RoBards

“ Well, it’s the way of the world, ain’t it? Them as has, gets; them as hasn’t, doosn’t.”
War or no war, RoBards found cases to try. There was a mysterious prosperity hard to account for in many businesses. Cases poured in on RoBards. Fees were high. However the tide of battle rolled in the South, the trades of life went on somehow, and petty quarrels over lands and wills and patent rights were fought out as earnestly as ever.
One evening as he set out for the Kensico train, he bought a paper, and found the name he had been looking for every day in the list. ”

“ That fatal reference to Chalender wrung the lips of Patty and her husband with sardonic misery. They had once been innocent, too, and they were still innocent in ambition. It was life that made fun of them. What sport would it make of their children?
[Pg 173]
CHAPTER XXV The next morning RoBards was awake very betimes, driven from needed sleep by an onslaught of terrors. A thousand little fiends assailed him and bound him like Gulliver held fast with threads. RoBards would never take anxiety lying down, but rose and fought it. ”

“ Patty sent cards also to a number of young men whom RoBards considered far beneath his notice; but they were asked everywhere because they could and would dance the tight polka, the redowa, the waltz, the German; they could and would play backgammon and graces, write acrostics, sit in tableaux, get up serenades, riding parties, sleighing parties—anything to keep females from perishing of boredom. ”

“ Regarding the deep peace of his country family, RoBards was profoundly glad that he had forgone the swift passionate delights of revenge. If he had slain Chalender or published the scandal in the courts, Patty would not have been his now. That child whom she had named after himself, David Junior, would have been doomed to an unhonored name. This house would have been pointed to as a monument of scandal. It would be neglected, empty, haunted.
The neighbors never dreamed of the hidden shame. They [Pg 112] said: “Nothin’ ever happens up your way. You’re one lucky man.” ”

“ Hurrying to Park Place, RoBards found that old Jessamine was indeed maniac with the sudden change in his fortunes. His very prudence had mocked him. He had been a man who combined rigid economy with daring experiment. He had pushed agents into China and chartered ships to bring home his wares. Caution had made him build his warehouse expensively of fireproof materials. He had been extravagant in nothing so much as in the equipment against flames and in the amount of insurance he carried. ”

“ They remembered that when two of them had fought with picks, he had jumped into the ditch between them. He could now walk up to drunken brutes of far superior bulk and take away their weapons, and often their tempers. He composed quarrels with a laugh or leaped in with a quick slash of his fist on the nearest nose.
People said to RoBards: “Fine lad, Harry Chalender, great friend of yours, isn’t he? Plucky devil, too.”
That was hard to deny without an ugly explanation. It [Pg 114] would have been peculiarly crass to sneer or snarl at a man held in favor for courage. ”

“ A stranger calling himself an engineer, and answering to the name of Robur, a person of unknown origin, of anonymous nationality, had unexpectedly presented himself in the club-room, insulted the balloonists, made fun of the aeronauts, boasted of the marvels of machines heavier than air, and raised a frightful tumult by the remarks with which he greeted the menaces of his adversaries. ”

“ I want to get out! I am not a bird! Boohoo! I don't want to fly, I want to get out!"
Uncle Prudent, as may be imagined, did not attempt to quiet him. In fact, he encouraged him, and particularly as the incessant howling seemed to have a strangely irritating effect on Robur.
When Tom Turner and his companions were getting ready for fishing, the engineer ordered them to shut up Frycollin in his cabin. But the Negro never ceased his jumping about, and began to kick at the wall and yell with redoubled power.
It was noon. The Albatross was only about fifteen or twenty feet above the water. ”

“ A SKIRMISH IN DAHOMEY
At this point in the circumnavigatory voyage of the “Albatross” it is only natural that some such questions as the following should be asked. Who was this Robur, of whom up to the present we know nothing but the name? Did he pass his life in the air? Did his aeronef never rest? Had he not some retreat in some inaccessible spot in which, if he had need of repose or revictualing, he could betake himself? It would be very strange if it were not so. The most powerful flyers have always an eyrie or nest somewhere.
And what was the engineer going to do with his prisoners? ”

