Katie Durant, sitting with a happy smile on her fair face, and good-will
in her sweet heart to all mankind--womankind included, which says a good
deal for her--was busy with a beautiful sketch of a picturesque
watermill, meditating on the stirring scene she had so recently
witnessed, when a visitor was announced.
"Who can it be?" inquired Katie; "papa is out, you know, and no one can
want me."
The lodging-house keeper, Mrs Cackles, smiled at the idea of no one
wanting Katie, knowing, as she did, that there were at least twenty
people who would have given all they were worth in the world to possess
her, either in the form of wife, sister, daughter, friend governess, or
companion.
"Well, miss, she do wants you, and says as no one else will do."
"Oh, a lady, please show her in, Mrs Cackles."
"Well, she ain't a lady, either, though I've seen many a lady as would
give their weight in gold to be like her."
So saying the landlady departed, and in a few seconds introduced Nora.
"Miss Jones!" cried Katie, rising with a pleased smile and holding out
her hand; "this is a very unexpected pleasure."
"Thank you, Miss Durant. I felt sure you would remember me," said Nora,
taking a seat, "and I also feel sure that you will assist me with your
advice in a matter of some difficulty, especially as it relates to the
boy about whose sick brother you came to me at Yarmouth some time ago--
you remember?"
"Oh! Billy Towler," exclaimed Katie, with animation; "yes, I remember;
you are right in expecting me to be interested in him. Let me hear all
about it."
Hereupon Nora gave Katie an insight into much of Billy Towler's history,
especially dwelling on that part of it which related to his being sent
to the Grotto, in the hope of saving him from the evil influences that
were brought to bear upon him in his intercourse with her father.
"Not," she said, somewhat anxiously, "that I mean you to suppose my dear
father teaches him anything that is wicked; but his business leads him
much among bad men--and--they drink and smoke, you know, which is very
bad for a young boy to see; and many of them are awful swearers. Now,
poor Billy has been induced to leave the Grotto and to come down here,
for what purpose I don't know; but I am _so_ disappointed, because I had
hoped he would not have got tired of it so soon; and what distresses me
most is, that he does not speak all his mind to me; I can see that, for
he is very fond of me, and did not use to conceal things from me--at
least I fancied not. The strange thing about it too is, that he says he
is willing to return to the Grotto immediately, if I wish it."
"I am very _very_ sorry to hear all this," said Katie, with a troubled
air; "but what do you propose to do, and how can I assist you?--only
tell me, and I shall be so happy to do it, if it be in my power."
"I really don't know how to put it to you, dear Miss Durant, and I could
not have ventured if you had not been so very kind when I met you in
Yarmouth; but--but your father owns several vessels, I believe, and--
and--you will excuse me referring to it, I know--he was so good as to
get a situation on board of the Wellington--which has so unfortunately
been wrecked--for a young--a--a young--man; one of those who was
saved--"
"Yes, yes," said Katie, quickly, thinking of Stanley Hall, and blushing
scarlet; "I know the young gentleman to whom you refer; well, go on."
"Well," continued Nora, thinking of Jim Welton, and blushing scarlet
too, "that young man said to me that he felt sure if I were to make
application to Mr Durant through you, he would give Billy a situation
in one of his ships, and so get him out of harm's way."
"He was right," said Katie, with a somewhat puzzled expression; "and you
may rely on my doing what I can for the poor boy with papa, who is
always happy to help in such cases; but I was not aware that Mr Hall
knew either you or Billy."
"Mr Hall!" exclaimed Nora, in surprise.
"Did you not refer to him just now?"
"No, miss; I meant James Welton."
"Oh!" exclaimed Katie, prolonging that monosyllable in a sliding scale,
ranging from low to high and back to low again, which was peculiarly
suggestive; "I beg your pardon, I quite misunderstood you; well, you may
tell Mr Welton that I will befriend Billy to the utmost of my power."
The door opened as she spoke, and cousin Fanny entered.
"Katie, I've come to tell you that Mr Queek--" She stopped short on
observing Nora, who rose hastily, thanked Katie earnestly for the kind
interest she had expressed in her little friend, and took her leave.
"This is a very interesting little incident, Fan," said Katie with
delight when they were alone; "quite a romancelet of real life. Let me
see; here is a poor boy--the boy who deceived us, you remember--whom bad
companions are trying to decoy into the wicked meshes of their dreadful
net, and a sweet young girl, a sort of guardian angel as it were, comes
to me and asks my aid to save the boy, and have him sent to sea. Isn't
it delightful? Quite the ground-work of a tale--and might be so nicely
illustrated," added Katie, glancing at her drawings. "But forgive me,
Fan; I interrupted you. What were you going to tell me?"
"Only that Mr Queeker cannot come to tea tonight, as he has business to
attend to connected with his secret mission," replied Fanny.
"How interesting it would be," said Katie, musing, "if we could only
manage to mix up this mission of Mr Queeker's in the plot of our
romance; wouldn't it? Come, I will put away my drawing for to-day, and
finish the copy of papa's quarterly cash-account for those dreadful
Board of Trade people; then we shall go to the pier and have a walk, and
on our way we will call on that poor old bedridden woman whom papa has
ferreted out, and give her some tea and sugar. Isn't it strange that
papa should have discovered one so soon? I suppose you are aware of his
_penchant_ for old women, Fan?"
"No, I was not aware of it," said Fan, smiling.
Whatever Fan said, she accompanied with a smile. Indeed a smile was the
necessary result of the opening of her little mouth for whatever
purpose--not an affected smile, but a merry one--which always had the
effect, her face being plump, of half shutting her eyes.
