xt7q833mwv09 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7q833mwv09/data/mets.xml Lawrence, George A. (George Alfred), 1827-1876. 1859  books b92-204-30752626 English Harper, : New York : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Sword and gown  : a novel / by the author of "Guy Livingstone". text Sword and gown  : a novel / by the author of "Guy Livingstone". 1859 2002 true xt7q833mwv09 section xt7q833mwv09 


SWORD AND GOWN.






         a Novdl.






       BY THE AUTHOR OF



"GUY



LI VI N GS TONE."



      NEW YORK:
HARPER  BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,
       FRANKLIN SQUARE.
         1859.

 This page in the original text is blank.


 



SWORD AND GOWN.



               CHAPTER I.
  "THERE is something in this climate, after
all. I suppose there are not many places where
one could lie on the shore in December, and en-
jov the air as much as I have done for the last
two hours."
  Harry Molyneux turned his face seaward
again as he spoke, and drank in the soft breeze
eagerly; he could scarcely help thanking it
aloud, as it stole freshly over his frame, and
played gently with his hair, and left a delicate
caress on his cheek-the cheek that was now al-
ways so pale, save in the one round scarlet spot
where, months ago, Consumption had hung out
her flag of "I No surrender."
  There is enough in the scene to justify an av-
erage amount of enthusiasm. Those steep broken
hills in the background form the frontier fortress
of the maritime Alps, the last outwork of which
is the rocky spur on which Molyneux and his
companion are lying. Fir woods feather the
sky-line; and from among these, here and there,
the tall stone pines stand up alone, like sentinels
-steady, upright, and unwearied, though their
guard h1as not been relieved for centuries. All
around, wild myrtle, and heath, and eglantine
curl and creep up the stems of the olives, trying,
from the contact of their fresh youth, to infuse
new life and sap into the gray, gnarled old trees,
even as a fair Jewish maiden once strove to
cherish her war-worn, decrepit king. There are
other flowers too left, though December has be-
gun, enough to give a faint fragrance to the air
and gay colors to the ground. Just below their
feet is a narrow strip of dark ribbed sand, and
then the tangle of weed, scarcely stirred by the
water, that all along this coast fringes like a
beard the languid lip of the Mediterranean Sea.
  -Molyneux appreciated and admired all this,
after his simple fashion, and said so; his com-
panion did not answer immediately; he only
shrugged his shoulders and lifted his eyebrows,
as if he could have disputed the point if it had
not been too much trouble. An optimist in
nothing, least of all was Royston Keene grate-
ful or indulgent to the beauties and bounties of
inanimate creation.
  "AAh well !" Harry went on, resignedly, "I
know it's useless trying to get a compliment to
Nature out of you. I ought to have given you
lip that night when we showed you the Alps
from the terrace at Berne. You had never seen
the Jungfrau before, and she had got her pret-
tiest pink evening dress on, poor thing! and all
YoU would say was, ' There's not much the mat-
ter with the view."'
  " It was a concession to your wife's enthusi-
asm," Keene replied; "a sudden cheek might



