"Frank Oldfield" (continued 6)

“I fear there has been some foul play,” said Mr Oliphant to his nephew.

“Foul play!” cried the unfortunate digger, starting up furiously. “I’ll tell you what it is. Yon rascal’s been and robbed me of all as I got by my hard labour; and now he’s got clean off. But I’ll follow him, and have the law of him, if I work my passage home for it.”

“I’ve always had a suspicion that the fellow had not come honestly by his gains,” said Hubert.

“And why didn’t you stop him? Why didn’t you have him taken up on suspicion?” exclaimed the other bitterly.

“I had no grounds for doing so,” replied Hubert. “He might have come honestly by his money for anything I knew to the contrary. There was nothing to show that he had not been successful, as many other diggers have been.”

“Successful!” cried the poor man. “Ay, he’s been successful in making a precious fool of me.”

“Tell us how it happened,” said Mr Oliphant.

“Why, you see, gentlemen, my mates and me had done very well; and they was for going to Melbourne with what they’d got, but I was for stopping to get a little more. Well, I was all alone, and a little fidgetty like for fear of getting robbed, when one evening I sees a sandy-haired chap near my tent as didn’t look much used to hard work; so I has a bit o’ talk with him. He seemed a greenish sort of piece, and I thought as p’raps I might just make use of him, and keep him for company’s sake. So he and I agreed to be mates; he was to do the lighter work, and I was to do the hard digging, and keep the biggest share of what we got. So we chummed together; and he seemed a mighty pleasant sort of a cove for a bit. He was always a-talking, and had his mouth full o’ big words. I never said nothing about what I’d got afore, and he never seemed to care to ask me. But it were all his deepness. One night he pulls out a pack of cards, and says, ‘Let’s have a game. Only for love,’ says he, when he saw me look a little shyly at him. ‘I’m not a gambler,’ says he; ‘I never plays for money.’ So we has a game and a pipe together, and he pulls out a little flask of spirits, and we got very cheerful. But I was careful not to take too much that night. However, the rum set my tongue loose, and I let out something about having more gold than he knowed of. I was mighty vexed, however, next day, when I remembered what I’d said. But he never said a word about it, but looked werry innocent. A few nights arterwards we gets drinking and smoking again. Then he took a little too much himself. I knowed it, because next day he was axing me if I’d see’d anything of an envelope as he’d lost. I told him ‘no;’ but the real fact was, he’d twisted it up to light his pipe with, and I’d picked up the bit as he threw away, and put it in my pocket. I didn’t think anything about it then; but next day, when he made a great fuss about it, and the day after too, I said to myself; ‘I’ll keep the bit of paper; maybe summat’ll turn up from it one of these days.’ So I took it out of my pocket when he were not by, and stowed it away where I knew he couldn’t find it. But I shall weary you, gentlemen, with my long story. Well, the long and short of it was just this. He managed to keep the spirit-bottle full, and got me jolly well drunk one night; and then I’ve no doubt I told him all he wanted to know about my gold, for I know no more nor the man in the moon what I said to him. I asked him next day what I’d been talking about; and he said I was very close, and wouldn’t let out anything. Well, it seems there was a strong party leaving the diggings a day or so arter; but it was kept very snug. Jemmy Thomson—that was what my new mate called himself to me—had managed to hear of it, and got leave to join ’em. So, the night afore they went, he gets me into a regular talk about the old country, and tells me all sorts of queer stories, and keeps filling my pannikin with grog till I was so beastly drunk that I knew nothing of what had happened till it was late the next morning. Then I found he was off. He’d taken every nugget I’d got, and some bank-notes too, as I’d stowed away in a safe place. The party had started afore daybreak; and nobody knowed which way they’d gone, for they’d got off very secret. I was like one mad, you may be sure, when I discovered what he’d been and done. I took the bit of paper with me, and managed somehow to get to Melbourne. I tried to find him out; some only laughed at me. I went to the police; they couldn’t do nothing for me—some on ’em told me it served me right for getting drunk. Then I went to a minister; and he was very kind, and made all sorts of inquiries for me. He said he’d reason to believe as Jemmy Thomson—as the rascal called himself—was not in Melbourne. And then he looked at my paper. ‘Call on me to-morrow,’ says he. And so I did. Then he says, ‘There’s no Oliphant here as I can find out; but there’s a Mr Abraham Oliphant, a merchant, in Adelaide. This letter’s been to him; you’d better see him.’ So I’ve come here overland with a party; and now I must try my hand at summat or starve, for I shall never see my money nor the villain as stole it no more.”

Mr Oliphant was truly sorry for the unfortunate man, and bade him take heart, promising to find him employment if he was willing to stick to his work and be sober. The man was thankful for the offer, and worked for a few weeks, but he was still all athirst for the gold, and, as soon as he could purchase the necessary tools, set out again for the diggings, with an earnest caution from Mr Oliphant to keep from the drink if he would not suffer a repetition of his loss and misery.

And thus it was that Juniper Graves had acquired his ill-gotten wealth. Having ascertained that a party was returning to South Australia, he joined himself to them, and got safe off with his stolen gold. As Jacob Poole had surmised, he had made up the packet of notes with the nuggets, that, should he happen to fall in with his master, he might be able to pacify him, and so prepare the way for regaining his favour and his own hold upon him. He felt quite sure, from what he knew of Frank Oldfield’s generous character, that he never would take more than the fifty pounds, and he was aware that unless he made unhesitating restitution of that sum, he was in danger of losing all, and of being thrown into prison. And now he was anxious to leave the colony as soon as possible, that he might put the sea between himself and the man he had robbed; and, having ascertained that Frank Oldfield and Jacob Poole were returning to England in the Sabrina, he took his passage in the same vessel, partly with the view of getting his young master once more into his power, and partly in the hope of finding an opportunity of wreaking his vengeance on Jacob Poole. Therefore he was determined to leave no stone unturned to regain his influence over Frank, for his object was to use him for his own purposes both during and after the voyage. To this end his first great aim would be to cause, if possible, an estrangement between Jacob and his master. He also hoped to do his rival—as he considered Jacob—some injury of a serious kind, without exposing himself to detection. So far he had succeeded. All had prospered to his utmost wishes; and, as the shores of Kangaroo Island faded from the view of the voyagers, he hugged himself in secret and said,—

“Bravo, Juniper!—bravo! You’ve managed it to a T. Ah, Mr Jacob Poole! I’ll make your master’s cabin too hot to hold you afore any of us is a month older.”

Chapter Twenty.

A Man Overboard.

And now we bid farewell to Australia, and follow the Sabrina in her homeward voyage. It was soon evident that there was no love lost between Captain Merryweather and Juniper Graves, nor between that cunning gentleman and honest, straightforward Jacob. With Frank, however, it was different. Jacob soon found that his place was often taken by Juniper, and that himself was gradually losing his old place in his master’s confidence and good graces: Frank would also frequently spend a long time in Juniper’s cabin between decks, from which he returned in a state of great hilarity.

“Jacob,” said the captain to him one day, “I can’t quite make it out. I thought your master was an abstainer.”

Jacob shook his head.

“I thought so too, captain; but I’ve found myself grievously mistaken. He’s no mind to give up the drink, you may be sure. He’s only teetotal when he cannot get it.”

“I’m pretty sure,” said the other, “that he takes it now. That fellow Juniper Graves is no fit companion for him.”

“Ah, captain, that man’s been his ruin in Australia; and he’ll be his ruin when he gets back to the old country, if he doesn’t shake him off. But I fear he’ll ne’er do that. The old lad hasna a fitter tool in all the world nor yon chap. He’ll not stick at anything. He’s tried robbery and murder, and he’ll not be over nice about squeezing all he can out of the poor young mayster.”

Jacob then related to Captain Merryweather all he knew of Juniper Graves’ proceedings, and both he and the captain agreed together to watch him, and do their utmost to keep poor Frank out of his clutches.

“I don’t care so much about myself,” said Jacob; “though I’m quite sure he’d knock me overboard any day, if he’d the chance of doing it without being seen, for he hates me worse nor poison. But I’m grieved to the heart to see him winding hisself round Mayster Frank, who’s so kind and so warm-hearted and so free. I cannot forget how he risked his life to save mine when we was coming out, as you know, captain; and I’d give my own life for him now, if I could only get him clear of yon cunning rascal as is leading him blindfold to hell.”

“I’ve no doubt,” said the other, “that this man has brought spirits on board, and that he and Mr Oldfield drink in his cabin together.”

“Yes,” replied Jacob; “and you may be quite sure as he’ll hook all the brass out of the young mayster afore the voyage is over.”

