Under the Chinese Dragon
A Tale of Mongolia
BY CAPTAIN F. S. BRERETON
Author of "The Hero of Panama" "Tom Stapleton, the Boy Scout" "The Great
Aeroplane" "Indian and Scout" &c.
_ILLUSTRATED BY CHARLES M. SHELDON_
BLACKIE AND SON LIMITED
LONDON GLASGOW AND BOMBAY
1912
[Illustration: "THE BRUTE SPRANG FULL AT DAVID"]
Contents
Chap. Page
I. EBENEZER SPEAKS HIS MIND 9
II. THE ROAD TO LONDON 28
III. WANTED A JOB 47
IV. A RESPONSIBLE POSITION 66
V. LONDON'S ALIEN CRIMINALS 84
VI. THE PROFESSOR MAKES A SUGGESTION 101
VII. AT SEA ON A CHINESE JUNK 121
VIII. IN A TIGHT CORNER 138
IX. A GAME OF LONG BOWLS 157
X. EBENEZER CLAYHILL'S INSPIRATION 176
XI. DAVID GOES ON A JOURNEY 194
XII. CHANG ANNOUNCES HIS ERRAND 211
XIII. IN A CHINESE PRISON 230
XIV. TSU-HI IS ASTONISHED 247
XV. DICK AND DAVID TURN THE TABLES 265
XVI. FREEDOM AGAIN 282
XVII. A CHAPTER OF ADVENTURES 299
XVIII. TERRORS OF THE MONGOLIAN DESERT 317
XIX. A FIGHT TO A FINISH 336
XX. THE SECRET OF THE RUINS 352
Illustrations
Page
"THE BRUTE SPRANG FULL AT DAVID" _Frontispiece_ 316
BURGLARS AT THE STORE 82
"A FLAME SUDDENLY ILLUMINATED THE 'TWEEN DECKS" 130
"A ROAR OF APPLAUSE GREETED THE FIFTH SHOT" 172
"IN A SECOND DAVID WAS ON HIM" 252
STORMING THE BARRICADE 346
UNDER THE CHINESE DRAGON
CHAPTER I
Ebenezer speaks his Mind
Mr. Ebenezer Clayhill was a man who impressed his personality upon one,
so that those who had once obtained but a passing glimpse of him could
not fail but recognise him, however long afterwards.
'Fust it's his nose what strikes yer,' had declared old Isaac Webster,
when ensconced with his bosom friends of an evening down in the snug
parlour of the 'Three Pigeons.' 'It's just the most almighty one as ever
I seed, and I've seed a power of noses, I have, Mr. Jarney.'
He sniffed and looked across at that individual, as if he challenged him
to disprove the statement, or even to doubt it; for Jarney was a
cross-grained fellow, an old weather-beaten boatman, into whose
composition quite a considerable quantity of salt seemed to have been
absorbed. The man was short in stature and in manner. There was an
acidity about his voice which made him the reverse of popular, though
when he held forth in the cosy parlour of the public-house there were
few who failed to listen; for Jarney had travelled. Unlike Isaac
Webster, he had not been a stay-at-home all his days, but had seen
things and people which were strange for the most part to the old
cronies who gathered together of an evening. No one dare dispute
Jarney's statements, for to do so was to lay oneself open to a course of
scathing, biting sarcasm, in which Jarney excelled.
Isaac coughed, finding that Jarney had failed to answer. 'I've seed a
power of noses, I have, Mr. Jarney,' he repeated in his most solemn
tones.
The boatman, comfortably quartered in a huge arm-chair in the centre of
the circle about the blazing fire, twisted his eyes round till they were
fixed on the speaker. He pulled the short clay which he was smoking out
of his mouth with a hand bearing many a tar stain, and contemplated it
with much interest. His lips curled back in what was meant to be a
derisive smile, then back went the pipe between his toothless gums.
'You've seed a sight of noses, you have, Mr. Webster,' he growled.
'Well, so has we all. There's noses all round us most of the day. I
could yarn to yer about a nigger man 'way out in the Caroline Islands
who'd a nose that you couldn't pass in a day's walk, it war that big and
attractive. But you was talkin' of this here Ebenezer Clayhill.'
'Him as ain't long come to these parts,' interposed another of the men
gathered about the fire. 'Him as you're acting gardener to, Mr.
Webster.'
