Project Gutenberg's My Brave and Gallant Gentleman, by Robert Watson This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: My Brave and Gallant Gentleman A Romance of British Columbia Author: Robert Watson Release Date: March 21, 2010 [EBook #31728] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY BRAVE AND GALLANT GENTLEMAN *** Produced by Al Haines Cover art MY BRAVE and GALLANT GENTLEMAN A Romance of British Columbia BY ROBERT WATSON McCLELLAND, GOODCHILD & STEWART PUBLISHERS :: :: :: :: TORONTO Copyright, 1918, By George H. Doran Company Printed in the United States of America TO A LADY CALLED NAN CONTENTS CHAPTER I THE SECOND SON II ANOTHER SECOND SON III JIM THE BLACKSMITH IV VISCOUNT HARRY, CAPTAIN OF THE GUARDS V TOMMY FLYNN, THE HARLFORD BRUISER VI ABOARD THE COASTER VII K. B. HORSFAL, MILLIONAIRE VIII GOLDEN CRESCENT IX THE BOOZE ARTIST X RITA OF THE SPANISH SONG XI AN INFORMATIVE VISITOR XII JOE CLARK, BULLY XIII A VISIT, A DISCOVERY AND A KISS XIV THE COMING OF MARY GRANT XV "MUSIC HATH CHARMS—" XVI THE DEVIL OF THE SEA XVII GOOD MEDICINE XVIII A MAID, A MOOD AND A SONG XIX THE "GREEN-EYED MONSTER" AWAKES XX FISHING! XXI THE BEACHCOMBERS XXII JAKE STOPS THE DRINK FOR GOOD XXIII THE FIGHT IN THE WOODS XXIV TWO MAIDS AND A MAN XXV THE GHOUL XXVI "HER KNIGHT PROVED TRUE" MY BRAVE AND GALLANT GENTLEMAN CHAPTER I The Second Son Lady Rosemary Granton! Strange how pleasant memories arise, how disagreeable nightmares loom up before the mental vision at the sound of a name! Lady Rosemary Granton! As far back as I could remember, that name had sounded familiar in my ears. As I grew from babyhood to boyhood, from boyhood to youth, it was drummed into me by my father that Lady Rosemary Granton, some day, would wed the future Earl of Brammerton and Hazelmere. This apparently awful calamity did not cause me any mental agony or loss of sleep, for the reason that I was merely The Honourable George, second son of my noble parent. I was rather happy that morning, as I sat in an easy chair by the library window, perusing a work by my favourite author,—after a glorious twenty-mile gallop along the hedgerows and across country. I was rather happy, I say, as I pondered over the thought that something in the way of a just retribution was at last about to be meted out to my elder, haughty, arrogant and extremely aristocratic rake of a brother, Harry. My mind flashed back again to the source of my vagrant thoughts. Lady Rosemary Granton! To lose the guiding hand of her mother in her infancy; to spend her childhood in the luxurious lap of New York's pampered three hundred; to live six years more among the ranchers, the cowboys and, no doubt, the cattle thieves of Wyoming, in the care of an old friend of her father, to wit, Colonel Sol Dorry; then to be transferred for refining and general educational purposes for another spell of six years to the strict discipline of a French Convent; to flit from city to city, from country to country, for three years with her father, in the stress of diplomatic service—what a life! what an upbringing for the future Countess of Brammerton! Finally, by way of culmination, to lose her father and to be introduced into London society, with a fortune that made the roués of every capital in Europe gasp and order a complete new wardrobe! As I thought what the finish might be, I threw up my hands, for it was a most interesting and puzzling speculation. Lady Rosemary Granton! Who had not heard the stories of her conquests and her daring? They were the talk of the clubs and the gossip of the drawing-rooms. Masculine London was in ecstasies over them and voted Lady Rosemary a trump. The ladies were scandalised, as only jealous minded ladies can be at lavishly endowed and favoured members of their own sex. Personally, I preferred to sit on the fence. Being a lover of the open air, of the agile body, the strong arm and the quick eye, I could not but admire some of this extraordinary young lady's exploits. But,—the woman who was conceded the face of an angel, the form of a Venus de Milo; who was reported to have dressed as a jockey and ridden a horse to victory in the Grand National Steeplechase; who, for a wager, had flicked a coin from the fingers of a cavalry officer with a revolver at twenty paces; lassooed a cigar from between the teeth of the Duke of Kaslo and argued on the Budget with a Cabinet Minister, all in one week; who could pray with the piety of a fasting monk; weep at will and look bewitching in the process; faint to order with the grace, the elegance and all the stage effect of an early Victorian Duchess: the woman who was styled a golden-haired goddess by those on whom she smiled and dubbed a saucy, red- haired minx by those whom she spurned;—was too, too much of a conglomeration for such a humdrum individual, such an ordinary, country-loving fellow as I,—George Brammerton. And now, poor old Hazelmere was undergoing a process of renovation such as it had not experienced since the occasion of a Royal visit some twenty years before: not a room in the house where one could feel perfectly safe, save the library: washing, scrubbing, polishing and oiling in anticipation of a rousing week-end House Party in honour of this wonderful, chameleon-like, Lady Rosemary's first visit; when her engagement with Harry would be formally announced to the inquisitive, fashionable world of which she was a spoiled child. Why all this fuss over a matter which concerned only two individuals, I could not understand. Had I been going to marry the Lady Rosemary,—which, Heaven forbid,—I should have whipped her quietly away to some little, country parsonage, to the registrar of a small country town; or to some village blacksmith, and so got the business over, out of hand. But, of