It was just as Jacob and the captain surmised. Juniper Graves had brought a good stock of brandy and rum on board with him, and took care that Frank Oldfield should pay handsomely for what he was willing, after much solicitation, to part with. Let us look in upon them, as they sit together by Juniper’s berth. The time is midnight. Frank has stolen in while the captain has been sleeping, for he fears being seen going there by the honest sailor. There is a curtain hung up before the door to hide the light. A small candle lamp hung on gymbals is fixed to the woodwork, and throws a scanty gleam on the two figures which are engaged in earnest play. Yet how different are these two, spite of their companionship in evil! Frank, still beautiful in the refined cast of features, out of which intemperance has not yet been able to sear the traces of gentle blood and early culture; bright too and graceful in the masses of rich chestnut hair which adorn a forehead high and noble, yet now, alas! often crossed by lines of weary, premature care. Juniper, a compound of cat, fox, monkey, wolf—every feature of his contemptible face instinct with the greediest, most self-satisfied cunning. How could two such, so widely different in natural character, be yet so agreed? Alas! what will not the love of the drink, the slavery of the drink, the tyranny of the drink accomplish? Each holds his cards characteristically. Frank so carelessly that his adversary can see them; Juniper grasping and shading his with jealous vigilance, lest a single glimpse of them should be visible to his opponent. A large spirit-flask stands under the berth close by Juniper’s hand, and a glass is within the reach of each. They play on, for a while, in silence. Frank’s money is clearly slipping through his fingers, though he is allowed now and then to win, especially when he gets at all restive or suspicious.

“There, Juniper,” says Frank at last, and in no steady voice, “I declare you’ll clean me out before long. I do believe you’ve come on board for the sake of squeezing me dry, as Jacob says.”

“As Jacob says!” cries the other, with affected indignation and astonishment. “I wish, sir, that conceited young puppy had never set foot on this vessel. What does he know of the sort of aversions as are suited to a gentleman of your birth and retrospects?”

“Juniper,” replies the other, “I think the ‘aversions,’ as you call them, belong to you and not to me, if I may judge by your aversion for poor Jacob; and as for ‘retrospects,’ I think the less I say about them the better.”

“Well, sir, I don’t know,” replies Juniper, huffily; “you may amuse yourself; sir, with my humble efforts at a superior style of soliloquy; but I’m sure you’re doing me injustice, and allowing yourself to be bamboozled, if you let yourself be talked over by that canting hypocrite.”

“Steady—steady, my boy!” cries Frank; “you’re half-seas over, Juniper, or you could not say so. Come, hand us the brandy. We’ll let Jacob alone, and drink his health, and the health of all good lads and lasses.”

“As you please, sir,” says Juniper, sulkily.

The next morning, when Frank Oldfield appeared on deck, his face and whole appearance bore the unmistakable marks of last night’s excess. His very breath also told the same miserable tale. As for Juniper, though he had drunk more cautiously, yet he did not show himself outside his cabin till the afternoon. The captain had his eye upon him, and could not help remarking to himself what a look of deadly malice and venomous baseness pervaded every feature of the villain’s face.

“He’s up to some mischief more than common, I’ll be bound,” he said to himself. “I’ll keep a sharp look-out for you, my friend.”

A short time after, and Juniper had disappeared, nor did he emerge from his retreat till the evening. He was then in high spirits, laughing and chatting with the sailors, and every now and then glancing up at Jacob, who was walking up and down the poop with Captain Merryweather. At last, just as Jacob was descending to the main-deck, and had his foot on the topmost step of the ladder, the vessel lying over under a breeze on the quarter, Juniper suddenly sprang up the steps in a state of great excitement, shouting out, “A whale!—a whale!” Every one but the captain turned suddenly round in the direction to which Juniper was pointing, Jacob among the number, so that he hung partly over the water.

“Where?” cried several voices.

“There!” he exclaimed, suddenly stumbling with his whole might against Jacob, so as very nearly to hurl him into the sea. Indeed, had not the captain, who was on the watch, sprung forward and caught hold of him, he must have inevitably gone overboard.

“You scoundrel!” shouted the captain, seizing Juniper by the collar, and sending him spinning down the ladder on to the deck below, where he lay half stunned for a few moments.

“I’m up to your tricks, my man,” he added, as Juniper limped off to his cabin, vowing vengeance.

“What’s amiss, captain?” asked Frank, in great astonishment. “What’s poor Juniper been doing? No great harm in fancying he saw a whale, even supposing he was mistaken.”

“Mr Oldfield,” said the captain, sorrowfully, “you don’t know that fellow. If ever there was a serpent in a human body, there’s one in that man of yours. Bear with me, my dear sir, if I offer you an earnest word or two of caution. I can see that you are not the man you were when we crossed the seas together before. We had a very happy voyage then, and you remember how strong and settled you were on the subject of total abstinence. Is it so now? Ah! don’t let that wretched fellow take all that’s good and noble out of you. He don’t care a straw for you nor for any one but himself; I’m quite certain. He has mischief in his eye, and there’s a black heart under that smooth tongue—if I know anything of what a rogue’s like, and I’ve boarded many that have been sailing under false colours in my day. You must excuse my speaking so warmly and plainly, Mr Oldfield; but I really cannot bear to see you running on to the reefs without giving you a word of warning.”

“Thank you—thank you, captain,” said Frank. “I know you mean kindly, but I still think you’re hard upon Juniper. I believe he’s a faithful fellow, with all his faults; and he isn’t without them, I’ll allow. But he’s sincerely attached to me, I believe, and that makes up for a good deal.”

“Attached to you, Mr Oldfield! don’t think it! He’s only making a tool of you—he’ll just get all he can out of you, and then he’ll scuttle you, and leave you to sink.”

“I can’t think it, I cannot indeed,” was Frank’s reply; “there’s an old proverb about giving a dog a bad name. He’s no friend of yours, I know, nor of Jacob Poole’s either, and I’m sorry for it.”

“And is he really acting a friend’s part by you, Mr Oldfield?” asked the other. Frank coloured, and evaded the question.

“At any rate, Jacob has no real cause to be at such daggers-drawn with him,” he said.

“Do you think not? Are you aware that he was trying to knock Jacob overboard only a few minutes ago, and that he attempted his life at the diggings?”

“Oh, captain, it’s all fancy; you’re mistaken, both of you. I’m sure you’re mistaken. Juniper’s not the sort of fellow—he hasn’t it in him—he hasn’t the pluck to commit murder, even if he had the will to do it.”

“Ah, Mr Oldfield,” cried the captain, “I say again, beware of him; you don’t know him; if you’d seen the spite in his eye that I’ve seen you wouldn’t talk so. He has malice enough in him to take away life, if he felt sure he could do it without detection and punishment. And is he not, at this very moment, stealing away from you the life of body and soul? Don’t be offended, pray, Mr Oldfield; but I say again, I can’t bear to see you drifting on to the rocks, and not lend a helping hand to keep you off.”

“I’m not offended, my kind friend,” said Frank sorrowfully; “you tell the truth, I fear, when you say I’m drifting on to the rocks; and yet I don’t mean to go on as I’m doing now, I assure you—when I touch land again I’m going to turn over a new leaf altogether, and paste it down over the old ones, so that I shall make quite a fresh start.”

“And do you think,” asked the other, “that this fellow will let you keep your good resolutions, even if you had the wish to do so?”

“Oh yes,” replied Frank, carelessly; “I’ve told Master Juniper that his reign will only last on board ship; I’m to be master, and we’re both to say ‘good-bye’ to the drink when once we set foot on shore, and he’s quite agreeable.”

“Of course he is,” said the captain; “he’ll be willing to promise anything for the future, if you’ll only let him keep his hold on you now. Well, sir, I’ve warned you, and I hope you may lay it to heart.”

“I will, my good friend; indeed I will,” was the reply. That evening Frank kept himself out of Juniper’s reach, much to the disgust and annoyance of that gentleman, who began to dread lest he had over-reached himself; and set his old master against him. It was not so, however. Juniper had become necessary to Frank, and a day or two found them as fast friends as ever.

And now the Sabrina had accomplished half her homeward course, and many a heart on board rejoiced in the hope of a speedy and prosperous completion of the voyage.

It was a chilly and boisterous afternoon, the clouds were hurrying in leaden-coloured layers along the sky, the sea was all in a foam, and patches of whitish upper clouds, beneath which the lower drift was scudding, threw a lurid light over the wide expanse of ocean. The wind, which had hitherto been favourable, now veered, and obliged them to tack. The captain, at this juncture, was on the poop, with Frank Oldfield by him.

“I haven’t seen Mr Juniper Graves to-day,” said the former.

“To tell you the truth,” answered Frank, “he and I have been having a few words together.”

“I’m not sorry for it,” remarked the captain drily; “nothing serious, however, I hope.”

“Nothing very, perhaps; but the matter’s simply this: I’ve been fool enough to play cards with him for rather high stakes lately, and I fancy that I’ve detected my man peeping over my cards, and using a little sleight of hand in his shuffling too.”

“I’ll be bound he has,” remarked the other.

“If he’d been a poor man,” added Frank, “I could have excused it; but the fellow’s got a whole fortune in nuggets and notes stowed about him. He’s a sort of walking ‘Crocus,’ as he told me once, when he wasn’t over sober,—meaning ‘Croesus,’ of course.”

“And so you’ve given him a little of your mind, I suppose.”

“Yes; and it’s wounded my gentleman’s dignity considerably; so there he is below, hugging his gold, and comforting himself in his own way, which isn’t much in your line or Jacob’s, captain, and I wish it wasn’t in mine.”

“In other words,” said Captain Merryweather, “he’s pretty nearly drunk by this time.”

“You’re somewhere about right,” was the reply. Immediately after this short dialogue the captain proceeded to give the orders for tacking in a stentorian voice, as the wind was high.

“Ready, ho! ready!” he cried. All were standing ready at their posts. Then the word was given to the man at the wheel.

