,’ said Philip cheerfully.</p>
-
-<p>‘You will be an exception to all the rules I
-know anything about, if you manage to make
-them go together. If you had five times the
-capital you are starting with, you could make
-nothing out of it.’</p>
-
-<p>‘I hope to make a great deal out of it, although
-not exactly in the sense you mean.’</p>
-
-<p>Wrentham passed his hand through his hair,
-as if he despaired of bringing his principal to
-reason.</p>
-
-<p>‘What do you expect to make out of it?’</p>
-
-<p>‘First of all, beginning on our small scale, we
-shall provide work for so many men. By the
-system of paying for the work done, rather than
-by wages whether the work is done or not, each
-man will be able to earn the value of what he
-can produce or cares to produce.’</p>
-
-<p>‘You will not find half-a-dozen men willing
-to accept that arrangement.’</p>
-
-<p>‘We must make the most of those we do find.
-When the advantages are made plain in practice,
-others will come in fast enough.’</p>
-
-<p>‘The Unions will prevent them.’</p>
-
-<p>‘It is a kind of Union I am proposing to form—a
-Union of capital and labour. Then, I propose
-to divide amongst the men all profits above,
-say, six or eight per cent. on the capital, in proportion
-to the work each has done. I believe
-we shall find plenty of workmen, who will understand
-and appreciate the scheme.’</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">{245}</span></p>
-
-<p>Wrentham was resting his elbows on the table
-and twisting a piece of paper between his fingers.
-He had got over his first surprise. The one thing
-he understood was, that Philip would hold obstinately
-to this ridiculous ideal of a social revolution
-until experience showed him how impracticable
-it was. The one thing he did not understand
-was, how Mr Shield had agreed to let him try
-it.</p>
-
-<p>‘I admire the generous spirit which prompts
-you to try this experiment; it is excellent, benevolent,
-and all that sort of thing,’ he said coolly;
-‘but it is not business, and it will be a failure.
-Every scheme of the same sort that has been tried
-has failed. However, I shall do my best to help
-you. How do you propose to begin?’</p>
-
-<p>Philip was prepared for this lukewarm support;
-he had not expected Wrentham to enter upon
-the plan with enthusiasm, and was aware that
-men of business would regard it as a mere fancy,
-in which a good deal of money would be thrown
-away. But he was confident that the result
-would justify his sanguine calculations.</p>
-
-<p>‘I am sorry you cannot take a more cheerful
-view of my project, Wrentham; but I hope some
-day to hear you own that you were mistaken.
-We shall begin by buying this land—here is the
-plan. Then if we get it at a fair price, we shall
-proceed to erect two blocks of good healthy
-tenements for working-people. We shall be our
-own contractors, and so begin our experiment with
-the men at once. Take the plans home with
-you, and look them over; and to-morrow you can
-open negotiations for the purchase of the land.’</p>
-
-<p>Wrentham’s eyes brightened.</p>
-
-<p>‘Ah, that’s better—that’s something I can
-do.’</p>
-
-<p>‘You will find that there are many things you
-can do in carrying out the work,’ said Philip,
-smiling.</p>
-
-<p>The general manager was restored to equanimity
-by the prospect of a speculation in land.
-The young enthusiast went his way, contented
-with the thought that he had taken the first step
-towards a social reform of vast importance.</p>
-
-<p>The same afternoon the agents for the land
-in question received a communication from a
-solicitor inquiring the terms on which it was to
-be sold.</p>
-
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_HOMING_PIGEON">THE HOMING PIGEON.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="ph3">BY GORDON STABLES, M.D., R.N.</p>
-
-
-<p>‘<span class="smcap">Let</span> it off at Leicester, sir.’</p>
-
-<p>My train had already started, when the speaker—an
-earnest-faced, enthusiastic-looking working-man—breathless
-with running, leapt on to the
-step, and after a hurried glance round the compartment,
-popped a paper bag into my arms and
-disappeared.</p>
-
-<p>‘Let it off at Leicester?’ What did the man
-mean? Did he take me for one of the Fenian
-brotherhood? Had he handed me an ‘infernal
-machine’ with which to destroy Leicester railway
-station? I was taken aback for a moment, but
-only for a moment, for something rustled inside
-the bag, and I ‘keeked’ in at a corner.</p>
-
-<p>‘You’re there, are you?’ I said <i>sotto voce</i>, as the
-bright, inquiring eye of a blue homing pigeon met
-my gaze.</p>
-
-<p>The man’s meaning was plain enough now.
-Leicester was our first stopping-place. I was to
-throw the bird up there—which I duly did—and
-knowing the hour the train was due there, its
-owner could thus judge of its flying powers
-from the time it took to regain the loft in
-London.</p>
-
-<p>By many people, it is believed that the homing
-pigeon is guided in its wonderful flights by some
-<i>special instinct</i>; others think that sight alone is the
-bird’s guide. In the far-distant past, long before
-railways, telegraphs, or telephones were dreamt of,
-pigeons were used to convey intelligence of all
-kinds from distant quarters; and even in our
-own day and in times of peace, homing or carrier
-pigeons are found exceedingly useful as message-bearers
-in a hundred ways needless to name.</p>
-
-<p>In time of war, their utility can hardly be overrated.
-The ‘Paris pigeon-post’ of the Franco-German
-War of 1870-71 is well known. During
-the siege, when the gayest city in the world was
-closely beleaguered by the Prussians, and all communication
-with the outside world was totally cut
-off, homing pigeons brought to Paris by balloons,
-found their way back to Tours and other places,
-bearing with them news of the beleaguered city.
-How welcome they must have been to the thousands
-of people who had friends and relatives in
-Paris at that time! The messages carried by the
-pigeons were written or printed, then photographed
-on thin paper, the words being so
-reduced in size that it required the aid of a
-powerful magnifier to decipher them. These
-tiny documents were carried in small sealed
-quills, carefully fastened to the centre tail-feathers.
-From the very moment of the arrival
-of the first homing pigeon, the Paris pigeon-post
-was firmly established as an institution; and in
-times of war among all civilised nations, the
-aërial <i>voyageur</i> will in future doubtless play a
-most important part.</p>
-
-<p>We have already in England a large number
-of clubs devoted to pigeon-flying or pigeon-racing;
-but it is in Brussels that the sport is carried out
-to the fullest extent. In Belgium alone, there
-are at this moment nearly twenty-five hundred
-clubs, and every town, village, or district in the
-whole country goes in for its weekly race. The
-birds are sent off on the Friday or Saturday by
-special trains, and are liberated in clouds of
-thousands on the Sunday mornings, two, three,
-four, or even five hundred miles from home.</p>
-
-<p>I know many people in this country who have
-as their special hobby the breeding and flying
-of pigeons in a private way, quite independent of
-clubs—people who never go very far away from
-home without taking a pigeon or two along
-with them, to send back with news of their safe
-arrival, or their success or non-success in matters
-of business. I had the following told me by a
-friend, and have no reason to doubt the truth of
-it. A gentleman of rather shy disposition came
-down from London to a town not a hundred miles
-from Warwick, bent on proposing to a young
-lady, with whom he was greatly in love. She
-was the daughter of a well-to-do landowner, and
-a fancier of Antwerp carriers. The Londoner,
-however, lacked the courage or opportunity of
-popping the question. He was bold enough,
-though, before taking leave, to beg the loan of
-one of his lady-love’s pets, just ‘to tell her of his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">{246}</span>
-safe arrival in town.’ The bird returned from
-London the same day; and in the little quill, it
-bore to its mistress a message—that, after all, might
-more simply and naturally have been conveyed
-by lip—to wit, a declaration and a proposal. A
-more artful though innocent way of getting out
-of a difficulty could hardly have been devised.
-It was successful too.</p>
-
-<p>The homing pigeon of the present day is not
-only remarkably fond of the cot and scenes around
-it wherein it has been bred and reared, but fond
-of its owner as well, and exceedingly sagacious
-and docile. The power of wing of this bird is
-very great, and emulates the speed of the swiftest
-train, over five hundred miles being done sometimes
-in less than twelve hours.</p>
-
-<p>Now, although, in our foggy and uncertain
-climate, we can never hope to attain such results
-in pigeon-flying as they do in Belgium or sunny
-France, still, the breeding and utilising of these
-useful birds deserve far more attention than
-we in this country give them. It is in the
-hope that some of the readers of this <i>Journal</i>
-may be induced to adopt the breeding and flying
-of these pigeons as a fancy or hobby, that I now
-devote the rest of this article to a few practical
-hints about their general management.</p>
-
-<p>I should say, then, to a beginner, join a club,
-by all means, if there be one anywhere near you.
-If there is not, and you are energetic enough,
-why, then, start one; or, independent of all clubs,
-make your hobby an entirely private one. Now,
-before doing anything else in the matter, you
-must have a proper loft or pigeonry for your
-coming pets. This should be placed as high
-as possible, so that the birds, from their area
-or flight, may catch glimpses of the country
-all round, and thus familiarise themselves with
-it.</p>
-
-<p>The loft should be divided into two by means
-of a partition with a door in it, each apartment
-having an outlet to the area in front. The one
-room is devoted to the young birds, the other to
-the old. Without illustrations, it is somewhat
-difficult to describe the area or trap and its uses,
-but I will try. In its simplest form, then, it is
-a large wooden cage—with a little platform in
-front of it—that is fixed against the pigeons’ own
-private door to their loft. At the back of the
-cage is a sliding-door, communicating with the
-loft, and in command of the owner of the pigeons;
-and another in the front of the cage. It is
-evident, then, that if you open the back-door,
-the bird can get into the area from the loft; and
-if you open the front one as well, he can get out
-altogether, to fly about at his own sweet will.
