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diff --git a/old/66582-h/66582-h.htm b/old/66582-h/66582-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 202d3fa..0000000 --- a/old/66582-h/66582-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,9337 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd"> - -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en"> - -<head> - -<link rel="icon" href="images/img-cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover" /> - -<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> - -<title> -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Colville of the Guards, Volume III, -by James Grant -</title> - -<style type="text/css"> -body { color: black; - background: white; - margin-right: 10%; - margin-left: 10%; - font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; - text-align: justify } - -p {text-indent: 4% } - -p.noindent {text-indent: 0% } - -p.t1 {text-indent: 0% ; - font-size: 200%; - text-align: center } - -p.t2 {text-indent: 0% ; - font-size: 150%; - text-align: center } - -p.t2b {text-indent: 0% ; - font-size: 150%; - font-weight: bold; - text-align: center } - -p.t3 {text-indent: 0% ; - font-size: 100%; - text-align: center } - -p.t3b {text-indent: 0% ; - font-size: 100%; - font-weight: bold; - text-align: center } - -p.t4 {text-indent: 0% ; - font-size: 80%; - text-align: center } - -p.t4b {text-indent: 0% ; - font-size: 80%; - font-weight: bold; - text-align: center } - -p.t5 {text-indent: 0% ; - font-size: 60%; - text-align: center } - -h1 { text-align: center } -h2 { text-align: center } -h3 { text-align: center } -h4 { text-align: center } -h5 { text-align: center } - -p.poem {text-indent: 0%; - margin-left: 10%; } - -p.thought {text-indent: 0% ; - letter-spacing: 4em ; - text-align: center } - -p.letter {text-indent: 0%; - margin-left: 10% ; - margin-right: 10% } - -p.footnote {text-indent: 0% ; - font-size: 80%; - margin-left: 10% ; - margin-right: 10% } - -.smcap { font-variant: small-caps } - -p.transnote {text-indent: 0% ; - margin-left: 10% ; - margin-right: 10% } - -p.intro {font-size: 90% ; - text-indent: -5% ; - margin-left: 5% ; - margin-right: 0% } - -p.quote {text-indent: 4% ; - margin-left: 0% ; - margin-right: 0% } - -p.finis { font-size: larger ; - text-align: center ; - text-indent: 0% ; - margin-left: 0% ; - margin-right: 0% } - -</style> - -</head> - -<body> - -<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Colville of the Guards, Volume III (of 3), by James Grant</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Colville of the Guards, Volume III (of 3)</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: James Grant</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: October 20, 2021 [eBook #66582]</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Al Haines</div> - -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COLVILLE OF THE GUARDS, VOLUME III (OF 3) ***</div> - -<h1> -<br /><br /> - COLVILLE OF THE GUARDS<br /> -</h1> - -<p><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="t3b"> - BY<br /> -</p> - -<p class="t2"> - JAMES GRANT<br /> -</p> - -<p class="t3"> - AUTHOR OF<br /> - "THE ROMANCE OF WAR," "THE CAMERONIANS,"<br /> - "THE SCOTTISH CAVALIER,"<br /> - ETC., ETC.<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="t3"> - IN THREE VOLUMES.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="t3"> - VOL. III.<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="t3"> - LONDON:<br /> - HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS,<br /> - 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET.<br /> - 1885.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="t4"> - <i>All rights reserved.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="noindent"> - CONTENTS<br /> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> - I. <a href="#chap01">The "Flying Foam"</a><br /> - II. <a href="#chap02">Ellinor</a><br /> - III. <a href="#chap03">The Gale</a><br /> - IV. <a href="#chap04">Alone!</a><br /> - V. <a href="#chap05">In the Bala Hissar</a><br /> - VI. <a href="#chap06">The Fort of Mahmoud Shah</a><br /> - VII. <a href="#chap07">The Fugitive</a><br /> - VIII. <a href="#chap08">The Ghilzie</a><br /> - IX. <a href="#chap09">A New Snare</a><br /> - X. <a href="#chap10">The House by the Fleethen</a><br /> - XI. <a href="#chap11">In Hamburg Still</a><br /> - XII. <a href="#chap12">The Plot Thickens</a><br /> - XIII. <a href="#chap13">With Roberts' Column</a><br /> - XIV. <a href="#chap14">The Battle of Charasiah</a><br /> - XV. <a href="#chap15">Enough Done for Honour</a><br /> - XVI. <a href="#chap16">The Fate of Ellinor</a><br /> - XVII. <a href="#chap17">Among the Birks of Invermay</a><br /> -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap01"></a></p> - -<p class="t2"> -COLVILLE OF THE GUARDS. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /></p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER I. -<br /><br /> -THE 'FLYING FOAM.' -</h3> - -<p> -When Ellinor, whom we left some pages -back in a very perilous predicament, opened -her eyes again it was on an unfamiliar -scene—the cabin of a ship—and on several -male faces, all of which were also -unfamiliar save one; and her eyes half closed -again, as she was too weak and exhausted -to disentangle the confusion of her thoughts -and, half imagining she was in a horrible -dream, would have striven to sleep but for -the wet and sodden garments that clung -to her. -</p> - -<p> -'What has happened?' she moaned. -'Where am I?' -</p> - -<p> -'Safe aboard the "<i>Flying Foam</i>,"' said -the voice of the man who had rescued her, -the sailing-master of that vessel, -Mr. Rufane Ringbolt, whom we shall erelong -describe more fully. -</p> - -<p> -Her miserable plight and imminent -peril had been seen from the deck by that -personage, who at once had a boat lowered -from his craft, which lay at anchor in the -Elbe. He had saved her, and in a spirit -of mischief—or not knowing what else to -do with her—had brought her on board -the yacht of his employer, Mr. Adolphus -Dewsnap, whose present companion and -bosom-friend was Sir Redmond Sleath, -whose first emotions of perplexity and evil -on Ringbolt bringing off a lady changed to -those of blank astonishment and high -triumph on recognising in the half-drowned -girl—Ellinor Wellwood! -</p> - -<p> -Dewsnap rubbed his hands with -satisfaction. They had just landed two or -three peculiar lady friends at the -Brandenburgerhafen to go back to London by -steamer, or remain in gay Hamburg as -they listed, and already the <i>Flying Foam</i> -seemed a little lonely. -</p> - -<p> -'By Jove, you look more beautiful than -ever, Ellinor!' exclaimed Sleath, taking her -hands in his, as she reclined helplessly on -a sofa. 'My friend, Mr. Dewsnap—let -me introduce him—Miss Ellinor Wellwood. -This is a most unexpected joy!' -</p> - -<p> -'I am glad of the accident which gives -me the honour of making your acquaintance, -Miss Ellinor,' responded Mr. Dewsnap, -near whom she recognised the -grinning visage of Mr. John Gaiters, -Sleath's devoted valet. -</p> - -<p> -Seeing the helpless and terrified -condition she was in, Mr. Ringbolt almost -forced her to imbibe a little weak brandy -and water from a liqueur-frame that stood -on the cabin-table; and then, as there -were no female attendants on board the -yacht, with considerable readiness and -forethought, brought down from the deck -a Vierlander boat-woman, who had come -off with vegetables for the steward and -cook, to attend upon Ellinor. -</p> - -<p> -The Vierlander had some doubts and -scruples at first; but when a few twenty-groschen -pieces were slipped into her hand -these evaporated, and a smile of acquiescence -spread over her weather-beaten but -pleasant-looking countenance, for she had -soft, dark eyes, a <i>nez retrousse</i> decidedly, -and, if rather a large mouth, full red lips, -as Mr. Ringbolt could remark appreciatively. -</p> - -<p> -She took Ellinor into an inner cabin, -and soon changed her wet garments for -some that the late fair voyagers had left -behind them; and when, in fear and terror, -she implored to be set on shore, she was -told that it was impossible, as a heavy fog -had suddenly settled down on the land and -river. -</p> - -<p> -'Oh, heaven, what will become of me? -Mary! Mary!' wailed Ellinor, as she clung, -as if for protection, to the hands of the -picturesquely-clad Vierlander. -</p> - -<p> -'Hope I haven't brought you a Scotch -prize aboard, gentlemen,' said Mr. Ringbolt, -winking knowingly, as he mixed -himself a glass of grog. -</p> - -<p> -'A Scotch prize—what the devil is -that?' asked Mr. Dewsnap, whose -cognomen among his chums was generally -'Dolly.' -</p> - -<p> -'Well—it means a mistake—worse than -no prize—one likely to hamper the captors -with heavy legal expenses.' -</p> - -<p> -'A Scotch prize, and no mistake!' -exclaimed Sleath, as Ellinor, weak, tottering, -and scarcely able to stand or articulate, -appeared with her new attendant at the -door of the cabin, which was now so -darkened by the evening fog that the -steward was lighting the lamps. -</p> - -<p> -Sleath, approaching, attempted to take -her hand. -</p> - -<p> -'Don't, sir—dare to touch me!' she -cried, in a weak voice, while starting back. -</p> - -<p> -'She knows you, Sleath, by Jove!' -exclaimed Mr. Dolly Dewsnap, becoming -interested. -</p> - -<p> -'Rather,' said Sleath, with an ugly wink. -'Are you not glad to see me so -unexpectedly, Ellinor?' -</p> - -<p> -'Glad!' said she, shudderingly. -</p> - -<p> -Her old repugnance was now increased -tenfold, and mingled with genuine terror. -A man with such a bearing and with such -an expression as she read in the cold blue -eyes of Sleath, would, she knew, have no -mercy, so she turned to Dewsnap; but -there was little to encourage her in his -leery and <i>blasé</i>, though rather rubicund, -visage. -</p> - -<p> -'Put me on shore, sir, I entreat you,' -she said. -</p> - -<p> -'It is impossible—utterly impossible, till -the fog lifts,' said he, emphatically. -</p> - -<p> -'I shall die!' exclaimed Ellinor, in a -low, husky voice, as the light seemed to -leave her eyes. -</p> - -<p> -She put her tremulous hands to her -slender throat, for a painful lump seemed -to rise there—nay, was there—catching -her breath, while this meeting again, -under all the circumstances, with Sir -Redmond Sleath seemed 'one of those -strange and almost incredible things -which, however, we meet with every day -in that marvellous volume of romance, -real life.' -</p> - -<p> -She cowered and shrank back before -Sleath as if he were some wild animal, -which only excited in him a spirit of anger -and banter, while his friend Dewsnap -knew not what to think of the situation -as yet. -</p> - -<p> -'Altona agrees with you,' said the baronet, -jauntily. 'You are handsomer than -ever. Womanhood gains instead of loses -by maturity. But don't be so devilish -stuck up! And <i>what</i> were you doing in -Altona?' -</p> - -<p> -She made no reply, but now glanced -imploringly and appealingly to Ringbolt, -while Sleath resumed in this fashion— -</p> - -<p> -'I did not entrap you this evening—I -did not run away with you,' said he, -surveying with admiration the volume of her -rich brown hair, which was then brushed -out, and floated damp and at full length -over her shoulders, and she figured now -in a species of costume such as she had -never worn before, including a tailor-made -jacket and a round felt hat, part of the -wardrobe of one of Mr. Dolly Dewsnap's -recent fair voyagers, left for conveyance -back to London, and now likely to prove -exceedingly useful. And Ellinor was -almost passive in the hands of those -among whom Fate had so suddenly cast her. -</p> - -<p> -After her recent narrow escape from a -dreadful death, and now her present misery, -she was too feeble and too full of fear -to summon proper pride and just -indignation to her aid. -</p> - -<p> -'Fate has given you to me again,' -continued Sleath, 'so, why not stoop—yield -to the inevitable, and the delight of living -for and loving each other! We shall -remain on the Continent now, Ellinor, -and never again set foot in that -cold-blooded England.' -</p> - -<p> -A comical expression twinkled now in -the eyes of Mr. Dewsnap, who was an -undersized, but fleshy and flashy, personage, -about thirty years of age, and vulgar -in style and aspect, though dressed in -accurate yachting costume, with gilt -buttons and glazed boots. He knew not what -to think of the situation, we say. Though -far from straitlaced—though a thorough-paced -scamp, in fact—he was puzzled and -doubtful what to think of the past -relations of his chum Sir Redmond and this -young lady, who, he saw at a glance, was -neither fast nor vicious, as most of the -baronet's lady friends were; that she was -no dove from St. John's Wood, or 'girl of -the period' in any way. -</p> - -<p> -While Ringbolt beckoned Gaiters on -deck to obtain some information on the -subject from him, Sleath began again, in -low and softer voice, while hanging over -her. -</p> - -<p> -'We were about to run away together -before, and would have done so, but for -the brute your sister's dog. Now, Ellinor, -darling, we shall elope in earnest, and we -shall not be the first couple who have -done so, and lived happy ever after, like -couples in the old story books.' -</p> - -<p> -'Don't be alarmed—don't fear, Miss -Ellinor,' said Dewsnap, thinking it -necessary to say something, as she turned her -haggard eyes on him, and ignored the -presence of Sleath. -</p> - -<p> -'Don't fear!' says a writer. 'How often -in this world of terror and trouble has that -phrase been spoken, and how often will it -yet be spoken—in vain.' -</p> - -<p> -'Oh, sir, will you, in mercy, if you are a -man, set me on shore?' she implored again. -</p> - -<p> -Dewsnap shrugged his shoulders, and -looked at Sleath, while muttering -something about 'the fog.' -</p> - -<p> -'No!' exclaimed the latter, emphatically; -'and no accident but one sent from -heaven or hell shall rob me of you now!' -he added, almost savagely, through his -set teeth, as he recalled the castigation -he had met with at the hands of Robert -Wodrow and his own muttered vow of -vengeance. -</p> - -<p> -She gave him but one glance, yet it was -expressive of loathing and fear that were -unconquerable—as though he were some -thing of horror; but somehow her strength -of purpose and defiance piqued or attracted -him, and he loved her with all the coarseness -of his low nature. -</p> - -<p> -'How she fears that fellow!' thought -Ringbolt, who was peeping down the -skylight. 'There is some secret—some -strange story in all this.' -</p> - -<p> -Of this strange interview, the Vierlander -woman could make nothing; but, seeing -that her charge was about to sink at -their feet, she conveyed her into the little -cabin or state-room, in which Ellinor's -attire had been changed, and, closing the -door, laid her on a bed to recover strength -and composure, and there, fainting, feverish, -and well-nigh delirious, she clung -wildly, as if for protection, to her attendant. -</p> - -<p> -Meanwhile the night darkened, and the -fog undoubtedly deepened, so the yacht's -bell was clanged ever and anon, while the -two 'gentlemen,' with the sailing-master, -Ringbolt, and the mate sat down to a -luxurious dinner produced by Joe -Lobscouse, cook of the <i>Flying Foam</i>, who, as -a <i>chef</i>, was not equal to that of Dewsnap -at home, Ragout—but Monsieur Ragout -flatly declined to go to sea with that vessel, -or 'any oder Voam,' as he always said. -But in cooking Joe Lobscouse chiefly -excelled in the famous <i>olla podrida</i> which -bears his name, and is a compound of salt -meat, biscuits, potatoes, onions, and spices, -all minced and stewed together, and though -dearly loved by those before the mast, -such a dish was never seen in the cabin, of course. -</p> - -<p> -The wine went freely round, for Dewsnap -was lavish with his Clicquot and -Mumm's extra dry. -</p> - -<p> -'With all her air of ineffable innocence, -I believe that girl to be a deep one,' said -he, with a wink to Sleath, as he had no -belief in female purity whatever, and had -detestable views of society in general. -</p> - -<p> -'She agreed to run away with me once, -so why should I not go in for running -away with her now?' -</p> - -<p> -'Right you are, my boy!' said Dewsnap. -</p> - -<p> -'You remember that cad, Colville of the -Guards?' said Sleath, viciously. -</p> - -<p> -'I have heard of him,' replied Dewsnap, -evasively. 'Well?' -</p> - -<p> -'He trumped up a story about this girl -being a cousin of his to keep her, and her -sister too, by Jove, to himself—a fact, -Dolly; told me in London they were his -cousins, though he never said so when we -were at Dunkeld's place in Scotland. But -now he has gone to Cabul, and the devil -go with him!' -</p> - -<p> -'What are we to do if the Vierlander -woman won't remain on board after the fog -lifts?' asked the sailing-master, Ringbolt. -</p> - -<p> -'In that case we should have little difficulty -in getting a sharp girl to attend, or, -better still, some knowing and suggestive -elderly party,' said Sleath. -</p> - -<p> -'All right, sir—one has not far to look -in Hamburg for what you want.' -</p> - -<p> -'Dash it all!' exclaimed Dewsnap, who -was fast becoming rather inebriated (this -was not precisely what he said, but it looks -milder in print). 'This girl of yours, -Sleath, is likely to give us a deal of bother.' -</p> - -<p> -'Not at all. I shall soon find a way to -put an end to her nonsense,' growled Sir Redmond. -</p> - -<p> -Like the latter, Dewsnap always -suspected everybody until he knew they were -innocent, and, if innocent, he deemed them -fools. Thus he never doubted in his mind -that the apparent repugnance of Ellinor -was all coyness and affectation. -</p> - -<p> -Mr. Adolphus Dewsnap, son of the late -Alderman Sir Jephson Dewsnap, Knight, -a soap-boiler in Bow, where he made a -colossal fortune, was a fool and a cad of -the first water, who looked up to Sleath, -having a title, as one of 'the upper ten,' -though Sleath's father had been, like the -said alderman, a boy of the Foundling -Hospital, from whence perhaps emanate -many of the grotesque names we find in -London. -</p> - -<p> -The story of their titles is simple, and -one of everyday recurrence. -</p> - -<p> -The fathers of Sleath and Dewsnap had -been made respectively a baronet and a -knight for services rendered to the -Ministry; but as those of the former, though -equally important, had been performed -with less scruple, he had been rewarded -with the diploma of a baronet of Great -Britain, and a coat-of-arms, which taxed -the ingenuity of the entire College of -Heralds. -</p> - -<p> -Sir Redmond Sleath was a man of -violent temper naturally, especially when -his will was thwarted; thus he felt -himself humiliated, and, when inflamed with -wine, rendered almost savage by the spirit -of opposition and dismay he encountered -in Ellinor Wellwood, whom he still viewed -as a poor girl, without parents, friends, or -protector other than Leslie Colville, and -he now was far away indeed. -</p> - -<p> -Dewsnap occasionally had half-tipsy -thoughts of pretending to befriend this -stray girl, and getting her away -somehow 'on his own hook,' as he phrased -it to himself. -</p> - -<p> -But he had a wholesome fear of Sleath, -for, notwithstanding all his wealth, the -latter had obtained somehow a great -ascendency over him. -</p> - -<p> -'She knows too much about one now,' -muttered Sleath to himself. 'The -marriage dodge and the ailing uncle won't do -again—so how to deceive her?' -</p> - -<p class="poem"> - '"Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more,<br /> - Men are deceivers ever."<br /> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -so says Shakespeare,' said Dewsnap, tipsily -rolling his head from side to side; 'and -he was right; devilish few of us are worth -sighing for, I think.' -</p> - -<p> -'Dolly Dewsnap turned moralist!' -exclaimed Sleath, with a scornful laugh. -</p> - -<p> -'Steward, some more moist!' cried -Dewsnap. 'We'll drink Miss What-her-name's -jolly good health. What says Byron, or -some other fellow? -</p> - -<p class="poem"> - "Man, being reasonable, must get drunk;<br /> - The best of life is but intoxication."<br /> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -So let us—drink—drink as long'sh—there'sh—a -shot—in—the—locker!' he -added, in a voice that became every -moment more thick and 'feathery.' -</p> - -<p> -So in these perilous hands was Ellinor -Wellwood now. -</p> - -<p> -But for the presence and companionship -of the honest Vierlander woman, to whom -she clung, though of whose patois of -Danish or North German she could make -little or nothing, Ellinor thought she must -have died. -</p> - -<p> -Her own clothes had been destroyed by -her immersion, and meantime, when quite -conscious, she felt it something odious and -repellant to wear the clothes of others of -whom she knew nothing, but suspected -much. -</p> - -<p> -How long was this atrocity to be continued? -</p> - -<p> -She remained resolutely in the little -cabin, declining to enter the saloon, or -take food or refreshment of any kind, and, -when sense quite returned, she watched -from the little eyelet-hole—the port was -nothing more—of her sleeping-place for a -passing ship or boat, to which she might -shriek for aid; but dense dark mist -obscured everything, and she cast herself on -the bed in despair. -</p> - -<p> -The <i>Flying Foam</i> was cutter-rigged, and -sat in the water gracefully. She was -about a hundred and fifty tons burden, -and consequently had an immense -fore-and-aft boom-mainsail. Her deck was of -narrow deal planks, and was always white -as snow—white as swab and holystone -could make it. Her ten guns were all -burnished brass; the binnacles and bitts -were of polished mahogany; the cabins -were all panelled maple, with gilded -mouldings; everything there was alike -luxuriant and <i>recherché</i>; for the purse the old -soap-boiler left to his only son and heir -was a pretty long one; yet he was sometimes -a little in debt, and found yachting -then convenient. -</p> - -<p> -The crew consisted of twelve men all -told, including the sailing-master and Joe -Lobscouse, the cook. -</p> - -<p> -The former, Rufane Ringbolt, was, if -not a good, not a bad-looking man, about -forty years of age; his eyes were clear, -blue, and penetrating, but cunning, leery, -and shifting at times. The expression of -his mouth, about the curves especially, -was sinister and lascivious. There was a -self-confident and reckless bearing about -him too aggressive to be that of a gentleman -or officer, for he had been the latter -once, having served in Her Majesty's navy, -but been—dismissed. -</p> - -<p> -He and his captain had both fallen in -love with one of those fast young ladies -who are to be met with on the promenades -of Portsmouth and Plymouth; but, as she -preferred the young lieutenant to the -elderly captain, the latter was always -'down' on the former, who from that -moment became what is known in the -service as 'a marked man.' -</p> - -<p> -His temper was sorely tried, and he -soon found himself before a court-martial, -charged with neglect of duty and -insubordination. Never while he lived did -Ringbolt forget the day of that court-martial in -the cabin of the <i>Victory</i>, and amid his -potations it always came most vividly -before him in its bitter details, with the -sunshine streaming through the cabin -windows, the ripple on the harbour waves, -and Portsmouth Hard in the distance. -</p> - -<p> -There was the exulting and malevolent -face of the prosecutor when the court was -cleared for 'finding;' there was the ringing -of the bell that announced it was reopened, -and in custody of the master-at-arms, with -cocked hat and drawn sword, he—the -prisoner—appeared before the court, all -captains in full uniform, whose faces were -graven on his memory. -</p> - -<p> -During the proceedings his sword had -been laid on the table, with the point -towards the president and the hilt towards -himself; now he saw that its position was -reversed, and he knew that all was over, -and he went down the ship's side into a -shore boat a broken and degraded man! -</p> - -<p> -And as the young lady, the cause of all -the mischief, soon afterwards bestowed -her hand upon the elderly captain who had -'smashed him,' Ringbolt had ever after -but a very poor opinion of womankind. -</p> - -<p> -He felt some natural curiosity about the -damsel he had been the means of bringing -on board the cutter, but there all further -interest in her ended. -</p> - -<p> -He thought if Sir Redmond Sleath, -whose general character was well known -to him, knew the lady it was all right; he -had no fear of being deemed an accessory -in an abduction; for though Mr. Ringbolt -did not fear God, like many other men in -the world, he mightily feared the police. -</p> - -<p> -As for the Vierlander woman, she thought -the ailing girl was the wife of one of the -two Englanders, though she saw no -wedding-ring on her finger; but then, like all -foreigners, she thought the Englanders -very eccentric. -</p> - -<p> -For several days the fog, consequent to -swollen tides, rested on the Elbe, and the -cutter rode with her foresail loose, Sleath -having proposed a trip to Heligoland; but -Ellinor was ill—almost oblivious of -everything, while Dewsnap dared not land her, -and yet feared to keep her on board, -thinking that Sleath's story of her utter -friendlessness might be falsehood after all. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap02"></a></p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER II. -<br /><br /> -ELLINOR. -</h3> - -<p> -Sir Redmond Sleath had no pity for the -suspense and agony of mind now endured -by Mary; and as for Dewsnap and Ringbolt, -they knew nothing about her. -</p> - -<p> -During the days just mentioned the -clanging of the ship's bell from time to -time, and the din of fog horns from vessels -passing with less than half-steam up, -informed Ellinor that the fog still rested on -the river; yet every morning she heard the -rasping of the holystones as the deck was -cleaned, and the mysterious cry of 'soak -and send'—the order to pass the wet -swabs along. -</p> - -<p> -The terror she had undergone, the subsequent -affronts, unblushing and terrible—for -such she deemed Sleath's love-making—and -the uncertain future, all throbbed -in hot and wretched thought wildly -through her heart, till at last, when the -yacht was fairly under way, fainting-fits -and the torment of sea-sickness made -reflection, fear, and regret alike impossible, -for a kind of delirium came upon her, and -she grew oblivious of her surroundings; -but we are anticipating. -</p> - -<p> -'The girl may die on our hands, if this -sort of thing goes on,' said Dewsnap, 'and -that might prove deuced awkward for us all.' -</p> - -<p> -'I have thought of that, sir,' said Ringbolt; -'but one may as well whistle psalms -to the taff-rail——' -</p> - -<p> -'As attempt to move me—you are right, -Mr. Ringbolt,' interrupted Sleath; 'but -there is no dying in the case.' -</p> - -<p> -'Why not send her ashore——?' began -Dewsnap. -</p> - -<p> -'And relinquish her? Not if I know it.' -</p> - -<p> -'I mean to the boarding-house of the -old Frau Wyburg, near the Bleichen -Canal—you know the place.' -</p> - -<p> -'Few rascals in Hamburg don't. She -would keep her safe enough for me—it -is not a bad idea; but I shall try my -luck with her again before resorting to -<i>that</i>.' -</p> - -<p> -At the cruelty Dewsnap's suggestion -involved, even Ringbolt shook his head -dissentingly, and said, -</p> - -<p> -'Whatever you do, steer clear of her -husband—the Herr Wyburg, as he calls -himself—he is a dangerous and a shady -party—worse than the devil himself.' -</p> - -<p> -'You know Hamburg, then, Mr. Ringbolt?' -</p> - -<p> -'Rather!' replied the other, with a wink -that inferred a great deal. -</p> - -<p> -If this affair of Ellinor's abduction found -its way into any of the social weeklies, it -might form a very awkward thing for her; -but neither for Sir Redmond or his friend, -Mr. Adolphus Dewsnap, as both were now -rather out of the social 'scratch race.' -</p> - -<p> -'A pleasant story for the fair Blanche -to hear,' surmised Sleath, as he laughingly -made up a cigarette. -</p> - -<p> -'Who is she?' asked Dewsnap. -</p> - -<p> -'The daughter of Lord Dunkeld.' -</p> - -<p> -'He is, of course, a topsawyer,' said -Dewsnap, superciliously, as, notwithstanding -his wealth, he had been rather ignored -in society, 'and speaks in the House, I -suppose?' -</p> - -<p> -'Yes.' -</p> - -<p> -'But I have never heard of a word he said.' -</p> - -<p> -'Likely enough—he never gets beyond -"Hear, hear!" He is a Scots' representative peer.' -</p> - -<p> -'With a family tree, of course. D—n'm, -I would rather have a good gooseberry-bush!' -</p> - -<p> -The little state-room or cabin occupied -by Ellinor she saw had evidently and -recently been used by ladies before. In -the drawers of the dressing-glass were -hair-pins, an old kid glove, a broken jet -bracelet, and other etcetera. -</p> - -<p> -The door had a bolt on the inside. -</p> - -<p> -One night she found, to her terror, that -this had been removed! -</p> - -<p> -Her heart grew sick within her; but, -with the assistance of her attendant, she -contrived to barricade the door most -efficiently by placing a chair between it and -her bed, on which, without undressing, -she lay down with her temples throbbing -like every other pulse with terror. -</p> - -<p> -All grew still in the cutter, and not a -sound was heard but the ripples that ran -alongside as she strained at her anchor—so -very still that Ellinor was about to -sleep, when a sound startled her, and she -sprang up in dismay. -</p> - -<p> -Some one without was attempting to -force her door. Who that some one was -she doubted not; but, after a time, -finding himself completely baffled, with a -half-suppressed malediction, he went -away. -</p> - -<p> -Ellinor lay awake in an agony of mind -till morning dawned, when she opened the -eyelet port of her cabin, and looked out. -The fog was less thick, and a gasp of joy -escaped her on seeing a boat with several -men in it approaching. She shrieked to -them for succour, and waved her -handkerchief. On this they paused on their -oars, and seemed to confer with each -other, but, instead of drawing nearer, they -laughed, kissed their hands to her in -mockery, resumed their pulling, and -vanished into the mist. -</p> - -<p> -Had any boat's crew actually boarded -the yacht to make inquiries, Sleath was -quite prepared to assert that the lady on -board was his demented wife. -</p> - -<p> -With the fog resting on the Elbe, she -could see nothing of the land, and as the -cutter might—she thought—have shifted -her position in the night—she knew not -where she was. Altona, she thought, -might be miles away, yet it was only a -rifle-shot distant. But for its extreme -protraction, she might, at times, have thought -she was in a dream, and that all her -mental misery was but a provoking and -ghastly phantasmagoria. -</p> - -<p> -Days had elapsed now since her -separation from Mary and Mrs. Deroubigne. -They must, she knew, deem her -dead—drowned—and might have gone away, she -knew not where. -</p> - -<p> -Torn in this outrageous fashion from -the society of the only persons she loved -on earth! Exiled from happiness, doomed -to probable disgrace and misconstruction -of conduct. -</p> - -<p> -Her whole soul was wrapped up in one -idea—escape! But how was she to achieve -it, out of that accursed vessel, unless she -cast herself headlong into the river? She -certainly shrank from self-destruction, and -hoped that something—'that vague something, -the forlorn hope of the desperate'—might -intervene to save and set her free. -</p> - -<p> -Sir Redmond's persistent love-making -could draw no response from her. -</p> - -<p> -This enraged him; he ground his teeth, -while longing to take her in his arms, and -kiss her whether she would or not; yet -he dared not attempt to molest her when -he was sober and in daylight; something -in the girl's purity and disgust of him -repressed him. He dissembled, and said, -submissively, -</p> - -<p> -'With your love, Ellinor—in offering -mine—I would be a very different man -from what I have been.' -</p> - -<p> -'Your love!' she muttered, in a low -voice of scorn. -</p> - -<p> -'Yes.' -</p> - -<p> -'Dare you offer it again to me after all I -know?' -</p> - -<p> -'What a little tragedy spit-fire it is! -Well, it is perhaps too much to ask you to -love me, so I will only crave permission to -love you.' -</p> - -<p> -'Insult on insult! Oh, this is intolerable!' -exclaimed Ellinor, covering her face -with her hands. 