“Helm’s a-lee!” roared the captain. There was rattling of chains, flapping of canvas, and shuffling of feet.

“Mainsail h–a–u–aul!” bellowed the captain in a prolonged shout. Round went the great sail under the swift and strong pulls of willing hands.

“Let go, and h–a–u–aul!” once more roared out the captain in a voice of thunder.

It was just at this moment, when all was apparent confusion, when ropes were rattling, feet stamping, sails quivering, that Juniper Graves emerged from his cabin on to the main-deck, his head bare, and his sandy hair flying out wildly into the breeze. His eyes were strained and bloodshot, and his whole appearance was that of a person in an agony of terror. Aroused from his drunken sleep by the noise overhead, and terrified to find the vessel heeling over to the other side, he imagined, in his drunken bewilderment, that the ship had struck, and that himself and his gold were in danger of perishing with her. Filled with frenzy at this idea, he rushed out upon deck, where the general apparent confusion confirmed his fears; then he sprung upon the bulwarks, gazed around him in utter dismay at the crew in busy motion about him, tottered on his insecure standing-ground, caught at a rope to save himself; missed it, and then, with a terrible shriek of horror and despair, fell headlong overboard into the boiling waters.

“Save him! oh, save him!” cried Frank Oldfield imploringly. “Where is he? Let me go, let me go,” he screamed, for he was about to plunge overboard, and the captain was holding him back with his powerful grasp.

“It’s no use, Mr Oldfield; it’ll only be two lives instead of one.”

“Oh, yes, yes,” besought Frank; “put the ship about—lie-to—throw over a hen-coop, a life-buoy, for mercy’s sake—the poor wretch isn’t fit to die,” and he still struggled to free himself.

“Listen to reason, sir,” said the captain. “We can do nothing; the ship’s running nine knots, and no one knows where to look for him; nothing can save him, miserable man; he’s sunk no doubt, at once, and all the faster for having his gold about him.”

“Can nothing be done?” cried Frank, beseechingly.

“Nothing, I assure you,” replied the other; “there’s not a trace of him to be seen, is there, Mr Walters?” The first mate shook his head. “We’re far enough off now from the spot where he fell in. It’s in mercy to you, sir, that he’s been taken away.”

Frank sank upon a seat, and buried his face in his hands, sobbing bitterly.

Yes; the tempter was gone, gone to his account—suddenly cut off in the midst of his sins, hurried away in righteous retribution by the very death himself had planned for Jacob Poole. Yes; the tempter was gone, and the tempted still remained. Would he take home to his heart the lesson and warning God had thus sent him? The tempter was gone, but, alas! the temptation was not gone. Frank had even now in his cabin several flasks of that drink which had already borne such miserable fruits for himself and the guilty wretch just hurried into the presence of his offended God. He had bought the spirits from Juniper at an exorbitant price, but would he use them now, after what had happened? The night after Juniper’s awful death he sat in his cabin weeping. Thoughts of home, of mother, father, Mary, crowded in upon his heart. The days that once were, when he would have joined with real willingness and hearty earnestness the band of abstainers, as he sat in all boyish sincerity at Mr Bernard Oliphant’s table, eager to make the trial and bear the cross, were fresh upon his memory now. And all the bitter past, with its shameful, degrading, sinful records, gathered its thick shadows round his soul. What should he do? He sank upon his knees and prayed—prayed to be forgiven, prayed that he might do better—and then he rose, and was in part comforted. And now, what should he do with the spirits which were still in his possession? He took them out and ranged the flasks on his berth. His scuttle stood open. One minute and he could have thrown them all into the sea. Conscience said, “Do it, and do it at once.” But another voice whispered, “Pity to waste so much good stuff; drink these out, but only a moderate quantity at a time, and then you can renounce the drink for ever.” He listened to the second voice, and conscience sighed itself to sleep.

Alas! alas! what fiend like the fiend of drink? It can steal away every good resolution, drown the voice of conscience, and make a man cheat himself into the belief that the indulgence of to-day is a warrant and guarantee for the abstinence of to-morrow. Frank was satisfied; he felt sure that it would be wiser to wean himself gradually from his drinking habits; he would use the strictest moderation with his present little stock, and then he should more readily forsake it altogether when this was gone. And so he continued to drink, but more and more sparingly, as he himself supposed, because he was really training himself to a gradual surrender of the drink, but in reality because he dreaded to be left altogether without it. And so the taste was kept up during the remainder of the voyage, and Frank Oldfield landed on the shores of his native country with the thirst strong upon him.

Chapter Twenty One.

Homeless and Heartless.

The Sabrina was bound for Liverpool, and entered that port some two years after the time when she left it with Hubert Oliphant and Frank Oldfield as fellow-passengers. Alas! how different were the feelings of the latter now, from those with which he trod the deck of that vessel when preparing for his temporary exile. Then, though sad, he was full of hope; now he was both heartless and hopeless; he knew he was the bond-slave of the drink, and, whatever he might say to others, he felt in his own heart that it was useless any longer to try and cheat himself with the transparent phantom of a lie. Yet he could not for shame acknowledge thus much to others, nor would he allow his conscience to state it deliberately to himself; he still clung to something, which was yet neither conviction nor hope, that he might even now master his besetting sin. Alas! he desired the good end, but he would not use the only means to that good end; and so, when he landed on the soil of the old country again, it was with the settled determination, (though he would not have believed his own handwriting, had he put down that determination on paper) not to give up the drinking of intoxicating liquors at present. How then should he face his parents and Mary Oliphant? He could not face them at all as yet. He could not at once make up his mind what to do. Happily for him, Juniper Graves had been cut off before he had been able to effect a complete spoliation of his master, so that Frank had still rather more than two hundred pounds in his possession. While this money lasted, he resolved to stave off the evil day of taking any decided step. He would not write to his mother or Mary till he had quite made up his mind what course he was intending to pursue. He was also well aware that the family of Bernard Oliphant could give him no welcome with his present habits of excess still upon him. So, on the day of reaching Liverpool, he said to Jacob Poole,—

“Well, Jacob, are you quite tired of my service, or will you stay by me a little longer? I’ve no right or wish to stand in your way, and if you would like to make another voyage with Captain Merryweather, or can find any other situation that will suit you better than mine, I would not have you consider yourself bound to me at all.”

“Mayster Frank,” was Jacob’s reply, “I’m not going to leave you now, unless you wish to part with me yourself. I don’t feel happy in leaving you to go by yourself nobody knows where.”

“Really, Jacob, you make a capital nurse,” said the other, laughing; “you seem to be quite convinced that I’m not to be trusted to run alone.”

“And it’s true, sir,” replied Jacob, seriously; “you need looking after, and I mustn’t be letting you get into the hands of any of those chaps as’ll hook all as you have out o’ you in no time—that is, if you’re going to stay by yourself in this big town.”

“Why, yes, Jacob; I shall not go down to my father’s at once. I don’t seem as if I could go. I’d better wait a little bit. I seem out of trim, and out of sorts altogether.”

“You must please yourself,” replied Jacob; “and you must know best, Mayster Frank, what you’re bound to do. But, if you’d take my advice, you’d go home at once, afore anything worse happens.”

“No, Jacob, I cannot yet, and so that’s settled. Now we must look-out for lodgings; they mustn’t be expensive ones, else the brass, as you call it, won’t hold out, and you can wait on me, and keep me in order, you know. But, by the way, I was forgetting that you have friends of your own to look after. Don’t let anything I’ve been saying prevent your going to them, and doing what’s right by them. I shall be quite willing to come into any arrangement you may like to make. Don’t consider yourself bound to me, Jacob, but just do whatever you feel to be your duty.”

“You’re very kind, Mayster Frank: it’s just this way with me. I should like to go and see arter them as I left behind when I sailed for Australia, and see how they’re coming on. But it don’t matter for a week or so, for they’re not looking for me. I’ll see you settled first properly, Mayster Frank, if you mean to settle here for a bit, and then I’ll just take a run over yonder for a few days, and come back to you again, and what I do afterwards’ll depend on how I find things yonder.”

And thus it was finally settled. Frank took quiet lodgings in a respectable by-street, in the house of an aged widow, who was delighted with his cheerful open manners, and did her best to make him and Jacob comfortable. But the time hung heavily on the hands of both master and man. Frank purposed daily writing home, and yet each to-morrow found him more reluctant to do so than the day before. Jacob loitered about the town and docks when his master did not want him, and got exceedingly weary of his idleness.

“Eh, ma’am,” he said one day to their landlady, “my arms fair ache with hanging down and doing nothing.”

Thus things went on for about a fortnight, when one evening at tea-time Frank failed to make his appearance. Seven o’clock, then nine and ten, but no master came to remove poor Jacob’s misgivings. At last, about midnight, a stumbling against the door and a violent knock made his heart die within him.

“Who’s there?” he cried, before opening the door.

