CHAPTER XL.

Bruce Herald, Volume III, Issue 80, 19 October 1865, Page 6

CHAPTER XL.

The Housemaid of Woodbine Cottage. In less than a quarter of an hour after leaving the gate of Maudesley Park, the fly came to a standstill bafore Woodbine Cottage. Mr. Carter paid the man and dismissed the vehicle, and went alone into the little garden. He rang a bell on one side of the halfglass door, and had ample leisure to, contemplate the stuffed birds and marine curiosities that adorned the little hall of the cottage before any one came to answer his summons?j he rang a second time before any one came, but after a delay of about live minutes a young woman came, with her face tied up in a coloured handkerchief. The detective asked to see Major„Sernon, and, the young woman ushered hi 01 into a little parlour at the back of the cottage, without either delay or hesitation. The occupant of the cottage was sitting in an arm-chair by the fire. There was a very little light in the room, for the only window looked into a miniature conservatory, where there were all manner of prickly and spiky plants of the cactus kind, which had been the delight of the owner of Woodbine Cottage. Mr. Carter looked very sharply at the gentleman sitting in the easy chair; but the closest inspection showed him nothing but a good-looking man, between fifty and sixty years of age, with a determinedlooking mouth, half shaded by a gray moustache. 41'vd come to make a few inquiries about a friend of yours, Major Vernon,' the detective said; 'Mr Dunbar, oi Maudesley Abbey, who has been missing since four o'clock this morning.' The gentleman in the easy chair was smoking a meerschaum. As Mr Garter said those two words,. ' four o'clock,' his teeth made a little clicking noise upon the amber mouthpiece of the pipe. The detective heard the sound, slight as it was, and drew his inference from it. Major Vernod had seen Joseph Wilmot, and knew that he had left the Abbey at four ©-'clock,, and thus gave a little start; of surprise-- when he found that the exact hours was known to others. 1 You know where Mr Dunbar has gone?' said Mr Carter, looking still more sharply at the genjtlemah in the easy chair. *On the Contrary, I was thinking of looking in upon him at the Abbey this evening.' • *• Humph. V muttered th*edetective£|thett its bo use lay asking you any questions on the subject/.. ' None whatever. Henry Dunbar is gone-' away from the Abbey, you say^ <Why, I thought he was still under.medical supervision —couldn't move off his sofa, except to take a turn upon a pair of crutches :, ■* I believe it was so; but he has-^isap-jpeared notwithstanding.' : * What do you mean by disappeared ? He has gone away, I suppose, and he was free to. go away, wasn't he*?* *t)hl of course, perfectly free.' lThen. I don't so much wonder that he went/ exclaimed the occupant of the. cottage,, stooping* over the fire, and knocking the ashes out iof his meerschaum. * He'd been tied; by the •> leg- long enough,, poor

