CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
A SOIREE WILDLY INTERRUPTED, AND FOLLOWED UP BY SURPRISING REVELATIONS.
One afternoon Captain Lee and Emma called on Mrs Tipps, and found herengaged in earnest conversation with Netta. The captain, who was alwaysin a boiling-over condition, and never felt quite happy except when inthe act of planning or carrying out some scheme for the increase ofgeneral happiness, soon discovered that Netta was discussing the detailsof a little treat which she meant to give to the boys and girls of aSunday-school which she and her mother superintended. With all hispenetration he did not, however, find out that the matter which calledmost for consideration was the financial part of the scheme--in otherwords, how to accomplish the end desired with extremely limited means.He solved the question for them, however, by asserting that he intendedto give all the scholars of all the Sunday-schools in the neighbourhooda treat, and of course meant to include Netta's school among the rest--unless, of course, she possessed so much exclusive pride as to refuse tojoin him.
There was no resisting Captain Lee. As well might a red-skin attempt tostop Niagara. When once he had made up his mind to "go in" forsomething, no mortal power could stop him. He might indeed be _turned_.Another object of interest, worthy of pursuit and judiciously putbefore him, might perhaps induce him to abandon a previous scheme; butonce his steam was up, as John Marrot used to say, you could not get himto blow it off into the air. He was unlike the iron horse in thatrespect, although somewhat like him in the rigour of his action.Accordingly the thing was fixed. Invitations were sent out to all theschools and to all who took an interest in them, and the place fixed onwas a field at the back of Mrs Tipps's villa.
The day came, and with it the children in their best array. The weatherwas all that could be wished--a bright sun and a clear sky,--so that thehuge tent provided in case of rain, was found to be only required toshade the provisions from the sun. Besides the children there were theteachers--many of them little more than children as to years, but with ahappy earnestness of countenance and manner which told of anotherelement in their breasts that evidently deepened and intensified theirjoy. There were several visitors and friends of Captain Lee and MrsTipps. Emma was there, of course, the busiest of the busy in makingarrangements for the feast which consisted chiefly of fruit, buns, andmilk. Netta and she managed that department together. Of course littleGertie was there and her sister Loo, from which we may conclude thatWill Garvie was there in spirit, not only because that would have beennatural, but because he had expressly told Loo the day before that hemeant to be present in that attenuated condition. Bodily, poor fellow,he was on the foot-plate of the _Lightning_, which is as much as to saythat he was everywhere by turns, and nowhere long. Mrs Marrot wasthere too, and baby, with Nanny Stocks as his guardian. Miss Stocks'schief employment during the evening appeared to be to forget herself inthe excess of her delight, and run baby's head against all sorts ofthings and persons. Perhaps it was as well she did so, because ittended to repress his energy. She acted the part of regulator andsafety-valve to that small human engine, by controlling his actions andpermitting him good-naturedly to let off much of his superfluous steamon herself. Indeed she was a species of strong buffer in this respect,receiving and neutralising many a severe blow from his irrepressiblefeet and fists. Bob Marrot was also there with his bosom friend TomtitDorkin, whose sole occupation in life up to that time had been to putscrews on nuts; this must have been "nuts" to him, as the Yankees haveit, because, being a diligent little fellow, he managed to screw himselfthrough life at the Clatterby Works to the tune of twelve shillings aweek. Joseph Tipps, having got leave of absence for an evening, wasalso there,--modest amiable, active and self-abnegating. So was MrsNatly, who, in consideration of her delicate health, was taken greatcare of, and very much made of, by Mrs Tipps and her family--conspicuously by Mrs Durby, who had become very fond of her since thenight she nursed her. Indeed there is little doubt that Mrs Durby andthe bottle of wine were the turning-point of Mrs Natly's illness, andthat but for them, poor Sam would have been a widower by that time. MrAble, the director, was also there, bland and beaming, with a brotherdirector who was anything but bland or beaming, being possessed of agrave, massive, strongly marked and stern countenance; but nevertheless,owning a similar spirit and a heart which beat high with philanthropicdesires and designs--though few who came in contact with him, except hisintimate friends, would believe it. There were also present an elderlyclergyman and a young curate--both good, earnest men, but each verydifferent in many respects from the other. The elder clergyman had agenial, hearty countenance and manner, and he dressed very much likeother gentlemen. The young curate might have breakfasted on his poker,to judge from the stiffness of his back, and appeared to be afraid ofsuffering from cold in the knees and chest, to judge from the length ofhis surtout and the height of his plain buttonless vest.
When all were assembled on the green and the viands spread, the elderclergyman gave out a hymn; and the curate, who had a capital voice, ledoff, but he was speedily drowned by the gush of song that rose from thechildren's lips. It was a lively hymn, and they evidently rejoiced tosing it. Then the elder clergyman made the children a short speech. Itwas amazingly brief, insomuch that it quite took the little ones bysurprise--so short was it, indeed and so much to the point, that we willventure to set it down here.