course, I had neither the inclination, nor the intention, let alone the opportunity, of putting to the test what I should do in regard to marrying her, nor were my tastes in any way akin to those of my most elegant, elder brother, Viscount Harry, Captain of the Guards,—egad,—for which two blessings I was indeed truly thankful. As I was thus ruminating, the library door opened and my noble sire came in, spick and span as he always was, and happier looking than usual. "'Morning, George," he greeted. "Good morning, dad." He rubbed his hands together. "Gad, youngster! (I was twenty-four) everything is going like clockwork. The house is all in order; supplies on hand to stock an hotel; all London falling over itself in its eagerness to get here. Harry will arrive this afternoon and Lady Rosemary to-morrow." I raised my eyebrows, nodded disinterestedly and started in again to my reading. Father walked the carpet excitedly, then he stopped and looked down at me. "You don't seem particularly enthusiastic over it, George. Nothing ever does interest you but boxing bouts, wrestling matches, golf and books. Why don't you brace up and get into the swim? Why don't you take the place that belongs to you among the young fellows of your own station?" "God forbid!" I answered fervently. "Not jealous of Harry, are you? Not smitten at the very sound of the lady's name,—like the young bloods, and the old ones, too, in the city?" "God forbid!" I replied again. "Hang it all, can't you say anything more than that?" he asked testily. "Oh, yes! dad,—lots," I answered, closing my book and keeping my finger at the place. "For one thing—I have never met this Lady Rosemary Granton; never even seen her picture—and, to tell you the truth, from what I have heard of her, I have no immediate desire to make the lady's acquaintance." There was silence for a moment, and from my father's heavy breathing I could gather that his temper was ruffling. "Look here, you young barbarian, you revolutionary,—what do you mean? What makes you talk in that way of one of the best and sweetest young ladies in the country? I won't have it from you, sir, this Lady Rosemary Granton, this Lady indeed." "Oh! you know quite well, dad, what I mean," I continued, a little bored. "Harry is no angel, and I doubt not but Lady Rosemary is by far too good for him. But,—you know,—you cannot fail to have heard the stories that are flying over the country of her cantrips;—some of them, well, not exactly pleasant. And, allowing fifty percent for exaggeration, there is still a lot that would be none the worse of considerable discounting to her advantage." "Tuts, tush and nonsense! Foolish talk most of it! The kind of stuff that is garbled and gossiped about every popular woman. The girl is up-to-date, modern, none of your drawing-room dolls. I admit that she has go in her, vim, animal spirits, youthful exuberance and all that. She may love sport and athletics, but, but,—you, yourself, spend most of your time in pursuit of these same amusements. Why not she?" "Why! father, these are the points I admire in her,—the only ones, I may say. But, oh! what's the good of going over it all? I know, you know,—everybody knows;—her flirtations, her affairs; every rake in London tries to boast of his acquaintance with her and bandies her name over his brandy and soda, and winks." "Look here, George," put in my father angrily, "you forget yourself. These stories are lies, every one of them! Lady Rosemary is the daughter of my dearest, my dead friend. Very soon, she will be your sister." "Yes! I know,—so let us not say any more about it. It is Harry and she for it, and, if they are pleased and an old whim of yours satisfied,—what matters it to an ordinary, easy-going, pipe-loving, cold-blooded fellow like me?" "Whim, did you say? Whim?" cried my father, flaring up and clenching his hands excitedly. "Do you call the vow of a Brammerton a whim? The pledged word of a Granton a whim? Whim, be damned." For want of words to express himself, my father dropped into a chair and drummed his agitated fingers on the arms of it. I rose and went over to him, laying my hand lightly on his shoulder. Poor old dad! I had not meant to hurt his feelings. After all, he was the dearest of old-fashioned fellows and I loved his haughty, mid-Victorian ways. "There, there, father,—I did not mean to say anything that would give offence. I take it all back. I am sorry,— indeed I am." He looked up at me and his face brightened once more. "'Gad, boy,—I'm glad to hear you say it. I know you did not mean anything by your bruskness. You are an impetuous, headstrong young devil though,—with a touch of your mother in you,—and, 'gad, if I don't like you the more for it. "But, but," he went on, looking in front of him, "you must remember that although Granton and I were mere boys at the time our vow was made,—he was a Granton and I a Brammerton, whose vows are made to keep. It seems like yesterday, George; it was a few hours after he saved my life in the fighting before Sevastopol. We were sitting by the camp-fire. The chain-shot was still flying around. The cries of the wounded were in our ears. The sentries were challenging continually and drums were rolling in the distance. "I clasped Fred's hand and I thanked him for what he had done for me that day, right in the teeth of the Russian guns. "'Freddy, old chap, you're a trump,' I said, 'and, if ever I be blessed with an heir to Brammerton and Hazelmere, I would wish nothing better than that he should marry a Granton.' "'And nothing would please me so much, Harry, old boy,—as that a maid of Granton should wed a Brammerton,' he answered earnestly. "'Then it's a go,' said I, full of enthusiasm. "'It's a go, Harry.' "And we raised our winecups, such