deyil ! JBut f how" is, it you're running-^about after him, as if he was a little boy 'that had bolted t from his precioqs mother T You're not the sure-eon' who was attending: him*' % c Nb, Fm employed by Lady Jocelyn;" in fact, to tell you the honest truth/ said the detective, with a simplicity of, manner^ that was: really ch arming" j 'to tell' you ' the honest truth, I'm neither more nor less than a private detective, and I have come down; from London direct to look after the missing* gentleman. You see, Lady Jpcelyn is afraid the long illness and fever,, and all that sort of thing, may have had a very bad effect upon her poor father, and that he's a little bit touched in the upper story, perhaps ; and, unon #my word/ added' the detective frankly, ; T think this sudden, bolt looks very like it j in which case I fancy we may look for an attempt, atsuicide. What do you think now, Major Vernon, as a friend of the missing- gentleman, eh ?' . , The Major smiled. ' Upon my word,' he said, ' I don't think you're sa very far away from the mark. Henry Dun bar has been rather queer ia his ways since that railway smash.'' ' Just so. I suppose you would't haveany objection to my looking about your house, and round the garden and outbuildings ? Your fiiend might hide himself somewhere about your place. When once they take an eccentric turn, there's no knowing where to have 'em.' Major Vernon shrugged his shoulders. *I don't think Dun bar's likely to have got into my house without my knowledge/ he said : * but you're welcome to examine the place from garret to cellar, if that's any satisfaction to you.' He rang a bell as. he spoke. It was answered by the girl, whose face was tied Up.'" .-. ..- •. „-.. ..:.;■ ...... ..- --* Ah, Betty, you've got the toothacheagain, have you ? A nice excuse for slinking your work, eh,. my girl ? That's about the size oil your toothache, I expect i Look here nowj this gentleman wants to see the house, and you're to show him over it, and over the garden too, if he likes,, dnd be quick about it, for I want ,my dinner.' . The girl curtseyed in an awkward countrified manner, and ushered Mr Carter into the hull. ' Betty !' roared tha master of the house, as the girl reached the L fqot/ of- the. stairs with the detective, * Betty, come here'!' She weiitback to her master, and Mr Carter heard a whispered conversation,, very brief, of which the last sentence only was audible. ■ That last sentence ran thus : 'And if you don't hold your tongue,. I'll make you pay for it.' * Ho, ho ;' thought the detective, f Miss Betsy is to hold her tongue, is she ? We'll ' see about that.' - , • . The girl came back to the hall, and )fr> ■ Mr Carter into the two sitting- rooms, I the front of the house. They were small" "^ rooms with small furniture: They were old-fashioned rooms, with low ceilings, and queer cupboards nestling, in ov^jf-of-the-way holes and corners ; and Mr Carter had enough work to do in squeezing himself into the interior of these receptacles, which all smelt, more or less, of chandlery and rum— that, truly seaiqan like spirit having been a favorite beverage with the late inhabitant of the cottage. ' ' After examining half-a-dozen cupboards in the lower regions, Mr Carter and hi* guide ascended to the upper story. The girl called Betsy ushered the detective into a bedroom,; which she said was her master's, end the occupation of the Major was made manifest by. divers articles of apparel lying on the chairs and hanging on the pegs, and, furthermore,, by a powerful effluvium of stale tobacco,, and a coilection of .pipes and cig&r»bqxeson the chimney piece. The girl opened the, door of an impos-sible-looking- little cupboard in a corner, behind a fourrpost bed +■ but instead of inspecting the : clipboard, Mr Carter madea sudden rush- at the door, locked it, and., thett put the i key m his i pocket. T No, thank you, Miss Innocence/ he said, '1 dbn't crick my aeck, or break my back, by looking into anymore of your cupboards. Just 3'oUi come here.' ' Hem 7 was the window; before which Mt Carter planted himself! The girl very quietly. She would have .been a pretty-looking girl but for her toothafche, c 6r rkther, but for the' colonred handkerchief which, muffle^ the lower part

of her iace, arid^was ti&ftn a kiipt Jit the top of her heaci. As it Vas, Mr. Carter could only see that she had pretty brown jeyes, which shifted leftand right as he looked ..at her. ..-'.M;'7 ..'.".. "''"■ .'.'.'-,.,.!■:"' •' 'Oh, yes. you're an artful young hussy, and no migftike, ' he, said;, 'and thattooth-i ache's only a judgment upon you. What was that your master said to you in the parlour just now, eh? What was that he told you to hold your tongue about, eh?" Betty shook her head, and began to twist . the corner of her apron in her hands. ' Master didn't say nothing, sir,' she said. \ 'Master iiidri't say nothing! Your morals and your grammar are about a match, Miss Betsy ; but you'll find yourself rather in the wrong box by and by, , my young lady, when you find yourself committed to prison for perjury ; which crime, in a young female, is transportation, for life,'):asded Mr, Carter, in an awful tone. ; 'Oh, sir,' cried, Betty, ' itj isn't me; it,s master ; and, he. do swear so when he's in his tantfumSv "If tjie 'taters isn't done to his likin',. sir, he'll grumble about them quite civil at first, and then; he'll work his self up like, and take; and throw them at me one by oiie,' and his language gets worse with every 'tater. Oh, what am I .to do, sir ! I.;daren't go against him. I'd a'most sooner be transported, if it don't h,urt much.' ' ' '-Don't ?,hurt much ! ' exclaimed Mr Ca^jtfer, '/why, there's a, ship-load^ of cat-o'-nine- tails goes pujt to ,Van Diemen's Land eypry qriarier^ an(i reserved Wlcial for young females/ \ |"\ \ \ * Oh, I'll^llyou all sw/ cned Mr Vernon's housemaid. ; * sootier Jhan be took up for perjuring, I'll tell youWerythinfr/ | * I thought so/ said Mr Carter ; ' but it isn't much, .yqu'ye got. to tell me. Mr Dunbar came .here this morning on horseback, ; betweett^fi ye n nd, six V * It was ten minute^ past six, sir, and I was opening the shutteri.' ' Precisely.' ' And the gentleman came on horseback, sir, and was nigh upon fainting with the pain of his leg; and he sent me to call up master, and master helped him off the horse, and took the horse to the stable; and then the gentleman sat and rested in master's little, parlour, .at .the back or the house; and thgn >they sent me for a fly; and before eight O'clock the gentleman went away.' . .. . Before eight, and it was now past three. Mr Carter looked at his watch while the girl made her confession. * And, oh, please don't tell master as I told you,* she said ; ' oh, please don't, sir.' There was no time to be lost, and yet the detective paused, for a minute, thinking w,hat he had just heard. the girl told him the truth, or was got up.; to throw him off the terror of her master. Bmß^^muine. - She was crying now, real "tears, that streamed . down her pale cheeks and wetted the handkerchief that covered the Iffeer part of her face. ' I can fina%it at the Rose and Crown whether any body did go away in a fly, the;,detective. thought. * : Tell your, : master I ■ ye. ; searched the place, and haven't found his friend/ he said tn the girl ; * and; that > I haven't got time to wish him, good morning.' The detective said this as he went down stairs. The girl went into the little rustic porch with him, and. directed him to the Rose and Crown at Lisford. He ran .almost ' all the way to the little inn ; for he was growing desperate now, with the idea that his man had .escaped him. ' . .'■' : ' ;' /'' ':': '■ ' '■■ 1 Wrhy, he can jdp^^;an ything with such a : start,' he Itlioiijg-ht ;to Kjmself. * And yet there's his Janieness, tHat^ll go against him.' At the Rose and Crown, Mr Carter was informed; that a fly had been ordered at seven o'clock "that morning by '- a young person from Woodbine Cpttage/ The vehicle' had not;.lpnjg;;come in, and' the driver was somewhere about the stables. I The^ drivejr^as' «timm^ired at Mr; Carter's request, and. .ti^m t h^m%\ißjie^^i^ ascertained: that 'a^ gentljß^siny^r^pp^ii;,!!^ to the^ very npse, ,a coat lined with fur, and walkingivery Jame, had been taken up. by- him at Woodbine Cottage. This gentleman hadj brdeired the -dri ver to go as fast as he could to Shorncliffe Station ; ( but. pn reaching the station, it appeared Xhe, gentleman was too late ibr the train he wanted to go by, for he came back to th^'%; : lunpingftwfril, and told

