"I think that's all, Mr Hallam, sir," said Mrs Pinet, looking plump,
smiling, and contented, as she ran her eyes over the tea-table in the
bank manager's comfortably-furnished room--"tea-pot, cream, salt,
pepper, butter, bread,"--she ran on below her breath in rapid
enumeration, "why, bless my heart, I didn't bring the sauce!"
"Yes, that's all, Mrs Pinet," said the manager in his gravely-polite
manner.
"But, begging your pardon, it is not, sir; I forgot the sauce."
"Oh! never mind that to-night."
"If you'll excuse me, sir, I would rather," said plump, pleasant-faced
Mrs Pinet, who supplemented a small income by letting apartments; and
before she could be checked she hurried out, to return at the end of a
few minutes, bearing a small round bottle.
"And King of Oude," said the little woman. "Shall I take the cover,
sir?"
"If you please, Mrs Pinet?"
"Which it's a pleasure to wait upon such a thorough gentleman," said
Mrs Pinet to herself as she trotted back to her own region, leaving
Hallam gazing down at the homely, pleasant meal.
He threw himself into a chair, poured out a cup of the tea, cooled it by
the addition of some water from a bottle on a stand, and drank it
hastily. Then, sitting back, he seemed to be thinking deeply, and
finally drew up to the table, but turned from the food in disgust.
"Pah!" he ejaculated; but returned to his chair, pulled the loaf in
half, and then cut off two thick slices, hacked the meat from the bones
of two hot steaming chops and took a pat of the butter to lay upon one
of the slices of bread. This done, his eye wandered round the room for
a moment or two, and he rose and hastily caught up a newspaper, rolled
the bread and meat therein, and placed the packet on a shelf before
pouring out a portion of the tea through the window and then giving the
slop-basin and cup the appearance of having been used. This done, he
sat back in his chair to think, and remained so for quite half-an-hour,
when Mrs Pinet came with an announcement for which he was quite
prepared.
"A strange man, sir," said the landlady, looking troubled and smoothing
down her apron, "a strange young man, sir. I'm afraid, sir--"
"Afraid, Mrs Pinet?"
"I mean, sir, I'm afraid he's a tramp, sir; but he said you told him to
come."
"I'm afraid, too, that he is a tramp, Mrs Pinet, poor fellow! But it's
quite right, I did tell him to come. You can show him in."
"In--in here, sir?"
"Yes, Mrs Pinet. He has been unfortunate, poor fellow! and has come to
ask for help."
Mrs Pinet sighed, mentally declared that Mr Hallam was a true
gentleman, and introduced shabby, broken-down and dejected Stephen
Crellock.
Hallam did not move nor raise his eyes, while the visitor gave a quick,
furtive look round at all in the room, and Mrs Pinet's departing
footsteps sounded quite loud. Then a door was heard to close, and
Hallam turned fiercely upon his visitor.
"Now, you scoundrel--you miserable gaol-bird, what do you mean by coming
to me?"
"Mean by coming? I mean you to do things right. If you'd had your dues
you'd have been where I was; only you played monkey and made me cat."
"What?"
"And I had my paws burned while you got the chestnuts."
"You scoundrel!" cried Hallam, rushing to the fireplace and ringing
sharply, "I'll have the constable and put a stop to this."
"No, no, no, don't, don't, Rob. I'll do anything you like; I won't say
anything," gasped the visitor piteously, "only: don't send for the
constable."
"Indeed but I will," cried Hallam fiercely, as he walked to the door:
but his visitor made quite a leap, fell at his feet, and clung to his
legs.
"No, no, don't, don't," he cried hoarsely, and Hallam shook him off,
opened the door, and called out:
"Never mind, now; I'll ring in a few minutes."
He closed the door and stood scowling at his visitor.
"I did not think you'd be so hard on a poor fellow when he was down,
Hallam," he whimpered, "I didn't, 'pon my honour."
"Your honour, you dog, you gaol-bird," cried Hallam in a low, angry
voice. "How dare you come down and insult me!"
"I--thought you'd help me, that you'd lend your old friend a hand now
you're so well off, while I am in a state like this."
"And did you come in the right way, you dog, bullying and threatening
me, thinking to frighten me, just as if you could find a soul to take
any notice of a word such a blackguard as you would say? But there,
I've no time to waste; I've done wrong in bringing you here. Go and
tell everybody in the town what you please, how I was in the same bank
with you in London and you were given into custody for embezzlement, and
at your trial received for sentence two years' imprisonment."
"Yes, when if I had been a coward and spoken out--"
Hallam made a move towards him, when the poor, weak, broken-down wretch
cowered lower.
"Don't, Rob; don't, old man," he cried piteously. "I'll never say a
word. I'll never open my lips. You know I wouldn't be such a coward,
bad as I am. But you will help a fellow, won't you?"
"Help you? What, have you come to me for blackmail? Why should I help
you?"
"Because we were old friends, Hallam. Because I always looked up to
you, and did what you told me; and you don't know what it has been, Rob,
you don't indeed! I used to be a strong fellow, but this two years have
brought me down till I'm as thin and weak as you see me. I'm like a
great girl; least thing makes me cry and sob, so that I feel ashamed of
myself!"
"Ashamed? You?" cried Hallam scornfully.
"Yes, I do, 'pon my word, Rob. But you will help me, won't you?"
