Haskins

“ Haskins started to his feet. "Are you serious?"
"Of course I am. You want to run away with this girl. If you do, Major Rebb--I know him, and a nasty man he is--will follow you, and make himself unpleasant. What you want to do is to conceal the girl somewhere until you can prove that her guardian is shutting her up illegally. Well then, Major Rebb must know of the wonderful resemblance of Charity to Mavis. If Charity marries Mr. Macandrew quietly she can go with him to Switzerland for a month's honeymoon, and even longer. ”

“ I call him Santa Claus when he does that. But, oh! there is Bellaria. Stay here, Gerald; I'll see what she wants."
As it was early in the afternoon Haskins had an excellent view of the Florentine, who stalked across the lawn almost to the foot of the beech, drawn thither by her nursling's answering cry. "You are always sitting on the high branches of that tree," said the Italian crossly, and in most excellent English. "Why do you do that?"
"I can see the river and the pool," said Mavis quickly. "Oh! Bellaria, I wish I was a nymph, that I could plunge into the cool water." ”

“ The Lieutenant-Governor and his wife had gone to the pink and white welcome of the bridal suite when Perkins at last came strolling downstairs. Only Haskins's party remained in the flag-hung lobby, the women sheathing themselves in veils, as their motor chugged at the porch steps.
Haskins turned as Perkins crossed the lobby. He stared an instant, then advanced with outstretched hand, smiling.
"Why, Mr. Parker," he said, "I didn't know you were here. Doctor Austin was asking me to-day if I knew where you were. He seems [Page 216] to have got you on his mind. He'll be delighted to see you. ”

“ On crossing the bridge, in Denleigh valley, Haskins saw Geary lounging at his door, looking big and black and sullen and dangerous. However, a white man was not to be intimidated by a barbarous animal like this, so Gerald walked up to him coolly, and wished him good-day. Geary grew green under his black skin, and glared like a wild beast, his hands working convulsively. ”

“ There had been innuendos and hints and glancing allusions, but no one had dared to make any direct assault of wit, until one evening [119] young Haskins came into the club "a little flushed with wine." (The "wine" was brandy.) It seems that young Haskins had found at home an ivory rattle which had belonged to Eustace twenty years before, and which Mrs. Dolph had given to Mrs. Haskins when Eustace enlarged his horizon in the matter of toys. ”

“ What am I to say when you tell me that you have fallen in love in five minutes."
"You loved Charity when you first set eyes on her, Tod."
"That's different!" snapped the solicitor. "She's an angel! It's only right to love an angel like winking when you spot her."
"I quite agree with you, and so I loved Mavis."
"Is this girl pretty?"
Haskins smiled to himself, as he had not yet informed Tod of the marvelous resemblance between the dancer and the recluse. "Yes, she is pretty!" he said calmly. ”

“ Haskins, therefore, placed himself on his guard and by a careless demeanor, and apparent frankness he succeeded in lulling Geary's suspicions as to his true reasons for postponing his journey to St. Ives. ”

“ Rebb certainly should be punished for the infamous way in which he had treated the girl. Hitherto everything had gone as he desired, but with the finding of the cylinder came the change in Rebb's fortunes. Now he had a determined young man to deal with, who would be less easy to manage than an unsophisticated girl. Haskins chuckled as he thought how angry Rebb would be when Mavis, free from the slur on her sanity, and from the wicked charge which he was striving to fasten on her, came forth boldly to face the world. ”

“ Haskins said one word under his breath, but Tod overheard and giggled. That was exactly like Tod Macandrew: he had no sense of the fitness of things.
"Silly ass!" commented his friend savagely, spinning up the line, "you frighten the fish."
"Not on to your hook, anyhow," chuckled Tod into the depths of his hat, "what a sinfully bad angler you are, Jerry."
"As bad an angler as you are a lover, perhaps," snapped Gerald, throwing his rod on the grass and squatting to manufacture a cigarette.
Tod sat up abruptly with a wounded air. "I call that beastly: to taunt a chap, because a girl won't bite." ”

