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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d4ce93a --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #65871 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65871) diff --git a/old/65871-0.txt b/old/65871-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 9149185..0000000 --- a/old/65871-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5596 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Rejuvenation of Miss Semaphore, by -Charlotte O'Conor Eccles - - -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 -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: The Rejuvenation of Miss Semaphore - A Farcical Novel - - -Author: Charlotte O'Conor Eccles - - - -Release Date: July 19, 2021 [eBook #65871] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE REJUVENATION OF MISS -SEMAPHORE*** - - -E-text prepared by Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading -Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by -Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.96609 - - -Transcriber’s note: - - Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - - - - - -THE REJUVENATION OF MISS SEMAPHORE - -A Farcical Novel - -by - -HAL GODFREY - -(C. O’Conor Eccles) - - -[Illustration: SANS PEUR ET SANS REPROCHE - -L &. N 30TH THOUSAND] - - -London -Jarrold & Sons, 10 & 11, Warwick Lane, E.C. -[All Rights Reserved] -1900 - - - * * * * * * - - _COOMBS’_ - - EUREKA SELF-RAISING - - _FLOUR_ - - Admitted Antidote - for Indigestion. - - 16 GOLD MEDALS - and Prix d’Honneur at - the Imperial - Institute, 1899. - - Is the Best and - ABSOLUTELY PURE. - Sold in 3d., 6d., 1/-, & - 2/6 Bags. - - * * * * * - - _COOMBS’_ - - _MALTED FOOD_ - - 3 GOLD MEDALS - and Prix d’Honneur at - the Imperial Institute, - 1899. - - FOR INFANTS AND - INVALIDS, - IS A PERFECT AND - INVALUABLE ARTICLE OF - DIET. - Sold in 6d., 1/-, 2/6 & - 5/- Tins. - ALSO - Custard, Blanc Mange, - Light Pastry, and Egg - Powders - - Sold in 1d., 2d., 3d., - 6d., and 1/- Boxes. - - TOTAL AWARDS 61 MEDALS. - - * * * * * - -[Illustration] - - Dr. MACKENZIE’S - - CATARRH CURE - - _Smelling Bottle_. - - Cures Cold in the Head, - cures Nervous Headache, - instantly relieves Hay - Fever and Neuralgia in - the Head, is the best - remedy for Faintness and - Dizziness. - - _Sold by all Chemists - and Stores._ - - PRICE ONE SHILLING. - - REFUSE WORTHLESS - IMITATIONS. - - Post Free, 15 Stamps, - from - MACKENZIE’S CURE DEPOT, - READING. - - * * * * * * - - - - CONTENTS. - - - CHAPTER PAGE - I. WHICH INTRODUCES MISS SEMAPHORE 7 - - II. A BOARDING-HOUSE EVENING 20 - - III. MISS SEMAPHORE RECEIVES AN ANSWER 35 - - IV. CASTLES IN THE AIR 45 - - V. THE WATER OF YOUTH 54 - - VI. AN ACCIDENT 61 - - VII. PRUDENCE RECEIVES A SHOCK 70 - - VIII. A CAREER OF DECEPTION 81 - - IX. A PROMISING ADVERTISEMENT 91 - - X. IN WHICH MISS PRUDENCE EXPLAINS MATTERS 100 - - XI. THE MEDICAL LADY INTERVENES 106 - - XII. “GOOD MRS. BROWN” 116 - - XIII. THE MEDICAL LADY BAFFLED 129 - - XIV. AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR 139 - - XV. PRUDENCE CALLS AT PLUMMER’S COTTAGES 150 - - XVI. MRS. DUMARESQ IN AN UNDIPLOMATIC CIRCLE 163 - - XVII. A SENSATION IN “THE STAR” 173 - - XVIII. A DETECTIVE ON THE TRACK 177 - - XIX. A COUNCIL OF WAR 190 - - XX. NOTICE TO QUIT 204 - - XXI. AT THE ARROW STREET POLICE COURT 213 - - XXII. A SCENE IN COURT 222 - - XXIII. CONCLUSION 236 - - - - - The Rejuvenation - - OF - - MISS SEMAPHORE. - - - - - CHAPTER I. - WHICH INTRODUCES MISS SEMAPHORE. - - -Seven o’clock had struck. - -The gong at 37, Beaconsfield Gardens, South Kensington, thundered under -the vigorous strokes of the bow-legged German waiter. By one, by two, by -three, the boarders trooped down to dinner, the more sensitive to noise -stopping their ears as they descended. - -The very deafest could not ignore that gong. Müller always attacked it -suddenly, as if running amuck or possessed by a demon. It reverberated -far and near, and echoed faintly to Gloucester Road Station. Boarders, -arriving late, were seen to run when their ears caught the familiar -sound. - -At the head of the central table in the fine dining-room, its three -windows looking on the Gardens, sat the proprietress, Mrs. Wilcox. She -was a bright-eyed, stout, florid woman of forty-five, dressed in black -silk and a lace fichu secured by a cameo brooch. As she waited for her -guests, she meditatively sharpened a carving knife. - -By the sideboard stood her husband, Captain Wilcox, slender, dried-up, -younger than his wife, and dominated by her. Where they met, and why -they married, was a never-failing source of speculation in the house. It -was asserted that Miss Tompkins took him in payment of a debt. Be that -as it might, the mild, subdued little Captain was evidently a gentleman. -He had been in a Lancer regiment, got into difficulties, and now at -eight-and-thirty was a person of much less importance in his wife’s -boarding-house than her imposing cook. - -Though never supposed to act as master, the name and authority of -Captain Wilcox were frequently evoked by Mrs. Wilcox when any unpleasant -duty had to be done. He it was, for instance, who sternly insisted that -no credit should be given. He stood out for the weekly settlement of -accounts. He was responsible for certain persons receiving notice to -quit. He made the unpopular rule that the drawing-room lights should be -extinguished precisely at eleven. In a word, he was the Jorkins of the -firm. For the rest, he held some small post in the City secured for him -by his wife’s brother, helped daily with the carving, and paid for his -own keep. - -Besides the central table, there were round the room several smaller -ones, accommodating from four to eight persons. To one of these, some -men and women concerned in our story were making their way. First came -Miss Augusta Semaphore, a tall, thin, and rather acid-looking woman of -fifty-three. Close behind followed her sister, Miss Prudence, who was -ten years younger, and accustomed to be treated as a baby. Prudence wore -a fringe that hung over her eyes in separate snaky curls, and in damp -weather degenerated into wisps; she was plump and fair, had a somewhat -foolish smile, and, as befitted her part of giddy, little thing, any -number of coquettish airs and graces. - -Their neighbours were, a stately couple named Mr. and Mrs. Dumaresq, Mr. -Lorimer, a clownish youth, of good family and aggressive patriotism, -Major Jones, Mrs. Whitley, a small, mincing lady of recent and painful -refinement, and finally a large and commanding woman with a terrible -eye, who was vaguely believed to have taken out a medical degree. - -“For what we are about to receive,” said Mrs. Wilcox, “the Lord make us -truly thankful.” - -With a creak and a rustle, some five-and-thirty boarders drew in their -chairs. The covers were removed, and a ripple of prosy talk began. - -As usual, it started with polite enquiries as to each other’s health. In -boarding-houses it generally does. No one cares a button for you or your -ailments, but they ask after them all the same with exasperating -regularity and take no interest in the answer. - -“How is your cold, Major Jones?” - -“Better, thank you, Mrs. Dumaresq—and your neuralgia?” - -“Much worse; I never closed my eyes last night.” - -“But you are taking something for it?”—and so on, and so on, and so on. - -New comers at 37, Beaconsfield Gardens, occasionally tried to be -conversational. For a time they were lively, animated, full of good -stories and repartee. People listened to them in silence, and generally -took offence. Conversation as a fine art was not encouraged. It was sad -to notice how in a week or a fortnight the talkers talked themselves -out, and subsided into the brief commonplaces of their neighbours. - -The boarders, all respectable people who read the _Daily Telegraph_ and -voted Tory when they had votes, shared the profound belief of the -middle-class Briton that silence shows solidity, sound judgment, and a -well-balanced mind. Profound and continued silence they considered an -attainment in itself. They scarcely realised, not being introspective, -that two-thirds of the people who don’t speak are silent from lack of -ideas. - -As a matter of fact, in such a _milieu_, subjects for conversation of -general interest were almost impossible to find. By tacit consent, -politics and religion were tabooed, since the discussion of either -invariably ended in a quarrel. Though the boarders read novels, they did -not talk about them, and they took no great interest in literature or -art. A man who was supposed to have written a book was rather -cold-shouldered, for the Englishman—and in this case, as the preacher -put it, man embraces woman—whatever his respect for literature in the -abstract, thinks but meanly of those who produce it, if they do not -happen to be celebrities. To be sure they are generally poor. - -“Vill you beef, muddon, schiken, or feal?” whispered Müller, making his -round when soup and fish had been removed. - -“Veal, please,” said Miss Semaphore. - -“Feal, blease,” said Müller under his breath, to impress the order on -his mind. - -“Vill you beef, muddon, schiken, or feal, Madame?” - -“A portion—a tiny portion of the—a—chest of the fowl,” said Mrs. -Whitley. - -“Roast beef,” growled Mr. Lorimer, and Müller echoed “beef,” adding -“blease” on his own account. - -“I saw you to-day, Major Jones, but you did not see me,” said the -younger Miss Semaphore archly, when the interest of choosing had -subsided. - -“You what?” asked Major Jones mildly. He was rather deaf. - -“I said that I saw you to-day—down in the City, you know. Fancy! I went -all that distance by myself in an omnibus! There is such a sweet shop -for bargains in St. Paul’s Churchyard, and you passed me just as I -turned in.” - -“You should not go into the City unescorted,” said Miss Augusta -Semaphore severely; “I have told you that over and over again, but you -are so heedless. It is not _comme il faut_.” - -“What do you think would happen to her?” asked Mr. Lorimer gruffly. He -was a young man of combative instincts and no manners, with whom Miss -Semaphore waged a deadly but, on her side, perfectly civil warfare. - -“My dear father,” went on Miss Semaphore, without taking any notice, -“who was a distinguished military officer, strongly objected to girls -going about alone.” - -“That was all very well thirty years ago,” objected Mr. Lorimer, “but -nowadays, if people conduct themselves properly, there is no earthly -reason why they should not go about alone at fit and proper hours, once -they have come to years of discretion.” - -“I can assure you,” said Mrs. Dumaresq, assuming a grand air, and -slightly raising her voice, as she always did when she meant to impress -her hearers, “I can assure you that in diplomatic circles, a lady -shopping without an escort, or at any rate without a maid, is unheard -of.” - -In every boarding-house throughout the British Islands there is to be -found a person who is the intimate friend of the Prince of Wales. At 37, -Beaconsfield Gardens, Mrs. Dumaresq was that person. - -“Yes, all very well amongst a lot of horrid foreigners,” said Mr. -Lorimer obstinately; “no wonder ladies are afraid to go about alone -where there’s a set of ugly, unwashed rascals that would run a dagger -into them as soon as look at them, but grown-up Englishwomen in their -own country may do what they please.” - -“I do not approve of ladies going anywhere alone. It may do for -middle-class persons,” said Mrs. Dumaresq haughtily, “but I can assure -you, from personal knowledge, that it is not done in diplomatic circles. -When we lived at Belgrade, there was a Mrs. Twickenham who used to act -in the most unconventional way, and one day the Princess—a dear old -friend of ours—the Princess Hatzoff—you must have heard of her, first -cousin to the Czar, a delightful woman and so attached to me—said, -‘Dearest Mimi’—she always called me Mimi—‘are English ladies in their -own country, ladies of position such as you and I, allowed this liberty, -not to say license, of action?’ and I replied, ‘No, Helène, certainly -not.’” - -The Misses Semaphore, Mrs. Whitley, and the lady doctor listened -attentively to these reminiscences, but Mr. Lorimer was not impressed. - -“I maintain,” he said, “that this is a free country, and that those -ideas are old-fashioned.” - -“I assure you that is not the opinion of the Princess Hatzoff, a woman -who mixed in the very best society; nor was it the opinion of my dear -friend, the ex-Empress of the French, Mr. Lorimer,” replied Mrs. -Dumaresq with a lofty air. “However, we will discuss the matter no -further. In diplomacy one learns to avoid subjects on which one’s -experiences are different from those of other people, and so not likely -to agree.” - -There was a subdued acidity in Mrs. Dumaresq’s tone, there was a -battle-breathing obstinacy in Mr. Lorimer’s accent that led peaceful -Miss Prudence to change the conversation. - -“The poor dear Empress,” she said, “how I pity her!” - -“Ah, you should have seen her in her splendour. Were you in Paris before -the war?” - -“You can scarcely expect my sister to remember Paris before the war, my -dear Mrs. Dumaresq,” interposed Miss Semaphore frigidly. “It is years -ago. Prudence was a mere child.” - -Mrs. Dumaresq smiled slightly, and said, “Ah!” In diplomatic circles no -one openly expresses disbelief in a statement. - -“The dear Empress was such a friend of mine in the old days when we -lived there. One day, I remember so well, we had been away for nearly a -year. The Empress was standing at a window of the Palace with an -_aide-de-camp_ beside her, Comte de la Tour—you remember Comte de la -Tour, Angelo?” This to her silent husband, who nodded assent. “The -Empress suddenly said to the Comte, ‘_Mon cher_, who is that -charmingly-dressed lady who has just driven past?’ The Comte, dear man, -answered, ‘Oh, your Majesty, do you not know? that is Madame Dumaresq!’ -The same evening we met at a ball at the Spanish Ambassador’s, and the -Empress graciously came up to me. ‘Fancy,’ said she; ‘fancy, my dear -Madame Dumaresq, I did not recognise you this morning. It is such an age -since you were here; and oh! do permit me to congratulate you on the -exquisite costume you wore.’” - -The story made a distinct impression. The medical woman at the end of -the table, who had an American’s interest in high life, stopped short in -a thrilling narrative of an amputation, and listened with all her ears. - -“The Empress was a very lovely woman, but I believe she was not very -young when she married,” said the elder Miss Semaphore reflectively. - -“Oh, dear no! Eight or nine-and-twenty at least. Some people said -two-and-thirty.” - -“What matter does that make?” interposed the polite Mr. Dumaresq. “A -handsome woman is only the age she looks.” - -Miss Semaphore sighed. She had carefully examined her face before dinner -and discovered a new wrinkle. It was borne in on her that she scarcely -looked as young as she felt, but she made an effort to seem as if -eight-and-twenty, or, at most, two-and-thirty, was still before her. - -“It must be dreadful to grow old,” said Mrs. Whitley affectedly. - -“There are so many aids to beauty nowadays,” said Mr. Dumaresq, “that no -lady need look a day older than she likes.” - -“But the use of cosmetics is odious,” cried Miss Semaphore. “For my part -I never could understand how any one could use paints and powders.” - -Good breeding was not Mr. Lorimer’s strong point, and, in -boarding-houses, people say things to each other that elsewhere are the -privilege of relatives. - -“Dyes,” he said, looking fixedly at Miss Semaphore’s hair, “dyes are -most injurious—worst of all, in fact. Horrible case in the paper the -other day. A woman dyed her hair black one morning, died herself next! -Instantaneous softening of the brain, they said. The stuff soaked in.” - -The obvious application lent point to the sally. The medical lady, who -prided herself on being a fine woman, needing no aid from art, smiled -broadly. She could not, however, resist saying there was no such disease -as instantaneous softening of the brain. - -Mrs. Dumaresq, mindful of her diplomatic training, looked so grave that -a child would have suspected something wrong. Miss Semaphore murmured -“How dreadful!” She alone saw no personal allusion, for it never struck -her that anyone could think she tinted her tresses. Miss Prudence looked -as angrily at the speaker as her kind face permitted. Major Jones had -just said, “Eh! what’s that?” when Mrs. Wilcox rose, and at her signal -the ladies swept upstairs, leaving the men to cigars and scandal. - - - - - CHAPTER II. - A BOARDING-HOUSE EVENING, AND AN IMPORTANT LETTER. - - -Boarding-houses all the world over have certain features in common. -These are the result of haphazard association between people without -common interests. - -No. 37, Beaconsfield Gardens, South Kensington, was no exception to the -rule. Its inmates were chiefly women, the widows and daughters of -professional men. A few childless married couples lived there, and a -sprinkling of unmarried men who were either old or extremely young. Some -of the people were well-connected, others well-off, all were dull, a few -pious. Several secretly considered themselves superior to the others. -They focussed the attributes of the British Philistine, and were an -object-lesson as to the low intellectual level of average respectable -humanity. - -Lacking occupation and mutual outside interests, the boarders were led -to discuss each other freely. The men mostly herded together in the -smoking-room. The ladies gathered in the drawing-room. A sort of armed -neutrality was maintained between the sexes. He or she who ventured to -invade the headquarters of the other was looked on as daring or brazen -as the case might be. At meals alone did some thirty-five people -assemble. Even then, they were not expected to change their place at -table, so had to trust to chance for agreeable neighbours. - -The few girls who lived in the house had not a gay time. Poor things! -They had no lovers, no interests, no society, no prospects, and incomes -that required management. Once they ceased to be new arrivals, the men, -all of whom were ineligible, took no notice of them. They were treated -with a nonchalance more galling than unkindness, and were subtly given -to understand that they could not expect the same consideration as young -women outside who lived in their own homes and had parents who -entertained. The elderly people, and especially Miss Semaphore, looked -rigidly after the proprieties. - -Occasionally a dashing widow or an attractive and forward damsel -temporarily upset the dulness. Dances were organised, round games -started, heads turned. These brilliant meteors never lingered long on -the horizon. Their stay usually terminated in some episode that led to a -notice to quit. The succeeding flatness was the more marked. - -There is no dulness in the quietest home like the dulness that falls at -intervals on a boarding-house. It may be that at home one does not -expect much, while living with a number of strangers one feels restless, -as if something really ought to happen. - -There are blanks and periods of depression, extending sometimes to -months at a time, when life seems a waste. During these, efforts to get -up any amusement are useless. No one will help, and so much cold water -is thrown on every suggestion, that in despair the promoter abandons the -project. - -Such an interval was now being put through at No. 37. Conversation, as -we have indicated, languished, being replaced by an occasional -interchange of platitudes, failing any private or public sensation. An -audacious flirtation on the part of one of the younger women, or a -thrilling murder trial, would have interested everybody, especially the -flirtation, on the progress of which the boarders would have taken turns -to watch and comment on. - -Relieved of all household duties, the “ladies,” as Mrs. Wilcox never -failed to call them, passed the monotonous days in shopping, -novel-reading, and repose. They made up temporary friendships between -themselves and fell out with regularity. As usual, they were split into -two factions, those who abused the proprietress and those who did not. - -The drawing-room in which they nightly assembled was a spacious -apartment. A Brussels carpet of pronounced pattern, red Utrecht velvet -chairs—solid, as befitted furniture destined to much wear and tear—and -gilt-framed mirrors, gave the apartment an early Victorian aspect. The -light and airy found no place in this salon, for in boarding-houses -everything breakable is broken, and nobody owns to the mischief. - -Workbaskets, newspapers, and novels were brought out this evening as -usual, and nearly all the party became absorbed in one or other of these -excitements. They had exhausted each other, though one or two kept up a -dribble of civil enquiries for the sake of saying something. - -“What pretty work. How do you do it?” - -“Oh! it is a new stitch I have just learned.” - -“Were you out this afternoon?” - -“No; I lay down and took a nap. Were you?” - -“Yes, I went down to High Street for some wool.” - -The evening to which we refer, though as dull, was not destined to be as -peaceful as its fellows. The cause of the disturbance was Miss -Semaphore’s dog. Miss Semaphore’s dog was a mongrel, a snappish little -brute called Toutou. Its brown hair was flecked with grey, for it was -old, fat, and scant of breath. Toutou had been the cause of more -unpleasantness at 37, Beaconsfield Gardens, than any other inmate. If, -in the quarrels of men, _cherchez la femme_ holds good, in the quarrels -of idle women who live in boarding-houses one may not unfrequently look -for the dog. To-night, unfortunately for herself, Miss Belcher, one of -the younger women, trod on its tail. Frankly, it was difficult to avoid -treading on Toutou’s tail, for he had a trick of getting into the way -that was simply exasperating. Miss Belcher, a nice, harmless girl, -jumped as if she had been shot. - -“Oh, I am so sorry!” she cried; “doggie, poor doggie, are you hurt?” and -kneeling down, she tried tenderly to soothe him. Toutou was not hurt, -but he howled desperately. Judging by his actions he rather enjoyed -getting people into trouble. In an instant Miss Semaphore swooped down, -red and angry, seized her favourite, and casting a withering glance at -the crestfallen Miss Belcher, carried him off to her own particular -corner. - -Everyone at 37, Beaconsfield Gardens, had a special chair or a favourite -corner, and great was the indignation if anyone else took it. - -“It was quite an accident,” stammered Miss Belcher. “I never saw -Toutou.” - -“Some people,” replied Miss Semaphore, “have no eyes. They think it -rather amusing to torture dumb animals, don’t they, my precious?” As she -spoke, she bestowed a kiss like a peck on the top of Toutou’s ugly nose. -The boarders all ceased work and listened attentively. - -“But indeed, Miss Semaphore,” cried poor Miss Belcher, almost crying, -“it was not my fault.” - -“I suppose, of course, it was Toutou’s,” said Miss Semaphore with -sarcasm. - -Miss Belcher was getting the worst of it, when her mother, a large, deaf -woman of majestic presence, interposed. She domineered over her daughter -and everyone else, and had been silent so far because she had been -having the state of the case explained in her ear by Mrs. Whitley. - -“Don’t mind, Emma,” she said suddenly, “That ridiculous dog is in -everyone’s way, It should be got rid of.” Turning to the embarrassed -Mrs. Whitley, she made what appeared to be indignant comments on Miss -Semaphore, the obnoxious word “old maid” being distinctly audible. - -At this awful crisis the boarders stared panic-stricken at Miss -Semaphore. - -Miss Semaphore, under other circumstances, would have justified their -apprehensions. Even she, however, saw it was no use quarrelling with a -deaf woman endowed with a terrible tongue. Accordingly, she simply -muttered, “Disgraceful!—ill-bred!” and something about “the result of -association with such persons,” and relapsed into an oppressive silence. - -The innocent little dribble of talk dried up before the sirocco of her -suppressed wrath. A silence that might be felt reigned in the -drawing-room. Though glances were interchanged, no one ventured to speak -except Mrs. Belcher. She, greatly daring, and with the evident intention -of flouting both Miss Semaphore and Toutou, addressed her daughter on -all manner of subjects, compelling that unhappy young person to reply at -the top of her voice. Miss Prudence, who always shrank from her sister’s -outbursts, buried herself timidly in the pages of the _Lady’s Pictorial_ -and tried to look as if she had heard nothing. - -When this painful state of things had lasted for some time, Mrs. -Dumaresq, by way of creating a diversion, said in her most fascinating -manner, - -“That dreadful Mr. Morley has been making another speech. I’m sure it is -a wonder how anyone can be found to listen to him. Radicals and -Socialists and those sort of people really ought to be locked up.” - -“Perhaps, on their side, they think Tories should be locked up,” said -Miss Stott, a thick-set young person with views. - -“No doubt they do,” answered Mrs. Dumaresq with energy. “No doubt, if -they could, they would have all the aristocracy beheaded. As my dear -friend, the Baroness de la Veille Roche, once said to me, ‘My darling -Mimi, the _canaille_ would wade in our blood if they dared.’” - -“I doubt it,” said Miss Stott stolidly; “people are not as bloodthirsty -as that, even if they are Radicals or Socialists. After all, human -beings are very much alike in the grain whatever their rank, and none of -us would care particularly to wade in blood.” - -“Alike!” echoed Mrs. Dumaresq. “My dear Miss Stott, you are mistaken. -Between the upper and the lower classes there is the greatest possible -difference. They have not our sensitiveness, our refinement, our -delicacy.” Mrs. Dumaresq said “our” to show she knew her manners, and to -accentuate her diplomatic training. - -“Do you think not?” queried Miss Stott. “Of course they have not -external refinement, nor the advantages of education. But do you really -think they are less sensitive, less delicate in their own way? Why, -every day there are cases in the paper that seem to show Belgravia and -Whitechapel are very much alike when their blood is up. The chief -difference to me appears to be that the one does things and does not -talk of them, while the other talks of them but does not do them.” - -“My dear Miss Stott!” remonstrated Mrs. Dumaresq. - -“Yes,” said Miss Stott, “why only to-day I read the account of an action -taken by a servant against her mistress, a wealthy woman, who broke her -fan on her maid’s shoulder.” - -“How shocking!” said Mrs. Dumaresq. “But you must not judge the -aristocracy by such persons. The woman, though she may have been rich, -could not possibly have been a lady.” - -“So I think,” replied Miss Stott; “no doubt, however, she considered -herself one, for she was an Earl’s daughter.” - -“Oh—h!” said Mrs. Dumaresq, with great surprise. “Then the maid must -have been very provoking.” - -A rattle of teacups announced the arrival of coffee. - -Miss Prudence Semaphore, who was seated in the centre of the room near -the lamp, looked round to see if any of the men had come up, and dropped -her _Pictorial_. As she recovered it, an advertisement caught her eye. - - “TO LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF MEANS. - - “The widow of an eminent explorer, being in straitened circumstances, - is compelled to offer for sale a single bottle of water from the - Fountain of Youth, vainly sought in Florida by Ponce de Leon. Its - marvellous rejuvenating properties cannot be exaggerated. By its means - a person of seventy may regain, after six small doses, the age of - eighteen. This is genuine. No cosmetic. No imposture. No connection - with any preparation making similar claims. The greatest marvel of - this or any other century. Money willingly returned if above statement - is proved untrue. Please address offers, which must be liberal, as - this opportunity is unique, to X. Y. Z., Office of this Paper.” - -Greatly struck by the announcement, which she read twice, Miss Prudence -passed the paper to her sister, saying, “Look at that!” She then pulled -out some knitting, and became absorbed in the mysteries of “slip one, -knit one, bring the thread forward, knit two together.” - -Miss Semaphore adjusted her long-handled eye-glasses, sole concession to -failing sight. Spectacles were abhorrent to her, and even a _pince nez_ -she considered too plain an acknowledgment of weakness. She was even -more impressed by the advertisement than Miss Prudence had been, and -considered it at intervals throughout the evening. - -Coffee had been handed round. The men who sauntered upstairs for a cup -massed themselves together for company at one end of the room. If -separate from their kind, they seemed forlorn and uneasy, and watched an -opportunity to escape. One or two of the oldest, including Major Jones, -and a Mr. Batley, who was young, but a new-comer and unacquainted with -the ways of the house, advanced into what seemed to be looked on as the -women’s end. - -Miss Prudence Semaphore moved her skirts slightly, so as to give a -chance to anyone wishing to sit beside her. No one came. Pretty Miss -Fastleigh and her sister, with an unconsciousness born of experience, -had thoughtfully taken places as near the men as possible. Soon they -were deep in conversation with the more courageous of the advanced -guard. - -Coffee over, the greater number of the men made a stampede. Some were -studying for examinations and could not spare time. More sat in each -other’s rooms drinking whisky and soda, others again turned out for a -game of billiards. - -A whist party was formed by Miss Semaphore, her sister, Major Jones and -Mr. Dumaresq. Mrs. Whitley, Mrs. Dumaresq, the medical woman, Miss -Belcher, Miss Fastleigh, Mr. Batley, and his sister, took part in a -round game. Miss Primsby, a timid girl, very proper, and easily shocked, -whose formidable mother went to bed early, after a time slipped gently -downstairs to the smoking-room. There she taught chess to Monsieur -Lemprière, a young Frenchman who had come over to learn the language. -The better to explain the moves, she held his hand in hers. - - “In England the Garden of Beauty is kept - By a dragon of prudery placed within call, - But so oft this unamiable dragon hath slept, - That the garden’s but carelessly watched after all.” - -The second Miss Fastleigh, who had a good voice, went to the piano -unasked and sang one or two songs. Finding no one took any particular -notice, she amused herself by running up the scale and sustaining the -high A, much to the exasperation of her hearers. The only woman who can -endure scales is the woman who is singing them. Mrs. Belcher perused the -paper. She did not take it herself, but borrowed it from Major Jones in -the evenings. From time to time she gave scraps of news to Mrs. Wilcox, -who had read it all before breakfast. Captain Wilcox sat downstairs in -his wife’s office, balancing the books. - -About half-past ten Miss Semaphore rose. Having carried all before her -at the whist table, she was in high spirits, and bade good-night with -much affability to everyone except the Belchers. She carried with her -the copy of the _Lady’s Pictorial_. When her sister, having as usual sat -with her for twenty minutes, discussing the events of the day, had -retired to her own room, which adjoined, she sat down and wrote the -following letter: - - “37, Beaconsfield Gardens, - “South Kensington. - “June —th, 189–. - - “Madam, - - “Having seen your advertisement in the current issue of the _Lady’s - Pictorial_, I am induced to reply I should like to become the - possessor of the ‘Water’ you offer for sale. While willing to offer - liberal terms, I do not of course know what you would consider such. I - should be glad, therefore, if you could arrange for an interview, when - we might discuss the matter. I take it for granted that the water is - as efficacious as you represent it to be, and shall expect proof - before purchase. - - “I am, Madam, - “Yours faithfully, - “A. J. SEMAPHORE.” - -This was enclosed in an envelope addressed to “X. Y. Z., Office of the -_Lady’s Pictorial_.” Next morning Miss Semaphore carried it herself to -the post. - - - - - CHAPTER III. - MISS SEMAPHORE RECEIVES AN ANSWER. - - -“I am perfectly proportioned,” said the medical lady confidentially to -Mrs. Whitley. - -Mrs. Whitley would not have thought so herself, but she made an -assenting murmur, out of politeness. - -They were seated at breakfast two or three mornings later, and the -medical lady’s statement was interrupted by the entrance of Miss -Semaphore, who glided quietly to her place, and took up her -correspondence with some appearance of anxiety. - -“Perfectly proportioned,” went on the medical lady in a lower key; “my -dressmaker says she has no difficulty therefore in fitting me, and my -gowns always sit well. I don’t say this out of vanity. It is a fact. I -fear, however, it would be no use giving her address to other people, -for the result might not be as satisfactory.” - -Mrs. Whitley looked insulted, but she was a timid woman, and not ready -of speech. She thought the medical lady’s dress clumsy, and her figure -shapeless, but had indiscreetly asked who made it—the dress, not the -figure—with a view to employing the woman on some plain sewing. The -medical lady’s answer to her question had offended her very much, but -she could not think of anything cutting to say in reply. - -Without noticing her expression, or feeling any awkwardness, the medical -lady continued, - -“You know my velvet mantle? I have been told Miss Fastleigh says she -does not like it. Now that is pure jealousy. It is an extremely handsome -mantle, far handsomer than anything she could afford. But of course it -could only be worn by a fine, tall woman. It is astonishing that so many -people are jealous of me.” - -Mrs. Whitley wondered vaguely what grounds for jealousy the medical lady -gave. She certainly was not popular in the house, but that was scarcely -because anyone was jealous of her. Belief in her own beauty, however, -and in the envy she imagined it excited, kept her happy; so sharp -speeches or covert hints alike failed to alter her. Mrs. Whitley she had -chosen as a confidante, under the belief that she was a quiet little -person who admired her. She would have been very much astonished to hear -Mrs. Whitley’s candid opinion. - -“And how are you this morning, Mrs. Whitley?” asked Mrs. Dumaresq -blandly. She was the next arrival. - -“My cold is still bad, thank you,” said Mrs. Whitley. - -“Oh, indeed! No doubt the draught in your room increased it. All the -small rooms here are draughty, as the doors and windows are opposite -each other. Of course, as I have told you, when we came here we meant to -stop but a very short time. I can assure you, my dear Mrs. Whitley, that -to anyone who has moved in diplomatic circles, and been honoured by the -gracious hospitality of royalty, a boarding-house, however well kept—and -this is not without its good points—cannot fail to be objectionable. -Though we meant, as I have said, to stay but a short time, I was most -particular about having a good room. ‘Angelo,’ said I, ‘let us take the -best apartments in the house,’ and so we did. I made a point of it. It -is a great pity that you do not move into a larger room. Not that it -makes any difference to me. I am quite above such petty matters. I never -was influenced by any worldly consideration in my choice of -acquaintances; far from it. If I like people, my dear Mrs. Whitley, I -like them whether they have a small room or not. I do assure you they -may be stowed away at the very top of the house for all I care.” - -“Very kind of you, I’m sure,” murmured Mrs. Whitley. The blaze of -grandeur surrounding Mr. and Mrs. Dumaresq, caused her to take all that -they said in good part. They had a certain suavity, an easy way of -saying unpleasant things, that the medical lady lacked. Besides, Mrs. -Whitley’s one ambition was to get into Society, and she secretly hoped -that if she was very civil to Mrs. Dumaresq, she might possibly be one -day introduced to some of the distinguished personages whose names were -so frequently introduced into her conversation. - -“Yes,” went on the lady in a glow of generous feeling and a somewhat -heightened voice, “rank, and wealth, and position have never had any -charm for me. As my dear friend, the Marchese Polichinello, a charming -woman, a reigning beauty at the Italian Court—You remember the Marchese, -Angelo?—often said to me, ‘_Bellisima mia_’—she always addressed me as -‘_bellisima mia_’—‘you are led too much by your heart.’” - -“I suppose you are going to the Queen’s Garden Party, Mrs. Dumaresq,” -said the medical lady, who had been reading the _Court Circular_. - -“Oh, ah, yes,” replied Mrs. Dumaresq, “I expect I shall. It is easy for -me to go at any time.” - -“But guests must have attended a Drawing-room within the last two years -to be eligible for invitations,” said Mr. Lorimer gruffly, “and I -thought you said you were out of England.” - -“Certainly, certainly,” answered Mrs. Dumaresq, “we have of course been -away, but the dear Prince will arrange all that; and then, practically -speaking, I have attended a Drawing-room within the last two years.” - -No one asked what she meant. - -Meantime Miss Semaphore was reading the following letter:— - - “194, Handel Street, W.C. - “—th June, 189–. - - “Madam, - - “In reply to your communication, I beg to say that I shall be pleased - to dispose of the Water referred to in my advertisement for the sum of - £1000. This minimum price is absolutely fixed, and I cannot take less. - Considering that the effect is guaranteed, and that I am the only - person in the world who has this marvellous water to sell, I am sure - you will admit the price is low. Were it not that I am in pressing and - immediate need of money, I could easily get much more. If you are - inclined to conclude the business at once, I shall be happy to see you - here to-morrow at 4.30 p.m., and give you a proof before purchase. My - bankers, Coutts & Co.; my solicitors, Lewis & Lewis, Dr. Llewellyn - Smith, of 604, Harley Street; and His Grace the Duke of Fordham have - kindly permitted me to name them as references, should you care to - make enquiries about me. - - “I am, Madam, - “Yours faithfully, - “SOPHIA GELDHERAUS.” - -Miss Semaphore ate her breakfast pensively and in silence, then made her -way to her room. A thousand pounds! It was a large sum of money, a very -large sum. The sisters were fairly well off, still that was a great deal -to give out of their capital. But if this Mrs. Geldheraus—Miss Semaphore -knew the name as that of a famous African traveller of German birth—if -Mrs. Geldheraus spoke the truth, the water was well worth it. - -Miss Semaphore scarcely allowed her mind to dwell on the ecstatic -delight of being once more nineteen—intelligent nineteen this time, -nineteen conscious of its powers, knowing the value of youth, enjoying -the mere being young as no one could who had not been old. Had she dwelt -on it, she would have felt prepared for this one good to give not only -one thousand pounds, but her entire fortune and count it well spent. -Still, common sense told her a thousand pounds was no trifle for a woman -of her means. She could not raise it herself all at once. - -On consideration, she decided to tell her sister, to share the bottle -with her, and halve the expense. Prudence being younger, would naturally -require less of the water. There was no need, however, to allude to that -beforehand, else she might feel inclined to pay only in proportion. - -The Misses Semaphore had had a life similar to that of many single -women—a grey, colourless life, full of petty cares and petty interests. -Born in a country town, where their parents were the magnates of a dull -and highly-respectable circle, they had had a martinet father and an -invalid mother. Church work occupied the days of their youth. Few -visitors called on them except elderly married people that they had -known all their lives. The very curates in Pillsborough were married. - -Colonel Semaphore, like many retired military men, had had strict -principles, and had taught his daughters to be suspicious of everything -that looked pleasant. Reading, except of devotional works, had not been -encouraged in their home. Neither of the girls had been rebellious or -particularly bright. They had tried to do their duty, and had found it -monotonous. Seeing little of the world, and having no youthful society, -they had grown elderly, prim, and formal without knowing it. Dreaming -that their lives were all before them, they had waked up suddenly to -find that life is youth, and that youth was over. - -When their father had died at an advanced age, they had moved to London, -feeling themselves most adventurous in making such a change. Years had -hardened Miss Augusta and softened Miss Prudence. The former was the -terror of the giddy at Beaconsfield Gardens. Behind her back they made -fun of her, and imitated her precise manner, but no one liked to come in -collision with her. Miss Prudence, soft-hearted, soft-headed, and a -little romantic, was the favourite. She was always ready to fall in -love, but lacked opportunity. Her little airs, graces, and stratagems -were as transparent as the day. She had difficulty in realising that she -was grown-up, and would have called anyone who forced the truth on her -“a horrid thing.” Her strong-minded sister’s dominion over her and her -affairs tended to strengthen the delusion. Miss Semaphore managed the -property and investments from which their income was derived, and seldom -referred to Prudence in such matters, save when her signature was -required. - -Under all her severity, however, Miss Semaphore was by no means as rigid -as she looked. Since coming to London, she had begun half-unconsciously -to contrast the life she had led with the lives that young women about -her led. Something stirred vaguely in her. She felt she had been -defrauded of many things that were bright and pleasant and harmless in -themselves. How matters in the past could have been different she did -not quite know, but she wished they had been different. All this was -food to her desire to be young, to have her time over again, to enjoy -herself just a little; and many of her disagreeable speeches might have -been traced, by a student of human nature, to the bitterness towards -others that sometimes wells in the heart of a lonely woman, making her -feel, “I have had a bad time, why should not they?” - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - CASTLES IN THE AIR. - - -That evening, a little shamefacedly, Miss Semaphore told Prudence how -she had answered the advertisement in _The Pictorial_, and received a -reply from Mrs. Geldheraus. - -Prudence was very much surprised and delighted, being in one of her rare -spasms of remembrance that she no longer was a girl. She expressed -herself as not only willing but ready and anxious to help in raising -half of the money required, if the explorer’s widow persisted in -demanding a thousand pounds. - -The sisters resolved, however, that Miss Augusta should endeavour to -persuade her to accept £600, advancing to £800, and only paying the full -sum if she remained obdurate. They decided, too, that despite her -excellent references, it would be only judicious to postdate the cheque -offered her, that they might have an opportunity of personally testing -the efficacy of the water before the draft was presented. - -“She is very emphatic as to its genuineness,” said Miss Semaphore; “but -of course we do not know her, and she may not speak the truth. If she is -an honest person—and certainly her references are all that can be -desired—she will be quite willing to give us a chance of first finding -out whether the water is really any good. A thousand pounds is a great -deal of money, and we ought to run no risks.” - -“She says she is willing to give you a proof before purchase.” - -“I wonder what sort of proof?” - -“Perhaps take some herself.” - -“I shouldn’t like that. It would be a pity to waste any of it.” - -“I tell you what,” said Miss Semaphore, after consideration, “I’ll take -Toutou and make her give him a little, just for an experiment. You see -he would require much less than a human being, unless we had quite a -young girl at hand, and on her it might not show. The poor darling is -nearly fifteen. A mere sip should suffice for him.” - -“Perhaps it does not act on animals,” suggested Miss Prudence. - -“Why should it not? I once read something about the Water of Youth -before in a book, and my belief is that they said it acted not only on -people, but on insects, and on flowers; then why not on a dog?” - -“Augusta dear! what will you do when you are young again?” asked -Prudence softly. - -“Oh, lots of things,” said Miss Semaphore. “She did not like to own, -even to her sister, the golden dreams that floated before her, and that -she felt would be slightly ridiculous for a mature woman to confess. - -“How old will you be?” - -“Well, if the thing can be regulated, I should like to be about -eight-and-twenty. You see that is considered young, but not too young. -At eight-and-twenty a woman has sense, if ever she is going to have it, -and is old enough then to know her own mind. Eight-and-twenty, and stay -at it, is my idea.” - -“I should like to be eighteen,” said Prudence. - -“Too young. At eighteen one is generally either a fool or a pert Miss, -and therefore unattractive to the best sort of men. However, I should -not mind standing at twenty if that is more convenient; but I must first -find out how the water works.” - -“Just fancy you twenty and me eighteen! What young creatures we shall -be! Oh, Augusta dear, do you know I feel quite frightened. What shall we -do alone in London with no one to look after us?” - -“Don’t talk nonsense,” said Miss Semaphore crossly. “We have only to -consider our appearance. We shan’t really be so ridiculously young, you -know. I have no doubt we shall retain our present minds and experience, -and be perfectly well able to manage for ourselves. Of course I shall -make all enquiries to-morrow as to the effects and act accordingly. And -for goodness sake, Prudie, if it is successful, don’t keep remembering -and talking about things that you could not possibly have seen or known -if you were really only eighteen. That is just the sort of stupid thing -you are likely to do. We must carefully look out the proper date and -avoid remembering anything before that.” - -“Don’t you think, dear,” said Miss Prudence after a pause, “it will be -well to go away from here before trying the experiment, away to some -place where we are not known? It will be so awkward else.” - -“Yes,” said Miss Semaphore reflectively, “I suppose it would be better; -but we can consider that to-morrow, and now I am quite tired. It is time -for us both to go to bed.” - -The sisters duly undressed and sought repose, but for a long time none -came. The future was too full of bewildering possibilities. Each felt -that she ought not to let her mind dwell on what might never come to -pass. Mrs. Geldheraus might be an imposter, the Water of Youth a fraud. -Still, supposing—there was no harm in supposing—supposing both were -genuine, what a delightful prospect. To be at once young and -experienced; could anything surpass it? Pitfalls might be avoided, -amusement sought, courses of conduct followed after a fashion impossible -to anyone who was eighteen or twenty for the first and only time in -life. To get all one’s chances over again, and to be assured of missing -none of them, what luck! what unexampled good fortune! - -Rosy visions of what they would do intruded on both of them, but we -grieve to state that the wildest and flightiest of these visions were -those of the elder Miss Semaphore. Were her eyes or those of her sister -ever to light on these lines, were there a chance that her acquaintances -might see this veracious history, we should hesitate to set her fancies -down, and this for two reasons. First, because Miss Semaphore herself -would be confused and confounded to a painful degree, and this, as she -is an excellent if somewhat hard woman, we have no wish to bring about. -Second, because her sister and friends would write lengthy and indignant -letters denying our statements, and citing her reputation for propriety, -not to say rigidity, of conduct, and her severely religious tone, her -want of sympathy with flightiness of any kind, as proof positive that -she never could, would, or should have thought what we assert was in her -mind. - -Fortunately we need not fear either danger, and so in all truthfulness -may state exactly what Miss Semaphore hoped to do with her renewed -youth. - -In her secret soul she had come to think that it was rather a pity she -had not had a past to reflect upon. She had gathered no roses while she -might. She had been only too well brought up, and she was determined, -_en tout bien et en tout honneur_ be it understood, to change all that. -Someone has said, _il n’y a aucune austerité supérieure qui ne laisse -pas quelques régrets_. She would try the delights of an impeccable but -more frivolous existence. She would be fascinating, coquettish, would -avoid the misplaced gravity of her inexperienced youth, that had been -not only afraid to enjoy itself, but had not known how to set about it, -and had never got the chance. - -As a preliminary to a dazzling career of conquest she decided that as -soon as she was twenty she would take lessons in stage dancing and have -her voice trained. Her father, or any of the worthy inhabitants of -Pillsborough known to her, would have fainted at mention of the stage. -Indeed, when young, Miss Semaphore shared their views; but she had been -gradually coming round since she moved to London and found that even -amongst the Philistines “the profession” was not in such bad odour as in -the country. She felt it to be wicked but fascinating, believed she had -genuine, if uncultivated, dramatic talent, and actually regretted that -circumstances had kept her from cultivating it. - -Now, she thought, she would not be stopped. This goes to prove that the -most proper and severe persons often think a course of action suitable -for themselves which they would reprehend in others. - -She argued, and with truth, that dangerous though the stage might be, -she would have the experience of over fifty years to guide her, and -would therefore be in a different position from other girls of twenty. -In a lurid but delightful vision she saw herself gay, beautiful, famous, -the delight of the stalls, the admiration of the gallery, the recipient -of bouquets and _billets-doux_, her photograph in every shop window, -offers of marriage coming by every post. At last she fell asleep, a -beatific smile on her face. - -She had quite forgotten how two or three years before she had brought -pressure to bear on Mrs. Wilcox to give notice to a girl who had gone on -the stage. Englishwomen are often shocked at others doing what they -would do themselves, if they had the chance or the aptitude. - -Miss Prudence meanwhile, in her little white room adjoining, thought -kindly of Major Jones and yearningly of the Rev. Harry Lyndon, Curate of -St. Botolph’s, a consumptive young man of twenty-eight. She had always -admired the Reverend Harry, though reluctantly admitting in her heart of -hearts that he was somewhat too young for her. But now what would there -be to prevent their union? She fell into a train of reverie as to how -the matter should be managed. Would she let him think she had always -been no more than eighteen, or would she tell him of the wonderful -water? Sleep came to her while deliberating. - - - - - CHAPTER V. - THE WATER OF YOUTH. - - -Usually the fond imaginations of the night wear a different aspect in -the dawn; but the visions of the Misses Semaphore had lost none of their -attractiveness by morning. Though, as before said, they tried now and -then to check their super-abounding joy by the cold reflection that -perhaps the explorer’s widow was a humbug, and the Water of Youth liquid -drawn from the nearest well, they had much ado to keep their excitement -within bounds. Indeed their manner, despite all efforts, betrayed such -suppressed exultation that Mr. Lorimer twice enquired of Major Jones if -he thought “the old girls” were daft. - -In the afternoon, punctually as the clock chimed a quarter to four, Miss -Augusta, neatly dressed in black, and carrying Toutou in her arms, took -her way to Gloucester Road Station and booked to King’s Cross, whence -she took a cab to 194, Handel Street, W.C. - -At about half-past six she returned. Prudence, who had been anxiously -awaiting her, jumped up eagerly as she put her head in at the door and -said, “Come into my room,” in a voice full of mysteries. - -Arrived in the centre of her own apartment Miss Semaphore turned round -and faced her sister with much solemnity. She spoke no word and began -slowly unfastening her bonnet string. The air seemed big with fate. - -“Well?” gasped Miss Prudence, “did you see her? Is it all right? What -was she like?” - -Miss Semaphore was in no haste to answer. - -“The Water—tell me quick, was it any good. Did you buy it?” - -“Look,” said Miss Semaphore with a wave of her hand. - -The eyes of Miss Prudence followed the gesture and fell on Toutou. But -was it Toutou, this transformed dog? Old, shaky, querulous, rheumatic -Toutou? She went nearer. There was a jolly, bright-eyed little beast, a -mere puppy, slim, young, and frisky, without a grey hair in his coat, -who suddenly leaped on Prudence, barking and jumping round with lively -manifestations of delight. - -“She tested it on him,” said Miss Augusta in a hollow voice, “and see -the result. Can we doubt its miraculous power any longer?” - -Miss Prudence sat down, looking quite pale and awe-stricken. This proof -overwhelmed her. - -“I am almost afraid of it,” she gasped. “It does not seem right somehow, -does it?” - -“Oh, nonsense,” exclaimed Miss Augusta pettishly. “Not right? Of course -it is. For my part I think it a most glorious and beneficent discovery, -and not calculated to harm anyone.” - -“Did she give much to Toutou? Do tell me all that happened. Was she -nice?” - -“Yes, she was very nice indeed, a well-bred, good-looking woman. The -house was not much to look at, and the servant so untidy; but Mrs. -Geldheraus told me she had only taken apartments there temporarily, as -she is leaving almost immediately for the continent. Her boxes are -packed.” - -“Does she look young herself?” - -“About twenty-three; but she assures me she is sixty-four. I could not -believe it. She showed me her baptismal certificate. It was in German, -so I could not make much out of it; but I saw the date eighteen hundred -and thirty something quite plainly.” - -“Good gracious!” - -“She was ever so civil, and insisted on giving me tea, but she would -make no reduction in her terms. She said she knew she was asking what -would be a good deal of money for an ordinary cosmetic, but for an -absolute return to youth it was ridiculously little. Many dying -millionaires or monarchs would be willing to give all their possessions -for even a few drops of it.” - -“And then?” - -“Then I spoke of requiring some proof that it was as efficacious as she -said, so she offered to give me a little then and there. I was rather -afraid to risk it, and said I’d prefer her to give some to Toutou first, -but that she should not charge extra for that, as it was simply -experimental. She agreed, and poured about half a tea-spoonful into a -saucer, mixed some milk with it, and made Toutou drink it.” - -“And did he change at once?” - -“No, he just came back in his slow, fat way, and lay down before the -fire wheezing; but she bade me watch him closely, and gradually I saw -one by one the white patches dying out of his coat. Those that came last -went first. Then I noticed that he breathed more freely, you know he was -not asthmatic until two years ago. By degrees he grew thinner, his coat -glossier, and his eyes less dim; then suddenly he sprang up and began -dashing round the room in wild spirits, just as he used to. After this I -could doubt no longer. Still, I told her our idea about post-dating the -cheque, hoped she would not be offended and all that, but I had yet to -prove if the Water would work as efficaciously on human beings as on an -animal.” - -“And did she agree?” - -“Well, she did not like the notion at all; said she had given me a -positive demonstration, and so on, which ought to satisfy me, but I -insisted. She then said she wanted the money pressingly and at once, -that this was the only reason why she let us have it, and made what -really was for her a bad bargain. The end of it was she agreed to my -post-dating the cheque two days, if I promised in the interval to take a -dose of the liquid that would satisfy me there was truth in what she -said, so I consented to take just a little as a preliminary, to-night.” - -“Oh,—will you really? Don’t you think it might be better to go away from -here first and try it somewhere down in the country, as we agreed. They -will be sure to remark so on any sudden change in you.” - -“I hope,” said Miss Augusta with severity and dignity, “you do not mean -to say I look so old that the taking off of a few years will make a very -visible difference. I am quite aware I may not look as young as I once -did, but that this is so very perceptible as you seem to imply, I really -do not believe.” - -“Oh no! of course not. I did not exactly mean that,” murmured Miss -Prudence. - -She had meant it, however, so found it difficult to explain away her -words. One generally does find it difficult under such circumstances. - -Miss Augusta, taking no further notice, proceeded to lock the precious -bottle into a drawer, and had scarcely done so when the dinner bell -rang. - -“Good gracious!” exclaimed Prudence, “I must run and dress.” - -She hastily opened the door of her room, but the frisky Toutou was too -quick for her. He darted forward and almost upset her in his eagerness -to get out. - -“How lively he is!” said Prudence in admiration. “Just like a puppy! How -did you get him home if he danced about like this?” - -“It was a troublesome business I assure you,” answered Miss Augusta, who -was too much interested and excited to sulk long with her sister. “He -jumped out of my arms and frisked up and down the carriage in the -liveliest way, so that I had the greatest difficulty in catching him -again. He was in the wildest state of delight you can imagine, barked -and leaped on all the passengers, just fancy, and he has been so -rheumatic for years! I could scarcely hold him under my cloak. He sprang -out of my arms once and very nearly broke the bottle I was carrying.” - -“How dreadful! What on earth should we have done if he had smashed it.” - -“Well, fortunately he didn’t,” said Miss Augusta shortly, refusing to -contemplate such a calamity. - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - AN ACCIDENT AND ITS RESULTS. - - -With ill-concealed impatience did Miss Semaphore await her usual hour -for retiring. With a sense of agreeable expectancy did she at last seat -herself in her room before the looking-glass and proceed to brush out -her scanty tresses. In the open drawer of the table reposed the abundant -coils that graced by day the back of her head. As she brushed, she -reflected that expensive though the Water of Youth undoubtedly was, it -would at any rate spare her buying “Jetoline,” her favourite dye, for -many years to come. Women, guilty of a great extravagance, always find -comfort in meditating small economies. - -Her thoughts next turned to Toutou, and his marvellous recovery of -vigour and gaiety. She wondered if her spirits would become as light as -his. As a girl she had not been particularly lively, but she hoped in -her second girlhood her sprightlier and more freakish qualities might -develop. - -While thus reflecting, her door opened, and in came Miss Prudence to bid -her good-night. Prudence, as we have said, was a large, soft woman, -whose kindly, if feeble, nature and unruffled temper tended to preserve -her youthful roundness. In her white combing jacket, her cheeks flushed, -and her still abundant nut-brown hair falling on her shoulders, she -seemed to her sister to look particularly young. To be sure, there was -ten years difference or more in their ages, and Miss Semaphore was -always accustomed to look on Prudence as a mere girl, but even allowing -for this, to-night she might have passed for thirty. - -“I think, dear,” she said, “you really ought to put off that dose for a -day or two. We might go to Ramsgate to-morrow and engage apartments, -then, if you liked, we need not return here. I could come back and fetch -the luggage, if you gave Mrs. Wilcox a week’s notice; she would never -suspect anything. We can pretend we want change of air.” - -“I do wish you were not so silly, Prudence,” said Miss Semaphore with -acerbity. “Do you forget that I post-dated the cheque for that woman to -allow of my experimenting to-night, and she wants the money immediately. -Anyone but you would see that once she has cashed it, we cannot get it -back, whether the Water proves to be any good or not. It is essential to -test it at once, and stop payment of the draft, if necessary.” - -“But they talk so here, I am afraid—” - -“Well, really you are very rude. This is the second time you have said -something like that. To hear your tone one might think I was a hundred -at least. Oh! I know very well what you mean. It is all part of your -ridiculous fussiness. It will make very little difference. The dose is -one tablespoonful for every ten years, and having reached the proper -age, a tea-spoonful at intervals keeps one at it. Now to-night I shall -take very, very little, just enough to take off a year or two, so you -may make yourself quite easy. No one will see any difference.” - -“I wonder if it tastes bad,” said Prudence, after a short silence. - -“Not at all,” said Miss Semaphore more graciously, “I have already -dipped my finger in and laid a drop upon my tongue, and it tasted just -like common water.” - -“There can be no doubt but that it is real?” - -“Look at Toutou,” was the convincing answer. - -“Do you know I’m a little bit afraid of it,” said Miss Prudence. “I -wonder how it will feel, will it make one very queer or not. Don’t think -me selfish, Augusta, but I’m glad you are going to try it first, you -have so much more courage than I.” - -Miss Semaphore merely grunted in reply. - -“Where is the bottle, Augusta?” - -“In my drawer.” - -“It does not hold so very much,” said Prudence, meditatively lifting the -bottle to the light. - -“It does not, and oh! of course I shall require more than you, being -older.” - -“But I paid for half,” said Prudence mildly. - -“Even so, it is quite fair. Less than half will have as much effect on -you as the rest on me. We shall then be both of an age, and that will be -much pleasanter. Don’t you think so?” - -“Ye—es,” answered Prudence doubtfully, “it will be a little strange. But -do as you wish about it, Augusta; you know best. By the way, did you -remark that the bottle is cracked?” - -“Cracked? No!” cried Miss Semaphore with a little shriek of dismay, and -rushing to her sister’s side. - -Cracked it undoubtedly was. - -“It must have been Toutou in the train,” she gasped. “I was afraid of it -at the time. Oh! the naughty, naughty dog. Do be careful, Prudence. Put -it down softly. She said it was to be kept carefully corked.” - -“Oh, the crack is very slight; it does not matter,” said Miss Prudence, -as she obeyed. “Toutou, my precious,” to the tricksy little dog that was -now rolling on the floor, playing with the fringe of the curtains, and -trying many long-forgotten games. “Toutou, you nearly did serious damage -to your missus’s property, naughty ducksie wucksie.” - -Toutou rushed at her with enthusiasm, and was with difficulty persuaded -to enter his basket. Then Miss Prudence, with a portentous yawn, bade -her sister good-night, and opened the door into the adjoining room. - -Left alone, Miss Semaphore slowly divested herself of her wearing -apparel, donned her night-gear, and tied on the night-cap of her youth, -adhered to despite change of fashion. Notwithstanding the confidence of -her manner to her sister, she was secretly a little nervous, now that -she was actually to make the experiment. Her spirits went up and down -like a see-saw. At one moment she saw herself surrounded by admirers, -singing, dancing, with fresh, unwrinkled complexion, bright colour, dark -curly hair innocent of “Jetoline.” A ravishing picture. Again she felt -like a patient at a dentist’s about to take gas for the first time. What -would it be like. Oh, if only Toutou, if only anyone who had tried it -could tell her exactly how it felt. Would she lose consciousness or feel -pain? Might it not possibly kill her? By this time she had worked -herself to a state of intolerable nervousness. She got into bed, and, -sitting up, hugging the precious bottle in one hand, and a tea-spoon in -the other, tried to decide whether she would actually make the -experiment or not. By her bed, within easy reach, burned a gas jet, -which she always turned out last thing, and a small table stood near, on -which lay a book, a newspaper, a box of matches, and a glass. - -“Just a very little,” she murmured, “that can do no harm. Only make me a -few years younger. She would never have ventured to give me anything -dangerous or poisonous.” - -Her hands trembled. - -Can one fancy the impatience of an old woman who had missed the joys of -life, to be young? A woman with the means in her grasp? Miss Semaphore -panted with excitement; her heart thumped like a steam hammer. Twice she -took up the bottle from the table. Twice she laid it down again. - -“Just a very little,” ran her thoughts, “a few drops to see what it is -like.” - -Alas for her nervousness! By some untoward movement the frill of her -sleeve caught the bottle, and knocked it over. For one terrible moment -she sat as if petrified, watching the Water of Youth flowing across the -table, and dribbling on to the floor on the side farthest from her. -Then, quick as lightning, she jumped out of her bed, got down on her -knees, and received the little stream into her open mouth as the liquid -gushed over the edge. That her position was undignified did not trouble -her, did not even enter her mind. The overwhelming nature of the -misfortune, and how to rectify it, as far as possible, alone occupied -her. The bottle had broken in half where it was cracked, so that the -contents rushed out at once. She swallowed all that flowed freely, and, -damming the rest with her finger, stood up. The Water was horribly -wasted. Some had soaked into the carpet. The newspaper had received a -certain amount, and this, owing to a lucky crease, formed a little pool -on its surface. Now, for the first time, Miss Semaphore thought of her -sister, whose money had been equally invested in the purchase. Should -she call Prudence, tell her what had happened, and bid her drink the -little that remained? The fear that there would not be enough for -herself prevailed, and stifling the voice of conscience, Augusta -gathered up the paper with delicate fingers, carefully made it into a -sort of funnel, and drank off its contents. Then she sat down on the -side of the bed, and considered her conduct with a certain amount of -shame, not unmingled with alarm. So far, she felt nothing more than the -sensation of having swallowed a quantity of cold water of peculiar -flavour. - -“After all,” she said, to stifle her remorse, “there was scarcely -sufficient to make one person young, not to speak of two, and I wanted -it much more than Prudence. Why, she does not want it at all! She looked -quite a girl just now. Besides, there really was no time. Before I could -have roused her and explained matters the water would have soaked -through the paper. Of course I shall have to return her the money she -advanced. I am quite willing to do that if she makes a fuss. Perhaps -it’s just as well I did not call her. She was frightened to-night at the -idea of drinking it. I really think she would prefer not to have any.” - -Despite these powerful arguments Miss Semaphore felt rather mean as she -crept once more between the sheets, and turned out the gas with a jerk. -For a long time she lay wakeful, thinking of what the morrow might -bring, of how she could tell Prudence there was no Water of Youth left -for her, or of how she could best get away from Beaconsfield Gardens -without being noticed, if she found herself only twenty, and other -reflections of the same kind, until at last tired out by the excitements -of the day she fell asleep. - - - - - CHAPTER VII. - PRUDENCE RECEIVES A SHOCK. - - -Miss Prudence Semaphore slept placidly. It was her nature to do -everything as placidly as possible. Nightmares rarely visited her. When -Miss Augusta was crosser than usual, or the latest man at 37, -Beaconsfield Gardens, on whom she tried to fix her easy affections, -showed that he had no thought of her, she sometimes wept herself to -sleep. Seldom, however, did she experience the discomfort of a _nuit -blanche_. - -On this particular occasion she