along
cloak
round
me
,
gathered
close
my
hair
,
hurried
velvet
slippers
on
,
locked
my
uncle
in
,
and
quietly
opened
the
outer
door
.
There
stood
Giudice
in
the
moonlight
,
with
his
head
towards
the
far
east
window
,
his
ears
laid
back
,
his
crest
erect
,
and
in
his
throat
a
gurgling
sound
,
a
growl
suppressed
by
wonder
.
He
never
turned
to
look
at
me
,
nor
even
wagged
his
tail
,
but
watched
and
waited
grimly
.
I
laid
my
hand
upon
him
,
and
then
glided
down
the
corridor
,
avoiding
the
moonlight
patches
.
Giudice
followed
,
like
my
shadow
,
never
a
foot
behind
me
,
his
tread
as
stealthy
as
a
cat
's
.
Before
I
reached
the
oriel
window
where
the
broad
light
fell
,
something
told
me
to
draw
aside
and
watch
.
I
withdrew
,
and
Giudice
with
me
,
into
the
dark
entrance
to
my
father
's
room
.
Here
we
would
see
what
came
.
Scarcely
had
I
been
there
ten
throbs
of
the
heart
,
when
between
me
and
the
central
light
,
where
the
moonbeams
fell
askance
,
rose
a
tall
gray
figure
.
I
am
not
quite
a
coward
,
for
a
woman
at
least
,
but
every
drop
of
blood
within
me
at
that
sight
stood
still
.
Even
Giudice
trembled
,
and
his
growl
was
hushed
,
and
every
hair
upon
him
bristled
as
he
crouched
into
my
cloak
.
Slowly
the
form
was
rising
,
like
a
corpse
raised
from
a
coffin
by
the
loose
end
of
the
winding-sheet
.
I
could
not
speak
,
I
could
not
move
,
much
less
could
I
think
.
With
a
silent
stately
walk
,
or
glide
—
for
no
feet
could
I
see
—
the
figure
came
towards
the
embrasure
where
we
lurked
.
Ashy
white
the
face
was
,
large
the
eyes
and
hollow
,
all
the
hair
fell
down
the
back
,
the
form
was
tall
and
graceful
,
one
arm
was
lifted
as
in
appeal
,
to
heaven
,
and
the
shroud
drooped
from
it
,
the
other
lay
across
the
breast
.
The
colour
of
the
shroud
was
gray
,
pale
,
unearthly
gray
.
For
one
moment
as
it
passed
,
I
kept
my
teeth
from
chattering
.
Giudice
crawled
one
step
before
me
,
with
his
mind
made
up
for
death
.
Back
the
blood
leaped
to
my
heart
,
as
the
apparition
glided
slowly
down
the
corridor
without
sigh
or
footfall
.
What
to
do
I
knew
not
;
my
feet
were
now
unrooted
from
the
ground
.
Should
I
fly
into
my
father
's
death-room
?
No
;
I
was
afraid
.
To
stay
where
I
was
seemed
best
,
but
how
could
I
see
it
come
back
,
as
I
knew
it
would
?
Another
such
suspension
of
my
life
,
and
all
,
I
felt
,
would
be
over
.
Suddenly
,
while
still
the
figure
was
receding
in
the
distance
,
I
saw
a
great
change
in
the
bloodhound
.
He
strode
into
the
corridor
,
and
began
to
follow
.
At
the
same
time
,
the
deep
gurgle
in
his
throat
revived
.
In
a
moment
,
it
flashed
through
me
that
he
had
smelt
the
ghost
to
be
a
thing
of
flesh
and
blood
.
It
might
be
my
father
's
murderer
.
At
any
rate
it
had
entered
as
he
must
have
done
.
Close
behind
the
dog
I
stole
after
the
spectral
figure
.
The
supernatural
horror
fled
;
all
my
life
was
in
my
veins
.
What
became
of
me
I
cared
not
,
I
who
was
so
wretched
.
Almost
to
the
end
,
that
gliding
form
preceded
us
,
then
turned
down
a
flight
of
steps
leading
to
the
basement
.
Triple
resolution
gushed
through
me
at
this
;
this
was
the
spot
where
the
ghost
was
known
to
turn
,
and
glide
back
through
the
corridor
.
When
it
had
descended
about
half-way
down
the
staircase
,
where
the
steps
were
on
the
turn
and
narrow
,
standing
at
the
head
I
distinctly
heard
a
flop
,
as
of
a
slipper-heel
dropping
from
the
foot
,
and
then
caught
up
again
.
What
ghost
was
likely
to
want
slippers
?
And
what
mortal
presence
need
I
fear
,
with
Judy
at
my
side
?
Keeping
him
behind
me
by
a
gentle
touch
,
I
hurried
down
the
stairs
.
Luckily
,
I
stopped
before
I
turned
the
corner
,
for
a
gleam
came
up
the
passage
;
the
ghost
had
struck
a
lucifer
.
It
was
a
dark
and
narrow
passage
,
proof
to
any
moon-light
,
and
the
spectre
lost
no
time
in
lighting
a
small
lamp
,
to
find
the
study
door
;
I
mean
my
uncle
's
private
study
,
where
he
kept
his
papers
.
The
lamp
was
of
peculiar
shape
,
very
small
,
and
fitted
with
three
reflectors
,
to
throw
the
light
in
converging
planes
.
Still
remaining
in
deep
shadow
,
I
saw
the
person
—
ghost
no
longer
—
produce
a
key
,
open
the
study
door
and
enter
.
Then
an
attempt
was
made
to
lock
the
door
from
the
inside
,
but
—
as
I
knew
by
the
sound
—
the
false
key
would
not
work
that
way
,
and
the
door
was
only
closed
.
Whispering
into
Judy
's
ear
,
that
if
he
dared
to
move
—
for
his
honest
wrath
at
these
burglarious
doings
could
scarcely
be
controlled
—
I
would
make
a
ghost
of
him
next
day
,
I
left
him
in
the
passage
,
and
softly
followed
the
intruder
.
First
I
looked
through
the
key-hole
;
the
room
was
very
dark
and
full
of
heavy
furniture
;
I
could
see
nothing
;
but
must
risk
the
chance
.
So
I
slipped
in
noiselessly
and
closed
the
door
behind
me
.
With
the
ghostly
apparel
thrown
aside
,
and
a
mask
laid
on
an
ebony
desk
,
stood
intently
occupied
at
the
large
bureau
,
which
I
had
once
so
longed
to
search
,
my
arch-enemy
,
Mrs.
Daldy
.
I
was
not
at
all
surprised
,
having
felt
long
since
that
it
could
be
no
other
.
Sitting
upon
a
stiff-backed
velvet
chair
,
in
the
shadow
of
an
oaken
bookcase
—
crouch
I
would
not
for
her
—
I
waited
to
see
what
she
would
do
.
Already
the
folding-doors
of
the
large
bureau
were
open
;
their
creaking
had
drowned
the
noise
of
my
entry
.
Before
her
was
exposed
a
multitude
of
drawers
.
All
the
visible
doors
she
had
probably
explored
on
the
previous
nights
,
as
well
as
the
other
repositories
of
various
kinds
which
the
room
contained
.
Her
search
was
narrowed
now
to
one
particular
part
of
this
bureau
.
The
folding-doors
were
very
large
,
and
richly
inlaid
with
arabesques
and
scroll-work
of
satin-wood
and
ebony
:
all
the
inside
was
fitted
and
adorned
with
ivory
pillars
,
small
alcoves
containing
baby
mirrors
,
flights
of
chequered
steps
,
and
other
quaint
devices
,
besides
the
more
business-like
and
useful
sliding
trays
.
With
the
lamp-light
flashing
on
it
,
it
looked
like
a
palace
for
the
Queen
of
Dolls
—
a
place
for
puppet
ceremony
and
pleasure
.
