KNIGHTS OF THE ROAD.

Press, Volume XLVI, Issue 7278, 6 April 1889, Page 3

KNIGHTS OF THE ROAD.

"We shall be hanged if we are caught, ,, said WilL " And drawn," said Harry. " And quartered," Tom added ruefully. "It will be a case of riding to Tyburn, donbtlees," said Dick. "I can hear the gibbet clanking !" said Ned. " Nonsense I" cried Jack. "If you were caught, we could explain everything." " Explain! and get hanged for an abduction !" growled Will. " 1 don't see how that would mend matters." Do not imagine, dear readers, that I am going to tell you a low story of vulgar life because I have already brought Tom. Dick, and Harry upon the scene. The events that I am about to narrate took place more than a hundred years ago, when you would have found it a hard matter to get together six young gentlemen, even of the most exalted lineage, without having a Tom, a Dick, and a Harry amongst them. For these youns; fellows had the happiness to be born in those times which people are now apt to call " the good old days," perhaps because they know so little about the ways of them, when parents were content to give their children plain honest English names, and did not seek to show their knowledge of ancient history by choosing outlandish ones. For my part, if I had a boy, I would rather call him Dick than Sardanapalus, or even Hardicanute; but that is a matter of taste, and moreover, has nothing to do with my story. Lest there should be any doubt that my young gentlemen were really very fine fellows indeed, it should be mentioned that they all wore beautiful tie-wigs, very scrupulously powdered, and surmounted by three-cornered hats, cocked on one side most rakishly ; that their coats and waistcoats were of satin, curiously laced and embroidered; and that their silk stock, ings set off the most wonderful calves ever seen, unless indeed they were padded. But this finery was hidden in temporary eclipse under long riding-coats of sombrehued cloth; for the afternoon was cold and frosty, and a cutting wind was blow, ing in the boys' faces. Those faces, by-the-by, were adorned with little round patches of black sticking plaster. This was for embellishment merely, and did not betoken any undue haste in shaving, for, to tell the truth, the chins of some of the youngsters stood as yet in no need of that operation.

These six young bucks were strolling one winter afternoon over the broad, boulder-covered, and at that ftime almost desolate heath that stretched far away northward and westward from Tunbridge Wells. The Toad Rock -was not, in those daye, an object of wonder and interest; so, if men wished to be alone, they could easily find solitude upon the common, even in more genial weather. The fragment of conversation that has been recorded shows plainly enough ithat these youths were discussing some desperate enterprise. This may explain why they chose to walk upon the wind-swept common rather than to take their ease at the Pantiles. So great was their cense of the enormity of the deed which they were plotting, that, as they went, they peered cautiously round every rock before they passed it, lest by chance any stray loiterer should overhear them.

Before the nature of the Iniquity that was being hatched by these rosy-faced boys can oe further disclosed, it will be necessary to entpr into a few preliminary explanations. The youth named Jack, who by his contemptuous cry of " nonsense 1" sought to silence the still small voice of conscience (represented for the time being by the hangman) in the bosoms of his confederates, was clearly the most abandoned villain of the party: and he is therefore marked out, by a very simple and natural process, as the hero of this story. We are going to have no secondrate rascal, burdened with qualms and misgivings, I assure you. Our villain shall defy the hangman and all his works quite in the style that was popular in th«j good old days. His full name was Jack verinder, and he was a Templar, studying the law. Perhaps that accounted for his great contempt for the law's sanctions. When I say that he was " studying the law" 1 describe his occupation in the terras used by Mrs Verinder, Jack's mother. The idea called up in that good lady's mind a vision of her beloved Jack's pale face poring over musty tomes at midnight, by the flicker of a solitary candle, in his quiet chambers iq the Temple. When she wrote to her darling son, she implored him not to injure his health by overwork, and Jack promised to obey the parental command. Jagk held that a lawyer should have a wide knowledge of human nature, and he studied this subject very particularly—at balls, concerts, operas ; In the Mall, the Chocolate Houses, and ac other places where men, and women, do most congregate. Many a night when Mrs Verinder's head had been long upon her pillow, and she was dreaming perhaps of her dear studious boy, Master Jack would be rousing the sleepy porter at the Temple gates with a boisterous rat-tat of the heavy knocker, and—shall I say, staggering?—bed wards, shouting the name of some Reigning Toast at the top of his rather husky voice. Pray forgive him, ladies, Jack was only twenty, and in those "good old days" he would have been set down as a milksop if he had always gone to bed sober. But there came a day when Jack no longer bawled out the name of the Reigning Toast, even when he had taken more claret than was good for him, and if any one else took the same liberty, he would flush up crimson, and clap his hand upon his sword, or upon the place where his eword should have been, and swear roundly that he would have reason from the man who dared to take Ellen Tresidder's name lightly upon his lips. You see that Master Jack had fallen in love, and very desperately, too. Now came the time when he djd sit alone in his chambers at night, witfe the solitary candle by his side, and a quill in his hand. He was easing his poor wounded heart by writing poems in praise of his mistress, and laments over his hard case when banished from her presence. They were terrible jingles, those rhymes, and fortunately Ellen Tresidder never read them, or she might have conceived a contempt for Jacks intellect which would have prevented this story from being written, and that would nave been an irreparable loss. Jack contented himself wito showing his performances to his companions in the Temple—the Toms, Dicks, and Harrys already mentioned— who had mighty fun and laughter over them.

