THE ENGLISH LORD AND THE DRUMMER.
“I couldn’t go to sleep to-night without a drop of whiskey, and I must
have some,” said Schleifer. “It won’t take me long to go to the hotel.”
“Do you know the way?” inquired Waddie.
“No; but I can find it.”
“We are going up that way. We will show you the road.”
“I don’t need any help. I can snuff a place where they sell whiskey two
miles off,” replied the commercial gentleman, coarsely.
He went on shore, taking his bag with him, and made his way up to
the road which led to the hotel. Waddie and I walked up to Captain
Portman’s house; but he was not at home, though the servant said he
would return soon. He had probably gone over to the hotel, which he
generally visited in the evening. We did not care to remain if Captain
Portman was not at home, and we walked towards the hotel, expecting to
meet him there.
“Why didn’t that fellow go to Middleport in the tow-boat, if he wanted
to go there?” said Waddie, who had taken a strong dislike to Tom’s
passenger.
“I suppose he was afraid of being blown up, or burned up,” I replied.
“He did not even take the trouble to thank us for saving him from the
flames.”
“Probably he does not think we saved him from anything but a wet
jacket,” I suggested.
“Even that is worth acknowledging.”
“These drummers live on brass, and this fellow is in the hardware line.”
“Waddie! Is that you?” called Tom Walton, as he rushed up to us when we
came down the hill from Captain Portman’s mansion.
“Yes, it is I. What’s the matter, Tom?” asked Waddie.
“A young woman just came down to the boat, and said she wanted to see
you very bad,” replied Tom, with no little excitement in his manner.
“A young woman! Who is she?”
“I haven’t the least idea; but she has a nobby look, as I made her out
in the dark. She wanted you so bad that I told her I would try and find
you.”
“Who can it be?” said Waddie.
“Probably Miss Dornwood,” I suggested.
“But she would not be out of the hotel at this hour in the evening.”
“Her relations with her guardian were not very pleasant, you know,” I
added.
“Well, we will go down and see her, at any rate;” and we walked towards
the moorings of the Belle.
“Waddie, you must be very careful,” said I, not at all pleased with the
complications which seemed to be before us.
“Careful? What do you mean, Wolf?”
“If I am not mistaken, the question which we attempted to dodge once
before this evening will come up again.”
“What’s that?”
“When Mr.-- What’s his name?”
“Mr. Overton,” added Waddie, supplying the name I had forgotten.
“When Mr. Overton attempted to compel Miss Dornwood to return to the
hotel, you stepped between him and her. If the bear had not made a
scene just at that moment, there might have been a quarrel between you
and the guardian.”
“You are too cautious, Wolf. I wouldn’t stand by and see him abuse the
young lady. Why, Captain Portman said he should interfere, and take the
responsibility,” protested Waddie.
“I would interfere if there were any real abuse, Waddie; but I think
it is better to wait for a pretty strong provocation before you meddle
with family affairs.”
“I will be as careful as I can, Wolf; but when I see a young lady
persecuted by a cruel guardian, it isn’t exactly my style to take it
coolly.”
“We don’t know anything about the facts yet, and you must remember that
there are two sides to every story.”
“I will try to remember it. But I don’t see what she wants with me.”
“Very likely she has had some trouble with her guardian, and wants your
assistance.”
“If I can assist her, I shall certainly do so. I think that Overton is
a brute, whatever his relations to the lady may be.”
By this time we were near the boat, and I repeated, in a low tone, my
caution to Waddie. I saw that he was very much interested in the young
lady, and, aware of his impetuous character, I was afraid he would be
too forward in rendering assistance to her. Miss Dornwood stood upon
the shore near the boat. As we approached her, I saw that she was very
much agitated, and I regarded this as altogether in her favor.
“Good evening, Miss Dornwood,” said Waddie.
“I do not know what you will think of me,” she replied, in trembling
tones. “I am very much alarmed.”
“What is the matter?” asked Waddie, in a tone which was calculated to
assure her.
“I wished to see you very much, for you were so kind to me that I was
sure you would assist me.”
“I should be very glad to assist you, if it is in my power to do so.”
“You said you had a boat. I suppose this is the one.”
“It is not mine, though we came up the lake to-day in her.”
“Do you know where the town of Ruoara is?” asked the young lady, as she
glanced around her in terror.
“I do, very well indeed. It is only eight miles from my home,” replied
Waddie.
“I wish to go there very much,” continued she, earnestly.
“To-night?”
“Yes, to-night--immediately.”
“That’s very unfortunate, for the skipper has to take a gentleman to
Middleport,” replied Waddie.
“O, dear! What shall I do?” exclaimed the young lady. “I must go at
once.”
“Perhaps you can go in the boat with the gentleman as far as
Middleport, and--”
“Who is the gentleman?” interposed she, anxiously.
“I don’t know him. He is a commercial agent.”
“I cannot go with a stranger,” said she, shaking her head in a very
positive manner.
“Am I not a stranger?”