Every
drawer
was
faced
with
marquetrie
,
every
little
door
had
panels
of
shagreen
.
In
short
,
the
whole
thing
would
have
been
the
pride
of
any
shop
in
Wardour
Street
,
when
that
street
was
itself
.
Having
never
seen
it
open
till
now
,
I
was
quite
astonished
,
though
I
do
n't
know
how
often
my
father
had
promised
to
show
it
to
me
on
my
very
next
birthday
,
if
I
were
good
.
Probably
I
was
never
good
enough
.
Without
any
hesitation
,
Mrs.
Daldy
pressed
a
fan
,
or
slide
,
of
cedar-wood
,
in
the
right
corner
of
the
cabinet
;
the
slide
sunk
into
a
groove
,
and
disclosed
two
deep
,
but
narrow
drawers
;
these
she
pulled
out
from
their
boxes
,
and
laid
aside
;
they
were
full
of
papers
,
which
she
no
doubt
had
already
examined
.
Then
she
placed
the
diminutive
lamp
on
one
of
the
doll
steps
,
and
produced
from
her
pocket
three
or
four
little
tools
.
Before
commencing
with
these
,
she
probed
and
pressed
the
partition
between
the
sockets
of
those
two
drawers
,
in
every
imaginable
way
—
a
last
attempt
to
find
the
countersign
of
some
private
nook
,
which
had
defied
her
the
night
before
.
At
length
,
with
a
low
cry
of
impatience
,
she
seized
a
small
,
thin
chisel
,
and
a
bottle
of
clear
liquid
:
with
the
one
she
softened
the
buhl
veneer
upon
the
partition
's
face
,
and
with
the
other
she
removed
it
.
Then
,
after
a
little
unscrewing
,
she
carefully
prized
away
the
stop
of
cedar-wood
,
while
I
admired
her
workman-like
proceedings
(
so
far
as
they
were
visible
to
me
)
,
and
the
graceful
action
of
the
arms
she
was
so
proud
of
.
Her
shoulder
came
rather
in
my
way
,
but
I
got
a
glimpse
of
the
narrow
,
vertical
opening
,
where
the
cedar-stop
had
been
.
She
drew
a
long
breath
of
delight
and
pride
,
then
thrust
a
wire-crook
into
this
opening
,
and
hooked
forth
two
thin
and
closely-fastened
packets
.
Eagerly
she
looked
at
them
;
they
were
what
she
wanted
.
No
doubt
she
knew
their
contents
;
her
object
was
to
get
hold
of
them
.
Having
placed
them
carefully
in
her
bosom
,
she
prepared
for
a
little
more
joiner
's
work
,
to
restore
what
she
had
dismantled
.
Her
dexterity
was
so
pleasing
,
that
I
let
her
proceed
for
a
while
.
She
soon
refixed
the
cedar-stop
,
tapping
it
in
the
most
knowing
way
with
the
handle
of
the
screw-driver
,
then
she
screwed
it
tightly
,
and
spread
the
wood
with
some
liquid
cement
to
carry
the
veneer
.
She
had
mislaid
the
narrow
strip
of
tortoise-shell
and
brass
,
and
was
looking
for
it
on
the
chequered
steps
,
when
I
called
aloud
:
"
Shall
I
show
you
where
you
put
it
,
Mrs.
Daldy
?
But
where
on
earth
did
you
learn
your
trade
?
"
Never
was
amazement
written
more
strongly
on
any
human
face
.
If
the
ghost
had
frightened
me
,
I
now
had
my
full
revenge
.
She
dropped
the
bottle
of
cement
,
and
it
rolled
on
the
cabinet
steps
;
she
turned
,
with
her
face
as
white
as
the
mask
,
and
glared
round
the
room
,
for
I
was
still
concealed
in
the
recess
.
I
thought
she
would
have
blown
out
the
lamp
,
but
she
had
not
presence
of
mind
enough
:
otherwise
among
all
that
furniture
it
would
not
have
been
easy
to
catch
her
;
and
she
knew
nothing
of
my
sentinel
at
the
door
.
After
some
quiet
enjoyment
of
her
terror
,
I
came
forth
,
and
met
her
fairly
.
"
What
,
Clara
Vaughan
!
Is
it
possible
?
I
thought
you
were
in
London
.
"
"
Is
it
possible
that
I
have
found
a
Christian
,
so
truly
earnest
about
her
soul
,
so
yearning
over
the
unregenerate
,
committing
a
black
robbery
in
the
dead
of
night
?
Is
this
what
you
call
a
wholesome
conviction
of
sin
?
"
Low
exultation
I
confess
:
but
the
highest
blood
in
the
land
,
if
it
were
blood
,
could
scarcely
have
forborne
it
:
for
how
I
abhorred
that
hypocrite
!
For
a
time
she
knew
not
what
to
do
or
say
,
but
glared
at
me
without
much
Christian
feeling
.
Then
she
tried
to
carry
it
off
in
a
grandly
superior
style
.
She
drew
herself
up
,
and
looked
as
if
I
were
not
worth
reasoning
with
.
"
Perhaps
you
are
young
enough
to
imagine
,
that
because
appearances
are
at
this
moment
peculiar
—
"
"
Thank
you
:
there
is
no
need
to
inquire
into
the
state
of
my
mind
.
Be
kind
enough
to
restore
those
packets
which
you
have
stolen
.
"
"
Indeed
!
I
am
perfectly
amazed
at
your
audacity
.
What
I
have
belongs
to
me
righteously
,
and
a
stronger
hand
than
yours
is
required
to
rob
me
.
"
She
grasped
her
chisel
,
and
stood
in
a
menacing
attitude
.
I
answered
her
very
quietly
,
and
without
approaching
nearer
.
"
If
I
wish
to
see
you
torn
in
pieces
,
I
have
only
to
raise
my
hand
.
Giudice
!
"
And
I
gave
a
peculiar
whistle
thoroughly
known
to
my
dog
.
He
leaped
against
the
door
,
forced
the
worn
catch
from
the
guard
,
and
stood
at
my
side
,
with
his
great
eyes
flashing
and
his
fangs
laid
bare
.
Mrs.
Daldy
jumped
to
the
other
side
of
the
table
,
and
seized
a
heavy
chair
.
"
My
dear
child
,
my
dear
girl
,
I
believe
you
are
right
after
all
.
It
is
so
hard
to
judge
—
for
God
's
sake
keep
him
back
—
so
hard
to
judge
when
one
's
own
rights
are
in
question
.
The
old
unregenerate
tendencies
—
"
"
Will
lodge
you
in
Gloucester
jail
to-morrow
.
Once
more
those
papers
—
or
—
"
and
I
looked
at
Giudice
and
began
to
raise
my
hand
.
His
eyes
were
on
it
,
and
he
gathered
himself
for
the
spring
like
a
cannon
recoiling
.
In
the
height
of
her
terror
,
she
tore
her
dress
open
and
flung
me
the
packets
across
the
end
of
the
table
.
I
examined
and
fixed
them
to
Judy
's
collar
.
Then
we
both
advanced
,
and
penned
her
up
in
a
corner
.
It
was
so
delightful
to
see
her
for
once
in
her
native
meanness
,
despoiled
of
her
cant
and
phylactery
,
like
a
Pharisee
under
an
oil-press
.
She
fell
on
her
knees
and
implored
me
,
in
plain
earnest
English
for
once
,
to
let
her
go
.
She
appealed
to
my
self-interest
,
and
offered
me
partnership
in
her
schemes
;
whereby
alone
I
could
regain
the
birthright
of
which
I
had
been
so
heinously
robbed
.
I
only
asked
if
she
could
reveal
the
mystery
of
my
father
's
death
.
She
could
not
tell
me
anything
,
or
she
would
have
jumped
at
the
chance
.