“ That's so, Rob. What a mind you have for figuring out things! Of course, it's plain enough now that he is betraying Mr. Barr by giving drawings and plans of the submarine [142] to Mr. Barr's enemies, but I didn't think he'd take so bold a method."
"There's nothing very bold about it," retorted Rob. "He is a trusted man, and has been given every opportunity to be dishonest, if it so suits him."
"I guess that's right; but it's our duty to thwart him."
"You just bet it is, and we'll do it, too, if it's possible. See, there he goes over the top of that sand dune. ”

“ In this effort Rob meets with all sorts of exciting adventures, and is more than once in great danger at the hands of lawless men. He comes near to failure at times, but finally wins out by means of his cleverness and indomitable pluck. In the end he rescues his uncle from a band of outlaws and saves a large treasure, which those outlaws were trying to obtain. Rob’s horse, Silent Sam, and his dog, Trumps, play an important part in the story, and cannot fail to win admiration and affection. Rob himself is a hero whose example of courage, honesty and manliness can be followed with profit. ”

“ So, then, the perpetrator of this kidnapping was Robur the engineer, come expressly to Philadelphia to destroy in its egg the theory of the balloonists. He it was who commanded the Albatross! He it was who carried off by way of reprisal Uncle Prudent, Phil Evans and Frycollin; and they might be considered lost for ever. At least until some means were found of constructing an engine capable of contending with this powerful machine their terrestrial friends would never bring them back to earth. ”

“ For if we were in a boat moored on the Schuyllkill we should have noticed the movement due to the current—”
“That is so; and as we are still in the clearing, I think that now is the time to get away, and we can return later to settle with this Robur—”
“And make him pay for this attempt on the liberty of two citizens of the United States.”
“And he shall pay pretty dearly!”
“But who is this man? Where does he come from? Is he English, or German, or French—”
“He is a scoundrel, that is enough!” said Uncle Prudent. “Now to work.” ”

“ This was a signal to his men, who in a few minutes surrounded the house, and six of them entered the room with drawn swords. Rob Roy, laying hold of his sword, as if about to go away, asked the factor, 'How he had come on with his collection? 'I have got nothing,' said Killearn, 'I have not yet began to collect.' 'No, no, chamberlain,' replied Rob, 'your falsehood will not do with me, I must count fairly with you by the book.' Resistance being useless, the book was exhibited, and according to it the money was given up, for which Rob Roy granted a receipt. ”

“ Had we remained in the streets of Philadelphia there would have been none of this. Evidently Robur foresaw what would happen at the club, and had placed some of his bandits on guard at the door. When we left Walnut Street these fellows must have watched us and followed us, and when we imprudently ventured into Fairmount Park they went in for their little game.”
“Agreed.” said Evans. “We were wrong not to go straight home.”
“It is always wrong not to be right.” ”

“ Even in boyhood he excelled in the use of the claymore and all other weapons; for this he was, no doubt, indebted to the tutelage of his father, old Donald of Glengyle, who had handled his sword in the wars of the Covenanters and Cavaliers.
No man was ever known to wrench anything from Rob's hands; and so great was his muscular power that he would twist a horse's shoe, and drive his dirk, to the hilt, through a two-inch deal board; and on more than one occasion he has seized a mountain stag by the antlers, and held it fast, as if it had been a little kid. ”

“ The “Albatross” thus returned to the height she seemed to prefer, and her propellers beginning again, drove her off to the southwest.
“Now, sirs, if that is what you wanted you can reply.” Then, leaning over the rail, he remained absorbed in contemplation.
When he raised his head the president and secretary of the Weldon Institute stood by his side.
“Engineer Robur.” said Uncle Prudent, in vain endeavoring to control himself, “we have nothing to ask about what you seem to believe, but we wish to ask you a question which we think you would do well to answer.” ”