'It is useless to remind -a man like you of his marriage.' -</p> - -<p> -Sleath's eyes gleamed dangerously. He -and Ellinor were alone in the saloon, as -Dewsnap and the sailing-master were -smoking on deck, and the companion-way -was kept bolted to prevent any attempt at -escape. -</p> - -<p> -'What did I know of life, of the world, -or of human nature when I met that artful -woman with the absurd name, Fubsby, and -took vows—if vows they were—for a -life-time. Married! Well, even if I were so -legally—which I don't quite admit—what -then? In the society in which we move—' -</p> - -<p> -'We?' -</p> - -<p> -'Dewsnap and I—flirtation forms the -great occupation—even accomplishment—of -married life on the part of those who -are bound by it. You have much to learn -yet, my simple little Ellinor.' -</p> - -<p> -'Do you call this conduct of yours -flirtation—this illegal and punishable abduction -of me—and insulting, loathly love-making?' -</p> - -<p> -'Loathly—an unpleasant phrase to use. -Instead of the wretched life you lead at -Paddington, I can give you one well worth -living,' said he, as if he addressed a girl at -a bar or a buffet, and in ignorance of all -that had passed since he had discovered -their residence in St. Mary's Terrace; -'and in turn, Ellinor, you will learn that a -faithful old lover is not to be despised.' -</p> - -<p> -'I have already learned that,' said -Ellinor, her tears beginning to fall hotly -as she thought of Robert Wodrow. -</p> - -<p> -'I am glad to hear you say so,' said -Sleath, thinking of himself, 'and to find -that after all you cannot forget a man who -has once loved you—and loves you so -fondly still, in spite of the coldness you -manifest and the obliquy you heap upon -him. How grand it is to forgive!' he -continued, attempting to take her hand. -'The literary bear Samuel Johnson never -seemed so wretched as a man and a moralist, -than when he gloried in loving a <i>good -hater</i>.' -</p> - -<p> -Ellinor prevented him from capturing -her hand by shudderingly retreating to -the other end of the saloon. The contrast -between the two men—the one who had -sought, and still sought, to ensnare, and -he whom she had wronged—who loved her -so well, and had found, as she thought, a -grave in that far away land, burned itself -into her heart and brain with growing -intensity, and wringing her hands, his -name escaped her in a low voice. -</p> - -<p> -'Robert—oh, Robert!' -</p> - -<p> -Would time ever heal—ever conquer her -reproachful heart-wound? -</p> - -<p> -Fury gathered in the heart of Sleath. -</p> - -<p> -'So,' said he, 'our mutual friend, -Mr. Robert Wodrow, was not born to be -hanged, if the newspaper accounts were -true, by Jove; ha! ha!' -</p> - -<p> -'Sir?' said Ellinor, scarcely understanding -his brutal jest. -</p> - -<p> -'Cheated the gallows—that is all.' -</p> - -<p> -In that speech he revealed the underlying -brutality of his nature—of the parvenu—the -son of the foundling; and, in -his wrath, he followed it up by another -home-thrust. -</p> - -<p> -'What will be said of you—what -thought, when it becomes known that -you have been alone, cruising on board -this yacht with us—with <i>me</i>?' -</p> - -<p> -He saw without pity the start, the -pained flush and pallor that crossed her -face by turns, as he coarsely put into words -the fear that had been hovering in her -own mind. -</p> - -<p> -She tried to reply to his cruel mockery; -her white lips unclosed, and then shut -again, for her voice died away upon them. -</p> - -<p> -With all his love-making, never once -did Sleath's heart—or what passed for -that organ—really soften towards the -helpless girl, and times there were -when he regarded her as a wolf might -have done. He still made a mockery of -the 'cousin story,' as he called it, and, -though Ellinor on one occasion condescended -to partially explain it, he did not, -and could not, believe it to be anything -else than some cunning scheme of -Colville; and as that individual, whom he -hated, was now in India, he had nothing -to fear from him, and only hoped he -might soon get 'knocked on the head.' -</p> - -<p> -At times there was something—what -shall we call it?—almost savage in the -admiration and exultation with which this -man regarded the creature who was so -entirely at his mercy, and who had been -brought to him as flotsam from the sea! -</p> - -<p> -He keenly relished, too, in one sense, -all <i>blasé</i> as he was, the air of resistance -with which she repulsed him; her bearing -was so different and apart from that of -most of the conventional girls he had -generally met—not that he much affected -the society of ladies generally. -</p> - -<p> -But he regarded them chiefly as a means -of excitement—like champagne, an unruly -horse, or a close run at <i>écarté</i>, and, so far -as Ellinor was concerned, he had a firm -desire to prove that his will was the -stronger of the two. -</p> - -<p> -At last he left her and went on deck. -She stretched out her arms on the saloon -table, and bowed her head on them in a -kind of dumb despair, as she thought over -all the degrading speeches to which she -had been subjected. -</p> - -<p> -'Oh,' thought she, 'that I could bury -my hot face among the cool, dewy roses -that bloom at Birkwoodbrae! There I -think I should get well—get well—get -strong and be myself again perhaps.' -</p> - -<p> -But instead, she was fated to get worse, -for the moment the fog lifted, sail was -made on the yacht, and—as stated in the -beginning of this chapter—the horrors of -sea-sickness assailed her, and she lay -prostrate in the little cabin. -</p> - -<p> -She had often been afraid to eat or -drink, lest what she partook of might be -drugged; she had read or heard of such -things; but she was past all such reflections -or considerations now. -</p> - -<p> -There was something daring and lawless -in the conduct of Sir Redmond with reference -to the whole affair; but of that, too, -she was—for the present time—oblivious. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap03"></a></p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER III. -<br /><br /> -THE GALE. -</h3> - -<p> -The crew of the cutter knew not what to -make of the solitary and singular -passenger they had on board, and whom the -Vierlander woman agreed to attend till -they reached Heligoland. -</p> - -<p> -They had often seen ladies on board -during runs to the Mediterranean and -elsewhere, who were certainly not quite the -<i>crême de la crême</i>; but that was no business -of theirs, and now, though Sleath would -have disdained to acknowledge it, and -Ellinor knew it not, the presence of -Dewsnap and Ringbolt (though neither of them -were very meritorious characters) proved -a species of protection to her, but the -sturdy, honest Vierlander more than all. -</p> - -<p> -Thus her tormentor resolved that he -would take her ashore with him in some -place, where she would be more completely -at his mercy among absolute strangers and -dependent upon him for existence. -</p> - -<p> -The crew of the yacht had saved her -life, so they could scarcely be accused of -abduction in keeping her on board during -the bewildering fog or the blowy weather -that succeeded it; but, without making the -slightest effort by the use of a well-manned -boat to put her ashore at Altona, they -were now beating against a rough, head -wind, and attempting to get out of the -Elbe for sea. -</p> - -<p> -To where and for what purpose? Heligoland -could only be touched at in passing. -Were they to haul up for England after -that? Such, were a few of the surmises -among the men forward. -</p> - -<p> -Mid-day after the fog lifted saw the -<i>Flying Foam</i> under weigh, with canvas set, -the foresail braced sharp up, the jib and -fore-and-aft mainsail set, the boom of the -latter well on board, as she was running -close-hauled against a head wind for the -mouth of the Elbe, some eighty miles -distant, and making long tacks as the river -widened. -</p> - -<p> -Altona and then Blankenese, a tiny -fishing village, with its houses scattered -along the green slope among the trees, -terraced over each other, were soon left -astern, and the head of the cutter pointed -towards Hamburg and then Stade, with -the Prussian flag flying on the ramparts of -Swingerschanze, where the White Horse -of Hanover will never fly again. -</p> - -<p> -The wind was blowing half a gale, and -some reefs were taken in the -boom-mainsail when the low batteries of Gluckstadt, -on the Danish side of the river, were in -sight, and darkness fell soon after the -last rays of the sun faded out on the spire -of Freyburg; and still the close-hauled -cutter, with her lights hung out, laboured -on, and ere long, as the river, with all its -treacherous shoals, widened, she became -assailed by impetuous attacks of the sea. -</p> - -<p> -The past day had been dull and hazy, -and the half-gale now subsided almost -entirely, but then the cutter rolled heavily, -adding to the misery of the unfortunate -Ellinor. Then the wind, blowing from -the level coast, would recover its strength, -and, changing its direction, become -furious, while a heavy swell came on, and -when dawn stole in the <i>Flying Foam</i>, still -close-hauled on the port tack, was -standing over towards Cuxhaven, the shore of -which is so low that the only objects seen -against the sky were the flagstaff of a -battery and the guns of the latter mounted -<i>en barbette</i>. -</p> - -<p> -There the river pilot went on shore, -when the cutter, lying on the next tack, -headed off to seaward, steered by Ringbolt -himself, close to the wind, with her -head just so near it as to keep the sails -full without shaking them. -</p> - -<p> -The baffling head-wind soon increased -to a tempest; the timbers of the cutter -groaned as she strained in the trough of -the sea one moment and rode over a great -wave the next, while the water poured in -volumes over her deck, gorging the -scuppers and carrying every loose article to -leeward, and ere long the canvas was -reduced until none was left than what was -necessary for steering purposes. -</p> - -<p> -All on board, even Dewsnap and Sleath, -had donned their 'storm toggery,' and -appeared on deck in oilskin jackets, with -sou'-westers tied under their chins, the -baronet making vows, as ever and anon -he clutched a belaying pin, floundered into -the loose bight of a rope, or had to oppose -his back to a drenching sea, that if he -were once safe on German or Danish soil, -he would tempt the perils of 'the briny' -no more. -</p> - -<p> -All day the cutter, though so beautifully -modelled and built, beat against the wind -without making progress, and now one of -those tempestuous gales that so often -sweep the North Sea began to spend its -fury on her. -</p> - -<p> -Rufane Ringbolt began to look thoughtful; -he had the well sounded; glanced at -the binnacle and aloft ever and anon; put -a fresh quid of tobacco in his cheek, and -took a survey of the weather. -</p> - -<p> -A cloud darker than usual and lower -down obscured the sky, spreading over the -zenith. A lambent glare of lightning shot -through its darkest or densest part; another -and another followed, and like the roar of -artillery the thunder hurtled through the -stormy air. -</p> - -<p> -The wind lulled for an instant, permitting -the <i>Flying Foam</i> to right herself from -her careen, but again the wind bellowed -over the sea, tearing away the foam and -snow-white spoondrift from the wave-crests, -and again the cutter was pressed -down to her bearings by its force and -fury. -</p> - -<p> -Pitchy darkness came on, but the vivid -lightning flashes were incessant. -</p> - -<p> -Owing to the obscurity, the difficulty of -the watch on deck in passing ropes to -each other became great, and the -alternate gleams, with a deluge of rain, -so blinded them that they were scarcely -able to execute an order; so, hoarsely -and angrily, Ringbolt summoned on -deck the watch below, and as they were -somewhat tardy in obeying, he resorted, -we are sorry to say, to much strong language. -</p> - -<p> -'Show a leg and turn out!' he bellowed -down the forecastle hatch, 'tumble up the -watch—quick, you infernal chowderheads, -you'll find it no child's play now.' -</p> - -<p> -As this reinforcement, only three or -four in number, came 'tumbling up,' half -dressed, the wind suddenly burst—but for -a few minutes only—from an unexpected -quarter, taking the cutter aback and -throwing her nearly on her beam-ends. -</p> - -<p> -The man steering was hurled right over -the wheel, the rest, with coils of rope and -whatever was loose or had become -loosened, were heaped in a mass of confusion -among the lee scuppers. In alarm that -the craft was foundering, Sir Redmond -Sleath, forgetting all about Ellinor, then -praying on her knees with arms stretched -over her bed—praying till sickness again -overpowered her—sought some Dutch -courage in the steward's pantry by -imbibing more than one stiff glass of brandy. -</p> - -<p> -Ringbolt was the first to gather himself -up. With an oath he reached the wheel; -the spokes revolved rapidly in his powerful -grasp, and the cutter was righted in time -to save the mast, but still intense darkness -reigned—the lights of Cuxhaven had long -since melted into the sea—with tremendous -peals of thunder, while vast masses -of water passed over the buoyant and -gallant cutter, and the blinding rain -and the bitter salt spray were mingled -together. -</p> - -<p> -The lamp still burned in the binnacle, -and the wetted garments and bronzed -visage of Ringbolt shone in its wavering -gleam as he grasped the spokes of the -wheel, planted his feet firmly on the deck -grating, and looked from time to time -aloft, though he could discern nothing. -</p> - -<p> -Day began to dawn, but the gale still -continued. The cutter was in the Elbe -mouth, though no land was in sight; but -Ringbolt knew that the two sandbanks -between what is called the Southern and -Northern Elbe lay ahead, but northward -of Merwark Island; and, just as this -reflection occurred to him, the mate came -aft in the grey dawn, his face expressive -of concern, to report 'the lower mast -sprung!' -</p> - -<p> -This startling intelligence proved true, -for Ringbolt found the mast had been thus -injured in the gale—a great crack ran -obliquely through it, rendering it quite -unsafe for carrying the usual quantity of -sail thereon, and he knew that unless -instant precautions were taken the cutter -might speedily become a wreck aloft, -tidings which made the teeth of the selfish -Sleath chatter in his head. -</p> - -<p> -With all his errors and backslidings, -Ringbolt was equal to the occasion, and -became the English seaman and the officer -at once. -</p> - -<p> -'Sprung it is, by heavens!' he exclaimed. -'Take in sail—away aloft to the cap with -the top-maul, out with the fid, stand by the -mast-rope, and lower away the topmast.' -</p> - -<p> -Three active fellows were soon up at the -cross-trees. A stroke or two of the maul -knocked out the square bar (with a shoulder -at one end) that supported the weight -of the topmast, which quickly slid down in -front of the foremast through its upper -and lower cap, and was at once made -fast. -</p> - -<p> -This eased alike the cutter and the -mast, but it was necessary to put her -before the wind, and run up the river -again, as it would have been rashness to -venture into the North Sea with a crippled -mast. The storm had nearly spent itself, -but thunder could still be heard in the -distance between the lulls of the wind. -</p> - -<p> -So the <i>Flying Foam</i> was once more -running up the Elbe, to be repaired at -Hamburg, with her topsail-yard down on -the cap, her jib and staysail set, her fore -and aft mainsail close reefed, and the -boom so well eased off that its end -skipped the waves at times as she rolled -heavily before the wind. -</p> - -<p> -At Cuxhaven another pilot, to take her -up the river, came on board from the -yacht, which, by their statutes, the -inhabitants of that place are bound to have -always at sea, or near the outermost buoy, -to conduct any vessel requiring assistance; -and, aided ere long by a tug-steamer, the -<i>Flying Foam</i>, passing Altona in the night, -when dawn came in again, was moored -for repair in the outer portion of the -Binnen Hafen, under the shadow of the -lofty and wonderfully picturesque old -houses of the Stubbenhuck. -</p> - -<p> -And now, having recovered from his -fear and tribulation. Sir Redmond Sleath -began to consider in what way he could -delude his luckless victim ashore. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap04"></a></p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER IV. -<br /><br /> -ALONE! -</h3> - -<p> -In furtherance of his own cruel and -nefarious schemes against Ellinor, Sir -Redmond had forbidden the Vierlander -attendant to inform her of where the yacht -was now, and a few silver kassengelds -effectually sealed her lips, while Ellinor, -still confined to her little cabin, was -prostrate in strength, and only thankful that -the din of the storm had passed away, and -the awful pitching and rolling of the cutter -was at an end. -</p> - -<p> -Dewsnap had fortified himself with so -many potations of brandy and water during -the last few hours that he was scarcely -sober now, and swayed about on his feet -swearing it was still 'the roll of the ship.' -</p> - -<p> -'My watch has stopped,' said he, in a -thick voice, to Sleath. -</p> - -<p> -'Indeed,' said the baronet, not much -interested in the matter. -</p> - -<p> -'I tried to wind it up last night, and -mistook the corkscrew for a key.' -</p> - -<p> -'After such a devil of a time as we have -had of it I don't wonder at anything.' -</p> - -<p> -Meanwhile Sleath was still considering -how he would induce Ellinor to trust -herself on shore with him, after writing to -announce her coming to the Frau Wyburg's -residence, or <i>pension</i> as she was pleased -to call it; and Dewsnap was busy imbibing -a 'pick-me-up' of iced seltzer and brandy, -while conning over the sporting intelligence -at several recent meetings—the -plates run for, the bets at starting, the -Welter sweepstakes, and so forth, without -even caring to open the letters the steward -had brought him from the Poste Restante -at the Post Strasse, when suddenly a loud -interjection escaped him. -</p> - -<p> -'What is up?' asked Sleath, looking up -from his coffee. -</p> - -<p> -'The devil to pay in the East!' -</p> - -<p> -'How?' -</p> - -<p> -'A Reuter's telegram announcing the -murder of Sir Louis Cavagnari, and -massacre of the entire embassy at Cabul!' -</p> - -<p> -'The entire lot?' -</p> - -<p> -'Escort and every man-jack of the -Europeans!' -</p> - -<p> -Sleath was of course interested, and -read for himself the brief and alarming -despatch. -</p> - -<p> -'So that cad Colville is wiped out then—a -devilish good job too!' was his first -comment, and he contrived soon to let -Ellinor Wellwood know the fate of her -'cousin,' as he called Colville in mockery. -</p> - -<p> -Her first thoughts were of Mary. -</p> - -<p> -More than ever did Ellinor long to be -with her now. She strove to leave her -bed, but sank helplessly back upon the -pillow, and lay there still choked by dry -sobs, her face pallid to the lips; in her -half-closed eyes an unnatural gleam that -came of mental and bodily suffering, while -her hands were clenched at times till the -nails almost cut the tender palms. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Ringbolt, the sailing-master, had a keen -appreciation of the charming in female -nature, and was able to admire every -variety of the sex that came under his -observation. -</p> - -<p> -The wonderful beauty and delicacy of -Ellinor inflamed his fancy. He saw that -she seemed, somehow, utterly helpless—a -mysterious waif, cast upon the waters; he -saw that she trembled under the -unpleasant gaze of Dewsnap, and simply loathed -Sleath, who sought to make himself the -arbiter of her destiny; so Mr. Rufane -Ringbolt thought why should he not enter -stakes for this prize? Why should not -he try to make his innings when others -failed? -</p> - -<p> -She had been picked up like a derelict -craft, and by himself, too; and then -Hamburg—dissipated Hamburg—filled with -people of many races and creeds—was -just the place where people may play the -wildest pranks with ease. -</p> - -<p> -Thus Ringbolt had been a kind of -protection in one way to Ellinor, over whom -he kept an eye, on his own account, and, -as Sleath began to think, was always on -the watch, as he was one who took what -he called 'dog watches,' or 'dog snoozes,' -and could sleep by night or day with -wonderful facility, and apparently with one -eye open. -</p> - -<p> -And now that the yacht was moored -along the quay of the Binnen Hafen, close -by such thoroughfares as the Deich Strasse, -and would soon be dismasted and in the -riggers' hands, he thought the time had -come when he might venture on some -scheme of gaining Ellinor's gratitude -first by pretending to succour and free -her. -</p> - -<p> -And, as these ideas occurred to him, his -eyes sparkled, the colour in his -grog-pimpled cheeks deepened, and he mumbled -about with his lips like a man who had -been in the habit of chewing twist tobacco, -which was the case with Ringbolt after he -was turned out of the navy and took to -the yachting line of business. -</p> - -<p> -The watchfulness we have referred to -had not been unnoticed, and Sleath began -to suspect that, if Ringbolt was not doing -this for himself, he must be acting in the -interests of Mr. Dolly Dewsnap, and thus -some action on his own part was -imperatively necessary. -</p> - -<p> -He was becoming exasperated, piqued, -and disgusted, moreover, with Ellinor's -trembling abhorrence of him, and began -secretly to arrange with the faithful and -unscrupulous Gaiters a scheme for having -her more completely in his power ashore, -and luring her quietly from the yacht on -the pretence of restoring her to -Mrs. Deroubigne. -</p> - -<p> -'The embassy massacred—every officer -and soldier destroyed!' exclaimed the -latter, when she read the same startling -telegram that gave Sir Redmond such -extreme satisfaction. 'The hope of her -future—her soul—her existence gone—poor -Mary! Poor darling! <i>How</i> am I -to break this to her?' -</p> - -<p> -But broken it had to be, and then to -Mary came hours of agony—such hours -as in our lives count for years! -</p> - -<p> -'Ellinor drowned and—and Colville -slain.' -</p> - -<p> -Mary Wellwood was stunned and sorely -stricken, and bowed her head as if the -waves of Destiny were rolling over her. -</p> - -<p> -She read the paragraph, so comprehensive -and yet so terrible in its brevity, -again and again, till it seemed to pierce -like burning needles into her heart and -brain. -</p> - -<p> -So Leslie Colville was gone—dead—destroyed -in what manner or after what -torment she would never, never know. -</p> - -<p> -His face and figure—his voice and smile -came vividly and poignantly to memory as -she sat like one turned to stone, with the -kind arms of Mrs. Deroubigne around her, -caressing her head on her bosom. -</p> - -<p> -The dire calamity she had hourly dreaded -might happen, had come at last, and -yet there seemed to be an impossibility in -the realisation of it. -</p> - -<p> -Oh, why did men become soldiers? -</p> - -<p> -'Alone—alone in the world now!' wailed -Mary. -</p> - -<p> -'My darling, you have me and my little -girls to love you as sisters,' said -Mrs. Deroubigne, folding the deathly-pale girl -again and again to her motherly breast; -but, passionate though her sympathy and -regard, Mary shivered, and thought who -could ever replace Ellinor as a sister, and -felt, as she said, most fearfully alone. -</p> - -<p> -Her mind at times became confused. -Something more had happened to her—she -scarcely knew what it was. -</p> - -<p> -Never again did it seem possible that -she could take any interest in the life of -the world and its daily routine. She was -apathetic—careless of what was done with -herself or anything around her. -</p> - -<p> -Existence and its ties seemed over and -done with, yet her present calamity seemed -also a kind of dream to her. 'Sometimes -in great trouble,' says a writer, 'the brain -acts in this way of itself—it will return to -events of long ago and recall them vividly, -while the immediate moment becomes -remote. But the reaction is all the more -intense for this mental rest; and when the -mind returns to the contemplation of the -<i>present</i> it is to see with greater vividness.' -</p> - -<p> -'The embassy massacred to a man!' How -often was she to reiterate mentally -that appalling line? -</p> - -<p> -It was now Mary's evil fortune to feel -perhaps—nay, surely—more keenly than -her sister had done this new calamity, for -poor Ellinor had certainly ceased for a -time to love, though she had never failed -to respect Robert Wodrow, now deemed -also with the dead. -</p> - -<p> -All was silent in that pretty villa by -the broad and shining Elbe—shining in -the light of the moon. The fire glowed in -the tall, cylindrical, porcelain stove in a -corner of the room; that room ere while -decorated and prepared for her and Ellinor -so lovingly by Mrs. Deroubigne, and there -she lay restless, sleepless, and alone, too -bewildered to realise the dire calamity that -had befallen her, and been acted in blood -and wrath so far, far away, and yet but a -few hours ago. -</p> - -<p> -The curtains were drawn back, and the -red glow of the half-open stove and of -the night-light shed a radiance on her -surroundings, but whenever her eyes -wandered they seemed to see something that -was familiar and yet strange to them. -</p> - -<p> -Her mind was every way confused and -involved, and poor Jack from time to time -licked her hand unnoticed. -</p> - -<p> -There was, however, always the one -prominent idea. Leslie Colville, the one -love of her heart, her affianced husband, -was dead—killed cruelly—horribly, she -doubted not, but in what fashion she -knew not, and, fortunately perhaps, should -never know. -</p> - -<p> -And ever and anon aching memory went -back to that sunny noon when she first -met him, yet knew him not, as they fished -together by the bonnie Birks of Invermay. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap05"></a></p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER V. -<br /><br /> -IN THE BALA HISSAR. -</h3> - -<p> -Our advanced post was in the Kurram -Valley—the only part of the Afghan border -which had been trodden by the foot of a -Briton since the previous Cabul war—a -post, the boundary of the so-called -'scientific frontier,' which had been held by a -body of our troops, European and native, -for some three months during the summer -of this eventful year; and all had been -suffering more or less from the breathless -heat and malaria, dulness, and that growing -<i>ennui</i> which a languid game of polo or -lawn-tennis (without ladies) utterly failed -to ameliorate; and all thought that, as -anything exciting was better than nothing, -a brush with the Mongols, the Ahmed, or -Hassan Keyls would be a relief. -</p> - -<p> -Many officers began to think, even to -talk, hopefully of leave of absence to visit -India, to look up old chums in Peshawur, -Rawul Pindi, or Lahore; or when longer -leave for Europe must be given; when -news of the attack on the Residency at -Cabul, and the massacre of the envoy and -his people fell upon them like a clap of -thunder! -</p> - -<p> -These terrible tidings were brought by -Taimur, a Usbeg Tartar, who served as a -trooper in the Guide escort—a man of -undoubted daring, bravery, and hardihood—who -had achieved his escape from the -city of blood by the aid of some of his -own race who were among the Cabulee -troops that had come in from Herat. -</p> - -<p> -After twelve days' wandering, and -enduring great suffering in those savage and -stupendous mountain gorges that lie -between Cabul and the Kotal of Lundikhani, -he reached the advanced post in the -Kurram Valley, in rags, famished, and every -way in a deplorable state of destitution, to -make his report, which was instantly -telegraphed by the officer commanding to the -Viceroy at Simla. -</p> - -<p> -'Everyone cut off as close as a whistle! -By Jove, colonel, we'll have to be up and -doing something,' said Algy Redhaven, the -hussar, as he lounged, pipe in mouth, and -hands in the pockets of his pyjamas, into -the tent of old Spatterdash. -</p> - -<p> -The early summer months had been -passed peacefully and pleasantly by our -embassy at Cabul, notwithstanding the -petty insults and annoyance we have -already referred to. In the cool, breezy -morning, when the sun was coming up -above the hills that look down on the clear, -shallow, and rapid Cabul flowing towards -the Indus; or in the evening, when he was -setting behind the summits of the Haft -Kotal, Sir Louis Cavagnari, attended by -Colville and others, escorted by a few of -the Guide Corps, rode through the city to -view places of interest in the neighbourhood, -sometimes towards the Chardeh -Valley eastward, or the plains of -Killa-Kazi on the west. -</p> - -<p> -Their quarters in the picturesque and -ancient Bala Hissar were rendered as -comfortable as furniture of English style -and make—relics of Elphinstone's slaughtered -army and plundered cantonments—could -make them; but the walls of the -rooms were scribbled over with ribald -pencillings, anti-English hits and insolent -political allusions there was no mistaking, -left there by members of the late Russian -mission; while 'from the Ameer himself, -as from the commandant, dalis of fruit -and vegetables, fish, milk, and sweetmeats -were daily provided; and whatever Cabul -could offer in the way of entertainment or -amusement was readily forthcoming.' -</p> - -<p> -All seemed so peaceful, and the chances -of renewed hostility so remote, that -Colville was about to make arrangements for -quitting the Embassy, resigning his -appointment, and procuring an escort -through the passes to Lundi Khani Khotal -in the Kurram Valley on his homeward way. -</p> - -<p> -He also intended to take with him -Robert Wodrow. The latter had changed -greatly of late for the better. In his -face, that which had been mere good looks -had deepened into earnestness of purpose -in every feature. If, under the heat of -the summer sun, his cheek was browner -and less round, his mouth, in expression, -was a trifle harder and more set, changes -indicative of one who was aware that he -had his way in the world to hew out, and -due to Colville's influence, presence, and -friendly encouragement. -</p> - -<p> -He found him one day whistling loudly -while grooming his horse in the stables of -the Bala Hissar. -</p> - -<p> -'Wodrow, old man,' said Colville, -laughingly, 'by Jove, I am glad to hear you -whistling. Your lips seemed only capable -of sighing once. But the air you indulge -in is a sad one.' -</p> - -<p> -'It is "The Birks of Invermay," sir. I -was thinking as usual of old times, and of -those from whom we are so far away.' -</p> - -<p> -'Many a thousand miles, even as the -crow flies.' -</p> - -<p> -All remained, to all appearance, peaceful, -we say, at Cabul, till one fatal morning, -about eight o'clock, when the Turkistani -and Ordal Regiments, consisting -of several battalions in the Ameer's -army, were mustered for arrears of pay in -one of the stately courts of the Bala -Hissar. -</p> - -<p> -Daud Shah, a sirdir or general of the -army—a venerable soldier—could only -distribute one month's pay, but, with shrill -and vehement shouts that made every -carved arcade and shaded balcony re-echo, -they demanded two. -</p> - -<p> -'Two months' pay or blood!' -</p> - -<p> -The sirdir attempted to remonstrate -with them, on which tumult and disorder -pervaded their ranks, and they broke out -into open mutiny. -</p> - -<p> -Then another sirdir—whose name is not -unknown to the reader—exclaimed, with a -voice loud enough to be heard above the -fast-growing disturbance, -</p> - -<p> -'Let us kill the Envoy and then the -Ameer who would sell us to the Feringhees!' -</p> - -<p> -'Deen! deen! deen and death,' shouted -all, and, rushing into the greater court of -the palace, they proceeded to stone and -loot without mercy the servants of the -Residency. -</p> - -<p> -Enraged by this rough treatment, -Taimur, the Usbeg Tartar, and some of his -Guide comrades, without temporising or -waiting for the orders of their officers, -betook them to their carbines and opened a -fire upon the multitude from the open -windows and stately galleries overlooking -the court. -</p> - -<p> -Colville and other officers called upon -them to cease firing, and they did so for a -time. -</p> - -<p> -Then it was that the Sirdir Mahmoud -Shah, a man whose fanaticism made him -all but a Ghazi, shook his hand upwards -at the gallery where they stood, and called, -with a shrill voice, -</p> - -<p> -'Brutes! beasts! vermin! filthy Feringhees! -Enjoy the pleasures of life for a -brief time, but your speedy departure shall -be into the flames of hell, with water like -molten brass to drink, and ye shall say, as -the Koran tells us—"Oh, Malec, intercede -for us, that the Lord may end us by -annihilation."' -</p> - -<p> -He spoke in Afghani, yet many understood -him, and an officer said, -</p> - -<p> -'These beggars quote their Koran as -glibly as Cromwell's Puritans did the -Bible, and with the same view to blood -and slaughter.' -</p> - -<p> -Led by Mahmoud chiefly, the mutineers -rushed away to procure their arms and -ammunition, with which they returned in -a few minutes, inflamed by all the hate -and rancour of race and religion, and -pitilessly resolved to massacre all. -</p> - -<p> -The time of their absence has been given -as about fifteen minutes, and, with horses -at hand, it is said that all in the Residency -might have made their escape, had they -chosen to attempt it, but either they -trusted to the sacred character of the -embassy, underrated the actual amount -of peril, or, like bold Britons, were -determined to face it, and show fight. -</p> - -<p> -The roof of the Residency was an untenable -place, being commanded by the flat -roofs and windows of loftier houses, yet -there Sir Louis Cavagnari and his little -band were gathered, and there, making -a kind of rampart or shelter-trench with -what they could collect, they resolved to -sell their lives as dearly as possible in -conflict with the savage hordes—the sea of -human beings that surged around them. -</p> - -<p> -The mutineers, all well-armed with rifles -and bayonets, and supplied with excellent -ammunition, were now joined by the fanatical -multitudes of the city, by robbers -intent on plunder, budmashes, and villains -of every kind, seeking blood and outrage, -brandishing long juzails, sabres, and -charahs, or deadly native knives, with -points like needles and edges like -razors—blades that flashed and glanced in the -sunshine like their bloodshot and malevolent -eyes; their strange garments, wide-sleeved -camises, sheepskin cloaks, and -bright-coloured loonghees or caps, adding -to the picturesqueness of the savage and -bewildering scene, overlooked by the -pillared arcades, with horse-shoe arches, and -the carved balconies on ponderous marble -brackets projecting from the palace walls, -and all half revealed and half hidden amid -the eddying smoke of pistols and musketry. -</p> - -<p> -All were yelling, till their yells ended -in a death-shriek, as a shot struck them -down; many were quoting the inevitable -Koran, or hurling offensive and abusive -epithets, as they crushed upon and jostled -each other, while seething and surging -around their victims. -</p> - -<p> -Hope of victory—even of successful -defence—the latter could have none. For -them nothing was left now but to struggle -to the last of their blood and breath, and -until the last man perished in his agony! -</p> - -<p> -Colville, while handling the carbine of -a Guide who had fallen near him, even in -that desperate time, thought how hideous -looked the sea of human faces into which -he was sending shot after shot, as fast as -he could drop them into the block of the -breechloader. -</p> - -<p> -'The faces of the Afghans,' says a -writer, 'often develop into those of the -most villainous-looking scoundrels. -Shylock, Caliban, and Sycorax and his dam -all have numerous representatives, though -I think the first is the commonest type, -on account of the decidedly Jewish cast -of most Cabuli features, and the low -cunning and cruelty which supplies the only -animation in their otherwise stolid -countenances, true indices of the mind -beneath—fatalist by creed; false, murderous, and -tyrannical by education. In this description,' -he adds, 'I do not include the Kuzzil -Bash (Persian), or Hindoo settlers, who -preserve their own distinctive features, -both mental and physical.' -</p> - -<p> -For five hours had the unequal conflict -been waged, when Sir Louis Cavagnari, -who was in the thick of it, was wounded -in the forehead by a ball that had -ricochetted from a wall near him. -</p> - -<p> -Close and terrible was the fire poured -by the Guides with their carbines and by -the few European officers into the dense -masses of the foe beneath, and deadly that -fire proved—the front files, if they could -be termed so, melted away or fell over -each other in heaps, but fresh men pushed -forward from the rear and took their -places, serving only to feed the harvest of -death gathered at the hands of those who -fought not for existence—the hope of that -was quite lost now—but for vengeance. -</p> - -<p> -'Allah! Allah! Allah! Deen! Deen! -Deen!' were the shouts that loaded the air -below, rising above the sputtering roar of -the firearms. On the other side was no -sound, but a yell or a groan as a man fell -wounded, too often mortally. 'La Ilah -illa Allah!' ('There is no God but God.') -</p> - -<p> -Yet devilry, cruelty, and slaughter were -there supreme. -</p> - -<p> -'I wish we could make a headlong rush -on them and clear the square by a charge—cut -our way through,' cried Colville; -'but we have not men enough, and then -Sir Louis Cavagnari and all the wounded -would be butchered if left behind.' -</p> - -<p> -'How fast the devils fire!' exclaimed a -young officer; 'my revolver barrel is quite -hot already.' -</p> - -<p> -'You'll soon get used to the whizz of -the bullets,' replied Colville, whose face if -now pale with desperation, was filled with -an expression of determination too. 'Keep -cool, men—aim well, and let every shot -tell.' -</p> - -<p> -But amid that dense mob below—a -literal sea of upturned and dark, revengeful -faces, with glistening teeth and flashing -eyes—no bullet could miss a mark; -while all around were heard the crash of -falling bricks, beams, and plaster, the yells -of the Afghans, the shrieks of their women, -and the roar of the fast gathering flames. -</p> - -<p> -'Mark that fellow!' cried several officers, -indicating a leader in a green loonghee, who -seemed to have a charmed life—Mahmoud -Shah, in fact. -</p> - -<p> -'I should like to pick that devil off,' said -Robert Wodrow, dropping a cartridge into -the breechblock of his carbine. 'He -seems to be head cock and bottle-washer -of the whole shindy!' he added, in the -phraseology of his student days. His -ballet sped, but only grazed the shoulder -of the old fanatic, and added to the latter's -fury. -</p> - -<p> -A soldier of the Guides who had been -wounded in the temple fell headlong from -the flat roof into the mass below, and was -hewn by tulwars and charahs to -pieces—literally chopped into ounce pieces. -</p> - -<p> -In the desperation of their circumstances -it was resolved to appeal for succour and -protection to the Ameer, who, while all -this deadly work was in progress, remained -with indifference apparently in his palace, -and amid the ladies of his harem. -</p> - -<p> -The ambassador, whose wound had been -dressed by Dr. Kelly, desired a moonshi to -write a letter imploring royal aid, but the -scribe was so terrified by the uproar that -his fingers were unable to hold the pen; -so one was written in Afghani by Taimar, -the Guide, and this missive Robert Wodrow -boldly volunteered to deliver in person. -</p> - -<p> -'You are throwing your life away, -Wodrow,' said Colville. 'The risk is -frightful.' -</p> - -<p> -'So be it, Captain Colville; but better -mine than yours. You have something to -live for. What have I?' -</p> - -<p> -Untwisting a couple of cartridges into a -saucer, he made a species of black paste -therewith, and, blackening his face before -a mirror, contrived still further to disguise -himself with some Afghan clothing that -was found in the Residency—a brown -camise with loose wide sleeves, a furred -<i>choga</i> or mantle, a <i>loonghee</i>, and armed with -a tulwar and shield, like a budmash. He -placed the letter in his pocket, and issuing -from a secret underground doorway passed -from the Bala Hissar unnoticed by the -crowds which surged around it, and -brandishing his weapon and shouting ever and -anon like the rest, 'Deen! Deen!' he -contrived to reach the Ameer, to whose hands -he forwarded the letter through Daud -Shah, a friendly sirdir or general. -</p> - -<p> -It was speedily brought back with a -brief reply written upon it by the prince— -</p> - -<p> -'If God willeth. I am just making -arrangements.' -</p> - -<p> -The brave Wodrow experienced many -difficulties in making his way back, for the -hostile crowds were increasing every -moment, and to reach the Residency he had -at one time literally to act the part of a -leader, and risk the fire of his own friends, -among whom, however, he soon found -himself, and delivered the message of the -Ameer to the half-conscious Cavagnari, -who was suffering sorely from his wound. -</p> - -<p> -But no succour came, and the hopeless -and desperate resistance was continued. -</p> - -<p> -A second letter to the Ameer was now -despatched; but its bearer, a Hindoo, was -discovered and cut to pieces. -</p> - -<p> -After two hours more fighting—hours -that added to the heaps of dead and dying -below the Bala Hissar walls, and to the -fearful casualties in the ranks of the small -band fighting for existence within the -Residency—Lieutenant Hamilton sent out -Taimar, the guide, with an open letter -promising the Ameer's mutineers six -months' pay if they dispersed. -</p> - -<p> -Courageous Taimar, clad in his uniform -as a guide-soldier—drab, laced, piped, and -faced with scarlet—went among them, but -he was not listened to. The letter was -torn to shreds; his uniform was rent off -him; he was robbed of all he had, severely -beaten, and tossed into a vault, where he -lay insensible till he made his escape under -cloud of night; and that he was not slain -outright was simply due to his Usbeg -blood and features. And eventually he -reached our outpost at Lundi-Khani Kotal -in the Kurram Valley. -</p> - -<p> -After his return to the Residency, amid -the confusion and defence of so many -points of the roof on which the whole of -its slender garrison were now gathered, -Robert Wodrow for a time was unable to -discover Colville, and feared that he had -fallen. -</p> - -<p> -After a little time he discovered him on -the summit of an isolated tower, where, -with four men, he had taken post to -enfilade the fire of the mutineers; but his -four soldiers were all shot down in quick -succession. Wodrow saw him turn them -on their faces, take the ammunition from -their pouches, and proceed single-handed -to defend with a musket the tower which -was now in flames, and was ere long -enveloped in smoke. -</p> - -<p> -When a puff of wind blew the latter -aside for a moment a cry escaped Robert -Wodrow, for Colville had vanished, and in -a few minutes after, the tower fell -thundering down in a mass of blazing ruins. -</p> - -<p> -The assailants had now discovered that -loftier buildings, as stated, commanded -the flat roof of the Residency, the upper -storey of which was open on every side, -being merely a sleeping place during the hot -months of the year, and consisting of a -roof, wattled and plastered, resting on -slender pillars of wood, painted and gaily -gilded. -</p> - -<p> -Thus the insurgents were enabled by a -fire, chiefly directed from the loftier -windows and roof of the arsenal, to drive the -desperate and now despairing defenders -downward from floor to floor, till they -ultimately reached the last, upon the -ground; and there, for no less than four -hours more, they made a noble and heroic -resistance against the fanatical and -furious multitude which hurled its strength -against them, so close at times that the -young officers of Cavagnari's suite were -seen to fire their pistols right into the -mouths and eyes of their savage assailants. -</p> - -<p> -Weary, breathless, and suffering from -an intense thirst, incident to hot exertion -and fierce excitement—a thirst they had -neither the means nor the time to allay—their -eyes bloodshot, their lips baked, -their undressed wounds in many instances -streaming with blood, their faces pale as -death—the death that was so soon to -overtake them all—the handful of Europeans -and Guide soldiers maintained the unequal -conflict with a heroism that mingled with -despair. -</p> - -<p> -It was at this crisis in their fate that -Daud Shah, a fine old Afghan sirdir, came -riding from the Ameer's palace, through -the crowds of people, and called upon -them 'to desist from their infamous crime!' -</p> - -<p> -He was a man above fifty years of age, -with a stern face of a decidedly Jewish -type, an aquiline nose, and high cheekbones, -dark and restless eyes, having -beetling brows tufted with grizzly hair, and -a long grey beard that descended to his -shawl-girdle. -</p> - -<p> -But his appearance only added to the -rancorous fury of the people and the -mutineers. Rushing on him with rage, -Mahmoud Shah tore him from his saddle; he -was wounded by a bayonet, severely stoned, -and borne away to the palace, covered -with blood and in a dying condition. -</p> - -<p> -Two other officers of high rank—one a -sirdir or general—also strove to quell the -disturbance, but were fired on and -compelled to seek safety in flight. -</p> - -<p> -That portion of the Bala Hissar assigned -as a Residency was far too large for the -little garrison that had then to defend it, -and it was now surrounded on its four -sides by that ferocious multitude of armed -men bent on slaughter and cruelty, led on -by an equally frantic band of moollahs. -</p> - -<p> -'They are flinging lighted brands on -the roof from the arsenal,' cried some -one, and overhead the roar of flames -was soon heard as the open upper storey -we have described became sheeted with -fire. -</p> - -<p> -'If that is the case, a little time will -see us all gone to the bow-wows!' cried -Robert Wodrow, whom danger always -seemed to exhilarate and make more -reckless. -</p> - -<p> -Despairing of all succour from the false -Ameer, and as if eager to die hard, and in -doing so to anticipate their doom, the few -surviving heroes of the little garrison -charged out sword in hand, and -plunged—thrusting with the point, and hewing -with the edge—into the human sea that -filled the court between the Bala Hissar -gate, just as night was closing, and there -they all perished to a man, save one—perished -just as the roof of the Residency -came crashing down amid black smoke and -crackling flames, thus preserving the bodies -of Sir Louis Cavagnari, of Dr. Kelly, and -several others from the last insults of a -savage enemy. -</p> - -<p> -Aided by the wild confusion, the sudden -darkness of the tropical night, and not a -little by his disguised visage and native -costume, Robert Wodrow achieved a -passage into the streets of the city, and -from thence, as all thoroughfares save -those in the vicinity of the Bala Hissar -were deserted, into the open plain near -the city, and there he threaded his way -without molestation among the apple, -citron, and olive groves, the mud forts and -garden walls, till he found a plantation of -sugar-canes, and then, weary, worn, covered -with bruises, famished, and athirst—ready -almost to weep—after the past -excitement of that terrible day, and the loss -of all his friends and comrades—last, not -least, Leslie Colville, he flung himself on -the ground to recover breath and to think -over the situation. -</p> - -<p> -Day was dawning, and tipping with red -and gold the summits of the Bala Hissar, -when Wodrow awoke to find that he had -been asleep for some hours, and now rose, -stiff and sore in every limb. The flames -of the conflagration had died out, but a -black pall of smoke overhung the towers -and battlements of the ancient and -picturesque palatial fortress, which, with a -recklessness of courage for which it is -difficult to account, he actually resolved to -revisit, as if to see the last—the end of -everything. -</p> - -<p> -He had the caution, however, to readjust -his disguise, to carefully load his -revolver, and by untwisting another -cartridge and mixing the powder in a -dew-laden leaf, to carefully retouch his face, -using the case of his watch as a mirror, -and to re-blacken his hands and wrists, -before he ventured near the scene of the -last night's horrors. -</p> - -<p> -Of the Residency, the blackened walls -and smouldering ashes alone remained, -and as these furnished no 'loot,' the place -was deserted by all save the dead. -</p> - -<p> -Of the latter there lay heaped over each -other, and soaked in each other's blood, some -five hundred Afghans, attesting—irrespective -of wounded—of the stubborn vigour -of the defence, for every cartridge fired -by the desperate few must have told more -than double among the masses. -</p> - -<p> -The marble arches and pillars of the -beautiful carved arcades and open -galleries, the walls and pavement, were all -spotted and starred by the bullets of rifles -and carbines, and clots and splashes of -blood were everywhere, with the corpses -of the Europeans and Guides, easily -distinguished by their uniforms. The solitary -survivor saw the body of the young and -gallant Hamilton, stripped of his braided -jacket and woefully gashed, lying across a -mountain gun, over which he had fallen -or been flung by his slayers, 'and beyond -it, in a trench which the Afghans had -failed to storm, were heaped, thick and -charred by fire, the corpses of the heroic Guides. -Each man had died where he stood, and in -their rear were the smouldering ruins of -the building wherein Cavagnari, Kelly, and -others were lying.' -</p> - -<p> -Robert Wodrow gave a glance at the -blackened ruins of the tower on the -summit of which he had last seen Colville, -rifle in hand, resisting to the last, and a -bitter sigh escaped him as he quitted the -city, and resolutely turned his face and -steps towards the passes, through which -he hoped to reach our outpost at Lundi -Khani Kotal, more than a hundred and -fifty miles distant, amid hostile tribes and -savage ways, by the Latband Pass, -Jugdulluk, Gundamuck, and the Khoord -Khyber, at the very contemplation of which -his heart sank with despair. -</p> - -<p> -'All about the city,' said a print of the -time, 'there were Afghans enough—the -whole hive seemed restless with -multitudinous motion; but when the solitary -traveller (after the hideous uproar of the -past night) had cleared the city precincts, -the old desolation of the dreary hill -country lay stretched before him, and -along the rugged ways hardly a man was -moving.' -</p> - -<p> -Yet the rugged paths through the -stupendous passes had many dangers for -the disguised hussar. Tigers, wolves, and -hyenas were to be met with, making sleep -and night alike perilous and horrible; and -to these were added by day the chance -of discovery by the equally savage -tribesmen, and a death by torture, such as -only the Oriental mind can conceive, at -their merciless hands. -</p> - -<p> -Yet, though aware of all he had to -encounter, Robert Wodrow took to the -hills as a mountaineer born, and strode -resolutely and manfully on. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap06"></a></p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER VI. -<br /><br /> -THE FORT OF MAHMOUD SHAH. -</h3> - -<p> -Resolutely had Leslie Colville defended -the summit of the somewhat isolated tower -on which he had taken post with only -four chosen marksmen, intending to -enfilade the front attack on the Residency, -and pick off the best shots in possession -of the lofty arsenal roof; but he had soon -the mortification to see each of his men -perish in quick succession, and to find -the tower in flames beneath him, cutting -off his descent, and leaving him helplessly -exposed to a fire from those who must -soon have smitten him down but for the -frantic fury with which they impeded each -other's aim and operations; and while thus -perilously situated he heard friendly -voices—or such he thought them to be—calling -to him from below in Hindustani. -</p> - -<p> -He looked down, and on a gun-platform -about twenty feet from where he stood -were four natives, Hindostanees, as -appeared by their costume—the turban, with -a couple of scarfs each, one wrapped -round the body, and the other over the -shoulders, leaving the rest of the body -uncovered—holding outstretched a strong -horse-rug or blanket, into which they -invited him to drop himself, and trust to -them and to their united strength for -breaking his fall. -</p> - -<p> -'Chullo, sahib—golee chulte!' (come -along, sir—the balls are flying) cried one. -</p> - -<p> -'Chullo, bhai—chullo, pultania sahib!' -(Come on, brother—come, battalion officer) -cried the other three, also in a kind of -Hindustani; so Colville never doubted but -that they were Hindoos—perhaps -camp-followers—and Hindoos they certainly -were. -</p> - -<p> -He paused for a moment, irresolute -whether to trust to them or—what? Meet -death amid the flames which had cut off -his retreat, and all chance of rejoining -his struggling companions—the flames -that were fast ascending in the tower -from storey to storey, and would soon be -bursting through the flat roof on which -he stood, for already the smoke was rising -like a black column through the trap-door -by which he had reached it. -</p> - -<p> -He failed to see the fierce expression of -mockery and derision which was in the -dark faces of the four men below, and, -deeming it wiser to risk and trust them -than to perish amid the flames, he dropped -into the rug, in which they received him -with shrill yells of triumph, for the -plunder of his person, combined with his -murder, were their objects. -</p> - -<p> -But Colville was too quick for them. -In leaping over he had relinquished the -rifle he had been using for his sword, and -with the latter, after baffling an attempt -they made to muffle or bundle him up in -the rug, while they were staggering -beneath his weight, he waved them back just -as they rushed upon him with their sharp -charahs, and such blind hate and fury that -they all wounded each other. -</p> - -<p> -He then put his back against the wall, -and kept them at bay with his sword-blade -and levelled revolver, which, although they -knew not, was unfortunately empty. -</p> - -<p> -Streaming with blood from the wounds -they had inflicted on each other, they -strove to close in upon him, and speedily -several budmashes with sword and shield, -and other villains variously armed, came -upon the scene, and their cries were loud -and fierce. -</p> - -<p> -'Astafferullah! put his head in a bhoosa -bag, or one stuffed with chillies!' -</p> - -<p> -'No, let it be in a bag of red pepper, -and then let him die the death of the -doomed!' -</p> - -<p> -That he would have been bayoneted or -shot and cut to pieces there and then was -beyond a doubt, had not a horseman -furiously intervened by dashing his steed -between him and the rabble, who recoiled -in recognition of his presence and authority -as a sirdir, and he presented his right -hand to Colville, exclaiming, -</p> - -<p> -'I ate of your bread and salt on that -night when you saved me from the Wahabi -dogs in Jellalabad, and when I swore by -the Koran and by the Five Keys of Knowledge -never to forget your kindness—nor -do I now!' -</p> - -<p> -As he spoke Colville, even in that -supreme moment of excitement and most -deadly peril, recognised again Mahmoud -Shah, the mock Hadji, with the Israeliteish -features, the complexion fairer than -most Afghans, and the livid sword-mark -that traversed his right cheek. -</p> - -<p> -The fanatic, for such he was, had for -Colville gratitude, and when that exists -there is always good-will. -</p> - -<p> -Mechanically the latter grasped the hand -held out to him, while the scowling mob, -with gleaming eyes and weapons, dark and -scowling visages, drew back. -</p> - -<p> -'So—sirdir—you and the Hadji Mahmoud -are the same?' exclaimed Colville. -</p> - -<p> -'One and the same—I am that eater of -dirt!' he added, to show his humility. -</p> - -<p> -He ordered Colville to give up his arms, -and, sending him under a strong escort of -his own people out of the city, once more -addressed himself to the congenial task of -pressing the attack upon the -Residency—a task which he continued to the bitter -end. -</p> - -<p> -Meanwhile Colville was conveyed, a -prisoner, to one of the many forts which -stud the plain of Cabul and the heights of -Beymaroo that overhang it. -</p> - -<p> -Mahmoud had suddenly become his -protector in fulfilment of the old precept -of being true to his salt; and Colville, -who in his heart was intensely thankful to -Heaven for the succour afforded to him, -while so many poor fellows were perishing -without mercy, felt confident that -while with Mahmoud, or under his care, -he was tolerably safe; for it is well known -that after eating the bread and salt of -another, or even salt alone, one, according -to Oriental ideas, comes under peculiar -obligations of protection and friendship. -</p> - -<p> -As an illustration of this, Lane tells us, -in one of his valuable notes to the -'Arabian Tales,' of a daring robber, who, one -night, excavated a passage into the palace -of the Governor of Sijistan, where he made -up