The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1857-12-03

~ VIC oohc ny YOU. LOOK. here-thls i
'ne way u stands. You can have bed all Il
yourself for five shillines : but Won can't bav
more than a halEshare of The room it stands in
DO you see what mean, young gentleman ,
Of course / do" returned Arthur. q it'll
lrrltaDiy. You mean that it is double bedde,
room, and that one of the beds Is occupiedn
The landlord nodded his head and rubbed hi
double chin harder than ever. Arthur hesita
ted, and mechanically moved back step O
two toward the door. The idea of sleeping i,
the same room with a total stranger did no
present an attractive prospect to him. He fel
more than half inclined to drop his five shilling
into his pocket, and to go out into the stree
once more.
Is 1t yes or no /? asked the landlord. "Set
tie 1t as quick as you can, because there's lot,
OF people wanting bed at Doncaster tonight
beside you" II
Arthur looked toward the court, and heart
the ram falling heavily in the street outside
ne 'nought ne would ask question or two be
tore he rashly decided on leaving the shelter O
The Two Robins.
What sort of man is it who has got the
other bed he inquired. "Is he gentleman
L mean is he quiet, well behaved person ?n
Ihe quletest man | ever came across" sale
the landlord, rubbing his fat hands stealthily one
over the other. " As sober as Judge, and as
regular as clock-work in his business. 1t hasn,
strnck nihe not ten minutes ago, and he's in
his bed already. l don't know whether thai
comes up to your notion of quiet man; il
goes long way ahead of mine, can tell YOU. y
us he asleep, do you think asked Arthur
| 81 know he's asleep" returned the landlord
And what's more, he's gone off so fas. that ], II
warrant you don't wake him. This way, sir, D
said the landlord, speaking over young Hol.
liday's shoulder, as if he was addressing some
new guest who was approaching the house.
Here you are" said Arthur, determined to
be beforehand with the stranger, whoever he
might be. "I'll take the bed" Aud he hand.
ed the i've shillings to the landlord, who nodded,
dropped the money carelessly into his waistcoat
pocket, and lighted candle.
"Come up aud see the room" said the host
of The Two Robins, leading the way to the
staircase quite briskly, considering how fat he
| was.
They mounted the second floor of the house.
The landlord half opened door, fronting the
landing, then stopped, and turned round to
Arthur.
Its fair bargain, mind on my side as
well as on yours" he said. "You give me five
shllhngs; give you in return a clean COM
Portable bed and warrant beforehand, that
you won't be interfered with, or ANNOYED in any
way by the man who sleeps in the same room
with you" Saying these words, he looked
hard, for moment, in young Holidays face,
and then led the way into the room.
1t was larger and cleaner than Arthur had
expected it would be. The two beds stood par.
allel with each other--a space of about six feet
intervening between them. They we're both
OF the same medium size, and both had the
same plain white curtains, made to draw, if
no oil Al
was the bed nearest the window. The curtains
were all drawn round this, except the half cur
tain at the bottom, the side of the bed farthest
from the window. Arthur saw the feet of the
sleeping man raising the scanty clothes into a
sharp little eminence, as if he was living fat on
his back. He took the candle, and advanced
softly to draw the curtain--stopped half way.
and listened for a moment-then turned to the
landlord. fl
" Hes very quiet sleeper" said Arthur.
Yes" said the landlord, very ouiet.n
!" How pale he is " said Arthur.
and looa- Holiday advanced with the candle
:" Yes," returned the IanuIoro, pane ouvug u,
isn't hep"
Arthur looked closer at the man. The bed
clothes were drawn up to his chin, and they
lay perfectly still over the region of his chest
Surprised and vaguely startled, as he noticed
ger; looked at his ashy parted lips listened
breethlessly for an instant; looked again at the
strangely still face, and the motionless lips and
chest; and turned round suddenly on the land
lord, with his own cheeks as pale for the mo-
ment as the hollow cheeks of the man on the
bed
"Come here,' he whispered, under his breath,
"come here, for Gods sake The mans not
asleep, he is deadl" r@
"You have found that out sooner than
thought you would" said the landlord, compo-
sedly. "Yes, he's dead, sure enough. He
died at five o'clock to-day"
"How did he die? Who is he? asked Ar
| thur, staggered for the moment by the auda.
cious GOODNESS of the answer.
"As to who he is" rejoned the landlord "
know no more about him than you do. There
are his books and letters, and things, all sealed
up in that brown-paper parcel, for the coroner s
inquest to open tomorrow or next day. He's
been here week, paying his way fairly enough.
stopping indoors, for the most part, as if he
was ailing. My girl brought him up his tea at
five today; and as he was pouring it out, he
fell down in a faint, or fit, or compound of
both, for anything l know. We could not
bring him to, and said he was dead. And the
Doctor couldn't bring him to- and the Doctor
said he was dead And there he is. And the
coroner's inquest's coming as soon as it can.
And that's as much as l know about it."
Arthur held the candle close to the mans
lips The fame still burnt straight up as
steadily as ever. There was a moment of 81
lence; and the rain battered drearily through
it against the panes of the window.
off you haven't got nothing more to say to
me-" continued the landlord, az suppose NAV
go. You don't expect your five shllings back
l. Al IL 4
and comfortable. There's the man ! warranted
not to disturb you, quiet in this world forever
If you're frightened to stop alone with him, that's
not my lookout. I've kept my part of the bar
gain, and mean to keep the money. Pm moi
Yorkshire myself young gentleman; but I've
lived long enough in these parts to have my
wits sharpened, and shouldn't wonder if you
found out the way to brighten up yours, mex,
time you come among u.s." With these words
the landlord turned toward the door, and laugh
ed to himself softly, in high satisfaction at his
own sharpness.
Startled and shocked as he was, Arthur had
by this time sufficiently recovered himself to
feel indignant at the trick that had been played
on him, and at the insolent manner in which
the landlord exuted in it.
"Don't laugh" he said, sharply, "till you
are quite sure you have got the laugh against
me. You shan't have the five shillings fol
nothing, my man. I'll keep the bed"
Il "Will your" said the landlord. "Then
wish you good nights rest" With that brie
farewell he went out and shut the door after
him.
good nights rest The words had hardly
been spoken, the door had hardly been closed
before Arthur half repented the hasty words
that had just escaped him. Though not nstu
| rally over sensitive and not wanting in courage
of the moral as we'll as the physical sort, the