have been dangerous just then, or I should have
spoken more bitterly, after being brought out to
look at mountains, when I was dusty and travel-
stained, wanting baths, and dinners, and other
necessaries of life."
  The voice was deep-toned and melodious
enough that spoke these words, but too slow and
deliberate to be quite a pleasant one, though
there was nothing like a drawl in it. One could
easily fancy such a voice ironical or sarcastic,
but hardly raised much in auger; in the imper-
ative mood it might be very successful, but it
seemed as if it could never have pleaded or pray-
ed. It matched the speaker's exterior singular-
ly well. Had you seen him for the first time-
couchant, as he was then-you would have had
only an impression of great length and laziness;
but as you gazed on, the vast deep chest expand-
ed under your eye; the knotted muscles, with-
out an ounce of superfluous flesh to dull their
outline, developed themselves one by one; so
that gradually you began to realize the extent
of his surpassing bodily powers, and wondered
that you could have been deceived even for a
moment. The face guarded its secret far more
successfully. The features were bold and sharp-
ly cut, bronzed up to the roots of the crisp light.
brown beard and hair, except where the upper
brow retained its original fairness-presenting a
startling contrast, like a wreath of snow lving
late in spring-time high up on the side of a black
fell. You would hardly say that they were de-
void of expression, any more than that a perfect-
ly drilled soldier is incapable of activity; but
you got puzzled in making out what their nat-
ural expression was: it was not sternness, far
less ferocity-the face was much too impassible
for either; and yet its listlessness could never be
mistaken for languor. The thin short lips might
be very pitiless when compressed, very con-
temptuous and provocative when curling; but
the enormous mustache, sweeping over them like
a wave, and ending in a clean stiff upward curve,
made even this a matter of mere conjecture.
The cold, steady, dark eyes seldom flashed or
glittered; but, when their pupils contracted,
there came into them a sort of sullen, suppress-
ed, inward light, like that of jet or cannel coal.
One curious thing about them was, that they
never seemed to care about following you, and
yet you felt you could not escape from them.
The first hand-gripe, however, settled the ques-
tion with most people: few, after experiencing
the involuntary pressure, when he did not in the
least mean to be cordial, doubted that there
were passions in Royston Keene-difficult per-
haps to rouse, but yet more difficult to appease
or subdue.
  His profession was evident. Indeed, it must


 

SWORD AND GOWN.



be confessed that the dragoon is not easily dis-
sembled. I know a very meritorious parish-
priest, of fair repute too as a preacher, who has
striven for years, hard but unavailingly, to divest
himself of the martial air he brought with him
out of the K.D.G. He strides down the village
street with a certain swagger and roll, as if the
steel scabbard were still trailing at his heel, ac-
knowledging rustic bows with a slight quick mo-
tion of the finger, like troopers' salutes; on the
smooth shaven face is shadowed forth the outline
of a beard, nurtured and trimmed in old days
with more than horticultural science; in the pul-
pit and reading-desk gown and surplice hang un-
easily, like a disguise, on the erect soldierly fig-
ure, and the effect of his ministrations is thereby
sadly marred; for apposite text, earnest exhorta-
tion, and grave rebuke flow with a curious in-
consistency from the lips of that well-meaning
but unmitigated Plunger.
  Rovston Keene was no exception to this rule,
though he did not like to be told so, and rather
ignored the profession than otherwise. Perhaps
he had begun it early enough to have got tired
of it; for he had now been for some time on half-
pay, and a brevet-major, after doing good service
in the Indian wars, and was not yet thirty-four.
.Molhneux had served in the same light cavalry
regiment as his subaltern, and there the founda-
tion was laid of their close alliance. It was not
a very fair or well-balanced one, being made up
of implicit obedience, reliance, and reverence on
the one side, and a sort of protecting condescen-
sion on the other-much like the old Roman re-
lation between Client and Patron; nevertheless
it had outlasted many more sympathetic and
better-looking friendships.
  They used to say of " The Cool Captain"' (so
he was always called off parade), that " he could
bring a boy to his bearings sooner than any man
in the army." Yet he was a favorite with them
all. There was a regular ovation among those
"I Godless horsemen" whenever he came into the
Club, or into their mess-rooms; they hung upon
his simplest words with a touchingly devout atten-
tion, and thought it was their own stupidity when
they could see nothing in them to laugh at or ad-
mire; they wrote off all that they could remem-
ber of his sarcasms and repartees-generally
strangely travestied and spoiled by carriage-to
unlucky comrades, martyrized on far-off detach-
ments, or vegetating with friends in the country;
the more ambitious, after much private practice,
strove to imitate his way of twisting his mustache
as he stood before the fire, though with some, to
whom nature had been niggard of hirsute honors,
it was grasping a shadow and fighting with the air.
  Certainly Molyneux never was so happy as in
that society. Fond as he was of his pretty wife,
her influence was as nothing in the scale. She
complained of this, half in earnest, soon after
they were married. The fever of post-nuptial
felicity was strong upon Harry just then, but he
did not attempt to deny the imputation. He
only said, " My pet, I have known him so much
the longest !" I wonder, now, how many brides
would have admitted that somewhat unsatisfac-
tory and illogical excuse Fanny Molyneux
did; she was the best -natured little woman
alive, and wise, too, in her generation, for she
never brought matters to a crisis, or measured
her strength against the " heavy-weight. "



