LITERATURE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4869, 7 December 1883, Page 4

LITERATURE.

« JAOK BBOWNE'S MISTAKE. (Truth.) Jaok Bro wno and a seleot few of hia brother officers sat in solemn conclave in the me.smom one evening after their seniors had tetired, diioussing the desperate oondition of hie affairs. Jaok was a foolish, extravagant, young subaltern in a line regiment, who had contrived to get deeply in debt without the elighteat chance of extricating himself from lua diffioultioa. His only relative was a strongminded maiden aunt, who not only refused io assist him, but even threatened to withdraw the allowance ahe had made him since he entered the army. Jaok oonaidered he , was very hardly treated, for the truth is he _id not properly appreciate what his aunt had already done for him. There was no doubt, however, that he was m an awkward predicament, for on the om- hand he oould not possibly remain in tho regiment unless 1 his debts were paid, and, ot. the other, his aunt deolared that if he resigned bis commission ahe wonld have nothing more to do with him. Jaok did not at all relish the prospeot of being compelled ta cam his living, especially as he had no idea how to set about it. Moreover, he was extremely popular in his regiment, and was consequently loth to leave it. His brother officers, unfortunately, oould only assist him by their sympathy, and by auggesting various expedients for raising money, none of whioh were practicable. " I should try the old lady again," urged one of his friends ; "make a clean breast of •everything and work upon her feelings." "Bhe has none," returned Jaok, ruefully. "Her venerable bosom is insensible to tender .motions." " I suppose you haven't oonoealed what a ferious fix you are in ?" suggested another. " No. At least, I've put my position to hot as plainly bb I dare," said Jaok, "but it's no go." " Won't Isaacs do a post obit?" suggested somebody. " My dear fellow, the only possible way I oould raise a shilling would h.» by pawning my boots, and as they are v>t paid for I might get into difficulty <»er that," said Jaok, as he plunged his hands doepor into his pockets. " Besides, I've no evidenoe that I'm named in her will." " I've an idea ! " exolaimed his partioular friend, Oharlie Bashford. " Why don't you Volunteer for servioe in Egypt ? " " Volunteer to oatoh oholera ! No, thanks," laid Jaok, making a grimace. " Besides, there .ia no fighting going on now ■ so what would "I. the use?" "There ia a devilish deal more danger now than there was during the war," -remarked Charlie, savagely. , ' "Yes, but no glory. Ifl wanted to ex- ' ohange I would go to India • but the faot is I'm past tbat dodge. My oreditors would be down on me direo' ly if they heard I was off. Ihey are down on me enough already," he added despondently. "What I meant was that you might bamboozle the old lady. Hang it all, Jaok ! She Bust oare for you, or she would have thrown jou over long ago," aaid his friend, with charming candour. "Perhaps if she heard you had-determined, in desp-ration, to go to _9gypt, at the risk of your life, she might relent." "Well, there's something in that," said Jaok, brightening up; "at all events, she might give me a cheque for an outfit. The worst of it is I don't wint to go." " I know a namesake of yours iq the th, Jaok, who is going out next month," interposed another. "If the worst oame to the "Worst, you might go by proxy." "By Jove 1 I really .think that might be managed," exolaimed Jaok, exoitedly. "It is juat possible, bs Oharlie says, that the old girl would pay my debts to keep me in England. If .he doesn't, seeing the other fellow's namo in the papers she will imagine 1 bave gone." "You can easily keep up the joke by getting your namesake over there to post come letters for you," ohimed in Oharlie Bashford. "If she doesn't beg you to return after a week or two, you oan pretend to he laid up with oholera. That will bring the old lady up to time, if anything will ; but in oase it doesn't, you oan bo ordered home— •cc?" "Meanwhile l shall havo to keep quiet, and wUI go away on siok leave," added Jaok, in a great state of excitement. "Here, give me a pen and paper. I'll fire off a letter at once." Impulsiveness was one of Jaok'a failings, '.' and on the-pur of the moment he aat down •nd wrote the following heart-rending epistle:-— "My Dear Aunt, — Your refusal to assist me further leaves me no alternative but to sjuit my native shores for ever. I have volunteered for servioe in Egypt, where, as you know, tho oholera is raging. I start on tho _eoond of next month per _*. and O. steamer Capua, and prooeed to join -the — -th, whioh is atationed in the oentre of the most infeoted distriot. It would be useless to attempt to oonoeal tho faot that I shall encounter terrible risks from the dire