Found Dead. By the Author By "Blondel Parva."

Otago Witness, Issue 904, 27 March 1869, Page 20

Found Dead. By the Author By "Blondel Parva."

OEAPTEH XIX. — A LTCTURE ON A SARSDEN STONE.

Although, as has been mentioned, the sketching excursions of Charles Steen and Christie had even extended to the lof fey downland at a considerable distance above Allgrove, there was one spot upon the downs which offered more temptations to their pencils than any other, and yet had hitherto remained unvisited. It was several miles away (not withstanding that it was part of the Mordeu property), and perhaps the distance made Christie hesitate to tindertuke an expedition which •would necessarily cause her mother to be left at home alone for many hours. It was not certainly that she . anticipated any objection from her, for although the village gossips held up their hands, and wondered at Mrs Blissett's imprudence in allowing c those two young people to be thrown so much together,' the widow her- i self by no means discouraged the intimacy. It is probable that so sensible a woman had her own reasons for this indulgence. She had the utmost confidence in Christie, while her regard for Charles had grown by this time to be almost that of a mother for her boy. She was no longer rich, or occupying any high social rank, and perhaps her experiences led her to attach a much smaller importance to such matters than is paid by folks who have never fallen through the thin ice of 'position' into the stream of real life. Or perhaps (and this idea would sometimes intrude itself upon Steen, and chill him to the marrow) she was paying the young man, as it were,' 'on account,' for a service which, whether he had promised

to render her or not, she most certainly

expected of him— albeit not a syllable had she spoken on the subject since that dread interview in December, and it was now early June. The excursion in question was eventually prop ised by the widow herself. " Why don't you take Charles to the Druid Stones V said she to Christie, as tlifv were at breakfast one morning. " He has never been there, has he ?" "No, mamma. But it's bo far ; and we did not like to leave you so long alone." " Oh, nonsense. I shall do very well, m f dear. I will write and ask Mrs Groves to loud me her little pony- carriage tomorrow '- then Charles can drive you there and* "back quite comfortably. Be sure you call upon old Jem Templar. I have Bot heard of the honest fellow for these six months ; he was the very last person, you know, about whom your poor dear father spoke, and I Bhould much like to have news of him. " So the next morning early, a charming one ' in the front of June,' the two young folks set out for the downs in the manner suggested ; the bind^seat of the little carriage was occupied with their portfolios and. a, luncheon-basket, for, of course, Christie Eat in front ; but as for Charles, if it had not been ' for the look of the thin<V he might almost as well have been on foot, siuce'he had to walk up the whole j mile-long hill, in consideration for the J duodecimo pony. Once on the summit, J however, they drove along at a trot over tlie same ground on which we accompanied the poor squire six months ago ; but the hard unyielding sod was now springy turf ; the nipping air was exchanged for the aoft breath of summer, laden with fresh thymy scents and cheery sounds, with the fitful music of the sheep-bells, and the hurried yet, so perfect notes of the unseen sit v lark; while the fog that had hung around the doomed man (like that airy mantle which the gifted seer perceives around those whom death awaits) was nowhere to be seen, nor scarcely so much as a cloud in the clear blue vault of heaven. Below, the very world seemed stretched before them, so extensive was the view ; and above woods, and tower, and steeple stood out, more conspicuous lhan all, that cluster of funereal trees called jSTewnharn Clump. As ske^ pointed it out to her companion, how little did the young girl think that "I shall soon s^e Newnham Clump" were her father's latest words ; nor did she even know that under it, though hidden from them by the swelling upland, lay the scene of his death. But the particular spot they had come to see was but little aLtered by variation of season ; its grand mysterious features were independent of storm or sunshine, wind or calm. As a man of the # Avorld, who has reached the ordinary limit of human 3ife, smil°s contemptuously at the endless social pother he sees going on about him, these monuments of antiquity, that had watched the warring of the elements for unnumbered ages, stood silent, grim, unmoved, throughout th» changes of the year. Perhaps by contraat°with the growing-green about the,m, .the j«rtf.dcfeV» fte'es in Jegf, % tfwwJwp