“Me, old king of trumps!” cried a voice which he knew to be Frank’s. The minute after, the wretched young man staggered in almost helpless. Next day was a season of bitter sorrow, self-reproach, and remorse; but, alas! not to be followed by any real amendment, for Frank was now seldom home till late, though he was never again grossly intoxicated. But a shadow had now settled habitually on his once bright and open countenance, which Jacob could not quite understand, and which was almost more sad to him than the degrading flush and vacant stare produced by excess in drink. Something dreadful was amiss, he was sure, but he could not tell, and hardly dare conjecture what it might be. Very, very loth then was he to go, when the time came for his leaving his master entirely to his own devices. He would gladly have put off his journey, but Frank would not hear of it, and was evidently annoyed when Jacob urged the matter. So it was finally settled that he should be away for a few days, not exceeding a fortnight. The night but one before his intended departure, Jacob was pleased to find that his master did not leave home, but took his tea at his lodgings, a very unusual thing of late. After tea he made Jacob come and sit with him, and they had a long talk over Australian matters, and the events of their late voyage. At last Frank said,—

“Jacob, I don’t wish to pry into your concerns, or to ask questions which you may not like to answer. I hope, however, that you will not scruple to ask my advice on any matter in which I can be of service to you.”

“Well, thank you, sir,” replied Jacob, with a sort of embarrassment in his manner, “you’re very kind, but I’ve reasons just now why I’d like to say as little as possible about myself to any one. If I find them as I’m going to seek, I may have much to say; but maybe I may find things so as’ll make it better I should forget as ever I’d any belonging me.”

“Just so,” said his master; “you must be the best judge of your own matters, and I would not intrude on your private concerns for a moment; only I should just like to know what you mean to do with your bag of nuggets; you must be careful where you put it. It would be hardly wise to carry it about with you, if you don’t mean to turn it into money at present.”

Jacob was troubled at the question, yet he could hardly tell why; he answered, however,—

“Well, Mayster Frank, I’m not thinking of meddling with my nuggets at present.”

“Hadn’t you better then leave them with me till you return?” asked Frank.

Poor Jacob was sorely puzzled what to reply. He looked down, and there was an awkward pause. At last he said,—

“I cannot rightly tell what’ll be the best to do. Mayster Oldfield, you mustn’t be offended, but I’d better be plain and outspoken. You’d not mean to wrong me of a farthing, I know; but you must be well aware you’re not always your own mayster. So if you cannot keep your own brass safe, I can hardly think it wise to trust you to take charge of mine. I don’t wish to vex you, Mayster Frank, but that’s just the honest truth.”

“Quite right, Jacob, quite right,” said his master, laughing; “you don’t vex me at all. I should do just the same, if I were in your place. Suppose, then, you give your bag in charge to our landlady the morning you start; that’ll be soon enough, for, poor soul, she’ll be glad, I daresay, not to have charge of other folk’s treasure a day longer than necessary; and I’ll be a witness that you give it into her charge.”

“Thank you, mayster,” said Jacob, greatly relieved; “that’s good advice, and I’ll follow it.”

The next evening, the last before Jacob’s expedition, Frank again remained at home. He had been out all the morning. Jacob looked anxiously at him when he returned. He clearly had not been drinking—at any rate immoderately—yet there was something in his look which Jacob could not fathom, and if ever Frank met his servant’s eye, his own immediately fell.

“I’m not satisfied as all’s right,” said Jacob to himself, “and yet I cannot tell what’s amiss.”

That night his sleep was restless and disturbed. Once he fancied that his door was opened, and that his master appeared and drew back again. Their rooms were on the opposite sides of the same landing. Again he fancied, or dreamt, that a hand passed under his pillow, where he kept his nuggets. It was quite dark—he started up and felt for the bag; it was there quite safe, and he laid him down again. But yet again he seemed to feel a hand behind his pillow.

“I must have been dreaming,” he muttered to himself; “the bag’s right.”

Yes, there it was all right when he rose in the morning. He was to start by an early train, so, hastily dressing himself, and having breakfasted, he came to say farewell to his master.

“Oh, Mayster Frank,” he said, grasping the other’s outstretched hand, “I’m heavy at the heart at leaving you. I cannot tell why, but there’s a weight like lead upon me. Oh, dear Mayster Frank, for my sake, for your own sake, for the sake of all them as loves you, will you promise me to keep off the drink, leastways till I come back? Will you pray the Lord to help you, Mayster Frank? He will help you, if you’ll pray honestly.”

What was it that affected his unhappy master so powerfully? Frank’s whole frame shook with emotion. He stared at Jacob with a gaze of mingled remorse and agony such as touched the other to the quick.

“Jacob,” gasped his master, at last, “I cannot let you go thus—you don’t know—I’ve—I’ve—” He paused for a moment, and tears and sobs burst from him. Then he sat down, and bowed his head on his knees, clasping his hands tightly together. Then an unnatural calmness followed; he muttered something to himself, and then said, in a tone of affected indifference and gaiety,—

“There, it don’t matter; the best of friends must part. You’ll be back before so very long, and I’ll try and be a good boy meanwhile.

“Just call up the landlady, Jacob, and we can see her take charge of your nuggets.”

Jacob did as his master bade him.

“There, Mrs Jones,” he said, taking the bag hastily from Jacob’s hands; “this bag of nuggets belongs to my man. You see it contains gold,” he added, opening the mouth of the bag, and taking out a small nugget; “there,” tying it up with the string which he had removed from it, “he’ll know where to look for them when he comes back. We’ve the fullest confidence, Mrs Jones, that they will be safe in your keeping.”

“Indeed, sir,” said the landlady, curtseying, “I’d rather you should keep them.”

“No, no, Mrs Jones; Jacob knows very well that you’re to be trusted, but that I’m not.”

“Oh, sir!” exclaimed Mrs Jones; but she was at a loss what farther to say, for she felt that poor Frank spoke only the sober truth. At last she said,—

“Well, sir, I’ll take charge of them, as you both seem to wish it, and I’ll take care that no one sees where I put them.”

And so Jacob and his master parted.

Ten days passed by, and then Jacob, downcast and weary, made his way to the lodgings. His heart died within him at the expression of the landlady’s face when she had opened the door to him, and found that he was alone.

“Where’s Mr Oldfield?” he gasped.

“That’s just what I was going to ask you, Mr Poole.”

“What! you don’t mean to say he’s left your house?”

“He has indeed,” was the reply. “I’ve seen nothing of him since the day after you left.”

“Seen nothing of him!” exclaimed Jacob in complete bewilderment; “but has he sent you no message—no letter?”

“No, Mr Poole, he’s neither sent nor written. He paid me all he owed me up to the last night he slept here, and that’s all I know.”

“And has he left no message, nothing to tell one where he’s gone?” asked Jacob.

“Nothing,” she said, “unless this letter’s from him—it came a few days ago.”

Jacob seized it, and tore it open. When he had read a few lines he let it drop upon the floor, and stood gazing at it as though some strange fascination glared out from it upon him. Then he took it up again, read it deliberately through, laid it on the table, and sitting down, burst into an agony of weeping. The letter was as follows:—

“Dear Jacob,—I must write to you, though I hardly can hold my pen, and every letter, as I write, seems like blood wrung out from my heart. Well, it’s no use; you shall have the naked truth at once. I have robbed you, Jacob, artfully, basely, deliberately, cruelly robbed you, and all through the cursed drink. I hate myself for it as the vilest wretch upon earth. And yet I have no excuse to make. I have been gambling with a wretched set of sharpers, who got hold of me when I was drunk. They cleaned me out of every penny. I was ruined—I was desperate—I thought if I could get hold of your nuggets I could turn them into money, win back what I had lost, and repay you with interest. I got some lead, melted it in a shovel, (I need not tell you where I did this; it was in no good place, you may be sure). I made the lead into the shape of nuggets. The night but one before you left I tried to find out where you kept your bag; you were restless and clutched at your pillow. I knew then that it was there. I got another leather bag and filled it with the leaden nuggets I had made. These I slipped behind your pillow, and took away the real ones, the night before you left; you felt for them, and fancied you had them safe. When I had got out the gold, I crouched down in the dark till you were fast asleep again. Then I drew out the bag very carefully from behind your head, and changed it for your own bag, having first filled your own bag with the leaden nuggets and one or two little bits of gold at the top, so that you had your own bag when you woke in the morning, but I had your gold in the other bag. There, you know all now, you can understand all the rest. I sold your nuggets—I spent part of the money in drink—I played again—I’ve lost all—I shall never be able to repay you—I dare not look you in the face—I dare not look my father and mother in the face—I dare not look—it’s no matter. You are an honest fellow, Jacob, and will get on, spite of my villainy. If you ever marry and have children, make them total abstainers, if you would keep them safe in body and soul. As for myself, I cannot mend—I’m past it—I’ve been cheating myself with the belief that I meant to mend, but I never did. I see it now. There, Jacob, I don’t ask you to forgive me, but I do ask one thing—grant it me for the love you once had to me—it is this: wait a month, I shall be out of the way by that time, and then post the enclosed letter to my poor mother. I have told her how I have robbed you. My father will repay you. Tell him where he can find you. I shall soon be out of everybody’s reach. And now all I have got to ask you is just to wipe me out of your thoughts altogether, and to forget that there ever was such a person as your guilty, miserable, degraded master.”

“Oh, Mr Poole,” said his landlady, compassionately, when he had begun to recover from the first vehemence of his grief, “I fear there’s something dreadfully wrong.”

Jacob shook his head.

“All lost—all ruined,” he replied. Yet even now his heart yearned towards his miserable master. He would not expose him to Mrs Jones; she at least should know nothing of his own loss.