dreamt that she was flying through space -to Florida in search of the Fountain of Youth. Suddenly her wings failed -her. She fell like another Icarus down, down, down, awaking with a start -and a stifled gasp. She sat bolt upright in bed, and tried to think -where she was. The familiar room dimly seen, the light of the street -lamps, filtering through the Venetian blinds, the sound of passing cabs, -a neighbouring clock chiming three, all reassured her. - -With a sigh of relief she turned over to sleep again, when a weird -wailing attracted her attention. Miss Prudence listened. Her heart beat -fast. The wailing seemed close at hand. Did it come from above or below? -Noises are proverbially difficult to locate. Miss Prudence subscribed to -“Borderland,” and a thousand unpleasant conjectures assailed her. There -was something unearthly, she fancied, in the cry, and though she -muttered “ridiculous,” the exclamation did not entirely restore her -presence of mind. So far, indeed, was the idea from being really -ridiculous to her, that, as the sound continued to rise and fall feebly, -Miss Prudence lay back in bed, and pulled the clothes over her head. She -could not be happy thus, however. Half suffocated, she emerged from time -to time to hear if it still continued. When at last it ceased, somewhat -tranquillised by the silence, she pulled down the blankets and began to -consider what the cause of disturbance could possibly be. - -A solution flashed through her mind—the kitten! She remembered suddenly -that Mrs. Dumaresq had lately complained of a pet kitten that played -about the house having strayed into her room, and been locked up -accidentally in the wardrobe. - -“The very thing! It must be the kitten,” thought Miss Prudence. - -The wail, after a short interval, was renewed, and this time Miss -Prudence distinctly recognised the cry of a young cat. - -Full of courage she jumped out of bed, struck a light, put on her -dressing-gown and slippers, and began to search for pussy. - -She tried the wardrobe, the chest of drawers, looked under the bed and -up the chimney, but in vain. The creature was not to be found. As she -passed the door communicating with her sister’s room, it seemed to her -that the sound came from there. - -She opened the door softly, and shading the light with one hand, gently -called “puss, puss, puss.” Nothing came. The cry, however, sounded -distinctly nearer, louder, and more human. - -“Augusta! what is that noise? Augusta! are you awake?” said Miss -Prudence with renewed alarm. - -There was no answer but a prolonged wail. Really frightened, Prudence -advanced into the room, holding the candle above her head. All was as -she had left it, except, except—Where was Augusta? The bed was empty. -The room was empty. Filled with an indefinable terror, Prudence advanced -to her sister’s bedside. Oh! horror! Augusta was gone, and in her place -lay—what? A little, shrivelled, red-faced baby, wailing feebly, a huge -night-cap fallen back off its bald head, a woman’s night-dress lying -round it in folds a world too wide. - -“My God!” exclaimed poor Prudence, “what on earth is this? Am I going -mad? Where is Augusta?” Her distracted glance lighted on the broken -bottle, and a sudden gleam of intelligence lit up her brain. “Are you -Augusta?” she cried to the baby. The tearful baby seemed to make a -desperate but ineffectual effort to speak. It appeared to be on the -brink of convulsions. There was intelligence in its eye, however, and -her worst fears confirmed, poor Prudence dropped the candlestick on her -toes, and went into violent hysterics. - -Fortunately for her, the room was at the end of a passage, removed from -the other sleeping apartments by an intervening bath room. Underneath it -was the now empty drawing-room, while overhead reposed the deaf Mrs. -Belcher. Thus and thus alone did her shrieks fail to rouse the -household. Every now and then she made an effort at self-control, but -again and again the grotesque horror of the situation overcame her. - -It was dawn before she pulled herself together and faced her position. -With reflection came a burst of anger most unusual to the placid woman. - -“Augusta,” she said sternly to the baby, which had ceased weeping, as if -frightened at its sister’s distress. “Augusta, do you understand me?” - -The baby apparently tried to nod. - -“Can’t you speak?” - -The baby shook its head. - -“It is no use, I suppose, in that case, asking how this terrible -misfortune has come about?” - -The baby blinked speechlessly. It was not an engaging child. To -Prudence, much as she loved her sister, it seemed strange and absolutely -hateful. - -“You little wretch!” she cried, over-mastered by her rising anger. -“Don’t you see the horrible position you have placed us both in? You -took too much. You must have been a nasty, greedy, selfish, foolish -thing to have swallowed up all that water, or this would never have -happened. Are you really my sister? How can I prove it? Who will believe -me? Perhaps the next thing will be that I shall be hanged for having -murdered her.” At this thought Prudence was for a moment on the verge of -fresh hysterics. - -“What on earth am I to do? There you are, a baby to all intents and -purposes. My good gracious! what on earth shall I do with you? I cannot -keep you in this house. How can I explain? They won’t believe me—why, I -wouldn’t believe it myself if anyone told me. How shall I account for -your disappearance? and you can’t even speak to back me up if I tell the -truth. Not you! You’d see me hanged and never say a word”—which was -unjust, considering poor Augusta was not able to speak. Lashing herself -to fury, Prudence paced up and down the room, wringing her hands. - -“Augusta! I always was a good sister to you, and bore with your tempers, -and divided everything with you; but now, you horrid, selfish, ugly -little thing, I declare I hate you. I’ll just wrap you up in a shawl, -and drop you somewhere. Oh, you lit—tle wr—r—retch, I should like to -shake you.” - -Suiting the action to the word, Prudence pounced on the baby, and shook -it till its big cap fell quite off, and its head wobbled. - -Augusta was terrified, and began to howl lustily. She was so small, so -helpless, that a certain revulsion of pity came over Prudence. She -ceased shaking, and tried to soothe her. - -“There now! there now!” she exclaimed, exactly as if speaking to a real -baby, “don’t cry. I’ll see what can be done. I suppose you took an -overdose. Will you try and put up your hand if you did?” - -The baby put up its hand. - -“Does it hurt? do you feel bad?” - -The baby shook its bald head, and made an ineffectual attempt to -demonstrate that its sufferings were chiefly mental. - -“Now will you just be quiet and cease crying, and let me think it all -over. Try to go to sleep if you can. Perhaps some of it may wear off, -and you’ll be bigger by and bye.” - -Tucking the baby up in bed, Prudence began restlessly to pace the room, -pausing now and again to look at the queer little creature that had -plunged her into such unexpected difficulties. In despair she thrust her -hands into her hair, and gnawed at her fingers. Finally she flung -herself into a chair by the window, and, staring blankly into the -street, tried to devise some means out of her dilemma. The more she -thought of it, the more serious and unpleasant did it appear. How -Augusta could have been so foolish as to finish the contents of the -bottle, how the bottle itself came to be broken, she could only imagine. -The result at any rate was sufficiently deplorable. Her sister had not -stopped at eight-and-thirty, nor eight-and-twenty, nor even eighteen, as -would have been natural and delightful, but had gone at a bound to about -eight days old. - -“What a mercy,” thought Prudence, kind-hearted in the midst of her anger -and perplexity, “what a mercy that there were not a few drops more, or -what would have become of her!” - -After long cogitation the lady who had hitherto been the younger Miss -Semaphore rose, went into her own room, dressed, bathed her swollen -eyelids, and smoothed her hair. Then she returned to her sister’s -bedside. - -Augusta was wide awake, but she had ceased crying. It was only by her -eyes, big with intelligence, and looking weird and uncanny in her ugly -little red face, that Prudence saw reason still reigned within her -diminished body, A “queer child,” a “fairy changeling,” an “elfish -infant,” would be the terms applied to Miss Semaphore by anyone not in -the secret of her rejuvenescence. - -“Augusta,” said Prudence solemnly, “I have thought it all out. -Immediately after breakfast I will go in search of this Mrs. Geldheraus, -and see if she cannot provide you with some—some antidote for this -horrible state of things. If she cannot, I don’t know what will become -of you. It is no use telling the truth to the people in this house. In -the first place it would be a very disagreeable matter to go into, and -make us seem very ridiculous. In the second they would not believe me. -My only chance, if I don’t succeed in getting something to cure you, is -to tell them to-day that you have had a letter summoning you to the -country on important business. I shall make excuses later for your -having had to hurry off to catch a train without saying good-bye to -anyone. Meantime I must hide you here somewhere in this room or in mine -until to-night, and knowing how much depends on it, I do implore you to -be quiet and not cry. If Mrs. Geldheraus fails me, I shall enquire -everywhere for some good, kind woman who will take care of you till you -grow a little older, for of course you must see how impossible it would -be for me to go about with a baby of your age. This evening, after -dinner, when it is dark, I will try to smuggle you out unobserved to the -woman, if I can find one suitable, then give warning, and go to some -quiet place where nobody knows us, and where I can perhaps have you back -to live with me. Now what do you think of my plan? Do you like it?” - -Augusta evidently did not, for she shook her head as vehemently as she -could. - -“Well,” said Prudence crossly, “if you don’t you needn’t. I can think of -nothing better, and you are not able to give me much help or advice. You -have only yourself to thank for having brought all this trouble on us. -I’m sure I never was so worried in my life.” - -Augusta was perforce silent, but her eyes followed every movement of her -sister. - -“Now,” continued Prudence, as the breakfast gong sounded, “I must go -downstairs. I shall say you have had a bad night, and desire no -breakfast. I shall lock the door of your room so that the housemaid may -not come in, and shall bring you up a cup of milk. I suppose that is the -proper thing for you. Can you eat anything solid?” - -Augusta showed two rows of toothless gums. Milk evidently should be her -diet. - -“Well, for goodness’ sake keep quiet. I will come back as soon as I -possibly can,” and with this farewell, Miss Prudence descended. Alas! -poor woman, dark as were her forebodings, she little knew what was to be -faced, nor how difficult she would find the execution of her simple and -excellent plan for the temporary concealment of Augusta. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII. - A CAREER OF DECEPTION. - - -Never did a placid, good-natured woman, habitually truthful, -unaccustomed to all save the shallowest of plots, unused to taking the -initiative, and indeed, preferring to depend on the advice of others, -find herself in a more unpleasant predicament than did Miss Prudence -Semaphore. That her dilemma originated in no fault of her own, served in -no wise to console her. To a certain extent she rose to the situation -and decided, with a promptitude that for her was marvellous, on a course -of action, but she longed for some friendly soul to whom she could tell -her difficulties, and whose counsel she could seek. Happily, perhaps, -for the keeping of her secret, she had to bear her own burden in -silence, and take all the responsibility on her own weak shoulders. - -A very pale and tremulous Miss Prudence appeared at the breakfast table -on the morning of the tragedy related in our last chapter. - -“Dear, dear! How ill you look!” was the medical lady’s cheerful -greeting. “Have you had a bad night?” - -Miss Prudence admitted that she had. - -“And your sister?—How late she is to-day. She is generally one of the -first down.” - -“She is not very well this morning, and I persuaded her to stay in bed,” -said Prudence, colouring to the eyes, as she embarked on her career of -falsehood. - -“Very wise of you; she had much better breakfast in her room if she is -feeling ill. There is some nice kedgeree she might like.” - -“Thank you,” said Prudence with embarrassment. “Do not mind it. She told -me she would take no breakfast, but I said I would bring her up a cup of -milk and make her drink it.” - -“One of her bilious attacks, no doubt, since she refuses to eat,” said -the medical lady. - -“Yes, yes,” assented Miss Prudence eagerly. “That is what it is—a bad -bilious attack.” - -“Do you think then,” asked the medical lady severely, “that it is wise -of you to give her milk?” - -“Oh, yes!” said poor Miss Prudence “She likes it—it is good for her—she -takes nothing else.” - -“Indeed!” said the medical lady, helping herself to potted sardines. -“That is very singular for a bilious subject, but no doubt you know -best.” - -“Does Miss Semaphore often suffer from these unpleasant attacks?” asked -Mrs. Whitley. - -“No,” said Prudence. “Never—that is to say—yes—frequently.” - -Mrs. Whitley looked astonished, as well she might, and Prudence, to -avoid further cross-examination, began to read the paper upside down. -The paper, unfortunately, belonged to Mr. Lorimer, and was one of the -points whereon he was touchy. He could not bear anyone to look at it -unless specially invited thereto by him. Presently the abstracted -Prudence became aware that an angry altercation was in progress, between -her neighbour and Müller. - -“Müller!” he growled. - -“Blease?” said Müller enquiringly. - -“Where the devil have you put _The Standard_?” - -Mrs. Whitley prepared to look shocked at such language, but first -glanced at Mrs. Dumaresq, from whom she took her cue. Mrs. Dumaresq, -however, only smiled slightly. - -“I left it dere,” said Müller. - -“But you didn’t. If you had it would be here now.” - -“I—I believe I have it,” stammered Prudence, suddenly awaking to what -was going on. - -“Oh, you have, have you?” said Mr. Lorimer crossly, taking it without a -word of apology from her outstretched hand. “I do not provide papers for -the benefit of this establishment.” - -“It is more blessed to give than to receive,” put in Mrs. Whitley -archly, with the sweet smile of the peacemaker. - -“No doubt, ma’am,” replied Mr. Lorimer savagely, “but it’s a good deal -more expensive,” and he became absorbed in the columns of his oracle. - -The ladies exchanged glances. The subject of Mr. Lorimer and his paper -was a standing joke in the house, and Mrs. Whitley whispered to Prudence -not to mind him, it was “only his way.” Prudence, indeed, poor woman, -was too much occupied with her own troubles to take the young man’s -rudeness to heart, and after passing a few minutes in breaking her toast -and sipping her tea, she felt justified in rising from table. She took a -cup of milk with her and departed, watched by the medical lady, who -shook her head. - -The younger Miss Semaphore found her sister rolling her eyes in the most -alarming fashion. - -“What is the matter?” she asked, but Augusta of course was unable to -tell. She fixed an angry glance, however, on the door of her sister’s -room and nodded towards it. Something in that direction was evidently -the cause of her displeasure. As a matter of fact she had had a fright. -While Prudence was downstairs, one of the housemaids, not knowing that -anyone was there, made an attempt to get in, and as the lock on that -particular door was shaky, Miss Semaphore expected every moment to see -the girl enter the room. She could not explain this, so had to content -herself with looking cross. - -Prudence pulled the curtains, moved a number of things, saying each -time, “Is it this?” “Is it that?” but failing naturally, to get a reply, -she gave up the attempt and began to feed her sister. The operation was -not successful. - -Prudence proved but an awkward nurse. Augusta being, in body at least, -practically but eight days old, choked, cried, and had to be patted on -the back when she got too large a spoonful of milk. Half the contents of -the cup went the wrong way. Augusta kicked, and spilt a portion on the -carpet, but at last the meal was got through, though with little -satisfaction to either sister. - -“Now,” said Prudence, as she finished her task, “I shall have to leave -you alone for some time.” - -Augusta evidently disliked the idea of being left alone, for she -immediately screwed up her face into contortions that announced an -outburst of weeping. - -“Oh, stop! do stop!” cried her sister exasperated, “they are sure to -hear you if you cry. How inconsiderate you are! For goodness sake do be -quiet and think a little of someone beside yourself. What else am I to -do? It is all very well for you to object, but something must be done -and done quickly, and as you cannot help me, I must decide for myself. I -shall go at once to Mrs. Geldheraus and implore of her to give me -something to cure you. She is sure to know what should be done, and in -the meantime I beg of you keep quiet, or Mary will hear you in the -corridor. I shall tell her you are ill and on no account to be -disturbed.” - -Augusta apparently listened to reason, for gradually her features -relaxed and she ceased whimpering. Prudence put on her bonnet, veil, and -mantle, tucked in the elderly infant, locked the doors carefully, warned -Mary, and started off to find the explorer’s widow. - -The poor lady’s mind was a chaos of conflicting thought and emotions as -she wound her way through the Bloomsbury squares to Handel Street. No. -194 was gaunt and dingy. Over the door hung a framed card, bearing the -legend, “Apartments,” and on the sill of the dining-room window sat a -black cat, lazily washing herself in the sun. In answer to repeated -ringing, a dirty servant, with her cap all to one side, opened the door. - -“Mrs. Geldheraus,” she said, “she ain’t here. Left this morning first -thing, she did. Had a tellygram last night to hurry up.” - -Prudence never knew till that moment when her heart sank heavy as lead, -how hope had buoyed her up. - -“Where has she gone to?” she asked feebly. “Will she return?” - -“She’s gone to Paris,” said the maid, “an’ I don’t think she’s a-coming -back.” - -“Can you give me her address in Paris?” - -“She wrote something out for missus, as to where letters was to be sent -for her. If you’ll step in an’ wait a bit, mum, I’ll see if I can get it -for you. I can’t read them furrin names.” - -Prudence stepped into the stuffy hall and waited. - -Presently the maid returned with a halfsheet of note-paper, on which -only the words “Poste Restante, Paris,” were written. Bitterly -disappointed the younger Miss Semaphore turned away. - -“Even if I write to her,” she said to herself, “it will mean a couple of -days delay at the very least, and great Heaven! what should I do if -anyone saw Augusta in the meantime? I must see to some place for her at -once, and get her out of that house.” - -The very weakest women, when forced into a position of danger and -responsibility, will act with a certain energy, and will display a -resourcefulness that surprises no one more than it surprises themselves. -Necessity is a hard taskmaster, who makes people capable of feats -hitherto undreamt of by them. - -Miss Semaphore’s first move, therefore, was to find a small stationer’s -shop, where she obtained permission to write a letter. The letter was to -Mrs. Geldheraus, marked “Urgent and Private.” In it she detailed the -horrible accident that had happened to her sister, and implored the -explorer’s widow to write or wire particulars of an antidote, if there -was one, and in all cases to let her know exactly how the Water of Youth -worked, and how long its effects were likely to last in such a case. She -said, “You can imagine the dreadful position in which I am placed. My -sister is altered out of knowledge; though she still seems, so far as I -can judge, to preserve her memory and understanding, she cannot speak. -You have left England, and the story sounds so improbable, that I cannot -hope any of our friends would believe me if I told them the truth. I -live in terror of my sister being discovered under her present aspect, -so implore you to lose no time in relieving my suspense.” - -This she posted, but the most gloomy apprehensions assailed her. - -“Mrs. Geldheraus may not call for letters for a week,” she reflected, -“and where on earth can I hide Augusta? Who will take her? What story -can I tell about her? It is distracting!” - -By degrees she grew a little calmer. It would not be difficult, she -hoped, to find some decent woman to mind her sister at her own home. -Surely there were plenty of people in London willing to take care of a -child. She would enquire. Meantime it struck her that Augusta looked -ridiculous in her great night-dress and cap, so that before placing her -in the hands of any stranger it would be necessary to buy her a complete -set of baby linen. - -To this end, having walked to the top of Tottenham Court Road she hailed -a hansom, and drove to Westbourne Grove. - - - - - CHAPTER IX. - A PROMISING ADVERTISEMENT. - - -With no little diffidence did Miss Prudence Semaphore, a woman quite -unused to the ways and wants of babies, present herself at the special -counter in Whiteley’s devoted to their needs, and falter out that she -required a complete outfit for an infant. The attendant who waited on -her considered that she had a most extraordinary customer to deal with, -for the lady neither knew the age of the child nor the names and -quantities of the needful garments, and when she finally took everything -that was suggested to her, she required instruction as to how and in -what order the various articles were to be put on. Having requested that -a parcel of the most indispensable objects should be given to her, and -that the remainder should be delivered that afternoon at 37, -Beaconsfield Gardens, the next step for Miss Prudence was to find a -nurse who would undertake the care of Augusta. This at once landed her -in difficulties. She first thought of appealing to the shop-woman, but -the manner of that superior young person was so lofty that the words -died on Miss Semaphore’s lips. The Universal Provider certainly did not -provide homes for infants. Prudence dared not ask any of her -acquaintances as to a suitable person, yet could not imagine how else -she was to get one. She could not seize the first respectable-looking -body that passed by and ask her would she mind an infant. Like a woman -with a guilty secret she wandered up and down the Grove, looking vaguely -into shop windows but seeing nothing, and wondering all the time what -she was to do. It seemed almost as desperate an undertaking to get rid -of a baby as to get rid of a corpse. - -At last the idea struck her that the laundress who washed for herself -and her sister might know of someone suitable. Mrs. Robbins lived at -Hammersmith, and Miss Prudence, hailing an omnibus going in that -direction, got in. If Mrs. Robbins could not help her, what was she to -do? As she journeyed on, however, doubts as to the wisdom of consulting -Mrs. Robbins assailed her. She would put herself, to a certain extent, -in the woman’s power, and the civilest of laundresses might not be -pleasant as a _confidante_. Again, Mrs. Robbins might gossip with the -servants at Beaconsfield Gardens, and as Miss Semaphore’s one aim was to -avoid the tongues of her fellow-boarders, she felt the risk to be too -great. - -Accordingly, though she had paid her fare to Hammersmith Broadway, she -presently signalled to the conductor to set her down. - -“We ain’t there yet, mum,” said that functionary. “You sed ’Ammersmith.” - -“No matter, no matter,” answered Miss Prudence, “I wish to be set down -here.” - -The man obeyed, and the lady was left standing on the pathway, -considering what she should do next. - -Mechanically she turned down a side street, and noticed at the door of a -clean-looking house a chubby-faced, bright young woman, nursing a baby. -Summoning up all her courage, Miss Semaphore approached her, and with -unconscious diplomacy remarked, - -“What a very fine child! Is it yours?” - -“Yes ’m,” replied the beaming mother. “My third ’e is, just six months -old, bless ’is little ’eart; but ’e ain’t looking well now, not ’e, ’e’s -teething, and that do so pull a hinfant down.” - -“He is a beauty,” said Miss Prudence. “Should you be disposed to -undertake the care of another child—a—a little younger, if you were well -paid for it?” - -“No ’m, that I shouldn’t,” said the young woman promptly. “My own three -is enough for me, an’ my old man I know he wouldn’t like it, nohow.” - -“Could you recommend any careful, respectable woman who would?” - -“I can’t say as I do. Ain’t the child’s parents living, or is it yer -own?” - -“Oh, no!” said Miss Prudence, blushing to the eyes, “the child is an -orphan.” - -“Poor little thing. Sorry I carn’t ’elp you, ’m, but I don’t know a -suitable party.” - -A second application, this to a decent-looking body who was sweeping out -a particularly dingy chapel, met with no better success. - -A third woman did know of someone whose child had died and who might, -perhaps, be willing to care for a baby, but on looking for the street -where the person was said to live, Miss Semaphore found that some -mistake had been made in the address, and that no one knew of any such -place. The people she asked made various suggestions as to where she -should go, and she tried them all without result. - -Discouraged by so many failures, tired and weak from want of food, the -spirits of our poor Prudence sank to zero. - -“What am I to do with her?” she asked, as if calling creation to witness -her perplexity “Shall I find no one to take her?” - -While in this disturbed frame of mind she walked meditatively onward, -and stopped before a little newspaper and tobacco shop, reading the -posters displayed outside, without understanding a word. Suddenly, -amidst the tumult of her thoughts, she noticed that a pleasant-looking -woman was sitting behind the counter reading and knitting. This stranger -might help her. She entered, and having selected and paid for a -_Graphic_, and read some remarks on the weather, said as if though an -after-thought, - -“By the way, do you know of any respectable woman that would take care -of a baby?” - -“Do you mean a nurse to live indoors, ma’am, or a person to take care of -the child at her own home?” - -“I mean someone who would take a baby to live with her, and show it -every kindness.” - -“That’s not so easy to get, ma’am, and I can’t say as I do know anyone I -could recommend.” Then, with a sharp glance, “May I arsk if the child is -your own?” - -“Oh dear, no!” cried Miss Prudence hastily. “It is my sister.” - -“Your sister’s—a— And is your sister dead?” - -“Dead! of course not. Why should I want a home for her if she were?” - -“Beg pardon, ma’am, I didn’t understand you wanted a home for the lady -too, I thought as you said only for the baby.” - -“It _is_ only for the baby,” replied Prudence in confusion. “The baby is -my sister.” - -“Your sister?” repeated the woman, surprised. “Your sister a baby?” - -“Yes,” answered Prudence, rather nettled. “My sister is a baby, there is -nothing so wonderful in that I hope.” - -The woman looked as if she would like to ask some further questions, but -checked herself and said, - -“Oh, of course not. It’s none of my business, anyhow—and by the way I’ve -just remembered something that might do if I can find it. About six -months ago one of my customers arsked me to put up a bill in the window, -wishing for to adopt a child, an’ I did, but nothink came of it, and so -I took it down after a month or two and put it aside somewhere. If I -could find it, it might be somethink like you want.” - -“Pray do look for it. I shall be greatly obliged.” - -After some rummaging in various drawers and boxes, and calling upstairs -to an invisible “’Lizer,” the document, dirty and fly-stained, was found -under a heap of old newspapers and handed to Prudence. - -It read:— - - “A respectable married woman, having no children of her own, would - like to adopt or mind a healthy baby. Comfortable home. Care and - affection of a mother guaranteed. Premium required. Address, by letter - only, X. Y. Z., 42, Plummer’s Cottages, Barker’s Rents, Elm Lane.” - -Miss Prudence was enchanted. - -“The very thing!” she exclaimed. “‘Comfortable home.’ ‘Care and -affection of a mother guaranteed.’ Just what I want.” - -She copied the address, thanked the shop-woman profusely, and gave her -half-a-crown for her trouble. Lunch hour at Beaconsfield Gardens was -long past, so Prudence ate a bun, drank a glass of milk, and thought she -had done a good morning’s work. - -The chief drawback was that she should now have to keep Augusta -concealed for at least another day, instead of being able to smuggle her -out of the house that night as she had hoped. It was a risk, but she had -no alternative, much as she dreaded the secret in some way getting out. -She found Augusta sleeping. A vague hope had sprung up in her breast -that on her return she might discover her sister in her normal -condition, and be able to look back on the events of the night as a bad -dream. She was doomed to disappointment. It was all but too real. -Without disturbing the infant, at whom she gazed for a time with mingled -pity and aversion, she sat down and wrote at once to X. Y. Z., asking -that respectable married woman if she were still willing to undertake -the care of a baby, and if she would write, or wire by return, -appointing a place of meeting, as there was a little baby girl she would -like to entrust to her motherly care. - -Though she was unwilling that the child should be permanently adopted, -she felt sure that some mutually satisfactory arrangement might be -entered into. She wound up, “Pray write or telegraph at once without -fail, as the case is urgent, and I will pay you handsomely for your -trouble.” This she signed with initials, gave the address of a -neighbouring stationer’s, where letters were received at a penny each, -and posted it herself. - - - - - CHAPTER X. - IN WHICH MISS PRUDENCE EXPLAINS MATTERS. - - -The next thing Miss Prudence felt she should do was to see Mrs. Wilcox -and prepare her for hearing at any time that Augusta had left suddenly. -Mrs. Wilcox sat in the little room she called her Office, where she -received callers on business, made up her books, wrote letters, and -otherwise employed herself. - -“I am so sorry to hear your sister is not well,” she said as Prudence -entered. “I hope she feels better now.” - -“Not much, I am afraid,” said Prudence. - -“Will she be able to come down to tea?” - -“I—I fear not.” - -“Then she is worse than I thought. I had better go and see her. Will you -tell her I will come up presently?” - -“Oh, thanks, but I don’t think it would be advisable to disturb her just -now. She prefers keeping quite quiet. You see this is—is a very severe -attack. I never saw her quite like this before.” - -“Good gracious! You don’t say she is as ill as all that?” cried Mrs. -Wilcox, whose one weakness was a frantic fear of contagious maladies. -“You don’t think it can be any thing serious coming on? They say there -is a lot of fever and diphtheria about. Excuse my asking, Miss Prudence, -but what are her symptoms? We must take precautions in a house like -this.” - -“Her symptoms? Oh, her symptoms—her symptoms are rather peculiar.” - -“Indeed. Head-ache? Sore throat? Pain in the back?” - -“No, no. Nothing like that. I—am sure it is nothing infectious.” - -“I hope not, but please tell me what does she complain of?” - -“A—a sort of shrinking feeling?” - -“Oh! a sinking feeling. No doubt the stomach is out of order. She has -taken something that disagreed with her.” - -“I feel sure she has.” - -“But if there is nothing more serious than this feeling of sinking, she -will probably be able to come down to dinner. Meals in the bedrooms you -know are such a trouble to the servants.” - -“I don’t think she can come down. She is far too ill. She won’t take any -dinner. Just a glass of milk.” - -“But, Miss Prudence, I fear she must really have some other symptoms -that you are keeping back from me. Do pray tell me frankly what else you -see amiss with her.” - -“Well,” said the badgered Prudence, “I have noticed a—a—a sort of -childishness about her.” - -“Good Heavens! You don’t say so! She is not—not delirious? Not wandering -in her mind, is she?” - -“No, no. She is very silent—on the contrary—has not spoken to me at -all.” - -“But you said she was childish.” - -“I did not mean in that way—it is difficult to explain.” - -“It seems to be,” said Mrs. Wilcox drily, “in your place I should have -Doctor Creedy in at once. You know, Miss Semaphore, we must take -precautions—we must take precautions—and if your sister has any symptoms -betokening infectious disease, I lay it on you as a matter of conscience -to tell me about it at once, that her removal may be arranged for before -it is too late.” - -“You are mistaken, indeed, you are mistaken, Mrs. Wilcox,” urged poor -Miss Prudence, with tears in her eyes. “There is no possible need for -alarm. It really is nothing catching. I only wish it were.” - -“I’m sure I don’t,” interjected Mrs. Wilcox, more than ever amazed by -the confusion of Prudence. - -“Well, I don’t exactly mean that, but there is no earthly cause for -alarm on your part. If Augusta had anything serious the matter with her, -anything in that way, I’d be the very first to tell you, and to send for -the doctor, but she hasn’t. She just is—is—not quite herself—has very -little appetite and so on—I—I saw a great change in her appearance this -morning, and it alarmed me. I think, and she agrees with me—indeed this -is what I came to say, that if she went away to-morrow or next day for -change of air, and meantime kept very quiet, was not disturbed in any -way or by anyone, she would soon be all right.” - -“You know best!” said Mrs. Wilcox, “but don’t you really think it would -be well for me to go up and see her presently? I would not disturb her -in the least.” - -“Thanks, no. I should say it would be better not. She does not like -being roused in any way. She is so silent; in fact,” with a flash of -inspiration, “she has completely lost her voice. Then the shrinking—I -mean, of course, as you say, the sinking—is so painful.” - -“Oh, very well,” said Mrs. Wilcox offended, “I do not want to press the -matter. But I think she had better have something to eat. What shall it -be? A glass of milk is nothing.” - -“She cares for nothing else.” - -“But don’t you think she ought to have some beef-tea and a little dry -toast? That cannot possibly harm her.” - -“Very well. Anything you like,” said Prudence desperately, for she felt -she could stand no more questioning, and gladly made her escape to her -own room under cover of Mrs. Wilcox’s directions to the cook on behalf -of the supposed invalid. - -Mary, the housemaid, presently brought up a tray and tried the handle of -Augusta’s door, only to find it locked. Prudence peeped out of her -apartment and bade the girl lay the tray on the mat, promising to take -it in presently. At this, Mary, who did not like the Misses Semaphore, -flounced angrily downstairs, muttering, “Some people is so mystearyous.” - - - - - CHAPTER XI. - THE MEDICAL LADY INTERVENES. - - -Miss Prudence did not appear at afternoon tea, so the symptoms of her -sister, her refusal, or, at least, disinclination to call in a doctor, -her extraordinary confusion and contradictory statements, as detailed by -Mrs. Wilcox, were canvassed with much freedom by the boarders present. -Mrs. Wilcox discreetly abstained from mentioning her suspicions, or -using the ugly word “infection,” but she privately requested the medical -lady to visit the invalid, and make a truthful report as to her -condition. - -The medical lady was a woman who had no weakness about her. She always -recommended drastic remedies, and applied them if possible. She -professed to enjoy her cold tub in the iciest weather. Nothing would -persuade her that anyone who paled or fainted at the sight of blood or -of ghastly accidents, or corpses, or took no delight in anatomical -specimens in bottles, was not an affected creature. Mice she herself -disliked, but that, she argued, was different. She administered physic -with pleasure, and the nastier it was, and the more the ridiculous -patient disliked it, the more she insisted on giving it as prescribed. -She liked to take command of a sick-room as an admiral of his quarter -deck, putting the invalid’s relatives to one side and making them feel -they were intruders. As she assured them that responsibility for the -death of the person afflicted would lie at their door if they resisted, -they were generally afraid to turn her out, while the invalid was -unable. She inspired Miss Prudence with terror, which expressed itself -in slavish deference and humility, for, conscious of her own weakness, -she felt, and with justice, that the medical lady despised her. - -The younger Miss Semaphore was sitting solitary in her own room by the -window, absorbed in anxious thought. The door of communication with her -sister’s apartment stood open, so that she commanded a view of the bed -and of the infant Augusta. Suddenly she started to her feet. Someone had -knocked sharply at Augusta’s door, and immediately turned the handle. -Finding it resisted efforts to open it, the voice of the medical lady -was heard in the corridor, saying sweetly, “My dear Miss Semaphore, will -you not let me in? I have come to enquire how you are.” - -Augusta heard, and, forgetful of her voiceless condition, evidently made -a desperate effort to summon Prudence, for she gave a feeble whimper. - -“Hush! Do be quiet,” cried Prudence in a frightened, undertone. Then -opening her own door, she looked out into the corridor. The medical lady -was discovered kneeling on the mat and trying to peep through the -keyhole. She started into an erect position with marvellous celerity. - -“Do you want anything, Miss Lord,” asked Prudence timidly, yet with -something of resentment in her tone. - -“Oh! your dear sister,” said Miss Lord, slightly embarrassed, I just -wanted to see her, but somehow I cannot open the door. I thought that -possibly she might be glad of my services.” - -“The door is locked,” answered Prudence. “My sister is not very well, -and does not wish to be disturbed. She is trying to sleep.” - -“But she will see me, my dear Miss Semaphore. I may be able to advise -some course of treatment that will do her good.” - -“Thank you, Miss Lord she is asleep just now, and I do not think would -care to see anyone.” - -“Oh, but I’ll not disturb her. I’ll just have a look at her in order to -reassure you. You must be uneasy about her. I hear she is very ill.” - -As she spoke the medical lady edged up to Prudence. - -“Thank you; you are extremely kind, but I am really not so anxious. She -is not so very ill, she is somewhat better now.” - -“But I hear that you told Mrs. Wilcox after lunch that she was very ill -indeed. This is a sudden change.” - -“No—yes—not _very_ ill. She’ll be better to-morrow.” - -“But I think, my dear Miss Semaphore, you really ought to let me see -her. As you decline to send for a doctor, someone with the requisite -medical knowledge should be in attendance; and, forgive me for saying -so, I do not think you are a very competent nurse. Besides, we owe it to -Mrs. Wilcox to make sure your sister is not threatened with anything -contagious.” - -All this time the resolute medical lady had, step by step, moved -Prudence back, so that they both stood within her room. Her eye caught -the open door. - -“Do let me in,” said the medical lady. “I advise it in your own -interests. Let me have a peep at her, and if, as you say, she is better -and sleeping, I shall be able to reassure Mrs. Wilcox and the others. -Miss Belcher and Mrs. Dumaresq are so terribly afraid of anything -infectious, that at tea they were talking of leaving.” - -“No,” said Prudence, driven into a corner, “you shall not see her, Miss -Lord. She is getting on all right, and does not want to see anyone.” - -“Shan’t I?” suddenly ejaculated the medical lady; and before Prudence -knew what she intended, she made a dash at the open door leading to -Augusta’s room. Prudence, however, was too quick for her. She reached it -first, pulled it to, locked it, for the key fortunately was on her side, -and, putting her back to it, stood flushed, panting, and breathless, -facing Miss Lord. - -“How dare you!” she cried, stung out of her ordinary meekness. “This is -outrageous. Leave my room at once; no one asked you to come here.” - -Miss Lord was hateful to look upon at that moment. If a soft featherbed -had risen up and struck her in the face, she could scarcely have been -more surprised. - -“Ha, ha!” she said menacingly, “so there is a mystery here!” - -“Will you go, please?” - -“Oh yes, I’ll go.” - -She stopped at the outer door. - -“You had better take care, Miss Prudence Semaphore,” with a withering -emphasis on the “Prudence.” “Perhaps I know more than you think. You may -be sorry for this yet.” - -With these vague but direful words she disappeared, leaving Prudence -collapsed, her knees trembling under her, her mind filled with the -gloomiest forebodings, and an undefined terror in her breast as to what -Miss Lord might know. - -How she got through the rest of that dreadful day Prudence never -remembered. She dreaded the ordeal of dinner; but though the medical -lady had evidently told her story, and there was an atmosphere of -disquiet, no direct questions were asked, so the meal passed off better -than she had expected. Still, the marked avoidance of the subject of her -sister’s illness was a new source of uneasiness. - -“I’m sure they think she has cholera or leprosy, or that I am poisoning -her,” mused Prudence dolefully, as she crumbled her bread, and a dull -resentment against Augusta, who had involved her in all this trouble and -deceit, smouldered in her breast. - -There was an added loftiness in. Mrs. Dumaresq’s manner which showed -that Miss Semaphore had somehow incurred her displeasure, while Mrs. -Whitley omitted to pass her the salt and pepper, which, with fussy -officiousness, she presented to everyone else. - -Good-natured Miss Belcher alone, forgetting Toutou and Miss Augusta’s -bad temper, came up to her as the ladies filed out of the dining-room -and said, - -“I hope your sister is better.” - -“Yes, thank you,” replied Prudence faintly. - -“How tired and pale you look. I do believe you are fagged out nursing -her. Do let me help, if I can be of any use to you.” - -“You cannot help me, thank you,” said Prudence, with a sudden impulse to -kiss her. “She does not like anyone else to come near her.” - -“Cross, tyrannical old thing,” thought little Miss Belcher, who pitied -Prudence for the slavery to which she submitted from her sister. - -“Well, cheer up, dear Miss Prudence,” she said sympathetically. “I am -glad she is better. Perhaps she may be all right to-morrow.” - -“I’m sure I hope so,” answered the depressed Prudence, as she made her -way to her own apartment. To-night she had no heart to enter the -drawing-room and angle for a few words of conversation from Major Jones, -round-eyed, stupid Mr. Batley, or gruff Mr. Lorimer, or to join the game -of whist that so often resulted in personalities. - -There was still a painful scene before her. She must tell her sister -that Mrs. Geldheraus had left England, and that there was consequently -no immediate hope of her resuming her proper size. Ever since Augusta -awoke and saw that her sister had returned, she had followed her -movements with anxious and enquiring eyes; but Prudence determined to -give her no information until night, when all the boarders were safely -in bed, and when infantile cries were unlikely to reach them. -Accordingly, having waited until one by one the residents at 37, -Beaconsfield Gardens, had departed to their several rooms, and the house -was wrapped in repose, Prudence stole into her sister’s apartment and -communicated the disastrous intelligence. She had reason to congratulate -herself on the choice of so late an hour, for Augusta, despite prayers -and remonstrances, took it very badly indeed. She sobbed, howled, -kicked, balled her little red fists into her eyes, and in every way that -her circumstances permitted expressed her sorrow, anger, and -disappointment. In vain Prudence implored her to be quiet. Her -overwhelming dismay apparently shut out all other thought, and it was -only when her sister actually put a pillow over her head, to stifle her -cries, that she consented to moderate the expression of her grief. Once -she grew quieter, the tender-hearted Prudence took her up, kissed and -tried to comfort her, walking her up and down the room as if she were in -reality the baby she seemed to be, and continued this soothing progress -until Augusta wept herself to sleep in her arms. - - - - - CHAPTER XII. - “GOOD MRS. BROWN.” - - -Early next morning Prudence carefully locked all the doors of her own -room and of her sister’s apartment and went round to the stationer’s to -see if a letter had come for her from X. Y. Z. With much relief she -picked out, from a bundle of others, a missive addressed to P. S., and -proceeded to read it. It was tolerably written and spelled, the paper -was clean, and the communication was signed “Mrs. Brown.” “Mrs. Brown” -agreed to meet Prudence at nine o’clock that evening in the first-class -waiting room at London Bridge Station, and had no doubt they would come -to terms. “She was prepared,” she said, “to take the pretty little dear -and treat it with a mother’s love,” and regretted that she was unable to -make an appointment earlier in the day “on account of family reasons.” - -Perilous as was the delay to Prudence, she was pleased with the letter. -The writer, if not a person of culture, was evidently kind and -respectable, so she resolved to be patient, and bear the strain of the -situation for a few hours longer. - -Her next move was to purchase a feeding bottle, for her previous efforts -to make Augusta swallow milk had been singularly unsuccessful, and she -was filled with uneasiness lest her sister might be starved to death. -She then returned home, fed Augusta, washed her, and dressed her in the -garments provided by Whiteley, and finally proceeded to explain to her -the measures she had taken. - -“I have told you already,” she said, “that if you remained like this it -would be impossible to keep you here. They all look suspiciously at me -downstairs, and I really believe they think you have either got the -plague, or else that I am slowly poisoning you. Mrs. Wilcox spoke to me -again about getting a doctor, and I am afraid that at any moment she may -come with one, and insist on his seeing you. Now, I have our good name -to consider, and I know that if you are not sent away, and sent -speedily, Miss Lord will be capable of breaking in the door. Then, if -you are discovered, we shall simply be lost. As for telling the truth, -they wouldn’t believe me if I swore to it. It is no use your objecting, -Augusta, if you mean that squirm for an objection. You have got yourself -and me into this hole, and the least you can do is to be quiet and help -me to avoid scandal. There you go again. What on earth do you mean? If -you want me to keep you here until Mrs. Geldheraus replies, it simply -can’t be done. She may not write for a week, and every moment I am -running risk of discovery. No, I shall convey you away to-night, -whatever happens. Every question asked about you sends my heart into my -mouth. I have been making arrangements for your comfort. You are to go -to a nice, respectable, married woman, who has no children of her own. -She guarantees you a good home, with the care and affection of a mother. -I have thought out everything. When you are gone, I shall send some of -our boxes to Paddington Station as a blind. I had better stay on here -for a week or a fortnight after you, just to disarm suspicion. By that -time we shall know what Mrs. Geldheraus can do for you, and we must -shape our future actions accordingly. Gracious Heaven! if she says she -can do nothing for you, what will become of us? I suppose I shall have -to pretend you are dead, and rear you somewhere as my adopted daughter! -It is a horrible position to be placed in. I am getting hardened to -telling falsehoods to those people downstairs, and yet I tremble at the -life of deceit I see before me. We shall have to avoid all our -friends—everyone who has known us. If I were even sure you would -gradually grow up as an ordinary baby does, I might look forward to your -speaking in a year or so, and then you might advise me what to do, but -if you remain always dumb, and always a baby——!” - -Overcome by her troubles, and by the long vista of difficulties she saw -opening before her, poor Prudence sobbed aloud. - -There was much to be done, however, so she bathed her eyes, powdered her -flushed cheeks, and proceeded to pack up such indispensable articles as -would be needed by Augusta. She kept to her room as much as possible all -day. At dinner she announced that her sister was better, and that she -herself might possibly spend the evening with some friends, so requested -that the front door might be left unchained, to permit of her letting -herself in with a latch-key that she borrowed from Major Jones. Nobody -made any comment. The general opinion as to her treatment of her poor -suffering sister, was too strong to admit of anything short of the whole -truth being spoken. - -Prudence, congratulating herself therefore on having acted so well, -slipped upstairs and arrayed herself in a black hat, a thick veil, and a -long cloak. Augusta she tucked up warmly in an old shawl, gave her her -feeding bottle, and, having hidden her under the voluminous folds of the -mantle, peeped cautiously out to make sure the coast was clear. Not a -soul was in sight, so Prudence, with as guilty an air as if she were -carrying off Mrs. Wilcox’s silver, crept downstairs, opened the front -door, and closed it softly behind her. - -She scarcely breathed until she was clear of Beaconsfield Gardens, and -so closely did she keep Augusta pressed to her bosom, that when she -perceived what she was doing a spasm of terror shot through her. - -“How quiet she is,” she thought. “Perhaps I have smothered her.” - -A glance reassured her, and she sped onwards. Suddenly her knees seemed -to give way. Advancing towards her, but as yet unconscious of her -presence, was old Major Jones, who had just stepped out of a -tobacconist’s shop, and was smoking a postprandial cigar. Prudence -darted across the road, turned down a side street, and terrified of -meeting someone else who knew her, ran all the way to South Kensington -Station. - -There was no one in the first-class ladies’ waiting-room at London -Bridge Station when Prudence arrived with her charge, except an elderly -person on guard in a battered black bonnet and a woollen crochet -shoulder shawl. It wanted twenty minutes of the time fixed by Mrs. Brown -for the meeting, so Prudence, feeling really weak and ill from -excitement and lack of food, that for two days she had been unable to -taste, gave the female sixpence to hold Augusta, while she partook of a -cup of tea in the refreshment room. - -As she returned, piercing yells were audible long before she reached the -waiting-room, and hastily entering she found her sister purple in the -face, and bent backwards like a bow in the arms of the attendant. - -Her nurse was jogging her roughly up and down, regarding her the while -with an eye of dissatisfaction, not to say of dislike. - -“I’m glad you’ve come back, ma’am,” she said, rising hastily as Prudence -entered, and holding out her charge at arm’s length. “This baby o’ yours -is the very crossest child I ever did see. I thought at first there was -a pin in her clothes may be—it’s a little girl, ain’t it?—but I looked, -and there’s never a one to be found, so it’s temper, so it is—and if I -was you, ma’am, meaning no offence, I’d spank her well, young as she is, -to take the mischief out of her. You can’t begin too soon with that -sort. Just look what she’s done to my face!” - -There certainly was a scratch on the old woman’s nose. - -Prudence took her sister in silence, and tried to soothe her. Augusta, -she knew, was fastidious, and probably disliked being held by the snuffy -old caretaker, yet she could not help considering that under the -circumstances the infliction might have been borne. Still, the baby -continued to yell so that the people looked in to see what was the -matter. She made prolonged efforts to disengage one leg from her lengthy -and cumbersome draperies, till attracted by the frequency of the -movement, Prudence examined her more closely. As she turned up the robe, -Augusta stopped crying. There on her red-mottled limb was a nasty blue -mark, where the irritated caretaker had given her a pinch. - -Under other circumstances the tender-hearted Prudence would have -remonstrated with the woman on her cruelty to a helpless infant. As it -was, she did not dare risk a scene, so took an opportunity to whisper -sympathy to Augusta, and implore her to be patient. - -After many anxious glances at the clock, the hands marked the hour named -by Mrs. Brown, and, at the moment, a bustling, fresh-complexioned woman -of about five-and-fifty, stout and respectably dressed, hurried into the -room, and, first casting a comprehensive glance around, walked over to -Prudence, and said, - -“Excuse me, ma’am, but are you here with reference to a child?” - -“Are you Mrs. Brown?” asked Prudence, favourably impressed by her -appearance of cleanliness and her businesslike manner. - -“Yes, ma’am, I ham Mrs. Brown, otherwise X. Y. Z.—‘good Mrs. Brown,’ -they calls me down our wy; and you, ma’am, I suppose are P. S.?” - -“Yes,” said Prudence faintly. - -“And this is the dear baby? Pitty ickle sing!” said Mrs. Brown, making a -dab with a motherly forefinger at Augusta’s cheek. Augusta looked at her -very hard, and Prudence could not help hoping that she was as favourably -impressed as herself. - -“Yes,” she said, “this is the baby I wish you to take charge of, and on -whom I hope you will bestow motherly care.” - -“That, ma’am,” replied Mrs. Brown, “you may rest assured on. How old is -the little dear?” - -Prudence was all confusion. - -“I really don’t know,” she faltered. “A few years—I mean a few months -old—about six weeks, perhaps.” - -“Is the baby your own, ma’am?” enquired Mrs. Brown in a tone of -surprise. - -“Oh, dear, no!” cried Prudence aghast. “It is not my child at all. As a -matter of fact, I am not married.” - -“Indeed! You’ll excuse me asking the question, ma’am; but in a matter of -business like this you understand one has to be particular, with such a -fine, comfortable, ’appy ’ome as I’ve to offer too; and might I enquire -exactly what relation the pretty dear is to you? All communications, -ma’am, are treated in strict confidence.” - -“She is my sister.” - -“Your sister!” gasped Mrs. Brown, looking Prudence up and down. “Oh! -your _sister’s_. And now, ma’am, excuse my asking, but is your sister a -married lady?” - -“Of course not,” said Prudence, adding with a sickly smile, “I think you -might be pretty sure of that?” - -“_Of course not!_” repeated Mrs. Brown under her breath in a tone of -deep astonishment. “_Of course_ not!” adding to herself, happily unheard -by Prudence, “well, of all the braigen! and she lookin’ so quiet too.” - -“Well, ma’am,” she continued aloud, “under them circumstances of course -you understand my terms is according.” - -“According to what?” - -“To them circumstances, ma’am.” - -“They are unusual,” admitted Prudence, “and I am quite prepared to -remunerate you amply for any trouble you take with this dear child.” - -“That child, ma’am, though I say it, is a fortunate child in comin’ to -one as’ll give her—it’s a little girl, isn’t it?—as’ll give her a -mother’s care and love; and take her I can’t, ma’am, for less than a -premium of fifty pounds down an’ a weekly payment of one pound.” - -“It seems a good deal for a baby.” - -“No, ma’am, it’s not a good deal, it’s cheap, too cheap maybe, but I’ve -my nater’l feelings, an’ I’ve took to the child, so I’m makin’ terms for -you an’ your sister as I wouldn’t for another lydy in a similar case.” - -“Well, unfortunately,” said Prudence timidly, “I did not expect to have -to pay so much, and only brought a smaller sum with me.” - -“How much?” asked good Mrs. Brown briefly. - -“Twenty pounds,” said Prudence. “You see I never had to—was concerned -in—I mean I never before had anything to do with babies, at least in -this way, and I thought—that is to say, twenty pounds seemed a good -deal, especially as I am to make you regular weekly payments as well.” - -“Twenty pounds!” shrieked Mrs. Brown. “Is it twenty pounds for a -mother’s care and love and dooty, and a comfortable ’ome an’ no -unpleasant questions asked?” - -“Of course not, of course not,” said Prudence hastily. “I see now it was -too little, but how am I to manage about the matter, as I have not got -fifty pounds here?” - -Mrs. Brown looked at her keenly. “I’ll trust you, ma’am,” she said, “for -I’m that soft-’earted, an’ I’ve took to the child. Pay me the twenty -down, an’ send me thirty in Bank of England notes—none o’ yer -cheques—within twenty-four hours, and I’ll take the little darling -away.” - -“Very well,” said Prudence relieved. “I will do as you say; but oh! Mrs. -Brown, be sure you take every care of her, let her want for nothing;” -and two big tears stood in the good-natured creature’s eyes. - -“Madam,” answered Mrs. Brown, “it’s a lucky child as comes to me; and -now will you please give me your name and address, and just write a -promise to pay on this ’ere bit of paper, and hand me over the twenty -pounds and I’ll give you a receipt; and give me the byby, for my train -is about due, and you’ve got my name and address, and I expects to be -notified whenever you’re a coming to see the byby, and I never allows as -payments to be more than a week in arrears, or I brings back the child.” - -Prudence was rather bewildered by Mrs. Brown’s last lengthy and rapid -speech, “I never allows no payments to be more than a week in arrears.” - -What could she mean by that? It really sounded as if she were familiar -with transactions of the kind, but surely no respectable married woman, -so nice in appearance too, even though her grammar was not faultless, -would need more than one child to adopt; so, telling herself she had -misunderstood, Prudence paid down the twenty pounds, kissed Augusta, saw -Mrs. Brown and that infant into the train, and then relieved, yet with -many cares on her mind, made her way back to Beaconsfield Gardens. - -Meantime Mrs. Brown, who watched her standing on the platform until the -train moved out of the station, began to feel she had made a bad -bargain. - -“I was a bloomin’ idiot not to arsk thirty bob,” she muttered, “an’ a -’undred down. She’s that soft she’d ’ave given it. There! stow it, you -brat!” she added with sudden fury, turning to Augusta, who had set up a -dismal wail. - - - - - CHAPTER XIII. - THE MEDICAL LADY BAFFLED. - - -No. 37, Beaconsfield Gardens, South Kensington, was in a ferment of -excitement. Something had happened. The boarders did not quite know -what, but there was in the air that electrical unrest that spreads so -rapidly from one individual to another. - -The mystery of Miss Semaphore’s illness was under discussion. What ailed -her? She had eaten nothing for two days. Was she really better? Was she -worse? Why this secrecy and embarrassment on the part of the usually -garrulous and impulsive Prudence? Why was no doctor called in? Why, why, -why, in a thousand forms, was the favourite interrogative pronoun on the -lips of the ladies and gentlemen as they sat round the fire after dinner -and discussed something more interesting to them than the _Daily -Telegraph_, that oracle beloved of boarding-houses. - -When tea was served, the maid sent up by Mrs. Wilcox to remind Prudence -that it was waiting in the drawing-room, knocked long and vainly at her -door, and at last, turning the handle, discovered that the apartment was -empty. Knocking at Augusta’s door likewise had no result, and the girl -came down to say she thought Miss Prudence Semaphore must have gone out -already. - -This was confirmed by Major Jones, who remembered seeing someone like -her turn down Tate Street when on his way home. - -Where had she gone to? All the ladies at her table were anxious to know, -but they asked in vain. The medical woman saw that her opportunity had -come. - -“I shall take advantage of her absence,” she said resolutely, “to visit -that poor, suffering sister of hers, whom I consider she has treated -shamefully.” - -There was a murmur of applause at this noble resolution, and the medical -woman, having hastily swallowed her tea, rose from table and made her -way upstairs. Mrs. Whitley followed at a convenient distance. She was -curious, but not daring. The medical woman knocked at the door of Miss -Augusta’s room, and listened for a reply. There was none. She repeated -the knock, and then tried the handle; the door was locked from the -inside, and the key, sticking in it, prevented anything like a -satisfactory view of the interior. - -“My dear Miss Semaphore, it is only me,” she murmured ungrammatically; -“I have come to enquire for you. May I not come in?” - -Miss Semaphore naturally did not answer. The medical woman stood -straight up and reflected for half-a-second. - -“It is my duty,” she said aloud, and, thus braced to the task, marched -to the door of Prudence’s room, opened it, passed in, and entered the -sleeping apartment of the elder Miss Semaphore. Mrs. Whitley by this -time had come forward, and paused as she passed the threshold. The -medical woman was just emerging with a bewildered face, when she saw -her, and exclaimed, - -“She has gone!” - -“Gone!” ejaculated Mrs. Whitley. - -“Yes, gone! There is no one there! The room is empty!” - -“What an ex-tra-or-dinary thing! Why where on earth can she have gone -to, and at this time of night too?” - -“There is some mystery here,” said the medical woman solemnly. “All is -not right, but I’ll see this matter out, or my name is not Jane Lord.” - -Downstairs went Mrs. Whitley and “Jane Lord” to tell the news. There was -an excited chorus of enquiries to a duet of replies. - -Why and how had Prudence Semaphore spirited away her sick sister? What -had happened? She had certainly told Mrs. Wilcox that Miss Augusta would -go for change of air, but who could imagine her sneaking off in the -evening without luggage or farewell? There was something behind it, but -what? - -“It sounds just like one of those horrid police cases one reads in the -papers,” said Mrs. Dumaresq; “I do hope the poor creature has not been -murdered and the body conveyed away.” - -“Good gracious!” exclaimed Mrs. Whitley, “surely you don’t think her -sister—” - -“I don’t think anything,” said Mrs. Dumaresq with dignity; “but I must -say Miss Prudence Semaphore’s manner has more than once struck me as -peculiar.” - -Mrs. Whitley lowered her voice to an awe-stricken whisper. - -“Then you think, perhaps, she has gone mad and murdered her sister? How -awful! The police should be told at once, they really should.” - -“My dear Mrs. Whitley, do not be so hasty. Whatever my suspicions may -be, I have not formulated them. In diplomacy one learns never to jump to -conclusions; but I confess this seems to me to be a very mysterious and -unpleasant affair. It makes me regret ever having come to a -boarding-house, in spite of the advice of my dearest friend, the Duchess -of Middlesex. ‘Don’t go to any such place, Mimi,’ she said. She always -calls me ‘Mimi.’ ‘You never can tell who you may meet or what may -happen, and it is so very unpleasant to be mixed up with persons with -whom one cannot associate.’ Didn’t she, Angelo?” - -Mr. Dumaresq, as usual, confirmed his wife’s statement. - -“But do you really think there is something wrong—that a crime has been -committed?” asked the little group of ladies one of the other. - -“I, for one, should not be surprised,” said the medical woman boldly; -“but it is well not to speak till one is certain, and of course I may be -mistaken.” - -“But did you—did you notice anything wrong in the room just now, any -signs of a struggle, or—or poison of any kind, or a weapon?” asked Mrs. -Whitley. “I suppose you looked?” - -“Frankly,” said the medical woman, “I did not; I was so surprised and -taken aback when I found she was not there, that I just looked at -nothing at all except the bed. That had been slept in apparently, and I -think the room was rather untidy, but I did not stay a moment.’ - -“Don’t you think, ladies,” said Mrs. Whitley, in a low voice, “that it -would be well for Miss Lord and myself to run upstairs now and -thoroughly investigate the apartment?” - -The others agreed; so the medical lady and her satellite made their way -to Miss Semaphore’s room, and conscientiously poked into every corner. -They found nothing except a twist of Miss Augusta’s false hair, and a -baby’s knitted boot. This last the medical woman picked up and held out. - -“Where did this come from, I wonder,” said she; “I suppose one of them -made it for some charity.” - -“No doubt,” said Mrs. Whitley; and having fruitlessly investigated -everything that had been left unlocked, and shaken every door, box, or -wardrobe that was securely fastened, they turned to make their way to -the morning room, a little disappointed at their fruitless search. - -Unfortunately, just as they were passing through, Prudence returned -home, and meeting them on the threshold, at once divined that they had -been investigating in her absence. They noted her frightened face, and -the look of relief that crossed it at the recollection that after all -there was nothing to find. The medical lady thought it best to carry off -their proceedings with a high hand. - -“Dear, dear!” she said, laughing; “don’t look so startled, Miss -Semaphore. We thought that as we saw or heard nothing of you at tea, we -had better see you or your sister, and enquire if we could be of use to -her in your absence; but you were both out.” - -“Yes,” said Prudence, breathlessly, “we were both out; and I must say, -Miss Lord, I consider it a great liberty for you and Mrs. Whitley to -have entered my room and my sister’s under the circumstances.” - -“Highty toity,” responded the medical woman, “we were trying to do our -duty by your unfortunate sister, whom you left without proper medical -attendance during her illness, and have apparently taken out of her sick -bed this night at the risk of her life, and conveyed away without the -smallest necessary precaution.” - -Terrible is the wrath of the sheep. Prudence stood at bay in a towering -rage. - -“Allow me to tell you, madam,” she said, “that you know nothing at all -about it. My sister is perfectly well, never better in her life, and I -won’t be dictated to by you, or Mrs. Whitley either, as to any course of -action I think fit to take.” - -“Well, I’m sure,” gasped the medical woman, “this is what one gets for -trying to be kind to some people. Come away, my dear Mrs. Whitley, and -leave this—person. Far from thanking us for our thoughtfulness to her -sister and herself, she only insults us. Of course if poor Miss Augusta -dies from want of proper care, we shall not be to blame,” and, with much -dignity, the two ladies swept downstairs, to tell the result of their -mission. - -That something was horribly wrong, all the boarders were agreed, but as -to what that something was, they differed. Was Miss Augusta Semaphore -living or dead? If living, what was the nature of the mysterious disease -with which she was afflicted that necessitated such prompt and secret -action on the part of her easy-going sister? - -Mrs. Whitley, as one who had visited her room, was terrified at this -view of the case, and went into strong hysterics at the idea of having -perhaps contracted some terrible malady during her investigations. She -was not to be calmed until both she and the medical woman, by the advice -of the latter, went through a course of thorough fumigation and -disinfection. - -Where was Augusta now? That was another interesting theme for -speculation. Somewhere near, apparently, since Major Jones had seen -Prudence by herself in Tate Street shortly after dinner. Nothing else -was talked of all day, but as Prudence came down calmly to meals, -seemingly happier and more composed than she had been for some days, -excitement began to die down. Perhaps there was nothing in it after all. -Augusta was queer; she might have insisted in going off in the night -like that. Anyhow, nothing much could be wrong, or Prudence would never -look so cheerful. As for her having gone mad, or murdered her sister, -even Mrs. Whitley now laughed at the idea; but the medical woman still -clung to her belief that all was not right. - -Poor, tired Prudence, weary of scheming, and lying, and being badgered, -felt the change and rejoiced. If they only would question her no more, -how happy she might be! A fortnight would soon pass, and by that time, -all suspicion being averted, she might safely give notice and join her -sister. Meantime, to leave no room for speculation as to her movements, -she went out very little, appeared at every meal, and told old Mrs. -Belcher, the most sympathetic of the boarders, who immediately spread -the story, that her sister had gone to the seaside for a change, and -that if she did not speedily improve in health, she, Prudence, would -soon join her there. - -All suspicions were now apparently tranquillized, and Prudence, having -despatched by the first post a cheque for £30 to good Mrs. Brown, felt -sufficiently calm to await events. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV. - AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR. - - -The two following days passed peacefully over. Prudence told her -carefully-concocted story to Mrs. Wilcox, and said she would probably -follow her sister in a fortnight. She despatched a great box, avowedly -for the use of Augusta, to Paddington Station, and left it at the -cloak-room to be kept till called for. She took every precaution that -suggested itself to her, and even contemplated announcing at table the -receipt of a letter from her sister declaring she was enjoying the fine -sea air. - -In fact, she felt she was beginning to lie with an _aplomb_ that at once -frightened and delighted her, but was accompanied by twinges of -conscience. Many tears she shed in secret over the deception she was -forced to practise. - -The interest and excitement about Miss Semaphore had already abated -somewhat. Her room had been turned out, cleaned, and made ready for a -new boarder, and Prudence, who had sent on the additional thirty pounds -to good Mrs. Brown, was congratulating herself on having acted with -great promptitude, foresight, and caution, under trying and exceptional -circumstances. - -Her main idea now was to hear from the widow of the explorer whose fatal -Water of Youth had proved the direful spring of all her woes. Night and -day she considered the subject. Was there an antidote? If not, would her -sister ever grow up? If she did grow up, would she grow up normally? Had -she really, as Prudence thought, preserved her memory and understanding? -Was she to be treated exactly like an ordinary baby? and, if not, in -what respects should a difference be made? Should she be sent to school -later on? Would her intelligence grow or lessen? All these racking -questions, to which she could give no answer, tormented the younger Miss -Semaphore continually. - -When, sooner than she had ventured to hope, she found a letter lying on -the hall-table addressed to her, in a foreign handwriting, and bearing -the Paris post-mark, the poor lady was so overcome between fear and hope -that she scarcely had courage to open it. With tottering limbs, she made -her way upstairs, locked her door, and sat down to read the most -important missive she had ever received. - -Mrs. Geldheraus expressed herself shocked and surprised at the sad story -unfolded by Miss Prudence Semaphore, but, unfortunately, was not very -helpful. She had never before heard of anyone taking too much of the -Water of Youth, and knew of no method of counteracting its effects. - -“I explained to your sister,” she said, “that a tablespoonful took about -ten years off one’s age. Thus a woman of forty, taking two -tablespoonfuls, would, in effect, be twenty. After that, a tea-spoonful -every two years, would keep her at twenty as long as the Water lasted. -She seemed quite to understand my directions. As such a case as you -describe has never entered into my experience, I fear, dear madam, I can -only recommend you to be patient under these distressing circumstances. -I can give you no idea of how long the effects will last. Usually, the -greater the quantity required in the first instance, the sooner the dose -must be repeated, as the acquired youth wears off with a rapidity in -proportion to one’s actual age. Whether this, however, will be the case -with your sister, I cannot say. No one who has hitherto tried the Water -has returned to infancy, so your sister’s is a very exceptional and -awkward position, especially, as you tell me, you are living at a -boarding-house. You may be thankful that your sister did not take a -little more, or she would probably have vanished for ever, and your -circumstances would be even more painful than they are. It is most -probable that she retains her adult memory and understanding unimpaired, -remaining a woman in mind though not in body. I regret, dear madam, that -I cannot be more helpful, and am, yours faithfully, - - SOPHIE GELDHERAUS.” - -As she concluded, Prudence broke down utterly, and, throwing herself on -her bed, gave way to a bitter outburst of weeping. There was nothing for -it now but to let things take their course, to accept all the annoyance, -deception, seclusion, and suspicion involved in so anomalous, so -unprecedented a situation. She saw nothing before her but a life spent -in avoiding acquaintances, in evading enquiry—the life of a fugitive, -dogged by a blameless past. - -“It is horrible, horrible!” she wailed. “If it were anything else, I -think I could bear it, but this is so incredible, so unheard of. How am -I to manage about our business matters? Will Mr. Carson believe me if I -tell him the truth? Will he ever credit that the infant I show him is -Augusta?” (Mr. Carson was the solicitor who managed the affairs of the -Misses Semaphore.) “What about signing deeds and so forth? Then, if I -pretend she has died, he will want to come to the funeral, or see the -death certificate, or take out probate, or something of that kind that -will involve enquiry. Oh! what, what am I to do?” - -At last, exhausted by weeping, Miss Prudence lay still, and stared with -sodden eyes at the flies dancing on the ceiling. The one agreeable -object of her reflections was that at least she had got Augusta safely -away, and placed her in hands that were both kind and safe. - -A longing to see her sister came over her. Though Augusta was dumb and -helpless, it would at least be some consolation to talk to her, to pour -out her woes. - -To a woman of the stamp of Prudence, the necessity for secretiveness, -for independent or uncounselled action, is terrible. She wanted someone -to advise her, someone to lean on, and little consolation as she could -expect from communing with Augusta, it would at least be a relief to say -all that was in her mind. - -Accordingly she rose, wrote a few lines to “good Mrs. Brown,” announcing -her intention of calling at Plummer’s Cottages the following afternoon, -and having donned a thick veil to conceal her distorted features, -proceeded to post the note. - -The walk did her good. A fresh wind was blowing, that cooled the hot -cheeks of the troubled lady. In the air was something of rest that -soothed her, and it was in a more equable frame of mind that she -returned home. - -At the door of 37, Beaconsfield Gardens, she became conscious that -something unusual was agitating the inmates. A loud, angry voice reached -her, muffled by intervening doors—a voice she seemed to recognise; and -when, in answer to her ring, Müller opened the door, his face was -flushed and his manner agitated. - -“Oh, blease,” he gasped, when he saw her, “I am glat that you, matam, -hafe come. Here it is a voman asking you to see, and ven I say you are -not _zu Haus_, she _schimpf_ and cry, and vill not go avay.” - -Prudence’s heart stopped beating, and she caught the door-post to save -herself from falling. - -“Where is she, Müller?” she gasped faintly. - -“I did show her into the morning room,” said Müller, “ven she say that -avay she vill not go; but therein she vill not remain, but valk into the -hall and calls for you.” - -Before he could say any more, there appeared before the shocked eyes of -Prudence a vision of good Mrs. Brown, flushed, dishevelled, her bonnet -to one side. With unsteady gait, she lurched down the hall, and -confronted the trembling lady. - -“So you’ve come at larst,” she said; “nice way to keep a ’spectable -woman awytin for you. S’pose I’ve nothin’ better to do than sitting -’ere?” - -“What do you want with me, Mrs. Brown?” asked Prudence, in an agitated -voice. - -“Wot d’ I want with you? Well, I likes that. Wot do I want, she sez! I -want to know wot d’ you mean by sending a ’spectable married woman for -the keep of that there byby a cheque as she can’t get no money for? Eh? -Tell me that? A bloomin’ shame, I calls it; but you just fork out that -thirty pounds as you howe me, or I’ll ’ave the law of you,” said good -Mrs. Brown, loudly but indistinctly. - -Prudence was miserably conscious that two or three heads were peering -over the balustrade from the landing above. - -“Will you come in here, please,” she said as firmly as she could, “and -tell me exactly what is the matter?” - -“The matter?” queried Mrs. Brown, as she lurched against her. “Matter -enough! What did you go for to send me a cheque at all, wen I told you I -wouldn’t ’ave no cheques?” - -By this Prudence had got her into the morning room, deserted, for a -wonder, and closed the door. - -“Now,” she said tremblingly, “what is all this about, and what do you -mean by coming here and making such a noise? I am sorry I sent you a -cheque, but I quite forgot you told me not to, and it is all right; -there is nothing wrong with it.” - -“Nothin’ wrong! Wy wot d’ you take me for, a-sendin’ me a cheque as no -one ’ll change?” said Mrs. Brown. “Nice conduck of a female as calls -’erself a lydy, a-sending of a pore woman to one public hafter another, -an’ not one o’ the lot ’ll change the thing!” - -“Let me see it,” said Prudence, bewildered. - -Mrs. Brown glared rather unsteadily at the speaker for a minute, and -then fumbled in her bag. After many futile dives, she at last turned out -the contents on the table. There, amidst papers, a thimble, sixpence in -coppers, some pawn tickets, a half-crown, a reel of cotton, a stump of -blue pencil, and various other odds and ends, was the letter of -Prudence, with her cheque, now very crumpled and dirty, protruding. - -“Calls erself a lydy,” pursued good Mrs. Brown, “an’ sends me that!” -Here she banged the cheque on the table. - -Prudence, from force of habit, had crossed the cheque and marked it “not -negotiable,” as the family solicitor, when first she had the handling of -money, had instructed her always to do. - -“I am sorry,” she said, “the cheque is crossed, and that is why they -would not change it. It should be passed through a bank. If you will -wait here quietly for a moment, I will write you another.” - -Good Mrs. Brown at first seemed indisposed to allow Prudence to leave -the room at all. “Give me my money,” she said; “I don’t want none o’ -your cheques. Money down’s the thing for me!” - -A vast amount of explanation was required before she seemed to grasp the -sense of what the unhappy lady was saying. Then she suddenly sat down on -a chair and burst into tears, much to Miss Semaphore’s alarm and -distress. - -“You won’t try to starve the blessed hinfant,” she said, “and rob a pore -woman of ’er ’ard earned money?” - -Prudence earnestly assured her she would not, that nothing was farther -from her intentions. She apologised again and again about the unlucky -cheque, and implored her unexpected visitor to be calm, to be patient -for one moment while she ran upstairs to fetch her cheque book. - -Mrs. Brown, however, followed her to the door, and protested huskily -against the younger Miss Semaphore’s “giving” her “the slip.” - -As poor Prudence escaped, she had the misery of seeing the heads of Mrs. -Whitley, the medical woman, and even of the stately Mrs. Dumaresq -herself, hastily withdrawn from over the balustrade on the first -landing. Every minute seemed an hour until a fresh cheque was made out, -and good Mrs. Brown, grasping it tightly in one hand, had gone off to -negociate it after a deal of explanation. Prudence felt quite sick with -agitation and apprehension. - -“I really almost believe,” she said to herself, “I really am inclined to -think that Mrs. Brown must have been drinking.” - -A dreadful uneasiness as to how Augusta might be faring weighed heavy on -her heart. - -“I will certainly go to-morrow and see the place,” she resolved, “and if -I do not like it, I’ll take Augusta away.” - -Her spirits drooped at the prospect of an impending conflict with good -Mrs. Brown, for even if her thoughts wronged the respectable woman, that -afternoon’s experience showed that the lady in question had another side -to her character besides that observed by Prudence at London Bridge -Station. - - - - - CHAPTER XV. - PRUDENCE CALLS AT PLUMMER’S COTTAGES. - - -Next morning Prudence, after a restless night, was up betimes. Never in -the past had the placid, good-natured spinster known sleeplessness, -except in a very modified form. Since Augusta’s misfortune, however, -that was changed. She thought more than she ever had thought in her -life, and constant anxiety was making her face look drawn and worn. Her -brief triumph at having got her sister safely out of the house had -vanished with the unexpected and unwelcome visit of “good Mrs. Brown.” - -Wearily tossing on her bed, waiting for the dawn, she pictured that -mistress of a comfortable home, pursuing her with threats; while babies, -cheques, Mrs. Dumaresq, and the medical lady whirled wildly past in a -waking dream. - -At four, she rose, and beguiled the weary hours until the breakfast bell -rang, by watching the gardener sharpening his scythe to cut the grass, -and observing the sleepy maids unfastening the shutters of the opposite -houses, shaking mats, and washing the steps. She wished to go then and -there in search of her sister, her anxiety and impatience grew every -minute, and she fretted, as we all have done, at the restrictions that -prevent one paying a casual call at six in the morning, and the laziness -that fails to enforce the running of trains the twenty-four hours -through. - -Not even a cab could she see. Many a time had she opened her window, -looked out, closed it again, taken a novel, put it by, looked at her -watch, walked up and down, re-arranged her hair, fidgeted, opened her -door, listened if anyone was moving, shut it and sat down, before the -welcome boom of the gong, struck by Müller’s stout arm, announced the -first meal of the day. - -Poor Miss Prudence made but a dismal pretence at eating. She knew that -her queer visitor of the previous evening was remembered and discussed, -and she felt that every morsel of bread would choke her. She crumbled a -slice on her plate, drank a cup of tea, and then rose hastily from -table. Consciousness of terrible guilt could scarcely have made her more -miserable than she, good innocent creature, was at the moment. - -Guilty people usually have a certain hardness of nature that makes them -indifferent to the opinion of others, while Prudence, with all her woes -upon her head, was a timid, unsheltered, soft-hearted body, to whom an -angry or contemptuous glance was as bad as a blow. - -By half-past nine she had donned a black bonnet and mantle, and had left -the house, carrying in her hand an envelope on which she had written -“good Mrs. Brown’s” address. She hailed a passing omnibus that was going -in the direction, and, still pursued by her sombre thoughts, tried to -imagine what she should do with Augusta if, as she feared, Mrs. Brown’s -house was not the happy home she had anticipated. - -Plummer’s Cottages were not easy to find. No one knew where they, were; -but then every civilian of whom one asks the way in London is sure to be -a stranger, so Prudence applied to a stalwart policeman. - -“If I was you, mum, I shouldn’t wenture,” he said, “they’re a low lot -down there.” - -“But I must,” urged Prudence nervously. - -“Well, if you must, take the fourth to the right, and then the second to -the left, and the first to the right again. That’s Barker’s Rents. You -walks straight past the Model Dwellings, which models they are, and -you’ll find Plummer’s Cottages.” - -Prudence, having laboriously counted her streets, followed his -directions. The second turn to the left brought her into a dingy byway, -and the first to the right again into a slum. Barker’s Rents towered up -to the sky, and at the door of the Model Dwellings a group of slatternly -women were discussing personal topics with much freedom, and a running -accompaniment of “sez he,” “sez I,” and “sez she.” - -No. 42 was an inconspicuous cottage, with a battered green door, reached -by a single step. Prudence knocked at it with the handle of her umbrella -without any response. She repeated the summons, but in vain, and, having -shaken the door, which resisted her efforts to open it, she endeavoured -to peep through the dingy window. Her proceedings excited considerable -interest amongst the ladies standing at the Model Dwellings, as indeed -amongst all the residents in the neighbourhood, who came out by twos and -threes until at last, Prudence, turning round, was surprised and alarmed -to find herself the centre of an unwashed and, to her eyes, menacing -crowd. - -“’Tis no good your rapping,” said a burly woman, pushing her way -through. “There ain’t no one there. The ’ouse is empty.” - -“Empty!” ejaculated Prudence. “Since when?” - -“They cleared out last night like winking.” - -“Oh, but there must be some mistake. I am looking for a Mrs. Brown.” - -“You bet!” said the woman, addressing the crowd, “she’s one o’ them. -Nice lot she must be to ’and ’er own flesh an’ blood hover to Sal -Brown.” - -The crowd signified approval of this view by a series of hoots and cat -calls. - -“But I don’t know what you mean,” cried the frightened and bewildered -Prudence, “I want to find a Mrs. Brown, who told me her address was 42, -Plummer’s Cottages, and now that I come here, I find the place shut up -and you say the woman is gone. Can anyone tell me where to find her?” - -“I’ll tell ye fast enough,” said the burly woman. “She’s in the lock-up, -Sal Brown is; she’s to be brought up before the beak to-day on a drunk -and disorderly.” - -“But good gracious! my sister! Where——where is the child she was taking -care of?” - -“Oh! so you _are_ one o’ them. A nice ’uzzy you must be to give an -innercent byby hover to Sal. Blest if you’ll find it alive, an’ no doubt -that’s wot you wants. The perlice made a swoop on the lot last night, -an’ they say the Sercierty for the Prewention o’ Cruelty to Children’s -carted ’em off somewhere. I wish you just saw ’em, so I do.” - -“Them? What do you mean by them?” - -“As if yer didn’t know! Wy, the hinfants to be sure. The Sercierty took -the whole fifteen o’ them, an’ now they’re going to try to find the -parients. They’ll be glad to ’ear of you. They’ll ’ave somethink to say -t’ you wen they sees yer.” - -“Fifteen infants! Why what do you mean? I only know of one child that -was given over to Mrs. Brown to take care of. She wanted to adopt it. -She said she was a respectable married woman, and would give it a -comfortable home.” - -A burst of jeering laughter greeted this. - -“Precious comfortable,” said a thin woman, “with Sal on the booze! Wy -d’you mean to tell us you didn’t know she wer a reglar wrong un?” - -“A wrong one?” - -“Yes, farmed kids and that?” - -“I don’t know what you mean,” protested Prudence tearfully. - -“Well, y’are a deep ’un, or a softy, blest if I know which, not t’ve -found all about ’er from the start, if yer not lyin’, as is most -likely.” - -“But what am I to do?” - -“Dunno. You go ’long to the perlice station, an’ p’raps the bobbies’ll -tell you.” - -“Where is it?” asked Prudence wearily. - -Several of the women pointed out the direction, and followed by a little -procession of interested but shock-headed observers, who made -unfavourable comments on her manners, morals, and appearance, the -younger Miss Semaphore took her way, for the first time in her life, to -the police station, and made tearful enquiries of a constable at the -door. - -“Step this way, ma’am,” said he. - -While the disappointed crowd hung about, and, foreseeing no startling or -tragic _dénouement_, gradually melted away, Prudence was ushered into -the presence of a severe official seated at a table covered with neatly -docketed papers. - -The constable, a fresh-coloured young fellow from the country, saluted. - -“Please, sir, this person’s called about the Plummer’s Cottages Baby -Farming Case. Says she’s mother to one of the hinfants.” - -“Sister,” corrected Miss Semaphore timidly. “I am not a married lady, my -good man.” - -“Will you kindly state your business,” said the inspector, after an -awful pause, during which he took no notice of the presence of Prudence, -but went on writing stolidly. - -Prudence told how a few days ago she had entrusted her sister to the -care of a woman named Brown, and had paid her two sums of twenty and -thirty pounds respectively. That now she found the woman had left the -address given to her, that the house was shut up, and, having been told -Mrs. Brown was under arrest, she had come to the station to make -enquiries and to discover, if possible, the whereabouts of her sister. -The narrative was told in broken words interrupted by many sighs and -tears. - -Inspector Smith had made a reputation in connection with baby farming -cases, and he looked on this Plummer’s Cottages business as one of the -worst transactions of the kind he had ever come across. Sal Brown he -considered less guilty than the wicked and unnatural parents who had -delivered over their offsprings to her. What he inwardly designated the -“crocodile tears” of Prudence did not move him a whit, and he surveyed -her with manifest disfavour. She might of course be a dupe, but he -inclined to believe her a criminal. - -“Do you say that the child in question is your sister?” - -“Yes.” - -“But did you not tell the constable just now that you were her mother?” - -“Oh dear no! He misunderstood me. I only said I had come to enquire -about a child.” - -“But you must be aware that all the children found at the woman’s house -were extremely young—infants in fact. None of them were over two years -of age.” - -“My sister is”—Prudence hesitated—“extremely young.” - -“Well,” said the Inspector doubtfully, “of course I cannot compel you to -speak the truth. They’ll do that elsewhere. The babies are mostly in a -terrible way, starved, dirty, and diseased. We are trying to trace their -parents, as several names and addresses were found in the possession of -Brown, and you would probably have been subpœnæd to give evidence at her -trial. Meantime the children have been taken to the workhouse.” - -What all this portended Prudence scarcely grasped. One fact, and one -fact alone, stood out luridly before her. Augusta was in the workhouse. - -“Oh!” she gasped in dismay, “in the workhouse! My sister in the -workhouse. Where is it? Let me go at once. I must take her away.” - -“I think you had better not attempt to do anything of the kind,” said -the Inspector stiffly. “The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to -Children has taken the matter up, and you’ll hear more of it later. You -had better just leave the child alone. She is in good hands now anyway, -very different from those you put her into. My advice to you is to keep -quiet. You’ll see her all right later on, and may be you’ll have to tell -your share in the case.” - -“My share in the case is easily told,” said poor Prudence. “As I -explained to you already, I thought I was placing her in a good home, -with a kind, respectable woman, but it seems I was mistaken.” - -If anyone has formed an opinion that another is wily, the simplest -speech or action tends to confirm it. In the heart-moving accents of -Prudence, Inspector Smith heard only duplicity. In her open, though -tear-stained, countenance he read nothing but low cunning. - -“It’s quite wonderful,” he said coldly, “to see how easy it is to -deceive people when it is to their interests to be deceived; they ask no -questions and they are told no lies, and a troublesome baby is got rid -of, that’s how it is.” - -“Well, I did want to get rid of her for a little time,” admitted -Prudence, with the characteristic foolish candour that so often covers -the innocent with suspicion, “because it was not convenient to have her -where I live. If you knew the circumstances, sir, you would feel for me. -They are very peculiar and extraordinary, but indeed I asked questions -and Mrs. Brown told me lies.” - -The Inspector looked at her under his shaggy brows, he did not quite -know what to make of her simplicity. She was either an admirable actress -or else—she seemed really white and ill and frightened, but with that -kind of woman one never knew how much was “fake.” - -“Will you please give me your full name and address,” he said. - -“Prudence Elizabeth Semaphore, 37, Beaconsfield Gardens, South -Kensington.” - -“Condition?” - -“Sir.” - -“Condition, married or single?” - -“I am unmarried, as you must have heard me say to the constable.” - -“Unmarried, hem. Age?” - -“Age?” - -“Yes, age. How old are you?” - -“That, sir,” said Prudence with dignity, “is no concern of yours; I -decline to answer.” - -“Well,” said the Inspector grimly, “I won’t press the question. Perhaps -you may answer it later. That’ll do,” and with a nod he dismissed her. - -“But the workhouse where my sister is, where is it? How can I get -there?” - -“She is at St. Mark’s Workhouse, but you had better leave her alone.” - -“Would you mind,” said Prudence pleadingly, “writing down the name and -the name of the street where it is situated? I must go there at once.” - -“Oh, you can remember well enough,” said the Inspector rather gruffly. -“St. Mark’s Workhouse, Bush Street.” - -With this Prudence had to be content. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI. - MRS. DUMARESQ IN AN UNDIPLOMATIC CIRCLE. - - -When Prudence found herself in the street, she looked in a bewildered -fashion from right to left, not knowing which way to turn. The -good-natured young constable pointed out the direction of the workhouse, -telling her it was quite near, and thither she bent her steps. Knowing -nothing of the intricacies of the neighbourhood, she walked some -considerable way before realising that she was lost, and that her best -plan was to take a cab. Cabs, however, were few about there, and she -discovered one with difficulty. As she drove towards the workhouse she -had leisure to reflect on the bewildering incidents of the morning, and -speculate on the condition of mind and body in which she would probably -find Augusta. - -“The poor dear,” she thought, “what she must have gone through! Oh! what -a misfortune to have come across that terrible woman. And she looked so -nice, so clean, so respectable. Thank Heaven, Augusta was not with her -very long.” She went over in her mind her conversation with the -Inspector. - -“What a disagreeable man! He seemed quite to doubt my word that Augusta -was my sister. Perhaps I had better say in future that she is my -half-sister. She does look ridiculously young.” - -Suddenly poor Prudence bounded from her seat. She had but just -remembered something the Inspector had said—something scarcely noticed -at the time amidst so many conflicting anxieties and emotions. - -“We are trying to trace their parents, as several names and addresses -were found in the possession of Brown, and you would probably in any -case have been subpœnæd to give evidence at the trial.” - -“Great Heaven!” she thought, “so there is to be a trial.” - -The full meaning of the words burst suddenly upon her. It should all -come out—the whole story. She saw herself in court, heckled, badgered, -cross-examined, made perhaps to contradict herself at every turn, -surveyed critically by the boarders at Beaconsfield Gardens, who, of -course, would flock to hear the case. She would be flouted, disbelieved -if she told the truth, tripped up and convicted of falsehood if she -lied, accused no doubt of perjury, perhaps of murder, ordered to the -cells to undergo terrible and unknown penalties, while Augusta—the only -person who could prove her innocence and good faith—Augusta was a -helpless, speechless infant, unable to testify in her favour. Of law, of -legal procedure, of what a judge could or could not do, Prudence was -profoundly ignorant. All that was plain to her was, that she could not -produce her sister in the flesh as known to and recognisable by her -acquaintances, and that no one would credit her if she produced the baby -and said that was Augusta. Even at the best, if no question as to her -sister arose, no suspicion of murder, how bad it looked to have smuggled -a child away, and given it to such a person as Mrs. Brown to cruelly -use. Cold beads of perspiration stood out on the poor woman’s forehead. -No! she would not be mixed up in it; she would not go into court at all; -she would get back her sister and flee far away from London, and Mrs. -Brown, and the medical lady. In agonised haste she pulled the check -string, and bade the cabman drive back at once to the station. She would -tell the Inspector that she declined to give evidence under any -circumstances—surely they could not force her to if she refused—and -bitterly she reproached herself for her unpardonable stupidity in not -having done this at the time. - -She tumbled out of the cab, and made her way like one distraught to the -little office where she had seen the Inspector. Alas! he had just gone -out. No one knew where he had gone to or when he would return. Prudence -had therefore to content herself with leaving a verbal message with a -subordinate, to the effect that nothing would induce her to appear -against Mrs. Brown or anyone else, or to enter a court of law under any -circumstances. This done, she returned to her cab with a mind rather -more at ease, and resumed her journey to the workhouse. - -Workhouse porters are not usually chosen for their urbanity, and he of -St. Mark’s was no exception to the rule. “It is not visiting day,” he -said to her, “and you ought to know better than come bothering here.” He -was deaf to her appeals to see Augusta. “It can’t be done,” he said. -“You should come on Thursday between three and six. It’s no use your -making a disturbance.” As she still persisted, he lost his temper, and -told her she had better go, or he would have her turned out. - -The frightened Prudence hurried back to her cab, and, sobbing miserably, -directed the driver to South Kensington. Worn out by the fatigues and -excitements of the day, she arrived at 37, Beaconsfield Gardens, in time -for dinner. - -She would have given anything not to be obliged to put in an appearance -at that meal, but she did not dare to remain in her room. Her fear of -attracting notice was morbid. - -The boarders, for a wonder, were discussing Dickens as Prudence took her -place at table. - -“Dickens is an author I have never read,” Mrs. Dumaresq was saying. - -“Really!” responded Major Jones. “Why not?” - -“My dear mother did not approve of his works when I was a girl,” said -Mrs. Dumaresq, “and, since then, what I have seen of his writings has -not induced me to form a different opinion.” - -“But I never heard it said that Dickens had written anything -objectionable.” - -“Oh, objectionable! Well, not exactly objectionable in the sense you -mean,” answered Mrs. Dumaresq; “that might not matter so much, but he -deals with people who are not in our set.” - -“It says in to-day’s paper that the Princess drove over yesterday to see -the motor cars,” said Mrs. Whitley suddenly to Mrs. Dumaresq. - -Now Mrs. Whitley spoke indistinctly, and with a lisp, which no doubt -accounted for Mrs. Dumaresq’s unexpected reply, for that lady said, - -“Oh, yes, to be sure; so she did. They are dear old friends of ours. -Such charming people!” - -Mrs. Whitley looked astonished. “I’m afraid you don’t quite understand -me,” she said; “I spoke of the motor cars.” - -“Oh, ah! Yes, to be sure,” said Mrs. Dumaresq, slightly embarrassed. -“The motor cars—yes, I have seen them.” - -There was a long pause, during which the lady regained her -self-possession. - -“Have you heard from your sister, Miss Semaphore?” asked Mrs. Dumaresq, -after a time, as she ate her soup. - -“Yes, thank you.” - -“And how is she?” - -“Not so well—at least, better. I mean she is not yet quite well, but is -better than she was.” - -What further embarrassing questions the lady might have put Prudence -could only speculate, for, providentially, Mrs. Dumaresq was appealed to -by the medical woman for her opinion on some hotly-contested question of -Government policy. This was being discussed by Major Jones and Mr. -Lorimer, who, it has been said, like most gentlemen that live in -boarding-houses, were staunch Conservatives. A new boarder had just -given utterance to deplorably Radical sentiments. - -Mrs. Dumaresq had not heard, and politely requested information as to -the point at issue. - -“My husband,” said the wife of the new boarder, “remarked that, in -proportion to their means, the poor are taxed far more heavily than the -rich, and he advocates reversing this. What do you think?” - -“Really,” said Mrs. Dumaresq with lofty sweetness, “I have no opinion on -the subject. I know absolutely nothing of politics.” - -“Oh! Then you are a Conservative,” said the new boarder’s wife abruptly. -“I have always noticed that when a woman begins by telling me she knows -nothing of politics, it means that she is a Tory.” - -Mrs. Dumaresq looked offended. “Well,” she said, after a brief pause, -“my sympathies are naturally with the aristocracy, amongst whom my life -has been passed. In military and diplomatic circles everyone is -Conservative, so if I have any bias, it is in favour of my friends.” - -The wife of the new boarder happened, unfortunately, to be an earnest -woman, so she did not let the matter drop. - -“But why,” she pursued, “should you, a member of the great English -middle-class, set yourself to uphold a system inimical to the interests -not only of the poor but of your equals.” - -The listeners felt the position to be strained. No one had ever pressed -a point on Mrs. Dumaresq before, and all the ladies thought the new -boarder’s wife was audacious and ill-bred. She herself, however, was -quite at her ease, though eager and interested. - -Mrs. Dumaresq smiled rather acidly. “I can scarcely claim the privilege -of belonging to what you call ‘the great English middle-class,’” she -said. “My relations have not been in that sphere.” - -“But surely,” said the new boarder’s wife, “you do not consider that you -belong to the working class? That would be absurd. You are too modest. -Why, business people on such a very large scale as your relatives might -almost rank with professional men. My husband comes from Northampton, -and I have often heard your brother spoken of as one of the most -well-to-do men in the town. Does he keep on the pawnbroking business -still? There was some talk of his retiring from that after he was -elected Mayor.” - -For a moment Mrs. Dumaresq looked as if she had received a blow. She -went white and red in rapid succession, then rallied, and smiled -artificially at the unconscious and unconcerned wife of the new boarder. - -“I fancy you misunderstood the drift of my remarks,” she said. “And so -your husband knows Northampton. Busy town, is it not? Yes, my brother -does own—a—a—some business houses there, that were left to him as -portion of the vast estate of—um—a wealthy relative, and, I believe -that, finding them very profitable, he has allowed them to be kept on. -So many people nowadays do not shrink from trade as they used when I was -young. This is a democratic age, is it not?” - -“Why, I thought it was your father who founded the business,” said the -new boarder’s wife; but Mrs. Dumaresq had just begun to tell Mrs. -Whitley of a sale of work that she had been to that afternoon, which had -been opened by Her Royal Highness the Duchess of York, and she failed to -hear the observation. - -There was an uncomfortable silence. The prestige of Mrs. Dumaresq was -rudely shaken. Then everyone began talking together, while the medical -lady meditated questioning the new boarder’s wife later, and finding out -all she had to tell about the family of Mrs. Dumaresq, whose superior -airs had more than once irritated her. - - - - - CHAPTER XVII. - A SENSATION IN “THE STAR.” - - -When dinner was over, and the feminine boarders had filed upstairs as -usual, a fresh shock awaited poor Prudence. There was sudden great -excitement in the street. A dozen newsboys, with stentorian lungs, -bellowed up and down Beaconsfield Gardens the words, “Extry -Speschul—’orrible case—_Re_-volting details,” alone being distinctly -audible. - -The women crowded to the window trying to hear, and speculating what the -sensation might be. Major Jones went to the front door and bought a copy -of _The Star_, which he kindly brought up to the drawing-room for the -benefit of the ladies. - -“Well, Major, what is it all about?” asked little Mrs. Whitley eagerly, -when Major Jones entered the room. - -“A dreadful Baby Farming Case,” said the Major. “Fifteen babies -discovered in a horrible state of dirt and neglect somewhere at the East -End.” - -“I thought it was a murder,” said the medical woman, somewhat -disappointed. - -“Oh, this is just as bad! Do read it, please,” cried Miss Belcher, Mrs. -Whitley, and Mrs. Wilcox, who had just finished pouring out tea. - -Major Jones rubbed his glasses with a silk handkerchief, holding _The -Star_ tightly under his arm the while. Then, having adjusted his -spectacles, and taken up a position immediately under the gas, he read -in a quick, monotonous voice: - - “HORRIBLE BABY FARMING CASE! - - REVOLTING DETAILS!! - FIFTEEN HELPLESS INFANTS CONSIGNED TO MISERY AND STARVATION!!! - SEARCH FOR UNNATURAL PARENTS. - - “At the Arrow Street Police Court to-day, before Sir John Jenkins, - Sarah Anne Brown, 50, residing at 42, Plummer’s Cottages, Barker’s - Rents, E., and variously known as ‘The Scorcher,’ ‘Soothing Syrup - Sal,’ ‘Amelia Tompkins,’ ‘Mary Ann Martin,’ ‘Mrs. Ash,’ ‘Mrs. Fry,’ - &c., was charged with being drunk and disorderly, and assaulting the - police. Police-constable Brady X 2001 deposed to being on duty in Pitt - Street last night at 9.30. He saw the prisoner, who was the centre of - a noisy crowd of roughs, dancing before the door of the ‘Bunch of - Grapes,’ from which she had been ejected. In her arms she carried a - sickly baby, and when requested to move on, she threw the child at the - constable, making use of disgusting language. The child was severely - bruised, and when remonstrated with, the prisoner scratched the - constable’s face. She then flung herself on the ground and kicked. So - violent was she that it took four men to bring her to the station, - where the doctor discovered that the child was suffering from the - effects of neglect and starvation. The wretched infant was immediately - conveyed to the headquarters of the Society for the Prevention of - Cruelty to Children, whence an officer of the Society was at once - despatched to prisoner’s address. On enquiries being made at her - home—a miserable hovel—it seems that no fewer than fourteen - unregistered infants were discovered, the place being in fact a baby - farm on an extensive scale. The children were in an indescribable - state of filth and misery. There was only one feeding bottle on the - premises, and that was half-filled with sour milk. Two of the older - children were gnawing a crust of dry bread. All were nearly naked, - being wrapped in various old rags. A number of pawn tickets of recent - date for articles of infants’ clothing seemed to show that their - wearing apparel had been disposed of by the woman Brown, who appears - to have carried on an extensive traffic in infants for some years. On - the floor of the principal room was a wretched, filthy, flock bed. - There was neither fire nor light in the house. The unfortunate little - sufferers were at once removed to St Mark’s Workhouse, and provided - with food and medical care. Four of them were not expected to live. - - “The prisoner, who seemed to be still under the influence of drink, - made a long and rambling statement about a baby, a crossed cheque, and - a lady, but she was interrupted by the magistrate, who told her she - ought to be ashamed of herself. This was one of the most disgraceful - cases that had ever come before him. - - “Mr. Ramsden asked that the accused should be remanded to enable the - police to make enquiries, as a further charge would be preferred - against her, that she, being an unlicensed person, had undertaken the - charge of fifteen infants under two years of age. - - “The magistrate accordingly desired the case to stand over until the - 18th. It appears that the police found several names and addresses at - the prisoner’s house, which are supposed to be those of parents or - other relatives of the unfortunate little ones. They are diligently - following up these clues, and Sir John Jenkins expressed a hope that - the publicity given to the case would induce all who could give - evidence to come forward.” - -As Major Jones concluded, there was a stir and a sudden rush amongst the -ladies; Miss Prudence Semaphore had fainted. - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII. - A DETECTIVE ON THE TRACK. - - -Boarding-house life tends to make one selfish; “each for himself and God -for us all,” is the boarders’ motto. Where people come and go, drifting -in and out like weeds upon the tide, deep interests or affections are -rare, but even in boarding-houses men are sometimes thoughtful, and -women sympathetic. This is especially true in cases of illness. The -medical lady and Mrs. Dumaresq rushed to the assistance of Prudence when -she stumbled off the sofa in a dead faint. She was conveyed to her room, -smelling-salts, strong brandy-and-water from Major Jones’ private store, -burnt feathers, and other powerful but unpleasant remedies were applied -until she opened her eyes and gasped: - -“Where am I? What has happened?” - -Before anyone could answer, memory apparently came back to her, for she -went into a fit of the wildest hysterics. - -“There now! there now!” said Mrs. Dumaresq soothingly. - -“Don’t talk to her like that, or she will be twice as bad,” observed -Miss Lord in a low stern voice. “Now, Miss Semaphore,” she continued -sharply, “that is quite enough. Just you stop laughing and crying, or I -shall try the effect of a pail of cold water on you.” - -She evidently meant it, and with a few gasping, choking sobs, Prudence -subsided. Though there were two or three violent relapses, each was -promptly checked in turn, so that she allowed herself to be undressed, -put to bed, tucked in, and left quietly weeping, until she fell asleep -from sheer exhaustion. - -Next morning she was too ill and unstrung to rise. The consuming anxiety -that urged her to be up and doing, to recover her lost sister and flee -from London, worked her into a fever. The medical woman, who, much to -the patient’s distaste, had established herself in the sick-room, and -ruled with a rod of iron, absolutely refused to let her rise. Seeing the -papers, and reading or writing letters were likewise prohibited. -Prudence had neither the bodily strength nor the firmness of character -to resist. She simply wept and moaned, and wrung her hands, and -swallowed all the nauseous doses the medical woman prepared for her. -Meantime, the fever increased so rapidly, and the poor creature was so -prostrate, that Miss Lord advised calling in Dr. Creedy, -physician-in-ordinary to the Misses Semaphore. Accordingly, without -consulting Prudence, Dr. Creedy was sent for. He was a little, fat, -bald-headed man, of few words, and thought Prudence very ill indeed. -When he left her room he had a long conversation with the medical woman -and Mrs. Dumaresq, pronounced the patient to be suffering apparently -from the effect of shock, and enquired where her sister was. Mrs. -Dumaresq told him Miss Semaphore had gone to the seaside for a change, -having herself been seriously and mysteriously ill. - -“I think she ought to be communicated with,” said the doctor, “I should -not alarm her, but this may be a grave matter, and it would be wise to -let her know that Miss Prudence is not very well. She might help us to -soothe her, for Miss Prudence has evidently some trouble on her mind. -Unless we can remove the cause of her anxiety, my medicines will have -little effect.” - -“But we don’t know Miss Semaphore’s address, doctor,” objected Mrs. -Dumaresq. “I believe she wrote yesterday to say she was better, but her -sister did not tell anyone where she had gone to.” - -“No doubt our patient will give it to you if you ask her,” said the -doctor. He prescribed a composing draught, ordered a certain course of -treatment, which the medical woman guaranteed to carry out, then took -his hat and his departure. - -Mrs. Dumaresq, like Miss Lord, loved anything that gave her a little -temporary importance, so Dr. Creedy had no sooner gone than she -approached the bedside of Miss Prudence, and said in her sweetest tones: - -“I think, dear Miss Semaphore, that perhaps your sister may be uneasy if -she does not hear from you. You know the doctor says you are to make no -exertion for a day or two. I forget where you said she was staying, but -if you will give me her address, I shall have much pleasure in writing -to her and telling her all the news.” - -To the speaker’s intense alarm, she had not concluded this apparently -harmless sentence when Prudence had a relapse so sudden and violent that -it at once brought the medical woman on the scene. Without ceremony—her -manners had never pleased Mrs. Dumaresq—she bundled the diplomatic lady -into the corridor, and left her reflecting bitterly that since the new -boarder’s wife had betrayed such inconvenient knowledge of her family, -Miss Lord had been much less civil. - -After about twenty minutes the medical woman joined her, and enquired -abruptly: - -“What were you saying to her to set her off like that again?” - -“Nothing at all. I cannot account for it. I only asked her for her -sister’s address that I might write to her. You heard the doctor say she -ought to be told how ill Miss Prudence is.” - -“Look here,” exclaimed the medical woman, “this is more of the mystery -about her sister which I feel persuaded is at the bottom of her illness. -You shouldn’t have mentioned her at all, and the woman in such a state -of nerves. I wish I could find out what really is the matter. It seems -to me to be all of a piece.” - -“Oh! I don’t believe it has anything to do with her sister,” said Mrs. -Dumaresq, offended. “Why, she went off in a dead faint last night when -no one was speaking of her sister. I thought at the time it was -something in that case Major Jones was reading out that affected her.” - -“About the baby farming woman?” asked the medical woman. “Why, what -earthly effect could that have on her? She could have nothing to do with -that.” - -“I confess,” said Mrs. Dumaresq, “I don’t see exactly how it could, but -I’m persuaded there is some connection between the two. Did you notice -her face when he began to read? No? Well, I did, and I never saw horror -more plainly depicted on a human countenance. I have been thinking -matters over, and putting two and two together. Do you remember the -extraordinary tipsy woman that called before dinner on Tuesday? I am -certain I heard her say something about a cheque and bringing back a -baby. I happened to be going upstairs at the moment, as you may -recollect, and stopped on the landing to tie my shoe string.” - -“Oh, that’s absurd on the face of it,” said the medical woman. “Miss -Semaphore is a perfectly respectable woman, and not likely to be mixed -up with people of that kind. Why I was on the stairs at the same time, -and I did not hear a word of this; there was certainly something said -about a cheque, but not about a baby.” - -“But I beg your pardon,” said Mrs. Dumaresq with asperity, “perhaps your -hearing is not as good as mine. I certainly heard the woman say -threateningly she would bring back the child, or the infant, I forget -which word was used, if something were not done.” - -“They are charitable,” reflected the medical woman, “perhaps they -subscribe to a home or institution, and this was some tipsy pensioner.” - -“Perhaps so,” said Mrs. Dumaresq oracularly, “time will tell.” - -“I’m certain she is upset about her sister’s mysterious illness.” - -“And I’m certain she is upset about that woman’s visit, and that there -is some connection between it and the case in the papers. I have an -instinct in such matters.” - -“Take care it does not mislead you,” said the medical woman. Mrs. -Dumaresq again noticed bitterly that her friend was much less -deferential since the new boarder’s wife had spoken so abruptly of her -brother. - -Whatever the cause of the younger Miss Semaphore’s illness, there was no -doubt that it had alarmingly increased since Mrs. Dumaresq injudiciously -questioned her. Fever, extreme excitability, restlessness, and a -tendency to delirium, all manifested themselves, and it was only when a -composing draught had been administered, that the patient sank into a -troubled slumber. As she sat watching her, the medical lady heard a -slight knock at the door, and opened it cautiously. - -It was Mary the maid. - -“Please ’m,” she said, “there’s a gentleman in the ’all wanting to see -Miss Prudence Semaphore.” - -“What does he want with her?” asked the medical woman surprised. “Did -you tell him she was ill?” - -“Please ’m, I don’t know. I did tell him she was ill, but ’e said ’e -should see ’er whether or no.” - -“I shall go down to him,” said the medical woman with dignity, and she -went. - -“My good sir,” she began, “Miss Semaphore is extremely ill, and must on -no account be disturbed. If you have any message for her, I shall be -pleased to deliver it when she is strong enough to attend to business.” - -“I come from Scotland Yard, madam,” said the man respectfully, “and my -business is with Miss Semaphore herself. I shall not detain her long, -but I must see her.” - -“Quite impossible,” said the medical woman with decision. “The doctor -would never allow it. She is extremely restless and feverish, and has -just been given a sleeping draught, so that it would be most dangerous -to rouse her. But what do you want with her?” - -“She is required to give evidence in a case.” - -Her conversation with Mrs. Dumaresq flashed through the mind of the -medical woman. Could it be that her theory was right after all? Without -considering what she was saying, she asked with an air of confidence and -knowledge: - -“Is it the baby farming case?” - -“Yes,” said the stranger. - -“My good gracious heavens!” said the medical woman, sitting down -abruptly and heavily on the hall chair. “Who would have thought it? What -has _she_ to do with the case?” she asked insinuatingly, but the -stranger from Scotland Yard had already repented saying “yes,” and -replied: - -“I really can tell you nothing about it, madam, my business is entirely -personal to Miss Semaphore.” - -“Well, she cannot see you, you know,” repeated the medical woman. “I am -nursing her, and will not take the responsibility. Can you not call -again?” - -The stranger hesitated. - -“I suppose I shall have to. When do you think she will be able to -receive me?” - -“If she has a good night, and is kept perfectly quiet to-morrow, she may -be able to see you next day, but I can’t answer for it.” - -“Very well,” said the man, “I will call again the day after to-morrow.” - -The medical woman belied the statement that great bodies move slowly, -for she broke the record in speeding to Mrs. Dumaresq’s room. She had -scarcely patience to wait for a “come in” in reply to her agitated -knock, when she burst out with: - -“I do believe you were right after all.” - -“How? What do you mean? About what?” - -“About that baby farming case. A detective—a detective”—and she paused -to observe the look of horror that the face of Mrs. Dumaresq assumed at -the word—“has just been here from Scotland Yard to see Miss Semaphore. I -told him she was too ill, and asked his business. He said she was -required to give evidence in a case, and when I said, ‘Is it a baby -farming case?’ he said ‘Yes.’” - -“I knew it,” said Mrs. Dumaresq, clasping her hands with fervour. “I -knew it from the very moment I saw her face of guilt and terror. Oh! to -think that I should be in the same house with such a woman. As sure as -you stand there, this address will get into the papers, and what will -become of us? If my friends see it, I am lost.” - -The two women stood looking at each other blankly. - -“The best thing to do,” said the medical woman, “is to go to Mrs. -Wilcox, tell her our suspicions, and insist on this—this person being -moved the very first moment she is fit.” - -“It is horrible, horrible,” ejaculated Mrs. Dumaresq. “When do you think -she will be able to go?” - -“Not for a couple of days, I fear,” said the medical woman. “It is -better to say nothing about this detective to her. It will only agitate -her and throw her back, and spoil the chance of her speedy recovery, -which, of course, we must promote in every way.” - -“My position,” said Mrs. Dumaresq, “is horrible. The idea of knowing -such people! What will my friends say?” - -“What will all our friends say?” exclaimed the medical woman abruptly. -“We are every one in the same position. It will be an awful scandal, and -the worst of it is, that I fear this is not the whole story. You take my -word, there is more to come out. I had my suspicions from the first, but -I am naturally good-natured, and could not bring myself to believe them. -Every day, however, confirms their truth. A woman who could for so long -deceive us as to her real character, a woman who led me, _me_, to look -on her as, at worst, a harmless fool, and was all the time mixed up with -police and criminals and baby farmers, is capable of anything.” - -“Then you think she is?—she has?” queried Mrs. Dumaresq breathlessly. - -“I shan’t say what I think just yet,” said the medical woman. “I will -make some searching enquiries first, and if my worst fears are -confirmed, I will reveal all to Mrs. Wilcox this evening, and let her -take action. My dear, we are lucky if we find she has been guilty of -baby farming alone.” - - - - - CHAPTER XIX. - A COUNCIL OF WAR. - - -That evening there was a mysterious private gathering of ladies in Mrs. -Dumaresq’s room, chosen because it was the largest. To it came first of -all the medical woman, bursting with importance and revelations. Mrs. -Whitley, Mrs. Dumaresq herself, and the specially invited Mrs. Wilcox -made up the conclave. - -Mrs. Wilcox was nervous and agitated. She felt sure the medical woman -had something dreadful to tell her, and whether that something related -to the contagious nature of Miss Prudence Semaphore’s illness, or to -something darker but less infectious, she did not know. - -“Well, ladies,” she began nervously, as by Mrs. Dumaresq’s request she -seated herself, “what have you to say to me? I hope,” she added, turning -to Miss Lord, “that your patient’s illness has not taken a serious -form?” - -There was an awful pause. The medical woman knew when she had got a good -thing, and was in no hurry to begin. - -“Is it—is it diphtheria?” quavered Mrs. Wilcox. - -Still the medical woman sat silent, with every eye fixed on her. - -“Oh, do tell us! Tell us the worst,” pleaded Mrs. Wilcox. “Is she going -to die?” - -“She will live,” said the medical woman solemnly. “She will live—to die -on the scaffold.” - -“Gracious Heavens!” exclaimed everyone simultaneously. - -“Yes, ladies. To die on the scaffold. I repeat it. Prudence Semaphore -is, I fear—a murderess.” - -Mrs. Wilcox screamed. - -“Miss Lord, Miss Lord,” she cried. “Pray be careful. Do not say such -dreadful things. Miss Semaphore and her sister came to me with the -highest recommendations, and you really—” - -“Aye,” said the medical woman, with stately and awful triumph, “she came -with her sister—where is her sister now?” - -“At the seaside somewhere, I suppose. She did not leave me her address,” -said Mrs. Wilcox weakly. - -“At the seaside you suppose,” echoed the medical woman with fine scorn. -“No, my dear madam, she is dead—and Prudence Semaphore murdered -her—murdered her in this very house. Oh, you need not look at me like -that. I’ve not spoken until I have traced every link in the chain of -crime.” - -“What did I say?” interposed Mrs. Dumaresq. - -“What did I say from the very first?” She looked round appealingly at -Mrs. Whitley. “I said I hoped she had not been murdered. You remember I -used those very words.” - -No one heeded her, for everyone was looking at the medical woman, as she -gloated over the sensation she had caused. - -“For pity sake, tell us all—all in strict confidence,” gasped Mrs. -Wilcox. “What Captain Wilcox will say, I really cannot imagine.” - -“Well,” said the medical woman, “I had my suspicions front the first, -but they were vague. I felt that something was wrong, but did not know -what that something was. The confusion of manner of Prudence Semaphore, -her refusal to say plainly what ailed her sister, her reluctance to call -in a doctor, and the extraordinarily small amount of nourishment she -provided for her, were all remarkable. Then she would let no one see -her. She put you off, Mrs. Wilcox, and she burst into quite a rage when, -in the interests of humanity, I desired to visit the poor neglected -sufferer. No doubt by that time Miss Semaphore was beyond human help, -for now I recall, there was an indescribable air of guilt about that -unhappy woman, and she showed a ferocity of character for which I had -not given her credit. Still, I said nothing. Then came the discovery -that Miss Semaphore had disappeared. That threw me off the scent for a -time. I am always disposed to think as well of other people as possible, -and while her leaving the house so suddenly and mysteriously seemed to -point to her having a dangerous and possibly infectious illness, and -being smuggled out of the way by Prudence, I did not seriously think she -was dead. Our search of the room revealed nothing. The renewed calm of -manner shown by that wretched creature, and the plausible story she told -of her sister having gone to the seaside, I confess, lulled my -suspicions to sleep. The story was queer, but it was not too improbable. -Then came the visit paid Prudence by a drunken woman, who insisted on -seeing her, and made such an uproar in the hall. Mrs. Dumaresq declares -that she heard her say something about a cheque and an infant—” - -“So I did,” corroborated Mrs. Dumaresq. - -“Well I didn’t catch the words, but events have proved that you were -right. Next followed”—she hesitated. - -“Her fainting,” said Mrs. Whitley. - -“Yes, her fainting suddenly in the drawing-room, when Major Jones was -reading out something about that horrid baby farming case. I did not -connect these events, Mrs. Dumaresq did.” - -“Yes,” said Mrs. Dumaresq, with modest triumph. “I observed her face of -terror, and remembering what the woman had said, I put two and two -together.” - -“Well, you mentioned the matter to me, and I confess I was sceptical. My -suspicions ran in a different groove, but it now seems that we were both -right.” - -Mrs. Wilcox and Mrs. Whitley gasped simultaneously. - -“You know some of what followed,” said the medical woman, addressing -Mrs. Dumaresq. “This afternoon a man called to see that wretched -criminal. I, suspecting nothing, went down to see him and ask his -business, for she had just taken a sleeping draught. He told me—.” The -medical woman paused to gain her full effect. “He told me that he was a -detective from Scotland Yard, and that his business with Miss Prudence -Semaphore was personal and private. Mrs. Dumaresq’s words flashed on me -like a thunderbolt, and quite suddenly I asked him, as if I knew all -about it, if he wanted to see her in connection with the baby farming -case, and he said ‘Yes,’—he said ‘_Yes._’—I expect he saw then he had -made a mistake, for I could not get another word out of him after that, -but he is to call again the day after to-morrow.” - -The horror of Mrs. Wilcox and Mrs. Whitley could not be expressed. Mrs. -Dumaresq listened with the calm air of one who has been in the secret -all along. - -“When I saw,” said the medical woman, “that Justice was upon her track, -that she was mixed up with detectives and baby-farmers, all my former -suspicions came back with a rush, but I felt the necessity for being -calm and just. I remembered the curious circumstances I have mentioned, -and also the queer relapse she had to-day when Mrs. Dumaresq asked for -her sister’s address, finally saying she did not know. The whole thing -was as plain as possible. Her sister had disappeared, because she had -been somehow made away with. No doubt there were circumstances in the -past life of Prudence Semaphore that she dreaded coming to her -knowledge, for we all know how particular poor dear Miss Semaphore was. -Still, I resolved to search, to enquire before I decided. I told Mrs. -Dumaresq about the detective, and then I began a rigorous investigation, -beginning quietly with the servants.” - -“But perhaps her sister really is at the seaside somewhere,” suggested -Mrs. Wilcox. “All this is very shocking about the detective and the baby -farming; but Miss Semaphore may be alive and well, for all that proves -to the contrary.” - -“Wait till you hear,” said the medical woman, shaking a solemn finger at -Mrs. Wilcox. “First of all, I made cautious enquiries from the servants. -Mary tells me that from the day Prudence reported that Miss Semaphore -was ill, she was never permitted to enter her room. Never saw her again, -in fact. She tried to get in, but the door was always locked. This, too, -was my own experience. Then something was said about a letter having -come for Prudence from her sister. Müller and Mary both know Miss -Semaphore’s handwriting, and they agree that to their knowledge no such -letter has been delivered here. I next enquired as to whether anyone had -seen Miss Semaphore leave the house. It was unlikely that an invalid, -probably still weak from illness, should be able to get downstairs and -out of the house unobserved. Besides, there was the question of luggage. -She could hardly have gone and taken nothing with her, not even a change -of dress. But no one saw her. I then put on my bonnet, went out and -spoke to the men on the two nearest cab ranks. They all agree in saying -that none of them took up a lady fare, or two ladies, with or without -luggage, on the Tuesday, from this house. Major Jones tells us he saw -someone, who he is sure was Miss Prudence Semaphore, and alone, crossing -the road hastily near Tate Street. That would have been shortly after -dinner on Tuesday evening. It seems absolutely plain, therefore, that -Miss Semaphore did not leave the house at all.” - -“But we saw her empty room that night,” said Mrs. Whitley. “We saw her -empty bed. She must have gone some time before we went upstairs to visit -her.” - -“My theory is,” said the medical woman, “that she was then concealed in -that very room.” - -“But where? Not in the wardrobe, for we opened that, nor under the bed, -for we looked there, and there really was no place else.” - -“Oh, yes, there was. You remember that the very next day, I think, -Prudence sent away two boxes, ostensibly full of her sister’s -belongings. Now my theory is, and time will prove whether I am not -right, that in one of those boxes, the big grey one, bound with iron, -was the body of Miss Semaphore!” - -By this time the medical woman’s hearers were trembling in every limb. - -“How awful!” quaked Mrs. Whitley. “Why it is just like that East End -tragedy. I forget the name—when a woman—no, a man, was taken away dead -in a box.” - -“This is a serious accusation,” said Mrs. Wilcox, after a time of -digestive silence, “and it doesn’t seem to me to be proved.” - -“Doesn’t it?” enquired the medical woman indignantly. “Well, I presume -you’ll believe it when you see the poor creature dead before you, and -are called on to identify her remains, as I have no doubt you will be.” - -“But Miss Prudence is really so gentle; besides, what motive could she -have for killing her sister?” - -“Gentle? A woman—a hypocrite like that, with her baby-farmers and -detectives after her? Don’t tell me! And as for motives, it seems plain -enough that she may have had several that we cannot guess at. Mary tells -me the Semaphores had a violent quarrel about a fortnight ago, and -probably that decided her.” - -“Oh, they often quarrelled. Poor Miss Semaphore, you know, was trying -enough at times, but Miss Prudence never bore malice.” - -“Oh, Mrs. Wilcox, it seems to me you think she is a plaster saint, and -if so, there is no use my saying anything more—but I warn you. Time will -tell.” - -“Indeed, I don’t,” said Mrs. Wilcox hastily. “I think the whole affair -is terrible and disgraceful enough on the face of it, and the sooner I -get Miss Prudence Semaphore out of the house, the better. I must speak -to Captain Wilcox at once. But then murder—. No, I can’t believe it.” - -“Well, if you are going to risk allowing an infamous criminal to escape -justice, a Cain whose hands are dyed in her sister’s blood, I confess I -am surprised at you.” - -“But think of the disgrace to the house,” pleaded Mrs. Wilcox. “It will -be put in the papers, and we shall be ruined, and you know, after all, -Miss Lord, we are not quite sure. Miss Semaphore may be alive and well -somewhere, and what fools we should look if we made a fuss, and then she -turned up all right.” - -“She never will turn up,” said the medical woman gloomily. “There never -was a clearer case of circumstantial evidence. It doesn’t take a -Sherlock Holmes to piece it together.” - -“But what do you want me to do?” - -“I think that as I have placed all the facts before you, your duty is to -inform the police at once. You are the head of this house, and if you -sanction such goings on, it is no place for respectable people.” - -Mrs. Wilcox wrung her hands despairingly. - -“I appeal to you, ladies,” she said, addressing Mrs. Dumaresq and Mrs. -Whitley, “to consider that if Miss Semaphore is alive, we might, by -saying a word, lay ourselves, all four, open to an action for libel. It -may be as Miss Lord says; still, until things develop, until we know a -little more about this trial and the baby farming, and the connection of -Miss Prudence with it all, it is better to be silent, and get her away -peaceably. Even if nobody saw Miss Semaphore leave, there is no proof -that she did not slip out unobserved, though I grant it seems unlikely.” - -“Do as you wish,” said the medical woman in a towering rage. “I will be -no party to these concealments. My duty is clear, and however painful it -may be, I will do it.” - -“But the libel, Miss Lord,” suggested Mrs. Whitley. “What Mrs. Wilcox -says is true. If Miss Semaphore turns up, her sister may prosecute you.” - -This rather sobered the medical woman. - -“Well,” she said, more conciliatingly, “what do you suggest should be -done?” - -“I think,” said Mrs. Dumaresq, “I think it would be more diplomatic to -wait until this trial, or whatever it is, comes off. If Miss Semaphore -is alive, I should think it certain she will turn up at it. Or perhaps, -indeed, the suspicion of the authorities has already fallen on Prudence. -We don’t really know why the detectives are after her. Let us wait. Let -us go to that trial and hear what comes out. If she does not clear -herself of this charge, whatever it may be, and if her sister does not -put in an appearance, I think it might be well for you, Mrs. Wilcox, to -suggest to the prosecuting counsel that he should cross-examine her as -to her sister’s whereabouts. Then, if she cannot give satisfactory -replies, and if anything to her disadvantage comes out, she will -probably be suspected, and the whole affair will be gone into without -our making ourselves responsible in any way.” - -“That,” said Mrs. Wilcox, “I consider to be an excellent idea. And now, -ladies, I beg of you not to let a word of all this escape you. In a -house like ours, one cannot be too careful. Until we really know the -truth, there is no use in telling anyone what we think. Will you all -promise me to be silent about it?” - -Mrs. Dumaresq and Mrs. Whitley agreed, and after some persuasion a -reluctant consent was won from the medical woman, who promised to hold -her tongue, until after the trial, any way. - - - - - CHAPTER XX. - NOTICE TO QUIT. - - -With the curious intuition common to the sick, Prudence felt that -something was wrong. There was an atmosphere of unrest about her. - -She noted the frown on the brow of Mrs. Wilcox and the hardness of her -tone when she asked her how she felt, and if she thought she would be -able to sit up for a while to-morrow, though Mrs. Wilcox did her best to -speak in her natural voice. - -She remarked the averted face of her old enemy, the medical woman, but -she was too prostrate to heed them, or to enquire if anything unpleasant -had occurred. - -She did not seem to mind much what happened now. Justice was probably on -her track. She was a criminal hiding from the law. She would be hunted -down, exposed, put to public shame. Augusta—her poor Augusta—how was -she? In what condition would she be found? Tears of sorrow and weakness -gushed from the eyes of the afflicted lady, but the rest and quiet and -the absence of fresh agitation gradually calmed her nerves, and she had -leisure