a great bale of gold and jewels; he -was in the act of carrying it off, when, in -the dark, his foot happened to strike -against something hard on the floor. -Believing it to be a jewel of some kind—perhaps -a great diamond—he picked it up, -and on applying his tongue to it, found -that it was nothing else but a lump of rock -salt. -</p> - -<p> -Bitter was his disappointment, 'for -having once tasted the salt of the ocean, his -aversion gave way to his respect for the -laws of hospitality; and throwing down -his precious booty, he left it behind him, -and withdrew empty-handed to his habitation.' -</p> - -<p> -But Colville remembered, as old Colonel -Spatterdash had told him scores of times, -how Asiatics can quibble in this very -matter; and that in the great Mutiny how -often the Sepoys swore 'to be true to their -salt,' and not to murder their officers, but -stood placidly and approvingly by while -the Pandies of other regiments slaughtered -them. -</p> - -<p> -In this fashion Mahmoud Shah might be -true to <i>his</i> salt. Who can say or fathom -the cruel duplicity of the Oriental mind -and nature? -</p> - -<p> -And, with these painful surmises and -doubts in his mind, Colville heard the roar -of the conflict in and around the doomed -Residency dying away in the distance as -the gates of the fort by the Cabul river -were closed behind him. -</p> - -<p> -As he entered, he looked back to the -fatal Bala Hissar. The smoke of the -conflict, mingled with that of the -conflagration, was eddying about its picturesque -towers and embattled masses on the mountain -slope, all bathed in ruddy splendour -by the setting sun. What was being -enacted there now? he thought. Was all -over now? Had the last of the brave -fallen? -</p> - -<p> -After sunset Mahmoud Shah arrived at -the fort, which was his own patrimonial -stronghold, and assured Colville that -all was ended—the last man was slain, -and the valour of the Cabulees had been -successful. -</p> - -<p> -'Success shows the hand of God, and of -Mahomet the Prophet, blessed be their -names!' he added. -</p> - -<p> -His arrival at the fort was the signal for -a species of ovation among his followers, -who mustered some hundreds, all villainous -but picturesque tatterdemalions, -whose arms were as varied as the fashion -and colours of their costume. Many had -girdles of leather, from which hung bags -for bullets, slugs, and flints, powder-horns -and cases for cartridges. Others had -cummerbunds, in which were stuck pistols, -daggers, charahs, and British bayonets in -such numbers that it would have been -puzzling to find room for one weapon -more. -</p> - -<p> -In addition to all this paraphernalia, -every man had a tulwar, and a juzail, or -flint or match-lock rifle, in his hand. -</p> - -<p> -Colville was compelled to dissemble his -hatred and horror of those who had so -wantonly slaughtered his brave companions, -many of whose bright, joyous, and -handsome English faces came so painfully -to memory at that time, all lying cold and -gashed and bloody among the ruins of the -Residency; and that horror was blended -with a great disgust of his host and -protector, when he recalled the tragedy his -treachery was supposed to have brought -to pass with the squadron of the 10th -Hussars; that he was a spy who had -imposed upon himself at Jellalabad, and -had led the Ameer's rebel tribes against -us on more than one occasion; but with -all this, policy, and his own personal -safety, and hope of ultimate freedom -compelled him to dissemble. -</p> - -<p> -'Are you thirsty, sahib?' was the first -question Mahmoud asked him on quitting -his saddle. -</p> - -<p> -'Yes; dying with it! Who could be -otherwise after the horrors and exertion of -the past day?' exclaimed Colville. -</p> - -<p> -'Drink, then—the commands of the -Prophet are nothing to you,' said Mahmoud, -as he gave him a large cup filled with -Cabul wine (which has a flavour not unlike -full-bodied Madeira), and with it a bunch -of the grapes of Ghuznee, which are greatly -superior to those that grow in the plain -of Cabul; and Colville, half-sinking with -exhaustion caused by bodily fatigue and -fierce over-excitement, thought he had -never had refreshment more grateful and -acceptable. -</p> - -<p> -Built of mud and sun-dried bricks, the -fort of Mahmoud was strong and spacious; -it was square, with a squat, round tower -at each angle and a keep in the centre, -well loopholed for musketry, armed with -jingals, and those huge swivel blunderbusses -named zumbooracks, which, as firearms, -are often as perilous to those who -work them as to those at whom they are -levelled. -</p> - -<p> -The fort had two gates, in its eastern -and western faces; these were protected -by demi-bastions, and there was a moat, -once filled by the Cabul, but now dry, -neglected, and overgrown by vines and -orange-trees. -</p> - -<p> -The courtyard was spacious. In the -keep was <i>Dewan-i-Am</i>, or audience-chamber, -surrounded by a divan or continuous -seat; beyond it was the <i>Dewan-i-Kas</i>, or -principal private apartment, and in the -towers were lodged the servants of the -establishment; apart from all was a zenana, -or women's apartments, and elsewhere, in -every corner, were stowed away the -garrison, composed of the <i>budmashes</i> and -other tatterdemalions just described. -</p> - -<p> -When not in the courtyard or on the -summit of the keep—always closely -watched—Colville was generally in the -<i>Dewan-i-Kas</i>, where he shared the meals of the -Mahmoud. Here carpets were laid on the -floor, and there was a kind of chair or -stool of state, with cushions for arms, and -before it lay the tulwar, shield, and pistols -of the sirdir, as in a place of honour. -</p> - -<p> -The fort stood—and no doubt still -stands—close to a bend of the clear and -otherwise shallow Cabul, a river which is -formed by the junction of the Ghorbund -and Panjshir, and after dividing into three -branches it reunites and flows into the -Indus, three miles above the great fortress -of Attock. -</p> - -<p> -And Colville, in his prison in the fort—for -a prison to all intents and purposes it -was—lay for many a weary hour on a -charpoy, or native bed, listening to the -murmur of the stream as it flowed over -its pebbled bed towards the mountain -passes that led to India, and marvelled -what was in store for him; how long his -captivity would last; whether Mahmoud -wanted a ransom or held him as a kind -of hostage: for that the destruction of the -embassy would be amply avenged none -could doubt. Then how would it fare -with the crafty Ameer? -</p> - -<p> -'He is the son of an animal!' said -Mahmoud, on one occasion, scornfully; 'he -plays fast and loose with your people and -his own. According to an old fable, every -man bears on his back a wallet in which -are deposited his weaknesses and his vices, -which, though concealed from his own -eyes, are open to the inspection of those -of others. Thus we see that the Ameer, -if not the tool of Britain, will be the slave -of the Russ.' -</p> - -<p> -'Through his duplicity I am a prisoner.' -</p> - -<p> -'Better that than lying yonder in the -Bala Hissar,' said Mahmoud, with a cruel -leer in his glittering black eyes. -</p> - -<p> -'I am most unfortunate!' -</p> - -<p> -'It was to be, and so it is.' -</p> - -<p> -The doctrine of fatalism meets and -covers everything with the Mussulmans, -who can thus throw on the Deity the -results of their own negligence. -</p> - -<p> -'If it is God's will that a man should -die, let him die,' said Mahmoud, sententiously. -'If it be His will that he should -live, let him live.' -</p> - -<p> -Colville thought this was uncommonly -like the creed of the 'Peculiar People,' in -the city of London. -</p> - -<p> -Though somewhat bored by the prayers -and piety of Mahmoud Shah, and greatly -disgusted by his ferocity, Colville had not -much otherwise to complain of during his -detention in the fort; and preferred those -times when he was left to himself, when -the sirdir secluded himself in his zenana, -or was absent at the many weighty and -evidently important conferences which -were being daily held in the palace of -Yakoub Khan. 'It is not good that man -should be alone,' we are told; so, as -Mahmoud the pious had at least four wives in -his zenana, he spent much of his precious -time there. -</p> - -<p> -The food which he shared with his host -was excellent—it could not be said at -table, as it was spread on the floor; but, -as knives, forks, and spoons are things -unknown as yet under the shadow of the -Hindoo Kush, it was rather repellant to -our fastidious Guardsman to see Mahmoud -rend asunder with his fingers a boiled -chicken or daintily roasted hill <i>chuckore</i> -(or Greek partridge), to hand him a piece -with his brown-hued digits, which ever -and anon he put half-way down his throat. -</p> - -<p> -'Eat, sahib,' he would say; 'remember -the proverb—touch the stomach and you -injure the vitals, but cherish it and you -gain heart.' -</p> - -<p> -'But my heart sinks when I think of -the friends I have lost through vile -treachery.' -</p> - -<p> -'It was the will of God your people -should perish in the Bala Hissar,' replied -Mahmoud, quietly, as he filled his mouth -with a handful of boiled rice and green -chillies. 'What says the Koran? "When -God willeth evil on a people there shall be -none to avert it, neither shall they have -any protector beside Him. It is He who -causeth the lightning to appear unto you, -to strike fear, to raise hope, and who -formeth the pregnant clouds." Praise God -for His bounty; eat and have no heavy -thoughts. The Prophet has written every -man's fatal hour upon his forehead. It is -done at his birth. Yours had not come, on -that day in the Bala Hissar.' -</p> - -<p> -Then Colville would think how strange -and striking were his surroundings, and -from the bearded face of the sirdir who -squatted on a carpet opposite to him his -eyes would wander round the <i>Dewan-i-Kas</i> -where they were eating the evening meal. -</p> - -<p> -A piece of raw cotton floating in oil that -was held in an old ladle wedged into the -bare stone wall cast its fitful and lurid -glare on the dark faces, the gleaming eyes, -the quaint costumes, and oriental weapons -of the sirdir's men, who marvelled that he -fed and housed an unbeliever, instead of -cutting his throat and tossing his carcase -to the jackals of the Beymaroo hills; an -unbeliever, who shaved his chin and not -his head; but Allah! how strange were -the customs for the <i>Feringhee-logue</i>! -</p> - -<p> -'And fortunate it was for you,' -Mahmoud resumed after a time, when his -chibouque was brought him, 'that your -hour had not come; but come it will, and -how will it fare with you then? The -paradise which is promised to the pious is -not for you,' he continued, plunging at -once, as usual with the Afghans, into the -Koran; 'therein are rivers of incorruptible -water and of milk, the taste whereof -changeth not; rivers of wine, pleasant -unto those who drink; and of clarified -honey; and therein shall be fruit of a -thousand kinds, and a pardon from the -Lord. Shall the man for whom all these -are prepared by the Lord of the Daybreak, -be as he who must dwell for ever in the -fires of hell, and will have boiling water -given him to drink, which shall burst his -bowels?' -</p> - -<p> -And ever and anon Colville was treated -to quotations much to the same purpose. -</p> - -<p> -Seeing him one day gazing at a photo -of Mary Wellwood, the sirdir became at -once full of curiosity. -</p> - -<p> -'One of your wives?' he asked. -</p> - -<p> -'No; but one who is to be my wife, I hope.' -</p> - -<p> -'She cannot be of rank—she has no -ring in her nose. Is she moon-faced?' (<i>i.e.</i>, -handsome.) -</p> - -<p> -'Very; as you see.' -</p> - -<p> -'And you love her very much?' -</p> - -<p> -'I do indeed.' -</p> - -<p> -'Better than your best horse, your -camels, and all your fat-tailed sheep?' -</p> - -<p> -'Better than all the world.' -</p> - -<p> -'Inshallah; perhaps you may see her -soon again.' -</p> - -<p> -'Please God, I shall.' -</p> - -<p> -'Do you keep her locked up—in care of -your father, or who—as you are absent, -and gone to the wars?' -</p> - -<p> -'Why should I do so?' -</p> - -<p> -'Many of our people, if of rank, lock up -their wives when they travel.' -</p> - -<p> -'Why?' -</p> - -<p> -'They may be false and artful.' -</p> - -<p> -'And what do you do then?' -</p> - -<p> -He only smiled grimly, and touched the -carved silver hilt of the charah in his -crimson shawl girdle. -</p> - -<p> -'You treat them with a spirit of selfishness,' -said Colville; 'but I know that even -Christian men do the same, by making -more severe laws for women than themselves, -forgetting that by so doing they -raise them above themselves.' -</p> - -<p> -But the sirdir knew not what to make -of this idea, and so remained silent. -</p> - -<p> -Nearly three weeks had passed since -Colville became a prisoner in the fort of -Mahmoud Shah, and no tidings had reached -him of what was doing in the world -of India, beyond the Kyber and other -passes, or of what was transpiring in the -city of Cabul. -</p> - -<p> -He knew that tidings of the massacre -then must have been flashed home by the -electric telegraph long since, and that poor -Mary would now be mourning for him, as -one who was no more! -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap07"></a></p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER VII. -<br /><br /> -THE FUGITIVE. -</h3> - -<p> -Ignorant that Taimur, the Usbeg Tartar, -the Guide soldier, was preceding him, -Robert Wodrow—full of longing for dire -and terrible vengeance on those who had -destroyed his comrades and friends, among -them more especially Leslie Colville, as -he never doubted—trod resolutely on to -reach Lundi-Khana Kotal, or any outpost -at the head of the Kurram Valley. -</p> - -<p> -From the circumstance of Robert Wodrow -being a gentleman by birth and education, -and that both had loved two sisters, -there had been a bond of friendship -between the staff-captain and the luckless -private of hussars. -</p> - -<p> -They were Europeans—another tie; and -more than all, when so far away from all -who loved them, they were 'brother Scots.' -</p> - -<p> -Hungry and athirst—though the latter -suffering could be appeased at any passing -stream—the evening of the day after the -massacre, when Wodrow finally turned -his back upon the smoking ruins of the -Residency, saw him disguised and armed -as we have described, resolutely pursuing -the mountain-path which led, he knew, -from Cabul, past Buthak towards the -Lataband Pass, a distance of twenty-two miles; -but, disguised though he was, he felt that -it was necessary for his safety to avoid all -towns and villages, among which, no doubt, -news of the destruction of the Feringhees -must have spread like wildfire. -</p> - -<p> -He found himself in a solitude—a place -of the most intense loneliness, so he paused -to rest himself awhile beside a runnel that -trickled down the rocks, and to gather a -few wild apples and grapes. On one side -rose the Katcha mountains to the height -of eight thousand feet; on the other were -mountains quite as lofty. It was such a -scene and place as would require the pencil -of Salvator Rosa to depict, so deep were -the shadows in the dark and savage passes, -so red the light that glowed on the eastern -slopes of the mighty hills as the sun veered -westward. -</p> - -<p> -Vast groves of jelgoozeh pines, black -and solemn, cast a gloom in some places; -in others the sturdy, snake-like roots of the -banyan-tree curled and twisted themselves -among the rocks, and through the holes -and crevices of a little ruined musjid, or -wayside house of prayer, built of red -and white marble, which was open and empty. -</p> - -<p> -Wodrow looked at it wistfully, as if he -would select it as a place wherein to pass -the night and escape the mountain dews; -but he thought of the snakes he had seen, -and scorpions too, and remembered, with -a shudder, the huge and venomous reptiles -of that kind he had seen on the plains of -Peshawur. -</p> - -<p> -He selected a crevice in the rocks where -a quantity of dry and dead leaves had been -drifted by the wind, put his Afghan shield -and tulwar under his head as a pillow, -muffled his furred choga around him, and, -soldier-like, accustomed to sleep anywhere, -anyhow, or at any time, he slept till -morning was well in, so much had he been -overcome by the weariness of the preceding -twenty-four hours. -</p> - -<p> -Another ten miles would bring him, he -knew, to Jugdulluk—that place of evil -omen and blood—towards which the lonely -fugitive trod on through black and -frowning gorges, where fantastic rocks, savage -and weird, flung grey and purple shadows -that made the deeper passes dark as -midnight, and there the waters of the -mountains could be seen reflecting the sky -above, as they rolled through the obscurity -so far down below. -</p> - -<p> -In some parts the mountains rose the -perfection of naked desolation, appalling -in their silence and sublimity, looking like -the scene of some Titanic conflict in ages -unknown, and yet every foot of the way -there had been traced in British blood—the -blood of Elphinstone's massacred army -in the war of 1841. -</p> - -<p> -At one point, as Robert Wodrow was -proceeding along a narrow ledge above a -giddy precipice, where the mists of a -foaming torrent streamed upward from -the deep dark chasm below, he had a -narrow escape, at the thought of which his -blood ran cold. -</p> - -<p> -At one place, treading over a loose spot, -the earth and splintered rock gave way -beneath his feet, and before he could -recover himself he fell upon a lower ledge, -some fifteen feet beneath, where he lay for -a time, half stunned and scarcely daring -to breathe. -</p> - -<p> -At that moment death seemed close indeed! -</p> - -<p> -He was only five yards from the edge -of a precipice, the height of which his -mind failed to fathom, and, as one in a -dreadful dream, he crawled upward and -away from it on his hands and knees, till -a surer and less perilous route—path it -could not be called—was won, and he -resumed his way with a prayer of thankfulness -on his lips and in his heart—one of -the prayers he had learned as a child at -his mother's knee in the old manse of -Kirktoun-Mailler. -</p> - -<p> -His anxiety and disquietude were -increased now by hearing more than once -amid these profound solitudes the moaning -yell of a hyæna, responded to by that other -peculiar sound which seems to be something -between the wail of a child and -the howl of a dog—the cry of the jackal; -thus, the peril of hostile men apart, he was -not sorry when he came suddenly upon a -species of village in a hollow of the -hills—we say a species of village, as it did not -consist of built houses, but only some seven -or eight huts. -</p> - -<p> -The dwellings, poor and mean, were -formed of stakes cut from the adjacent -forest, with walls formed of wicker-work -plastered with mud, and called 'wattle and -dab;' leaves of trees and jungle grass -formed the roof, and all around them was -jungle tainting the air, and to the European -very suggestive of fever and miasma. -</p> - -<p> -The inhabitants were rude and simple -shepherds, whose <i>doombas</i>, or fat-tailed -Persian sheep, were grazing in the -neighbouring valley, and they seemed somewhat -awed by the gaunt, tall, and keen-eyed -warrior, who, with shield and tulwar, -pistols and dagger, his floating loongee and -cloak, alike stained with what was too -evidently blood, suddenly appeared among -them and asked for food, offering for it a -handful of <i>kusiras</i>, or Afghan pence. -</p> - -<p> -From them he got milk, chupattees, and -a <i>cuddoo</i>, or gourd full of curry and rice, -of which he ate like a famished kite, while -the wondering shepherds looked on without -questioning, and evidently impressed -by the swagger and adopted ferocity of -his bearing, believing he could be no other -than 'a very devil of a <i>budmash</i>' (or -swashbuckler) steeped in the blood of the -Feringhees. -</p> - -<p> -Refreshed now, he resolved to lose no -time in pushing on, saying that he was -going to Tezeen, which was not the case, -as it lay some miles on his right, but -pursued the path towards the Suffaidh Sang, -and was warned at parting to beware of a -certain place, marked by some ruined -walls, which were the abode of the Ghoule -Biaban. -</p> - -<p> -Had these shepherds penetrated his -disguise or doubted him? He almost feared -so, as he saw a little group of them, clad -in their loose blouses and conical caps of -black fur, conferring together and -watching him as he disappeared over a <i>kotal</i>, a -place where the road dipped down. -</p> - -<p> -Sunset and falling darkness—after -which it was perilous to travel in such -localities—found him at the ruined walls -referred to as the abode of the Ghoule, -and there in a little clump of wild -pistachio trees he took up his quarters for -the night, rightly supposing that all -natives would sedulously shun a place -haunted by such a dreadful demon as the -Ghoule Biaban, or Spirit of the Waste—a -gigantic and hideous spectre, with a red -tail and claws like a <i>syces</i> sickle, who is -supposed to haunt all lonely places in -Afghanistan and devour any passenger -whose evil fortune casts him in his way. -</p> - -<p> -No ghoule came to Robert Wodrow in -his sleep, but a delightful dream, which -made him long remember the pistachio -tope amid the lonely waste—a dream of -Ellinor Wellwood! -</p> - -<p> -So powerful, so vivid, was this dream -that he almost said to himself was it in -sleep she came before him? -</p> - -<p> -He dreamed that she was beside him -and imploring his forgiveness, took his -hands in her own, and pressed her lips -passionately to them. Then her cheek -seemed to touch his, and he could feel her -soft sweet breath, and her dear eyes -looked tenderly into his. -</p> - -<p> -So vivid was that dream that he turned -his head on the root of the tree against -which it rested, towards the vision, if we -may use the term, and then, of course, it -vanished, and the light of the African sun -streamed between the branches into his -eyes. -</p> - -<p> -Robert Wodrow's heart beat hopefully -and happily; he felt that he had looked -into the face of his other soul, with the -assurance that they would one day meet -again; and that notwithstanding their -separation, and all that had come to pass, -they were—perhaps—kindred spirits after -all; and that phrase has a deeper signification -than most people think. 'It is my -solemn belief,' says a recent writer, 'that -spirits are wedded before their birth into -this world, and that somewhere, perhaps -separated by barriers of space and circumstances, -there exists for every soul its fellow, -its complement, whose imperfections -joined to that other's, will make a perfect -whole, if only men and women would not -so rashly take the counterfeit for the -real.' -</p> - -<p> -So Robert Wodrow flattered himself that -Ellinor, perhaps in a dream of her own, -had somehow come to him in the spirit, a -wild and mystic idea; but, as he examined -his arms and ammunition before again -resuming his journey, he found that there -had been perilously near him in the night -something as bad, if not worse, than the -Ghoule Biaban! -</p> - -<p> -Amid the sandy mud of a runnel that -ran not far from the ruined walls there -were distinctly traceable the prints of -tigers' feet, quite fresh, like the paw-marks -of a gigantic cat; so on this night, when -he thought that by the influence of -superstition he was unusually safe, he had been -in more than usual peril! -</p> - -<p> -A few miles more would bring him to -Gundamuck, a walled village, twenty-eight -miles west of Jellalabad, surrounded by -luxuriant wheat-fields and tall groves of -sombre cypresses—the place where Yakoub -Khan and the ill-fated Cavagnari had -signed that treaty of peace which the -former had so basely violated; but -Gundamuck was a place to be avoided by the -fugitive, who kept among the mountains -above it, thus having to ford more than -one tributary of the Surkh-ab river, and -while sighing to think he had still nearly -seventy miles to travel on foot before he -would hear the sound of a British bugle, -he struck manfully into paths which -presented themselves here and there, but -seemed to be only marked by the tread of -beasts of prey. -</p> - -<p> -Among rocky mountains, divested of all -verdure and green clothing, his way lay -now for miles, and, if the utter loneliness -of the scenes ensured safety, it was at -times not the less impressive and appalling -to the solitary man, and made him think, -</p> - -<p class="poem"> - 'The silent gloom around hath power<br /> - To banish aught of gladness;<br /> - The good with awful dreams to thrill,<br /> - The guilty—drive to madness!'<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap08"></a></p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER VIII. -<br /><br /> -THE GHILZIE. -</h3> - -<p> -In avoiding the village of Gundamuck by -making a detour to the right, Robert -Wodrow came upon a handsome Moslem -edgah built in a solitary place. The -mausoleum—for such it was, erected over -the remains of a santon or holy man—was -built of white marble, with a dome and -finely carved horseshoe-shaped entrance -door. -</p> - -<p> -The oleander and rose shed perfume -around it, with many a flower grown wild, -as the garden which once environed it, -either by dissensions incident to -Afghanistan or the departure of a tribe, was -completely neglected now. The custard -apple, the pomegranate, and the citron -hung their golden but untasted fruit -around it, and the snow-white blossoms of -the sweet jasmine hung in garlands from -tree to tree. -</p> - -<p> -The tomb looked solemn and picturesque, -and Robert Wodrow was in the act of -pausing in his lonely way to admire it, -when, somewhat to his consternation, -there stalked forth from the interior a tall -and grim-looking Afghan warrior, -completely armed. -</p> - -<p> -His rosary of ninety-nine beads—each -representing an attribute of the -Diety—dangled at his left wrist; thus he had -evidently been saying his prayers at the -shrine of the santon. -</p> - -<p> -By some of the details of his costume -he was evidently a Ghilzie, a tribe above -seven hundred thousand in number, who -occupy the central portion of that -mountainous district which lies between -Candahar and Cabul—fierce, hardy, and warlike -people, led always by many chiefs of -undoubted valour, under whom they have -always given, and will yet give, the British -troops infinite trouble. -</p> - -<p> -His long, aquiline face was fair for an -Afghan, being what they term 'wheat-coloured,' -but his glittering eyes were -dark and keen, and his beard was -black as the conical fur cap that -surmounted his beetling and shaggy eyebrows. -</p> - -<p> -Seeing that Wodrow's hand instantly -wandered to the hilt of his sword, as if -instinctively he saw a foe, the Afghan -became alarmed, suspicious, and, pausing -close by the door of the edgah, scrutinised -the stranger; and whether it was that -some of the dark paste had left the latter's -face, or that there was some discrepancy -in his costume, it is impossible to say, but -the Afghan unsheathed his sword and -shouted, -</p> - -<p> -'Feringhee!' -</p> - -<p> -He then levelled a pistol at the head of -Wodrow, but it hung fire, and the latter, -ere he could draw another, instantly closed -with him. -</p> - -<p> -He was a man of enormous stature and -great muscular strength; he was, moreover, -fresh and well-fed, while the luckless -Robert Wodrow was faint, weary, and -worn, having been feeding on fruit and -wayside herbs, or little better, since the -morning that saw the slaughter at the -Residency inaugurated. -</p> - -<p> -Wodrow carried an Afghan shield of -tanned buffalo hide, elaborately gilded and -furnished with four brass bosses; but -simply as a portion of his disguise, which the -Ghilzie had so quickly penetrated, but he -knew not how to use it effectively, while -his antagonist had a small one, not much -larger than a dinner-plate, on his left -arm, and when grasped in his left hand, it -proved a defence which he used with -wonderful skill and dexterity. -</p> - -<p> -Both men were brave, completely master -of their weapons, full of perfect confidence -in themselves, and what Wodrow afterwards -called 'a rattling set-to, in which -the pot-lid,' as he styled the little -Afghan shield, 'bore a great part,' now ensued. -</p> - -<p> -The Ghilzie fought in the spirit of -rancour, excited by difference of race and -religion; Robert Wodrow in a spirit of -desperation, to preserve his life and -liberty, and to achieve this nothing was left -him but to kill his assailant outright, if -he could; but all that he had been taught -by the hussar drill-sergeant and fencing, -master—cut one and left point—two and -right point—three and right point again—cut -four and left point, &c.