"Dear children," he said, in a loud voice that silenced every chatteringtongue, "we have met here to enjoy ourselves. There is but one of yourSunday lessons which I will remind you of to-day. It is this,--`Whetherye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.'Before beginning, then, let us ask God's blessing."
Thereupon he asked a blessing, which was also so brief, that, but forthe all-prevailing name of Jesus, with which he closed it, some of thosewho heard him would scarce have deemed it a prayer at all. Yet thiselderly clergyman was not always brief.
He was not brief, for instance, in his private prayers for himself, hisfriends, and his flock. Brevity did not mark his proceedings whenengaged in preparing for the Sabbath services. He was not brief when,in his study, he pleaded with some awakened but unbelieving soul to castitself unreservedly on the finished work of our Saviour. He was a manwho carried his tact and common-sense into his religious duties; whohated formalism, regarding it as one of the great stumbling-blocks inthe progress of Christianity, and who endeavoured at all times to suithis words and actions to the circumstances of the occasion.
The children regarded him with a degree of affection that was all butirrepressible, and which induced them, at his earnest request, to sitstill for a considerable time while his young brother gave them "a_short_ address." He was almost emphatic on the word _short_, but theyoung curate did not appear to take the hint, or to understand themeaning of that word either in regard to discourses or surtouts. Heasserted himself in his surtouts and vests, without of course having ashadow of reason for so doing, save that some other young curatesasserted themselves in the same way; and he asserted himself then andthere in a tone of voice called "sermonising," to which foolish youngmen are sometimes addicted, and which, by the way, being a false, andtherefore irreligious tone, is another great stumbling-block in the wayof Christianity. And, curiously enough, this young curate was really anearnest, though mistaken and intensely bigoted young man. We call himbigoted, not because he held his own opinions, but because he held byhis little formalities with as much apparent fervour as he held by thegrand doctrines of his religion, although for the latter he had theauthority of the Word, while for the former he had merely the authorityof man. His discourse was a good one, and if delivered in a naturalvoice and at a suitable time, might have made a good impression. As itwas, it produced pity and regret in his elder brother, exasperation inCaptain Lee, profound melancholy in Joseph Tipps, great admiration inMiss Stocks and the baby, and unutterable _ennui_ in the children.Fortunately for the success of the day, in the middle of it, he tookoccasion to make some reference, wit
h allegorical intentions, to thelower animals, and pointed to a pig which lay basking in the sunshine atno great distance, an unconcerned spectator of the scene. A ratherobtuse, fat-faced boy, was suddenly smitten with the belief that thiswas intended as a joke, and dutifully clapped his hands. The effect waselectrical--an irresistible cheer and clapping of hands ensued. It wasof no use to attempt to check it. The more this was tried the more didthe children seem to think they were invited to a continuance of theirovation to the young curate, who finally retired amid the hearty thoughunexpressed congratulations of the company.
By good fortune, the arrival of several more friends diverted attentionfrom this incident; and, immediately after, Captain Lee set the childrento engage in various games, among which the favourite wasblindman's-buff.
One of the new arrivals was Edwin Gurwood, who had come, he said, tointroduce a gentleman--Dr Noble--to Mrs Tipps.
"Oh, the hypocrite!" thought Mrs Tipps; "he has come to see Emma Lee,and he knows it."
Of course he knew it, and he knew that Mrs Tipps knew it, and he knewthat Mrs Tipps knew that he knew it, yet neither he nor Mrs Tippsshowed the slightest symptom of all that knowledge. The latter bowed toDr Noble, and was expressing her happiness in making his acquaintance,when a rush of laughing children almost overturned her, and hurled DrNoble aside. They were immediately separated in the crowd, and, strangeto say, Edwin at once found himself standing beside Emma Lee, who, bysome curious coincidence, had just parted from Netta, so that they foundthemselves comparatively alone. What they said to each other in thesecircumstances it does not become us to divulge.
While all parties were enjoying themselves to the full, including theyoung curate, whose discomfiture was softened by the kind attentions ofMrs Tipps and her daughter, an incident occurred which filled them withsurprise and consternation. Dr Noble was standing at the time near thelarge tent looking at the games, and Nanny Stocks was not far from himchoking the baby with alternate sweetmeats and kisses, to the horror ofJoseph Tipps, who fully expected to witness a case of croup or some suchinfantine disease in a few minutes, when suddenly a tall man with tornclothes, dishevelled hair and bloodshot eyes, sprang forward andconfronted Dr Noble.
"Ha!" he exclaimed with a wild laugh, "have I found you at last, mineenemy?"
