CHAPTER XVIII.
A brilliant idea had occurred to Blount as he was on his way to Dover.He had really nothing, as he had told Carden, in the matter he wasprosecuting, on which to prevent Hall from leaving England, and on theway down he worried considerably as to how he could keep his man fromgetting on foreign soil. Suddenly the duel flashed across his brain, andbefore Hall arose in the morning he had by means of messengers obtaineda warrant from a Dover magistrate. He waited, however, until Hall wasabout to board the boat, before using it, to make sure that thatgentleman actually intended to quit the country.
As may be imagined Hall was startled on being informed that he was underarrest, and relieved on learning the cause. Even if his opponent shoulddie it would not be as bad as what he had at first expected, and heaccompanied Blount back to the hotel in a frame of mind rather cheerfulthan otherwise.
At the hotel Blount took Hall to a room and showed him the warrant. Itwas all in proper order, as far as Hall could tell, and he could makeno objection to being placed in Dover jail. He would have an examinationnext morning, Blount assured him, after he had been locked up, meantimecould he do anything for him. He, of course, had no feeling in thematter, except perhaps sympathy--for after all it was not really classedas a crime by society--or if a crime it was certainly that of many anoble gentleman for ages past.
The tone was as sympathetic as the words were frank, for Blount _could_talk when occasion warranted; but if he expected to gain Mr. Hall'sconfidence through his little speech, he must have felt sorelydisappointed.
Mr. Hall wanted nothing except liberty, and that Blount could not givehim. However, Mr. Blount would oblige him by sending for his attorney,Mr. Isaac Jacobs, No. 4 Fleet Street, London, for he (Hall) could reallynot afford to waste time in Dover.
If Blount was disappointed in his effort to gain Hall's confidence, hefound a crumb of comfort in knowing he was connected with Mr. Jacobs;for Blount knew the attorney and his record quite well, nearly as wellas Hall himself.
The telegram was sent without delay, and Jacobs came at once, arrivingat Dover late the same night. Blount met him accidentally at theentrance to his hotel, the nearest to the station.
"Ah! Good evening Mr. Jacobs! Down to see our friend, I suppose?"
Jacobs was almost as startled as his client had been on meeting Blount,but having nothing particular to fear at the moment, like his client,quickly recovered himself.
"Yes, Mr. Blount," he replied. "Are you the party in charge?"
"Well, I suppose it might be put that way. But really I'm not muchinterested or posted as far as the case goes. A message came across fromDublin yesterday that there had been a duel fought somewhere over inthat land of fun and fighting, and one of the principals badly hurt.
"The party wanted was our friend Hall, and I was sent after him and gothim here just as he was about starting. I suppose he will be held untilwe can get further particulars from the other side, and then we willsend him back."
Mr. Blount, as may have been remarked, could talk a long time and say awhole lot without telling anything to his auditor.
Mr. Jacobs, however, knew Mr. Blount, and while the latter had notactually wasted his breath, he did not learn much from the attorney.
"Of course, as I was sent for I came at once," said Jacobs, "but Icannot see that any thing can be done here if the trouble occurred inIreland. As for holding him for further information, I don't know thatyou can do that either. However, I can say nothing until I have seen myclient."
As a matter of fact Blount had no legal evidence of the duel. He had, ofcourse, heard of it, and from more than one source, but no officialinformation had reached London or any other police office. Blount knew,therefore, that Hall would be instantly discharged as soon as theexamination was held, which if Mr. Jacobs had his way, as he was prettycertain to, would be next morning. How to prevent the hearing puzzledhim, and he sat for several hours endeavoring to find a way out of thedifficulty. At length a desperate expedient occurred to him. Themagistrate who had issued the warrant was neither particularly brightnor learned in the law, but he was most decidedly obstinate, and heldScotland Yard men in great esteem, not to say reverence. It had suddenlyoccurred to Blount to take this worthy gentleman into his confidence,and although it was past midnight, he acted on the idea at once.
Justice Holland was considerably surprised and at first annoyed at beingdisturbed at this late hour, but Blount assured him that nothing exceptthe importance of his business would excuse his call, and forthwithunfolded a tale that made the magistrate forget his annoyance, and hereadily agreed to be unable to see the law as Mr. Jacobs did nextday--if it became necessary to listen to that gentleman.
Feeling sure of Hall for at least another day, Blount now set thetelegraph wire at work and commenced sending telegrams in everydirection--London, Dublin, Naas and Hanley Hall--with strict injunctionsto the operator to see that he was not kept waiting for answers shouldany arrive by telegraph.
There was only the ordinary number of cases to be tried by JusticeHolland the next day, but the Court officers and regular visitors werefairly astonished at the care and time he spent over even a plain,ordinary drunk. He inquired into every thing concerning the present caseand all previous ones, if any.
It was long past the usual hour for adjourning Court, and seeing thatmore than half the calendar still remained untried Jacobs began to growuneasy. He cursed the "stupidity" of the justice, who was spending moretime on the simplest case that came before him than a London magistratewould occupy in disposing of the entire calendar, and strangely enough,Hall's case was the last on the list.
At length he grew so impatient that he addressed the Court and asked ifhis case could not be taken up at once. It was an important one, hesaid, and involved the liberty of a reputable and responsible gentlemanwhose important business was suffering through his absence, and he mustdemand an immediate hearing. The Court listened calmly, then informedMr. Jacobs that his case would be taken up in the regular order, andthat his client would certainly have a fair and speedy hearing. Afterwhich the Court proceeded with the trial of more cases. At length,however, the Court could stand it no longer. The announcement was madethat no more cases would be tried that day, that witnesses should be onhand at the regular hour next morning, and notwithstanding the vigorousprotests of Mr. Jacobs the Court adjourned.
Mr. Jacobs vowed he would compel a speedy hearing. He would get out awrit of _habeas-corpus_, and did, too, but Blount had gained his pointand Hall was kept in custody another day.