Five Cent Wide Awake Library (vol. 1) (1880 11 12)
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_ Cupid recognized the detective, and immedi- ‘ately slipped off the horse, and made a very protound bow, but in a most grotesque man- ner. : “San you tell me where he is now, my lad?” the detective inquired. : é “Meaning my talented.partner?” said Cupid. ‘; “Ay, Master Anderson, otherwise Alphonso,” _weplied the detective. z s ‘ “Come this way, my lord,” said Cupid, with mock politeness. p 3 Not suspecting for a moment that this boy in ® pilot jacket was the author of his fright, the detective followed him into the ring, where Tom _ Nobbs was rehearsing a trick with a performing ‘mule, while Percy Bellingham enacted the part to be assigned, in its public exhibition, to the ring-master. ; ‘That young gentleman is my talevted part- ner’s most particular friend, my lord,” said Cu- pid, indicating the young equestrian. fz. The detective nodded to the clown, and turned to Percy, while Cupid disappeared in the direc- tion of the dressing-rooms. “Has anything been heard of Alfonso?” the de- tective inquired. “Nothing,” replied-Perey; ‘‘you saw him later than anyone connected with the circus, I be- lieve.” “T lost sight of him,” said the detective. ‘Has he any friends in London, do you know?” ; “Not that Tam aware of,” replied Percy. “And Idon’t know that he has gone to London.” “We know your game,” said Tom Nobbs. “‘It was a shabby trick, though, to pretend that you had got a warrant. I don’t believe you are a police detective at all, and it would serve you right to have you locked up for pretending to be One.” > : The detective looked confused, and was about ~ to turn away, concluding that nothing else was or _ trance used by the public. _ did so, that the: man to be learned, when Devilshoof, who had hastily metamorphosed himself into the semblance of an ape, by putting on askin dress and a mask, ran into the ring on his hands and feet, executed a series of ‘‘flips,” and’ sprang upon the man’s shoulders. : The quickness of his movements prevented any suspicion of the transformation on the part of the detective, who first made an ineffectual ef- fort to dislodge the supposed ape,and then called loudly for Mel . Neither the clown nor Percy stirred to aid him, however, and he ran towards the stables, shouting and swearing, while Devilshoof scream- ed, pulled his hair, and pinched his ears. ' ‘‘Help! Take him off!” roared the detective. “Boat the brute? Confound you all! I'll have Jaw for this!” - The grooms only laughed, however, for they saw through the acrobat’s disguise, and rather enjoyed the joke than otherwise. ‘ Tie fri¢htened and exasperated detective made another effort to rid himself of Devilshoof, who, however, clung to his shoulders as tightly as the Old Man of the Sea’ clung to those of Sin- _ bad the Sailor, and snarled and made a feint of bibiae whenever his victim’s hands came near im, The grooms barring his way to the stable en- " trance, he ran back to the ring and rushed for the opposite side, heping to get out by the en- Devilshoof now thought it was time to bring his amusement to a close, and turning, around, leaped off his victim’s shoulders, to which he gave such a violent push with his feet as he ell prostrate in the saw- dust. Now.it was part of the comic business which Tom Nobbs had been rehearsing with the per- forming mule, that the latter should chase the clown out of the ring, and return carrying a dummy clown with his teeth. When, therefore, the mule saw the detective _ prostrate in the ring, he ran up to him,seized the waistband of his trowsers with his teeth, and dragged him several yards. “Help! murder!’ cried the detective,and Tom Nobbs, thinking the joke had been carried far - enough, went to his aid, and persuaded the mule to drop him. ‘‘Vll have the law of you all,see if I _ don’t! Where’s the manager?” ; “He is not here, nor Mr. Mason, either,” replied the clown. ‘‘ You may consider yourself lucky to have escaped without having your clothes torn off your back.” 3 “Your brutesare devils,” said the detective, angrily. “They ought to be chained up. Mr. Mason will hear from me.” He then departed. Tom Nobbs then dismissed the mule to the sta- bles, and returned to his lodgings. _ He was sitting at the fire, smoking his after- SIR GUY'S SECRET. * noon pipe, when Percy Bellinghamientered hast-1 ‘Did you learn anything more of Dr. Lang-— : ily and very much excited, witha newspaper in his hand. “Mr. Nobbs,” said he, with sparkling eyes, ‘here is another advertisement about Anderson. Just read that.” ‘ And opening the paper, he directed the clown’s attention to the following notice. ‘William Anderson, supposed to be traveling | with Mason’s circus, is earnestly requested to write to his uncle, under cover to Messrs, Craft- er and Carson, solicitors, Lincoln’s Inn Fields.” The clown read this silently first, and then aloud. ‘There could be no harm in writing,” obsery- ed Mrs. Nobbs. “No,” said the clown, Baan 5 “but if the lad’s with Dr. Langton, as I expect he is, he will be persuaded not to write.” “T wonder what the jolly old dgctor’s game is?’ said Percy. ‘‘I don’t credit him with una- dulterated benevolence, of course, because An- derson is a stranger to him,and it is not the way of the world to be disinterestedly benevolent to strangers.” “You are right,” observed Nobbs, ‘‘and I don’t seo what can be done. That confounded detect- ive has queered the pitch.” While they sat around the fire, silent and per- plexed, Lettie Lennard entered. “Ts it true?” she inquired, eagerly, as she look- ed from one to another, as if to find an answer in their faces. : “Ts what true?” returned Nobbs, “That Willie has returned,” she replied. ‘‘Joe Binks says that he saw him about an hour ago on the other side of the common.” “Tt may be.true,” said the clown. ‘I have not heard from him, and have only just seen this ad- vertisement about him.” He handed the paper to Lettie, with his fore- -~ finger on the notice to which Percy Bellingham had directed his attention. “T hope he will write,” exclaimed the girl, When. she had read it. ‘He shall, if I can per- suade him, for I am sure Dr. Langton is only making a tool of him for his own purposes.” “When did you know Dr. Langton, Lettie?” inquired Mrs. Nobbs. ‘ “When? Oh, a long time ago,” replied Lettie. “Not so very long, either,” she* immediately added, ‘He is a bad man,and he isa dangerous friend for Willie.” “Perhaps if Willie writes to his uncle-the an- swer will clear away the fog we are in,” obsery- ed Percy. ‘* Perhaps that is Willie,” exclaimed Lettie, as footsteps came 4 the stairs, and she turned eagerly towards the door. It opened at that moment, and Willie Ander- son entered. ‘Oh, I am so glad!” exclaimed the beautiful girl, clasping her hands together, and then catch- ing those of the young acrobat. ‘Oh, Willie, dear, where have you been?” “Welcome, wanderer!” exclaimed Percy, stretching out his hand, which Willie grasped in his own as soon as Lettie released it. ‘“‘T have just come from London, and should fo have been here sooner only I waited for it to get darker,” returned Willie. ‘Sit down and tell us where you have been,” ‘| said Mrs. Nobbs. The young acrobat proceeded to relate all that had happened to him while in thé house of Dr. Langton. “Tt was not a pleasant position, in, that dark hole; and it was all the worse for not knowing what to make of it,” said he, continuing the narrative from the point at which we left him. *‘Thedoctor might have put me there to con- ceal me from the police, or to prevent me from telling what I had seen. You see, I didn’t know whether it was him or me they were after.” ‘* T see,” observed the clown. ‘When the long hours passed away without any one coming near me, I came to the conclu- sion that the doctor had either been taken or es- caped. In that dark place I could form no idea of time, but if seemed many hours before I heard any sound to sbow that I was not alone in the house. I began to fear that the old woman \ might have left, or might not know the secret of the spring and the recess, in which case I might be starved to death.” “How dreadful!” said Lettie, with a shudder. ‘At last,” continued Willie, ‘‘I heard foot- steps in the room, and I stamped and shouted. Then the bookcase swung around, and I saw the old’ housekeeper! Dr. Langton had gone, she told me, and she didn’t know when he would re- turn. I had made up my mind to leave the house, and though it was late, I told her so, and came away.” wee om ton?” Lettie Lennard inquired. : : f “T asked the old woman whetherhe wentaway. — with the two men, and she said ‘no.’ She made nosopposition to my leaving, and said that a let-_ ter to that address would always reach him if I should wish to write to him.” sees ‘ fave no more to do with him, Willie,” said Lettie, earnestly. : 5 ¥. hat you bave told us makes me disposed to back Lettie’s advice,” observed Tom Nobbs. “Took at this advertisement.” ; Thereupon a council was held, and it was agreed by all present that Lettie’s advice was good,and that Willie’s best course would be that suggested by the advertisement. ae CHAPTER II. LETTIE AND HER LOVERS—WILLIE ANDERSON ARRESTED—HIS APPEAL TO DR. LANGTON. Lert LENNARD dismounted from her horse at the stable entrance of the circus, and giving the bridle toa groom, proceeded to the arena. Véry beautifulshe looked, for the exercise and the frosty air had brought the warm blood to her cheeks, and it glowed through the clear, tran-_ sparent brown of her skin. A shade of disappointment fell upon her ‘charming face, however, as she looked around the the ring and saw only Beresford, who was stand- ing in a melancholy mood against the pole of the tent. “Flas not Willie Anderson been here this morning?” she asked. “Dear Miss Lennard, no,”said the ring-master, coming towards her with a suddenly brightened countenance. ‘‘What can I do for youin the absence of a youth so fortunate as to be inquired for by thequeen of the arena.” “Oh, don’t talk nonsense, Mr. Beresford,” re- turned Lettie. ‘I want to see Anderson and I thought he would be here.” ‘ “Theard that he had ventured back,” observed ~ Beresford; “but can it be of any consequence to you, Miss Lennard?” j “Té can, and it is,” said Lettie, turning away. “Stay, adorable Miss Lennard!” exclaimed thering-master. “I have long wanted such an opportunity of speaking to you as fortune has now favored me with. Hear me, sweetest creat- ure! I love you todistraction, ‘and when I love thee not; chaos has come again.’” ‘ “Tam sorry for you, Mi. Beresford,” returned” the pretty equestrienne; ‘‘but you had better not waste your love upon me,for ie have none to give in return for it.” The disappointed admirer paused, regarding Lettie with mixed feelings of sorrow.and anger as she rau gut, and then returned to the ring, clutching his hair with both hands, - “Tt was ever thus with me!” he muttered, as his arms fell to his sides, and he leaned against he ring fence with his eyes lowered to the saw- ust. ‘‘T never trained a young gazelle To glad me with its dark soft eye, But when IJ learned to love it well, It fell in love with a tumbling boy.” As she passed out of the tent, intending to visit the Nobb’s, Lettie Lennard encountered Percy Bellingham, whose eyes brightened at the meeting. ‘‘Where are you going?” he asked, when they had shaken hands. : “To see Mrs. Nobbs,” the girl replied. “You must care a deal for her,” said Percy. “Tf you had said you were going to see Ander- son, I should have believed you.” g “You can do as you like about believing me, Percy Bellingham,” returned Lettie, turning away from him. “Don’t be offended,’ Lettie,” said the young equestrian, his tone changing as he spoke to one | of earnest deprecation. ‘‘You should not doubt my word, then,” re- turned Lettie, mollified by his change of manner. “fam going to see Mrs, Nobps.” “But not for the purpose of seeing Mrs. Nobbs,” persisted Percy. ‘Come, confess that, Lettie, and say that I may walk with you.” “*T suppose I may go and see Willie Anderson if [4ike,” said Lettie; ‘‘and if you like, you may ~ come with nr.” : Percy thereupon offered her his arm, and they walked together towards the clown’s lodg- ings. a . “T suppose you think more of Anderson than ever, now he is likely to be proved a baronet and a man of property,” he observed, when they had walked a few yards in silence,
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- “SIR GUY'S SECRET, — “You know better than that,” returned Let- ie “tie, her dark eyes flashing angrily as she spoke, “Did I think more of you, or less of Willie, ‘when you told me your father was Squire Bel- lingham, of the Old Quarry House?” a don’t know that you did,” said Percy, ccl- ring with the consciousness of having done the beautiful brunette an injustice. “Fhen don’t say such things,” rejoined Lettie. “Forgive me,” he said, with a return of the deprecatory manner, “Freely, Percy,” respondeg the girl, softening again; ‘but remember that no friend of Willie _Anderson’s should need my forgiveness twice. I ‘Yike you both, but I have known him longer than _Lhave you, and I love him.” Porcy refrained from speaking further on the “subject, and in a few minutes they reached their destination. Two men were entering the house in which the Nobbs’ lodged, as they arrived. Percy and Lettie exchanged glances as they saw the two men preceding them up the’ stairs, and the former observed the rich color fade from the girl’s dark cheeks. One of them opened the door, and Percy and ‘Lettie entered close behind him and his compan- ion, Willie Anderson sprang to his feet on their entrance, and Nobbs and his wife regarded them swith looks of apprehensive inquiry. + ‘William Anderson?” said one of the strangers, glancing at Willie. “J am known by that name,” returned Willie. “Then you are my prisoner,” said the stran- “ger, unbuttoning his overcoat and showing the uniform of the county constabulary beneath it. “You are charged with uttering a forged note with intent to defraud, and I hold a warrant for ‘your apprehension.” : “There was no intent to defraud,” said Willie. “Dy, Langton’s housekeeper asked me to get it changed for her and I did so, not knowing that ‘it was a forgery.” “You willhave to convince a jury of that,” ‘said the detective. ‘In the meantime you will have to go with me.” x “there is no help for it, my lad,” said. Nobhs; 4‘hut we will have the old woman brought for- ward, and soon open the prison doors for you.” “Tf the doctor has done this, he is the preatest “villain on the face of the earth,” observed Lettie, ~warnily. 4 e “Dr, Langton,” said the detective, looking ‘from Lettie to his young prisoner. ‘‘Is that the gentlemen at Groye House?’ ; Willie answered in the affirmative. “T don’t know him by that name; but a gen- tleman known to live there has been suspected of forging bank-notes,” said the detective. ‘“‘If ‘the old housekeeper at Grove House will confirm ‘your story, I don’t think you have much to fear; ies in the meantime, my duty is plain; you all see that, I aup rose le “Yes,” said Nobbs. “Tt is a shame,” exclaimed Lettie; ‘‘ but never mind, Willie, we all believe you to be innocent, and that you will soon be with us again.” There was a shaking of hands all around, and then Willie went away in custody, and Lettie Lennard hid her face on the shoulder of Mrs. Nobbs. and burst into tears. i Percy Bellingham accompanied his friend to ‘the railway station, whence, in a few minutes, the train started for London. . Tom Nobbs resolved to take upen himself the “responsibility of writing to Messrs. Crafter and _ arson, relating the circumstances under which he had adopted the lad, describing the person from whom he received him, and urging them to do their utmost to free him from the conse- «quences of the charge now hanging over him. It was the result of this letter that, when Wil- lie Anderson was placed a féw days afterwards before the magistrates of the district in which Grove House was situated, Mr. Carson an- nounced that he appeared for the prisoner. Then the baker, who had received the note from Willie, entered the witness-box, and gave his evidence, producing the note, which a clerk from the Banik of England pronounced spurious and a forgery. ; 5 “Well, prisoner,” said the chairman, regard- ing Willie attentively through his gold-mounted spectacles, ‘“what have you to say to this very - serious charge?” “Only that I believed the note to be a good - one, or 1 would have had nothing to do with it,” replied Willie. “T received it from Dr. Lang- ou’s bousekeeper, who asked me to get it changed for her, as the doctor was out, and she ‘had some money. to pay.” : “Dr. Langton,” said a police inspector, “has ‘been ascertained to be a man known by several other names, and for whose apprehension a war- rant has been issued.” “Oh!” ejaculated the chairman, screwing up his mouth, - ate, his colleagues on the bench shook their eads,. . “T trust that the accused will not be prejudged through his unfortunate connection with the man known to him as Dr. Langton,” said Mr. Carson, ‘‘I am instructed that Langton invited the accused to his house, and pretended to inter- est himself in his fortunes, informing him that he is the missing son of a gentleman now de- ceased, and entitled to a large estate in this county. That statement I have every reason to believe true.” The magistrates looked from Mr. Carson to Willie on hearing this, and evinced increased in- terest in the case. rs “That is the name of the gentleman whose son we believe the accused to be,” continued Mr. Carson, handing to the chairman a card, on which he had written the name of Sir Rupert Deverel. ‘I will call a witness, whose evidence will go very far to corroborate the statement of Dr. Langton. Let Thomas Nobbs be called.” Nobbs immediately stepped into the witness- box, and repeated the statement which he had made in writing to Messrs. Crafter and Carson. “This is scercely relevant, I think,” observed the clerk, ‘ “Tt shows, at least, that the accused, believing himself the son of a wealthy man, would not be likely to commit a fraud, especially one by which he did not profit in the least,” said Mr, Carson: ‘‘We don’t know that he did not profit by the fraud,” observed one of the magistrates. , “Then I will confine my further examination of the witness to the question of character,” said Mr. Carson, ‘‘Now, Mr. Nobbs, you have known the prisoner from the age of three years, and during all that time he has been constantly with you: Now, what has his conduct been?” ; “Bono, sin,” replied the clown; “couldn't have been better.” “You have found him uniformly honest and truthful.” “Yes, sir,” replied Nobbs. “I have‘never had the slightest reason to doubt either his honesty or his truthfulness.” } “Ts the housekeeper at Grove House here?” the chairman inquired. “We intended to call her, but she cannot be found,” said Mr. Carson. The chairman tltereupon shook his head, and his colleagues followed his example. » ‘‘She has gone away,” observed the inspector. “Then there is really no evidence for the de- fense,” said the chairman., ‘‘The prisoner may be, as you, Mr. Carson, allege, the son of a gen- tleman of property, but it does not follow that he is not guilty of the offense of which he is ac- euised. The uttering has been proved, and is not denied, and the fraudulent intent is matter of in- ference in the absence of any evidence of char- acter more reliable than that of a strolling mountebank. in the eye of the law a vagrant. Tom Nobbs looked indignant, but his looks were unheeded, and the mugistrates,-after a brief consultation, committed Willie for trial at the ensuing assizes. CHAPTER II. WILLI“’S ESCAPE—THE FLIGHT—THE FISHING- BOAT, Lert us pass quickly over the dreary days of Willie Anderson’s incarceration. The assizes were approaching, and no com- munication had reached him from Messrs. Crafter and Carson, either with reference to his parent- age or concerning ‘the chances of his acquittal or conviction. e was beginning to take a desponding view of the prospect, deserted as he seemed to be by every one who could serve him, when he re- ceived a visit from Dr. Langton.: At the first glance he did not recognize the visitor, whose face was disguised. ; “You seem not to remember me, my young friend,” said the doctor, with a smile. “J know you now,” returned Willie, who im- mediately recognized. the voice. And he felt giad, in his present state of mind, to receive 2 visit, even from the man whom he believed to be the primary cause of the perilous position in which he now stood. “You know the only friend who can and will help you,” said the doctor. ‘‘ Your uncle will not recognize pou while this charge is hanging over you, and as vour conviction is as nearly a certainty as can be caleulated, you haye not a very brilliant career before you.” ‘ Brre “Have you come here now only to tell me that?” Willie asked, in a slightly resentful tone. — ‘You ought to know me better, my young? friend,” returned the doctor. ‘I have come here® to save you.” : ’ pin oa will carry out the plan we talked of at Grove’ House. So keep your spirit up, my young friend, and be prepared for prompt and alert action, when the time comes for it.” AN He then extended his fat white hand to the young prisoner, who could not, under the ei= cumstances, refuse it, and departed: Left to himself again, Willie seriously ponder= ~ ed his position, and the prospect opened to hing by Dr. Langton’s proposal. ; He weighed on the one hand, the representa— tions which had Wéen made by the doctor, and’ which seemed to be confirmed by his uncle’s si lenze and the inaction of Crafter and Carson and on the other, the prospective dangers of a* more intimate connection With Dr. under circumstances which would place him to” some extent in the doctor’s power, i The balance seemed to be in the favor of the project of escape. ° ; \ From that moment, therefore,he awaited with eagerness the uncertain hour of* his expected liberation. f Several days had elapsed since the visit of Dr. Langton; when the warder, whose duty if was’ to visit the cell in which he was confined, asked’ him one evening if he was a sound sleeper. I “Tsleep well,” he replied; ‘‘but’ I am wider awake as soon as I am aroused,” “You are? Then sleep to-night as usual,’” said the warder, ‘but don’t take off your clothes; you have’ a journey before you, and you will! ave to be ready tostart when I call hone “Allright,” responded Willie; ‘I will beready,, no fear.” id ‘ Excitement prevented him from sleeping, how ever, and when about one olclock next morning, he-heard footsteps in the corridor, he was sitting, on his bed wide awake, and ready to start at w moment’s notice, ‘ The footsteps stopped at the door of his cell,and’ Willie sprang to his feet. ; ake The door was opened, and the warder made = hasty sign to come out,at the same time putting. his finger on his lips to enjoin silence. Hog, Willie stepped into the corridor,and the ward- er, after relocking the door,led the way towards: another door at the end of the passage. ~ There was a watchman in the corridor,but he was at. the opposite end, and did not appear either to see or hear them. od The warder unlocked the door at the end of the corridor, Willie following him down a flight of stone stairs, and then they stood in the prison- yard, under the starlit sky. * ngtom: — “Quick,” said the warder, crossing the yard = ata run, followed by Willie, and opening a door in the high and massive wall; “now, away with you! A friend is close at hand with a chaise.” a Willie glanced quickly to the right and the* left asthe door was closed behind him, and saw in the former direction, about a hundred yards distant, a chaise standing, with a man seated in it. ery He walked quickly toward it, and looked im- — quivingly at the.man, whom the darkness pre- vented him from recognizing. “Upowith you!” exclaimed Dr. Langton,gath- ering up the reins; and as Willie,recognizing the voice, stepped quickly into the chaise, he drove off at a steady pace on the road leading to’ Ashford. “Where are we going?’ Willie asked, when he had left the town behind. “To the coast,” replied his liberator. know the roads, don’t you?” ¥ - “Oh, yes,” replied Willie: “and I guessed we should make for the coast, as well as knowi “You: : K Pr .
