The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-04-11 00:00:00

LALL nrairrs RESERVED.j
STRIVE AND THRIVE.

CHAPTER VIII.
I,rz "TEM DOG MARFS A DICOVERY.
MINK had awaited with unspeakable
wa
etY the result of Mrs. Mallows' mission, and his
IV s very great when he heard of its successful
' ~,c knew that he had taken a bold step, but he
,'"ed not to see its enormity; and being dazzled by
, t:e'sPective wealth, he gave his whole mind to the
c_eass by which he might make certain of its pro-
-I,".,eraent, and at the same time cover up the evidence
euas crime.
esThe agent whom he had so hastily selected to
i;‘jecute his plans was perhaps as suitable a one as
4 could have hoped, under any circumstances, to
seaill• She was a shrewd, avaricious woman, a
sastress by occupation, who had been very fre-
(tl,Uctitly employed in his family, and whose peculiari-
el6 of character had thus become well known to him.
t
hac had been a servant girl many years before, but
h vilag saved some money, at the age of thirty she I
:I'll naarried a labouring man, ten years her senior,
she had set up in trade in a small way in fancy
Vus• But the profits of their store, together with
z labours, had barely supported them and their only
C-110„..11, a daughter now about ten years old; for Mal-
lv Soon after abandoning his healthful out-door
tac'tk for the confinement of the shop, became a sickly
Della ; and while their business languished, their ex-
Nes increased. Fearful of being compelled to re-
toC her former station, Mrs. Mallows became
411 red in temper as she advanced in years, railing
alilaell all who were above her in life, and mere especi-
Y, Upon such as had the reputation of goodness.
.tait with all her demerits, Judith Mallows had a
o'tural capacity to please; and if her character was
:te of very opposite phases, she possessed the tact
4,l±,ich enabled her generally to discern her associates,
"',to judge which side would best suit them.
kiin,,tus she had freely boasted before Mr. and Mrs.
of certain "cute" tricks which she would not
thve Mentioned to more scrupulous people, and by
I.es„e means Eben had become sufficiently acquainted
:1111 her lack of principle to be able to trust her with
e,beraplicity in his villainy.
Itstut there was another reason for his choice.
was an Englishman, and had long been
t,;4lous to obtain the means to return to his own
o'llutry, and here was an opportunity for Eben at
hlia,ec, to secure an agent for his crime, and thus pro-
to get rid of her presence for ever.
Vet Eben trusted Judith Mallows no further than
' Was compelled. She knew, or professed to know,
h
zlot•.
b„ mg of his object in obtaining the child, which was
be left in her possession; and as a considerable
It,'rlY stipend was to ensure her residing abroad and
k"-Ping the secret—of which she knew but a part,
land the divulging of which would convict herself of a
ei:°llY—Mr. Mink believed himself entirely safe from
'aer treachery or indiscretion on her part.
1e found but little difficulty in raising money on
Iro new expectations; yet some days were required
kra this purpose, and a still longer time to enable the
Lliows to make arrangements for disposing of their
gliness and leaving the country. During this period
01th remained the custodian of the baby, which was
in close seclusion.
wre Mallows, meanwhile, between excess of joy and
tfA-lacier, was in a somewhat bewildered state of mind.
of could scarcely believe that his long-cherished dream
ta returning home was to be realised, and, as to the
Bearls of its accomplishment, his perplexity was un-
r'abkably great.
wife was not accustomed to making him her
h°B'uclant, and she satisfied his scruples (for Joe had
ga,seruples) by a plausible story about the infant,
" a plan to save some wealthy family from dis-
trase.
p! you're a clever woman, Judy," said he; "I always
itted that. How much did you get in hand for
babby there ?,,
hn,The, wife took out a purse from her pocket, and,
to--"`ung a small roll of bills to her husband, told him
count it.
prEte laughed when he had done so, and said that was
t_ttY well for a beginning.
'eeveral days passed by. Mrs. Mallows, by diligent
p',.,„_,°rta had found a purchaser for her little stock of
-4iusus, and under the advice of Mink, whom she
lei",ed daily to consult, she engaged a passage for her-
and family to Liverpool in a vessel soon to sail.
Poor little Arthur Sibbald remained in her charge,
tt
dah" so changed in appearance that there was no
