Billinghurst

“ The ludicrous expression in Bindle's eyes, the unnatural position in which he crouched, his having caught a burglar red-handed—it was all so ridiculous.
Then there came the triumphant sense of victory. The Professor was calm and collected now, as if the discovery of a burglar in his bedroom were a thing of nightly occurrence. There seemed nothing strange in the situation. The things to be done presented themselves in obvious and logical sequence. He was conscious of the dramatic possibilities of the situation. ”

“ Acton paused, and Nasmyth waited in tense expectancy until the older man turned to him again, with a twinkle in his eyes.
"I almost think I can take a hand in this thing, and to commence with, we'll go down to Victoria this afternoon and call on Mr. Hames," he added. "If he has bought that land, it will probably be registered in his name. The men you have against you are rather fond of working in the dark. Then we come to another point—what it would be wisest to do with Waynefleet, who went back on you. You said he had a mortgage on his ranch. ”

“ She has been accustomed to comfort of every kind and cheerful society, and there can't be very much of either in the Bush; while, if you undertake any further work of the kind you suggest, it would be a few years before you made your mark. Now, I'm not sure it would be reasonable to expect a young woman like Miss Hamilton to wait indefinitely."
Nasmyth flushed a little. "I think," he replied, "that is a question which concerns Miss Hamilton and me alone."
Acton leaned forward in his chair. "Mrs. Acton seems to fancy it concerns her, too. ”

“ It was a minute before Nasmyth, who stood up stiffly, quite understood him, and then the blood rose to his face as he crept into the shelter and touched the girl. She sprang to her feet with a little cry and clutched his arm. Then she suddenly let her hand fall back, and her cheeks flushed crimson.
"The steamer's close by," said Nasmyth reassuringly. "They have sent for us at last."
They went out together, and it was a minute or two later when they came upon Wisbech and Acton in the Bush. Nasmyth entered into confused explanations as they proceeded towards the beach. ”

“ An hour later, when Dick Little hunched his bicycle from the tail of the van he said:
"Well, come and see me in London; I'm generally in Sunday evenings."
"Right, sir; I will," replied Bindle; "but might I arst, sir, wot it was that made 'em so fidgety?"
"It was pure alcohol mixed with distilled mead," was the reply.
"Well, it done the trick. Good-night, sir. Lord! won't there be some 'eads wantin' 'oldin' in the mornin'," and he laughed joyously as the pantechnicon rumbled noisily Londonwards.
CHAPTER X MR. HEARTY PRAYS FOR BINDLE
Mrs. Bindle had just returned from evening chapel. ”

“ Never in the history of Bungem's had the famous asparagus been so neglected. Everybody was watching alternately Bindle and Graves. Bindle was enjoying himself; but on the face of Graves was painted an anguish so poignant that more than one man present pitied him his ordeal.
Dick Little's mallet fell with a thump, and the attention of the guests became diverted from Graves to the chairman, amidst cries of "Chair," "Order," "Shame," and "Chuck him out."
"Gentlemen—a mere euphemism, I confess," began Dick Little; "men of St. Joseph's never propose the toast of the King ”

“ It was just a fortnight since he had left the Tillicum at the little mining town, on the day after the one he and Violet Hamilton had spent on the beach, and he had not seen her before he went. Now he fancied that a welcome awaited him, and he felt sincerely pleased to be back again. ”

“ Now, if you an' Ginger both wanted to stand me my next pint, an' was goin' to fight about it, someone might say 'arbitrate'—that is to say, let another cove decide wot 'adn't no interest in the matter, an' p'r'aps he'd get the beer."
"Then why don't they arbitrate instead of blowin' each other to bits?" demanded a whiskered man known as Ted.
"Because war comes about by someone wantin' wot ain't 'is," replied Bindle oracularly. "Wot 'ud you say if I said I wanted yer watch?" ”

“ Among the letters was a note for Nasmyth from a man interested in land exploitation. This man, with whom Nasmyth had been in communication, was then in the mining town, and he suggested that Nasmyth should call upon him at his hotel. Nasmyth showed Acton the letter.
“I understand these folks are straight?” the younger man remarked with inquiry in his tone.
Acton smiled dryly. “Any way,” he said, “they’re as straight as most. It’s not a business that’s conducive to unswerving rectitude. Hutton has come up here to see you about the thing?” ”