  Indeed, they got on together extremely well.
Whenever Keene happened to be with them-
which was not often-she gave up the manage-
ment of Harry's Foreign Affairs to him, reserv-
ing to herself the control of the Home Depart-
ment, and, between the two, they ruled their
vassal right royally. After some months' ac-
quaintance they became the greatest friends;
on Royston's side it was one of the few quite
pure and unselfish feelings he had ever cherish-
ed toward one of her sex not nearly akin to him
in blood. He always seemed to look on her as
a very nice, but rather spoiled child, to be hu-
mored and petted to any amount, but very sel-
dom to be reasoned with or gravely consulted.
Considering her numerous fascinations, and the
little practice he had had in the paternal or fra-
ternal line, he really did it remarkably well: be
it understood, it was only en petite comiti that
all this went on; in general society his manner
was strictly formal and deferential. It provoked
her though, sometimes, and one day she ven-
tured to say, "I wish you would learn to treat
me like a grown-up woman!" Royston's eyes
darkened strangely; and one glance flashed out
of the gloom that made her shrink away from
him then, and blush painfully  hen she thought
of it afterward alone. Ile was frowning, too, as
he answe:ed, in a voice unusually harsh and
constrained, "It seems to me we go on very
well as it is. But women never will leave well
alone."  She did not like to analyze his answer
or her own feelings too closely, so she tried to
persuade herself it was a very rude speech, and
that she ought to be offended at it. There was
a coolness between those two for some days,
amounting to distant courtesy. But the digni-
fied style did not suit 7na inignonne (as Harry de-
lighted to call her) at all, and was, indeed, a
lamentable failure; it made her look as if she
had been trying on one of her great-grandmoth-
er's short-waisted dresses; so they soon fell back
into their old ways, and, like the model prince
and princess, "lived very happily ever after-
ward."


               CHAPTER II.
  KEExE bad spent some time with the Moly-
neuxs during the autumn and winter, and had
conducted himself so far with perfect propriety,
certainly keeping Harry straighter than he would
have gone alone; for he was, unluckily, of a
convivial turn of mind wholly incompatible with
delicate health and a frail constitution. Being
a favorite with the world in general, he felt
bound, I suppose, to reciprocate, so, albeit strict-
ly enjoined to keep the earliest hours, he would
sit up till dawn if any one encouraged him, and
then come home, perfectly sober perhaps, but
staggering from mere weakness. He did not
care for deep drinking in the least, but the num-
ber of magnums he had assisted in flooring,
when on a regimen of " three glasses of sherry,"
would have made a double row of nails round
the coffin of a larger man. Nature, however,
being a Dame, won't stand being slighted, or
having her admonitions disregarded, and the
way she asserted herself on the morrow was re-
tributive in the extreme. Harry was always s0
very ill after one of those nights " upon the war-



4

 

SWVORD AND GOWN.



