Varley

“ What you say’s all true; you’re better built for the job. So you may do it. And—well, you might as well go to it.”
Varley needed no urging. He lowered himself through the opening, and dropped to the floor of the cellar. The Shark struck another of his precious matches, and held it like a tiny torch to guide the forager. There was draft enough to make it flicker wildly, but the same air currents did Varley a good turn.
ANOTHER OF HIS PRECIOUS MATCHES
He told himself that there was a perceptible freshening of the atmosphere in the old cellar. ”

“ It was evidently useless; nothing more could then be attempted, and Varley drew away from the bed and leant against the window ledge. Had he been of an imaginative temperament, the scene in which he was playing a part would have excited his nerves horribly. Not a sound in the house save the tick, tick, of a large Dutch clock fixed in a corner near the window. Now and then a feeble flame would spring up in the half-filled grate and cast a gaunt shadow across the ceiling. ”

“ Indian camp which had been thus overrun by the wild
mustangs, the turmoil, as may be imagined, was prodigious!
Yet, strange to say, no accident of a serious
nature occurred beyond the loss of several chargers.
In the midst of this exciting scene there was one
heart which beat with a nervous vehemence that well-nigh
burst it. This was the heart of Dick Varley's
horse, Charlie. Well known to him was that distant
rumbling sound that floated on the night air into the
fur-traders' camp, where he was picketed close to
Cameron's tent. ”

“ Warden, handing to his wife a joint letter from Frank Varley and Lord Hardcastle, relating their solemn vow, and placing their services at Mr. Warden’s disposal.
“They are noble young fellows, and worthy of a true-hearted girl’s love. But what can they do? God help us all and teach us how to act for the best, for my brains are nearly worn out with thinking and supposing.” ”

“ I couldn’t find it in my heart to put it behind the fire.
“Ever yours,
“FRANK VARLEY.”
“Poor Varley,” said Lord Hardcastle, when he read this. “He spent his strength for nought, and gave in before the race was half run! And yet who am I that I should pity or blame him? The end alone will show whose life has been best worth living!”
And now the preparations for the journey [163] to France were completed, and one dull misty November afternoon, Mr. Warden and Lord Hardcastle said a long good-bye to the High Elms. ”

“ Tower, in a low, calm voice; “but what do you mean by the ‘lower classes?’ ”
“I mean all mantymakers, and servants, and tradespeople, and everybody that works for a livin’,” quickly responded Mrs. Varley—she was fortified on that point. “I’d have you to know that my family is too rich and high up in the world to have any thing at all to do with them sort of folks, whatever yours may be, Mrs. ”

“ Poverty compelled the family to move from Hackney, and a few years after 1791 they were living in an obscure court off Old Street, City Road, opposite St. Luke's Hospital. Varley drew indefatigably, obtained some employment from a portrait-painter in Holborn, and when about fifteen or sixteen years of age became pupil and assistant of Joseph Charles Barrow, a landscape-painter and drawing-master of 12 Furnival's Court, Holborn, where François Louis Thomas Francia [q. v.] ”

“ CHAPTER III. IT seemed strange, at first, to the good people of Harleyford to see young Lord Hardcastle and the rector’s son daily in close and friendly intercourse, accustomed, as they were, to see each politely ignored by the other, or else spoken of in terms of supercilious contempt. It was certainly a strange sight to see the young men constantly walking side by side in earnest conversation, or else riding to and from each other’s houses. Lord Hardcastle’s weakness had hitherto been near-sightedness whenever Varley had happened [35] to cross his path. ”

“ Warley stepped on a little in advance as they approached the kloof, and Charles came out to meet him.
“How is Frank?” asked Warley in a low tone.
Lavie shook his head. “Nick has found water, but we cannot get any quantity down his throat I have tried everything I can think of, but in vain.”
“I have fallen in with a man who seems to understand the matter, and thinks he can save him.”
“A man—what, here in the Kalahari? What do you mean?” ”