At
last
I
promised
to
let
her
go
,
if
she
would
show
me
the
secret
entrance
under
the
oriel
window
.
It
was
not
for
her
own
sake
I
released
her
,
but
to
avoid
the
scandal
and
painful
excitement
which
her
trial
must
have
created
.
When
she
departed
,
now
thoroughly
crestfallen
,
I
followed
her
out
of
the
house
by
the
secret
passage
,
wherein
she
had
stored
a
few
of
her
stage-properties
.
Giudice
,
whom
,
for
fear
of
treachery
,
I
kept
at
my
side
all
the
time
,
showed
his
great
teeth
in
the
moonlight
,
and
almost
challenged
my
right
to
let
her
go
.
After
taking
the
packets
from
him
,
I
gave
him
a
sheepskin
mat
under
the
window
there
,
and
left
him
on
guard
;
although
there
was
little
chance
of
another
attempt
being
made
,
while
the
papers
were
in
my
keeping
.
Her
mask
and
spectral
drapery
remained
with
me
,
as
trophies
of
this
my
ghostly
adventure
.
CHAPTER
VII
.
Next
day
when
I
showed
my
uncle
the
two
sealed
packets
which
I
had
rescued
,
and
told
him
all
that
had
happened
,
at
first
he
was
overcome
with
terror
and
amazement
.
His
illness
seemed
to
have
banished
all
his
satirical
humour
,
and
that
disdainful
apathy
which
is
the
negative
form
of
philosophy
.
He
took
the
parcels
with
a
trembling
hand
,
and
began
to
examine
the
seals
.
"
All
safe
,
"
he
said
at
last
,
"
all
safe
,
to
my
surprise
.
Dear
child
,
I
owe
you
more
than
life
this
time
.
You
have
defeated
my
worst
enemy
.
To
your
care
only
will
I
commit
these
papers
,
one
of
which
,
I
hope
will
soon
be
of
little
value
.
It
is
my
will
;
and
by
it
your
father
's
estates
are
restored
to
you
,
while
the
money
which
I
have
saved
by
my
own
care
and
frugality
is
divided
into
two
portions
,
one
for
you
,
and
the
other
,
upon
certain
events
,
for
that
worthless
Mrs.
Daldy
.
This
must
be
altered
at
once
.
When
you
have
heard
my
story
,
you
may
read
the
will
,
if
you
like
.
Indeed
I
wish
you
to
do
so
,
because
it
will
prove
that
in
spite
of
all
our
estrangement
,
I
have
meant
all
along
to
act
justly
towards
you
.
But
that
you
may
understand
things
properly
,
I
will
tell
you
my
strange
history
.
Only
one
thing
you
must
promise
before
I
begin
.
"
"
What
is
it
,
uncle
dear
?
"
"
That
you
will
forgive
me
for
my
one
great
error
.
Although
it
was
the
cause
of
your
dear
father
's
death
.
"
I
could
not
answer
,
for
a
minute
.
Then
I
took
his
hand
and
kissed
it
,
as
he
turned
his
face
away
.
"
My
darling
,
I
am
not
quite
strong
enough
now
after
all
you
have
been
telling
me
.
Although
I
had
dark
suspicions
yesterday
that
some
plot
was
in
action
;
for
I
had
observed
that
things
in
the
study
were
not
as
I
had
left
them
;
and
I
had
other
reasons
too
.
But
take
me
,
my
precious
child
,
to
the
sunny
bank
this
afternoon
,
and
please
God
,
I
will
at
least
begin
my
tale
.
"
I
begged
him
in
vain
to
defer
it
:
there
was
a
weight
upon
his
mind
,
he
said
,
which
he
must
unload
.
So
in
the
early
afternoon
,
I
wheeled
him
gently
to
the
sheltered
nook
.
There
,
with
the
breezes
way-lost
among
new
streets
of
verdure
,
tall
laburnum
dangling
chains
of
gold
around
us
,
and
Giudice
stretching
out
his
paws
in
sunny
yawns
of
glory
,
I
listened
to
my
uncle
's
tale
,
and
was
too
young
to
understand
the
sigh
which
introduced
it
.
How
few
may
tell
the
story
of
their
lives
without
remembering
how
they
played
with
life
!
Alas
the
die
thrown
once
for
all
,
but
left
to
roll
unwatched
,
and
lie
uncounted
!
Though
I
cannot
tell
the
story
in
his
impressive
way
,
I
will
try
to
repeat
it
,
so
far
as
my
memory
serves
,
in
his
words
,
and
with
his
feelings
.
Solemnly
and
sadly
fell
the
history
from
his
lips
,
for
his
mind
from
first
to
last
was
burdened
with
the
knowledge
that
the
end
was
nigh
at
hand
,
that
nothing
now
remained
,
except
to
wait
with
resignation
the
impending
blow
.
STORY
OF
EDGAR
VAUGHAN
.
"
I
have
always
been
,
as
you
know
,
of
a
roving
unsocial
nature
.
My
father
being
dead
before
I
was
born
,
and
my
mother
having
married
again
before
I
could
walk
,
there
was
little
to
counteract
my
centrifugal
tendencies
.
I
seemed
to
belong
to
neither
family
;
though
I
always
clung
to
the
Vaughans
,
and
disliked
the
Daldys
.
The
trustees
of
my
mother
's
settlement
were
my
virtual
guardians
;
for
all
the
Vaughan
estates
being
most
strictly
entailed
,
my
father
had
nothing
to
dispose
of
,
and
therefore
had
made
no
will
.
My
mother
's
settlement
comprised
only
personal
estate
,
for
no
power
had
been
reserved
under
the
entail
to
create
any
charges
upon
the
land
.
The
mortgages
,
of
which
no
doubt
you
have
heard
,
as
paid
off
by
your
father
,
were
encumbrances
of
long
standing
.
"
The
estates
,
I
need
not
tell
you
,
were
shamefully
mismanaged
,
during
your
father
's
long
minority
.
An
agent
was
appointed
under
the
Court
of
Chancery
,
and
an
indolent
rogue
he
was
.
Meanwhile
your
father
and
myself
went
through
the
usual
course
of
education
,
no
difference
being
made
in
that
respect
between
us
.
Although
we
were
only
half-brothers
,
we
were
strongly
attached
to
each
other
,
especially
after
a
thorough
drubbing
which
your
good
papa
found
it
his
duty
to
administer
to
me
at
Eton
.
It
did
me
a
world
of
good
;
before
that
,
I
had
rather
despised
him
for
the
gentleness
of
his
nature
.
At
Oxford
,
after
your
father
had
left
,
I
kept
aloof
both
from
the
great
convivial
and
from
the
thinly
peopled
reading
set
,
and
lived
very
much
by
myself
.
Soon
as
the
humorous
doings
,
whose
humour
culminates
in
the
title
'
lectures
,
'
soon
as
these
were
over
,
I
was
away
from
the
freckled
stones
,
punting
lazily
on
the
Cherwell
,
with
French
and
Italian
novels
;
or
lounging
among
the
gipseys
on
the
steppes
of
Cowley
.
Hall
I
never
frequented
,
but
dined
at
some
distant
tavern
,
and
spent
the
evening
,
and
often
the
night
till
Tom-curfew
,
in
riding
through
the
lonely
lanes
towards
Otmoor
,
Aston
Common
,
or
Stanlake
.
It
was
strange
that
I
never
fell
in
love
,
for
I
had
plenty
of
small
adventures
,
and
fell
in
with
several
pretty
girls
,
but
never
one
I
cared
for
.
Gazing
on
the
wreck
I
am
,
it
is
no
conceit
to
say
that
in
those
times
I
was
considered
remarkably
good-looking
.
Of
course
I
was
not
popular
;
that
I
never
cared
for
;
but
nobody
had
reason
to
dislike
me
.