“Mrs Jones,” he said, holding out his hand, “I must say good-bye. I fear my poor master’s got into very bad hands. I don’t rightly know what’s become of him; but where there’s life there’s hope, and I trust he isn’t past that. If you and I meet again, may it be a happier meeting. Be so good as to hand me my—my—bag I left in your charge,” he added, with quivering voice.

“I’m so sorry,” said the good woman, when she had fetched the bag. “I wish I could do anything to comfort you. I’m sure I’m truly sorry for the poor young gentleman. It’s a thousand pities he’s thrown himself away, for a nicer or freer-spoken gentleman never was, when he was in his proper senses. There, Mr Poole, there’s your bag. You see it’s just as you gave it me. No one has seen it or touched it but myself.”

“Thank you, Mrs Jones. It’s all right; farewell, and the Lord be with us both.”

He turned from the door utterly broken down in spirit. Whither should he go? What should he do? Should he really abandon his master to his fate? He could not. Should he delay posting the letter? No; and yet he felt a difficulty about it; for Frank had stated in his letter to himself that he had told his mother of the robbery, and that Jacob must be repaid his loss. But who was to say what was the worth of the nuggets? He had never ascertained their value. He felt that he could not face his master’s father; that he could not himself put a value upon what he had lost. His master had saved his life, and he would set that against the pilfered gold, and would forgive what had been done against himself. So having ascertained that it was only too true that his bag contained but two or three little pieces of the precious metal, he cast the rest of its contents into the sea, and determined to start afresh in life, as if the sorrowful part of his past history never had been. But first he posted Frank’s letter, with one of his own, in which he stated where he had lodged in Liverpool, that so his master’s parents might have every opportunity of endeavouring to trace their unhappy son. His own letter was as follows:—

“Madam,—Mr Frank Oldfield, your son, has bid me send you the letter from him which comes with this. Mr Frank is my master. You have no doubt heard him say something in his letters from Australia about Jacob Poole. Well, I am Jacob Poole. And we came to England together, my master and me; and my master has took, I am sorry to say it, to drinking again since he came back. I wanted him to go home at once, but he has kept putting it off, and he has got into the hands of some gamblers as has stripped him of all his brass; and he has taken, too, some nuggets of mine, which I got at the diggings, but he didn’t mean to keep them, only to borrow them, and pay me back. But, poor young gentleman, he has been quite ruinated by these cheating chaps as has got hold of him. So I don’t want anybody to think anything more about me or my nuggets—I should not like any fuss to be made about them—I had rather the whole thing was kept snug. I shall go and get work somewhere or other; and, thank the Lord for it, I am young and strong. So, dear madam, don’t think any more about me or my nuggets; for Mr Frank saved my life when he might have lost his own, so he is welcome to the nuggets, and more into the bargain. I am sorry that Mr Frank has gone off; so I cannot tell you where to find him. I have tried, but it isn’t any use. We—that is, my master and me—was lodging with Mrs Jones, as I’ve written at the top of the letter. I can tell you no more about where to find him. So no more at present from your very humble servant, Jacob Poole.”

“Mr Frank has written to me not to post his letter for a month, but I don’t think it is right to keep it from you, so I send it at once.”

Such was Jacob’s letter, when cleared of mistakes in spelling and expression.

Frank’s letter to his mother was in these words:—

“Dearest Mother,—How shall I write to you! What shall I say to you? I feel as if my pen scorched my fingers, and I could not hold it. I feel as though this very paper I am writing on would carry on it the blush of burning shame that covers me. Darling mother, how shall I tell you what I am? And yet I must tell you; I must lift the veil once for all, and then it shall drop for ever on your miserable son. I am in England now. I do not know where I shall be when you receive this. I went out to Australia, as you know, hoping to become a sober, steady man. I am returned to England a confirmed drunkard, without hope, ay, even without the wish to break off from my sin. I cannot look you or my father in the face as I am now. I never could look Mary in the face again. I shall never write or breathe her name again. I have no one to blame but myself. I have no strength left to fight against my sin. I am as weak before the drink as a little child, and weaker. I could pray, but it’s no use praying; for I have prayed often, and now I know that I never really desired what I prayed for. I dare not face the prospect of entirely renouncing strong drink. I once dreamed that I could, but it was only a dream; at least, since I first began habitually to exceed. But can I go on and tell you what my love for the drink has led me to? I must, for I want you or my dear father to do one thing for me, the last I shall ever ask. Oh, don’t cast me utterly out of your heart when you hear it, but I must tell it. I have robbed my poor faithful servant, Jacob Poole, of his nuggets, which he got by his own hard labour. I secretly took them from him, and spent what they fetched in drink and gaming. I meant to win and pay him back, but I might have known I never could. Yes, I robbed the poor young man who nursed me, worked for me, prayed for me, remonstrated with me, bore with me. I robbed him when his back was turned. Oh, what a vile wretch the drink has made me! Can you have any love for me after reading this? Oh, if you have, I want you or my father to repay Jacob for his nuggets which I stole. He’s as honest as the day. You may trust him to put no more than a fair value on them. One more request I have to make, darling mother. Oh,—deal kindly by her—I said I would never write her name again, and I will not. I dare not write to her, it would do no good. Tell her that I’m lost to her for ever; tell her to forget me. And do you forget me too, dearest mother. I could be nothing but a thorn, a shame, a burden in my old home. I will not tell you where I am, nor where I shall be; it is better not. Forget me if you can, and think of me as dead. I am so for all better purposes; for everything good or noble has died out of me. The drink has done it. Your hopeless son, Frank Oldfield.”

Chapter Twenty Two.

A Miserable Death.

Three days after Jacob Poole had posted his letter and its enclosure, a cab drove up to Mrs Jones’s door. In it were Sir Thomas and Lady Oldfield. No one who saw them could doubt of the bitter sorrow that had stamped its mark upon their noble features.

“Are you Mrs Jones, my poor—poor son’s landlady?” asked Lady Oldfield, when they were seated in the parlour. She could add no more for weeping.

“Yes, ma’am,” was the reply. “I’m sure I’m very sorry, ma’am, very indeed; for Mr Oldfield was a most kind, free-spoken gentleman; and if he’d only—only—”

“I understand you,” said the poor sorrowing mother.

“And Jacob Poole; what has become of him?” asked Sir Thomas.

“I’m sure, sir, I don’t know. All I can tell is, that he’s sure not to be anywhere in Liverpool; for he told me the morning he left me that he was going to leave the town, and should not come back again.”

“I’m grieved to hear it,” said the baronet. “And can you give us a clue, Mrs Jones, to our dear misguided child’s present place of abode? Can you suggest no way of finding it out?”

“I fear not, sir; Mr Oldfield has left nothing behind him except his Bible and Prayer-book, which he asked me to accept as a token of his kind feeling and regard, he was good enough to say.”

“His Bible and Prayer-book! Oh, let me look at them,” exclaimed Lady Oldfield.

Mrs Jones brought them. The Prayer-book was one given him on his twelfth birthday by his mother. His name in it was in her own handwriting. The Bible was a much newer book, and bore but few marks of use. It was a gift from Mary Oliphant. The handwriting of his name was hers, as was also that of two texts below the name, which were written out in full—

“Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”

“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will, with the temptation, also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

Lady Oldfield gazed at these books and the writing in them for a long time without uttering a word, and without shedding a tear. It seemed as though the sight had for the moment chained every other feeling, and left her only the power to stare wildly at the two familiar handwritings.

“And he has parted with these,” she said at last, half out loud; “he has given them away. Oh, merciful Father in heaven, what has become of my unhappy boy?”

“Calm yourself, my dear,” said Sir Thomas; “let us hope that things may be better than our fears.”

“I’m sure, ma’am,” said Mrs Jones, “I should never think of keeping these books if you or Mr Oldfield’s father wish to have them.”

“Oh, it is not that, it is not that,” sobbed Lady Oldfield. “Are you a mother, Mrs Jones?” she cried, turning abruptly to her.

“Yes, ma’am; I’ve had seven children, and five are living now.”

“Then you’ll understand my feelings as a mother. I fear, oh, I cannot say how terribly I fear, that poor Frank means to do something dreadful; perhaps to—to—oh, I can’t bear to think of it.”

“Why, my dear, why,” asked her husband, “should you think so?”

“Why, Thomas! Oh, isn’t there something terrible in his parting with these two books, my gift and dear Mary’s gift, and at such a time? Doesn’t it seem as if he was turning his back upon everything that is good and holy, and simply giving himself up to despair. Isn’t it like saying, ‘The Bible’s no longer a book for me, for God is no longer my God?’ Isn’t it like saying, ‘Prayer is no longer for me, for God will not hear me.’”

“My dearest wife,” said Sir Thomas, anxiously, “don’t look at the darkest side. Don’t lose your faith and trust now. My good Mrs Jones, you see we’re in sore trouble. You can understand how our hearts are almost broken about our erring son, but still he is our son, and very dear to us; and we want you to help us to find him, if it be possible.”

“I’m sure, sir,” replied the kind-hearted landlady, “I do feel for you both with all my heart, and only wish I knew what to advise. But really I know no more than yourselves where Mr Oldfield is likely to be found. It seems that he’s wished to keep it a secret, and so he has purposely kept me in the dark.”