thegnaii to drive to |laningsly. The driver explained to Mr CaVter, tliat Maningsly was a little Viliagi»tiire6 mjles from Shorn* cliffe, on a by-road. Here the gentleman in the i'ur coat had alighted at an ale* house, where he dinedj and stopped, readI ing the paper aiid drinking hot brandy rind * wa%,' till ajtpr jone;b?clock! 'He ftcteci Altpgetberquite.tbe gentlernanc apd paid for the driver's dinner and brandy and water, as well as? his own. lA|;J]alf< after one he got into the; fly^anfl ofcderedthe man to go back to Shorncljff| Station. At five minutes. after, two he al|ghted at the station, where he. paid and dismissed the driver. .;,. This was all Mr Carter wanted to know. * You get a fresh; horse harnessed in dpublerquick time, 3; he said,' and drive me to Shorncliffe station.' i While the horse, and; fly were being got reidy, the detective went into the baiyand .orcered,a glass of steaming brandy and water. 11e Was accustomed to take liquids in a. boiling, state, as^the greater part of his existence was spent in hurrying from place ;to place, as he was hurrying now. ,;'Sawney's got the chance' this time,' he thought. * Suppose he was ito'Sell'me, and go in for the reward.' • 1 The supposition was not.^pleasant one, and Mr. Qarter looked graveffbr a minute or so, but he quickly relapsed into a grim smile. • -P :'. : ' I think Sawney knows'me too well for that,' he t said ; ..* I think; Sawney is too . well acquainted with me to try that on.' The fly came round to. the inn door while, Mr Garter reflected upon this. He sprang into the vehicle, and was driven off to the station. At the Shorncliffe station he found_ everything very quiet. There was no train dtie for some time yet: there was no sign of human life in the ticket-office or the waiting-rooms. There \vm a porter asleep upon his truck on :the; platform^ and there was one solitary young female sitting upon a bench against the) wall, with her boxes and bundles gathered round her^ and an umbrella and a pair of clogs on her lap. Upon all the length of the platform there was no sign of Mr Tibbies, otherwise •Sawney Tom. ; Mr Garter awoke the porter, and sent '.: hiinlito jthe staiion-masteiL to ;ask. if any letter addressed, to Mr Henry Carter had . been Jleft,in i,that functionary's, care.. The porter wentvyawning to make this inquiry, and came back by and by, still yawning, to say that there was such a-letter, and would the gentleman please step into the station-master's office to clajrh and receive it. The note was not a long one, nor was it encumbered by any. ceremonious phraseology- . * Gent mi furred coat, turned- up 2.10, took a ticket for Derby, 1 class, took ticket for same place self, 2 class, —YrS;to cbinind, ■■ T. T/ Mr Carter crumpled up the note anjl dropped it into his pocket. The station* master gave him all the information about the/trains. There was a train for Derby at seven o'clock that evening; and for the three- and- a half weary hours that must intervene, Mr Carter was left to amuse himself as best he might. . . 'Derby,' he muttereel to himself, 'Derby. Why, he. must he; going north; and what, in the name of all that's miraculous, takes him that way V