-Returning from his exercise when tired, if both
-trap or sliding-doors are open, he can pass right
-through the cage into the loft; if only the front-door
-is open, he can get no farther than the
-interior of the cage or area. But independent
-of these trap-doors, there are two little swing-doors,
-called bolting-wires—one in front of the
-cage, and one behind, that is, betwixt the area and
-the loft. The peculiarity of these swing-doors
-is this: they are hinged at the top, and open
-<i>inwardly</i>, being prevented from opening outwardly
-by a beading placed in front of them at the foot.
-Well, suppose a bird to have just arrived from
-off a journey, and alighting on the little platform,
-found the sliding-door shut, it would immediately
-shove against the door, which would swing open,
-permitting the bird’s entrance, and at once shut
-again against the beading, and prevent its exit.
-In the same way, through the back bolting-wires,
-a pigeon could enter the area, but could not return
-to the loft in that way, nor get out through the
-bolting-wires in front. When a bird returns home
-from a journey, the exact time of its arrival may
-even, by a very simple contrivance attached to
-the external bolting-wires, be signalled to the
-owner.</p>
-
-<p>The breeding compartment should have around
-the walls nesting-boxes, I might call them, or
-divisions, four feet long, two and a half feet high,
-and about two feet wide; these ought to be barred
-in front, with a doorway, to put the pigeons
-through for breeding purposes, and two earthenware
-nest-pans in each, hidden from view behind
-an L-shaped screen of wood. In the loft are
-pigeon-hoppers and drinking-fountains, as well
-as a box containing a mixture of gravel, clay,
-and old mortar, with about one-third of coarse
-salt; the whole wetted and made into a mass
-with brine.</p>
-
-<p>About twice a week, a bath is greatly relished
-by the birds; but care should be taken not to
-leave the floor of the loft damp. Old lime and
-gravel should be sprinkled about. The food of
-the homing pigeon is not different from that of
-any other pigeon, and consists chiefly of beans,
-small gray peas, with now and then, by way of
-change, a little wheat, tares, rice or Indian corn.
-Soft food may sometimes be given also, such as
-boiled rice or potato, mixed with oatmeal.</p>
-
-<p>The drinking-water should be changed every
-day, and the fountain frequently well rinsed out.
-The greatest cleanliness should prevail in the loft.
-Everything should be clean and sweet and dry,
-and there should never be either dust or a bad
-smell. Green food may be given when the birds
-cannot get out to supply themselves. It should
-be given fresh, and on no account left about the
-loft to decay. Never let the hoppers be empty,
-and see that the grains are not only good, but free
-from dust as well.</p>
-
-<p>Next as to getting into stock. There are two
-or three ways of doing this. It is sometimes
-possible to get the eggs, which may be placed
-under an ordinary pigeon. Good old birds may
-be got—a few pairs; but they must, of course, be
-kept strict prisoners, else they will fly away. The
-best plan, however, of getting into stock is that of
-purchasing young birds as soon as they are fit to
-leave the mother. These must be put in the loft,
-but not let out for a week or two, although they
-should be permitted to go into the area and look
-around them, to get familiar with the place. After
-some time, they may be permitted to go out and
-fly around. If good, they will return; if of a
-bad strain, they are as well lost. But training
-should not begin until the bird is fully three
-months old, and strong. The young birds are
-first ‘tossed’ two or three hundred yards from
-their loft. If they have already become familiar
-with their home surroundings, they will speedily
-get back to the cot. Toss them unfed, flinging
-them well up in an open space; and repeat this day
-after day for some time; then gradually increase
-the distance, to a quarter of a mile, half a mile,
-and a mile, and so on to five, ten, up to fifty or
-a hundred miles of railway. The tossing should<span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">{247}</span>
-be done on a fine day, at all events never on a
-foggy one.</p>
-
-<p>Birds may be sent to station-masters at different
-distances along the line to be tossed, the basket
-in which they have been carried being sent back
-as a returned empty, with the exact time at which
-the birds were let out marked on the label by
-the station-master or porter. When this plan
-is adopted, it is of course necessary to write to the
-station-master first, and get his permission to send
-birds to him for the purpose of being tossed.</p>
-
-<p>I have purposely avoided saying anything
-about the points and properties of homing
-pigeons; it is good wing you want, more than
-shape of head or face, although there ought always
-to be a skull indicative of room for brains. It
-is wing you want, I repeat, strength, health,
-and <i>strain</i>. Why I put the last word in italics
-is this: I consider that it is essential to success,
-and cheapest in the long-run, to breed from
-a good working strain. The rule holds good in
-the breeding of all kinds of live-stock. So the
-reader, if he intends to take up the homing-pigeon
-hobby, will do well to see that he gets birds of a
-<i>good working stock</i> to begin with.</p>
-
-<p>A pigeon is not at its best till it is two years
-of age; care should be taken, therefore, not to
-attempt too much with them the first year of
-training. When a bird returns, treat it to a
-handful of nice grain, or even hemp; but during
-training, give nothing that is too fattening in large
-quantities. Great care and attention are required
-all the year round; exercise should never be
-neglected; they should be permitted to get out
-frequently during the day, or indeed, to have their
-liberty all day, taking precautions against the
-tender attentions of vagrant cats. The moulting
-season is a somewhat critical time, and so is the
-breeding-time; but this class of pigeons is, on the
-whole, hardy. Treat your birds with universal
-kindness, and they will certainly reward you.<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p>
-
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="A_WITNESS_FOR_THE_DEFENCE">A WITNESS FOR THE DEFENCE.</h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<h3 title="CONCLUSION.">IN THREE CHAPTERS.—CONCLUSION.</h3>
-
-<p><span class="smcap">To</span> say that there was a ‘sensation’ would feebly
-describe what followed. Every one in court
-sprang to his feet. The prisoner looked as if he
-had seen a ghost. There was a perfect hubbub
-of voices, as bar and jury talked among themselves,
-and my brethren at the solicitors’ table
-poured questions upon me—to none of which I
-replied. Silence being restored, the voice of the
-judge—grave and dignified, but with a perceptible
-tremor—descended like vocal oil on the troubled
-waves of sound. ‘Who instructs you, Mr
-Clincher?’</p>
-
-<p>‘Mr Bentley, my lord.’</p>
-
-<p>The judge looked more astonished than ever.
-My name was familiar enough to him as a judge,
-and he had known it even better when, as a
-leading barrister, he had held many a brief from
-me.</p>
-
-<p>‘I am persuaded,’ said he, ‘that a gentleman
-of Mr Bentley’s repute and experience has good
-reason for what he does. But so extraordinary
-and unheard-of—— I will ask Mr Bentley himself
-if he really considers that duty requires him to
-offer himself as a witness, and when and why
-he came to that conclusion?’</p>
-
-<p>‘My lord,’ I replied, ‘I am certain that, believing
-what I have had cause to believe within the
-last five minutes, I should be greatly to blame
-if I did not testify on oath to certain facts which
-are within my own knowledge. But if the
-prisoner chooses to call me as a witness, your
-lordship will presently understand why it is that,
-with all submission, I cannot at this moment, or
-until I am in the box, give my reasons. And I
-must add that the value of my evidence to the
-prisoner will greatly depend on his answers to
-certain questions which I wish, with your lordship’s
-sanction, to put to him in writing. And
-if he answers me as I expect, I believe my
-evidence will put an end to the case against
-him.’</p>
-
-<p>‘Really, gentlemen of the jury,’ said his lordship,
-‘this matter is assuming a more and more
-remarkable aspect. I hardly know what to say.
-That a prisoner on trial for his life should answer
-questions put to him in private by the prosecuting
-solicitor is the most extraordinary proposal, I
-am bound to say, which ever came under my
-notice. It is the more difficult for me to decide
-because the prisoner has not the advantage of
-counsel’s assistance.—Prisoner, is it your wish
-that this gentleman should be called as a witness
-on your behalf? You have heard what he has
-said about certain questions which he wishes to
-put to you beforehand. Of course you are not
-bound to answer any such questions, and may
-nevertheless call him. What do you say?’</p>
-
-<p>‘I am in God’s hands, my lord,’ answered the
-prisoner, who was quite calm again. ‘It may
-be that He has raised up a deliverer for me—I
-cannot tell. But I know that if He wills that
-I should die, no man can save me; if He wills
-to save me, nought can do me harm. So I am
-ready to answer any questions the gentleman
-wishes.’</p>
-
-<p>‘I propose,’ said the judge, ‘before deciding this
-extraordinary point, to consult with the learned
-Recorder in the next court.’</p>
-
-<p>All rose as the judge retired; and during his
-absence I escaped the questions which assailed
-me from every side by burying myself in a
-consultation with my counsel. When he heard
-what the reader knows, he fully upheld me in
-what I proposed to do; and then threw himself
-back in his seat with the air of a man whom
-nothing could ever astonish again.</p>
-
-<p>‘Si-lence!’ cried the usher. The judge was
-returning.</p>
-
-<p>‘I have decided,’ said he, ‘to allow the questions
-to be put as Mr Bentley proposes. Let
-them be written out and submitted to me for my
-approval.’</p>
-
-<p>I sat down and wrote my questions, and they
-were passed up to the judge. As he read them,
-he looked more surprised than ever. But all
-he said, as he handed them down, was, ‘Put the
-questions.’</p>
-
-<p>I walked up to the dock and gave them into
-the prisoner’s hands, together with my pencil.