to reflect on her course of action. There was nothing for it but -to come forward, if compelled, and speak the whole truth. She had had -enough of subterfuges and prevarications. She would tell her story—they -might believe it or not as they liked. She thought, in the apathy of -despair, they probably wouldn’t—time would tell, for surely Augusta, if -ever she became able to speak, would confirm her testimony—granted she -had not lost her memory of the events connected with her previous life. -There would be two or three years to wait probably, but that could not -be helped. She might, meantime, be cast into prison. For that she was -prepared. With the courage of despair she braced herself to meet -whatever fate might have in store for her. At any rate, it could not be -worse than the tortures she had already endured. - -When, two days later, the detective from Scotland Yard called, she was -able to receive him in Mrs. Wilcox’s sanctum, for that lady would not -suffer him to be shown into the drawing-room. It was with a sense of -having been through all this before, that Prudence read that “Victoria, -by the Grace of God, Queen,” summoned her to give evidence at the Arrow -Street Police Court, on the ensuing Monday morning, “in the case of the -Queen _v._ Sarah Anne Brown, otherwise,” &c., &c. - -Well, the worst had come, and she would go through with it somehow. What -awaited her when the trial was over she did not venture to speculate. -That she had come within the clutches of the law she did not doubt, and -her future loomed vague and dreadful. Where could she go if she escaped -prison? Her name would be in every paper, her story on every lip. Even -the lady who sold the Water of Youth had never heard of a case of a -grown, an elderly person, being transformed into a baby by its effects. -She foresaw that it would be generally believed that she had got rid of -Augusta, and that the baby was—but who or what the baby might be -considered was a point on which she absolutely refused to speculate. - -Long after the man from Scotland Yard had taken his departure, she sat -in a sort of stupor, taking no note of objects round her, and unaware -that she was alone, when she was startled by the entrance of Mrs. -Wilcox. - -The air of that lady was portentous. - -“Miss Semaphore,” she said, “there is something I have been anxious to -say to you for several days back, but did not like to speak while you -were ill. Now, however, that you are able to receive _visitors_”—with -sarcastic emphasis—“I think you are well enough to hear what I have got -to say. It is this, that I desire that you will look for accommodation -elsewhere, and leave my house at the very earliest opportunity.” - -“You mean to turn me out?” asked Prudence in alarm. - -“Far be it from me to turn anyone out,” said Mrs. Wilcox. “I merely -request you to leave.” - -“But why?” said Prudence timidly. - -“Why?” echoed Mrs. Wilcox almost in a shriek. “Why? I think you had -better ask yourself that question, Miss Semaphore. I have always tried -to keep my house respectable, and I must say, Miss Semaphore, if I was -to die for it, that I looked to you and your sister to aid me in that -endeavour, rather than to bring disgrace on a first-class and -well-conducted establishment. ‘Why?’ indeed!” - -“I have had a great deal of worry lately,” said Prudence, “quite without -any fault of my own, but neither my sister nor myself have done anything -to bring disgrace on your establishment, Mrs. Wilcox.” - -“No!” ejaculated Mrs. Wilcox angrily. “Then what about all this -baby-farming business, and detectives from Scotland Yard coming here -looking for you?” - -Utterly confounded by such unexpected knowledge on the part of her -landlady, and ignorant of how much more she might have learned, Prudence -could only gaze at her in helpless bewilderment, while Mrs. Wilcox stood -nodding her head and grimly enjoying the confusion she had occasioned. - -“I have been—I am in great trouble,” Prudence stuttered; “but I am not -to blame—no one is really to blame, if you’d only believe me. The whole -thing was an accident. If you know anything at all about it, you must -know it was an accident!” - -“An accident?” shrieked Mrs. Wilcox. It flashed through her mind that -perhaps after all the medical woman was right. - -“Quite an accident,” said Prudence. “Simply an overdose. The bottle -broke, you see, so the poor dear made haste to swallow the contents, and -accidently took too much.” - -“I really think, Miss Semaphore,” said Mrs. Wilcox very slowly, “I -really think your mind is wandering.” - -“Oh no, indeed I’m not wandering. That was how it happened, and of -course after that I had to get rid of the poor dear, especially as I -never dreamt you knew anything about it.” - -More and more confirmed in her belief that Prudence was either raving or -confessing a murder, Mrs. Wilcox spoke. - -“Well, without enquiring further as to what has happened, or how it -happened, having no desire to be mixed up in a very painful affair, I -think, Miss Semaphore, we had better part, and the sooner you can make -it convenient the better.” - -“Oh, do keep me until after Monday,” cried Prudence, breaking down. “The -trial will be on Monday, and that will decide what course I must take; -but now I am ill, I am not fit to undertake packing. I cannot go.” - -“I am sorry to insist, Miss Semaphore, but go you must. I will tell Jane -she is to help you to pack. Even if I were willing to keep you, Captain -Wilcox is not, and in such matters he is terribly severe. I really -cannot gainsay him. He says he will not have you under this roof for -forty-eight hours longer, and would sooner forfeit payment for your -week’s board now due than let you stay.” - -Prudence got up and groped her way blindly to the door. - -“Very well,” she said, turning on the threshold. “Send Jane to me at -once. I will leave before dinner.” - -With the assistance of Jane, Miss Prudence put her belongings together, -dressed, and desired the maid to call a cab. No one came to the door to -see her off; but, glancing at the windows, she saw Mrs. Wilcox peeping -out from her sanctum, and Mrs. Dumaresq and the medical woman from the -window of their respective apartments. - -With a heart full of bitterness, Prudence turned away, and bade the man -drive on. Up one street and down another they went, the unhappy lady -taking no note of where she was going, until she was roused from her -brown study by the cabman, who drew up, descended from his box, and -thrust his head in the window to ask where she wanted to go. - -“I don’t know, cabman,” said Prudence helplessly. “I am looking for -apartments. Do you know of any that are nice and respectable?” - -“Why, yessem, I do,” said the man, “which my wife’s own sister, she -keeps ’em in Victoria Crescent, an’ clean an’ respectable they are, that -I’ll hanswer for; an’ she cooks splendid.” - -“Then drive there, please,” said Prudence apathetically, and fell back -into doleful musings, until the cab stopped at the address. - -Mrs. Perkins, the cabman’s sister-in-law, married to an ex-butler, was a -kindly, cheerful body, who willingly accepted a week’s rent in advance -in lieu of references. In her sage-green parlour Prudence sat down with -a feeling of rest and privacy, to which she had long been a stranger, -and braced herself as best she might for the ordeal before her. - -“My poor darling Gussie,” the goodhearted creature murmured over and -over again. “What you must suffer! My dear sister, what must you think -of me for sending you to that dreadful woman? But I did it for the best, -I did it for the best.” - -The excitement of the move was a great strain on Prudence in her weak -state of health; but Mrs. Perkins proved an admirable nurse, and though -quite unable to leave her bedroom for the next few days, the unhappy -spinster rejoiced at being free from the supervision of the medical -woman. - - - - - CHAPTER XXI. - AT THE ARROW STREET POLICE COURT. - - -Nervous people are generally too early, and on the fatal Monday morning -Miss Prudence Semaphore, who was still weak and ill, but meantime had -found comparative repose in her quiet and obscure lodgings, presented -herself at the door of the Arrow Street Police Court almost as soon as -it was opened. She was dressed all in black, and with her white face and -long veil looked like a newly made widow. - -The baby farming case had excited great interest in the neighbourhood, -where “good Mrs. Brown” was a well-known personage, and though three -cases stood before it on the list, already dirty drabs from the -surrounding alleys, with still dirtier infants clasped in their arms, -had gathered on the pavement in hope of seeing the prisoner and -witnesses arrive. - -Prudence had the satisfaction of hearing herself described as “the -mother o’ one o’ Sal Brown’s children,” and of being threatened with -personal violence by a brawny matron, who shook her fist under the poor -lady’s nose, and exclaimed, in an access of virtuous indignation, “I -know your sort, I do,” promising, if Prudence would come outside, to -give her “a jolly good ’iding.” At this point a policeman interfered, -and conducted the terrified victim to a private room where she awaited -in misery the usher’s summons. - -Meantime the witnesses began to collect. The various serjeants and -detectives concerned in the case, the spectators of Sal Brown’s war -dance when she used a baby as a weapon, and others arrived singly or in -groups. Amongst the rest came a workhouse matron, and an assistant in -charge of the infants concerned, since in accordance with the usual -procedure, the infants had been sent to the workhouse while awaiting the -trial of Sal. - -The matron was a portly, red-faced woman of fifty, with that brusqueness -of manner acquired by officials accustomed to deal with those whom they -consider their inferiors. Her friend was a pale and highly genteel -person who made many objections to appearing in court at all. The -children, miserable, pinched objects, with the big, bright eyes, long -lashes, and weird faces of the starved, were packed by twos and threes -in perambulators in charge of a couple of pauper women, fifteen unhappy -infants in all. - -Weirdest of the party, was the elder Miss Semaphore, in a pink cotton -frock, an infant’s bib, and an old and often-washed white shawl. Little -Augusta was a singularly unprepossessing baby. - -“Drat the child,” said the workhouse nurse. “She has just the look of a -little old woman, and I never did see one of her age that took such -notice of everything a body does. I declare to you I took a sip of her -milk just to see if it was sweet, and when I turned round I caught her -eye, an’ I’m blest if she didn’t wink. It gave me quite a turn. A real -wicked wink it was, an’ when I gave her the bottle if she didn’t push it -away, and wipe the top before she’d drink a drop.” - -“She was starved, nurse,” said her subordinate. “That’s what it was. -Them children that is starved has a look and ways as if they was ninety. -Many a one of them I’ve seen brought in here, so I knows the kind.” - -“Oh! this one couldn’t have been starved. It was only two days in -Brown’s place I hear. They do say its mother is a lady, and gave it to -Sal with a hundred pounds in gold, and told her to get rid of it as soon -as she liked. Sal went on the spree with the money, an’ that’s how she -was run in. The neighbours said that child had not been long with her. -Look! it’s a deal plumper than the others. They’re regular starved I’ll -allow, but this ’un has queer ways. Now to give you an idear, the matron -and me we had a friendly glass of punch last night after a ’ard day’s -work, and the matron, she says to me, as how she’d like to see the -children in the baby farming case, as there’s so much interest took in -it you know, it made her curious, an’ so I brought her in to see ’em all -a laying in their cots. An’ this ’ere one was awake, staring at us with -all its eyes. So matron, she stoops an’ says, ‘Ow wazzums?’ an’ kisses -it, an’ the cretur it makes a face at her, turns away its head, and -pulls out a bit of blue ribbon as was on a doll I gave it, and makes -signs to her to take it. Struck all of a heap she was. ‘Watever does it -mean?’ sez she. ‘Wy take the blue ribbon,’ sez I, half jokin’, for I -couldn’t believe it, and the objeck looks at me and nods three times -very slowly, just as if to say ‘you’re right.’ It frightened me, it -did.” - -“’Tis your imagination, nurse, that’s wot it is.” - -“Not it,” retorted the nurse. “Imagination don’t trouble me, so it -don’t; but I see wot I see, and there’s no good a trying to persuade me -different. That child is queer. Just look at it now a sucking its thumb -and listening to every word we say, and taking it all in you’d think.” - -Augusta, her scanty downy hair brushed, her nose and cheeks shining with -recent ablutions, certainly had something weird about her, or so it -seemed to both the women. Her eyes had an elfish intelligence that was -startling. She looked as if at any moment she might speak. - -That she understood was only too evident, for she obeyed every direction -given to her when it was to her fancy. At times her efforts to find a -voice, to tell all she knew, could not be mistaken, and inspired as much -fright and pity as the inarticulate cries of the deaf and dumb. - -“What is she doing of now?” said the subordinate suddenly. - -Augusta had been looking at her fixedly until she attracted her -attention, and when the eyes of the nurse and her assistant were fixed -on the elderly infant, they saw she was making violent efforts to get -up. - -“What is it, pet? What is it now?” said the assistant soothingly. “What -does my precious want?” - -“I vow and declare,” said the matron, “that child is making signs as if -she was writing. Look at her finger, do. She makes me nervous, she does. -’Tis no way for a baby like that to go on.” - -“How old would you say she was, nurse?” - -“Oh, ’bout a year I’d say, or fourteen months.” - -“Would you now? Well, p’raps she is; but d’you know when first I saw her -she didn’t seem to look a month old. Queer, wasn’t it? p’raps ’twas the -light, but she do seem a deal older now.” - -“Wat an interest you take in her,” said the matron. “Wy ’er more ’an the -others? Nasty little varmint she is I thinks myself. She might be an -’undred by the looks of ’er.” - -“Wot ken you expect from a pore little neglected come-by-chance? She’s -’ad a bad time, she ’as. I wish I ’ad ’er mother ’ere, an’ I’d give ’er -wot for, so I would.” - -“Will you stop that talking, please,” said a burly policeman, thrusting -his head into the room where the witnesses were assembled. “They can -’ear you in court.” - -The voices fell immediately. - -“Oh, there they are, poor little dears!” said a new-comer, bustling in, -a neighbour of “good Mrs. Brown,” who had been called on to give -evidence as to the condition in which the children were kept. “Let me -see, there’s Florrie and Joey and Ada and Rosy and Tommie; yes, everyone -of them, but where’s the last child? The one Sal got all the dibs with?” - -“Here she is,” said the workhouse matron, indicating Augusta. - -“No you don’t,” said the woman rudely. “’Twas a new-born hinfant, it -was. That child’s a goin’ on two years old, or I’m a Dutchman, an’ I -never set heyes on her before. She don’t belong to Sal’s little lot.” - -The matron made an angry reply, which Sal’s neighbour resented, and -trouble would have ensued, but that the big policeman interfered once -more and commanded silence. Both parties appealed to him, but he would -listen to neither, and gruffly told them to “stow their talk, and keep -their story till they got into court.” - -While this went on in the waiting-room, Prudence was sitting in an agony -of apprehension expecting the summons. - -At last the case of The Queen _v._ Brown was called, and Sal was put -forward on remand charged with the criminal neglect of certain infants -under one year, committed to her charge, and for that she, an unlicensed -person, did receive more than one such infant, contrary to the -regulations of the Act 25 Victoria, section 22, clause 4. - -An officer from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children -deposed that the police had informed him of the deplorable condition of -the unhappy infant, whom Sal was using as an offensive weapon on the -occasion of the arrest. He went to the station where the woman had been -charged, obtained her name and address, and proceeded to make enquiries. -A graphic description of Plummer’s Cottages followed, and of the -wretched objects found there—starved, dirty, and miserable. - -Witness after witness was called to testify to the children being left -for hours without food, fire, or attention. The children were formally -exhibited. The workhouse matron deposed to their condition when -admitted. - -Finally, it was announced that the names and addresses of parents or -other relatives of the children had been found, some of them people of -good position, and that they would be brought forward to swear to their -condition when delivered over to the prisoner. - -There was a thrill of excitement in court, anticipative of scandals. -People of good position do not hand over babies to a Sal Brown without -strong reason. To the rustle and stir succeeded a strained silence as -the usher called the name of “Prudence Semaphore.” - - - - - CHAPTER XXII. - A SCENE IN COURT. - - -Miss Prudence Semaphore, in after years describing her sensations when -placed in the witness box, was accustomed to say she didn’t know whether -she stood on her head or her heels. If any desire to experience the -feeling, without enduring the varied miseries that a cruel fate -inflicted on the unhappy lady, let them, if unaccustomed to public -speaking, be called on for an afterdinner speech. The swimming in the -head, the sea of faces dimly seen, the weakness in the knees, dryness of -the tongue and throat, confusion of thought and general helplessness -experienced, will help them to realise her emotions. The impossibility -of dying suddenly then and there, ere forced to break silence, will -appear a hardship, but they will be spared the terror of having somehow -brought themselves within the clutches of the law, that appalled Miss -Prudence. Speechmaking is not penal. Would that it were; but a -respectable spinster, mixed up in a baby farming case, the only witness -to her truth and _bonâ fides_ a helpless, speechless infant, can -scarcely hope to clear herself satisfactorily. - -Prudence knew that her story was wild and improbable; her illness had -further disheartened her. She felt sure that no one would believe her on -her oath, and this conviction gave a hesitation to her manner, an -uncertainty to her statements, that branded her in the eyes of all as an -audacious but unskilful liar. - -“Come! she might ’ave told a better one than _that_!” was the whispered -remark in the gallery when, in answer to a question, she declared that -the infant handed over by her to the prisoner was her sister. - -“Do you mean your step-sister?” asked the magistrate. “She is very much -younger than you.” - -“No, sir. She is my sister. My elder sister.” - -There was a roar of laughter at this extraordinary statement. - -“Your _elder_ sister?” - -“Yes, your worship.” - -“Are your parents living?” - -“No, your worship.” - -“When did they die?” - -“My mother died sixteen years ago, my father three years later.” - -“And yet you say this infant is your elder sister?” - -“Oh, sir, my lord, your worship,” said the weeping Prudence, “I assure -you I am speaking the truth. I know I can’t expect anyone to believe me, -but indeed it is true.” - -There was movement and merriment at the solicitors’ table, and a voice -said in a whisper, - -“Queer delusion! Mad as a hatter!” - -Prudence heard the words, and drew herself up with some dignity. - -“No,” she said, “I am not mad; it is no delusion. Will you allow me to -make a plain statement, your worship? The child I handed to that wicked -woman is my sister, and is older than I. We bought a bottle of the Water -of Youth that we saw advertised in the _Lady’s Pictorial_. She should -have drunk very little, but unfortunately she took an overdose, and you -may believe me or not, but I found her changed into the infant you see -in the middle of that same night.” - -A roar of laughter drowned her words. - -The counsel for the prosecution was very stern. - -“I do not know, madam,” he said, “what may be the state of your mind, -though I should advise your relatives to have it enquired into, but we -cannot have the time of the court taken up in listening to such -ridiculous and impossible statements. Remember, please, that you are on -your oath, and give truthful replies to the questions put.” - -“I am speaking the truth,” wailed Prudence. She was desperate, careless -of consequences, driven into a corner. “You may put me in prison if you -like, but I can say nothing else. My sister bought the Water from a Mrs. -Geldheraus, of 194, Handel Street, on the 27th of June last, at three -o’clock in the afternoon. She took a dose of it that same night, broke -the bottle, I think, by accident, and unwilling to lose the wonderful -water—at least, so I conclude, for I was not present—drank up all that -was left. I heard her crying in the night, and found her turned into a -baby. I could not keep her at the boarding-house, for the sake of my own -good name. Everyone was prying and questioning about her, so I gave her -to the prisoner to take care of, believing that she was a good and -honest woman.” - -“And where is this Mrs. Geldheraus now? Does she know you? Can she give -any evidence as to your mental condition?” - -“Alas!” said Prudence, weeping profusely, though even the prisoner at -the bar wore an incredulous grin, “she has gone away to Paris. She was -on the point of leaving London when my sister called on her.” - -The counsel for the prosecution looked triumphantly at the magistrate. -The woman was an absolute Bedlamite. No mere liar would invent so lame, -so preposterous a story. - -“You may stand down,” he said abruptly. - -“Please may I say one word?” asked the distressed witness. She looked -full at the magistrate. He was a soft-hearted man, and something in her -pathetic, tear-stained face touched him. - -“Well,” he said, “what is it? You must be brief.” - -“Would you mind having my sister—the child—brought forward?” - -The woman in charge of Augusta stood up, and exhibited the quaint, -weird-eyed infant. - -At sight of her an extraordinary change came over the face of good Mrs. -Brown. She whispered eagerly and excitedly to the barrister engaged for -the defence, pointing at Augusta, and accenting her remarks by beating -her closed fist on the edge of the dock. - -In a moment he was on his feet. - -“Your worship! On behalf of my client, I beg to say she disclaims all -responsibility for the child now produced in court. She knows nothing -about it, and has never seen it in her life before. She desires me to -say that the baby committed to her care by this lady was evidently under -a month old. I appeal to every mother in court if that child is not -between two and three years of age at the least.” - -Great excitement followed this statement. - -“Is that the child you gave her, or is it not?” asked the magistrate. - -“Yes, my lord—your worship, I mean—that is the child, my sister, I’d -know her anywhere. Her eyes are the same, and she always had that little -wart on her forehead—but she looks bigger, certainly.” - -Sal vehemently protested from the dock. - -“Your worship,” said her counsel, “I emphatically deny that that is the -child. The witness has already shown herself unworthy of belief, and has -tried to palm off a ridiculous cock-and-bull story on the court. As men -of the world, we can all see her motive for that, but what her reason -for insisting that this child, which is quite two years older than the -other, is hers, I confess I do not understand.” - -“Is this the child that was placed in your care?” asked the magistrate -of the workhouse matron. - -“Yes, your worship. They was all identified wen they was brought into -the ’ouse, and I put a kyard on each with its given name. This ’ere -child is Augusta, or some such name. She ’as never been out of my -keeping since.” - -“How old was she supposed to be at the time?” - -“Three weeks or a month, I b’lieve, yer wusshup, though I do think -now”—doubtfully—“she looks a deal older than that; but the light wasn’t, -so to say, good when she was brought in.” - -“This is very extraordinary,” said the magistrate. “Who gave particulars -as to the child’s apparent age?” - -“The prisoner, I b’lieve, yer wushup, an’ two of her neighbours that -identified the children, and gave the names by which they was known.” - -“Let me look at it.” - -Augusta was held up for the magistrate’s nearer inspection. - -“Well,” said he, hesitatingly, “I’m not much of a judge of babies, but -that child does seem to me to be quite three years old. When was she -born?” he asked Prudence. - -“Fifty-three years ago—on the 21st of April, 18—.” - -Another roar of laughter greeted this reply, but the magistrate was -annoyed. The woman was too ridiculous, for it was easy to see she was -not as mad as she pretended. - -“Madam,” he said severely, “you must be aware of the impression I have -formed with regard to the ridiculous story you have thought fit to tell, -and I would warn you, in your own interests, to remember that it is -advisable to speak the truth.” - -At any other time, his stern tone and frowning brows would have -frightened poor Prudence out of such little wits as she possessed. Now, -however, she seemed to be paying no attention, but, with dilated eyes, -kept staring at Augusta, who was certainly conducting herself in a very -extraordinary fashion. To the dismay of the nurse, she was bending, -wriggling, and stretching in her arms. - -As the magistrate ceased speaking, there was a sudden sound of rent -material, a shower of buttons flew about the heads of the junior -counsel, and Augusta’s sloppy workhouse frock and pinafore, that had -been gradually tightening to bursting point, split explosively up the -back and sleeves. - -“Look, look!” cried Prudence, in a fever of anxiety. “It is passing off. -I told you so. She is growing older. Oh! wait a little, your worship. -Before long perhaps she will be able to speak. She will confirm what -I’ve told you. Augusta dear, for heaven’s sake, speak if you can. They -don’t believe me.” - -The nurse, with alarm depicted on every feature, and drops of -perspiration standing on her brow, gave up her efforts to hold the -child, whose weight had increased amazingly, and put her sitting on the -bench beside her, watching her the while with undisguised trepidation. - -Everyone saw that something extraordinary was going on. Augusta choked, -whooped, gurgled, turned red and spotty, purple and white, alternately. -She seemed passing every minute through months of childish growth, -long-past croups, convulsions, measles, and so forth, sweeping over her -in flashes, as she began once more her painful, and in this case, rapid, -journey towards maturity. - -The public in the gallery rose _en masse_. Business was a standstill. -The juniors stood on benches. The magistrate, bewildered and confounded -at the unexpected turn of events, wiped his spectacles with the air of a -man who sees the end of all things. - -The women round the children were rigid with fright, and dared not lay a -finger on the prodigy. The matron was the first to recover. Her sense of -propriety awoke, and rapidly taking off her long cloak, she passed it -round the struggling, elderly child, who each instant was outgrowing her -garments more and more. - -“Oh! speak, Augusta, do speak if you can!” implored Prudence. - -“Don’t you see I’m trying to?” replied Augusta, suddenly and sharply, in -a clear, childish treble. “Of course what you said is true, though, as -usual, you have said a great many things you were not called on to tell. -I did take an overdose of that dreadful stuff, and now the effect is -passing off, I am in great agony, as anyone might see, and will you -please take me away at once? This is a most disagreeable position for a -lady. Call a cab and take me away; what I have suffered in that woman’s -clutches no tongue can tell.” - -The magistrate turned pale, Sal Brown shrank into the farthest corner of -the prisoner’s dock, and, with a scared face, listened to the words of -her rapidly-developing _protégé_. Beneath the matron’s ample cloak the -form of Augusta was waxing ever longer and wider, like the melon plant -beneath the cloth of an Eastern juggler. - -“I think, madam,” said the magistrate in broken accents, “you had better -take the—it home.” - -“Your worship,” hastily interposed the counsel for the prosecution, -“this child, I mean lady, is a valuable witness for us. I propose that -before she is permitted to leave the precincts of this court she shall -be examined. The examination shall be as brief as possible. I suppose -she understands the nature of an oath?” - -“Of course I do. I understand everything, but really cannot undergo -examination now,” said Augusta squeakily but crossly. “I do not feel -able for it to-day. Some other time I shall have no objection to put -your worship in possession of the facts of my compulsory residence with -Mrs. Brown. There are also certain circumstances in connection with the -workhouse management of infants that I should like to bring before you. -At present, however, I must beg leave to retire, and seek that repose I -so much need.” - -“Well, in all my experience,” said the magistrate solemnly, “I never -heard or imagined such a case as this; it is quite unprecedented. I -really am at a loss how to act. To my mind, the best course is to grant -another remand, to admit of the appearance of the child—a—I mean lady, -in the witness box. I think what she says is reasonable. Under the -extraordinary circumstances, we could barely expect her to give evidence -to-day. She must be shaken by her unparalleled experiences. As for you, -madam,” he continued, addressing Prudence, who was still weeping -hysterically, “I must express my regret for having doubted what I now -perceive to have been a truthful and unvarnished narrative. My excuse -must be that your sister’s experience has been so exceptional, that -neither I nor anyone who heard it could be expected to believe it -without positive confirmation. This has been unexpectedly supplied, and -I think I may say you leave this court without the smallest suspicion on -your _bonâ fides_.” - -There was a round of applause from the gallery, instantly suppressed, -and Prudence, weeping, blushing, smiling, and bridling, all at the same -time, walked out of court with the shivering Augusta. - -By this time the latter had assumed the appearance of a girl about -eight, with bare feet, and toes to which still adhered the rent -fragments of a baby’s knitted woollen bootees. The news had spread, and -a dense crowd had collected at the door of the police court to see them -pass. Prudence drew back terrified at the sight, and a friendly -policeman, seeing her agitation, summoned a cab to a side door, and -placed the sisters in it. As they drove off, the baulked and excited -crowd perceived them, and a tremendous round of cheering woke the echoes -of Arrow Street. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIII. - CONCLUSION. - - -Of our story little remains to tell. Augusta was driven to her sister’s -lodgings and put to bed. In less than twenty-four hours she had arrived -once more at the time of life she had temporarily abandoned. Her -experience had been a disappointment, but her intense relief in feeling -that she was once more in command of the helm, prevented her dwelling on -that. It was delightful to array herself once more in her own clothes, -to be no longer a helpless infant, pinched, tweaked, starved, insulted -to her face. The joy of being able to speak was in itself so intense -that Miss Semaphore was in a constant flow of good humour, and in all -her experience of her sister, Prudence never had so good a time. - -After the first excitement had cooled down, she feared that Augusta -would be morose, soured by the failure of her experiment; but no. She -seemed to find perennial satisfaction in contrasting her present state -with that she had so unwillingly endured. The great drawback to her -happiness was the notoriety given to her case. Three times the sisters -had to change lodgings, because of the curiosity they excited amongst -their neighbours, and the crowds that collected to watch them pass in or -out. - -When the trial came on the following week, Arrow Street was crowded to -suffocation. All the boarders from Beaconsfield Gardens were once more -in the front row, and unbounded interest was excited by the evidence of -Prudence. The papers were full of the circumstances. The _Daily -Telegraph_ published a leader on it, would-be interviewers made the life -of the sisters a misery. Their supposed portraits, horrible caricatures -that their own mother would have failed to recognise, appeared in the -halfpenny evening papers. The sixpenny weeklies sent artists to sketch -them as they sat in court. The medical press took the matter up. Samples -of the Water of Youth were called for to be analysed, but without avail, -since Mrs. Geldheraus and her mysterious potion had disappeared into the -_Ewigkeit_. - -Never were inoffensive and obscure women dragged so suddenly into -notoriety. A wax model of Augusta was set up at Madame Tussaud’s, and -the baby clothes she was wearing when taken to the workhouse were shown -in a glass case. She netted £700 by their sale, which she looked on as -in a measure compensatory for her outlay on the Water. The devotion of -Prudence to her sister was everywhere commented on. She became quite a -popular personage, and to her surprise and delight, received no less -than five offers of marriage from persons totally unknown to her. - -While their interest in the case was unabated, the medical woman, Mrs. -Whitley, Mrs. Dumaresq, and the other boarders, felt somewhat shy of -making any advances to the sisters. Soft, and gentle, and foolish, as -Prudence was, they felt that she could not and would not forgive their -impertinent curiosity and interference; and yet there was much to excuse -their conduct, for such cases as Miss Semaphore’s are rare. When the -sisters were finally making their way out of court, having heard good -Mrs. Brown condemned to a term of six months imprisonment with hard -labour, Major Jones, however, rushed forward, and with a profound sweep -of his hat, requested permission to escort them to the hansom in -waiting. He did not say “good-bye” until he had asked for and obtained -leave to call on them, a privilege of which he henceforth took frequent -advantage. - -There is an opinion afloat, this time not merely in the mind of Prudence -herself, but in the minds of the boarders at Beaconsfield Gardens, that -the younger Miss Semaphore will before long be requested to change her -name. Since her painful experience, her character has developed. She is -more self-reliant, steadier, less unduly girlish in her ways and dress, -and seems likely, if her mature love affair runs smooth, to make an -excellent wife for the Major. Should her future, as it promises, prove -happier than her past, she, for one, despite the mental agony she -struggled through, will not regret the temporary rejuvenation of Miss -Semaphore. - - * * * * * - - _Jarrold and Sons, Printers, Norwich, Yarmouth and London._ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - Popular 6d. Books. - - - BLACK BEAUTY: The Autobiography of a Horse. By ANNA - SEWELL. Millions of copies have been sold. - - CHERRY RIPE. By HELEN MATHERS, Author of “Comin’ - thro’ the Rye.” Copyright Edition. - - THE MYSTERY OF A HANSOM CAB. By FERGUS HUME. 391st - Thousand. - - WE THREE AND TRODDLES: A Comic Side of London Life. - By R. ANDOM, Author of “Martha and I,” etc. - Illustrated by ALEC CARRUTHERS GOULD. 62nd - Thousand. - - THE REJUVENATION OF MISS SEMAPHORE. A Farcical - Novel. By HAL GODFREY, 30th Thousand. - - GILES’S TRIP TO LONDON. 222nd Thousand. - - THE COMIC SIDE OF SCHOOL LIFE. - - BEFORE JOSEPH CAME INTO EGYPT. - - THE TRANSVAAL BOER SPEAKING FOR HIMSELF. - - * * * * * - - _LONDON_: - - _JARROLD & SONS, 10 & 11, Warwick Lane, E.C._ - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - -Transcriber’s note: - - 1. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in - spelling. - - 2. Archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as - printed. - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE REJUVENATION OF MISS SEMAPHORE*** - - -******* This file should be named 65871-0.txt or 65871-0.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/6/5/8/7/65871 - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. 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} - h2.pgx { text-align: center; - clear: both; - font-weight: bold; - font-size: 135%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 1em; - word-spacing: 0em; - letter-spacing: 0em; - page-break-before: avoid; - line-height: 1; } - h3.pgx { text-align: center; - clear: both; - font-weight: bold; - font-size: 110%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 1em; - word-spacing: 0em; - letter-spacing: 0em; - line-height: 1; } - h4.pgx { text-align: center; - clear: both; - font-weight: bold; - font-size: 100%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 1em; - word-spacing: 0em; - letter-spacing: 0em; - line-height: 1; } - hr.pgx { width: 100%; - margin-top: 3em; - margin-bottom: 0em; - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; - height: 4px; - border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ - border-style: solid; - border-color: #000000; - clear: both; } - </style> -</head> -<body> -<h1 class="pgx" title="">The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Rejuvenation of Miss Semaphore, by -Charlotte O'Conor Eccles</h1> -<p>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'll have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this ebook.</p> -<p>Title: The Rejuvenation of Miss Semaphore</p> -<p> A Farcical Novel</p> -<p>Author: Charlotte O'Conor Eccles</p> -<p>Release Date: July 19, 2021 [eBook #65871]</p> -<p>Language: English</p> -<p>Character set encoding: UTF-8</p> -<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE REJUVENATION OF MISS SEMAPHORE***</p> -<h4 class="pgx" title="">E-text prepared by Richard Tonsing<br /> - and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> - (https://www.pgdp.net)<br /> - from page images generously made available by<br /> - Internet Archive<br /> - (https://archive.org)</h4> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> -<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10"> - <tr> - <td valign="top"> - Note: - </td> - <td> - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.96609 - </td> - </tr> -</table> -<p> </p> -<hr class="pgx" /> -<p> </p> - -<div class='titlepage'> - -<div> - <h1 class='c001'><span class='sc'>The Rejuvenation of Miss Semaphore</span><br /> <span class='large'><em>A FARCICAL NOVEL</em></span></h1> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div><span class='xsmall'>BY</span></div> - <div class='c003'><span class='xlarge'>HAL GODFREY</span></div> - <div class='c003'><span class='small'>(C. O’CONOR ECCLES)</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/title.jpg' alt='SANS PEUR ET SANS REPROCHE L &. N 30TH THOUSAND' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>LONDON</div> - <div class='c003'>JARROLD & SONS, 10 & 11, WARWICK LANE, E.C.</div> - <div class='c003'><span class='small'>[<em>All rights reserved</em>]</span></div> - <div class='c003'>1900</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> -<p class='c004'><span class='large'><span class='under'><em>COOMBS’</em></span></span></p> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> -<div class='nf-center c005'> - <div>EUREKA SELF-RAISING</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c006'><span class='large'><span class='under'><em>FLOUR</em></span></span></div> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> -<div class='nf-center c005'> - <div>Admitted Antidote</div> - <div>for Indigestion.</div> - <div class='c003'>16 GOLD MEDALS</div> - <div>and Prix d’Honneur at the Imperial</div> - <div>Institute, 1899.</div> - <div class='c003'>Is the Best and</div> - <div>ABSOLUTELY PURE.</div> - <div>Sold in 3d., 6d., 1/-, & 2/6 Bags.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class='c007' /> - -<p class='c008'><span class='large'><span class='under'><em>COOMBS’</em></span></span></p> -<div class='c006'><span class='large'><span class='under'><span class='sc'><em>Malted Food</em></span></span></span></div> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> -<div class='nf-center c005'> - <div>3 GOLD MEDALS</div> - <div>and Prix d’Honneur at the Imperial Institute, 1899.</div> - <div class='c003'>FOR INFANTS AND INVALIDS,</div> - <div>IS A PERFECT AND INVALUABLE ARTICLE OF DIET.</div> - <div>Sold in 6d., 1/-, 2/6 & 5/- Tins.</div> - <div>ALSO</div> - <div><span class='large'>Custard, Blanc Mange, Light Pastry, and Egg Powders</span></div> - <div class='c003'><span class='under'>Sold in 1d., 2d., 3d., 6d., and 1/- Boxes.</span></div> - <div class='c003'><span class='under'>TOTAL AWARDS 61 MEDALS.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class='c007' /> - -<div class='figleft id002'> -<img src='images/i_004.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> -<div class='nf-center c005'> - <div><span class='large'>Dr. MACKENZIE’S</span></div> - <div class='c003'>CATARRH CURE</div> - <div class='c003'><span class='large'><span class='oblique'>Smelling Bottle</span>.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>Cures Cold in the Head, cures Nervous Headache, -instantly relieves Hay Fever and Neuralgia in the Head, -is the best remedy for Faintness and Dizziness.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> -<div class='nf-center c005'> - <div><em>Sold by all Chemists and Stores.</em></div> - <div class='c003'>PRICE ONE SHILLING.</div> - <div class='c003'>REFUSE WORTHLESS IMITATIONS.</div> - <div class='c003'>Post Free, 15 Stamps, from</div> - <div><span class='large'>MACKENZIE’S CURE DEPOT, READING.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_5'>5</span> - <h2 class='c009'>CONTENTS.</h2> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary='CONTENTS'> -<colgroup> -<col width='13%' /> -<col width='76%' /> -<col width='9%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <th class='c010'><span class='small'>CHAPTER</span></th> - <th class='c011'> </th> - <th class='c012'><span class='small'>PAGE</span></th> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>I.</td> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>Which Introduces Miss Semaphore</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_7'>7</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>II.</td> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>A Boarding-house Evening</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_20'>20</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>III.</td> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>Miss Semaphore Receives an Answer</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_35'>35</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>IV.</td> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>Castles in the Air</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_45'>45</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>V.</td> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>The Water of Youth</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_54'>54</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>VI.</td> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>An Accident</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_61'>61</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>VII.</td> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>Prudence Receives a Shock</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_70'>70</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>VIII.</td> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>A Career of Deception</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_81'>81</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>IX.</td> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>A Promising Advertisement</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_91'>91</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>X.</td> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>In which Miss Prudence Explains Matters</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_100'>100</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>XI.</td> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>The Medical Lady Intervenes</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_106'>106</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>XII.</td> - <td class='c011'>“<span class='sc'>Good Mrs. Brown</span>”</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_116'>116</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>XIII.</td> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>The Medical Lady Baffled</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_129'>129</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>XIV.</td> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>An Unexpected Visitor</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_139'>139</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>XV.</td> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>Prudence Calls at Plummer’s Cottages</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_150'>150</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_6'>6</span>XVI.</td> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>Mrs. Dumaresq in an Undiplomatic Circle</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_163'>163</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>XVII.</td> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>A Sensation in “The Star”</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_173'>173</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>XVIII.</td> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>A Detective on the Track</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_177'>177</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>XIX.</td> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>A Council of War</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_190'>190</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>XX.</td> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>Notice to Quit</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_204'>204</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>XXI.</td> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>At the Arrow Street Police Court</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_213'>213</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>XXII.</td> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>A Scene in Court</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_222'>222</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>XXIII.</td> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>Conclusion</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_236'>236</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_7'>7</span></div> -<div class='chapter ph1'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c013'> - <div><span class='xlarge'>The Rejuvenation</span></div> - <div class='c003'><span class='small'>OF</span></div> - <div class='c003'>MISS SEMAPHORE.</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div> - <h2 class='c009'>CHAPTER I.<br /> <span class='large'>WHICH INTRODUCES MISS SEMAPHORE.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>Seven o’clock had struck.</p> - -<p class='c015'>The gong at 37, Beaconsfield Gardens, -South Kensington, thundered under the -vigorous strokes of the bow-legged German -waiter. By one, by two, by three, the -boarders trooped down to dinner, the more -sensitive to noise stopping their ears as they -descended.</p> - -<p class='c015'>The very deafest could not ignore that -gong. Müller always attacked it suddenly, -as if running amuck or possessed by a demon. -It reverberated far and near, and echoed -faintly to Gloucester Road Station. Boarders, -arriving late, were seen to run when their -ears caught the familiar sound.</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_8'>8</span>At the head of the central table in the fine -dining-room, its three windows looking on -the Gardens, sat the proprietress, Mrs. -Wilcox. She was a bright-eyed, stout, florid -woman of forty-five, dressed in black silk -and a lace fichu secured by a cameo brooch. -As she waited for her guests, she meditatively -sharpened a carving knife.</p> - -<p class='c015'>By the sideboard stood her husband, Captain -Wilcox, slender, dried-up, younger than -his wife, and dominated by her. Where they -met, and why they married, was a never-failing -source of speculation in the house. -It was asserted that Miss Tompkins took -him in payment of a debt. Be that as it -might, the mild, subdued little Captain was -evidently a gentleman. He had been in a -Lancer regiment, got into difficulties, and -now at eight-and-thirty was a person of much -less importance in his wife’s boarding-house -than her imposing cook.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Though never supposed to act as master, -the name and authority of Captain Wilcox -were frequently evoked by Mrs. Wilcox -when any unpleasant duty had to be done. -He it was, for instance, who sternly insisted -that no credit should be given. He stood -out for the weekly settlement of accounts. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_9'>9</span>He was responsible for certain persons receiving -notice to quit. He made the unpopular -rule that the drawing-room lights should be -extinguished precisely at eleven. In a word, -he was the Jorkins of the firm. For the -rest, he held some small post in the City -secured for him by his wife’s brother, helped -daily with the carving, and paid for his own -keep.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Besides the central table, there were round -the room several smaller ones, accommodating -from four to eight persons. To one of these, -some men and women concerned in our story -were making their way. First came Miss -Augusta Semaphore, a tall, thin, and rather -acid-looking woman of fifty-three. Close -behind followed her sister, Miss Prudence, -who was ten years younger, and accustomed -to be treated as a baby. Prudence wore a -fringe that hung over her eyes in separate -snaky curls, and in damp weather degenerated -into wisps; she was plump and fair, had a -somewhat foolish smile, and, as befitted her -part of giddy, little thing, any number of -coquettish airs and graces.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Their neighbours were, a stately couple -named Mr. and Mrs. Dumaresq, Mr. Lorimer, -a clownish youth, of good family and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_10'>10</span>aggressive patriotism, Major Jones, Mrs. -Whitley, a small, mincing lady of recent -and painful refinement, and finally a large -and commanding woman with a terrible eye, -who was vaguely believed to have taken out -a medical degree.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“For what we are about to receive,” said -Mrs. Wilcox, “the Lord make us truly thankful.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>With a creak and a rustle, some five-and-thirty -boarders drew in their chairs. The -covers were removed, and a ripple of prosy -talk began.</p> - -<p class='c015'>As usual, it started with polite enquiries as -to each other’s health. In boarding-houses -it generally does. No one cares a button for -you or your ailments, but they ask after them -all the same with exasperating regularity and -take no interest in the answer.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“How is your cold, Major Jones?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Better, thank you, Mrs. Dumaresq—and -your neuralgia?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Much worse; I never closed my eyes -last night.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But you are taking something for it?”—and -so on, and so on, and so on.</p> - -<p class='c015'>New comers at 37, Beaconsfield Gardens, -occasionally tried to be conversational. For -<span class='pageno' id='Page_11'>11</span>a time they were lively, animated, full of good -stories and repartee. People listened to -them in silence, and generally took offence. -Conversation as a fine art was not encouraged. -It was sad to notice how in a week or -a fortnight the talkers talked themselves out, -and subsided into the brief commonplaces of -their neighbours.</p> - -<p class='c015'>The boarders, all respectable people who -read the <cite>Daily Telegraph</cite> and voted Tory -when they had votes, shared the profound -belief of the middle-class Briton that silence -shows solidity, sound judgment, and a well-balanced -mind. Profound and continued -silence they considered an attainment in -itself. They scarcely realised, not being introspective, -that two-thirds of the people -who don’t speak are silent from lack of -ideas.</p> - -<p class='c015'>As a matter of fact, in such a <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">milieu</span></i>, subjects -for conversation of general interest were -almost impossible to find. By tacit consent, -politics and religion were tabooed, since the -discussion of either invariably ended in a -quarrel. Though the boarders read novels, -they did not talk about them, and they took -no great interest in literature or art. A man -who was supposed to have written a book was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_12'>12</span>rather cold-shouldered, for the Englishman—and -in this case, as the preacher put it, man -embraces woman—whatever his respect for -literature in the abstract, thinks but meanly -of those who produce it, if they do not -happen to be celebrities. To be sure they -are generally poor.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Vill you beef, muddon, schiken, or feal?” -whispered Müller, making his round when -soup and fish had been removed.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Veal, please,” said Miss Semaphore.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Feal, blease,” said Müller under his -breath, to impress the order on his mind.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Vill you beef, muddon, schiken, or feal, -Madame?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“A portion—a tiny portion of the—a—chest -of the fowl,” said Mrs. Whitley.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Roast beef,” growled Mr. Lorimer, and -Müller echoed “beef,” adding “blease” on -his own account.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I saw you to-day, Major Jones, but you -did not see me,” said the younger Miss -Semaphore archly, when the interest of -choosing had subsided.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“You what?” asked Major Jones mildly. -He was rather deaf.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I said that I saw you to-day—down in -the City, you know. Fancy! I went all -<span class='pageno' id='Page_13'>13</span>that distance by myself in an omnibus! -There is such a sweet shop for bargains in -St. Paul’s Churchyard, and you passed me -just as I turned in.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“You should not go into the City unescorted,” -said Miss Augusta Semaphore -severely; “I have told you that over and -over again, but you are so heedless. It is -not <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">comme il faut</span></i>.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“What do you think would happen to -her?” asked Mr. Lorimer gruffly. He was -a young man of combative instincts and no -manners, with whom Miss Semaphore waged -a deadly but, on her side, perfectly civil warfare.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“My dear father,” went on Miss Semaphore, -without taking any notice, “who was -a distinguished military officer, strongly -objected to girls going about alone.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“That was all very well thirty years ago,” -objected Mr. Lorimer, “but nowadays, if -people conduct themselves properly, there is -no earthly reason why they should not go -about alone at fit and proper hours, once they -have come to years of discretion.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I can assure you,” said Mrs. Dumaresq, -assuming a grand air, and slightly raising her -voice, as she always did when she meant to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_14'>14</span>impress her hearers, “I can assure you that -in diplomatic circles, a lady shopping without -an escort, or at any rate without a maid, is -unheard of.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>In every boarding-house throughout the -British Islands there is to be found a person -who is the intimate friend of the Prince of -Wales. At 37, Beaconsfield Gardens, Mrs. -Dumaresq was that person.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Yes, all very well amongst a lot of horrid -foreigners,” said Mr. Lorimer obstinately; -“no wonder ladies are afraid to go about -alone where there’s a set of ugly, unwashed -rascals that would run a dagger into them as -soon as look at them, but grown-up Englishwomen -in their own country may do what -they please.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I do not approve of ladies going anywhere -alone. It may do for middle-class -persons,” said Mrs. Dumaresq haughtily, -“but I can assure you, from personal knowledge, -that it is not done in diplomatic circles. -When we lived at Belgrade, there was a -Mrs. Twickenham who used to act in the -most unconventional way, and one day the -Princess—a dear old friend of ours—the -Princess Hatzoff—you must have heard of -her, first cousin to the Czar, a delightful -<span class='pageno' id='Page_15'>15</span>woman and so attached to me—said, ‘Dearest -Mimi’—she always called me Mimi—‘are -English ladies in their own country, ladies of -position such as you and I, allowed this -liberty, not to say license, of action?’ and I -replied, ‘No, Helène, certainly not.’”</p> - -<p class='c015'>The Misses Semaphore, Mrs. Whitley, -and the lady doctor listened attentively to -these reminiscences, but Mr. Lorimer was -not impressed.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I maintain,” he said, “that this is a free -country, and that those ideas are old-fashioned.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I assure you that is not the opinion of the -Princess Hatzoff, a woman who mixed in the -very best society; nor was it the opinion of -my dear friend, the ex-Empress of the French, -Mr. Lorimer,” replied Mrs. Dumaresq with -a lofty air. “However, we will discuss the -matter no further. In diplomacy one learns -to avoid subjects on which one’s experiences -are different from those of other people, and -so not likely to agree.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>There was a subdued acidity in Mrs. -Dumaresq’s tone, there was a battle-breathing -obstinacy in Mr. Lorimer’s accent that -led peaceful Miss Prudence to change the -conversation.</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_16'>16</span>“The poor dear Empress,” she said, “how -I pity her!”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Ah, you should have seen her in her -splendour. Were you in Paris before the -war?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“You can scarcely expect my sister to -remember Paris before the war, my dear -Mrs. Dumaresq,” interposed Miss Semaphore -frigidly. “It is years ago. Prudence was a -mere child.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Mrs. Dumaresq smiled slightly, and said, -“Ah!” In diplomatic circles no one openly -expresses disbelief in a statement.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“The dear Empress was such a friend of -mine in the old days when we lived there. -One day, I remember so well, we had been -away for nearly a year. The Empress was -standing at a window of the Palace with an -<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">aide-de-camp</span></i> beside her, Comte de la Tour—you -remember Comte de la Tour, Angelo?” -This to her silent husband, who nodded -assent. “The Empress suddenly said to the -Comte, ‘<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Mon cher</span></i>, who is that charmingly-dressed -lady who has just driven past?’ -The Comte, dear man, answered, ‘Oh, your -Majesty, do you not know? that is Madame -Dumaresq!’ The same evening we met at -a ball at the Spanish Ambassador’s, and the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_17'>17</span>Empress graciously came up to me. ‘Fancy,’ -said she; ‘fancy, my dear Madame Dumaresq, -I did not recognise you this morning. It is -such an age since you were here; and oh! -do permit me to congratulate you on the -exquisite costume you wore.’”</p> - -<p class='c015'>The story made a distinct impression. -The medical woman at the end of the table, -who had an American’s interest in high life, -stopped short in a thrilling narrative of an -amputation, and listened with all her ears.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“The Empress was a very lovely woman, -but I believe she was not very young when -she married,” said the elder Miss Semaphore -reflectively.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh, dear no! Eight or nine-and-twenty -at least. Some people said two-and-thirty.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“What matter does that make?” interposed -the polite Mr. Dumaresq. “A handsome -woman is only the age she looks.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Miss Semaphore sighed. She had carefully -examined her face before dinner and -discovered a new wrinkle. It was borne in -on her that she scarcely looked as young as -she felt, but she made an effort to seem as if -eight-and-twenty, or, at most, two-and-thirty, -was still before her.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“It must be dreadful to grow old,” said -Mrs. Whitley affectedly.</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_18'>18</span>“There are so many aids to beauty nowadays,” -said Mr. Dumaresq, “that no lady -need look a day older than she likes.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But the use of cosmetics is odious,” cried -Miss Semaphore. “For my part I never -could understand how any one could use -paints and powders.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Good breeding was not Mr. Lorimer’s -strong point, and, in boarding-houses, people -say things to each other that elsewhere are -the privilege of relatives.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Dyes,” he said, looking fixedly at Miss -Semaphore’s hair, “dyes are most injurious—worst -of all, in fact. Horrible case in the -paper the other day. A woman dyed her -hair black one morning, died herself next! -Instantaneous softening of the brain, they -said. The stuff soaked in.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>The obvious application lent point to the -sally. The medical lady, who prided herself -on being a fine woman, needing no aid from -art, smiled broadly. She could not, however, -resist saying there was no such disease as -instantaneous softening of the brain.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Mrs. Dumaresq, mindful of her diplomatic -training, looked so grave that a child would -have suspected something wrong. Miss -Semaphore murmured “How dreadful!” -<span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span>She alone saw no personal allusion, for it -never struck her that anyone could think she -tinted her tresses. Miss Prudence looked as -angrily at the speaker as her kind face permitted. -Major Jones had just said, “Eh! -what’s that?” when Mrs. Wilcox rose, and -at her signal the ladies swept upstairs, leaving -the men to cigars and scandal.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_20'>20</span> - <h2 class='c009'>CHAPTER II.<br /> <span class='large'>A BOARDING-HOUSE EVENING, AND AN IMPORTANT LETTER.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>Boarding-houses all the world over have -certain features in common. These are the -result of haphazard association between -people without common interests.</p> - -<p class='c015'>No. 37, Beaconsfield Gardens, South Kensington, -was no exception to the rule. -Its inmates were chiefly women, the widows -and daughters of professional men. A few -childless married couples lived there, and a -sprinkling of unmarried men who were either -old or extremely young. Some of the people -were well-connected, others well-off, all were -dull, a few pious. Several secretly considered -themselves superior to the others. They -focussed the attributes of the British Philistine, -and were an object-lesson as to the -low intellectual level of average respectable -humanity.</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span>Lacking occupation and mutual outside -interests, the boarders were led to discuss -each other freely. The men mostly herded -together in the smoking-room. The ladies -gathered in the drawing-room. A sort of -armed neutrality was maintained between the -sexes. He or she who ventured to invade -the headquarters of the other was looked on -as daring or brazen as the case might be. -At meals alone did some thirty-five people -assemble. Even then, they were not expected -to change their place at table, so had to trust -to chance for agreeable neighbours.</p> - -<p class='c015'>The few girls who lived in the house -had not a gay time. Poor things! They -had no lovers, no interests, no society, -no prospects, and incomes that required -management. Once they ceased to be -new arrivals, the men, all of whom were -ineligible, took no notice of them. They -were treated with a nonchalance more -galling than unkindness, and were subtly -given to understand that they could not -expect the same consideration as young -women outside who lived in their own -homes and had parents who entertained. -The elderly people, and especially Miss -Semaphore, looked rigidly after the proprieties.</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span>Occasionally a dashing widow or an attractive -and forward damsel temporarily upset -the dulness. Dances were organised, round -games started, heads turned. These brilliant -meteors never lingered long on the horizon. -Their stay usually terminated in some episode -that led to a notice to quit. The succeeding -flatness was the more marked.</p> - -<p class='c015'>There is no dulness in the quietest home -like the dulness that falls at intervals on a -boarding-house. It may be that at home one -does not expect much, while living with a -number of strangers one feels restless, as if -something really ought to happen.</p> - -<p class='c015'>There are blanks and periods of depression, -extending sometimes to months at a time, -when life seems a waste. During these, -efforts to get up any amusement are useless. -No one will help, and so much cold water is -thrown on every suggestion, that in despair -the promoter abandons the project.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Such an interval was now being put -through at No. 37. Conversation, as we -have indicated, languished, being replaced by -an occasional interchange of platitudes, failing -any private or public sensation. An -audacious flirtation on the part of one of the -younger women, or a thrilling murder trial, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_23'>23</span>would have interested everybody, especially -the flirtation, on the progress of which the -boarders would have taken turns to watch -and comment on.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Relieved of all household duties, the -“ladies,” as Mrs. Wilcox never failed to call -them, passed the monotonous days in shopping, -novel-reading, and repose. They made -up temporary friendships between themselves -and fell out with regularity. As usual, -they were split into two factions, those who -abused the proprietress and those who did -not.</p> - -<p class='c015'>The drawing-room in which they nightly -assembled was a spacious apartment. A -Brussels carpet of pronounced pattern, red -Utrecht velvet chairs—solid, as befitted furniture -destined to much wear and tear—and -gilt-framed mirrors, gave the apartment an -early Victorian aspect. The light and airy -found no place in this salon, for in boarding-houses -everything breakable is broken, and -nobody owns to the mischief.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Workbaskets, newspapers, and novels were -brought out this evening as usual, and nearly -all the party became absorbed in one or other -of these excitements. They had exhausted -each other, though one or two kept up a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_24'>24</span>dribble of civil enquiries for the sake of saying -something.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“What pretty work. How do you do it?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh! it is a new stitch I have just -learned.