“ Gordon picked out an envelope and opened it. "Here's a note from Miss Waynefleet. She desires you to ride across at once."
With a troubled face Nasmyth stood still in the rain another minute.
"I'll take the pack-horse and start now," he said after a brief silence. "When I have seen Miss Waynefleet, I'll go right on to Victoria." He turned and gazed at the river. "If one could get into the heading by any means, I'd fire every stick of giant-powder in it first. Unfortunately, the thing is out of the question." ”

“ He was aware that a good deal depended upon her next remark. Then there were footsteps on the slope behind them, and, turning suddenly, he saw Acton and another man approaching them. He rose with a little start when he recognized the second man as Gordon, who was neatly attired in city clothes. Gordon looked down at Nasmyth with a faint sardonic smile.
"Mr. Gordon turned up half an hour ago," Acton said. "It appears that he was going into the city, and got off the cars to talk over things with you. I believe he had a notion of going on again to-night, but Mrs. Acton won't hear of it." ”

“ II By eight o'clock on the morning of the Fête a pantechnicon was lumbering its ungainly way along the Portsmouth Road. Bindle sat meditatively on the tail-board, smoking and obviously bored.
With the wholesome contempt of an incorrigible cockney he contemplated the landscape.
"'Edges, trees, an' fields, an' a mile to walk for a drink. Not me," he muttered, relighting his pipe with solemn gravity. ”

“ It must be a hard life. Yet if I thought I could pick up six stone of salmon and plaice and throw it about I should sign on at Billingsgate at once. It is true they start work about five; but they stop work, it seems, about ten, and they earn a pound and over for that. Then they can go home. Most of them, I imagine, are stockbrokers during the rest of the day.
And they are a refined and gentlemanly body of men. I hope the old legend that the fish-porter of Billingsgate expresses himself in terms too forcible for the ordinary man is now exploded ”

“ Austin pulled out his watch. “Sorry, Ted, but unless we’re at the bridge in the morning the chief will make trouble. Can I loan you some tools?”
“I’d like a big hammer,” said Harries meaningly. “Anyhow, be a sport and take Florence along. She reckons she can show me, but she doesn’t know the first thing about a wheel.”
“I know all Ted knows,” Florence rejoined. “If he’d let me help, the engine would start, but he gets mad and throws things about. A man ought to be calm.”
“Well, I won’t give Ted the hammer, but you had better get on board. You see, our train won’t wait.”
“Then, start your car. ”

“ The foreman sidled towards the door warily. When he was within reach of it he made a sudden dive and disappeared.
Bindle regarded his wife with approval as she returned from banging the door after him.
"I didn't know," he remarked, "that they taught yer that sort of thing at chapel. I likes a religion that lets yer do a bit in the knockabout business. Can't understand you and 'Earty belongin' to the same flock of sheep. Rummy thing, religion," he soliloquised, as he applied a match to his pipe; "seems to 'ave its Bank 'Olidays, same as work." ”

“ For more than a week the one clock of the household, a dainty little travelling affair that he had purchased of a fellow-workman, it having "sort o' got lost" in a move, had stopped and showed itself impervious to all persuasion. Bindle decided to take it, ostensibly to a clock-repairer, but in reality to the pawn-shop, and thus raise the price of a night's lodging. He would trust to luck to supply the funds to retrieve it. ”

“ It was nearly eleven o'clock before a sprinkling of houses warned them that they were approaching Barton Bridge. Soon the pantechnicon was awaking echoes in the drowsy old High Street. Half-way along what is practically the only thoroughfare stands the Pack Horse, outside which the driver instinctively pulled up, and he and Bindle clambered down and entered, ostensibly to enquire the way to the Fête ground.
Behind the bar stood Mr. Cutts, wearing the inevitable red knitted cap without which no one had ever seen him during business hours. ”