sCger of his being readily recognised, even if he
sia°1111(1 be seen by any of his friends. His fine dress
kt. ornaments had been exchanged for plain, ill-
clothes, not kept over-clean, and his fat,
gr""bY face had been sUffered to acquire a gradually
-ng disguise of dirt.
ist:ll,4,ittle Mary Mallows, who would most gladly have
th,V`cved the little stranger's condition, was denied
Privilege, much to her surprise, for her mother
always been noted for her regard for cleanliness.
ic:4„lae's well enough," Judith would say;: "and
e too much to do to be wasting time on him."
ancTlie daughter assisted at times in tending the shop,
Iv_ occasionally, when both her parents were out, she
sh'se waited to bring the baby down with her, while
_ on a customer. Being deposited upon the
/door, the creeping
Child would sometimes make its
:way to the door,
and, with sadly besmeared face, look
la_
_ughingly out upon the passers in the streea. One
!,.tternoon, while Mary was busy behind the counter
little Arthur hurried to gain his coveted position in
te °Pea doorway, where he remained for a long time
ot
„ all -fours, crowing and " gu-gu "-ing with delight, at
the strange sights which met his gaze. Mary was too
door at
pay much heed to him, but a noise at the
iror at last attracted her attention, and on looking
tktlot she was astonished to see that a very large dog had
Ft
in front of the baby, where it was performing
i-rjaY playful antics, now thrusting its huge nose
,Zost into the infant's face, and then bounding away
litlY. to return instantly, caracoling, to the side of
' e Arthur, who seemed not at all frightened at his
~,,nge playfellow.
hei",ue dog was our old acquaintance Carl, and close
at;l.llad him Mr. Belmont was coming down the
tkieet, followed by Hugh. The discerning brute had
.011-estionably recognised the child, and when
haci'fard came up, Carl was still stationed directly
Fa
king with
the baby, wagging his tail exultingly and
a -,Zing with very expressive eyes, now at the infant,
IZ- now at his approaching master, as if to ensure a
egnition of his pet.
S
sto urprised at the conduct of the animal, Ilow-ard
ties_PPed and spoke to him, eliciting new demonstra-
RC4 Of delight, in the most extravagant feats of
b,.ll:l4lbolling, which threatened momentarily to roll the
ha Y headlong into the street, but still left him un-
s6rllled. Little Mary had by this time come up, and
instantly took the child in her arms; but before
s'e could retreat with it Hugh exclaimed loudly:
'Sure, and it's the babby that was drownded I"
"Do you think so ?" said Howard, startled ay this
"vitition of the dog's mysterious conduct.
Yis 1 I mind its big eyes and its little nose, and
not any hurt the wather would be doin' it now,
h:4 thinking. Ah, Carl, Carl, it's a shmart dog you
`e. intirely, and it's a picter ye desarve, sure."
t4:l4ittle Mary stood a moment, wonderingly listening
j,vhat was said; but then remembering the care with
sb'sieh her mother had kept the strange baby from
ili, ervation, she ran in with it, quite heedless of the
stoe6lions Mr. Belmont had begun to ask, nor did she
ovill until she had carried the child up-stairs into the
' sselliu. g part of the house.
. heiring no one else whom he could question, and not
1
- , elliir Particularly anxious to proclaim himself the
;1,13 preserver, Howard, after glancing at the number,
ty Te door, passed on, more interested at the moment
' litlttlt'e sagacity displayed by his dog than by any other
11,,5e of the incident.
haeen Judith Mallows came home and learned what
katataken. place, she was greatly alarmed, and went
to is,lltly to Mr. Mink's house to communicate the facts
Le'illa, and warn him of the danger she believed to
g!aPending.
, fitaivela who knew all the circumstances connected
0,
the,. s"e case far better than his agent, saw plainly
Was but little cause for apprehension. He was
tlaa,-",„uent there was no suspicion excited in any
ttra"er in relation to the child. The Sibbalds were
tll:l,gerB to the Walworths ; and while there was no
1144,,' Lo the fraud which even an astute and vigilant
ls,:''' 4light have seized upon there was certainly none
kip enough to arouse the attention of the indolent
NI apathetic Tom Sibbald. Yet Mink resolved to
tlaltllo risks, and he proceeded to put into execution
4.4(1-,gight a plan which he had already concocted,
the completion of which he had only been
Ls_ , 74sUalt the remit:lt of .the necessary funds.

b‘,,

- CHAPTER IX.
A BARGAIN.