as they were. "'Your daughter, Fred!' "'Your heir, Harry!' "'The future Earl and Countess of Brammerton and Hazelmere,' we chimed together. "Our winecups clinked and the bond was made;—made for all time, George." My father's eyes lit up and he seemed to be back in the Crimea. He shook his head sadly. "And now, poor old Fred is gone. Ah, well! our dream is coming true. In a month, the maid of Granton weds the future Earl of Brammerton. "'Gad, George, my boy,—Rosemary may be skittish and lively, but were she the most mercurial woman in Christendom, she has never forgotten that she is first of all a Granton, and, as a Granton, she has kept a Granton's pledge." For a moment I caught the contagion of my father's earnestness. My eyes felt damp as I thought how important, after all, this union was to him. But, even then, I could not resist a little more questioning. "Does Harry love her, dad?" "Love her!" He smiled. "Why! my boy, he's madly in love with her." "Then, why doesn't he mend a bit? give over his mad chasing after,—to put it mildly,—continual excitement; and demonstrate that he is thoroughly in earnest. You know, falling madly in love is a habit of Harry's." "Don't you worry your serious head about that, George. You talk of Harry as if he were a baby. You talk as if you were his grandfather, instead of his younger brother and a mere boy." "Does Lady Rosemary love Harry?" I asked, ignoring his admonition. "Of course, she loves him. Why shouldn't she? He's a good fellow; well bred and well made; he is a soldier; he is in the swim; he has plenty to spend; he is the heir to Brammerton;—why shouldn't she love him? She is going to marry him, isn't she? She may not be of the gushing type, George, but she'll come to it all in good time. She will grow to love him, as every good wife does her husband. So, don't let that foolish head of yours give you any more trouble." I turned to leave. "George!" "Yes, dad!" "You will be on hand this week-end. I want you at home. I need you to keep things going. No skipping off to sporting gatherings or athletic conventions. I wish you to meet your future sister." "Well,—I had not thought of that, dad. Big Jim Darrol, Tom Tanner and I have entered for a number of events at the Gartnockan Games on Saturday. I am also on the lists as a competitor for the Northern Counties Golf Championship on Monday." My father looked up at me in a strange way. "However," I went on quickly, "much as I dislike the rush, the gush and the clatter of house parties, I shall be on hand." "Good! I knew you would, my boy," replied my father quietly. "Where away now, lad?" "Oh! down to the village to tell Jim and Tom not to count on me for their week-end jaunt." CHAPTER II Another Second Son I strolled down the avenue, between the tall trees and on to the broad, sun-baked roadway leading to the sleepy little village of Brammerton, which lay so snugly down in the hollow. Swinging my stout stick and whistling as I went, I felt at peace with the good old world. My head was clear, my arm was strong; rich, fresh blood was dancing in my veins; I was young, single, free;—so what cared I? As I walked along, I saw ahead of me a thin line of blue-grey smoke curling up from the roadside. As I drew nearer, I made out the back of a ragged man, leaning over a fire. His voice, lusty and clear as a bell, was ringing out a strange melody. I went over to him. I was looking over his shoulder, yet he seemed not to have heard me, so intent was he on his song and in his work. He was toasting the carcass of a poached rabbit, the wet skin of which lay at his side. He was a dirty, ragged rascal, but he seemed happy and his voice was good. The sentiment of his song was not altogether out of harmony with my own feelings. "A carter swore he'd love always A skirt, some rouge, a pair of stays. After his vow, for days and days, He thought himself the smarter." The singer bit a piece of flesh from the leg of his rabbit, to test its tenderness, then he resumed his toasting and his song. "But, underneath the stays and paint He found the usual male complaint: A woman's tongue, with Satan's taint; A squalling, brawling tartar. "She scratches, bites and blacks his eye. His head hangs low; he heaves a sigh; He longs for single days, gone by. He's doomed to die a martyr." The peculiar fellow stopped, opened a red-coloured handkerchief, took out a hunk of bread and set it down by his side with slow deliberation. It was quite two minutes ere he started off again. "Now, friends, beware, take my advice; When eating sugar, think of spice; Before you marry, ponder twice: Remember Ned the carter." From the words, it seemed to me that he had finished the song, but, judging from the tune, it was never-ending. "A fine song, my good fellow," I remarked from behind. The rascal did not turn round. "Oh!—it's no' so bad. It's got the endurin' quality o' carrying a moral," he answered. "You seem to be clear in the conscience yourself," said I. "It'll be clearer when I get outside o' this rabbit," he returned, still not deigning to look at me. "But you did not seem to be startled when I spoke to you," I remarked in surprise. "What way should I? I never saw the man yet that I was feart o'. Forby,—I kent you were there." "But, how could you know? I did not make a noise or display my presence in any way." "No!