The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1870-10-20

with Baldock's farm, a sheep-run
> which stretched up steep hill be
yOnd, andan old tower at the top oft,
. was all that he could now call his
J. own, and that remnant was on the
point of passing away from him fore
z ever. He, too, had shown the clOven
foot early; at twelve he was expelled
: from public school for brutal cruelty
!. at eighteen he brOkeOp his fathers
; bureau and stole two hundred pounds;
at twelve he was turned out of the
: army by. cOurt-maTtial for conduct
unbecOming an officer and q gentle
man at twenty-five he was posted al
/, TattersalPs, and cut by every man
who had the slightest pretensions To
be received in decent society; al
=, twenty-five he committed an act
: which put him in the power of Bal
dock and Hammel, who could have
& brought penal servitude upon him il
2 he had thrown them over. He was
/ now twenty-seven.
I 1t was eleven o'clock at night
BaldOck and Hammel sat on either
side of a table upon which were a
couple of candles, two black bottles
one empty, the other half full-tum-
blers, and pack of sOiled cards
Banham was smoking moOdiIy on
: one side of the fire, which was kept
A up not for warmth, the night being
close and the atmosphere Of the room
suffocating, but TO boil the water for
grog. He, like the other two, had
been drinking freely, and steaming
jOrum stood on the mantlepiece at his
hand, but he only showed the effects
in his flushed face and bloOd-shot
eyes. Neither the excitement or the
forgetfulness of intOxicatiOn came to
him
'Don't sit moping there, Banham, -
said BaldOck thickly, "it's enough to
give fellow the blue devils to look
at you. What's lost is lost it's no
good crying over split milk could
win it all back and lot on the top of
it at Newmarket, if we only had a
trifie of capital"
AYE, where will you get it,"
81 don't know yet. But hang care,
it killed the cat. Come and cut at
lOO.u
"What's the use of three fellows
playing together when not. one Of
them has shilling to- lose ?" cried
Banham, with an impatient oath.
THAT'S true en- )ugh it's poor fun
to play on tick. But one must DO
something to xii time, and it's as
well to be sOciab;
'sHe is thinking of what the gypsy
said" observed Hammel, with a
chuckle.
'No, was not, - retorted Banham; !;
'but perhaps I could put you in way
of bringing her words true"
''All right, " replied Hammel ION
| ly show me a chance of fortune. pll
risk the rest" '
"You would risk death in any
form?'
"Pretty well; I am just about des
perate."
"You would not mind infection
from fever say, or smallpox you
would not mind the gallows ~
Hammel swOre horribly that the
other had just hit on the two things
which affected his nervous system the
most unpleasantly.
"Then you are no good" replied
Banham, turningshis shoulder to him
and taking a pull at his tumbler.
Hammel got angry. .HWhat the
-" he began, but BaldOck inter
rupted him. D.
'Let the squire speak, will you
He has got something in his head,
and we can't afford just now to throw
a chance away As for risk, when
you calculate that the only considera-
tiOn is how great the risk is, had
sooner chance death at a thousand to
one against it, than a months impris-
onment at only two to one. What is
it, squire ?n
"How can I speak before Hammel,
if he is not game ?'
'tOh, am game enough, if you
have any real plant to propose; /
thought you were only kidding"
s'WelI, look here" said Banham, in
a low, earnest voice, which caused
the others to draw their chairs up TO
him instinctively. "Just open the
door, and see that Polly is not about.n
"She has been in bed this hour"
replied Baldock but he looked, new
ertheless, and returned to his chair
Then Banham said this
'tOld GdEtOR boards"
It has been mentioned that
amongst the remnants of property
which still adhered to the escutcheon
of the Banhams was tower high on
! a
had now eliminated in unbridled pro-
fiigacy in the last scion of the family,
thad shown itself in various forms at
different stages of its history, and had
impelled Banham of a former gen.
Grafton to imagine that he could not
breathe except at a certain height
and to accommodate his eccentric
lungs, he built this Octagonal tower,
which was known as "JOhnny's Re-
treat" and lived out his hermit-like
! life there.
Johnny's Retreat had four stories
and four rooms, each room taking, as
it were, a slice of the building. On
opening a low, massive door, you
found yourself in a wood and coal Gel
lar, and at the foot ofa narrow, stone,
cOrkscrew staircase. Three turns up
this, and you came to the door of the
kitchen three turns again and the
sitting-rOOm was reached three turns
higher, and there was the bedroom
and three fiual turns brought you out
upon the lead roof.
The view from the tower was very
extensive, and itself was a landmark
for many miles round, but rarely did
any. one, save a shepherd, approach
it. There was no attempt at garden
OF enclosure around it, and the sheep
bTOwsed up to the very walls.
After remaining Hninhabited for
many years, the solitray building found
Ia cOngenial tenant in one ClaXtOn,
who was so eccentric that folks
declared that he ought to be in
mad-house but where was the
use of shutting up a man who
confined himself and W no paid ten
pounds every April and October for
the use of his cell? He had no serv-
ant, but procured his weeks pTOvi-
sions every Saturday in a village some
three miles distant. Four times a
wear the driver of the Cheltenham
coach took him up at a certain point
on the high road in the morning, and
put him down at the same spot in the
evening.
That was pretty nearly all the inter
course he had with his fellow meR-
sold ClaXton hOards.p
"Why," said Baldock, 81 thought
he aid everything, even very small
sums, by heck"
''That's a blind. Listen. 1 was
over the hill this morning, after what
lew DIfuS Inere e,auuaS L DttSSeu Ille
tower it occurred to me that the old
miser would owe me ten pounds for
his half years rent in a few weeks,
and if l let him deducta few shillings
for discount he might be willing to /
draw me a check for it at once. He |
has done that before, when 1 have |
besn as hard up as at present. So 1 !
went up to the door, and kicked and 4
hammered at it for quarter of an |
hour, but could not make him hear. |
He has never been out except at his /
regular times, so l thought it odd, and /
went home for duplicate key of the 1
tower which had there. Then when f.
l had rested q bit went up the hill /
again, meeting no one, and unlocked
the tower door. It was barricaded in
side, but 1 managed to push it back
and force my way up the staircase,
and as I got nearer the sitting room |
heard laughter. 1t was queer, and l
hesitated bit; but at last / turned
the door-handle and went in. Old
Claxton had broughthis bed down in
to that room, and he was sitting up
in it in his night shirt, with a leather
bag full Of sovereigns. He would take