Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-02-26


horrible merriment to the general din. now
suddenly ceased. Meanwhile the storming
party, headed By one OF the proctors. were
ARE ady pressing forward into my court. Be-
strong BODY OF the town police with a Ieta III
mant from the fire brigade. The MAYOR 70,
loved, arm arm Ia arm WIZ, 18th the vice chanc ,llor
speedily occupied every tuch OF stand NJ ground
Alone In college. indeed!
Nobody to be SEEN" heard tie Vice Chan
cellOr say, as he entered the court mo smell of
1ire anywhere! What can it all mean, MIR.
Mayor" ANTE
That OFFICER was about to reply when one of
the police interposed. I'VE shall soon ind ont
Sir" he said; There Is light fn one of tho %
upper rooms; the room at the back. sir where
the open window 49, some one is standing by it
In effect, on hearing the voices outside. had
hurried forward to explain matters and was
proceeding to 90 so as well as the Babel of
sounds which followed my appearances Wouid
admit. But / was unexpectedly cut short.
Pressing to the front of the throng, which he
had Joined unooserved on Quitting the bell,
ham. A fresh deluSion had sweet across the
dlstempered brain. and he now advanced In
great apparent agitation but with gentleman
Cou courtesy, 10 the vice Chancellor. who was In
Il presume, sir" he said, 81 am speaking to
some one In authority 10 this placer"
lor. "Can you explain to us what is the
pleXtty." f0'-
81 am come here In quest of nv daucbtar y
said che captain; Il have reason to fear that
she has been decoyed into this college by the
person whom you see standing aJ the win low
there. Yes, yes; there she ts.''
There she was, go doubt. On hearing her
fathers voice, Miss Pakenham had stepped for
ward also, and was trying 70 gain his attention
But she might as well have talked to the Nile
cataract.
"Agnes. Agres!" he exclaimed again, In q
tone OF agony, my child, my infatuated lost
Child! she is all l have left. sir" he added,
turning TO the Vice Chancellor; 1.-THE only prop
or my Old age; her mother is dead, ner two
brothers dead; and now. through the machina-
tons OF heartless Villain" he stopped In un-
The mob hitherto had been In the best of
tempers, exhiarated, as well they might be,
with the liveliness Of the whole proceedings;
but on hearing the captains speech their mood
changed entirely. Taken individually, the con-
stituents OF a British mob may be questionable
characters; but collectively, their enthusiasm
ior virtue and reprooation OF any departure
from 1t, would content a RadamanthuS, A vol
ley Of execrations broke forth.
''Scoundrel!' "miscreant!" "call ITSELF a
passon indeed!'' (which by the way didn't;
cave summat ard at I'm, JIM" 'pltch un out
OF yOn W1nder;' 'leave I'm to we, and see II
usn don't make a hole in the river for un.r
were among the mildest OF the remonstrances
the window terrified by the uproar, but re-
NAMED there gest1culating aud endeavoriDg to
make myself heard, although quite fruJlessly:
every movement was the signal for new out
break.
At length lull came In the storm, and the
Vice-Chancelior called to me.
"CoEne down at once, str" he exclaimed; ARE
You lost TO all sense OF shame? Come down i'm.
mediately, and bring the unfortunate young
lady with you"
- y can't come l replied; the lock is ham,
Ugh! ugh!'t burst forth again from the mob;
one or two or the more active employed them,
selves In digging up the stones with which the
court was pitched, but the police stopped this
and also cleared the staircase, for which q
general rush had been made. Silence was
again restored for a moment, and the Vice
Chancellor turned to Captain Pakenham, VINO
still stoOd near him, looking the image OF grief
and dispar.
"Have you any reason to suppose, SIR asked
the Vice Chancellor, that your daughter came
here OF her own accord? 1 mean, had there
been any previous acquaintance between ner
and this-perSOn?"
''Alas!" said the captain, "Iknow not; we are
Ing In the street together, when she suddenly
disappeared, and 1t was only after numerous
Inquiries that | traced her here, and then the
college seemed deserted"
'IG was you, then. who rang the bel?"
YES" answered the captain, unolushingly;
at seemed the only means OF obtaining assist
ance. MY poor child"
Excuse me" said the Mayor, who here inter
posed, put what Is your daughters age? she
seems very youthful"
mot quite SIXTEEN" was the answer.
"Then that Will enable us to deal with the
case. Even II the young lady came with her
own WILL her abduction under sixteen Is now
by statute criminal offence. Sergeant Pill
chard. you had better make the arrest at once:
take two OF the constables with you, and you
can force the door If necessary
NO force was needed, however; the default
Ing handle and spindle lay On the floor outside
my room, the latch responded TO them, and In
less than two minutes was In the hands of
the police. 1t was In vain that Agnes pro-
tested; guilelesS az she was. her quick wit
mi I'D or fnn
she attempted, again and again, to explain
what had really happened. Bur the mems
orders were peremptory and, in any case, the
prejudice against me would have been TOO
strong; whatever she said was attributed to the
Influence had acquired over her, and any fur
ther remonStrance was cut short by her fathers
appearance In the room. Eventually they
walked away together the terrified girl cling
Ing TO Captain Pakenham's arm, and endeavor-
log to screen her features from the scores of
curious eyes that were strained upon them My
own removal was delayed for a much
longer time, as the mob were evidently pre-
pairing to take the law into their own hands
Gradually, however, the college was cleared;
a hackney. coach drew up close TO the gate. and
In this l was placed, and, under a strong
escort Of constables, reached the police-station
In safety. Here was locked up for the night
II pelng arranged that my examination should
De taken the first thing next morning.
1t was all miserable enough The cell was OF
the West description, very small very dirty; no
accommodation for passing the night except a
drink, no light, and torrent of cold air
streaming in from an open grating above my
mead. Miserable enough as far as the surround
1ngS Went But my own feelings were far from
being In unison With them was conscious OF
them as facts; but that was all; even the Sc.
rious charge which hung over me- and which,
absurd as 1t was, would still have to be rebuilt
ed, hardly caused me moments thought. NV
whole faculties were absorbed In the cOnteD-
plat1on OF one object-Agnes Pakenham; her
loneliness her intelligence, where she had
stood, how she had spoken, every detail, even
to The most ordinary and most minute Of our
brief acquaintance. The fair vision had flashed
before me, andI was speii-bOund from that mo-
ment; the nympholept of a naiad haunted
grOttO. Had the days proceedings resulted I'm
penal SerV1tude for life, It would hardly
nave troubled me at present she would
be In court, the exquisite face and form
would gladden. my sight once more-that
was the sole idea OF which l was capable.
But was doomed to disappointment
Toward daybreaA / slept or dozed, my brain
teeming with confused images OF last nfght,s
occurrences, but With a radiant halo shed over
them, like the opening OF gale In Paradise
AT O'Clock some coarse food was brought and
was told to prepare for my examination at 10
But before that hour arrived the cell was again
unlocked, and, this time, my visitor Was no less
parsonage Than the Mayor himself.
Il nave come 10 Offer on my sincere apolo-
gies, Mr. Burchili," he said, II trust you nave
not been greatly lnconVenienced?
was on the point OF saying that had never
spent happier night In my life but checked
myself and substituted something apprOpriafe
to The situation.
''Tle TacL ia continued NV vi,ttor p,ho MO,