Christmas Prise Story.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume III, Issue 515, 22 December 1881, Page 2 (Supplement)

Christmas Prise Story.

... THE .A' - NABOB'S MISTAKE.

•,By. “Nun Sum Qualxs Eram.”

MJ CHAPTER I. : Captain W.opdby Grand, as he sat; in his (library, thoughtfully looking through the'window over his beautiful and honle-like estate near Timaru, was a true-type of the old Indian veteran settled; down to peaceful farming. He had ploughed his way through the ranks of rebel sepoys to fame and but had laid aside the sword to! try another sort of ploughing, and had been tolerably successful. He was abdtit 55 years 'of age j 1 but bis find, open, genial countenance betrayed little of the ravages; of either pr a residence in a.tropical climate. .Kind and generous as he naturally was, His former life had rendered him rather

despotic and apt to fly-into terrible, passions. At such times he endeavored to'behd everybody to his will at any cost, and everybody got out of the way when the “ Nabob as he was called —rgol; into a rage. Those that knew him scarcely‘heeded his stormings, for they knew that his rage once over he would soon efface all recollections of it by his generosity and kindness. Ashe sat there, three days before Christmas Day, he was evidently worried and perplexed, and was nerving himself for a duty for which he had no inclination. -He had sent for his daughter Helen, and he smoothed his frowning brow as he heard her tripping up the hall. She entered the room, and after affectionately sklutirig heir father, took a" Seat," evidently fully prepared for what was corning. As she sat there, one saw at onfcje.that she had inherited her father’s handsome face (and not a little of bis' deterfeination); softened, however,- by the beauty and gentleness of her mother, long since laid in an Indian cemetery., She was just twenty-one, and heir iright blue eyes seemed perpetually laughing; but the broad fair forehead above told of a good intellect; and, as a matter o r fact, she had left one, of the best English schools three years before, thoroughly accomplished. She was beloved by all, and especially by one, as will be seen as .her father begins to speak. «I have sent for you, Nelly, to read

you two letters I have written, one to Mr Goldsmith, and the other to Jack Dagriels. You know very well that I shall never force your affections, but I < do hope and think you will be alive to • your own interests. I will never consent Jto. yottfenwirying Jack Dagriels, and Twould nrge”~--r----";Ob, papa, it is. no'use. It pains me , to refuse you anything, but I could not r- marry. Mr Goldsmith:i 1,.wi11, promise - never to marty Jack con-

sent, but 1 can never think of anybody else. Let me bear the letters, however.”. The Nabob look from a drawer two letters. He hesitated which to read first, and took both letters out, and spread them before him. At last he read “ Dear Sir, —Much as I esteem you as a friend and neighbor, I regret that I cannot accede to your request to allow you to address my daughter Helen. Ido not think our relative positions warrant you in asking such a thing. As in future I do not think it wise for you to visit here, I have given instructions that we shall not be home to you if you call, and any letters you may send will be returned unopened.- —-I am, &c.” “Poor Jack,” said Helen, sorrowfully, “ and the pnly fault you can find with him is that he has not so much gold as some others.” “My dear,” said the Nabob, in a tone of irritation, “ I am acting for i your good, and this silly fancy of yours will soon die out.” “Never,” said she, almost-fiercely. ! “ While I obey you in giving'up Jack, I cannot, nor will not, CeaSe to love him. I cannot marry another.” “ Pshaw ! nonsense,” said her father, angrily. “ Before long I hope to see you the wife of Mr Goldsmith. Listen to what I have written to him : “Dear Sir—l have the greatest pleasure in granting you my consent to address my daughter Helen. I feel sure she will favorably receive your suit, and you have my -hearty wishes for your success. I hope you will be able tr> spend Christmas with us, and can perhaps spare a few days from your business. —I remain, &c.”

“ Paj v! It is cruel and useless.” She sobbed. The Nabob turned round in anger and was about to speak, 1 but instead he hastily slipped the letters into the envelopes and left the room. A moment after, he might have been heard roaring for his horse, as though it had been ordered hours before. Helen was much too hearty and sensible a girl to give way to useless tears, and quickly dried her eyes, and thoughtfully took up the letter to Jack. It remained still unsealed, and a few words caught her eye as she turned it over. Immediately the expression of her face was altered as she quickly dropped the letter. Her father entered the room ready for riding, and she threw her arms round his neck saying, “Whatever happens papa,” I know you onlv act for the best. Nothing shall ever divide us, and I am sure

Jack will not again trouble you till you send for hiim”: .He Took up the letters, sealed them; and was quickly on his way to the post.