disease, but the deßire to •ervemy oountry at a post of xeal danger is no less an inducement to me than the prospect of being released by the hand of death from my debts and embarrassments. I can _Btdly hope, from our reoent correspondence -hat my departure will be a _uroe of ooncerh to you, but, at all events, l ah-ill always grate-. folly remember your many kindnesses. My Outfit means a matter of £200, but whether jou oare to assist me in getting it is a question which you alone oan deoide. Hoping jour rheumatism is better. — Believe me, your affectionate nephew, J. L. Bbownb." All the company had a hand in producing thia masterpieoe of oompoaition, whioh was aniversallja. admired. The general opinion was that the old lady would be entirely overoome. Jaok was easily persuaded to indulge in hopeful anticipations, though be hadseoret misgivings. Unfortunately his forebodings turned out to be well founded, for his aunt did not attempt to dissuade him from going. Her _eply waa so cold and formal that Jaok oould aot help suapeoting that she doubted his good •faith, the more especially as, in consenting to pay for his outfit, Bhe stipulated that the bills _hould bu sent in to her for settlement. Jaok Was somewhat unreasonably aggrieved at this precaution, which, however, reoonoiled him to the idea of carrying out his project of deception. He hod no diffioulty ir -oouring the cooperation of his namesak , md by arrangement with this fatally gboi-natured young gentleman j he suooeeded in a?ouring the best part of the money whioh lis aunt advanoed vfor his outfit. The old lady little suspeoted that she was paying the bills and passagemoney of a perfeot stranger, and that the latter handed to Jaok the amount he had intended to devote to that purpose. Jook suffered oonaiderable qualms of consoienoe while hatching his oonspiraoy. His necessities, however, were so pressing that he oould not resist the ohance of getting a little ready money. Had he anticipated that his aunt would "have manifested genuine emotion when he wont to bid her farewell, he would frobably have abandoned his scheme. But y that time it was too lata, for he had paid away the £200 among hia hungry creditors, and the date of his supposed departure waß fixed for the next day. Jack applied for three months' leave of abaenoe f r__a his regiment to obviate the risk of his presence in England ooming to his aunt's care. The Colonel, knowing nothing of his plans, but sympathising with hiß pecuniary troubles, granted his request without asking inconvenient questions, jack's brother offioera were pledged to .eoreoy, and one of them— the incorrigible Charlie Bashford— wrote the old lady a Sathetio aocount of his friend . departure aok, on his part, retired to a remote village in North Wales, where he oould solace himself with trout fishing, while awaiting the issue of his equivooal manoeuvres. He was _tot without hope that hia aunt would speedily recall him from Egypt with a promise to pay his debts. He had authorised his namesake to open the old lady's letters, and to telegraph to nun immediately in case his anticipations jhould be realised. Meanwhile, he had fur-mi-hed his fellow oonspirator with a number _f letters to be posted in Egypt from time to time, and these contained suoh harrowing details of the ravages of oholera that his aunt oould hardly fail to beoome seriously alarmed _nd uneasy. . . Jaok remained a month or six weeks in YFales, during whioh his soheme worked without a hitch. Hia aunt was completely deceived, and even forwarded his first letter -from Egypt to his friend, C- rlie Bashford, to .cad. The note in whic!> ->he enolosed the iletter plainly showed tl.-r. her heart was .oftenine towards him, and Jaok began to feel a good deal ashamed of himself. Dating bu

solitary walks and rambles he had fits of penitence which doneiderably damped his satisfaction at the suooess of his experiment. He even felt tempted at times to abandon the deoeption he was praotising, but before he had arrived at any determination to do so he was surprised at receiving a visit from his friend, Oharlie Bashford. "Hullo I What brings you here?" de* wended Jaok, apprehen ai.ely, as they shook hands. " STou've heard the news, haven't youP" said Oharlie, mysteriously. " What about P " said Jaok. " Haven't you aeen the papers lately ? " asked Charlie, opening his eyes. "Not for a week ar ton days. What is it?" "Then you don't know poor Browne is dead," -said Oharlie. "We all of us thought you knew of it, or I wonld have written. It was in all the papers a week ago. He died of oholera, poor follow." " What 1 you don't mean the man who went to Egypt the other day ? " gasped Jaok. " lea— -your alter ego, or double, or whatever you like to call him," said Oharlie, unable to repress a grin at hia friend's di.may. | " Well, but that