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Chapter Ii.
most uncomfortable of all to look on is the grin of him who is certain that- the man who would like to be his enemy is forced to appear his friend . Then he started thinking . Moss , he mused , is the sort of pitiful sneak who would see no difference in putting his hand in his master's
till , and such like petty thefts , and such hi gh flights of crime as forgery and artistic fraud . Unfortunately , the law agrees with Moss , and while the petty larcenist only retires for a twelvemonth , the artistic scoundrel has an opportunity of studying prison interiors for seven vears . This is hardly even-handed -justice . The
excellent Moss , moreover , sends me on an errand of problematic plunder , in which , of course , he expects to share , whatever the loot may be ; he knows me only as an actor just off a provincial tour , who always spends the bulk of his salary in dress , and therefore fancies he has got me under his thumb , and that I can ' t get away . He doesn't remember that half-a-dozen years in the States have made me just a wee bit ahead of the raw , young , would-be bucks of country towns , who are always ready
for a gamble , and moreover that , with an occasional good day on a racecourse , I have got quite enough together to enable me to bolt at will without any reference to the wishes of my excellent friend Moss . 1 don't mind a week or two in pleasant company , and if , in the words of Moss and Micawber , anything should turn np , I don ' t think I shall come at full speed to the latter
to cut np the plunder . Xo , my Moss , my future speculations shall be unaided by your genial counsel . When Mr . Moss returned he found his young friend iu a most amiable mood ; he was perfectly ready fo have a telegram sent off at once announcing that he should be down by the Granville express on the following Monday , and , after a nice little dinner together , separated from him with the nearest
approach to a blessing in the words , " My dear boy , if yer want to be advised about anything , or to live quietly for a little , mind you send me a wire . " "If I require you , 1 will , " said Verner coolly , and left the suspicious Hebrew gazing dubiously after him , as he climbed into his cab and drove away .
Chapter Iii.
CHAPTER III .
Time and the improved steam engine between them work wonders , and so Mr . Richard Verney , m Wimborne , was rattled and jolted clown by the London , Chatham , and Dover Railway as far as Favershain iu double quick time . Having got so far he fondly imagined that he was nearly at his journey's end , and congratulated himself that the Hask and the cigarettes had lasted so long ; the illustrated paper had given out some fewmiles before Chatham was reached . Then a bucolic person hacl
got in , who bided his time patiently until Faversham had been passed ; the rest of the journey , which in aggravatingly stopped at such stations as Whitstable , dear to the oyster-eater ; Herne Bay , so called because there is not the least inflection of the coast line there ; Birchington , and such other tedious
interruptions ot the journey , the line passing through flat grass country intersected by continual converging dykes protected by a seawall , ancl hereabout large numbers of slice ]) and cattle graze at large . This was the bucolic person ' s opportunity : " The sheep alongside this ' ere line , " he remarks , in a hoarse and confidential whisper , " are worth a matter of two ' underd
and -fifty thousand pounds , and , " with a broad chuckle , "I . shouldn ' t mind ' aving the cheque in my pocket for it this minute , should you ' ' . " Dick smiles as civilly as a murderous desire to pitch the bucolic out of window will allow him and then listens with the patience of the crucified to an utterl y
Chapter Iii.
incoherent version of the origin of the twin beacons of the Rcculotos . And on he suffers fill finally after the train has disgorged half a synagogue full of jubilant Hebrews at Margate , the church and struggling village of Broadstairs at length come iu sight . Mentally consigning the bucolic one to a ,
locality where cattle will not require much roasting , Dick leapt on to the platform , and was suddenly stopped by a good-natured looking fellow , in a free-and-easy canvas suit and straw- hat , who called out : " AVhat Wimborne ! Is that von ? "
Not best pleased at being recognised by his buried name , he looked hard at his interlocutor , until his fa . ee lit up as he recognised him . " Wilson Hardaway by the Great Panjandrum . Who the dickens would have expected to sec you down here . Why its years since we met . "
Now neither of these young men had ever been particularly fond of each other , and neither hacl spoken these words before a feeling of distrust went through the mind of each . And yefc their first greeting was that of reunited brothers ; from which it must bo concluded that , however far apart in point of morals , they must have been extremely good-hearted aud sympathetic
young men . " Well , " responded Hardaway , after a pause , " I'm staying down here and I can ' t see the man I was sent fo meet , which as I ' ve never seen him is not very odd . Some actor chap named Verner .
