| OCR Text |
Show ! I i, ' "RING DAVID'S FRIEND i , I BY WALTER BESANT,. (' Copyrighted, mi, by the Authors' Alliance ? CHAPTER V. A few days after this conrcrsntlou tho postman delivered n letter to John ,, Longden, audit olllce. Ho dropped the letter Into his pocket and went on with r his auditing. When tho clock fttruck ! four tho other clerks mnde linsto to ) lcnvo their work. Longdcn lingered. ! When they were nil gone ho drew out tho letter and looked at It. I "I knew hcrwrltlng," hcmitd. "What limsliii to nay? Sho can know nothing." noth-ing." Ho opened tho letter. ''. "Dear Jack," It began, In the most ll friendly manner possible. "Dear Jock," I and from Lady Ihinkchl, tho queen, of 1' tho colony, sole consort of King Oavltl. Why had sho not written "Pear Jonathan?'' "I have only just heard that you nro In tho colony. I know, and I appreciate the reason why you havo not cotno to tcc inc. Yet I must see you, If not In my own drawing-room drawing-room In tho presence of tho ntde-de ! eamn. then alone. I must sec von. Come to tho prlvnlo gardens of Government Govern-ment hotibc on Sunday morning at half-past half-past eleven, when the governor and everybody aro at church. I will meet you bctitdo the basin. For the sake of old times when wo were all innocent nml hopeful together, do not fall. Your old friend, Uvn." I "I wonder what sho means?" Jack finished the letter, which did notrcqulro a second leading, and replaced It in his pocket. "What can sho mean? Sho did not recognlo me, though he did. 1'eo-pie 1'eo-pie don't talk about me at the Government Govern-ment house. Who told Iter? If .David the king told her, David tho king must have felt prickings. I will go." 1 Soon after eleven, when tho governor, his daughter, his daughter's governess iind his nlde-dc-cmnp were in their long pew at the cathedral and the bishop was In his seat, and the civil chaplain was reading the service, Jnck Longdcn found himself In tho private grounds of Government house. No one at all, not even an Indian gardener, wns In the , gardens. i lie found a bench In tho shade and sat down. He had not long to wait. Ho heard a footstep, and rose to meet a lady who walked quickly along one of tho paths. Sho was alone. "Thank you. Jack," she Mild, giving him her hand. "I am here, Lady Dunkcld." he began, be-gan, but he broku down. "IJva," he j cried, "you have not forgotten mo tho iinii ivlui fl1furrmnil lillilhnlft" "No, no; you nro here. I learned It only tho other day, and you ore quite low down In the service. He told me. It Is horrible! it is dreadful'." "Nay some must rise and some must fall. And after that ugly buslnes " "Jack, I know nil." "What do you know? There was an nwful row about It, and my father wouldn't have mo In tho house, and my brother you remember my brother Vi ho wns always an awful prig ho stir- passed himself and made reconciliation- V Impossible, and everything else, so they 3 found mo a. placo out hctc, and I sup- poso my brother kindly told them nttlio ' colonial oflicc, and so tho story enmo out here, and that's all. Of course promotion Is impossible for a man with such a story as that behind him. Well, l'va Lady Dunkcld -that Is all. What does It matter now?'' For his old friend wns looking strangely at hint and the tears were In Iter eyes. 1 "Oh," shu repeated, "It Is horrible! It Is dreadful!" "No, not so dreadful as you think. There is enough to live upon, and what j more can n man desire, a man with such I a story as that hohiml him?" i Sho sat down on llto bench behind him and bowed her head and wept , aloud. "Nay," ho said, "It is too much that 1 , should " 1 "Jack," she sprang toher feet again. "You tear my very heart. You tcurmu .i to pieces for I know all all ull I j tell you that I know all." J "You cannot know all. Itlslmpossl- ' ble." f "Ihavo known it for ton years. Ho fell ill and was on tho point of death nnd confessed It all to me. I promised, thinking ho was on his deathbed, to I ft -vz-J7- W - "I AM IIEIIK, I.AIIY IIV.NKF.LI," HE BllOAN. m carry his message of remorse. Ho did m not die, but tho message remr.lns. Take It. His prayer for forgiveness." V "Yes, but ho got better," said Long-m Long-m den, dryly. "So ho told you, did he? jj! It was not well done. It was a breach I of confidence. Why, It wan In tho W thought that you would never know" fj "And I do know. Jack, nothing that K' ho can do or say could destroy tho m wrong of all theso years." 9i "Nothing. And yet, you see I took m tho consequences, whatever they might M be. They did turn out rather more un- V pleasant than I thought, but I havo not H. complained." K . "if you were to stand up to-morrow B, and read ulotid tho confession which ho gave you, that would not give you back K those lost and ruined years. " U "No," said Jack. "It might astonish K people more than a bit. Hut it wouldn't W help mo." f "Jlaveyoucvcr thought ihut about It this sublime sclf-Baerlflco of your common com-mon youth that It would be wholly destroyed nnd rendered worso than useless use-less were it to become known?" "I do not understaud. 