•'They are in the style of Akensidp," Jack explained, a little nettled at their merriment.

"More likely to give you one," replied the brutal Harry. Ellen Tresidden was an heiress and an orphan— a eoadition of affairs with which Jack Verinder was by ne means likely to be displeased. Bat she was a minor too, and for the present under tho guardianship of her uncle Mr Jabez Wood, alderman and goldsmith and that was a misfortune. The good alderman had prospered in his calling, and was repqted a man of great wealth. He lived in one of those fine new houses in Bloomsbury, which, at the time about which I am writing, formed the aristocratic West End of London. In order to consolidate his claim to be considered ns one of the quality, Mr Jabez Wood gave frequent entertainments; balls and routs, to which Jack, being the son of a country gentleman who was also a knight of the Shire, had the good fortune to be sometimes invited. It was these parties that gave Jack the opportunity of falling in love wjth the beautiful Miss Treeidder, and they also afforded the lady the chance of returning the compliment, which she did, very heartjly ; for »n those days it was not esteemed a mark of high breeding to appear Insensible of the charms of a lover. The two young people privily swore eternal devotion to one another. Jack was proud of his conquest,

and keot a portrait of the fair one In the lid of his snuff-box. Ellen was not less proud of her beau, and indeed she well might be proud of him, for he was a handsome young fellow enough. But when a suspicion of what was going on dawned upon the mind of Mr Alderman Wood, he did not find this lovemaking at all to hi; liking. He bad been accustomed, all his life, to look at questions from a purely commercial point of view, and he had proposed to himself to deal with his niece and her fortune upon a trade basis. It mnst be mentioned that, although Jabez called himself a goldsmith, the pursuit of that craft was not. by any means, the most lucrative part of his labours. The calling to which he devoted his beat attention and energy was that of usurer, and in the dark little parlour behind bis shop in Cheapside many a reckless heir bad been snared to his undoing. Jabez profited largely, as a rule, by tae misfortunes of bis victims; but there was one case in which the astute old money lender had been quite outwitted. Sir Ralph Cberbury, when be was but heir to the Baronetcy and the paternal estates, had found his allowance as eldest son insufficient for his needs, and had sought help from Jabez Wood. The Alderman had made strictinquiry into the condition of the Cherbury property, and fancying himself secure, had advanced large sums, at various times, upon Mr Ralph's post-obit bonds. His disgust may be conceived when, on the death of. the old Baronet, he found that the land had been quite recently mortgaged to almost its fall value, and that Sir Ralph Cherbury's bonds were worth their exact equivalent as waste parchment to make into drum-heads.

