Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 332 — page 11: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

re eS = | enmiittin TEae EN A ED The greatest excitement which the eminently respectable inhabitants allowed themselves was a walk in the gardens in the evening, when there was a chance that the king might be there with the good queen, when it was the custom of his majesty to speak Sb pensar to his loyal sub- jects, and throw off the state which he had to maintain at most times, In those days the king—George III.—had not developed the taint of insanity which after- ward made him end his days in misery, and he was yet F577 tm ya a young man, who delighted in the quiet side of life, and hated splendor and the ceremonies which surrounded him when at court, Accordingly, Lady Balcarras thought that the best thing she could do, to amuse her young visitor, would be to take her into the great gar- dens in the evening, and give her a taste of the mild excitement in which the denizens of Hamp- ton Court indulged, under the delusion that it was quite gay. Rose, being a young lady who had never been presented at court, and a Briton at that, was of course curious to see a real live king, and was delighted at the prospect. e sun was near se when they went out into the gardens and strolled to and fro, under the shadow of the great vineyard, which was even then a show of the place, They encountered numbers of ancient men and gentlewomen, who looked as if they had all their lives in the place; but there was no sign of the king and queen, as usual, till the sun had set and the moon risen. It was full moon, and the night unusually warm for England, so that the air in the garden was pleasanter than in the house, and the walk quite enjoyable, in spite of the disappointment about the , When they first went out. But this did not last long, for very soon the young lady from the Tower heard a whisper: ‘* There they come!” , Then she noticed the ancient personages in the garden draw aside respectfully, to allow the passage of a couple who came strolling into the garden, through the midst of the people, the entleman bowing right and left in response to the low obeisances of the others; and Rose real- ized that she had at last got in sight of a real live king and queen. Of course, she to tremble, and to wish she had not come; but Lady Balcarras, who was with her, whispered: ** Don't be a goose, my dear. The king won't eat you, and the queen is as kind as you can pos- sibly imagine,” So Rose stood her ground, and as the lady and gentleman advanced she found herself bow- ing as deeply as she could, and heard a soft voice say: ‘‘Lady Balcarras, we are very glad to see you. I ho that my lord is well.” ‘* Well, thank your majesty,” said the lady who had heard the same salutation a hundred times before. Then she was drawi back when the queen noticed the shrinking figure of “Ts that a relative of yours?” she asked; while the king, who looked solemn and stupid, Fares oe as far as she could see his face, ‘“Ay, ay, my lady, a strange face, but a pretty bai Who is shot who is she?” ’ He spoke rapidly, and with a slight stammer in his utterance. ‘““A young friend of mine, your nar wench said the lady, bowing again. ‘ The daug ter 0 General Reid, the Constable of the Tower, who, your majesty—” ‘*Hey, hey, what’s that? what’s that?’ asked the king hastily. ‘' Reid’s daughter? Hey? hey? hy, why! isn’t that the girl that had a hug from Spring-Heel Jack, as they call him? Hey! hey! bless my sould, m, what brought her here?” | The salutation was confusing, and Rose felt as if she should sink into the d, as she heard the way the honest king blurted out the things that everybody else concealed from her so carefully. Lady Balcarras, to save her from the agita- tion which she felt from the trembli of Mii arm that rested on her own, answe for er: ‘Please your majesty, it is the same; and the reasen that we have brought her here is that the monster will not dare to come here after her.”’