—but the wind was blawin' from the back, ye see; and when ye came up behind the smoke curled up a bit further and straighter than it did before; then there was just the ghost o' a shadow." I laughed. "You are an observant customer." "Oh, ay! I'm a' that. Come round and let me see ye." I obeyed, and he seemed satisfied with his inspection. "Sit doon,—oot o' the smoke," he said. I did so. "You are Scotch?" I ventured. "Ay! From Perth, awa'. "A Scotch tinker?" "Just that; a tinker from Perth, and my name's Robertson. I'm a Struan, ye ken. The Struans,—the real Struans,— are a' tinkers or pipers. In oor family, my elder brother fell heir to my father's pipes, so I had just to take to the tinkering. But we're joint heirs to my father's fondness for a dram. Ye havena a wee drop on ye?" "Not a drop," I remarked. "That's a disappointment. I was kind o' feart ye wouldna, when I asked ye." "How so?" "Oh! ye don't look like a man that wasted your substance. More like a seller o' Bibles, or maybe a horse doctor." I laughed at the queer comparison, and he looked out at me from under his shaggy, red eyebrows. "Have a bite o' breakfast wi' me. I like to crack to somebody when I'm eatin'. It helps the digestion." "No, thank you," I said. "I have breakfasted already." "It's good meat, man. The rabbit's fresh. I can guarantee it, for it was runnin' half an hour ago. Try a leg." I refused, but, as he seemed crestfallen, I took the drumstick in my hand and ate the meat slowly from it; and never did rabbit taste so good. "What makes ye smile?" asked my tattered companion. "Do ye no' like the taste o' it?" "Oh! the rabbit is all right," I said, "but I was just thinking that had it lived its children might have belonged to a brother of mine some day." "How's that? Is he a keeper? Od sake!" he went on, scratching his head, as it seemed to dawn on him, "ye don't happen to belong to the big hoose up there?" "I live there," said I. He leaned over to me quickly. "Have another leg, man,—have it;—dod! it's your ain, anyway." "I haven't finished the first yet. Go ahead yourself." He ate slowly, eying me now and again through the smoke. "So you're a second son, eh?" he pondered. "Man, ye have my sympathy. I had the same ill-luck. That's how my brother Angus got the pipes and I'm a tinker. Although, I wouldna mind being the second son o' a Laird or a Duke." "Well, my friend," said I; "that's just where our opinions differ. Now, I'd sooner be the second son of a rag-and- bone man; a—Perthshire piper of the name of Robertson; ay! of the devil himself,—than the second son of an Earl." "Do ye tell me that now!" he put in, with a cock of his towsled head, picking up another piece of rabbit. "You see,—you and these other fellows can do as you like; go where you like when you like. An Earl's second son has to serve his House. He has to pave the way and make things smooth for the son and heir. He is supposed to work the limelight that shines on his elder brother. He is tolerated, sometimes spoiled and petted, because,—well, because he has an elder brother who, some day, will be an Earl; but he counts for little or nothing in the world's affairs. "Be thankful, sir, you are only the second son of a highland piper." The tramp reflected for a while. "Ay, ay!" he philosophised at last, "no doot,—maybe,—just that. I can see you have your ain troubles and I'm thinkin', maybe, I'm just as weel the way I am. But it's a queer thing; we aye think the other man is gettin' the best o' what's goin'. It's the way o' the world." He was quiet a while. He negotiated the rabbit's head and I watched him with interest as he extracted every bit of meat from the maze of bone. "And you would be the Earl when your father dies, if it wasna for your brother?" he added. "Yes!" I answered. "Man, it must be a dreadful temptation." "What must be?" "Och! to keep from puttin' something in his whisky; to keep from flinging him ower the window or droppin' a flower pot on his heid, maybe. If my ain father had been an Earl, Angus Robertson would never have lived to blow the pipes. As it was, it was touch and go wi' Angus;—for they were the bonny pipes,—the grand, bonny pipes." "Do you mean to tell me, you would have murdered your brother for a skirling, screeching bagpipes?" I asked in horror. "Och! hardly that, man. Murder is no' a bonny name for it. I would just kind o' quietly have done awa' wi' him. It's maybe a pity my conscience was so keen, for he's no' much good, is Angus; he's a through-other customer: no' steady and law-abidin' like mysel'." "Well, my friend," I said finally—— "Donald! that's my name." "Well, Donald, I must be on my way." "What's a' the hurry, man?" "Business." "Oh! weel; give me your hand on it. You've a fine face. The face o' a man that, if he had a dram on him, he would give me a drop o' it." "That I would, Donald." "It's a pity. But ye don't happen to have the price o' the dram on ye?" "Maybe I have, Donald." I handed him a sixpence. "Thank ye. I'm never wrong in the readin' o' face character." As I made to go from him, he started off again. "You don't happen to be a married man, wi' a wife and bairns?" he asked. "No, Donald. Thank goodness! What made you ask that?" "Oh! I thought maybe you were and that was the way you liked the words o' my bit song." I left the tinker finishing his belated breakfast and hurried down the road toward the village. The sun was getting high in the heavens, birds were singing and the spring workers were busy in the fields. I took the side track down the rough pathway leading to Modley Farm. My good friend, big, brawny, bluff Tom Tanner,—who was standing under the porch,—hailed me from a distance, with his usual merry shout. "Where away, George? Feeling fit for our trip?" he asked as I got up to him. "I am sorry, old boy, but, so far as I am concerned, the trip is off. I just hurried down to tell you and Jim. "You see, Tom, there is going to be a House Party up there this week-end and my dad's mighty anxious to have me at home; so much so, that I would offend him if I went off. Being merely George Brammerton, I must bow to the paternal commands, although I would rather, a hundred times, be at the games." Tom's face