Mr. Armstrong

“ Armstrong, is unreasonable. Perhaps you know now that I am an old traveller. I’m a little bit of an explorer, sir, and I have never objected to being guided over a bit of country that I didn’t know, if I happened to meet a man that knew it Now, that’s enough said, Mr. Armstrong. If you find my conversation distasteful, just damn my eyes and go. But don’t you let me hear you. You can curse outside to your heart’s content, and, you see, that needn’t breed a quarrel.’
‘Very well,’ said Paul. The Solemn drunken man made him laugh in spite of his own anger and bewildered misery of mind. ”

“ Mr. Armstrong's own carriage was quickly filled with a party of young people; two juvenile bridesmaids, with their aunt Edith Longford, soon to be Mrs. Maurice, and Arthur and Freddy Armstrong, now a merry laughter-loving boy of eleven. There remained now only three gentlemen to accompany the bishop in his drive to Lime Grove, the rector of Kilburn, Horace Wilton, Henry's best man, and Mr. Armstrong. ”

“ The spirited white ponies and pretty low carriage attracted all eyes as they trotted along the Kilburn Road lashing their tails and shaking their fat sides as if eager to perform their work to the best of their ability. After setting down her companions at the door of the station Mr. Armstrong dismissed his daughter; and, although foolishly proud of the admiring gaze cast upon her by passengers, he more than once regretted not having listened to his wife's suggestion:—"Had you not better let the groom drive you, Edward? ”

“ Armstrong. "My daughter's tastes resemble my own, and she has had advantages of education which I have not. I'm afraid, Drummond, your friends will expect too much from a self-taught man like myself if you have, as you say, placed me on the list of your 'learned' acquaintance."
"Nonsense, Armstrong!" was the reply, as the omnibus stopped for that gentleman to alight. "Mind," he added, as he waved his hand in farewell, "we shall expect you all on Tuesday."
Mr. Armstrong's close carriage arrived at Argyle Lodge only five minutes before the hour appointed for dinner. ”

“ Armstrong, cousin Sarah, Jack, and Arthur Franklyn.
To avoid the stairs leading from the platform the men turned towards a side gate which opened nearer to the hotel. They had scarcely reached it when a gentleman, evidently in a state of excitement, approached the group and exclaimed—
"Pardon me, Mr. Armstrong, your daughter who is waiting for you in the pony carriage has been alarmed by the remarks of passengers, and she is becoming anxious on account of the delay in your appearance." ”

“ Presently the train enters the station. Again he looks out. A porter approaches running with the train. "A doctor! a medical man, quick!" he exclaimed; "a lady is ill, dying."
The train has come almost to a standstill. Mr. Armstrong jumps out even at the risk of his life. There is a running to and fro of porters. A crowding of passengers to the carriage door, and a general commotion as the eager inquiries for a doctor are passed from lip to lip. ”

“ The poor people somehow connected heaven with the stars, and Mr. Armstrong never undeceived them, so that they saw nothing improper in the big telescope under the weathercock.
"Really, James," said Mrs. Bullen one morning to Mr. Armstrong's gardener and general man-of-all-work as he was carrying a chair from the house into the tower, "do you think this is quite right? Do you think our Saviour would have sanctioned the erection of a profane instrument over the house of prayer?" ”

“ Mr Armstrong was not the man to lose his head on an emergency, but now, as he bent over the helpless paralytic, and tried to read his wants in the eyes that looked up into his, he found it needed a mighty effort to pull himself together and resolve how to act.
He must go for the doctor, five miles away. There was no one else about the place who could cover the ground as quickly. But if he went, he must leave the sufferer to the tender mercies of Raffles and the housekeeper—a prospect at which Mr Armstrong shuddered ”

“ Russell. Mr. Armstrong's words pulled hard; and in the midst of them came a great pull the other way—a sudden thought of Walter's voice calling me "his own little Kitty." And I was dragged in half between them—poor silly child that I was—turning from gold to hanker after common dust!
I did promise faithfully to beg father's pardon next time I saw him; but Mr. Armstrong couldn't get me to say all he wanted. ”