Dr Noble looked at him with much surprise, but did not reply. Heappeared to be paralysed.
"I have sought you," continued the man, trembling with ill-suppressedpassion, "over land and sea, and now I've found you. You've got thecasket--you know you have; you took it from my wife the night she died;you shall give it up now, or you die!"
He spluttered rather than spoke the last words between his teeth, as hemade a spring at the doctor.
Edwin Gurwood had seen the man approach, and at once to his amazementrecognising the features of Thomson, his old opponent in the train, heran towards him, but was not near enough to prevent his first wildattack. Fortunately for Dr Noble this was thwarted by no less apersonage than Joseph Tipps, who, seeing what was intended, sprangpromptly forward, and, seizing the man by the legs adroitly threw himdown. With a yell that sent a chill of horror to all the young heartsround, the madman, for such he plainly was, leaped up, but before hecould renew his attack he was in the powerful grasp of his old enemy,Edwin Gurwood. A terrific struggle ensued, for both men, as we havesaid before, were unusually powerful; but on this occasion madness morethan counterbalanced Edwin's superior strength. For some time theywrestled so fiercely that none of the other gentlemen could interferewith effect. They dashed down the large tent and went crashing throughthe _debris_ of the feast until at length Thomson made a sudden twistfreed himself from Edwin's grasp, leaving a shred of his coat in hishands, and, flying across the field, leaped at a single bound the wallthat encompassed it. He was closely followed by Edwin and by aconstable of the district, who happened to arrive upon the scene, butthe fugitive left them far behind, and was soon out of sight.
This incident put an end to the evening's enjoyment but as the greaterpart of it had already passed delightfully before Thomson came on theground to mar the sport, the children returned home much pleased withthemselves and everybody else, despite the concluding scene.
Meanwhile Mrs Tipps invited her friends who had assembled there to taketea in Eden Villa, and here Dr Noble was eagerly questioned as to hisknowledge of his late assailant, but he either could not or would notthrow light on the subject. Some of the guests left early and somelate, but to Mrs Tipps's surprise the doctor remained till the last ofthem had said good-night, after which, to her still greater surprise, hedrew his chair close to the table, and, looking at her and Netta withmuch earnestness, said--
"Probably you are surprised, ladies, that I, a stranger, have remainedso long to-night. The truth is, I had come here to have someconversation on private and very important matters, but finding you solively, and, I must add, so pleasantly engaged, I deemed it expedient todefer my conversation until you should be more at leisure."
He paused as if to collect his thoughts, and the ladies glanced at eachother uneasily, and in some surprise, but made no reply. In truth,remembering the scene they had just witnessed, they began to suspectthat another style of madman had thought fit to pay them a visit.
He resumed, however, with every appearance of sanity--
"How the madman who assaulted me this evening found me out I know not.I was not aware until this day that he had been tracking me, but,judging from what he said, and from what I know about him, I now seethat he must have been doing so for some years. Here is theexplanation, and, let me add, it intimately concerns yourselves."
Mrs Tipps and Netta became more interested as Dr Noble proceeded.
"You must know," he said, "that when in India some years ago I madeseveral coasting voyages with a certain sea-captain as surgeon of hisship, at periods when my health required recruiting. I received fromthat gentleman every attention and kindness that the heart of a good mancould suggest. On one of these voyages we had a native prince on board.He was voyaging, like myself, for the benefit of his health, but hiscase was a bad one. He grew rapidly worse, and before the end of thevoyage he died. During his illness the captain nursed him as if he hadbeen his own child; all the more tenderly that he thought him to be oneof those unfortunate princes who, owing to political changes, had beenruined, and had lost all his wealth along with his station. It wasquite touching, I assure you, madam, to listen to the earnest tones ofthat captain's voice as he read passages from the Word of God to thedying prince, and sought to convince him that Jesus Christ, who becamepoor for our sakes, could bestow spiritual wealth that neither theworld, nor life, nor death could take away. The prince spoke verylittle, but he listened most intently. Just before he died he sent asailor lad who attended on him, for the captain, and, taking a small boxfrom beneath his pillow, gave it to him, saying briefly,--`Here, takeit, you have been my best friend, I shall need it no more.'
"After he was dead the box was opened, and found to contain a mostsuperb set of diamonds--a necklace, brooch, ear-rings, bracelets, and aring, besides a quantity of gold pieces, the whole being worth severalthousands of pounds.
"As the prince had often said that all his kindred were dead, thecaptain had no conscientious scruples in retaining the gift. He lockedit away in his cabin. When the voyage was finished--at Calcutta--themen were paid off. The captain then be-thought him of placing histreasure in some place of security in the city. He went to his chestand took out the box--it was light--he opened it hastily--the contentswere gone! Nothing was left to him of that splendid gift save the ring,which he had placed on his finger soon after receiving it, and had wornever since.