CHAPTER It

Before describing the events of Hunt famous Christmas -Day,’ let. us. see why the Nabob was so in favor of Mr Goldsmith and against poor Jack. He was supposed to be, and indeed was, a wealthy man, but the greater part of his wealth was invested in speculations, and he had therefore little spare capital. His estate had cost him Lio.ooo, and he had expended nearly as much more in improvements, and in order to do this he had been compelled to borrow largely. He had known Mr Goldsmith, now a large merchant in Christchurch, 1 for years in India," ahd had helped him considerably at the opening,of.his career there, they being di,s r , tantly related. He readily got the ad : vances he required from him, Mr Goldsmith was a fine handsome man of forty, and carried his age well, but his Indian sojourn had rendered him like the Nabob, rather hasty and choleric; He was, however, exceedingly well bred and very prosperous. Fifteen years before, when Helen was a little gtrl, she had amused them all by announcing that when she grew up, “ she should be Mrs Goldsmith,” and it is more than probable that if the handsome face of Jack Dagriels had not appeared on the scene, she would hasp been by no means averse to carrying out her girlish promise. She had a very great esteem for her fathers old friend which might easily have been framed into a stronger feeling. The Nabob Had fully entered into the joke with his little girl till the. idea became serious, and at last became a pet scheme. On their voyage out, however, there had been as fellow passenger on the Cotopaxi, a fine young gentleman on his return from Oxford to New Zealand. ,They had only been a few days at sea, when the Nabob found that Helen and Mr John Dagriels had a ; very strong liking for each other. He help admiring and liking the young man, who was six feet high, broad, and evidently more of a devotee to muscular Christianity than books. He soon learned that “Jack” —nobody after two days’ acquaintance ever called hum anything but '* Jack ” —was a I thoroughly sterling fellow. He had left New Zealand four years before consigned to the care of an uncle to be sent to Oxford, where he will be long remembered as the stroke of the college boat that had got to the head of the river, and as one of the eleven that had so annihiliated Cambridge. The dons spoke well of him, though he did not take his degree. No wonder Helen was always looking for his bright laughing face, with its long tawny moustache. It is probable that the Nabob would have had no objection to Jack had he not been so thoroughly determined that he would transform his friend into a son-in-law, and he hoped that when they parted at Melbourne that Helen would soon forget all about Jack. Gijeht' WaShis surprise, therefore- three mpnths later, to meet Jack at the J sale--

yard in Tiiriaru, and to find that in buying his estate, he was really becoming a near neighbor of Jack’s. He learned then that just before Jack had reached home his father had died, leaving to Jack his well-stocked farm, and that Jack had settled down to be a practical farmer, and bid fair to be a successful one.: The, three years that had since passed had proved that the confidence of his father in Jack had not been mis-placed, and notwithstanding the Nabob’s letter to hihi, if was .by no means presumptuous on his part to aspire to Helen’s-hand. He had never spoken a word to Helen, but as soon as he found his position secure, he appealed to the Nabob, with the result we have seen.