Sir Thomas sighed.

“I understand exactly how it is,” he said. “I do not see what we can do, except endeavour to get a clue through the police. By the way, Mrs Jones, you don’t happen to know the names or lodgings of any of his associates? That might help us, if you did.”

“I do not, sir; for I never saw one of them enter this house. Your son never brought any one home with him as I know of. Jacob Poole and he were the only persons who ever were together here while he had my lodgings.”

“Do you happen, then, ever to have heard him mention where any of his companions lived? I mean those persons he used to stay out with at night or in the day?”

“Never, sir.”

“Nor so much as the name of any of his associates?”

“Not once, sir. I fear—that is to say—”

“Speak out, Mrs Jones, pray. You know this may be a matter of life and death to him, and perhaps to us also. Don’t be afraid of wounding us; we want to know everything that can in the least help us in our search.”

“Well, sir, I was going to say, only I hesitated to say so much to my lodger’s own father and mother, that I feared he had got mixed up with companions as wouldn’t be likely to meet him in any private house.”

“I understand you; you think he met his friends, (his companions or associates, I mean), at some common rendezvous or club.”

“Yes, sir; I fear so from all I heard and saw, and from what Mr Poole has said.”

“I fear, then, that you can afford us no information that will help us at present. But here is my card; we shall be staying for some days probably, possibly for some weeks, at the Albion Hotel. Will you kindly, without fail, let us know, and that without loss of time, if you hear or see anything either of our poor son or of Jacob Poole, or of any one who may be able to give us any light or any help in our search?”

“You may depend upon me, Sir Thomas,” said Mrs Jones; “and I’m sure, sir, I hope you and her ladyship will excuse this homely room. It’s only very plainly furnished, but it’s the one your son occupied.”

“Pray, don’t make any apologies,” said her ladyship; “they are not needed. It is not fine rooms and grand furniture that can give peace. I have just one thing to ask you to grant me before we go, and we must not delay, for time is precious.”

“I’m sure, my lady, I’ll grant you anything in my power.”

“Let me, then, see the room where my poor boy slept.”

“Certainly, ma’am, though it’s in a sadly untidy state. I’ve not had time—”

“Never mind, Mrs Jones; I shall not notice any defects. My heart aches too sorely for me to heed these trifles. There, thank you; now leave me alone in the room for five minutes. And will you kindly tell my husband that I will join him almost directly!”

When the door was closed upon the unhappy mother, she threw herself on her knees beside the bed on which her son had slept, too commonly, alas! the drunkard’s sleep, and poured out her heart with tears to God that she might find her poor, lost, and guilty child before it should be too late. Rendered calmer by this prayer, she joined Sir Thomas.

“Farewell, Mrs Jones,” she said, as they left the house; “many thanks for your kind sympathy. I trust we may have a less sad tale to tell when we meet again.”

They drove to their hotel, and Sir Thomas wrote at once to the superintendent of police, requesting him to call upon him at the “Albion” at his earliest convenience. In about an hour that functionary appeared. He was a tall and stoutly-built man, of a decidedly military carriage; slightly bald, with a peculiarly searching eye, and thin decided lips. His manner was remarkably quiet, and his language precise and deliberate. He evidently always thought before he spoke, and then spoke what he thought, and nothing more. Taking the seat offered him by Sir Thomas, but declining any refreshment, he put himself in the attitude of listening, as one accustomed to weigh evidence, and to put every fact and conjecture into its right box.

“I have requested your kind attendance, Mr Superintendent,” began the baronet, “that I might ask your advice and help in a matter in which Lady Oldfield here and myself are most deeply concerned.”

The superintendent gave a slight bend forward, as much as to say that this introduction to the subject in hand was a matter of course.

Sir Thomas then, with some embarrassment of manner, gave his hearer an account of his son’s unhappy career, and his own difficulties about tracing him, and concluded by saying,—

“And now, sir, I would ask your help to discover my poor boy before it be too late.”

The superintendent signified his assent.

“What do you think?” asked Sir Thomas.

“We can find him, no doubt, if he is still in Liverpool,” said the officer.

“And do you think he is now in Liverpool?” asked Lady Oldfield.

“I do.”

“What makes you think, so?” asked the baronet.

“Several things. First, he’ll be likely to stay where he can get most easily at the drink. Secondly, he’ll not go away to any near country place, because he’d get sooner marked there. Thirdly, as he seems hard up for money, he’ll have to pawn anything he may have left that’s worth pawning, and he can do that best and most secretly in a large town.”

Poor Sir Thomas and his lady felt a shiver through their hearts at the matter-of-fact way in which these words were uttered.

“You don’t think, then,” asked the baronet, “that he has started in any vessel for America or Australia?”

“No; because no captain would take him as a sailor, and he’d not be able to raise money to go even as a steerage passenger. Besides, he wouldn’t risk it, as he’d know that all the outward bound vessels might be searched for him by that man of his—Poole, I think you called him.”

“But don’t you suppose he may have left by railway, and gone to some other large town?”

“Of course he may, but I don’t think he has, because he’ll have sense enough to know that he can’t have much to spare for travelling, if he’s gambled away his ready money, and don’t mean to ask you for any more.”

“Perhaps he has done, or means to do, something desperate,” said Lady Oldfield, tremblingly; “he seemed to hint at something of the kind in his letter to me.”

“No, he’ll not do that, I think—at least not just yet. Habitual drunkards have seldom got it in them. They’ll talk big, but still they’ll go on hanging about where they can get the drink.”

“Then you believe that he is still in Liverpool?” said Sir Thomas.

“That’s my belief.”

“And you think that you can find him?”

“I do think so. Was your son fond of low company when he lived at home?”

Poor Sir Thomas and his wife winced at this question, but it was put by the superintendent simply as a matter of business.

“Why, not exactly,” was the reply; “that is to say, he never frequented any gatherings of low people, as far as I know. But he was very much in the habit of making a companion of my under-groom, Juniper Graves.”

“Ah, exactly so! And this man drank?”

“Yes.”

“And they played cards together?”

“I fear so.”

“Then he’s most likely hooked in with a low set—that makes it easier.”

“Do you suppose that he is still in connection with any such set?” asked Lady Oldfield.

“Pretty certain, if he has let out, when he was tipsy, that his father is a gentleman of property. They’ll help him on a bit, if they think there’s a chance of bleeding him again.”

“But you know he has resolved to keep us in ignorance of his abode, and all about himself.”

“Yes, he meant it when he wrote; but when he’s so hard up as to be near starving, perhaps he’ll change his mind.”

“How then would you propose to proceed?” asked Sir Thomas.

The superintendent thought for half a minute, and then said,—

“Have you a photograph of your son with you?”

“I have,” said the poor mother. She took it out of her pocket-book, and handed it to the officer. He looked at it very carefully for some time, and then said,—

“I suppose he must be a little older looking than this.”

“Yes, surely,” was the reply, “for it was taken three years ago, before he went out to Australia.”

“I must ask you then to spare it me for a few days, as it may help us materially.”

“And how soon may we hope to hear anything from you?”

“In a day or two I expect, perhaps sooner. But don’t call at the office; it will do no good. You may depend upon hearing from me as soon as I have anything to communicate.”

That day passed over, a second, and a third day of sickening suspense. How utterly powerless the poor parents felt! Lady Oldfield prayed, but oh, there were sad thoughts of bitter self-reproach mingling with her prayers. She could not but remember how she had herself been the chief hindrance to her son’s becoming a total abstainer when he was bent on making the attempt, and had avowed his intention. Oh, she would have given worlds now could she but recall the time, and her own words, when she had dissuaded him from renouncing those stimulants which had proved to him the cause of sin, ruin, and perhaps death. Yes; who could tell what might have been now had that unhappy remonstrance never passed her lips. Ah, it is easy to laugh down, or press down by a mother’s authority, the holy resolve of a child who sees the gigantic monster drunkenness in some of his hideous proportions, and would gladly take that step which would keep him, if leaning on grace for strength, free from the deadly snare; easy to laugh down or crush down that resolve; but oh, impossible to recall the past, impossible to give back to the utterly hardened drunkard his fresh vigorous intellect, his nervous moral power, his unstrained will, his unwarped conscience, his high and holy resolution! Lady Oldfield felt it; but the past was now gone from her, beyond the reach of effort, remorse, or prayer. At last, on the morning of the fourth day, the superintendent again made his appearance.

“Have you found him?” cried both parents in a breath.

“I believe I am on his tracks,” was the reply.

“Oh, thank God for that!” cried the poor mother, clasping her hands together. “He still lives then?”

“I cannot be sure, but I should think so.”

“Oh, then, cannot you take us to him?”

“No, madam, not yet; we are only on his tracks at present.”

“Would you tell us in what way you have proceeded?” asked Sir Thomas.

“Certainly. In the first place, the young man’s photograph was shown to all our constables. Some thought they knew the face, and could fix upon the right person in one of the low haunts they are acquainted with. But after a two days’ search they were all disappointed. Young men dress so much alike in these days that it’s often very difficult to tell who’s who till you see them very close. Then I had the likeness taken round to all the publicans’ wives, for the women are closer observers of features than the men. Some thought they’d seen such a face, some hesitated, one was quite sure she had. I could tell at once that she was right.”