"From some circumstances that recurred to our memories, we bothsuspected the young man who had been in attendance on the prince, but,although we caused the most diligent search to be made, we failed tofind him. My friend and I parted soon after. I was sent up to thehills, and never saw or heard of him again.
"Several
years after that I happened to be residing in Calcutta, and wascalled one night to see the wife of an Englishman who was thought to bedying. I found her very ill--near her end. She seemed to be anxious tocommunicate something to me, but appeared to be afraid of her husband.I thought, on looking at him attentively, that I had seen him before,and said so. He seemed to be annoyed, and denied ever having met withme. I treated the matter lightly, but took occasion to send him out forsome physic, and, while he was away, encouraged the woman to unburdenher mind. She was not slow to do so. `Oh, sir,' she said, `I want tocommunicate a secret, but dared not while my husband was by. Long ago,before I knew him, my husband stole a box of diamonds from a CaptainTipps--'"
"My husband!" exclaimed the widow.
"You shall hear," said Dr Noble. "`I often heard him tell the story,and boast of it,' continued the sick woman, quietly, `and I resolved toobtain possession of the box, and have it returned, if possible, to therightful owner. So I carried out my purpose--no matter how--and led himto suppose that the treasure had been stolen; but I have often fanciedhe did not believe me. This Captain Tipps was a friend of yours, sir.I know it, because my husband has told me. He remembers you, althoughyou don't remember him. I wish you to return the box to Captain Tipps,sir, if he is yet alive. It lies--' here she drew me close to her, andwhispered in my ear the exact spot, under a tree, where the jewels werehid.
"`You'll be sure to remember the place?' she asked, anxiously.
"`Remember what place?' demanded her husband, sternly, as he returnedwith the medicine.
"No answer was given. The woman fell back on hearing his voice, but,although she lived for nearly an hour, never spoke again.
"The man turned on me, and asked again what place she had been speakingof. I said that it was idle to repeat what might prove to be only theravings of a dying woman. He seized a bludgeon, and, raising it in athreatening manner, said, `I know you, Dr Noble; you shall tell me whatI want to know, else you shall not quit this room alive.'
"`I know you, too, Thomson,' said I, drawing a small sword from a stickwhich I always carried. `If you proceed to violence, it remains to beseen who shall quit this room alive.'
"I opened the door and walked quietly out, leaving him glaring like atiger after me.
"Going to the place described, I found the diamonds; and from that dayto this I have not ceased to try to discover my old friend, but have notyet succeeded. Knowing that he might be dead, I have made inquiry ofevery one possessing your name, Mrs Tipps, in the hope of discoveringhis widow or children; and, although your name _is_ an uncommon one,madam, you would be surprised if you knew how many I have ferreted outin the course of years. Unfortunately, my friend never mentioned hisfamily, or the place of his residence in England, so I have had no clueto guide me save one. I have even found two widows of the name of Tippsbesides yourself, and one of these said that her husband was a sailorcaptain, but her description of him was not that of my friend. Theother said her husband had been a lawyer, so of course _he_ could not bethe man of whom I was in search."
"But, sir," said Mrs Tipps, in some perplexity, "if you are to dependon description, I fear that you will never attain your end, for everyone knows that descriptions given of the same person by different peoplenever quite agree."
"That is true, madam; and the description given to me this evening ofyour late husband is a case in point; for, although it agrees in manythings--in most things--there is some discrepancy. Did your husbandnever give you the slightest hint about a set of diamonds that he hadonce lost?"
"Never; but I can account for that by the fact, that he never alluded toanything that had at any time given him pain or displeasure, if he couldavoid it."
"There is but the one clue, then, that I spoke of, namely, the ring thatbelonged to the set of diamonds. Did your husband ever possess--"
"The ring!" exclaimed Mrs Tipps and Netta in the same breath. "Yes, hehad a diamond ring--"
They stopped abruptly, and looked at each other in distress, for theyremembered that the ring had been lost.
"Pray, what sort of ring is it? Describe it to me," said Dr Noble.
Netta carefully described it and, as she did so, the visitor'scountenance brightened.
"That's it; that's it exactly; that _must_ be it for I remember it well,and it corresponds in all respects with--my dear ladies, let me see thering without delay."
"Alas! sir," said Mrs Tipps, sadly, "the ring is lost!"
A look of blank dismay clouded poor Dr Noble's visage as he heard thesewords, but he quickly questioned the ladies as to the loss, and becamemore hopeful on bearing the details.
"Come," he said at last, as he rose to take leave, "things don't lookquite so bad as they did at first. From all I have heard I am convincedthat my friend's widow and daughter are before me--a sight of the ringwould put the question beyond all doubt. We must therefore set to workat once and bend all our energies to the one great point of recoveringthe lost ring."