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SIR GUY’S SECRET, t i 7 mais a s oe rr owe were going coastward. But it isa long drive “to Folkestone or Dover.” “We are not going to either place,” cried the sloctor. . Willie asked no more questions, but after driv- - about four miles further they’ diverged to the _ northeast, and ascended a very steep incline. The doctor now drove more slowly,for when . they had descended, the way lay through wind- ing lanes, intersecting marshy pastures, and being bordered in parts by wide and deep ditches. Twice or thrice he halted at a finger-post which’ he consulted by the light of a match, and then referred by the same flickering gleam fo a memorandum of the route, to assure himself that - they were going right to their destination. At length a little beer-house was reached, standing amidst pollard willows, with the sign of the ‘Jolly Fishermen” swinging and creaking from a post that declined several degrees from the perpendicular. ere Dr. Langton drew rein, and alighting, ‘struck the door several times with the butt-end of the whip. “Jump out,” he said to Willie, who was not sorry to stretch his limbs and stamp upon the _ frost-bound earth to quicken the circulation of his blood, after his long ride on that winter - morning. Ina for moments a rough-looking man open- ‘ed the door, and took charge of the horse and chaise, which ho led intoa stable-yard, while the doctor and Willie entered the house, : ‘Will you take a drop of anything, mister?” gaid the man, joining them ina few minutes. +14 glass of brandy will not hurtus,” returned the doctor, ‘‘We haye had a cold drive, and a pone ones The man thereupon produced a stone bottle, from which he filled a small glass of brandy for each of the travelers. Then they all went out, and presently heard the melancholy sound of the sea, washing the ghingly beach, In a few minutes they stood upon the water’s edge, with just life enough to discern a boat, awhich their conductor loosened from its moor- ings, and held while they stepped into it, and panied themeel yes upon the thwarts. ‘We shall hayea cold row,” observed Willie, his teeth chattering as he spoke; ‘have we far to y? ‘Rar enough,” replied Dr. Langton, straining ‘his eyes eastward, where, however, nothing was visible but the trackless waste of dark wa- ter. The boatman said nothing, but pushed the boat into deeper water, scrambled into it, and, tak- ing up the oars, pulled towards the open sea. ‘ hWhat new dangers or trials am I to under- go?” thought Willie. ; } The fugitives folded their arms over their chests as they encountered the chill wind that swept over the sea, and sat in silence as their boatman pulled steadily out of the Swale, and along the edge of the Whitstable Flats. Across those broad shallows, Dr. Langton watched intently and anxiously, but no moon ghone above them, and’ the dawn was yet far off. «Ts that Whitstable?” asked the doctor, point- _ ing toa light, when they had reached the north- ern extremity of the flats, and had Shellness Point on their left. : hab “That is Whitstable, mister,” said the boat- man. *‘Do you see a small vessel across the shal- lows?” inquired the doctor, - The boatmari’s Peace, eyes swept the east- ern horizon,but the darkness rendered the range of vision yery short, and he replied in the nega- tive. f , ** Pull on,” said Dr. Langton. _ ‘The eastern horizon was still dark when the boatman, who looked over his shoulder from time ‘to time, announced that a smack was ahead, just ‘at the mouth of the channel, leading to Whit- stable Harbor. “ “4 _ Dr. Langton desired him to pull towards her, - andina few minutes a small fishing-boat was seen at the point indicated by the boatmarfbeat- . ing wp against the Borba ce tery wind. *Smack ahoy!” shouted Dr. Langton. ‘‘Is that “the Blue-eyed Maid?” _ * Ay—ay!” came across the dark sea in reply. In ten minutes more the boat was alongside, - and all three scrambled to the deck of the vessel, where they were received by a broad-chested ‘and brown-faced fisherman, wearing an oil-skin hat, a pilot-jacket, and high boots. _ “I know you,” said the fisherman, singling out . Langton from the group, and regarding him tently, ; HOR !? ejaculated the doctor, returning his ook, ; “T! said the fisherman, with emphasis. “Fe?” said the doctor, indicating lie. “A,” returned the fisherman, his gravity re- laxing intoa broad grin. “‘Isuppose you are the right, parties.” “Come below,” said Dr. Langton to the boat- man, and he led the way to the cabin, followed by Willie and the boatman. While Willie rubbed his hands before the wel- come stove, the doctor took out his purse and gave some money to the boatman, who seemed well contented with his morning’s work. *] wish you a safe and pleasant voyage, mis- ter,” said he, as he left the cabin. Presently the creaking of blocks and flapping of sails was heard, aad in a few minutes the smack was running before the wind with a speed that promised well for the fulfilment of the boat- man’s parting wish. CHAPTER IY. MADRID—A DEAD’ LETTER—THE DOCTOR IN A QUANDARY—THE CIRCO PRICE—AN UNEXPECT- ED MEETING, THREE months after their flight from England Willis Anderson and Dr, Langton were sitting at breakfast in the coffee-room of one of the best hotels in Madrid. The smack which bore them from their native shores had landed them in safety at a small fish- ing village between Calais and ‘Boulogne, from which latter town they proceeded by rail to the French capital, and thence, after a night’s rest, to Madrid. “We shall be safe there,” the doctor had ob- served, “for there is no conyention between England and Spain for the extradition of those who break the laws of either country.” * Hence it is that we find them in Madrid when we resume the thread of our story. Dr. Langton was reading a letter which, with others that Jay on the table, had just been brought up by a waiter, and several news- papers, English, French and Spanish, lay on the floor. ‘ , Among the letters which he had not yet open- ed, was one from the dead letter department of the French post-office, and, as he took this up, he knitted his brows, and his countenance evinced pie discomposure of the usual serenity of his mind. 2S “This is unfortunate,” he observed, when he had read the official communication, ands thrust the enclosure intoa pocket of his dressing-gown; “your uncle has left Paris, and left no address, either at his Jate residence or at the post-office, just as I was expecting a remittance from him for your maintenance.” ‘Perhaps he will send it from the place he is now staying,” Willie observed. The doctor sHook his head. “Tam afraid not,” he said; ‘I beliove he has gone away to avoid payment, and I shall have to find him again. Indeed, he travels so much, that Iwas surprised at his remaing so long in Paris, and when J fotind that my letter remain- ed unanswered, I wrote to Crafter and Carson, asking them whether they had instructins to pay the money.” ‘“Well?” said Willie, in an inquiring tone, and with an anxious look, : “Their answer, as I feared it would: be, was 2 negative,” returned the doctor. ; He gathered up his letters, consigned one of them to his desk, and threw the rest into the grate, where he took measures for their immedi- ate and total destruction by striking a match and setting fire to them. Then he rang the bell for the removal of the breakfast equipage, and took several turns across the apartment in silence. “T shall leaye here to-day, Anderson,” he at length said. ‘‘There is a through train to Paris about two o'clock,” ei fi 5 4** Am I to accompany you?” Willie inquired. ‘T will let you know by-and-by,” he replied. He paced the room in silence for a short time, now and again knitting his brows, and then Ife sat down and wrote several letters. e Willie went out for a walk, and did not return until past noon. i Dr. Langton’s preparations ‘for his journey were then completed, and a waiter had just brought up the luncheon. The meal was eaten in silence, Willie being anxious about the future, and expecting the doc- tor to unfold his plans, while tke latter was ab- sorbed in thought concerning matters of which his young companion knew nothing. ‘Take this note down to the Circo Price, and . wait for the answer,” Dr. Langton said, on the conclusion of the meal. ‘ : And he gaye Willie a note, the envelope of which was addressed to Senar Alvarez, at the equestrian establishment named by the doctor, — which was famous'at that time throughoutsouth- western Europe. | At-that time, however, the enterprising Price had removed his company and stud, for a season, to Lisbon, and the circus building had been let to a provincial troupe, of which Senor Alvarez was the director. , - Willie departed on his etrand, and, after wait- ing some time at the stage-door, was ushered by a liveried page into the presence of Senor Al- varez. j ‘‘ What is your specialty?” inquired the direc- tor, speaking in Spanish, of which language Wil- lie had acquired sufficient knéwledge during his _ residence in Madrid to be able to ask and answer ordinary questions. ‘In the profession?” said Willie, who was un- prepared for the question, and for the moment was surprised by it. The circus director nodded an affirmative. ‘Tumbling on horseback,” said Willie. ‘*Good,” returned Alvarez, rising. ‘‘I will see what non can do.” Willie followed him along a dimly-lighted passage, which opened into another, at the end of which they passed through baize-covered. swing-door's into the arena. “Bring a pad-horse, Pedro,” said the director toa groom who was raking the sawdust; and the man left the ring, returning in a few minutes watt a spotted horse, with a flowing mane and il. At a word from Alvarez, accompanied by a crack of a whip, the horse careered around the ring, and Willie, running by its side for a short distance, vaulted to the pad, and’at the second course began a series of somersaults and other acrobatic evolutions, rather difficult to execute in ordinary walking costume, and thick soled “Good!” exclaimed the director, when Willie leaped from the pad. ‘I will give you twenty- five dollars a month, and you can open at - once,” . 4 ; “Agreed,” said Willie, who thought it would bea good thing to be independent of Dr, Langton, and inferred from the offer and the fact of the doctor having written to Senor Alvarez that such an arrangement, was contemplated by him. ‘‘When will you want me to appear?” he asked, as they left the ring. “Come this evening about nine,” returned the director. ‘‘One of my company will be unable to aH ar, and I shall substitute you.” Willie then hurried back to the hotel, having been out longer than he had expected, and learn- ed on his arrival with more surprise than regret that Dr, Langton had left. i Fortunately he had in his possession a little Spanish money, equal to a few shillings sterling, for the doctor had left no money for him, or made any arrangement for his board and lodg- ing at the hotel. Li He packed his carpet-bag, therefore, threw an overcoat over his arm, and sallied forth to find a lodging. hig! ; i This, fora foreigner, without references, was not easy, but he took the liberty of referring the keeper of a cafe to Senor Alvarez, and the diffi- culty was thus surmounted, Between eight and nine o’clock he proceeded to the circus, where he desired the door-keeper to notify his arrival to the manager, and conve ye request for a few minutes’ conversation with. im. The page whom he had seen on his first visit brought back an invitation to the manager’s room, where he found both that personage and Senor Alvarez, and to them unfolded, iti his best Spanish, the position in which he found himself, in not being provided with tights, trunks, and professional shoes. Alvarez thereupon summoned the page, and desired him to conduct the English youth to the dressing-room, and request Senor Ramoreno to provide him with everything that he required. ., Ramoreno, who wasa low-browed, lank-haired, bull-necked Spaniard, in a Leotard dress and flesh-colored tights, glanced trom the page to Willie, and produced from a chest a pair of spangled trunks and a set of tights which fitted the latter as well as if they had been made for im. 4 , The only other members of the company pres- ent were three boys, all in acrobatic costume, and pupils of Senor Ramoreno. While Willie was dressing for his act, and Ramorend was exchanging hisspanglesand flesh- ings for the cireus uniform, the manager entered x :
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the dressing-room, followed by a handsome and well-dressed youth, whom he introduced as Senor Percy. “Percy!” exclaimed Willie, opening his eyes wide with astonishment, and extending his hand to the newcomer. “Anderson!” exclaimed the latter, grasping it with fervor, while his blue eyes;sparkied with pleasure. ‘Who would have ever thought of our meeting here at the Circo Price, which we haye so often talked about, and longed to be engaged at! ’ ‘You know each other?” said the manager. ‘‘I am glad to be the means of haying united two friends.” Then he hurried away, and Ramoreno, after surveying Percy Bellingham appreciatively, said, with a smile: : ‘7 believe if two circus men were to meet in Pekin or the North Pole, they would recognizo each other.. V’ll bet, now, that you two have performed at the Hippodrome or the Cirque Im- perial at Paris?” “Tt was at neither place, however, that Senor Percy and I knew each other,” obseryed Willic Andersor. ‘How long have you left England? And how are the Nobbses and pretty Lettie?” he added, turning to Percy. ; “Thave come straight here,” after Sane twelve nights at the Cirque Imperial,” repliec Perey; “your other question I cannot answer, for 1 have not seen them since Mason laid up for the winter. . Lettie, I believe, is somewhere on the continent, but whether she is with Salmansky, in Germany, or with Ciniselli in Italy, hang me if I can find out!” “Now, Anderson!” cried the manager, pop- ping his head into the dressing-room, and imme- diately disappearing again. . Willie ran aloug the passage leading to the ring-doors, and, making his first appearance be- fore a Madrid audience with a forward somer- sault, was received with a burst of applause. The band struck up, the spotted steed career- ed around the ring, and in another minute Wil- lie was on the pad, surprising both the manager and the spectators with a series of graceful and well conceived impersonations of classical statu- ary. Honored with a recall he turned “flips” all around the ving, and bowed himself out, amidst loud plaudits from all parts of the circus. On his return to the dressing-room, Ramoreno provided him with a tunic and trousers of dark green, seamed with gold lace, which he put on, and proveeded to the ring-doors, { Percy Bellingham was Saree around.the ring on the bare back of a black horse, in the character, according to the programme, of the Wild Hunter of the Pampas. } “Oh, the handsome fellow!” said a lady sitting in the stalls, within hearing of the male mem- bers of the company, who stood outside the ring- doors. ‘What a pity that he is a heretic!” Perey and the black horse were succeeded by a _ steed of snowy whiteness, with a pad on its back. Gauzy skirts of an amplitude that made amends for their shortness fluttered to the ring- doors, Willie caught a passing glimpse of a nut- brown face and glossy biack hair. The young lady to whom they belonged was just the sort of girl the had expected a feminine equestrian of a Spanish circus to be, and ib was not until she was on the pad, skipping with a wreath of flowers, that he traced a resemblance _ in her features to those of Lettie Lennard. “Who is that young lady?’ he inquired of Ramoreno in a whisper. _ “She is the English girl, Miss Lettie Lennard,” the acrobat replied. When she retired from the ring, Willie follow- ed her quickly along the passage leading to the dressing-rooms, “Lettie!” he whispered. The girl turned, quickly, recognized him even in the obscurity of the dimly-lighted passage, and eaught both his hands in her own. “Willie!” she exclaimed, gasping with emo- tion: “is it really you? Here, too!” “What a pleasure it is to meet old friends!” said Willie. ‘How long have you been here? Percy was telling me just pow that he did not know where you were.” / ' “Percy Bellingham? Is he here, too?’ returned ‘Lettie. i “Opened to-night,” said Willie. “Is it not strange I didn’t know this morning that Ishould, ‘be here to-night, and didn’t know that you were here, or that Percy was expected?” ih _ “What a strange meeting!” said Lettie. ‘Oh, am so glad, Willie! I must run away now, ij vou will see me after the performance, won't SIR GUY’S SECRET. ‘Willie, and then Lettie ran to the ladies’ dress- ing room, and he entered his own to impart the welcome news of her being in the circus to Percy Bellingham. ; On the conclusion of the performance the friends exchanged the circus uniform for their own clothes, and hurried to the stage-door, where Lettie and a French girl, who shared her lodgings, were waiting for them. Percy haying shaken hands with Lettie, would have appropriated her to himself, but she took the arm of Willie Anderson, and politeness obliged him to become the escort of Mademoi- selle Virginie. They. had much to say to each other about what had happened since last they met. Tt could not all be said at once, however; and the story of the doings of Percy and Lettie must be reserved for the next chapter. " CHAPTER V. A PARTING—THE WANDERER’S RETURN—THE OLD QUARRY HOUSE. THE close of the tenting season was at hand when Willie Anderson was arrested, and a week or two afterwards the engagements terminated and Mason’s company dispersed. “Well, Lettie, what shall you do?” inquired Perey Béllingham of the pretty equestrienne as they left the tent on the morning after the last performance of the season. “Oh, [am all right!” returned Lettie. “I am going to Bristol for twelve nights at Hengler’s, and I daresay I can get the engagement ex- tended to a month, and then—weil, I don't know what then. I wonder how poor Willie Ander- son will coine off.” ‘Tf that old woman would come forward and corrobarate his story it would serve him im- mensely,” returned Percy; ‘* but the doctor is in a mess himself, and perhaps the old woman, too. Iam sorry for Anderson—very; but I don’t see what can be done to help him.” » Lettie assented, and wiped an unbidden tear from her dark eyes. “Shall you go home, doing?” she inquired. ‘IT think so,” he replied, after a little hesita- tion. ‘‘I would rather go to Bristol With you, but I have not the choice,and my mother is very anxious for my return.” 