CHAPTER XXIII.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XIII, Issue 22, 25 September 1885, Page 5

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE BLACK CAT MAKES A SPBING.

Now the great desire of Tibbie's soul was, that the agent Bhould at once make his appearance at Tobereevil. A bold move must be made ; and ignorant Tibbie had already done everything in her cause that her unaided power could do. She c mid devise new plans even now in her brain, but she needed the lawyer's help to carry them out. Tibbie, who could neither read nor write, stood at t^e mercy of fate. She might chafe in her wretched kitchen till her fury amounted to madness ; but beyond the reach of her own voice this creature could make no sign. All her hope was this : that the wind might blow a great storm, and tear up many trees by tbe roots, s > that Simon should have to write to bis agent to come and look to tbe timber. If the Wicked Woods refused to help her, then was she surely lost indeed ; but just at this time the winds were lighter than u«ual, and the trees stood safe.

Tibbie desisted a little from railing at her master, and unable to stay within doors from impatience, went out into the woods and mumbled her threats and desires to the grim oaks. She puffed her puny breath into the face of the gray heavena, and waved her arms, called on the winds to get up and bestir themselves. Cou, who had unwillingly, and through fear, accompanied her from the mountains, sat in the branches above her, and grinned at her wrath, and pelted her with acorns. At last the storm answered her challenge, and came down with fury.

Simon had heard many a storm, but he shuddered at this one. Ths old house Bhook and groaned, pieces of its roof fell in, and some of its walls were broken. Down came scores of the trees, crashing and creaking, and making a thunder of their own amidst the noise that was abroad. Tibbie cro.iked for joy when she saw the fallen giants lying prone in the thickets, and she purred over Con as Le set off for the nearest posting -village with Simon's letter to the agent. The agent grumbled to himself aa he obeyed the summons, for Tobereevil was not a pleasant place on a winter's day.

Arriving there, however, he got such a welcome as he had De«er got before. Tibbie, to propitiate him, had prepared a room for him in the underground story, in a part of the house which was quite out of the way of old Simon's tottering steps. Here she had b»ilt a roaring fire to keep out the cold, and served up a roasted pallet, which she had procured with some difficulty from a neighbouring farm. Here, too, she laid her plan before the lawyer, which was to draw up a will as he and she should please, and procure Simon's signature to it, on pretence that it was a writ of ejectment for one ol his tenants, for whose holding the lawyer had found a better tenant. Simon must be got to sign the paper without reading its contents. The plan was a daring one, but was pronounced worth the trial.

So the agent made out the will. At one time Tibbie wrangled with him over the share which was to be the price of the lawyer's service, but was soon silenced and forced to listen to reason. Next morning the agent strolled out to look at the fallen trees, and to find some simple peasants who should act as witnesses to the will.

It chanced that Mrs. Kearney's "soft gossoons " were hanging about the woods in hope of a job at the agent's hands. They had not gone up to the door and asked to be hired to help with the timber ; for they knew, had they made so bold, that their suit must have been denied. So they lingered about the wood, and when the agent chanced to meet them he found them useful. They were set to work all day at getting the timber carried to carts upon the road ;

I heir wages to be the faggots which they could pick up when all was done. And even those wicked fagots were precious in the winter time ; though people would say that they brought no good to a hearth ; though evil sparks did fly out of them while they burned, and strange visions loomed forth out of the white clouds of their smoke, as it curled in sinister wreaths up the chimney. Towards evening pretty Nan came down the mountain, with her yellow locks blowing on the wind, carrying a little can of buttermilk and two tin mugs, and attended by Con, who danced on before her, bearing a largo wooden dish of potatoes ; and, while the gossoons made a merry supper on the stump of a tree, the lawyer mused at some distance, and made perfect his little plans.