that strove to mellow their gaunt looks in vain, the monstrous stones seemed even more weird and unnatural than in the wintry gloom ; the few that still maintained their original proportions towered above the one or two mean cottages, as though contemptuous of the puny works of modern men ; and those scarred by fire, and broken by irreverent hands, cast their jagged shadows for a curse upon the barren soil. There was no green hill, as at far-famed Avebury, on which a visitor could mount, and mark the whole circle of their range, and note where here and there a pillar of the Past was missing ; but, on. the other hand, the spot was bare and open to the view ; the area, too, was smaller ; and Charles and Christie, having put up their quick-stepping pony in a shed adjoining Jem Templar's cottage, with a bag of corn hung round its neck for a reward — more appreciated than any collar of the Uath by human creature — they circumambulated the entire ' village/ admiring each stolid stone like make-believe idolaters, or noting the green depressions which marked — like scars upon earth's face — the place whence it had been ruthlessly removed. It is doubtful whether any two members of the -Archaeological Society, note-book in hand, ever spent a morning among the Druid Stones, we will not say in a more improving manner, but at ail events in one more entirely satisfactory to themselves We do not say even that their talk was religiously confined to antiquities and the past ; they were so far from antique themselves, that they may be excused if they sometimes convert d. of the present and speculated on the future.

Their palfeological duties performed, the young folks returned to Jem Templar's cottage, in the garden whereof stood, behind a row of beehives, which it sheltered from the north, one < f the finest of these stone giants, which, after luncheon, they proceeded to sketch, while the proprietor of the little plot watched their proceedings close by, with an interest which, as the likenesses grew on the cardboard, became slightly mixed with awe.

" Well, now, -that's downright wonderful, miss," said Jem, approvingly, as Christie's dextenous lingers approached the end of their toil. "It's like as Lke can be. I shouldn't ■wonder if Dr Fungus (who I just see a-coming along the avenue there, as he calls it) was to object to your taking the book home with yon, as likewise to this young gentleman's doing it. It's just carrying the stone away with you ; and the doctor would send a poor man to prison for even chipping one on *em up for a pigsty, if he had his way."

Christie laughed heartily at this honest compliment, and turned her eyes to ' the avenue,' up which was plainly to be perceived a large blue umbrella, jogging along upon a little horse. As these objects drew nearer, the doctor himself came into view between them, with the white hat and blue spectacles, which were throughout all seasons as permanent institutions as were the Druid Stones themselves.

" 1 hope I see you well, Miss Blissett ?" said he, a little stiffly, as though doubtful of his reception from that young lady ; "and how are you, Mr Steen ?" added he, more graciously. " Sketching, eh 1 I am glad to see young people with a love for antiquities. Now I shall be glad to lionise you over the whole place ; and I think I may say, without conceit, you will not find so good a guide ia the county."

The little doctor, who spoke nothing but the truth regarding his scientific knowledge, for it was both profound and extensive, shared the weakness for lecturing common to so many of his learned brethren. The idea of having a couple of young neophyteß to introduce to the mysteries of archaeology, made hi 9 mouth water ; he looked upon the youthful pair with no less satisfaction than an archDruid might have done upon a couple of tender victims awaiting the sacrificial flame in a wicker prison.

" You are very good, Dr Fungus ; we have been all round the place already," said Christie, simply. "All round the place!" repeated the learned doctor, as though to convince himself he had heard arisjht. "I am afraid, young lady, you might just as well have stopped at home. To go ' all round the place,' aa you call it, properly, and in an intelligent manner, would take you six months at least. I daresay, now, you have not even observed that these stones are unhewn — a fact which at once establishes the priority of this temple, in point of time, to Stonehenge itself." "We did observe that fact, sir," answered Charles, deferentially, his heartstrings tickled with secret mirth..