. ‘* Very good, very good,” said the king, in his disjointed way. ** Very good. He sha’n’t come here, if we can help—eh, madam? Well, well, my dear; don’t be frightened any more. If the scamp comes here we will have him hung.” __ ‘Then he passed on, and Lady Balcarras whis- pered to Rose as she took her away: ‘He always says such things. You mustn't toke it, my dear. His majesty will have his oke. But Rose, at the careless words of the old king, had received a wound that she could not hide so easily. She had almost forgotten the terrible monster that had frightened her so much, and the had recalled it to her in a way that set her to trembling, at the idea that Spring-Heel Jack might, by some possibility, entle- | may get in here, after all? I should die, I Spring-Heel Jacek. et into the place where she was and: frighten er again. ‘*‘Oh, Lady Balcarras,” she whispered. ‘‘ Do you think there is any possibility that the thing am sure, if it were to come at me again.” ‘‘ There’s not the slightest danger,” the lady replied. ‘‘The Guards are all round the palace; and, to get through them, the monster would have to make himself invisible, or fly over the wall. It is impossible, I tell you.” And Rose, much comforted by the assurance of the court lady, was content to take her plea- sure in strolling in the moonlight, the more so | that she discovered that there were some young | gentlemen in the palace, officers of the Guards, one of whom she knew. “* Why, Lady Balcarras,” she exclaimed, when she spied one of these persons approaching. Is not that Mr. Howard of the Coldstreams? Lady Balcarras looked at the who was coming up in the moonlight, in the midst of a group of young ladies. hardened, as she said to Rose: ** Yes, itis. Doyou know him then?” ‘Why, of course. He is one of the officers that do duty in the Tower,” said innocent- ly. ‘“‘He and bis brother are there, most of the oe I wonder what brings him here to- night! y Balcarras looked colder than ever. “Itis a pity,” she said, ‘‘that such young men are not put out of the service. My lord has told me things about that young man—but never mind now, my dear. You are under m charge, and I don’t want to see you too muc with any young man of Ais reputation.” sy d so sa , She led Rose off, just as the officer, who, being in full uniform, was on duty of some kind at the palace, was coming forward to salute her. George Howard looked rather nonplused at in which the noble lady | with her, turning the cold | the cavalier wa whisked Rose o shoulder on him, literally as well as metaphori- cally. Ho had been talking to the yo ladies with him, to most of whom he was well known, by his presence at the court balls and festivities, and had made up his mind that he was going to havea happy time with Rose, on account of this lucky detail, which had come to him, quite unsolicited, b ing them together, when, in the ordinary course of he could not have ex- pected to see her until she returned. He had even spoken of her to one of the ladies with him, so that to be snubbed in the open way he had been, mortified him greatly. ‘‘T wonder what is the matter?” he said, half to himself, as he at the departing figure of the old lady, who arent off in a manner that showed she was offend One of the young ladies by him answered the question without knowing it, as she said, with a smothered fi le, to her next neighbor: ** Old carras doesn’t like to see a man within a mile of one of her charges. I wonder she ever got married at all.” “Oh, there’s no wonder about that,” said the other, lightl . ‘*The men were better in those days, she tells us. And then, she has a reason for taking Miss Reid away now. You know Mr. Howard has the reputation of a flirt; and the old lady is responsible for the morals of “ young one as long as she is under her charge. Howard was astounded. ‘*T_-a bad reputation?’ he echoed, ‘‘ Why, how can that be/ Some one has been spreading false reports about me.” Lady Mary Churchill, who had spoken, laugh- ‘* Never mind,” she said. ‘‘ It makes no dif- ference, after all, what she thinks. Some ew here say it is you, and some your relies: ut it is all the same to Lady Balcarras. She thinks that all the Howards are the same.” And as the lady had taken Rose with her into her apartments in the palace, and Howard had not the acquaintance with her that would have justified him in calling, he had to swallow the rebuff for the night as well as he could, and con- sole himself by flirting with Lady Mary Church- ill, who, on her part, was ready to give as good as he sent. So the ies in the garden strolled to and fro in the moonlight till the great clocks in the city struck eleven, when they began to go into the palace one by one, and at last Howard, who had duty that mee in charge of the inner guard, was left alone in the soft light of the moon, under the great vine which spread its branches for more than a hundred feet in all ons. CHAPTER XVI. SPRING-HEEL JACK COMES AGAIN. young officer felt the cool air of the gar- den and the silence of the night a relief from the hurry and excitement of the city, to which | he had been used, ever since he had been station- ed at the Tower. He was glad to be alone and think of his fu- ture, which, at that moment, began to look to him much brighter than it had. His aged kinsman, the duke, was seriously ill, oung man, | Her face | ii —_—_—_-e-oeoe Ooo: eee Ce » —-* and he