A CONFIDENTIAL AGENT:

JAMES PAYN, AUTHOR OF

"Uy Proxy,"

CHAPTER IV MADGE.

"Under Onk Rook,"

"Walter's Word," "Hunt Spirits," Etc.

WE have said that in a corner of the room in which Matthew HeMoti was now leftalone there stood a something covered with a white cloth which looked like a child's coffin, It was not so iv reality, yet it was, in a sense, the grave of a parent's hop*. Matthew now rose and lifted the cloth, disclosing the model of a six-wheeled loco motive. It waa a neat and beautiful engine, perfect, even to tho professional eye, in all its parts and fittings ; hut it was not a steam-engine. There were certain novel appliances connected with it—not wings, but valves, which opened and closed some what like wings, and by aid of which, in connection with internal mechanism, the external air was constituted the motive power. It was net what is known as the pneumatic system, though it was un doubtedly an application of it, and though Uncle Stephen had ascribed his nephew's depression, when it failed, to 'pneumonia.' .For, to confess the truth, "Magdeburg"— for (lint such was its name the inscription which runs along its side in raised and shining metal, just as though it were a real engine, informs us—was not a success. Time was when great hopes had been en tertained el" if, when it wax familiarly and even affectionately termed "Mag," and even "Madge," by the members of the little household in Cavendish Grove ; and when the author of its being had been "wrapped up in it," as only mothers are in their babe?. Nay., as a mother pores

and hangs over her dead babe, giving more oE love to its inanimate dust than some men have to give to their nearest ami dearest in thi'ir lifetimes, so now Matthew Heist cm regarded with reverent and pitiful eyes his motionless mechanical offspring. It was dead, and would never come to life, ho knew ; all delusions were at an end, or nearly so, upon that score ; but how long they'luul lasted, and how implicitly he had trusted in them 1 Mis face was grave and sad enough, hut gentle withal; his was not the case of one wliose only son hai dis appointed expectation, and died a ne'er-do well ; Matthew had nobody to blame for whut had happened but himself; and inno cent " Madge was still dear to him. It may seem a foolish thing to many that he should thus worship this poor idol of brass and copper; for to some, alas! the very faculty of worship is denied, and to othors, tt>il and thought and ambition—lot alone the ecstatic aspiration of leaving the world richer than we found it—are words without a meaning. But the poet, the creator, the inventor, will understand something of Matthew Helston's feelings—though not all. For " Madge " had not only cost him time and trouble, sleepless nights and laborious days, and his inheritance—for ho had .sacrificed at her shrine all that; but he had led others to believe in hor divinity to their serious cost. The very sight of "Madge"—and he could not help tlms contemplating her, though conscious of his weakness: he had reminded Sabey, in order to dispel her suspicion on that score, that lie had the new poem to finish—awoke in him a host of memories. Tic remembered himself as a chiW for whom picture-books had no attractions, but whose toys were tools, boats of his own carving, magnets, pieces of old iron that he would hammer out into knives, or saws, or pikehoads; then, later on, how he loathed his school bonks, save those which dealt with figures, calculations, and machinery. Everyone had said that he was .1 born mathematical genius, and, what was more, he had be lieved them. There in an idea abroad, born of a certain pestilent, half goody-goody,half look-to-thc-main-chance class of literature, that the human will is omnipotent; that if wo can oidy believe in ourselves, and work hard enough, and keep our end steadily in view, wo must needs attain it; in a word,