1 havo always, al-ways, on tho other hand, looked forward for-ward to a tlmo when, somehow or other, my character should be set right ngaln If only todlsappolnt my brother, who Is a prig." "Ho who was then a young man like yourself, with his fnturc all before him, is now a man who has succeeded. Ho has won distinction nnd reputation. Ho has a wife and children children, Jack If you ruin him as you may as you can you ruin tho children and you destroy de-stroy the wife." "I see," he replied. "This Is what you wanted to say to me? To bo sure I hadn't considered that." "When wo landed he saw you on tho port and recognised you. Ho said nothing noth-ing to me -at the time, but I perceived that ho was anxious and unhappy. It Is three months, and during tho whole time ho Inn been in an agony of terror and remorse. A few days ago ho heard the old story told again tho story that he thought forgotten was repeated to him, attached to your name. It Is common com-mon property the talk of his secretaries. secreta-ries. He is well-nigh mad with tho recollection rec-ollection arid the hldeousncss of it." "Confound tho story. That's my brother's doing." "I told him I should see you. Ho has gone to church this morning to church knowing that I am to meet you here. What am I to tell him?" "Why," nnhl Jock, "considering It Is three months since ho came, nnd that 1 hnve not made any sign, he might take It for granted that I am not going to move or to speak. I don't deny, l.va, that when I heard ho was coming I wns ' n good bit shaken. I thought that 1 might send him a copy of tho confession, confes-sion, nnd nsk him what he proposed doing. I say that this temptation did nitsnll me. I am ashamed to Town that It did." "Jack," she Interrupted him quickly, "there Is no safety possible, for us so long ns that paper remains In your hands. Consider you may die: you may full ill; you inny even, God forgive me for saying so, fall away and betray us. Tho noblest inheritance of my children is their father's honor, it lies at the mercy of an accident. Ills honor! think of what It h to him to me to nil of us. Do not lcnvo thnt to chance. There is but one person In the world that knows the truth It la voun-elf. There Is but one proof of the truth It Is that paper." He iiiiido no reply. Sho went on ngnln moro pnsslonnlely: 'Tut it beyond your own power, most loynl of men, to bctrny nnd ruin us. Lenvo to my children their father's honor; leave him to follow out his career to the end. Will you do this for mo for my children In memory of the past?' Then Jnck spoke slowly because he was anxious to speak for once nnd so to hnve done with It. "When I read In the paper that he was coming, I heard his voice plain and clear saying: 'Tnko my confession. Do what you llko with It. If you suffer from the consequences, reveal it. If In the future, you can advance yourself your-self by means of this paper use It you havo the right to uso it.' I could not uso his confession. How could I use It? Could I threaten with It demand promotion pro-motion with It extort money with It? Then I learned by accident, the other day, how his privato secretary told him the story and how ho said in his grandly grand-ly austere way that como things can never be forgotten, thnt they cling to a man through life and hinder him. Now I do think, making every allowance allow-ance for ofllclnl purity, that was carrying carry-ing virtue to an extreme. Hut It made mo ilcllbcrnto what to do next. And I havo found out tho way. It Is all clear to mo nt Inst." "What way? In tho name of pity, whnt wny?" "If I had been tho governor nnd he had been tho junior clerk I should havo tried to make up to him quietly and without explanation for nil theso yearn by such ndvnncemcnt ns lay In my power. I should havo done this for him in order to let him know tliut tho past wits burled, but the sense of tho sacrifice was left." "He docs not do it In order to let you know that tho past cannot bo forgotten." for-gotten." "Yes, nnd out of his fears lest the limit who knows it should havo become a end." "Do not bo too bitter, Jack." "Ho might have played tho part of Providence. Ho hns preferred to play the part of tho Judge Well, my way Is plain. I havo brought thu papers. Hero they are. I will glvo them to you, Lady Dunkcld, on one condition." "Any coudltlon all conditions." , "Nay this Is a very simple condition. It is tli.it during the whole of his official of-ficial resilience hero he will leavo me absolutely alone. Let him never interfere inter-fere with me. Let him never hnve i.pccch with me. Let him never offer mo any promotion. Ho must not, on tho other hand, causo that story to bo tpread about. He must compass neither nod nor harm for me. Yoti promise this, Hva for your husband?" "Yes yes I promise upon my upon his honor which now nothing can touch. Oh! now I breatho again. Conditions? Con-ditions? Ask tho wholo of my fortune. You shall havo it so long as I have this paper. You arc certain that there