—was useless -here. -</p> - -<p> -They both used tulwars of equal weight, -keenness, and length, but the Ghilzie was -fresh for the combat, and his tiny shield -of tempered steel grasped by a strong -and active hand, if small, was handy, -impenetrable, and was ever opposed to the -shower of cuts and thrusts that Wodrow -intended for its owner. -</p> - -<p> -Ever and anon they paused to gather -breath, though they panted rather than -breathed, and their eyes glared into each -other, as the rage of conflict and lust of -destruction grew in their hearts—Wodrow -the while feeling that every moment was -to him most precious, as he knew not what -succour or comrades his foe might have at -hand. -</p> - -<p> -He hewed, slashed, and thrust away, -but there was no circumventing the use -of that pestilent little iron shield, which -rang and emitted red sparks beneath -his strokes, and which there seemed no -means of getting over, under, or round -about. -</p> - -<p> -The Ghilzie warrior was compelled, by -the activity and desperation of Wodrow's -attack, to stand more on the defensive than -he expected, and his mountain blood waxed -hot. Drawing back a pace or two, he -hurled three pistols in succession, which -he snatched from his girdle, at the head -of Wodrow, who adroitly 'dodged' them, -and suddenly closing, struck the Ghilzie's -tulwar from his hand to the distance of -some yards. -</p> - -<p> -The sudden wrench this action occasioned -his wrist disconcerted him, and -Wodrow's sword having completed the -sweep of the stroke, was descending on -his head ere he had time to draw the -deadly <i>charah</i> which, among other weapons, -was stuck in his girdle, when up went the -tiny shield, and in saving his head he left -his face exposed, and right into it Robert -Wodrow planted his clenched hand with -such force and fury that the Ghilzie -stumbled backward, and in falling was twice -run through the body and slain. Choking -in blood, his last words were: -</p> - -<p> -'I am gone. Oh, place my feet towards -the Keblah.' -</p> - -<p> -Robert Wodrow felt neither pity nor -remorse just then, as his blood was boiling -in fever-heat, and the Ghilzie had sought -his own destruction. -</p> - -<p> -The victor cast a rapid and furtive -glance around him, and then hurried on -his way. Save the dead man, no other -enemy was in sight. -</p> - -<p> -In a little time Wodrow looked back to -the place where the Ghilzie lay, and already -he could see hovering over the latter in -mid-air several great black vultures -wheeling in circles prior to swooping down to -begin their horrible banquet. -</p> - -<p> -That his disguise had been seen through -by this unfortunate fellow greatly -disconcerted Robert Wodrow, and deprived him -of much of the confidence he had hitherto -possessed, and he thought of travelling -only by night, and lurking in the woods or -among rocks by day; but his ignorance of -the country, and the necessity of studying -such landmarks as he remembered, and -keeping to the beaten path as much as -possible, together with the necessity for -procuring food at all risks, compelled him -to relinquish the idea. -</p> - -<p> -He untwisted another cartridge, and -again, with water from a runnel, made -some dark dye in a leaf, and carefully -rubbing therewith his face, neck, and ears, -betook himself to the mountain ridges that -overhung Bahar; the latter is only twelve -miles from Gundamuck, but so rugged was -the way he had to pursue, and so many -the detours he had to make to find fords -on the streams he had to cross, that -evening was drawing on by the time -he had passed on the right flank of the -village. -</p> - -<p> -He continued his way a few miles -beyond it, and then, feeling overcome by -profound weariness and prostration after -the events and toil of the past day, -he lay down among some thick, soft -grass a little way apart from the road, -and, oblivious of snakes, wild animals, -and dew, dropped into a deep and -dreamless sleep. -</p> - -<p> -How long he lay thus he knew not, but -he was roused by voices and other sounds. -Starting up he found a moon of wonderful -brilliance shining clearly as if a second -day had dawned, and close by him a -group of men with laden camels—a group -that had halted on finding him prostrate -there, in doubt whether he was alive or -dead. -</p> - -<p> -On seeing the turbans and dark faces, -Wodrow thought all was over with him, -and his hand went at once to the hilt of -his sword, and he longed for the ring of -Gyges, or anything that would render him -invisible. -</p> - -<p> -But the men among whom he found -himself evidently took him for an Afghan, -and evinced no sign of hostility, though -they were all well armed. -</p> - -<p> -They proved to be five merchants from -Ghuznee, having camels laden with those -dried fruits which constitute the principal -article of trade between Afghanistan and -India, and these, together with oranges, -citrons, tobacco, and jars of red and yellow -Derehnur wine, they were now conveying -to the banks of the Indus to exchange for -British goods, or sell, if possible, at the -first British fort. -</p> - -<p> -Like themselves, their <i>syces</i> and <i>bheesties</i> -(grass-cutters and water-carriers) were all -well armed, but were Hindoos, and with -the whole party Robert Wodrow had no -occasion for much fear, as his residence in -the house of the Hakim, together with -his knowledge of the natives, picked up -elsewhere, stood him in good stead now. -</p> - -<p> -'What are you?' asked one of the merchants. -</p> - -<p> -'A tchopper of Cabul,' replied Wodrow. -</p> - -<p> -'Then where is your horse?' -</p> - -<p> -'He fell under me on the way,' replied -Wodrow, seeing at once his mistake, for -in Afghanistan, as in Persia, State -despatches are carried by mounted messengers -called <i>tchoppers</i>, or mounted couriers, -and private letters by cossids, or -foot-messengers, who will sometimes travel seventy -leagues in four consecutive days. -</p> - -<p> -'Then you are the bearer of a royal despatch?' -</p> - -<p> -'From the Ameer, whom God long preserve, -to the officer commanding the outpost -at the Lundi-Khana Kotal. In the -name of the Prophet, give me some food; -I am starving.' -</p> - -<p> -The unsuspecting merchants hastened -to supply his wants, and one said, -</p> - -<p> -'Your despatch, no doubt, refers to the -vengeance of heaven which has overtaken -the Feringhee dogs at the Bala Hissar?' -</p> - -<p> -'I presume so,' replied Wodrow, eating -cold meat and buttered chupatties with -infinite relish. 'If it isn't an angel they -are entertaining unawares, they little think -it is one of the 10th Hussars,' was his -thought. 'As for the Feringhees, they -are now eating other food than this,' said -he aloud. -</p> - -<p> -'True,' added the merchant; 'the tree -of Al Zakkum, which issueth from the -bottom of hell, and the fruit whereof -resembleth the heads of devils.' -</p> - -<p> -'May all their kindred come, as they -have done, to a knowledge of their fiendish -idolatry,' said another, his voice becoming -hoarse in the extremity of his hatred; 'the -heathens—the savages that they are—dogs -who come among us to cast a slur upon -civilised men and a holy religion—who -eat of the unclean pig, a brute like -themselves; but we shall not cease to -strike and slay, Bismillah! till not one -of them remain alive on this side of Attock!' -</p> - -<p> -'Oho, my friend,' thought Robert Wodrow; -'by Jove, I must keep my eye upon -you, now that I know the amiability of -your sentiments.' -</p> - -<p> -He then learned with extreme satisfaction -that they meant to pass Lundi-Khana -Kotal. He was accommodated with a seat -on one of the camels, which, though laden, -travelled at a good average pace, and he -resolved to be very taciturn and careful in -his bearing and demeanour, especially after -the morning dawned. -</p> - -<p> -'Fate and fortune have long seemed -dead against me,' thought he; 'yet, heaven -knows, it is not because I have been faint -of heart; and heaven always helps those -who help themselves.' -</p> - -<p> -With these merchants he now travelled -in ease and security for the remainder of -his journey, passing undiscovered through -Sador, Baru, Basawul, and other villages, -and traversing the upper end of savage -Khoord Khyber Pass. Ere long he found -himself approaching Lundi-Khana Kotal, -a post two thousand four hundred and -eighty-eight feet above the level of the -sea, just as dawn was breaking, and there -came to him on the morning wind a sound -there was no mistaking—the pipers of a -Highland regiment playing the morning -reveille, 'Hey, Johnnie Cope,' among the -white tents of the British camp, and then -he knew that he was safe. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap09"></a></p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER IX. -<br /><br /> -A NEW SNARE. -</h3> - -<p> -In detailing the adventures of Leslie -Colville and Robert Wodrow in the distant -land where fate and the fortunes of war -had cast them together, we have somewhat -anticipated the time and the troubles -brought upon Ellinor by the daring of -her unscrupulous abductor. -</p> - -<p> -The snares that had been laid for her, -the loyal heart she had lost and now -believed to be cold in the grave—all came -before the girl with painful vividness, and -she loathed herself for ever having -listened, as she had done at Birkwoodbrae, -to the artful wretch who from first to last -had sought to lure her to destruction by -so many specious falsehoods; for, in many -ways, the baronet had now become so -degraded in character that, so far as truth -went, he was like the man mentioned by -Mark Twain, who had such a sacred regard -for truth that he never by any chance -used it. -</p> - -<p> -Sooth, however, to say, prudence and -weariness at times suggested to Sir -Redmond the abandonment of his enterprise -and designs regarding Ellinor; at other -times, obstinacy, distorted pride, and, -more than all, inflamed passions and her -apparent helplessness, spurred him on in -his schemes. He felt now that, if these -were unsuccessful, they could only be -relinquished at peril and <i>exposé</i> to himself. -</p> - -<p> -Her inertia provoked and alarmed him. -He would have preferred some of her -former desperate energy, even though -accompanied by undisguised repugnance of -himself. -</p> - -<p> -He knew that now, with Mary Wellwood, -the luckless Ellinor must be numbered -with the dead; the last despairing -advertisements he had seen in the -<i>Hamburger Nachrichten</i> and other journals led -him to infer that such must be the case, -and that the sorrowing sister had no doubt -left Altona in a state of grief, for which -he cared not a jot. -</p> - -<p> -He knew also that Ellinor was ignorant -of Mary's precise whereabouts, whether -she was still in Altona or had gone back -to London or Birkwoodbrae; that she -could not communicate with her, even by -letter, save through him, and was thus -completely in his power, as a baby or a -bauble might have been; and he vaguely -thought that if he could get her away, on -any pretence, to Brussels or some quiet -little village in the Netherlands, she would -be still more so, and for the contingencies -of the future he drew heavily on his -bankers through Herr Burger, in the -Gras Keller. -</p> - -<p> -For the future—let the future take care -of itself! He had broken with English -society, if not with the police. Who was -there, as a relation, to call him to account, -and who had the right to do so? he asked -of himself. -</p> - -<p> -As he was not without fears or suspicions -of his friend Mr. Adolphus Dewsnap, -he resolved to get her away from the yacht. -</p> - -<p> -'Tears—always tears!' said he, angrily, -on the day after the <i>Flying Foam</i> was -moored alongside the jetty in the Binnenhafen. -'I daresay, like your sister, you -are sorry for that fellow Colville—your -"cousin" as he called himself—a good -joke that! Very terrible, of course—cut -off by the Cabul niggers, and so forth; but -we can only die once. Hope he was duly -prepared, as the devil-dodgers say, and all -that sort of thing.' -</p> - -<p> -In furtherance of his plan to get her -away from the yacht, he said, quite -deliberately, -</p> - -<p> -'Your friend Mrs. Deroubigne has left -Altona.' -</p> - -<p> -'Left it—gone!' exclaimed Ellinor, in a -weak voice, and grieved but not surprised. -</p> - -<p> -'Yes.' -</p> - -<p> -'For where?' -</p> - -<p> -'To another residence in Hamburg, -whither I shall shortly take you and leave -you to relate your own adventures, for I -am deuced tired of this kind of work.' -</p> - -<p> -A gush of joy, but joy without the least -gratitude, welled up in the heart of -Ellinor, and she prepared with wonderful -alacrity to accompany him, never suspecting -that he was cajoling her and meant to -put her in the hands of Frau Wyburg, who -for a sum paid down had promised to -keep her safely till he made other -arrangements. -</p> - -<p> -He could not take her to the <i>Kron Prinzen, -L'Europe</i>, or any of the great hotels, for -there she would have claimed and found -protection, and for him she would, he -knew, be quite helpless in the hands of -Frau Wyburg and her husband; thus he -resolved to keep his own counsel on leaving -the yacht as to where he was taking her; -but Mr. Dolly Dewsnap and Kingbolt too -had shrewdly their own ideas on the -subject. -</p> - -<p> -'Sorry we are not to have your company -to the coast of France, Miss Ellinor,' -said Dewsnap, as he pressed a glass of -wine upon her ere she departed. -</p> - -<p> -'I don't think you'll miss much,' said -Ringbolt, as the pale girl made no reply. -'There you get sour wine, and they call it -<i>vin ordinaire</i>, and all kinds of offal cooked -with fine French names, so that I defy you -to tell whether you are eating a bird of the -air or a fish of the sea. Ah, there is no -place like Old England.' -</p> - -<p> -Mr. Dolly Dewsnap was about this time, -as his subordinate Kingbolt said, 'three -sheets in the wind,' even before going to a -late dinner at <i>Hotel de Russie</i> in the -Jungfernsteig, and he was propping himself -against the cabin table while sipping his -sherry, and regarding Ellinor with a -leering expression of admiration. -</p> - -<p> -'Won't you have a cigarette, Miss Ellinor?' -said he, suddenly producing his -cigar-case. -</p> - -<p> -'Scotch girls, and English ones too, -don't smoke,' said Sleath, angrily. -</p> - -<p> -'Why not?' responded Dewsnap, sharply; -'by Jingo, I knew a Russian Princess—the -Princess Wroguenoff—who always -smoked Turkish tobacco in a Manzanita -pipe; and a charming woman she was.' -</p> - -<p> -'So you don't know her now, Dolly?' -</p> - -<p> -'How do you know?' asked the other, -who was disposed to be quarrelsome just -then. -</p> - -<p> -'You speak of her in the past tense.' -</p> - -<p> -'The droski waits, sir,' said Gaiters, -suddenly appearing in the companion-way. -</p> - -<p> -Sir Redmond gave his hand to Ellinor, -who was ready, hatted and shawled, and -barely gave a bow of farewell to Dewsnap, -as she ascended to the deck, and bade -adieu to her Vierlander attendant. -</p> - -<p> -Evening had fallen now, and the gas-lamps -were reflected in the murky and -muddy waters of the Binnenhafen, as she -stepped ashore, and entered a close droski -(as those cabs are named which ply for -hire in all the principal thoroughfares of -Hamburg) unnoticed by any but some -dock porters, and an organ-grinder with -a monkey 'appropriately dressed in -Highland costume,' as Sleath remarked while -putting his head out of the window, and -telling Gaiters, who was seated beside the -driver, where they were to go. -</p> - -<p> -The vehicle proceeded slowly, and -Ellinor, while in a fever of impatience, and -without hearing what Sir Redmond was -saying to her, looked forth from the -windows alternately, and recognised the -church of St. Nicolai as they passed -through the Hopfen Market, the street -called the Gras Keller, and the long and -stately Neuerwall, after which they seemed -to traverse streets that were unknown to -her, old, mean, and dirty. -</p> - -<p> -'Need I urge upon you how strangely -our paths seem to cross each other—how -strangely our lives seemed linked together, -Ellinor?' said he, attempting to take one -of her hands caressingly. -</p> - -<p> -This roused her, and she withdrew it -sharply. -</p> - -<p> -'Still perverse!' he resumed, with -knitted brows. 'Fate has thrown us together -for a third time. You escaped me twice; -but the third time mine you shall be, so -sure as you hear me speak!' -</p> - -<p> -She made not the slightest response, -and surveyed with surprise the network -of canals and wet ditches the droski crossed -by a succession of iron bridges. -</p> - -<p> -'Ellinor,' said Sir Redmond again, 'you -are over-excited; you have not recovered -from the terror of your accident—the -sickness and storm at the river mouth.' -</p> - -<p> -Her face was pale and rigid; her eyes -alternately flashing fire at the prospect of -freedom, and then growing cold as steel -with indignation. -</p> - -<p> -To her it began to seem impossible that -Mrs. Deroubigne and Mary could have left -their pretty and airy villa at Altona, on -the grassy bank of the Elbe, to dwell -in such a locality as that in which she -found herself when the droski stopped. -</p> - -<p> -'Here we are, sir,' said Gaiters, jumping -down and touching his cockaded hat. -</p> - -<p> -A bell that emitted a dismal sound -resounded to the downward pull of the iron -handle, and a large door—but all the -doorways are large in Hamburg—unfolded, -showing a gloomy porch, lighted only by -the oil-lamp that burned feebly before a -madonna perched on the wall to give the -house an external air of respectability. -</p> - -<p> -After a conference with some one -within, Gaiters reappeared at the droski -window. -</p> - -<p> -'Madame Wyburg,' he said, 'tells me -that Mrs. Deroubigne has left this place -two days ago, and gone, she believes, to -Brussels.' -</p> - -<p> -'To Brussels!' exclaimed Ellinor, sick -with disappointment and dismay, as she -sank back on her seat. 'I cannot go there -vaguely in search of them——' -</p> - -<p> -'Of course not; so what then?' -</p> - -<p> -'Oh, let me get back to London—to -Grosvenor Square!' -</p> - -<p> -'You are too ill to travel just now, and -must remain with kind Madame Wyburg -for a few days till the exact address of -Mrs. Deroubigne is found,' said Sleath, in -the most persuasive tone he could adopt; -'but here comes the master of the house,' -he added, as a very singular figure -appeared. -</p> - -<p> -A man short in stature, but thick-set -and powerfully built, with leery grey eyes, -dissipated and bloated features, and a -ragged red moustache, wearing a quaint garb, -entirely black, with a plaited ruff round -his neck, a wig curled and powdered, a -short Spanish cloak, and a long Toledo -sword, with a Mother Hubbard hat on his -head, sharply pointed, and about two feet -high. -</p> - -<p> -This strange apparition of the sixteenth -century doffed his steeple-crowned hat to -Ellinor, who after a time discovered that -the Herr Wyburg, among various other -less respectable avocations, whereby to eke -out a living, was one of the sixteen -<i>Reiten-Diener</i>, or hired mourners, who—instead -of the friends of the deceased—attend -funeral processions in Hamburg, carrying -out Charles Dickens's well-known definition -of such a ceremony as 'a masquerade -dipped in ink.' He had just come from -having a 'deep drink' with his comrades -after an interment at the <i>Begrabnissplatze</i>, -or grand cemetery, outside the Ulricus -Bastion, for in their ways these fellows are -precisely like the human carrion crows we -may see daily perched on the top of -London hearses returning from Kensal Green, -Brompton, or elsewhere, in a state of -hat-band, jollity, and gin. -</p> - -<p> -He also bowed low and leeringly to Sir -Redmond Sleath. -</p> - -<p> -This was not the first of the baronet's -acquaintance with these people. He had -been aided by the Frau Wyburg in more -than one nefarious intrigue, the victim of -which had dropped out of society, and by -her husband in more than one shady gambling -transaction in a 'hell' of the Adolphus -Platze, ere he succeeded to the title -his father's shady politics had won; so the -trio knew each other thoroughly. -</p> - -<p> -Ellinor, conceiving that she must be -safer in the care of one of her own sex -than on board the yacht, agreed to remain -with Frau Wyburg till she proceeded to -London or Brussels, and from that moment -found herself more than ever a hopeless -prisoner. -</p> - -<p> -The frau was a pale, little woman, with -black hair, wicked dark eyes, a square and -resolute-looking jaw, a cruel mouth, and a -face generally on which, after a time, -Ellinor could not look without a shudder -when the woman's real character became -known to her; but as yet she was disposed -to cling to her as a friend—a protector—in -her helplessness and excessive debility -after all she had undergone, and she -gratefully accepted at her hands a cup of hot -coffee in her cosy parlour, with its gay -chintz curtains and polished oak floor, -while her husband, with an eye to -monetary business, drew Sir Redmond aside to -another apartment. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap10"></a></p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER X. -<br /><br /> -THE HOUSE BY THE FLEETHEN. -</h3> - -<p> -The abode of Herr Wyburg was situated -in the oldest part of Hamburg, where the -streets are narrow, crowded, irregular, -and, if picturesque, squalid. They are -generally of great height, built in the -Dutch fashion of brick and wood, and -those inhabited by the lower orders have -their narrow windows so near each other -as to give them the aspect of huge -manufactories, but with a heavy and gloomy -character about them. -</p> - -<p> -Many of these brick-nogging, tumble-down -dwellings are admirable subjects for -the pencil. Numerous canals called -<i>Fleethen</i> intersect this quarter, and run along -the backs of the houses, giving the streets -a resemblance to those of Holland. In -summer the muddy exhalations from these -are very unwholesome, and might prove -pestilential, were it not for the agitation -in them caused by the current of the Elbe. -</p> - -<p> -In this odious and unsavoury, but -picturesque part of the city, which escaped -the great fire of 1842, and which has -undergone little change since the days of -the Hanseatic League, the back wall of -Herr Wyburg's house was washed by the -waters of the Fleethen, while on one side -it was isolated from the haggard district -in which it stood by a large market-garden. -</p> - -<p> -The original frame of the house had -been altogether wood—Baltic pine—but -would seem to have been patched and -repaired with bricks. -</p> - -<p> -The arms of Holstein and Schleswig, -the nettleleaf and two lions respectively, -were reproduced in various parts of it, -for in other times it had been a residence -of the old Counts of Holstein, the ancient -Lords of Hamburg, a dignity claimed by -the Kings of Denmark till 1768; but in -rank it had come sorely down in the -world, just as in Scottish towns we find -the ancient abodes of nobility, and even -of royalty, now abandoned to the squalid -and the poor. -</p> - -<p> -Its walls were in some places panelled -with almost black mahogany, quaintly, if -uncouthly, carved, and much discoloured -by damp from the adjacent Fleethen. The -windows were high, jealously grated with -iron, and admitted but a foggy kind of -light, even by noonday, and the whole -edifice had a general aspect of dreariness -and desolation that sunk like a weight on -the young heart of Ellinor Wellwood. -</p> - -<p> -The back windows alone were ungrated, -but then they overlooked the Fleethen, -that system of canals and intersecting -ditches which conceal many a crime, and -where the body of the murdered—if found -before being swept into the Elbe—passes -often for that of a suicide. -</p> - -<p> -When Wyburg withdrew with Sir Redmond, -he offered that worthy his hand, -but the latter ignored the action, and did -not respond to it. In this he only acted -'snobbishly,' not because he knew the -other to be a finished rascal; and over -the face of the latter there passed a flush -of rage and affront, while a dangerous -gleam came into his watery eyes. -</p> - -<p> -'It is no use, Sir Redmond, your -attempting to come the fine or arrogant -gentleman over me,' said Herr Wyburg; -'you and I are too old acquaintances for -that.' -</p> - -<p> -His English was remarkably distinct, -though of course the foreign accent was -very marked. He had been a billiard-marker -in the Strand, but had to quit -London in some haste, having become too -well-known in the vicinity of 'Lester -Square.' Hence it was that he knew -English well, and London too, in all its -worst, foreign, and most disreputable -phases. -</p> - -<p> -He was a billiard-marker and gambler -still, and ready to do any rascality for -which he was sufficiently paid. His -wife—the Frau Wyburg—had once been a -dancer in the Schweitzer Pavilion and -Ambiguity Circus, during her less -disreputable days, and was no more above -taking a bribe than himself. -</p> - -<p> -'Sir Redmond,' said he, pocketing the -gold by which his services were to be -secured, 'I have seen some pretty faces in -my time, but the fraulein is downright -beautiful!' he added, as he thought with -genuine admiration of the clear, creamy -skin which so often accompanies such -hair and dark-blue eyes as those of Ellinor. -</p> - -<p> -'This young lady is my wife,' said Sleath, -a little emphatically; 'and I wish you and -your worthy frau to take all requisite care -of her for me—for a time.' -</p> - -<p> -Herr Wyburg closed one eye, and, with -intense cunning in the other, surveyed the -speaker. -</p> - -<p> -'Your wife?' said he. -</p> - -<p> -'Yes.' -</p> - -<p> -'She has no wedding-ring.' -</p> - -<p> -'If it is not on her finger, it ought to be.' -</p> - -<p> -'And you wish us to take care of her—that -she does not escape, you mean?' -</p> - -<p> -'Precisely.' -</p> - -<p> -'Why?' -</p> - -<p> -'Need <i>you</i> ask me why?' said Sleath, -with irritation. 'She is ill—strange,' he -added, putting a finger to his forehead. -'Poor girl—you understand?' -</p> - -<p> -Herr Wyburg winked his cunning eye -again. He <i>did</i> understand, and shrewdly -disbelieved that the girl was Sleath's wife; -yet her bearing, her fear, repugnance, and -bodily weakness all puzzled him, and, like -his wife, he knew not what to think, save -that Sleath's golden sovereigns were very -acceptable, and the latter now prepared to -depart—his droski was still at the -door—and he bade Frau Wyburg 'good-night,' -after she had recommended him not to -insist on again seeing Ellinor, who had -retired to her room. -</p> - -<p> -'Ah,' said the frau, with one of her -detestable but would-be suave smiles, 'the -Fraulein has got what the French call a -<i>migrain</i>—perhaps it is periodical—any way -the kindness and love of mein Herr,' she -added, curtseying, 'will soon make it pass -away.' -</p> - -<p> -Ellinor felt intense relief when Sir -Redmond drove away, and strove to hope that -he had wearied or repented of his persecution, -and would really discover the address -of Mrs. Deroubigne; but how was she to -travel without money, and she had scarcely -a trinket about her! -</p> - -<p> -She was left, with a slipshod girl in -attendance, in a tolerably comfortable little -room, with panelled walls, and having in -one corner a pretty little bed (with one of -those enormous square pillows peculiar to -Germany), in another corner a tall cylindrical -iron stove, in which a fire was glowing -redly across the polished floor and on -the panels of an antique clothes wardrobe. -</p> - -<p> -She looked from the casement window, -and saw the lights in houses opposite about -fifty yards distant, and between them the -still, deep, and gloomy Fleethen ditch, or -canal, in which these lights were tremulously -reflected; and something in the chill -aspect of the water, or what it suggested, -as it lay just beneath her window, made -her shudder involuntarily. -</p> - -<p> -She was soon to find that she was snared, -and more a helpless prisoner than she had -been when on board the <i>Flying Foam</i>; for -Sir Redmond had placed her in this abode, -knowing where he could find her again -when he chose, and where, if he did <i>not</i> -choose, she might disappear, as so many -entrapped English girls do on the Continent, -and never be heard of again; and in -gambling, dissipated, and dissolute -Hamburg the muddy waters of its Fleethen -hide many an unknown crime and many a -secret sorrow. -</p> - -<p> -Lenchen (or Ellen), the girl who -attended her, if slipshod, was pretty and -rosy, but saucy and flippant, though clad, -like the usual Hamburg housemaid, with -a piquant lace cap, her white arms bare -to above the elbow, always scrupulously -clean, and when she went to market wore -long kid gloves and the gayest of shawls, -so disposed under the arm as to conceal -the basket, which is always shaped -unpleasantly like a child's coffin, but -containing butter, cheese, eggs, or whatever -has been purchased. -</p> - -<p> -Ignorant of the German language, and -ignorant also, as yet, of the true character -of the Frau Wyburg and her attendant -Lenchen, and as their broken English -gave—as it always rather absurdly seems -to do—an idea of childish innocence even -to the most rascally foreigner, Ellinor -became inspired by a new sense of -protection in the presence of these -females—especially of Lenchen; but this confidence -might have received a shock had she seen -how that young lady comported herself -with Rolandsburg's uhlans, and other -<i>soldaten</i> in the vicinity of the Dammthor -Wall and the <i>Burger Militair Kauslie</i>. -</p> - -<p> -Three days passed, during which she -saw and heard nothing of Sir Redmond. -The truth was, that worthy member of -the 'upper ten' and his Fidus Achates—his -friend Dolly Dewsnap—having, through -the tipsy insolence of the latter, become -involved in a street row at night with a -member of the <i>Neidergericht</i>, or Inferior -Court, to avoid the police, who 'wanted -them,' had remained closely on board the -yacht in the Binnenhafen, where she was -now remasted, and fast becoming ready for -sea in Ringbolt's skilful hands. -</p> - -<p> -As the evening of the third day was -approaching, Ellinor, feeling stronger and -more impatient of action and restraint, -attired herself for the street in the best -of the garments found for her in the -yacht. -</p> - -<p> -'For what purpose?' asked Frau Wyburg, angrily. -</p> - -<p> -'To have a walk in the city,' replied -Ellinor. -</p> - -<p> -'Mein Got, alone! and for what reason?' -</p> - -<p> -'To make some inquiries for myself at -the post-office, or elsewhere.' -</p> - -<p> -'It cannot be permitted!' said Herr -Wyburg, emphatically, and with knitted -brows, as he interposed. -</p> - -<p> -'Why?' -</p> - -<p> -'The Herr Sleath has forbidden such; -moreover, it is not safe!' -</p> - -<p> -'Not safe in the streets of Hamburg?' -questioned Ellinor, while tears started to -her eyes. 