3 { ‘*You had better go, then,” said Lettie. . “There will be a scene, I know,” observed Perey, with a shrug. ‘‘The governor will storm, and the mater will go into hysterics, and I shall wish myself anywhere else. My sister is the only sensible member of the family.” “Except yourself, of course,” said Lettie, with a smile, “Oh, I didn’t count myself as one of them,” returned Percy, ‘Iam an outcast, you know— a prodigal son.” ! ‘Then you will go down to-day, I suppose?” said Lettie, Pa ; Y . “T suppose so,” returned Perey, witha rueful look. ‘You will let me write to you, Lettie?” “Tf you will write sensibly,” the girl replied, after a moment’s hesitation. Then she extended her hand and bade him good-by. : “Awrevoir,” returned Perey, with a gentle pressure of the hand which he held in his own. “We shall meet again, Lettie, Don’t be sur- Percy, as you talked of prised if it is in the ring of some circus.” % ,. Then they parted, and he sauntered in an un- decided manner toward the railway station, where he consulted the time-table and then glanced at his watch. There was a down train due in half an hour, so he bought a newspaper to while away the time, and took a ticket for the town nedr which his home was situated. Two hours afterward he steod within the grounds of the old Quarry House, sauntering among the trees and looking toward the house at intervals, yet hesitating to approach it nearer. We will leaye him there for a few minutes while we take a look at the inmates of the old red mansion, which, we may observe in passing, took its name from a disused sandstone ‘quarry on the estate, and not very far from the house. Mrs. Bellingham, a middle-aged lady, thin, sallow-complexioned, dark-haired, reclined upon a couch, witha perfumed cambri¢ handkerchief in one hand, anda gold-mounted toilet bottle of essential salts in the other. rie as if a very small matter would attract her at-_ tentioh from the book. i ‘“What tiresome weather!” she observed oi one of these occasions. ‘‘ Too wet for riding one day, and too dirty for walking the next; too cold for driving, and not eold enough to freeze the pond hard enough for skating.” { y g You surely do’ not want to be padi in motion,” said her mother. ‘‘ You have books enough, I am sure, and your drawing and music; besides needlework, which, when I was a girl,” was thought almostisufficient of itself.” PHILS The young Jady made a grimace unobserved by her mother, but she did not care to provoke ~ a lecture by a word of rejoinder. A ‘‘What can that. fellow be after among the trees yonder?” said Mr. Bellingham, a stout, red-faced gentleman, who stood at the bay win= dow looking across the park. Nellie sprang from her chair, and ran to the- window. “Where, papa?” she exclaimed. ‘Oh, I seef Shall I run over and ask who he is, and what he — wants?” =o “You?” returned her father. ‘‘What can you be thinking of, child?” ; ““T believe the girl is taking leave of her senses,” observed her mother. — “She will be wanting to take a gun and go out at night to: look for poachers next.” 4 % “Not I, mama,” said Nellie, looking intently towards the belt of trees across the park. “So far asT am concerned, poor men are as welcome toa hare ora rabbit as the birds to a few cur- rants and cherries.” “You shock me, Ellen,” exclaimed her father, reprovingly. “Would you eneoufage dishon-- esty?? < “About the youth, yonder, papa,” said Nellie, disregarding the question. ‘Shall I tell you my private opinion about him?” “You are to0 young, Ellen, to have opinions,” said her father, leaving the window. ‘I will go out to that fejlow myself. I won't have any strangers prowling about my grounds.” Putting her handkerchief to her mouth to sup~ — press a violent inclination to laugh, Nellie re~ mained at the window to watch the result of her’ father’s interference with the prowling of the young gentleman in the distance, Whe looked interested, and she did not evince _ any surprise when she saw the prowter come to= — hier the house on the approach of Mr, Belling~_ ham. i y “Who do you think it is, mama?” she inquir- ed, when she saw her father returning to the Byles with the young gentleman walking by bis. side. ' “How is it possible that I 2an guess?” return ed her mother. ‘‘Do you suppose that I know all the ne’er-do-wells of the neighborhood?” “But he is not one of that Class, mama,” said | Nellie, with a smile. ’ . “Then I suppose your papa was mistaken,” ob- served the elder lady. ‘His sight is not so good as it used to be, LT fancy.” \ “Guess who it is,” said Nellie, leaving the win- ow. ; ‘Do not be so absurd, Ellen,” returned her’ mother. ‘Guessing is only for children.” Nellie thereupon ran off, returning in a few moments with her blue eyes sparkling with joy; followed by her father and her brother. “Tt is Percy, mama,” she exclaimed. “Percy?” echoed her mother, ‘“Oh!” and ther: she fainted. ‘*You should have prepared her for this sur prise,” said Mr. Bellingham. ‘‘Yousee, sir,what a shock you have given to the sensitive nerves of your mother.” j & “T did try to break it to her,” said Nellie, hold-~ ing the pungent salts close to her mother’s nos trils, with the effect of producing a speedy re~ turn of consciousness; “but mama will never guess anything, or take a bint of anything.” _ “Oh, Percy!” gasped Mrs. Bellingham; and: then, as the young wanderer approached the couch and kissed her, she burst into tears. ; Percy, was resolved to say as little as possible” until he was restored in some degree to the Ra ale fayor, so he sat down near the couch ‘in- silence. firey
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‘ alisreputable persons of any kind, and certainly mot mountebanking.” “Perhaps you will haye the goodness to tell us what you have been doing?” returned his father. “I have been performing in a circus,” he re- ied. *Well, sir? exclaimed his father, as if seeking for a further explanation. _ “Wandering about is a very indefinite charge, which might be made against persons traveling for pleasure,” said Percy. ‘‘In that sense I have ' been wandering about the country, but not mountebanking, which is derived from monte banco, mounting a bench; and the epithet ‘dis- reputable’ could not fairly be apps toany of the ladies and gentlemen of Mr. Mason’s com- “pany” *‘Ladies and gentlemen!” gasped his mother. **Are they not low, strolling vagabonds?” “‘Liable to be committed to jail fora month swith hard labor?” added his father. “I defer to your superior knowledge of the Vagrant Act, papa,” said Percy; “but no mag- istrate would, at the present day, think of put- ting it into force against the performers in a cir- cus. What is the difference between an enter- ’ tainment in a tent and one in a theater?” “But do not the riders and tumblers sleep in the tent with the horses?” said Mrs. Bellingham. “My dear mamma,” replied Percy, with a vain effort to repress a smile, ‘‘do visit the next cir- -eus that comes this way, and Iwill introduce you to the manager, and show you the dressing- zooms and the stables.” *< Not for the world!” said his mother, holding aap her hands. “‘Where can the boy have im- bibed such low tastes and such strange ideas?” TJ will take care that he does not indulge the ‘one, or express the other, in future,” said Mr. ‘Bellingham. He turned away ashe spoke, or he might have observed on Percy’s countenance an, expression that showed that any harsh exercise of parental authority would be ‘like fastening the safety- walve of a steam engine. “Do I look like a vagrant, mama?” Percy ask- ed a moment afterwards, smiling as he spoke. Mrs. Bellingham could find nothing objection- able’in the dark ovércoat, with fur collar and cuffs, which he had just taken off, nor in the dlack suit which he wore. So she remained silent. Percy took an early opportunity of leaving the woom, and being immediately joined by Nellie, they sat down in a bay of the drawing-room. “Now, young runaway,” said his sister, “you hhave got to tell me all your adventures since you | Shave been away, ‘ wandering about the country with strollers and. mountebanks.’” 3 “And add to my offense by infecting you with my low tastes and strange ideas,” returned Percy; ‘I think I had better not tell you any- thing.” 2 “Ts it such a jolly life?” said Nellie; “I should “think it must be to have such an attraction for —syou. pcre there any pretty girls in the com- r] ‘ «“There was one,” he replied. “Tid you fall in love with her?” his sister in- quired. ‘‘Was that one of the attractions of the . ¢eireus?? +*T jike her,” replied Percy; ‘‘ but she is so spretty that everybody wants her. # ~~ +*But about the life,” said Nellie; ‘‘ tell me all sabout ib.” “ Well, you see, Nellie, there are two kinds of ircuses. There aresome that occupy a perman- ~ent building for three months at a stretch, as at Astley’s, for instance; and there are others that anove from town to.town from Easter to the end of October. It was one of tliat sort I was with, and the performances are, in such casés, givenin -n tent, which can be pitched in a few hours.” ‘Did you have to help to pitch the tent, an Sook after the horses?” his sister inquired. ; “Bless you, no!” he replied. “There is a gang _ of tentmen for the one purpose, and grooms for ' the other.. The company have nothing to do till one o'clock, when they mount for the parade; then comes the afternoon performance, and then another in the evening. As soon as that is over, the tentmen begin to pull down and pack up; and the next day we open in another town.” ; “Then you are always on the moye?” said his sister. “How delightful! That’s just what I should like.” ees -*T say, don’t et the mater hear that,” said returned Nellie; “but I should like SIR GUY'S SECRET. CHAPTER VI. BELIANGHAM’S CIRCUS IN THE OLD QUARRY— SUDDEN DISPERSION OF THE SPECTATORS— PERCY TAKES FLIGHT AGAIN. Percy BELLINGHAM found the means of pass- ing the winter with tolerable pleasantness, and in the society of Nellie he compensated himself for his enforced silence concerning everything con- nected with circuses in the hearing of their par- ents. The ’squire allowed him a horse, and there was a pack of foxhounds at a little distance, good shooting on the estate, anda large sheet of water for skating when the ice was thick enough. With the spring came the necessity for devis- ing other means of recreation, and also thoughts of the tenting season. Nellie had been very anxious to see Percy ex- ecute the equestrian feats which he had per- formed in the arena of Mason’s éircus, and his passion for the ring prompted him to make an at- tempt to gratify both his sister and himself by their exhibition. With this view he visited the old quarry, which was on the borders of a wood, and entered by an incline, which had formerly been used by the quarrymen and the carters employed in @e- moving the sandstone blocks to the yards of masons and builders. . The excavations was large enough for his con- templated purpose, and tolerably level at the bot- tom; and with the assistance of one of the labor- ers employed on the estate, a ring was made. Then the groom was taken into his confidence, and his horse was taken to the quarry every day, first to be trained to run in the ring, and after- wards for practice with Percy standing on his back, and the groom acting as ring-master. On the day which Percy had fixed for the first performance, advantage being taken for that purpose of the squire’s absence from home, he walked to the neighboring town to procure some pink note-paper for his programmes; and as he was leaying it,he saw a small crowd on the road before a public house. Pushing into the throng, he saw a lad indirty tights, and worn trunks which had lost many of the spangles that had once adorned them, per- forming acrobatic feats on a small square of threadbare carpet. As the young strgyer returned to the perpen-. dicular, after aseriés of rapidly executed flips, he recognized Devilshoof. He made no sign, however, and the acrobat, though he openedhis eyes widely , when Percy dropped a sixpence into his cap, failed to recog- nize him. He remained near the spot while Devilshoof collected the largesses of the crowd,which began to disperse as soon as the young acrobat put on aragged and threadbare overcoat, and picked up his bit of carpet. “What's the nob, bully?” said Percy, following the lad as he walked away. ‘ “Tt’s never you, Bellingham!” exclaimed Devilshoof, turning about quickly in his sur- prise at being accosted in the slang of the circus, and opening hiseyes almost as widely as when he received Percy’s unexpectedly large addition to the ‘‘nob.” ; “T don’t look much like the ghost of myself,do I?” returned Perey, with a smile. “Not half so muchas I do, I reckon,” said Devilshoof. i And Percy, looking at him again, saw that his face.was pinched and thin, and in conjunction with his tattered garb,told a story of hard times, “Why, what has been the matter with you, Cupid?” he inquired, And as he said the words a thought flashed through’ Percy’s mind that he could make Cupid very useful to him. ‘“T am suffering from a bad attack of short commons, consekent upon a low state of the fin- ances,” replied the acrobat, ‘‘that’s what’s the matter. Nothing to eat since last night but a penu’orth of bread and no butter; that’s what’s the matter, and the collection never more than fourpence a day till this blessed morning, when it. arose to ninepence through the generosity of a kind-hearted young fellow who dropped me a tanner,” ‘But what made you take to pitching?” Percy Oe as they walked on towards Deadman’s orner, : “Well, this is how it was,” replied Devilshoof; “the pantomime at the Pantheon, where I was sprite, didn’t run so dongs as was expected, and so I was thrown out, too late for an engagement at Astley’s or the Amphi, ane too early for the tenting season, So I started pitching, and a ‘ve had of it, can tell you.” peat The thought here came into Percy’s mind that he could befriend Devilshoof, and give increased. eclat to his entertainment in the quarry, by re— taining him for an acrobatic act, und making a, collection for his benefit on the conclusion ef the, performance, This plan he unfolded to the lad as they went: along, and on reaching the Old Quarry House: he took him to the stables and proeured for hin: | from the cook a liberal supply of cold meat aud. bread anda mug of ale. Nellie had not been informed as yet of the in— tended performances in the quarry, and her. blue eyes opened widely with surprise whem Percy slipped into her hand at luncheon time a. manuscript programme on perfumed rose-colox— ed paper, of which the following is a copy =: THIS DAY! BELLINGHAM’S CIRCUS, HaneGMan’s HILL QUARRY. Bare-back riding by Mr. Percy Bellingham. Somersaults on horseback by M. Cupid. Performance to commence at. two o’clock. No charge for admission, but a collection will be made for the benefit of M. Cupid. Copies of this announcément were forwarded to the younger members of the farmers’ families. in the neighborhood, and distributed in the kitchen, stables, and lodges of the Old Quarry House. ‘ The old quarry itself where the show was to take place, had béen specially decked fer the oc~ casion. { The temporary ring where the horse had beer trained was barricaded around by the village carpenter, who had on hand a lot of posts and rails covered with baize, that in the previous summer had done-duty at the local flower-show- The trunk of an old tree occupied the center of the ring, and was a good substitute for a tent: pole; tarpaulins and horse-cloths had been hung over the roughest parts of the quarry walls, thus: hightening the idea of a tent. . , t is true there was no money taken anid ne band, but the audience could dispense with such luxuries. The day being bright and fine for the season, twenty or thirty persons were, in consequence, assembled around the quarry, when Percy euct Devilshoof, both in acrobatic costume, entered. it, followed by Bob, the groom, leading the trained horse. #: Amidst a flattering amount of clapping of hands and waving of handkerchiefs, Percy vaulted to the back of the horse, and bowed te all sides ef the ring. “Tadies and gentlemen,” he then said, “in in— viting Bi attention toa little riding and tumb— ling, I must apologize for many deficiencies, which Iam sure your good nature will excuse. Our stud of a hundred and fifty horses, seven elephants, and six camels, with the cireus ward- robe and properties, have not arrived. having: been unexpectedly delayed to give a final per- formance before his Imperial Majesty the Hm- peror of Cariboo.” ! 4 Shouts of laughter, and cries of: ‘We'll excuse: you!” followed this address, and Percy, with a. chirrup to the horse, commenced his career. Bob the groom, in a green tunic, white cords, and top-boots, made a capital ring-master. — Having displayed his agility in jumping on. and off the horse at full speed, Percy paused, while Bob and Devilshoof stretched a rope across: the ring, and then resumed his career, leaping over the rope every time the horse passed under it, and alighting upon the animal’s baclk. Then he leaped off, and was succeeded by Devilshoof, who first made an attempt to supply the absence of a clown by pretending to stumble over a chip of sandstone, and then carefully re- moving the obstruction to the outside of tine: — ring. In his first career, the acrobat gave a series of impersonations of statuary, such as Ajax defy— ing the lightning, the athlete throwing the dis- cus, the dying gladiator, etc. “ But these, though not badly posed, did not. \elicit so much applause as the horsemanship of young Bellingham, . “Bravo, Master Cupid!” exclaimed Perey, bringing the horse to a pause witha sign. ‘Do: you know why he is called Cupid, Mr. Muster?” “No, sir, I don’t,” the groom replied. % “Because he is so pretty,” said Percy. And a roar of laughter all around rewarded. his attempt to be funny. PE - “You don’t seem very good at guessing rid dies,” he added,” Sher at _ “Well, sir, there are some I can guess *
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some I can't,” returned Bob. “I: am like the softy who was asked by the qiller wHether he wasn’t a fool. ‘Well,’ he says, ‘there’s some _ things L know, and some I doesn’t know.’ ” ' Ah, I see,” said Percy. ‘‘ And what did the miller say to that?” : 2 “The miller asked the softy what he did know, and he said he knew that millers kept fat hogs.” ; “Very ood,” said Perey. ‘‘And what was it he didn’t know?” : ; “The miller asked him that, and he said he didn’t know whose meal the hogs'ate.” There was another roar at this, and then Bob, at a sign from Percy, cracked his whip, and, as _ the horse resumed his career, Devilshoof sprang to his feet, and executed a series of somersaults amidst continued plaudits. i Perey then progne a saucepan lid, which he had borrowed from the cook for the purpose, and walked around the circle, collecting the gifts of the spectators. He had just completed the round, and added to the sum collected his own contribution of half a crown, when his father’s voice, in loud, harsh tones, struck upon his ears, and caused everyone to start, surprising asiit did even those who had no cause to fear his anger. “What tomfoolery is this?’ demanded the squire, in a blustering manner. 3 ellie ran off, followed by Charlotte and the rest of the audience, and Percy hastily thrust ‘the money he had collected into the hands of Devilshoof, who had just wound up the perform- ance with “‘flips” around the ring. “Away with you,” said Percy, in a hasty whisper. ‘“‘It is the governor.” ; “What does this mean, I say?’ exclaimed the squire, stamping his foot, and glaring from Percy to the groom, and from Bob to Devilshoof. “Circus-riding upon my property, without leave or license; making a disreputable vagrant of my horse, too!” Bob led off the animal in great haste. “You will leave my service this day month, Bob Shorter!” shouted his master. “T hope you will not punish Bob for my fault,’ said Percy. ‘‘He has only taken part in a harm- less frolic to please me, and at my request.” “And if that young scamp doesn’t get out of the parish in an hour, he shall have a taste of _ prison discipline for the correction of his mor- “ als,” added ‘the *squire, indicating Devilshoof, who was putting on his ragged overcoat, and certainly, in his dirty tights, did not present a very reputable appearance, . “What a fierce old buffer he is,? said he, in a whisper to Percy. ‘‘Thanks for the nob, and I hope we shall meet again under more agreeable circumstances.” “What!” cried the squire, with a fresh out- burst of rage, as he picked up a programme which had been dropped by a spectator in the stampede that followed his unexpected appear- ance. ‘‘Bellingham’s Circus? Yoy have dis- graced my name to that extent! You degener- ate young scoundrel, return to the house this instant, and to-morrow off you go to school again—to a German College, you disgraceful boy.” Perey’s face reddened, but he made no reply, and obeyed the paternal mandate by walking quickly towards the house. Devilshoof, who had just reached the level on which the ’squire stood, but on the opposite side of the quarry, turned around at that moment, and could not resist the temptation he felt to in- sult the irate old gentleman by performing the pantomimic action which passes among boys for the freemason’s sign, otherwise ‘‘taking a sight.” “You young rascal!” roared the ’squire, and the next moment his burly form was/ crashing through the brambles and brakes in pursuit of the daring offender. Devilshoof was much too nimble to be caught _ by a stout and not very active pursuer, and the *squire, finding that he might as well attempt to outrun a rabbit, gave up the chase, and returned to the house panting and growling, and with a red and flustered face. “Where is Percy?” he inquired, as he entered the drawing-room, where his wife, as usual, was reclining on the couch. “T have not seen him for some time,” she re- plied. ‘What has happened?” “Rebellion—disgrace!” he exclaimed. ‘The oung scapegrace has set up an amateur circus An the old quarry, with a young yagabond in dirty tights, and Bob, and one of my horses. Look there!” flinging the programme on the table. “Ill circus him, the young scamp!” Percy was notin the house, nor did he present himself during the remainder of the day. ~ : When the family were retiring, Ellen was in- formed by Charlotte that her brother had gone SIR GUY’S SECRET. up to his chamber, and this being communicated by the young lady to her parents, the squire} took the precaution of turning the key of Per- cy’s room to guard against his evasion before daybreak. ; Percy, who was already in bed, put his head under the clothes to smother his laughter as he heard the key turn. There was lying upon the dressing-table the followitg note, the ink of which was} scarcely ry: ; ‘My DEAR MaAma.