“No; I learned, after we parted this afternoon, that you were the son
of a very influential gentleman, and you were kind enough to step
between me and my guardian, when he intended to lay his hands upon me.”
“Who told you this?”
“The landlord. He said your friend was Captain Penniman; and I was
sure, after the service you had rendered me, that you would again be my
friend, and help me to get to Ruoara.”
“Won’t you sit down in the boat?” added Waddie, stepping on board of
the Belle.
“No, I thank you. I do not wish to meet any strangers,” replied Miss
Dornwood. “I know you think I am very bold; but I should not have come
to you if I had not known who you were.”
“If you will not go with the gentleman, I do not see what I can do for
you. There is no other sail-boat here.”
“I suppose I must return to my prison,” said she, bursting into tears.
“Do not weep,” interposed Waddie, moved by her grief.
“Mr. Wimpleton, I envy the poor man’s daughter who is surrounded by
good and true friends,” sobbed she. “I will go back to my prison.”
“What do you mean by your prison?” inquired Waddie.
“My guardian sent me to my room, and then locked me in it. I cannot
endure such indignities. I am going to leave him. I am going to work
for my daily bread in a factory, in a shop--anywhere that I can earn
enough to support me.”
“Is your situation so desperate as this?”
“It is, indeed! If I had no spirit at all, perhaps I could endure it.”
“There comes some one,” interposed Tom Walton, who had walked up to the
road, as soon as he understood the case, in order to warn us of the
approach of his passenger.
Without another word, Miss Dornwood fled like a frightened fawn in the
direction opposite that in which Schleifer was approaching. Waddie,
deeply interested in her case, followed her, intent upon assisting her
to the extent of his ability.
“There is some one with him,” said Tom, as I joined him, half way
between the lake and the road.
“Perhaps you are to have two passengers,” I suggested.
The drummer and the person who was with him halted in the road, and
seemed to be engaged in a very earnest conversation. We could not hear
a word they said, but it was evident that they had not met for the
first time, and that they were not talking about the sale of hardware.
It was too dark to see any more than the form of Schleifer’s friend.
“You wait here,” said he, after the conversation had continued a few
moments.
“Hurry up,” replied the other person, whose voice seemed to be familiar
to me, though I could not identify it.
As the drummer approached, we retreated towards the boat.
“Hallo, there, skipper!” shouted he.
“Are you ready?” asked Tom, as we stopped, and waited till he came up.
“If it’s all the same to you, I won’t go down the lake to-night. I
met a friend of mine at the hotel, and I want to stay with him till
to-morrow.”
“All right,” answered Tom.
“A trade’s a trade. I agreed to give you ten dollars for the trip.
If you will call it five, and not go, I shall be satisfied,” added
Schleifer.
“I don’t want any five, if you don’t go,” replied Tom. “I only want
what I earn.”
“But I am willing to compromise.”
“I don’t compromise. We will call it square as it is. If you are
satisfied, I am.”
“Well, I shall want your boat another time, and I’ll make it right with
you then,” added the drummer, as he turned to leave.
“It’s all right now.”
“That’s lucky for Waddie,” I suggested.
“It works first rate. Now, if Waddie wants to take the lady to Ruoara,
the boat is all ready.”
“But where is he?”
“They haven’t got a great way yet.”
“Probably she will go towards the hotel. You follow them, Tom, and
I will go up this way,” I replied, moving in the direction which
Schleifer had taken.
I soon discovered the drummer and his friend walking rapidly towards
the hotel. I was a little curious to know who the person was whose
voice had sounded so familiar to me, and I quickened my pace, hoping
the lights in front of the hotel would enable me to obtain a clear view
of him. I followed them closely; but before reaching the hotel they
turned in at a road which led to the stable in the rear. Before I could
come up with them, they had seated themselves in a light wagon, which
must have been ordered before, and drove off.
“Who are those gentlemen?” I asked of the stable-keeper, who stood in
the yard with a lantern in his hand.
“One of them I never saw till now; the other is stopping at the hotel,
and is a big gun,” he replied.
“I know the taller one. Who is the other?”
“He’s the big gun. He came this morning; but no one found out what he
was till after dinner.”
“What is he?”
“He’s the big gun. He’s an English lord. I forget what they call him.”
“Lord Palsgrave,” I suggested.
“That’s the name. He’s a nobby fellow, and spreads his dollars with a
looseness.”
“Where is he going now?”
“To Priam, I reckon. He said he should not be back till to-morrow
morning; and there is to be a big dance there to-night. But I wonder he
didn’t take the young lady with him, who came with his party.”
I walked round the hotel, in order to intercept Waddie and Miss
Dornwood; but I saw nothing of them, and I concluded that Tom had
already overtaken them. After the information I had obtained from the
stable-keeper, my idea of an English lord was considerably modified.
He was on good terms with a hardware drummer, which did not seem to be
exactly consistent with his exalted position. But it was possible that
the drummer was a baron or a marquis in disguise, though the clatter of
his hardware samples did not tend to prove it.
I continued my walk towards the lake, and presently met Waddie and Miss
Dornwood.