'Or rather, him as has gone and married the lady as you've been gardener
to this three years past,' ventured a third. 'Mrs. Harbor that was; now
Mrs. Ebenezer Clayhill.'
Webster nodded at the circle. It was true enough that he was gardener at
'The Haven,' the house occupied by Mrs. Clayhill, and it was also true
enough that that lady had recently married; for but a few months before
she had been known as Mrs. Harbor. The folks at Effington, a little
fishing hamlet along the Hampshire coast, were sufficiently acquainted
with the lady already; for in a small place there is not much news, and
what there is quickly becomes common property. But Mr. Clayhill was a
recent importation, of whom the villagers were as yet almost ignorant,
so that Isaac Webster, who, naturally enough, had better opportunities
of knowing him than the others at Effington, had been called upon to
give his opinion on his new master.
'Well, as I was sayin', when I was interrupted,' Isaac began again,
glaring across at the old salt lounging in his chair, 'I was sayin' that
the fust thing you notice is his nose, it's that big and red. I'd swear
to it in a court of law without a quiver. Then there's his eyes; ain't
they sharp, just! For the rest of him, I don't know as there's much to
say. He seems a pleasant-spoken gentleman, though I ain't so sure as he
don't want already to cut down wages.'
The announcement, short as it was, provided food for conversation for
the rest of that evening, and we may be sure that Mr. Ebenezer was as
frankly and as completely discussed in the parlour of the 'Three
Pigeons' as he had ever been in his life before. But we were saying that
he was a man who impressed his personality upon every one, and Isaac
was not by any means wrong when he stated that Ebenezer's nose was the
chief characteristic. It arrested one's attention at the first instant,
till one realised that further scrutiny would be a rudeness, and
promptly fixed one's gaze on some other part of his person. Elsewhere
there was not much that was favourable; for the gentleman who had so
recently married Mrs. Harbor was some fifty years of age, and had a
decidedly shifty air. His eyes were placed closer together than is
customary, while his jowly cheeks, his pendulous eyelids, and the lines
and seams about his face seemed all to accentuate the immediate
impression of distrust which he inspired. For the rest, he was
moderately tall, stout and broad-shouldered, and very bald.
Three months after his marriage, when he had settled down at 'The
Haven,' Mr. Ebenezer Clayhill was engaged one day within his study. The
morning post had brought him a number of bulky documents, and these lay
spread out before him. One in particular seemed to occupy his attention,
for he perused its contents for the third time at least, and sat
regarding the lines thoughtfully. Slowly, as he took in the meaning of
the document, his fat hands came together and he rubbed them over one
another, as if he were particularly pleased. His small pig-like eyes lit
up ever so little, while the lines across forehead and face smoothed
themselves out a trifle.
'We have pleasure in informing you that this matter is now
satisfactorily concluded,' he read, again beginning to go through
the document. 'As we have advised you from time to time the
question of Mr. Harbor's fate was one for the courts to deal with,
and delay was inevitable. But we are now able to report that the
Judge in chambers gave us leave to presume Mr. Harbor's death, on
the evidence provided, and which, we may say, seemed to us to be
absolutely conclusive. This being so, there is now no reason why
Mrs. Harbor, as the executrix of the will of the late Mr. Harbor,
should not at once proceed to obtain probate on it. For this
purpose we shall hold ourselves at your disposal, and beg to
remain.--Faithfully yours,
JONES & JONES,
_Solicitors_.
_P.S._--We are in error in saying that Mrs. Harbor as executrix,
etc. Of course, it should have been Mrs. Ebenezer Clayhill. We beg
to apologise.'
The reader may wonder why such a short and apparently unimportant letter
should occupy Mr. Ebenezer so greatly, and we hasten at once to supply
that necessary information which will enable him to understand matters
completely. After all, with every fact before him, the reader can hardly
fail to comprehend Ebenezer's pleasure, for the letter before him
practically relieved him of all further worry as to the wants of this
life. A needy fellow till three months ago, Ebenezer, with that
communication before him, felt that he had no longer any need to scheme,
no cause to lay crafty plans and carry them out with much guile and
cunning; for his wife would benefit under the will mentioned, and with
her, as a natural consequence, Ebenezer himself.