'I am not a child!' -</p> - -<p> -'Then why?' -</p> - -<p> -There were disturbances abroad, he told -her trade-union mobs were about, and -the uhlans from the Dammthor were -patrolling the streets with lance and carbine. -</p> - -<p> -This was not true, but Ellinor was -compelled to believe it, and relinquished the -attempt with a sigh of bitterness and -disappointment. -</p> - -<p> -Lenchen daily brought her fresh flowers -from market, as she said, by order of -<i>Herr Sleet</i>. -</p> - -<p> -The latter had often heard Ellinor say -at Birkwoodbrae that she was never dull -or lonely if she only had flowers about -her. -</p> - -<p> -But his gifts of flowers were unheeded -now, she loathed them as if their petals -exhaled not fragrance but poison. -</p> - -<p> -Yet once she could not resist toying with -some of them—the Dijon roses especially, -and with their odour across the tide of -memory there stole gently and subtly a -memory of the past. -</p> - -<p> -Who has not some association of this -kind? -</p> - -<p> -Ellinor's were of happy years at -Birkwoodbrae and Robert Wodrow, and a -torrent of tears came with the memory, and -a kind of lethargic despair came over her -as the little hope that dawned upon her -began to die again—the hope that Sleath -had relented and really meant to relinquish -his persecution and restore her to her -friends. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap11"></a></p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER XI. -<br /><br /> -IN HAMBURG STILL. -</h3> - -<p> -Ellinor was altogether unlike any other -girl on whom the evil eyes of Herr -Wyburg had rested, in Hamburg at least. -Her face was so clearly cut, with pride in -its contour, a dreamy thought its eyes, -and something almost angelic in its -purity—as Tennyson has it, -</p> - -<p class="poem"> - 'A sight to make an old man young.'<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -The three days' unexpected absence of -Sir Redmond rather alarmed Herr -Wyburg. He knew not how to account for -it, and mightily, with all his ruffianism, -dreaded the gendarmes; thus he was genuinely -glad when, in the dusk of the third -day, the baronet presented himself at his -house and inquired for his charge. -</p> - -<p> -'She is silent and dull as usual, and -anxious for the address of a lady friend,' -replied Wyburg. 'I don't understand all -this,' he added, in a growling tone; 'have -you made a fool of this girl or of yourself?' -</p> - -<p> -'Of myself as yet, I think,' replied Sleath, -with an oath. -</p> - -<p> -'Every man does so, once in his life at -least, and generally oftener,' said the -German; 'but I thought you were too wide -awake for that now. With her sadness -and her tears this girl is a profound bore -to us, even if paid for! I wish you would -take some means to cheer her—to please -her—if you can.' -</p> - -<p> -'Don't talk to me about the idiotic -vagaries of a girl!' snapped Sir Redmond. -</p> - -<p> -'I do not wish to do so, mem Herr; but -what would you have me say?' replied -Wyburg. 'Look here—it is all stuff and -gammon about the Fraulein being your -wife. I lived too long in England not to -have my eyes opened.' -</p> - -<p> -'Well?' -</p> - -<p> -'You love her in your own fashion, I suppose?' -</p> - -<p> -'And she?' -</p> - -<p> -'Seems to hate you,' replied the German, with a grin. -</p> - -<p> -'Perhaps she is not the first of her sex -who has said no when she meant yes.' -</p> - -<p> -'You don't mean to marry her, I suppose?' -</p> - -<p> -'I have a wife, already,' replied Sleath. -as he carefully manipulated and prepared -a cigar. -</p> - -<p> -'Der Teufel!' said Herr Wyburg, puffing -out a cloud from his huge meerschaum, -'but such things will happen.' -</p> - -<p> -'I have been engaged in many a lark -and scrape, as you, Wyburg, know well -enough, but never in one so peculiar as -this. The girls who eloped with me before -were always willing enough.' -</p> - -<p> -'She may turn ill—downright ill—on -our hands unless some change is brought -about, and may have to be sent to the -Krankenhaus; and then—what then?' -</p> - -<p> -Sleath had not thought of this contingency, -so he became alarmed and asked to see Ellinor. -</p> - -<p> -On his entrance she rose at once and -came towards him, her eyes dilated with -hope or expectation and her lips parted, -but without offering him a hand. -</p> - -<p> -'You have news for me at last?' she said. -</p> - -<p> -'News—about what—about whom?' -</p> - -<p> -'Mrs. Deroubigne and Mary.' -</p> - -<p> -'I have sent or gone daily to the post-office -in the Post Strasse, but neither by -telegraph nor inquiry can I discover their -whereabouts in Brussels,' he replied, -unblushingly: 'and even if we went there—' -</p> - -<p> -'There! that is not to be thought of. -I shall take the steamer for London,' -exclaimed Ellinor, looking round her as if -she would start that moment. -</p> - -<p> -'No, you won't, my dear girl—yet a -while, at least.' -</p> - -<p> -'I shall go mad—mad if I am kept here -prisoner for another day!' exclaimed -Ellinor, wildly, as she wrung her hands and -then pressed them on her temples, while -Herr Wyburg looked with a kind of gloomy -scorn from one to the other. -</p> - -<p> -He had many experiences in his career, -but this was to him one somewhat new. -</p> - -<p> -Ellinor was so painfully agitated that -Sir Redmond was fain to resort to the -most specious falsehoods to soothe and -calm her; he promised most solemnly to -write or telegraph to the British -Ambassador at Brussels, to the postal authorities -there, and so forth; and, with intense -anger and mortification in his heart at his -bad success, he left her to rejoin Dewsnap, -and have a 'deep drink' at the Hotel Russie, -and perhaps a turn into the Schweitzer -Pavilion, feeling inclined on one hand—all -inflamed as he was with her beauty -and helplessness—to force her in some -way to love him; and on the other, to sail -away with his friend in the <i>Flying Foam</i>, -and leave her to her fate in the hands of -Herr Wyburg! -</p> - -<p> -He did neither for a day or two yet, but -showered presents upon her; he ransacked -the Neuer Wall and the Alster Wall for -all kinds of pretty things, and bought up -the best bouquets of the Vierlander -flower-girls by the score; and Frau Wyburg only -looked forward to the time when she could -appropriate all the presents, when the girl -was away or—dead. -</p> - -<p> -All his presents and pretty trifles, over -which Lenchen went into ecstasies, -remained, as he saw, untouched in their -cases or packing paper. -</p> - -<p> -'You disdain all these things which I -feel such delight in offering you,' said he, -reproachfully. -</p> - -<p> -She wrung her interlaced fingers, but -made no reply. -</p> - -<p> -A red gleam shot out of Sleath's eyes; -he bit his lip, and the Frau Wyburg laughed, -while her black orbs glittered mischievously, -and her mouth wore its cruel -expression more unpleasantly than usual. -</p> - -<p> -But for his early entanglement with his -mother's maid—Seraphina Fubsby, whose -absurd name he loathed now—an event -which too probably had warped his whole -life, he felt at times—but at times only—that -he would gladly have offered his hand -and all he possessed to the sweet and gentle -Ellinor; and, though he knew how she -shrank from him, and loathed him, he -could not help trying to play the old game -he had begun at Birkwoodbrae, by urging -again and again that his marriage was -untrue, illegal, that he would prove it so, -and also urging his wild, blind passion for -herself, on the plea of her wonderful -beauty, as Richard of England did his -passion for the Lady Anne, having rarely -found an appeal to a woman on <i>that</i> score -fail him. -</p> - -<p> -But he might as well have spoken to a -statue now, and as she could extract no -tidings of her sister or Mrs. Deroubigne -from him, she thought only of escaping -from the house of his odious friends. She -was now aware that she had been -entrapped by a specious story, and that -neither Mary nor Mrs. Deroubigne would -seem to have resided with them after -leaving Altona, as Frau Wyburg and her -husband, though 'coached' by Sleath and -Gaiters, evidently knew nothing about -them save their names, and a new dismay -seized the unhappy girl. -</p> - -<p> -Escaping—but how? The avenues to -the street were too closely secured, and -the window of her room was too high -above the water of the Fleethen to afford -the least chance of escape there; while the -only boats that passed were those of the -Vierlander people, laden with vegetables, -pulled swiftly along at rare and distant -intervals. -</p> - -<p> -To appeal to the Wyburgs she knew -would be vain. Her pure, pale face with -its dreamy eyes, into which there now -came a hunted expression, failed to win -either their pity or commiseration; but -escape she must, or die! -</p> - -<p> -Ellinor knew now that in Sleath the -animal nature predominated, and that she -might have to suffer from his cruelty and -violence if she remained in his power. -</p> - -<p> -But how was she to escape without money, -without a knowledge of the language, of -the very locality in which he had placed her, -without bodily strength, and with only -intense horror and aversion to nerve and -inspire her? -</p> - -<p> -On whom could she cast herself? -</p> - -<p> -Certainly not the repulsive Frau Wyburg, -with her wicked black eyes and square, -resolute jaws, or her equally repellent -husband, with the leering eyes and ragged -red moustache? What had she done that -Fate should have cast her into such -unscrupulous, and to her altogether -inconceivable, hands? -</p> - -<p> -'She grows paler, if possible, every day,' -said Wyburg to Sleath. 'If this sort of -thing goes on, it will be an affair for the -Krankenhaus,' he added, in a growling -voice, referring to the great public hospital -in the suburb of St. George. -</p> - -<p> -Dewsnap's yacht was getting ready for -sea, and was now anchored by the dolphins, -outside the Binnenhafen, and Sleath was -resolved to end his affair with Ellinor in -some fashion or other, for the hints of -Wyburg alarmed him. -</p> - -<p> -So he recommended to Ellinor a drive -in an open droski, attended, not by -himself—he was too wary for that—but by the -Frau Wyburg and Gaiters, who was to -have a seat on the dickey. He thought -there was little to fear in this, as Ellinor -knew not a word of German, and Gaiters -was a careful fellow. -</p> - -<p> -Indeed, Mr. John Gaiters—though to all -appearance a thoroughly well-bred English -serving-man, automaton-like in movements, -reserved, and when it suited him most civil -in speech, and without an atom of scruple—had -one redeeming bull-dog feature in -his character, and that was intense fidelity -to his dissolute, yet liberal, master. -</p> - -<p> -The afternoon was beautiful and sunny. -The drive along the Jungfernsteig and -Alster Damm was charming enough to -rouse even Ellinor from her lethargy, but -not to still her resolution to escape, if -she could. -</p> - -<p> -The scene, after all she had undergone -of late, proved a gay and enchanting one—the -rows of stately mansions; the quadruple -lines of trees in full leaf; the -deep blue of the Binner Alster, its bosom -studded by pretty pleasure-boats, tiny -steamers, and flocks of snow-white swans; -and the German bands playing before the -great hotels, which were all gaily decorated -with the flags of various nations, as if for -a holiday. But ere long there occurred -that which to her was a crushing episode. -</p> - -<p> -While Frau Wyburg stopped the droski -to listen to a band that was playing amid -a group of people before the great Kron -Prinzen Hotel, Ellinor perceived a handsome -open carriage close by, and in it were -seated an elderly gentleman and two -ladies, who had their eyes fixed on her. -</p> - -<p> -The trio were Lord and Lady Dunkeld -with their daughter, Blanche Galloway! -</p> - -<p> -Ellinor started from her seat, as they -were quite within earshot, and in their -power lay succour—help—rescue! -</p> - -<p> -'Lady Dunkeld—Lady Dunkeld—Mrs. Deroubigne!' -she exclaimed, wildly; 'you -can doubtless give me her address? You -know me—you know me—Ellinor Wellwood!' -</p> - -<p> -They all heard her; but Lord Dunkeld -looked steadily askance, showing only the -facial angle which he thought so like that -of the Grande Monarque, while the two -ladies gazed with wonder at first, and then -with frigid hauteur; and Blanche, who, -we have said, was strong in love, ambition, -and hate, said something to the coachman, -who drove away at once, while the usually -imperturbable Gaiters, in some alarm, took -the droski in an opposite direction, and -Ellinor sank back despairing on her seat, -as she was conveyed at a galloping pace -back to the gloomy house overlooking the -Bleichen Fleet. The deadly and sickening -surmises of what these cold-hearted -people thought, of what the world might say, -think, or suspect, seemed now to take a -tangible form, and the soul of the girl -seemed to die within her. -</p> - -<p> -It was so fated, however, that the secret -of her adventures was never to be made -known to the world of Mrs. Grundy—by -the lips of Sir Redmond Sleath, at least. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -While this daring and extraordinary -conspiracy against the freedom and peace -of Ellinor was in progress in that obscure -and gloomy house, among the damp and -miasmatic districts of the Fleethen, her -sister Mary and Mrs. Deroubigne were -still in the pretty villa at Altona. -</p> - -<p> -The former was now in deep mourning—so -deep that it was almost the same -as the weeds of a widow, for she felt -herself a widow in heart, indeed; and by -the double loss she had endured the girl -thought that Fate was very cruel to her. -</p> - -<p> -She had received a pleasant, a -delightfully-soothing letter from old -Dr. Wodrow, condoling with her on the sad news -from Cabul, all ignorant as he was yet -of the escape of his son amid the new -calamity in that fatal city—fatal to -Britons, at least. -</p> - -<p> -'Any place in which we are perfectly -happy is a place we glorify and transform,' -says a writer: and in the joy of her -engagement to Leslie Colville, notwithstanding -the perils he had to face, Mary had -glorified their pretty abode by the Elbe at -Altona. -</p> - -<p> -That was all ended and over, and now -the place had become to her one of double -gloom, and associated with a double -sorrow. -</p> - -<p> -'Ah, Madame Deroubigne,' said the -young Baron Rolandsburg, 'your charming -villa has now not unnaturally become -to you a place of calamitous associations—most -unhomely,' he added. '<i>Ja-ja!</i> it is -always so after misfortunes come.' -</p> - -<p> -And now as Altona had become so -repugnant—a place of such horror to both -Mary Wellwood and Mrs. Deroubigne, the -time was fast approaching when they were -to take their departure for London. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap12"></a></p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER XII. -<br /><br /> -THE PLOT THICKENS. -</h3> - -<p> -Finding that his visits were fast making -Ellinor seriously ill, Sir Redmond, at the -request of Herr Wyburg, did not intrude -upon her for a day or two, yet he called -and left a sham message concerning -his continued inquiries for Mrs. Deroubigne. -</p> - -<p> -'Where are the friends of the Fraulein?' -asked Herr Wyburg, twisting his coarse, -red moustache; 'in England?' -</p> - -<p> -'No, I rather think not,' replied Sir -Redmond. -</p> - -<p> -'Where, then?' -</p> - -<p> -'They were in Altona last, I believe,' -said the other, unguardedly. -</p> - -<p> -'Altona! In Altona! <i>Ach Gott!</i> Then -she is the Fraulein for information -concerning whom, alive or dead, such rewards -were offered by placards in the Bourse and -in the <i>Hamburger Nachtrichten</i>.' -</p> - -<p> -'Nonsense,' said Sleath, discovering that -the admission was a mistake. -</p> - -<p> -'It is no nonsense,' exclaimed Wyburg, -trying to remember the amount of the -reward offered, his cupidity at once excited -by the consideration whether or not it -was worth his while to betray his employer. -</p> - -<p> -After the latter departed, he remembered -the cunning and avaricious gleam that -came into the watery grey eyes of the -German, and a suspicion of his fidelity -began to assume tangible shapes in the -tainted mind of Sleath. -</p> - -<p> -The chances that after all his trouble, -care, cunning, and expense she might be -delivered from his snares, taken from his -power, an exposé made, and doubtless an -appeal to the police of the city, to the -British consul and the four burgomasters, -before his intrigue had been successfully -developed and Ellinor's voice silenced, -filled him with exasperation; and cursing -his own imprudent admission to Herr -Wyburg, into whose hands he had thus put -himself, he drank so deeply at his hotel -that night that, between his passion for -Ellinor, and fierce suspicion of his German -tools, his mind became inflamed to a -dangerous degree, and he resolved that before -the church bells tolled midnight he would -visit the persecuted girl, for the purpose -of making assurance doubly sure with her -and his two paid creatures. -</p> - -<p> -'Yes,' he hiccupped, with an oath, as he -was taken in a droski across the -Adolphs-brucke and the Nuerwall, 'I'll end it all, -or know the reason why! I have played -the whining fool too long. Am I to pass -my days in slaving to study her -whim-whams?—to overcome her prudery and -sham scruples? Am I a fool or a boy? -Of what or of whom am I afraid? I will -now listen only to the dictates of my own -mind.' -</p> - -<p> -He muttered much more to the same -purpose aloud, and, quitting the droski at -the corner of the Grosse Bleichen, thrust -a double-mark into the driver's hand, -and, without thinking of change, -proceeded on foot to the house of Herr -Wyburg. -</p> - -<p> -A mass with three pointed gables, and -each storey overhanging the other on -beams of timber, rose before him. All -was dark in and around it when he -approached the door, and, tipsy though he -was, he could hear—he thought—the -beating of his heart, and for a -moment—but a moment only—an emotion of -timidity, even of shame, came over -him. -</p> - -<p> -'Pshaw!' he exclaimed, with a malediction, -and rang the bell. -</p> - -<p> -After some delay and parleying, he was -admitted by the drowsy Lenchen, who -surveyed him with more annoyance than -respect in her visage; but he strode past -her without a word, and ascended to Herr -Wyburg's sitting-room. -</p> - -<p> -He found that worthy attired in his -grotesque <i>Reiter-Diener</i> costume, with his -steeple-crowned hat and toledo on the -table beside him. He was asleep in an -easy-chair, and, after being at a funeral, -had drank and smoked himself into a state -of partial insensibility. -</p> - -<p> -'I wish to see the Fraulein,' said Sleath -to Frau Wyburg, who glanced at him -inquiringly. -</p> - -<p> -'She must be asleep,' was the answer. -</p> - -<p> -'I must see and speak with her.' -</p> - -<p> -'Ah, you have found her friends, then?' -said Frau Wyburg, with one of her -detestable leers. -</p> - -<p> -Sleath made no reply, but, snatching a -candle from the table, proceeded at once -towards the apartment of Ellinor, with a -strange pallor in his face, his bloodshot -eyes aflame, and his steps unsteady. -</p> - -<p> -He hesitated a moment, and then turned -the handle of the door. It was locked on -the inside, and refused to yield. -</p> - -<p> -He might naturally have expected this; -but it served to surprise and exasperate -him, for at that moment he was in the -mood to fight with his own shadow. -</p> - -<p> -'Ellinor, rouse yourself—I have news -for you—news at last!' he exclaimed, and -knocked on the door-panels more noisily -than respectfully. -</p> - -<p> -But there was no response from within. -He applied his ear to the keyhole; there -was not a sound to be heard, and, as -he had been given to understand that -young girls generally slept lightly, it -was impossible he could fail to waken her. -</p> - -<p> -He knocked more loudly again, but -failed to elicit the slightest response. -Then he heard the mocking laugh of -Frau Wyburg, who was listening at the -foot of the staircase, and, believing that -already he was being deluded, a gust of -fury seized him, and applying his foot to -the door, and as it was old and worm-eaten, -he dashed it open with ease, and -entered the darkened room. -</p> - -<p> -It was empty, and no cry of alarm or -consternation followed his furious irruption -into it. The upheld candle showed him -in a moment that its occupant was no -longer there. Ellinor was gone! -</p> - -<p> -Her bed had been unslept in; her hat -and the jacket she had got on board the -<i>Flying Foam</i> were lying on it. -</p> - -<p> -Where was she? Where hidden away? -</p> - -<p> -That double villain Wyburg had deceived -him after all, was Sir Redmond's -instant thought, and, impressed by the -rewards offered in the <i>Hamburger Nachtrichten</i> -and elsewhere, had 'sold' him and -given her up to Mrs. Deroubigne. -</p> - -<p> -Though infuriated with rage and -disappointment he became sober in a moment, -and turned to confront Wyburg and his -wife; and, to do them justice, their -astonishment, incredulity, and alarm had not -the least appearance of being simulated, -but were genuine. -</p> - -<p> -She was concealed from him perhaps in -some other apartment. -</p> - -<p> -Frau Wyburg emphatically denied that -she was. -</p> - -<p> -'Silence, hag!' exclaimed Sir Redmond; -'had you lived three centuries ago, you -would have been burned before the -Rathhaus as a witch!' -</p> - -<p> -Her black eyes gleamed dangerously at -this injurious remark, and on Sir Redmond -turning away to prosecute a search elsewhere -in defiance of the palpable evidence -that the door had been locked on the -inside, and that the key was still in the -lock, Herr Wyburg, who was mad with -consternation and drinking, roughly barred -his way. -</p> - -<p> -On the second finger of his right hand -Sir Redmond wore a cluster of diamonds; -so prominent and sharp were they that -they cut through his tightly-fitting kid -glove. These brilliants, as he dealt Wyburg -a facer, laid his cheek completely open -and nearly tore his left eye out, thus a -terrible and most unseemly brawl ensued. -</p> - -<p> -Wyburg was a man of enormous strength, -and for whom the enervated baronet was -no match in any way. Maddened by pain, -the sight of his own blood flowing freely, -by absinthe and <i>eau-de-vie</i>, inspirited by -revenge and greed together, he resolved -to make Sleath a victim now, and, though -suffering from what the French call the -<i>folie paralytique</i> which the two compounds -referred to produce, he was simply savage, -yet methodical, in his proceedings. -</p> - -<p> -Rushing upon Sleath like an infuriated -bull, he closed with him, and hurling him -down the staircase flung him in a heap, -bleeding and senseless, at the bottom. -</p> - -<p> -When he recovered, Sleath found himself, -secured in an attic of Wyburg's house, -a prisoner, bound securely with ropes, stiff, -sore, and bruised, his face and shirt front -all plastered with blood. -</p> - -<p> -Mr. John Gaiters, all the subsequent -day, and indeed the day after, was sorely -perplexed by the non-appearance of his -master at the Hotel Russie, especially as -the yacht of Mr. Dewsnap was now ready -for sea. -</p> - -<p> -Frau Wyburg assured him that they had -seen nothing of Sir Redmond for several -days, and as the young lady had gone he -had most probably accompanied her; and -with this perplexing intelligence the valet -was compelled to content himself. -</p> - -<p> -This story or suggestion seemed to -receive a certain corroboration when Gaiters, -who was well-nigh at his wit's end, on -pursuing his inquiries at Herr Burger's -bank in the Gras Keller, where Sir -Redmond had letters of credit, found that a -cheque, duly signed by him, had been -presented there on the preceding day and -cashed for a pretty large sum. -</p> - -<p> -Meanwhile, unable to communicate with -the external world, Sir Redmond remained, -bound hand and foot, a wretched prisoner -in the power of the Wyburgs, one of whose -first measures was the extortion of the -cheque in question as the price of his -freedom; but, though the money was duly -paid, they still kept him in their hands, -being somewhat doubtful whether to -release or destroy him. -</p> - -<p> -He knew not whether they had actually -betrayed him and given over Ellinor to -her sister and chaperone, Mrs. Deroubigne, -and in some respects he cared not now. -In his innate selfishness of heart, he cursed -her bitterly as being in one sense the cause -of his present predicament, and he longed -with a savage energy to be free that he -might turn his back on Hamburg for ever. -</p> - -<p> -He strove with all his strength and -energy to burst his bonds, while the veins -in his forehead swelled and the perspiration -poured over it, but strove, in vain, -while Herr Wyburg, with his hideous -visage tied up in a blood-stained cloth, sat -mockingly in his chair, smoking his -meerschaum, and sipping absinthe from time -to time out of a green cup-shaped German -glass. -</p> - -<p> -The care with which the cheque had -been executed and cashed induced Herr -Wyburg and his spouse to extort at all -risks another, for their greed and cupidity -were thoroughly awakened now, and they -had the miserable man completely in -their power; and the circumstance that -the funerals of one or two opulent -burgers—one of them actually that of a senator -of the city—were taking place, in which -the Herr with his battered visage could -take no part, and consequently pocket no -fees, made him the more resolved on -extortion; and, if the worst came to the -worst, there were the waters of the -Fleethen below the windows of the house. -</p> - -<p> -'You'll never see that girl again unless -you sign this other little cheque,' said Frau -Wyburg, with grim decision. -</p> - -<p> -'I don't care a doit about the girl; keep -her,' replied Sleath through his clenched -teeth. 'For God-sake,' he added, imploringly, -'give me something to drink; I am -perishing of thirst.' -</p> - -<p> -'Well, perish, then, if you won't sign -this paper—it is stamped and ready; but, -till you sign it or die, the water remains -in this flagon,' replied Wyburg, placing a -tall German beer-jug full of sparkling -water in tantalising proximity to the -wretched man's lips, and then putting it -on the table, while madame looked on -approvingly, her black eyes gleaming, her -pale face radiant with malice and greed, -her jaw looking more square, and her tiger -mouth more tigerish than ever. -</p> - -<p> -Somehow the words of Wyburg seemed -to introduce a practical and reasonable, if -intensely obnoxious, element into what -seemed the phantasmal horror of a -prolonged nightmare to Sir Redmond Sleath. -</p> - -<p> -'What is the sum?' he asked, huskily. -</p> - -<p> -'Three hundred pounds English money.' -</p> - -<p> -He groaned with rage at this renewed -extortion; but, if money is precious, life -is more precious still, and these Wyburgs -he knew to be wretches without an atom -of scruple, so he signed the cheque, which -the Herr, who knew his autograph -perfectly well, folded and handed to his -better-half with a smile of grim -satisfaction. -</p> - -<p> -'Unbind me now,' said Sleath, faintly. -</p> - -<p> -'Not if I know it, yet awhile,' replied -the ruffian, who, though he acted so -methodically, was half mad with revenge for -his gashed visage, and the imbibing of -absinthe and Danish corn-brandy. -</p> - -<p> -'What are you about to do with me?' -asked Sleath, imploringly, and with mortal -fear in his face and accents. -</p> - -<p> -Wyburg made no reply, but proceeded -with great deliberation to bore two holes -in the wainscot of the attic, and, passing -through them the ends of the ropes which -bound his prisoner, told him that they -were being secured by the Frau to a little -cask of powder on the other side of the -partition, and inserted in which there was -a loaded and cocked revolver, and that the -instant he moved or attempted pursuit or -flight the tension of the ropes would cause -an explosion that would blow him and the -house to pieces! -</p> - -<p> -Herr Wyburg had made that which to -him was a small fortune out of Sir Redmond, -and dared not face any inquiry in -case of that individual escaping and -appealing to law; he was far in arrear with -his house rent; he had sold his furniture -twice over to different Jews in the -Scharsteinweg, and now resolved to quit -Hamburg for purer air; and, inspired by malice -and revenge, he and his wife took their -immediate departure, leaving the wretched -Sleath minus watch, purse, and rings, and, -as we have described, face to face with -a miserable death, if he attempted to -escape! -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap13"></a></p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER XIII. -<br /><br /> -WITH ROBERTS' COLUMN. -</h3> - -<p> -'Welcome back from the other world, Bob -Wodrow!' exclaimed Toby Chace. 'The -stable-call won't be new to you, though -a good meal and a deep drink may be, -I have no doubt. So we are to have a -shy at these Afghan beggars again!' and -while grooming his horse he began to -sing the stable-call in verse, while rubbing -down his charger after hissing away -through his teeth in the most orthodox -fashion, -</p> - -<p class="poem"> - 'Come, come to your stable as quick as you're able,<br /> - Come, come to your stable, my jolly dragoon;<br /> - See your horse groomed well, and give him some hay,<br /> - With corn and water for night and for day;<br /> - Then come to your stable as fast as you're able,<br /> - Then come to your stable, my jolly dragoon.'<br /> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -So sang to Wodrow that jovial English -trooper, Toby Chace, light of heart, if -unsteady of purpose, while bustling about -his horse—Chace, who, in his more palmy -days, had more than one hunter of his -own in stall; who had once handsome rooms -in Piccadilly, a snug corner in his club, -and was never without an invitation for -cub-hunting in the shires, or to pot the -deer in the Highlands; the heir to an old -English baronetcy, and yet, in his fallen -estate, was wont to designate himself 'jolly -as a sandboy, whatever the devil kind of -boy that is!' -</p> - -<p> -Left behind his regiment sick, Toby -Chace was now, like Robert Wodrow, -attached <i>pro tem.