“ Did you kill anything when you fired just now?”
“To be sure we did, Frank,” said Warley. “We’re not given to miss in our part of the world. We’ve brought down as nice a young steinbok as you’d wish to eat. If you’d only find us some water to match, we should be quite set up.”
“Water! why, that is just what we have found. Here has old Lion lighted on a well of water, the most delicious that any fellow ever drank of.” ”

“ Farley straightened out his blankets, jerked off his heavy boots and socks and lay down, his elbow close to Watson's. And so he went to sleep.
Something awoke him; it might have been the moon, shining full in his face. He rolled over upon his side, shifted his wide-brimmed hat to shield his face from the light, and still he did not go back to sleep. He fell restless, uneasy—inexplicably uneasy. Those confounded things Johnny had said last night wouldn't leave him. There was no sound; not a ripple upon the surface of the night's silence save the murmur and trickle of the water. ”

“ The marchesa then came back to Harley, and disappeared with him in the interior of the vessel.
When Harley again came on deck, he seemed much flurried and disturbed. He kept aloof from the duke and Violante, and was the last to enter the boat, that was now lowered into the water.
As he and his companions reached the land, they saw the vessel in movement, gliding slowly down the river. “Courage, Leonard, courage!” murmured Harley. “You grieve, and nobly. But you have shunned the worst and most vulgar deceit in civilized life; you have not simulated love. ”

“ Lady Valeria had her good days and her bad days; and on the bad days she was sunk in an abyss of despair, from which not even some great success in her racing speculations could rouse her. It was in one of these fits of despondency that Sir George Varney made his second proposal of marriage. ”

“ The engineer smiled grimly, but made no comment on the other's rhapsody.
"Aren't you going up for the opening ceremony?" asked the girl, turning to Sanderstead.
"No. The work is done, and that leaves me free for a short time. Now is the opportunity for the ornamental personages, as our friend called them, to take a hand and make speeches. I have been urging Warlingham to go, and almost persuaded him; for he cannot work, so he should not be ashamed to do the ornamental." ”

“ They were both mounted on strong and spirited horses, and being light weights, were enabled to keep the animal in sight for the first mile, in which it usually succeeds in distancing its pursuers.
“Keep on, Ernest,” said Ella, encouragingly, “we shall soon begin to gain upon him. Can you fire from the saddle? If so, you will get a shot before me. My bow will not carry nearly the distance of your rifle.”
“Yes, I can fire pretty steadily from a horse’s back now,” returned Warley, “especially when I am on Sultan, as I call him. I have had a good deal of practice lately.” ”

“ Varrick,—Your letter has just reached me, and oh! I can not tell you how happy your words made me. But, Mr. Varrick, it can not be; we are destined by a fate most cruel, to be nothing to each other. I may as well tell you the truth— I do love you with all my heart. But there is a barrier [Pg 182] between us which can never be bridged over in this world. ”

“ For some reason Warden possessed an enormous influence over the men. His elevation to the sub-managership had been highly popular, and his projected promotion to the post of manager, now filled by Harley, gave them immense satisfaction. He had the instincts of a sportsman and knew how to handle them, and a personality, that was certainly magnetic, did the rest.
Harley had a certain following, but the general feeling towards him was one of contempt. Most men recognized that he was nothing but a self-seeker, and there were few who trusted him. ”

“ Varrell’s first impulse was to let out a yell of triumph that would make the whole dormitory entry ring; his second, to make sure that his triumph was real. There was no question of the identity of the check; he had heard too much about the details of the case to have any doubt on that score. But would not a skilled liar like Bosworth be able to squirm out of even a predicament like this?
The senior turned again to Eddy, who was now leaning upon the table, his head buried in his arms, weeping in great despairing sobs. “I see how it is,” said Varrell, sternly. ”

“ Varlie.
(Laughing reassuringly and sitting a little nearer Loveday.) These queer old curios get me every time. I’ll test a drop of his precious poison on a mangy old dog I have, and if it is as he says, I’ll wash it out and keep eau de cologne in it. The jade is a pretty shape.
Loveday.
Yes, it is. And it is quite a good bit of jade, too. It is worth money. But do be careful with the stuff. I more than half believe what he says.
Varlie.
An old hand like I am at life, don’t run no risks with a bit of jade. I’ve seen too much of the world. ”