-He read them carefully through, and wrote his
-answers slowly and with consideration. With the
-paper in my hand, I got into the witness-box
-and was sworn.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">{248}</span></p>
-
-<p>My evidence was to the effect already stated.
-As I described the man I had seen under the
-lamp, with my face averted from the prisoner and
-turned to the jury, I saw that they were making
-a careful comparison, and that, allowing for the
-change wrought by twelve years, they found that
-the description tallied closely with the man’s
-appearance.</p>
-
-<p>‘I produce this paper, on which I just now
-wrote certain questions, to which the prisoner
-wrote the answers under my eyes. These are the
-questions and answers:</p>
-
-<p>‘<i>Question.</i> Were you smoking when you came
-up to the corner of Hauraki Street?—<i>Answer.</i>
-No.</p>
-
-<p>‘<i>Question.</i> Did you afterwards smoke?—<i>Answer.</i>
-I had no lights.</p>
-
-<p>‘<i>Question.</i> Did you try to get a light?—<i>Answer.</i>
-Yes, by climbing a lamp at the corner; but I
-was not steady enough, and I remember I broke
-my hat against the crossbar.</p>
-
-<p>‘<i>Question.</i> Where did you carry your pipe and
-tobacco?—<i>Answer.</i> In my hat.</p>
-
-<p>‘Those answers,’ I concluded, ‘are absolutely
-correct in every particular. The man whom I
-saw under the lamp, at eight o’clock on the night
-of the murder, behaved as the answers indicate.
-That concludes the evidence I have felt bound to
-tender.’ And I handed the slip of paper to the
-usher for inspection by the jury.</p>
-
-<p>‘Prisoner,’ inquired the judge, ‘do you call any
-other witness?’</p>
-
-<p>‘I do not, my lord.’</p>
-
-<p>‘Then, gentlemen,’ said the judge, turning to
-the jury, ‘the one remark that I shall make to
-you is this—that if you believe the story of the
-prisoner’s witness, there can be little doubt but
-that the prisoner was the man whom the witness
-saw at the corner of Hauraki Street at eight
-o’clock on the night in question; and if that was
-so, it is clear, on the case of the prosecution, that
-he cannot have committed this murder. I should
-not be doing my duty if I did not point out to
-you that the witness in question is likely, to say
-the least, to be without bias in the prisoner’s
-favour, and that his evidence is very strongly
-corroborated indeed by the prisoner’s answers to
-the written questions put to him. Gentlemen,
-you will now consider your verdict.’</p>
-
-<p>‘We are agreed, my lord,’ said the foreman.</p>
-
-<p>‘Gentlemen of the jury,’ sung out the clerk
-of arraigns, ‘are you all agreed upon your
-verdict?’</p>
-
-<p>‘We are.’</p>
-
-<p>‘And that verdict is?’</p>
-
-<p>‘Not guilty.’</p>
-
-<p>‘And that is the verdict of you all?’</p>
-
-<p>‘It is.’</p>
-
-<p>There followed a burst of cheering which the
-usher could not silence, but which silenced itself
-as the judge was seen to be speaking. ‘John
-Harden—I am thankful, every man in this
-court is thankful, that your trust in the mercy
-and power of the All-merciful and All-powerful
-has not been in vain. You stand acquitted of a
-foul crime by the unhesitating verdict of the jury,
-and most wonderful has been your deliverance.
-You go forth a free man; and I am glad to think
-that the goodness of God has been bestowed on
-one who has repented of his past sins, and who
-is not likely, I hope and believe, to be unmindful
-of that goodness hereafter.—You are discharged.’</p>
-
-<p>Had he been left to himself, I think the
-prisoner’s old master would have climbed into the
-dock, with the view of personally delivering his
-servant out of the house of bondage. But he was
-restrained by a sympathetic constable, while John
-Harden was re-conveyed for a short time to the
-jail, to undergo certain necessary formalities connected
-with his release from custody. I volunteered
-to take charge of Mr Slocum, and took him
-to the vestibule of the prison, overwhelmed during
-the short walk by thanks and praises. We were
-soon joined by Harden, whose meeting with his
-master brought a lump into the throat even of
-a tough criminal lawyer like myself. I saw them
-into a cab, and they drove off to Mr Slocum’s hotel,
-after promising to call on me next day, and
-enlighten me on certain points as to which I was
-still in the dark.</p>
-
-<p>As strange a part of my story as any, has yet
-to be told. I had hardly got back to my office
-and settled down to read over the various letters
-which were awaiting my signature, when my late
-client (Harden’s prosecutor) was announced. I
-had lost sight of him in the excitement which
-followed the acquittal. He did not wait to
-learn whether I was engaged or not, but rushed
-after the clerk into my room. He was ashen
-white, or rather gray, and his knees shook so
-that he could scarcely stand; but his eyes
-positively blazed with wrath. Leaning over
-my table, he proceeded, in the presence of
-the astonished clerk, to pour upon me a
-flood of abuse and invective of the foulest
-kind. I had sold him; I was in league with
-the prisoner. I was a swindling thief of a
-lawyer, whom he would have struck off the rolls,
-&amp;c.; until I really thought he had gone out of
-his mind.</p>
-
-<p>As soon as I could get in a word, I curtly
-explained that it was no part of a lawyer’s duty
-to try and hang a man whom he knew to be
-innocent. As he only replied with abusive
-language, I ordered him out of the office. The
-office quieted itself once more—being far too
-busy, and also too well accustomed to eccentric
-people to have time for long wonderment at
-anything—and in an hour I had finished my
-work, and was preparing to leave for home,
-when another visitor was announced—Inspector
-Forrester.</p>
-
-<p>‘Well, Mr Forrester, what’s the matter now?
-I’m just going off.’</p>
-
-<p>‘Sorry if I put you out of the way, sir; but
-I thought you’d like to hear what’s happened.
-The prosecutor in Harden’s case has given
-himself up for the murder!’</p>
-
-<p>‘What?’ I shouted.</p>
-
-<p>‘He just has, sir. It’s a queer day, this is.
-When I heard you get up and give evidence
-for the man you were prosecuting, I thought
-curiosities was over for ever; but seems they
-ain’t, and never will be.’</p>
-
-<p>‘How was it?’</p>
-
-<p>‘Well, he came into the station quite quiet,
-and seemed a bit cast down, but that was all.
-Said fate was against him, and had saved the
-man he thought to hang in his stead, and he
-knew how it must end, and couldn’t wait any
-longer. I cautioned him, of course—told him to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">{249}</span>
-sleep on it before he said anything; but make a
-statement he would. The short of it all is, that
-the idea of murdering the old lady for her
-money had come into his mind in a flash when
-he saw that poor drunken fool exhibiting his knife
-in the tavern. He followed him, and picked
-his pocket of the knife, and then hung about
-the house, meaning to get in after dark. Then
-he saw the girl come out and go off, leaving the
-door closed but not latched, the careless hussy!
-Then in slips the gentleman, and does what he’d
-made up his mind to—for you see the old woman
-knew him well, so he couldn’t afford to leave her
-alive—gets the cash, and slips out. All in gold
-it was, two hundred and fifty pounds. When
-he heard that Harden couldn’t be found, he got
-uneasy in his mind, and has been getting worse
-ever since, though he did well enough in trade
-with the money. Seems he considered he wasn’t
-safe until some one had been hanged. So, when
-he recognised Harden, he was naturally down
-on him at once, and was intensely eager to get
-him convicted—which I noticed myself, sir, as
-of course you did, and thought it queer too, I
-don’t doubt. He took too much pains, you see—he
-must employ you to make certain, instead of
-leaving it to us; whereas if he hadn’t come to
-you, your evidence would never have been given,
-and I think you’ll say nothing could have saved
-the prisoner.’</p>
-
-<p>It was true enough. The wretched man had
-insured the failure of his own fiendish design by
-employing me, of all the solicitors to whom he
-might have gone!</p>
-
-<p>I learned next morning, how Harden, after
-trying in vain to light his pipe on that memorable
-evening, had wandered for hours through the
-hard-hearted streets, until at daybreak he had
-found himself in the docks, looking at a large
-ship preparing to drop down the river with the
-tide. How he had managed to slip aboard unseen
-and stow himself away in the hold, with some
-idea of bettering his not over-bright fortunes in
-foreign parts. How he had supported his life in
-the hold with stray fragments of biscuit, which he
-happened to have in his pockets, until, after a day
-or two of weary beating about against baffling
-winds, when they were out in mid-channel, the
-usual search for stowaways had unearthed him.