—Papa has threatened to send me to-morrow to a German college. I pre- fer a circus, and sorry as I am to grieve you, I shall leave here at daybreak. With love to yourself and Nellie, lam, my dear mother,your undutiful son, PERCY.” The grey light that precedes sunrise was steal- ing into the chataber when he awoke on the fol- lowing morning, and he arose at once and pre- pared for his flight. Having dressed and packed his carpet-bag, he took from under his pillow a screw @river,which he had secreted before retiring to rest, and ina few minutes,had removed the lock from the door, thus rendering the squire’s precaution unavail- ing. Carrying his boots in his hand, he crept down the stairs noiselessly, put on his boots quietly, unfastened. the door, and walked quickly across the grounds. 5 Thres hours Jater he was at Sevenoaks, where he breakfasted, proceeding thus to the metropo- lis by rail. Arrived in London, he made inquiries of the agents, and obtained through one of them an en- gagement for twelve nights at the Cirque Im- perial, as the reader already knows. CHAPTER VII. A CIRCUS ON THE RAILS—ATTACKED BY REBELS > —DISPERSION OF THE COMPANY. On the expiration of the term for which he had engaged the Circo Price, Senor Alvarez had made arrangements for a series of performances at Saragossa, to which historically famous town the company and stud trayelled by rail. 7 More than half the distance had been run, and the train was rushing through a cutting on the eastern slope of the mountains that Overlook the valley of the Ebro, when the speed slackened suddenly without any premonitory whistle, and presently came to a stand. ‘Halloo!” exclaimed Percy Bellingham, :look- ing from the window; ‘“‘what are we stopping: for? Isay, Gomez, what game is this!” The question was put to a young Spaniard, a clever trapezist, and was occasioned by the ap- pearance of some thirty or forty armed men, who had caused the stoppage of the train by pre- senting their muskets at the driver, and were now cpening the doors of the carriages. Gomez looked out, and drew in his head with a shrug. ~ : “Brigands!” he exclaimed. : “GCarlists,more likely,” observed another Span- lard. ‘Phere are too many of them for brigands, and they are too well armed, though certainly as ill-looking a sev of ruffians as ever plundered her Catholic majesty’s subjects.” “Mercy, save us!” exclaimed a little French- woman, a tight-rope artist. ‘Will they harm us? “T don’t suppose they will take the trouble to cut our throats, if that is what you mean,” said Gomez, with another shrug; ‘‘but they will take the horses, and where shall we be then?” Percy Bellinghamn and Willie Anderson looked out from opposite sides of the carriage, and saw some of the assailants dragging the horses from’ their boxes, and others presenting their muskets at the passengers, between whom and them- selves a large amount of swearing and -gesticul- ating was going on. : Presently three or four shots were fired in rapid succession, and Lettie and the French- woman screamed. “We are in for it now!” exclaimed Gomez. “It is Alvarez!” cried Willie Anderson; ‘‘they have dragged him out of the carriage, and are stabbing him with their bayonets.” “That comes of having a hot temper and a loaded revolver,” observed Percy, “Ah, they have done for him!” said Willie. ‘He does not move as he lies between the rails.” A black-bearded, brown-faced ruffian, who wore a soldier’s accoutrements over the garb of a Basque peasant, now approached the carriage on Percy’s side, and demanded their money, and an equally unprepossessing: subject of Isabella Il. appeared on the other side with a similar requisition. “There is no help for it,” said Willie Ander- — son, as he produced his slenderly-lined purse: “so we may as well comply with a Bone grace.” ‘Who steals my purse, steals trash,” observed Perey, as he followed Willie’s example, and handed the Carlist a very light porte-monnaie. “There is not much in it,’ ; Gomez and his countryman, Lettie, and the Frenchwoman, had also to comply with the peremptory demand of the rebels, whose red caps showed them to be followers of the Count; de Montemolino, a pretender to the Spanish. crown, and then the fellows went on to the next, carriage. While this scene of murder and robbery was. being enacted, the engine-driver and the fire- man remained at their posts, and the guard sat. in his brake-van calmly smoking a cigarette, while the Carlists ransacked the boxes and par= cels in his charge. : When all the spoil had been collected, the band drove the horses along the line in the opposite direction to that in which the train had to pro— ceed, and soon disappeared. A couple of grooms then lifted the corpse of” Senor Alverez into an empty horse-box, the guard blew his whistle, and the train sped on again. “This is pleasant,” said Willie Anderson, ironi- cally; ‘‘I suppose we may as well go on to. Saragossa, but what we are to do there, I don’t know.” ‘ Gomez shrugged his shoulders, and the two: women, though relieved from their fears, looked. anxious. “I wish them; joy of their acquisitions,” ob- served Percy, with a smile that had a spice of malice in it; ‘I should like to see one of their officers on Miranda, and she persisting in run~ — ning ina circle, when he was leading an attack.” In spite of the prospective troubles that were drawing upon the minds of all the company, Willie Anderson and the Frenchwoman could not forbear laughing. — . “It is too bad for us to be laughing, while our poor director lies dead,” observed. Madame Tournaire, as a sigh succeeded to the laugh, — “Tt isno laughing matter,” added Willie, his. countenance becoming grave again. There was little more said until the train. ; reached Saragossa, when the passengers con- nected with the circus lingered on the platform under the influence of a common sense of help- lessness in the face of an unexpected misfortune. “Tet us hear what old Hocambelli has to say,” said Willie, and his companions followed him at once in quest of the man named, who was an elderly Italian, who had performed in circuses from his childhood, and now made a very good clown of the continental type. _ Rocambelli was already the center of a group of men and women, equestrians, acrobats, gym- nasts, balancers and the like, all of whom were listening, with anxious fades, to the old man’s counsels, * ; 3 _ He was a stout, smooth-faced, olive-complex+ ioned man, and wore a high-crowned felt hat, and a cloak of voluminous folds. “You see, my children,” said he, spreading out | his hands, and speaking in measured and solemn tones, ‘‘we have lost both the horses and our money. If we had the horses, we might wait for the nioney; but without the animals we should be like starving steeds, waiting for the growing of the grass.” : :! “Could we not manage for a night or two without horses, Sigior Rocambelli?” inquired Gomez. , ‘© And then?” said the Italian. ‘Perhaps the horses will be recovered,” sug=— gessted Madame Tournaire, in default of a reply from the Spaniard. “No chance of that,” ebserved Cat'ambosa, the character rider, with a shrug. “You hear what your countryman says?” said Rocambelli, looking intently at Gomez. ‘“No, my children,” he continued, turning to the others. ‘ There is nothing to be done here, even if the defunct Alvarez was among us, with~ out the horses. What, then, dol advise? 1 will tell you, my children. Let us separate, and en- deavor to procure new engagements,” » ae are His listeners looked at each other with grave countenances, They had hoped for the opening of some bright prospect from the Italian. ‘What are we to do without money?” inquir- Ky ed Carambosa. ‘*I propose that we give a per- formance at the circo, and share the the rate of our salaries.” ; . eee: + This proposition found favor with the major: ity, and as all were alike penniless, they move: receipts in-
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towards the cireo, which had been advertised to open that evening. eae HE : “The ring-master had an interview with the roprietor of the building while Gomez exam— ined the gymnastic apparatus, and then they adjourned to the cafes to partake of the much ‘needed refreshments, which a small advance from the proprietor enabled them to procure. ‘A new programme was hastily sketched out by Salamanca, and copies of it stuck up in the dressing-rooms. _ Then the gas was lighted in the arena, and one after another crept down to the ring-doors, re- sta with the news that the circus was filling ast. Af last the crucial moment arrived when the sperformancé should have commenced with an entree of a dozen cayaliers and ladies in cos- twues of the reign of Charles V. Salamanca entered, looking yery grave, and made a profound bow to all parts of the circus, “Tadies and gentlemen.” said he, “itis with deep and heartfelt regret that I have to an- nounce to you the unfortut.ate circumstance that obliges thé company to throw themselves upon your kind indulgence, Owing to an acci- dent on the railway, the arrival of the stud has been delayed, and there is not at the present moment a horse in the stables.” ~ Murmurs of discontent became audible at this announcement, “All the company are here, however, and will do their best to entertain you,” added the ring- master. 7 The murmurs growing louder, and several per- sons demanding that their money should be re- turned, he gave a signal to;the band, which struck up immediately, and Ramoreno and his boys bounded ‘into the ring, glistening with “spangles. i Plaudits were heard mingled with the mur- murs of the disappointed, and as’ all the per- formers exerted themselves to the utmost, the entertainment was brought to a close more agreeably than could haye been anticipated. ‘It was obvious to all, however, that the ex- periment was one that’ could not be repeated, and it was resolved on the following morning, at a meeting held in the circus, to adopt the ad- vice of Signor Rocambelli, and disperse. “Ah!? ejaculated the Italian, rubbing his hands, “‘you see, then, that my advico was good, You have come around to my opinion.” _ Ah,” returned Carambosa, ‘‘but we shall ~ not disperse now without a dollar or two in our pockets.” at On leaving the cireus the company broke up into groups, which proceeded in different direc- tions. Our two English youths and their pretty little friend resolved upon trayeling in an east- wh erly direction, with the ulterior aim of reaching | Paris. ; : * Behold them, therefore, walking out of Sara- gossa, each carrying a light heart, though only a few dollars were in the purse of each. . “Now what are we to do?” Percy asked, ad- dressing both his gompenions in misfortune. “We have started on this track because we all _ want to get to Paris, and this is the road there. But from here to Paris is a long journey, and unless we can pick up a horse, lam afraid that most of the burden will fall upon the shoulders of one of us.” “Meaning Willie,” returned Lettie, whose charming face wore’a grave expression. ‘‘ That _ 4s what I am thinking of.” -€Phen don’t think of it any longer,” said Willie, cheerfully. “Perhaps we can hire a horse to mount you and Percy, and even if we can’t, you Can sing and dance, and Percy can beat the Bs We will make a music-hall performance of it,” : ; ‘* Where is the drum?” inquired Percy. “Oh, we will hire one,” returned Willie, with a happy disposition to make the best of the situa- tion. ‘‘ Or perhaps we can enlist a trio of gipsy musicians in our troupe. There are alot of those gitonos knocking about at the fairs in this coun- try, [have heard.” _ #And IT have heard that they are too handy ~ with their knives to be pleasant companions,” observed Percy. ‘‘ Besides, they work only with. their own people, I fancy.” : - * Well) what do you think about it?” inquired ‘Willie. ‘‘ You are not thinking of turning back, _ Lhope?? chee NOb Ly exclaimed Percy, who saw that both | us his companions regarded him with anxious coun- tenances. ‘Tam only thinking how we can go on and keep together with the greatest advantage past us, and without all the work falling to ALi irae Ricats Ema vieses ver mind that, cully,” returned Willie, ih, ne ~ vey, SIR GUY'S SECRET. ‘‘Have you anything to propose?” Lettie in- quired, turning to Percy. “TI may have, presently,” said he. “‘ The idea is maturing in my mind, and when it is ripe, I will unfold it for your approval.” About six miles from Saragossa, in a north- easterly direction, they came to a village in the center of the straggling street of which about a dozen peasants, vine-dressers, muleteers, and others were sitting on benches in front of the yine-house, eating their midday meal of bread and cheese, flavored with garlic, and drinking the light wine of the country. “Shall we do‘a pitch here?” inquired Willie. “Bother pitching,” replied Percy. ‘‘What sort of a mob should we gather here, do you think? We will rest here awhile, if you like. I daresay Lettie is tired.” His companions assenting, theysat down at a vacant table, and haying been supplied with such refreshments as the house afforded, listened attentively to Percy’s exposition of a brilliant idea which had been conceived and matured in his mind during the last few minutes. CHAPTER VIII. THE FRENCHMAN AND HIS PERFORMING PONY—A MUSIC-HALL ENTERTAINMENT IN A BULL-RING— THE STOLEN HORSES—SUSPICIOUS CHARACTERS. THE village at which our wanderers had_halt- ed for rest and refreshment was about a mile be- hind them, and they were descending a rather steep hill when they overtook a group of itinera- ting’ professionals, consisting of a couple of bipeds and a quadruped. ; The latter, by no means an unimportant mem- ber of the company, was a gaily caparisoned brown pony, and the animal was led by an ol- derly man, with a grave and intelligent-looking countenance, the bronzed hue of which contrast- ed sharply with a thick white mustache. He wore a grey frotk of semi-military cut, trimmed with black braid, and black’ trousers with red stripes down the outer seams, The third member ot the company was a little brown-faced Spaniard, wearing the ordinary peasant’s garb, though that of a more southern region than they were now traveling through, and carrying a drum at his back, ‘Mortune favors us,” observed Percy Belling- ham to his companions, as they came near enough to take note of the wayfarers before them, ‘Here is our drum, and an addition tv our talent,” “My idea, cully,” said Willie, with a smile. “T acknowledge that it was suggested by your idéa of a music-hall entertainment,” returned Perey, ‘But it was I who conceived the plan for carrying it out; you will acknowledge to that?” “All right,” Willie. “T will speak to this old buffer,” said Percy. “He looks like a Frenchman, Good-day, mon- sieur!” : : He addressed the old man in French, at the same time lifting his hat. ‘Your seryant, monsieur,” responded the leader of the pony, returning the salute, and prance from Percy to his companions as he spoke. j “Clever pony,” said Percy, with a glance at the intelligent-looking animal, who was examin- ing the additions to the party with the discrimi- returned the good-tempered | nating eye of an equine critic of mankind, The Frenchman nodded assent. “Are you going to perform in the next town?” Percy inquired. “The pony will perform there,” was the modest response of the oldman. ‘He is the staff of my life, and earns enough for Domenico and I as well as for himself.’ : “We, also, are entertainers of the public,” said Percy. ‘We belonged, till yesterday, to the Alvarez Troupe, lately performing at the Circo Price, but our director was killed yesterday on the railway, and the horses stolen by his murder- ers, a band of Carlists. hat misfortune broke up the company, and we three, being old friends, and all English, are working our way to Paris.” ‘Pitching?’ said the Frenchman, “Weare not reduced to that yet,” returned | Perey. “Our plan is to apply for permission to use the bull-ring at the next town, and give a piieed entertainment. Would you like to join “T shall be most happy,” replied’ the French- man, / i \ avis “You and your pony will be valuable acquisi- tions,” said Perey, ‘‘to say nothing of the drum, which’ will be most useful for our parade, and in lieu of a band,” : ree factorilyarrange@, and Percy then communicat- ed to his companions all that had passed between himself and the Frenchman, whose language neither of them understood. aie On arriving at the next town, Willio Ander- son and the Frenchman were deputed, as speak- ing better Spanish than their companions, to wait upon the mayor, and ask his permission to use tho bull-ring for their performance, Willie was the spokesman, his companion aid- ing him with a Sete equivalent, and some- times with a Spanish word, when his own vo- cabulary of. the latter language became insuffi- cient for the. purpose of explaining tho unfor- tunate position in which they had been placed by the murder of Senor Alvarez, and the less of the horses. “Tt is all right,” he joyfully announced, on their return to the cafe, at which they had left their companions. ‘* Weare to have the bull- ring for one evening. Now, Bellingham, draw up the best programme you can, while Domenico and I go around the town, and announce the per- formance by bet of drum,’ Ask Frenchy to go with us; it will look’ better, as he is so much older. He will pass for the director of the en- tertainment.” Percy made the request suggested, accompany- ing it with a compliment to the veteran’s digni- fied appearance, at which the Frenchman bowed with a grave smile, and then the trio set out up- on their perambulation. ‘Beat up, Domenico,” said the old man, when they arrived at the corner of the street, and the of loungers and brown-faced children gathered around them, and the shopkeepers left their counters to learn the cause of the stir, “Just arrived!” shouted Willie, in his best Spanish; ‘* and will perform this evening in the bull-ring, by kind permission of the mayor, the Senor Alvarez, lately performing at the Circo Price, in Madrid. The company includes Mr. Rochez and his wonderful performihg pony; Mr. Perey Bellingham, the famous English bare- backed rider; Mademoiselle Lennard, the most graceful equestrienne of the day; and Mr. An- derson, the famous acrobat, vaulter and imper- sonator of the Grecian statues. Admission free!— but a collection wil be made between the first and second parts of the entertainment, for the benefit of the sufferers by the Carlist attack on the train between Madrid and Saragossa.” This announcement was repeated at intervals as they went through all the streets of the town, and they had the satisfaction, on going to the bull-ving, to find the seats rapidly filling, Domenico beat his drum. until the spectators began to manifest signs of impatience, when the old Frenchman advanced to the center of the ring and gave a graphic account of the stopping the plundering of the passengers. ~ Some disappointment appeared to be felt by the spectators, when they found that the pro-, gramme included no equestrian performances, but the Spaniards are pasicnaely fond of acro- batic and gymnastic feats, and Willie’s somer- saults and flips elicited their warmest plaudits. Then Lettie sang the vivandier’s song in ‘The Daughter of the Regiment,” with drnm accom- paniment by Domenico, after which the French- man introduced his pony, who proved.to be a very clever and most diverting little animal. his drum, the company went around with the hat, and were tolerably successful in the extrac- tion of small coins from the spectators. ; Then Percy and Lettie danced a minuet, and sang the duet of Manrico and Leonora, in ‘il Trovatore,” yep i Y Willie gave his impersonations of classical and the entertainment concluded. The distance to the next town being greater than could be accomplished in one day, in the absence of other means of locomotion than those which nature had provided them, they halted at a village about midway, where an outdoor per- formance was given by Willie Anderson and the Frenchman’s performing pony. ety Rochez was attending to the'wants of that in- sat around a table, talking of the past and the future, and Domenico was stretched upon a verberation,as of distant thunder, startled every one in the little inn. } “Can that be thunder?” said Willie. ~ ; “Vt is early for thunder,” returned Percy; ‘‘and the sky 1s perfectly clear,” he adde ‘ing towards the road. Np tery aree ess / The di¥ision of the expected receipts was satis-_ surviving members of the circus company 2f— of the train, the murder of Senor Alyarez, and While the little Spaniard beat a march upon statuary, an orange chest serving for a pedestal, © teresting animal, while Percy, Willieand Lettie _ bench, smoking a cigarette, when a sudden re-~ little Spaniard beat the dram until a small mob _ d, look=- Me