But Jabez was not the man to sit down quietly under such a loss. He was minded to recover his money by fair means or by foul. He resolved that his ward should become Lady Cherbury. Her fortune would enable Sir Ralph to pay off his debt to Jabez, and also to discharge the encumbrances upon his estate. Such an arrangement was clearly for the benefit of everybody concerned in it. Mistress Ellen would gain a title, Sir Ralph would be freed from his load of debt, and Jabez would recover his lost thousands. It was true that Sir Ralph was nearly forty, that his figure had lost the slim ness of early youth, and that his face was puffy, and flushed with a colour that was not tire ruddy glow of health. What of that ? A sensible girl would not allow such slight drawbacks to outweigh the solid advantage of a title. But it would have created too great a scandal if he had attempted to force his niece to marry Sir Ralph. Jabez dared not face the disapproval of the society in which he aspired to figure, by using any sort of compulsion. Hi 9 scheme was that the Baronet should woo and win Mistress Tresidder, and he did not fear that he would fail. Sir Ralph was quite as eager as his creditor for such a desirable arrangement, but he could not feel the same certainty of success. Mistress Tresidder was young, and romantic. Sir Ralph's looking-glass told him that he was no longer an Adonis. Worse than all, there was that young rascal, Jack Verinder, making sheep's eyes at the heiress, and getting them returned with interest. Jack received no more invitations to the alderman's house ; but there were plenty of quiet shady lanes to the north of Bloomsbury, towards Tottenham Court and Pancras; pleasanter places for lqye-making, surely, than Alderman Wood's formal drawing-room. But Jabez soon got some inkling of these pleasant stealthy rambles, and ne determined to adopt strong measures in Sir Ralph's and his own interest. So he rented a furnished country house in the neighbourhood of Tunbridge Welle, and one fine morning in the middle of November he might have been seen, accompanied by his niece and Sir Ralph, driving in his threat coach southwards, in very stately fashion, with a crowd of ragged urchins running after the splendid equipage, shouting ''Hurrah for the Lord Mayor !" misled doubtless by the gallant liveries of the servants.

The season at the Wells was over, and all the visitors had fled from the town. The Pantiles were deserted, and the Assembly Rooms were closed. "So much the better," mused the Alderman. "There will be no nonsensical diversions for Mistress Ellen. In a nice lonely country house, she will be sure to fall in love with bir Ralph, in sheer desperation, for want of something better to do." When the news of this mancenvre reached Jack's ears—and you may be sure that Mistress Ellen took pood care that he should hear of it—he decided at once to act an a devoted lover should. The long vacation was over, it is true; but had not the poor jaded student stayed at work in the Temple during the whole of it ? A reafc from his labours was absolutely necessary for the sake of his health, and what was more restorative of exhausted energies than the waters of Tanbridge Wells f And because the long winter evenings would be dreary at the Wells, now that all the fine company had left it, he persuaded a party of his friends to join him in the expedition. This is how it came about that, ' a few days after the Alderman and bis household had arrived at Torringwood Place, Master Jack, accompanied by Tom, and Dick, and Harry, and Will and Ned into the bargain, was snugly established at the Crown Inn, fully determined to have a wild roystering time of it. For Jack, although he was madly in love, lost neither his appetite nor his high spirits. He moaned out his woes in his verses, and there he made an end of them.

The inhabitants of the Wells were astonished at this unexpected invasion, for they were preparing like the moles, to go to sleep for the winter. But they did not resent it, for the unusual chance of turning an honest penny in the dull season was acceptable to them. Honest Giles Oldham, the landlord of the Crown—it would appear that all landlords were "honest" in the good old days; a very remarkable phenomenon — was delighted with his guests, for they spent their money in fine reckless fashion. He reflected with glee that he was the only man in the town who kept horses for hire in the winter, and he made up his mind that the young gentlemen should pay roundly for their pleasures. It was not so easy a matter for Jack to meet his beloved at Tunbridge Wells as it bad been in London; for her guardian was never away from Torringwood Place, and that abominable old red-faced Baronet was always hanging about her. But lovers are not easily baulked, and this couple soon found a way to meet daily unobserved. When two old gentlemen, who don't take much exercise, eat a hearty dinner at the fashionable hour of three o'clock, and finish it by companionably cracking a couple of bottles of port together, they are apt to be overtaken by drowsiness. The Alderman and the Baronet might be trusted tc be soundly sleeping at five o'clock, and then —why then, if you had been watching, you would have seen Ellen Tresidder, notwithstanding the cold and the gathering darkness, walking along a shady cypress avenue in the garden; and presently you would have seen the head of a youth peering over the wall that separated the garden from the road. In another moment Jack Verinder would have scaled the barrier and would be sauntering with his arm around the waist of his. mistress, while the cypresses shivered in the nipping wind, and the dry dead leaves of the neighbouring oaks danced on the path around them.

When Jabez had bnen at Tunbridge Wells for about a month he began to grow weary of the monotony of his life there, and he came to the conclusion that Sir Ralph took more interest in his port than in the success of his suit for Mistress Tresidder's hand. So he took an opportunity to reproach him for his negligence. The Baronet puffed out his red fat cheek.9 and looked nervqus,

•' It's all very well to talk," he grumbled; " but what am Ito do. I have asked the girl to marry mc a dozen times, and she only laughs in my face. Her guardian could make her to do it, if he liked, but he won't move a finger in the matter, although the match is worth five thousand to him."