Nte I‘TINTIC was always a well-dressed man, often
)1134, °'e,gant in his apparel; but on that evening he
some striking changes in his costume. With-
C°roughly disguising himself, for he was going
thlllarter of the city where he was not known, he
,14k bi-anged his taut ensemble that no stranger, see-
for the first time, would ever recognise him
kijards.
,qteti: emigrant boarding-house" in one of the river
a large building, populous with newly-arrived
e 1 Of all languages, was the stage upon which he
tie-,,Ts first appearance in his new character.
,Aliowa-s 80 accustomed to duplicity in his ordinary
;4, Cs, that he did not find himself at all awkward
,'4oss assll‘,. med garb and manner, which were more
-mett:r,"' a rustic than of a lifelong resident of the
I,4tiektka Was a good judge of the human countenance,
?°111(1 easily have selected from the crowd of
--"en who thronged every room and jostled him
g,tl-er,
' Opt.' Passage, a person who would gladly have
or the proposal he had to make. But he knew
v"those around him many would remain in the
N;ttes' th:Ze many others would go but a few hundred
the interior, and he wanted nothing to do
D4eBe.
ges—,s4,er man seeking a Government farm a thousand
or farther, whence it was improbable that
t_t3t pezaUld retuin even on a visit—such was the kind
Ile sought, and doubted not his ability to
tais, the season of the year when a vast tide of
IjoNthiobc)ri is always rolling to the Great West, a tide
1 Iltida' some portions were sure to math its remotest

He sought the proprietor of the house, a fat, merry-
looking man, who mistook him at first for one of his
numerous guests, and treated him with corresponding
civility. Did he know, asked Eben, whether any of
his lodgers were going beyond the Mississippi?
"Don't know, sir, whether they're going to Missis
Sippy or Missis Soory, sir. No, sir. They go were
they pleases, sir, arter they've paid their bills. That's
the rule in this house. No questions axed."
"Oh, I suppose not. I see you 11:15erstand your
business. But the truth is—l've a bit of land to sell,
or almost to give away, I may say, off in New
Mexico; and as I can give a man a much better bar-
gain than he can get from Government, I thought I'd
look around among your people a little."
"You may look and welcome, sir; but I don't think
you'll sell any land here. There's Brom in the bar
there, p'raps, can tell you somethin' about the men; he
talks with them a good deal, and keeps a look out for
the runners."

But Brom said he did not know of any of the
furriners" who were going very far west; but there
was a tall Connecticut man somewhere in the house
who was going off towards the Rocky Mountains, or
beyond them, for what he knew. He was going early
the next morning.
Eben opened his eyes at this information, and in-
quired if the man had a family.
"Oh, yes; a wife almost as long as himself, and two
children."
"Show him to me," said Mink, slipping a piece of
silver into the I__an's hand.
Brom pocketed the coin with a bow, and said—
"l'll find him for you, sir; but I don't believe you
can get any money out of him. He looks as if he was
as poor as Job's turkey."
"The poorer the better," thought Eben, as he
followed the bar-keeper, who soon pointed out the
man sitting in a large, dimly-lighted apartment,
dignified by the name of the "reading-room," but
which was filled with tobacco smoke, and thronged
with a jabbering crowd, who could be much more
easily heard than seen through the hazy atmosphere.
"That'll do," said Mink. "You can go now. I
don't want any introduction—only tell me his name."
" Popple," said Brom; " Joram Popple."
When his conductor had departed, Eben pulled his
slouched hat a little more over his eyes, put on a pair
of heavily-rimmed spectacles, and then approached
the tall man and examined him for some time un-
observed, for he sat reading in a small book, from
which he did not look up. As Mink gazed upon his
spare, long body, and his lank, outstretched legs,
fading away in the distance and darkness of the room,
he smiled as he imagined the height to which he would
reach when erect. _

