CHAPTER XVIII.—(Continued.)

West Coast Times, Issue 3055, 18 January 1879, Page 1 (Supplement)

CHAPTER XVlll.— (Continued.)

It ' was thus that Mr. Chumple, whose office it' was to attmi to the wants of Todd, junior, wai aroused upon this particular morning fully two hours earlier than . was usually the case, and, arguing, naturally enough, that if his master, at this early stage of hia infatuation, was inspired by Buch vulgar nations •as that of the utility of early rising, he -would speedily degenerate into the condition of one who never went to bed at all, he felt proportionately apprehensive and indignant. Bub as the service of Todd, junior, was an easy and lucrative service, Mr. Chumple mastered hia indignation, and brought Todd, junior's, shaving- water to ! him, at an hour at whiih none but milkmen and the gentlemen who extinguish the street-lamps are expected to be out of bed. Todd, junior, however, could not rest in bed; and so, having shaved himself, and attired himself in a warm overcoat; and comforter, he placed a Scotch cap upon bis head, and whistling to his favourite Scotch terrier — to which animal, indeed, he bore no slight resemblance— he sallied forth to take a walk and cool his fevered brow by the pad sea waves! In the prosecution of this heal'hful resolution, it chanced that he met Mr. Tallerboy, whose duties, it appeired, called him from Mrs. "Tallerboy's house at a very early hour. Mr. Tallerboy, saluting him, looked very grave, and shook his head. " The poor captain," Baid he, " has gone at last." •• Gone !'' gasped Todd, junior, grasping Mr. Tallerbay's coat-collar. "Gone] When! Where!" "During the night — as to when," said Mr. Tallerooy ; "to Heaven, I hope— as to where — " " What J" cried Todd, junior, "do you mean that he is—" "Dead 1" said the revenue officer. "Dead as a a door nail, poor old gentleman." Todd, junior, staggered agaiust an area railing. "Am I dreaming?" he murmured, twitching hia nose pathetically. " Did I see her and him yesterday at the Mount? Did I speak to 'em? Did I hear 'em f peak ? " , "No doubt," said Mr. Tallerboy, "He went to bed a 9 usual. This morning Mrs. Tallerboy, taking up a cup of 'cocoa, as waa her custom, found her cousin and lodger indifferent to such attentions. He was dead, air, dead as Pompey," and with thia Mr. Tallerboy strode on. To say that Todd, junior, kept a clear head under this sudden shock would be to say the very opposite to that whioh ia truth. As he afterwards expressed himself, he felt, for all the world, "as if somebody had 1 hit him a smack, in the eye." Bat he had sense enough to reflect that, if the captain was dead, thiß was a fitting time to prove the sincerity of his and his parents' professions of friendship and Kindliness. "Left all alone, my darling," he inurmnrad, as the tears triokled down ; hia agitated noae. "'Poor girl, .poor. creature ? mother mu3t see to it. She must console her, bless her ;'' and he hurried home, hia heart filled with the kindly thoughts which' -had sprung into life aa he listened to Mr. Tallerbpy'a atoryi „ . , .'. .'.',- Mrs. Tallerboy, delicate as she might be,