"Of coarse I won't," retorted the Alderman petulantly. " I told you so much long ago. People would get talking, and I should lose credit amongst my acquaintances. You owe mc Ore thousand, as you very properly observe. Instead of sending you to the sponging-house, an I might, I keep you at free quarters at great expense, and give you the chance of marrying a pretty wench. A woman will wed any man if he is the only marriageable one sheeees. You have had her to yourself for a month now, and you are np further forward than when we fiFsfc'oame to the Wells. It's a scandal! You are neglecting your duty, Ralph. You don't go the right way to work with the girl. She Is young and romantic: you woo her as if she was a dowager. Try to be young and lusty, and romantic youreelf, and you are bound to succeed. Propose a runaway match: this is an excitement that no woman can resist. She'll jump at it, man, take my word for It. Then, one fine night, order a coach from G|les Oldban&'e to be waiting for you at the cross-roads, steal away with the fair one, and hey for Gretna Green! Perhaps I shall jjive chase in the morning, to convince the world that my ward has acted against my will; but I shan't catch you- I womise you."'

It was not a scheme that was likely to find favour with a middle-aged and rather stout gentleman, who dearly loved ease and comfort; but the Alderman stood in the same relation to the Baronet »9 a certain personage who shall be nameless, when he takes upon himself the function of a Jehu, if the proverb is true. Sir Ralph had no liking; for the cask thus laid upon him, but he determined toe«tay it, so that his creditor should have no cause for comSlaint. On the following morniug he took [istress Tresidder aside, and proposed the elopement as calmly as if he were suggesting a game at cbribage. " Oh. Sir Ralph ! How wicked 1" cried Ellen, "what would my guardian say?" " Lord, nay dear 1" replied the Baronet, "you needn't fear him. It was he who proposed il 1" Tμ girl thought ihat the poor man must be Joking, and she could scarcely restrain h«r laughter. Hie constant suit for her hand had weirieoue to her; but tbe novel idea of running away with the fat Baronet, and of her guardian knowing of, and winking at the escapade,, had an element of absurdity in it that atnuted her not a little. She could uot answer this ridiculous lover seriously. So she made a very fine courtesy and said : " Oh, Sir Ralph, if ever I run away with any one, it shell be with the man of my guardian's choice, I assure you !" Sir Ralph was not over-burdened with intelligence, and he took the reply as an assent to his proposal. He laid hi." hand;* upon his flowered waistcoat, and bowing low declared he was the happiest man in the world. It could hardly be said that he looked it, for he was wondering what effect a long night drive in the winter would have upon his rheumatism. Sir Ralph reported his success to the Alderman over his port that afternoon, and a little later on, Ellen was giving her version of the adventure to Jack Verinder in the garden. And you may be sure that she did not forget to tell him that her guardian was spurring this lukewarm suitor to attempt such a desperate action. Jack rapped out a very bi; oath when he heard of his rival's impudence ; and he swore that he would provote Sir Ralph to a duel without more ado, and settle the difference between them in that fashion. But before his anger had subsided a sudden thought seemed to strike him. He took a step or two away from his mistress, then he turned round, facing her, and burst into a hearty roar of laughter. "What is the matter, Jack ?" cried the astonished girl. " Dou't makn such a terrible disturbance I They sleep very soundly indeed after dinuer, but such a noise as that might waken them."

"It is splendid—splendid!" shouted Jack, regardless of this warning. "We'll do it, begad, won't we V And he seized the girl round the waist, and gave her a hearty kiss. "Jack, don't be so rough and silly," said Ellen, submitting to the rough trearment very quietly nevertheless. " Have you gone stark mad t What are we to do?" " You must consent to go off with the old donkey, my dear," cried Jack : " elope with him, as he wishes. —Ho—ho I"

" Ob, Jack 1 how could you dream of such a dreadful thingl" " I never dreamt,» better, Nell, my girl. Indeed you shall go off with him quite quietly. But mark you— l shall go icith you. You will leave Tunbridge Wells with the Baronet, but you will step out of the coach at Gretna Green leaning on my haud, and then—oh, darling 1" Then followed more kisses, which the girl seemed to find very satisfactory, although they could not have thrown much light on the young man's proposal. '-1 really don't see. Jack " she began. " Of course you don't," he interrupted. "Trust to mc. Consent to go with Sir Ralph, and everything will turn out well. Good-bye I" And before Bllen could speak another word, her lover had vaulted the gardenwall and was lost to sight.

