Chapter 44
When the concourse separated, and, dividing into chance clusters, drewoff in various directions, there still remained upon the scene of thelate disturbance, one man. This man was Gashford, who, bruised by hislate fall, and hurt in a much greater degree by the indignity he hadundergone, and the exposure of which he had been the victim, limped upand down, breathing curses and threats of vengeance.
It was not the secretary's nature to waste his wrath in words. While hevented the froth of his malevolence in those effusions, he kept a steadyeye on two men, who, having disappeared with the rest when the alarm wasspread, had since returned, and were now visible in the moonlight, at nogreat distance, as they walked to and fro, and talked together.
He made no move towards them, but waited patiently on the dark side ofthe street, until they were tired of strolling backwards and forwardsand walked away in company. Then he followed, but at some distance:keeping them in view, without appearing to have that object, or beingseen by them.
They went up Parliament Street, past Saint Martin's church, and away bySaint Giles's to Tottenham Court Road, at the back of which, uponthe western side, was then a place called the Green Lanes. This was aretired spot, not of the choicest kind, leading into the fields. Greatheaps of ashes; stagnant pools, overgrown with rank grass and duckweed;broken turnstiles; and the upright posts of palings long since carriedoff for firewood, which menaced all heedless walkers with their jaggedand rusty nails; were the leading features of the landscape: while hereand there a donkey, or a ragged horse, tethered to a stake, and croppingoff a wretched meal from the coarse stunted turf, were quite in keepingwith the scene, and would have suggested (if the houses had not done so,sufficiently, of themselves) how very poor the people were who lived inthe crazy huts adjacent, and how foolhardy it might prove for one whocarried money, or wore decent clothes, to walk that way alone, unless bydaylight.
Poverty has its whims and shows of taste, as wealth has. Some of thesecabins were turreted, some had false windows painted on their rottenwalls; one had a mimic clock, upon a crazy tower of four feet high,which screened the chimney; each in its little patch of ground had arude seat or arbour. The population dealt in bones, in rags, in brokenglass, in old wheels, in birds, and dogs. These, in their several waysof stowage, filled the gardens; and shedding a perfume, not of the mostdelicious nature, in the air, filled it besides with yelps, and screams,and howling.
Into this retreat, the secretary followed the two men whom he had heldin sight; and here he saw them safely lodged, in one of the meanesthouses, which was but a room, and that of small dimensions. He waitedwithout, until the sound of their voices, joined in a discordant song,assured him they were making merry; and then approaching the door, bymeans of a tottering plank which crossed the ditch in front, knocked atit with his hand.
'Muster Gashford!' said the man who opened it, taking his pipe fromhis mouth, in evident surprise. 'Why, who'd have thought of this herehonour! Walk in, Muster Gashford--walk in, sir.'
Gashford required no second invitation, and entered with a gracious air.There was a fire in the rusty grate (for though the spring was prettyfar advanced, the nights were cold), and on a stool beside it Hugh satsmoking. Dennis placed a chair, his only one, for the secretary, infront of the hearth; and took his seat again upon the stool he had leftwhen he rose to give the visitor admission.
'What's in the wind now, Muster Gashford?' he said, as he resumed hispipe, and looked at him askew. 'Any orders from head-quarters? Are wegoing to begin? What is it, Muster Gashford?'
'Oh, nothing, nothing,' rejoined the secretary, with a friendly nod toHugh. 'We have broken the ice, though. We had a little spurt to-day--eh,Dennis?'
'A very little one,' growled the hangman. 'Not half enough for me.'
'Nor me neither!' cried Hugh. 'Give us something to do with life init--with life in it, master. Ha, ha!'
'Why, you wouldn't,' said the secretary, with his worst expression offace, and in his mildest tones, 'have anything to do, with--with deathin it?'
'I don't know that,' replied Hugh. 'I'm open to orders. I don't care;not I.'
'Nor I!' vociferated Dennis.
'Brave fellows!' said the secretary, in as pastor-like a voice as if hewere commending them for some uncommon act of valour and generosity. 'Bythe bye'--and here he stopped and warmed his hands: then suddenly lookedup--'who threw that stone to-day?'
Mr Dennis coughed and shook his head, as who should say, 'A mysteryindeed!' Hugh sat and smoked in silence.
'It was well done!' said the secretary, warming his hands again. 'Ishould like to know that man.'
'Would you?' said Dennis, after looking at his face to assure himselfthat he was serious. 'Would you like to know that man, Muster Gashford?'