I was an early riser. Her enthusiasm as a producer of abnormal fruits was superior to the lassitude or indolence of the invalid ; and so when Todd, junior, returned to the Mount, and passed to the great hot-house which had bef-n erected in the grounds for the indulgence of the lady hobby, he found, as he expected, that his mother was there. Without a word of preface, without any check to hia own emotion, he told the story of the •captain's death and poor Bertha's desolation. Instantly the motherly instiflcts of Mrs. Todd wore aroused. " I'Jl go to her at once, Theophilus," she said. "Poor child. She must need comfort sorely under so sudden and so heavy a trial. Order the pony carriage, my" 3ear. Well, John, what is it ?" "If you please, mum," said a tall footman who had entered the glass-house, "a young lady — the same as was here yesterday, mvm — wishes to 'aye haudience of you." ■- ' . " It is she, mother," cried Todd, junior, wagging his nose excitedly. "Keep calm, my eon," said Mrs. Todd; " I will go to her ;" and with this ahe hurried to poor Bertha. She found her seated on a sofa, h«r pretty head bowed in her hands. As Mrs. Todd entered the child looked up. The sympathy and kindness which shone in Mra. Todd's face and made it beautiful, touched the girl's ■heart. " Ah !" she cried, " pity me ;" and as she 'spoke, she arose, and tottering towards Mrs. Todd, fell upon her neck. "He is dead," sbe murmured; "he is dead. Forgive me if I have come to you. But I knew no one; I wan alone." *• Hush, huh, my pet," cried Mrs. Todd, down whose honest face the tears of sympathy now rained. "My pretty one, you did qtiite right. I was about to go to you " And she kissed poor Bertha tenderly, and then this womanly feeling touching the chord of sympathy and love Bertha gave full -yen* to tbe grief which filled her heart, »nd wept without restraint. Poor, tender fljwer; poor,. lonely little Bertha! By degrees the became calmer, and, with the childish simplicity tf her nature, told tbe story of her guardian's life and how she herself bad become part of it. If honest Mrs. Todu had felt pity for the poor child before BbeJheflrJ this story,' it wa? as nothing to the tender sympathy with whioh ehe listened to the little maid's narrative. And, &i she listened, there grew up in her heart a yearning to cling to^tliis ytfung pirl ; to give to her a mother's c*are ; to cherish her in her great grief and desolation. "My love," the sa ; d, simply, "do you think you could like me ?'' Bertha, looking up at the poor, thin, oommonplace countenance, with its dim blue eyes fixed wistfully upon her, anfwered by throwing her arms around Mra. Todd's neck, and hiding her pretty head oa Mrs. Todd's meagre bosom. •'Will you let me be a mother to you, Bertha?" said Mrs. Todd, Bniffing vigorously. The child pressed her passionately to her heart. " Oh," she said, "if you will let me love you— if you will give me a ltttle love, I*will work for you, slave for you, all the days of my life." " Pretty dear," sobbed Mrs. ToSd. •• The gift is yours, my pet. Long bava I yearned for a daughter, and now it seems to me that 'God has given b&r to me. My love, you will not return to your lodgings.." " Tbauk you, thank you," cried Bertha, eagerly. Then she paused. "I must go back to him," she murmured tearfully. "Tiue, my dear; I will go with you. Here is Mr. Todd." Gallant old sugar-boiler. He bad^heard tbe siory from his son, and now, approaching Bertha, took her gently ia his arms and kissed her cheek. 11 She is our daughter now, John," said Mrs. Todd. Mr. Todd, a moment surprised, then diviutd his wife's meaning. 11 Our daughter! Pretty one," said he, holding the child's hand, " I am very, very gad," and then he left the room. Honest gentleman. Brave, courteous spirit. It is you, and suoh as yon, who, living in the worra, know nothing of the evil of the world ; "who, living'in the world, are not, of it, save in. its pudty and good — how lofty is your moral statnre, measured by the side of those who despise your weak simplicity, and who, sapeiior in their shrewd knowledge of iheir fellows, &a\ their triumph and delight in thwarting tiiokery by fraud, in over-reaoli-g those who seek to over-reach. How grand, good Mr. Todd, are you, in your peaceful existence, beside those whose lives are passion, whose hopes are lust of power, wealth, worldly reputation, and whose strength is given' to the straggle for a mean and sordid victory. Brave, honest sugarboiler, wiiose heart leaps to tbe cry of distress, and whose nature melts ia tyaipatby with the spectacle of helplessness. Hold by your rt>ligiun, good sir, for it is of God himself. Mr. Todd, constituting himself the legal protector of the young girl for the time being, at any rate, aco"mpinied her and his wife to Mrs. Tatlerbov's bouse. They found Mis. Talierbt y very stiff aid ceremonious.^ Sac had not been aware, she said, of Mias' Bdrttu'a contemplated action. She was at a lobs to discover how she had thought it necessary to sees other people's counsel and protection, when her Sown (Mrs. Tallerboy h) was at her service. However, she was glad that she had been so fortunate as to secure Buch cood friends. " Well, wtll, my good lady," naid Mr. Todd, *• no harm is done. Meanwhile I have taken the liberty of calling to offer my asbintance in anythiog I can do in the matter." *' I am excessively obliged, Blr," sai^ Mrs. Tallerboy, with a starched curtsey, " but I can man >ge very well. Tue doctor has handed me a certifi J*te of death. There will be no inquest. As next of kin to the poor dear captain, I, of course, take charge *bfhit affairs, which shall be placed in proper order." Mr. Todd glanced at Mra. Todd and B irtha, and couched. " But thia young lady — " he Went on. " Was merely a dependant of C>ptain Birnaby," said Mrs. T.llerboy, with a vinegar look at Bartha, " and in no way related to my late cousin-." " Humph 1" sail Mr. Todi, looking at his wife. "But he loved her as his daughter," urgedl Mrs. Todd, with womanly logic. " Which has nothing to do with the legal aspect of the question," said Mrs. Tallerboy, with a toes of her head. " I'm afraid not," eai 1 Mr. To Id. " Still, in consideration of the affection entertained by the late Captain Birnaby for this youog lady, you will doubiless admit her claim to have some authority in the direction of the funeral, and bo on. "Ou that point," Baid Mrs. Tallerboy, ',' I offer no oVj»c"ion. I prrsuaae," she went on, addressing Bertha, with frigid courtesy — " 1 presume that you wcul I wish the body interred in the village church near the cottai^e?" "Yes, yea!" cried B-rtha, pireou»ly. : ' Mi's there poor Nod's motier — my dear -mirdian'* sister — lies. Oa, pleasa have him buried there!" " I have no objection, I'm sure," Baid tire. Tallerboy, '* b.ut as a pa*tter of justiue to the estate, und in the absence ot any distinct