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SIR GUY'S SECRET. “Again the sound boomed along the horizon. Willio and Perey looked at each other, and then went out, followed by Lettie. - Tt sounds like distant rifle firing,” observed Willie, : The continued repetition of the sounds dispell- ed the idea of a thunderstorm, however, and convinced the listeners that they were the reports of rifie volleys. ° : ‘Holy Virgin, the red-caps are coming!” ex- claimed the hstess in intense alarm. The woman who made that outcry had joined them at the door, and now ran into the house to conceal her money and her silver spoons in a mattress, and drive her poultry into the fields. “T hope the Montemolinists will get it hot for stealing our horses,” observed Percy, For nearly half an hour the signs of conflict “were confined to those distant reverberations,an intervening hill screening from their sight the scene of the encounter. ‘Then an incessant discharge of single rifles showed that one of the contending parties was endeavoring to dislodge the other from its posi- tion by advancing skirmishers. ore) Presently the reports sounded nearer, and wreaths of white smoke began to curl over the hill, and roll towards the watchers. “Shall we be safe here?” said Lettie, laying her hand on Willie’s arm. : “As safe here as anywhere we can get to,” was his not very consoling reply. “‘If the tide of battle rolls this way, as it seemis likely to do, it will not stop here, and we shall be in equal danger whether we return or remain here.” Ina few minutes small bodies of men were ‘seen on the slope of the hill, over which the smoke now rolled in dense volumes. The firing continued,and the retreating forces were scen to face about and return the fire of the assailants, buf whether the former wore red caps or white could not be seen. Then small parties of cavalry mingled with the infantry, and the whole rushed down the hill, others emerging every moment from ‘the cloud of smoke, “Tt is the fellows who plundered us that are flying,” siid Percy, as the forentost of the re- treating force came near enough to be distin- guished. “Serves them right.” “Here is Miranda. Iwould swear to her!” ex- claimed Willie, as a riderless steed came gallop- ing down the road. : He rushed/into the road, caught the flying horse by the bridle, and led her into the stable- yard of ghe inn, patting her nevk,and calling her y name, Perey withdrew into the inn with Lettie, and the host, uttering many profane objurgations, and mingled with invocations of his favorite saints, proceeded to secure the doors. From the windows they beheld the routed Montemolinists fly through the village, horse and foot, officers and rank and file, mingled together, with here and there a riderless horse, a torn flag, a wounded officer carried on a litter, The rebels were uot pursued, and the village wore its usual appearance as soon as'they had left it behind, : They had not gone far, however, as our travel- ers in the village inn were led to conclude from an incident that occurred in the evening. They were talking together, Willie, Percy and Lettie in the best room of the inn, when a voice was heard without, calling in a loud and com- manding tone: ‘House! Landlord!” : “Here, senor!” responded the host, bustling forward, f “You have some strangers in your house,” said f& tall, middle-aged man,dressed in military uni- . form, and wrapped in a large cloak. ‘I must see them.” “(Cood, senor,” said if you please.” fe ushered the stranger into the room in ‘the inn-keeper. ‘Enter, ' which his guests were seated, and they, having < = Ne a 4 vie. eign Loe ring with Willie on his back, performing acro~ batic feats with an agility and precision that called forth the loudest plaudits, when Lettie ap- proached Percy, and directed his attention to 4 young man who had just pushed his way through the crowd until he reached the rope that formed the ring-fence, ( 4 “Tsn’t that the man who came inthe night be- fore last while we were af supper?” she inquir~ ‘The second fellow? Yes,” he replied. “I don’t like his looks,” said Lettie. ‘And see,” she added, looking towards a gentleman on horseback on the outer edge of the ring, “there is Don Ramon! Iam sure it is he.” : Ht Percy saw nothing remarkable in the fact of the two men’s appearance there, and his atten- tion was presenlly diverted to a lad whose yoca- tion was intimated by the tights and white shoes that were visible beneath a much worn over- coat. ions There was no ea the face that stared with fixed dark eyes at Willie Anderson; such a countenance could belong to nd other boy in the universe than Devilshoof, however surprising it might be to met with it at a village fair in Spain. As soon as- Willie had finished his act Percy ran to the ring-fence, under which Deyilshoof dived to meet him. “Tor, Bellingham, who'd have thought of dropping on to you here?” exclaimed the acro- bat. & \ “As little should I have thought of meeting you here,” returned Percy. 1 : “And Anderson, and Miss Lennard!” exclaim~ _ ed Devilshoof, his deep-set eyes opening widely . as he stared from one to the other. f “What, Cupid!” said Willie, coming towards them with a smile. ‘How are you, cully?” “Bono!” responded Devilshoof. ‘tAnd how’s yourself, Miss Lennard? Me? Oh; I am pretty and well, as the saying is. 1 say, is that old bloke the governor?” he added, in a lower tone, indicating the frenchman, who was liow engag- ed in Grawing out the various capacities of the educated pony. ' Percy explained that it was a sharing concern, aud asked him if he would like to be’a partnerin it, “Wouldn’t I?” returned Devilshoof. ‘It isn’t much coin a fellow can pick up by doing asingle slang; and this is quite a circus. Isay, how about the horses?” ‘“‘Well, they did belong to Senor Alvarez,” re- plied Perey, gravely; ‘‘but he wili never ask for them, because he has ‘gone where the good nig- gers go,’ and who they belong to de jure, as the’ lawyers say Ireally don’t know, De facto, they are ours by right of possession, which consti- stutes nine points of thte law, you know.” : Rochez and Willie readily agreed that Devils- hoof should join them on thé same footing as the others, as there are many tricks in the acrobatic repertoire which cannot be performed singly, and he and Willie had been accustomed to per- form them together. ; " The performances were continued until dusk, with an interval after each, for the double pur- pose of giving rest to the performers, and caus- ing the spectators to disperse, with ’& view to the collection of another crowd when Domenico. again beat the drum. a ‘ The absence of means for lighting the ring, at — length obliged the yeaty, wanderers to lead out the horses, and seek for lodgings, £ : Having found a quiet inn on the outskirts of the village, the horses were stabled, and they sat . down to supper, over which Deyilshoof told the story of his wanderings Since he and Percy Rona ed in the quarry in Kent, and heard how Willie escaped from prison, aud what he and Percy had been doing since their meeting at Madrid. * Percy was relating the Carlist attack on the train, when a cry from Lettie interrupted him, and looking at her to discover the cause of her alarm, he saw that she was gazing towards the window. SHideeohr “That man again!” she exclaimed, as soon as she could command her voice. “What man?” inquired Willie, while Percy, who knew who she meant, sprang from his chair — and rushed to the window. i He uieies “T see no one,” he said, when he had opened it and looked out, ; eto “Tam certain that I saw a man’s, face, and ~ that it was the man I pointed out to you in the fair,” said. Lettie. e pet: .There was a balcony around the house, over which Percy immediately looked, to discover — whether there were any steps by which it could be reached from the ground below, —__ But there were none, nor was any ladde: ble, or any tree near enough to | the bale 4 ag. yee
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10 SIR GUY’S SECRET. enable.a man to look into the window by. climb-| In a few minutes the landlady returned, look- ‘ing into it. ‘o satisfy himself upon these points was only the work of a moment, and Percy had no sooner done so, then he yaulted over the balcony and * dro ped to the ground. @ looked under the balcony, and then walked around the house. . But no one was near. : Not even the retiring footsteps of the intruder could be heard when he returned to the rear of the house and listened. / Thinking that the man eats have entered the inn, he walked around to the front again, and looked in. ' But only three or four peasants were there, playing at cards for the cigarettes they were smoking and the wine they were drinking, and the intruder was not among them. He ascended the stairs, therefore, and rejoined ‘his companions, to whom he related the failure of his search. = *‘T am certain that I saw him,” persisted Let- tie. “Iam not fanciful, and I should know that man anywhere by the scar on his left cheek and the peculiar expression of his face.” “ But there are no means of reaching the bal- cony, Lettie,” said Percy. ‘Perhaps there were two of them, and one mounted the other,” observed Willie. This seemed feasible. But where could they haye gone so quickly as to evade Percy’s attempt to discover them? This query could not be answered, and the ma- jority of the party soon ceased to think of the matter. The sounds from the fair, subdued, and in some degree harmonized by distance, were still audible when they retired to their réspective chambers, but before midnight all was still, and they were fast asleep. Willie and Perey s who occupied the same room, were suddenly startled from their repose, ‘without being conscious of the cause. “What was that?” inquired Percy, listening intently for any sound that might indicate the nature of the alarm, “T heard a scream, if I wasn’t dreaming,” re- turned Willie, rubbing his eyes. ‘Something startled me,” said Percy, slipping from his bed, and approaching the window, where he was immediately joined by his com- panion. Darkness reigned without, and no being was ‘visible. ' *T see nothing,” said Willie. “Hark!” whispered Percy. voices near. Listen?” j Willie opened the window very quietly, and Doth listened attentively; but fora few moments nothing was heard. Then the sound of whedls and. horses’ feet told them that some vehicle was being rapidly driven away from the inn. ; “Some late traveler stopping fo water his horses,” observed Willie, as he closed the win- “I think I hear ow, “Tt must have been more than that,” Percy objected to his companion’s explanation. * _ J daresay I was dreaming,” said Willie, us he rolled intobed again. : “Bah! we were not both dreaming,” returned Percy, with a little impatience at the sugges- | tion. ‘And we were all wide awake when that fellow got into the balcony.” ; “But we didn’t all see the fellow,” observed ‘Willie. : : “Lettie could not be mistaken, or she would not be so positive,” said Percy. ‘‘I have a good cae to go to her door, and see if she is all right.” A nd rouse her out of her sleep, atid make her think the house is on fire,” observed Willie. ‘You had better turn in again and go to sleep. The house is so quiet that nobody can have been ‘disturbed except ourselves.” There seemed sense in this view, Percy thought, and he was unwiliing. to alarm Lettie unneces- sarily. He took his companion’s advice, therefore, though more than an hour elapsed before he fell asleep again, so occupied was his mind with the - possible cause of the disturlance of his slumber. When their hostess served breakfast on the ” following morning, Letiie had not presented her- self. _ Shall I call the young lady?” inquired the hostess, addressing Rochez, whom she looked upon, owing to his age, as the director of the party. ; ; ; . The Frenchman consulted his companions with look. — mr j ; “Yes,” said Percy, and the affirmative was re- peated by Rochez. — hi ; an ie} to which we are going,” Don Ramon repli garding her with kindling eyes. “Tn the mean- ing grave. “She is not. there,” isaid she. ‘‘Finding that she did not answer, I went in and found the room vacant. The most surprising thing about it is, that the clothes she wore yesterday are still there, but perhaps the young lady——” Percy waised to hear no more, butsprang from his seat. “She must be looked for,” he exclaiwned,snatch- ing up his hat, ‘‘I will not desist from the search until I find her.” ; ‘Have something to eat, first,” said Willie. ‘‘Half-an-hour will make no difference.” Percy made no reply, but ran off, Willie hastily dispatched his breakfast,and ran down to the stables, where Percy was just-about to mount Miranda, “Wait a moment,” he exclaimed; “I will go with you.” Hastily saddling the spotted horse, he vaulted to the animal’s back, and in another moment they were both off on the road. CHAPTER X. THE NIGHT ALARM—THE LONE HOUSE—DON RA- MON CORRIENTES—LETTIE’S PERIL—AN OPPOR- TUNE ARRIVAL. Lert us now go back a few hours for an explan- ation of Lettie Lennard’s mysterious disappear- ance, Before extinguishing her light, she had looked from the window of her chamber, for the appar- ition of the man’s face had caused her some alarm, and though her nerves were as strong as those of a person of her profession should be, an uneasy feeling had been excited in her mind by the man’s persistent reappearances. Though she could not divine the motive, the idea that she was being watched for some pur- pose had taken possession of her mind, and she could not divest herself of it. No living'thing was visible from her window, however, and all was still around the house. She extinguished the light, therefore, and in another minute was in bed. Avout an hour after midnight, when all the villagers were asleep, and profound darkness covered the earth, a closed carriage was driven through the village, and stopped atthe inn at which our travellers were reposing. T’wo men dismounted from the box, and ap- proached the inn, glancing at the upper win- dows, and moving with the caution of prowling beasts of prey. “That is the window of the English girl’s room,” whispered one of them; ‘“‘give me @ back, Sancho, and I will be in the balcony in the snap- ping of a pistol.” Sancho stooped down below the balcony, and his companion planting one foot on his knee, and following it with the other ‘on his shoulder, mounted as nimbly as a squirrel. For a few moments he stood before the window motionless, listening for sounds within. All was still, however, and he proceeded to unfasten the window by introducing the blade of a knifey then he opened it, and stepped into the room. , : Lettie slept soundly. Carefully folding around her the sheet and blanket upon which she was lying, the intruder raised her from the bed, and bore her to the bal- cony. ; : Then it was that the girl, awakened suddenly from her sleep, uttered in terror and bewilder- ment, the cry which had disturbed her compan- ions. : But the next moment a corner of the blanket was drawn over her face, a hand was pressed up- on her mouth, and she was lowered into the arms of her abductor’s companion, who waited below the balcony. « Sancho ran swiftly towards the carriage, fol- lowed by his companion. 4 The terrified girl was placed within the vehicle, and Sancho closed the door, clambered to the driver’s seat, which already had been mounted by his companion, and drove off ata fast trot. The instant Lettie felt herself released from Sancho’s encircling arms, and relieved from the pressure of his hand upon her mouth, she dashed the blanket from her face, and found herself con- fronted with Don Ramon Corrientes. “Ah! she ejaculated, her dark eyes dilating with surprise and terror; ‘“‘what is the meaning of this outrage? Why am I dragged from my. friends?” ‘You shall know that when we reach the place 5 re- 4 °Se.-me Ae time, yyou need not be alarmed; I am a gentle- ~ man.’ ’ “This is not the act of a gentleman,” returned Lettie, drawing the blanket and sheet around her, andregarding Don Damon with mingled re~ sentment and disdain. | " $ “Regard it then as the desperate act of an ar-. dent lover,” said the Spaniard. Bd “You misuse the term,” rejoined Lettie, with a look of disgust. et ; _ “Admirer, then,” said Don Ramon, with an. impetuosity of mianner in strange contrast with the feeling expressed in his passionate glances. Both his words and looks, however, impressed Lettie with the conviction that her situation was: one of greater peril than if she had been sub- jected to arbitrary arrest on any pretext by the: constituted authorities; for the whole of the northeast of Spain was at that time in a dis- turbed and disorganized state, and lawless acts. were every day committed with impunity. She looked from the carriage, to the right and’ - left, but not a single light was visible, and in a. few minutes the girl was left behind. It was clear to her niind that helo was not to- be hoped for, and equally so that it would be useless to appeal to the Spaniards’ generosity and compassion. ‘‘You will repent this outrage, sir,” she said, on arriving at this conviction. “My friends will not rest until I am at liberty, and, having discovered me, will move Heaven and earth to. secure the punishment of every one concerned in it. . “T accept the risk,” returned Don Ramon, with a smile. ; ; “You think you will be able to evade the consequences of your dastardly act,” said Let- tie. ‘Dismiss that idea from your mind. Jam: English, and the intervention of the British am- bassador in Madrid will certainly prove stronger than any influence you may have in these: arts. 4 , “We shall see,” returned Don Ramon. “By - the time your friends have discovered your re- treat you will have no desire to rejoin them.” Lettie shuddered and became silent. The night was too dark for her to have ob- served the direction in which the carriage was being driven, even if she had been acquainted with the country; but when she again looked out, in the hope of disebyering some , house, the inmates of which might be aroused by her screams, the narrowness of the road showed that the vehicle had been turned off th high- way. ¢ No village was passed through, however, and the few isolated farmhouses and peasants’ cot~ tages that were on the route were passed in the darkness unobserved. 4 It was still dark when, by the stopping of the carriage, they seemed to have reached the end of the journey. Lettie looked anxiously from the vehicle, and. saw a large house standing within a walled en- closure. One of the men dismounted and rang a bell; and after some delay, a gate was thrown open, and the carriage was driven into a yard. The gate closed with a clang, and the carriage- stopped again at a door, : o light shone from any of the windows. The door of the carriage was opened by Sancho, and Don Ramon stepped out. ; “Now, my beauty,” said he, offering Lettie the’ assistance of his hand. , The poor girl looked around, but saw nb light, no person of her own sex, only Don. Ramon and his two myrmidons. ‘ She stepped ont shuddering and trembling, and Don Ramon unlocked the door. “You have nothing to fear,” said he, with a touch of compassion in his tone; ‘you will not: be harmed; so do not lodk so frightened, sweet: one. ’ They entered a spacious hall and he closed the: door, struck a match, and lighted a small lamp which he took from a bracket. The light glimmered upon dark panelling. rusty suits of armor, and trophies of ancien weapons. : Don Ranion attempted to pass an arm around Lettie as he advanced towards a flight of stairs, but she shrank from him, and he allowed her to ascend unassisted. y At the head of the stairs a corridor was traversed, and then they ascended another flight of stairs. ~ ; The Spaniard opened a door in the corridor above these, and showed Lettie a spacious cham— ber, comfortless-looking, however, according to English ideas. Ee rae. “You\see your chamber, senora??’ said he; ” ‘renter; I give you my word—the word of @ ~
