"To me, sir? eh! why, what do you mean, sir? your uncle is a man of honour, and, of course, as such would pay his nephew's debts for him, more particularly when he knows that if he refuses to do so that nephew will be sent to jail; yes, to jail, sir."

"There; bl.u.s.tering is of no use with me, so you may save yourself that trouble, Captain," replied c.u.mberland; "as to sending me to jail, that is absurd; you can't arrest a minor for debt, and I shall not be of age these two years. My uncle is, as you say, what is called a man of honour, but he is not one of those over-scrupulous fools who will pay any demand, however dishonest and unreasonable, rather than tarnish the family honour, forsooth! No! he will pay what the law compels him, and not a farthing more I leave you to decide whether the law is likely to be of much use to you in the present -84--case. Now, listen to me; though you cannot obtain the money by the means you proposed, you can, as I said before, do me serious injury; therefore, if for no other reason but to stop your mouth, I would pay you the whole if I could, but I have not the power of doing so at present. What I propose then is this--Oaklands will pay me, in a day or two, one hundred pounds; this I will hand over to you at once, and will give you a written promise to pay you the rest in the course of the next six months; for before that time I must raise money somehow, even if I have to sell every farthing I expect to come into to the Jews, in order to do it."

"Won't do," was the reply; "the ready isn't enough; I must leave this country in a day or two, and I must have money to take with me; come, one hundred and fifty pounds down, and I'll let you off the other fifty."

"It's impossible, I can get no other money yet, excepting the sum Oaklands is to pay me."

"Yes! and how the devil am I to be sure he will pay you directly; I'm pretty certain the fool's hard up himself; he hasn't paid cash for a month past."

"If that's all you're afraid of, I can soon convince you to the contrary; here's a letter to his father's banker, which I am going to put into the post directly, with a cheque for three hundred pounds in it; there, hold it up to the light, and you can see the figures yourself."

"By Jove! so it is," exclaimed Spicer: "I say, c.u.mberland," he continued, and then the voices almost sunk into a whisper, so that I could not catch more than a word here and there, but by the tone I judged that the Captain was making some proposition, to which c.u.mberland refused to agree.

At length I heard the former say, "Fifty pounds down, and a receipt in full ".

c.u.mberland's reply was inaudible, but when the Captain spoke again I caught the following words: "Not the slightest risk, only you do as I say, and----"

At this moment the outer door of the room in which I was sitting opened, while the one communicating with the other apartment was violently slammed to from the farther side, and I heard no more.

The newcomer was a little slipshod girl in dirty curlpapers, who informed me that her master was sorry he could not see me that day as he was particularly engaged, but if I would do him the favour of calling to-morrow, at the same hour, he should be at leisure, etc. To this I answered something, I scarcely knew what, and, seizing -85--my hat, rushed out at the front door, to the great astonishment of the curl-papered damsel, who cast an anxious glance at the pegs in the hall, ere she could convince herself that I had not departed with more hats and coats than legitimately belonged to me.

It was not until I had proceeded the length of two or three streets, that I could collect my ideas sufficiently to form anything like a just estimate of the extraordinary disclosures with which I had so unexpectedly become acquainted, and no sooner had I in some measure succeeded in so doing, than the puzzling question presented itself to me, what line of conduct it would be advisable to adopt, in consequence of what I had heard. I asked myself too, to begin with, what right I had to make any use of a private conversation, which accident alone had caused me to overhear? Would not people say I had behaved dishonourably in having listened to it at all? But then again, by preserving c.u.mberland's secret, and concealing his real character from Oaklands, should not I, as it were, become a party to any nefarious schemes he might contemplate for the future? Having failed in one instance in his attempt on Oaklands' purse, would he not (having, as I was now fully aware, such a strong necessity for money) devise some fresh plan, which might succeed in its object, were Oaklands still ignorant of the real character of the person he had to deal with? And in such case should not I be answerable for any mischief which might ensue? Nay, for aught I knew, some fresh villainy might be afloat even now; what plan could Spicer have been urging, which c.u.mberland seemed unwilling to adopt, if not something of this nature, and which might be prevented were Oaklands made aware of all the circ.u.mstances?

This last idea settled the business. I determined to reveal everything to Oaklands in confidence, and to be guided in my subsequent conduct by his opinion. Having once arrived at this conclusion, the next thing was to carry my intentions into effect with as little loss of time as possible. I consequently started off at speed in a homeward direction, and succeeded in reaching my destination in rather less than ten minutes, having, at various times in the course of my route, run against and knocked over no less than six little children, to the manifest discomposure and indignation of as many nursery-maids, who evidently regarded me as a commissioned agent of some modern Herod, performing my master's work zealously.