fell, and I could see he was disappointed. I knew how much he enjoyed those week-end excursions of ours. "The fact is," I explained, "there is going to be a marriage up there pretty soon, and, naturally, I am wanted to meet the lady." "Great Scott! George,—you are not trying to break it gently to me? You are not going to get married, are you?" he asked in consternation. I laughed loudly. "Lord, no! Not for a kingdom. It is my big brother Harry." Tom seemed relieved. He even sighed. "I'm glad to hear you say it, George, for there's a lot of fine athletic meetings coming on during the next three or four months and it would be a pity to miss them for, for,—— Oh! hang it all! you know what I mean. You're such a queer, serious, determined sort of customer, that it's hard to say what you will do next." He looked so solemn over the matter that I laughed again. His kind-hearted old mother, who had been at work in the kitchen and had overheard our conversation, came to the doorway and placed her arms lovingly around our broad shoulders. "Lots of time yet to think about getting married. And, let me whisper something into your ears. It's an old woman's advice, and it's good:—when you do think of marrying, be sure you get a wife with a pleasant face and a good figure; a wife that other wives' men will turn round and admire; for, you know, you can never foretell what kind of temper a woman has until you have lived with her. A maid is always on her best behaviour before her lover. And, just think what it would mean if you married a plain, shapeless lass and she proved to have a temper like a termagant! Now, a handsome lass, even if she has a temper, is always—a handsome lass and something to rouse envy of you in other men. And, after all, we measure and treasure what we have in proportion as other people long for it. So, whatever you do, young men, make sure she is handsome!" "Good, sensible advice, Mrs. Tanner; and I mean to take it," said I. "But I would be even more exacting. In addition to being sweet tempered and fair of face and form, she must have curly, golden hair and golden brown eyes to match." "And freckles?" put in Mrs. Tanner with a wry face. "No! freckles are barred," I added. "But, golden hair and brown eyes are mighty rare to find in one person," said Tom innocently. "Of course they are; and the combination such as I require is so extremely rare that my quest will be a long one. I am likely therefore to enjoy my bachelorhood for many days to come." "Good-bye, Mrs. Tanner. Good-bye, Tom; I am going down to the smithy to see Jim." I strolled away from my happy, contented friends, on to the main road again and down the hill to the village, little dreaming how long it would be ere I should have an opportunity of talking with them again. CHAPTER III Jim the Blacksmith The village of Brammerton seemed only half awake. A rumbling cart was slowly wending its way up the hill, three or four old men were standing yarning at the inn corner; now and again, a busy housewife would appear at her door and take a glimpse of what little was going on and disappear inside just as quickly as she had shown herself. The sound of the droning voices of children conning their lessons came through the open window of the old schoolhouse. These were the only signs and sounds of life that forenoon in Brammerton. Stay!—there was yet another. Breaking in on the general quiet of the place, I could hear distinctly the regular thud of hard steel on soft, followed by the clear double-ring of a small hammer on a mellow-toned anvil. One man, at any rate, was hard at work,—Jim Darrol,—big, honest, serious giant that he was. Light of heart and buoyant in body, I turned down toward the smithy. I looked in through the grimy, broken window and admired the brawny giant he looked there in the glare of the furnace, with his broad back to me, his huge arms bared to the shoulders. Little wonder, thought I, Jim Darrol can whirl the hammer and put the shot farther than any man in the Northern Counties. How the muscles bulged, and wriggled, and crawled under his dark, hairy skin! What a picture of manliness he portrayed! And, best of all,—I knew his heart was as good and clean as his body was sound. I tiptoed cautiously inside and slapped him between the shoulders. He wheeled about quickly. He always was a solemn-looking owl, but this morning his face was clouded and grim. As he recognised me, a terrible anger seemed to blaze up in his black eyes. I could see the muscles tighten in his arms and his fingers close firmly over the shaft of the hammer he held. I could see a new-born, but fierce hatred burning in every inch of his enormous frame. "Hello, Jim, old man! Who has been rubbing you the wrong way?" I cried. His jaws set. He raised his left hand and pointed with his finger to the open doorway. "Get out!" he growled, in a deep, hoarse voice. I stood dumbfounded for a brief moment, then I replied roughly and familiarly: "Oh, you go to the devil! Keep your anger for those who have caused it." "Get out, will you!" he cried again, taking a step nearer to me, his brows lowered, his lips drawn to a thin line. I had seen these danger signals in Jim before, but never with any ill intent toward me. I was so astounded I could scarcely think aright. What could he mean? What was the matter? "Jim, Jim," I soothed, "don't talk that way to old friends." "You're no friend of mine," he shouted. "Will you get out of here?" In some respects, I was like Jim Darrol: I did not like to be ordered about. "No! I will not get out," I snapped back at him. "I mean to remain here until you grow sensible." I went over to his anvil, set my leg across it and looked straight at him. He raised his hammer high, as if to strike me; and I felt then that if I had