5



path." On such occasions, his feelings, without as one of them observed, retreating from the
laeing quite remorseful, were beautifully and cu- barracks moneyless but gratified, "I Mr. Moly-
riously penitent; they manifested themselves neux seems to Jfel for one, at all events." S'o
chiefly by an extraordinary ebullition of the do- lie did. Ile sympathized with his tailor, not in
inestic affections. "Bring me my children" (lie the least because he owed him money, but be-
had two tiny ones), lie woil(l cry on waking, 'cause he was a fellow-creature in difficulties, re-
just as another man would call for brandy and gretting heartily it was not in his own power to
soda; and, strange to say, the presence of those relieve them; just as a very charitable but im-
innocents seemed to have a similarly invigorat- provident person might feel on reading a ease
ing and refreshing effect: during all that day of real distress in the Timnes. Strange to say.
lie would make pilgrimages to their cribs, and hitherto he had always pulled through. Either
gaze upon them sleeping with the reverence of the outsider did win, or the aunt, touched in the
an old dvote kneeling before the shrine of her 'soft place of her heart through her ruffled feath-
most efficacious saint. Then he would go forth, ers, was brought down by a "wild shot," when
and return with a present for his wife. bearing considered quite out of distance, and " parted"
an exact proportion in value to the extent and freely.
duration of the past misdemeanor; so that her  The last and hardest trial of all-long debility
jewel-case and writing-table soon became as and frequent illness-had failed to shake this in-
prettily suggestive as the votive chapel of No5tre tense serenity. lie was never cross or unreason-
Dame des Dunes. Very unnecessary were these able, and tried to give as little trouble as pos-
peace-offerings; for that dear little woman never sible; but was grateful to a degree for every
dreamt of "hitting him when lie was down," or thing that was done for him: he could even
taking any other low advantage of his weakness. manage to thank people for their advice, wheth-
She would make his breakfast beamingly at all er he took it not. So far its one could make out.
untimely hours, and otherwise pet and caress lie was nearly as much interested in the state of
him, so that he might have been a knight re- his own health, as one would be about that of
turning wounded from some Holy War, instead' any pleasant casual acquaintance.
of a discomfited scalp-hunter, bearing still evi-  It must be confessed, that poor Harry and his
dent traces of the "war-paint."  A stern old like are by no means strong-minded, or large-
lady told her once that such condonation of of- brained, or persevering men; they seldom  or
fenses was unprincipled and immoral. It mav never rise to eminence, and rarely have greatness
be so, but I can not think the example is likely thrust upon them. They do not often volunteer
to be dangerously contagious.  Whatever hap- to lead the vanguard of any great movement,
pens, there will always remain a sufficiency of shouting out on the slightest provocation the
matronly Dicaearchs, over whose judgment- war-cry of "life is earnest;" for they are the
seats the legend is very plainly inscribed, Nescia natural subalterns of the world's mighty battalia,
flecti.                                         and could hardly manmuvre one of its companies,
  These Ember days formed the only exceptions i without hopelessly entangling it, and exposing
to the remarkably easy way in which Molvneux themselves: indeed, if they are useful at all in
took every thing; there seemed to be no rough their generation, it is in a singularly modest and
places about his disposition for trouble or care to I unobtrusive way. Yet there is an attraction
take hold of. Hunting four days a week through !about them, a power of attachment, that the
the winter; six weeks in town during the sea- great and wise ones of the earth have appreciated
son, with incidentals of Epsom, Goodwood, sau- and envied, ere now. It is curious, too, to see
mon ak la Traftiyar, bouquets, and opera-stalls; what an apparent contradiction to themselves
living all the rest of the year at a mess curious the extremes of the class-those who exaggerate
as to the quality of its dry Champagne-these nonchalance into insensibility, and softness int(
simple pleasures involve a certain expenditure effeminacy-have shown, when brought face to
hardly " fairly warranted by our regimental rate face with imminent peril or certain destruction.
of pay." To accomplish all this on about pound;500 France held few more terrible ferrailleurs than
a year, and yet to steer-clear of ruin, is an in- the curled painted minions of her third Henry:
genious process doubtless, but a sum not to be the sun never looked down on a more desperate
wrought out (most soldiers will tell you) without duel than that in which Quelus, Schomberg, and
some anxiety and travail of mind. Now, in the Maugiron did their de'oir manfully to the last.
very tightest state of the money-market, Harry Nay, though lie came delicately to his doom, the
was never known to disquiet himself in vain. King of Amalek met it, I fancy, gallantly and
Ile would not borrow from any of his comrades, gracefully enough, when once he read his sen-
refusing all such proffers of assistance gratefully tence in the eyes of the pitiless Seer, who ordain-
hut consistently. No Mussulman ever equaled ed that he " should be hewn in pieces before the
his contented reliance on the resources of futuri- Lord in Gilgal."
ty, and his implicit belief in the same. He                        R. I. P.
would anchor his hopes on some such improba-  There was silence for some minutes after the
bility as "a long shot coming off," or "his few words that opened this story; and then Roy-
Aunt Agnes. coming down" (a proverbially aw- ston Keene spoke again.
fll widow, who had forgiven him seven times,  "Hal, do you remember that miserable im-
already; and, after each fresh offense, had postor in Paris being enthusiastic about Dorade
sworn unrelenting enmity to him and his heirs and its advantages, describing it as a sort of hap-
forever). Strong in this faith, he met condoling! py hunting-ground, and so deciding us on choos.
friends with a pleasant, reassuring smile: with ' ing it in preference to Nice "
the same demeanor he confronted threatening  " Ah ! he did drivel a good deal. I think he
creditors. He used no arts, and condescended had been drinking," the other answered.
to no subterfuge in dealing with these last; but,   "No; I understand him now. Ile had been