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t SIR GUY’S SECRET. Spanish gentleman—that you shall not be dis- turbed. Rest, sweet one, on the faith of that assurance.” It was impossible for Lettie to feel the con- fidence ‘with which he strove to inspire her; but * “she entered the room, having noalternative, and closed the door. ( She waited until Don Ramon’s retiring foot- steps wereiheard no longer, and then she examin- ed the door, with a view to securing herself against intrusion. ' "There was no fastening, however, and nothing in the room that was not either too heavy to be moved or too light to be of any use for the pur- pose of barricading the door. |” . She looked from the window, but couldsee only a few trees standing out blackly against the lighter gloom of the sky. With a heavy sigh the poor girl threw herself upon the bed, and rolled her blanket around her, to wait for thecoming of day, - ever had the hours seemed to pass so slowly. At Jength, however, the grey light of dawn stole into the chamber, and she again looked from the window. 4 Below were the cattle-yard and out buildings of a farm, and beyond were fields, stretching as far as she could see. Presently the rising sun reddened the sky, but it was a long time afterwards before a human ’ - form became visible or any sign of life was heard in that large and lonely mansion. ~ Y Then a man was seen ina distant field with a oke of oxen, aud another moved about the yard below. ‘A little later footsteps sounded on the corridors and on the stairs, and doors opened and closed in different parts of the house. Presently alittlé old woman, with a brown and shrivelled face,entered the chamber, carrying an armful of feminine clothing. “Here, my pretty senora,” said she, “I have prought you some clothes, for Lreckon you will | be wanting some. And what would you like for breakfast?” “Thanks for the clothes,” returned Lettie; “Cand if you would earn a reward and my eternal gratitude, help me to get away from this house.” be “That I dare not,” said the old woman, shak- ing her head; ‘‘and if you are wise, you will not think of it until the matter is disposed to let you 0.” y “T have been dragged from my bed, and brought here against my will,” said Lettie. ‘Do, for the love of Heaven, help me!” «here's no use in asking, my dear,” returned the old wo.nan, whose coldness ‘of manner con- trasted unnaturally with her endearing mode of |» address. ‘* You just put on the clothes, and Pll getfa cup of chacolate, and then you'll feel more comfortable.” ; Lettie sighed, and proceeded to dress herself in the clothes brought by the old woman, which fitted her tolerably well, the woman retiring during the operation, and returning in about half an hour with the materials of an excellent breakfast. e “Do ent, senora,” said she. “You may be as happy as a bird here, if you don’t mind the lone- liness of the house.” : i “How can I feel happy while Tam a prisoner, and my friends are searching for me, wondering . what has become of me?” returned Lettie. “The' master will be your friend now, my dear,” said the old woman. ‘ 4 “He is a wret¢i—a brute!” exclaimed Lettie, indignant at the suggestion. ~The woman shrugged her skinny shoulders and retired, leaving her charge alone until mid- day, when she brought up her dinner and some wine. Lettie passed the day looking from the window and thinking of her position and thé chances of “her discovery by Willie and Percy, whom she felt sure would be prompt and persevering in their search for her. Having seen only the old woman during th day, except from the window, she ventured? when it grew dusk, to make an endeavor to _ evade her vigilance and make her escape. Opening the door of her room very cautiously, she glided noiselessly along the corridors and _ down the stairs without encountering any per- son, but on reaching the hall her intended flight es Peeve by the appearance of her atten- nt. Ms “Ah, you would run away!” exclaimed the ‘old woman, with 4 look of alarm. ‘Would you have the master kill me, then?” “ “T+ would serve you right,’ returned Lettie, gas she endeavored.to open the outer,door. “Here, Miguel—Tomas!” screamed the old woman, seizing her by the arm, / > Two men responded to her call, and the poor girl was forced to return to the chamber which had been assigned to her. As she sat by the window, listening and trem- bling, she heard the heavy footsteps of Miguel as he tramped along the corridor, in which he was acting as a sentry, ! * Escape was now, hopeless. Twilight Was @eepening into darkness when Don Ramon startled the unhappy girl with a} visit. “Good evening, senora,” he said, on entering tlfé chamber. ‘I trust my pretty bird has not found her’ cage quite unendurable.” ‘You are right in calling it a cage,” she re- turned, rising, and shrinking from his approach. “Tf you are a man, Don Ramon, you will suffer me tg leave.” : - “For what purposethen should I have brought you here, pretty one?” he asked, endeavoring to embrace her, and to impress a kiss upon her warm cheek. In the midst of a struggle, the sounds of a vio- lent entry anti an altercation reached them from below, and Dou Ramon, releasing her, advanced to the door and listened. The regular tramp of soldiers sounded along the ccrridor, and the door was thrown open, re- vealing an officer, backed by a file of men. ‘Don Ramon Corrientes, I arrest you in the queen’s name!” said the officer. ‘Resistance is useless, for my men surround the house.” Don Ramon muttered a savage exclamation 9s he went out, and the soldiers closed argund him. “Save me!” cried Lettie, addressing the queen’s |. officer with clasped hands. ‘‘I have been brought here by force, and my friends know not where to seek me.” * “You are free to depart,” returned the officer. “So far, at least, as Iam concerned,” he added, turning away fromher. ‘You are not included ithe warrant for the arrest of Don Ramon Corrientes.” Without a moment’s thought she followed him ee g the corridors and down the stairsinto the nal, Only a soldier was there, and heallowed her to pass without question or hindrance, Tn another oiinute she was at liberty,but with- out the least idea Where she was or the name or distance of the village froin which she had been brought, ® * CHAPTER XI, DEVILSHOOF ON THE NAIL—THE DOCTOR AND THE DEVIL—ENCOUNTER WITH BRIGANDS. I'm performances given in the little circus lost much of their attractivenesss on the second day of. the fair, through the absence of three of tneir performers and the two horses, and the re- ccipts suffered a proportionate diminution. Willie and Perey not having returned when their companion reached the inn, Devilshoof, feeling both anxious and lonely, went out in the hope of meeting with them, About amile from the village in the opposite direction to that which had been taken by Willie and Percy, he saw two horsemen coming to- wards him, and thinking them to be his compan- ions, he quickened his pace, anxious to learn whether any clew to Lettie Lennard had been found. 5 Before he was near enough to recognize them, however, they turned into anotherroad, where they urged their horses toa trot. t “Thinking so much about that girl that they didn’t notice me,” muttered Devilshoof, ‘That isn’t the way back, though; but perhaps they have gota clew that way.” 5 He followed in the track of the two horsemen therefore, until the darkness concealed them from his view, when he vaused to consider wheth- er he should go on or return, ‘The appearance of a iight a little distance ahead induced him to take the former course, and on turning a curve of the road, he saw be- fore him a sufficient number of twinkling lights to show him that he was approaching a town. The environs were soon reached, but the two horsemen were not to be seen. He strolled on, looking at the shop windows and the street folk, and contrasting them in his own mind with those of the country towns of England. i He was startled from this amusement prathe sudden apparition of a face so much like Lettie Lennard’s that he would immediately have pro-. nounced it hers, but for the figure to which it belonged being clothed in the costume of Spain. The girl was standing at the door of a chem- ist’s shop in conversation with a curly-headed pidgin ki young’man, who combined with the sale of druge practice of medicine and surgery. — ‘ ; ‘Can that be Lettie?” he asked himself; but as he advanced to solve the doubt by a nearer view of her face, the girl entered the shop, and the young doctor closed the door. i Peering between the bottles and jars in the window, Devilshoof could see the girl's face, however, and the impression upon his mind that. he saw Lettie Lennard became, in spite of her Spanish attire, considerably deepened. ; She looked weary and sad, and the expression of her countenance as she sat at the counter con- versing with the doctor, was so much like Let~ tie’s that Devilshoof was upon the point of en- tering the shop when the girl arose, and followed the Spaniard into a room behind the shop. The acrobat’s first impulse was to wait untii the girl came out, but the door between the shop: and the room behind had scarcely closed wher two young men rode up the street, dismounted. before the doctor’s door, and entered the shop, leaving their horses in the charge of a ragged, brown-faced boy. ‘ Both the men and the horses resembled those who had been mistaken by Devilshoof for Willie Anderson and Percy Bellingham. Peering through the window again, he saw them pass through the shop without a pause, une enter the room in the rear. ‘ “Whoare they?” said he,turning to the brown- faced boy. P ‘* Doctors,” the boy replied; ‘‘larky fellows, I knows ’em,” : ; ‘““Tarky fellows, eh?’ said Devilshoof. “L wonder what lark they are up to now?” For a moment he thought of entering the shop, and asking for the girl, but the reflecting that he would probably be kicked out for his pains, restrained him, and he looked about instead for a means of reaching the back of the hotise. At a little distance there was a by-street. He counted the houses between, and ran down it until he reached a narrow lane, paralle) with: the street in which the chemist’s shop stood,an®. skirting the small gardens in the rear. : The light of a young moon which lind just. risen, enabled him to count the houses, and thus. discover the doctor's. , In another moment he was over the fence, and advancing stealthily to the back of the house. . The light in the room behind the shop was ex- tinguished as he approached, but the shutters were not closed, nor the curtains drawn across the window, and the moon shone directly into the room. ? Crouching below the window with his eyes just'above the sill, he saw the girl stting in am armehair, leaning back, with shee eyes closed and her form motionless, as if in a swoon. The curly-headed young doctor was standing before: her, waving his right hand across heir face with slow and regular passes, The two young men who had entered from the street were standing by, regarding the operation with countenances expressive of mingled wender and incredulity. : 4 “Santo Jacomo!”? exclaimed one of them, crossing himself as he spoke, “I like uot this: business. It savors of devilry.” ¢ ‘* Nonsense, man!” returned the young doctor. ‘Ts all scientific progress the work of Satan, — think you?” “Alfonso smells brimstone,” said the third member of the group, with a smile; ‘‘ he calls — everything diabolic which is beyond his under- standing.” , ‘Restore her, Gildez, for the love of Sar Jacomo!” said Alfonzo, without heeding the sneer. ‘I fear that she may die.” ' “Nay, you have witnessed nothing yet,” re- turned Gildez. ‘You shall sce her, while in this state, do whatever I command her, and hear her make her confession,” ~ “No—no!” urged Alfonzo, earnestly. “What. was that?” he asked, suddenly, with a start, as a slight noise, occasioned by some movement of — Devilshoof, reached his ears. “The devil!” returned his companion, in ar — ironical tone. . ; : ‘Ah, see!” cried Alfonzo, turning pale, and pointing to the window. The others turned quickly, started by his ery of genuine terror, and saw the dark shadow of — Devilshoof projected by the moonbeams upoiy: the window and the wall, as he stood upon the: sill, with his arms raised above his head, in the | attitude of the Bottle Impin the old romantic drama, | Lee not * >With a ery of terror Alfonzo pfshed from the: room, and his companion and the doctor, seized with a patie, followed him headlong. — Deyilshoof immediately smashed a pa off > ov A te « ba F e a 4 eee.)
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“3° ‘ SIR GUY'S. SECRET. glass, unfastened the window, opened it, and sprang into the room, , : “Miss Lennard—Miss Lennard!” he exclaimed, as he shook the unconscious girl by the shoulder. Finding that she was insensible, he made an effort to raise her in his arms, and carry her to the window; but her weight was too much for him, and he had to drag her along the floor, ~while supporting her with his arms. He managed to lift her through the window, and haying deposited her upon the ground be- low, vaulted after her, and looked around for some ‘place of temporary concealment, fearing that Gildez and his friends would soon recover from their panic and return to the room. There was a jasmine-covered alcove at the bottom of the garden, so constructed that the interior could not be seen from the house; and to this place the young acrobat partly carried Jand partly dragged the unconscious girl. “Miss Lennard—Miss Lennard!” he whispered, at the same time slapping her hands in despera- tion, lest she should be sought and discovered before he could rouse her and get her away from the bower. Several minutes passed before the girl became conscious, and even then she seemed dazed and weal. ‘ “Where am I?” she asked, in a faint voice, at the same time raising herself with an effort from ‘the seat on which she was reclining. ‘Who is it avith me? I thought I knew the voice.” “Tt is me, Miss Lennard,” replied the acrobat. “Tt is Cupid. “You remember Cupid, Miss Len- nard, don’t you?” “Cupid? said the girl. ‘‘Where am I, then? / Where are Anderson and Bellingham?” “They went in search of you as soon as you avas missed,” replied Devilshoof; ‘tand they had ot returned when I left the inn this evening. But we mustn’t stay here talking, Miss Lennard. Do you feel strong enough to walk?” : ud will try,” she replied, leaning upon the lad’s shoulder. ‘‘Where are we?” “That is more than’ I can tell you,” returned Devilshoof; “‘but 1 know the way back to the inn.” Opening a gate, which he had not observed be-, fore, he supported her into the lane, and along the street by which it was approached. “J really cannot walk far,” said she, ‘as she ‘dragged herself wearily along. ‘‘Oh, do get a ‘chaise or something, Cupid. I shall never get there else.” % ; In this embarrassing situation the young acro- ‘bat acted with promptitude and decision. He led the girl into a confectioner’s shop, pro- ‘cured her a seat and a glass of lemonade, and ran off to obtain some conveyance. . After some delay in finding a vehicle for hire, and some hesitation on the part of the owner to Jet it on the representations of a lad of most un- prepossessing appearance, who could not speak good Spanish, he was enabled to return in the ‘chaise to the confectioner’s, where the driver, finding his story confirmed by a pretty girl in the national costume, agreed to drive them to the inn, rvhich they described to him. They had driven half the distance between the town and the road that passed through the vil- ‘Jage at which our wanderers were staying, when “five or six men emerged suddenly from the sha- dow of the trees, and, while two of them men- aced the driver with threats of death from their Teveled pistols if he dared to drive on, the others “opened the doors of the carriage and demanded _ their valuables. ; _ We have none,” said Devilshoof and Lettie ~‘fogether, and the former confirmed the state- ment by turning his pockets inside out, A whispered conference was held by the brig- | ands, and the trayelers caught the words: ‘The -cireus folks—their company will ransom them— the girl is English.” Then they were dragged out of the chaise,and the driver was told to turn back, which he did ‘at once, not without giving vent to his wrath at losing his fare in a choice selection of Span- ash abuse. ate Come,” said one of the brigands, grasping Lettie’s arm, and another seizing Devilshoof, they quitfed the road, and began to ascend a narrow and steep path. - “T cannot go any further,” gasped Lettie, when she had been hurried along by the’ robber, who held her until they had nearly reached the brow of a wooded hill, 3 } She sank exhausted 11pon a bare rock. “Get up!” growled the brigand, pulling her by the arm, Story te et. , tid & lady is unable to walk, or she ld. e been riding,” obseryed Devils- SE bs rath eo d another of the!d band, lending a hand to lift the poor girl to her feet. ‘‘Confound them! who are these?” ~ : The exclamation and the question were prompted by the appearance of two horsemen, who had just come over the crest of the ridge, and were riding slowly. down the narrow path, one behind the other. : “Hooray!” cried Devilshoof, with a caper. “That's Anderson in front with the panther horse, and Bellingham behind on the brown mare,” “Hold your noise, you young imp!” exclaim- ed the brigand who held Devilshoof in his grasp, which he relaxed as he spoke, with »the inten- tion of giving his captive a blow, but the acrobat dived to avoid it, executed a hand-spring, and ran forward to meet:the horsemen. Forgetting disappointment and weariness, Willie Anderson urged his steed forward On re- cognizing Deyilshoof by his yoice and the sample of their profession which he had displayed, and was followed by Percy Bellingham as closely as the narrowness of the path permitted. ‘Help, Willie!” cried Lettie, and the next mo- ment the spotted horse dashed into the group of brigands,and one of them rolled over on the rug- ged path. : Two of the ruffians seized the bridle of Willie’s steed, and would have dragged him from the sad- dle, but at the next moment Percy: drew a pis- tol, shot one of them, felled the other with a blow of the stock, and then bestowed a similar token of remembrance upon the brigand who held Lettie? { As the ruffian whom Willie had ridden down, rose from the ground, he saw one of his com- panions bleeding on the path, and_ two raising themselves with the marks of Percy’s pistol-stock upon their bleeding foreheads. + He turned and fled into the wood, and the rest followed his example as quickly as they could, carrying with them the man whom Perey had shot, but who did not appear to be mortally wounded. Sigs “Dear Lettie!” exclaimed Percy, springing from the saddle, and raising Lettie, who had fainted, in hisarms. ‘Put her up before me, Willie, and let us be off.” This was done, andin lessethan half an hour, they were all sate at the village inn. CHAPTER XII. DR. LANGTON AT THE END OF HIS JOURNEY— DEVEREL’S REMORSE AND DESPAIR—A RUS- SIAN FAIR—OLD ACQUAINTANCES, THREE months after the departure from Mad- rid, Dr. Langton found himself in St. Peters- burg and at the end of his journey. He had traced Sir Guy Deverel from one city to another, sometimes losing the trail, but al- ways coming up again, until he reached the Rus- sian capital, and discovered the baronet ata hotel in the Nevski Prospekt. , Dr. Langton, sleek, and highly respectable- looking, dressed with his usual scrupulous re- gard for appearance, and wearing his usual be- nevolent expression, and calm and self-prepared manner, entered the hotel, and presenting his card to a waiter, desired that it might