His dress, as well as his gaunt appearance, and the
wrinkles of care marking a fade otherwise pleasant
and amiable in expression, betokened a depth of
poverty to which the ingenious and enterprising New
Englander seldom descends. His thin and patched
suit of nankin, shrunk by repeated washings, was short
at the wrists and the ankles; his shoes were coarse;
his stockings, though clean, were heavily darned; and
his wide straw hat was torn at the edges.
"This is Mr. Popple, I believe," said Eben, address-
ing him.
The man looked up, evidently surprised, and replied
with a smile, and in somewhat drawling accents—
" Yes, that's my name, I calklate ; but you have the
advantage of me, sir."
"Not much—not much; and if I have,ll won't keep
it. My name is Brown."
" Breown ? Yes. How de dew, sir ? "
"Pretty well, thankee," said Eben, shaking hands
with a covert smile.

" Going west?"
"No. But I understand you are—a long way. Is
it so ? "

.
Nigh on to fifteen hundred miles, I reckon; I don't
calklate to stop much this side of the Rocky Moun-
tains. _ _

"Kansas—or Nebraska, perhaps?"
"Newbrassky, probably; somwhere where there's
plenty of land and few people; where a man won't
be likely to be disturbed for tilling the Almighty's
airth to get bread—at least, for many years to
come."

"Yes, a fine, healthful climate, travellers say, and
good soil. As to people, you won't be crowded there
much for the next thirty years, I imagine. I suppose
you mean to be a squatter ? "
"I dew."

"It's a good plan for a poor man, and good for
Uncle Sam, too, in the long run; but I beg your par-
don, I don't mean to say that you are a poor man. I
know nothing about that."
"But I am poor, stranger—poor enough, or I
wouldn't be goin' so far from kith and kin, though
there's some I'm mighty glad to leave, and I've got
pretty much all with me that's of any account
to Joram Popple—and that's his wife and twc,
children."

"Well, you have a few hundred dollars, of course ?"
continued Eben, who had his reasons for wishing
to gauge the extent of the man's destitution.
"Something to buy stock with, and put up a small
house ? "

"My own hands must build my house, such as it
is," said Joram, with a sign; "and ef I hey enough
money left when I git t'other side of the Mississippa,
to buy a yoke of oxen, and waggon, and necessary
tools before strikin' out into the wilderness, I shall be
fortenate," _ _