 



bored here into a sullen, vicious misanthropy; minority, careful guardians, leases falling in,
and he wanted to take it out of the human race mother one of the best Christians in England
by getting others in the same mess. It's just like and all that sort of thing. Well, Tom Cary
that jealous old Heathfield, who, when he is up took him in hand, and brought him Out in great
to his girths in a squire-trap, never halloos "'ware form before long. They were talking over their
bog,' till five or six more are in it. I can fancy preparations for the moors, for they were going
the hoary-headed villain gloating hideously over to start the next day.  'I believe that's all,'
us now. I wish I had him here. I could be so Margate asked, ' or have we forgotten any thing'
unkind to him! He talked about the shooting 'Wait a minute,' said Tom, and reflected (provi-
and the society. Bah! there's about one cock dent man, Tom; fond of his comforts, and proud
to every thousand acres of forest; and as for of it)-'Ah! I thought there was something.
women fair to look upon, I've not flushed one You haven't proposed to The Tresilyan.' They
since we came. I don't think I can stand it say Margate's face was a study. He never dis-
much longer."                                  puted the orders of his private trainer, so he only
  "I am very sorry," Harry said; " I knew you said, piteously, ' But I don't want to marry any
were being bored to death, and it's all on my ac- one,' and looked as if he was going to cry. 'You
count; but I didn't like to ask you about it. I'm  are "ower young,"' Cary said, encouragingly,
so horribly selfish !" The shadow of an immi- 'and it's about the last thing I should press upon
nent penitence began to steal over him, when you. It wouldn't suit my book at all. But I
Royston broke in-                              don't see how that affects the question. I can
  "Don't be childish. I liked to stay-never lay ten ponies to one she won't have you. It's
mind why-or I should not have done so. Only the thing to do, depend upon it. All the other
now-you are getting better, and I realize the good men have had a turn, and you have no
situation more. I hardly know where to go. right to be singular; it's bad taste. Rank has
Not back to England, certainly, yet. Besides its duties, my lord. Noblesse oblige, and so forth.
the nuisance and chance work of picking up a You understand' Margate didn't in the least,
stud in the middle of the season, it isn't pleasant but he went and proposed quite properly, and
to be consoled for a blank day by, 'you should was rejected rather more decidedly than his fel-
have been here last month. Never was such lows. Then he went down into Perthshire, and
scent; and heaps of straight-running foxes!' missed his grouse, and lost his salmon, with a
And then they indulge themselves in an imag- comfortable consciousness of having discharged
inative 'cracker,' knowing you can't contradict his obligations to society."
them. Shall I go to Albania I should like    Royston Keene actually groaned, "Why didn't
to kill something before I turn homeward."  she come sooner " he said. " What a luxury,
  Harry seemed musing.    Suddenly he half in this God-forgotten place, to talk to a clever
started up, clapping his hands. " I knew I had handsome woman, who tramples on strawberry-
forgotten !"                                   leaves !"
  " Not such a singular circumstance as to war-  " Perhaps she would have come if she had
rant all that indecent exultation," was the re- known how much we wanted her," replied Harry.
ply. "Well, out with it."                      " They say she is a model of charity, and sever-
  "I never told you that Fan had a letter this al other virtues too. She is coming here for the
morning from Cecil Tresilvan (they're immense health of some companion, or govcrness, who
friends, you know) to ask her to engage rooms lives with her. Yet she flirts outrageously at
for them. They are in Paris now, and will be times, in her own imperial way. Better late
here in three days."                           than never. I'm certain you'll like her, and
  Keene raised himself on his arm, regarding perhaps she'll like you."
his comrade with a sort of admiration. " You're  " Qui viv'ra verra," Keene said, rising slowly.
a natural curiosity, mon cher. None of us ever " Let us go home now. Draw your plaid closer
quite appreciated you. I don't believe there's round you, it's getting chilly."
another man in existence, situated as we are,
who would have kept that intelligence at the
back of his head so long. The Tresilyan, of
course  I remember hearing about her in In-                  CHAPTE
dia. Annesley came back from sick leave per-                            R III.
fectly insane on the subject. She must be some-  THERE is a terrace in Dorade, fenced in from
thing extraordinary, for the recollection of her every wind that blows, except the south, and
made even him poetical-when he was sober. even that has to creep cautiously and cunningly
I asked about her when I got to England, but round a sharp corner to make its entrance good.
her mother was taken very ill, or did something Four small stunted palms grow there; they look
equally unjustifiable, so she left town before I painfully out of place, and conscious of it; for
saw her."                                      they are always bowing their heads in a meek
  - "The mother really was ill," Molyneux said, humiliation, and shiver in a strange unhealthy
apologetically; " at least she died soon after way at the slightest breeze, just as you may see
that. Miss Tresilyan has never shown much Asiatics doing in our "land of mist and snow."
since. But you've no idea of the sensation she But the natives regard those unhappy exotics
made during her season and a half. They call- with a fanatical pride, pointing them out to all
ed her The Refuser, she had such a fabulous comers as living witnesses to the perfection of the
number of offers, and would'nt look at any of climate; they would gladly stone any irreverent
them.   Bv-the-bv, there's rather a good story stranger who should suggest a comparison be-
about that. You know Margate He's going tween their sacred shrubs and the giants of In-
to the bad very fast now, but he was the crack  dian seas. The only inhabitant of the place who
puppy of that year's entry; good-looking, long ever attained any eminence any where (he real-