that aelf-conlidcnco, with assiduity can, like faith, move very mountains—which is false. It may just as well be averred that dogmatism is synonymous with truth. JKoger Hclston, the lawyer of Latbury, Matthew's paternal uncle and guardian, had thought differently—though by no means philosophically—about this matter. " If you imagine I am going to let you be a civil engineer, as you call it," he said to his nephew, "when my own business (he was a country attorney in the Midlands) lies ready to your hand, you arc much mistaken. lam not the man to pay three hundred pounds of premium in order that you may lie on*'our back and hold a tallow candle while another man is hammoring vails into a ship's bottom." Such was his view of the advantages of education in the practical mathematics. " Nor am I going to leave my money—though you are my brother's son—to one who will waste it in researches after the perpetual motion or the philosopher's stone. You may just as well take to poetry at once, and —and—hang yourself. Matthew only hung his head at this, and affected submission. Nay, ho did submit, after a fashion, and pursued his legal studies, against the grain, till the time came for his being articled—when another battle royal took place. Madge was then something more than in embryo, and des tined to revolutionise science, as well as considerablySto annihilate time and space. But Roger Helston did not believe in her. " That model of yours, my lad," said he, not unkindly, but with that positiveness (far beyond anything dreamt of by M. Auguste Comtc) which belongs to along but somewhat dense head, and the con sciousness of power over tho purse-strings, " would be your ruin if I let you have your own way. There was something else you set your heart on a while ago, I am given to understand, which has turned out con ti~ry to expectation." The young man grew scarlet. "There is no need to dwell upon it," continued Uncle Roger, " since you have found your mistake ont for yourself, it teems ; but I will only say that, ill-judged '; our conduct was in that case, no worse '/ .in could have come to you than may accrue from your misplaced love of cogs and wheels. And look you," here lie struck his hand upon the table, "I will have none of them in my office. The law does not brook a divided allegiance. I know which,way your wishes run, of course: and you are free to act upon them. Your Uncle Stephen, as I hear, has been helping to make a fool of you by praising your mathematical talents; 1 am not sure that his praise is worth much; he is in no better ca=e now, at all events, than he was when

hejcamejnto the world near throe-quarters J& a'centiir'y >%iigSU] vI"ell doesll>t look well for his gumption ; r?»J<if you choose to take your pigs to tliat markeJj4fi!je4iCSl, .Only remember that, in that event, this door Ij closed to you for good and all." And Uncle Roger buttoned his breeches pockets.

In this case too, though the struggle had been sharper within him than on the last occasion, Matthew Hclston had given in. But though he did not take his cogs and wheels to his desk in a material sense, he took them with him in his head, where they clicked and whirled to the great detriment of his legal studies ; while all his leisure time was given to the development and per fection of Madge—till she found a rival, not in Themis, but iv Isabel Thurlow. This young lady was the daughter of a neighbouring clergyman, the possessor of a good living, and a great social favourite in the county, but who had the bad taste, when he wanted legal advice, to apply to another solicitor than Mr. Roger Helston. This was wormwood to that gentlemen, and in consequence ho rather encouraged his nephew's attentions to Miss Thurlow than otherwise—because they were dis pleasing to her father. Roger Helston was as much of a radical as a country attorney who has dealings with the land aristocracy dares to be; and he asked himself (in private) who was Canon Thurlow of Tarlton that ho should set himself up, and despise young ;Matthew, the nephew of as good a man as himself, and a very much " wanner" one ; and who had, among other valuable effects, the next presentation to Tarlton Kectory in his strong-box. Mr. Thurlow died very suddenly, and this piece of property became unexpectedly valuablo; but the canon himself, who had lived liko.i wealthy member of the chuvch militant (old Roger said, "like a fighting-cock,") left little beside his two pretty daughters behind him. This behaviour—in one, too, who had given himself such airs of superiority—was greatly resented by the attorney, who made it a text to preach from against pride, extravagance, and that conduct which is unfavourably compared in Holy Writ with that of the infidel; and he did so purposely in his nephew's presence. Mat thew held his tongue till from abuse of the dead rector his uncle slid into expressions of contemptuous pity for those whom he lijid left well-nigh destitute ; when he quietly observed, "You must please to remember, uncle, that Sabey Thurlow has promised to be my wife." Then ensued the Deluge. Did Matthew think, because two negatives made in some tongues an affirmative, that two paupers by uniting in marriage could make a sub sistence? He railed, in fact, against his nephew with all the vehemence inspired by the knowledge of being in the wrong, and tho determination to have his own way.

" When you thought Mr Thurlow was a rich man, uncle," was Matthew's calm reply, "you consented to my wooing his daughter; and now that I have won her, is it possible that, because he has turned out to be poor, you would have me break my word '!"

A question not to be answered categori cally, and which only added fuel to (lame. " Don't talk to me, sir, about your word," he broke forth ; and then, witli some want of consistency, "if you do not promise me to give her up—to have nothing to do with her and beggary from this moment—you shall never dirkcn my doors again. You have a thousand pounds of your own, all you have in the world, invested in my business ; perhaps you would like a cheque for it at once,"

"Hit is quite convenient,"said Matthew, who had inherited with that inconsiderable fortune no little of the family determina tion, " I will take that cheque." Uncle Itogcr seized a pen, and with trembling fingers wrote out the desired document, in exchange for his nephew's release, which was given iv a vory clerkly hand, for the indignation of the younger man was of the white, and aot the glowing sort.