I
affected
no
peculiarity
,
gave
myself
no
airs
,
behaved
politely
to
all
who
took
the
trouble
to
address
me
;
and
the
world
,
which
I
neither
defied
nor
courted
,
followed
its
custom
in
such
cases
,
and
let
me
have
my
way
.
"
At
Lincoln
's
Inn
,
my
life
was
much
the
same
,
except
that
wherries
succeeded
punts
,
and
evening
rides
were
exchanged
for
moonlight
walks
in
the
park
.
It
was
reported
at
home
,
as
it
is
of
most
men
who
are
called
to
the
Bar
,
that
I
was
likely
to
do
great
things
.
There
never
was
a
chance
of
it
.
Setting
aside
the
question
of
ability
,
I
had
no
application
,
no
love
of
the
law
,
no
idea
whatever
of
touting
;
and
still
more
fatal
defect
,
my
lonely
habits
were
darkening
into
a
shy
dislike
of
my
species
.
"
You
have
heard
that
I
was
extravagant
.
As
regards
my
early
career
,
the
charge
is
quite
untrue
.
Money
,
I
confess
,
was
never
much
in
my
thoughts
,
nor
did
I
ever
attempt
to
buy
things
below
their
value
;
but
my
wants
were
so
few
,
and
my
mode
of
life
so
ungenial
,
that
I
never
exceeded
the
moderate
sum
allotted
to
me
as
a
younger
son
.
Afterwards
this
was
otherwise
,
and
for
excellent
reasons
.
"
During
the
height
of
the
London
season
I
was
always
most
restless
and
misanthropic
.
Not
that
I
looked
with
envy
on
the
frivolous
dust
of
fashion
,
and
clouds
of
sham
around
me
;
but
that
I
felt
myself
lowered
as
an
Englishman
by
the
cringing
,
the
falsehood
,
the
small
babooneries
,
which
we
call
'
society
.
'
I
longed
to
be
,
if
I
could
but
afford
it
,
where
men
have
more
manly
self-respect
,
and
women
more
true
womanhood
.
"
Your
parents
were
married
,
my
darling
Clara
,
at
the
end
of
December
,
1826
,
six
years
before
your
birth
.
Upon
that
occasion
,
your
dear
father
,
the
only
man
in
the
world
for
whom
I
cared
a
fig
,
made
me
a
very
handsome
present
.
In
fact
he
gave
me
a
thousand
pounds
.
He
would
have
given
me
a
much
larger
sum
,
for
he
was
a
most
liberal
man
,
but
the
estates
had
suffered
from
long
mismanagement
,
and
were
seriously
encumbered
.
I
do
not
hesitate
to
say
that
the
gross
income
of
this
property
is
now
double
what
it
was
when
your
father
succeeded
to
it
,
and
the
net
income
more
than
quadruple
.
During
the
four
years
which
elapsed
between
that
event
and
his
marriage
,
he
had
devoted
all
he
could
spare
to
the
clearance
of
encumbrances
and
therefore
,
as
I
said
,
the
present
he
made
me
was
a
most
generous
one
.
More
than
this
,
he
invited
and
pressed
me
to
come
and
live
on
the
estate
,
and
offered
to
set
me
up
in
a
farm
which
I
might
hold
from
him
on
most
advantageous
terms
.
Upon
my
refusal
,
he
even
begged
me
to
accept
,
at
a
most
liberal
salary
,
the
stewardship
of
the
property
,
and
the
superintendence
of
great
improvements
,
which
he
meant
to
effect
.
I
remember
,
as
if
it
were
yesterday
,
the
very
words
he
used
.
He
took
my
hand
in
his
,
and
with
that
genial
racy
smile
,
which
very
few
could
resist
,
"
'
Come
,
Ned
,
'
he
cried
,
'
there
are
but
two
of
us
;
there
's
room
for
both
in
the
old
nest
;
and
you
are
big
enough
to
thrash
me
now
.
'
"
At
the
sweet
recollection
of
his
Eton
drubbing
,
as
he
called
it
,
my
poor
uncle
's
eyes
grew
moist
.
"
So
you
see
,
my
child
,
instead
of
grudging
your
father
the
property
,
I
had
every
reason
to
love
and
revere
him
.
However
,
I
refused
this
as
well
as
the
other
offer
;
but
I
accepted
his
present
,
and
invested
it
rather
luckily
.
After
spending
a
pleasant
month
at
home
—
as
I
always
called
it
—
I
returned
to
London
early
in
April
,
1827.
There
are
no
two
minds
alike
,
any
more
than
there
are
two
bodies
;
and
yet
how
little
variety
exists
in
polite
society
!
Surely
it
were
more
reasonable
to
wedge
the
infant
face
into
a
jelly-mould
,
to
flute
its
ears
and
cheeks
like
collared
head
,
and
grow
the
nose
and
lips
and
eyebrows
into
rosettes
and
grapes
and
acorns
,
than
to
bow
and
cramp
and
squeeze
a
million
minds
into
one
set
model
.
Yet
here
I
find
men
all
alike
,
Dane
and
Saxon
,
Celt
and
Norman
,
like
those
who
walk
where
snow
is
deep
,
or
Alpine
travellers
lashed
to
a
rope
,
trudging
each
in
other
's
footprint
,
swinging
all
their
arms
in
time
,
looking
neither
right
nor
left
,
and
so
on
through
life
's
pilgrimage
,
a
file
some
million
deep
.
Who
went
first
they
do
not
know
,
why
they
follow
they
cannot
tell
,
what
it
leads
to
they
never
ask
.
I
was
marked
and
scorned
at
once
,
because
I
dared
to
adopt
a
hat
that
did
not
scalp
me
in
half-an
hour
,
and
a
cravat
that
did
not
throttle
me
;
and
even
had
the
hardihood
to
dine
when
I
felt
hungry
.
How
often
I
longed
for
a
land
of
freedom
and
common
sense
,
where
it
is
no
disgrace
to
carry
a
barrel
of
oysters
,
or
shake
hands
with
a
tradesman
.
I
know
what
you
are
smiling
at
,
Clara
.
You
are
thinking
to
yourself
,
'
how
different
you
are
now
,
my
good
uncle
;
and
wer
n't
you
a
little
inconsistent
in
sanctioning
all
this
livery
humbug
here
?
'
Yes
,
I
am
different
now
.
I
am
older
and
wiser
than
to
expect
to
wipe
away
with
my
coat-sleeve
the
oxide
of
many
centuries
.
As
for
the
livery
,
it
makes
them
happy
:
it
is
an
Englishman
's
uniform
.
And
I
have
seen
and
suffered
so
bitterly
from
the
violence
of
an
untamed
race
,
that
I
admire
less
what
I
used
to
call
the
unlassoed
arch
of
the
human
neck
.
I
have
seen
a
coarse
line
somewhere
,
"
'
And
freedom
made
a
deal
too
free
with
me
,
'
which
expresses
briefly
the
moral
of
my
life
.
However
,
at
the
time
I
speak
of
,
nursing
perhaps
a
younger
son
's
bias
against
the
social
laws
,
and
fresh
from
the
true
simplicity
and
unaffected
warmth
of
your
father
's
character
and
the
gentle
sweetness
of
your
mother
's
,
I
could
not
sit
on
the
spikes
of
fashion
's
hackney
coach
,
as
becomes
a
poor
Briton
,
till
the
driver
whips
behind
.
Finding
of
course
that
no
one
cared
whether
I
sat
there
or
not
,
and
that
all
I
got
at
the
side
of
the
road
was
pea-shots
from
cads
in
the
dickey
,
I
did
what
thousands
have
done
before
me
,
and
will
probably
do
again
,
I
voted
my
fellow-Britons
a
parcel
of
drivelling
slaves
,
and
longed
to
be
out
of
the
gang
.