ia devilish awkward for me ! My aunt must be under the impression that I am dead. What the deuce shall I do ? " exolaimed Jaok. " I wrote the poor old lady a letter of oon* dolenoe to keep up the deoeption," said Oharlie. " What an infernal fool you were, then ! " exolaimed Jaok, vigorously. " What on earth did you want to do that for ? " " Well, I did it for a joke, but I wea aorry for it afterwards. In faot, as fur as tbe poor old lady was oonoerned, I've repented it ever sinoe. However, there is no harm done as faraa you are concerned," added Oharlie, cheerfully. "I'm not by any means sure of that, growled Jaok. "I oan't be perdu for ever, and the matter must come to my aunt's ears. If you had written and hinted that there might be a mistake, you would have done me a good turn. Ab it is, you've only made matters worse." " We thought you would bo in a devil of a stew when you heard the news, and wondered at your keeping so quiet," said Oharlie. " I came down out of pure oharity to ease your mind. You have had a luoky esoape." "An escape! " repeated Jaok, vaguely. , "Yes. The poor old lady is dead, so, as I said before, there ia no harm done to your prospects. The announcement waa in this morning's paper, and I thought I would be the first to congratulate you," said Oharlie, seising his hand. Under the oiroumstanoes, it is perhaps exousable that Jaok 'a first sensation was a feeling of intense relief. A moment ago he was fairly horrified at learning the awkward position in whioh he waa plaoed by the death of hia namesake. Considering that hia future proapeots depended entirely upon his aunt's goodwill, it seemed aa though rain stared him in the faoe. Exposure of the triok hs had played upon her was apparently inevitable, and her forgiveness oould hardly have been hoped for. Of oourse, he had known all along that he had run this risk, but he had never anticipated the sad event whioh upset all hie oaloulations and had considered himsolf tolerably seoure from detection, whatever else happened. The grief and remorse whioh lurked in Jaok 'a boaom in conseqnence of hia aunt's death were therefore, at the moment, overshadowed by mingled relief and exoitement. The vital importance of the sad event as re* garded his private affairs not unnaturally preoooupied his mind. If, as he not unreasonably believed, he was the old lady's heir, he would be able to pay off his debts and make a fresh start under favourable conditions. He hurried up to town without a moment's delay, and went straight to the office of his late aunt's legal adviser. Be knew that this gentleman was her executor and bad the management of her affairs, and ho wae anxious to put an end to the suspense and uncertainty regarding hia future prospects. In hiß eagerness he forgot the surprise his sudden appearanoe was likely to cause, and consequently felt rather abashed when the lawyer started back on seeing him. " What, Mr Browne !" exolaimed the old gentleman, as soon as he could speak, " Why, I — I — and everybody else, thought you had died in Egypt the other day." " No. The faot is, it was all a mistake," said Jack in a shamefaced mannor. "Oh Then I suppose you never went there at all," eaid the lawyer, after a short pause, during whioh he fixed bis sharp eyes on the young man's faoe. "No; I did not," said Jaok, overoome with oonf Ußion. " I—l am very sorry." " Well, so you ought to be, Bir, for you killed your aunt. Ah, you did, indeed ! I mean what I say," he added Bharply. " When the news of your supposed death appeared in the papers, she had a fit and never recovered the shook. But if aho had not oared for you more than you did for her, she would be alive at this moment." " She— she did not suapeot, then, that I had deceived her," said Jaok, who had sunk into a chair overoome with horror and remorse. " No, poor lady, on tbe contrary, she blamed herself for being the oause of your death, and that intensified tbe Bhook," said the lawyer, Bomewhat softened at Jaok' a evident distress. " Had she followed her own inclination she would have made any pecuniary sacrifice to keep you out of danger. But she thought, for your own sake, you had better do a little campaigning ; and bosides, ehe was inolined to suspeot— rightly, as it now appears — that you did not really intend to go." " I'm ' glad, at all events, that she never found mo out," Baid Jaok, wiping away the beads of perspiration that had gathered on his forehead. "She did not suspeot what a brute I was in return for all her kindnesß." " No," said the lawyer, ' fixing hia keen glanoe upon Jaok's face again. "Unfortunately for you she never doubted you were dead." "Why unfortunately?" inquired Jack, absently. "Because she sent for me at the laat moment and made a fresh will, in whioh your name is not mentioned. Up to then you were her residuary legatee."