“ For an hour there was a series of discourses, harangues, palavers and dances, executed not only by professionals, but by the Amazons, who displayed much martial grace.
But the time for the hecatomb was approaching. Robur, who knew the customs of Dahomey, did not lose sight of the men, women, and children reserved for butchery.
The minghan was standing at the foot of the hillock. He was brandishing his executioner’s sword, with its curved blade surmounted by a metal bird, whose weight rendered the cut more certain. ”

“ At these words he leaped from his horse, tossed the bridle to one of his gillies, and drew his sword and dirk.
"Roderick MacNeil," said Rob, calmly, "I have no doubt of your being what you assert—the Chief of Barra, and of a noble and ancient lineage; a better swordsman, and it may be a better man, than I; but I have no wish to prove it. My business is with Invernentie here, and I never fight a man without a reason. With you I have no quarrel; so keep your sword for the service of Scotland and her king." ”

“ A few days after this, Rob escaped again by mere coolness and presence of mind, when in Glenalmond he encountered the same party of Polworth's Light Horse, who instantly knew and greeted him with a shout; while some drew their swords, others loaded their carbines, and all spurred their horses on. Rob was quite alone; he had been separated from his eldest son and followers, with twenty of whom he had been purchasing cattle at a neighbouring fair. ”

“ As Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans were feeling the pangs of hunger somewhat keenly they did not care to stand upon ceremony. A meal would commit them to nothing; and when Robur put them back on the ground they could resume full liberty of action. ”

“ While he and Rob eyed each other for a minute, each doubtful where to strike or where to thrust, so admirably were both skilled in the use of their sword and shield, the strong cateran, who was a head taller than his muscular assailant, laughed grimly, and said,—"We have drawn the first blood in this feud, Robert Campbell: so it is vain to attack us." ”

“ The three years' difference in their ages counted for little, since Rob was manly and self-reliant to a rare degree. They never clashed; they merely passed each other by on the other side. Ronald was unfeignedly sorry for Rob and showed it. He showed, also, a courteous tolerance for Rob's hobbies of whose charm he himself had no comprehension. He loved exercise; but he hated sports. American football, to his mind, was a thing to be classed with the bull fights of Spain. Rob's injury was one more proof of the theory he had always cherished. ”

“ Only a hundred and eighty miles then separated them from San Francisco, the Californian capital.
At the speed the “Albatross” was going she would be over the dome by eight o’clock.
At this moment Robur appeared on deck. The colleagues walked up to him.
“Engineer Robur.” said Uncle Prudent, “we are now on the very confines of America! We think the time has come for this joke to end.”
“I never joke.” said Robur.
He raised his hand. The “Albatross” swiftly dropped towards the ground, and at the same time such speed was given her as to drive the prisoners into their cabin. ”

“ Power in the hands of mean and ignorant men renders them wanton, insolent and cruel. They are literally like madmen, who cast firebrands, arrows and death, and say, "Are not we in sport?"
Roberts reserved a Bristol galley from his depredations in the harbor, which he fitted and manned for his own service. Upon the banks he met ten sail of French ships, and destroyed them all, except one of twenty-six guns, which he seized and carried off, and called her the Fortune. ”

“ You start slow and you don't get up steam until the play's about over. If it wasn't that you're an indecently strong chap we'd get the jump on you every time. We do, as it is, only it doesn't do us much good, because you're a tough chap to move. Now you think it over, Don. See if you can't ginger up a bit. Bet you anything that when you do Robey'll have you yanked off that second team in no time at all! ”

“ Enter R. Rob.) Rob. You would speak with me, Mr. Rowell? Rowell. Yes: take a chair. (Rises, and offers chair to Rob, then goes L., and brings chair to L. of table: both sit.) This farm has passed from the possession of your family into my hands; the purchase-money is all paid; and I now hold by right the title-deed. Here it is. (Lays it on table.) Rob. I understand. Your property shall be vacated at once. Rowell. Not so fast, my dear fellow: hear me out. You are a brave man; you have enlisted in your country's cause. ”