Perhaps
I
should
never
have
made
my
escape
,
for
like
most
of
my
class
,
I
spent
all
my
energy
in
small
eccentricity
,
if
it
had
not
been
for
what
we
idlers
entitle
the
force
of
circumstances
.
At
a
time
when
my
life
was
flowing
on
calmly
enough
though
babbling
against
its
banks
,
it
came
suddenly
on
an
event
which
drove
it
into
another
and
rougher
channel
.
"
Early
one
afternoon
in
the
month
of
April
,
1829
,
I
launched
my
little
boat
from
the
Temple-stairs
,
where
I
kept
it
,
and
feeling
more
than
usually
saturnine
and
moody
,
resolved
on
a
long
expedition
.
So
I
victualled
my
ship
like
Robinson
Crusoe
,
and
took
some
wraps
and
coverings
.
It
was
then
slack
water
,
just
at
the
height
of
the
flood
.
I
meant
to
have
gone
to
Richmond
,
but
being
far
too
indolent
to
struggle
against
the
tide
,
I
yielded
to
nature
's
good
pleasure
,
and
pulled
away
down
stream
.
In
a
few
minutes
a
rapid
ebb
tide
was
running
,
and
I
made
up
my
mind
to
go
with
it
as
far
as
ever
it
chose
,
and
to
return
with
the
flood
whenever
that
pleased
to
meet
me
.
"
After
rowing
steadily
for
several
hours
,
I
found
myself
a
long
way
past
my
customary
Cape
Turn-again
.
With
a
strong
ebb
tide
as
well
as
a
land-fresh
in
the
river
,
I
had
got
beyond
Barking
Reach
,
and
as
far
as
the
Dagenham
marshes
.
Here
some
muddy
creeks
,
pills
,
and
sluggish
channels
wind
and
welter
among
the
ooze-lands
on
the
north
side
of
the
Thames
.
All
around
them
stretches
and
fades
away
a
dreary
flat
monotonous
waste
;
no
dot
of
a
house
,
no
jot
of
a
tree
,
to
vary
the
dead
expanse
;
except
that
by
the
river-side
one
or
two
low
cabooses
,
more
like
hoys
than
houses
,
are
grounded
among
the
slime
.
This
,
so
far
as
my
memory
serves
,
was
the
state
of
these
Essex
marshes
in
the
year
1829
:
how
it
is
now
I
cannot
say
.
"
It
was
high
time
for
me
to
turn
:
row
as
I
would
,
I
could
hardly
get
back
to
my
haven
by
midnight
.
Outrigger
skiffs
were
not
yet
known
;
and
an
oarsman
could
not
glide
along
at
the
rate
of
ten
miles
an
hour
.
Just
as
I
was
working
round
,
a
steam
packet
,
which
had
been
moored
a
short
way
below
,
crippled
perhaps
in
her
engines
,
now
at
the
turn
of
the
tide
passed
up
,
and
was
quickly
out
of
sight
.
As
she
passed
me
I
hailed
for
a
tow-rope
;
but
either
they
could
not
hear
,
or
they
did
not
choose
to
notice
me
.
There
was
nothing
for
it
but
to
bend
my
back
to
the
oars
,
and
keep
a
sharp
look
out
.
Presently
the
flood
began
to
make
strongly
up
the
river
,
and
I
gave
way
with
a
will
,
my
paddles
bending
and
the
water
gleaming
in
the
early
starlight
.
It
was
a
lonely
and
melancholy
scene
.
The
gray
mist
returning
from
some
marshy
excursion
,
and
hugging
the
warm
sea-water
,
floated
along
in
dull
folds
,
with
a
white
flaw
of
steam
here
and
there
curdling
over
the
current
.
Not
a
ship
,
not
a
barge
was
in
sight
;
no
voice
of
men
or
low
of
cattle
broke
the
foggy
silence
:
but
the
wash
of
the
stream
on
its
sludgy
marge
,
or
on
some
honey-combed
mooring-post
,
surged
every
now
and
then
betwixt
the
jerks
of
my
rowlocks
.
The
loneliness
and
the
sadness
harmonised
with
my
sombre
mind
.
All
is
transient
,
all
is
selfish
,
all
is
a
flux
of
melancholy
.
If
we
toss
and
dance
we
are
only
boats
adrift
;
we
are
nothing
more
than
crazy
tide-posts
,
if
we
be
philosophers
.
"
Suddenly
a
clear
loud
cry
broke
my
vacant
musings
.
It
startled
me
so
that
I
caught
a
crab
,
ceased
rowing
,
and
gazed
around
.
At
first
I
could
not
tell
whence
it
came
,
till
my
boat
,
with
the
way
she
had
on
her
,
shot
round
a
low
spit
of
the
Essex
shore
,
which
from
the
curve
of
the
river
I
was
nearing
rapidly
.
Louder
and
louder
the
cry
was
twice
repeated
,
and
I
heard
in
the
still
spring
evening
the
oaths
of
men
and
the
scuffling
of
feet
.
Within
fifty
yards
of
me
was
an
ill-looking
house
,
made
of
battens
,
and
raised
on
piles
above
high
water
mark
.
A
tattered
sign
hung
on
a
pole
,
and
a
causeway
led
to
the
steps
.
While
I
was
hesitating
,
two
figures
crossed
a
lattice
window
,
as
if
in
violent
struggle
,
and
a
heavy
crash
resounded
.
Three
strong
strokes
of
my
oars
,
and
the
keel
grated
on
the
causeway
.
Out
I
leaped
with
the
boat-hook
,
threw
the
painter
over
a
post
,
and
rushed
up
the
slimy
jetty
,
and
the
narrow
wooden
steps
.
The
door
was
fastened
,
I
pushed
it
with
all
my
force
,
but
in
vain
.
One
faint
scream
reached
my
ears
,
as
of
some
one
at
length
overpowered
.
Swinging
the
boat-hook
with
both
hands
,
I
struck
the
old
door
with
the
butt
,
and
broke
it
open
.
In
the
lower
room
there
was
no
one
,
but
a
moaning
and
trampling
sounded
over
head
.
Upstairs
I
ran
,
and
into
the
room
where
the
villany
was
doing
.
A
poor
girl
lay
on
the
floor
at
the
last
gasp
of
exhaustion
.
Two
ruffians
with
a
rope
were
bending
over
her
.
Down
went
one
,
at
a
blow
of
my
boat-hook
,
flat
beside
his
victim
:
the
other
leaped
at
my
throat
.
I
saw
and
soon
felt
that
he
was
a
powerful
man
,
but
in
those
days
I
was
no
cripple
.
We
were
most
evenly
matched
.
I
wrenched
his
hand
from
my
throat
,
but
twice
he
got
me
under
him
,
twice
I
writhed
from
his
grasp
like
a
python
from
a
tiger
's
jaw
.
Clutched
and
locked
in
each
other
's
arms
,
in
vain
we
tugged
to
get
room
for
a
blow
.
Throttle
,
and
gripe
,
and
roll
—
which
should
be
first
insensible
?
An
accident
gave
me
the
mastery
.
For
a
moment
we
lay
face
to
face
,
glaring
at
each
other
,
drawing
the
strangled
breath
,
loosing
the
deadly
grip
,
panting
,
throbbing
,
and
watching
.
My
boat-hook
lay
on
the
floor
,
my
enemy
spied
and
made
a
sudden
dash
at
it
.
Instead
of
withholding
,
I
jobbed
him
towards
it
with
all
my
might
,
and
as
he
raised
it
,
the
point
entered
one
of
his
eyes
.
With
a
yell
of
pain
and
fury
,
he
sank
beneath
me
insensible
.