“When was this?” eagerly asked Lady Oldfield.

“Yesterday.”

“And what did she say?”

“She said that he had been there several nights running with two regular cardsharpers, and they’d been drinking. She was sure it was him, though he had disguised himself a little.”

“And did you find him?”

“No; he hadn’t been there for the last two or three nights. Perhaps he had nothing to spend, for he came the last time in his shirt-sleeves; so she supposed he’d pawned his coat.”

“Well?”

“Well, I sent one of our men last night to see if he’d come again, but he never did.”

“And what can you do now?”

“Oh, I’ve left the photograph with the landlady, and she is to see if any of her customers recognise it; it’ll stand on the counter.”

“And what do you think about him now?” asked Sir Thomas.

“That he’ll turn up again in a day or two, if he’s not ill.”

“Oh, can he—can he have destroyed himself in a fit of despair?” gasped Lady Oldfield.

“I think not, madam. Pray don’t distress yourself. I believe we shall be able to hunt him out in a day or two. I shall send a man in plain clothes to the gin-shop again to-night to watch for him.”

Early the next day the superintendent called again.

“We’ve found him,” he said.

“Oh, where, where is he?” exclaimed the poor mother; “take us to him at once! Oh, is he living?” she asked vehemently, for there was a look of peculiar seriousness on the superintendent’s face which made her fear the worst.

“He is living, madam, but I’m sorry to say that he’s seriously ill.”

“Send for a cab at once,” cried Sir Thomas.

“I have one at the door,” said the officer; “one of you had better secure a respectable lodging and nurse for him at once, while the other goes with me.”

“Let me go to him,” cried Lady Oldfield.

“It will be a strange place for a lady, but you will be safe with me.”

“Oh yes, yes, let me go,” was the reply; “am not I his mother? Oh, let us go at once.”

“Well, then, Sir Thomas,” said the superintendent, “we will call at the hotel as we return, if you will leave the direction of the lodgings with the landlord.”

“And how did you find out my poor boy?” asked Lady Oldfield, as they hurried along through a labyrinth of by-streets, each dirtier and more dismal than the last.

“My man in plain clothes, madam, watched last night for a long time by the bar, but saw no one come in like your son. At last an old woman, who was come for a quartern of gin, stared hard at the likeness, and said, ‘Laws, if that ain’t the young gent as is down ill o’ the fever in our attic!’”

“Ill of the fever!” exclaimed Lady Oldfield.

“Yes; it seems so. Of course that was enough. My man went home with her, taking the photograph with him, and soon ascertained that the young gentleman in question is your son. But we must stop here. I’m sorry to bring your ladyship into such a place; but there’s no help for it, if you really wish to see the young man yourself.”

“Oh yes, yes,” cried the other; “anything, everything, I can bear all, if I may only see him alive, and rescue him from his misery and sin.”

“Wait for us here,” said the officer to the cabman, as they alighted in the middle of a nest of streets, which seemed as though huddled together, by common consent, to shut out from public gaze their filth and guilty wretchedness. Wretched indeed they were, as the haunts of destitution and crime. All was foul and dingy. Distorted roofs patched with mis-shapen tiles; chimneys leaning at various angles out of the perpendicular; walls vile with the smoke and grime of a generation; mortar that looked as though it never in its best days could have been white; shattered doors whose proper colour none could tell, and which, standing ajar, seemed to lead to nothing but darkness; weird women and gaunt children imparting a dismal life to the rows of ungainly dwellings;—all these made up a picture of squalid woe such as might well have appalled a stouter heart than poor Lady Oldfield’s. And was she to find her delicately-nurtured son in such a place as this? They turned down one street, under the wondering eyes of old and young, and then plunged into a narrow court that led to nothing. Here, two doors down on the left hand, they entered, and proceeded to climb a rickety stair till they reached the highest floor. A voice that sent all the blood rushing back to poor Lady Oldfield’s heart was heard in high strain, and another, mingling with it, muttering a croaking accompaniment of remonstrance,—

“Well, you’re a fine young gentleman, I’ve no doubt; but you’ll not bide long in that fashion, I reckon.”

Then came a bit of a song in the younger voice,—

“Drink, boys, drink, and drive away your sorrow; For though we’re here to-day, we mayn’t be here to-morrow.”

The superintendent knocked at the door, and both entered. The old woman uttered an exclamation of terror at the sight of the strangers, but the appearance of Lady Oldfield reassured her, for she divined almost immediately who she must be. On her part, Lady Oldfield instinctively shrunk back at her first entrance, and well she might; for the revolting sights and odours almost overpowered her, spite of her all-absorbing anxiety to find and rescue her beloved child.

The room, if it could be justly called so—for it was, more properly speaking, a kind of loft—was lighted, or rather, rendered less dark by a sort of half window, half skylight, which looked out upon a stack of decayed and blackened chimneys, and so much sickly-looking sky as could be seen through the undamaged panes, which were but few, for lumps of rags, old stockings, and similar contrivances blocked up many a space which had once been used to admit the light, while the glass still remaining was robbed of its transparency by accumulated dirt. There was neither stove nor fire-place of any kind. The walls, if they had ever been whitened, had long since lost their original hue, and exhibited instead every variety of damp discoloration. Neither chair nor table were there—an old stool and a box were the only seats. In the corner farthest from the light, and where the ceiling sloped down to the floor, was the only thing that could claim the name of a bedstead. Low and curtainless, its crazy, worm-eaten frame groaned and creaked ominously under the tossings to and fro of the poor sufferer, who occupied the mass of ragged coverings spread upon it. In the opposite corner was a heap of mingled shavings, straw, and sacking, the present couch of the aged tenant of this gloomy apartment. The box stood close at the bed’s head; there were bottles and a glass upon, it, which had plainly not been used for medicinal purposes, as the faded odour of spirits, distinguishable above the general rank close smell of the room, too clearly testified. Across the floor, stained with numberless abominations, Lady Oldfield made her shuddering way to the bed, on which lay, tossing in the delirium of fever, her unhappy son. His trousers and waistcoat were thrown across his feet; his hat lay on the floor near them; there was no coat, for it had been pawned to gratify his craving for the stimulant which had eaten away joy and peace, hope and heart. Flinging herself on her knees beside the prostrate form, his mother tried to raise him.

“O Frank, Frank, my darling boy,” she cried, with a bitter outburst of weeping; “look at me, speak to me; I’m your own mother. Don’t you know me? I’m come to take you home.”

He suddenly sat up, and jerked the clothes from him. His eyes glittered with an unnatural light, his cheeks were deeply flushed with fever heat; his hair, that mother’s pride in former days, waved wildly over his forehead. How fair, how beautiful he looked even then!

“Ah, poor young creetur,” croaked the old woman; “it’s a pity he’s come to this. I knowed he were not used to sich a life—more’s the shame to them as led him into it.”

Ay, shame to them, indeed! But oh, how sad, how grievous that the young hand, which might have raised to untainted lips none but those pure draughts which neither heat the brain nor warp the sense of right, should ever learn to grasp the cup that gives a passing brightness to the eye and glitter to the tongue, but clouds at length the intellect, fires the brain, and leaves a multitude of wretched victims cast ashore as shattered moral wrecks. To such results, though from the smallest beginnings, does the drink tend in its very nature. Oh, happy they who are altogether free from its toils!

The wretched young man stared wildly at his mother.

“Who are you?” he cried. “I don’t know you. More brandy—where’s the bottle? ‘Here’s a health to all good lasses; pledge it merrily, fill your glasses.’ Shuffle the cards well; now then, nothing wenture nothing win. Spades are trumps.”

“Oh, my boy, my boy,” cried the agonised mother, “can nothing be done for you? Has a doctor been sent for?” she cried suddenly, turning to the old woman.

“Doctor!” was the reply. “No, ma’am; who’s to pay for a doctor? The young gent’s been and popped all his things for the play and the drink; and I haven’t myself so much as a brass farden to get a mouthful o’ meat with.”

“Oh, will any one run for a doctor?” implored the miserable mother. “Here, my good woman,” taking out a shilling, “give this to somebody to fetch a doctor; quick—oh, don’t lose a moment.”

“Ay, ay, I’ll see about it,” mumbled the old woman; “that’ll fetch a doctor quick enough, you may be sure.”

She made her way slowly and painfully down the creaking stairs, and after a while returned.

“Doctor’ll be here soon, ma’am, I’ll warrant,” she said.

Lady Oldfield sat on the box by the bed, watching her son’s wild stare and gesticulations in silent misery.

“I’m glad you’ve came, ma’am,” continued the old woman; “I’ve had weary work with the young gentleman. I found him outside the door of the ‘Green Dragon’ without his coat, and shaking like an aspen. I couldn’t help looking at him, poor soul. I asked him why he didn’t go home; he said he hadn’t got no home. I asked him where his friends lived; he said he hadn’t got no friends. I asked him where he lodged; he said he didn’t know. I was a-going to ask him summat else, but afore I could speak he tumbles down on the ground. We’d hard work to lift him up; some was for calling police, others wanted to make short work with him. But I said, says I, ‘You just let him alone, I’ll look arter him;’ and so I did. I just heaved him up, and got him to a door-step, and then I fetched him a quartern o’ gin, and he got a little better; and then I helped him here. I’d hard work to get him to climb up, but I managed it at last. So here he’s been ever since, and that’s a week come Friday.”