-How the captain, after giving him plenty of strong
-language and rope’s-end, had at length agreed
-to allow him to work as a sailor on board
-the vessel. How on landing at Sydney he
-had gone into the interior, taken service with
-his present master—under another name than
-his own, wishing to disconnect himself entirely
-with his former life—and by honestly doing his
-duty had attained his present position.</p>
-
-<p>By the light of this narrative, that which had
-puzzled me became perfectly clear—namely, how
-it was that he had contrived not only to get so
-entirely lost in spite of the hue and cry after
-him, but also to remain in ignorance of his aunt’s
-fate.</p>
-
-<p>My client was tried, convicted, and executed
-in due course; his plea of guilty and voluntary
-surrender having no weight against the cruel
-and cowardly attempt to put an innocent man
-in his place.</p>
-
-<p>When I last saw John Harden, he was married
-to a serious lady, who had been his late master’s
-housekeeper, and was possessor of a prosperous
-general shop in a country village, stocked by
-means of the money which Mr Slocum had generously
-left him.</p>
-
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="COIN_TREASURES">COIN TREASURES.</h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">Man</span> is a collecting animal. It would be absurd
-to ask what he collects; more to the point would
-it be to ask what he does <i>not</i> collect. Books,
-pictures, marbles, china, precious stones, hats,
-gloves, pipes, walking-sticks, prints, book-plates,
-monograms, postage-stamps, hangmen’s ropes; the
-list might be increased indefinitely.</p>
-
-<p>What is it that impels us to heap up such
-treasures? We say ‘us,’ because we are convinced
-that few escape untouched by the disease.
-It may be dormant; it may possibly never show
-itself; but it is there, and only wants a favourable
-conjunction of circumstances to bring it to life.</p>
-
-<p>Of all the forms of the collecting mania, few
-have been so long in existence as that of coins,
-and few seize us so soon. The articles are portable,
-nice to look at, and of some intrinsic value.
-Every one knows what a coin is, and when a lad
-happens to get hold of one struck, say, two
-hundred years ago, he naturally is impressed
-by the fact. Every one knows how easily the
-very young and the ignorant are taken by
-the mere age of an article. The writer dates
-his acquaintance with numismatics (the history
-of coins) from his receiving in some change
-a half-crown of Charles II. when he was eleven
-years old. It was worn very much, but it was
-two hundred years old, and that was enough.
-After that, a good deal of pocket-money went in
-exchange for sundry copper, brass, and silver
-coins, with the usual result. The collection was
-discovered to be rubbish; but experience had
-been gained, and that, as is well known, must be
-bought.</p>
-
-<p>The numismatist can head his list of devotees
-by the illustrious name of Petrarch, who made
-a collection of Roman coins to illustrate the
-history of the Empire. He was followed by
-Alfonso of Aragon; Pope Eugenius IV.; Cosmo
-de’ Medici; Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary;
-the Emperor Maximilian I. The man dear to all
-book-lovers, Grolier, had his cabinet of medals;
-Politian was the first to study them with reference
-to their historical value. Gorlaeus succeeded
-him. Early in the sixteenth century, Goltzius
-the engraver travelled over Europe in search of
-coins, and reported the existence of about one
-thousand cabinets. Our own collections appear
-to have begun with Camden; he was followed by
-Sir Robert Cotton, Laud, the Earl of Arundel,
-both the Charleses, the Duke of Buckingham,
-and Dr Mead in the early part of last century.
-Later on, we come to the celebrated William
-Hunter—not to be confounded with his still
-greater brother, John—who left to the university
-of Glasgow his magnificent collection of Greek
-coins. Archbishop Wake, Dr Barton, Dr Brown,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">{250}</span>
-and Dr Rawlinson formed cabinets of considerable
-extent and value, all of which found a
-resting-place in the colleges of Oxford. All
-these, however, were surpassed by Richard Payne-Knight,
-who was born in the middle of the last
-century, and formed the finest collection of
-Greek coins and bronzes that had ever been
-brought together. It was valued at fifty thousand
-pounds, and he left it to the nation.
-The catalogue drawn up by himself was published
-in 1830 by the Trustees of the British
-Museum.</p>
-
-<p>At the date of this magnificent legacy, our
-national collection of coins was of no importance;
-but since then, by purchase and bequest, it has
-so greatly increased its stores, that it undoubtedly
-stands on an equality with the French national
-collection, long above rivalry. Donations during
-the lifetime of the owner, too, are not unknown.
-In 1861, Mr De Salis made the nation a present
-of his extensive cabinet of Roman coins. In
-1864, Mr E. Wigan called one morning on Mr
-Vaux, the keeper of the coins and medals, and
-producing a case, told him that was his cabinet
-of Roman gold medals. Would he be good
-enough to examine it carefully, and choose for
-the Museum what he thought best? Needless to
-say, no scruples were made by the head of the
-department; consultations were held with the
-staff, with the result that two hundred and
-ninety-one were chosen, representing a value, at
-a modest computation, of nearly four thousand
-pounds. In 1866, Mr James Woodhouse of Corfu
-left to the nation five thousand six hundred and
-seventy-four specimens of Greek coins, mostly in
-the finest preservation; of these, one hundred
-and one were gold, two thousand three hundred
-and eighty-seven silver, three thousand one hundred
-and twenty-eight copper, and fifty-eight
-lead. That year was particularly fruitful in
-acquisitions, for no fewer than eleven thousand
-five hundred and thirty-two coins were placed in
-the national cabinets.</p>
-
-<p>But it is impossible that mere donations could
-be depended on. In every sale, the British
-Museum is a formidable competitor, and if, as
-not unfrequently happens, it is outbidden by a
-private collector, it has the advantage of an
-institution over a person, in that it lives longer,
-and often has the opportunity of acquiring
-what it wants at the dispersal of the cabinet
-of its rival. One of the most important purchases
-ever made was that of the collection of the
-Duc de Blacas in 1867, for which government
-got a vote of forty-five thousand seven hundred
-and twenty-one pounds. Amongst its treasures
-were some two thousand Greek and Roman coins,
-chiefly gold.</p>
-
-<p>All good and rare specimens gravitate naturally
-to the chief museums of Europe, which would
-thus stand in the way of a private individual
-forming a cabinet, were it not for the fact, that
-finds are continually taking place, either unexpectedly
-or in consequence of excavations in
-ancient countries. Only the other day, we noticed
-the sale of a large lot of medieval coins at Paris,
-which had been discovered when pulling down
-some ancient buildings. During the German
-excavations at Olympia, extending over six years,
-some six thousand pieces of all ages from 500 <span class="allsmcap">B.C.</span>
-to 600 <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> were brought to light. These, however,
-became the property of the Greek government,
-and are not likely to come into the market.
-Some of the finds are most extraordinary. In
-1818 were fished up out of the river Tigris two
-large silver coins of Geta, king of the Edoni; a
-Thracian people of whom we know only the name,
-and whose king’s name is all that we have to tell
-us of his existence. These are now in the British
-Museum, and are especially interesting as being the
-earliest pieces we have stamped with a monarch’s
-name. Their date is placed prior to 480 <span class="allsmcap">B.C.</span>
-We have seen a coin of Philip Aridæus, successor
-of Alexander the Great, struck at Mitylene, which
-was found in the roots of a tree which was being
-grubbed up in a park in Suffolk. The incident
-was inquired into at the time, and no
-doubt seems to have arisen as to the fact of
-its having been found as alleged. Nearly
-twenty years ago, General Philips discovered at
-Peshawur twenty milled sixpences of Elizabeth.
-There was a tradition in the place that an
-Englishman had been murdered there a very
-long time before, and the tomb was shown. It is
-naturally inferred, therefore, that the coins had
-belonged to him, or how else explain the find?