Shaking
and
quaking
all
over
after
the
desperate
struggle
,
I
bound
him
and
his
mate
,
hand
and
foot
,
with
the
twisted
tarry
junk
,
which
they
had
meant
for
the
maiden
.
"
At
length
I
had
time
to
look
round
.
On
a
low
truckle
bed
at
the
end
of
the
long
dark
room
,
in
which
a
ship-lamp
was
burning
,
there
lay
an
elderly
lady
in
a
perfect
stupor
of
fright
and
illness
.
Upon
the
floor
with
her
head
thrown
back
against
the
timbers
,
and
her
black
eyes
wide
open
and
fixed
on
me
,
sat
a
girl
of
remarkable
beauty
,
though
her
cheeks
were
as
white
as
death
.
A
magnificent
ring
,
for
which
she
had
fought
most
desperately
,
was
wrenched
from
its
place
on
her
finger
and
hung
over
the
opal
nail
,
for
her
hands
were
clenched
,
and
her
arms
quite
stiff
,
in
the
swoon
of
utter
exhaustion
.
Both
ladies
were
in
deep
mourning
.
"
For
the
rest
a
few
words
will
suffice
.
The
poor
ladies
revived
at
last
,
after
chafing
of
hands
and
sprinkling
,
and
told
me
where
to
find
the
woman
of
the
house
,
who
had
been
locked
up
in
another
room
by
her
husband
and
brother
.
There
was
no
one
else
on
the
premises
.
How
came
the
ladies
there
,
what
was
their
destination
,
and
why
were
they
so
outraged
?
They
were
on
their
return
to
London
from
the
Continent
,
being
called
home
by
tidings
of
death
,
and
had
sailed
from
Antwerp
two
days
and
a-half
before
,
in
the
steamer
which
I
had
seen
lying
to
.
Steamers
were
then
heavy
lumbering
things
,
and
all
that
time
Mrs.
Green
and
her
daughter
had
been
knocking
about
on
a
pecky
sea
.
No
wonder
that
the
poor
mother
had
cried
out
feebly
,
to
be
landed
anywhere
,
anywhere
in
the
world
,
where
things
would
leave
off
going
round
.
And
before
they
came
to
that
tedious
halt
in
the
river
,
fair
Adelaide
,
who
had
enjoyed
her
meals
throughout
,
renewed
and
completed
her
poor
mamma
's
excavation
,
by
inquiring
calmly
with
her
mouth
full
of
pickled
pork
,
where
the
peas-pudding
was
.
Now
too
Miss
Adelaide
soon
recovered
from
her
fearful
battle
for
honour
and
life
.
She
was
what
is
called
now-a-days
a
girl
of
"
splendid
organisation
.
"
If
she
had
not
been
so
,
she
would
have
lain
ere
now
with
her
mother
at
the
bottom
of
Barking
Reach
.
The
two
scoundrels
of
that
lonesome
hostelry
had
been
ordered
to
send
to
Barking
for
a
conveyance
.
But
they
only
pretended
to
do
so
;
for
they
had
cast
foul
covetous
eyes
on
the
wealth
of
their
unknown
guests
and
on
brave
Adelaide
's
beauty
.
Beyond
a
doubt
both
ladies
would
have
been
murdered
,
but
for
the
gallant
resistance
,
the
vigour
,
and
presence
of
mind
of
Adelaide
.
"
Having
restored
their
watches
,
and
scattered
trinkets
,
and
led
the
poor
things
from
the
scene
of
the
combat
,
I
was
quite
at
a
loss
for
means
to
convey
them
home
.
Barking
was
a
long
way
off
,
and
the
marshy
track
unknown
to
me
,
and
not
likely
to
be
found
in
the
dark
.
Moreover
,
there
must
be
some
hazard
in
leaving
them
still
in
that
villanous
den
,
no
matter
how
their
cowardly
foes
might
be
bound
.
At
last
,
and
with
great
difficulty
,
I
embarked
the
two
ladies
in
my
shallop
,
and
wrapped
them
warmly
from
the
night
air
;
then
after
relashing
my
prisoners
,
and
locking
them
up
in
separate
rooms
,
and
the
woman
downstairs
,
I
pulled
away
stoutly
for
Woolwich
.
Here
I
obtained
a
carriage
,
and
started
my
convoy
for
London
,
and
then
returned
with
two
policemen
to
the
"
Old
Row
Barge
,
"
as
the
low
caboose
was
called
.
But
both
our
birds
were
flown
,
as
I
was
inclined
to
expect
.
Most
likely
the
woman
had
contrived
to
get
out
,
and
release
them
.
At
any
rate
the
"
Old
Row
Barge
"
had
no
crew
,
and
the
deserters
had
set
it
on
fire
.
The
flames
,
as
we
rowed
away
,
after
vainly
searching
the
marshes
,
cast
a
lurid
glow
on
the
mud-banks
,
and
on
the
slackening
tide
;
a
true
type
it
was
of
what
soon
befell
me
—
the
burning
of
my
caboose
.
The
two
men
were
caught
long
afterwards
by
the
Thames
Police
,
and
transported
for
life
on
a
conviction
for
river
piracy
.
At
least
,
I
was
told
that
they
were
the
men
.
"
"
And
of
course
,
dear
uncle
,
you
fell
deeply
in
love
with
the
beautiful
Adelaide
Green
.
"
"
Of
course
,
my
dear
,
a
young
lady
would
conclude
so
.
But
at
present
I
must
not
talk
any
more
.
"
I
had
several
times
tried
to
stop
him
.
"
And
what
I
have
next
to
relate
is
matter
of
deeper
feeling
.
By
Jove
,
to
think
how
I
battled
with
that
strong
man
!
And
now
your
little
fist
,
Clara
,
would
floor
me
altogether
.
"
He
sighed
,
and
I
sighed
for
him
.
Then
I
thought
of
Mr.
Shelfer
,
and
gloried
in
my
prowess
,
as
I
wheeled
my
uncle
home
.
CHAPTER
VIII
.
My
uncle
's
tale
,
as
repeated
here
,
will
no
more
be
broken
either
by
my
interruptions
,
which
were
frequent
enough
,
or
by
his
own
pauses
,
but
will
be
presented
in
a
continuous
form
.
STORY
OF
EDGAR
VAUGHAN
.
"
On
the
following
day
,
when
I
called
at
the
house
in
Bloomsbury
—
then
a
fashionable
neighbourhood
—
to
which
I
had
been
directed
,
I
was
met
at
the
threshold
,
with
power
and
warmth
,
by
Peter
Green
himself
,
an
old
acquaintance
of
mine
,
who
proved
to
be
Adelaide
's
brother
.
My
nature
had
been
too
reserved
for
me
to
be
friendly
with
him
at
College
,
but
I
had
liked
him
much
better
than
any
one
else
,
because
he
was
so
decided
and
straight-forward
.
The
meeting
rather
surprised
me
,
for
Green
is
not
a
rare
name
,
and
so
it
had
never
occurred
to
me
to
ask
the
weary
Adelaide
whether
she
knew
one
Peter
Green
,
a
first-class
man
of
Christchurch
.
Peter
,
who
was
a
most
hearty
fellow
,
and
full
,
like
his
sister
,
of
animal
life
,
overpowered
me
with
the
weight
of
his
gratitude
,
which
I
did
not
at
all
desire
or
deserve
.
As
,
in
spite
of
your
rash
conclusion
,
my
romantic
Clara
,
I
did
not
fall
in
love
with
Adelaide
,
who
besides
her
pithsome
health
and
vigour
was
in
many
respects
astray
from
my
fair
ideal
,
and
more
than
all
,
was
engaged
long
ago
to
the
giver
of
the
sapphire
ring
,
I
need
not
enlarge
upon
my
friendship
with
Peter
Green
,
whom
I
now
began
to
like
in
real
earnest
.