-86--On arriving at home my impatience was doomed to be disappointed, for Oaklands, who had gone out soon after I did, was not yet returned.

This delay, in the feverish state of anxiety and excitement in which I was, appeared to me intolerable; and, unable to sit still, I kept striding up and down the room, clenching my fists, and uttering exclamations of impatience and vexation; which unusual conduct on my part so astonished and alarmed the worthy Thomas that, after remaining in the room till he had exhausted every conceivable pretext for so doing, he boldly inquired whether "I did not feel myself ill, no how?"

adding his hope, that "I had not been a-exhaling laughing gas, or any sich rumbustical wegitable?" after which he favoured me with an anecdote of "a young man as he know'd, as had done so, wot conducted hisself more like a hideotic fool than a sanatory Christian, ever after". Perceiving at length that his attentions were rapidly reducing me to the same state of mind as that of his friend, he very considerately left me.

After half an hour of anxious expectation, in the course of which I must have walked at least a mile or two over Dr. Mildman's parlour carpet, Oaklands and Lawless returned together. I instantly called the former aside, and told him I wished to speak to him alone, as I had something of importance to communicate. To this he replied that it was very near dinner-time; but that, if I would come up to his room, I could talk to him while he dressed. As soon as we were safely closeted together I began my relation, but scarcely had I got beyond "You asked me to go to the billiard-rooms, you know "--when a hasty footstep was heard upon the stairs; some one knocked at the door, and immediately a voice, which I knew to be that of c.u.mberland, asked to be let in, "as he had something particular to say".

"The plot thickens," said Oaklands, as, without rising from his seat, he stretched out an immense length of arm, and opened the door.

"Hear what I have to say first," cried I; but it was too late, and c.u.mberland entered, breathless, and with his usually sallow complexion flushed with exercise and excitement.

"The most unfortunate thing"--he began; and stopping to draw breath, he added, "I have run all the way from the post-office, as hard as my legs would carry me--but I was going to tell you--as I went down, I met Curtis of the --th, who told me their band was going to play in Park Square, and asked me to go with him to hear it; and I'm -87--afraid that, as I stood in the crowd, my pocket must have been picked, for when I got to the post-office I found that my letter, my pocket handkerchief, and I am sorry to say your letter also, had disappeared--so, remembering you had told me your letter was of importance, I thought the best thing I could do was to come home as fast as I could, and tell you."

"By Jove," exclaimed Oaklands, "that's rather a bore though; there was my father's cheque for three hundred pounds in it; I suppose something ought to be done about it directly."

"Write a note to stop the payment; and--let me see--as it is too late for the post now, if you will make a parcel of it, I'll run down and give it to the guard of the mail, begging him to deliver it himself as soon as he gets to town--the cheque can't be presented till to-morrow morning, so that will be all right."

"What a head you have for business, to be sure!" said Oaklands; "but why should you have the trouble of taking it? I dare say Thomas will go with it when we have done dinner, or I can take it myself."

"Nay," replied c.u.mberland, "as I have contrived to lose your letter, the least I can do is to take the parcel; besides, I should like to speak to the guard myself, so as to be sure there's no mistake."

While this was going on it may be imagined that my thoughts were not idle. When c.u.mberland mentioned the loss of the letter my suspicions that some nefarious scheme might be on foot began for the first time to resolve themselves into a tangible form, but when I perceived his anxiety to have the parcel entrusted to him, which was to prevent the payment of the cheque, the whole scheme, or something nearly approaching to it, flashed across me at once, and, without reflecting for a moment on what might be the consequences of doing so, I said:--

"If Oaklands will take my advice, he will not entrust you with anything else, till you can prove that you have really lost the letter, as you say you have done".

Had a thunderbolt fallen in the midst of us, it could scarcely have produced greater confusion than did this speech of mine. Oaklands sprang upon his feet, regarding me with the greatest surprise as he asked "if I knew what I was saying?" while c.u.mberland, in a voice hoa.r.s.e from pa.s.sion, inquired, "What the devil I meant by my insolence? what did I dare to insinuate he had done with the letter, if he had not lost it?"

-88--"I insinuate nothing," was my reply; "but I tell you plainly that I believe, and have good reason for believing, that you have not lost the letter, but given it to your gambling friend and accomplice, Captain Spicer, who, in return for it, is to give you a receipt in full for the two hundred pounds you owe him, and fifty pounds down." On hearing this c.u.mberland turned as pale as ashes, and leaned on the back of a chair for support, while I continued, "You look surprised, Oaklands, as well you may; but when you hear what I have to tell, you will see that I do not make this accusation without having good grounds to go upon ".