“ A truce was declared for the colazione, but Armstrong devoured his repast in silence, showing no interest in the animated conversation, and with scant apologies left the table long in advance of the others to resume his task.
At five o’clock a dusty vettura drove noisily into the driveway, and from his point of vantage, lying on his back underneath the automobile, Armstrong saw Mr. Ferdinand De Peyster alight. ”

“ It seems a strange thing, but so it is, that the events of the dreadful day, when, as if by a heavenly interposition, his hand had been arrested when raised to take away the life of his daughter, and also of the time when he lay insane upon his bed, were blotted completely from the memory of Armstrong. The scratches of a school-boy on a slate were never more perfectly erased by a wet sponge. All his conduct proves this. When he beheld his brother after the return of reason, he addressed him as Mr. Holden, and never, in conversation with any one, did he make allusion to his aberration of mind. ”

“ One firm after another sunk under the crash. Only men of ample means such as Mr. Armstrong could battle with the waves and weather the storm, but even he had great difficulty in doing so.
Reports spread respecting his losses, which, however, in the City did not injure his credit. Westward their influence was felt with greater results.
He usually rode Firefly when proceeding to his office in Dover Street, and on more than one occasion he had encountered those who had either asked him for the hand of his daughter or courted his acquaintance. Now they passed him by with scarcely a recognition. ”

“ I give you good-night, and God be with you.”
“May he see you safe in Newark again, and grant you length of days to expound His Word,” responded Armstrong devoutly, as he rose from his seat and bowed.
Frances rose also when their visitor had taken himself off.
“You are something of a diplomatist, Mr. Armstrong, but I fear diplomacy requires a touch of hypocrisy. Could you not have dismissed him without the benediction?”
“Why? I meant it thoroughly. I am a religious man with a creed as grim as his own; a Presbyterian. I meant every word of it. He is a good man ”

“ Go down and tell the pier-master to embark them on the two 'stand-by' motor-lighters, and tell Mr. Armstrong to go down and help him."
The Orphan, noticing that the lamp was hanging by a piece of wire, thought that there might be some more somewhere about, looked round, and saw a piece lying under the table—just what Mr. Armstrong would like. He picked it up, and was just wriggling his way out again when the Captain wanted to know what he was doing.
"Mr. Armstrong's pipe is choked, sir, and I saw this bit of wire."
"Dear me! dear me!" smiled the Captain. "Misfortunes never come singly ”

“ Armstrong and her daughter with the easy self-possession of a gentleman.
Yet there was a flush on his face as he shook hands with Mrs. Armstrong, which changed to paleness when he greeted Mary, and spoke to the boys, Edward and Arthur.
The latter had heard so much of Freddy's school and the masters, that they were earnest in their petitions to be allowed to stay at home and attend with their brother at Dr. Halford's. They had heard from Mary of Mr. Henry Halford's wonderful cleverness, and they now had eyes for no one else as he stood talking to their mother. ”

“ Gie’s your han’!’ And so they shook han’s, and were the best o’ freens ever after.”
“Thank you, Mr. Armstrong, for the story,” said the Doctor. Then looking to the bed, he remarked, “Oh, if we were only simple, true, and loving, like little children, would we not, like that dear one, enter the kingdom of heaven, and know and love all who were in it, or on their way to it?”
“I’m glad I have met you, Doctor,” resumed the old elder. “It does ane’s heart good to meet a brother who has been a stranger. ”

“ Armstrong has plenty down at No. 3 Pier."
"There's a picket-boat waiting for you there, General. Mr. Orpen will show you the way. Everything all quiet when you left?"
"Everything. The Turks haven't stirred from their trenches; have hardly fired a shot all night. We've brought everyone back."
The Orphan piloted the General and his Staff Officer through the crowd of men round No. 3 Pier, and found Mr. Armstrong.
"General Bailey, sir; he wants a pipeful of ship's tobacco," he said, and left them there; hearing Mr. ”