" Now, for all I enre, you might have married the other," roared Roger llelstoti; " and, mind you, considering the way that this one has been'brought up, I should not wonder if she turned out just as bad —" " Sir!" The old lawyer fairly quailed before the righteous indignation of his clerk and nephew ; he dropped the subject at once, and, with a much less effective display of wrath than he had designed, bade him leave the house and never set foot in it again.

" You may depend upon it, sir, I never shall," answered Matthew, grimly, and stepped out with a firm foot into poverty and exile.

Ho had Sabcy to comfort him, which for the present was solace enough ; and he had Madge ior his sheet-anchor m the un fathomed ocean of life before him.

As Roger Hclston had hinted, there was another believer in Madge and Matthew beside the two. Thurlow girls—who with this exception were tho only members of the faith—in the person of Stephen Durham, Matthew's maternal uncle. TJiis gentleman had in early life succeeded to a small patri mony—producing a few hundreds a year— which, as Roger said, had become no better for keeping. Without claim to be called a .great scholar, he was a student who had given his mind to almost everything save making money. He was by nature of a genial dis position, but for reasons of his own had re mained a bachelor, a circumstance which in course of time had borne its usual fruit in rendering him somewhat; reserved and cynical. Be had, in fact, interested himself in little beyond his books, until a few years ago, when he had paid a visit to Latbury, and renewed his acquaintance with his sis ter's child for the first time since her death.

He was his only nephew, and it wa9 pretty well understood that Mr Durham had gone down on what was for him quite s business expedition, namely, to make up his mind whether lie should make the lad his heir, or, finding him altogether contrary to his tastes, should leave his money to the '' Resitscitation Club," or other society for republishing works which the world, if left to itself, would have very willingly let die.

To do Roger Hclston justice, ho had played the host to his connection by mar' riage as graciously as naturcpermitted him, and had stood in no way between the young fellow and his expectations; but he was secretly far from pleased that Uncle Stephen and their common nephew had cottoned to one another so ctrdially. He himself liked Matthew after his own fashion, and was very unwilling that he should look to anyone else for help in the world; and the friendship thai sprang up between the lad and his other relative had not a little to do, perhaps, witti Roger's subsequent harsh treatment of life nephew. In gaining one friend, in short, Matthew had lost the other and by far me more powerful one; but then he felt thai the one lie had gained was a friend indeed, and not to be estimated by the mere benefits he had in his power to confer on him.

Matthew's studious and thoughtful ways, and even the slow speech and manner that inLatbuty circles were held to be "old fashioned," were very much to Uncle Stephen's taste; and, in return lor a genuine show of affection, which was very rare with him, he completely won the con fidence of the lad. The eagerness with which he explained the merits of Madge, and the devotion that he manifested to mathematical pursuits, also greatly took his fancy; and in the end he became a coiitplete convert to Matthew's views. He looked on the young fellow as a born genius planted in an unkindly' soil, and