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Were you out this afternoon?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“No; I lay down and took a nap. Were -you?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Yes, I went down to High Street for -some wool.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>The evening to which we refer, though as -dull, was not destined to be as peaceful as its -fellows. The cause of the disturbance was -Miss Semaphore’s dog. Miss Semaphore’s -dog was a mongrel, a snappish little brute -called Toutou. Its brown hair was flecked -with grey, for it was old, fat, and scant of -breath. Toutou had been the cause of more -unpleasantness at 37, Beaconsfield Gardens, -than any other inmate. If, in the quarrels of -men, <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">cherchez la femme</span></i> holds good, in the -quarrels of idle women who live in boarding-houses -one may not unfrequently look for -the dog. To-night, unfortunately for herself, -Miss Belcher, one of the younger women, -trod on its tail. Frankly, it was difficult to -avoid treading on Toutou’s tail, for he had -a trick of getting into the way that was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_25'>25</span>simply exasperating. Miss Belcher, a nice, -harmless girl, jumped as if she had been -shot.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh, I am so sorry!” she cried; “doggie, -poor doggie, are you hurt?” and kneeling -down, she tried tenderly to soothe him. -Toutou was not hurt, but he howled desperately. -Judging by his actions he rather -enjoyed getting people into trouble. In an -instant Miss Semaphore swooped down, red -and angry, seized her favourite, and casting -a withering glance at the crestfallen -Miss Belcher, carried him off to her own -particular corner.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Everyone at 37, Beaconsfield Gardens, had -a special chair or a favourite corner, and great -was the indignation if anyone else took it.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“It was quite an accident,” stammered -Miss Belcher. “I never saw Toutou.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Some people,” replied Miss Semaphore, -“have no eyes. They think it rather amusing -to torture dumb animals, don’t they, my -precious?” As she spoke, she bestowed a -kiss like a peck on the top of Toutou’s ugly -nose. The boarders all ceased work and -listened attentively.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But indeed, Miss Semaphore,” cried poor -Miss Belcher, almost crying, “it was not my -fault.”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_26'>26</span>“I suppose, of course, it was Toutou’s,” -said Miss Semaphore with sarcasm.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Miss Belcher was getting the worst of it, -when her mother, a large, deaf woman of -majestic presence, interposed. She domineered -over her daughter and everyone else, -and had been silent so far because she had -been having the state of the case explained -in her ear by Mrs. Whitley.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Don’t mind, Emma,” she said suddenly, -“That ridiculous dog is in everyone’s way, -It should be got rid of.” Turning to the -embarrassed Mrs. Whitley, she made what -appeared to be indignant comments on Miss -Semaphore, the obnoxious word “old maid” -being distinctly audible.</p> - -<p class='c015'>At this awful crisis the boarders stared -panic-stricken at Miss Semaphore.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Miss Semaphore, under other circumstances, -would have justified their apprehensions. -Even she, however, saw it was no -use quarrelling with a deaf woman endowed -with a terrible tongue. Accordingly, she -simply muttered, “Disgraceful!—ill-bred!” -and something about “the result of association -with such persons,” and relapsed into an -oppressive silence.</p> - -<p class='c015'>The innocent little dribble of talk dried up -<span class='pageno' id='Page_27'>27</span>before the sirocco of her suppressed wrath. -A silence that might be felt reigned in the -drawing-room. Though glances were interchanged, -no one ventured to speak except -Mrs. Belcher. She, greatly daring, and -with the evident intention of flouting both -Miss Semaphore and Toutou, addressed her -daughter on all manner of subjects, compelling -that unhappy young person to reply at -the top of her voice. Miss Prudence, who -always shrank from her sister’s outbursts, -buried herself timidly in the pages of the -<cite>Lady’s Pictorial</cite> and tried to look as if she -had heard nothing.</p> - -<p class='c015'>When this painful state of things had -lasted for some time, Mrs. Dumaresq, by -way of creating a diversion, said in her most -fascinating manner,</p> - -<p class='c015'>“That dreadful Mr. Morley has been making -another speech. I’m sure it is a wonder -how anyone can be found to listen to him. -Radicals and Socialists and those sort of -people really ought to be locked up.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Perhaps, on their side, they think Tories -should be locked up,” said Miss Stott, a -thick-set young person with views.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“No doubt they do,” answered Mrs. -Dumaresq with energy. “No doubt, if they -<span class='pageno' id='Page_28'>28</span>could, they would have all the aristocracy -beheaded. As my dear friend, the Baroness -de la Veille Roche, once said to me, ‘My -darling Mimi, the <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">canaille</span></i> would wade in our -blood if they dared.’”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I doubt it,” said Miss Stott stolidly; -“people are not as bloodthirsty as that, even -if they are Radicals or Socialists. After all, -human beings are very much alike in the -grain whatever their rank, and none of us -would care particularly to wade in blood.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Alike!” echoed Mrs. Dumaresq. “My -dear Miss Stott, you are mistaken. Between -the upper and the lower classes there is the -greatest possible difference. They have not -our sensitiveness, our refinement, our delicacy.” -Mrs. Dumaresq said “our” to show -she knew her manners, and to accentuate -her diplomatic training.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Do you think not?” queried Miss Stott. -“Of course they have not external refinement, -nor the advantages of education. But -do you really think they are less sensitive, -less delicate in their own way? Why, -every day there are cases in the paper that -seem to show Belgravia and Whitechapel are -very much alike when their blood is up. -The chief difference to me appears to be that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span>the one does things and does not talk of -them, while the other talks of them but does -not do them.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“My dear Miss Stott!” remonstrated Mrs. -Dumaresq.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Yes,” said Miss Stott, “why only to-day -I read the account of an action taken by a -servant against her mistress, a wealthy -woman, who broke her fan on her maid’s -shoulder.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“How shocking!” said Mrs. Dumaresq. -“But you must not judge the aristocracy by -such persons. The woman, though she may -have been rich, could not possibly have been -a lady.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“So I think,” replied Miss Stott; “no -doubt, however, she considered herself one, -for she was an Earl’s daughter.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh—h!” said Mrs. Dumaresq, with great -surprise. “Then the maid must have been -very provoking.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>A rattle of teacups announced the arrival -of coffee.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Miss Prudence Semaphore, who was seated -in the centre of the room near the lamp, -looked round to see if any of the men had -come up, and dropped her <cite>Pictorial</cite>. As -she recovered it, an advertisement caught -her eye.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c016'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>“<span class='sc'>To Ladies and Gentlemen of Means</span>.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c017'>“The widow of an eminent explorer, being in -straitened circumstances, is compelled to offer for sale a -single bottle of water from the Fountain of Youth, vainly -sought in Florida by Ponce de Leon. Its marvellous -rejuvenating properties cannot be exaggerated. By its -means a person of seventy may regain, after six small -doses, the age of eighteen. This is genuine. No cosmetic. -No imposture. No connection with any preparation -making similar claims. The greatest marvel of -this or any other century. Money willingly returned if -above statement is proved untrue. Please address offers, -which must be liberal, as this opportunity is unique, to -X. Y. Z., Office of this Paper.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Greatly struck by the announcement, which -she read twice, Miss Prudence passed the -paper to her sister, saying, “Look at that!” -She then pulled out some knitting, and became -absorbed in the mysteries of “slip one, -knit one, bring the thread forward, knit two -together.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Miss Semaphore adjusted her long-handled -eye-glasses, sole concession to failing sight. -Spectacles were abhorrent to her, and even a -<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">pince nez</span></i> she considered too plain an acknowledgment -of weakness. She was even more -impressed by the advertisement than Miss -Prudence had been, and considered it at -intervals throughout the evening.</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_31'>31</span>Coffee had been handed round. The men -who sauntered upstairs for a cup massed -themselves together for company at one -end of the room. If separate from their -kind, they seemed forlorn and uneasy, and -watched an opportunity to escape. One or -two of the oldest, including Major Jones, and -a Mr. Batley, who was young, but a new-comer -and unacquainted with the ways of the -house, advanced into what seemed to be -looked on as the women’s end.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Miss Prudence Semaphore moved her -skirts slightly, so as to give a chance to anyone -wishing to sit beside her. No one came. -Pretty Miss Fastleigh and her sister, with -an unconsciousness born of experience, had -thoughtfully taken places as near the men -as possible. Soon they were deep in conversation -with the more courageous of the -advanced guard.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Coffee over, the greater number of the -men made a stampede. Some were studying -for examinations and could not spare -time. More sat in each other’s rooms -drinking whisky and soda, others again -turned out for a game of billiards.</p> - -<p class='c015'>A whist party was formed by Miss Semaphore, -her sister, Major Jones and Mr. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span>Dumaresq. Mrs. Whitley, Mrs. Dumaresq, -the medical woman, Miss Belcher, Miss -Fastleigh, Mr. Batley, and his sister, took -part in a round game. Miss Primsby, a -timid girl, very proper, and easily shocked, -whose formidable mother went to bed early, -after a time slipped gently downstairs to the -smoking-room. There she taught chess to -Monsieur Lemprière, a young Frenchman -who had come over to learn the language. -The better to explain the moves, she held -his hand in hers.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“In England the Garden of Beauty is kept</div> - <div class='line in2'>By a dragon of prudery placed within call,</div> - <div class='line'>But so oft this unamiable dragon hath slept,</div> - <div class='line in2'>That the garden’s but carelessly watched after all.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c015'>The second Miss Fastleigh, who had a -good voice, went to the piano unasked and -sang one or two songs. Finding no one took -any particular notice, she amused herself by -running up the scale and sustaining the high -A, much to the exasperation of her hearers. -The only woman who can endure scales is -the woman who is singing them. Mrs. -Belcher perused the paper. She did not -take it herself, but borrowed it from Major -Jones in the evenings. From time to time -<span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span>she gave scraps of news to Mrs. Wilcox, who -had read it all before breakfast. Captain -Wilcox sat downstairs in his wife’s office, -balancing the books.</p> - -<p class='c015'>About half-past ten Miss Semaphore rose. -Having carried all before her at the whist -table, she was in high spirits, and bade good-night -with much affability to everyone except -the Belchers. She carried with her the copy -of the <cite>Lady’s Pictorial</cite>. When her sister, -having as usual sat with her for twenty -minutes, discussing the events of the day, -had retired to her own room, which adjoined, -she sat down and wrote the following letter:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r c016'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“37, Beaconsfield Gardens,</div> - <div class='line in12'>“South Kensington.</div> - <div class='line in10'>“June —th, 189–.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c016'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Madam,</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c017'>“Having seen your advertisement in the current -issue of the <cite>Lady’s Pictorial</cite>, I am induced to reply -I should like to become the possessor of the ‘Water’ -you offer for sale. While willing to offer liberal terms, -I do not of course know what you would consider such. -I should be glad, therefore, if you could arrange for an -interview, when we might discuss the matter. I take it -for granted that the water is as efficacious as you represent -it to be, and shall expect proof before purchase.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r c016'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“I am, Madam,</div> - <div class='line in4'>“Yours faithfully,</div> - <div class='line in8'>“<span class='sc'>A. J. Semaphore</span>.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span>This was enclosed in an envelope addressed -to “X. Y. Z., Office of the <cite>Lady’s -Pictorial</cite>.” Next morning Miss Semaphore -carried it herself to the post.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span> - <h2 class='c009'>CHAPTER III.<br /> <span class='large'>MISS SEMAPHORE RECEIVES AN ANSWER.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>“I am perfectly proportioned,” said the medical -lady confidentially to Mrs. Whitley.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Mrs. Whitley would not have thought so -herself, but she made an assenting murmur, -out of politeness.</p> - -<p class='c015'>They were seated at breakfast two or -three mornings later, and the medical lady’s -statement was interrupted by the entrance of -Miss Semaphore, who glided quietly to her -place, and took up her correspondence with -some appearance of anxiety.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Perfectly proportioned,” went on the -medical lady in a lower key; “my dressmaker -says she has no difficulty therefore in -fitting me, and my gowns always sit well. I -don’t say this out of vanity. It is a fact. -I fear, however, it would be no use giving -her address to other people, for the result -might not be as satisfactory.”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span>Mrs. Whitley looked insulted, but she was -a timid woman, and not ready of speech. -She thought the medical lady’s dress clumsy, -and her figure shapeless, but had indiscreetly -asked who made it—the dress, not the figure—with -a view to employing the woman on -some plain sewing. The medical lady’s -answer to her question had offended her very -much, but she could not think of anything -cutting to say in reply.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Without noticing her expression, or feeling -any awkwardness, the medical lady continued,</p> - -<p class='c015'>“You know my velvet mantle? I have -been told Miss Fastleigh says she does not -like it. Now that is pure jealousy. It is an -extremely handsome mantle, far handsomer -than anything she could afford. But of -course it could only be worn by a fine, -tall woman. It is astonishing that so many -people are jealous of me.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Mrs. Whitley wondered vaguely what -grounds for jealousy the medical lady gave. -She certainly was not popular in the house, -but that was scarcely because anyone was -jealous of her. Belief in her own beauty, -however, and in the envy she imagined it -excited, kept her happy; so sharp speeches or -<span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span>covert hints alike failed to alter her. Mrs. -Whitley she had chosen as a confidante, under -the belief that she was a quiet little person -who admired her. She would have been -very much astonished to hear Mrs. Whitley’s -candid opinion.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“And how are you this morning, Mrs. -Whitley?” asked Mrs. Dumaresq blandly. -She was the next arrival.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“My cold is still bad, thank you,” said -Mrs. Whitley.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh, indeed! No doubt the draught in -your room increased it. All the small rooms -here are draughty, as the doors and windows -are opposite each other. Of course, as I -have told you, when we came here we meant -to stop but a very short time. I can assure -you, my dear Mrs. Whitley, that to anyone -who has moved in diplomatic circles, and -been honoured by the gracious hospitality of -royalty, a boarding-house, however well kept—and -this is not without its good points—cannot -fail to be objectionable. Though we -meant, as I have said, to stay but a short -time, I was most particular about having a -good room. ‘Angelo,’ said I, ‘let us take -the best apartments in the house,’ and so -we did. I made a point of it. It is a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>great pity that you do not move into a -larger room. Not that it makes any difference -to me. I am quite above such petty -matters. I never was influenced by any -worldly consideration in my choice of acquaintances; -far from it. If I like people, -my dear Mrs. Whitley, I like them whether -they have a small room or not. I do -assure you they may be stowed away at the -very top of the house for all I care.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Very kind of you, I’m sure,” murmured -Mrs. Whitley. The blaze of grandeur surrounding -Mr. and Mrs. Dumaresq, caused -her to take all that they said in good part. -They had a certain suavity, an easy way of -saying unpleasant things, that the medical -lady lacked. Besides, Mrs. Whitley’s one -ambition was to get into Society, and she -secretly hoped that if she was very civil to -Mrs. Dumaresq, she might possibly be one -day introduced to some of the distinguished -personages whose names were so frequently -introduced into her conversation.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Yes,” went on the lady in a glow of -generous feeling and a somewhat heightened -voice, “rank, and wealth, and position have -never had any charm for me. As my dear -friend, the Marchese Polichinello, a charming -<span class='pageno' id='Page_39'>39</span>woman, a reigning beauty at the Italian -Court—You remember the Marchese, -Angelo?—often said to me, ‘<i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Bellisima mia</span></i>’—she -always addressed me as ‘<i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">bellisima -mia</span></i>’—‘you are led too much by your -heart.’”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I suppose you are going to the Queen’s -Garden Party, Mrs. Dumaresq,” said the -medical lady, who had been reading the -<cite>Court Circular</cite>.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh, ah, yes,” replied Mrs. Dumaresq, -“I expect I shall. It is easy for me to go -at any time.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But guests must have attended a Drawing-room -within the last two years to be -eligible for invitations,” said Mr. Lorimer -gruffly, “and I thought you said you were -out of England.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Certainly, certainly,” answered Mrs. -Dumaresq, “we have of course been away, -but the dear Prince will arrange all that; -and then, practically speaking, I have -attended a Drawing-room within the last -two years.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>No one asked what she meant.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Meantime Miss Semaphore was reading -the following letter:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r c016'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_40'>40</span>“194, Handel Street, W.C.</div> - <div class='line in16'>“—th June, 189–.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c016'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Madam,</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c017'>“In reply to your communication, I beg to say -that I shall be pleased to dispose of the Water referred -to in my advertisement for the sum of £1000. This -minimum price is absolutely fixed, and I cannot take -less. Considering that the effect is guaranteed, and that -I am the only person in the world who has this marvellous -water to sell, I am sure you will admit the price is -low. Were it not that I am in pressing and immediate -need of money, I could easily get much more. If you -are inclined to conclude the business at once, I shall be -happy to see you here to-morrow at 4.30 p.m., and give -you a proof before purchase. My bankers, Coutts & -Co.; my solicitors, Lewis & Lewis, Dr. Llewellyn Smith, -of 604, Harley Street; and His Grace the Duke of Fordham -have kindly permitted me to name them as references, -should you care to make enquiries about me.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r c016'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“I am, Madam,</div> - <div class='line in4'>“Yours faithfully,</div> - <div class='line in8'>“<span class='sc'>Sophia Geldheraus</span>.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c015'>Miss Semaphore ate her breakfast pensively -and in silence, then made her way to her -room. A thousand pounds! It was a large -sum of money, a very large sum. The sisters -were fairly well off, still that was a -great deal to give out of their capital. But -if this Mrs. Geldheraus—Miss Semaphore -knew the name as that of a famous African -<span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span>traveller of German birth—if Mrs. Geldheraus -spoke the truth, the water was well -worth it.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Miss Semaphore scarcely allowed her mind -to dwell on the ecstatic delight of being once -more nineteen—intelligent nineteen this time, -nineteen conscious of its powers, knowing the -value of youth, enjoying the mere being -young as no one could who had not been old. -Had she dwelt on it, she would have felt prepared -for this one good to give not only one -thousand pounds, but her entire fortune and -count it well spent. Still, common sense -told her a thousand pounds was no trifle for -a woman of her means. She could not raise -it herself all at once.</p> - -<p class='c015'>On consideration, she decided to tell her -sister, to share the bottle with her, and halve -the expense. Prudence being younger, would -naturally require less of the water. There -was no need, however, to allude to that beforehand, -else she might feel inclined to pay -only in proportion.</p> - -<p class='c015'>The Misses Semaphore had had a life -similar to that of many single women—a -grey, colourless life, full of petty cares and -petty interests. Born in a country town, -where their parents were the magnates of a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_42'>42</span>dull and highly-respectable circle, they had -had a martinet father and an invalid mother. -Church work occupied the days of their -youth. Few visitors called on them except -elderly married people that they had known -all their lives. The very curates in Pillsborough -were married.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Colonel Semaphore, like many retired -military men, had had strict principles, and -had taught his daughters to be suspicious of -everything that looked pleasant. Reading, -except of devotional works, had not been -encouraged in their home. Neither of -the girls had been rebellious or particularly -bright. They had tried to do their duty, -and had found it monotonous. Seeing little -of the world, and having no youthful society, -they had grown elderly, prim, and formal -without knowing it. Dreaming that their -lives were all before them, they had waked -up suddenly to find that life is youth, and -that youth was over.</p> - -<p class='c015'>When their father had died at an advanced -age, they had moved to London, feeling themselves -most adventurous in making such a -change. Years had hardened Miss Augusta -and softened Miss Prudence. The former -was the terror of the giddy at Beaconsfield -<span class='pageno' id='Page_43'>43</span>Gardens. Behind her back they made fun -of her, and imitated her precise manner, but -no one liked to come in collision with her. -Miss Prudence, soft-hearted, soft-headed, and -a little romantic, was the favourite. She -was always ready to fall in love, but lacked -opportunity. Her little airs, graces, and -stratagems were as transparent as the day. -She had difficulty in realising that she was -grown-up, and would have called anyone who -forced the truth on her “a horrid thing.” -Her strong-minded sister’s dominion over -her and her affairs tended to strengthen the -delusion. Miss Semaphore managed the -property and investments from which their -income was derived, and seldom referred to -Prudence in such matters, save when her signature -was required.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Under all her severity, however, Miss -Semaphore was by no means as rigid as -she looked. Since coming to London, she -had begun half-unconsciously to contrast -the life she had led with the lives that -young women about her led. Something -stirred vaguely in her. She felt she had -been defrauded of many things that were -bright and pleasant and harmless in themselves. -How matters in the past could -<span class='pageno' id='Page_44'>44</span>have been different she did not quite know, -but she wished they had been different. All -this was food to her desire to be young, to -have her time over again, to enjoy herself -just a little; and many of her disagreeable -speeches might have been traced, by a student -of human nature, to the bitterness towards -others that sometimes wells in the heart of a -lonely woman, making her feel, “I have had -a bad time, why should not they?”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_45'>45</span> - <h2 class='c009'>CHAPTER IV.<br /> <span class='large'>CASTLES IN THE AIR.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>That evening, a little shamefacedly, Miss -Semaphore told Prudence how she had -answered the advertisement in <cite>The Pictorial</cite>, -and received a reply from Mrs. Geldheraus.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Prudence was very much surprised and -delighted, being in one of her rare spasms of -remembrance that she no longer was a girl. -She expressed herself as not only willing but -ready and anxious to help in raising half of -the money required, if the explorer’s widow -persisted in demanding a thousand pounds.</p> - -<p class='c015'>The sisters resolved, however, that Miss -Augusta should endeavour to persuade her -to accept £600, advancing to £800, and only -paying the full sum if she remained obdurate. -They decided, too, that despite her excellent -references, it would be only judicious to postdate -the cheque offered her, that they might -have an opportunity of personally testing the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_46'>46</span>efficacy of the water before the draft was -presented.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“She is very emphatic as to its genuineness,” -said Miss Semaphore; “but of course -we do not know her, and she may not speak -the truth. If she is an honest person—and -certainly her references are all that can be -desired—she will be quite willing to give us -a chance of first finding out whether the -water is really any good. A thousand pounds -is a great deal of money, and we ought to -run no risks.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“She says she is willing to give you a -proof before purchase.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I wonder what sort of proof?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Perhaps take some herself.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I shouldn’t like that. It would be a pity -to waste any of it.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I tell you what,” said Miss Semaphore, -after consideration, “I’ll take Toutou and -make her give him a little, just for an experiment. -You see he would require much less -than a human being, unless we had quite a -young girl at hand, and on her it might not -show. The poor darling is nearly fifteen. -A mere sip should suffice for him.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Perhaps it does not act on animals,” -suggested Miss Prudence.</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_47'>47</span>“Why should it not? I once read something -about the Water of Youth before in a -book, and my belief is that they said it acted -not only on people, but on insects, and on -flowers; then why not on a dog?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Augusta dear! what will you do when -you are young again?” asked Prudence -softly.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh, lots of things,” said Miss Semaphore. -“She did not like to own, even to her sister, -the golden dreams that floated before her, -and that she felt would be slightly ridiculous -for a mature woman to confess.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“How old will you be?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Well, if the thing can be regulated, I -should like to be about eight-and-twenty. -You see that is considered young, but not too -young. At eight-and-twenty a woman has -sense, if ever she is going to have it, and -is old enough then to know her own mind. -Eight-and-twenty, and stay at it, is my -idea.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I should like to be eighteen,” said Prudence.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Too young. At eighteen one is generally -either a fool or a pert Miss, and therefore -unattractive to the best sort of men. However, -I should not mind standing at twenty -<span class='pageno' id='Page_48'>48</span>if that is more convenient; but I must first -find out how the water works.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Just fancy you twenty and me eighteen! -What young creatures we shall be! Oh, -Augusta dear, do you know I feel quite -frightened. What shall we do alone in -London with no one to look after us?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Don’t talk nonsense,” said Miss Semaphore -crossly. “We have only to consider -our appearance. We shan’t really be so ridiculously -young, you know. I have no doubt -we shall retain our present minds and experience, -and be perfectly well able to manage -for ourselves. Of course I shall make all -enquiries to-morrow as to the effects and act -accordingly. And for goodness sake, Prudie, -if it is successful, don’t keep remembering -and talking about things that you could not -possibly have seen or known if you were -really only eighteen. That is just the sort of -stupid thing you are likely to do. We must -carefully look out the proper date and avoid -remembering anything before that.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Don’t you think, dear,” said Miss -Prudence after a pause, “it will be well to -go away from here before trying the experiment, -away to some place where we are not -known? It will be so awkward else.”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_49'>49</span>“Yes,” said Miss Semaphore reflectively, -“I suppose it would be better; but we can -consider that to-morrow, and now I am quite -tired. It is time for us both to go to bed.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>The sisters duly undressed and sought -repose, but for a long time none came. The -future was too full of bewildering possibilities. -Each felt that she ought not to let her mind -dwell on what might never come to pass. -Mrs. Geldheraus might be an imposter, the -Water of Youth a fraud. Still, supposing—there -was no harm in supposing—supposing -both were genuine, what a delightful prospect. -To be at once young and experienced; -could anything surpass it? Pitfalls might -be avoided, amusement sought, courses of -conduct followed after a fashion impossible -to anyone who was eighteen or twenty for -the first and only time in life. To get all -one’s chances over again, and to be assured -of missing none of them, what luck! what -unexampled good fortune!</p> - -<p class='c015'>Rosy visions of what they would do intruded -on both of them, but we grieve to -state that the wildest and flightiest of these -visions were those of the elder Miss Semaphore. -Were her eyes or those of her sister -ever to light on these lines, were there a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_50'>50</span>chance that her acquaintances might see this -veracious history, we should hesitate to set -her fancies down, and this for two reasons. -First, because Miss Semaphore herself would -be confused and confounded to a painful -degree, and this, as she is an excellent if -somewhat hard woman, we have no wish to -bring about. Second, because her sister and -friends would write lengthy and indignant -letters denying our statements, and citing her -reputation for propriety, not to say rigidity, -of conduct, and her severely religious tone, -her want of sympathy with flightiness of any -kind, as proof positive that she never could, -would, or should have thought what we -assert was in her mind.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Fortunately we need not fear either danger, -and so in all truthfulness may state -exactly what Miss Semaphore hoped to do -with her renewed youth.</p> - -<p class='c015'>In her secret soul she had come to think -that it was rather a pity she had not had a -past to reflect upon. She had gathered no -roses while she might. She had been only -too well brought up, and she was determined, -<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">en tout bien et en tout honneur</span></i> be it understood, -to change all that. Someone has said, -<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">il n’y a aucune austerité supérieure qui ne -<span class='pageno' id='Page_51'>51</span>laisse pas quelques régrets</span></i>. She would try -the delights of an impeccable but more -frivolous existence. She would be fascinating, -coquettish, would avoid the misplaced -gravity of her inexperienced youth, that had -been not only afraid to enjoy itself, but had -not known how to set about it, and had never -got the chance.</p> - -<p class='c015'>As a preliminary to a dazzling career of -conquest she decided that as soon as she -was twenty she would take lessons in stage -dancing and have her voice trained. Her -father, or any of the worthy inhabitants -of Pillsborough known to her, would have -fainted at mention of the stage. Indeed, -when young, Miss Semaphore shared their -views; but she had been gradually coming -round since she moved to London and found -that even amongst the Philistines “the profession” -was not in such bad odour as in the -country. She felt it to be wicked but fascinating, -believed she had genuine, if uncultivated, -dramatic talent, and actually regretted -that circumstances had kept her from cultivating -it.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Now, she thought, she would not be -stopped. This goes to prove that the most -proper and severe persons often think a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_52'>52</span>course of action suitable for themselves which -they would reprehend in others.</p> - -<p class='c015'>She argued, and with truth, that dangerous -though the stage might be, she would -have the experience of over fifty years to -guide her, and would therefore be in a different -position from other girls of twenty. In a -lurid but delightful vision she saw herself -gay, beautiful, famous, the delight of the -stalls, the admiration of the gallery, the -recipient of bouquets and <em>billets-doux</em>, her -photograph in every shop window, offers of -marriage coming by every post. At last she -fell asleep, a beatific smile on her face.</p> - -<p class='c015'>She had quite forgotten how two or three -years before she had brought pressure to bear -on Mrs. Wilcox to give notice to a girl who -had gone on the stage. Englishwomen are -often shocked at others doing what they -would do themselves, if they had the chance -or the aptitude.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Miss Prudence meanwhile, in her little -white room adjoining, thought kindly of -Major Jones and yearningly of the Rev. -Harry Lyndon, Curate of St. Botolph’s, a -consumptive young man of twenty-eight. -She had always admired the Reverend -Harry, though reluctantly admitting in her -<span class='pageno' id='Page_53'>53</span>heart of hearts that he was somewhat too -young for her. But now what would there -be to prevent their union? She fell into a -train of reverie as to how the matter should -be managed. Would she let him think she -had always been no more than eighteen, or -would she tell him of the wonderful water? -Sleep came to her while deliberating.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_54'>54</span> - <h2 class='c009'>CHAPTER V.<br /> <span class='large'>THE WATER OF YOUTH.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>Usually the fond imaginations of the night -wear a different aspect in the dawn; but the -visions of the Misses Semaphore had lost -none of their attractiveness by morning. -Though, as before said, they tried now and -then to check their super-abounding joy by -the cold reflection that perhaps the explorer’s -widow was a humbug, and the Water of -Youth liquid drawn from the nearest well, -they had much ado to keep their excitement -within bounds. Indeed their manner, despite -all efforts, betrayed such suppressed exultation -that Mr. Lorimer twice enquired of -Major Jones if he thought “the old girls” -were daft.</p> - -<p class='c015'>In the afternoon, punctually as the clock -chimed a quarter to four, Miss Augusta, -neatly dressed in black, and carrying Toutou -in her arms, took her way to Gloucester Road -<span class='pageno' id='Page_55'>55</span>Station and booked to King’s Cross, whence -she took a cab to 194, Handel Street, W.C.</p> - -<p class='c015'>At about half-past six she returned. -Prudence, who had been anxiously awaiting -her, jumped up eagerly as she put her head -in at the door and said, “Come into my -room,” in a voice full of mysteries.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Arrived in the centre of her own apartment -Miss Semaphore turned round and -faced her sister with much solemnity. She -spoke no word and began slowly unfastening -her bonnet string. The air seemed big -with fate.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Well?” gasped Miss Prudence, “did -you see her? Is it all right? What was -she like?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Miss Semaphore was in no haste to -answer.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“The Water—tell me quick, was it any -good. Did you buy it?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Look,” said Miss Semaphore with a wave -of her hand.</p> - -<p class='c015'>The eyes of Miss Prudence followed the -gesture and fell on Toutou. But was it -Toutou, this transformed dog? Old, shaky, -querulous, rheumatic Toutou? She went -nearer. There was a jolly, bright-eyed little -beast, a mere puppy, slim, young, and frisky, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_56'>56</span>without a grey hair in his coat, who suddenly -leaped on Prudence, barking and jumping -round with lively manifestations of delight.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“She tested it on him,” said Miss Augusta -in a hollow voice, “and see the result. Can -we doubt its miraculous power any longer?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Miss Prudence sat down, looking quite -pale and awe-stricken. This proof overwhelmed -her.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I am almost afraid of it,” she gasped. “It -does not seem right somehow, does it?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh, nonsense,” exclaimed Miss Augusta -pettishly. “Not right? Of course it is. -For my part I think it a most glorious and -beneficent discovery, and not calculated to -harm anyone.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Did she give much to Toutou? Do tell -me all that happened. Was she nice?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Yes, she was very nice indeed, a well-bred, -good-looking woman. The house was -not much to look at, and the servant so untidy; -but Mrs. Geldheraus told me she had -only taken apartments there temporarily, as -she is leaving almost immediately for the -continent. Her boxes are packed.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Does she look young herself?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“About twenty-three; but she assures me -she is sixty-four. I could not believe it. She -<span class='pageno' id='Page_57'>57</span>showed me her baptismal certificate. It was -in German, so I could not make much out of -it; but I saw the date eighteen hundred and -thirty something quite plainly.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Good gracious!”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“She was ever so civil, and insisted on -giving me tea, but she would make no reduction -in her terms. She said she knew she -was asking what would be a good deal of -money for an ordinary cosmetic, but for an -absolute return to youth it was ridiculously -little. Many dying millionaires or monarchs -would be willing to give all their possessions -for even a few drops of it.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“And then?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Then I spoke of requiring some proof that -it was as efficacious as she said, so she offered -to give me a little then and there. I was -rather afraid to risk it, and said I’d prefer -her to give some to Toutou first, but that -she should not charge extra for that, as it -was simply experimental. She agreed, and -poured about half a tea-spoonful into a -saucer, mixed some milk with it, and made -Toutou drink it.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“And did he change at once?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“No, he just came back in his slow, fat -way, and lay down before the fire wheezing; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_58'>58</span>but she bade me watch him closely, and -gradually I saw one by one the white patches -dying out of his coat. Those that came last -went first. Then I noticed that he breathed -more freely, you know he was not asthmatic -until two years ago. By degrees he grew -thinner, his coat glossier, and his eyes less -dim; then suddenly he sprang up and began -dashing round the room in wild spirits, just -as he used to. After this I could doubt no -longer. Still, I told her our idea about post-dating -the cheque, hoped she would not be -offended and all that, but I had yet to prove -if the Water would work as efficaciously on -human beings as on an animal.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“And did she agree?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Well, she did not like the notion at all; -said she had given me a positive demonstration, -and so on, which ought to satisfy me, but -I insisted. She then said she wanted the -money pressingly and at once, that this was -the only reason why she let us have it, and -made what really was for her a bad bargain. -The end of it was she agreed to my post-dating -the cheque two days, if I promised in -the interval to take a dose of the liquid that -would satisfy me there was truth in what she -said, so I consented to take just a little as a -preliminary, to-night.”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_59'>59</span>“Oh,—will you really? Don’t you think -it might be better to go away from here -first and try it somewhere down in the -country, as we agreed. They will be sure -to remark so on any sudden change in you.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I hope,” said Miss Augusta with severity -and dignity, “you do not mean to say I look -so old that the taking off of a few years will -make a very visible difference. I am quite -aware I may not look as young as I once did, -but that this is so very perceptible as you -seem to imply, I really do not believe.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh no! of course not. I did not exactly -mean that,” murmured Miss Prudence.</p> - -<p class='c015'>She had meant it, however, so found it -difficult to explain away her words. One -generally does find it difficult under such -circumstances.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Miss Augusta, taking no further notice, -proceeded to lock the precious bottle into a -drawer, and had scarcely done so when the -dinner bell rang.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Good gracious!” exclaimed Prudence, -“I must run and dress.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>She hastily opened the door of her room, -but the frisky Toutou was too quick for her. -He darted forward and almost upset her in -his eagerness to get out.</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_60'>60</span>“How lively he is!” said Prudence in -admiration. “Just like a puppy! How did -you get him home if he danced about like -this?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“It was a troublesome business I assure -you,” answered Miss Augusta, who was -too much interested and excited to sulk -long with her sister. “He jumped out of -my arms and frisked up and down the -carriage in the liveliest way, so that I had -the greatest difficulty in catching him again. -He was in the wildest state of delight you -can imagine, barked and leaped on all the -passengers, just fancy, and he has been so -rheumatic for years! I could scarcely hold -him under my cloak. He sprang out of my -arms once and very nearly broke the bottle -I was carrying.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“How dreadful! What on earth should -we have done if he had smashed it.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Well, fortunately he didn’t,” said Miss -Augusta shortly, refusing to contemplate -such a calamity.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_61'>61</span> - <h2 class='c009'>CHAPTER VI.<br /> <span class='large'>AN ACCIDENT AND ITS RESULTS.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>With ill-concealed impatience did Miss -Semaphore await her usual hour for retiring. -With a sense of agreeable expectancy did -she at last seat herself in her room before -the looking-glass and proceed to brush out -her scanty tresses. In the open drawer of -the table reposed the abundant coils that -graced by day the back of her head. As -she brushed, she reflected that expensive -though the Water of Youth undoubtedly -was, it would at any rate spare her buying -“Jetoline,” her favourite dye, for many years -to come. Women, guilty of a great extravagance, -always find comfort in meditating -small economies.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Her thoughts next turned to Toutou, and -his marvellous recovery of vigour and gaiety. -She wondered if her spirits would become -<span class='pageno' id='Page_62'>62</span>as light as his. As a girl she had not been -particularly lively, but she hoped in her -second girlhood her sprightlier and more -freakish qualities might develop.</p> - -<p class='c015'>While thus reflecting, her door opened, -and in came Miss Prudence to bid her good-night. -Prudence, as we have said, was a -large, soft woman, whose kindly, if feeble, -nature and unruffled temper tended to preserve -her youthful roundness. In her white -combing jacket, her cheeks flushed, and her -still abundant nut-brown hair falling on her -shoulders, she seemed to her sister to look -particularly young. To be sure, there was -ten years difference or more in their ages, -and Miss Semaphore was always accustomed -to look on Prudence as a mere girl, but even -allowing for this, to-night she might have -passed for thirty.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I think, dear,” she said, “you really -ought to put off that dose for a day or two. -We might go to Ramsgate to-morrow and -engage apartments, then, if you liked, we -need not return here. I could come back -and fetch the luggage, if you gave Mrs. -Wilcox a week’s notice; she would never -suspect anything. We can pretend we want -change of air.”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_63'>63</span>“I do wish you were not so silly, Prudence,” -said Miss Semaphore with acerbity. -“Do you forget that I post-dated the cheque -for that woman to allow of my experimenting -to-night, and she wants the money immediately. -Anyone but you would see that -once she has cashed it, we cannot get it back, -whether the Water proves to be any good -or not. It is essential to test it at once, and -stop payment of the draft, if necessary.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But they talk so here, I am afraid—”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Well, really you are very rude. This -is the second time you have said something -like that. To hear your tone one might -think I was a hundred at least. Oh! I -know very well what you mean. It is all -part of your ridiculous fussiness. It will -make very little difference. The dose is -one tablespoonful for every ten years, and -having reached the proper age, a tea-spoonful -at intervals keeps one at it. Now to-night -I shall take very, very little, just enough to -take off a year or two, so you may make -yourself quite easy. No one will see any -difference.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I wonder if it tastes bad,” said Prudence, -after a short silence.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Not at all,” said Miss Semaphore more -<span class='pageno' id='Page_64'>64</span>graciously, “I have already dipped my finger -in and laid a drop upon my tongue, and -it tasted just like common water.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“There can be no doubt but that it is -real?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Look at Toutou,” was the convincing -answer.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Do you know I’m a little bit afraid of it,” -said Miss Prudence. “I wonder how it will -feel, will it make one very queer or not. -Don’t think me selfish, Augusta, but I’m -glad you are going to try it first, you have so -much more courage than I.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Miss Semaphore merely grunted in reply.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Where is the bottle, Augusta?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“In my drawer.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“It does not hold so very much,” said -Prudence, meditatively lifting the bottle to -the light.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“It does not, and oh! of course I shall -require more than you, being older.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But I paid for half,” said Prudence -mildly.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Even so, it is quite fair. Less than half -will have as much effect on you as the rest -on me. We shall then be both of an age, -and that will be much pleasanter. Don’t you -think so?”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_65'>65</span>“Ye—es,” answered Prudence doubtfully, -“it will be a little strange. But do as you -wish about it, Augusta; you know best. -By the way, did you remark that the bottle -is cracked?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Cracked? No!” cried Miss Semaphore -with a little shriek of dismay, and rushing to -her sister’s side.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Cracked it undoubtedly was.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“It must have been Toutou in the train,” -she gasped. “I was afraid of it at the time. -Oh! the naughty, naughty dog. Do be careful, -Prudence. Put it down softly. She -said it was to be kept carefully corked.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh, the crack is very slight; it does not -matter,” said Miss Prudence, as she obeyed. -“Toutou, my precious,” to the tricksy little -dog that was now rolling on the floor, playing -with the fringe of the curtains, and trying -many long-forgotten games. “Toutou, you -nearly did serious damage to your missus’s -property, naughty ducksie wucksie.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Toutou rushed at her with enthusiasm, -and was with difficulty persuaded to enter -his basket. Then Miss Prudence, with a -portentous yawn, bade her sister good-night, -and opened the door into the adjoining -room.</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_66'>66</span>Left alone, Miss Semaphore slowly divested -herself of her wearing apparel, donned her -night-gear, and tied on the night-cap of her -youth, adhered to despite change of fashion. -Notwithstanding the confidence of her manner -to her sister, she was secretly a little nervous, -now that she was actually to make the experiment. -Her spirits went up and down like a -see-saw. At one moment she saw herself -surrounded by admirers, singing, dancing, -with fresh, unwrinkled complexion, bright -colour, dark curly hair innocent of “Jetoline.” -A ravishing picture. Again she felt like a -patient at a dentist’s about to take gas for the -first time. What would it be like. Oh, if -only Toutou, if only anyone who had tried -it could tell her exactly how it felt. Would -she lose consciousness or feel pain? Might -it not possibly kill her? By this time she -had worked herself to a state of intolerable -nervousness. She got into bed, and, sitting -up, hugging the precious bottle in one hand, -and a tea-spoon in the other, tried to decide -whether she would actually make the experiment -or not. By her bed, within easy reach, -burned a gas jet, which she always turned -out last thing, and a small table stood near, -on which lay a book, a newspaper, a box of -matches, and a glass.</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_67'>67</span>“Just a very little,” she murmured, “that -can do no harm. Only make me a few years -younger. She would never have ventured to -give me anything dangerous or poisonous.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Her hands trembled.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Can one fancy the impatience of an old -woman who had missed the joys of life, to -be young? A woman with the means in her -grasp? Miss Semaphore panted with excitement; -her heart thumped like a steam -hammer. Twice she took up the bottle from -the table. Twice she laid it down again.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Just a very little,” ran her thoughts, “a -few drops to see what it is like.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Alas for her nervousness! By some untoward -movement the frill of her sleeve caught -the bottle, and knocked it over. For one -terrible moment she sat as if petrified, watching -the Water of Youth flowing across the -table, and dribbling on to the floor on the side -farthest from her. Then, quick as lightning, -she jumped out of her bed, got down on her -knees, and received the little stream into her -open mouth as the liquid gushed over the -edge. That her position was undignified did -not trouble her, did not even enter her mind. -The overwhelming nature of the misfortune, -and how to rectify it, as far as possible, alone -<span class='pageno' id='Page_68'>68</span>occupied her. The bottle had broken in -half where it was cracked, so that the contents -rushed out at once. She swallowed all -that flowed freely, and, damming the rest -with her finger, stood up. The Water was -horribly wasted. Some had soaked into the -carpet. The newspaper had received a certain -amount, and this, owing to a lucky -crease, formed a little pool on its surface. -Now, for the first time, Miss Semaphore -thought of her sister, whose money had been -equally invested in the purchase. Should -she call Prudence, tell her what had happened, -and bid her drink the little that remained? -The fear that there would not be enough -for herself prevailed, and stifling the voice of -conscience, Augusta gathered up the paper -with delicate fingers, carefully made it into -a sort of funnel, and drank off its contents. -Then she sat down on the side of the bed, and -considered her conduct with a certain amount -of shame, not unmingled with alarm. So far, -she felt nothing more than the sensation of -having swallowed a quantity of cold water of -peculiar flavour.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“After all,” she said, to stifle her remorse, -“there was scarcely sufficient to make one -person young, not to speak of two, and I -<span class='pageno' id='Page_69'>69</span>wanted it much more than Prudence. Why, -she does not want it at all! She looked quite -a girl just now. Besides, there really was no -time. Before I could have roused her and -explained matters the water would have -soaked through the paper. Of course I shall -have to return her the money she advanced. -I am quite willing to do that if she makes a -fuss. Perhaps it’s just as well I did not call -her. She was frightened to-night at the idea -of drinking it. I really think she would -prefer not to have any.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Despite these powerful arguments Miss -Semaphore felt rather mean as she crept -once more between the sheets, and turned -out the gas with a jerk. For a long time -she lay wakeful, thinking of what the morrow -might bring, of how she could tell Prudence -there was no Water of Youth left for her, -or of how she could best get away from -Beaconsfield Gardens without being noticed, -if she found herself only twenty, and other -reflections of the same kind, until at last tired -out by the excitements of the day she fell -asleep.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_70'>70</span> - <h2 class='c009'>CHAPTER VII.<br /> <span class='large'>PRUDENCE RECEIVES A SHOCK.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>Miss Prudence Semaphore slept placidly. It -was her nature to do everything as placidly -as possible. Nightmares rarely visited her. -When Miss Augusta was crosser than usual, -or the latest man at 37, Beaconsfield Gardens, -on whom she tried to fix her easy affections, -showed that he had no thought of her, she -sometimes wept herself to sleep. Seldom, -however, did she experience the discomfort of -a <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">nuit blanche</span></i>.</p> - -<p class='c015'>On this particular occasion she dreamt that -she was flying through space to Florida in -search of the Fountain of Youth. Suddenly -her wings failed her. She fell like another -Icarus down, down, down, awaking with a -start and a stifled gasp. She sat bolt -upright in bed, and tried to think where she -was. The familiar room dimly seen, the -light of the street lamps, filtering through -<span class='pageno' id='Page_71'>71</span>the Venetian blinds, the sound of passing -cabs, a neighbouring clock chiming three, -all reassured her.</p> - -<p class='c015'>With a sigh of relief she turned over to -sleep again, when a weird wailing attracted -her attention. Miss Prudence listened. Her -heart beat fast. The wailing seemed close -at hand. Did it come from above or -below? Noises are proverbially difficult to -locate. Miss Prudence subscribed to “Borderland,” -and a thousand unpleasant conjectures -assailed her. There was something -unearthly, she fancied, in the cry, and though -she muttered “ridiculous,” the exclamation -did not entirely restore her presence of mind. -So far, indeed, was the idea from being really -ridiculous to her, that, as the sound continued -to rise and fall feebly, Miss Prudence lay -back in bed, and pulled the clothes over -her head. She could not be happy thus, -however. Half suffocated, she emerged -from time to time to hear if it still continued. -When at last it ceased, somewhat tranquillised -by the silence, she pulled down the blankets -and began to consider what the cause of -disturbance could possibly be.</p> - -<p class='c015'>A solution flashed through her mind—the -kitten! She remembered suddenly that Mrs. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_72'>72</span>Dumaresq had lately complained of a pet -kitten that played about the house having -strayed into her room, and been locked up -accidentally in the wardrobe.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“The very thing! It must be the kitten,” -thought Miss Prudence.</p> - -<p class='c015'>The wail, after a short interval, was -renewed, and this time Miss Prudence distinctly -recognised the cry of a young cat.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Full of courage she jumped out of bed, -struck a light, put on her dressing-gown and -slippers, and began to search for pussy.</p> - -<p class='c015'>She tried the wardrobe, the chest of -drawers, looked under the bed and up the -chimney, but in vain. The creature was -not to be found. As she passed the door -communicating with her sister’s room, it -seemed to her that the sound came from -there.</p> - -<p class='c015'>She opened the door softly, and shading -the light with one hand, gently called “puss, -puss, puss.” Nothing came. The cry, however, -sounded distinctly nearer, louder, and -more human.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Augusta! what is that noise? Augusta! -are you awake?” said Miss Prudence with -renewed alarm.</p> - -<p class='c015'>There was no answer but a prolonged -<span class='pageno' id='Page_73'>73</span>wail. Really frightened, Prudence advanced -into the room, holding the candle above her -head. All was as she had left it, except, -except—Where was Augusta? The bed was -empty. The room was empty. Filled with -an indefinable terror, Prudence advanced to -her sister’s bedside. Oh! horror! Augusta -was gone, and in her place lay—what? A -little, shrivelled, red-faced baby, wailing -feebly, a huge night-cap fallen back off its -bald head, a woman’s night-dress lying round -it in folds a world too wide.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“My God!” exclaimed poor Prudence, -“what on earth is this? Am I going mad? -Where is Augusta?” Her distracted glance -lighted on the broken bottle, and a sudden -gleam of intelligence lit up her brain. “Are -you Augusta?” she cried to the baby. The -tearful baby seemed to make a desperate -but ineffectual effort to speak. It appeared -to be on the brink of convulsions. There -was intelligence in its eye, however, and -her worst fears confirmed, poor Prudence -dropped the candlestick on her toes, and -went into violent hysterics.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Fortunately for her, the room was at the -end of a passage, removed from the other -sleeping apartments by an intervening bath -<span class='pageno' id='Page_74'>74</span>room. Underneath it was the now empty -drawing-room, while overhead reposed the -deaf Mrs. Belcher. Thus and thus alone -did her shrieks fail to rouse the household. -Every now and then she made an effort -at self-control, but again and again the -grotesque horror of the situation overcame -her.</p> - -<p class='c015'>It was dawn before she pulled herself -together and faced her position. With reflection -came a burst of anger most unusual to -the placid woman.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Augusta,” she said sternly to the baby, -which had ceased weeping, as if frightened -at its sister’s distress. “Augusta, do you -understand me?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>The baby apparently tried to nod.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Can’t you speak?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>The baby shook its head.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“It is no use, I suppose, in that case, asking -how this terrible misfortune has come -about?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>The baby blinked speechlessly. It was not -an engaging child. To Prudence, much as -she loved her sister, it seemed strange and -absolutely hateful.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“You little wretch!” she cried, over-mastered -by her rising anger. “Don’t you see -<span class='pageno' id='Page_75'>75</span>the horrible position you have placed us -both in? You took too much. You must -have been a nasty, greedy, selfish, foolish -thing to have swallowed up all that water, -or this would never have happened. Are -you really my sister? How can I prove -it? Who will believe me? Perhaps the -next thing will be that I shall be hanged -for having murdered her.” At this thought -Prudence was for a moment on the verge -of fresh hysterics.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“What on earth am I to do? There you -are, a baby to all intents and purposes. My -good gracious! what on earth shall I do with -you? I cannot keep you in this house. How -can I explain? They won’t believe me—why, -I wouldn’t believe it myself if anyone -told me. How shall I account for your -disappearance? and you can’t even speak to -back me up if I tell the truth. Not you! -You’d see me hanged and never say a word”—which -was unjust, considering poor Augusta -was not able to speak. Lashing herself to -fury, Prudence paced up and down the -room, wringing her hands.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Augusta! I always was a good sister to -you, and bore with your tempers, and divided -everything with you; but now, you horrid, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_76'>76</span>selfish, ugly little thing, I declare I hate -you. I’ll just wrap you up in a shawl, and -drop you somewhere. Oh, you lit—tle -wr—r—retch, I should like to shake you.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Suiting the action to the word, Prudence -pounced on the baby, and shook it till its big -cap fell quite off, and its head wobbled.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Augusta was terrified, and began to howl -lustily. She was so small, so helpless, that a -certain revulsion of pity came over Prudence. -She ceased shaking, and tried to soothe her.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“There now! there now!” she exclaimed, -exactly as if speaking to a real baby, “don’t -cry. I’ll see what can be done. I suppose -you took an overdose. Will you try and put -up your hand if you did?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>The baby put up its hand.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Does it hurt? do you feel bad?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>The baby shook its bald head, and made -an ineffectual attempt to demonstrate that -its sufferings were chiefly mental.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Now will you just be quiet and cease -crying, and let me think it all over. Try -to go to sleep if you can. Perhaps some -of it may wear off, and you’ll be bigger by -and bye.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Tucking the baby up in bed, Prudence -began restlessly to pace the room, pausing -<span class='pageno' id='Page_77'>77</span>now and again to look at the queer little -creature that had plunged her into such -unexpected difficulties. In despair she thrust -her hands into her hair, and gnawed at her -fingers. Finally she flung herself into a -chair by the window, and, staring blankly -into the street, tried to devise some means -out of her dilemma. The more she thought -of it, the more serious and unpleasant did it -appear. How Augusta could have been so -foolish as to finish the contents of the bottle, -how the bottle itself came to be broken, she -could only imagine. The result at any rate -was sufficiently deplorable. Her sister had -not stopped at eight-and-thirty, nor eight-and-twenty, -nor even eighteen, as would have -been natural and delightful, but had gone at -a bound to about eight days old.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“What a mercy,” thought Prudence, kind-hearted -in the midst of her anger and perplexity, -“what a mercy that there were not -a few drops more, or what would have become -of her!”