"Yes," continued Katie, with animation, "papa is _so_ fond of old women,
particularly if they are _very_ old, and _very_ little, and thin; they
_must_ be thin, though. I don't think he cares much for them if they
are fat. He says that fat people are so jolly that they don't need to
be cared for, but he dotes upon the little thin ones."
Fanny smiled, and observed that that was curious. "So it is," observed
Katie; "now _my_ taste lies in the direction of old men. I like to
visit poor old men much better than poor old women, and the older and
more helpless they are the more I like them."
Fanny smiled again, and observed that that was curious too.
"So it is," said Katie, "very odd that papa should like the old women
and I should like the old men; but so it is. Now, Fan, we'll get ready
and--oh how provoking! That must be another visitor! People find papa
out so soon wherever we go, and then they give him no rest."
"A boy wishes to see you, miss," said Mrs Cackles.
"Me?" exclaimed Katie in surprise.
"Yes, miss, and he says he wants to see you alone on important
business."
Katie looked at Fanny and smiled. Fanny returned the smile, and
immediately left the room.
"Show him in, Mrs Cackles."
The landlady withdrew, and ushered in no less a personage than Billy
Towler himself, who stopped at the door, and stood with his hat in his
hand, and an unusually confused expression in his looks. "Please,
miss," said Billy, "you knows me, I think?"
Katie admitted that she knew him, and, knowing in her heart that she
meant to befriend him, it suddenly occurred to her that it would be well
to begin with a little salutary severity by way of punishment for his
former misdeeds.
"Last time I saw you, miss, I _did_ you," said Billy with a slight grin.
"You did," replied Katie with a slight frown, "and I hope you have come
to apologise for your naughty conduct."
"Well, I can't 'xactly say as I have come to do that, but I dessay I may
as well begin that way. I'm very sorry, miss, for havin' _did_ you, an'
I've called now to see if I can't _do_ you again."
Katie could not restrain a laugh at the impudence of this remark, but
she immediately regretted it, because Billy took encouragement and
laughed too; she therefore frowned with intense severity, and, still
remembering that she meant ultimately to befriend the boy, resolved to
make him in the meantime feel the consequences of his former misdeeds.
"Come, boy," she said sharply, "don't add impertinence to your
wickedness, but let me know at once what you want with me."
Billy was evidently taken aback by this rebuff. He looked surprised,
and did not seem to know how to proceed. At length he put strong
constraint upon himself, and said, in rather a gruff tone--
"Well, miss, I--a--the fact is--you know a gal named Nora Jones, don't
you? Anyhow, she knows you, an' has said to me so often that you was a
parfect angel, that--that--"
"That you came to see," interrupted Katie, glancing at her shoulders,
"whether I really had wings, or not, eh?"
Katie said this with a still darker frown; for she thought that the
urchin was jesting. Nothing was further from his intention. Knowing
this, and, not finding the angelic looks and tones which he had been led
to expect, Billy felt still more puzzled and inclined to be cross.
"Seems to me that there's a screw loose somewheres," said Billy,
scratching the point of his nose in his vexation. "Hows'ever, I came
here to ax your advice, and although you cer'nly don't 'ave wings nor
the style o' looks wot's usual in 'eavenly wisiters, I'll make a clean
breast of it--so here goes."
Hereupon the poor boy related how he had been decoyed from the Grotto--
of which establishment he gave a graphic and glowing account--and said
that he was resolved to have nothing more to do with Morley Jones, but
meant to return to the Grotto without delay--that evening if possible.
He had a difficulty, however, which was, that he could not speak freely
to Nora about her father, for fear of hurting her feelings or
enlightening her too much as to his true character, in regard to which
she did not yet know the worst. One evil result of this was that she
had begun to suspect there was something wrong as to his own affection
for herself--which was altogether a mistake. Billy made the last remark
with a flush of earnest indignation and a blow of his small hand on his
diminutive knee! He then said that another evil result was that he
could not see his way to explain to Nora why he wished to be off in such
a hurry, and, worst of all, he had not a sixpence in the world wherewith
to pay his fare to London, and had no means of getting one.
"And so," said Katie, still keeping up her fictitious indignation, "you
come to beg money from me?"
"Not to beg, Miss--to borrer."
"Ah! and thus to _do_ me a second time," said Katie.
It must not be supposed that Katie's sympathetic heart had suddenly
become adamantine. On the contrary, she had listened with deep interest
to all that her youthful visitor had to say, and rejoiced in the thought
that she had given to her such a splendid opportunity of doing good and
frustrating evil; but the little spice of mischief in her character
induced her still to keep up the fiction of being suspicious, in order
to give Billy a salutary lesson. In addition to this, she had not quite
got over the supposed insult of being mistaken for an angel! She
therefore declined, in the meantime, to advance the required sum--
ten-and-sixpence--although the boy earnestly promised to repay her with
his first earnings.
"No," she said, with a gravity which she found it difficult to maintain,
"I cannot give you such a sum until I have seen and consulted with my
father on the subject; but I may tell you that I respect your sentiments
regarding Nora and your intention to forsake your evil ways. If you
will call here again in the evening I will see what can be done for
you."
Saying this, and meditating in her heart that she would not only give
Billy the ten-and-sixpence to enable him to return to the Grotto, but
would induce her father to give him permanent employment in one of his
ships, she showed Billy to the door, and bade him be a good boy and take
care of himself.
Thereafter she recalled Fanny, and, for her benefit, re-enacted the
whole scene between herself and Billy Towler, in a manner so graphic and
enthusiastic, as to throw that amiable creature into convulsions of
laughter, which bade fair to terminate her career in a premature fit of
juvenile apoplexy.