But still Mr. Clayhill was not quite satisfied in his own mind as to
this fortune upon which he could now almost put his hand; and for some
three hours he paced his study, occupying himself sometimes in a
listless, harassed manner with the documents on the table, while he
awaited the coming of a member of the firm of solicitors who had written
to him.
'Shan't feel quite sure till I've had a talk with this fellow,' he told
himself, screwing his eyes up, while a deep line grooved his brow, which
added not at all to his attractiveness. Indeed, at such moments Ebenezer
looked more like a malefactor than a peaceful country gentleman. 'Shan't
feel comfortable or safe till I've had a chat, and not then till the
money is in the bank. Ah, there's David. A hulking big lout to be sure!
Seems to me the time has arrived when he should do something for his
living.'
The ugly frown was accentuated as Mr. Ebenezer looked out of his window.
The latter faced the wide, gravelled drive of 'The Haven,' and gave an
uninterrupted view down it as far as the gate, and beyond to the edge of
the village. And following his gaze one saw a lad mounted on a fine
horse, riding towards the house. He was some fifty yards distant, so
that a clear view of him was to be obtained, and though Ebenezer had
ventured to term the youth hulking, there were few who would have agreed
with him; for David Harbor was slim, if anything, and, as well as it is
possible to judge of a youth when mounted, of a good height. One thing
was very certain; he sat his horse splendidly, as if accustomed to the
saddle, and though the animal was without doubt spirited, as he proved
now that he was on the gravelled drive by curvetting and prancing, David
managed him with hand and knee and voice as only an accomplished
horseman can do. For the rest, the youth seemed to be some eighteen
years of age, was decidedly fair, and by no means ill-looking. Even as
Ebenezer regarded him with a scowl David wore a sunny smile, unconscious
of the unfriendly eyes that were scrutinising him. But a second later he
caught a view of Mr. Ebenezer, and at once the young face became serious
and thoughtful, while David returned the scrutiny with an honest glance
that caused the other to turn hastily away.
'A hulking lout is what I call him, and Sarah agrees,' muttered
Ebenezer. 'That is a comfort. When I married her I had fears that this
stepson of hers might create trouble between us. But I was wrong; Sarah
thinks as little of him as I do. We'll soon send him about his business;
then there'll be no riding of fine horses, or idling the hours away if I
know it. David shall work for his living, as I had to. He shall learn
what it is to be pinched, and then, if he does not behave himself, he'll
be thrown completely on his own resources. What luck that old Harbor
left things as he did!'
'Looks as if he'd like to eat me,' was the remark David made to himself
as he rode round to the stables. 'I've seen a row coming these past two
weeks since he and mother came back home. He doesn't like me any better
than--but there, I'll not say it. Only I've a feeling that I'm not
wanted here. I'm in the way; I'm expensive. My living costs money;
that's what I'm being rapidly made to feel.'
He slid from his saddle, unbuckled the girths, and having placed it on a
wooden horse outside the harness room, led the beast into the stable.
Within five minutes of his disappearance there a cab drove up to the
door, and Mr. Edwin Jones, the solicitor, was announced. At once he was
ushered into Mr. Ebenezer's room, and was presently seated in an
arm-chair. From that point of vantage he surreptitiously scrutinised Mr.
Ebenezer.
'Queer old boy,' he told himself. 'Lor', what a nose! And I don't like
his looks altogether. But then, he's a client; that's sufficient for me.
Ahem!'
Mr. Ebenezer picked up the letter which had attracted so much of his
attention.
'I wanted to ask some questions,' he said. 'There is now, I presume, no
further doubt as to this matter. Mrs. Clayhill is entitled to proceed
with the will left in your possession by Mr. Harbor?'
'Ahem! that is so,' admitted the solicitor. 'As mentioned in our letter,
and carrying out your instructions, we applied to the courts, and the
judge before whom the matter came has gone into the evidence fully, and
has given leave to presume Mr. Harbor's death. That being so, the way is
clear to prove the will and obtain probate. There can be no hitch,
unless, of course, ahem!--unless another later will is forthcoming.'
'Quite so, quite so,' exclaimed Mr. Ebenezer, hurriedly, 'But there is
no other will. Mr. Harbor left England three years ago for China. You
are aware that he was fond of unearthing old matters dealing with
buildings and _objets d'art_. He was attacked by Boxers and killed. He
executed this will two years previously, on his marriage to Mrs.