</p> - -<p class='c015'>After long cogitation the lady who had -hitherto been the younger Miss Semaphore -rose, went into her own room, dressed, bathed -her swollen eyelids, and smoothed her hair. -Then she returned to her sister’s bedside.</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_78'>78</span>Augusta was wide awake, but she had -ceased crying. It was only by her eyes, big -with intelligence, and looking weird and -uncanny in her ugly little red face, that -Prudence saw reason still reigned within her -diminished body, A “queer child,” a “fairy -changeling,” an “elfish infant,” would be the -terms applied to Miss Semaphore by anyone -not in the secret of her rejuvenescence.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Augusta,” said Prudence solemnly, “I -have thought it all out. Immediately after -breakfast I will go in search of this Mrs. -Geldheraus, and see if she cannot provide -you with some—some antidote for this horrible -state of things. If she cannot, I don’t -know what will become of you. It is no use -telling the truth to the people in this house. -In the first place it would be a very disagreeable -matter to go into, and make us seem -very ridiculous. In the second they would -not believe me. My only chance, if I don’t -succeed in getting something to cure you, is -to tell them to-day that you have had a letter -summoning you to the country on important -business. I shall make excuses later for your -having had to hurry off to catch a train without -saying good-bye to anyone. Meantime I -must hide you here somewhere in this room -<span class='pageno' id='Page_79'>79</span>or in mine until to-night, and knowing how -much depends on it, I do implore you to be -quiet and not cry. If Mrs. Geldheraus fails -me, I shall enquire everywhere for some -good, kind woman who will take care of you -till you grow a little older, for of course you -must see how impossible it would be for me -to go about with a baby of your age. This -evening, after dinner, when it is dark, I will -try to smuggle you out unobserved to the -woman, if I can find one suitable, then give -warning, and go to some quiet place where -nobody knows us, and where I can perhaps -have you back to live with me. Now what -do you think of my plan? Do you like it?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Augusta evidently did not, for she shook -her head as vehemently as she could.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Well,” said Prudence crossly, “if you -don’t you needn’t. I can think of nothing -better, and you are not able to give me much -help or advice. You have only yourself to -thank for having brought all this trouble on -us. I’m sure I never was so worried in my -life.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Augusta was perforce silent, but her eyes -followed every movement of her sister.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Now,” continued Prudence, as the breakfast -gong sounded, “I must go downstairs. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_80'>80</span>I shall say you have had a bad night, and -desire no breakfast. I shall lock the door of -your room so that the housemaid may not -come in, and shall bring you up a cup of -milk. I suppose that is the proper thing -for you. Can you eat anything solid?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Augusta showed two rows of toothless -gums. Milk evidently should be her diet.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Well, for goodness’ sake keep quiet. I -will come back as soon as I possibly -can,” and with this farewell, Miss Prudence -descended. Alas! poor woman, dark as -were her forebodings, she little knew what -was to be faced, nor how difficult she -would find the execution of her simple and -excellent plan for the temporary concealment -of Augusta.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_81'>81</span> - <h2 class='c009'>CHAPTER VIII.<br /> <span class='large'>A CAREER OF DECEPTION.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>Never did a placid, good-natured woman, -habitually truthful, unaccustomed to all save -the shallowest of plots, unused to taking the -initiative, and indeed, preferring to depend on -the advice of others, find herself in a more unpleasant -predicament than did Miss Prudence -Semaphore. That her dilemma originated -in no fault of her own, served in no wise to -console her. To a certain extent she rose to -the situation and decided, with a promptitude -that for her was marvellous, on a course of -action, but she longed for some friendly soul -to whom she could tell her difficulties, and -whose counsel she could seek. Happily, -perhaps, for the keeping of her secret, she -had to bear her own burden in silence, and -take all the responsibility on her own weak -shoulders.</p> - -<p class='c015'>A very pale and tremulous Miss Prudence -<span class='pageno' id='Page_82'>82</span>appeared at the breakfast table on the morning -of the tragedy related in our last chapter.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Dear, dear! How ill you look!” was -the medical lady’s cheerful greeting. “Have -you had a bad night?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Miss Prudence admitted that she had.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“And your sister?—How late she is -to-day. She is generally one of the first -down.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“She is not very well this morning, and I -persuaded her to stay in bed,” said Prudence, -colouring to the eyes, as she embarked on her -career of falsehood.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Very wise of you; she had much better -breakfast in her room if she is feeling ill. -There is some nice kedgeree she might like.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Thank you,” said Prudence with embarrassment. -“Do not mind it. She told me -she would take no breakfast, but I said I -would bring her up a cup of milk and make -her drink it.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“One of her bilious attacks, no doubt, -since she refuses to eat,” said the medical -lady.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Yes, yes,” assented Miss Prudence -eagerly. “That is what it is—a bad -bilious attack.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Do you think then,” asked the medical -<span class='pageno' id='Page_83'>83</span>lady severely, “that it is wise of you to give -her milk?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh, yes!” said poor Miss Prudence -“She likes it—it is good for her—she takes -nothing else.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Indeed!” said the medical lady, helping -herself to potted sardines. “That is very -singular for a bilious subject, but no doubt -you know best.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Does Miss Semaphore often suffer from -these unpleasant attacks?” asked Mrs. -Whitley.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“No,” said Prudence. “Never—that is to -say—yes—frequently.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Mrs. Whitley looked astonished, as well -she might, and Prudence, to avoid further -cross-examination, began to read the paper -upside down. The paper, unfortunately, belonged -to Mr. Lorimer, and was one of the -points whereon he was touchy. He could not -bear anyone to look at it unless specially -invited thereto by him. Presently the -abstracted Prudence became aware that an -angry altercation was in progress, between -her neighbour and Müller.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Müller!” he growled.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Blease?” said Müller enquiringly.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Where the devil have you put <cite>The -Standard</cite>?”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_84'>84</span>Mrs. Whitley prepared to look shocked at -such language, but first glanced at Mrs. -Dumaresq, from whom she took her cue. -Mrs. Dumaresq, however, only smiled slightly.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I left it dere,” said Müller.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But you didn’t. If you had it would be -here now.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I—I believe I have it,” stammered -Prudence, suddenly awaking to what was -going on.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh, you have, have you?” said Mr. -Lorimer crossly, taking it without a word of -apology from her outstretched hand. “I do -not provide papers for the benefit of this -establishment.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“It is more blessed to give than to -receive,” put in Mrs. Whitley archly, with -the sweet smile of the peacemaker.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“No doubt, ma’am,” replied Mr. Lorimer -savagely, “but it’s a good deal more expensive,” -and he became absorbed in the -columns of his oracle.</p> - -<p class='c015'>The ladies exchanged glances. The -subject of Mr. Lorimer and his paper was a -standing joke in the house, and Mrs. Whitley -whispered to Prudence not to mind him, it -was “only his way.” Prudence, indeed, poor -woman, was too much occupied with her own -<span class='pageno' id='Page_85'>85</span>troubles to take the young man’s rudeness to -heart, and after passing a few minutes in -breaking her toast and sipping her tea, she -felt justified in rising from table. She took a -cup of milk with her and departed, watched -by the medical lady, who shook her head.</p> - -<p class='c015'>The younger Miss Semaphore found her -sister rolling her eyes in the most alarming -fashion.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“What is the matter?” she asked, but -Augusta of course was unable to tell. She -fixed an angry glance, however, on the door -of her sister’s room and nodded towards it. -Something in that direction was evidently the -cause of her displeasure. As a matter of fact -she had had a fright. While Prudence was -downstairs, one of the housemaids, not knowing -that anyone was there, made an attempt -to get in, and as the lock on that particular -door was shaky, Miss Semaphore expected -every moment to see the girl enter the room. -She could not explain this, so had to content -herself with looking cross.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Prudence pulled the curtains, moved a -number of things, saying each time, “Is it -this?” “Is it that?” but failing naturally, to -get a reply, she gave up the attempt and -began to feed her sister. The operation was -not successful.</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_86'>86</span>Prudence proved but an awkward nurse. -Augusta being, in body at least, practically but -eight days old, choked, cried, and had to be -patted on the back when she got too large a -spoonful of milk. Half the contents of the -cup went the wrong way. Augusta kicked, -and spilt a portion on the carpet, but at last -the meal was got through, though with -little satisfaction to either sister.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Now,” said Prudence, as she finished her -task, “I shall have to leave you alone for -some time.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Augusta evidently disliked the idea of -being left alone, for she immediately screwed -up her face into contortions that announced -an outburst of weeping.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh, stop! do stop!” cried her sister -exasperated, “they are sure to hear you -if you cry. How inconsiderate you are! -For goodness sake do be quiet and think -a little of someone beside yourself. What -else am I to do? It is all very well -for you to object, but something must be -done and done quickly, and as you cannot -help me, I must decide for myself. I shall -go at once to Mrs. Geldheraus and implore -of her to give me something to cure you. -She is sure to know what should be done, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_87'>87</span>and in the meantime I beg of you keep quiet, -or Mary will hear you in the corridor. I -shall tell her you are ill and on no account to -be disturbed.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Augusta apparently listened to reason, for -gradually her features relaxed and she ceased -whimpering. Prudence put on her bonnet, -veil, and mantle, tucked in the elderly infant, -locked the doors carefully, warned Mary, and -started off to find the explorer’s widow.</p> - -<p class='c015'>The poor lady’s mind was a chaos of conflicting -thought and emotions as she wound -her way through the Bloomsbury squares to -Handel Street. No. 194 was gaunt and -dingy. Over the door hung a framed card, -bearing the legend, “Apartments,” and on the -sill of the dining-room window sat a black -cat, lazily washing herself in the sun. In -answer to repeated ringing, a dirty servant, -with her cap all to one side, opened the door.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Mrs. Geldheraus,” she said, “she ain’t -here. Left this morning first thing, she did. -Had a tellygram last night to hurry up.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Prudence never knew till that moment -when her heart sank heavy as lead, how hope -had buoyed her up.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Where has she gone to?” she asked -feebly. “Will she return?”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_88'>88</span>“She’s gone to Paris,” said the maid, “an’ -I don’t think she’s a-coming back.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Can you give me her address in Paris?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“She wrote something out for missus, as -to where letters was to be sent for her. If -you’ll step in an’ wait a bit, mum, I’ll see if I -can get it for you. I can’t read them furrin -names.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Prudence stepped into the stuffy hall and -waited.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Presently the maid returned with a halfsheet -of note-paper, on which only the -words “Poste Restante, Paris,” were written. -Bitterly disappointed the younger Miss -Semaphore turned away.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Even if I write to her,” she said to herself, -“it will mean a couple of days delay at -the very least, and great Heaven! what -should I do if anyone saw Augusta in the -meantime? I must see to some place for her -at once, and get her out of that house.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>The very weakest women, when forced -into a position of danger and responsibility, -will act with a certain energy, and will display -a resourcefulness that surprises no one more -than it surprises themselves. Necessity is a -hard taskmaster, who makes people capable -of feats hitherto undreamt of by them.</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_89'>89</span>Miss Semaphore’s first move, therefore, was -to find a small stationer’s shop, where she -obtained permission to write a letter. The -letter was to Mrs. Geldheraus, marked -“Urgent and Private.” In it she detailed -the horrible accident that had happened to -her sister, and implored the explorer’s widow -to write or wire particulars of an antidote, if -there was one, and in all cases to let her -know exactly how the Water of Youth -worked, and how long its effects were likely -to last in such a case. She said, “You can -imagine the dreadful position in which I am -placed. My sister is altered out of knowledge; -though she still seems, so far as I -can judge, to preserve her memory and understanding, -she cannot speak. You have -left England, and the story sounds so improbable, -that I cannot hope any of our -friends would believe me if I told them the -truth. I live in terror of my sister being -discovered under her present aspect, so -implore you to lose no time in relieving my -suspense.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>This she posted, but the most gloomy -apprehensions assailed her.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Mrs. Geldheraus may not call for letters -for a week,” she reflected, “and where on -<span class='pageno' id='Page_90'>90</span>earth can I hide Augusta? Who will take -her? What story can I tell about her? -It is distracting!”</p> - -<p class='c015'>By degrees she grew a little calmer. It -would not be difficult, she hoped, to find some -decent woman to mind her sister at her own -home. Surely there were plenty of people -in London willing to take care of a child. -She would enquire. Meantime it struck her -that Augusta looked ridiculous in her great -night-dress and cap, so that before placing -her in the hands of any stranger it would be -necessary to buy her a complete set of baby -linen.</p> - -<p class='c015'>To this end, having walked to the top of -Tottenham Court Road she hailed a hansom, -and drove to Westbourne Grove.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_91'>91</span> - <h2 class='c009'>CHAPTER IX.<br /> <span class='large'>A PROMISING ADVERTISEMENT.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>With no little diffidence did Miss Prudence -Semaphore, a woman quite unused to the -ways and wants of babies, present herself at -the special counter in Whiteley’s devoted to -their needs, and falter out that she required -a complete outfit for an infant. The attendant -who waited on her considered that she -had a most extraordinary customer to deal -with, for the lady neither knew the age of -the child nor the names and quantities of the -needful garments, and when she finally took -everything that was suggested to her, she -required instruction as to how and in what -order the various articles were to be put on. -Having requested that a parcel of the most -indispensable objects should be given to her, -and that the remainder should be delivered -that afternoon at 37, Beaconsfield Gardens, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_92'>92</span>the next step for Miss Prudence was to find -a nurse who would undertake the care of -Augusta. This at once landed her in difficulties. -She first thought of appealing to -the shop-woman, but the manner of that -superior young person was so lofty that the -words died on Miss Semaphore’s lips. The -Universal Provider certainly did not provide -homes for infants. Prudence dared not ask -any of her acquaintances as to a suitable -person, yet could not imagine how else she -was to get one. She could not seize the -first respectable-looking body that passed by -and ask her would she mind an infant. Like -a woman with a guilty secret she wandered -up and down the Grove, looking vaguely -into shop windows but seeing nothing, and -wondering all the time what she was to -do. It seemed almost as desperate an -undertaking to get rid of a baby as to get -rid of a corpse.</p> - -<p class='c015'>At last the idea struck her that the -laundress who washed for herself and her -sister might know of someone suitable. Mrs. -Robbins lived at Hammersmith, and Miss -Prudence, hailing an omnibus going in that -direction, got in. If Mrs. Robbins could not -help her, what was she to do? As she -<span class='pageno' id='Page_93'>93</span>journeyed on, however, doubts as to the -wisdom of consulting Mrs. Robbins assailed -her. She would put herself, to a certain -extent, in the woman’s power, and the civilest -of laundresses might not be pleasant as a -<em>confidante</em>. Again, Mrs. Robbins might gossip -with the servants at Beaconsfield Gardens, -and as Miss Semaphore’s one aim was to -avoid the tongues of her fellow-boarders, she -felt the risk to be too great.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Accordingly, though she had paid her fare -to Hammersmith Broadway, she presently -signalled to the conductor to set her down.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“We ain’t there yet, mum,” said that -functionary. “You sed ’Ammersmith.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“No matter, no matter,” answered Miss -Prudence, “I wish to be set down here.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>The man obeyed, and the lady was left -standing on the pathway, considering what -she should do next.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Mechanically she turned down a side -street, and noticed at the door of a clean-looking -house a chubby-faced, bright young -woman, nursing a baby. Summoning up all -her courage, Miss Semaphore approached -her, and with unconscious diplomacy remarked,</p> - -<p class='c015'>“What a very fine child! Is it yours?”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_94'>94</span>“Yes ’m,” replied the beaming mother. -“My third ’e is, just six months old, bless ’is -little ’eart; but ’e ain’t looking well now, not -’e, ’e’s teething, and that do so pull a hinfant -down.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“He is a beauty,” said Miss Prudence. -“Should you be disposed to undertake the -care of another child—a—a little younger, if -you were well paid for it?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“No ’m, that I shouldn’t,” said the young -woman promptly. “My own three is enough -for me, an’ my old man I know he wouldn’t -like it, nohow.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Could you recommend any careful, -respectable woman who would?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I can’t say as I do. Ain’t the child’s -parents living, or is it yer own?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh, no!” said Miss Prudence, blushing -to the eyes, “the child is an orphan.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Poor little thing. Sorry I carn’t ’elp you, -’m, but I don’t know a suitable party.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>A second application, this to a decent-looking -body who was sweeping out a particularly -dingy chapel, met with no better success.</p> - -<p class='c015'>A third woman did know of someone -whose child had died and who might, perhaps, -be willing to care for a baby, but on looking -for the street where the person was said to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_95'>95</span>live, Miss Semaphore found that some mistake -had been made in the address, and that -no one knew of any such place. The people -she asked made various suggestions as to -where she should go, and she tried them all -without result.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Discouraged by so many failures, tired and -weak from want of food, the spirits of our -poor Prudence sank to zero.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“What am I to do with her?” she asked, -as if calling creation to witness her perplexity -“Shall I find no one to take her?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>While in this disturbed frame of mind she -walked meditatively onward, and stopped -before a little newspaper and tobacco shop, -reading the posters displayed outside, without -understanding a word. Suddenly, amidst the -tumult of her thoughts, she noticed that a -pleasant-looking woman was sitting behind -the counter reading and knitting. This -stranger might help her. She entered, and -having selected and paid for a <cite>Graphic</cite>, and -read some remarks on the weather, said as if -though an after-thought,</p> - -<p class='c015'>“By the way, do you know of any respectable -woman that would take care of a -baby?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Do you mean a nurse to live indoors, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_96'>96</span>ma’am, or a person to take care of the child -at her own home?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I mean someone who would take a baby -to live with her, and show it every kindness.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“That’s not so easy to get, ma’am, and I -can’t say as I do know anyone I could -recommend.” Then, with a sharp glance, -“May I arsk if the child is your own?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh dear, no!” cried Miss Prudence -hastily. “It is my sister.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Your sister’s—a— And is your sister -dead?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Dead! of course not. Why should I -want a home for her if she were?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Beg pardon, ma’am, I didn’t understand -you wanted a home for the lady too, I -thought as you said only for the baby.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“It <em>is</em> only for the baby,” replied Prudence -in confusion. “The baby is my sister.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Your sister?” repeated the woman, surprised. -“Your sister a baby?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Yes,” answered Prudence, rather nettled. -“My sister is a baby, there is nothing so -wonderful in that I hope.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>The woman looked as if she would like to -ask some further questions, but checked herself -and said,</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh, of course not. It’s none of my -<span class='pageno' id='Page_97'>97</span>business, anyhow—and by the way I’ve just -remembered something that might do if I -can find it. About six months ago one of -my customers arsked me to put up a bill in the -window, wishing for to adopt a child, an’ I -did, but nothink came of it, and so I took it -down after a month or two and put it aside -somewhere. If I could find it, it might be -somethink like you want.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Pray do look for it. I shall be greatly -obliged.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>After some rummaging in various drawers -and boxes, and calling upstairs to an invisible -“’Lizer,” the document, dirty and fly-stained, -was found under a heap of old newspapers -and handed to Prudence.</p> - -<p class='c015'>It read:—</p> - -<p class='c017'>“A respectable married woman, having no children of -her own, would like to adopt or mind a healthy baby. -Comfortable home. Care and affection of a mother -guaranteed. Premium required. Address, by letter -only, X. Y. Z., 42, Plummer’s Cottages, Barker’s Rents, -Elm Lane.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Miss Prudence was enchanted.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“The very thing!” she exclaimed. -“‘Comfortable home.’ ‘Care and affection -of a mother guaranteed.’ Just what I want.”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_98'>98</span>She copied the address, thanked the shop-woman -profusely, and gave her half-a-crown -for her trouble. Lunch hour at Beaconsfield -Gardens was long past, so Prudence ate a -bun, drank a glass of milk, and thought she -had done a good morning’s work.</p> - -<p class='c015'>The chief drawback was that she should -now have to keep Augusta concealed for at -least another day, instead of being able to -smuggle her out of the house that night as -she had hoped. It was a risk, but she had -no alternative, much as she dreaded the -secret in some way getting out. She found -Augusta sleeping. A vague hope had sprung -up in her breast that on her return she might -discover her sister in her normal condition, -and be able to look back on the events of the -night as a bad dream. She was doomed to -disappointment. It was all but too real. -Without disturbing the infant, at whom she -gazed for a time with mingled pity and -aversion, she sat down and wrote at once to -X. Y. Z., asking that respectable married -woman if she were still willing to undertake -the care of a baby, and if she would write, -or wire by return, appointing a place of -meeting, as there was a little baby girl she -would like to entrust to her motherly care.</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_99'>99</span>Though she was unwilling that the child -should be permanently adopted, she felt sure -that some mutually satisfactory arrangement -might be entered into. She wound up, -“Pray write or telegraph at once without fail, -as the case is urgent, and I will pay you handsomely -for your trouble.” This she signed -with initials, gave the address of a neighbouring -stationer’s, where letters were received at -a penny each, and posted it herself.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_100'>100</span> - <h2 class='c009'>CHAPTER X.<br /> <span class='large'>IN WHICH MISS PRUDENCE EXPLAINS MATTERS.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>The next thing Miss Prudence felt she -should do was to see Mrs. Wilcox and -prepare her for hearing at any time that -Augusta had left suddenly. Mrs. Wilcox sat -in the little room she called her Office, where -she received callers on business, made up her -books, wrote letters, and otherwise employed -herself.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I am so sorry to hear your sister is not -well,” she said as Prudence entered. “I -hope she feels better now.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Not much, I am afraid,” said Prudence.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Will she be able to come down to -tea?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I—I fear not.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Then she is worse than I thought. I -had better go and see her. Will you tell her -I will come up presently?”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_101'>101</span>“Oh, thanks, but I don’t think it would be -advisable to disturb her just now. She -prefers keeping quite quiet. You see this -is—is a very severe attack. I never saw her -quite like this before.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Good gracious! You don’t say she is as -ill as all that?” cried Mrs. Wilcox, whose -one weakness was a frantic fear of contagious -maladies. “You don’t think it can be any -thing serious coming on? They say there is -a lot of fever and diphtheria about. Excuse -my asking, Miss Prudence, but what are her -symptoms? We must take precautions in a -house like this.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Her symptoms? Oh, her symptoms—her -symptoms are rather peculiar.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Indeed. Head-ache? Sore throat? Pain -in the back?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“No, no. Nothing like that. I—am sure -it is nothing infectious.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I hope not, but please tell me what does -she complain of?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“A—a sort of shrinking feeling?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh! a sinking feeling. No doubt the -stomach is out of order. She has taken -something that disagreed with her.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I feel sure she has.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But if there is nothing more serious than -<span class='pageno' id='Page_102'>102</span>this feeling of sinking, she will probably be -able to come down to dinner. Meals in the -bedrooms you know are such a trouble to the -servants.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I don’t think she can come down. She -is far too ill. She won’t take any dinner. -Just a glass of milk.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But, Miss Prudence, I fear she must -really have some other symptoms that you -are keeping back from me. Do pray tell -me frankly what else you see amiss with -her.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Well,” said the badgered Prudence, “I -have noticed a—a—a sort of childishness -about her.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Good Heavens! You don’t say so! She -is not—not delirious? Not wandering in her -mind, is she?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“No, no. She is very silent—on the -contrary—has not spoken to me at all.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But you said she was childish.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I did not mean in that way—it is difficult -to explain.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“It seems to be,” said Mrs. Wilcox drily, -“in your place I should have Doctor Creedy -in at once. You know, Miss Semaphore, we -must take precautions—we must take precautions—and -if your sister has any symptoms -<span class='pageno' id='Page_103'>103</span>betokening infectious disease, I lay it on you -as a matter of conscience to tell me about it -at once, that her removal may be arranged -for before it is too late.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“You are mistaken, indeed, you are -mistaken, Mrs. Wilcox,” urged poor Miss -Prudence, with tears in her eyes. “There is -no possible need for alarm. It really is -nothing catching. I only wish it were.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I’m sure I don’t,” interjected Mrs. -Wilcox, more than ever amazed by the -confusion of Prudence.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Well, I don’t exactly mean that, but there -is no earthly cause for alarm on your part. -If Augusta had anything serious the matter -with her, anything in that way, I’d be the -very first to tell you, and to send for the -doctor, but she hasn’t. She just is—is—not -quite herself—has very little appetite and so -on—I—I saw a great change in her appearance -this morning, and it alarmed me. I -think, and she agrees with me—indeed this -is what I came to say, that if she went away -to-morrow or next day for change of air, and -meantime kept very quiet, was not disturbed -in any way or by anyone, she would soon be -all right.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“You know best!” said Mrs. Wilcox, “but -<span class='pageno' id='Page_104'>104</span>don’t you really think it would be well for -me to go up and see her presently? I would -not disturb her in the least.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Thanks, no. I should say it would be -better not. She does not like being roused -in any way. She is so silent; in fact,” with -a flash of inspiration, “she has completely -lost her voice. Then the shrinking—I mean, -of course, as you say, the sinking—is so -painful.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh, very well,” said Mrs. Wilcox offended, -“I do not want to press the matter. But I -think she had better have something to eat. -What shall it be? A glass of milk is -nothing.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“She cares for nothing else.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But don’t you think she ought to have -some beef-tea and a little dry toast? That -cannot possibly harm her.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Very well. Anything you like,” said -Prudence desperately, for she felt she could -stand no more questioning, and gladly made -her escape to her own room under cover of -Mrs. Wilcox’s directions to the cook on -behalf of the supposed invalid.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Mary, the housemaid, presently brought -up a tray and tried the handle of Augusta’s -door, only to find it locked. Prudence -<span class='pageno' id='Page_105'>105</span>peeped out of her apartment and bade the -girl lay the tray on the mat, promising to -take it in presently. At this, Mary, who did -not like the Misses Semaphore, flounced -angrily downstairs, muttering, “Some people -is so mystearyous.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_106'>106</span> - <h2 class='c009'>CHAPTER XI.<br /> <span class='large'>THE MEDICAL LADY INTERVENES.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>Miss Prudence did not appear at afternoon -tea, so the symptoms of her sister, her -refusal, or, at least, disinclination to call in -a doctor, her extraordinary confusion and -contradictory statements, as detailed by Mrs. -Wilcox, were canvassed with much freedom -by the boarders present. Mrs. Wilcox -discreetly abstained from mentioning her -suspicions, or using the ugly word “infection,” -but she privately requested the medical lady -to visit the invalid, and make a truthful report -as to her condition.</p> - -<p class='c015'>The medical lady was a woman who had -no weakness about her. She always recommended -drastic remedies, and applied them if -possible. She professed to enjoy her cold -tub in the iciest weather. Nothing would -persuade her that anyone who paled or -<span class='pageno' id='Page_107'>107</span>fainted at the sight of blood or of ghastly -accidents, or corpses, or took no delight in -anatomical specimens in bottles, was not an -affected creature. Mice she herself disliked, -but that, she argued, was different. She -administered physic with pleasure, and the -nastier it was, and the more the ridiculous -patient disliked it, the more she insisted on -giving it as prescribed. She liked to take -command of a sick-room as an admiral of his -quarter deck, putting the invalid’s relatives to -one side and making them feel they were -intruders. As she assured them that responsibility -for the death of the person afflicted -would lie at their door if they resisted, they -were generally afraid to turn her out, while -the invalid was unable. She inspired Miss -Prudence with terror, which expressed itself -in slavish deference and humility, for, conscious -of her own weakness, she felt, and -with justice, that the medical lady despised -her.</p> - -<p class='c015'>The younger Miss Semaphore was sitting -solitary in her own room by the window, -absorbed in anxious thought. The door of -communication with her sister’s apartment -stood open, so that she commanded a view of -the bed and of the infant Augusta. Suddenly -<span class='pageno' id='Page_108'>108</span>she started to her feet. Someone had -knocked sharply at Augusta’s door, and -immediately turned the handle. Finding it -resisted efforts to open it, the voice of the -medical lady was heard in the corridor, saying -sweetly, “My dear Miss Semaphore, will you -not let me in? I have come to enquire how -you are.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Augusta heard, and, forgetful of her voiceless -condition, evidently made a desperate -effort to summon Prudence, for she gave a -feeble whimper.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Hush! Do be quiet,” cried Prudence in -a frightened, undertone. Then opening her -own door, she looked out into the corridor. -The medical lady was discovered kneeling on -the mat and trying to peep through the -keyhole. She started into an erect position -with marvellous celerity.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Do you want anything, Miss Lord,” -asked Prudence timidly, yet with something -of resentment in her tone.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh! your dear sister,” said Miss Lord, -slightly embarrassed, I just wanted to -see her, but somehow I cannot open the -door. I thought that possibly she might be -glad of my services.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“The door is locked,” answered Prudence. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_109'>109</span>“My sister is not very well, and does not -wish to be disturbed. She is trying to -sleep.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But she will see me, my dear Miss -Semaphore. I may be able to advise some -course of treatment that will do her -good.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Thank you, Miss Lord she is asleep just -now, and I do not think would care to see -anyone.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh, but I’ll not disturb her. I’ll just -have a look at her in order to reassure you. -You must be uneasy about her. I hear she -is very ill.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>As she spoke the medical lady edged up to -Prudence.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Thank you; you are extremely kind, but -I am really not so anxious. She is not so -very ill, she is somewhat better now.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But I hear that you told Mrs. Wilcox -after lunch that she was very ill indeed. -This is a sudden change.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“No—yes—not <em>very</em> ill. She’ll be better -to-morrow.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But I think, my dear Miss Semaphore, -you really ought to let me see her. As you -decline to send for a doctor, someone with -the requisite medical knowledge should be in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_110'>110</span>attendance; and, forgive me for saying so, I -do not think you are a very competent nurse. -Besides, we owe it to Mrs. Wilcox to make -sure your sister is not threatened with -anything contagious.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>All this time the resolute medical lady had, -step by step, moved Prudence back, so that -they both stood within her room. Her eye -caught the open door.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Do let me in,” said the medical lady. -“I advise it in your own interests. Let me -have a peep at her, and if, as you say, she is -better and sleeping, I shall be able to reassure -Mrs. Wilcox and the others. Miss Belcher -and Mrs. Dumaresq are so terribly afraid of -anything infectious, that at tea they were -talking of leaving.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“No,” said Prudence, driven into a corner, -“you shall not see her, Miss Lord. She is -getting on all right, and does not want to see -anyone.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Shan’t I?” suddenly ejaculated the medical -lady; and before Prudence knew what -she intended, she made a dash at the open -door leading to Augusta’s room. Prudence, -however, was too quick for her. She -reached it first, pulled it to, locked it, for the -key fortunately was on her side, and, putting -<span class='pageno' id='Page_111'>111</span>her back to it, stood flushed, panting, and -breathless, facing Miss Lord.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“How dare you!” she cried, stung out of -her ordinary meekness. “This is outrageous. -Leave my room at once; no one asked you -to come here.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Miss Lord was hateful to look upon at that -moment. If a soft featherbed had risen up -and struck her in the face, she could scarcely -have been more surprised.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Ha, ha!” she said menacingly, “so there -is a mystery here!”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Will you go, please?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh yes, I’ll go.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>She stopped at the outer door.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“You had better take care, Miss Prudence -Semaphore,” with a withering emphasis on -the “Prudence.” “Perhaps I know more -than you think. You may be sorry for this -yet.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>With these vague but direful words she -disappeared, leaving Prudence collapsed, her -knees trembling under her, her mind filled -with the gloomiest forebodings, and an undefined -terror in her breast as to what Miss -Lord might know.</p> - -<p class='c015'>How she got through the rest of that -dreadful day Prudence never remembered. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_112'>112</span>She dreaded the ordeal of dinner; but -though the medical lady had evidently told -her story, and there was an atmosphere of -disquiet, no direct questions were asked, so -the meal passed off better than she had -expected. Still, the marked avoidance of the -subject of her sister’s illness was a new source -of uneasiness.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I’m sure they think she has cholera or -leprosy, or that I am poisoning her,” mused -Prudence dolefully, as she crumbled her -bread, and a dull resentment against Augusta, -who had involved her in all this trouble and -deceit, smouldered in her breast.</p> - -<p class='c015'>There was an added loftiness in. Mrs. -Dumaresq’s manner which showed that Miss -Semaphore had somehow incurred her displeasure, -while Mrs. Whitley omitted to -pass her the salt and pepper, which, with -fussy officiousness, she presented to everyone -else.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Good-natured Miss Belcher alone, forgetting -Toutou and Miss Augusta’s bad -temper, came up to her as the ladies filed out -of the dining-room and said,</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I hope your sister is better.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Yes, thank you,” replied Prudence -faintly.</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_113'>113</span>“How tired and pale you look. I do -believe you are fagged out nursing her. -Do let me help, if I can be of any use to -you.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“You cannot help me, thank you,” said -Prudence, with a sudden impulse to kiss her. -“She does not like anyone else to come near -her.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Cross, tyrannical old thing,” thought little -Miss Belcher, who pitied Prudence for the -slavery to which she submitted from her -sister.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Well, cheer up, dear Miss Prudence,” -she said sympathetically. “I am glad she -is better. Perhaps she may be all right -to-morrow.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I’m sure I hope so,” answered the -depressed Prudence, as she made her way to -her own apartment. To-night she had no -heart to enter the drawing-room and angle -for a few words of conversation from Major -Jones, round-eyed, stupid Mr. Batley, or -gruff Mr. Lorimer, or to join the game of -whist that so often resulted in personalities.</p> - -<p class='c015'>There was still a painful scene before her. -She must tell her sister that Mrs. Geldheraus -had left England, and that there was consequently -no immediate hope of her resuming -<span class='pageno' id='Page_114'>114</span>her proper size. Ever since Augusta awoke -and saw that her sister had returned, she had -followed her movements with anxious and -enquiring eyes; but Prudence determined to -give her no information until night, when all -the boarders were safely in bed, and when -infantile cries were unlikely to reach them. -Accordingly, having waited until one by one -the residents at 37, Beaconsfield Gardens, -had departed to their several rooms, and the -house was wrapped in repose, Prudence -stole into her sister’s apartment and communicated -the disastrous intelligence. She had -reason to congratulate herself on the choice -of so late an hour, for Augusta, despite -prayers and remonstrances, took it very -badly indeed. She sobbed, howled, kicked, -balled her little red fists into her eyes, and in -every way that her circumstances permitted -expressed her sorrow, anger, and disappointment. -In vain Prudence implored her to be -quiet. Her overwhelming dismay apparently -shut out all other thought, and it was only -when her sister actually put a pillow over her -head, to stifle her cries, that she consented to -moderate the expression of her grief. Once -she grew quieter, the tender-hearted Prudence -took her up, kissed and tried to comfort -<span class='pageno' id='Page_115'>115</span>her, walking her up and down the room as -if she were in reality the baby she seemed -to be, and continued this soothing progress -until Augusta wept herself to sleep in her -arms.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_116'>116</span> - <h2 class='c009'>CHAPTER XII.<br /> <span class='large'>“GOOD MRS. BROWN.”</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>Early next morning Prudence carefully -locked all the doors of her own room and of -her sister’s apartment and went round to the -stationer’s to see if a letter had come for her -from X. Y. Z. With much relief she picked -out, from a bundle of others, a missive -addressed to P. S., and proceeded to read it. -It was tolerably written and spelled, the -paper was clean, and the communication -was signed “Mrs. Brown.” “Mrs. Brown” -agreed to meet Prudence at nine o’clock that -evening in the first-class waiting room at -London Bridge Station, and had no doubt -they would come to terms. “She was prepared,” -she said, “to take the pretty little -dear and treat it with a mother’s love,” and -regretted that she was unable to make an -appointment earlier in the day “on account -of family reasons.”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_117'>117</span>Perilous as was the delay to Prudence, she -was pleased with the letter. The writer, if -not a person of culture, was evidently kind -and respectable, so she resolved to be -patient, and bear the strain of the situation -for a few hours longer.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Her next move was to purchase a feeding -bottle, for her previous efforts to make -Augusta swallow milk had been singularly -unsuccessful, and she was filled with uneasiness -lest her sister might be starved to death. -She then returned home, fed Augusta, -washed her, and dressed her in the garments -provided by Whiteley, and finally proceeded -to explain to her the measures she had taken.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I have told you already,” she said, “that -if you remained like this it would be impossible -to keep you here. They all look suspiciously -at me downstairs, and I really -believe they think you have either got the -plague, or else that I am slowly poisoning -you. Mrs. Wilcox spoke to me again -about getting a doctor, and I am afraid -that at any moment she may come with -one, and insist on his seeing you. Now, -I have our good name to consider, and -I know that if you are not sent away, and -sent speedily, Miss Lord will be capable of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_118'>118</span>breaking in the door. Then, if you are -discovered, we shall simply be lost. As for -telling the truth, they wouldn’t believe me if -I swore to it. It is no use your objecting, -Augusta, if you mean that squirm for an -objection. You have got yourself and me -into this hole, and the least you can do is to -be quiet and help me to avoid scandal. -There you go again. What on earth do you -mean? If you want me to keep you here -until Mrs. Geldheraus replies, it simply can’t -be done. She may not write for a week, -and every moment I am running risk of -discovery. No, I shall convey you away -to-night, whatever happens. Every question -asked about you sends my heart into my -mouth. I have been making arrangements -for your comfort. You are to go to a nice, -respectable, married woman, who has no -children of her own. She guarantees you a -good home, with the care and affection of a -mother. I have thought out everything. -When you are gone, I shall send some of our -boxes to Paddington Station as a blind. I -had better stay on here for a week or a -fortnight after you, just to disarm suspicion. -By that time we shall know what Mrs. -Geldheraus can do for you, and we must -<span class='pageno' id='Page_119'>119</span>shape our future actions accordingly. Gracious -Heaven! if she says she can do -nothing for you, what will become of us? I -suppose I shall have to pretend you are dead, -and rear you somewhere as my adopted -daughter! It is a horrible position to be -placed in. I am getting hardened to telling -falsehoods to those people downstairs, and -yet I tremble at the life of deceit I see before -me. We shall have to avoid all our friends—everyone -who has known us. If I were -even sure you would gradually grow up as an -ordinary baby does, I might look forward to -your speaking in a year or so, and then you -might advise me what to do, but if you remain -always dumb, and always a baby——!”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Overcome by her troubles, and by the long -vista of difficulties she saw opening before -her, poor Prudence sobbed aloud.</p> - -<p class='c015'>There was much to be done, however, so -she bathed her eyes, powdered her flushed -cheeks, and proceeded to pack up such -indispensable articles as would be needed by -Augusta. She kept to her room as much as -possible all day. At dinner she announced -that her sister was better, and that she herself -might possibly spend the evening with -some friends, so requested that the front door -<span class='pageno' id='Page_120'>120</span>might be left unchained, to permit of her -letting herself in with a latch-key that she -borrowed from Major Jones. Nobody made -any comment. The general opinion as to -her treatment of her poor suffering sister, was -too strong to admit of anything short of the -whole truth being spoken.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Prudence, congratulating herself therefore -on having acted so well, slipped upstairs and -arrayed herself in a black hat, a thick veil, -and a long cloak. Augusta she tucked up -warmly in an old shawl, gave her her feeding -bottle, and, having hidden her under the -voluminous folds of the mantle, peeped -cautiously out to make sure the coast was -clear. Not a soul was in sight, so Prudence, -with as guilty an air as if she were carrying -off Mrs. Wilcox’s silver, crept downstairs, -opened the front door, and closed it softly -behind her.</p> - -<p class='c015'>She scarcely breathed until she was clear -of Beaconsfield Gardens, and so closely did -she keep Augusta pressed to her bosom, that -when she perceived what she was doing a -spasm of terror shot through her.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“How quiet she is,” she thought. “Perhaps -I have smothered her.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>A glance reassured her, and she sped -<span class='pageno' id='Page_121'>121</span>onwards. Suddenly her knees seemed to -give way. Advancing towards her, but as -yet unconscious of her presence, was old -Major Jones, who had just stepped out of a -tobacconist’s shop, and was smoking a postprandial -cigar. Prudence darted across the -road, turned down a side street, and terrified -of meeting someone else who knew her, ran -all the way to South Kensington Station.</p> - -<p class='c015'>There was no one in the first-class ladies’ -waiting-room at London Bridge Station -when Prudence arrived with her charge, -except an elderly person on guard in a -battered black bonnet and a woollen crochet -shoulder shawl. It wanted twenty minutes -of the time fixed by Mrs. Brown for the -meeting, so Prudence, feeling really weak and -ill from excitement and lack of food, that -for two days she had been unable to taste, -gave the female sixpence to hold Augusta, -while she partook of a cup of tea in the -refreshment room.</p> - -<p class='c015'>As she returned, piercing yells were audible -long before she reached the waiting-room, -and hastily entering she found her sister -purple in the face, and bent backwards like a -bow in the arms of the attendant.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Her nurse was jogging her roughly up and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_122'>122</span>down, regarding her the while with an eye of -dissatisfaction, not to say of dislike.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I’m glad you’ve come back, ma’am,” she -said, rising hastily as Prudence entered, and -holding out her charge at arm’s length. -“This baby o’ yours is the very crossest -child I ever did see. I thought at first there -was a pin in her clothes may be—it’s a little -girl, ain’t it?—but I looked, and there’s never -a one to be found, so it’s temper, so it is—and -if I was you, ma’am, meaning no offence, -I’d spank her well, young as she is, to take -the mischief out of her. You can’t begin too -soon with that sort. Just look what she’s -done to my face!”</p> - -<p class='c015'>There certainly was a scratch on the old -woman’s nose.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Prudence took her sister in silence, and -tried to soothe her. Augusta, she knew, -was fastidious, and probably disliked being -held by the snuffy old caretaker, yet she -could not help considering that under the -circumstances the infliction might have been -borne. Still, the baby continued to yell so -that the people looked in to see what was the -matter. She made prolonged efforts to -disengage one leg from her lengthy and -cumbersome draperies, till attracted by the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_123'>123</span>frequency of the movement, Prudence examined -her more closely. As she turned up -the robe, Augusta stopped crying. There on -her red-mottled limb was a nasty blue mark, -where the irritated caretaker had given her a -pinch.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Under other circumstances the tender-hearted -Prudence would have remonstrated -with the woman on her cruelty to a helpless -infant. As it was, she did not dare risk a -scene, so took an opportunity to whisper -sympathy to Augusta, and implore her to be -patient.</p> - -<p class='c015'>After many anxious glances at the clock, -the hands marked the hour named by Mrs. -Brown, and, at the moment, a bustling, fresh-complexioned -woman of about five-and-fifty, -stout and respectably dressed, hurried into -the room, and, first casting a comprehensive -glance around, walked over to Prudence, and -said,</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Excuse me, ma’am, but are you here -with reference to a child?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Are you Mrs. Brown?” asked Prudence, -favourably impressed by her appearance of -cleanliness and her businesslike manner.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Yes, ma’am, I ham Mrs. Brown, otherwise -X. Y. Z.—‘good Mrs. Brown,’ they calls me -<span class='pageno' id='Page_124'>124</span>down our wy; and you, ma’am, I suppose -are P. S.?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Yes,” said Prudence faintly.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“And this is the dear baby? Pitty ickle -sing!” said Mrs. Brown, making a dab with -a motherly forefinger at Augusta’s cheek. -Augusta looked at her very hard, and -Prudence could not help hoping that she was -as favourably impressed as herself.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Yes,” she said, “this is the baby I wish -you to take charge of, and on whom I hope -you will bestow motherly care.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“That, ma’am,” replied Mrs. Brown, “you -may rest assured on. How old is the little -dear?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Prudence was all confusion.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I really don’t know,” she faltered. “A -few years—I mean a few months old—about -six weeks, perhaps.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Is the baby your own, ma’am?” enquired -Mrs. Brown in a tone of surprise.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh, dear, no!” cried Prudence aghast. -“It is not my child at all. As a matter of -fact, I am not married.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Indeed! You’ll excuse me asking the -question, ma’am; but in a matter of business -like this you understand one has to be particular, -with such a fine, comfortable, ’appy -<span class='pageno' id='Page_125'>125</span>’ome as I’ve to offer too; and might I -enquire exactly what relation the pretty dear -is to you? All communications, ma’am, are -treated in strict confidence.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“She is my sister.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Your sister!” gasped Mrs. Brown, looking -Prudence up and down. “Oh! your -<em>sister’s</em>. And now, ma’am, excuse my -asking, but is your sister a married lady?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Of course not,” said Prudence, adding -with a sickly smile, “I think you might be -pretty sure of that?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“<em>Of course not!</em>” repeated Mrs. Brown -under her breath in a tone of deep astonishment. -“<em>Of course</em> not!” adding to herself, -happily unheard by Prudence, “well, of all -the braigen! and she lookin’ so quiet too.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Well, ma’am,” she continued aloud, -“under them circumstances of course you -understand my terms is according.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“According to what?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“To them circumstances, ma’am.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“They are unusual,” admitted Prudence, -“and I am quite prepared to remunerate you -amply for any trouble you take with this dear -child.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“That child, ma’am, though I say it, is a -fortunate child in comin’ to one as’ll give her—it’s -<span class='pageno' id='Page_126'>126</span>a little girl, isn’t it?—as’ll give her a -mother’s care and love; and take her I can’t, -ma’am, for less than a premium of fifty -pounds down an’ a weekly payment of one -pound.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“It seems a good deal for a baby.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“No, ma’am, it’s not a good deal, it’s -cheap, too cheap maybe, but I’ve my nater’l -feelings, an’ I’ve took to the child, so I’m -makin’ terms for you an’ your sister as I -wouldn’t for another lydy in a similar case.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Well, unfortunately,” said Prudence -timidly, “I did not expect to have to pay so -much, and only brought a smaller sum with -me.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“How much?” asked good Mrs. Brown -briefly.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Twenty pounds,” said Prudence. “You -see I never had to—was concerned in—I -mean I never before had anything to do with -babies, at least in this way, and I thought—that -is to say, twenty pounds seemed a good -deal, especially as I am to make you regular -weekly payments as well.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Twenty pounds!” shrieked Mrs. Brown. -“Is it twenty pounds for a mother’s care and -love and dooty, and a comfortable ’ome an’ -no unpleasant questions asked?”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_127'>127</span>“Of course not, of course not,” said -Prudence hastily. “I see now it was too -little, but how am I to manage about the -matter, as I have not got fifty pounds -here?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Mrs. Brown looked at her keenly. “I’ll -trust you, ma’am,” she said, “for I’m that -soft-’earted, an’ I’ve took to the child. Pay -me the twenty down, an’ send me thirty in -Bank of England notes—none o’ yer -cheques—within twenty-four hours, and I’ll -take the little darling away.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Very well,” said Prudence relieved. “I -will do as you say; but oh! Mrs. Brown, be -sure you take every care of her, let her want -for nothing;” and two big tears stood in the -good-natured creature’s eyes.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Madam,” answered Mrs. Brown, “it’s a -lucky child as comes to me; and now will -you please give me your name and address, -and just write a promise to pay on this ’ere -bit of paper, and hand me over the twenty -pounds and I’ll give you a receipt; and -give me the byby, for my train is about due, -and you’ve got my name and address, and I -expects to be notified whenever you’re a -coming to see the byby, and I never allows -as payments to be more than a week in -arrears, or I brings back the child.”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_128'>128</span>Prudence was rather bewildered by Mrs. -Brown’s last lengthy and rapid speech, “I -never allows no payments to be more than a -week in arrears.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>What could she mean by that? It really -sounded as if she were familiar with transactions -of the kind, but surely no respectable -married woman, so nice in appearance too, -even though her grammar was not faultless, -would need more than one child to adopt; so, -telling herself she had misunderstood, Prudence -paid down the twenty pounds, kissed -Augusta, saw Mrs. Brown and that infant -into the train, and then relieved, yet with -many cares on her mind, made her way back -to Beaconsfield Gardens.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Meantime Mrs. Brown, who watched her -standing on the platform until the train -moved out of the station, began to feel she -had made a bad bargain.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I was a bloomin’ idiot not to arsk -thirty bob,” she muttered, “an’ a ’undred -down. She’s that soft she’d ’ave given it. -There! stow it, you brat!” she added with -sudden fury, turning to Augusta, who had -set up a dismal wail.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_129'>129</span> - <h2 class='c009'>CHAPTER XIII.<br /> <span class='large'>THE MEDICAL LADY BAFFLED.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>No. 37, Beaconsfield Gardens, South Kensington, -was in a ferment of excitement. -Something had happened. The boarders -did not quite know what, but there was in -the air that electrical unrest that spreads so -rapidly from one individual to another.</p> - -<p class='c015'>The mystery of Miss Semaphore’s illness -was under discussion. What ailed her? -She had eaten nothing for two days. Was -she really better? Was she worse? Why -this secrecy and embarrassment on the part -of the usually garrulous and impulsive Prudence? -Why was no doctor called in? -Why, why, why, in a thousand forms, was -the favourite interrogative pronoun on the -lips of the ladies and gentlemen as they sat -round the fire after dinner and discussed -something more interesting to them than the -<cite>Daily Telegraph</cite>, that oracle beloved of -boarding-houses.</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_130'>130</span>When tea was served, the maid sent up by -Mrs. Wilcox to remind Prudence that it was -waiting in the drawing-room, knocked long -and vainly at her door, and at last, turning -the handle, discovered that the apartment -was empty. Knocking at Augusta’s door -likewise had no result, and the girl came -down to say she thought Miss Prudence -Semaphore must have gone out already.</p> - -<p class='c015'>This was confirmed by Major Jones, -who remembered seeing someone like her -turn down Tate Street when on his way -home.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Where had she gone to? All the ladies -at her table were anxious to know, but they -asked in vain. The medical woman saw that -her opportunity had come.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I shall take advantage of her absence,” -she said resolutely, “to visit that poor, suffering -sister of hers, whom I consider she has -treated shamefully.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>There was a murmur of applause at this -noble resolution, and the medical woman, -having hastily swallowed her tea, rose from -table and made her way upstairs. Mrs. -Whitley followed at a convenient distance. -She was curious, but not daring. The medical -woman knocked at the door of Miss -<span class='pageno' id='Page_131'>131</span>Augusta’s room, and listened for a reply. -There was none. She repeated the knock, -and then tried the handle; the door was -locked from the inside, and the key, sticking -in it, prevented anything like a satisfactory -view of the interior.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“My dear Miss Semaphore, it is only me,” -she murmured ungrammatically; “I have -come to enquire for you. May I not come -in?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Miss Semaphore naturally did not -answer. The medical woman stood straight -up and reflected for half-a-second.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“It is my duty,” she said aloud, and, thus -braced to the task, marched to the door of -Prudence’s room, opened it, passed in, and -entered the sleeping apartment of the elder -Miss Semaphore. Mrs. Whitley by this time -had come forward, and paused as she passed -the threshold. The medical woman was just -emerging with a bewildered face, when she -saw her, and exclaimed,</p> - -<p class='c015'>“She has gone!”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Gone!” ejaculated Mrs. Whitley.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Yes, gone! There is no one there! -The room is empty!”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“What an ex-tra-or-dinary thing! Why -where on earth can she have gone to, and at -this time of night too?”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_132'>132</span>“There is some mystery here,” said the -medical woman solemnly. “All is not right, -but I’ll see this matter out, or my name is -not Jane Lord.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Downstairs went Mrs. Whitley and “Jane -Lord” to tell the news. There was an -excited chorus of enquiries to a duet of -replies.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Why and how had Prudence Semaphore -spirited away her sick sister? What had -happened? She had certainly told Mrs. -Wilcox that Miss Augusta would go for -change of air, but who could imagine her -sneaking off in the evening without luggage -or farewell? There was something behind -it, but what?</p> - -<p class='c015'>“It sounds just like one of those horrid -police cases one reads in the papers,” said -Mrs. Dumaresq; “I do hope the poor creature -has not been murdered and the body -conveyed away.