"A hundred dollars would be a godsend to you now,
wouldn't it?" asked Mink, closely watching the man's
countenance.
"A hundred dollars! You may well say that! It
'ud more'n double the capital I spect to have left when
I get to St. Louis."
"Well, now," said Eben, sinking his voice so that
It might not be heard by those around them; "I am
going to surprise you with a great chance to make
money—not one hundred dollars, but three or four
hundred—just about as easily as turning your hand
over. What do you think of that ? "
Joram was incredulous, and he at once began to
look upon his companion as a sharper.
"I've heerd of such things before." he said.
smiling; "but I'm an old bird, you know, and chaff
won't do for me."
"I was not going to offer you chaff," replied Mink,
with an offended air. "I want to give you three
hundred dollars at least—perhaps more.. Do you
understand that ?"
Popple, with an amazed and incredulous look,
answered, "Yes."
"Come with me somewhere, then, where we can
talk alone for a few minutes, and I will tell you the
whole story."
Joram measured his companion with his eye a
moment, and then, rising, said—
"Come up to my room. Nancy and the children
can go out a few minutes, and we'll hear this thing
right away."
The room to which Popple conducted his visitor,
and which was to be the dormitory for the night for
the whole family, was in the third storey, and so
small, and filled up with beds and luggage, that Mrs.
Popple and her children, who had been perched on
trunks and boxes, had to come out before the men
could enter.
When the latter were alone, and the door was closed,
Eben said—
"A few words will tell my story. I have a child
that I want you to adopt and take with you; to give
it your name, and bring it up as your own, and never
to suffer it or anyone else to know or suspect that it
is not your own."
"Is that all ? " asked Joram, looking greatly
pleased.
"That is all, excepting that I want you to solemnly
swear to the secrecy I have enjoined—and also to
swear that you will not stop this side of the Missis-
sippi in your search for a home."
"I can do all that easily enough; but I should like
to know*"
"Yes, I know you would. You would like to know
who I am, and whose baby it is, and all about it. But
you can't. You never will know the least word of all
this, however hard you may try. I live a great way
from this city, and have come to town on purpose for
this business, and though I've told you my name's
Brown, it isn't Brown, nor anything else that you can
ever guess. All I have to say about the child, which
is a pretty enough little thing, is, that its mother has
to be saved from disgrace, and all her relations. Now,
that's how it is, and if you want the baby and the
money, and are ready to take the oath, why, it can all
be done up in an hour, and I'll be on my way back
home."
"Money down ? " asked Joram, almost trembling in
his eagerness to close with the proposition.
You know gold when you see it, I suppose ? " said
Mink, producinc, a small buckskin bag from an inner
pocket, and untying its mouth.
Three hundred dollars wereslid out on to the bed;
but Popple saw that there were more behind, and his
native shrewdness came to his aid.
"It will be many long years we shall have to feed
and clothe the child, before it's able to am its way,"
he said gravely.
"But it may die—or, at the worst, food costs nothing
to a squatter, and clothes cost little. However, if you
and your wife will both swear to all that I have re-
quired, and especially never to try to find out the
child's parents, I'll add the other hundred."
"We will—we will."
The bargain was closed, and Mrs. Popple, who was
a pale, patient-looking woman, with no small remains
of former beauty, was called in to ratify it on her part,
which, when her amazement had subsided, she gladly
consented to do.
Mink then put up his gold, and having appointed a
near corner at which Popple should meet him in per-
son, two hours later, and receive both the child and
the money, he departed.
The poverty-stricken pair were nearly wild with joy
at the prospect of such a windfall; and Mrs. Popple
by no means sought to abate her husband's pleasure
by any picture of the care or labour she well knew the
new-comer would entail upon herself.
"Poor little cast-away!" she said. "It shall at
least have as good a home as the.rest of us, and it
shall have a full share of the comforts which its own
money brings."
The more the poor emigrants discussed the sur-
prising incident of the night, the more wonderful it
seemed; and they grew nervous with apprehension
that something might occur to prevent this shower of
wealth from descending upon them. But theiE hopes
were not disappointed.
At eleven o'clock in the evening, Mink, disguised as
before, called in person at Judith Mallows' house,
where that vigilant •=rge awaiting him with the

baby asleep in her arms. Very sound asleep he was,
too, by virtue of a potent anodyne Judith had given
him; for such had been her employer's will, and she
knew no other law.
Arthur, still unwashed, clad in coarse clothes, and
wrapped in an old shawl, looked more like a pauper's
child than the heir to an immense property.
Judith had hoped that her services would be required
in carrying the baby to its new home; for she had, of
course, the strongest curiosity to know where it was to
be taken, as well as to get some clue to its history.
Besides this, she felt some apprehension for its fate,
for, callous as she was, she was still a mother; and her
woman's heart revolted at the thought of violence to
one so innocent and so helpless.
But she was disappointed. Eben received the infant
almost in silence from her' arms; and when she hinted
at accompanying him, and carrying it for him, he
replied,_ quickly—

-
"I hope you—don't—mean--" she began.
" What ?" asked Mink, sternly.
"Oh—l--don't know—but I declare I'm all over in
a shake."
"You are a fool, that's all," said Eben. "The child
is not going to be harmed. It is to have better care
than you have given it—perhaps better than it ever
had before."
He descended with it to a vehicle in waiting, and
drove off. Joram was waiting for him at the ap-
pointed spot, where he received the infant and the
money with more joy than he dared to exhibit.
But few words were spoken, and these were in an
undertone.
"Mind, you are to take the early train," said
Eben. "I shall be there to see, though you won't
see me."

"Never fear; I'd start now, if there was any cars
going. Good-bye."
So they parted.
(To be cortittuedj