Clayhill, and, undoubtedly, he saw no reason to alter it.'
'Of course not, of course not,' came from the solicitor. 'Only, there is
the son. This will leaves a small sum for his maintenance and schooling
up to the age of twenty-one. Afterwards he comes in for two thousand
pounds. Not much, Mr. Clayhill, for an only child, when the estate is so
large, roughly eighty thousand pounds.'
The gentleman who was seated in the arm-chair coughed deprecatingly, and
glanced swiftly across at Mr. Ebenezer. He did not like the ugly frown
which showed on his client's face, as he surveyed him.
'Glad I'm not David,' he told himself. 'And from what I have learned I
can't help feeling that Mr. Harbor must have executed a later will. But
there you are; it is not to be found. We have no information about it,
while our late client is undoubtedly dead, killed out in China. It's bad
luck for David; I like the boy.'
'Perhaps,' he said, a moment later, 'you will obtain Mrs. Clayhill's
signatures to these documents, when we can at once set about proving the
will. As I am nominated as co-executor with Mrs. Clayhill, I can
complete them when I return to the office. I shall of course leave the
payment of David's allowance to Mrs. Clayhill.'
Mr. Ebenezer beamed when at length his visitor had gone. He rubbed his
hands together craftily, and then blew his enormous nose violently.
'Well, Sarah, what do you think of that?' he asked, looking across at
Mrs. Clayhill, who had joined him in his room. 'The matter is
practically finished. The will is to be proved in the course of a few
weeks, and then we can settle down. There will be no questions to ask,
and none to answer.'
'And so far as I am concerned, no answers forthcoming,' replied his
wife. 'After all, it is true that Edward wrote to me from China just
before his death, saying that he was settling his affairs again, in
other words that he was making a new will. But what is the good of
mentioning that? If he did as he intimated, no new will has been found.
Besides, I have reason to know that any alteration would not have been
to my benefit. Edward had of late been a worry to me.'
At the back of her mind Mrs. Clayhill remembered how she had come to
marry Edward Harbor. He was then forty years of age, and possessed of
one boy, David. His wife had died some years before, and there was no
doubt that Edward in selecting his second wife had chosen one whom he
imagined would willingly travel with him. But, after a year or more of
life in England, Mrs. Clayhill had resolutely refused to stir a foot out
of the country. Edward, to his great sorrow, had to go alone, leaving
David in his wife's charge. Moreover, there was little doubt but that
once her husband was out of sight, Mrs. Clayhill had endeavoured to
forget him, and that with some success, so that Edward received only the
most fragmentary letters, with long intervals between. Taking all the
circumstances into consideration, it was but natural that Edward Harbor,
smarting under the treatment meeted out to him by a wife, to whom at the
time of their marriage he had willed almost all his possessions, should
have made drastic alterations. Let us say at once that he had made a new
will, only the latter, owing to his untimely death, had never reached
the hands of his solicitors. Nor was there any record of it in China.
Mrs. Clayhill, it seemed, was the only one who knew that a change had
been made, and she had craftily not uttered a word on the subject. So it
happened that David was to be robbed of his father's possessions, while
his stepmother, who had disliked the lad from the beginning, with Mr.
Clayhill, the husband she had acquired after the death of Mr. Harbor,
were to come in for all the money, knowing all the while that, though
such a step was legal, it did not represent Edward Harbor's wishes.
'And the boy--what of him?' asked Mrs. Clayhill tartly.
Ebenezer grinned; matters were going splendidly for him. 'Oh, David,' he
said. 'He's got to learn what it is to work; I'll send him up to a city
firm. No more idling or riding blood horses for him, my dear.'
It was a heartless arrangement, and one is bound to admit, from the
acquaintance we have already of Mr. Ebenezer, it was to be expected of
him. As for Mrs. Clayhill, though boasting some attractions, she was
not, as the reader will have guessed, a fascinating woman. Where David
was concerned she could be a dragon, and we are stating but the truth
when we say that, for the past three years, the lad had been glad to
return to school to escape from a home which was that only in name to
him.
'Ah, there he is,' suddenly exclaimed Mr. Ebenezer, as a heavy foot was
heard in the hall, while, within a second, the door of the room was
flung unceremoniously open, and David entered.
'Helloo!' he cried, cheerily. 'I'm after a book. Disturbed you, eh?
Sorry.'