Dick coloured vividly . " That ' s my name , he said quietly , " and then a still more awkvvardpau . se ensued . " 111 send my luggage lo the hotel for to-night , and you and I will walk down to it . " Luggage collected and deposited in the charge of a little old outside porter , with a face like a creasy apple , and the two reunited acquaintances , they had never been friends , began their descent to the
sea . " I suppose , " began Dick , " yon never expected , or wanted for that matter , to see me again , and only heard that when I run through all my money I had to go abroad . Or perhaps you heard something " else " he added quickly , looking hard at his companion . "N-no , " hesitated Wilson . "Ah , then you did . Well take my ward I did nothing worse than lots of others who hold their heads high at their clubs when
they are continually at loggerheads with their bankers . " For the moment he really meant what he said ; in the forger ' s mind there is little difference between writing somebody else ' s name , and getting a cheque cashed that comes back marked N . F . The banker , and the lawyer , and the judge , and the man who draws the bad cheque see an appreciable difference . "My dear man , " said Wilson , * ' there are always numbers of
people who go under and disappear suddenly . But go on with your account of yourself . " "Well , tliere really isn ' t much to rell . 1 look to the stage out in the States ; J was always a fair actor , you know , aud without precisely leaving Now York Sound in flames , I did pretty well , until I had a stroke of luck at the card-table , and thought I'd come and have a look at the old country . I say the country advisedly , for of all fche odd lot , save von . I have seen none ,
and I don't suppose they'd be particularly anxious to reco <> -nise reckless Dick Wimborne in Mr . K . Vomer , actor and sta «* emanager of the Muncipal , Provincial , and American theatres , very much at your service . And so we will drop Dick Wimborne , as aforesaid , and wlien we have had a doubtless excellent shorn *
Ad01103
GEORGEBOTTERILLANDSONS, HAVANACIGARMERCHANTS, 33,CHEAPSIDE,and33,ROYALEXCHANGE,E.G., Wc beg' to inform the Public that wc have the Largest Selected Stock of the Finest 1885HAVANACIGARS, Now acknowledged to be the best imported during the la . st ten years . ALL CIGARS CHANGEABLE AT ANY TIME IF NOT APPROVED .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Chapter Ii.
most uncomfortable of all to look on is the grin of him who is certain that- the man who would like to be his enemy is forced to appear his friend . Then he started thinking . Moss , he mused , is the sort of pitiful sneak who would see no difference in putting his hand in his master's
till , and such like petty thefts , and such hi gh flights of crime as forgery and artistic fraud . Unfortunately , the law agrees with Moss , and while the petty larcenist only retires for a twelvemonth , the artistic scoundrel has an opportunity of studying prison interiors for seven vears . This is hardly even-handed -justice . The
excellent Moss , moreover , sends me on an errand of problematic plunder , in which , of course , he expects to share , whatever the loot may be ; he knows me only as an actor just off a provincial tour , who always spends the bulk of his salary in dress , and therefore fancies he has got me under his thumb , and that I can ' t get away . He doesn't remember that half-a-dozen years in the States have made me just a wee bit ahead of the raw , young , would-be bucks of country towns , who are always ready
for a gamble , and moreover that , with an occasional good day on a racecourse , I have got quite enough together to enable me to bolt at will without any reference to the wishes of my excellent friend Moss . 1 don't mind a week or two in pleasant company , and if , in the words of Moss and Micawber , anything should turn np , I don ' t think I shall come at full speed to the latter
to cut np the plunder . Xo , my Moss , my future speculations shall be unaided by your genial counsel . When Mr . Moss returned he found his young friend iu a most amiable mood ; he was perfectly ready fo have a telegram sent off at once announcing that he should be down by the Granville express on the following Monday , and , after a nice little dinner together , separated from him with the nearest
approach to a blessing in the words , " My dear boy , if yer want to be advised about anything , or to live quietly for a little , mind you send me a wire . " "If I require you , 1 will , " said Verner coolly , and left the suspicious Hebrew gazing dubiously after him , as he climbed into his cab and drove away .
Chapter Iii.
CHAPTER III .