“ Harley. What has become of her?"
"He will take care of her for his own sake. Leave her to him!" Warden spoke with a hint of disdain. "She'll get nothing worse than a fright," he said, "possibly not even that—if he gets her to the manager's house in time."
"In time!" she echoed. "In time for what? What is going to happen? What do you mean?"
His hold tightened upon her. "Well," he said, "there's going to be a row. But I'm boss of this show, and I reckon I can deal with it. Only—I'll have you safe first, little new chum. I'm not taking any chances where you are concerned." ”

“ For a moment Farley hesitated between going forward toward the little mountain valley and turning back. Then the thought came to him that he could hope to learn what he sought to know by going forward, quicker than by swinging back toward the southwest. For if the two horses had gone eastward, it would be easier to pick up their trail than upon the path which they had cut up yesterday. If there should be any fresh tracks leading into the Devil's Pocket, that would settle it. ”

“ Andras beckoned Varhely to come to Marsa, who was white as marble, and said softly, with a hand on the shoulder of each of the two friends, who represented to him his whole life—Varhely, the past; Michel Menko, his recovered youth and the future.
“If it were not for that stupid superstition which forbids one to proclaim his happiness, I should tell you how happy I am, very happy. Yes, the happiest of men,” he added. ”

“ The varlet, as he was then called, followed Mr Altham into the shop. Aralet is a contraction of this word. But varlet, at that date, was a term of wide signification, including any type of personal attendant. The varlet of a duke would be a gentleman by birth and education, for gentlemen were not above serving nobles even in very menial positions. People had then, in some respects, “less nonsense about them” than now, and could not see that it was any degradation for one man to hand a plate to another.
Alexandra rose when the varlet made his appearance. ”

“ Sir Francis Varney was silent for a few moments, and then he said, in a tone of deep solemnity,—
"There are ninety-nine persons out of a hundred who would take your life for the independence of your tongue; but I am as the hundredth one, who looks with a benevolent eye at your proceedings. ”

“ What say you, Miss Warley? ask'd his Lordship: you find Lord Darcey supposes it very possible.—Good God! I thought I should have sunk: it was not so much the question, as the manner he express'd it in. I felt as if my face was stuck full of needles: however, I stifled my confusion, and reply'd, I was quite of Lady Powis's opinion.
Well, what say you, Miss Winter?
How I rejoiced! I declare I could hardly contain my joy, when he address'd himself to her.
What say I, my Lord? return'd she; why, truly, I think it must be your own faults, if you are not treated civilly.—The Devil! cry'd he. ”

“ Edwin Barley.
The news had spread; the servants crowded in; some of the women began to shriek. It became one indescribable scene of confusion, exclamations, and alarm. Mr. Edwin Barley turned round, in anger.
"Clear out, all of you!" he said, roughly. "What do you mean by making this uproar? You men can stay in the barn, you may be wanted," he added, to the out-door labourers.
They crowded out at the hall-door; the servants disappeared through the opposite one. Mr. Edwin Barley was one who brooked no delay in being obeyed. Miss Delves remained, and she drew near. ”

“ Lady R— was very much dispirited, and said to me, “Valerie, I have a presentiment that we never shall meet again, and yet I am anything but superstitious. I can truly say that you are the only person to whom I have felt real attachment since my youth, and I feel more than I can describe. Something whispers to me, ‘Do not go to France,’ and yet something impels me to go. Valerie, if I do come back I trust that you will consider my house your home, if at any time you cannot place yourself more to your satisfaction ”

“ For a moment of utter astonishment Worley stood still, gazing toward the stuff. A gray, glistening mass, it was pouring slowly and smoothly up over the wall's edge, from the sea beneath, flowing steadily up onto the surface of the park and adding to the great, gleaming mass of the stuff that lay already all around that park's sea-edge! The thing was unprecedented; it was incredible, and for a moment that seemed unending to Worley, he stared toward those shining, gathering jelly-like masses that were flowing and flexing and writhing a few feet before him. ”