He turned on his heel, and prepared to leave, for he could see that the
two who were now responsible for him were discussing some matter.
'Having another jaw,' he told himself. 'That's what they're always after
now-a-days. Something to do with money, I suppose. Or it's me; shouldn't
wonder. They ain't over fond of David Harbor.'
It was not his fault that he did not speak or think more respectfully of
his parents. After all, though only related to him by the accident of
marriage, they were his lawful guardians, and had they been kind, David
would have been only too glad to behave as a son to them. Goodness knew,
the lad sometimes ached for a happy home.
'David!' The word came in peremptory tones from Ebenezer. He perched
himself in the centre of the hearth rug and blew his nose violently.
Mrs. Clayhill sank languidly back in her chair, and regarded her stepson
as if he bored her greatly. 'Come back, David.'
'Well? What is it?' David swung into the room again, and stood holding
to the handle of the door.
'Shut the door. Now, I want to speak to you. You're eighteen?'
'No, seventeen and five months. They tell me I look eighteen.'
'Humph! In any case you're old enough to understand. You realise, of
course, that I cannot be responsible for your upkeep.'
David staggered. He knew very little of monetary matters, but had always
understood that his father was a rich man and had made ample provision
for his family. 'I don't understand,' he replied.
'Let me put it plainly. Your father is dead; he has left a small sum
with which to defray your expenses. That must be sufficient; you must
now fend for yourself.'
'But,' gasped David, hardly able to gather the drift of the
conversation, 'he has left a great deal more than that for the upkeep of
the family. I am one of the family.'
'True,' admitted Ebenezer, ruefully, 'you are one of the family, but
that does not give you leave to enjoy yourself and be idle. Your father
specified only a sum for your expenses. The remainder of his possessions
are left to your stepmother to do with as she likes. She does not intend
that you should stay here longer and have a good time. You are to work
for your living. You are to go to an office in London, where your
success will depend on yourself entirely.'
'But--.' David was thunderstruck. He had no intention of idling. As a
matter of fact he hoped soon to enter an engineering school, where
there would be plenty of work for a keen young fellow. What staggered
him most was Ebenezer's iciness and his statements with regard to the
possessions left by Edward Harbor. 'But,' he gasped again, 'there is
surely some error. I don't count on money left me by father. I will work
for my living, and show that I can earn it the same as others. But he
made a will in China. He wrote to me about it. Everything was left to
me, with a handsome allowance to mother.'
The words came as a shock to the two conspiring to do our hero out of
his patrimony. Till that moment Mrs. Clayhill had imagined that she was
the only person to whom Edward Harbor had written. But she forgot David,
or put him out of her calculations because of his youth; whereas, as a
matter of fact, Edward had been more than open with his son.
'It is no use mincing matters, boy,' he had written. 'Money is more or
less useless to me, for I love the wilds, the parts forsaken by man
these many centuries. Still, I have, by the chance of birth, large
possessions to dispose of, and in the ordinary course they would go, in
great part, to your stepmother. But you are old enough to understand
matters. We cannot agree. She will not bear exile even for a few months,
for my sake, and, to make short work of an unpleasant matter, I fear I
must admit that I was mistaken in marrying her. As it is, I have
reconsidered my affairs, and have recently remade my will. At the first
opportunity I shall hand it into safe keeping. But here it must rest
till I go down country. Needless to say, I have arranged that my
property shall descend to you, with certain payments for your
stepmother.'
'But--gracious me! Hear him!' cried Mrs. Clayhill, in a high falsetto.
'That is a lie,' declared Ebenezer, flatly, his eyes narrow, his brow
furrowed, a particularly unpleasant look on his face. David flushed to
the roots of his hair. He had never been called a liar, save once, by a
boy bigger than himself, and him he had soundly thrashed. He stepped
forward a pace, while his eyes flashed. Then he pulled himself together,
and closed his lips firmly. A second later he was holding to the handle
of the door again.
'It is the truth,' he said, firmly. 'I have the letter to prove it. He
wrote telling me that he was sending the same information to my
stepmother.'
This was a bomb in the heart of the enemy's camp with a vengeance. Mrs.
Clayhill's face flushed furiously; she appeared to be on the verge of an
attack of violent hysteria. Ebenezer, on the contrary, became as white
as his own handkerchief. He glowered on David, and stuttered as he
attempted to speak. It was, in fact, a very sordid affair altogether.