This lawyer was a man who, at the outset of life, had declared to himself that he would make money without scruple. In his profession he had cheerfully accepted all disreputable business, and taken care to make bis spoils of any prey that fell to his share ; and yet somehow he had b9en unlucky nntil cow. Dishonesty had not rewarded him as he had bad a right to expect. At times he had even had strings of harrowing doubt as to whether integrity might not, after all, have paid him better in the end. He lived in a country town where people's deeds are easily made known ; and It* knew an attorney of thorough honesty, who had made a good thing of bis fair name. Our agent was now past success in his own peculiar line of life, and he found it too late to start afresh on any other ; and thus it was with him, when Tibbie's little plot found favour in his eyes. With a slice of the Tobereevil pioperty, together with a goodly sum of money as a reward for his faithful service ot many yearp, this hitherto luckless rogue thought be might live to call himself thrifty after all. Who should arrive into the midst of the supper party bat Bid, the " thraveller," she having stepped down the mountain to help the gossoons to carry the faggots home ; so the agent, looking abont him, saw a group of persons from whom to chojse the witnesses to Simon's signature of the will. He choose Bid and Nan, and accosted them civilly, exp lining that Mr. Finiaton was making new arrangements for some of his tenantry ; a piece of news which made them turn pale ; and that he wanted two honest persons to witness tha signing of some deeds. "I wont, go !" whispered Nan, plucking Bid by the corner of tha cloak. '' How do I know but it's to put my mother out of her hole under the hill ?"

" Aisy, astbore! 1 ' said Bid. "It's not for the likea o' you that they'll be signin' papers at Tobereevil. When they want yonr mother out of her hole they'll put her out by the shnuldher, without the splash o' a pen an' ink ; but they'ie brewin' some quare dhrink for the owld man to swally down — that's Tibbie an 1 the lawyer — or my name's not Bid. I seen them cosherin' wid ther heads together this mornin' ns I skirted through the threes here, an' they too busy wid their talkin' to see my shadow on the gravel."

" Well, my good woman, can you make up your mind to spare ua ten minutes of your valuable time 1" asked the lawyer.

"Ay, ay I" said Bid, carelessly, "we won't disoblige a gentleman." But when his eyes were turned away she glaoced at him swiftly and keenly from under the white silk fringiog of her knitted brows ; and Bhe followed him to the hoube, holding by Nan's unwilling hand.

It w*b getting dusk, and quite dark in the miser's chamber, where the light was so scantily admitted. Tibbie brought in aa armful of faggots, and made a brilliant blaze on the hearth, so that) the whole of the gloomy room was filled with a dancing, uncertain light. Simon remonstrated, wringing hia hand* at the waste. •' Stop, woman 1 you will diive me mad with your extravagance V ' he said, snatching nt the half-burnt sticks. "Anan," said Tibbie, "is it wax candles ye want? Gi'e me money, an I'll see about the buyin' o' them." " Candles !" cried the miser, with a shudder, as if there had been talk of shedding hift blood. "Ay," returned Tibbie, " ye"ll be wantin' some kind o' light to see to write yer name."

'• Write my name I" echoed the miser. " How am I to know, barrin' what I'm tould?" snarled Tibbie " Yer agent tould int to have a light la the place, bekase the mother bad to put his name to some papers without delay. He said it was to squeeze money out o' some robber o' a tenant ; but may be he wastellin' lies— only it's not me that ought to be blamed."

Simon pricked up his ears. True, there was something to be done m the w.iy of an ejectment ; a higher price to be put upon some c ibm, or piecj of bog ; a prospect, of another bit of gold to be added to the heap. Well, well, he would put another stick upon the fire. Extravagance was, after all, pleasant when there was a reason for it, and when it did not go too far. What was keeping that man when the thing could be done at once ? " You see, sir," said the lawyer, bustling in, " I have had such a busy day of it after that timber. I think i explained to you long ago all about the necessity lor thit document. Sjrry to giva you so much trouble, but thines must be properly done. '• Ay, ay 1" said the old man, trying to recollect. His memory was beginning to fail him, thought his sight was very keen. Well had the forgers contrived that the light should come from the hearth, so that the table on which the paper lay should be in ths shade. " You read it all over the other day, you remember," said the lawyer, boldly, and only opening one fold of the paper as he laid it flat on the table for the signatures.

" I did not read it," snd the miser — " not that I recollect."

"Oh I I assure you you did, air. Your mind is so full of business, that little things may escape. You'll remember by and by." The old man reflected pitifully for a moment, and taeu, by such feeble light as he had, scrawled his name. " What are those figures at the door V he cried suddenly, as he peered through the shifting lights at two shadows in the distance. "The witnesses," said the lawyer. -'You remember, I told you it was necessary to have two witnesses." " Oh ! said Simon, relieved, and laying down hia pen. " I thoug .t, I thought " — but he stopped with this whisper > and the terror that had crossed his mind remained unconfesaed*

" Now, my good woman, step forward with your young friend," said the lawyer. " Your name, if you please, and then you will make your mark." Bid looked steadily at the lawyer for a moment, with her keen old eyes ; then turned to the miser.