“ Haskins started, as well he might. "I can't believe that," he declared violently. "She hasn't a drop of Rebb's blood in her body. And even if she were his daughter," he went on in a contradictory fashion, "that is no reason that he should shut her in that gaol, and set a beastly nigger to keep his eye on her."
"N----o," drawled Macandrew, his eye on the blotting-paper, "you say that this girl is like Charity?"
"The very image of her. That is partly why I fell in love so rapidly, Tod. Before you came along I did love Charity in a way; admired her beauty and all that. ”

“ Gerald himself decided to remain at the Prince's Head, Silbury, since the negro, by Rebb's orders, might make himself highly disagreeable should the young man live under the sinister roof of the Devon Maid. But Haskins was not easily intimidated, and, even though the Major and his underling joined forces to thwart him, he felt quite equal to dealing with them, collectively or separately. Right was on his side, and Gerald had an implicit belief that good was stronger than evil. Those who fought in the cause for which Geary and Rebb were fighting could not possibly triumph. ”

“ Get out. How much, cabby? Two shillings? There you are. Wait till I open the door, Macandrew. There! Run upstairs. I'll follow."
Rattling on in this way, Haskins and his friend went up the dimly lighted stairs, for the gas was not full on, and soon found themselves in Gerald's comfortable sitting-room. Haskins lighted the lamp--he detested electric and gas--and passed along a box of cigars to his visitor. Tod was also accommodated with a glass of whisky and soda and a comfortable armchair. Gerald, being similarly provided, leaned forward eagerly. ”

“ Many another man would have been daunted by the difficulties thus presented by a survey of the position. But Gerald was in love, and to a lover nothing is impossible that stands in the way of his gaining his mistress. Haskins did not know for the moment exactly how to act, but in one way or another he determined to force Rebb's strong hand. By warning Rebb he had certainly put him on his guard against any possible elopement: but he also had forced him to behave in a more or less straightforward manner. Knowing that he was watched the Major could not smuggle Mavis into another hiding-place. ”

“ We reached my caravan in safety, and I then put the horse in the shafts and drove to Exeter through the night. We reached this city this afternoon, and I took her on board a barge, which is owned by a man I can rely upon. Then I sent the wire to you. We must save the poor child, Mr. Haskins. She is safe now, but at any time she may be discovered."
"You will be suspected."
"I don't think so, Mr. Haskins. While she was in my caravan I had qualms that search might be made therein: but now that Mavis is safe on the barge, with Sammy Lee looking after her, there is little danger. ”

“ Human nature----"
"I don't go by human nature," interrupted Haskins sharply; "I go by my own feelings. I would marry Mavis without one penny, since my five hundred a year and what I make by writing is enough to keep things going. But Rebb must be punished, and I shall do all I can to deprive him of this six thousand a year."
"There is no necessity to bother," said Tod soothingly, "the thing acts automatically, as you might say. When Mavis becomes your wife the money is paid over--or rather the income is transferred to her on the wedding day. ”

“ Yet why suspicions should be aroused by frankness Gerald could not say, for, on the face of it, there was nothing to point out that the cylinder was dangerous. Nevertheless Haskins' sixth sense made him hold his tongue and impose secrecy upon Tod. Consequently Macandrew held his peace while Gerald cautiously approached his aim of getting the machine. It seemed incredible that a phonograph of the special make required should be found in that unpretentious inn, or even in the village itself, seeing how buried both were. ”

“ However, Gerald had a fair idea of the five miles' route to Leegarth, and in due time the horse got over the ground, although it must be admitted that he did not hurry himself. Haskins reached the village shortly after ten o'clock, and skirted round the houses, so that he should not be observed. An unknown stranger, arriving in so secluded a hamlet, would assuredly awaken the suspicions of the wary Geary, and news travels fast in country districts. So Gerald kept well out of the way, and after a somewhat circuitous route came to the banks of Mother Carey's Peace Pool. ”

“ Perkins, "an agreement between Mr. Haskins and you to ignore these people utterly, instead of taking them into your family, would stop the whole abuse."
"That's a woman's idea," said Perkins, bravely, though in the innermost recesses of his heart he wished he had thought of it before. "It isn't practical politics, my love. You might as well say that two opposing generals in a war could save thousands of lives by avoiding each other's armies and keeping out of a fight." ”