"No. Go to the constable's place, and they'll give you an order for the
workhouse. Be off, and if you ever dare to come asking for me again,
I'll send for the officer at once."
"But--but you will give me a shilling or two, Hallam," said the
miserable wretch. "I'm half-starved."
"You deserve to be quite starved! Now go."
"But, Hallam, won't you believe me, old fellow? I want to be honest
now--to do the right thing."
"Go and do it, then," said Hallam contemptuously. "Be off."
"But give me a chance, old fellow; just one."
"I tell you I'll do nothing for you," cried Hallam fiercely. "On the
strength of your having been once respectable, if you had come to me
humbly I'd have helped you, but you came down here to try and frighten
me with your noise and bullying. You thought that if you came to the
bank you would be able to dictate all your own terms; but you have
failed, Stephen Crellock: so now go."
"But, Rob, old fellow, I was so--so hard up. You don't know."
"Are you going before I send for the constable?"
"Yes, yes, I'm going," said the miserable wretch, gathering himself up.
"I'm sorry I came to you, Hallam. I thought you would have helped a
poor wretch, down as I am."
"And you found out your mistake. A man in my position does not know a
gaol-bird."
There was a flash from the sunken eyes, and a quick gesture, but the
flash died out, and the gesture seemed to be cut in half. Two years'
hard labour in one of His Majesty's gaols had pretty well broken the
weak fellow's spirit. He stepped to the door, glanced round the
comfortable room, uttered a low moan, and was half out, when Hallam
uttered sharply the one word "Stop!"
His visitor paused, and looked eagerly round upon him.
"Look here, Stephen Crellock," he said, "I don't like to see a man like
you go to the dogs without giving him a chance. There, come back and
close the door!"
The poor wretch came back hurriedly, and made a snatch at Hallam's hand,
which was withdrawn.
"No, no, wait till you've proved yourself an honest man," he said.
Crellock's eyes flashed again, but, as before, the flash died out at
once, and he stood humbly before his old fellow clerk.
Hallam remained silent for a few moments, and then as if he had made up
his mind, he said: "I ought to hand you over to the constable, that is,
if I did my duty as manager of Dixons' Bank, and a good member of
society; but I can't forget that you were once a smart,
gentlemanly-looking young fellow, who slipped and fell."
Crellock stood bent and humbled, staring at him in silence.
"I'm going to let heart get the better of discipline," continued Hallam,
"and to-night I'm going to give you five guineas to get back to London
and make a fresh start; and till that fresh start is made, and you can
do without it, I'm going to give you a pound a week, if asked for by
letter humbly, and in a proper spirit."
"Rob!"
"There, there; no words. I don't want thanks. I know I'm doing wrong,
and I hope my weakness will not prove my punishment."
"It shan't, Rob; it shan't," faltered the poor shivering wretch, who had
hard work to keep back his tears.
"There are four guineas, there's a half, and there are ten shillings in
silver. Now go to some decent inn--here is some food for present use--
get a bed, and to-morrow morning catch the coach, and get back to London
to seek work."
Hallam handed him the parcel he had made.
"I will, Rob; I will, Mr Hallam, sir, and may--"
"There, that will do," said Hallam, interrupting him. "Prove all your
gratitude by making yourself independent as soon as you can. There, you
see you have not frightened me into bribing you to be silent."
"No, no, sir. Oh, no, I see that!" said the poor wretch dolefully.
"I'm very grateful, I am, indeed, and I will try."
"Go, then, and try," said Hallam shortly. "Stop a moment."
He rang his bell, and Mrs Pinet entered promptly, glancing curiously at
the visitor, and then back at her lodger, who paused to give her ample
time to take in the scene.
"Mrs Pinet," he said at last, and in the coolest and most
matter-of-fact way, "this poor fellow wants a lodging for the night at
some respectable place, where they will not be hard upon his pocket."
"Well, sir, then he couldn't do better than go to Mrs Deene's, sir. A
very respectable woman, whose husband--"
"Yes, to be sure, Mrs Pinet," said Hallam abruptly; "then you'll show
him where it is. Good-night, Stephen; don't waste your money, and I
hope you will succeed."
"Good-night, sir, good-night," and the dejected-looking object,
thoroughly cowed by the treatment he had received, followed Hallam's
landlady to the outer door, where a short colloquy could be heard, and
then there was a shuffling step passing the window, and the door closed.
"I always expected it," said Hallam to himself, as he stood gazing
straight before him; "but I've drawn his teeth; he won't bite--he dare
not. I think I can manage Master Stephen--I always could." He stood
thinking for a few minutes, and then said softly: "Well, what are ten or
twenty pounds, or forty, if it comes to that! Yes," he added
deliberately, "I have done quite rightly, I am sure."
Undoubtedly, as far as his worldly wisdom lay, for it did not take long
for the news to run round the town that a very shabby-looking fellow had
been to the bank, evidently with burglarious intentions, but that the
new manager had seized and held him, while James Thickens placed the big
brass blunderbuss to his head, and then turned it round and knocked him
down. This was Mr Gemp's version; but it was rather spoiled by Mrs
Pinet when she was questioned, and told her story of Mr Hallam's
generous behaviour to this poor young man:
"One whom he had known in better days, my dear; and now he has quite set
him up."