held out such hopes of assistance, in case he should decide to follow his own bent, as no doubt helped to make his subsequent attitude to Uncle liogcr more independent. Moreover, having by a fortunate chance met the two Miss Thurlows on more than one o£ their shopping expeditions into I.at bury, he had expressed himself in the highest terms of them. " You can't go wrong, Matt," lie had said, "whichever you marry; and I only regret that the institutions of the country—in their present imperfect and undeveloped state—forbid you marrying them both." Uncle Stephen was a humorous old fellow, but chivalrous withal, and when, after that final quarrel between the lawyer and his nephew, the latter wrote to him at length explaining what had hap jened, and his own crude plans for the future, he became his partisan at once. "Do not breathe the same air with your Uncle Koger," he wrote, "one moment longer than is necessary. It must be poisonous to all honest men. Keep your word with Sabey, and then bring her and Amy and. Madge up to town at once. There is room in Cavendish Grove (with a little squeezing) for all four of you; and you will find a hearty welcome, at all events for the present. Miss Amy's educa tional aspirations do her infinite honour, only I fear she will help to make the rising generation still more unbearable; they are already too clever by half." It was not Uncle Stephen's way to act on impulse, which was the very cause per haps of this very generous and expansive invitation; until he had met with Mat thew he had neverfelt the paternal instinct; and, after seventy years of abstinence, his appetite was proportionately large. The time that remained to him would neces sarily be short, and he had a mind to pass it amongst loving faces; here were children to his hand, and after his own heart, and he would surround himself with them. As to the expense, he had no great superfluity of means, but he was confident—for, though hoiJiad Jived in the world so long, he knew but little of it— that Matthew's talents would soon win a fortune for tiieir possessor. Of course the young fellow was over whelmed witli gratitude, as indeed they all were. But Sabey had grave doubts; was it wise that she should encumbor her lover with a wife while he had still his way to make in the world ? It was certainly not very wise, but her doubts melted like snow at the touch of his lips. She could not say "No" when they and his only friend united in saying " Yes." Amy's consent to Uncle Stephen's proposal was not so easily obtained. "Mr Durham is not my uncle, Sabey, though he is about to become yours. How can I accept so great a benefit at the hands of a stranger?" "But you can't live alone when I'm married to Matt," urged Sabey. " Uncle Stephen told mo he only wished he had a daughter like you," said Matthew. "He called you a sunbeam, and I have heard him complain that Cavendish Grove is 'sombre.'"

" Then, in London you will have so much better chances of attending classes, and going in for your proposed calling," con tinued Sabey. "But the obligatioD,"| persisted Aniy, "i 9ao excessive."

" Still, it is only temporary —ho says you sec, ' for the present "—argued Mat thew. "In a_ year or two, at most, I hope Madge will set me on my legs; and whether then or now, I suppose you won't mind being under an obligation to me, or rather Sabey. We will offer to pay your board and lodging for you to Uncle Stephen—though I believe it will give him a fit." In the end, as we know, Amy was per suaded, and went, and was by this time, thanks to her own exertions, no loDger _a burden to her kind host. But,_ alas !it had not been so with her brother-in-law. Of all Uncle Stephen's guests, Madge, the inanimate one, had turned out the most expensive. Never had a model five feet by four cost so much money. The money, of course, was not spent literally on herseif; for in that case she might have been of pure gold. But she was the indirect cause of its expenditure. Hpr fuel, so to speak, had most literally consisted of bank notes. She figured in the Patent Office, in a Law Court (unhappily not the Divorce Court), and in a Company (Limited), by no means of a convivial kind. There is no need to draw her frailties from their dread abode, in detail. Suffice it to say, that while still in embryo Uncle Stephen had advanced money on her behalf in all direc tions-and the was in embryo still. Her good qualities wore admitted / she was one of the greatest discoveries of the age; her principle was real and of the most admir able description; she worked to perfection when there was somebody pushing her behind; but <rf herself she was incapable of advancing an inch, which—in a locomotive —is fatal.

It was on this Moloch of a model—so fine and shining, and in such perfect repair, that you would never have guessed it to be the wreck of his dead hopes—that Matthew Helston was now looking, after Uncle Stephen had taken his bed-candle and gone to rest. That it was a painful specta cle to him was certain, yet with his grave looks was mingled a certain piteous tenderness.

Disinter no dead regret, Bring no Past to life again, is excellent advice if we could but follow it; but which of us can do so ? Matthew had promised to forget "Madge," and all about her; it was understood that he was not to lift the decent cloth that covered her and was her pall. She was dead, he knew ; nay. no life had ever been in her. And yet, what a little breath—the merest sign—of life, real life, would have sufficed for her existence !If only he could strike out that promethean spark for her, which always glimmered in his mind, fame and fortune would be his; nay, more, his faith would be iustitied. For though Uncle Stephen, and Amy, and even his beloved Sabey had giveu up all faith in Madge, he in his secret heart had still some faith, though it was indeed but a grain of mustard seed. For the rest, as Iris uncle had hinted, his studies, his work, his knowledge, had not beeu utterly thrown away; by help of them, and through the strong recommenda tion of Mr Durham (a man well known in , scientific and archaeological circles), he had obtained, before his little capital of a thou sand pounds had quite melted away, an appointment as confidential agent to Messrs Star and Sjgnet, jewellers, and at their house of business, in Paulet-street, he gained his livelihood. The employment was distasteful to him—worse even than toiling in his Uncle Roger's office, for there were certain humiliations in connection with his present work; but at any rate it was better than eating the bread ot de pendence, leavened though it was by Uncle Stephen's love. But Matthew Helston, though still in youth was an unhappy, disappointed man, and his mind, when not fixed upon that glimmer of the Promethean spark, was ever brooding over a vague sense of wrong. He stands now motionless, statue-like, lifeless, save for a deep-drawn sigh or two, as he had stood often before, but rarely for so long a time, till presently from the silent