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Good gracious!” exclaimed Mrs. Whitley, -“surely you don’t think her sister—”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I don’t think anything,” said Mrs. Dumaresq -with dignity; “but I must say Miss -Prudence Semaphore’s manner has more than -once struck me as peculiar.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Mrs. Whitley lowered her voice to an awe-stricken -whisper.</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_133'>133</span>“Then you think, perhaps, she has gone -mad and murdered her sister? How awful! -The police should be told at once, they -really should.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“My dear Mrs. Whitley, do not be so -hasty. Whatever my suspicions may be, I -have not formulated them. In diplomacy -one learns never to jump to conclusions; but -I confess this seems to me to be a very -mysterious and unpleasant affair. It makes -me regret ever having come to a boarding-house, -in spite of the advice of my dearest -friend, the Duchess of Middlesex. ‘Don’t go -to any such place, Mimi,’ she said. She -always calls me ‘Mimi.’ ‘You never can tell -who you may meet or what may happen, -and it is so very unpleasant to be mixed up -with persons with whom one cannot associate.’ -Didn’t she, Angelo?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Mr. Dumaresq, as usual, confirmed his -wife’s statement.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But do you really think there is something -wrong—that a crime has been committed?” -asked the little group of ladies one -of the other.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I, for one, should not be surprised,” said -the medical woman boldly; “but it is well -not to speak till one is certain, and of course -I may be mistaken.”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_134'>134</span>“But did you—did you notice anything -wrong in the room just now, any signs of a -struggle, or—or poison of any kind, or a -weapon?” asked Mrs. Whitley. “I suppose -you looked?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Frankly,” said the medical woman, “I -did not; I was so surprised and taken aback -when I found she was not there, that I just -looked at nothing at all except the bed. -That had been slept in apparently, and I -think the room was rather untidy, but I did -not stay a moment.’</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Don’t you think, ladies,” said Mrs. -Whitley, in a low voice, “that it would be -well for Miss Lord and myself to run -upstairs now and thoroughly investigate the -apartment?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>The others agreed; so the medical lady -and her satellite made their way to Miss -Semaphore’s room, and conscientiously poked -into every corner. They found nothing except -a twist of Miss Augusta’s false hair, and -a baby’s knitted boot. This last the medical -woman picked up and held out.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Where did this come from, I wonder,” -said she; “I suppose one of them made it -for some charity.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“No doubt,” said Mrs. Whitley; and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_135'>135</span>having fruitlessly investigated everything that -had been left unlocked, and shaken every -door, box, or wardrobe that was securely -fastened, they turned to make their way to -the morning room, a little disappointed at -their fruitless search.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Unfortunately, just as they were passing -through, Prudence returned home, and meeting -them on the threshold, at once divined -that they had been investigating in her -absence. They noted her frightened face, -and the look of relief that crossed it at the -recollection that after all there was nothing -to find. The medical lady thought it best to -carry off their proceedings with a high hand.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Dear, dear!” she said, laughing; “don’t -look so startled, Miss Semaphore. We -thought that as we saw or heard nothing -of you at tea, we had better see you or -your sister, and enquire if we could be of use -to her in your absence; but you were both -out.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Yes,” said Prudence, breathlessly, “we -were both out; and I must say, Miss Lord, -I consider it a great liberty for you and Mrs. -Whitley to have entered my room and my -sister’s under the circumstances.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Highty toity,” responded the medical -<span class='pageno' id='Page_136'>136</span>woman, “we were trying to do our duty by -your unfortunate sister, whom you left without -proper medical attendance during her -illness, and have apparently taken out of her -sick bed this night at the risk of her life, and -conveyed away without the smallest necessary -precaution.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Terrible is the wrath of the sheep. Prudence -stood at bay in a towering rage.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Allow me to tell you, madam,” she said, -“that you know nothing at all about it. My -sister is perfectly well, never better in her -life, and I won’t be dictated to by you, or -Mrs. Whitley either, as to any course of -action I think fit to take.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Well, I’m sure,” gasped the medical -woman, “this is what one gets for trying to -be kind to some people. Come away, my -dear Mrs. Whitley, and leave this—person. -Far from thanking us for our thoughtfulness -to her sister and herself, she only insults us. -Of course if poor Miss Augusta dies from -want of proper care, we shall not be to -blame,” and, with much dignity, the two -ladies swept downstairs, to tell the result of -their mission.</p> - -<p class='c015'>That something was horribly wrong, all -the boarders were agreed, but as to what that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_137'>137</span>something was, they differed. Was Miss -Augusta Semaphore living or dead? If living, -what was the nature of the mysterious -disease with which she was afflicted that -necessitated such prompt and secret action -on the part of her easy-going sister?</p> - -<p class='c015'>Mrs. Whitley, as one who had visited her -room, was terrified at this view of the case, -and went into strong hysterics at the idea of -having perhaps contracted some terrible -malady during her investigations. She was -not to be calmed until both she and the medical -woman, by the advice of the latter, went -through a course of thorough fumigation and -disinfection.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Where was Augusta now? That was -another interesting theme for speculation. -Somewhere near, apparently, since Major -Jones had seen Prudence by herself in Tate -Street shortly after dinner. Nothing else -was talked of all day, but as Prudence came -down calmly to meals, seemingly happier and -more composed than she had been for some -days, excitement began to die down. Perhaps -there was nothing in it after all. Augusta -was queer; she might have insisted in going -off in the night like that. Anyhow, nothing -much could be wrong, or Prudence would -<span class='pageno' id='Page_138'>138</span>never look so cheerful. As for her having -gone mad, or murdered her sister, even Mrs. -Whitley now laughed at the idea; but the -medical woman still clung to her belief that -all was not right.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Poor, tired Prudence, weary of scheming, -and lying, and being badgered, felt the -change and rejoiced. If they only would -question her no more, how happy she might -be! A fortnight would soon pass, and by -that time, all suspicion being averted, she -might safely give notice and join her sister. -Meantime, to leave no room for speculation -as to her movements, she went out very -little, appeared at every meal, and told old -Mrs. Belcher, the most sympathetic of the -boarders, who immediately spread the story, -that her sister had gone to the seaside for a -change, and that if she did not speedily improve -in health, she, Prudence, would soon -join her there.</p> - -<p class='c015'>All suspicions were now apparently tranquillized, -and Prudence, having despatched -by the first post a cheque for £30 to good -Mrs. Brown, felt sufficiently calm to await -events.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_139'>139</span> - <h2 class='c009'>CHAPTER XIV.<br /> <span class='large'>AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>The two following days passed peacefully -over. Prudence told her carefully-concocted -story to Mrs. Wilcox, and said she would -probably follow her sister in a fortnight. -She despatched a great box, avowedly for -the use of Augusta, to Paddington Station, -and left it at the cloak-room to be kept till -called for. She took every precaution that -suggested itself to her, and even contemplated -announcing at table the receipt of -a letter from her sister declaring she was -enjoying the fine sea air.</p> - -<p class='c015'>In fact, she felt she was beginning to lie -with an <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">aplomb</span></i> that at once frightened and -delighted her, but was accompanied by -twinges of conscience. Many tears she shed -in secret over the deception she was forced -to practise.</p> - -<p class='c015'>The interest and excitement about Miss -Semaphore had already abated somewhat. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_140'>140</span>Her room had been turned out, cleaned, and -made ready for a new boarder, and Prudence, -who had sent on the additional thirty pounds -to good Mrs. Brown, was congratulating herself -on having acted with great promptitude, -foresight, and caution, under trying and exceptional -circumstances.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Her main idea now was to hear from the -widow of the explorer whose fatal Water of -Youth had proved the direful spring of all -her woes. Night and day she considered -the subject. Was there an antidote? If -not, would her sister ever grow up? If she -did grow up, would she grow up normally? -Had she really, as Prudence thought, preserved -her memory and understanding? -Was she to be treated exactly like an ordinary -baby? and, if not, in what respects -should a difference be made? Should she -be sent to school later on? Would her intelligence -grow or lessen? All these racking -questions, to which she could give no answer, -tormented the younger Miss Semaphore continually.</p> - -<p class='c015'>When, sooner than she had ventured to -hope, she found a letter lying on the hall-table -addressed to her, in a foreign handwriting, -and bearing the Paris post-mark, the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_141'>141</span>poor lady was so overcome between fear and -hope that she scarcely had courage to open -it. With tottering limbs, she made her way -upstairs, locked her door, and sat down to -read the most important missive she had ever -received.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Mrs. Geldheraus expressed herself shocked -and surprised at the sad story unfolded by -Miss Prudence Semaphore, but, unfortunately, -was not very helpful. She had never before -heard of anyone taking too much of the -Water of Youth, and knew of no method of -counteracting its effects.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I explained to your sister,” she said, -“that a tablespoonful took about ten years -off one’s age. Thus a woman of forty, taking -two tablespoonfuls, would, in effect, be -twenty. After that, a tea-spoonful every -two years, would keep her at twenty as long -as the Water lasted. She seemed quite to -understand my directions. As such a case -as you describe has never entered into my -experience, I fear, dear madam, I can only -recommend you to be patient under these -distressing circumstances. I can give you no -idea of how long the effects will last. Usually, -the greater the quantity required in the first -instance, the sooner the dose must be -<span class='pageno' id='Page_142'>142</span>repeated, as the acquired youth wears off with -a rapidity in proportion to one’s actual age. -Whether this, however, will be the case with -your sister, I cannot say. No one who has -hitherto tried the Water has returned to -infancy, so your sister’s is a very exceptional -and awkward position, especially, as you tell -me, you are living at a boarding-house. You -may be thankful that your sister did not take -a little more, or she would probably have -vanished for ever, and your circumstances -would be even more painful than they are. -It is most probable that she retains her adult -memory and understanding unimpaired, remaining -a woman in mind though not in -body. I regret, dear madam, that I cannot -be more helpful, and am, yours faithfully,</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='sc'>Sophie Geldheraus</span>.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c015'>As she concluded, Prudence broke down -utterly, and, throwing herself on her bed, -gave way to a bitter outburst of weeping. -There was nothing for it now but to let -things take their course, to accept all the -annoyance, deception, seclusion, and suspicion -involved in so anomalous, so unprecedented -a situation. She saw nothing before her -but a life spent in avoiding acquaintances, -in evading enquiry—the life of a fugitive, -dogged by a blameless past.</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_143'>143</span>“It is horrible, horrible!” she wailed. “If -it were anything else, I think I could bear it, -but this is so incredible, so unheard of. How -am I to manage about our business matters? -Will Mr. Carson believe me if I tell him the -truth? Will he ever credit that the infant I -show him is Augusta?” (Mr. Carson was -the solicitor who managed the affairs of the -Misses Semaphore.) “What about signing -deeds and so forth? Then, if I pretend she -has died, he will want to come to the funeral, -or see the death certificate, or take out probate, -or something of that kind that will -involve enquiry. Oh! what, what am I to -do?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>At last, exhausted by weeping, Miss Prudence -lay still, and stared with sodden eyes -at the flies dancing on the ceiling. The one -agreeable object of her reflections was that at -least she had got Augusta safely away, and -placed her in hands that were both kind and -safe.</p> - -<p class='c015'>A longing to see her sister came over her. -Though Augusta was dumb and helpless, it -would at least be some consolation to talk to -her, to pour out her woes.</p> - -<p class='c015'>To a woman of the stamp of Prudence, the -necessity for secretiveness, for independent -<span class='pageno' id='Page_144'>144</span>or uncounselled action, is terrible. She -wanted someone to advise her, someone to -lean on, and little consolation as she could -expect from communing with Augusta, it -would at least be a relief to say all that was -in her mind.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Accordingly she rose, wrote a few lines to -“good Mrs. Brown,” announcing her intention -of calling at Plummer’s Cottages the following -afternoon, and having donned a thick -veil to conceal her distorted features, proceeded -to post the note.</p> - -<p class='c015'>The walk did her good. A fresh wind -was blowing, that cooled the hot cheeks of -the troubled lady. In the air was something -of rest that soothed her, and it was in a more -equable frame of mind that she returned -home.</p> - -<p class='c015'>At the door of 37, Beaconsfield Gardens, -she became conscious that something unusual -was agitating the inmates. A loud, angry -voice reached her, muffled by intervening -doors—a voice she seemed to recognise; and -when, in answer to her ring, Müller opened -the door, his face was flushed and his manner -agitated.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh, blease,” he gasped, when he saw her, -“I am glat that you, matam, hafe come. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_145'>145</span>Here it is a voman asking you to see, and -ven I say you are not <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">zu Haus</span></i>, she <em>schimpf</em> -and cry, and vill not go avay.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Prudence’s heart stopped beating, and she -caught the door-post to save herself from -falling.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Where is she, Müller?” she gasped -faintly.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I did show her into the morning room,” -said Müller, “ven she say that avay she vill -not go; but therein she vill not remain, but -valk into the hall and calls for you.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Before he could say any more, there -appeared before the shocked eyes of Prudence -a vision of good Mrs. Brown, flushed, dishevelled, -her bonnet to one side. With -unsteady gait, she lurched down the hall, and -confronted the trembling lady.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“So you’ve come at larst,” she said; “nice -way to keep a ’spectable woman awytin -for you. S’pose I’ve nothin’ better to do -than sitting ’ere?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“What do you want with me, Mrs. -Brown?” asked Prudence, in an agitated -voice.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Wot d’ I want with you? Well, I likes -that. Wot do I want, she sez! I want -to know wot d’ you mean by sending a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_146'>146</span>’spectable married woman for the keep of that -there byby a cheque as she can’t get no -money for? Eh? Tell me that? A bloomin’ -shame, I calls it; but you just fork out -that thirty pounds as you howe me, or I’ll -’ave the law of you,” said good Mrs. Brown, -loudly but indistinctly.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Prudence was miserably conscious that two -or three heads were peering over the balustrade -from the landing above.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Will you come in here, please,” she said -as firmly as she could, “and tell me exactly -what is the matter?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“The matter?” queried Mrs. Brown, as -she lurched against her. “Matter enough! -What did you go for to send me a cheque -at all, wen I told you I wouldn’t ’ave no -cheques?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>By this Prudence had got her into the -morning room, deserted, for a wonder, and -closed the door.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Now,” she said tremblingly, “what is all -this about, and what do you mean by coming -here and making such a noise? I am sorry -I sent you a cheque, but I quite forgot you -told me not to, and it is all right; there is -nothing wrong with it.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Nothin’ wrong! Wy wot d’ you take me -<span class='pageno' id='Page_147'>147</span>for, a-sendin’ me a cheque as no one ’ll -change?” said Mrs. Brown. “Nice conduck -of a female as calls ’erself a lydy, a-sending -of a pore woman to one public hafter another, -an’ not one o’ the lot ’ll change the thing!”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Let me see it,” said Prudence, bewildered.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Mrs. Brown glared rather unsteadily at the -speaker for a minute, and then fumbled in her -bag. After many futile dives, she at last -turned out the contents on the table. There, -amidst papers, a thimble, sixpence in coppers, -some pawn tickets, a half-crown, a reel of -cotton, a stump of blue pencil, and various -other odds and ends, was the letter of Prudence, -with her cheque, now very crumpled -and dirty, protruding.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Calls erself a lydy,” pursued good Mrs. -Brown, “an’ sends me that!” Here she -banged the cheque on the table.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Prudence, from force of habit, had crossed -the cheque and marked it “not negotiable,” -as the family solicitor, when first she had the -handling of money, had instructed her always -to do.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I am sorry,” she said, “the cheque is -crossed, and that is why they would not -change it. It should be passed through a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_148'>148</span>bank. If you will wait here quietly for a -moment, I will write you another.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Good Mrs. Brown at first seemed indisposed -to allow Prudence to leave the room at -all. “Give me my money,” she said; “I -don’t want none o’ your cheques. Money -down’s the thing for me!”</p> - -<p class='c015'>A vast amount of explanation was required -before she seemed to grasp the sense of what -the unhappy lady was saying. Then she -suddenly sat down on a chair and burst into -tears, much to Miss Semaphore’s alarm and -distress.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“You won’t try to starve the blessed -hinfant,” she said, “and rob a pore woman of -’er ’ard earned money?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Prudence earnestly assured her she would -not, that nothing was farther from her intentions. -She apologised again and again about -the unlucky cheque, and implored her unexpected -visitor to be calm, to be patient for -one moment while she ran upstairs to fetch -her cheque book.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Mrs. Brown, however, followed her to the -door, and protested huskily against the -younger Miss Semaphore’s “giving” her -“the slip.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>As poor Prudence escaped, she had the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_149'>149</span>misery of seeing the heads of Mrs. Whitley, -the medical woman, and even of the stately -Mrs. Dumaresq herself, hastily withdrawn -from over the balustrade on the first landing. -Every minute seemed an hour until a fresh -cheque was made out, and good Mrs. Brown, -grasping it tightly in one hand, had gone off -to negociate it after a deal of explanation. -Prudence felt quite sick with agitation and -apprehension.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I really almost believe,” she said to herself, -“I really am inclined to think that -Mrs. Brown must have been drinking.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>A dreadful uneasiness as to how Augusta -might be faring weighed heavy on her heart.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I will certainly go to-morrow and see the -place,” she resolved, “and if I do not like it, -I’ll take Augusta away.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Her spirits drooped at the prospect of an -impending conflict with good Mrs. Brown, -for even if her thoughts wronged the -respectable woman, that afternoon’s experience -showed that the lady in question had -another side to her character besides that -observed by Prudence at London Bridge -Station.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_150'>150</span> - <h2 class='c009'>CHAPTER XV.<br /> <span class='large'>PRUDENCE CALLS AT PLUMMER’S COTTAGES.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>Next morning Prudence, after a restless -night, was up betimes. Never in the past -had the placid, good-natured spinster known -sleeplessness, except in a very modified form. -Since Augusta’s misfortune, however, that -was changed. She thought more than she -ever had thought in her life, and constant -anxiety was making her face look drawn and -worn. Her brief triumph at having got her -sister safely out of the house had vanished -with the unexpected and unwelcome visit of -“good Mrs. Brown.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Wearily tossing on her bed, waiting for -the dawn, she pictured that mistress of a -comfortable home, pursuing her with threats; -while babies, cheques, Mrs. Dumaresq, and -the medical lady whirled wildly past in a -waking dream.</p> - -<p class='c015'>At four, she rose, and beguiled the weary -<span class='pageno' id='Page_151'>151</span>hours until the breakfast bell rang, by watching -the gardener sharpening his scythe to cut -the grass, and observing the sleepy maids -unfastening the shutters of the opposite -houses, shaking mats, and washing the steps. -She wished to go then and there in search of -her sister, her anxiety and impatience grew -every minute, and she fretted, as we all have -done, at the restrictions that prevent one -paying a casual call at six in the morning, -and the laziness that fails to enforce the -running of trains the twenty-four hours -through.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Not even a cab could she see. Many a -time had she opened her window, looked out, -closed it again, taken a novel, put it by, -looked at her watch, walked up and down, -re-arranged her hair, fidgeted, opened her -door, listened if anyone was moving, shut it -and sat down, before the welcome boom of -the gong, struck by Müller’s stout arm, -announced the first meal of the day.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Poor Miss Prudence made but a dismal -pretence at eating. She knew that her queer -visitor of the previous evening was remembered -and discussed, and she felt that every -morsel of bread would choke her. She -crumbled a slice on her plate, drank a cup -<span class='pageno' id='Page_152'>152</span>of tea, and then rose hastily from table. -Consciousness of terrible guilt could scarcely -have made her more miserable than she, -good innocent creature, was at the moment.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Guilty people usually have a certain hardness -of nature that makes them indifferent to -the opinion of others, while Prudence, with -all her woes upon her head, was a timid, -unsheltered, soft-hearted body, to whom an -angry or contemptuous glance was as bad as -a blow.</p> - -<p class='c015'>By half-past nine she had donned a black -bonnet and mantle, and had left the house, -carrying in her hand an envelope on which -she had written “good Mrs. Brown’s” address. -She hailed a passing omnibus that was going -in the direction, and, still pursued by her -sombre thoughts, tried to imagine what she -should do with Augusta if, as she feared, -Mrs. Brown’s house was not the happy home -she had anticipated.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Plummer’s Cottages were not easy to find. -No one knew where they, were; but then -every civilian of whom one asks the way in -London is sure to be a stranger, so Prudence -applied to a stalwart policeman.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“If I was you, mum, I shouldn’t wenture,” -he said, “they’re a low lot down there.”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_153'>153</span>“But I must,” urged Prudence nervously.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Well, if you must, take the fourth to the -right, and then the second to the left, and -the first to the right again. That’s Barker’s -Rents. You walks straight past the Model -Dwellings, which models they are, and you’ll -find Plummer’s Cottages.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Prudence, having laboriously counted her -streets, followed his directions. The second -turn to the left brought her into a dingy byway, -and the first to the right again into a -slum. Barker’s Rents towered up to the sky, -and at the door of the Model Dwellings a -group of slatternly women were discussing -personal topics with much freedom, and a -running accompaniment of “sez he,” “sez I,” -and “sez she.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>No. 42 was an inconspicuous cottage, -with a battered green door, reached by a -single step. Prudence knocked at it with -the handle of her umbrella without any -response. She repeated the summons, but -in vain, and, having shaken the door, which -resisted her efforts to open it, she endeavoured -to peep through the dingy window. Her -proceedings excited considerable interest -amongst the ladies standing at the Model -Dwellings, as indeed amongst all the residents -<span class='pageno' id='Page_154'>154</span>in the neighbourhood, who came out by twos -and threes until at last, Prudence, turning -round, was surprised and alarmed to find -herself the centre of an unwashed and, to her -eyes, menacing crowd.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“’Tis no good your rapping,” said a burly -woman, pushing her way through. “There -ain’t no one there. The ’ouse is empty.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Empty!” ejaculated Prudence. “Since -when?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“They cleared out last night like winking.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh, but there must be some mistake. I -am looking for a Mrs. Brown.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“You bet!” said the woman, addressing -the crowd, “she’s one o’ them. Nice lot she -must be to ’and ’er own flesh an’ blood hover -to Sal Brown.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>The crowd signified approval of this view -by a series of hoots and cat calls.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But I don’t know what you mean,” cried -the frightened and bewildered Prudence, “I -want to find a Mrs. Brown, who told me her -address was 42, Plummer’s Cottages, and -now that I come here, I find the place shut -up and you say the woman is gone. Can -anyone tell me where to find her?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I’ll tell ye fast enough,” said the burly -woman. “She’s in the lock-up, Sal Brown -<span class='pageno' id='Page_155'>155</span>is; she’s to be brought up before the beak to-day -on a drunk and disorderly.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But good gracious! my sister! Where——where -is the child she was taking care -of?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh! so you <em>are</em> one o’ them. A nice -’uzzy you must be to give an innercent byby -hover to Sal. Blest if you’ll find it alive, an’ -no doubt that’s wot you wants. The perlice -made a swoop on the lot last night, an’ they -say the Sercierty for the Prewention o’ -Cruelty to Children’s carted ’em off somewhere. -I wish you just saw ’em, so I do.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Them? What do you mean by them?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“As if yer didn’t know! Wy, the hinfants -to be sure. The Sercierty took the whole -fifteen o’ them, an’ now they’re going to try -to find the parients. They’ll be glad to ’ear -of you. They’ll ’ave somethink to say t’ -you wen they sees yer.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Fifteen infants! Why what do you mean? -I only know of one child that was given over -to Mrs. Brown to take care of. She wanted -to adopt it. She said she was a respectable -married woman, and would give it a comfortable -home.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>A burst of jeering laughter greeted this.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Precious comfortable,” said a thin woman, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_156'>156</span>“with Sal on the booze! Wy d’you mean -to tell us you didn’t know she wer a reglar -wrong un?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“A wrong one?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Yes, farmed kids and that?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I don’t know what you mean,” protested -Prudence tearfully.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Well, y’are a deep ’un, or a softy, blest if -I know which, not t’ve found all about ’er -from the start, if yer not lyin’, as is most -likely.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But what am I to do?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Dunno. You go ’long to the perlice -station, an’ p’raps the bobbies’ll tell you.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Where is it?” asked Prudence wearily.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Several of the women pointed out the -direction, and followed by a little procession -of interested but shock-headed observers, -who made unfavourable comments on her -manners, morals, and appearance, the younger -Miss Semaphore took her way, for the first -time in her life, to the police station, and -made tearful enquiries of a constable at the -door.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Step this way, ma’am,” said he.</p> - -<p class='c015'>While the disappointed crowd hung about, -and, foreseeing no startling or tragic <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">dénouement</span></i>, -gradually melted away, Prudence was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_157'>157</span>ushered into the presence of a severe official -seated at a table covered with neatly docketed -papers.</p> - -<p class='c015'>The constable, a fresh-coloured young -fellow from the country, saluted.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Please, sir, this person’s called about the -Plummer’s Cottages Baby Farming Case. -Says she’s mother to one of the hinfants.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Sister,” corrected Miss Semaphore timidly. -“I am not a married lady, my good -man.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Will you kindly state your business,” -said the inspector, after an awful pause, during -which he took no notice of the presence of -Prudence, but went on writing stolidly.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Prudence told how a few days ago she -had entrusted her sister to the care of a -woman named Brown, and had paid her two -sums of twenty and thirty pounds respectively. -That now she found the woman had left the -address given to her, that the house was shut -up, and, having been told Mrs. Brown was -under arrest, she had come to the station to -make enquiries and to discover, if possible, -the whereabouts of her sister. The narrative -was told in broken words interrupted by -many sighs and tears.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Inspector Smith had made a reputation in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_158'>158</span>connection with baby farming cases, and he -looked on this Plummer’s Cottages business -as one of the worst transactions of the kind -he had ever come across. Sal Brown he -considered less guilty than the wicked and -unnatural parents who had delivered over -their offsprings to her. What he inwardly -designated the “crocodile tears” of Prudence -did not move him a whit, and he surveyed -her with manifest disfavour. She might of -course be a dupe, but he inclined to believe -her a criminal.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Do you say that the child in question is -your sister?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Yes.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But did you not tell the constable just -now that you were her mother?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh dear no! He misunderstood me. I -only said I had come to enquire about a -child.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But you must be aware that all the -children found at the woman’s house were -extremely young—infants in fact. None of -them were over two years of age.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“My sister is”—Prudence hesitated—“extremely -young.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Well,” said the Inspector doubtfully, -“of course I cannot compel you to speak -<span class='pageno' id='Page_159'>159</span>the truth. They’ll do that elsewhere. The -babies are mostly in a terrible way, starved, -dirty, and diseased. We are trying to trace -their parents, as several names and addresses -were found in the possession of Brown, and -you would probably have been subpœnæd to -give evidence at her trial. Meantime the -children have been taken to the workhouse.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>What all this portended Prudence scarcely -grasped. One fact, and one fact alone, stood -out luridly before her. Augusta was in the -workhouse.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh!” she gasped in dismay, “in the -workhouse! My sister in the workhouse. -Where is it? Let me go at once. I must -take her away.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I think you had better not attempt to do -anything of the kind,” said the Inspector -stiffly. “The Society for the Prevention of -Cruelty to Children has taken the matter up, -and you’ll hear more of it later. You had -better just leave the child alone. She is in -good hands now anyway, very different from -those you put her into. My advice to you is -to keep quiet. You’ll see her all right later -on, and may be you’ll have to tell your share -in the case.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“My share in the case is easily told,” said -<span class='pageno' id='Page_160'>160</span>poor Prudence. “As I explained to you -already, I thought I was placing her in a -good home, with a kind, respectable woman, -but it seems I was mistaken.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>If anyone has formed an opinion that -another is wily, the simplest speech or action -tends to confirm it. In the heart-moving -accents of Prudence, Inspector Smith heard -only duplicity. In her open, though tear-stained, -countenance he read nothing but low -cunning.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“It’s quite wonderful,” he said coldly, “to -see how easy it is to deceive people when it -is to their interests to be deceived; they ask -no questions and they are told no lies, and a -troublesome baby is got rid of, that’s how it -is.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Well, I did want to get rid of her for -a little time,” admitted Prudence, with the -characteristic foolish candour that so often -covers the innocent with suspicion, “because -it was not convenient to have her where I -live. If you knew the circumstances, sir, you -would feel for me. They are very peculiar -and extraordinary, but indeed I asked questions -and Mrs. Brown told me lies.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>The Inspector looked at her under his -shaggy brows, he did not quite know what to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_161'>161</span>make of her simplicity. She was either an -admirable actress or else—she seemed really -white and ill and frightened, but with that -kind of woman one never knew how much -was “fake.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Will you please give me your full name -and address,” he said.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Prudence Elizabeth Semaphore, 37, -Beaconsfield Gardens, South Kensington.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Condition?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Sir.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Condition, married or single?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I am unmarried, as you must have heard -me say to the constable.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Unmarried, hem. Age?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Age?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Yes, age. How old are you?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“That, sir,” said Prudence with dignity, -“is no concern of yours; I decline to answer.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Well,” said the Inspector grimly, “I -won’t press the question. Perhaps you may -answer it later. That’ll do,” and with a nod -he dismissed her.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But the workhouse where my sister is, -where is it? How can I get there?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“She is at St. Mark’s Workhouse, but you -had better leave her alone.”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_162'>162</span>“Would you mind,” said Prudence pleadingly, -“writing down the name and the name -of the street where it is situated? I must go -there at once.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh, you can remember well enough,” -said the Inspector rather gruffly. “St. -Mark’s Workhouse, Bush Street.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>With this Prudence had to be content.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_163'>163</span> - <h2 class='c009'>CHAPTER XVI.<br /> <span class='large'>MRS. DUMARESQ IN AN UNDIPLOMATIC CIRCLE.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>When Prudence found herself in the street, -she looked in a bewildered fashion from -right to left, not knowing which way to turn. -The good-natured young constable pointed -out the direction of the workhouse, telling -her it was quite near, and thither she bent -her steps. Knowing nothing of the intricacies -of the neighbourhood, she walked some -considerable way before realising that she -was lost, and that her best plan was to take a -cab. Cabs, however, were few about there, -and she discovered one with difficulty. As -she drove towards the workhouse she had -leisure to reflect on the bewildering incidents -of the morning, and speculate on the condition -of mind and body in which she would -probably find Augusta.</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_164'>164</span>“The poor dear,” she thought, “what she -must have gone through! Oh! what a -misfortune to have come across that terrible -woman. And she looked so nice, so clean, -so respectable. Thank Heaven, Augusta -was not with her very long.” She went -over in her mind her conversation with the -Inspector.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“What a disagreeable man! He seemed -quite to doubt my word that Augusta was -my sister. Perhaps I had better say in -future that she is my half-sister. She does -look ridiculously young.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Suddenly poor Prudence bounded from her -seat. She had but just remembered something -the Inspector had said—something -scarcely noticed at the time amidst so many -conflicting anxieties and emotions.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“We are trying to trace their parents, as -several names and addresses were found in -the possession of Brown, and you would -probably in any case have been subpœnæd -to give evidence at the trial.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Great Heaven!” she thought, “so there -is to be a trial.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>The full meaning of the words burst suddenly -upon her. It should all come out—the -whole story. She saw herself in court, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_165'>165</span>heckled, badgered, cross-examined, made -perhaps to contradict herself at every turn, -surveyed critically by the boarders at -Beaconsfield Gardens, who, of course, would -flock to hear the case. She would be flouted, -disbelieved if she told the truth, tripped up -and convicted of falsehood if she lied, accused -no doubt of perjury, perhaps of murder, -ordered to the cells to undergo terrible -and unknown penalties, while Augusta—the -only person who could prove her -innocence and good faith—Augusta was a -helpless, speechless infant, unable to testify -in her favour. Of law, of legal procedure, of -what a judge could or could not do, Prudence -was profoundly ignorant. All that was plain -to her was, that she could not produce her -sister in the flesh as known to and recognisable -by her acquaintances, and that no one -would credit her if she produced the baby -and said that was Augusta. Even at the -best, if no question as to her sister arose, no -suspicion of murder, how bad it looked to -have smuggled a child away, and given it to -such a person as Mrs. Brown to cruelly use. -Cold beads of perspiration stood out on the -poor woman’s forehead. No! she would not -be mixed up in it; she would not go into -<span class='pageno' id='Page_166'>166</span>court at all; she would get back her sister and -flee far away from London, and Mrs. Brown, -and the medical lady. In agonised haste she -pulled the check string, and bade the cabman -drive back at once to the station. She -would tell the Inspector that she declined to -give evidence under any circumstances—surely -they could not force her to if she -refused—and bitterly she reproached herself -for her unpardonable stupidity in not having -done this at the time.</p> - -<p class='c015'>She tumbled out of the cab, and made her -way like one distraught to the little office -where she had seen the Inspector. Alas! he -had just gone out. No one knew where -he had gone to or when he would return. -Prudence had therefore to content herself -with leaving a verbal message with a subordinate, -to the effect that nothing would -induce her to appear against Mrs. Brown or -anyone else, or to enter a court of law under -any circumstances. This done, she returned -to her cab with a mind rather more at ease, -and resumed her journey to the workhouse.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Workhouse porters are not usually chosen -for their urbanity, and he of St. Mark’s was -no exception to the rule. “It is not visiting -day,” he said to her, “and you ought to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_167'>167</span>know better than come bothering here.” -He was deaf to her appeals to see Augusta. -“It can’t be done,” he said. “You should -come on Thursday between three and six. -It’s no use your making a disturbance.” -As she still persisted, he lost his temper, -and told her she had better go, or he would -have her turned out.</p> - -<p class='c015'>The frightened Prudence hurried back to -her cab, and, sobbing miserably, directed the -driver to South Kensington. Worn out by -the fatigues and excitements of the day, she -arrived at 37, Beaconsfield Gardens, in time -for dinner.</p> - -<p class='c015'>She would have given anything not to be -obliged to put in an appearance at that -meal, but she did not dare to remain in her -room. Her fear of attracting notice was -morbid.</p> - -<p class='c015'>The boarders, for a wonder, were discussing -Dickens as Prudence took her place at -table.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Dickens is an author I have never read,” -Mrs. Dumaresq was saying.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Really!” responded Major Jones. “Why -not?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“My dear mother did not approve of his -works when I was a girl,” said Mrs. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_168'>168</span>Dumaresq, “and, since then, what I have -seen of his writings has not induced me to -form a different opinion.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But I never heard it said that Dickens -had written anything objectionable.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh, objectionable! Well, not exactly -objectionable in the sense you mean,” -answered Mrs. Dumaresq; “that might not -matter so much, but he deals with people -who are not in our set.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“It says in to-day’s paper that the -Princess drove over yesterday to see the -motor cars,” said Mrs. Whitley suddenly to -Mrs. Dumaresq.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Now Mrs. Whitley spoke indistinctly, and -with a lisp, which no doubt accounted for -Mrs. Dumaresq’s unexpected reply, for that -lady said,</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh, yes, to be sure; so she did. They -are dear old friends of ours. Such charming -people!”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Mrs. Whitley looked astonished. “I’m -afraid you don’t quite understand me,” she -said; “I spoke of the motor cars.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh, ah! Yes, to be sure,” said Mrs. -Dumaresq, slightly embarrassed. “The -motor cars—yes, I have seen them.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>There was a long pause, during which the -lady regained her self-possession.</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_169'>169</span>“Have you heard from your sister, Miss -Semaphore?” asked Mrs. Dumaresq, after a -time, as she ate her soup.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Yes, thank you.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“And how is she?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Not so well—at least, better. I mean -she is not yet quite well, but is better than -she was.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>What further embarrassing questions the -lady might have put Prudence could only -speculate, for, providentially, Mrs. Dumaresq -was appealed to by the medical woman for -her opinion on some hotly-contested question -of Government policy. This was being -discussed by Major Jones and Mr. Lorimer, -who, it has been said, like most gentlemen -that live in boarding-houses, were staunch -Conservatives. A new boarder had just -given utterance to deplorably Radical sentiments.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Mrs. Dumaresq had not heard, and -politely requested information as to the point -at issue.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“My husband,” said the wife of the new -boarder, “remarked that, in proportion to -their means, the poor are taxed far more -heavily than the rich, and he advocates -reversing this. What do you think?”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_170'>170</span>“Really,” said Mrs. Dumaresq with lofty -sweetness, “I have no opinion on the -subject. I know absolutely nothing of -politics.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh! Then you are a Conservative,” -said the new boarder’s wife abruptly. “I -have always noticed that when a woman -begins by telling me she knows nothing of -politics, it means that she is a Tory.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Mrs. Dumaresq looked offended. “Well,” -she said, after a brief pause, “my sympathies -are naturally with the aristocracy, amongst -whom my life has been passed. In military -and diplomatic circles everyone is Conservative, -so if I have any bias, it is in favour of -my friends.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>The wife of the new boarder happened, -unfortunately, to be an earnest woman, so she -did not let the matter drop.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But why,” she pursued, “should you, a -member of the great English middle-class, -set yourself to uphold a system inimical to -the interests not only of the poor but of your -equals.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>The listeners felt the position to be -strained. No one had ever pressed a point -on Mrs. Dumaresq before, and all the ladies -thought the new boarder’s wife was audacious -<span class='pageno' id='Page_171'>171</span>and ill-bred. She herself, however, was -quite at her ease, though eager and -interested.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Mrs. Dumaresq smiled rather acidly. “I -can scarcely claim the privilege of belonging -to what you call ‘the great English middle-class,’” -she said. “My relations have not -been in that sphere.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But surely,” said the new boarder’s wife, -“you do not consider that you belong to the -working class? That would be absurd. -You are too modest. Why, business people -on such a very large scale as your relatives -might almost rank with professional men. -My husband comes from Northampton, and I -have often heard your brother spoken of as -one of the most well-to-do men in the town. -Does he keep on the pawnbroking business -still? There was some talk of his retiring -from that after he was elected Mayor.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>For a moment Mrs. Dumaresq looked as -if she had received a blow. She went white -and red in rapid succession, then rallied, and -smiled artificially at the unconscious and -unconcerned wife of the new boarder.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I fancy you misunderstood the drift of -my remarks,” she said. “And so your -husband knows Northampton. Busy town, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_172'>172</span>is it not? Yes, my brother does own—a—a—some -business houses there, that were left -to him as portion of the vast estate of—um—a -wealthy relative, and, I believe that, -finding them very profitable, he has allowed -them to be kept on. So many people -nowadays do not shrink from trade as they -used when I was young. This is a -democratic age, is it not?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Why, I thought it was your father who -founded the business,” said the new boarder’s -wife; but Mrs. Dumaresq had just begun to -tell Mrs. Whitley of a sale of work that she -had been to that afternoon, which had been -opened by Her Royal Highness the Duchess -of York, and she failed to hear the observation.</p> - -<p class='c015'>There was an uncomfortable silence. The -prestige of Mrs. Dumaresq was rudely -shaken. Then everyone began talking together, -while the medical lady meditated -questioning the new boarder’s wife later, and -finding out all she had to tell about the -family of Mrs. Dumaresq, whose superior -airs had more than once irritated her.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_173'>173</span> - <h2 class='c009'>CHAPTER XVII.<br /> <span class='large'>A SENSATION IN “THE STAR.”</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>When dinner was over, and the feminine -boarders had filed upstairs as usual, a fresh -shock awaited poor Prudence. There was -sudden great excitement in the street. A -dozen newsboys, with stentorian lungs, bellowed -up and down Beaconsfield Gardens -the words, “Extry Speschul—’orrible case—<em>Re</em>-volting -details,” alone being distinctly -audible.</p> - -<p class='c015'>The women crowded to the window trying -to hear, and speculating what the sensation -might be. Major Jones went to the front -door and bought a copy of <cite>The Star</cite>, which -he kindly brought up to the drawing-room -for the benefit of the ladies.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Well, Major, what is it all about?” asked -little Mrs. Whitley eagerly, when Major -Jones entered the room.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“A dreadful Baby Farming Case,” said -the Major. “Fifteen babies discovered in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_174'>174</span>a horrible state of dirt and neglect somewhere -at the East End.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I thought it was a murder,” said the -medical woman, somewhat disappointed.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh, this is just as bad! Do read it, -please,” cried Miss Belcher, Mrs. Whitley, -and Mrs. Wilcox, who had just finished -pouring out tea.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Major Jones rubbed his glasses with a -silk handkerchief, holding <cite>The Star</cite> tightly -under his arm the while. Then, having -adjusted his spectacles, and taken up a -position immediately under the gas, he read -in a quick, monotonous voice:</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c016'> - <div>“HORRIBLE BABY FARMING CASE!</div> - <div class='c003'>REVOLTING DETAILS!!</div> - <div>FIFTEEN HELPLESS INFANTS CONSIGNED TO MISERY AND STARVATION!!!</div> - <div>SEARCH FOR UNNATURAL PARENTS.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c017'>“At the Arrow Street Police Court to-day, before Sir -John Jenkins, Sarah Anne Brown, 50, residing at 42, -Plummer’s Cottages, Barker’s Rents, E., and variously -known as ‘The Scorcher,’ ‘Soothing Syrup Sal,’ ‘Amelia -Tompkins,’ ‘Mary Ann Martin,’ ‘Mrs. Ash,’ ‘Mrs. Fry,’ -&c., was charged with being drunk and disorderly, and -assaulting the police. Police-constable Brady X 2001 -deposed to being on duty in Pitt Street last night at 9.30. -He saw the prisoner, who was the centre of a noisy crowd -<span class='pageno' id='Page_175'>175</span>of roughs, dancing before the door of the ‘Bunch of -Grapes,’ from which she had been ejected. In her arms -she carried a sickly baby, and when requested to move -on, she threw the child at the constable, making use of -disgusting language. The child was severely bruised, and -when remonstrated with, the prisoner scratched the constable’s -face. She then flung herself on the ground and -kicked. So violent was she that it took four men to -bring her to the station, where the doctor discovered that -the child was suffering from the effects of neglect and -starvation. The wretched infant was immediately conveyed -to the headquarters of the Society for the Prevention -of Cruelty to Children, whence an officer of the -Society was at once despatched to prisoner’s address. On -enquiries being made at her home—a miserable hovel—it -seems that no fewer than fourteen unregistered infants -were discovered, the place being in fact a baby farm on -an extensive scale. The children were in an indescribable -state of filth and misery. There was only one feeding -bottle on the premises, and that was half-filled with sour -milk. Two of the older children were gnawing a crust -of dry bread. All were nearly naked, being wrapped in -various old rags. A number of pawn tickets of recent -date for articles of infants’ clothing seemed to show that -their wearing apparel had been disposed of by the -woman Brown, who appears to have carried on an -extensive traffic in infants for some years. On the floor -of the principal room was a wretched, filthy, flock bed. -There was neither fire nor light in the house. The -unfortunate little sufferers were at once removed to St -Mark’s Workhouse, and provided with food and medical -care. Four of them were not expected to live.</p> - -<p class='c017'>“The prisoner, who seemed to be still under the -influence of drink, made a long and rambling statement -<span class='pageno' id='Page_176'>176</span>about a baby, a crossed cheque, and a lady, but she -was interrupted by the magistrate, who told her she -ought to be ashamed of herself. This was one of the -most disgraceful cases that had ever come before him.</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Mr. Ramsden asked that the accused should be -remanded to enable the police to make enquiries, as a -further charge would be preferred against her, that she, -being an unlicensed person, had undertaken the charge -of fifteen infants under two years of age.</p> - -<p class='c017'>“The magistrate accordingly desired the case to stand -over until the 18th. It appears that the police found -several names and addresses at the prisoner’s house, -which are supposed to be those of parents or other -relatives of the unfortunate little ones. They are diligently -following up these clues, and Sir John Jenkins -expressed a hope that the publicity given to the case -would induce all who could give evidence to come -forward.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>As Major Jones concluded, there was a -stir and a sudden rush amongst the ladies; -Miss Prudence Semaphore had fainted.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_177'>177</span> - <h2 class='c009'>CHAPTER XVIII.<br /> <span class='large'>A DETECTIVE ON THE TRACK.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>Boarding-house life tends to make one -selfish; “each for himself and God for us -all,” is the boarders’ motto. Where people -come and go, drifting in and out like weeds -upon the tide, deep interests or affections -are rare, but even in boarding-houses men -are sometimes thoughtful, and women sympathetic. -This is especially true in cases -of illness. The medical lady and Mrs. -Dumaresq rushed to the assistance of Prudence -when she stumbled off the sofa in a -dead faint. She was conveyed to her room, -smelling-salts, strong brandy-and-water from -Major Jones’ private store, burnt feathers, -and other powerful but unpleasant remedies -were applied until she opened her eyes and -gasped:</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Where am I? What has happened?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Before anyone could answer, memory -<span class='pageno' id='Page_178'>178</span>apparently came back to her, for she went -into a fit of the wildest hysterics.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“There now! there now!” said Mrs. -Dumaresq soothingly.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Don’t talk to her like that, or she will -be twice as bad,” observed Miss Lord in -a low stern voice. “Now, Miss Semaphore,” -she continued sharply, “that is quite enough. -Just you stop laughing and crying, or I -shall try the effect of a pail of cold water -on you.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>She evidently meant it, and with a few -gasping, choking sobs, Prudence subsided. -Though there were two or three violent -relapses, each was promptly checked in turn, -so that she allowed herself to be undressed, -put to bed, tucked in, and left quietly -weeping, until she fell asleep from sheer -exhaustion.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Next morning she was too ill and unstrung -to rise. The consuming anxiety that urged -her to be up and doing, to recover her lost -sister and flee from London, worked her into -a fever. The medical woman, who, much to -the patient’s distaste, had established herself -in the sick-room, and ruled with a rod of -iron, absolutely refused to let her rise. -Seeing the papers, and reading or writing -<span class='pageno' id='Page_179'>179</span>letters were likewise prohibited. Prudence -had neither the bodily strength nor the firmness -of character to resist. She simply wept -and moaned, and wrung her hands, and -swallowed all the nauseous doses the medical -woman prepared for her. Meantime, the -fever increased so rapidly, and the poor -creature was so prostrate, that Miss Lord -advised calling in Dr. Creedy, physician-in-ordinary -to the Misses Semaphore. Accordingly, -without consulting Prudence, Dr. -Creedy was sent for. He was a little, fat, -bald-headed man, of few words, and thought -Prudence very ill indeed. When he left her -room he had a long conversation with the -medical woman and Mrs. Dumaresq, pronounced -the patient to be suffering apparently -from the effect of shock, and enquired -where her sister was. Mrs. Dumaresq told -him Miss Semaphore had gone to the seaside -for a change, having herself been -seriously and mysteriously ill.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I think she ought to be communicated -with,” said the doctor, “I should not alarm -her, but this may be a grave matter, and it -would be wise to let her know that Miss -Prudence is not very well. She might help -us to soothe her, for Miss Prudence has -<span class='pageno' id='Page_180'>180</span>evidently some trouble on her mind. Unless -we can remove the cause of her anxiety, my -medicines will have little effect.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But we don’t know Miss Semaphore’s -address, doctor,” objected Mrs. Dumaresq. -“I believe she wrote yesterday to say she -was better, but her sister did not tell anyone -where she had gone to.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“No doubt our patient will give it to -you if you ask her,” said the doctor. He -prescribed a composing draught, ordered a -certain course of treatment, which the medical -woman guaranteed to carry out, then took -his hat and his departure.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Mrs. Dumaresq, like Miss Lord, loved -anything that gave her a little temporary -importance, so Dr. Creedy had no sooner -gone than she approached the bedside of -Miss Prudence, and said in her sweetest -tones:</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I think, dear Miss Semaphore, that perhaps -your sister may be uneasy if she does -not hear from you. You know the doctor -says you are to make no exertion for a day -or two. I forget where you said she was -staying, but if you will give me her address, -I shall have much pleasure in writing to her -and telling her all the news.”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_181'>181</span>To the speaker’s intense alarm, she had -not concluded this apparently harmless sentence -when Prudence had a relapse so sudden -and violent that it at once brought the medical -woman on the scene. Without ceremony—her -manners had never pleased Mrs. Dumaresq—she -bundled the diplomatic lady into the corridor, -and left her reflecting bitterly that since -the new boarder’s wife had betrayed such -inconvenient knowledge of her family, Miss -Lord had been much less civil.</p> - -<p class='c015'>After about twenty minutes the medical -woman joined her, and enquired abruptly:</p> - -<p class='c015'>“What were you saying to her to set her -off like that again?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Nothing at all. I cannot account for it. -I only asked her for her sister’s address that -I might write to her. You heard the doctor -say she ought to be told how ill Miss Prudence -is.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Look here,” exclaimed the medical woman, -“this is more of the mystery about her sister -which I feel persuaded is at the bottom of her -illness. You shouldn’t have mentioned her -at all, and the woman in such a state of -nerves. I wish I could find out what really -is the matter. It seems to me to be all of -a piece.”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_182'>182</span>“Oh! I don’t believe it has anything to -do with her sister,” said Mrs. Dumaresq, -offended. “Why, she went off in a dead -faint last night when no one was speaking -of her sister. I thought at the time it was -something in that case Major Jones was reading -out that affected her.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“About the baby farming woman?” asked -the medical woman. “Why, what earthly -effect could that have on her? She could -have nothing to do with that.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I confess,” said Mrs. Dumaresq, “I don’t -see exactly how it could, but I’m persuaded -there is some connection between the two. -Did you notice her face when he began to -read? No? Well, I did, and I never saw -horror more plainly depicted on a human -countenance. I have been thinking matters -over, and putting two and two together. Do -you remember the extraordinary tipsy woman -that called before dinner on Tuesday? I am -certain I heard her say something about a -cheque and bringing back a baby. I happened -to be going upstairs at the moment, -as you may recollect, and stopped on the -landing to tie my shoe string.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh, that’s absurd on the face of it,” said -the medical woman. “Miss Semaphore is -<span class='pageno' id='Page_183'>183</span>a perfectly respectable woman, and not likely -to be mixed up with people of that kind. -Why I was on the stairs at the same time, -and I did not hear a word of this; there was -certainly something said about a cheque, but -not about a baby.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But I beg your pardon,” said Mrs. -Dumaresq with asperity, “perhaps your -hearing is not as good as mine. I certainly -heard the woman say threateningly she would -bring back the child, or the infant, I forget -which word was used, if something were not -done.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“They are charitable,” reflected the medical -woman, “perhaps they subscribe to a -home or institution, and this was some tipsy -pensioner.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Perhaps so,” said Mrs. Dumaresq oracularly, -“time will tell.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I’m certain she is upset about her sister’s -mysterious illness.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“And I’m certain she is upset about -that woman’s visit, and that there is some -connection between it and the case in the -papers. I have an instinct in such matters.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Take care it does not mislead you,” said -the medical woman. Mrs. Dumaresq again -noticed bitterly that her friend was much less -<span class='pageno' id='Page_184'>184</span>deferential since the new boarder’s wife had -spoken so abruptly of her brother.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Whatever the cause of the younger Miss -Semaphore’s illness, there was no doubt -that it had alarmingly increased since -Mrs. Dumaresq injudiciously questioned her. -Fever, extreme excitability, restlessness, and -a tendency to delirium, all manifested themselves, -and it was only when a composing -draught had been administered, that the -patient sank into a troubled slumber. As she -sat watching her, the medical lady heard a -slight knock at the door, and opened it -cautiously.</p> - -<p class='c015'>It was Mary the maid.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Please ’m,” she said, “there’s a gentleman -in the ’all wanting to see Miss Prudence -Semaphore.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“What does he want with her?” asked the -medical woman surprised. “Did you tell -him she was ill?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Please ’m, I don’t know. I did tell him -she was ill, but ’e said ’e should see ’er -whether or no.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I shall go down to him,” said the medical -woman with dignity, and she went.