“ He had apparently not yet found his spectacles, but he had in the meanwhile come upon his axe, and now stood very straight, with the long haft reaching to his waist.
“Ja,” he said. “Mine house I build.”
“Well,” said the man in the embroidered jacket, “I fancy you’re wasting time. Asked anybody’s leave to cut that lumber, or put it up?”
“Mine friend,” said Muller, smiling, “when it is nod necessary I ask nodings of any man.”
“Then,” said the horseman drily, as he turned to his companions, “I fancy that’s where you’re wrong. Boys, we’ll take him along in case Torrance would like to see him. ”

“ There was a burst of approving laughter from the miners, and the trooper sprang down from the branch and moved towards his comrades when Esmond made a sign, while a man who had been speaking apart with the latter suddenly stepped forward.
"It's the major," said one of the miners. "Give him a show. Come right along, sir. Nobody going to hurt you!"
Coulthurst made a little gesture with a lifted hand, and his remarks were brief.
"You'll gain nothing by making fools of yourselves, my men," he said. "The law is a good deal too strong for you. ”

“ Many of the comrades he had made there were outcasts––men outside the pale––and they were excellent comrades, too.
“Well,” he said, “I have evidently been very sick. How did I get here? I don’t seem to remember.”
“Miss Waynefleet found you lying in the snow in the clearing.”
24
“Ah!” said Nasmyth––“a tall girl with a quiet voice, big brown eyes, and splendid hair?”
Gordon smiled. “Well,” he said, “that’s quite like her.”
“Where is she now?” asked Nasmyth; and though he was very feeble still, there was a certain expectancy in his manner.
“In the barn, I believe. The working oxen have to be fed. ”

“ Nasmyth lay still and considered this. It was, at least, quite evident that he could not get up yet, but there were one or two other points that occurred to him.
“Does the ranch belong to Miss Waynefleet?” he inquired. “She can’t live here alone.”
“She runs the concern. She has certainly a father, but you’ll understand things more clearly when you see him. He’s away in Victoria, which is partly why Mrs. Custer from the settlement is now in yonder room. Her husband is at present building a trestle on the Dunsmore track. I come up here for only an hour every day.” ”

“ They must be guided through each awkward pass and frothing rapid, and the men who undertake it spring with pike and peevie from one to another while the rolling trunks tumultuously charge on.
Nobody, however, troubled himself any further about the matter, and in a few more minutes the men had set to work again heaving the rocks that had held up the first log out of the river with the derrick. It was not until supper was over, and he sat with his companions in the shanty, that Wheeler referred to the affair again. He looked at Nasmyth with a smile. ”

“ Nasmyth held up one hand, and both heard the deep roar of frothing water that came in with the smell of the firs through the open door. The Bush was very still outside, and that hoarse, throbbing note flung back by the rock slope and climbing pines filled the valley. Nasmyth smiled grimly, for it was suggestive of the great forces against which he had pitted his puny strength. Then there was a crash, and, a few moments later, a curious thud, and both men listened, intent and strung up, until the turmoil of the river rose alone again. ”

“ Thus we find the Billingas at Billing-ham in Durham, at Billing-ley in Yorkshire, at Billing-hay in Lincolnshire, at Billing-ton in the counties of Bedford, Stafford, and Lancaster, as well as at other places, all within the district occupied by the Angles. We find a settlement of the same family at Billing-hurst, in Sussex, and some of them appear to have established themselves in the outskirts of London, and to have given name to Billings-gate. ”

“ A tall, irate man, with the Army stamped all over him, dressed in pyjamas, with a monocle firmly wedged in his left eye, was fiercely eyeing a smaller man in a bath-robe.
"Not content with having got into my room, but damme, sir, you must needs try and get into my trousers. What the devil do you mean by it?"
Bindle looked along the corridor appreciatively. "Looks like a shipwreck at night, it do," he remarked to the chambermaid. ”

“ Carefully covering with his revolver the unfortunate Bindle, whose first effort at burglary seemed doomed to end so disastrously, Professor Conti slipped out of bed and, without removing his eyes from Bindle's back, sidled towards a small chest at the other side of the room. This he opened, and from it took a pair of handcuffs, a "property" of his profession.
"Put your hands behind your back," he ordered with calm decision. ”