taken my eyes from Jim's for the briefest flash of time, my last minute on earth would have arrived. With an oath,—the first I ever heard him utter,—he cast the hammer from him, sending it clattering into a corner among the old horse shoes. "Damn you,—I hate you and all your cursed aristocratic breed," he snarled. And, with the spring of a tiger, he had me by the throat, with those great, grabbing hands of his, his fingers closing cruelly on my windpipe as he tried to shake the life out of me. I had always been able to account for Jim when it came to fisticuffs, but never at close quarters. This time, his attack was violent as it was unexpected. I did not have the ghost of a chance. I staggered back against the furnace wall, still in his devilish clutch. Not a gasp of air entered or left my body from the moment he clutched me. He shook me as a terrier does a rat. Soon my strength began to go; my eyes bulged; my head felt as if it were bursting; dancing lights and awful darknesses flashed and loomed alternately before and around me. Then the lights became scarcer and the darknesses longer and more intense. As the last glimmer of consciousness was leaving me, when black gloom had won and there was no more light, I felt a sudden release, painful and almost unwelcome to the oblivion to which I had been hurling. The lights came flashing back to me again and out of the whirling chaos I began to grasp the tangible once more. As I leaned against the side of the furnace, pulling at my throat where those terrible fingers had been,—gasping,—gasping,— for glorious life-giving, life-sustaining air, I gradually began to see as through a haze. Before long, I was almost myself again. Jim was standing a few paces away, his chest heaving, his shaggy head bent and his great hands clenched against his thighs. I gazed at him, and as I gazed something wet glistened in his eyes, rolled down his cheeks and splashed on the back of his hand, where it dried up as if it had fallen on a red-hot plate. I took an unsteady step toward him and held out my hand. "Jim," I murmured, "my poor old Jim!" His head remained lowered. "Strike me," he groaned huskily. "For God's sake strike me, for the coward I am!" "I want your hand, Jim," I answered. "Tell me what is wrong? What is all this about?" At last he looked into my eyes. I could see a hundred conflicting emotions working in his expressive face. "You would be friends after what I have done?" he asked. "I want your hand, Jim," I said again. In a moment, both his were clasped over mine, in his vicelike grip. "George,—George!" he cried. "We've always been friends,—chums. I have always known you were not like the rest of them." He drew his forearm across his brow. "I am not myself, George. You'll forgive me for what I did, won't you?" "Man, Jim,—there is nothing done that requires forgiving;—only, you have the devil's own grip. I don't suppose I shall be able to swallow decently for a week. "But you are in trouble: what is it, Jim? Tell me; maybe I can help." "Ay,—it's trouble enough,—God forbid. It's Peggy, George,—my dear little sister, Peggy, that has neither mother nor father to guide her;—only me, and I'm a blind fool. Oh!—I can't speak about it. Come over with me and see for yourself." I followed him slowly and silently out of the smithy, down the lane and across the road to his little, rose-covered cottage. We went round to the back of the house. Jim held up his hand for caution, as he peeped in at the kitchen window. He turned to me again, and beckoned, his big eyes blind with tears. "Look in there," he gulped. "That's my little sister, my little Peggy; she who never has had a sorrow since mother left us. She's been like that for four hours and she gets worse when I try to comfort her." I peered in. Peggy was sitting on the edge of a chair and bending across the table. Her arms were spread out in front of her and her face was buried in them. Her brown, curly hair rippled over her neck and shoulders like a mountain stream. Great sobs seemed to be shaking her supple body. I listened, and my ears caught the sound of a breaking heart. There was a fearful agony in her whole attitude. I turned away without speaking and followed Jim back to the smithy. When we got there, something pierced me like a knife, although all was not quite clear to my understanding. "Jim,—Jim," I cried, "surely you never fancied I—I was in any way to blame for this. Why! Jim,—I don't even know yet what it is all about." He laughed unpleasantly. "No, George, no!—Oh! I can't tell you. Here——" He went to his coat which hung from a hook in the wall. He pulled a letter from his inside pocket. "Read that," he said. I unfolded the paper, as he stood watching me keenly. The note was in handwriting with which I was well familiar. "My DEAR LITTLE PEGGY, I am very, very sorry,—but surely you know that what you ask is impossible. I shall try to find time to run out and see you at the usual place, Friday night at nine o'clock. Do not be afraid, little woman; everything will come out all right. You know I shall see that you are well looked after; that you do not want for anything. Burn this after you read it. Keep our secret, and bear up, like the good little girl you are. Yours affectionately, H——" As I read, my blood chilled in my veins, was,—there could be no mistaking it. "My God! Jim," I cried, "this is terrible. Surely,—surely——" "Yes! George," he said, in a tensely subdued voice, "your brother did that. Your brother,—with his glib tongue and his masterful way. Oh!