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“My good sir,” she began, “Miss -Semaphore is extremely ill, and must on -<span class='pageno' id='Page_185'>185</span>no account be disturbed. If you have any -message for her, I shall be pleased to deliver -it when she is strong enough to attend to -business.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I come from Scotland Yard, madam,” -said the man respectfully, “and my business -is with Miss Semaphore herself. I shall not -detain her long, but I must see her.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Quite impossible,” said the medical -woman with decision. “The doctor would -never allow it. She is extremely restless and -feverish, and has just been given a sleeping -draught, so that it would be most dangerous -to rouse her. But what do you want with -her?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“She is required to give evidence in a -case.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Her conversation with Mrs. Dumaresq -flashed through the mind of the medical -woman. Could it be that her theory was -right after all? Without considering what -she was saying, she asked with an air of -confidence and knowledge:</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Is it the baby farming case?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Yes,” said the stranger.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“My good gracious heavens!” said the -medical woman, sitting down abruptly and -heavily on the hall chair. “Who would -<span class='pageno' id='Page_186'>186</span>have thought it? What has <em>she</em> to do with -the case?” she asked insinuatingly, but the -stranger from Scotland Yard had already -repented saying “yes,” and replied:</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I really can tell you nothing about it, -madam, my business is entirely personal to -Miss Semaphore.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Well, she cannot see you, you know,” -repeated the medical woman. “I am nursing -her, and will not take the responsibility. Can -you not call again?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>The stranger hesitated.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I suppose I shall have to. When do -you think she will be able to receive me?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“If she has a good night, and is kept -perfectly quiet to-morrow, she may be able -to see you next day, but I can’t answer for -it.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Very well,” said the man, “I will call -again the day after to-morrow.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>The medical woman belied the statement -that great bodies move slowly, for she broke -the record in speeding to Mrs. Dumaresq’s -room. She had scarcely patience to wait -for a “come in” in reply to her agitated -knock, when she burst out with:</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I do believe you were right after all.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“How? What do you mean? About -what?”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_187'>187</span>“About that baby farming case. A detective—a -detective”—and she paused to observe -the look of horror that the face of Mrs. -Dumaresq assumed at the word—“has just -been here from Scotland Yard to see Miss -Semaphore. I told him she was too ill, -and asked his business. He said she was -required to give evidence in a case, and -when I said, ‘Is it a baby farming case?’ he -said ‘Yes.’”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I knew it,” said Mrs. Dumaresq, clasping -her hands with fervour. “I knew it from -the very moment I saw her face of guilt and -terror. Oh! to think that I should be in -the same house with such a woman. As sure -as you stand there, this address will get into -the papers, and what will become of us? If -my friends see it, I am lost.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>The two women stood looking at each -other blankly.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“The best thing to do,” said the medical -woman, “is to go to Mrs. Wilcox, tell her -our suspicions, and insist on this—this person -being moved the very first moment she -is fit.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“It is horrible, horrible,” ejaculated Mrs. -Dumaresq. “When do you think she will -be able to go?”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_188'>188</span>“Not for a couple of days, I fear,” said the -medical woman. “It is better to say nothing -about this detective to her. It will only -agitate her and throw her back, and spoil -the chance of her speedy recovery, which, of -course, we must promote in every way.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“My position,” said Mrs. Dumaresq, “is -horrible. The idea of knowing such people! -What will my friends say?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“What will all our friends say?” exclaimed -the medical woman abruptly. “We are every -one in the same position. It will be an -awful scandal, and the worst of it is, that I -fear this is not the whole story. You take -my word, there is more to come out. I had -my suspicions from the first, but I am naturally -good-natured, and could not bring myself -to believe them. Every day, however, confirms -their truth. A woman who could for so -long deceive us as to her real character, a -woman who led me, <em>me</em>, to look on her as, -at worst, a harmless fool, and was all the time -mixed up with police and criminals and baby -farmers, is capable of anything.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Then you think she is?—she has?” -queried Mrs. Dumaresq breathlessly.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I shan’t say what I think just yet,” said -the medical woman. “I will make some -<span class='pageno' id='Page_189'>189</span>searching enquiries first, and if my worst -fears are confirmed, I will reveal all to Mrs. -Wilcox this evening, and let her take action. -My dear, we are lucky if we find she has -been guilty of baby farming alone.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_190'>190</span> - <h2 class='c009'>CHAPTER XIX.<br /> <span class='large'>A COUNCIL OF WAR.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>That evening there was a mysterious private -gathering of ladies in Mrs. Dumaresq’s room, -chosen because it was the largest. To it -came first of all the medical woman, bursting -with importance and revelations. Mrs. -Whitley, Mrs. Dumaresq herself, and the -specially invited Mrs. Wilcox made up the -conclave.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Mrs. Wilcox was nervous and agitated. -She felt sure the medical woman had something -dreadful to tell her, and whether that -something related to the contagious nature -of Miss Prudence Semaphore’s illness, or to -something darker but less infectious, she did -not know.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Well, ladies,” she began nervously, as by -Mrs. Dumaresq’s request she seated herself, -“what have you to say to me? I hope,” -<span class='pageno' id='Page_191'>191</span>she added, turning to Miss Lord, “that your -patient’s illness has not taken a serious -form?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>There was an awful pause. The medical -woman knew when she had got a good thing, -and was in no hurry to begin.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Is it—is it diphtheria?” quavered Mrs. -Wilcox.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Still the medical woman sat silent, with -every eye fixed on her.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh, do tell us! Tell us the worst,” -pleaded Mrs. Wilcox. “Is she going to -die?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“She will live,” said the medical woman -solemnly. “She will live—to die on the -scaffold.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Gracious Heavens!” exclaimed everyone -simultaneously.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Yes, ladies. To die on the scaffold. I -repeat it. Prudence Semaphore is, I fear—a -murderess.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Mrs. Wilcox screamed.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Miss Lord, Miss Lord,” she cried. -“Pray be careful. Do not say such dreadful -things. Miss Semaphore and her sister came -to me with the highest recommendations, and -you really—”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Aye,” said the medical woman, with -<span class='pageno' id='Page_192'>192</span>stately and awful triumph, “she came with -her sister—where is her sister now?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“At the seaside somewhere, I suppose. -She did not leave me her address,” said Mrs. -Wilcox weakly.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“At the seaside you suppose,” echoed the -medical woman with fine scorn. “No, my -dear madam, she is dead—and Prudence -Semaphore murdered her—murdered her in -this very house. Oh, you need not look at -me like that. I’ve not spoken until I have -traced every link in the chain of crime.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“What did I say?” interposed Mrs. -Dumaresq.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“What did I say from the very first?” -She looked round appealingly at Mrs. -Whitley. “I said I hoped she had not been -murdered. You remember I used those -very words.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>No one heeded her, for everyone was -looking at the medical woman, as she gloated -over the sensation she had caused.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“For pity sake, tell us all—all in strict -confidence,” gasped Mrs. Wilcox. “What -Captain Wilcox will say, I really cannot -imagine.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Well,” said the medical woman, “I had -my suspicions front the first, but they were -<span class='pageno' id='Page_193'>193</span>vague. I felt that something was wrong, but -did not know what that something was. -The confusion of manner of Prudence -Semaphore, her refusal to say plainly what -ailed her sister, her reluctance to call in a -doctor, and the extraordinarily small amount -of nourishment she provided for her, were all -remarkable. Then she would let no one see -her. She put you off, Mrs. Wilcox, and she -burst into quite a rage when, in the interests -of humanity, I desired to visit the poor -neglected sufferer. No doubt by that time -Miss Semaphore was beyond human help, for -now I recall, there was an indescribable air of -guilt about that unhappy woman, and she -showed a ferocity of character for which I -had not given her credit. Still, I said -nothing. Then came the discovery that Miss -Semaphore had disappeared. That threw me -off the scent for a time. I am always disposed -to think as well of other people as -possible, and while her leaving the house so -suddenly and mysteriously seemed to point to -her having a dangerous and possibly infectious -illness, and being smuggled out of the -way by Prudence, I did not seriously think -she was dead. Our search of the room -revealed nothing. The renewed calm of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_194'>194</span>manner shown by that wretched creature, and -the plausible story she told of her sister -having gone to the seaside, I confess, lulled -my suspicions to sleep. The story was -queer, but it was not too improbable. Then -came the visit paid Prudence by a drunken -woman, who insisted on seeing her, and made -such an uproar in the hall. Mrs. Dumaresq -declares that she heard her say something -about a cheque and an infant—”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“So I did,” corroborated Mrs. Dumaresq.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Well I didn’t catch the words, but events -have proved that you were right. Next -followed”—she hesitated.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Her fainting,” said Mrs. Whitley.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Yes, her fainting suddenly in the drawing-room, -when Major Jones was reading out -something about that horrid baby farming -case. I did not connect these events, Mrs. -Dumaresq did.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Yes,” said Mrs. Dumaresq, with modest -triumph. “I observed her face of terror, -and remembering what the woman had said, -I put two and two together.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Well, you mentioned the matter to me, -and I confess I was sceptical. My suspicions -ran in a different groove, but it now seems -that we were both right.”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_195'>195</span>Mrs. Wilcox and Mrs. Whitley gasped -simultaneously.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“You know some of what followed,” said -the medical woman, addressing Mrs. -Dumaresq. “This afternoon a man called -to see that wretched criminal. I, suspecting -nothing, went down to see him and ask -his business, for she had just taken a -sleeping draught. He told me—.” The -medical woman paused to gain her full effect. -“He told me that he was a detective from -Scotland Yard, and that his business with -Miss Prudence Semaphore was personal and -private. Mrs. Dumaresq’s words flashed on -me like a thunderbolt, and quite suddenly I -asked him, as if I knew all about it, if he -wanted to see her in connection with the -baby farming case, and he said ‘Yes,’—he -said ‘<em>Yes.</em>’—I expect he saw then he had -made a mistake, for I could not get another -word out of him after that, but he is to call -again the day after to-morrow.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>The horror of Mrs. Wilcox and Mrs. -Whitley could not be expressed. Mrs. -Dumaresq listened with the calm air of one -who has been in the secret all along.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“When I saw,” said the medical woman, -“that Justice was upon her track, that she -<span class='pageno' id='Page_196'>196</span>was mixed up with detectives and baby-farmers, -all my former suspicions came back -with a rush, but I felt the necessity for being -calm and just. I remembered the curious -circumstances I have mentioned, and also the -queer relapse she had to-day when Mrs. -Dumaresq asked for her sister’s address, -finally saying she did not know. The whole -thing was as plain as possible. Her sister -had disappeared, because she had been somehow -made away with. No doubt there were -circumstances in the past life of Prudence -Semaphore that she dreaded coming to her -knowledge, for we all know how particular -poor dear Miss Semaphore was. Still, I -resolved to search, to enquire before I -decided. I told Mrs. Dumaresq about the -detective, and then I began a rigorous -investigation, beginning quietly with the -servants.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But perhaps her sister really is at the -seaside somewhere,” suggested Mrs. Wilcox. -“All this is very shocking about the -detective and the baby farming; but Miss -Semaphore may be alive and well, for all -that proves to the contrary.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Wait till you hear,” said the medical -woman, shaking a solemn finger at Mrs. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_197'>197</span>Wilcox. “First of all, I made cautious -enquiries from the servants. Mary tells me -that from the day Prudence reported that -Miss Semaphore was ill, she was never -permitted to enter her room. Never saw her -again, in fact. She tried to get in, but the -door was always locked. This, too, was my -own experience. Then something was said -about a letter having come for Prudence from -her sister. Müller and Mary both know -Miss Semaphore’s handwriting, and they -agree that to their knowledge no such letter -has been delivered here. I next enquired as -to whether anyone had seen Miss Semaphore -leave the house. It was unlikely that an -invalid, probably still weak from illness, -should be able to get downstairs and out of -the house unobserved. Besides, there was -the question of luggage. She could hardly -have gone and taken nothing with her, not -even a change of dress. But no one saw -her. I then put on my bonnet, went out and -spoke to the men on the two nearest cab -ranks. They all agree in saying that none -of them took up a lady fare, or two ladies, -with or without luggage, on the Tuesday, -from this house. Major Jones tells us he -saw someone, who he is sure was Miss -<span class='pageno' id='Page_198'>198</span>Prudence Semaphore, and alone, crossing -the road hastily near Tate Street. That -would have been shortly after dinner on -Tuesday evening. It seems absolutely plain, -therefore, that Miss Semaphore did not leave -the house at all.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But we saw her empty room that night,” -said Mrs. Whitley. “We saw her empty -bed. She must have gone some time before -we went upstairs to visit her.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“My theory is,” said the medical woman, -“that she was then concealed in that very -room.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But where? Not in the wardrobe, for -we opened that, nor under the bed, for we -looked there, and there really was no place -else.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh, yes, there was. You remember that -the very next day, I think, Prudence sent -away two boxes, ostensibly full of her sister’s -belongings. Now my theory is, and time -will prove whether I am not right, that in -one of those boxes, the big grey one, bound -with iron, was the body of Miss Semaphore!”</p> - -<p class='c015'>By this time the medical woman’s hearers -were trembling in every limb.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“How awful!” quaked Mrs. Whitley. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_199'>199</span>“Why it is just like that East End tragedy. -I forget the name—when a woman—no, a -man, was taken away dead in a box.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“This is a serious accusation,” said Mrs. -Wilcox, after a time of digestive silence, -“and it doesn’t seem to me to be proved.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Doesn’t it?” enquired the medical woman -indignantly. “Well, I presume you’ll believe -it when you see the poor creature dead -before you, and are called on to identify her -remains, as I have no doubt you will be.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But Miss Prudence is really so gentle; -besides, what motive could she have for -killing her sister?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Gentle? A woman—a hypocrite like -that, with her baby-farmers and detectives -after her? Don’t tell me! And as for -motives, it seems plain enough that she may -have had several that we cannot guess at. -Mary tells me the Semaphores had a violent -quarrel about a fortnight ago, and probably -that decided her.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh, they often quarrelled. Poor Miss -Semaphore, you know, was trying enough at -times, but Miss Prudence never bore malice.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh, Mrs. Wilcox, it seems to me you -think she is a plaster saint, and if so, there -is no use my saying anything more—but I -warn you. Time will tell.”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_200'>200</span>“Indeed, I don’t,” said Mrs. Wilcox -hastily. “I think the whole affair is terrible -and disgraceful enough on the face of it, and -the sooner I get Miss Prudence Semaphore -out of the house, the better. I must speak -to Captain Wilcox at once. But then -murder—. No, I can’t believe it.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Well, if you are going to risk allowing an -infamous criminal to escape justice, a Cain -whose hands are dyed in her sister’s blood, I -confess I am surprised at you.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But think of the disgrace to the house,” -pleaded Mrs. Wilcox. “It will be put in the -papers, and we shall be ruined, and you -know, after all, Miss Lord, we are not quite -sure. Miss Semaphore may be alive and -well somewhere, and what fools we should -look if we made a fuss, and then she turned -up all right.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“She never will turn up,” said the medical -woman gloomily. “There never was a -clearer case of circumstantial evidence. It -doesn’t take a Sherlock Holmes to piece it -together.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But what do you want me to do?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I think that as I have placed all the facts -before you, your duty is to inform the police -at once. You are the head of this house, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_201'>201</span>and if you sanction such goings on, it is no -place for respectable people.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Mrs. Wilcox wrung her hands despairingly.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I appeal to you, ladies,” she said, -addressing Mrs. Dumaresq and Mrs. Whitley, -“to consider that if Miss Semaphore is alive, -we might, by saying a word, lay ourselves, all -four, open to an action for libel. It may be -as Miss Lord says; still, until things develop, -until we know a little more about this trial -and the baby farming, and the connection of -Miss Prudence with it all, it is better to be -silent, and get her away peaceably. Even -if nobody saw Miss Semaphore leave, there -is no proof that she did not slip out -unobserved, though I grant it seems -unlikely.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Do as you wish,” said the medical woman -in a towering rage. “I will be no party to -these concealments. My duty is clear, and -however painful it may be, I will do it.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But the libel, Miss Lord,” suggested -Mrs. Whitley. “What Mrs. Wilcox says is -true. If Miss Semaphore turns up, her sister -may prosecute you.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>This rather sobered the medical woman.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Well,” she said, more conciliatingly, -“what do you suggest should be done?”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_202'>202</span>“I think,” said Mrs. Dumaresq, “I think -it would be more diplomatic to wait until this -trial, or whatever it is, comes off. If Miss -Semaphore is alive, I should think it certain -she will turn up at it. Or perhaps, indeed, -the suspicion of the authorities has already -fallen on Prudence. We don’t really know -why the detectives are after her. Let us -wait. Let us go to that trial and hear what -comes out. If she does not clear herself of -this charge, whatever it may be, and if her -sister does not put in an appearance, I think -it might be well for you, Mrs. Wilcox, to -suggest to the prosecuting counsel that he -should cross-examine her as to her sister’s -whereabouts. Then, if she cannot give satisfactory -replies, and if anything to her -disadvantage comes out, she will probably be -suspected, and the whole affair will be gone -into without our making ourselves responsible -in any way.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“That,” said Mrs. Wilcox, “I consider to -be an excellent idea. And now, ladies, I -beg of you not to let a word of all this escape -you. In a house like ours, one cannot be -too careful. Until we really know the truth, -there is no use in telling anyone what we -think. Will you all promise me to be silent -about it?”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_203'>203</span>Mrs. Dumaresq and Mrs. Whitley agreed, -and after some persuasion a reluctant consent -was won from the medical woman, who -promised to hold her tongue, until after the -trial, any way.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_204'>204</span> - <h2 class='c009'>CHAPTER XX.<br /> <span class='large'>NOTICE TO QUIT.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>With the curious intuition common to the -sick, Prudence felt that something was -wrong. There was an atmosphere of unrest -about her.</p> - -<p class='c015'>She noted the frown on the brow of Mrs. -Wilcox and the hardness of her tone when -she asked her how she felt, and if she -thought she would be able to sit up for a -while to-morrow, though Mrs. Wilcox did -her best to speak in her natural voice.</p> - -<p class='c015'>She remarked the averted face of her old -enemy, the medical woman, but she was too -prostrate to heed them, or to enquire if -anything unpleasant had occurred.</p> - -<p class='c015'>She did not seem to mind much what -happened now. Justice was probably on her -track. She was a criminal hiding from the -law. She would be hunted down, exposed, -put to public shame. Augusta—her poor -<span class='pageno' id='Page_205'>205</span>Augusta—how was she? In what condition -would she be found? Tears of sorrow and -weakness gushed from the eyes of the -afflicted lady, but the rest and quiet and the -absence of fresh agitation gradually calmed -her nerves, and she had leisure to reflect on -her course of action. There was nothing for -it but to come forward, if compelled, and -speak the whole truth. She had had enough -of subterfuges and prevarications. She would -tell her story—they might believe it or -not as they liked. She thought, in the -apathy of despair, they probably wouldn’t—time -would tell, for surely Augusta, if ever -she became able to speak, would confirm her -testimony—granted she had not lost her -memory of the events connected with her -previous life. There would be two or three -years to wait probably, but that could not be -helped. She might, meantime, be cast into -prison. For that she was prepared. With -the courage of despair she braced herself to -meet whatever fate might have in store for -her. At any rate, it could not be worse than -the tortures she had already endured.</p> - -<p class='c015'>When, two days later, the detective from -Scotland Yard called, she was able to receive -him in Mrs. Wilcox’s sanctum, for that lady -<span class='pageno' id='Page_206'>206</span>would not suffer him to be shown into the -drawing-room. It was with a sense of -having been through all this before, that -Prudence read that “Victoria, by the Grace -of God, Queen,” summoned her to give -evidence at the Arrow Street Police Court, -on the ensuing Monday morning, “in the -case of the Queen <em>v.</em> Sarah Anne Brown, -otherwise,” &c., &c.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Well, the worst had come, and she would -go through with it somehow. What awaited -her when the trial was over she did not -venture to speculate. That she had come -within the clutches of the law she did -not doubt, and her future loomed vague -and dreadful. Where could she go if she -escaped prison? Her name would be in -every paper, her story on every lip. Even -the lady who sold the Water of Youth had -never heard of a case of a grown, an elderly -person, being transformed into a baby by its -effects. She foresaw that it would be -generally believed that she had got rid of -Augusta, and that the baby was—but who or -what the baby might be considered was a -point on which she absolutely refused to -speculate.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Long after the man from Scotland Yard -<span class='pageno' id='Page_207'>207</span>had taken his departure, she sat in a sort of -stupor, taking no note of objects round her, -and unaware that she was alone, when she -was startled by the entrance of Mrs. Wilcox.</p> - -<p class='c015'>The air of that lady was portentous.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Miss Semaphore,” she said, “there is -something I have been anxious to say to you -for several days back, but did not like to -speak while you were ill. Now, however, -that you are able to receive <em>visitors</em>”—with -sarcastic emphasis—“I think you are well -enough to hear what I have got to say. It -is this, that I desire that you will look for -accommodation elsewhere, and leave my -house at the very earliest opportunity.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“You mean to turn me out?” asked -Prudence in alarm.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Far be it from me to turn anyone out,” -said Mrs. Wilcox. “I merely request you -to leave.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“But why?” said Prudence timidly.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Why?” echoed Mrs. Wilcox almost in a -shriek. “Why? I think you had better -ask yourself that question, Miss Semaphore. -I have always tried to keep my house -respectable, and I must say, Miss Semaphore, -if I was to die for it, that I looked to you and -your sister to aid me in that endeavour, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_208'>208</span>rather than to bring disgrace on a first-class -and well-conducted establishment. ‘Why?’ -indeed!”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I have had a great deal of worry lately,” -said Prudence, “quite without any fault of -my own, but neither my sister nor myself -have done anything to bring disgrace on -your establishment, Mrs. Wilcox.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“No!” ejaculated Mrs. Wilcox angrily. -“Then what about all this baby-farming -business, and detectives from Scotland Yard -coming here looking for you?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Utterly confounded by such unexpected -knowledge on the part of her landlady, and -ignorant of how much more she might have -learned, Prudence could only gaze at her in -helpless bewilderment, while Mrs. Wilcox -stood nodding her head and grimly enjoying -the confusion she had occasioned.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I have been—I am in great trouble,” -Prudence stuttered; “but I am not to blame—no -one is really to blame, if you’d only -believe me. The whole thing was an accident. -If you know anything at all about it, -you must know it was an accident!”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“An accident?” shrieked Mrs. Wilcox. -It flashed through her mind that perhaps -after all the medical woman was right.</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_209'>209</span>“Quite an accident,” said Prudence. -“Simply an overdose. The bottle broke, -you see, so the poor dear made haste to -swallow the contents, and accidently took too -much.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I really think, Miss Semaphore,” said -Mrs. Wilcox very slowly, “I really think -your mind is wandering.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh no, indeed I’m not wandering. That -was how it happened, and of course after -that I had to get rid of the poor dear, -especially as I never dreamt you knew -anything about it.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>More and more confirmed in her belief -that Prudence was either raving or confessing -a murder, Mrs. Wilcox spoke.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Well, without enquiring further as to -what has happened, or how it happened, -having no desire to be mixed up in a very -painful affair, I think, Miss Semaphore, we -had better part, and the sooner you can make -it convenient the better.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh, do keep me until after Monday,” -cried Prudence, breaking down. “The trial -will be on Monday, and that will decide -what course I must take; but now I am ill, I -am not fit to undertake packing. I cannot -go.”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_210'>210</span>“I am sorry to insist, Miss Semaphore, -but go you must. I will tell Jane she is to -help you to pack. Even if I were willing to -keep you, Captain Wilcox is not, and in such -matters he is terribly severe. I really cannot -gainsay him. He says he will not have you -under this roof for forty-eight hours longer, -and would sooner forfeit payment for your -week’s board now due than let you stay.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Prudence got up and groped her way -blindly to the door.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Very well,” she said, turning on the -threshold. “Send Jane to me at once. I -will leave before dinner.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>With the assistance of Jane, Miss Prudence -put her belongings together, dressed, and -desired the maid to call a cab. No one -came to the door to see her off; but, glancing -at the windows, she saw Mrs. Wilcox peeping -out from her sanctum, and Mrs. Dumaresq -and the medical woman from the window of -their respective apartments.</p> - -<p class='c015'>With a heart full of bitterness, Prudence -turned away, and bade the man drive on. -Up one street and down another they went, -the unhappy lady taking no note of where -she was going, until she was roused from her -brown study by the cabman, who drew up, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_211'>211</span>descended from his box, and thrust his head -in the window to ask where she wanted to -go.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I don’t know, cabman,” said Prudence -helplessly. “I am looking for apartments. -Do you know of any that are nice and -respectable?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Why, yessem, I do,” said the man, -“which my wife’s own sister, she keeps ’em -in Victoria Crescent, an’ clean an’ respectable -they are, that I’ll hanswer for; an’ she cooks -splendid.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Then drive there, please,” said Prudence -apathetically, and fell back into doleful -musings, until the cab stopped at the -address.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Mrs. Perkins, the cabman’s sister-in-law, -married to an ex-butler, was a kindly, cheerful -body, who willingly accepted a week’s -rent in advance in lieu of references. In her -sage-green parlour Prudence sat down with a -feeling of rest and privacy, to which she had -long been a stranger, and braced herself as -best she might for the ordeal before her.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“My poor darling Gussie,” the goodhearted -creature murmured over and over -again. “What you must suffer! My dear -sister, what must you think of me for sending -<span class='pageno' id='Page_212'>212</span>you to that dreadful woman? But I did it -for the best, I did it for the best.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>The excitement of the move was a great -strain on Prudence in her weak state of -health; but Mrs. Perkins proved an admirable -nurse, and though quite unable to leave -her bedroom for the next few days, the -unhappy spinster rejoiced at being free from -the supervision of the medical woman.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_213'>213</span> - <h2 class='c009'>CHAPTER XXI.<br /> <span class='large'>AT THE ARROW STREET POLICE COURT.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>Nervous people are generally too early, and -on the fatal Monday morning Miss Prudence -Semaphore, who was still weak and ill, but -meantime had found comparative repose in -her quiet and obscure lodgings, presented -herself at the door of the Arrow Street Police -Court almost as soon as it was opened. She -was dressed all in black, and with her white -face and long veil looked like a newly made -widow.</p> - -<p class='c015'>The baby farming case had excited great -interest in the neighbourhood, where “good -Mrs. Brown” was a well-known personage, -and though three cases stood before it on the -list, already dirty drabs from the surrounding -alleys, with still dirtier infants clasped in their -arms, had gathered on the pavement in hope -of seeing the prisoner and witnesses arrive.</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_214'>214</span>Prudence had the satisfaction of hearing -herself described as “the mother o’ one o’ Sal -Brown’s children,” and of being threatened -with personal violence by a brawny matron, -who shook her fist under the poor lady’s -nose, and exclaimed, in an access of virtuous -indignation, “I know your sort, I do,” -promising, if Prudence would come outside, -to give her “a jolly good ’iding.” At this -point a policeman interfered, and conducted -the terrified victim to a private room where -she awaited in misery the usher’s summons.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Meantime the witnesses began to collect. -The various serjeants and detectives concerned -in the case, the spectators of Sal -Brown’s war dance when she used a baby as -a weapon, and others arrived singly or in -groups. Amongst the rest came a workhouse -matron, and an assistant in charge of the -infants concerned, since in accordance with -the usual procedure, the infants had been sent -to the workhouse while awaiting the trial of -Sal.</p> - -<p class='c015'>The matron was a portly, red-faced woman -of fifty, with that brusqueness of manner -acquired by officials accustomed to deal with -those whom they consider their inferiors. -Her friend was a pale and highly genteel -<span class='pageno' id='Page_215'>215</span>person who made many objections to appearing -in court at all. The children, miserable, -pinched objects, with the big, bright eyes, -long lashes, and weird faces of the starved, -were packed by twos and threes in perambulators -in charge of a couple of pauper women, -fifteen unhappy infants in all.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Weirdest of the party, was the elder Miss -Semaphore, in a pink cotton frock, an infant’s -bib, and an old and often-washed white -shawl. Little Augusta was a singularly unprepossessing -baby.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Drat the child,” said the workhouse -nurse. “She has just the look of a little old -woman, and I never did see one of her age -that took such notice of everything a body -does. I declare to you I took a sip of her -milk just to see if it was sweet, and when I -turned round I caught her eye, an’ I’m blest -if she didn’t wink. It gave me quite a turn. -A real wicked wink it was, an’ when I gave -her the bottle if she didn’t push it away, and -wipe the top before she’d drink a drop.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“She was starved, nurse,” said her subordinate. -“That’s what it was. Them -children that is starved has a look and ways -as if they was ninety. Many a one of them -I’ve seen brought in here, so I knows the -kind.”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_216'>216</span>“Oh! this one couldn’t have been starved. -It was only two days in Brown’s place I -hear. They do say its mother is a lady, and -gave it to Sal with a hundred pounds in gold, -and told her to get rid of it as soon as -she liked. Sal went on the spree with the -money, an’ that’s how she was run in. The -neighbours said that child had not been long -with her. Look! it’s a deal plumper than -the others. They’re regular starved I’ll -allow, but this ’un has queer ways. Now to -give you an idear, the matron and me we -had a friendly glass of punch last night after -a ’ard day’s work, and the matron, she says -to me, as how she’d like to see the children in -the baby farming case, as there’s so much -interest took in it you know, it made her -curious, an’ so I brought her in to see ’em all -a laying in their cots. An’ this ’ere one -was awake, staring at us with all its eyes. -So matron, she stoops an’ says, ‘Ow wazzums?’ -an’ kisses it, an’ the cretur it makes a -face at her, turns away its head, and pulls out -a bit of blue ribbon as was on a doll I gave -it, and makes signs to her to take it. Struck -all of a heap she was. ‘Watever does it -mean?’ sez she. ‘Wy take the blue ribbon,’ -sez I, half jokin’, for I couldn’t believe it, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_217'>217</span>the objeck looks at me and nods three times -very slowly, just as if to say ‘you’re right.’ -It frightened me, it did.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“’Tis your imagination, nurse, that’s wot -it is.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Not it,” retorted the nurse. “Imagination -don’t trouble me, so it don’t; but I see -wot I see, and there’s no good a trying to -persuade me different. That child is queer. -Just look at it now a sucking its thumb and -listening to every word we say, and taking it -all in you’d think.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Augusta, her scanty downy hair brushed, -her nose and cheeks shining with recent -ablutions, certainly had something weird -about her, or so it seemed to both the -women. Her eyes had an elfish intelligence -that was startling. She looked as if at any -moment she might speak.</p> - -<p class='c015'>That she understood was only too evident, -for she obeyed every direction given to her -when it was to her fancy. At times her -efforts to find a voice, to tell all she knew, -could not be mistaken, and inspired as much -fright and pity as the inarticulate cries of the -deaf and dumb.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“What is she doing of now?” said the -subordinate suddenly.</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_218'>218</span>Augusta had been looking at her fixedly -until she attracted her attention, and when -the eyes of the nurse and her assistant were -fixed on the elderly infant, they saw she was -making violent efforts to get up.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“What is it, pet? What is it now?” said -the assistant soothingly. “What does my -precious want?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I vow and declare,” said the matron, -“that child is making signs as if she was -writing. Look at her finger, do. She makes -me nervous, she does. ’Tis no way for a -baby like that to go on.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“How old would you say she was, nurse?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh, ’bout a year I’d say, or fourteen -months.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Would you now? Well, p’raps she is; -but d’you know when first I saw her she -didn’t seem to look a month old. Queer, -wasn’t it? p’raps ’twas the light, but she do -seem a deal older now.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Wat an interest you take in her,” said -the matron. “Wy ’er more ’an the others? -Nasty little varmint she is I thinks myself. -She might be an ’undred by the looks of ’er.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Wot ken you expect from a pore little -neglected come-by-chance? She’s ’ad a bad -time, she ’as. I wish I ’ad ’er mother ’ere, -an’ I’d give ’er wot for, so I would.”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_219'>219</span>“Will you stop that talking, please,” said a -burly policeman, thrusting his head into the -room where the witnesses were assembled. -“They can ’ear you in court.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>The voices fell immediately.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh, there they are, poor little dears!” -said a new-comer, bustling in, a neighbour of -“good Mrs. Brown,” who had been called on -to give evidence as to the condition in which -the children were kept. “Let me see, there’s -Florrie and Joey and Ada and Rosy and -Tommie; yes, everyone of them, but where’s -the last child? The one Sal got all the dibs -with?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Here she is,” said the workhouse matron, -indicating Augusta.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“No you don’t,” said the woman rudely. -“’Twas a new-born hinfant, it was. That -child’s a goin’ on two years old, or I’m a -Dutchman, an’ I never set heyes on her -before. She don’t belong to Sal’s little -lot.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>The matron made an angry reply, which -Sal’s neighbour resented, and trouble would -have ensued, but that the big policeman interfered -once more and commanded silence. -Both parties appealed to him, but he would -listen to neither, and gruffly told them to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_220'>220</span>“stow their talk, and keep their story till they -got into court.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>While this went on in the waiting-room, -Prudence was sitting in an agony of apprehension -expecting the summons.</p> - -<p class='c015'>At last the case of The Queen <em>v.</em> Brown -was called, and Sal was put forward on -remand charged with the criminal neglect of -certain infants under one year, committed to -her charge, and for that she, an unlicensed -person, did receive more than one such -infant, contrary to the regulations of the Act -25 Victoria, section 22, clause 4.</p> - -<p class='c015'>An officer from the Society for the -Prevention of Cruelty to Children deposed -that the police had informed him of the -deplorable condition of the unhappy infant, -whom Sal was using as an offensive weapon -on the occasion of the arrest. He went to -the station where the woman had been -charged, obtained her name and address, and -proceeded to make enquiries. A graphic -description of Plummer’s Cottages followed, -and of the wretched objects found there—starved, -dirty, and miserable.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Witness after witness was called to testify -to the children being left for hours without -food, fire, or attention. The children were -<span class='pageno' id='Page_221'>221</span>formally exhibited. The workhouse matron -deposed to their condition when admitted.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Finally, it was announced that the names -and addresses of parents or other relatives of -the children had been found, some of them -people of good position, and that they would -be brought forward to swear to their condition -when delivered over to the prisoner.</p> - -<p class='c015'>There was a thrill of excitement in court, -anticipative of scandals. People of good -position do not hand over babies to a Sal -Brown without strong reason. To the rustle -and stir succeeded a strained silence as -the usher called the name of “Prudence -Semaphore.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_222'>222</span> - <h2 class='c009'>CHAPTER XXII.<br /> <span class='large'>A SCENE IN COURT.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>Miss Prudence Semaphore, in after years -describing her sensations when placed in the -witness box, was accustomed to say she -didn’t know whether she stood on her head -or her heels. If any desire to experience -the feeling, without enduring the varied -miseries that a cruel fate inflicted on the -unhappy lady, let them, if unaccustomed to -public speaking, be called on for an afterdinner -speech. The swimming in the head, -the sea of faces dimly seen, the weakness in -the knees, dryness of the tongue and throat, -confusion of thought and general helplessness -experienced, will help them to realise her -emotions. The impossibility of dying suddenly -then and there, ere forced to break -silence, will appear a hardship, but they will -be spared the terror of having somehow -brought themselves within the clutches of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_223'>223</span>law, that appalled Miss Prudence. Speechmaking -is not penal. Would that it were; -but a respectable spinster, mixed up in a -baby farming case, the only witness to her -truth and <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">bonâ fides</span></i> a helpless, speechless -infant, can scarcely hope to clear herself -satisfactorily.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Prudence knew that her story was wild -and improbable; her illness had further disheartened -her. She felt sure that no one -would believe her on her oath, and this conviction -gave a hesitation to her manner, an -uncertainty to her statements, that branded -her in the eyes of all as an audacious but -unskilful liar.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Come! she might ’ave told a better one -than <em>that</em>!” was the whispered remark in the -gallery when, in answer to a question, she -declared that the infant handed over by her -to the prisoner was her sister.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Do you mean your step-sister?” asked -the magistrate. “She is very much younger -than you.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“No, sir. She is my sister. My elder -sister.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>There was a roar of laughter at this extraordinary -statement.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Your <em>elder</em> sister?”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_224'>224</span>“Yes, your worship.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Are your parents living?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“No, your worship.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“When did they die?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“My mother died sixteen years ago, my -father three years later.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“And yet you say this infant is your elder -sister?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh, sir, my lord, your worship,” said -the weeping Prudence, “I assure you I am -speaking the truth. I know I can’t expect -anyone to believe me, but indeed it is -true.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>There was movement and merriment at -the solicitors’ table, and a voice said in a -whisper,</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Queer delusion! Mad as a hatter!”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Prudence heard the words, and drew herself -up with some dignity.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“No,” she said, “I am not mad; it is -no delusion. Will you allow me to make a -plain statement, your worship? The child I -handed to that wicked woman is my sister, -and is older than I. We bought a bottle of -the Water of Youth that we saw advertised -in the <cite>Lady’s Pictorial</cite>. She should have -drunk very little, but unfortunately she took -an overdose, and you may believe me or not, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_225'>225</span>but I found her changed into the infant you -see in the middle of that same night.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>A roar of laughter drowned her words.</p> - -<p class='c015'>The counsel for the prosecution was very -stern.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I do not know, madam,” he said, “what -may be the state of your mind, though I -should advise your relatives to have it -enquired into, but we cannot have the time -of the court taken up in listening to such -ridiculous and impossible statements. Remember, -please, that you are on your oath, -and give truthful replies to the questions -put.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I am speaking the truth,” wailed Prudence. -She was desperate, careless of consequences, -driven into a corner. “You may -put me in prison if you like, but I can say -nothing else. My sister bought the Water -from a Mrs. Geldheraus, of 194, Handel -Street, on the 27th of June last, at three -o’clock in the afternoon. She took a dose of -it that same night, broke the bottle, I think, -by accident, and unwilling to lose the wonderful -water—at least, so I conclude, for I was -not present—drank up all that was left. -I heard her crying in the night, and found -her turned into a baby. I could not keep -<span class='pageno' id='Page_226'>226</span>her at the boarding-house, for the sake of my -own good name. Everyone was prying and -questioning about her, so I gave her to the -prisoner to take care of, believing that she -was a good and honest woman.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“And where is this Mrs. Geldheraus now? -Does she know you? Can she give any -evidence as to your mental condition?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Alas!” said Prudence, weeping profusely, -though even the prisoner at the bar wore an -incredulous grin, “she has gone away to -Paris. She was on the point of leaving -London when my sister called on her.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>The counsel for the prosecution looked -triumphantly at the magistrate. The woman -was an absolute Bedlamite. No mere liar -would invent so lame, so preposterous a -story.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“You may stand down,” he said abruptly.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Please may I say one word?” asked the -distressed witness. She looked full at the -magistrate. He was a soft-hearted man, and -something in her pathetic, tear-stained face -touched him.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Well,” he said, “what is it? You must -be brief.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Would you mind having my sister—the -child—brought forward?”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_227'>227</span>The woman in charge of Augusta stood -up, and exhibited the quaint, weird-eyed -infant.</p> - -<p class='c015'>At sight of her an extraordinary change -came over the face of good Mrs. Brown. -She whispered eagerly and excitedly to the -barrister engaged for the defence, pointing at -Augusta, and accenting her remarks by beating -her closed fist on the edge of the dock.</p> - -<p class='c015'>In a moment he was on his feet.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Your worship! On behalf of my client, -I beg to say she disclaims all responsibility -for the child now produced in court. She -knows nothing about it, and has never seen -it in her life before. She desires me to say -that the baby committed to her care by this -lady was evidently under a month old. I -appeal to every mother in court if that child -is not between two and three years of age at -the least.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Great excitement followed this statement.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Is that the child you gave her, or is it -not?” asked the magistrate.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Yes, my lord—your worship, I mean—that -is the child, my sister, I’d know her anywhere. -Her eyes are the same, and she -always had that little wart on her forehead—but -she looks bigger, certainly.”</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_228'>228</span>Sal vehemently protested from the dock.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Your worship,” said her counsel, “I -emphatically deny that that is the child. -The witness has already shown herself unworthy -of belief, and has tried to palm off a -ridiculous cock-and-bull story on the court. -As men of the world, we can all see her -motive for that, but what her reason for -insisting that this child, which is quite two -years older than the other, is hers, I confess -I do not understand.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Is this the child that was placed in your -care?” asked the magistrate of the workhouse -matron.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Yes, your worship. They was all identified -wen they was brought into the ’ouse, -and I put a kyard on each with its given -name. This ’ere child is Augusta, or some -such name. She ’as never been out of my -keeping since.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“How old was she supposed to be at the -time?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Three weeks or a month, I b’lieve, yer -wusshup, though I do think now”—doubtfully—“she -looks a deal older than that; -but the light wasn’t, so to say, good when -she was brought in.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“This is very extraordinary,” said the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_229'>229</span>magistrate. “Who gave particulars as to -the child’s apparent age?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“The prisoner, I b’lieve, yer wushup, an’ -two of her neighbours that identified the -children, and gave the names by which they -was known.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Let me look at it.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Augusta was held up for the magistrate’s -nearer inspection.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Well,” said he, hesitatingly, “I’m not -much of a judge of babies, but that child -does seem to me to be quite three years -old. When was she born?” he asked -Prudence.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Fifty-three years ago—on the 21st of -April, 18—.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>Another roar of laughter greeted this reply, -but the magistrate was annoyed. The woman -was too ridiculous, for it was easy to see she -was not as mad as she pretended.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Madam,” he said severely, “you must -be aware of the impression I have formed -with regard to the ridiculous story you have -thought fit to tell, and I would warn you, in -your own interests, to remember that it is -advisable to speak the truth.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>At any other time, his stern tone and -frowning brows would have frightened poor -<span class='pageno' id='Page_230'>230</span>Prudence out of such little wits as she possessed. -Now, however, she seemed to be -paying no attention, but, with dilated eyes, -kept staring at Augusta, who was certainly -conducting herself in a very extraordinary -fashion. To the dismay of the nurse, she -was bending, wriggling, and stretching in her -arms.</p> - -<p class='c015'>As the magistrate ceased speaking, there -was a sudden sound of rent material, a -shower of buttons flew about the heads of the -junior counsel, and Augusta’s sloppy workhouse -frock and pinafore, that had been -gradually tightening to bursting point, split -explosively up the back and sleeves.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Look, look!” cried Prudence, in a fever -of anxiety. “It is passing off. I told you -so. She is growing older. Oh! wait a little, -your worship. Before long perhaps she will -be able to speak. She will confirm what -I’ve told you. Augusta dear, for heaven’s -sake, speak if you can. They don’t believe -me.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>The nurse, with alarm depicted on every -feature, and drops of perspiration standing on -her brow, gave up her efforts to hold the -child, whose weight had increased amazingly, -and put her sitting on the bench beside her, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_231'>231</span>watching her the while with undisguised -trepidation.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Everyone saw that something extraordinary -was going on. Augusta choked, -whooped, gurgled, turned red and spotty, -purple and white, alternately. She seemed -passing every minute through months of -childish growth, long-past croups, convulsions, -measles, and so forth, sweeping over her in -flashes, as she began once more her painful, -and in this case, rapid, journey towards -maturity.</p> - -<p class='c015'>The public in the gallery rose <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">en masse</span></i>. -Business was a standstill. The juniors stood -on benches. The magistrate, bewildered -and confounded at the unexpected turn of -events, wiped his spectacles with the air of a -man who sees the end of all things.</p> - -<p class='c015'>The women round the children were rigid -with fright, and dared not lay a finger on the -prodigy. The matron was the first to -recover. Her sense of propriety awoke, and -rapidly taking off her long cloak, she passed -it round the struggling, elderly child, who -each instant was outgrowing her garments -more and more.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Oh! speak, Augusta, do speak if you -can!” implored Prudence.</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_232'>232</span>“Don’t you see I’m trying to?” replied -Augusta, suddenly and sharply, in a clear, -childish treble. “Of course what you said is -true, though, as usual, you have said a great -many things you were not called on to tell. -I did take an overdose of that dreadful stuff, -and now the effect is passing off, I am in -great agony, as anyone might see, and will -you please take me away at once? This is -a most disagreeable position for a lady. Call -a cab and take me away; what I have suffered -in that woman’s clutches no tongue can -tell.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>The magistrate turned pale, Sal Brown -shrank into the farthest corner of the -prisoner’s dock, and, with a scared face, -listened to the words of her rapidly-developing -<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">protégé</span></i>. Beneath the matron’s ample cloak -the form of Augusta was waxing ever longer -and wider, like the melon plant beneath the -cloth of an Eastern juggler.</p> - -<p class='c015'>“I think, madam,” said the magistrate -in broken accents, “you had better take the—it -home.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Your worship,” hastily interposed the -counsel for the prosecution, “this child, I -mean lady, is a valuable witness for us. I -propose that before she is permitted to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_233'>233</span>leave the precincts of this court she shall be -examined. The examination shall be as -brief as possible. I suppose she understands -the nature of an oath?”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Of course I do. I understand everything, -but really cannot undergo examination -now,” said Augusta squeakily but crossly. -“I do not feel able for it to-day. Some -other time I shall have no objection to put -your worship in possession of the facts of -my compulsory residence with Mrs. Brown. -There are also certain circumstances in -connection with the workhouse management -of infants that I should like to bring before -you. At present, however, I must beg leave -to retire, and seek that repose I so much -need.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>“Well, in all my experience,” said the -magistrate solemnly, “I never heard or -imagined such a case as this; it is quite -unprecedented. I really am at a loss how to -act. To my mind, the best course is to -grant another remand, to admit of the -appearance of the child—a—I mean lady, in -the witness box. I think what she says is -reasonable. Under the extraordinary circumstances, -we could barely expect her to give -evidence to-day. She must be shaken by -<span class='pageno' id='Page_234'>234</span>her unparalleled experiences. As for you, -madam,” he continued, addressing Prudence, -who was still weeping hysterically, “I must -express my regret for having doubted what I -now perceive to have been a truthful and -unvarnished narrative. My excuse must be -that your sister’s experience has been so -exceptional, that neither I nor anyone who -heard it could be expected to believe it -without positive confirmation. This has -been unexpectedly supplied, and I think I -may say you leave this court without the -smallest suspicion on your <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">bonâ fides</span></i>.”</p> - -<p class='c015'>There was a round of applause from the -gallery, instantly suppressed, and Prudence, -weeping, blushing, smiling, and bridling, all -at the same time, walked out of court with -the shivering Augusta.</p> - -<p class='c015'>By this time the latter had assumed the -appearance of a girl about eight, with bare -feet, and toes to which still adhered the -rent fragments of a baby’s knitted woollen -bootees. The news had spread, and a dense -crowd had collected at the door of the police -court to see them pass. Prudence drew back -terrified at the sight, and a friendly policeman, -seeing her agitation, summoned a cab to a -side door, and placed the sisters in it. As -<span class='pageno' id='Page_235'>235</span>they drove off, the baulked and excited -crowd perceived them, and a tremendous -round of cheering woke the echoes of -Arrow Street.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_236'>236</span> - <h2 class='c009'>CHAPTER XXIII.<br /> <span class='large'>CONCLUSION.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>Of our story little remains to tell. Augusta -was driven to her sister’s lodgings and put to -bed. In less than twenty-four hours she had -arrived once more at the time of life she had -temporarily abandoned. Her experience had -been a disappointment, but her intense relief -in feeling that she was once more in command -of the helm, prevented her dwelling on -that. It was delightful to array herself once -more in her own clothes, to be no longer a -helpless infant, pinched, tweaked, starved, -insulted to her face. The joy of being able -to speak was in itself so intense that Miss -Semaphore was in a constant flow of good -humour, and in all her experience of her -sister, Prudence never had so good a time.</p> - -<p class='c015'>After the first excitement had cooled down, -she feared that Augusta would be morose, -soured by the failure of her experiment; but -<span class='pageno' id='Page_237'>237</span>no. She seemed to find perennial satisfaction -in contrasting her present state with that -she had so unwillingly endured. The great -drawback to her happiness was the notoriety -given to her case. Three times the sisters -had to change lodgings, because of the -curiosity they excited amongst their neighbours, -and the crowds that collected to watch -them pass in or out.</p> - -<p class='c015'>When the trial came on the following week, -Arrow Street was crowded to suffocation. All -the boarders from Beaconsfield Gardens were -once more in the front row, and unbounded -interest was excited by the evidence of -Prudence. The papers were full of the circumstances. -The <cite>Daily Telegraph</cite> published -a leader on it, would-be interviewers made -the life of the sisters a misery. Their supposed -portraits, horrible caricatures that their -own mother would have failed to recognise, -appeared in the halfpenny evening papers. -The sixpenny weeklies sent artists to sketch -them as they sat in court. The medical -press took the matter up. Samples of the -Water of Youth were called for to be -analysed, but without avail, since Mrs. -Geldheraus and her mysterious potion had -disappeared into the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Ewigkeit</span></i>.</p> - -<p class='c015'><span class='pageno' id='Page_238'>238</span>Never were inoffensive and obscure women -dragged so suddenly into notoriety. A wax -model of Augusta was set up at Madame -Tussaud’s, and the baby clothes she was -wearing when taken to the workhouse were -shown in a glass case. She netted £700 -by their sale, which she looked on as in -a measure compensatory for her outlay on -the Water. The devotion of Prudence to -her sister was everywhere commented on. -She became quite a popular personage, and -to her surprise and delight, received no less -than five offers of marriage from persons -totally unknown to her.</p> - -<p class='c015'>While their interest in the case was -unabated, the medical woman, Mrs. Whitley, -Mrs. Dumaresq, and the other boarders, felt -somewhat shy of making any advances to the -sisters. Soft, and gentle, and foolish, as -Prudence was, they felt that she could not -and would not forgive their impertinent -curiosity and interference; and yet there was -much to excuse their conduct, for such cases -as Miss Semaphore’s are rare. When the -sisters were finally making their way out -of court, having heard good Mrs. Brown -condemned to a term of six months imprisonment -with hard labour, Major Jones, however, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_239'>239</span>rushed forward, and with a profound -sweep of his hat, requested permission to -escort them to the hansom in waiting. He -did not say “good-bye” until he had asked -for and obtained leave to call on them, a -privilege of which he henceforth took frequent -advantage.</p> - -<p class='c015'>There is an opinion afloat, this time not -merely in the mind of Prudence herself, but -in the minds of the boarders at Beaconsfield -Gardens, that the younger Miss Semaphore -will before long be requested to change her -name. Since her painful experience, her -character has developed. She is more self-reliant, -steadier, less unduly girlish in her -ways and dress, and seems likely, if her -mature love affair runs smooth, to make an -excellent wife for the Major. Should her -future, as it promises, prove happier than -her past, she, for one, despite the mental -agony she struggled through, will not regret -the temporary rejuvenation of Miss Semaphore.</p> - -<hr class='c007' /> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><em>Jarrold and Sons, Printers, Norwich, Yarmouth and London.</em></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003' /> -</div> -<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_240'>240</span></div> -<div class='chapter ph2'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c019'> - <div>Popular 6d. Books.</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c020'>BLACK BEAUTY: The Autobiography of a Horse. By -<span class='sc'>Anna Sewell</span>. Millions of copies have been sold.</p> - -<p class='c021'>CHERRY RIPE. By <span class='sc'>Helen Mathers</span>, Author of -“Comin’ thro’ the Rye.” Copyright Edition.</p> - -<p class='c021'>THE MYSTERY OF A HANSOM CAB. 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