-When the railway was being made from Smyrna
-to Aidin, a few dozen very ancient coins were
-turned up, which were all sold at once at a few
-shillings each; but the dealers hearing of this,
-soon appeared on the spot, and the original buyers
-had the satisfaction of reselling the coins at four
-or five pounds apiece.</p>
-
-<p>Smyrna is, as the most important city of Asia
-Minor, naturally the headquarters of the dealers
-in Greek antiquities. Mr Whittall, a well-known
-merchant there, had formed a very fine collection
-of coins which was dispersed in London in 1867,
-and fetched two thousand seven hundred and
-twenty-nine pounds. When excavating at the
-base of the colossal statue of Athena, in her
-temple at Priene, Mr Clarke found five tetradrachms
-of Orophernes, supposed to be the one
-who was made king of Cappadocia by Demetrius
-in 158 <span class="allsmcap">B.C.</span> These were absolutely unique. In
-Cyprus, some years ago, the British consul at
-Larnaca obtained a large hoard, which had been
-discovered during some building operations. This
-was a particularly rich find, as amongst them
-happened to be no fewer than thirty-four undescribed
-pieces of Philip, Alexander the Great, and
-Philip Aridæus. Mr Wood, when excavating on
-the site of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus,
-came upon a lot of more than two thousand coins
-of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. In
-1876, some workmen, when digging, came upon
-a vase containing, amongst other relics of antiquity,
-some fifty electrum staters of Cyzicus and
-Lampsacus, all of the end of the fifth century <span class="allsmcap">B.C.</span>
-Only a few years ago, in that most out-of-the-way
-part of Central Asia, more than a hundred miles
-beyond the Oxus, was discovered a hoard of coins
-chiefly of the Seleucidæ, dating from the third<span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">{251}</span>
-century <span class="allsmcap">B.C.</span>—showing how far, even in those
-early days, trade had been carried. A few of
-them, too, were unknown pieces of Alexander the
-Great. Without being prepared to go into exact
-particulars, we should imagine that a find in 1877
-of twenty-nine thousand eight hundred and two
-Roman coins in two vases in Blackmoor Park,
-Hampshire, was one of the most extensive ever
-known.</p>
-
-<p>That coins are interesting, as giving us portraits
-of those who have made some show in the
-world, is undoubted. It is equally true that
-by their means we are made acquainted with
-the existence of kings and kingdoms of whom
-history has left no records. The fact of a Greek
-kingdom of Bactria occupying that even yet comparatively
-unexplored region, half-way between
-the Caspian and the Himalaya, was revealed to
-the world only some fifty years ago by the
-finding of coins bearing portraits and legends of
-the Greek-speaking rulers. An extremely large
-silver piece in the British Museum, supposed to
-belong to a period anterior to 480 <span class="allsmcap">B.C.</span> and struck
-by the Odomanti of Thrace, a tribe of whom we
-know nothing, was found at Ishtib. In the same
-collection is a large silver coin of the Orrescii,
-an unknown Macedonian people, which was found
-in Egypt, along with a very early drachma of
-Terone, and a large decadrachm of Derronikos,
-a king unknown to history. These are supposed
-to have been carried to Egypt by some of the
-soldiers of Xerxes, during their retreat from
-Greece after the battle of Platæa.</p>
-
-<p>The greatest sale of coins by public auction,
-we should imagine, was that of Lord Northwick,
-in December 1859, and April 1860. The former
-consisted of Greek coins only, and produced eight
-thousand five hundred and sixty-eight pounds;
-the latter, of Roman and later pieces, fetched
-three thousand three hundred and twenty pounds.
-The Greek coins were especially fine and rare,
-and some of them unique. One, a large piece of
-Camarina, bearing as reverse a nymph carried by
-a swan, a specimen of highest Greek art, went
-for fifty-two pounds to the British Museum.
-A splendid piece of Agrigentum, with reverse
-of the monster Scylla, fetched one hundred
-and fifty-nine pounds. A coin of Cleopatra,
-queen of Syria, daughter of Ptolemy VI. of
-Egypt, and wife successively of Alexander I.,
-Demetrius II., and Antiochus VII., and mother
-of Seleucus V., and the sixth and seventh
-Antiochi—all kings of Syria—was bought by
-the British Museum for two hundred and forty
-pounds. It is said to be the only one known.
-Altogether our national collection obtained one
-hundred specimens at a cost of nine hundred
-pounds. Lord Northwick had lived to a great
-age; but up to the last he preserved his faculties,
-and indulged his passion for ancient art by buying
-and exchanging objects. His pictures, statuary,
-everything, in fact, came to the hammer after his
-death. The years between 1790 and 1800 were
-spent by him in Italy, and he gained his early
-initiation into antiquities under the eye of Sir
-William Hamilton, the well-known ambassador
-at Naples. His first purchase is said to have
-been an after-dinner frolic in the shape of eight
-pounds for a bag of Roman brass coins. He
-and Payne-Knight bought and divided the fine
-collections of Prince Torremuzza and Sir Robert
-Ainslie—for the latter of which they gave eight
-thousand pounds. Since his lordship’s sale, there
-has been nothing to approach it. Fine though
-small cabinets have not been wanting, however,
-and the enthusiast can always find something
-with which to feed his passion. At
-Huxtable’s sale, in 1859, the collection fetched
-an unusually large sum. Hobler’s Roman cabinet
-of brass coins was sold for one thousand seven
-hundred and fifty-nine pounds; Merlin’s, containing
-one hundred and forty-one lots of Greek
-and Roman, produced eight hundred and seventy-eight
-pounds; Sheppard’s Greek, nineteen hundred
-pounds; Huber’s, containing some hundreds
-of unpublished Greek, three thousand; Ivanoff’s,
-three thousand and eight pounds; Bowen, one
-thousand five hundred and fifty-three pounds;
-Brown, three thousand and twelve pounds;
-Sambon, three thousand one hundred and forty-eight
-pounds; Exereunetes, containing several supposed
-to be unique, one thousand four hundred
-and twenty-one. The Sambon sale is memorable
-for the fact that a brass medallion of Geta, of the
-intrinsic value of twopence, was knocked down at
-five hundred and five pounds!</p>
-
-<p>Every one who has read the <i>Antiquary</i>, whether
-bibliomaniac or not, can enjoy the glowing description
-by Monkbarns: ‘Snuffy Davie bought the
-<i>Game of Chess</i>, 1474, the first book ever printed
-in England, from a stall in Holland, for about
-two groschen, or twopence of our money. He
-sold it to Osborne for twenty pounds and as many
-books as came to twenty pounds more. Osborne
-resold this inimitable windfall to Dr Askew for
-sixty guineas. At Dr Askew’s sale, this inestimable
-treasure blazed forth in its full value, and was
-purchased by royalty itself for one hundred and
-seventy pounds.—Could a copy now occur,’ he
-ejaculated with a deep sigh and lifted-up hands—‘what
-would be its ransom!’</p>
-
-<p>The progress of intelligence has affected coins
-in these days no less than books. It is only in
-the very out-of-the-way places that coins are to
-be picked up for a song. The chief hunting-ground,
-Asia Minor, is well looked after by the
-dealers, and the private collector has, of course,
-to pay them their profit. The increase in value
-may be gauged by the following instance: A gold
-coin of Mithridates, the size of our half-sovereign,
-fetched twenty-five guineas in 1777. In 1817 it
-came to the hammer, and was knocked down at
-eighty pounds to a well-known collector. Unfortunately
-for him, a duplicate soon afterwards
-appeared in a sale, and he had to pay ninety
-pounds for that. Later on still, a third turned
-up, and that fell to his bid at a hundred pounds.
-Yet a fourth came to light in 1840. The owner
-of the three bid up to a hundred and ten pounds,
-but had to give in to a bid of a hundred and
-thirteen pounds from a rival. Fancy his feelings!
-The rare brass medallions of Commodus, intrinsic
-value twopence or threepence, fetch up to thirty
-pounds, and the large pieces of Syracuse, the finest
-coins perhaps that we know of, regularly run up
-to fifty and sixty pounds. It is evident, therefore,
-that it is not every one who can indulge the
-passion for coin-collecting. At a little expense,
-however, electrotypes which are absolute facsimiles
-can be obtained from the British Museum,
-and this fact, which is not generally known,
-should result in the spread of a knowledge of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">{252}</span>
-Greek art; for it must not be forgotten that in
-the early coinage of the Greek race the progress
-of art can be traced as completely as in any now
-existing remains.</p>
-
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="MY_FELLOW-PASSENGER">MY FELLOW-PASSENGER.</h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<h3 title="CHAPTER I.">IN TWO CHAPTERS.—CHAPTER I.</h3>
-
-<p><span class="smcap">To</span> say that the real zest of an Englishman’s
-delight in England and English home-life is
-only attained after residence or travel in other
-countries, is to quote something like a truism.
-To this influence at least was owing in great
-measure the feeling of quite indescribable pleasure
-with which, after a not altogether successful
-six months of big-game hunting in the interior of
-Africa—a very far-away country indeed in those
-days, when no cable communication existed with
-England—I found myself on board the good ship
-<i>Balbriggan Castle</i> (Captain Trossach), as she steamed
-slowly out of the Cape Town Docks on a lovely
-June evening in 187-, homeward bound. I had
-come from one of the eastern ports of the colony
-in sole occupation of a cabin; and though I knew
-we had taken on board a large number of passengers
-that afternoon, I was not a little put out
-to find, on going below, that the berth above mine
-had been filled, and that the inestimable blessing
-of solitude was to be denied me for the next
-twenty days or so. However, there was no help
-for it; and with the best grace I could command,
-I answered my fellow-traveller’s courteous expressions
-of regret with a hope that the voyage would
-be a pleasant one. The new-comer was a tall,
-slightly-built, and strikingly handsome man, of
-about thirty, remarkable for a slow deliberative
-manner of speech, with which an occasional
-nervous movement of the features seemed oddly
-at variance. On a travelling-bag, as to the exact
-disposition of which he was especially solicitous,
-I caught sight of the letters P. R. in big white
-capitals. These being my own initials, the
-coincidence, though commonplace enough, furnished
-a topic of small-talk which sufficed to
-fill up the short time intervening before dinner,
-and ended, naturally enough, in the discovery
-of my new friend’s name—Paul Raynor—given,
-as I afterwards remembered, with some little
-hesitation, but producing a much finer effect of
-sound than my own unmelodious Peter Rodd.</p>
-
-<p>At dinner, I found my place laid opposite to
-Raynor; and thus, notwithstanding the claims
-of an excellent appetite and the desire to take
-stock of other passengers, I had again occasion
-to observe the painful twitching of the fine
-features, recurring with increased frequency as
-he, too, looked round at those about him, and
-seemed to scan each in turn with more than
-ordinary deliberation. The man interested me
-greatly; and as I listened to his conversation with
-some Englishmen near, and noted the dry humour
-with which he hit off the peculiarities of the
-worthy colonists we were leaving behind, I saw
-at once that here at least was promise of relief
-to the monotony of the voyage, of which I should
-be constantly able to avail myself.</p>
-
-<p>A sea like glass, and a temperature of unusual
-mildness for a June evening in those latitudes,
-drew every one on deck, and ensconcing myself
-in a pleasant corner just behind the too often
-violated legend, ‘No smoking abaft the companion,’
-I proceeded to illuminate a mild Havana
-cigar, when I was joined by Raynor, with whom,
-after a good-humoured joke anent my unsuccessful
-attempt to obtain that solitude which the cabin
-could no longer afford, I renewed our conversation
-of the afternoon, passing from generalities
-to more personal matters, and sowing in a few
-hours the seeds of a friendship destined to grow
-and ripen with that marvellous rapidity only to
-be attained by the forcing process of life on
-board a passenger-ship.</p>
-
-<p>Nothing could exceed the frankness of Raynor’s
-own story, as he told it me in brief before we
-turned in that night. One of a large family of
-sons, he had conceived an unconquerable dislike
-to the profession of teaching, to which, in lieu
-of one of a more lucrative nature, he had found
-himself compelled to turn. The suggestion of
-a friend, that he should try his luck in the
-colonies, was hardly made before it was acted
-upon; and a few weeks found him in an
-up-country town at the Cape, where his letters
-of introduction speedily brought him employment
-in a well-known and respected house of business.