The fact is, that Jack had lately been thinking of adopting the same means for securing a bride as Sir Ralph bad now proposed, but he had hesitated to undertake it. There was the danger of pursuit, of a hue-and-cry, of capture, to be reckoned with. To tall in aa elopement makes a man look rather foolish, and worse than that, it renders the chances of future success very (remote indeed. But Ellen Tresidcter's story, and the certainty that as the Alderman was party of the plot, he would never pursue the fugitives, had suggested to Jack's mind a plan by which he could escape with his beloved without incurring any danger whatsoever. But it was apian that he could not carry out unaided. So, when he left Ellen in the garden wondering what madness had seized him, he ran back to the Crown, dragged his companions, unwilling enough to leave their claret and the warm fire in the parlour, to the cold desolate heath, and there laid bare his plot to them. And this is what the young scapegrace proposed :—That they should cajole honest Giles Oldhatn into allowing Jack Verinder to be the postillion that should drive Sir Ralph Cherbury towards wealth and matrimony; that Jack's friends, disguised as highwaymen, should waylay the coach at some convenient lonely spot, carry off the Baronet, and detain him in' durance for twenty-four hours; while Jack himself drove on with his mistress, and married her without fear of chase being given. All this was very pleasant indeed for Jack, but it seemed hardly so satisfactory to his companions, who had to incur the chief part of the danger. Their opinions on the subject were expressed by the exclamations with which this story opens, and which Jack had the hardihood to stigmatise as nonsense. But they were a reckless set of boys, and having uttered their protests, they were overcome by their thirst for adventure, and they very soon agreed very heartily to share in the sport of trapping a baronet.

" But the thing ain't natural," said Tom. " Highwaymen with any spirit in them would carry off the wench, and not the old fogey." "Nonsense 1" cried Jack again. "You are going to hold him to ransom." But the rest of the company quite agreed with Tom's view of the case, to Jack's great annoyance, Then they went back to their inn, and ate a hearty supper. When the meal was finished, they summoned the waiter, and ordered a bowl of brandy-punch, directing that the landlord should serve it himself.

Old Giles understood this delicate mode of inviting him to share in the revel, and very soon his smiling rubicund face appeared in the parlour above an enormous steaming bowl and looking like a red sun rising through a mist. While the landlord was setting the bowl upon the table, Jack slipped stealthily behind him and bolted the door. Each youth assutned his very sternest aspect, as if he were prepared not only to drink up Esil, and eat a crocodile, but also to do any outrageous act that the exigencies of the case might demand. •' Sit down 1" said Dick. " And keep silent," said Tom. "And listen to Jack Verinder," said Harry. ' The innkeeper did as he was told, overcome with astonishment at the strange behaviour of his guests. lie remembered that they owed him for a week's board and lodging, and be began to hare qualms for his money. But he put a good face upon the matter, and smiled, and said that " they were merry gentlemen.' "We ain't," said Ned, ferociously. • We're very serious indeed. Dou't inter? rupt." Jack stood very solemnly at the head of the table, and put hi* hand into the breas;pocket of his coat. " Giles Oldham !" he began, and then he stopped. "He hasn't got pluck to bear it," be said. " Give him a glaas of punch," Giles took t'te proffered liquor nni gulped it down, feeling as uncomfortable as if he had suddenly tumbled into a nest of hornets.

" Giles Oldham," Jack began again, lay. ing, as he spoke, a roll of bank-notes upun the table, " you see that." The landlord felt a sudden relief at the sight of the money, and bis eyes sparkled. "Lord, gentlemen !" he cried, "I ain't in a bib of a hurry for the reckoning. I know a gentleman when I see him, and

" Don't interrupt !'" bawled Wil'. " You're as talkative as an old wooian,*' added Dick.

" Giles Oldham," continued Jack, " there lies fifcy poundn. Tho.sc notes are yours when you have done our bidding htfehfully. If you refuse " " We'll leave tb,e PrQWa to-night." said Harry. " And spread the report all over London that your victual is vile," said Dick.

" And that your liquor is beastly," said Tom.

