mill,and twenty others want hands. You will all get as good wages as thisold skinflint can pay you, and be employed in an honest way."
Paul's address had a great effect among the labourers. They consultedtogether for some time, and one after the other agreed that they wouldnot again lay an axe against the root of one of the trees of Stanmore.A few held out. They had got work and did not see why some old treesshould not come down at the bidding of one man as well as that ofanother.
"Take your own way," answered Paul. "If the trees fall, some one willhave to pay, and you will not forget my words."
Several of the men shouldered their axes and prepared to move.
"I would sooner lose a week's work than offend the captain," exclaimedone.
"Well said, John Hobby, you are a true man," exclaimed Paul. "To mymind none of you will have to lose a day's work. I don't make promisesfor other people, but my opinion is that a generous, open-handed manlike the captain would not let a fellow suffer for being true to him."
"Hurrah! I will not lift an axe against another tree in this place tillthe captain orders me," cried Hobby.
"Nor I, nor I, nor I," answered others.
The whole party with one accord, headed by Paul Gauntlett, marched offthe ground, leaving four or five trees where they lay, with theirbranches still attached to them. There seemed no probability of more ofthe timber of Stanmore being felled that day, or perhaps for some daysto come.
We must now return to Mr. Thornborough's house in London. Mabel wasstaying with her godfather and his kind sister. After she had obtainedthe King's signature for his pardon, though feeling certain that hewould be released, her nerves at length gave way, and she was utterlyunable to accompany Mr. Kyffin, as she wished to do, to carry the pardondown to him. She therefore returned to Mr. Thornborough's house, whileMr. Kyffin again went down the banks of the Thames to the prison ship.Mr. Kyffin had a double reason for haste. He was less anxious,possibly, than Mabel, on account of Harry's safety, for he felt surethat that was secured; but the next day had been fixed for the trial ofSilas Sleech, and he wished to obtain his ward's evidence, without whichhe foresaw that the conviction of the culprit was very uncertain. Harrycould scarcely believe that he was at liberty, though he saw the prisondoor open, and his guardian, accompanied by the governor of the prisonand other officials who had come to set him at liberty. They were soonon shore, and at the inn where Mr. Kyffin had left his carriage. He hadthoughtfully brought a suit of clothes for Harry, who, with asatisfaction which can be best understood by those who have suffered ashe had done, having gone through a thorough ablution, once more dressedhimself as a gentleman. He was pale, but in other respects greatlyimproved. His figure was fuller, and his appearance more manly. Hisarrival in court, in time to secure Silas Sleech's conviction, hasalready been described. Mabel was all day in a state of nervousagitation. Frequently when Mrs. Barbara addressed her she scarcelyunderstood what was said. When she took up a book, her eyes ran overthe pages without reading a line. She tried to work, but her fingersrefused to move. Mrs. Barbara observed her state. "Poor girl," shethought, "how wonderful it is that she should love that young man somuch." A carriage stopped at the door. She endeavoured to rise, butfound it impossible to move. She drew her breath quickly. The dooropened, and a middle-aged gentleman entered. She lifted up her head.In an instant she was in his arms.
"Oh! papa, this is almost too much for me," she exclaimed, as CaptainEverard returned her embrace. In a few words he told her what hadoccurred. "But the loss of Stanmore is a severe blow," he observed.
"Oh! for me it is nothing," answered Mabel; "I feel for you, though thatcannot take away your position as a post-captain."
"No, indeed," answered the captain, "it is a position a man may well beproud of."
"And as for the fortune, my little god-daughter must not be withoutsomething," observed Mr. Thornborough. "Here, Barbara, give her thatpaper. A present is better than a bequest, and I have had the amounttransferred to her name in the funds."
Mabel's eyes were too full of tears to distinguish clearly what waswritten on the paper, though she could make out the sum of 10,000pounds. She was springing forward to thank her godfather, when anothercarriage drove up to the door. Again the drawing-room door opened, andtwo gentlemen entered. This time Mabel did not spring into the arms ofeither of them, but she stood for an instant motionless till theyoungest advanced towards her. Then unconsciously forgetting that anyone else was present, she lifted up her arms and let them fall on theyoung man's shoulders.