" And no great credit to you. either, sir," observed the lecturer, displeased at the interruption, "for only making use of your eyes. You know little or nothing, I will venture to say, about the respective merits of the Planetarium and Ophite Yo% are unwftfe ths

yon are now beholding the mystic union of the serpentine and solar supertitions. — Brine out the ladder, Jem, and from, the top of this stone J will point out to the young lady and gentleman the outlines of the Ophite Hierogram." " I am afraid mamma will be expecting us," said Christie, quietly ; " so you must excuse us to-day, Dr Fungua. At another time, ■when we have more leisure, we shall be delighted to hear all about the Fire- a- gun." "The Hierogram!" explained the doctor, viciously. " Dear, dear, what ignorance ! Why, Jem here knows more abont it than that. — Don't you, Jem ?" " Well, I don't rightly understand the matter myself," said modest Jem, scratching his head, "though I'm sure it aint fur want of your teaching, doctor. But what I do wish is, as I could pick up another ancient coin or two among these stones, like that as I took down to the Hall just afore your poor father died. Your good mother gave me half-a-crown, miss, and promised to send me what it fetched if the thing turned out to be real silver ; what I suppose it didn't, since I've heard nothing about it." " It was not likely to be silver, Jem," observed the doctor, testily ; "or if it were, it would be most probably an old c o m-piece, that dropped here from some v suor's pocket, and which you took for an ancient coin." "Nay, nay, doctor," answered Jem, resolutely. "If we aiat all lamed folks like you, we aint born naturals neither, so as not to know good money when we sees it. That were no crown- piece aa I found in yon potato-field. It were an ancipnt coin, I tell you ; and there was

siimmut like a man and horse upon it — as it might be the doctor and his powny, only the powny had neither saddle nor bridle, and the doctor was without his umbrella and everythink else."

Charles roared at this numismatic description ; while Dr Fungus, who was slightly disconcerted by Jem's independence, turned to Christie, and inquired, in quite a subdued tone of voice, whether she wa3 not of his own opinion with respect to the crown- piece. " I did not see the coin myself," said she, "but poor pipa thought it was a very curious one. Strangely enough, he had put it in his pocket on that sad morniog he started for Newnham, for the express purpose of showing it to you, whom he said he was sure to see at the meet."

"You don't say so!" cried the little doctor, much excited. " What a dreadful thing !" (He was alluding to the loss of the coin, and not of the squire.) "To be_ lost for ever, perhaps, just after its being seen for once in a thousand years ! Why, what on earth can have become of it? It may be priceless, ma'am. Who can have got it ? Confound it sir !" added he with violence, turning short round upon Steen, " who has got it 1 He's a thief, whoever he is. Did you hear -what that young lady said, sir ? It was meant for me."

" Well, I have not got it, doctor," returned Charles, laughing; "though if I had, you should have it for the crownpiece you despise so much. — I think we must be going, Miss Christie ?— Will you please to ' put- to ' the pony, Jem 1" "Stay. — Just place the ladder against yonder stone, Jem," interposed the doctor. — " While the carriage is getting ready, my young friends, I can at least point out to you the principal features of the Ophite Hierogram."

All three accordingly climbed to the top of the stone, which, large as it -was, scarcely offered accommodation for so many persons ; a slight wind had arisen, very sensibly felt at their present elevation, and, moreover, the two young people trembled with suppressed laughter, ~so that their situation was perilous aa well as ludicrous in a high degree. " Banish for a moment from your minds," commenced the lecturer, " all thought of the intervening ages, and place yourselves"

" Stop a bit ; I'm slipping," cried Christie.

" Place yourselves in the far-back past"

" Tou'll place me in the illimitable future, doctor, if you don't stand still,*' said Charles. " For goodness sake, don't whirl that umbrella."

j if Vxa not whirling it, sir," answered the doctor, irritably ; "lam pointing — if you vs ill pay me the favor of your attention — to yonder avenue. You are doubtless aware that all these Sarsen, or, more properly, Savsden stones — of which there are supposed to have been originally three hundred and sixty-five" " For the days of the year V inquired Christie, under the impression she had made an intelligent observation. " Good Heavens ! -what did the Druids know about our calendar, ma/ am 1 ?" said the doctor, sharply, "Do you suppose they kept Shrove Tuesday and Ash "Wed- j nesday? I Bay, it is evidence enough! that these Sarsden stones portray the course of the Serpent, and that the scene before us jflajnly pymbtiufeg