6



SWORD AND GOWN.

 

SWORD AND GOWN.



ly was a good tailor), bequeathed a certain sum
for the beautifying of the renowned allee, instead
of endowing charitable institutions, and his
townsmen endorsed the act by erecting a little
mural tablet to commemorate his public spirit.
  The view is rather pretty, stretching over
vineyards, and gardens, and olive-grounds down
to the shore, with the islands in the far fore-
ground rearing themselves against the sky, clear
and blue, or if the weather is misty to seaward,
sleeping in an aureole of golden haze, so that
the whole effect would be cheerful if it were not
for the melancholy invalids who haunt the spot
perpetually. Faces and figures are to be seen
sometimes that would send an uncomfortable
shiver of revulsion through you if vou met them
on the Boulevard des Italiens, strengthened by
your ante-prandian absinthe.  Here, the place
belonged to them so completely, that a man in
rude health felt like an unwarrantable intruder,
in which light I am sure the hypochondriacs al-
ways regarded him. As such a one passed, you
might see a glare, half-envious, half-resentful,
light up some hollow eyes, and thin parched lips
worked nervously, as though they were uttering
a very equivocal blessing.
  Does the character gain much by the exterm-
ination of miore impulsive passions, when their
place is possessed by the two devils that neither
age nor sickness can exorcise -Avarice and
Envy   It is with this last, perhaps, that we
have most to do; and the shadow of it, however
indistinct and distant, makes the landscape near
the horizon look somewhat dreary. The nature
of many of us is so faulty and ill regulated, that
it may be doubted if even advancing years will
make us much better or wiser; but, when winter
shall have closed in, and our hot blood is more
than cool, is there no chance of an " open sea-
son " Must it come to this-that the mere sight
of the youth, and strength, and beauty that have
left us far behind shall stir our bile, as though
it were an insolent parade-that the choicest del-
icacies at out neighbor's wedding-breakfast shall
not pique our palate like the baked meats at his
funeral  Not so; if we must give ground let us
retreat in good order, leaving no shield behind
us that our enemy may build into his trophy.
If we arc rash enough to assail Lady Violet Va-
vasour with petitions for a waltz, and see her
look doubtfully down her scribbled tablets, till
the " sweetest lips that ever were kissed" can
find no gentler answer than the terrible "En-
gaged," let us not gnash suicidally our few re-
maining teeth, even though Brabazon Leslie-
all the handsomer for the sear on his smooth
forehead-should come up upon our traces, and
ride roughshod over those hieroglyphics, as he
(lid at Balaclava through Russian squadrons.
Rather let us try to sympathize with his triumph,
while he carries off his beautiful prize from un-
der the enemy's guns, as Dundonald may have
cut out a frigate beneath the batteries of Vera
Cruz. Non onmia corripit cvurm. Hath the sa-
vor departed wholly from the Gascon wine, be-
cause the name of no living love crowns the
draught Shall we stay sullenly at home when
all the world is flocking to the tournament, be-
cause our limbs have stiffened so that we may no
longer sit saddlefast, and hold our own in the
mWke   A corner in the cushioned gallery is left
to us still. Come, comrade of mine-nate mecurn