street there comes a far-off rattle of wheels. He replaces the cloth over the model, and takes frem a secret drawer a six-barrelled revolver. He looks to it carefully, not as a sportsman at his gun, but rather as a workman at some trusty tool; he sees that all the chambers are, as he always leaves them, loaded, and that none of thecaps are missing. Then he places it in an inner pocket, and puts on a great-coat, for ho is summoned forth, and the dawn is break ing, and the air is chill.

CHAPTER V. MATTHEW" HELSTON'S ERRAND,

When ladies of distinction, especially in the way of pecuniary endowment, are mar ried nowadays one is irrestibly reminded of certain lines by dear Leigh Hunt:

Have you seen an heiress In her jewels mounted. That her wealth and she seemed one, And she could be counted ? So much more fuss is made about the jewels than about the bride! Moreover, when she goes to her cousin the Marquis's heredi tary cas'le for her honeymoon—which she generally does in preference to any of the stately halls she possesses of her own—she is closely followed by a select band of London burglars, who, sooner or later, stea her jewels. This is so much a matter of course that I am told the incident has,now its regular record in certain memoranda which of old had their place in Family Bibles " Augusta Wilhelmina : Born March 16 ; married May 1; diamonds abstracted May 14," &c. It may be mere rumour as to the date being thus recorded, but at all events the diamonds go the way I have described. The only way to avoid it is to keep them in an iron safe weighing forty tons or so, and requiring a special train for its con veyance, when the following circumstances : take place :—The poor thieves come down after the swag, and by immense subtlety and great physical activity obtain an en trance into the bridal chamber at dinner time ; they work like horses, and in the most scientific manner, for four hours, and are found completely exhausted and covered with iron-mould by the lady's maid at eleven p.m., when they are given into the hands of the police. The iron safe plan,_ in short, answers admirably in the Marquis's castle, where the walls are sixteen feet thick, and the floors in proportion; but when the heiress comes to town it is im practicable : what first floor in London will carry an iron safe weighing forty tons— not to mention the precious stones inside it ? There are, theD, but two courses open to her. 1. She may make up her mind to lose her jewels. Or, 2. She may send them to her jeweller to keep for her. Most heiresses adopt the latter course. They appear at the Palace Ball in a Haze of diamonds, and on their return home con sign them to a gen tleman-in-waiting from Messrs Pearl and Gamer, who gives his receipt for the same, and takes them off in a cab, to place them in the firm's strong box. i It was on an embassage of this kind that Matthew Helston was now starting in a i hansom cab from Cavendish Grove, armed in the manner that has been described, and ;at so untimely an hour. He was about to be placed in temporary possession of certain diamonds as well known in the fashionable world (for everybody who is anybody has certainly heard of "the Pargiter fmrure") as Goodwood racecourse, and which were worth—well, no one knew how much. It is said that things are worthy what they will fetch, in which case a retriever should be invaluable; but probate duty as op £25,000 had been paid upon them by their S resent possessor. Some crowned heads oubtless possessed finer ones, though it was the opinion of Mr Signet (of the great firm of Star and Signet) that all are not diamonds that glitter upon royal brows; that Eastern monarchs, in particular, would be very unwise to endeavour to realise their hereditary jewels at the pawnbroker's, and tliat they know it. This, however, is a trade secret; and besides, the jewels with which our story concerns itself had never been farther east than Whitechapcl. It was there that the late Mr Ingot- Kensington Ingot he was called, because of the pecuniary accommodation he had occasionally afforded to a certain eminent Eersonage— had had his modest abode till c suddenly blossomed into the millionaire. It was said that he had taken the diamonds instead of specie payment from a certain monarch in the neighbourhood of the Medi terranean sea, who had got into debt from a patriotic weakness' for more ironclads than he could cither man or pay for, and that never being able to dispose of them save at a dead loss, Mr Ingot had " stuck to them," and settled them on his only daughter. While this lady was yet "fancy free, or at all events had not indulged her fancy by marrying anybody, there were persons so ill-mannered as to call her "MissKil mansegg," which, as her father said (though it was doubtful whether he had ever read that famous poem), they "didn't ought" to have do«e. For, unlike Hood's heroine, she possessed the usual numbePtof legs, and was by no means a ninny. So far from marrying a nondescript foreign nobleman, she had taken to herself for husband that well-known English gentleman and patron of sport, Mr Charles Pargiter. He was a handsome young fellow of good family, and though people said he married her for her money, we shall not repeat such a scandal. Doubtless he would not have wedded her as a mere virgin of forty-six without a penny; but let us suppose his motives were mixed. She was not exactly handsome, from the circumstance that nature had intended her (as I believe) for a horse, and only changed its views just in time—where the chin began. Her nose, which she had inherited along with so much else, was tremendous; and when, excited she would snort in an undeniably equine manner. Her1 own impression was that she had the Austrian or Hapsburg nose: it may be so, but in that case the Hapsburgs might congratulate themselves on having got rid of it. Heiress though she was, she thought less of wealth than of ' good blood and long descent. No sooner was she married than she began to move heaven and earth to procure a title fdr her husband, for which, to say the truth, he was himself so little desirous that he is said to have used some very strong language upon finding himself one morning—thanks to his wife's unremitting exertions, and her influence in a certain borough—Sir Charles Pargiter. Her Ladyship, however, was delighted ; nothing (unless it had been a higher title) could have givenher such genuine pleasure; from that moment, as she confessed to her intimates, the real troubles of life were over, and she should never have cause to know what anxiety was —if it were not for her diamonds.