"And that there's ne'er a pretty wench in the Wells," added Ned. *

Poor Oliham wasquite&i aloss to guess why all these dire taveats were hurled at him; but be was not anxious to lose hi* guests, still less did he wish to have hja house disparaged. So he prcm>ed that he would do anything iv his power to gratify the youngge^t^rnen, .Then take anaiher gift** of punch," Mid Jacfc, , * and listen!" ,„. , The landlord obeyed, not unwillingly, and Jack went on : " Some time not farhence,vou will receive an order from Sir Kalph Cherbury to send » coach and horses, late in th.Q evening, to

await him near Torringwood Place. 1 wish to be postillion that shall drive that coach."

Oldham looked amazed at such & strange request, but ho felt no disinclination to comply with it, iv consideration of fifty pounds.

G-adzooks, Master Jack," he «aid, " it's nasty weather to drive in; but if you have the fancy to save mc tiie cost of a post-boy I don't see why I should grumble. J ti."f V l ep^7i ,Roly f p ? ken >" «a«d Jack, " but that isn t the end of it. The next thing is that directly you get the order, you must tell us at once, and have live licet horses saddled on the mstaat." m, 44 / 1 i'fcf'yto make any faces over J . k P^ 1 , ot the bu *iut-'S9," replied Giles: but the horses will bo extra, of course. Thevwon t be included in the ilfty, eh V ..wt° U ,if a */ f al)y old thief," cried Jack. y^r h S.2»b!?h«ff « d bUy UP a doZea ° f th» 1 l lt " thls ..Wy<m see." explained the innkeeper. " I don't exactly smoke yourgauue. but I know that vou'ro up to fh? p"f A* VO V°« t want blabbed upon w»Ft «T WV " ft) P° unti ain't big » price to pay an nonest man for holdX££ U ? a Y Rn i then thero " 9 th « ™ k drivhig-1" hor3e - Ueßh through careless " Silence ! " shouted Dick ''Rebellion !" cried Tom." "He is condemned to'drink another glass of brandy.puuch," eald Sarrv Oldham submitted to this nnnUhmnnr with considerable meekness^lis E began to grow mellow within him under the influence of the generous liquor t "T 0 ! , s ? t,mfc .T, ou kee P «»ent," said •Tack, and we wl ll not quarrel over the lure of the horses. Perhaps hereafter, it thiugs go well, there may bo another (ifty pounds for the faithful old Boniface who could hold his tongue discreetly Tlilmo are our conditions; swear to observe them or undergo the pains of our displeasure " ' " I swear !"' said Oldham, very cravelv "Oh, that will never do !'•' cried Harry" " We must have an oath that is binding" " Who has a Testament handy 1" asked Dick.

"An innkeeper don't lielievo in the Gospels," said Tom. "We must swear him on something he reverences." "The very thing!" Routed Will, brandishing aloft the punch ladle "lie believes in this at any rate. Let him take his oath uoon it.

The sacred emblem of his calling wna tendered to Oldhatn, who took It in his hands and kissed it very demurely. Then when he had made a low , reverence to the company, he was allowed to withdraw The door of the parlour was locked again, and the conspirators set about maturing their plans. With the aid of the punch bowl matters were arranged very dramatically.; It was agreed on all hand's that there must be a desperate encounter between the outlaws and the valiant postillion before the coach was surrendered, to be effected by much tiring of pistols charged with nothing more death-dealing than gunpowder. The highwaymen were to be masked, lest by nny chauco they should be recognised by their prisoner. Sir Ralph was to be detained at some lonely country inn for twenty-four hours, as an escaped lunatic who had providontU ftlly been retaken. Then the amateur Knights of the Road were to ride for dear life to London, leave the Baronet to shift for himself, sell their horses, and settle down quietly in the Temple until the excitement conseouent upon the outrage should have subsided. It was early morning before these youths went to bed, feeling exceedingly courageous, and mighty keen for the exploit. On the following afternoon when the sun was setting, Jack jumped over the wall at Torriugwood Place, and found Mistress Tresidder awaiting him in the avenue, lie had spoken to her in parablea on the previous day, and had left her In amazement. Now that hie plan was matured, he was able to explain it fully. The Kirl listened with wide open eyea, admiring her lover's sagacity. "Uh Jack I" sho exclaimed, when he had finished, "how clever of you—howbra Vβ 1"

You ccc that she was very much in love indeed, and love may have blinded her somewhat. An unbiassed young lady would hardly have thought that it needed ' very great courage for five stalwart young fellows to capture a middle-aged gentleman.