“ Julian Arden paused; his eyes were filled with tears, and his voice failed him from agitation.
Patrick O’Loughlin wrung the young man’s hand, almost equally affected; but, taking him by the arm, whilst Charles Pole and the quarter-master Brown stood considerably surprised, he said—
“Come with me, Mr. Arden; you could not have stumbled upon a man who can so much relieve your mind as I can. ”

“ Poor Mabel, scarcely able to keep from weeping, kissed the midshipman’s hand, and bade him good-night in a voice that trembled with emotion, and then Mr. Osborn, the steward, took her under his care.
William Thornton, who never quitted his hold of the casket, proceeded to his berth, and locked it up carefully in his chest. Several of his comrades tormented him with inquiries, but hastily swallowing his supper and a glass of grog, he tumbled into his berth, turning a deaf ear to all their questions.
Midshipmen always sleep under every variety of disturbance, either of body or mind ”

“ I shall give instructions for two or three hundred dollars to be handed to Mr. Armstrong, with directions to take the next train to Bleachers, as we need his presence here. I shall do nothing but send a telegram, and Mr. Burns will do the rest. Now, if you will assist me by ordering out my horse, I shall be ready to start within ten minutes. I’d order the horse myself, but I don’t think your men would obey me. ”

“ Having received the prize-money due to him from the capture of the Bon-Citoyen, William Thornton placed it under the control of Mr. Stanmore, for the benefit of Mabel Arden, Lieutenant O’Loughlin insisting on giving a similar sum.
“You shall repay me,” said the generous sailor, when our hero remonstrated, “when the little girl becomes your wife, and she regains her rights.”
“But, my dear friend,” replied our hero, “that event is not likely to occur. I love the dear child as a sister, and will protect her as long as she requires a protector; but I am not at all in love ”

“ Armstrong, and therefore readily accounted for this visit. "Mr. Halford can only have been sent for one purpose," she said to herself, "and I must contrive an opportunity for him to deliver his message to Mary before we meet at the tea-table; until that is done the young people will not be at ease in each other's society." Full of this determination, she hastily removed her walking dress and descended the stairs; yet with all her quickness Henry Halford had found his way down before her, and now stood looking out over garden and orchard to the distant prospect from the garden entrance. ”

“ Again, how would Henry Halford treat Reginald Fraser?" she asked herself. The answer was plain; she knew how he would have acted, for Mr. Henry Halford would not forget the advantages of his own happy home, and the careful training he had received from his own mother. Thus reasoning, Mary Armstrong decided that during her visit to Park Lane she would bear with this weak-minded young man, and treat him kindly in spite of his foibles.
But too much crooked policy exists in the world for straightforward conduct and honest intentions to meet with a due reward. ”

“ He soon freed the bottom, and then all plainly perceived it had been previously held to the sides by twelve steel pins, which had been all sawed, the contents abstracted, and the bottom cleverly replaced, and four very small iron brads used to fasten it, and then cement put along the edges.
“By Jove! that’s it,” said O’Loughlin, “there’s no mistake. This job was done on board that confounded ship whilst Mabel slept.”
“Yes,” replied Mr. Stanmore, excessively chagrined, whilst William Thornton’s face flushed with vexation. ”

“ But just as the boat had come within hail of the corvette, a gun from the French ship and a signal run up to the mast-head, caused them, to the extreme surprise of Captain O’Loughlin, to at once turn back, and lower the flag of truce.
“What’s in the wind now?” exclaimed Captain O’Loughlin. “Be the powers of war, Mr. Pearson,” addressing his first mate, “there goes the frigate and the lugger, the lugger bang in amongst the Cardinal Rocks, and the frigate standing right across us. Lie down, quick!” he shouted to the men, as he cast a glance round; “she is going to fire!” ”

“ Westly Wright. The night was extremely calm, but not very dark; they could see the shore of the Seine on both sides and the lights in the town of Havre.
Sir Sidney led the boats, however, in the wherry; and having pulled on in regular order till perfectly in sight of the lugger, they all paused till their Commander should fix upon the mode of attack.
“It is a hazardous exploit, Mr. Thornton,” said the midshipman sitting beside our hero, “for our Commander to lead in this affair; should anything happen, the Diamond is in a precarious position.” ”