Young
as
he
was
,
his
father
's
recent
death
had
placed
him
at
the
head
of
a
leading
mercantile
house
,
Green
,
Vowler
,
and
Green
,
of
Little
Distaff
Lane
.
And
young
as
he
was
—
not
more
than
seven-and-twenty
—
his
manners
were
formed
,
and
his
character
and
opinions
fixed
,
as
if
he
had
seen
all
the
ways
,
and
taken
stock
of
the
sentiments
of
all
the
civilised
world
.
Present
to
him
any
complexity
,
any
conflict
of
probabilities
,
any
maze
whose
ins
and
outs
were
abroad
half
over
the
universe
,
and
if
the
question
were
practical
,
he
would
see
what
to
do
in
a
moment
;
if
it
were
theoretical
,
he
would
quietly
move
it
aside
.
I
have
known
many
learned
judges
sum
up
a
case
most
lucidly
,
blow
away
all
the
verbiage
,
sweep
aside
all
the
false
issues
,
balance
the
contradictions
,
illuminate
all
the
obscurities
,
and
finally
lift
from
its
matrix
,
and
lay
in
the
colourless
sunlight
the
virgin
truth
,
without
either
dross
or
polish
.
All
this
Peter
Green
seemed
to
have
done
in
a
moment
,
without
any
effort
,
without
any
reasoning
process
;
not
jumping
at
his
conclusion
,
but
making
it
fly
to
him
.
He
possessed
what
an
ancient
writer
,
once
highly
esteemed
at
Oxford
,
entitles
the
"
wit
universal
,
"
which
confers
and
comprises
the
"
wit
of
details
.
"
For
this
power
when
applied
to
a
practical
purpose
,
a
great
historian
employs
a
happy
expression
not
welcomed
by
our
language
;
he
calls
it
the
power
to
"
pontoon
the
emergency
.
"
Excuse
my
harsh
translation
,
perhaps
it
is
better
than
paraphrase
.
With
all
these
business
qualities
,
my
friend
was
as
merry
and
unpretentious
a
man
as
ever
made
a
bad
joke
,
or
laughed
at
another
fellow
's
;
liberal
also
,
warm-hearted
,
and
not
sarcastic
.
In
a
word
,
he
was
a
genuine
specimen
of
the
noble
English
merchant
,
who
has
done
more
to
raise
this
country
in
the
esteem
of
the
world
than
would
a
thousand
Nelsons
or
Wellingtons
.
Now
this
man
discerned
at
a
glance
the
wretched
defects
of
my
nature
and
position
.
An
active
mind
like
his
could
never
believe
in
the
possibility
of
being
happy
without
occupation
.
And
by
occupation
he
meant
,
not
the
chasing
of
butterflies
,
or
maundering
after
foxes
,
but
real
honest
Anglo-Saxon
work
;
work
that
strings
the
muscles
,
or
knits
the
hemispheres
of
the
brain
.
And
work
he
would
himself
,
ay
,
and
with
all
his
energies
.
Not
the
man
was
he
to
tap
the
table
with
his
pipe
,
and
cry
out
,
"
Bravo
,
Altiora
!
A
little
more
gin
if
you
please
,
and
chalk
it
down
to
the
Strike
;
"
but
he
was
the
man
to
throw
off
his
coat
,
and
pitch
into
the
matter
before
him
without
many
words
,
though
with
plenty
of
thought
.
Now
,
this
man
,
feeling
deeply
indebted
to
me
,
and
beginning
to
like
me
as
my
apathy
and
reserve
went
to
pieces
before
his
energy
,
this
man
,
I
say
,
cast
about
for
some
method
of
making
me
useful
and
happy
.
Wonderfully
swift
as
he
was
in
pouncing
upon
the
right
thing
,
I
believe
it
took
him
at
least
five
minutes
to
find
out
the
proper
course
for
an
impracticable
fellow
like
me
.
And
when
he
had
found
this
out
,
it
took
even
him
a
week
to
draw
the
snail
out
of
his
hole
.
Years
of
agreeable
indolence
,
and
calm
objective
indifference
,
seldom
ruffled
except
at
fashionable
snobbery
,
had
made
of
me
not
a
Sybarite
,
or
a
supercilious
censor
,
much
less
a
waiter
on
fortune
,
but
a
contemplative
islander
,
a
Haytian
who
had
been
once
to
Spain
,
and
would
henceforth
be
satisfied
with
the
view
of
her
caravels
.
But
my
Adelantado
was
a
man
of
gold
and
iron
.
Green
,
Vowler
,
and
Green
were
largely
concerned
in
the
oil
and
dried
fruit
business
.
They
had
ransacked
the
olive
districts
of
continental
Europe
,
and
found
the
price
going
up
and
the
quality
going
down
,
so
they
wanted
now
to
open
another
oil
vein
.
Peter
Green
observing
my
love
of
uncultured
freedom
,
the
only
subject
on
which
I
ever
grew
warm
and
rapturous
,
espied
the
way
to
relieve
me
of
some
nonsense
,
give
my
slow
life
a
fillip
,
and
perhaps
—
oh
climax
—
open
a
lucrative
connexion
.
He
knew
,
for
he
seemed
to
know
everything
done
or
undone
by
commerce
,
that
there
was
a
glorious
island
rich
in
jewels
and
marble
and
every
dower
of
nature
,
and
above
all
teeming
with
olives
,
lemons
,
and
grapes
,
and
citrons
;
and
that
this
gifted
island
still
remained
a
stranger
,
through
French
and
Genoese
ignorance
,
to
our
London
trade
.
This
was
the
island
libelled
by
Seneca
,
idolised
by
its
natives
,
drenched
with
more
blood
than
all
the
plains
of
Emathia
,
yet
mother
of
heroes
and
conquerors
of
the
world
—
if
that
be
any
credit
—
in
a
single
word
,
Corsica
.
Once
or
twice
indeed
our
countrymen
have
attempted
to
shake
hands
with
this
noble
race
,
so
ruined
by
narrow
tradition
;
and
in
the
end
we
shall
doubtless
succeed
,
as
we
always
do
;
but
the
grain
of
the
Corsican
is
almost
as
stubborn
as
our
own
.
In
fact
the
staple
is
much
the
same
,
the
fabric
is
very
different
.
Bold
they
are
,
and
manly
,
simple
,
generous
,
and
most
hospitable
,
lovers
too
of
their
country
beyond
all
other
nations
;
but
—
oh
fatal
ignorance
—
industry
to
them
is
drudgery
;
and
labour
is
an
outrage
.
Worse
than
all
is
the
fiend
of
the
island
,
the
cursed
Blood-revenge
.
"
Just
the
place
for
you
,
Vaughan
,
"
said
the
indomitable
Peter
,
"
every
one
there
as
dignified
as
an
eagle
after
stealing
a
lamb
.
No
institutions
to
speak
of
,
but
the
natural
one
of
Vendetta
,
splendid
equality
,
majestic
manhood
,
lots
of
true
womanhood
,
and
it
does
all
the
work
that
is
done
,
which
is
n't
saying
much
.
Why
,
my
dear
Quixotic
,
the
land
of
Sampiero
and
Paoli
,
and
where
Rousseau
was
to
legislate
,
only
he
proved
too
lazy
,
—
is
not
that
the
jockey
for
you
?
After
all
these
levees
and
masquerades
that
you
so
much
delight
in
—
you
need
not
scowl
like
a
bandit
;
it
is
only
because
they
do
n't
want
you
,
you
are
just
the
same
as
the
rest
,
or
why
do
you
notice
the
nonsense
?
—
after
all
this
London
frippery
,
Monte
Kotondo
will
be
a
fresh
oyster
after
devil
'd
biscuits
.
"
"
True
enough
,
my
friend
:
but
an
oyster
to
be
swallowed
shell
and
all
.