be taken to Sir Guy Deverel. , The baronet who had aged considerably since we introduced him to the reader at his Parisian lodging, groaned when he saw the name upon the card. “T will see this gentleman,” said he, with a slight hesitation before the last word which struck the waiter as significant. Dr. Langton entered a few minutes afterwards and HeWeRt with grave politeness to the baronet, who regarded him sternly, without reciprocating his'courtesy. f i “Good-morning, Sir Guy,” said the doctor, placing his hat and gloves upon the table. “What charming weather for Russia.” “You haye come now upon business, I pre- sume,” observed Sir Guy; ‘‘you want money?” “The universal want, Sir Guy.” returned Dr. Langton, with a bland smile. ‘But had we not better be seated¢ Youare ndt looking so well as when I saw youin Paris.” > . “What there needs to be said between us can be said in ‘a few words,” rejoined the baronet.. “Certain communications which have been made to me by my solicitors since you received that check from mé in Paris, have determined me to part with no more money until my nepbew is in my charge.” ; **And then?’ said the doctor, as he seated him- self near the table,on finding the baronetdid not invite him to sit. ; “then Tawill pay which I have offered for his discovery,” return- ed Sir Guy Deverel. ae “Not enough, Sir Guy, by a long way,” said Dr. Langton. ‘I could not entertain any such proposition for a single moment,” “It is the only one which I shall make,” iS turned the baronet. ‘If you refuse it, 1 have no more tosay.” , : ‘ “Oh, yes,” said the doctor,with a serene smile. ‘‘We shall not part like that, Sir Guy. Remem- ber what I said to you when we met in Paris.” “I have not forgotten it,” returned Sir Guy Deverel; ‘but I will brave the worst that you can do rather than continue to impoverish my nephew's estate while you withhold him from me. “You did not always care so much for him,” observed Dr. Langton. ‘‘¥rom what time does your tardily developed affection for the lad date?” “JT will not bandy words with you, Dr. Lang- ton,” rejoined the baronet; ‘‘let ifsuftice that I am desirous, most earnestly desirous, for his dis- covery,and his restoration to his proper position in society, and I will do nothing thas does not tend to that end.” : _“Then we may as well put the Jad out of the category of matters that haye been settled be- tween us,” said the doctor, with a wave of his fat white hand, which made fhe diamond on one of his fingers flash in thesunlight. ‘It rests with me, Sir Guy, not with you, to say whether he shall ever succeed tothe baronetcy and estates. Now about the other matter. There are fwo quarters’ payments due to me, and living in St. Petersburg is expensive,to say nothing of travel- ing and inquiry expenses during the last three months.” Seok “T will not give you a single rouble!” exclaim- ed Sir Guy Deverel, firmly. ; “You prefer to have the secret of the blue chamber revealed to the world?” said the doctor, regarding him intently. “All the secrets you have to tell,” returned the baronet, excitedly; *‘tell the world, if you will, all my crimes,and let it be known that the estate is not mine—that I am plain Guy Deverel, and that my nephew is the/true baronet. What then? Icannot be more wretched than I am - now.” The doctor knitted his brows,and reflected for a few moments before he spoke again. ; He had not expected to find the baronet in this mood, and he was not prepared for it. He could not negotiate with Sir Guy on the basis ot the latter’s proposition, for he had not received any communication from Willie Ander- son since he left Madrid,and had had no clew by which to trace him. He had no doubt that he could discover the youth, for he combined in a remarkable degree the qualifications of a clever detective with those of the successful criminal; but in the meantime Sit Guy Deverel might escape him again, and he needed a supply of money at once, On the other hand there was nothing t) be gained by revealing all that he knew concernin Deverel, which he could not do without the ris of betraying himself to the London police, besides killing the goose that laid the golden eggs. ~ j “Give mea written undertaking to pay me a thousand a year as lon aN youand I may live, upon receiving such information. as may enable you to discover your nephew,” he at length said: X ; “You know that I cannot do that,” returned the baronet; ‘‘ I will not rob the estate of an- other penny.” _ ; “Then I will negotiate with Sir Rupert, your nephew,” said Dr. Langton, rising. Sir Guy bowed, and the doctor quitted the room. He looked grave as h3 descended tho stairs, and his broad, marble-like forehead became cor- rugated as he walked slowly along the Veyski Prospekt, pias ee . Hewas musing upon the situation created by — ‘Sir Guy Deverel’s unexpected and inflexible re- solve, and the course which it obliged. him to take for the promotion of his own interests. By the time he had reached his hotel he had resolved to advertise for Willie Anderson in half- a-dozem of the’ most widely-circulated news~ papers of Madrid, Paris, Berlin and Vienna. r ‘As he sat at his desk, however, the soynds of music borne by the breeze from some distance, and seeming to mingle the strains of several — brass bands with those of a! dozen organs and hurdy-gurdies, reached his ears. Nie “Aye all the itinerant German horn-blowers and gipsy-bag-pipers in St. Petersburg giving a { hé asked of a waiter w + monster concert?” Tes hy
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- perturbable good humor. f “Tt is the fair, monsieur,” replied the waiter. =*'The music that monsieur hears is that of the bands of Salmansky’s Circus, and Morok’s Men- _agerie.” 5 ; a _“Salmansky’s Circus, eh?” said the doctor, _stroking his mnustache as the name suggested a new idea to him. _ He knew that Salmansky’s Circus was famous from the Rhine to the Urals, and from the Baltic to the Balkans. ‘“Yes, monsieur,” responded the waiter; “one of the best traveling, as monsieur probably _knows. Everybody, ie hear, is flocking to see the English riders, and the great performing ele- phant.” ‘“Bnelish riders, eh?” said the doctor, “Who are they?” : ‘Mr. Bellingham, Mr. Nobbs, and Miss Len- nard,” was the reply. “T must see them,” observed the doctor, and -as the waiter left the room, he leaned back in his chair with an air of thought. ‘‘Those names seem familiar to me,” he murmured, as he strove to recall the places and circumstances in which |; he had heard them. “Bellingham? Ah, the owner of the Old Quarry House! But stay— there was an equestrian of that name announced to appear atthéCirco Price. Itmay be he. Has Anderson taken the name of his foster-father, the clown, I’wonder? Itis likely enough.” It was likely enough to induce Dr. Langton to sally forti at once and proceed to the scene of the fair, to which he was guided by the sounds which had attracted his attention. The exterior of the platform of the circus was unoceupied, and the sounds from within were evidence of a performance being in progress, for the conclusion of which Dr. Langton waited, Presently a crowd poured over the platform of the circus, ‘aud the maanaret came forward with a trumpet, with which he sounded a flourish, preparatory to a loud-toned invitation to the crowd below to lose no time in seeing the per- formances of the unrivalled English and German equestrians and acrobats, the female, wire- walker, and the huge rforming elephant. Dr. Langton walked around to the side of the show, which was a wooden building of consider- able dimensions, and saw several men and lads leading horses, and variously attired as a jockey, an English fox-hunter, a Russian hussar, a Mex- ‘ican. lasso-thrower, and a couple of acrobats in tights. The latter he recognized immediately as Willie Anderson and Devilshoof, otherwise Cupid. “‘Nobbs!” said he, touching the former on the shoulder, ¢ ; Willie started, turned around quickly, and saw Dr. Langton. “7 can’t stay to speak to you now, doctor,” said he, as he vaulted to the Back of a cream- colored horse. ‘We have to parade in the front now.” 5 ‘Give me a call,” said the doctor, taking out his card case, and giving Willie a card on which he had written the name of the hotel at which he was staying. Aho it 1, have time,” returned Willie, in a ‘careless tone, and then the cavalcade moved to- wards the front, and the equestrians urged their horses up the steep incline, by which the plat- form was reached. The doctor frowned. ; : ‘ He saw that Willie was disposed to resist his influence. e He returned to the hotel, and_stayed within the remainder of the day, but Willie Anderson, did not present himself. i . Dr. Langton was not surprised. - Ittooka great deal to surprise him with his cool head, varied knowledge of the world, and extensive observation of human nature. About noon on the following day, when the bustle and noise of the fair were about to com- mence, he was standing calmly observant, near the side entrance of the circus, He had not stood there many minutes when Willie Anderson and Devilshoof came up, follow- ed by Percy Bellingham and Lettie Lennard. ““Good-morning, Doctor Langton,” said Willie, lifting his hat. “Morning, doctor,” said Deyilshoof, with a clown’s bow. ‘*You have not given me a call,” returned the doctor, responding to their salutations, with im- **May Task why?’ “T thought you woud understand why,” said Willie. ‘We had some conversation on the sub- ject at Grove House, you may remember.” _ Dr. Langton nodded assent. __ “You see, doctor. you hold all the cards, and can’t see the game,” continued Willie, “What would you haye?” inquired the doctor, t SIR GUY’S SECRET. “T want to see my uncle or his solicitors, and to know how I'stand,” rejoined Willie. Dr. Langton shrugged and smiled, but did not reply. “Who is that pretty girl?” he asked, as Lettie and Percy entered the circus; ‘tis she an Ital- ian?” ” “She is English,” replied Willie. “That is Miss’ Lennard, the equestrienne.” ae afraid. How you can drink thatinfernal yodka I cannot imagine.” ; 5 Manasses made no reply, but rang a bell, the tintinabulation of which brought up the fat, heavy-looking landlord. “Is it possible for us to inquired the doctor, ; “T don’t know,” returned the host, speaking slowly and with an air of doubt. - “I think not; havea bottle of wine?” ‘Are you sure?” the doctor asked, looking af- | what can we have better than vodka?” ter Lettie with an intent gaze. “I could almost have sworn that [ had seen her in the Italian peasant costume.” — “English girls sometimes wear that in the streets of London,” observed Willie, with a smile, r “Ah, true!” returned Dr. Langton. “You will not trust me, then?’ he said, after a thoughtful AUSe, “T didn’t say that,” returned Willie. ‘But you don’t trust me, and I don’t want to burn my fin- gers by pulling chestnuts out of tlie fire for some- body else.” _ “Very well,” said the doctor, with a sigh, “you will repent your presentdecision, Your uncle is in this city—beware of him!” Before Willie could express his surprise at ‘the intelligence thus unexpectedly communicated to him, Dr, Jhangton had turned away. / CHAPTER XIII. = : A THIEVES’ DEN—LEVI MANASSES—A NEFARIOUS PLOT—HOW IT SUCCEEDED. Atv a late hour that night Dr. Langton was threading his rin through some of the narrow- est, worst lighted, and most disreputable lanes in St. Petersburg. He looked warily about him.as he went along, and on entering a lane darker than any he ba yet traversed, he drew his hat lower over his. forehead, and scanned with keen glances both the houses which he passed and the men and wo- men whom he encountered. “Can you tell me in which house one Manasses lives?” the doctor inquired of a hairy-faced man, who, with his hands in his pocket, was smoking a long pipe, with a large bowl. "Ts it Levi Manasses?” the man asked, without removing his pipe from his mouth, or his hands from his pockets. The doctor nodded. “Then you will find him at the Flying Horse,” said the man. ‘‘But where he lives is more than Ican tell you.” \ Langton thanked him, and crossed the lane to a wooden house, larger.and better lighted than its neighbors, from which came a confused hub: bnb of loud voices, mingled with the clinking of pots and glasses, ; Opening a door, he entered a bar-room, where through a blue haze of tobacco smoke, he saw a score or so of villanous-looking men, smoking pipes, drinking vodka—a cheap, fiery liquor dis- tilled from rye—and talking of their old crimes, and. planning new ones. f There was a general cessation of conversation on his entrance, and many a suspicious glance was Cast at him as he advanced to the bar, look- ing around,for the man of whom he was in search. : In the darkest corner sat a tal], thin, elderly man, with keen, dark eyes lighting up a parch- ment-like face. His Bermien ts were patched and greasy, and his bony fingers held a glass of that fiery spirit so much in demand. ' ‘‘Manasses!” said the, doctor, approaching him. f The man arose, and made a profound bow. “T am glad to fie my old coadjutor,” said Dr. Langton, ‘‘We had some dealings together at Warsaw, you know.” © | “T remember,” returned Manasses, “Ts there such a thing as a private room to be had here?” the doctor inquired. “Come this way,” said Manasses, lifting a flap of the bar, after drinking his vodka, and passing behind it, making, as he did 80, a sign to the landlord, a corpulent, Ree ae ae, man, who was sitting on a cask, smoking a lo mounted pipe. cay ; Manasses opened -a door, and led the way up a narrow flight of stairs, steep, dirty, and creaking. ¢ The doctor followed him into a small room, where they were in darkness until Manasses struck a match and lita candle. _ “We must have something to drink, I suppose, for the good of the house,” observed Dr, Langton, as they seated themselves at a table. “It will not contribute much to our own comfort, Tam mg, silver- \ price,” returned Gregory. “Vodka be it, then,” said the doctor, with a shrug. ‘‘A’ gill look of disgust. Not a word was spoken until the landlord had brought the liquor and had left the room. Two glasses were brought, but Langton filled only one. : ‘You must drink for both of us,” said he; “the smell of the stuff is enough forme. I have tasted the aquadiente of Spain, which tastes like a mix- ture of bad brandy and worse rum, and your yodka is several degrees worse.” “You spoke of our dealings at Warsaw,” ob- served Manasses, rubbing his bony hands one over the other; ‘It is other businessin the same line?” 4 The doctor did not immediately reply, but re- garded the speaker’s shabby garments with a look of mingled compassion and disgust. ‘You would want renovating before you could prent yourself at a bank or money-changer’s ureau with a handful of English notes,” he at length said. % “Wasily done,” returned Manasse, with a smile. ‘‘Old Gideon will fit me o1t for the day, and charge very little for the use of the garments,” ¢ ‘You would look eminently respectable in a suit of broadcloth, I have no doubt,” said Lang- ton. ‘But we will talk of that presently. My more immediate business in this pleasant neigh- borhood is of a different character. I want something done which is not in your line, Man- asses, but in which you can assist me, if you will,” “With much pleasure, doctor, that is, if it doesn’t go the length of Ht He completed the sentence by the significant pantomine of drawing the side of his bony hand across his throat, “What do you take me for, Manasses?” said the doctor, ‘‘Nay, it is nothing in that way. There is alad inthis city who knows me, and knows enough to suspect me; he may be trouble- some, and I want him kept out of the way for a time,” ; “Do you mean kill him?’ asked Manasses,. ‘*T do not mean to kill the Jad,” said Doctor Langton, who then rang the bell, which brought’ up the landlord. ‘*More vodka, gentlemen?” said he. ‘Ay, you had better send up another gill,” re- turned Manasses. ‘' Let Gregory bring it up. The gentleman wishes to have some conversation with the fellow.” The host withdrew, and in a few moments was succeeded by a broad-shouldered, coarse-featured man, with the profusion of unkempt hair which is one of the ordinary characteristics of the Rus» sian lower orders, ; ‘‘This gentleman,” said Manasses, ‘‘ requires & lad who is in his way to be made safe during his stay in St. Petersburg. , You can manage-that, Gregory?” ; ie ‘Who is the boy?” the Russian inquired. ‘An English youth in Salamansky’s circus company,” replied Dr. Langton. ‘‘I do not want im harmed—remember that. ; safely detained somewhere until I give the for his release.” Gregory nodded. “The only er rat continued the doctor, “consists in the fact that he is generally accom- panied by two other English lads and a girl, said to be English also, but who looks more like an Italian girl.” word of the stuff,” he added, with a He is only to be » “T snall require help,” said the Russian. ‘! It : ? will be a four hundred roubles’ job.’ i “Too much, my friend,” said Dr. Langton. ‘You must do it for three hundred.” 5 *T could not make it pay for the risk at that “I must have three assistants, or I will not answer for the success of the undertaking.” f ‘The finances will not run to it,” observed the ~ doctor, “Then there is no more to be said,” returned — the Russian, pouring out his second glass of vodka. ‘ : Dr. Langton did not see the matter from the same point of view as the Muscovite, however, _ and saw his way to the always desirable achieve- ment of killing two birds with On stone,