knew. that, at his death, he, plain Mr. Howard of the Guards, who had hitherto been a mere nobody, would become, by cne stroke, the new Duke of Norfolk, able to match any person in the kingdom of Great Britain, short of roy- | alt General Reid would not be apt to refuse him the hand of his daughter, then, he thcught; and the idea gave him much comfort, Then he thought to himself also: ‘* But Rose? How will it be with her? She is inclined to love me now, as I am, I think; but she does not know anything about my change of fortune; and, when it comes, she may make some scruple about marrying me, without her father’s consent. Well, never mind that. Let the future take care of itself. We will enjoy the present as best we can. Iam gladI was sent here, for it is certain that the scoundrel who has been persecuting her, all this time, will not venture to enter these precincts.” Then he remembered that he had to go and inspect the sentries, and started off on his mis- sion, making his rounds of the gardens and lit- tle park, finding all quiet, the soldiers doing their duty as usual, around the palace. When he got back to the grea vine, the clocks were striking twelve, and he was going to the room appropriated to his use as officer of the guard, when, as he passed the palace by a pavil- ion, that he knew to be occupied by Lady Bal- carras, he was surprised to see one of the win- dows was open, near the ground, and the figure of a lady in white thereat. For a moment he was startled and drew back, fearing that he might be seen; but the next he recognized the figure with a thrill of j y: It was his own mistress, and he could not re- sist the temptation to go forward in full view, under the window. That he was seen, he knew; for the white fig- ure instantly withdrew, but, as he continued his course past the window, going as slow as he could manage, he saw it reappear and beckon. The young man was delighted and came under the window at once, when he saw Rose, in a white wrapper. She Jcoked as if she had been cry nh, BNO, whispered : ** Dearest,” he answered. Then he suddenly remembered that Le had promised the old general that he would spcak no word of love to Rose without her father’s per- mission, and he hastily added: ‘“‘Thatis, Miss Reid. I beg your pardcn; but your father forbids any nearer and dearer title.” ‘Oh, George,” she faltered. ‘‘ Lady Balcar- elling me such awful things about ras has been you.” Howard was astonished. ‘* About me? Why I have only the honor of the most distant acquaintance with her lady- ship, and she surely cannot know anything about me ‘* But she says she does,” insisted Rose, with a sigh. ‘‘She says she has heard all sorts of things about you, and that you are reported to be one of the worst young eget tia ogi spending your money among prize- ers, low characters in general, and. that— Here rose stopped and colored deeply, as if she could not say all she knew. ; Howard, on his part, was embarrassed. He saw that the worthy Lady Balcarras, who, hay- ing a Scotch husband, was a stricter Presby- terian than my lord himself, had heard stories about his scapegrace brother, Oliver, and had ag them to himself; but ke could hardly tell Rose this, from family pride, if no other reason, ‘‘T can assure you,” he said, as quietly as ke could, ‘‘ that the reports her ladyship has been good enough to retail to you, have no founda- ion, and refer to another person altogether. But I did not come here to defend myself, Miss Reid. I saw that you had need of me, and I came to see what the necessity might be. If you have known me s0 little that you cannot iss the reports, as to my character, for what they are worth, I am sorry; but it can- not be helped. If you have no commands for me, I will—” And he make a motion asif he was akout to leave her, when she said quickly: ‘*But J don’t believe them, George, and I don’t want her to believe them either. Won’t you come and call on her, and and dis- abuse her ladyship of the idea she has about ou?” . Howard was flattered at the request. He saw that Rose loved him, and was too innocent to hide it, while she earnestly desired that he should clear himself with others, ““T will do myself the honor to call on her ladyship in the song when I come off duty,” he said. ‘‘ And then I will try to disabuse her mind of the thi she has listened to. In the mean time, Miss Reid, let me ask that you will not listen to anything against me, that does not come from your father. He has had oppor- tunities to. know me better than Lady Balcarras, and will not do me injustice.” ‘Indeed, Geo— I mean, Mr. Howard,” the young lady replied hesitatingly, ‘“‘I will not. ut you do not know how merveous and fright- ,OO (ECO MMINCE “S (E()