</i> to a squadron of the -9th Lancers ordered to the front. -</p> - -<p> -'So we march to-morrow to clear off the -score we owe these fellows at Cabul,' said -he. -</p> - -<p> -'In that business, then, I have lost the -best friend man ever had,' said Wodrow, -sighing; 'Captain Colville.' -</p> - -<p> -'A right good sort; we'll drink his -health—his memory, I mean. I wonder -if Fred Roberts will let us sack the -town?' -</p> - -<p> -'I think not, Toby—but why?' -</p> - -<p> -'It would be rare fun prying into the -harems, or having them escaladed by -reprobates in regimentals.' -</p> - -<p> -Toby's naturally elastic spirits rose at -the prospect of more fighting, for his -disposition was always to make the best of -everything, and it served him in good -stead now. -</p> - -<p> -Ignorant of all that was transpiring to -those most dear to him far away in -Europe, Colville was still a prisoner in -the hands of Mahmoud Shah. -</p> - -<p> -The cruel and barbarous murder of the -young and gallant Hector Maclain, after -he had been so many weeks the prisoner -and guest of Ayoub Khan, proved that -our Afghan enemies could be true or false -to their salt, exactly as suited their caprice -or cruelty; thus, though Leslie Colville -was in precisely the same position in the -Cabul fort, it by no means followed that -his life might not be taken in any moment -of fear or hatred. -</p> - -<p> -Life in India has often been described -as one long and listless yawn, born of -weariness, heat, and indolence; but it was -certainly not so at this crisis on the -borders of Afghanistan, which, to the average -British mind, is considered a part of -India. -</p> - -<p> -An army was now detailed to punish the -infatuated fanatics who had destroyed our -Embassy, but, though infatuated, they were -also -</p> - -<p class="poem"> - 'Souls made of fire and children of the sun,<br /> - With whom revenge is virtue!'<br /> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -So we now resolved to take a leaf out of -their own book, and have our revenge in -turn. -</p> - -<p> -Once more our troops would have to -toil along the stony and boulder-strewn -banks of the gloomy Khyber, up and down -the awful chasms of the Lundi Khana -Kotal, by the mountain clefts and deep -defiles of Khoord Cabul, with every -prospect of being harassed, perhaps decimated, -by thousands of hardy hillmen—the -Khyberees, Afreedees, Shinwarris, Mohmonds, -Mongols, and Ghilzies. -</p> - -<p> -The gallant and active Sir Donald -Stewart again seized Candahar; Massey -occupied the Shutargardan Pass; Baker -took Kushi, and Roberts—whose name is -second to none in glory—was soon ready -to begin that campaign which all hoped -would end in the conquest of the -blood-stained Cabul. -</p> - -<p> -The Viceroy of India made the greatest -efforts to grapple with the new difficulty, -and hurry forward the army that was to -uphold the power of the fickle Ameer as -our nominal ally—for nominal indeed he -was—and there was every prospect of his -being slain by his insurgent troops, led by -Mahmoud Shah and other sirdirs, unless -he took to flight, or put himself at their -head against us as intruders and unbelievers. -</p> - -<p> -'This devil of an Ameer,' remarked old -Colonel Spatterdash, 'is true to the words -of Swift—"The two maxims of every great -man are always to keep his countenance, -and never to keep his word." -</p> - -<p> -Three columns were to advance -simultaneously, and open communication -between Cabul and Peshawur, but we shall -confine ourselves briefly to that under Sir -Frederick Roberts, which consisted of -three batteries of Artillery, a squadron of -H.M. 9th Lancers, some Bengal and -Punjaub Cavalry, the Gordon and Albany -Highlanders, the 67th Regiment, 3rd -Sikhs, 23rd Pioneers, and Spatterdash's -Punjaubees—making a total of barely -eight thousand men. -</p> - -<p> -Scarlet, blue, and gold, had for the time -been discarded by the cavalry, and, like -most of the infantry, they wore <i>karkee</i>, or -mud-coloured costumes—uniforms they -could scarcely be called—with the inevitable -tropical helmet, and <i>putties</i> or linen -leg bandages. The Scottish infantry, -however, retained their tartans, wearing -respectively the green Gordon and red Royal -Stuart; but the Lancers laid aside their -scarlet and white bannerettes. -</p> - -<p> -The 19th of September saw our advanced -parties reconnoitering close to Kushi, -within thirty-five miles of Cabul, where -twelve strong battalions with many guns -were reported to be in garrison; and on -that night the Duke of Albany's Highlanders -were suddenly fired into, when all -was supposed to be quiet in the vicinity, -and a group of officers were chatting and -smoking round a wood fire, which was -instantly scattered and extinguished that -the enemy might have nothing to aim by. -</p> - -<p> -The Highland pickets stood to their -arms, and by a few half-random volleys -swept away the assailants, who proved to -be Ghazis or religious fanatics, armed with -juzails, or long matchlock guns, with a -forked rest, which enables the marksman -to take a steady aim. They are formidable -weapons in mountainous districts, and, -though their range exceeded that of old -'brown Bess,' it is far inferior to that of -the rifles now in use. -</p> - -<p> -Three days after, the Mongols attacked -a convoy of provisions, borne on mules, in -a solitary pass, and killed about twenty-three -of the escort, chiefly by knives, and -resistance proved useless, as the mountain -band was so numerous that they next -attempted to storm a tower at the summit -of the Sirkai Kotal, or Red Pass, so named -from the peculiar colour of the narrow -path which led to it, but were repulsed -and finally driven off by two companies of -the Albany Highlanders. But skirmishes -such as these were now of daily occurrence. -</p> - -<p> -A few days after saw General Baker, -C.B. and V.C., with the brigade of cavalry -at Kushi (or 'the Village of Delights'), in -a very barren district, whence, however, -could be seen the lovely Logur Valley—fresh, -green, and fertile; and then he -pushed his patrols and reconnaisances -along the Cabul Road towards Zargun -Shahr. -</p> - -<p> -The advanced camp at Kushi received -some very unexpected guests on the 23rd -of September, when, at the head of twenty-five -splendidly clad and accoutred -horsemen—including old Daud Shah—the -Ameer Yakoub Khan rode in and surrendered -himself! -</p> - -<p> -'I have no longer any power left,' said -he; 'I have been dethroned by my own -mutinous troops; but Inshallah! it is the -will of God!' -</p> - -<p> -'What his true reason for this startling -step may have been, we never knew,' wrote -an officer, 'certainly not the one he gave, -for no Afghan ever told the truth -intentionally.' -</p> - -<p> -Handsome tents were given to him and -his suite, and a guard of honour, furnished -by the Gordon Highlanders, was accorded -him. Next day General Roberts and his -staff rode in amid the cheers of the troops, -and every face brightened, as all knew -that the stern work of vengeance was soon -to begin, and the pitiful slaughter of the -gallant Cavagnari and his companions -would be atoned for. -</p> - -<p> -Stolidly proud or stupidly unimpassionable, -the Ameer did not condescend to -leave his tent, but lounged on a silken -divan in the doorway of it, with a lorgnette -in his hands, and evinced no excitement -till he heard the pipes of the Gordon -Highlanders, and saw the kilted sentinels -around him. -</p> - -<p> -'He is a man of about six or seven and -thirty,' says Major Mitford, of the 14th -Bengal Lancers, in his narrative, 'with a -light almond complexion and a very long, -hooked nose, the lower part of the face -hidden by a black beard and a moustache, -the eyes having a dazed expression like -those of a freshly caught seal. This is -said to have been caused by the five years' -confinement in a dark cell to which his -father, Shere Ali, subjected him, for -conspiring against him.' -</p> - -<p> -By order of the Viceroy, Sir Frederick -Roberts issued a manifesto to the Afghan -people to the effect that the British troops -were advancing on the capital to avenge -the treachery of its armed inhabitants, but -that all who were peaceful would be -unmolested; and non-combatants, women, -and children were advised to leave Cabul -and betake themselves to places of safety. -</p> - -<p> -After some necessary interviews or -consultations with the dethroned and fugitive -Ameer, General Roberts concentrated his -whole force at Kushi prior to attacking -the city or any force it might send into -the field against him. -</p> - -<p> -Meanwhile the so-called guard of honour -furnished by the Gordon Highlanders kept -a close watch over Yakoub Khan, as all in -camp mistrusted him, and believed that -he only made a pretence of giving himself -up, and had in reality come to spy our -numbers and weak points. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap14"></a></p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER XIV. -<br /><br /> -THE BATTLE OF CHARASIAH. -</h3> - -<p> -That something was on the <i>tapis</i>, and -something like preparation, and very like -consternation too, existed in and about -Cabul, became evident to Leslie Colville, -who suspected, though he was ignorant -of the truth, that it was caused by the -advance of a British army. -</p> - -<p> -From the square keep of Mahmoud -Shah's fort he could see mounted scouts -and regular cavalry patrols hourly scouring -the road, while crowds of Ghilzies and -other hillmen, with banners waving and -arms glittering, hovered on the mountain -sides; caravans of camels laden with stores -from Ghuznee, Bamian, Parwan, and elsewhere -in the rear passed daily into the -gates of Cabul, and more than one train of -cannon too. -</p> - -<p> -All this he saw, but made no comment, -and he asked no questions; he was only -glad and thankful to heaven when night -fell or day dawned, that another twelve -hours of durance were passed, and that he -was still in the land of the living, or not, -perhaps, sold as a slave to the Beloochees -or Usbeg Tartars, till one morning, about -an hour or more before dawn, Mahmoud -roused him from the charpoy on which he -slept, and curtly told him that he must -come forth. -</p> - -<p> -Leslie Colville's heart beat painfully, -and his thoughts flashed home to Mary -Wellwood. Was death—such a murderous -death as that by which Maclain -died—about to be meted out to him after -all? -</p> - -<p> -He was without arms—helpless; nor -would arms have availed him much in -that tower, garrisoned as it was by the -fanatical cut-throats of Mahmoud Shah, -whom he followed into the court, where -two horses saddled and ready for the road -were standing. -</p> - -<p> -'Mount,' said Mahmoud; 'mount and -come with me, while the morning is yet -dark—we have not a moment to lose.' -</p> - -<p> -They quitted the tower by its western -gate, and took together at a hard gallop -the road that led, as Colville knew by past -experience, along the left bank of the -Cabul river, and, leaving all the scattered -forts, walled gardens, and orchards -behind, runs by Khoord Cabul and the -Suffaidh Sang towards the Shutargardan -Pass; and now for the first time genuine -hope began to dawn in his heart. -</p> - -<p> -'Hark!' cried Mahmoud; 'what sound -is that?' -</p> - -<p> -'A British trumpet call,' replied Colville. -</p> - -<p> -'Yes—and look!' said his guide, whom -Colville now perceived was clad completely -in spotless white, the costume of a Ghazi, -assumed by those Moslem fanatics who -devote themselves to death in battle for -their Faith, and to achieving the death of -all unbelievers. -</p> - -<p> -Day was breaking now, and already the -snow-clad peaks of some of those hills -which are above eleven thousand feet in -height, tipped with rosy dawn as with -fire, stood sharply up against the deep -blue sky, and, after a ten miles' ride from -the vicinity of the city, Mahmoud Shah -drew his reins, and again said, 'Look!' -</p> - -<p> -Then Colville could see the gleam of -arms in the distance, and as the gleam -was steady he knew it was a sign of -troops advancing. -</p> - -<p> -'Your people are there,' said Mahmoud; -'join them, but keep out of my way for -the future, and tempt me no more; for -never again, had we eaten a peck of salt -together, will I spare the life of an -unbeliever; I have sworn it by the -ninety-nine holy attributes and the Black Stone -of Mecca! Go—and go with God, though -Eblis is more powerful yonder. There -are the unbelievers who say the blessed -Koran is a lie, and who seek to turn -us aside from the gods our fathers -worshipped, and of whom it was written on -that Night of Power, when the word came -down from Heaven, they shall taste the -fires of hell, which like molten metal will -devour their entrails!' -</p> - -<p> -His dark eyes flashed as he spoke, and -he ground his set teeth in the fury of his -fanaticism. -</p> - -<p> -'Allah Shookr!' he exclaimed, and, -without waiting for a single word of thanks -from Colville, wheeled his horse sharply -round, and galloped away towards the -distant city at full speed; and a -picturesque figure he looked, in his snowy -camise and loose mantle, his long, white -loonghee floating in the morning breeze, -his juzail slung across his back, and the -head of his tall, tasselled lance gleaming -in the sunshine. -</p> - -<p> -Colville devoutly hoped they would -never meet again; yet he had not seen -quite the last of Mahmoud Shah. -</p> - -<p> -He now rode joyfully on towards the -two parties of British cavalry which were -then in sight, and who were—though he -knew it not—about to inaugurate those -operations which brought on the battle -of Charasiah—or 'The Four Water Mills,' -a spot about twelve British miles from -Cabul. -</p> - -<p> -The troops of Roberts had encamped -there for the night, after passing through -the picturesque defile called the -Sung-i-Navishta. All the vicinity had been -scoured by our cavalry patrols, and, little -aware that they were on the eve of a -bloody engagement, the soldiers, weary -with a long day's march, had turned in -early. -</p> - -<p> -Daybreak on this eventful day saw two -cavalry patrols pushing along the roads -that lead from Charasiah to Cabul. -Captain Neville, of the 14th Bengal Lancers, -with twenty men of that corps, took that -one which, after crossing the Chardeh -Valley, enters the south-western suburbs -of the city, while the southern road, -leading through the Sung-i-Navishta, was -taken by Captain Apperley, with twenty -of the 9th Lancers, and Robert Wodrow, -as he had so recently trod the ways there -on foot, now rode with him as a guide. -</p> - -<p> -At nine a.m., a puff of smoke came -suddenly from the loopholed-wall of a -village, and Wodrow's horse fell under -him, killed by a musket ball. Apperley -reported that he had occupied another -village, and was now hard pressed by the -enemy, on which a field-officer and twenty -more Lancers came on to his succour, -while some native infantry went at the -double in the direction of Captain Neville's -party. -</p> - -<p> -Robert Wodrow was in the act of getting -his carbine unstrapped from his dead -horse when a mounted man suddenly came -upon him clad in a sorely frayed and -tattered blue patrol jacket, and wearing on -his head a scarlet Afghan loonghee, and -great was his astonishment and noisy and -genuine his joy on discovering that this -solitary and unarmed rider was Leslie -Colville, whom he had long since numbered -with the slain among the ashes of the -Residency. -</p> - -<p> -They shook hands again and again -warmly. Each had a hundred questions -to ask the other, but both had little -information to give, as Colville had been -mewed up in Mahmoud's fort since the day -of the massacre, and no tidings from home -in any way or of any kind had reached -Robert Wodrow. -</p> - -<p> -'And now, without a moment's delay, I -must report myself at headquarters,' said -Colville. -</p> - -<p> -'The General and staff are as yet some -miles in the rear, sir,' replied Wodrow, -recalled by the remark to their relative -positions, 'and I shall guide you. By the -carbine and musketry fire in front our two -cavalry patrols seem, to be catching it, and -I must somehow get another horse. We -have plenty of time. The infantry have -yet some miles to come!' -</p> - -<p> -Wodrow seemed now alternately in -very sad or in the wildest spirits. With -Colville's presence, his voice and kindly -face, the young fellow's thoughts and -memories went keenly and vividly back to -the past time at Birkwoodbrae, to the -manse of Kirktoun-Mailler, and all the old -associations of Ellinor Wellwood and his -home. -</p> - -<p> -Then, indeed, he forgot for a time that -he was only a corporal of Hussars, as -Colville did that he was an officer of the -Guards, and they chummed like old friends -together. -</p> - -<p> -'Share with me the contents of my -haversack and flask, Captain Colville,' said -Robert Wodrow, as they sat for a few -minutes by the banks of a wayside runnel. -'We are going into action again—that is -pretty evident. "Few, few shall part -where many meet"—you know what the -poet says; and I care little if it be my -chance to fall—after all—after all I have -undergone.' -</p> - -<p> -'Don't say so, Wodrow,' said Colville, -in a tone of reprehension. 'Why -the deuce are you so low in spirit -now?' -</p> - -<p> -'I should not be, now that I have met -you again, Captain Colville,' replied -Wodrow, as he received back his flask and took -a long pull at it; 'but I feel—I feel—I -don't know how to-day. It is not fear, -but as if something was about to happen -to me; and a song—a song that -she—Ellinor—used to sing seems to haunt my -memory now.' -</p> - -<p> -'What song? "The Birks of Invermay"?' -</p> - -<p> -'No—another, and at this moment her -very voice seems in my ears,' he said, in -broken accent. -</p> - -<p> -'And this song of Ellinor's——' -</p> - -<p> -'Ran thus,' said Wodrow, and, with a -low voice and a certain humidity in his -eyes, he actually sang a now forgotten -song— -</p> - -<p class="poem"> - 'Thy way along life's bright path lies,<br /> - Where flowers spring up before thee,<br /> - And faithful hearts and loving eyes<br /> - Assemble to adore thee.<br /> - The great and wise bend at thy shrine,<br /> - The fair and young pursue thee,<br /> - Fame's chaplets round thy temples twine,<br /> - And pleasure smiles to woo thee.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="poem"> - 'Yet, 'mid each blessing time can bring,<br /> - Thy breast is still repining;<br /> - 'Tis cold as Ammon's icy spring,<br /> - O'er which no sun is shining;<br /> - And friendship's presence has no charm—<br /> - And beauty's smiles are blighted,<br /> - Nor joy, nor fame the heart can warm,<br /> - That early love has slighted.'<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -'And <i>blighted</i> has mine been, as you -know, Captain Colville,' he added, more -sadly than bitterly. -</p> - -<p> -'Come, Wodrow, don't pose as a "blighted -being," any way,' said the other, who -saw with pain the emotion of his comrade, -and feared it sprang from one not -unfrequently met with on service, the -presentiment of coming death. 'Here comes a -Hussar on the spur from the front.' -</p> - -<p> -'Toby Chace!' exclaimed Wodrow, as -that individual came powdering along the -road, but reined up sharply for a moment -or so. 'Whither so fast?' -</p> - -<p> -'I am sent back to report that the enemy -in great force are advancing from the -direction of the city, and occupying the -defile and range of hills between this and -Cabul, completely barring our advance. -The Ghilzies are all mustering, and the -road to Zahidabad, where the fifth division -has encamped, is threatened.' -</p> - -<p> -'That is the road by which General -Macpherson is advancing with a great -convoy of stores and ammunition.' -</p> - -<p> -'Yes—so no doubt we shall have to -carry the heights before evening.' -</p> - -<p> -Toby Chace now recognised that Colville -was an officer, though in somewhat -dilapidated garments, and saluted him, -colouring deeply, almost painfully, as he did -so. -</p> - -<p> -'My comrade, Toby Chace, Captain Colville,' -said Wodrow; 'he is like myself, a -reduced gentleman, and will die, I hope, a -baronet.' -</p> - -<p> -'I am not in a hurry about that,' said -Toby, and, as Colville bowed to him, he -saluted again, and proffered his -brandy-flask, a silver hunting one, on which a -coat of arms was engraved—a relic of -better days at Melton and elsewhere. 'I -have only a ration biscuit to offer you, sir,' -said Toby, laughing; 'but once into Cabul, -we shall have luxuries galore—<i>cotelettes de -mouton à l'Ameer</i>—mutton chops and green -chillis. And now to deliver my report!' -he added, and, putting spurs to his horse, -rode off in the direction of Kushi, while -Colville and Robert Wodrow followed him -as fast as they could. There was no -time to be lost now, as the events of the -day were rapidly developing themselves. -</p> - -<p> -Colville reported himself to General -Baker (whose brigade was coming on), -and joined that officer's staff, on procuring -arms, while Wodrow bade him farewell, -and joined the squadron of Lancers to -which he was attached. -</p> - -<p> -Captain Apperley's command of the -latter he had now dismounted, and posted -in a shallow ditch that surrounded a square -mud fort, in which he placed the chargers. -A range of steep hills rose in front of this -improvised post, and through them lay -the Sung-i-Navishta Pass—which means -the 'Place of the Written Stone,' from an -ancient Persian inscription carved on a -mass of rock in the centre of the defile, -stating that the road then had been made -in the reign of Shah Jehan, who was -crowned at Agra in 1628. -</p> - -<p> -Hills, steep, barren, and stony, were on -the left of this post, and there were grey -garden walls, from which the Afghans -were firing briskly, but as most of their -balls went into the air, it was evident that -they were ignorant of how to sight the -rifles they were handling. -</p> - -<p> -A small party of the 12th Bengal Cavalry -dismounted, held a walled garden on the -right of this post, and kept up a rattling -carbine fire on the enemy, who took cover -among ground so rough and broken that -no cavalry in the saddle could act against -them. -</p> - -<p> -To succour these advanced parties, -whose posts were now enveloped in whirls -of eddying smoke, streaked by incessant -jets or flashes of fire, the Royal Artillery -guns came on under Major Parry, with a -wing of the Gordon Highlanders under -Major Stewart White, with some of the -23rd Pioneers and two squadrons of the -5th Punjaub Cavalry, all sent by General -Baker, who assigned to this mixed but -slender force the severe task of carrying -these garrisoned heights. -</p> - -<p> -Old Spatterdash as he went to the front -had just time to wring Colville's hand and -congratulate him, but in doing so reeled a -little in his saddle. In fact, at that early -hour he was still groggy from his potations -over night, and said, in a feathery -voice, -</p> - -<p> -'S'cuse me, Colville, but that infernal -bullet I got at Lucknow is troubling me -as usual.' -</p> - -<p> -A few minutes more saw Spatterdash -lying on his back, shot through the head, -and a riderless horse galloping rearward -with loose reins, while very heavy firing -on the left announced that Baker was -pushing on towards the hills, and all along -their green slopes could be seen the white -smoke of cannon and rifles eddying and -rolling before the soft morning breeze. -</p> - -<p> -As Major White pushed on with his -somewhat mixed command, Colville could -see the rocky heights on both flanks of -the Sung-i-Navishta Pass manned by dark -masses of the enemy, all ranked under -numerous standards that streamed in the -breeze, red, blue, green, white, and yellow, -the colours of the different mountain -tribes, or of the fortified villages from -which they came. -</p> - -<p> -There, too, were the sombre battalions -of the Ameer's revolted infantry, clad in -brown tunics faced with scarlet; and, most -conspicuous of all, were a horde of Ghazis, -furious and inflamed fanatics, in purest -white, led by several chiefs, but most -notably by Mahmoud Shah. -</p> - -<p> -Parry's battery now opened fire on the -crowds that covered the nearest hill, -and, while yells of defiance mingled with -the din of the guns and musketry, four -Afghan rifled mountain guns in the Pass -replied, making very good practice against -us indeed, and waking the echoes of the -rocks that overhang the Logur river. -</p> - -<p> -'Let the guns continue to advance, and -pound the nearest hill where these fellows -with the standards are,' said Major White, -adding proudly and confidently, 'With my -Highlanders alone I shall sweep the enemy -from those hills on our right.' -</p> - -<p> -Parry then advanced his guns to within -fifteen hundred yards, and again opened -fire. His cavalry escort was commanded -by Major Mitford, who says, 'We had -thus leisure to watch the advance of the -92nd, which was a splendid sight. The -dark green kilts went up the steep rocky -hillside at a fine rate, though one would -occasionally drop, and roll several feet -down the slope, showing that the rattling -fire kept up by the enemy was not all -display. Both sides took advantage of every -atom of cover, but still the gallant kilts -pressed on and up, and it was altogether -as pretty a piece of light infantry drill as -could be seen.' -</p> - -<p> -Meanwhile Parry's guns were sending -shell after shell with beautiful precision to -the crest of the hill he was ordered 'to -pound.' They exploded with dreadful -effect whenever and wherever the enemy -could be seen preparing to charge. The -Ghazis and Ghilzies lay over each other -in heaps, torn, mangled, and disembowelled, -and the white robes of the former -were seen to be splashed and stained with -blood; but still the living yelled and -brandished their swords and standards, and by -four p.m., Parry's guns had completely -silenced the four that had been -thundering in the echoing pass. -</p> - -<p> -And now it was that the gallant -commander of 'the Gay Gordons,' who were -still advancing, won his Victoria Cross, as -he stormed the crowded hills in person. -'Advancing with two companies of his -regiment,' says the <i>London Gazette</i>, 'he -came upon a body of the enemy, strongly -posted, and outnumbering his force by -eighteen to one. His men being much -exhausted, and immediate action necessary, -Major White took a rifle, and going on by -himself, shot the leader of the enemy.' -</p> - -<p> -The fall of this personage, who was -deemed invulnerable, so intimidated the -enemy that they fled down the mountain -side, while the Highlanders crowned its -crest with a ringing cheer, and then, -plunging with their bayonets into the dark -defile of the Sung-i-Navishta, they captured -the four mountain guns, the horses of -which lay disembowelled, dead, or dying -in the limber traces. So swift was the -rush of the Gordon Highlanders that they -had only nine casualties at this point. -</p> - -<p> -With the Albany Highlanders in the -van, General Baker pushed along the road -towards Chardeh, the 5th Ghoorkas, 5th -Punjaubees, and 23rd Pioneers following -them, till the whole were opposed on -strong and precipitous ground by four -thousand Afghans ranged under six large -and brightly-coloured standards. -</p> - -<p> -Upward and onward went our troops -under a withering rifle fire, the echoes of -which reverberated a hundredfold among -the hills, as they were tossed back from -peak to peak. For two hours the fight -went on, our troops loading and firing -with great coolness and deliberation; and -then was seen the fearful triumph of the -breechloading weapon of precision when -properly sighted, for each successive row -of swarthy men, as they crowned the -ridges of rock, was mown down by a -deadly fire, as wheat goes prone to the -earth before the scythe of the mower, till -after a time it seemed that scarcely a man -stood up alive after the delivery of these -thundering tempests of lead. -</p> - -<p> -The deadly Gatling guns (the pepper -castors, as the soldiers named them) proved -of little use, owing to the acute angle of -elevation; but at last the heights were -taken in rear by a flank movement of the -Gordon Highlanders, who, with colours -flying and all their pipes playing, came -storming up the steep slopes, and, crowning -the summits, swept the enemy away, or -all that remained of them. -</p> - -<p> -By four o'clock the Afghans were everywhere -in full flight to Cabul, with the loss -of many colours, twenty pieces of cannon, -and a host of killed and wounded. -</p> - -<p> -Strong pickets were posted for the night, -as the Ghilzies and Mahmoud Shah's Ghazis -were hovering about. The troops bivouacked, -as the tents and baggage were all -packed for the advance to Cabul on the -morrow. -</p> - -<p> -During all the events of this most -exciting day, by the difference of their -rank and duties, Colville had, of course, -seen nothing of Robert Wodrow, and feared -that his presentiment had been fulfilled, -till he heard from one of the staff what -the general had recorded in the last -paragraph of his despatch—a paragraph that -excited utter bewilderment, and joy too, in -the hearts of some that were far away, and -had heard nothing of the absent one since -the terrible catastrophe in the Cabul -river:— -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -'Corporal Robert Wodrow, of the 10th -Hussars (doing duty with the squadron of -H.M. 9th Lancers), having carried a -message for me, on the spur, through a -most disastrous fire, after two aides-de-camp -and an orderly officer had fallen -wounded successively in attempting this -perilous duty, I have the honour to -recommend him for a commission in the -infantry, and also for the Victoria Cross.' -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -After they had read this, his old parents, -as they looked from the manse windows of -Kirktoun-Mailler, knew why their kindly -parish folk lit that huge bonfire which -they then saw blazing on the summit of -Craigmhor. -</p> - -<p> -With hearts that were very full the -kindly old couple stood hand clasped in -hand, as when he had first won her girlish -love among the 'siller' Birks of Invermay, -and, though they were very silent now, -their souls were filled with prayer and -prayerful thoughts. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap15"></a></p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER XV. -<br /><br /> -ENOUGH DONE FOR HONOUR. -</h3> - -<p> -The morning of the day after the battle of -Charasiah saw the cavalry all in their -saddles for an early movement. The dead -had not been buried as yet, -</p> - -<p class="poem"> - And their executors, the knavish crows,<br /> - Flew o'er them, impatient for their hour,<br /> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -when about five o'clock, in a cold and -bitter wind, Colville was sent with -instructions for the Lancers and Bengal cavalry -to move off. -</p> - -<p> -They did so at a rapid pace, and -entering a narrow part of the Sung-i-Navishta -pass, pursued a winding and stony road -where the deep Logur stream flows -between rocks and slabs of granite, and there -seized a number of guns and brought them -into camp. -</p> - -<p> -Though Cabul had been abandoned by -the insurrectionary troops, whom the -results of Charasiah had stricken with -terror, a considerable body of fresh Afghan -forces, who had returned from Kohistan, -had formed an entrenched position on a -high hill which overlooks the Bala Hissar, -and to dislodge them was necessary before -entering the city; so, with eight squadrons -of horse, General Massy swept round it -northward to watch the roads that led to -Bamian and Kohistan, while General Baker -made a direct attack in front. -</p> - -<p> -During the events of the day Leslie -Colville had been conscious of a blow on -his left shoulder, received in a skirmish, -and believed it to be inflicted by some -soldier in swinging his musket about. -But it proved to be a juzail ball, almost -spent, and lodged in the flesh, out of -which it was cut by Robert Wodrow, who -bathed and dressed the wound for him. -</p> - -<p> -The enemy failed to meet Massy and -fled in the night, abandoning their camp -and twelve pieces of cannon; and under -Massy and Colonel Gough the cavalry -went in pursuit, through that difficult -ground which lies in the vicinity of Cabul, -and is encumbered by isolated forts like -that of Mahmoud Shah, and loopholed -garden and orchard walls, all affording -sure cover for skirmishers. -</p> - -<p> -To keep as far as possible from these -the cavalry rode by the way of the Siah -Sung, or Black Rock. As they proceeded, -on their left rose the grand and picturesque -masses of the Bala Hissar, towers -joined by curtains rising above each other -in succession, round, square, and octagon, -all crenelated, and glowing in the red -radiance of the morning sun, where not sunk -in shadow. Loftily these masses rose -above even the smoke of the great city, -the background of all being the ridgy -crest of the Tukt-i-Shah, or Emperor's -seat, and the great rocks of Asmai, on -which hordes of the enemy were gathered. -</p> - -<p> -The heights there are precipitous, a -thousand feet above the valley of Cabul, -and there the dark figures of the Afghans, -with their arms glittering in the sunshine, -could be seen, clustering thick as a swarm -of bees against the grey granite of the -cliffs, up the eastern flank of which our -infantry, with the Highlanders as usual in -the van, were now creeping with some light -mountain guns. -</p> - -<p> -When the shells of the latter began to -explode among the Afghans they raised -yells of derision, waved their standards, -and danced like madmen; and, heavy -though the cannonade, they manifested -no design of abandoning the heights of -Asmai. -</p> - -<p> -Leaving two squadrons of the 12th and -14th Bengal Regiments to watch their -movements, General Baker led the rest -of the cavalry brigade into the plain of -Chardeh—where a clear and beautiful -stream flows—and then the horses were -watered, while the din of cannon and -musketry showed that the attack and defence -of Asmai were proceeding. -</p> - -<p> -Baker now rode on to watch a camp -that had been formed at a village round -Deh Muzang, <i>en route</i> to which his native -guides abandoned him, but were overtaken -and shot on the spot. The whole district -was now encumbered by half-dispersed -hordes of the enemy, which, as the cavalry -overtook them, resisted more or less, and -after the sun set the duty became full of -peril in unknown ground. Thus, when -darkness fell, many of the dragoons went -astray; some fell into ambuscades, and -several were killed or wounded before the -villages in the Plain of Chardeh, where -they were to bivouac for the night, were -reached. -</p> - -<p> -Among the latter who suffered was -Wodrow's reckless and light-hearted -comrade, Toby Chace, whom, when Leslie -Colville came up with Baker's staff, he -found dying of a dreadful tulwar wound, -inflicted in combat against great odds -after his horse had been shot under him. -</p> - -<p> -This was just outside the village named -Killa Kazi, which was surrounded by a -very high loop-holed wall, within which -the native cavalry had dismounted for the -night, each trooper lying beside his horse. -</p> - -<p> -Toby's wound had been given by one -dreadful slash, and extended from the -chest to the thighs, laying the body so -completely open, that water as he drank -it from Robert Wodrow's wooden bottle, -actually trickled from his viscera, yet he -was wonderfully composed, and by his -own medical skill Wodrow, who supported -Toby's head, knew that it was all over -with him. -</p> - -<p> -'Ah, Bob, I'll be gone in a brace of -shakes,' said he, speaking slowly at long -intervals, and while his teeth chattered -with agony and the dew of death glittered -on his forehead in the bright moonlight; -'the folks in England, who live at home -at ease, know nothing of this sort of thing, -thank God! Take my silver flask, Bob, -and keep it—keep it in memory of poor -Toby Chace. It is all I have now worth -offering you. A girl gave it to me in—in -happier times at Ascot, one whose shoes I -was not worthy to tie—but she married -another fellow anyhow.' -</p> - -<p> -After this his voice died away, his senses -seemed to wander, and whispering, with a -sudden tenderness of manner, 'Mother, -kiss me,' he turned his face to the right -and ceased to live. -</p> - -<p> -After a time Robert Wodrow, carefully -and tenderly as a brother would have done, -rolled the dead hussar in a horse-rug and -buried him under one of the tall poplar-trees -that shade the village wall, and there -he was left in his lonely grave, when next -morning the cavalry rode off: for a -reconnaisance. -</p> - -<p> -So narrow were the paths they had to -pursue that they proceeded in single files -till they struck on the great road to -Ghuznee and swept along it at a gallop, finding -at every pace of the way abandoned tents, -baggage, cooking utensils, and dying Cabul -ponies—the abandoned spoil of the -Kohistanies, Ghilzies, Logaris, and others who -had come to fight the British, but had lost -heart and fled. -</p> - -<p> -Four days afterwards Leslie Colville -found himself entering Cabul, when Sir -Frederick Roberts rode into it publicly, -accompanied by the son of the Ameer, for -Yakoub Khan, imbrued as his hands were -with the blood of the Embassy, and -inculpated with the actors in its destruction, -was too cunning to accompany the British -forces, at the head of whom rode the -squadron of the 9th Royal Lancers. -</p> - -<p> -Possession of Cabul was now taken in -the name of Queen Victoria. The royal -standard was hoisted on the Bala Hissar; -our Horse Artillery guns thundered forth -a salute, and three ringing British cheers -rang along the ranks for the Empress of -India. -</p> - -<p> -The punishment of the perpetrators of -the outrage at the Residency, the terrible -explosion at the Bala Hissar, and the -fighting that ensued at the Shutargardan -Pass and the Sirkai Kotal, lie somewhat -apart from our narrative; but we cannot -omit that which ensued at the Khoord -Cabul and other defiles. -</p> - -<p> -On the 7th of the month after the capital -was taken, Macpherson's Flying Column -marched down the savage valley, clearing -it of straggling bands of the enemy, from -the tomb of Baba Issah to the banks of -the Cabul river, but not without a sharp -fight at the former place, where Mahmoud -Shah and a band of select and most -desperate Ghazis had taken post and resisted -to the last, courting that death in battle -to which they had vowed and devoted -themselves. -</p> - -<p> -'Everyone who said "Lord, Lord!" two -hundred years ago was deemed a Christian,' -says Charles Reade; 'but there are -no earnest men now.' -</p> - -<p> -However, Mahmoud Shah and his Ghilzies, -like the Mahdi and his followers -in Egypt, were terribly in earnest about -their work of religion and slaughter. -</p> - -<p> -Shouting 'Allah! Allah! Allah!' they -resisted with juzail and tulwar, shield, -pistol, and charah, till they were all shot -down, and lay over each other piled in one -great heap, all clad in white, but gashed -and bloody, and among the last who fell -was Mahmoud Shah, who was last seen, -with his back to the holy tomb of Baba -Issah, standing across the dead body of -his favourite white Arab, with eight of the -5th Ghoorkas dead at his feet, an empty -horse-pistol in his left hand, a -blood-dripping tulwar in his right, and six -bayonet wounds in his body, -</p> - -<p class="poem"> - 'The least a death to nature!'<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -By this time there had been hanged in -Cabul more than sixty Afghans for -complicity in the slaughter of the Embassy. -</p> - -<p> -The European troops were now quartered -in the barracks of Yakoub Khan's -late army in the adjacent cantonments -at Sherpore, and soon after an amnesty -was granted to all who had fought against -us, while a proclamation was issued by -Sir Frederick Roberts to the effect that, -in consequence of the abdication of the -Ameer, 'and of the outrage at the British -embassy, the British government were -now compelled to occupy Cabul and other -parts of Afghanistan, and he invited the -Afghan authorities, chiefs, and sirdirs to -assist him to enforce order in the districts -under their control, and to consult with -him conjointly. The population of the -occupied districts would—it was added—be -treated with justice and benevolence; -their religion and customs would be -respected, and loyalty and good service to -the British crown would be suitably -rewarded. On the other hand, all offenders -against the new administration would be -severely punished.' -</p> - -<p> -'We have restored order in Cabul, and -punished all the guilty,' wrote Leslie -Colville to Mary. 'I have resigned my -appointment on the staff, deeming that I -have <i>done enough for honour</i>, darling; and -now I am coming home!' -</p> - -<p> -And now we must return to Ellinor and -her fate, while Colville is speeding -homeward as quickly as steam could carry him -over land and sea. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap16"></a></p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER XVI. -<br /><br /> -THE FATE OF ELLINOR. -</h3> - -<p> -We left Ellinor smarting keenly under the -memory of how Lord Dunkeld and the -two ladies of his family ignored all -recognition of her presence in the -Jungfernsteig, and the despairing mood of -mind in which she was brought back by -Gaiters and the Erau Wyburg to the -gloomy house by the Bleichen Fleet. -</p> - -<p> -The expression of her face at that time -seemed to tell simply of one who endured -life till death might come. -</p> - -<p> -'Escape from this—oh, how to escape!' -she wailed, as she wrung her slender hands -in bitter helplessness. -</p> - -<p> -Her windows were always fastened beyond -her power of opening them, and the -water of the Fleet was fully twenty feet -below them, so escape in that direction -was not to be thought of. -</p> - -<p> -The evening of the fourth day of her -intolerable captivity was drawing to a -close when Ellinor made a discovery by -the merest chance. -</p> - -<p> -That which appeared to be the back -of the antique wardrobe in her room -proved in reality to be a door, though -partially concealed by garments hung on -pegs screwed into it. -</p> - -<p> -A door! Whither did it lead? To ask -Lenchen would at once excite suspicion, -and perhaps deprive her of the power of -utilising it if possible. This discovery -excited her alarm more than hope or -curiosity, for though she was able as yet -to secure her chamber-door on the inside -at night—or was permitted to do so—her -privacy might, she naturally thought, -be violated at any time by this new and -unexpected avenue, which she resolved to -explore. -</p> - -<p> -The door-handle yielded to her touch; -it fell backward, and she found a comfortable, -but narrow, old oak stair, the steps -of which were mouldy, damp, and worm-eaten. -It descended at an angle, within -the thickness of the solid wall, some forty -steps or so, and ended in an opening that -was without any door, and immediately -overhung the canal. Rusty hinges in the -jambs showed that a door had once closed -this entrance to the house, but it had -probably fallen to pieces and never been -replaced. -</p> - -<p> -In short, it was simply one of the many -back entrances from the water, of which -the mercantile community in many parts -of Hamburg still avail themselves, and -showed that at one time, and before that -of its declension, the house of Herr -Wyburg had been the residence of some -wealthy trader, whose boats had been -rowed or pulled up to his private door from -the Brandenburger Hafen and under the -Scharstein Bridge. -</p> - -<p> -Here was a source of escape suddenly -found, and of which she might avail -herself; but the only boats she had ever seen -pass that way were those of the Vierlander -vegetable dealers, and how was she to -make known to these people her peril and -her wishes? -</p> - -<p> -Frau Wyburg had said to her more than -once, 'When in tribulation there is -nothing like keeping your mind easy and -trusting in the unexpected.' -</p> - -<p> -And now the unexpected had come. -</p> - -<p> -Dusk was closing—almost darkness—as -she stood there looking at the gloomy and -turbid water of the Fleet, across which -lights from the house windows were -already casting dim and tremulous lines of -radiance, while she felt her heart beating -wildly as prayer and agony mingled in her -soul together; but the former was -responded to, for even while she stood there -she saw a boat approaching, pulled along -by four seamen, and containing about -a dozen soldiers, to whom she called -aloud for succour. They responded by -banter, and were about to push past on -their way when a cry of despair escaped -her, and then she heard the voice of one -who seemed to be in authority issue an -order. -</p> - -<p> -The boat was steered in close to the -entrance, and she sprang on board to find -herself among a party of Uhlans, who -were all armed with their carbines, and -were under the command of him who had -just spoken—the fair-haired young Baron -Holandsburg—and were a patrol of the -picket from the Dammthor Barracks in -pursuit of two conscript deserters. -</p> - -<p> -Overcome by the intensity of her agitation, -Ellinor was about to sink down in a -kind of heap, as it were, when his arm -went round her in support. -</p> - -<p> -'My God!' he exclaimed; 'my God, it -is the Fraulein Ellinor!' -</p> - -<p> -He gave a wild, inquiring glance at the -house from which she had come, but its -sombre mass gave him no information; he -then took her death-cold hands in his -caressingly, and looked -entreatingly—encouragingly—into -her drawn and tragic -face. -</p> - -<p> -To him a great pity and horror, with -much of blank wonder, were emphasised -by its haggard expression, and her dazed, -sunken eyes, as she clung to him, and he -felt he had no time then—as military duty -sternly required him to proceed—to -inquire into the what, the wherefore, and the -how she came to be there! -</p> - -<p> -He felt only sorrow and intense dismay, -he knew not of what, but was only certain -that she had escaped death, or that -something else very dreadful must have -occurred. -</p> - -<p> -He felt thankful, however, that he had -saved her in this sudden and unexpected -manner from some of the 'perils of nineteenth -century civilisation,' as the author -of 'Altiora Peto' calls them. -</p> - -<p> -By his order, the boat's head was put -round, and pulled away for the nearest -landing-place—the Pulverthbrugge, from -whence he could have her conveyed at once -to Altona. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -When again he saw her on the following -day in the pretty drawing-room of the -villa, with her head resting on Mary's -shoulder and Mary's arm round her, and -Mrs. Deroubigne hovering near, though -colourless as a lily, she was scarcely like -the same ghastly and hunted creature he -had rescued in the boat, from whom he -had so much to learn, and whose -adventures had been so perilous. -</p> - -<p> -She looked so pretty—so beautiful -indeed—in her simple cotton morning dress, -with its delicate crisp puffs and frillings, -with her gentle eyes and pure, perfect -face, that the young baron sighed to think -she was not, and never might be, his! -</p> - -<p> -And yet she owed him, by the chance -of fate, a mighty debt of gratitude. -</p> - -<p> -Her story was barely concluded when, -with something that sounded very naughty -on his lips in his anger, he put his sword -under his arm and departed to look after -that <i>schelm</i> Sleath and the Wyburgs too. -</p> - -<p> -'Poor foolish Ellinor,' thought he, as he -galloped his horse towards the Rathhaus -Strasse, 'if she could not love, she always -had a look of passionless affection for -me—warm friendship shall I call it? Yet -her bright face was somewhat delusive, -for she would never love, nor flirt, nor -even chatter nonsense with me.' -</p> - -<p> -Ellinor knew not exactly the names of -those who had been in league with Sleath -against her, nor could she describe the -exact locality of the house in which they -had detained her, but the baron knew -where he had found her, and with the -police and some of the Uhlans who had -been with him on the preceding night, -proceeded by boat up the Bleichen Fleet; -but, just as they were about to penetrate -by the open back entrance, a loud -explosion was heard high over head, and a -quantity of bricks, tiles, and old timber -came tumbling down to splash in the -canal. -</p> - -<p> -'Der Teufel! what is this!' exclaimed -the baron, 'are we at the siege of Paris -again?' -</p> - -<p> -But, though the house was closely -examined, the mingled tragedy and -catastrophe which Herr Wyburg's revengeful -scheme had brought about was never quite -explained. -</p> - -<p> -Mr. John Gaiters heard betimes of a -dead and mangled body, answering to the -description of his master, being discovered -in the half-blown-up house; and found -himself without a place and also without a -character. -</p> - -<p> -He applied a cambric handkerchief—one -of Sir Redmond's—to his eyes, and then -anathematised them. He then took possession -of his late master's portmanteaux -at the 'Hotel Russie,' lit a cigarette, and -went leisurely on board the London steamer -at the Hafenbasin, and Hamburg knew -him no more. -</p> - -<p> -The public prints had made all interested -therein, aware that Leslie Colville and -another, described variously as Taimar of -the Guide Corps, and Corporal Wodrow of -the 10th Hussars, had escaped the massacre -and were safe. -</p> - -<p> -Colville safe and living still! What an -awful burden was now doubly lifted from -the heart of Mary—a heart too full for -words. -</p> - -<p> -It was natural for her to have hope at -her years; but the tidings of the slaughter -at the Residency seemed to crush all hope -for ever. -</p> - -<p> -A telegram first came from Colville, and -ere long there was actually a letter from -Robert Wodrow. -</p> - -<p> -'Forgive me, beloved Ellinor, as I have -forgiven and forgotten a portion of our -past,' he wrote, gently and humbly. -'Because that fellow Sleath was a rascal, you -do not mean to go through life "a maiden -all forlorn." And so you still stick to me -alone, in spite of what people may say—a -poor corporal of Hussars as yet. When I -think of you sought after, admired, and -doubtless loved by dozens of fellows, -better a thousand degrees than luckless Bob -Wodrow; I can but trust to your heart -holding the memory of me against them -all—for a memory it may be, Ellinor, as I -am not out of this perilous Afghanistan -yet—and a year ago I never thought to -be <i>here</i>. -</p> - -<p class="poem"> - "The poison is yet in my brain, love,<br /> - The thorn in my flesh, for you know<br /> - 'Twas only a year ago, love,<br /> - 'Twas only a year ago."<br /> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -And Ellinor wept as she read the words -his hands had traced. -</p> - -<p> -A few more references to history. -</p> - -<p> -A clasp for Charasiah was ordered to be -worn with the war medal, but ere he saw -Ellinor, Robert Wodrow had yet to win the -bronze star awarded to all who shared in -Roberts's famous march to Candahar. -</p> - -<p> -'After all the peril faced and glory won, -are we to give up Candahar—after <i>all</i>?' -was the ever-recurring question among the -soldiers of our army, as they marched -back to India, and felt that, though -Roberts had restored our prestige, all the -honour gained in battle would be lost if -we failed to retain Candahar. -</p> - -<p> -Through the gates of that city have all -the great conquerors of India -come—Alexander and Timor, Genghis Khan and -Nadir Shah; it bars the approach to India -from the north and west, and the power -that holds it—as one day Russia -will—commands both Cabul and Herat. -</p> - -<p> -The facilities for attacking India from -it are innumerable, and, as Sir Edward -Hamley has it, 'I believe the concurrent -testimony of all Indians is that there is no -territory on which it would be more -perilous to give our enemy the chance of -winning a battle than our Indian Empire.' -</p> - -<p> -General Roberts, in a minute to the -Government, 29th May, 1880, urged 'that -our grasp on Candahar should never be -loosened,' and that its military retention -was of vital importance to us in all wars -connected with the Afghans or Russians -in Central Asia. Lord Napier of Magdala, -Sir George Lawrence, Sir Henry Rawlinson, -and all other high authorities on Indian -military affairs, have spoken or written in -the same tone on this all-important -subject; yet, in defiance of their opinions, -Candahar was handed over to the Ameer, -and since then the Russian eagle has laid -its talons on Merv! -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap17"></a></p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER XVII. -<br /><br /> -AMONG THE BIRKS OF INVERMAY. -</h3> - -<p> -'Home at last!' exclaimed Leslie Colville, -aloud but to himself in the excess of his -joy, as his train from Dover went clanking -in to crowded and busy Charing-Cross -Station. 'Home at last! How jolly it is -to see the English faces, the familiar sights -and hear the familiar sounds again—and -to be once more in mufti!' -</p> - -<p> -'<i>Globe—Graphic—'Lustrated News—Punch!</i>' He -listened to the calls of the -newsboys as if they sang sweet music; -and for days past he had thought of, -whistled, and hummed the burden of an -old Scottish song he had heard his nurse -sing long ago— -</p> - -<p class="poem"> - 'Hame, hame, hame, oh, fain wad I be;<br /> - Hame, hame, hame, in my ain countrie!'<br /> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -And the desire had become a realization—a fact. -</p> - -<p> -'And now to meet my darling!' he -thought, as he plunged into a well-horsed -hansom, and, leaving his luggage to follow, -was driven at a tearing pace towards -Grosvenor Square, for which the residence -at Altona had been gladly quitted by -Mrs. Deroubigne and her two charges, -</p> - -<p> -'Journeys of a few hundred miles are -no longer described in these days of ours,' -says Charles Reade; nor those of thousands -at the rate we travel, so we have -not detailed the journey of Colville. -</p> - -<p> -At last it was ended, and he was with -<i>her</i>. -</p> - -<p> -Mary's pulses were leaping with excitement -when they met, and she felt herself -in his tender and prolonged embrace, -though it all seemed a delicious and -delirious dream, from which she might waken -and again weep for him as dead, or as still -expecting him. -</p> - -<p> -It was well-nigh a year since they had -parted, a year of many startling events, -months since a line had been exchanged -between them; and who could blame them -if, for a little time, they forgot all the -world, and everything else, but each other? -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -'How strange to think that this is the -last walk we shall have together as lovers,' -said Mary, in a soft, cooing tone, as they -loitered by the Serpentine one evening. -</p> - -<p> -'Yes, when next we promenade thus it -will be as sober married folks,' said -Colville, with his brightest smile. -</p> - -<p> -'Dear—dear Leslie!' -</p> - -<p> -'Our courtship days have been chequered -certainly, but the end is a happy one.' -</p> - -<p> -'Happy we have been from the moment -we had perfect faith in each other, with -one dreadful interval,' said Mary, with a -little sob in her throat, as she thought of -the first tidings from Cabul; 'could I but -see my pet Ellinor even half so happy!' -</p> - -<p> -'Her days for fullest happiness will -come in time—and, dearest Mary, if all -these lawyer fellows, Horning and Tailzie, -tell me is true, I shall put a coronet on -your golden hair, and you shall be my -Lady Colville of Ochiltree,' said he, -laughingly. -</p> - -<p> -'Oh, to go home again!' said Mary, who -was thinking more of Birkwoodbrae than -a peerage and a house in Tyburnia. 'I was -always a great knitter at odd times, Leslie, -and half the old people at Kirktoun-Mailler -benefited thereby. I was born among -my old people, and long so much—amid -my own great happiness—to see them -once again. It seems ages since I came -away.' -</p> - -<p> -'And see them you shall in a little time -now, darling, for there we shall spend our -honeymoon.' -</p> - -<p> -And then that season, so important in -human life and human love, was spent as -Colville had promised, and to Mary supreme -was the delight of wandering over all the -old familiar places again and again with -him—the trout-pool where they had first -met and he had lifted her off the stone; -the Linn; the Holyhill; the Miller's Acre; -under the old gate with the legend on its -lintel, and where again she could train her -flowers, and feed her chickens that looked -like balls of golden fluff, while the 'siller -birks'—the Birks of Invermay—cast their -shadows over her again. -</p> - -<p> -She was back again in her old groove -as if she had never left it—to train her -roses and clematis, to sow mignonette and -sweet-scented stocks, and plant white lilies -for Ellinor to paint from; and, with Jack -by her side, with a solid silver collar -(though one with spikes would better have -suited his pugnacious propensities), to -wander when dewy evening was falling, -when the sheep were nibbling the grass -briskly and monotonously; and a gleam -came from the old ingle-lum of the kitchen, -where Elspat was rolling out barley-meal -cakes, and where everything spoke of -home—now more than ever home! -</p> - -<p> -'You see, Leslie darling,' said she, 'I -feel for this place—we feel, Ellinor and I—as -no one else ever could, having always, -during the lifetime of papa and ever after, -looked upon it as our own.' -</p> - -<p> -'And your own it is, pet Mary.' -</p> - -<p> -'And no other place, however grand or -beautiful, could be like a home to us.' -</p> - -<p> -The luxuries with which Colville could -surround her—luxuries too great for a -mansion so small then—her carriage-horses, -her pair of ponies, her white Arab -pad (all stabled as yet at the 'Dunkeld -Arms'), her set of sables, her jewellery, -and Parisian toilettes, her retinue of -servants were the topics of 'the countryside,' -and were duly descanted on by Mademoiselle -Rosette Patchouli for the edification -of her ladies; and the Honourable Blanche -Gabrielle, with her elevated eyebrows, -foreign tricks of manner, and incipient -little French moustache, thought with -anger of all she had lost. -</p> - -<p> -The pompous old lord, with his facial -angle <i>à la</i> Louis XIV., and his cold-blooded -yet perfectly aristocratic lady, -would gladly have shed the light of their -countenances over Birkwoodbrae, but there -Mary's Christianity ended; and she would -have nothing of them, despite all good old -Dr. Wodrow could urge. -</p> - -<p> -Robert was returning an officer, with a -well-earned cluster of medals on his breast, -and he was coming straight to Kirktoun-Mailler -and to her. So Ellinor often -seated herself on a mossy bank, and, -leaning her head of rich brown hair against -the white stem of a silver birch, would -give herself up to memory, and many a -happy and repentant thought; while tears -fell from her eyes—she was so happy! -</p> - -<p> -A little time ago it would have been -torture for Ellinor to look upon scenes so -associated with Robert Wodrow, the lover -she had wronged and lost and mourned -for; and it was painful still to do so, -though her heart throbbed with hope and -joy, as he was returning to her with the -rank and position he had predicted to his -mother. -</p> - -<p> -So Robert Wodrow will win the one -woman of his heart! Hand and hand -they will go forward together into that -new existence—that new world of tame, -married life, as it is deemed; but to them, -a world of trust and love it will be; while -explanations and memories of the sweet -and bitter and perilous past will come in -due course with the current of their own -happy and mutual thoughts. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="t3"> -THE END. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="t4"> -LONDON: PRINTED BY DUNCAN MACDONALD, BLENHEIM HOUSE. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COLVILLE OF THE GUARDS, VOLUME III (OF 3) ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -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. 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