—well I know the breed. They are to be found in high and low places; they are generally not much for a man to look at, but they are the kind no woman is safe beside; the kind that gets their soft side whether they be angels or she-devils. Why couldn't he leave her alone? Why couldn't he stay among his own kind? "And now, he has the gall to think that his accursed money can smooth it over. Damn and curse him for what he is." I had little or nothing to say. My heart was too full for words and a great anger was surging within me against my own flesh and blood. "Jim,—does this make any difference between you and me?" I asked, crossing over to him on the spongy floor of hoof parings and steel filings. "Does it, Jim?" He caught me by the shoulders, in his old, rough way, and looked into my face. Then he smiled sadly and shook his head. "No, George, no! You're different: you always were different; you are the same straight, honest George Brammerton to me;—still the same." "Then, Jim, you will let me try to do something here? You will promise me not to get into personal contact with Harry,—at least until I have seen him and spoken with him. Not that he does not deserve a dog's hiding, but I should like to see him and talk with him first." "Why should I promise that?" he asked sharply. "For one thing,—because, doubtless, Harry is home now. And again, there is going to be a week-end House Party at our place. Harry's engagement of marriage with Lady Rosemary Granton is to be announced; and Lady Rosemary will be there. "It would only mean trouble for you, Jim;—and, God knows, this is trouble enough." "What do I care for trouble?" he cried defiantly. "What trouble can make me more unhappy than I now am?" "You must avoid further trouble for Peggy's sake," I interposed. "Jim,—let me see Harry first. Do what you like afterwards. Promise me, Jim." He swallowed his anger. "God!—it will be a hard promise to keep if ever I come across him. But I do promise, just because I like you, George, as I hate him." "May I keep this meantime?" I asked, holding up Harry's letter to Peggy. "No! Give it to me. I might need it." "But I might find greater use for it, Jim. Won't you let me have it, for a time at least?" "Oh! all right, all right," he answered, spreading his hands over his leather apron. I left him there amid the roar of the fire and the odour of sizzling hoofs, and wended my way slowly up the dust- laden hill, back home, having forgotten entirely, in the great sorrow that had fallen, to tell Jim my object in calling on him that day. CHAPTER IV Viscount Harry, Captain of the Guards On nearing home, I noticed the "Flying Dandy," Harry's favourite horse, standing at the front entrance in charge of a groom. "Hello, Wally," I shouted in response to the groom's salute and broad grin. "Is Captain Harry home?" "Yes, sir! Three hours agone, sir. 'E's just agoing for a canter, sir, for the good of 'is 'ealth." I went inside. "Hi! William," I cried to the retreating figure of our portly and aristocratic butler. "Where's Harry?" "Captain Harry, sir, is in the armoury. Any message, sir?" "No! it is all right, William. I shall go along in and see him." I went down the corridor, to the most ancient part of Hazelmere House; the old armoury, with its iron-studded oaken doors and its suggestion of spooks and goblins. I pushed in to that sombre-looking place, which held so many grim secrets of feudal times. How many drinking orgies and all-night card parties had been held within its portals, I dared not endeavour to surmise. As to how many plots had been hatched behind its studded doors, how many affairs of honour had been settled for all time under its high-panelled roof,—there was only a meagre record; but those we knew of had been bloody and not a few. Figures, in suits of armour, stood in every corner; two-edged swords, shields of brass and cowhide, blunderbusses and breech-loading pistols hung from the walls, while the more modern rifles and fowling pieces were ranged in orderly fashion along the far side. The light was none too good in there, and I failed, at first, to discover the object of my quest. "How do, farmer Giles?" came that slow, drawling, sarcastic voice which I knew so well. I turned suddenly, and,—there he was, seated on a brass-studded oak chest almost behind the heavy door, swinging one leg and toying with a seventeenth century rapier. Through his narrow-slitted eyes, he was examining me from top to toe in apparent disgust: tall, thin, perfectly groomed, handsome, cynical, devil-may-care. I tried to speak calmly, but my anger was greater than I could properly control. Poor little Peggy Darrol was uppermost in my thoughts. "'Gad, George,—you look like a tramp. Why don't you spruce up a bit? Hobnailed boots, home-spun breeches; ugh! it's enough to make your noble ancestors turn in their coffins and groan. "Don't you know the Brammerton motto is, 'Clean,—within and without.'" He bent the blade of his rapier until it formed a half hoop, then he let it fly back with a twang. "And some of us have degenerated so," I answered, "that we apply the motto only in so far as it affects the outside." "While some of us, of course, are so busy scrubbing and polishing at our inwards," he put in, "that we have no time to devote to the parts that are seen. But that seems to me deuced like cant; and a cheap variety of it at that. "So you have taken to preaching, as well as farming. Fine combination, little brother! However, George,—dear boy,—we shall let it go at that. There is something you are anxious to unload. Get it out of your system, man." "I have just been hearing that you are going to marry Lady Rosemary Granton soon." "Why, yes! of course. You may congratulate me, for I have that distinguished honour," he drawled. "And you do consider it an honour?" I asked, pushing my hands deep into my pockets and spreading my legs. He leaned back and surveyed me tolerantly. "'Gad!