1 1 There is the coil, the tail, the head My hat, my hat /" ejaculated the little doctor at the top of his voice, aa the white hat. lifted by a puff of wind stronger than common, rose gracefully into the air, disclosing its blue lining, and falling upon the sloping down, rolled merrily away at the rate of some six miles an hour. Paralysed with mirth, his companions could offer no assistance ; and the lecturer descending hastily from his rostrum, bad himself to mount and ride bareheaded and blue- spectacled after his vagabond property. Nor was its recovery an easy matter : for although he presently overtook it, his_usually docile steed, alarmed at the revolving object which he had hitherto only known as stationary upon his master's head, declined to approach it, and thus the chase continued until pursuers and pursued were hidden by the slope of the hill. The period of their return being so doubtful, and the opportunity of escape from archeology so tempting, Charles and Christie in the meantime set off home. They were delighted with their day's trip, and promised themselves another visit to the Druid Stones as soon as practicable : . they planned this and that excursion of pleasure for the next day and the next ; fate seemed to have in store an endless chain of such wholesome enjoyments. Is it not generally when one day is the prototype of its successor, and there is nothing to give hint of change, that the greatest vicissitudes of human life take place? just as on the most still and cloudless days the volcano bursts, or the earthquake c smacks its mumbling lips o'er the thickpeopled city.' It was long before Charles and Christie sought stream, or wood, or down again in one another's company, nor indeed, under the same circumstances, were they ever to do so more.

CHAPTER XX. CONTAINS, ASIONG OTHER THINGS, A PRESCRIPTION FOR SUCCESS IN LIFE. Directly the young folks saw Mrs Blissett's face, they knew that something had happened of an unwelcome sort. " There is bad news, Charles/ said she at once ; " bad, at least, for Christie and me." " Then certainly bad for me, dear madam," said Stsen, gravely. " Well, I fear it will be, my dear young friend. Here is a letter for you from Mr Frederick Blissett." (They had left home upon their excursion before the post came in, otherwise the calendar of their lives would have contained one -white day the less.) "And I know, in part, the contents of it, since he has also written to Mr Mellish. - You are getting too much attached, it seems, to us poor folks ; and you are to go away. Mr Frederick Blissett" (the widow always spoke of him thus, as though he were a younger brother still) " has returned from abroad, and requires your immediate presence in town. " White aiid silent, Charles took up the letter, while Christie, white as he, watched the expression of his eyes, as they rapidly hurried through its contents. There was not a ray of hope or comfort in them. " It is quite true/ sighed he, " dear Mrs Blissett. lam to go. I have long expected this. I have felt that I was too happy here." He glanced involuntarily towards Christie, but her face was turned aside, and even while he yet was speak ing, she noiselessly left the room. "I have long expected this, too, Charles/s aid Mrs Blissett. "We have all our work to do— all, at least, whom God has not thought fit to lay His hand upon, as here, and render useless ;"- and she pointed to herself for an instant with touching pathos. " Your interrupted task" — she spoke with the utmost deliberation, and gazed upon him as though she were reading his very soul — "must now be resumed. There is no need to refer to it, I see." Perhaps she feared that the young man's strength of mind would again succumb if she should adjure him with that earnest solemnity she used before ; but if so, she took an unnecessary precaution. The wholesome toils and pleasures of the last six months had done much to dispel the vague oppression her former words had laid upon Charles Steen. He had ventured more than once of late to look the ghastly spectre of suspicion she had raised boldly in the face, and had pronounced it a mental delusion — as, indeed, on the widow's part at least, it undoubtedly was. " Madam," returned he earnestly, and not without a tinge of that severity in his tone (although he was probably himself unaware of its presence) which doctors use towards their refractory patients, " it would be hypocrisy in me to pretend that I do not recognise the subject at which, you hint ; it would be worse, because more harmful than hypocrisy, not to tell you (what I ought to have said •when you last spoke -upon this matter) thiit jmspjcfops, baßeJs}^ afc