“ Geary was absent when the traveler arrived at the Devon Maid, and Haskins was not sorry to hear this from Mrs. Geary, who received him. The negro, having learned from Rebb and Bellaria that the castle he had guarded was discovered, would not be in the best of humors and would probably make himself disagreeable. Not that Gerald had any fear of the man; but he wished for an explanation with Rebb before any open quarrel took place. The Major, as a civilized being, would certainly be more reasonable than the negro. ”

“ Macandrew cast a second look at the door, and advised Gerald, in scarcely legal language, to "Fire away." "You've been playing the high-kick-oh, houp-la, since I left you," said Tod with a jolly grin.
"I've been doing nothing of the sort," cried Haskins indignantly. "This is very serious."
"Is it now?" bantered the lawyer. "Well, when a man decides to marry a girl whom he has only seen for five minutes I rather think it is infernally serious. How did she manage to hook you?"
"What a beastly low mind you have, Tod. H'm! Shut up, and hold yourself tight. I am going to startle you." ”

“ Haskins described how he had taken away Mrs. Crosbie's cigarette-case by accident, and how he had found the hand. In fact he told Macandrew everything, including the whole conversation with Bellaria, and the subsequent visit of Mrs. Berch to recover the amulet. "And this Signor Venosta gave the coral hand to Mrs. Crosbie?" ended Gerald. "What do you think of it, Tod?"
Macandrew sat down gasping. "It's like a confounded penny dreadful," he remarked, ruffling his ruddy hair. "Girls shut up--incomes stolen, and secret societies--oh, Lord! there is going to be trouble." ”

“ Crosbie was not only right, but Gerald felt that he was entirely in the wrong; felt, indeed, that he had acted somewhat shabbily. The sole way in which he could right matters, and recover his self-respect, was to see Rebb, as soon as possible, and explain himself. Then, as man to man, they could thresh the matter out. With this idea Haskins drove back to his rooms in Frederick Street, Mayfair, intending to change and pack, and catch the midnight train from Paddington to Exeter. ”

“ Then he thought of his wife, how she had cheerfully cooked and baked, without holiday and without rest.
"Well, what do you think of it?" inquired the cool, mocking, insinuating voice of Butler.
"I think you're a thief and a liar!" shouted Haskins, leaping up. "A black-hearted houn'!" Butler's smile 217 maddened him; with a sudden leap he caught a fork in his hands, and whirled it in the air. "You'll never rob another man, damn ye!" ”

“ Consequently Tod and Lady Euphemia were fighting with all the ardor of their fiery race, and the domestic peace of the House of Macandrew was a thing of the past.
"You should consider the Dowager," sang out Haskins, who knew and approved of the grim old lady, "she's your grandmother."
"No one denies that," yelled Tod crossly, "talk sense!"
"Hear then the sense of Gerald, son of his father," shouted the other in a high tenor. "Mrs. Pelham Odin, who is--as you know--the clever old actress who looks after Charity, won't let you marry her, seeing that you have no money. ”

“ Tod called it with fine irony, and giggled when Haskins stalked Mr. Adonis Geary.
"There is very little to do in the evening here," began Gerald, finishing the last of his cheese, and addressing the landlord-waiter.
"Very little, sah," replied Mr. Geary, who spoke moderately good Anglo-Saxon, yet betrayed his negro origin in an occasional word, and by a guttural intonation, "but you can walk to Silbury with the odder jemplem, for howlin' fun, sah."
"Howling fun in a country town? My eyes," muttered Tod, still eating.
"Dere's walking and de bicycle and fishin' and----"
"Yes! yes! yes!" ”

“ Of course, there was always a chance that they might be too crooked to be straightened. If so, it was the more necessary that Mavis should be placed in Mrs. Crosbie's guardianship, and that the little woman's eyes should be opened.
Bearing these things in mind, Haskins descended into the street to call a hansom, and proceeded to visit Mrs. Crosbie. She dwelt along with her mother in a palatial block of mansions, known as Ladysmith Court, and which had been erected by a financier of South African fame. ”