"What! Andrew Brown, the brave seaman who saved my life?" exclaimedCaptain Everard. "But can it be? I wonder that all that time I did notrecognise my young friend Harry Tryon."
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT.
THE WRECK OF THE LUGGER, AND WHAT CAME OF IT.
For upwards of a week Roger Kyffin had been absent from Idol Lane,during which time he had never left his house at Hampstead. The doctor,however, paid frequent visits, sometimes thrice a day; once he remainedduring the greater part of the night. The Misses Coppinger alsofrequently drove over, and on one occasion Mr. Coppinger himself rodeall the way to Hampstead to inquire for Mr. Kyffin's sick friend, forMr. Kyffin himself was in perfect health; indeed, he had never had anhour's illness since he was a boy. No mother could have attended achild with more care and solicitude than did Roger Kyffin his guest.That guest was Harry Tryon. The day after his release from the prisonship he was seized with illness--his tongue was parched, his limbsached, he was unable to raise his head from his pillow. The doctorthought that he was suffering, it might be, from the jail fever.Harry's nerves had also been severely tried. What with the fatigue andanxiety he had gone through, the feeling of shame and remorse for hisfolly had at length completely overcome him. For several days heappeared to be hovering between life and death.
"Oh! Mr. Kyffin, I am unworthy of you, I feel that I have disgracedyou, and Mabel, too; when she knows about me, she, too, will see that Iam unworthy of her love. How can she ever have confidence in a man whohas shown himself so weak, who has committed so many follies, and whohas been so easily led astray by designing knaves? How could I for amoment have trusted such a person as that unhappy man Sleech? Why did Inot at once perceive the aims of Parker, who, however, was a thousandtimes superior to the other fellow?"
"My dear boy," said Mr. Kyffin, "`let bygones be bygones.' You have hada good deal of experience in life, and have paid dearly for it, and nowI pray God that you may be restored to health and be wiser for thefuture."
"I see no hope for life in me," answered Harry, "Mabel can never bemine."
This was said as the fever was coming upon him before he broke downaltogether. Mr. Kyffin saw that reasoning or expostulation under thecircumstances would avail nothing. He did his best therefore merely tosoothe the poor lad. From his heart he pitied him, and loved him morethan ever. Mabel had returned to Lynderton with her father. She wasnot told of Harry's desperate illness. Indeed, she could not bepermitted to see him for fear of catching the fever. She had fullyexpected that he would write, and perhaps she suffered more from beingleft in doubt than if she had been told the truth. At length, a fineconstitution, under the doctor's care, by God's mercy brought himthrough. As soon as he was sufficiently recovered to be moved, Mr.Kyffin was anxious to give him change of air. The cottage where he wasborn was vacant, and Mr. Kyffin begged his old friend Doctor Jessop tofit it up for him. "His native air, and the doctor who knows him sowell, will afford him the best chance of perfect recovery," the kind manthought to himself, so he and Harry set forth towards Lynderton. Oncemore Harry took up his abode at the cottage where he first saw thelight. He sat in the room with his old friend where his mother haddied. A faint recollection of her came across him. He could even fancyhe saw her slight figure as she sat in the porch watching his gambols onthe lawn, or as she stood at the gate while he and the nursemaid setforth on their daily walk. The fresh autumn air soon restored vigour tohis limbs and
sent new life through his veins. Doctor Jessop prescribedfrequent walks on the open downs above the cliffs.
"All fear of infection will by that time be blown away," he observed."For my part, I believe there has been no real danger since you leftLondon. However, we cannot be too cautious in such matters."
"And may I then see Mabel--Miss Everard?" he asked.
The doctor smiled.
"That may be as her father wishes," he answered. "Certainly you willrun no risk of giving her the fever, if that is what you mean. PerhapsI may be able to drive you there some day, not just yet though, and youare certainly not strong enough to walk so far."
The weather had changed