dream. You are doing, I am well convinced, the deepest wrong of which the j human mind is capable ; you are imputing 3 a hideous crime — the crime of Gain — to a 1 perfectly innocent man." ] " Ay, the crime of Cain," repeated the widow slowly. " Yes, my dear Mrs Blissett, I love ] and honor you and yours more deeply ] than I can say— more deeply, perhaps, ] than I dare to tell you— but I have my i duty to do in this matter." (The widow i Bhook her head with a sad smile.) "No; \ do not mistake me, madam. I do not 1 mean my duty to my patron, but a higher, , if more common one — that which is laid ] upon all honest men— namely, to speak the truth. I tell you, madam, at the risk i of your displeasure, you are doing, in : yo\ir heart, a cruel and moßt grievous , wrong. It is most painful to me to have to speak to you, my honored friend and benefactress, such words as these ; it would be more painful still—so distressing, indeed, to one in my peculiar position (as you must surely perceive), that I must positively decline to do it — to enter into any argument upon this subject ; to name the name of him on whom your dreadful suspicions so unjustly rest, and to defend him as though he were a criminal arraigned." The young man spoke with uncommon vigor and eloquence, for he not only felt deeply the necessity of remonstrance, but he *had rehearsed this very_ scene, well knowing that sooner or later it must needs occur. The earnestness and confidence he displayed were not without their effect upon the widow. She changed color once or twice while he was speaking ; and the quiet smile of incredulity which had Bat upon her lips when he began, had disappeared before he ended. She had raised herself upon her couch at first, as her custom was when excited, but now she lay back on her Bofa- pillow in silent thought. " You are not angry, my dear madam, I trust V observed the young man, earnestly. "Angry, Charles?" returned she, almost in a whisper. " No, indeed ; I am not angry. I honor you for every word you have said. Angry ? How far do you misjudge me S Why, helpless as 1 am, dear boy, Heaven knows I would gladly part with this poor right hand of mine could I believe as you do. Widowed as I am — deprived of him who was more to me, much more than tongue can tell, and who, being torn away from my poor heart, has left an aching void there nought can fill — yet I say, if you could but convince me, as you seem convinced yourself" (here she looked up a moment with the old glance of distrust and doubt), "I should almost be happy." " I can convince you, madam." " What a fate is theirs," continued she, in the same low earnest tones, and apparently without having heard his observation, "who have the guilt of blood at their own doors ! Who does not shun them ! They would shun even my Christie." "Hnßh! madam: be silent, if you please," cried Steen. " This is mere mad prejudice and wicked hallucination. What are your proofs ?" "Nay, what are yours, sir V cried the widow, nervously. " Oh, what would I give to be shown that I am wrong, nay, mad — to know that I have nourished evil in my heart against this man so long without a cause !" "I ask for no reward, madam ; but my conditions are : first, that you will answer me one question ; secondly, when you have received the proof which you desire, that this subject is closed between us for ever. Do you understand ?— for ever." " Yes, yes ; I understand," cried the widow, eagerly. "If only you can give me proof, I will dismiss the dreadful thing, not only from my lips, but from my thoughts, as though it had been but an evil dream. But the proof— the proof !" " Nay, madam : first, the question. I ask, then, have you ever had any ground — the slightest — for the horrible suspicion you have so long entertained, beyond mere evil dreaming — that is, prejudice, distrust, and" Charles hesitated. " And hate," observed the widow, quietly concluding his sentence. "You may say that, for [ did hate him. I confess, Charles," said she, solemnly, "I have had no tangible grounds — lawyer's grounds — for this suspicion. But from the very first, a something — you may call it what you will — an instinct, a dread presentiment, took hold upon me ; ay, and holds me now." " Was this before the result of the inquest, madam V "Yes ; from the very first. But when I knew — as you know, Charles, for you can't deceive me there — that my dear husband came to his untimely end by the hand of man : What man, asked I of my bruised heart, could have done so foul a deed, . but one ? What man was my Frank's enemy, but one? What man could reap a benefit by his death, and therefore seek to murder him, save one ?"