"
"
Well
,
is
not
that
just
what
you
want
?
Lime
is
good
for
squeamishness
.
And
more
than
that
,
you
are
just
the
man
we
want
.
You
can
talk
Italian
with
excellent
opera
style
and
sentiment
;
and
you
wo
n't
be
long
till
you
fraternise
with
the
Corsicans
.
Perhaps
they
will
drive
out
the
French
,
who
do
n't
know
what
to
do
with
it
,
and
make
you
their
king
like
Theodore
of
Neuhoff
;
and
then
you
proclaim
free
trade
restricted
to
the
navy
of
Green
,
Vowler
,
and
Green
.
But
in
sober
earnest
,
think
of
it
,
my
dear
Vaughan
.
Anything
is
better
than
this
cynic
indolence
.
Some
of
your
views
will
be
corrected
,
and
all
enlarged
by
travel
.
A
common
sentiment
.
Yes
,
the
very
thing
you
are
short
of
.
All
your
expenses
we
pay
of
course
,
and
give
you
an
honest
salary
;
and
all
we
ask
of
you
is
to
explore
more
than
a
tourist
would
;
and
to
send
us
a
plain
description
of
everything
.
You
have
plenty
of
observation
;
make
it
useful
instead
of
a
torment
to
you
.
We
know
well
enough
the
great
gifts
of
that
island
,
but
we
want
to
know
how
they
lie
,
and
how
we
may
best
get
at
them
.
"
"
Then
you
would
expect
me
to
make
commercial
arrangements
?
"
Peter
laughed
outright
.
"
I
should
rather
fancy
not
.
Somewhat
queer
ones
they
would
be
.
Platonic
no
doubt
,
and
panisic
,
but
not
altogether
adapted
to
double
entry
.
"
"
Then
in
fact
I
am
to
go
as
a
committee
of
inquiry
.
"
"
I
have
told
you
all
we
want
.
If
you
make
any
friends
all
the
better
;
but
that
we
leave
to
yourself
.
Perhaps
you
'll
grow
sociable
there
.
Though
the
Corsican
does
not
sing
,
'
We
wo
n't
go
home
till
morning
,
'
and
be
going
home
all
the
time
.
"
"
And
how
long
would
my
engagement
last
?
"
"
Till
you
have
thoroughly
traversed
the
country
,
if
you
stick
to
it
so
long
;
and
then
if
you
quit
yourself
well
,
we
should
commission
you
for
Sardinia
.
What
an
opening
for
an
idle
man
,
though
it
would
soon
kill
me
—
so
little
to
do
.
But
you
may
cut
it
short
when
you
like
.
Plenty
of
our
people
would
jump
at
such
an
offer
;
but
for
a
country
like
that
we
must
have
a
thorough
gentleman
.
A
coarse-mannered
bagman
would
very
soon
secure
the
contents
of
a
fusil
.
He
would
be
kissing
the
Corsican
girls
,
who
are
wonderfully
lovely
they
say
,
and
their
lovers
amazingly
jealous
;
and
every
man
carries
a
gun
.
A
timid
man
they
despise
,
an
insolent
man
they
shoot
;
and
most
of
our
fellows
are
one
or
the
other
,
or
both
.
But
will
you
undertake
it
?
Yes
,
or
no
,
on
the
spot
.
And
I
ask
you
to
say
'
yes
'
as
a
special
favour
to
me
.
"
"
Then
of
course
I
say
yes
.
When
shall
I
go
?
"
"
To-morrow
,
if
you
like
.
Next
month
if
you
prefer
it
.
We
can
give
you
introductions
.
There
is
no
real
danger
for
a
thorough
gentleman
,
or
you
should
not
go
for
all
the
olives
in
Europe
.
Mind
we
want
a
particular
sort
,
very
long
and
taper
—
Virgil
's
'
Ray
,
'
in
fact
.
You
shall
have
a
sample
of
it
.
As
yet
we
know
but
one
district
of
Italy
where
it
grows
,
but
have
got
scent
of
it
in
Corsica
.
Glorious
fellows
they
are
,
if
half
that
I
hear
is
true
,
glorious
fellows
but
for
their
laziness
,
and
that
—
—
Vendetta
.
"
To
be
brief
,
I
received
very
clear
instructions
in
writing
,
and
was
off
for
Bonifazio
the
following
week
,
in
a
small
swift
yacht
of
my
own
,
a
luxury
to
which
I
had
always
aspired
,
and
which
I
could
now
for
a
time
afford
.
But
before
I
went
,
your
poor
father
,
Clara
,
protested
most
strongly
against
the
scheme
,
and
even
came
to
London
in
the
vain
hope
of
dissuading
me
.
He
had
some
deep
presentiment
that
it
would
end
darkly
,
and
so
indeed
it
did
.
"
Ned
,
"
said
he
once
more
,
"
there
are
only
two
of
us
,
and
my
dear
wife
is
very
delicate
.
I
have
been
at
Genoa
,
where
those
islanders
are
well
known
,
and
even
there
they
are
rarely
spoken
of
but
with
a
cold
shudder
.
They
are
a
splendid
race
,
I
believe
,
great
heroes
and
all
that
,
but
they
shoot
a
man
with
no
more
compunction
than
they
shoot
a
muffro
.
I
implore
you
,
my
dear
brother
,
not
to
risk
the
last
of
our
family
,
where
blood
flows
as
freely
as
water
.
And
your
temper
,
you
know
,
is
not
the
best
in
the
world
.
Do
n't
go
,
my
dear
fellow
,
do
n't
go
.
I
shall
have
to
come
and
avenge
you
,
and
I
do
n't
understand
Vendetta
.
"
Ah
,
me
!
If
I
had
only
listened
to
him
.
And
yet
,
I
do
n't
know
.
After
a
pleasant
voyage
we
reached
the
magnificent
island
,
about
the
middle
of
May
.
My
intention
was
to
skirt
round
it
from
the
southern
extremity
,
taking
the
western
side
first
,
and
touching
at
every
anchorage
,
whence
I
would
make
incursions
,
and
return
to
my
little
cutter
,
as
the
most
convenient
head-quarters
.
Of
course
I
should
have
to
rough
it
;
but
what
young
man
would
think
twice
of
that
,
with
an
adventurous
life
before
him
?
I
will
not
weary
you
,
my
dear
child
,
with
a
long
description
of
Corsica
.
It
is
a
land
which
combines
all
the
softness
and
the
majesty
,
all
the
wealth
and
barrenness
,
all
the
smile
and
menace
of
all
the
world
beside
.
I
could
talk
of
it
by
the
hour
;
but
you
want
to
know
what
I
did
,
and
was
done
to
,
more
than
what
I
saw
.
From
the
awful
rock
of
Bonifazio
,
the
streets
where
men
should
have
no
elbows
,
and
the
tower
of
Torrione
,
along
the
fantastic
coast
which
looks
as
if
time
were
a
giant
rabbit
,
we
traced
the
blue
and
spur-vexed
sea
,
now
edged
with
white
,
and
now
with
gray
,
and
now
with
glowing
red
,
until
we
reached
that
paradise
of
heaven
,
the
garden
of
Balagna
.
CHAPTER
IX
.
STORY
OF
EDGAR
VAUGHAN
.
Let
me
hold
myself
.
Weak
as
I
am
and
crippled
by
premature
old
age
,
not
the
shortness
of
my
breath
,
not
the
numbness
of
my
heart
,
not
even
the
palsy
of
my
frame
,
can
quench
or
check
the
fire
rekindled
by
the
mere
name
of
that
heavenly
valley
.
To
live
there
only
half
a
minute
is
worth
a
day
of
English
life
.
Life
—
it
is
a
space
to
measure
,
not
by
pendulum
or
clock-hand
,
not
by
our
own
strides
to
and
fro
(
the