"I shall not stay here," said c.u.mberland, making an effort to recover himself, and turning towards the door, "I shall not remain here to be any further insulted; I wish you good-evening, Mr. Oaklands."

"Not so fast," said Oaklands, springing to the door, and locking it; "if all this be true, and Fairlegh would not have said so much unless he had strong facts to produce, you and I shall have an account to settle together, Mr. c.u.mberland; you will not leave this room till I know the rights of the affair. Now, Frank, let us hear how you learned all this."

"Strangely enough," replied I; and I then gave him an exact account of all that had pa.s.sed at the billiard-rooms, repeating the conversation, word for word, as nearly as I could remember it, leaving Oaklands to draw his own inferences therefrom. During the whole of my recital c.u.mberland sat with his elbows resting on the table, and his face buried in his hands, without offering the slightest interruption, scarcely indeed appearing aware of what was going on, save once, when I mentioned the fact of the door between the two rooms being slightly open, when he muttered something about "what cursed folly!" When I had finished my account Oaklands turned towards c.u.mberland, and asked in a stern voice "what he had to say to this statement?" Receiving no answer, he continued: But it is useless, sir, to ask you: the truth of what Fairlegh has said is self-evident--the next question is, What is to be done about it?" He paused for a moment as if in thought, and then resumed: "In the position in which I now stand, forming one of Dr.

Mildman's household, and placed by my father under his control, I scarcely consider myself a free agent. It seems to me, therefore, that my course is clear; it is evidently my duty to inform him of the whole affair, and afterwards to act as he may advise, Do you agree with me, Frank?"

-89--"It is exactly what I should have proposed, had you not mentioned it first," was my answer.

"For G.o.d's sake, Oaklands, don't," exclaimed c.u.mberland, raising himself suddenly; "he will write to my uncle--I shall be expelled--my character lost--it will be utter ruin;--have pity upon me--I will get you back your money, I will indeed, only don't tell Mildman."

"I have treated you up to the present time as a gentleman and a friend,"

replied Oaklands; "you have proved yourself unworthy of either t.i.tle, and deserve nothing at my hands but the strictest justice; no one could blame me were I to allow the law to take its course with you, as with any other swindler, but this I shall be most unwilling to do; nothing short of Dr. Mildman's declaring it to be my positive duty will prevail upon me. But our tutor ought to be informed of it, and shall: he is a good, kind-hearted man, and if his judgment should err at all, you may feel sure it will be on the side of mercy. Fairlegh, will you go down and ask Dr. Mildman if I can speak to him on a matter of importance, now, at once? you will find him in his study. Let me know when he is ready, and we will come down; for," added he, turning to c.u.mberland, "I do not lose sight of you till this business is settled one way or other."

When I had told my errand Dr. Mildman, who looked a good deal surprised and a little frightened, desired me (on receiving my a.s.surance that the business would not do as well after dinner) to tell Oaklands to come to him immediately. To this Oaklands replied by desiring me to hold myself in readiness for a summons, as he should want me presently. Then, linking his arm within that of c.u.mberland, he half-led, half-forced, him out of the room. In another minute I heard the study-door close behind them.

"Now, Fairlegh," said Dr. Mildman, when, in about a quarter of an hour's time, I had been sent for, "I wish you to repeat to me the conversation you overheard at the billiard-room, as nearly word for word as you can remember it."

This I hastened to do; the Doctor listening with the most profound attention, and asking one or two questions on any point which did not at first appear quite clear to him. When I had concluded he resumed his inquiries by asking whether I had seen the parties who were speaking. To this I answered in the negative.

"But you imagined you recognised the voices?"

"Yes, sir."

"Whose did you take them to be?"

-90--"One I believed to be c.u.mberland's, the other that of a Captain Spicer, whom I had seen when I was there before."

"How often have you been there?"

"Twice, sir; once about a week ago, and again to-day."

"And have you the slightest moral doubt as to the fact of the persons you heard speaking being c.u.mberland and this Captain Spicer?"

"Not the slightest; I feel quite certain of it."

"That is all clear and straightforward enough," observed Dr. Mildman, turning to the culprit. "I am afraid the case is only too fully proved against you; have you anything to say which can at all establish your innocence?"

"It would be of no use if I were to do so," said c.u.mberland, in a sullen manner; "it is all a matter of a.s.sertion; you choose to believe what they say, and if I were to deny it, you would not believe me without proof, and how can I prove a negative?"

"But do you deny it?" inquired Dr. Mildman, regarding him with a clear, scrutinising look. c.u.mberland attempted to speak, but, meeting Dr.

Mildman's eye, was unable to get out a word, and turned away, concealing his face in his handkerchief.

"This is a sad piece of business," said Dr. Mildman; "I suppose you mean to prosecute, Oaklands?"