Her cares for the safety of these precious jewels consumed her. Into the country she never took them; no iron safe was safe enough for their custody, in her opinion; and in London the proud consciousnesa that, when attired in them, she was wear ing a thousand pounds per annum for ever, wu< almost negatived by the knowledge that a great many persons were desirous of se em ing that income, and that to possess themselves of her diamonds would De^ the shortest way to it. She was not afraid of

their being snatched off her ears and neck and appropriated by force; but if they lay in her jewel-case at home in Moor-Street, \ even for an hour—that is, i! Matthew Hel stone was early when [he brought them, or late in fetching them away—she became a prey to hideous apprehensions, for which. Matthew's receipt, on behalf of Messrs j Star and Signet, was the only balm. Frotn that moment she ceased to be responsible and did not care what happened to them— \ or to Matthew. ■ ■

It was not, of course, to be expected that ' a lady in her position sfioitld care what be came of the "person" from the Star and Signet when once removed from her pre- " sence; but her obvious indifference about the matter galled him. lam ready to ad- • rait that there is something—perhaps one tenth of the force ascribed to it—in Here-1 dity : and it is possible that some of the radical blood in old Boger Helstone's veins had found its way into those ot his nephew Anyhow, Matthew entertained certain pestilent notions concerning equality—or - superiority,—and in his heart of hearts thought himself quite as good as her JadV "'• ship—or better. That was his thought '■'• whereas, as our Lancashire friends *ay "hZ thought was diiierent." He ffas in her sight a mere machine, a self-acting Sort of safe for jewel keeping; and if not made o f iron, of something that didn't suffer from cold or hunger, or the being kept 'fan tffl five o'clock in the morning Her ladvshin herself, however^ sat up as late (thorn* she had not to be at her desk punctually at 10 a.m.) ; and what will settle the matter of ' Matthew's grievances m this matter at Onee [ to most minds—he was paid for it. The custody of her jewels cost Lady Pargiter at : least £200 per annum, so far as Star and Signetwere concerned—in whose possession by tbc by, they remained nine-tenths of the year; and out of this Matthew reeeivsd something in addition to his ordinary salary for this strange sort of night-work. 'When however, you considered the enormous re sponsibility of the charge, and {he incon venience, and unhealthiness of the duties ft involved, it was but small pay (though he did not feel justified, after p»f Madge's failure,_ in refusing it); and t&n, aa we have hinted, it was accompanied Tiv-wtat seemed to him to be humiliations. Matthew was proud in "his way, though the fact was difficult to explain. It was not of his birth (though he was far better born than Lady Pargiter), nor of his talents, for they might as well (and better) have been in a napkhj for what they had done for him; it was, in fact, from the circumstance that Sabey loved him. For, that being the case (not to mention the esteem in which h,e was held § by Amy and Uncle Stephen), it was plain i be Could not be a worthless fellow. It was therefore a slight upon his wife's judgment ' \ —and almost upon herself—that he should j be treated "like dirt" by anybody. I dare j : say Ills deplorable social views also tended " to what he doubtless considered to be a M