juithorifcy from Ui^j deceased, I cannot undertake the f.xpeuss ra yHftlf." "My dear madam," cried honest Mr. Todd, delighted to discover that here, at least, he could do good, "of course not. , If you will permit me, I will undertake all cost and reppoißibility." ~ "Very well, theD," Raid Mrs. T^llerhoy. "Meanwhile," she added, fuming to Bertha., " I have caused all the capfcnin'B effects to be pealed up, by an authorised pffiner from the Intes'iate Ejfcates Department." . "Then the captain left no will?" cried Mr. Todd.,, , 11 N'»ne has been disoovered," answered Mrs. T^llerboy, evasively. " But there is scarce time, as yet," urged Mr. Todd. "Perhaps so, sir. Meanwhile I havo taken the proper legal action. The cottage, Miss Bertba," the went on, "is at your service until matters are settled. All papers, documents, and bo forth will, of cour»e, be tftVen due charge of by the authorised official. I start myself thia afternoon to asßi't, him in makin<» out the list." " Tuen I am at; liberty to make all arrangements as to the funeral?" arid* Mr,., Todd. " Quite so," was the tha answer. "This ia the kay, sir, of the rooai " in which the corpse lies." "Let us s;o to him," whi<>p9red "Berth?. ;' and Me. Todd, takins; her hanV went, to the captain's room. Tnere he lay, so peaceful and so calm his fiee — the rugged lines of care now smoothed by the gentle hand of death — that one might indeed have deemed he slept;. " He is in heaven," whispered Mrs. Todd. "H"No doubt, no doubt," assented her husband. "Come," and he took B)rtha's hand. She stoopsd and ki^s^fl tha cheek of the poor corpse* and Mrs. Todd did *he like ;. aud then they lef t the caunber. Q >od-bye; ; stout captain ;• good-bye, uatil, they, too, *et out; upon that journey whither you nave gone, ajjd j >in you in that sweet, fur country, whose sun of peace, aad rest, and innocence, shines oa for ever.