-Here he rose rapidly; and having, by care and
-occasional discreet speculation, saved a few hundreds,
-was now on his way home, with four
-months’ leave of absence, professedly as a holiday
-trip, but really, as he admitted to me, to see
-what chances presented themselves of investing
-his small capital and procuring permanent employment
-in England. In answer to my question,
-whether his absence after so short a time of service
-might not conceivably affect his prospects in the
-firm, he replied, that his intention of remaining
-at home had not been communicated to any one;
-and that, should no suitable opening offer in
-England, he would, upon returning to the colony,
-resume his former position with Messrs ——,
-whose word to that effect had been given.</p>
-
-<p>‘Do you know any one on board?’ said I carelessly,
-when his short narration was over, and
-after I had in turn imparted to him a few dry
-and unrefreshing facts as to my own humble
-personality.</p>
-
-<p>‘Why do you ask?’</p>
-
-<p>I was taken aback at the sharp, almost angry
-voice in which the words were uttered; but,
-strong in the harmless nature of my question,
-I replied: ‘Because I thought I saw a man at
-the next table to ours at dinner trying to catch
-your eye, as if he knew you.’</p>
-
-<p>‘Daresay he did. One gets to know such an
-unnecessary lot of skunks in the colonies!’
-Uttering these remarkable words hurriedly and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">{253}</span>
-in a tone of intense irritation, Paul Raynor strode
-away, and I saw him no more that night.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Our cabin was on the starboard side of the ship,
-and the morning sun streamed in and laid his
-glorious mandate upon me and all sluggards to
-be up and stirring. Raynor, who had the berth
-above me, seemed to have obeyed the call still
-earlier, for he was gone. Mounting, a little later,
-to the poop-deck, I arrived just in time to find
-him in conversation with the odd-looking little
-Dutchman I had noticed watching Raynor at
-dinner, and to hear the former say, in that queer-sounding
-Cape English, which, at a few paces
-distant, is hardly to be distinguished from Cape
-Dutch: ‘My name is Jan van Poontjes; and I
-remember better as anything ’ow I met you
-six or five months ago by Pieteraasvogelfontein
-with young Alister of the Kaapstadt Bank, eh?’
-To which Raynor replied: ‘I can only assure you
-again, sir, that you are mistaken. My name is
-Paul Raynor, and I have never had the honour
-of seeing you in my life before.’ Turning on
-his heel, Mynheer van Poontjes shuffled away,
-expressing <i>sotto voce</i> his readiness to be immediately
-converted into ‘biltong,’ if he wasn’t right
-about the ‘<i>verdomd Englischmann</i>.’</p>
-
-<p>Directly he caught sight of me, Raynor left
-his seat, and coming hastily forward, said: ‘Mr
-Rodd, I owe you many apologies for my unpardonable
-rudeness of last night. I am blessed
-with the vilest of tempers, which, after years of
-effort, is not yet under my control. Will you
-forget the episode? Believe me, I shall not offend
-again.’</p>
-
-<p>My answer need not be recorded. But it struck
-me as odd at the time, that when our reconciliation
-was complete, and we were pacing the deck
-for the short half-hour before breakfast, my companion
-made no reference whatever to the Dutchman’s
-mistake, not even evincing the slightest
-curiosity to know whether Poontjes was the same
-man whose regards I had observed so intently
-fixed upon him. Possibly he was not aware that
-I had been a witness of the interview, or, as
-seemed more probable, he avoided alluding to
-a subject so directly tending to recall his extraordinary
-outburst of the previous night.</p>
-
-<p>The voyage was a quiet one enough, in spite
-of the very large number of passengers. Three
-really charming sisters were undergoing a well-sustained
-siege at the hands of a dozen or so of
-the most presentable young men, and at least one
-engagement was shortly expected. Theatricals
-were projected; but fortunately the ‘company’
-would <i>not</i> attend rehearsals, and we were spared.
-One or two concerts were got up, at which feeble
-young men complacently rubbed fiddle-strings
-with rosined bows, and evoked flat and melancholy
-sounds, expressing no surprise when subsequently
-complimented on their ‘violin-playing.’
-An opulent but unlovely Jew from the Diamond
-Fields created a diversion by singing, without
-notice given, a song of the music-hall type—refrain,
-‘Oh, you ridic’lous man, why dew yer
-look so shy!’ &amp;c.; and was genuinely hurt when
-the captain suggested his ‘going for’ard next
-time he wanted an audience for <i>that</i> song.’
-Several ladies, of several ages, displayed their
-varied musical acquirements; and Raynor surprised
-everybody one day by giving us the
-<i>Village Blacksmith</i> in a round clear baritone, of
-which no one imagined him to be the possessor.</p>
-
-<p>During these first ten days at sea, Raynor had,
-apparently without any striving after popularity,
-established himself as a universal favourite. The
-children adored him from the first, thereby securing
-him a straight road to the mothers’ hearts,
-who in their turn spoke warmly in his praise
-to the younger ladies on board. These last felt
-strongly his superiority to the other very ordinary
-young men, enjoyed his conversation greatly,
-and were perhaps the least bit afraid of him.</p>
-
-<p>Raynor’s fondness for and influence with children
-were altogether remarkable. Early in the voyage,
-a tiny trot of four had tripped and fallen sharply
-on the deck at his feet. As he lifted her ever so
-tenderly in his arms and stroked the poor little
-hurt knee, the child looked up at him through her
-tears and asked: ‘Is you <i>weally</i> sorry?’ ‘Yes,
-indeed—I am, Nellie.’ ‘Then me’s better,’ came
-the little sobbing answer; and forthwith she
-nestled closer to him, and was comforted. This
-incident evidently produced a profound effect
-upon the other children playing near, who thereafter
-lost no opportunity of showing ‘the tall
-man’ that he might consider himself entirely one
-of themselves.</p>
-
-<p>My own intimacy with him grew daily stronger,
-and our mutual friendship became so firm that we
-began to project various plans of business and pleasure
-for months to come in England. How often,
-in after-days, did I stop to think wonderingly of
-the man’s earnestness, the intense absorption with
-which he would ponder upon the relative merits
-of different undertakings, each more certain than
-the last to make our fortunes! Was he for the
-moment actually deceiving himself? or did the
-habit of concentrated thought forbid him to
-discuss otherwise than gravely, projects of whose
-very initiation he alone knew the impossibility?</p>
-
-<p>Raynor spent his money freely, though without
-ostentation; and I hardly knew whether to be surprised
-or not when he applied to me one day for a
-loan of twenty-five pounds, explaining that he had
-lost rather heavily at cards during the past few
-days, and having only brought a limited supply
-of ready cash for the voyage, he found himself
-for the moment rather inconveniently short.