source of self-respect, but which (as will be ' perceived) was mere baseless pretension; m ;. and it may be added, in further excuse, that disappointment often makes its victims 3 ' morbid. But it was certain he held Lady Pargiter in great disfavour, and that with so much superfluity of dislike that he even hated himself while dancing attendance upon her in Moor-Street. The very jewels of which he was on these occasions the un willing custodian became baneful, in his eyes, but at the same time exercised over him the strangest fascination. While en gaged in. this service they monopolised his thoughts to the exclusion of Madge herself, and even at other times (which she now never did) would often form the subject of 1 his talk. Mr Signet, for some reason of his own, which he did not eh oose to oxplain, but which, I have reason to believe, *as well founded, objected to this. " I wish, Mr Helston, you would not let your mind rnn so-much upon those Pargiter diamonds," ■ i he would sometimes say. "When you have brought them home, and put them in onr *■ strong box, please to remember that they I are neither yours nor mine, and .have done !M with them." It was perhaps only natural that the J sense of .going about with £25,000 in h..s pocket should be somewhat oppressive to 1 Matthew; for'if even Lady Pargitet felt it, ■ how much more was it likely to affect (by '"' the mere cense of contrast) a man so poor

«ahe. - - ':.:• ■/: ]' J But it was not only the consciousness of their value which thus aftected him; they seemed actually to exercise over him a ; maleficent influence such as the opal, and | not the diamond, is fabled to do. He kept 'i ! this morbid feeling to himself, of course —indeed, he was not only ashamed but' .] afraid of it; for being quite convinced of ;..| its baselessness (whenever he reasoned '! with himself about it), he felt that the pos- , session of it argued something wrong in his si own mental economy, which he was quite J aware his hopes and fears in connection j with Madge had strained to the uttermost. Doubtless the sense of being the unwilling slave of this inanimate 'object, just.as^the 1 genius to Aladdin was the slave of the ring, invested it with a certain mysterious | power. If it had been even a dumb crea- 1 ture, but with life in it, his position with 1 respect to. it would have seemed to him more intelligible; but to think that for this mere Yieap of stones he should be $$■ dragged from home and Sabey at so weird an hour, and exposed to degrada* tions, not only offended nis manhood but \ excited his manhood in rather a curious manner. The mere danger of such expedi tions—though there was great danger, since the nature of his errands was no secret—dM not at all affect him; the driver of the cab (he always employed the same man) was a ; trusty fellow,' who had come from Ma ovm * part of the country, and was well known to him; and he himself, as we have seen, al ways carried a revolver with ' 'six men's lives in it" in his breast-pocket. But looked at from whatever point of view, his vists to | Moor-Street were paid under very unplea sant circumstances, and it was natural that he should shrink from them. It would be 1 perhaps too much to say that the presenti,- Jg ment of any catastrophe in connection with :|| the Pargiter diamonds was actually in his « mind; but they did oppress it in a manner that his common sense resented, and yet 3 was unable to conquer.

CHAPTER VI.

JOHN AND HIS FAKE. In winter a four-wheeled cab conveyed I Matthew Helston to and fro upon his strange errand, but in summer and line weather John Rutherford brought his nan- m| som for him, as in the present instance, lire I this vehicle reached No. 7, Matthew, whose m keen ears had long been cognizant of its 1 approach, presented himself at the gate at | the bottom of the slip of garden separating -f the home from the road. In his mouth was a small cigar; between his fingers was a lame and very full-flavored one, which was to be handed to "honest John," as hishum ble friend was called among his intimates. " Good day, Master Matthew." It icas day", inasmuch as the morning had' already broken, but the phrase seemed to partake somewhat of purism; whereas Mr Rutherford, who had been called some hard names in his time, had never yet liecn termed a purist. He said "Goodday, because he had not se :n Ids employer tor some time; on parting some hours after wards, and when the morning oi course was much farther advanced, he, would SaJ t]|.

STAR SATURDAY SUPPLEMENT, FEBRUARY It 1882.

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