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SIR GUY'S SECRET. i “Four hundred?” he said, as if reconsidering _ the matter. : “That is the figure,” responded Gregory. ‘Well, throw me in the girl and it is a bar- gain,” said the doctor. “Agreed,” returned the Russian, “But I mist have half the money down, and the bal- anes when the job is done.” “Very well,” said the doctor. ‘Now, where swill you take them to? They had better not be in the same house, I think, and I would rather have the girl somewhere out of the city.” Gregory scratched his head. “Suppose I bring the boy here, and take the girl to a house I know, a lonely wayside inn on the Moscow road?” he said, after a pause. “Very well,” rejoined Dr. Langton. ‘They are to be well treated, mind, No unnecessary ‘violence, and the best treatment after they are “secured,” ¢ “All right,” responded the ruffian. The doctor took out his pocket-book, and took “from it a note for two hundred roubles, which he handed to Gregory. ~ eS © <"The Jad’s name is Anderson, buf he will an- swer to Nobbs,” said he. ‘‘Make no mistake, and ~<lo the job so as to leave no clew by which he and -the girl may be found.” “Tt is too late to do it to-night,” returned the ) Russian, *‘Buat it shall bo done to-morrow night. Where'shall we meet?” « “Come here the day after,” replied Langton. Gregory drank the remainder of the liquor and eretired, “T shall learn whether he has succeeded, and if he does, I will give you the money for him,” said the doctor. ‘I do not want to come to this den again, but you can come to my hotel atter ‘you haye seen Gideon and made yourself pré- sentable. Take this,.and I will give you the “English notes at the hotel.” : He gave Manasses a card, and about five pounds sterling, and then they parted. On the following night the wandering English performers engaged at Salamansky’s circus were on the way to the lodgings, when, in passing through an ill-lighted street, they were suddenly attacked by four rough-looking men, one of whom, the reader will scarcely need to be ia- formed, was Gregory. ; Percy Bellmgham was knocked down, and cloaks or shawls were simultaneously thrown over the heads of Willie Anderson and Lettie Lennard, who were then dragged through a pas- -sage into another street, where a four-wheeled _ cab was waiting. Bs Willie and Lettie were lifted into the vehicle, and three of the ruffians stepped in after them, holding the cloaks about them so as to smother the sound of their voices and render their strug- gies to release themselves unavailing. The fourth man mounted the box, which was then driven off at a sharp pace, q Devilshoof, confused for a moment by the sud- denness of the attack, ran through the passage, and saw the cab disappearing with a speel which only those who have seen a Russian hack carriage in full career can believe possible. There was, no one near, aud he ran back to Percy, who was slowly and painfully gathering rahe up, with one hand pressed against his ead, ; ‘Where are Lettie and Willie? What has hap- pened?” he inquired. Devilshoof told him what he had seen. } “Can this be the doing of Anderson’s uncle, T wonder?” said Percy, ‘But why should Lettie have been kidnapped? We must find a poliee- aman, Cupid.” hs. “We had better find a doctor first,” returned the acrobat. ‘Your head is bleeding.” Perey glanced at the hand which he had just removed from his head, and saw that it was wet with blood. : Binding’ his handkerchief over the wound, he began looking simultaneously for a surgeon and a policeman, The former was found first, and having ap- ‘plied a plaster to his wounded head, directed him _to the nearest station of the police. He and Devilshoof made their statements to the inspector on duty, who took them down in writing, and promised that every endeavor should be made to discover the ruffians by whom Willie aud Lettie had been kidnapped, and also the place to which the unfortunate young people had been taken. The cab in the meantime had been driven rap- idly, but by a circuitous route to the “Flying _ Horse,” where Willie Anderson was lifted out, and carried in by asidedoor. * see He made a desperate struggle to release him- self, but the odds which he had to contend with fi ‘is at the ‘ Flying Horse, were too great, and he was carried along a pas- sage and up a flightof stairs. : : ‘Then a door was opened, he was pushed into ‘ ene and. the cloak was whisked from his ead, Almost at the same moment the door was has- une closed, and he heard the key turned in the ock, He was in darkness, darkness so profound that not an objectin the roomy was discernible, nor was the faintest light to be detected. Stepping. cautieusly from the spot on which he stood, he discovered a low bedstead, a stool,and asmall table, : Other furniture there was none. ‘*Can this be my uncle’s work?” he asked him- self, as he thought of Dr. Langton’s warning. “Is he going to have me murdered? The Lord have mercy upon me, if that is the fate reserved for me!” . He sat down, overcome by the reflection, and leaning his elbows on the table, buried his face in his hands, ; CHAPTER XIV. LETTIE LENNARD AT THE LONE INN—A VISIT FROM DOUTOR LANGTON—A MYSTERY SOLVED -—-THE DROSCHKY—DRIVER AND THE POLICE, On the following morning Levi Manasges vis- ited Dr. Langton at his hotel. 0 Hes Manasses was well dressed on this occasion in a suit of black, and ha¥ing oiled and brushed his hair and beard, and perfufned his cambric hand- kerchief,might have passed for a financier whose name was a word of might on the bourses of Europe, " Dr, Langton smiled approvingly at the transformation which had been effected by the outlay of a few pounds, and invited Levi to take a seat. “T have seon Gregory,” said the latter. ‘‘ Has he succeeded?” the latter inquired. “Completely,” replied Manasses. ‘‘ The boy ? the girl at the other house he spoke of, the ‘White Eagle,’ about seven miles out on the road to Moscow.” ‘“ So far then all is well,” said the doctor. “Now we will talk about the notes.” We need not follow them through the conver- sation, which related to the uttering of forged notes to a large amount, out of the first pro- ceeds of which Gregory was to be paid the bal- ance of the stipulated sum for the kidnapping of Willie Anderson and Lettie Lennard. " Now for the ‘ White Hagle,’” said Dr. Lang- ton, when Manasses had left him. “‘It is strange that this girl’s face should haunt meso. It can- not be—yet why should it not?” He pursued no further the train of thought which his intended visit to Lettie Lennard had started, but dressed for a drive and left the ho-. tel. At the corner of the Neyski Prospekt, he stepped into a droschky, first asking the driver whether he knew a house called thé ‘‘ White Eagle,” situated about seven miles out, on the high road leading to the old capital. The driver replied affirmatively, as he would probably have done if he had been asked if he knew the North Pole, and with a crack of the whip, and a*sharp “tchick,”. away flew the horse along the level road, his long tail and mane | ed streaming in the breeze. The busy streets of the city were soon left be- hind, the straggling suburbs of wooden houses) were passed through, and then only green fields were seen, varied hére and there with small patches of woodland. Here they passed a few cottages, and there a farmhouse, and a mile beyond this the droschky stopped before an old wodden house, with a rus tic porch and carved balcony. : “This is the ‘White Eagle,’ ” said the driver, as he sharply reined up his horse, the animal’s flanks steaming’ and his mouth covered with foam. 5 ¢ “Wait for me,” said Dr. Langton,as he stepped from the vehicle, and gave the mana rouble, ‘Let the horse have a feed and sdéme water, ake get something for yourself. I may bean our.” The driver made a low bow, and the doctor en- tered the inn, where he was met by a stout, middle-aged Woman, who regarded him with a close and comprehensive scrutiny. “Gregory brought a girl here last night?” said the dovtor. o “Yes, my lord.” “The rascal has not deceived me, then. I want to see the girl.” Preceded by the woman, he ascended a flight of stairs, and was shown into a small, ill-fur- nished room, Lettie Lennard rose as the door was opened, zs and, seeing Dr. Langton, retreated tothe further side of the room, where she stood, silent and still, but with her heart sations, The doctor bowed, but did not immediately speak, ; The resemblance of the beautiful face he was gazing upon to another that, he remembered was still perplexing him. : “Return to your seat,” heat length said. ‘“Un- scrupulous as the means may have been by which you have been brought here, you have no vio- lence to fear from me, Miss Lennard.” ras “I will not trust you, Dr. Langton,” returned Lettie, retaining her position. ‘I know you too well to have the smallest faith in you,” “You know me?” said he, regarding her swith a scrutinizing glance, but without evincing any surprise; ‘‘and you know me, or believe that you do, as one who is not to be trusted. In that par- ticular, at least, [hope to show you that you are mistaken.” “I'o succeed, you must allow me to leave this house unmolested,” said Lettie, . “T have already assured violence to fear,” said Dr. Langton; ‘‘but I can- not let you leave immediately.” I have plans tu earry out, which might be interfered withif you were at liberty.” : “Tf understand you,” returned Lettie. ‘You have some villanous’ scheme in hand against Willie Anderson.” ‘You are wrong, Miss Lennard,” said the doc- tor, earnestly. ‘‘I have no scheme to execute coneerning Willie Anderson that has not his ben- efit for its object.” “Have him acknowledged, then, by his uncle,” said Lettie. “My dear Miss Lennard,” rejoined Dr. Lang- ton, with a bland smile, ‘‘you are too young and inexperienced to judge fairly the complicated relations between Willie and his uncle, in which LThold the balance. We will talk of a more agreeable subject, if you please. would sit down.” Lettie advanced a few paces, and sat down, with the table between herself and the doctor. ‘Now, sir, what have you to say to me?” she asked. / ; “Much,” replied the doctor, drawing a ebair to the table, and seating himself opposite to the girl. ‘In the first place I want to ask you where, and under what circumstances, you have known me. I haye a good memory for faces, and yours is one not soon to be forgotten; but though your features remind me of a face I have seen elsewhere, there are discrepancies which I do not know how to reconcile.” “You have seen me before, and in more than one place,” said Lettie.. ‘‘Cireus people wander far and wide, Dr, Langton, from St. ACTS to Melbourne,and trom Hong Kong to San Fran- cisco, : “My wanderings have nct extended beyond this continent,” rejoined Dr, Langton, regarding tan fhat you haveno © I. wish you ’ her with curious interest. ‘‘Have I not seen you in London?” “Possibly,” she replied. “Were you everan Italian girl?’ he asked, with a lurking smile at the corners of his mouth. “Do you mean ina character act?” she ask- “No,” feturned the doctor; “in the streets with atambourine.” “Yes,” said Lettie, making the avowal rather than tell an untruth. “Ah?” ejaculated the doctor, leaning upon the tabie and regarding the girl steadfastly; ‘‘this is getting interesting. You have been the bero- ine of a mystery, then. You were once mv guest at Grove House, Miss Lennard. Nay, don’t deny it; Iam sure of it.” { “JT am not going to deny it,” returned Lettie- “T assumed the disguise to attract your atten- tion, without betraying my identity with one you had seen before, feet to gain admission to your house, that I might warn Willie Ander- son of the danger which he, nevertheless, was unable to avoid.” “You must be greatly interested in that lad,” observed the doctor, Lettie blushed, but he did not observe the warm glow that for a moment enhanced her beauty. i 3 He was thinking of something she had said ‘before. “You alluded just now,” he said,after a pause, “to my haying seen you before the occasion on which you personated an Italian tambourine layer so admirably. “Did you allude to owr melo-dramatic meeting in Kent?” ; beating with rapid pul- )
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- SIR GUY'S SECRET. “We had met before that,” rejoined Lettie, a shadow coming over her beautiful countenance ‘as she spoke. : “Ah? exclaimed Dr. Langton, rising; “then “you are——” ‘ “Letitia Drannel!” said Lettie. ‘Now all mys- tery is at an end.” ae “What a beautiful littl woman you have ripened into!” exclaimed the doctor, resuming bis seat after his momentary emotion} ‘The features are the same, but what. a difference in the expression.” “You know now why I cannot trust you,” said Lettie. “Iwas buta child then, and yet you would have wrought my ruin, if I had not es- eaped from you, and thrown in my lot with strolling show people, rather than with you and the wretched old woman who sold me to you.” ‘You have had the best of the bargain, Let- tie,” returned the doctor; ‘‘so let bygones be by- gones, and let us be friends.” “Never!” exclaimed Lettie,rising, and retreat- “ing to her former position. 5 “You need not assume that attitude, Miss Lennard,” said Dr. Langton, with a smile. ‘“You have my promise that no violence shall be used towards you; and, whatever you may think of me, it will behonorably kept. I will see you again to-morrow.” ; “My mind willbe the same to-morrow as to- day,” returned Lettie. : ‘Don’t say that, Miss Lennard,” said the doc- tor, taking his hat. ‘‘It is the privilege of your vex to change your mind as often as you please. Aw revoir.” A With a smile and a bow, he retired from her presence, and returned swiftly to St. Peters- burg. The driver watched him as he entered the hotel, and then drove, in the usual headlong manner of Russian drivers to the headquarters of the police. “Well, Nicholas?” said the inspector, to whom he hastily presented himself. “The Englishman!” exclaimed the droschky- driver. ‘Him that a reward is offered for, of I don’t know how many hundred roubles; the note forgeries, you know.” “What of him?” inquired the inspector. “We is here—in this city,” replied Nicholas, gasping with excitement. “Where?” inquired the inspector. “At the English hotel in the Neyski Prospekt,” replied the droschky-driver. “I took him up this morning at the further end of the street, drove him seven miles out, and have just driven him back to the hotel.” “Your information is worth something this time if you are not mistaken,” observed the in- spector, as he proceeded to turn over the leaves of a large, ledger-like book? ‘‘Now describe to me the man you have been driving.” “Fe’s a fair-sized man, broad-chested, bald- headed, curly black hair at the back of his head, a broad, smooth forehead, aged about fifty, well- dressed, very pleasant-looking, and’has a quiet manner and pleasant way of speaking.” | Such wds the droschky-driver’s description of his fare. b ‘ “That i: the description of the man we want,” said the inspector, when he had compared it with the entries in the book before him. “Did you hear him called by any name, or see him in company with any man?” - ’ “No,” replied Nicholas; ‘the was alone when he hailed me, and he asked if I knew the ‘White Eagle,’ down the Moscow road. That is where I drove him to, and he gave me a rouble likea gentleman for myself and the horse, and stopped there about an hour.” “Very well,” said the inspector, closing the book after writing down the man’s statement, reduced to two or three lines; “if he is the’man we want you will have the reward, which will make a fine day’s work for you.” f 3 “By St. Isaac, it will!” exclaimed Nicholas, a smile spreading over his broad face. But when a detective visited the hotel and fh- quired for an English gentleman of the descrip+ tion given by the droschky-driver, it was@dis- covered that he had left” about an hour before, haying paid his bill and removed his baggage, stating that ha was going to leave theity) Will be concluded in ‘‘ Wide Awake Library” No. 344, entitled; THz ForTUNES OF AN ACRO~ BAT. A New and Elegant Work on the Life of Our Famous Funny . | PH TE FF P A Has Just been Issued. All the Readers of the WIDE AWAKE LIBRARY THE LIFE OF PETER PAD \ § Man, DD, ey Should have a Copy. An Excellent Portrait of the Above Author can be : Obtained with Each Book. | \ Wwe Sure Wou Get One! For Sale by All Newsdealers, or Address Price 10 Cents. FRANK’ TOUSEY, Publisher, Box 2730. a ¢ 180 William Street, New York. a
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: 4 COVA Orme SNARLEYOW, New and Interesting Stories TOM BROWN’S SCHOOLDAYS THE PIRATE. ROBINSON CRUSOE JACK SHEPPARD ASINBAD, THE SAILOR PETER SIMPLE PANTOMIME JOE aie THE DOG FIEN ALADDIN AND THE WONDERFUL LAMP POOR JACK ‘TOMMY BOUNCE ' SHORTY, OR, KICKED INTO GOOD LUCK THE DEVIL'S DIAMOND SHORTY IN LUCK t DICK DAUN'TLESS SKINNY, THE TIN PEDLER DICK TURPIN 18 GULLIVER'S TRAVELS \B proces 88 ca tagioe my Re oe AT S85. St RERLES 2SS23 1 AYMSSRASaTS S 2 ‘4 86 87 91 92 “ 95 96. 9 98 ALI BABA AND THE Se THIEVES THE MULCAHY TWIN: JACOB FAITHFUL ‘OLIVER OPTIC’S ENGINEER SKETCHES ieee TWIST. E IMAGE OF HIS*VATHER GENTLEMAN GEORGE GENTLEMAN GEORGE AND HIS PAL . THE aey BOXER HARRY HALE ONE OF THE BOYS OF NEW YORE THE KING OF DIAMONDS THE FOUR KNAVES THE PIRATE DOCTOR JONATHAN eee THE PIRATE CHIEF THE SMUGGLER OF ST MALO DICK fe USUAL THE MASKED HIGH- JOSEPHINE; OR, THE MAID OF THE GULF NED SCARLET. THE DARING HIGH- eae PAUL JON THE HANGM, AN OF NEWGATE THE BLACK MASK DOT BOY FRITZ DEMON OF THE DEEP “MARK GRAHAM STARBOARD JACK SAN FRANCISCO BO. TOM, DICK AND TH “YANKEE PRIVATEER peegey eng OATH CORKEY = : DICK LIGHTHEART DICK LIGHTHEART'S TRIALS DICK LIGHTHEART’S TRIUMPH CAPTAIN HAWKE THE BOSS BOY SHORTY, JR.; OR, THE SON OF HIS DAD THE PIRATE SCHOONER THE GOLD HUNTERS fHE PIRATES OF AMERICA, THE PIRATE CUTIER THE BLACK PIRATE CAPTAIN Denia THE PIRATE OF ae WILL WAFFLES. THREE viNGetuED JACK ‘ THE SEA KING LIFE LN ‘THE ee BRIGADE. BILLY BO'SWA THE DEVIL oN Tyo STICKS THE WILD ROBBER THE HIGHWAYMAN'S FATE THE LIGHTHOUSE MURDER THE ASSASSIN’S DOOM, . THE PIRATE OF THE SHOALS THE ROBBERS OF THE RHINE JACK HARKAWAY'S SCHOOLDAYS HARKAWAY junta. JLARKAWAY AMONG THE SAVAGES HARKAWAY’S ESCAPE HARKAWAY AT OXFORD HARKAWAY AND THE BLACK BAND EEA AND THE BRIGANDS HARKAWAY, AND THE SPY »HARKAWAY TRAPPED HARKAWAY AND THE ITALIANS DICK LIGHTHEART AT SEA DICK ESSER LENE AROUND THE RD. DICK VIGHTHEART IN LONDON DICK LIGHTHEART’S HEGRE THE ISLANIY OF MYSTERY DETECTIVE DAN CLAUDE DUVAL CLAUDE AND HIS PALS DUVAL AND DICK 94 CLAUDE IN A FIX DUVAL BETRAYED ON THE SCAFFOLD THE HIGHWAYMAN’S RIDE CLAUDE DUVAL’S DEAD SHOT i 99 BONNIE BLACK BESS 100° CLAUDE IN 101 it 104 105 106 14 JAUL DUVAL'S LIFE STRUGGLE CLAUDE AND THE NUNS DUVAL IN THE CLOISTER Sue ae THE LADY DUVAL D OLAUDE, "AN E SPY DUVAL IN © NS READ T THE [E LIST: CLAUDE’S BRIDE DUVAL ON THE ROAD CLAUDE'S DUEL. DUVAL AND THE MAIDEN CLAUDE LN THE TOLLS DUVAL AND THE CASKET . CLAUDE AND HIS CHUM DUVALIN PERIL CLAUDE AT BAY DUVAL AND LUKE DEATH OF CLAUDE DUVAL PACK HARKAWAY. AND HIS SON'S AD VENTURES AROUND THE WORLD HARKAWAY AND HiS SON HOME- WARD BOUND JACK RUSHTON ON AND OFF THE STAGE THE BUSH BOYS % THE RIVAL SCHOOLS FRANK. THE FISEER BOY YOUNG TOM RODMAN SHORTY, JR., ON HIS EAR FRED SPANGLE THE YOUNG TRAGEDIAN CLARENCE RHET PKDDY M'GROARTY BRIAN THE BRAVE YANK, SHANK & CO MASTER OF HIMSELF JIM JAMS; OR, JACK OF ALL TRADES THE, BOY BOHEMIAN THES MYSTERIOUS SIESSENGER BURN, THE DETECTIVE “12° OR, TRACKED TO DEATH THE YOUNG VENTRILOQU! DENVER DICK DICK DARING GIPSY BLANCHE THE BOY CLOWN THREE YANKEE CHUMS UNLUCKY TOM LATHY. THE SEA FIENDS UNDER THE OCEAN ANDY HANDY RED LEARY DANIEL BOONE HALE AND HEARTY. TIM OF THE MAIL TRAIN OUT WITH STANLEY MAD MAURICE SHORTY AND THE COUNT THE WHARF BOY THE FOUR JACKS THE MISER OF HARLEM YOUNG HARKAWAY AND THE PIRATES HARKAWAY’S TRIUMPH HARKAWAY ON MAGIC ISLAND FERRET, THE LITTLE DETECTIVE THE MAN OF MANY FACES H EN es 'S PERIL TO THE RESCUE iY THE MAGICIAN RECKLESS ROB ; LUKE LANDER, THE LION HUNTER RATTLER, THE SCAPEGRACE THE DWARF KING THE GALLANT MIDDY HARKAWAY, THE AVENGER THE RIVAL CRUSOES HARKAWAY IN AUSTRALIA AND THE CONVICTS = 4 AND THE BUSHRANGERS CHASED AROUND THE WORLD THE DETECTIVE’S MISTAKE CHIPS AND CHIN CHIN “ Me AMONG THE MORMONS. CHIPS AND CHIN CHIN'S ADVENT- URES WITH INDIANS CHIPS AND CHIN CHIN IN OMAHA ay Cece Sareea, EOE JACK HAWLEY TWO BOSTON BOYS. FRANK MARTIN, THE YOUNG RAJAH THE LOCKSMITH’S APPRENTIOE THE CHARMERS AND THE CHARMED THE RED CIRCLE THE NEMESIS; OR, TRACKED TO_ THEIR DOOM TOM TRUMP THE BOY eueee SATAN’S TREE THE SCHOOL ON WHEELS A LIGHTNING FLASH THE MYSTERY OF A hes a BOUND TO BE AN ACTO: ONE OF THE BOYS THE MYSTERY OF THE RED RIVER | THE MASKED MESSENGER THE PRAIRIE PHANTOM THE YOUNG ENGINEER FIGHTING A eee ODDS * HARRY HALSEY PONNELL O'GIG THE BURGLARS OF NEW YORE JERRY O’KEEFE’S CRIMES DARE DEVIL DETECTIVE GAME TO THE DEATH ‘PERE: ©-CHhwT DE AWAKE LI Price 8 Cents ies Copy. ms KICKAPOO JOE THE STRUGGLE FOR A MINE STUMP: STUMP AT SCHOOL STUMP AT SEA 220 STUMP AND JACK HAWSER ~~ £4 ee eee STUMP’S RACKETS BELOW /DECKS STUMP AND HIS CHUMS HOMEWARD BOUND THREE OF A KIND _ ‘eos ARI Jee tae AND DON TILE {HROTH ERHOOD OF DEATH TRICKS” UNDER THE GALLOWS ADRIFT ON A FLOATING ISLAND FRED HAZLE SHOT IN THE DARK DOONIE CRANDALL THE GIRL CRUSOE DOYLE A TRIP TO. THE CENTER OF THE EARTH DRIFTING HARRY RORY THE SMASHER AN IRISH BOY'S LUCK BEHIND THE BARS THE LOY CONVICT TORNADO TIM 1HE BOY AVENGER JACK THE JOKER THE IRISH ROBB 'S APPRENTICE FIGHTING HIS WAY A KNIGHT OF THE BRUSH FRITZ, THE TUMBLER IRON-KNUCKLED ‘TED DARE-DEVIL DICK THE DOCK BOY OF NEW YORK, CAPTAIN CARTOUCHE THE GIPSY BOY'S VENGEANCE THE BOY MINERS WATER-DUCK JIM JHE KING OF THE SWIMMING GANG THE FLYING SHIP OF THE PACIFIC THE ADVENTURES OF HARRY FRANCO CRIPPLE CHARLEY THE ADVENTURES OF TWO TRAMPS 260; PLUCKY JIMMY THE BLACKSMITH'S APPRENTICE JUMPING JOK JACK GORDON MAT McCARTHY’S FORTUNE LONDON BOB AN ENGLISH BOY IN AMERICA SCOTTY THE TERRIER PHILADELPHIA DAVE BILLY THE BOXER CADGER CON THE FALSE DETECTIVE HIGHFALUTIN’ JIM CHARLEY LANCE A SEARCH FOR A LEE: MAN COMMODORE RIP-R. TEDDY O'LYNN 27 THE SHADOW SHIP LONE JACK BLUE GRASS BOB THE WILD RIDER OF OLD KENTUCK SHOO-FLY ; or, NOBODY'S MOKE SHOO-FLY ‘AT SCHOOL SHOO-FLY IN LOVE SHOO-FLY THE GYMNAST SE eae HE YOUNG KOBBER OF THE’ * DASHING BOB JOHNNIE BURGOO RELIABLE JOE THE YANKEE CLAUDE DUVAL MIDSHIPMAN NED THE CRUISE OF T. HE OLD IRONSIDES JACK FEENEY THE YOUNG IRISH BRIGAND LANCE THE LION TIPTON BLUE FREE-AND-EASY NED TRUE BLUE: OR. RIGHTED AT LAST THAT BOY OF OURS TOM ON HIS MUSCLE BOB SHORT; OR, ONE OF OUR BOYS PERCY OF THE STRONG ARM JACK MANLY FREEBOOTERS OF CALIFORNIA CAPTAIN MERRIT AND HIS RANGERS NERO, THE HUNCHBACK BELL. RINGER 07 OF TRINITY HARRY 4EY THE ARCTIC QUREN HARRY FITZROY. J THE HEART OF OAK THE SCHOOL ON THE SEA THE GOLDEN ISLAND ¢ AMONG ieee SAVAGES EA Du Se SES A DT N BRIDGE HAROLD FORRESTER MAT O' THE MIST EVELINE DUKE MARK BRADLEY DRIVEN TO SEA ROUTING THE ISIE a TOM FOX ADVENTURES OF if PHILA, DETECTIVE RICHARD SAVAGE ANY OF THE ABOVE BOOKS CAN BE OBTAINED PROM ALL NEWSDBALERS, OR SEE POST PAID, ON RECEIPT OF PRICE, 5°CENTS PER COPY, fe Address BOX 2730. FRANK TOUSEY, Publisher, i80 WILLIAM STREET, NEW YORK. , } & hl