'David! How can you?' came from Mrs. Clayhill. 'I never had a letter.
Your father made no change in his depositions.'
'In fact,' declared Ebenezer, bringing his hands together, and
endeavouring to display an air of placidity, 'he left but one will, and
that in favour of your stepmother. His death has been presumed by the
courts, and now the will I speak of shall be administered. You are a
pauper, more or less. You are dependent on a small allowance, payable by
us, and on your own wits. You will employ the latter from this moment. I
have accepted a post for you in a shipping office. You will live in
rooms in London, and your hours of work will extend from eight-thirty in
the morning to six at night. You begin immediately.'
To say that David was flabbergasted was to express his condition mildly.
It had been his intention from an early age to become an engineer, and
his father had encouraged his ambition. Suddenly he suspected that this
work in London was only a plot to get him out of the way, and that his
stepmother had received the letter of which he had spoken. It angered
him to have his future ordered by a man almost a stranger to him, and
one, moreover, who had taken no pains to hide his ill-feeling. Besides,
David was proud and quick-tempered.
'I'll do nothing of the sort,' he exclaimed quickly.
'You disobey me, then?' demanded Ebenezer angrily.
'I decline to go into an office.'
'Then you leave the house to-morrow. Your allowance shall be paid to you
regularly. You can fend for yourself.'
For a moment the two conspirators glared at David, while the latter held
to the door. Even now he was loth to think evil of his stepmother,
though there had never been any affection between them; for Mrs.
Clayhill was essentially a worldly woman. Had she not been so she could
not have sat there and seen this youth cheated of rights which she knew
were his. She could not have allowed her second husband to proceed with
the proving of a will which she knew thoroughly well did not represent
her late husband's wishes. But she was a grasping woman, and had long
since determined to oust David. Also she had in Ebenezer a cold-hearted
scoundrel who backed her up completely.
'You will do as you are ordered or forfeit everything,' she cried, in
shrill tones, that were a little frightened.
'Which means that you are not wanted very particularly here, and had
better go,' added Ebenezer sourly. 'Take this post or leave it. It makes
little difference to me; but idle and enjoy yourself here any longer,
you shall not.'
David took in a deep breath; the situation was only beginning to dawn
upon him. It was the climax that he had more than half expected, but
which, boy-like, he had put out of mind. But here it was, naked and
extremely sordid. He was not wanted; these people had no interest in
Edward Harbor or in his son. In fact, that son stood in their way. Money
was the cause of all the trouble. The two before him were conspiring to
rob him, David, of the possessions intended for him by his father.
Straightway David formed a resolution.
'You wish me to leave,' he said, as quietly as he could. 'I will go at
once. You tell me that I am a pauper. Very well, I will work for myself;
but I give you notice. I will search this matter out; it is not yet
absolutely proved that father was killed. He might have been made a
prisoner; his death has only been presumed. But I will make sure of it
one way or the other. I will hunt for that will of which he wrote to me
and to my stepmother. And when I find him or it I will return; till
then, remember that I ask no help from either of you. I will fend for
myself.'
He turned on his heel, closing the door noiselessly after him. Promptly
he went to his room, packed his few valuables and a spare suit in a
valise, not forgetting underclothing. Then he crossed to the stables and
emerged a few moments later with his bicycle. A somewhat scared couple
of conspirators watched him, as he pedalled down the drive and out
through the gate.
'Pooh! Let him go. A good riddance!' blustered Ebenezer, blowing his
nose.
'I'm afraid of him; he was always like that,' exclaimed Mrs. Clayhill
tearfully. 'David is a most determined boy; he will search this matter
to the bottom.'
'Which happens to be particularly deep,' ventured her husband. 'Come,
Sarah, threatened people live long. Before he is anywhere near China we
shall have the will proved, and the money will be ours. We can afford to
laugh at the young idiot.'
They saw David swing out into the road and disappear past the village.
From that moment for many a week, he was a dead letter to them. But
distance did not help them. The fact that they were committing a wrong
preyed on the newly wedded couple. In the course of a little while the
memory of David had become to Ebenezer and his wife even more trying
than his actual presence. The proving of the will, the free use of the
money could not end the matter. Conscience spoke sternly and unceasingly
to Mr. and Mrs. Clayhill.