-Fortunately, I was in a position to supply his
-needs; and when we went ashore at Madeira the
-next afternoon, he invested a small fortune in
-sweets, toys, and native gimcracks for his army
-of little friends on board, including an exquisite
-model of one of the quaint little Funchal carts,
-destined for a poor crippled lad amongst the
-passengers in the fore-part of the ship.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Four or five days later, and signs of the
-approaching end began to be visible in the shape
-of Railway Guides on the saloon tables, great ease
-in the procuring of hitherto impossible luxuries
-from the stewards, and the appearance on the
-scene of certain towzled officials not previously
-observed, but with ‘backsheesh’ writ plain on
-each grimy feature. Raynor and I had during
-the last few days matured our plans for the
-immediate future. These were to include a week
-in town, another on the river, some visits to
-friends, and, if possible, a few days with the
-grouse towards the end of August. After this,
-a tentative negotiation with a City House with a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">{254}</span>
-view to the fruition of a certain scheme upon
-which my friend built great hopes.</p>
-
-<p>Musing pleasurably upon these and other prospective
-delights, I turned in at ten o’clock,
-determined to get a few hours’ good sleep before
-reaching Plymouth—where we expected to put in
-at four or five o’clock in the morning, to land
-mails and some few passengers—the rest going
-on with the ship to Southampton. I had not
-slept more than an hour or two at most, when I
-was awakened by a sensation, known to even the
-soundest of sleepers, as if something were going
-on near me of which I ought to know. Looking
-out half-dreamily from my berth, I saw that
-Raynor was standing in the cabin, a lighted
-taper placed on a small shelf near him. I was
-about to close my eyes, when I became aware that
-there was something unusual in his appearance
-and actions. Instead of undressing himself for
-the night, he stood half bent over a locker
-opposite, upon which was lying open the travelling-bag
-I have referred to as being the object
-of his special care at the outset of the voyage.
-From this he drew one after another a number
-of small brown packets, in size and look not
-unlike gun-cartridges—which, indeed, in the dim
-light of the taper, I took them to be—hurriedly
-passing them into the various pockets of a light
-overcoat I now noticed him to be wearing. Still
-drowsily watching his movements, I was surprised
-to see him unroll from a bundle of wraps
-a thick heavy ulster, and putting it on, proceed
-to transfer more of the queer little brown-paper
-parcels to the pockets of this second garment.
-I was now fairly awake, and with a perhaps
-rather tardy recognition of the unfairness of my
-espionage, I coughed an artfully prepared cough,
-so toned as to convey the impression that I had
-that moment come from the land of dreams.</p>
-
-<p>‘Hullo!’ I said, with the uneasy drawl of
-somnolence, ‘is that you?’</p>
-
-<p>He started, and made a movement as if trying
-to stand full between me and the valise, as he
-answered: ‘Yes; I am just putting away one or
-two things.’ Then, after a moment’s pause, during
-which I heard him lock and fasten the bag, ‘I’m
-afraid,’ he said, ‘you will think me a terribly
-shifty fellow, Peter, but the fact is, I know those
-old people in Cornwall will never forgive me if
-I don’t go and see them whilst I’m at home; and
-I’m equally positive that if I put it off now, I
-shall never get anywhere near them’——</p>
-
-<p>‘And so you’ve suddenly made up your mind
-to get out at Plymouth, and leave me to go on
-to town alone,’ said I, interrupting, with a feeling
-of keener disappointment than I cared to show.
-‘I see it all. Never mind. I can bear it. I was
-born to suffer.’</p>
-
-<p>‘So you will say when I have finished,’ was
-the laughing reply. ‘After all, though, it is
-only putting off our little jaunt for a few days.
-Meanwhile, will you do me a favour? I cannot
-descend upon the old folks with a heap of
-luggage; and besides, this concern’—pointing to
-the valise—‘holds everything I am likely to need.
-Therefore, I want you, like a good boy as you
-are, to pass through the Customs with your own
-things, my two portmanteaus which are in the
-hold, and take them up to town with you. Go
-to the rooms you spoke of, and I will join you
-in a week from to-day.’</p>
-
-<p>‘All right, you unblushing deserter. Have it
-as you will. But remember, if you are not at
-No. 91 Savile Street by Thursday evening next,
-I shall “cause your goods to be sold to defray
-expenses, and reserve to myself the right of
-deciding what to do with the proceeds,” as the
-Tipperary lawyers have it.’</p>
-
-<p>‘Do; only keep something to remind you of
-the biggest scoundrel you are ever likely to know,’
-he replied, laughing again, but with a curious
-ring in his voice, of which, I think, I shall never
-quite lose the memory. Its effect at the moment
-was to set me thinking whether this new move
-of Paul’s might not portend the upsetting of all
-our schemes.</p>
-
-<p>‘Here, Peter,’ he went on—‘here is what I
-owe you, with many thanks. You don’t mind
-having it all in gold, do you? Those fellows
-have been giving me a very decent revenge at
-loo the last night or two, and this is the result!’
-holding up a handful of sovereigns, and proceeding
-to pour twenty-five of them with a horrible
-clatter into my washing-basin.</p>
-
-<p>‘Haven’t you got any English notes?’ I asked,
-wondering sleepily what I should do with all
-these sovereigns in addition to an existing small
-supply of my own.</p>
-
-<p>‘Not one,’ answered Raynor. ‘Now, go to
-sleep; and I’ll come down and awake you
-when we’re within anything like reasonable
-distance of Plymouth. It’s no use turning in
-for the short time that’s left, so I shall go up
-and smoke a pipe and watch for the first sight
-of the land of my birth.’ He then went out into
-the soft air of the July night, looking strangely
-uncouth in a superfluity of wraps such as no
-man would throw about him only to meet
-the light breeze that just precedes a summer
-dawn.</p>
-
-<p>A few hours afterwards, I was leaning over the
-taffrail waving good-bye to my friend as he stood
-near the wheel of the little tender that bore him
-and some half-dozen others to the shore. There
-had been a deep sadness in his eyes at parting;
-and the foreboding of the night before changed
-now to a chill conviction that Paul Raynor and
-I should meet no more.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>‘So your friend has just now landed already,
-eh?’ said the voice of Mr van Poontjes, a
-gentleman with whom I had not exchanged a
-dozen words during the voyage, but who now,
-planting himself heavily on the deck-chair next
-mine, gave evidence of his intention to put a full
-stop to my enjoyment of the book which I was
-struggling to finish before delivering it to its
-owner that evening.</p>
-
-<p>‘Yes,’ I replied wearily, wondering a little
-whether this worthy but slightly repulsive individual
-was going to stay long, and mentally
-laying plans of escape to meet the contingency.</p>
-
-<p>‘Well, now,’ he continued, ‘I dessay you consider
-your Mister Raynor a jolly fine feller,
-eh?’</p>
-
-<p>Suppressing the instantaneous impulse to take
-the little boer by the collar and shake him, I
-answered: ‘Mr Raynor is a friend of mine, as
-you are aware; and as I am not in the habit of
-discussing my friends with strangers, perhaps you
-will leave me to my book!’</p>
-
-<p>‘Strangers, eh! Stranger to you, per’aps, yes!<span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">{255}</span>
-but not stranger to Mister—what do you call
-’im?—Raynor! Eh, I could tell you something’——</p>
-
-<p>‘Now, look you here, Mr van Poontjes,’ I burst
-out; ‘you have courageously waited to speak like
-this until Mr Raynor is no longer here to answer
-you. But I happen to have heard that gentleman
-inform you with his own lips that he had never
-set eyes on you until the day you met on board
-this ship; and therefore to say that you are not
-a stranger to Mr Raynor is equivalent to the
-assertion that Mr Raynor has told a lie. You
-had better not dare to repeat that statement
-either to me or to any other passenger on board.—Now,
-good-morning; and take care that mischievous
-tongue of yours doesn’t get you into
-trouble yet!’</p>
-
-<p>As the little crowd that these angry words had
-brought about us moved away, a few clustering
-inquisitively round the little Dutchman, my
-reading was once more postponed by Jack
-Abinger, the second officer, a man with whom
-Raynor and I had struck up something of a
-friendship. ‘Hullo, Rodd,’ he said, strolling up
-to where I sat, ‘what’s all the row about? I
-saw you from my cabin standing in the recognised
-attitude of the avenger, apparently slating
-Mynheer van Poontjes as if he were a pickpocket.’