'I should indeed,' replied the secretary.
'Why then, Lord love you,' said the hangman, in his hoarest chuckle,as he pointed with his pipe to Hugh, 'there he sits. That's the man. Mystars and halters, Muster Gashford,' he added in a whisper, as hedrew his stool close to him and jogged him with his elbow, 'what ainteresting blade he is! He wants as much holding in as a thorough-bredbulldog. If it hadn't been for me to-day, he'd have had that 'ere Romandown, and made a riot of it, in another minute.'
'And why not?' cried Hugh in a surly voice, as he overheard this lastremark. 'Where's the good of putting things off? Strike while the iron'shot; that's what I say.'
'Ah!' retorted Dennis, shaking his head, with a kind of pity for hisfriend's ingenuous youth; 'but suppose the iron an't hot, brother! Youmust get people's blood up afore you strike, and have 'em in the humour.There wasn't quite enough to provoke 'em to-day, I tell you. If you'dhad your way, you'd have spoilt the fun to come, and ruined us.'
'Dennis is quite right,' said Gashford, smoothly. 'He is perfectlycorrect. Dennis has great knowledge of the world.'
'I ought to have, Muster Gashford, seeing what a many people I've helpedout of it, eh?' grinned the hangman, whispering the words behind hishand.
The secretary laughed at this jest as much as Dennis could desire, andwhen he had done, said, turning to Hugh:
'Dennis's policy was mine, as you may have observed. You saw, forinstance, how I fell when I was set upon. I made no resistance. I didnothing to provoke an outbreak. Oh dear no!'
'No, by the Lord Harry!' cried Dennis with a noisy laugh, 'you went downvery quiet, Muster Gashford--and very flat besides. I thinks to myselfat the time "it's all up with Muster Gashford!" I never see a man layflatter nor more still--with the life in him--than you did to-day. He'sa rough 'un to play with, is that 'ere Papist, and that's the fact.'
The secretary's face, as Dennis roared with laughter, and turned hiswrinkled eyes on Hugh who did the like, might have furnished a study forthe devil's picture. He sat quite silent until they were serious again,and then said, looking round:
'We are very pleasant here; so very pleasant, Dennis, that but for mylord's particular desire that I should sup with him, and the time beingvery near at hand, I should be inclined to stay, until it would behardly safe to go homeward. I come upon a little business--yes, I do--asyou supposed. It's very flattering to you; being this. If we evershould be obliged--and we can't tell, you know--this is a very uncertainworld'--
'I believe you, Muster Gashford,' interposed the hangman with a gravenod. 'The uncertainties as I've seen in reference to this here state ofexistence, the unexpected contingencies as have come about!--Oh my eye!'Feeling the subject much too vast for expression, he puffed at his pipeagain, and looked the rest.
'I say,' resumed the secretary, in a slow, impressive way; 'we can'ttell what may come to pass; and if we should be obliged, against ourwills, to have recourse to violence, my lord (who has suffered terriblyto-day, as far as words can go) consigns to you two--bearing in mind myrecommendation of you both, as good staunch men, beyond all doubt andsuspicion--the pleasant task of punishing this Haredale. You may do asyou please with him, or his, provided that you show no mercy, and noquarter, a
nd leave no two beams of his house standing where the builderplaced them. You may sack it, burn it, do with it as you like, butit must come down; it must be razed to the ground; and he, and allbelonging to him, left as shelterless as new-born infants whom theirmothers have exposed. Do you understand me?' said Gashford, pausing, andpressing his hands together gently.
'Understand you, master!' cried Hugh. 'You speak plain now. Why, this ishearty!'
'I knew you would like it,' said Gashford, shaking him by the hand; 'Ithought you would. Good night! Don't rise, Dennis: I would rather findmy way alone. I may have to make other visits here, and it's pleasantto come and go without disturbing you. I can find my way perfectly well.Good night!'
He was gone, and had shut the door behind him. They looked at eachother, and nodded approvingly: Dennis stirred up the fire.
'This looks a little more like business!' he said.
'Ay, indeed!' cried Hugh; 'this suits me!'
'I've heerd it said of Muster Gashford,' said the hangman, 'that he'da surprising memory and wonderful firmness--that he never forgot, andnever forgave.--Let's drink his health!'
Hugh readily complied--pouring no liquor on the floor when he drank thistoast--and they pledged the secretary as a man after their own hearts,in a bumper.