" Misther Finiston, yer honor," she said, " afore I put my name to that paper, would ye just read it out loud to me, that I may know whether my own little farm isn't in it?" ( - Bid 1" cried Nan, aghast. For Bid did not own a square inch of land in the world, nor a roof to cover her.

•' Nonsense, woman," cried tbe lawyer. " Mr. Finiston will do no Buch thing. Your farm I Why, where is your farm ? and I can tell you without the papers. " My own purty little farm down the valley/ said cunning Bid. " It 'B not in it. There's nothing about it," urged the lawyer, and put his hand on the paper, as if to prevent Simon from lifting it up. If he had not done this he might have carried his point ; but the miser's temper would not bear even tbe appearance of control. " I will read it 1" cried Simon. "You must leave this point for me, sir. I will read it if I please, and as often as I like, too." He had got possession of the paper, and held it to the light. The lawyer saw that he had been too hasty. " I beg your pardon, sir," he Baid, " but let me entreat you not to attempt it till you have better light. We shall get a candle by and by, or better still, wait till to-morrow. Daylight costs nothing, ha, ha 1 In the meantime, let us go on with the signatures. Your name, my dear ?" to Nan.

But Simon held the paper. He looked at the lawyer a uneasy face, and a cloud of suspicion came into his wary eyes. Bid had done her work, and was too wise to say more ; but she edged herself in between the miser and the lawyer, foreseeing that the paper might be snatched from Simon's hand. The attempt was made as the old man stooped to bring the glare of the firelight on the sheet. The agent snatched ; but Simon kept the parchment, and slipped out of reach of the lawyer's arm on his knees before the hearth. A shriek told that the keen eyes and wits bad mastered its contents in less than a minute. The lawyer suddenly disappeared from the room, and was soon driving along the high road, cursing his own folly, which, in grasping too much, had deprived him of tbe little advantages which he enjoyed at TobereeTil. He, at least, could never show his face to the miser again. As for Tibbie, she simply put her arms akimbo, and faced her angry master. " Hag ! ' he shrieked, " I'll have you hanged for this 1" " No, you won't," said Tibbie. "it would cost too much money. An' besides, nobody would hurt me for stbrivin' to get the rights for my poor boy. If ye weren't so ill-hearted I wouldn't have had to take the law into my own hands. Judges an' lawyers could see that quick enough." " Begone out of the house I" cried the miser, foaming with rage. " Never let me see your face again 1" "I'll go when I'm ready," said Tibbie. "An' that's my thanks for my long sarvice. An' there's Paul Finieton come home pryin' about the country, an' watching to come down on ye. It's little pace yell have when he gits next or near you, an' nobody here to purtect ye."

This was Tibbie's last hope, that dread of Paul would cow the old man's anger, and make him loth to be left alone. She had made a great mistake, however, and she quickly found it out. " Paul Finiston," said the miser, suddenly calm. "And is Paul Finiston in the country ? " " That he is, your honour," said Bid, stepping forward, and dropping a courtesy. •• Ana s purty-lookin' a gentleman as ye'd meet in a day's walkin'." " Simon 'B wrath had subsided strangely, and he looked timorous and eager. " You know where he is to be fouod ?" he asked, quickly.

" I think I could find him out, yer honour," said Bid. <* Then go to him," said Simon, and give him a message from me. I will have him here, »md he shall woik for me. He never tried to trick me, nor to worry me, nor to rob me :" He seized the pen beside him and scribbled some words on a scrap of paper. The paper he gave to Bid. " Send the first person you meet for the poHce," he said with a scowl at Tibbie. The go-sooas who were listening in the hall set a cheer at these words, aud set off as volunteers on this mission ; then, and only then, did Tibbie lift her voice, and howl as one baffled and undone. She hurried away to hide herself, and the messenger departed, and Simon double locked his door, and barricaded his windows aud sat all uight long on tbe watch with bis pistols by his side.

(To he Continued.)