“God bless you for your kindness,” cried Lady Oldfield. “You shall have no cause to repent it.”

“Nay,” said the kind-hearted old creature, “I knows I shan’t repent it. It’s a poor place, is this, for such as he, but it’s the best I have, and it’s what the drink has brought me to, and scores and thousands better nor me, and will do again.”

In a short time the doctor arrived. A very rapid inspection of his patient was sufficient to show him the nature and extent of his complaint.

“Is he in any danger?” asked the poor mother, with deep anxiety.

The doctor shook his head gravely.

“In great danger, I fear.”

“Can we remove him without risk?”

“Not without risk, I’m afraid,” was the reply; “and yet it may be worse for him to be left here. It is simply a choice of risks. We had better wrap him up well in blankets, and convey him to proper lodgings at once.”

“Is there any hope?” asked poor Lady Oldfield, with streaming eyes.

“I trust so,” was all the doctor dared to say. Blankets were at once procured, and the emaciated body of the patient was borne by strong and willing arms to the cab, for there is a wondrous sympathy with those suffering from illness even in the breasts of the most hardened and godless; while, at the same time, great was the excitement in the little court and its neighbourhood. Lady Oldfield poured out her thanks once more to the old woman who had taken compassion on her son, and put into the poor creature’s hand more money than it had ever grasped at one time before.

“Eh! my lady,” she exclaimed, in delighted astonishment, “you’re very good. I’m sure, never a thought came into my head, when I brought home the poor young gentleman, as any one would have come down so handsome. I’d have done it all the same if I’d never have got a penny.”

“I’m sure of it,” replied her ladyship; “but you have done for me what money can never repay. I shall not lose sight of you; but I must not stop now. God bless and reward you;—and oh, give up the drink, the wretched drink, which has been my poor boy’s ruin, and come for pardon and peace to your gracious Saviour.”

“Ah!” muttered the old creature, as she turned back to her miserable garret, fondly eyeing the golden treasure which she grasped tight with her withered fingers; “it’s easier said nor done, my lady. Give up the drink? No, it cannot be. Come to my gracious Saviour? Ah! I used to hear words like those when I were a little ’un, but the drink’s drowned ’em out of my heart long since. I’m too old now. Give up the drink! No; not till the drink gives me up. It’s got me, and it’s like to keep me. It’s taken all I’ve had—husband, children, home, money—and it’ll have all the rest afore it’s done. I must just put this safe by, and then I’ll go and wet my lips with a quartern o’ mountain dew. It’s a rare thing, is the drink; it’s meat and drink too, and lodging and firing and all.”

In the meanwhile the cab sped swiftly on its way to the Albion Hotel, and from thence to the lodgings, where Sir Thomas was anxiously waiting their arrival. They carried the sufferer up to his bed-room. What a contrast to the miserable, polluted chamber from which Lady Oldfield had just rescued him! Here all was cleanliness and comfort, with abundant light and ventilation, and a civil and experienced nurse waited to take charge of the unhappy patient. Having parted with the superintendent with many heartfelt expressions of gratitude, Sir Thomas, Lady Oldfield, and the doctor proceeded to the sick-room. Frank lay back on the snow-white pillow, pale and motionless, his eyes closed, his lips apart. Oh! was he dead? Had the shock been too much for his enfeebled body? Had they found him only to lose him at once for ever? Sir Thomas and his wife approached the bed with beating hearts. No; there was life still; the lips moved, and the hectic of the fever returned to the cheeks. Then the eyes opened wide, and Frank sprang up into a sitting posture.

“Frank, Frank, don’t you know me?” asked Sir Thomas, in a voice of keen distress.

“Know you? No; I never saw you before. Where’s Juniper? Come here, old fellow. You’re a regular trump, and no mistake. Give us some brandy. That’s the right sort of stuff; ain’t it, old gentleman?” said Frank, glaring at his father, and uttering a wild laugh.

“This is terrible, terrible!” groaned the baronet. “Doctor, what can we do?”

The medical man looked very grave.

“We must keep him as quiet as possible,” he replied; “but it’s a bad case. He’s a bad subject, unhappily, because of his intemperate habits. I hope we shall reduce the fever; but what I fear most is the after exhaustion.”

“Oh!” exclaimed Lady Oldfield, “if he would only know us—if he would only speak rationally—if he would only keep from these dreadful ramblings about spirits and drinking! It breaks my heart to hear him speak as he does. Oh! I could bear to lose him now, though we have just found him, if I could only feel that he was coming back, like the poor prodigal, in penitence to his heavenly Father.”

“You must calm yourself, madam,” said the doctor; “we must hope that it will be so. Remember, he is not responsible for the words he now utters; they are only the ravings of delirium.”

“Yes; he is not responsible for the words he now utters,” cried the poor mother—“but oh, misery, misery! I am responsible. I held him back, I laughed him from his purpose, when he would have pledged himself to renounce that drink which has been his bane and ruin, body and soul.”

“Come, come, my dearest wife,” said her husband, “you must be comforted. You acted for the best. We are not responsible for his excess. He never learned excess from us.”

“No; but I cannot be comforted, for I see—I know that he might now have been otherwise. Ay, he might now have been as the Oliphants are, if his own mother had not put the fatal hindrance in his way. Oh, if I had worlds to give I would give them, could I only undo that miserable past!”

“I think,” said the medical man, “it will be wiser if all would now leave him except the nurse. The fewer he sees, and the fewer voices he hears, the less he will be likely to excite himself. I will call early again to-morrow.”

Lady Oldfield retired to her chamber, and poured out her heart in prayer. Oh, might she have but one hour of intelligence—one hour in which she might point her erring child to that loving Saviour, whom she had herself sought in earnest and found in truth since the departure of her son from home! Oh, might she but see him return to the Gatherer of the wandering sheep! She did not ask life for him—she dared not ask it absolutely; but she did ask that her heavenly Father would in pity grant her some token that there was hope in her beloved child’s death, if he must die. And does not God answer prayer? Yes, alway; but not always in our way. When sin has found the sinner out—when warnings have been slighted, mercies despised, the Spirit quenched, the gentle arm that would guide us to glory rudely and perseveringly flung aside—then, then, it may be, not even a believing mother’s prayer shall avail to turn aside the righteous stroke of the hand of that holy God who is to his determined enemies a consuming fire.

All the night long did Frank Oldfield toss to and fro, or start up with glaring eyes, calling on his drunken associates, singing wild songs, or now and then recalling days when sin had not yet set its searing brand on his heart and conscience. About midnight his father and mother stole into his chamber. The nurse put up her finger. They cautiously shrank back behind the screen of the bed-curtains out of his sight.

“Juniper, my boy!” exclaimed the wretched sufferer, “where’s my mother? Gone down to the rectory! Ah, they’re water-drinkers there. That don’t do for you and me, Juniper. ‘This bottle’s the sun of our table.’ Ha, ha!—a capital song that!”

Lady Oldfield sank on her knees, and could not repress her sobs.

“Who’s crying?” exclaimed Frank. “Is it Mary? Poor Mary! She loved me once—didn’t she? My poor mother loved me once—didn’t she? Why don’t she love me now? Where’s my mother now?”

“Here I am—here’s your mother—your own loving mother—my Frank—my darling boy!” burst from the lips of the agonised parent.

She flung herself down on her knees beside the bed. He stared at her, but his ramblings went off the next moment to something else. Then there was a pause, and he sank back. Lady Oldfield took the opportunity to send up a fervent prayer. He caught the half-whispered words, and sat up. He looked for the moment so collected, so much himself, that his mother’s lips parted with joyful astonishment, and she gasped,—

“He knows us—his reason is restored!”

The next moment she saw her sad mistake.

“How funny!” cried the poor patient; “there’s our old parson praying. Poor old parson!—he tried to make me a teetotaller. It wouldn’t do, Jacob. Ah, Jacob, never mind me. You’re a jolly good fellow, but you don’t understand things. Give us a song. What shall it be? ‘Three jolly potboys drinking at the “Dragon.”’ What’s amiss? I’m quite well—never was better in my life. How d’ye do, captain?”

These last words he addressed to his father, who was gazing at him in blank misery.

And was it to be always so? Was he to pass out of the world into eternity thus—thrilling the hearts of those who heard him with bitterest agony? No; there came a change. Another day, the remedies had begun to tell on the patient. The fever gradually left him. The fire had faded from his eye, the hectic from his cheek. And now father and mother, one on either side, bent over him. Lady Oldfield read from the blessed Book the parable of the Prodigal Son. She thought that Frank heard her, for there was on his face a look of mingled surprise, pleasure, and bewilderment. Then no one spoke for a while. Nothing was heard but the ticking of Lady Oldfield’s watch, which stood in its case on the dressing-table. Again the poor mother opened the same precious Gospel of Saint Luke, and read out calmly and clearly the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican. Then she knelt by the bed and prayed that her boy might come with the publican’s deep contrition to his God, trusting in the merits of his Saviour. There was a whispered sound from those feeble lips. She could just distinguish the words, “To me a sinner.” They were all, but she blessed God for them. An hour later, and the doctor came. There was no hope in his eye, as he felt the pulse.

“What report?” murmured Sir Thomas. The doctor shook his head.