Consule Manlio-we will go up and lounge there
among the Chatelaines: some may be' found
good-natured enough to listen (in the pauses of
the tilting), while we tell how, not so many years
back, plume and pennon went down before our
lance.
  I place no great reliance on the Pleasures of
Memory. But, if pearls and bright shells be
rarely found there, surely waifs, better than echini
and sting-rays, are to be gathered on the '" shores
of long ago." Ah, cynic! you are strong enough
to be merciful-just this once. Spare us the
string of examples that would overwhelm us ut-
terly. Does it not suffice that we confess the
truth of that saddest adage, tolled in our ears by
every passing bell,
      Those whom the gods love weu die young
  Royston and his companion were crossing the
terrace on their way home when the former stop-
ped suddenly.
  "Go on, Hal," hie said; "it is too late for
you to be standing about, lint I must speak to
that poor Chateaumesnil. I shall see you at din-
ner."  He went up to a wheeled chair that was
being drawn by at the time.
  Its occupant was a man of large frame, as far
-as could be made out through the thick wrap-
pings of furs; his head was bent forward and
low, resting on his hands, that were crossed on
a crutch-handle. He appeared profoundly un-
conscious of all that was passing, and never
moved till Keene addressed him. Then, very
slowly, he lifted up his face. Few of us, fortu-
nately for those who have strong imaginations
and weak nerves, see its like twice in a lifetime,
or there would be wild work in dreamland.
  It was not distorted in any way, nor deformed,
except by a ghastly livid pallor; gaunt and drawn
as the features were, they still bore evident traces
of a rare manly beauty that even the neglected
beard of iron-gray could not conceal. But it
was the savage face of one who has wrestled with
physical pain till it has assumed almost the visi-
ble and tangible shape of a personal enemv-a
mocking devil, that always is ready, with fresh
ingenuity of torture, to answer and punish the
rebellious question, " Art thou come to torment
me before my time" The lines on the forehead
were so strongly marked and dreadfully distinct,
that, like the markings of the locust, they seemed
to form characters that might be read, if it were
given to mortal cabalists to decipher the hand-
writing of God.
   Look once more: it is worth while, if you are
curious in contrasts and comparisons. Five years
ago that bowed, blasted cripple was the most
reckless dare-devil, the most splendid Paladin, in
all the army of Algiers; the man for whom, aft-
er an unusually brilliant exploit, St. Arnaud,
loving him as his own right hand, could find no
higher praise than to write in his dispatches,
"Les 3"   Chasseurs se sont conduts en hros;
leur chef-descadron en-C(Uiteawwesnil."  And
it was true that the annals of his house could
boast of no nobler soldier, though they had been
fighting hard since Clovis's day. His name is
known very well in Africa. The spahis talk of
it still over their watch-fires, and the wild Pe-
donins load it with guttural curses-their lips
white with hatred and remembered fear: they
do not forget how far and fAst they fled into their



7

 

SWORD AND GOWN.



desert strong-holds, and never could shake off the
light cloud of whirling dust that told how Ar-
mand and his stanch gaze-hounds were hard
upon their trail.
  Rheumatic fever, coming close on a severe
bullet wound, had brought him very near to
death; and the first thing he heard when he