Time and the improved steam engine between them work wonders , and so Mr . Richard Verney , m Wimborne , was rattled and jolted clown by the London , Chatham , and Dover Railway as far as Favershain iu double quick time . Having got so far he fondly imagined that he was nearly at his journey's end , and congratulated himself that the Hask and the cigarettes had lasted so long ; the illustrated paper had given out some fewmiles before Chatham was reached . Then a bucolic person hacl
got in , who bided his time patiently until Faversham had been passed ; the rest of the journey , which in aggravatingly stopped at such stations as Whitstable , dear to the oyster-eater ; Herne Bay , so called because there is not the least inflection of the coast line there ; Birchington , and such other tedious
interruptions ot the journey , the line passing through flat grass country intersected by continual converging dykes protected by a seawall , ancl hereabout large numbers of slice ]) and cattle graze at large . This was the bucolic person ' s opportunity : " The sheep alongside this ' ere line , " he remarks , in a hoarse and confidential whisper , " are worth a matter of two ' underd
and -fifty thousand pounds , and , " with a broad chuckle , "I . shouldn ' t mind ' aving the cheque in my pocket for it this minute , should you ' ' . " Dick smiles as civilly as a murderous desire to pitch the bucolic out of window will allow him and then listens with the patience of the crucified to an utterl y
Chapter Iii.
incoherent version of the origin of the twin beacons of the Rcculotos . And on he suffers fill finally after the train has disgorged half a synagogue full of jubilant Hebrews at Margate , the church and struggling village of Broadstairs at length come iu sight . Mentally consigning the bucolic one to a ,
locality where cattle will not require much roasting , Dick leapt on to the platform , and was suddenly stopped by a good-natured looking fellow , in a free-and-easy canvas suit and straw- hat , who called out : " AVhat Wimborne ! Is that von ? "
Not best pleased at being recognised by his buried name , he looked hard at his interlocutor , until his fa . ee lit up as he recognised him . " Wilson Hardaway by the Great Panjandrum . Who the dickens would have expected to sec you down here . Why its years since we met . "
Now neither of these young men had ever been particularly fond of each other , and neither hacl spoken these words before a feeling of distrust went through the mind of each . And yefc their first greeting was that of reunited brothers ; from which it must bo concluded that , however far apart in point of morals , they must have been extremely good-hearted aud sympathetic
young men . " Well , " responded Hardaway , after a pause , " I'm staying down here and I can ' t see the man I was sent fo meet , which as I ' ve never seen him is not very odd . Some actor chap named Verner .
Dick coloured vividly . " That ' s my name , he said quietly , " and then a still more awkvvardpau . se ensued . " 111 send my luggage lo the hotel for to-night , and you and I will walk down to it . " Luggage collected and deposited in the charge of a little old outside porter , with a face like a creasy apple , and the two reunited acquaintances , they had never been friends , began their descent to the
sea . " I suppose , " began Dick , " yon never expected , or wanted for that matter , to see me again , and only heard that when I run through all my money I had to go abroad . Or perhaps you heard something " else " he added quickly , looking hard at his companion . "N-no , " hesitated Wilson . "Ah , then you did . Well take my ward I did nothing worse than lots of others who hold their heads high at their clubs when
they are continually at loggerheads with their bankers . " For the moment he really meant what he said ; in the forger ' s mind there is little difference between writing somebody else ' s name , and getting a cheque cashed that comes back marked N . F . The banker , and the lawyer , and the judge , and the man who draws the bad cheque see an appreciable difference . "My dear man , " said Wilson , * ' there are always numbers of
people who go under and disappear suddenly . But go on with your account of yourself . " "Well , tliere really isn ' t much to rell . 1 look to the stage out in the States ; J was always a fair actor , you know , aud without precisely leaving Now York Sound in flames , I did pretty well , until I had a stroke of luck at the card-table , and thought I'd come and have a look at the old country . I say the country advisedly , for of all fche odd lot , save von . I have seen none ,
and I don't suppose they'd be particularly anxious to reco <> -nise reckless Dick Wimborne in Mr . K . Vomer , actor and sta «* emanager of the Muncipal , Provincial , and American theatres , very much at your service . And so we will drop Dick Wimborne , as aforesaid , and wlien we have had a doubtless excellent shorn *
Ad01103
GEORGEBOTTERILLANDSONS, HAVANACIGARMERCHANTS, 33,CHEAPSIDE,and33,ROYALEXCHANGE,E.G., Wc beg' to inform the Public that wc have the Largest Selected Stock of the Finest 1885HAVANACIGARS, Now acknowledged to be the best imported during the la . st ten years . ALL CIGARS CHANGEABLE AT ANY TIME IF NOT APPROVED .