-After listening to my story of what had
-occurred, he said: ‘Ah, a clear case of mistaken
-identity! But, I say, talking of Paul Raynor,
-it was a pity, as far as he was concerned, that
-we couldn’t have got to Plymouth a day or two
-earlier.’</p>
-
-<p>‘What do you mean?’ I asked surprisedly.</p>
-
-<p>‘Only, that he would have gone ashore a richer
-man by a good bit. Surely he told you what
-a bad time he’s been having of it lately? Anybody
-else would have been stone-broke long
-ago. And last night, by way of a finish, that
-unspeakable little reptile, Barnett Moss, took a
-lot of money out of him at écarté. Never saw
-a man hold such cards in my life!’</p>
-
-<p>‘It’s a good thing Paul was able to pay the
-little beast,’ I said, trying to speak easily, and
-miserably failing, as I recalled what had passed
-between us the night before.</p>
-
-<p>‘Pay!’ replied Abinger; ‘I believe you! Why,
-Paul must have brought a perfect bank on board
-with him! I only hope he hasn’t lost enough
-to spoil his holiday.’</p>
-
-<p>‘Never mind, Jack; he’ll be all right. He has
-gone to stay with friends in Cornwall for a week—to
-economise, I expect.’</p>
-
-<p>‘A week!’ shouted Jack. ‘Why, I know I
-shouldn’t be able to go ashore for the next year or
-two, if I had had his bad luck!’ And he ran off
-on some duty or other, leaving me in perplexed
-and restless cogitation. If, as Abinger said, Paul
-had ‘brought a perfect bank on board with him’—the
-words ran in my head—what could have
-been his object in seeking to produce exactly the
-opposite impression upon myself—even going so
-far as to borrow money during the voyage ostensibly
-to replace his losses—repaying the amount,
-too, at the very moment when his ill-luck had
-reached a climax, with a few light words about
-the ‘revenge’ which, as it now appeared, he had
-been so very far from obtaining? The whole
-affair was inexplicable and disquieting; and I was
-glad when the necessity for making my final
-preparations left me little further time for
-thoughts which, do what I would, kept crossing
-the border-line into the hateful regions of
-doubt.</p>
-
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="A_SKATING_REGIMENT">A SKATING REGIMENT.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="ph3">BY A NORWEGIAN.</p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">The</span> following account of a Norwegian corps of
-soldiers, called in their language <i>skielober-corpset</i>,
-as they existed some years since, will no doubt
-be interesting to readers of your <i>Journal</i>. Whether
-any changes have been made of late years, the
-writer is unable to say. The denomination
-<i>skielober</i> (skater) comes from <i>skie</i>, which signifies
-a long plank, narrow and thin, fastened upon the
-feet for sliding on the snow.</p>
-
-<p>It is well known that during four or five
-months of the year Norway is covered with snow,
-which at a few leagues’ distance from the borders
-of the sea is driven into such heaps as to render
-it impossible for the traveller to go out of the
-beaten track, either on foot or on horseback. It
-is even found necessary to clear this road after
-every fall of snow, which is done by means of a
-machine in the form of a plough, pointed at the
-front, and of a triangular shape. It is drawn by
-horses. It pierces and levels the snow at one
-and the same time, and thus opens a passable
-road. Notwithstanding these difficulties, hunting
-has at all times been the great sport and exercise
-of that country, formerly abounding in fierce animals,
-and still in deer and most kinds of smaller
-game. Hunting is indeed an occupation which
-appears to be in a peculiar manner prescribed to
-the inhabitants by the shortness of the days and
-the length of the winters. It is therefore natural
-that the Norwegian should have occupied himself
-from the earliest period about the means of
-quitting his hut and penetrating into the forest
-in every direction and with all possible speed.
-The <i>skier</i> or skates presented these means.</p>
-
-<p>Let us figure in our minds two planks of wood
-as broad as the hand, and nearly of the thickness
-of the little finger, the middle underneath being
-hollowed, to prevent vacillation, and to facilitate
-the advancing in a direct line. The plank
-fastened under the left foot is ten feet in length;
-that intended for the right is only six, or thereabouts;
-both of them are bent upwards at the
-extremities, but higher before than behind. They
-are fastened to the feet by leather straps, attached
-to the middle, and for this purpose are formed
-a little higher and stronger in that part. The
-plank of the right foot is generally lined below
-with the skin of the reindeer or the sea-wolf, so
-that in drawing the feet successively in right and
-parallel lines with skates thus lined with skins,
-and very slippery in the direction of the hair,
-the skater finds them nevertheless capable of
-resistance, by affording a kind of spring when he
-would support himself with one foot in a contrary
-direction, as by such movements he raises up the
-hair or bristly part of the skin. It is affirmed
-that an expert skater, however loose and uncompact
-the snow may be, will go over more
-ground in an open place, and will continue his
-course for a longer time together, than the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">{256}</span>
-best horse can do upon the trot over the finest
-and best paved road. If a mountain is to be
-descended, he does it with such precipitation, that
-he is obliged to moderate his flight, to avoid
-losing his breath. He ascends more slowly, and
-with some trouble, because he is compelled to
-make a zigzag course; but he arrives at the
-summit as soon as the best walker or foot-soldier,
-with this advantage, that however little consistence
-the snow may have acquired, he can never
-sink into it.</p>
-
-<p>Experience has proved that in spite of the
-multiplied obstacles produced by the rigour of the
-winter, the Norwegians have often been attacked
-by their enemies in precisely such seasons; and
-from the above manner of going out to hunt,
-and undertaking long journeys, it was not at all
-surprising that the forming of a military corps
-of skaters should be thought of. The whole
-body consisted of two battalions, one stationed
-in the north, the other in the south. Its strength
-was nine hundred and sixty men. The uniform
-consisted of a short jacket or waistcoat, a gray
-surtout with a yellow collar, gray pantaloons,
-and a black leather cap. The skater’s arms were—a
-carabine, hung in a leather belt passing over
-the shoulder; a large <i>couteau de chasse</i>; and a
-staff three yards and a half long, to the end
-of which is affixed a pointed piece of iron.
-At a little distance from the extremity it is
-surrounded by a circular projecting piece of
-iron, which serves principally to moderate his
-speed in going down-hill. The skater then puts
-it between his legs, and contrives to draw it in
-that manner; or he drags it by his side; or uses
-it to help himself forward, when he has occasion
-to ascend a hill; in short, he makes use of it
-according to the occasion and the circumstances
-in which he may be placed. Besides this, it
-affords a support to the firelock, when the skater
-wishes to discharge its contents. With such a
-rest, the Norwegian peasant fires a gun dexterously,
-and very seldom misses his aim.</p>
-
-<p>The corps of skaters, to this service adds that
-of the ordinary chasseurs, of which they might
-be considered as making a part; they fulfil all
-the functions of those troops, and only differ
-from them by marching on skates. This gives
-them a considerable advantage over others. The
-skaters, moving with great agility, and, from
-the depth of the snow, being out of the reach
-of the pursuit of cavalry as well as infantry,
-are enabled with impunity to harass the
-columns of the enemy in their march, on both
-sides of the road, running little or no danger
-themselves. Even cannon-shot could produce
-little effect upon men spread here and there
-at the distance of two or three hundred paces.
-Their motions are besides so quick, that at the
-moment when it is believed they are still to be
-aimed at, they have disappeared, to come in sight
-again when least expected. Should the enemy
-be inclined to take his repose, this is the precise
-time for the skater to show his superiority, whatever
-may have been the precautions taken against
-him. There is no moment free from the attack
-of troops which have no need of either roads or
-bypaths; crossing indifferently marshes, lakes,
-and rivers, provided there be but ice and snow.
-No corps could be more proper in winter for
-reconnoitring and giving accounts of the enemy,
-and, in short, for performing the functions of
-couriers. It may be conceived, however, that
-they find great difficulty in turning, on account
-of the length of their skates. This, however,
-is not the case; they make a retrograde motion
-with the right foot, to which the shortest
-plank is attached, and put it vertically against
-the left. They then raise the left foot, and place
-it parallel to the right, by which movement they
-have made a <i>half</i>-face; if they would face about,
-they repeat the manœuvre.</p>
-
-<p>In the ordinary winter exercise, the skaters
-draw up in three ranks, at the distance of three
-paces between each file, and eight paces between
-each rank, a distance which they keep in all their
-movements—whenever they do not disperse—in
-order that they may not be incommoded in the
-use of their skates. When there is occasion to
-fire, the second and third ranks advance towards
-the first. Their baggage—kettles, bottles, axes, &amp;c.—is
-conveyed upon sledges, or carriages fixed on
-skates, and easily drawn by men, by the help of a
-leather strap passing from the right shoulder to
-the left side, like that of a carabineer.</p>
-
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="ECHOES">ECHOES.</h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Ofttimes</span> when Even’s scarlet flag</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Floats from the crest of distant woods,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">And over moorland waste and crag</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">A weary, voiceless sorrow broods;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Around me hover to and fro</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">The ghosts of songs heard long ago.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">And often midst the rush of wheels,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Of passing and repassing feet,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">When half a headlong city reels</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Triumphant down the noontide street,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Above the tumult of the throngs</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">I hear again the same old songs.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">Rest and Unrest—’tis strange that ye,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Who lie apart as pole from pole,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Should sway with one strong sovereignty</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">The secret issues of the soul;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Strange that ye both should hold the keys</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Of prisoned tender memories.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">It maybe when the landscape’s rim</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Is red and slumberous round the west,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">The spirit too grows still and dim,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">And turns in half-unconscious quest</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">To those forgotten lullabies</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">That whilom closed the infant’s eyes.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">And maybe, when the city mart</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Roars with its fullest, loudest tide,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">The spirit loses helm and chart,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">And on an instant, terrified,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Has fled across the space of years</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">To notes that banished childhood’s fears.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">We know not—but ’tis sweet to know</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Dead hours still haunt the living day,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">And sweet to hope that, when the slow</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Sure message beckons us away,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">The Past may send some tuneful breath</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">To echo round the bed of death.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse right">L. J. G.</div>
- </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="full" />
-
-<p class="center">Printed and Published by <span class="smcap">W. &amp; R. Chambers</span>, 47 Paternoster
-Row, <span class="smcap">London</span>, and 339 High Street, <span class="smcap">Edinburgh</span>.</p>
-
-<hr class="full" />
-
-<p class="center"><i>All Rights Reserved.</i></p>
-
-<hr class="full" />
-
-<div class="footnotes"><p class="ph3">FOOTNOTES:</p>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> [An excellent article on the subject, with drawings of
-loft, &amp;c., will be found in <i>The Field</i> for 23d Feb. last.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span>]</p>
-
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL OF POPULAR LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART, FIFTH SERIES, NO. 16, VOL. I, APRIL 19, 1884 ***</div>
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