Once more she fell back on the pillow, gasping for breath ; but her eyes were rooted on the young man's face, and never left it for a moment. "And now, your proof, your proof, sir," whispered she. " It is a short one, dearest madam, but very decisive. The murder of your poor husband — if murder it was— could not by possibility have been committed by the hand to which your suspicion points, for the simple reason that no man can be in two places — in this case, miles away — at the same time. I know — I am as positively certain as one who was not witness of the fact can be— that at the hour your husband came to his sad end in Burslem Bottom, the man whom you are wronging by your doubts was ill and in his own bed in London : I am absolutely certain of it." The intensity of conviction with which the young man spoke was such that the perspiration stood out upon his forehead ; but he showed no other sign _of agitation, and met the widow's searching glance with a look as fixed and resolute as her own. The victory was his. "God bless and reward you, Charles Steen," cried she, bursting into tears — almost the first he had overseen her shed. 1 have done my brother wrong." Steen had received some half-a-dozen letters from his patron during the six months the latter had been abroad, all curt and business-like ; nor was the present missive an exception in point of style. 180, Graf ton Street. My deab Sir — I have returned to town some days, during which I have been engaged in house-hunting ; and at last have found a residence to my liking — the above address. Mrs Maude will come here from Clifford Street as my housekeeper. But I require you at once to superintend the removal of my things ; there are hundreds of letters, receipts, &c, to be looked through, and destroyed or retained as may see»n proper. lam quite unequal to any mental worry of this sort. I also require your immediate presence for another reason, and shall expect you by the train which (if I remember rightly) leaves Harbrook at four o'clock. My kindest compliments to my sister-in-law, and love to my niece. — Yours truly, Fred. Blissett. It was impossible (it being already 3.30) that Charles should obey his patron in the matter of the four o'clock train, or indeed go up to town that night at all ; information which he despatched by telegraph forthwith. The time even then was short enough that intervened between the present moment and the hour of bis departure by the next morning's express ; short enough for even business arrange- j ments connected with the Hall, and far too short for leave-takings with friends at Allgrove. For was it not possible that he was never to visit that dear spot again ! Never since the poor squire had been laid in his grave had so sad an evening fallen J upon the little household at Rill Bank as that which they now passed ; although Mr Mellish came to dine and keep their spirits up, on the eve of parting with their common friend, with copious quo- j tation from Shakspeare. It was mutually agreed that there should be no farewells | in the morning with respect to ihe ladies (as to the rector, he insisted upon driving his young friend over to the station in his own little conveyance), so their good-byes at night were last adieux. ! When the lad held out his hand to the widow, she said : " Nay ; stoop down, dear boy ;" and kissed his cheek with her pale lips. And -when the rector waa following him and Cliriatie from the room, she signed to him to stop. "The young folks may have a word to say to one another in private, Mr Mellish; I'm sure they feel this parting." " I shall miss the young dog myself," said the rector, "more than I care to show him." " You !" smiled Mrs Blissett. "Why, you carry your heart on your sleeve, as your friend Shakspeare writes. You have spoiled the boy more than any of us." "Pooh, pooh, ma'am; I've done nothing of the kind," answered the rector irritably, for he piqued himself on bis freedom from all sentimental weaknesses. " I have not hesitated to praise him when he has deserved it, but in his studies and conduct I have been a strict disciplinarian." "You have indulged him in every possible way," reiterated the widow ; " and you were quite right, for he is a thoroughly good lad. I love him as though he were my own son. " ' " That's fortunate, ma'am," replied the rector, drily; "for if you allow him and Christie to make their adieux alone together in this way, in all probability he will be your son. I shouldn't wonder if he had proposed to her already." " You had better go and see," said the widow, with an imperturbable smile.

" We are all bewitched with this young rogue's company/ quoth the rector, in the w6rds of his favorite Falstaff, as he did her bidding. " 'If the rased have not given me medicines to make me love him, I'll be hanged ; it could not be else ; I have drunk medicines.' " But, happily, it is not necessary to use love-potions to win the affections of those of our fellow-creature whose love is alone worth having ; the best prescription ia not to be found in the pharmacopoeia, but among the homely recipes of the herbalist ; and that which Charles Steen used was of the simplest sort, and found in every human hedgerow. It was made up of the following physical and moral simples : good looks, good taste, good manners, good will, and a good heart. (To be continued.)

The number of "houses" constructed in Paris during the year ending the Ist of October last was 3685. The " houses" ia France contain at least five or six ! " apartments," and accommodate as many families. The number of houses pulled down during the same period was 1764 ; of these, 717 were demolished contrary to the wishes of the proprietors, under " public utility." ' The Empress Eugenic, though reported very rich at the time of her marriage, was only moderately wealthy ; with her spendthrift habits and the expenses connected with her exalted position, she has managed to incur more debts than she can pay, unless she curtails her expenses by twothirds. One of her Spanish estates was sold in 1862, and the other, which cannot be sold, under the laws of Spain, is heavily mortgaged.