"But, Jack," she continued, after a moment's silence, " if your*frienas should fail to capture us, what should we do thont Should I have to marry Sir Ralph!" " It's impossible, Nell," Jack answered. " They can't by any chance miss Uβ; Besides, if they aid, there would be a hundred ways of getting rid of Sir Ralph." And Ellen had such faith in her lover that she committed herself {to this wild adventure. She even made bold to press the Baronet to hasten the time for their eecret departure. This was something Incomprehensible to Sir Ralph. He cad been wooing this wayward young lady with might and main for more than a year, and had hitherto met with nothing but scorn and rebuffs. And now, whea he proposed marriage in the most uncomfortable manner conceivable. Mistress Tresidder jumped at it—almost indelicately, he thought. Ho ventured once to hint that, since everybody was bo happily agreed in desiring the marriage, it might be allowed to take place in a more - common place but scandalous and laborious fashion. Mistress Tresldder turned pale at the horrid suggestion, and declared that her heart was set on a runaway match, and that she would marry Sir Ralph at Gretna Green, or not at all. The Baronet groaned, cursed the obstinacy of womankind, and consulted his friend the Alderman upon the subject; but he did not derive much solace from the interview. Jabez Wood's vanity was flattered when be found that he had been keen enough to discover the right way to win hfcs ward's affections, and we know that he had reasons of policy foe favouring the elopement. "Ralph, you're an ass," he said, very bluntly. " Women are queer cattle, and! you mu9t take them as you find them. It isn't every day that a man gets the chance of a fortune for the trouble of taking a journey to the Borders. If you don't go off with the wench while she la willing, and that pretty promptly, my patience will be exhausted, and you may find yourself lodged in the Fleet, instead of being in the arms of a pretty woman. But perhaps, you would prefer it." Sir Ralph pondered over his hard caw for a day or two, and I suppose that he came to the conclusion that of the twe evils he did not prefer the Fleet. At any rate, on the afternoon of Christmas eve, Giles Oldham entered the parlour when the conspirators were sitting, chafing at the delay of their exploit, and having closed the door, he winked twice, very sagaciously. ''Master Jack," he said, " you musfc r.!de post-boy to-night. . Your horses are saddled and ready."

A few minutes afterwards fl.ve horsemen, muffled in long riding-cloaks, might have been seen to dash out of. the yaraab the Crown and take the cofto , northward from Tunbridge Welle, At.half-past nine in the evening a pair, of horses stood harnessed to a lumbering old coach in the same yard. Giles Oldham was lighting the lamps, and the ostler was blowing his flngei* to warm them. Master Jack-came out of the inn, dressed in a weatherstained blue jacket faced with white, buckskin hreechea and high jack boots,,, and with a brace of pistols in his belt. Before he mounted he slipped a roll oi notes into the innkeeper's hand. "Thatshall be doubled," he whispered, " if things go well." "Thankyou kindly, Master Jack," eaid Oldham ; '' I wish you a pleasant journey, and withal, a Merry Christmas." > * , k " I am certain of that, old buck,' ■■■cried* Jack, y. itjt a Fau<?h; and then he Bpr*n£ into the saddle, crooked his long whip,, and the coach thundered oat into the roiad.. GUesj Oltlham stood in the gateway, fingering the note* with one hand and scratching his head with the other. He watched the receding coach until it turned a corner.

" What the devil the yonnff scapegrace", is after, I can't mafce out," he muttered as he went b&eU lua warm flre-eide. •' A mad Ohriatmaa frolia it is, to ba-T sure I Hows'ever, fifty pound ia fifty"* pqund, and he shall pay smartly tot damages U he brings my cattle to grief.* {To be continued.)

The horse is thicUly set in foifi-lore, sayt the Popular Science Monthly. j n parts of Germany a horse's head »iiay etill ba seen over the doors o£ cattle stalls or about.the house—a custom whicft survives among, ourselves in the luck attaching to a horse c hoof. This, porhape, dates from the custom of our ancestors, mentioned by' Tacitus, vf keening "white horses .In secured grpves at the public expense, and idle, and foroeastlog the future Irpnfc»>«a? neighinea. A horse's neighing* »* w presaged victory to a warrior, alienee prefect defeat, and jU^^SSe cM SKJ? is ASSAYS safeguard against whi<£t.heyare abf «« tUreatenea wM *