—that's a beastly impertinent question, George. Why shouldn't it be an honour, when every gentleman in London will be biting his finger-tips with envy?" I nodded and went on. "You consider also that she will be honoured in marrying a Brammerton?" "Look here," he answered, a little irritated, "what's all this damned catechising for?" "I am simply asking questions, Harry; taking liberties seeing I am a Brammerton and your little brother," I retorted calmly. "And nasty questions they are, too;—but, by Jove! since you ask, and, as I am a Brammerton, and it is I she is going to marry,—why! I consider she is honoured. The honour will be,—ah! on both sides, George. Now,—dear fellow,—don't worry about my feelings. If you have anything more to ask, why! shoot it over, now that I am in the mood for answering," he continued dryly. "I have a hide like a rhino'." I looked him over coldly. "Yes, Harry,—Lady Rosemary will come to you as a Granton, fulfilling the pledge made by her father. She will come to you with her honour bright and unsullied." He bent forward and frowned at me. "Do you doubt it?" he shot across. I shook my head. "No!" He resumed his old position. "Glad to hear you say so. Now,—what else? Blest if this doesn't make me feel quite a devil, to be lectured and questioned by my young brother,—my own, dear, little, preaching, farmer, kid of a brother." "You will go to her a Brammerton, fulfilling the vow made by a Brammerton, with a Brammerton's honour, unstained, unblemished,—'Clean,—within and without'?" He rose slowly from the chest and faced me squarely. There was nothing of the coward in Harry. His eye glistened with a cruel light. "Have a care, little brother," he said between his regular, white teeth. "Have a care." "Why, Harry," I remonstrated in feigned surprise, "what's the matter? What have I said amiss?" He had always played the big, patronising, bossing brother with me and I had suffered it from him, although, from a physical standpoint, the suffering of late had been one of good-natured tolerance. To-day, there was something in my manner that told him he had reached the end of it. "Tell me what you mean?" he snarled. "If you do not know what I mean, brother mine, sit down and I will tell you." "No!" he answered. "Oh, well!—I'll tell you anyway." I went up close to him. "What are you going to do about Peggy Darrol?" I demanded. The shot hit hard; but he was almost equal to it. He sat down on the chest again and toyed once more with the point of the rapier. Then, without looking up, he answered: "Peggy Darrol,—eh, George! Peggy Darrol, did you say? Who the devil is she? Oh,—ah,—eh,—oh, yes! the blacksmith's sister,—um,—nice little wench, Peggy:—attractive, fresh, clinging, strawberries and cream and all that sort of thing. Bit of a dreamer, though!" "Who set her dreaming?" I asked, pushing my anger back. "Hanged if I know; born in her I suppose. It is part of every woman's make-up. Pretty little thing, though; by Gad! she is." "Yes! she is pretty; and she was good as she is pretty until she got tangled up with you." Harry sprang up and menaced me. "What do you mean, you,—you?—— What are you driving at? What's your game?" "Oh! give over this rotten hypocrisy," I shouted, pushing him back. "Hit you on the raw, did it?" He drew himself up. "No! it didn't. But I have had more than enough of your impertinences. I would box your ears for the unlicked pup you are, if I could do it without soiling my palms." I smiled. "Those days are gone, Harry,—and you know it, too. Let us cut this evasion and tom-foolery. You have got that poor girl into a scrape. What are you going to do about getting her out of it?" "I have got her into trouble? How do you know I have? Her word for it, I suppose? A fine state of affairs it has come to, when any girl who gets into trouble with her clod-hopper sweetheart, has simply to accuse some one in a higher station than she, to have all her troubles ended." He flicked some dust from his coat-sleeve. "'Gad,—we fellows would never be out of the soup." "No! not her word," I retorted. "Little Peggy Darrol is not that sort of girl and well you know it. I have your own word for it,—in writing." His face underwent a change in expression; his cheeks paled slightly. I drew his letter from my pocket. "Damn her for a little fool," he growled. He held out his hand for it. "Oh, no! Harry,—I am keeping this meantime." And I replaced it. "Tell me now,—what are you going to do about Peggy?" I asked relentlessly. "Oh!" he replied easily, "don't worry. I shall have her properly looked after. She needn't fear. Probably I shall make a settlement on her; although the little idiot hardly deserves that much after giving the show away as she has done." "Of course, you will tell Lady Rosemary of this before any announcement is made of your marriage, Harry? A Brammerton must, in all things, be honourable, 'Clean,—within and without.'" He looked at me incredulously, and smiled almost in pity for me and my strange ideas. "Certainly not! What do you take me for? What do you think Lady Rosemary is that I should trouble her with these petty matters?" "Petty matters," I cried. "You call this petty? God forgive you, Harry. Petty! and that poor girl crying her heart out; her whole innocent life blasted; her future a disgrace! Petty!—my God!;—and you a Brammerton! "But I tell you," I blazed, "you shall let Lady Rosemary know." "And I tell you,—I shall not," he replied. "Then, by God!—I'll do it myself," I retorted. "I give you two hours to decide which of us it is to be." I made toward the door. But Harry sprang for his rapier, picked it up and stood with his back against my exit, the point of his weapon to my breast. There was a wicked gleam in his narrow eyes. "Damn you! George Brammerton, for a sneaking, prying, tale-bearing lout;—you dare not do it!"