is no copy?" "Tliero is no copy. You aro quite safe. If I wero to proclaim tho whole truth to-morrow no ono w mild bellevo a word of it, and mi nction for libel would bo my reward." "Wo nro sine. ' hlio snt down nnd panted with heaving breast. "What can I say? That I can nevor thank you enough? That is a poor thing to wiy. Yet whnt else am I to say? Why, I enn nover tell nnyone. You havo done a most noble thing, nnd I cannot even tell my children. You aro suffering contumely nnd I ennnot even otter to rellovo you, nothing can relievo you now. Tho consequences continue. Ono man sinned and another goes tu obscurity obscuri-ty nil his life for that" sin. Go, Jack. On our heads lies tho real shame, the -mr'i r'i imim bitterness, nnd tlic remorse" That !" our punishment. We are not worthy to touch your hand. Go, Jack, 1 will give him the paper. We will keep your condition." con-dition." He lifted his hat and turned without another word. So they parted, win will never meet ngnln. i V 1 CHAPTER VI. " The monotony of his life, broken In this mun nor, liegan again. The com) r lions wero kept. Tho governor look no notlco of him ut nil. The time passed by. Sir Henry Dunkehl drew near to tho end of bin time; Jnck w as now forty, still nn nnslstant clerk; still, tooutward seeming, r.s contented ns tho most successful suc-cessful of men; still living in bin nliauty near the seashore. Long fiinco tho youngster who messed with him when Sir Henry Dunkcld arrived had passed him on tho ladder of promotion, and wan In n mess where they belonged to society, nnd gave dinners and went to balls. Ono day, a llltlo while before this governor left tho colony, Jnck's own chief sent for hint. "I ought to toll you, Longden,"he said, "that nn nttempt hns been made with his excellency to recommend you for tho vacant post it wns that of assistant as-sistant auditor general. It was pointed out that there Is no ono In the ofBco who possesses anything llko your knowledge knowl-edge or your grasp of tho ofllco nnd Its work. Hut, unfortunately, Without success. In fnct, his excellency refused absolutely. You know the reason, I dnre say." "I think I do. There Is d story nbout my having gotten Into n mess beforo coming out here" "Thnt 1h tho renson," said tho chief, anxious to sparo him further pain. "There are some messes which tho world agrees to condone." "And his excellency ennnot condon'o, this. Of course I havo known it for n long time." "There Is no man in tho world, 1 do believe, of higher principle than Sir Henry Dunkcld. Sometimes, however, ono would wish for a little less mister-Ity.ln mister-Ity.ln this ense, especially. Ho says that thoso who occupy tho higher oflleial Do-iltlons must bo able to show blame- fGBBnr "1118 KXCELLENCY CAUXOT COSPO.NK THIS." wcsa record privately nj wcU,n4 officially. official-ly. Lord help us nil, If hoiknow ns much as I know. Upon my word, Longden, I havo dono nil I Jean fur you. I am more than sorry for you!" "Thank you," said Longden, nnd retired. re-tired. CHAPTER VII.'' The other day I mctsri man at- tho club, an old acquaintance, and we began to tulk of other men, which is tho only topic of conversation open to those who are old acquaintances, but not old friends. Said he, presently; "Did you know Canon Longden?" "No; ho was n bit beforo my time." "Not a bad sort, but too good, you know. Carried goodness tounforgive-nes. tounforgive-nes. A prig of virtue. That's w hat I alwayn thought of him. Irritated one, you know, by an unreasonable hatred of the wicked world usod to dcsplso dinners. Now, I llko n man who liaa n llttlo feeling for thu slips and tho stumbles stum-bles eh? Well Canon Longdcu's dead." "Is he?" I replied, not much Interested. Inter-ested. "Yes. Ho had a very tidy property near us. Ho had no children, and was n widower, nnd was not on spenklnff terms with his only brother, nnd so wo rnllicr expected ho would havo left It for objects, you know converting niggers nig-gers nnd building churches." "Well, didn't ho?" "Not n bit of It. He forgot to mnko n will, and so tho property goes, I hear, to this younger brother, who was packed oil to some mlscrablo colonial appointment appoint-ment years ago, after getting Into n devil of a mess. His family cut htm, nnd now ho Is coming home to tako all the family money, So tho prig of virtue vir-tue hns ended in enriching thu sinner. I remember Jack Longden well nnd n better youngster never lived. How ho enme to do It but there." A mnn who hnd ben sitting near us by tho fireside roso and wnlked quickly down tho room. "Know him? That IsSIr Henry Dunkcld, Dun-kcld, G. C. 11. nnd O. C. 51. G., and governor gov-ernor of hnlf her isajesty's colonies, one after tho other. Another prig of Ir-tue, Ir-tue, ho Is. Going to bo made n peer, I believe. I say, when this colonlnl ehnp, this Jnck Longden, comes to live on bin property, I suppose tho people won't be rnklug up pnst scnndnls, will they? It's wonderful though, how things stick. 1 shouldn't wonder if they refuse to call upon him." fTlIK exd.1 |