The Nabob’s house, although much had been expended on it, was not architecturally a wonder. This may be accounted for by the fact that originally it had been a substantial eight-roomed farmer’s house, but the Nabob’s orders and counter-orders to the architect had been so conflicting that the result was more peculiar than picturesque. However, once inside, you saw that, straggling as it was, it was thoroughly comfortable, and furnished in a style seldom seen in New Zealand. A long wide hall went along the front of the house, at one end of which was the principal room, and at the other the Nabob’s snuggery, called by some the “ Library,” by others the “ Growlery.” This description of part of the house is necessary before we proceed with the events of the memorable Christmas Day of 187 —. The Christmas party—for the Nabob alwas managed to gather a goodly number of his friends on that day—had partly assembled, but Helen was on the verandah, evidently anxiously waiting for someone whom she wished to see before the rest did. At last Jack’s wellknown buggy was seen turning into the avenue, and a few moments later Jack himself stepped on to the- verandah-,-with an expression that said that he Was well satisfied with the whole world. Helen beckoned him hastily into the 'library, which opened on to the iverandah, and closed the door after !him, as he entered with some surprise. There was a subdued hum of voijees for two or three moments, when--Jack’s hearty laugh might have been heard peeling forth, but it was , instantly checked by something, apparently somebody’s hand, being placed overplus mouth. Then the library door opened, and Jack crossed over to the diningroom with the most comical expression on his countenance. . While he had been in the library the Nabob’s man, who had been sent to the township, some eight miles off, for letters, had returned with only one telegram, which was immediately taken tc the' Nabob, who was upstairs. Then came a fearful storm from above, and as J the Nabob came raving down stairs the only intelligible remark he made was “ Where is Helen.” That young lady met him at the foot of the stairs in the hall, and found him purple in the face holding an open telegram in his hand. “ Have .you anything to.do with this?” he stormed, as he threw 1 the telegram towards her. “ Have you written to that conceited puppy since my letter to him?”

“ No, papa,” she replied, and it was noticed she was wonderfully cool. “ I cannot reckon any canine animal among my correspondents.” “Silence! Miss'! You know what I mean.” And as he tured to the assembled servants she had a chance of leading the telegram as follows —“I shall certainly De with you on Christmas Day, if °nly to chastise your outrageous impudence.” It was from Mr Goldsmith, and she was not surprised at the heat of her father, who in the meantime continued to roar to his servants —

“ If Mr Goldsmith shows his no'se ‘at my door throw him out —put him'in the horsepond.” In the hubbub nobody had heard the sound of a horse hurriedly ridden up the avenue, and just as the Nabob uttered this order Mr Goldsmith himself stepped in at the open door. He was evidently greatly excited, and hearing the extraordinary Christmas welcome he. was to receive didj not tend to .calm hirh. Both looked‘at each other for’a few moments, as though they had not expected to meet so soon' ! At last Mr Goldsmith managed to say—

“ So you would put me in the horsepond. You must be a lunatic. Fifteen years ago in India- ”

The Nabob, in a frinzy, roared — “ Get out of my hoyse, you impertinent jackanapes, or I will myself turn you out.” , , •

“ You will find two can play at that, and my turning out may be more effectual than yours.” Mr Goldsmith said this almost quietly ; he seemed to realise that the situation was more serious than he had calculated on. He was a man of good personal courage, and as he saw the Nabob frantically catch up a stout stick, he shortened the grasp of his heavy riding whip. He waited while the Nabob took one step towards him, and then, as all the ladies present uttered loud shrieks, he raised his whip high in the air and “ Hold the Governor tight, Bob,” said Jack, as he regularly lifted Mr Goldsmith to the other end of the hall. Bob, by the way, whs Helen’s brother, and nearly as athletic as Jack. He had the Nabob round the waist as Jack had Mr Goldsmith, who, however, was quiet at once. The Nabob struggled in his son’s firm grasp, till, seeing Jack, his astonishment was so great that it seemed to dissipate his

rage. He looked for a moment, : and then said—

“ And what, in all conscience, brings you here ?” “I must admit your kind letter should have been replied to,” quietly said Jack; “ but I was away at Dunedin when it arrived, and only returned last night. I should have explained if I had'bad an opportunity.” “ Cool, I must say,” said the Nabob, as he dropped into a chair, “ and had you no fear of being ducked in the horse-pond ?” “ Hallo ! ” said Mr Goldsmith, “is that your usual Christmas welcome ?” “ You certainly sent me a most kind invitation and a most satisfactory answer to an enquiry I made.” As Jack said this he took Helen’s hand. Mr Goldsmith gave a long, low whistle, as he took a letter from his pocket and handed it to the Nabob, with the remark— “ Perhaps that invitation was for Mr Dagriels and not forme.”

The Nabob glanced at it, laid back in his chair, and laughed long and loudly, managing to gasp out at last, however ; “The —letters —were—put — into—wrong-envelopes.” Such was the mystery. But Mr Goldsmith had learned much in the last few moments. He had, although admiring Helen very much, never been right down really in love. He bad rather been led on by the Nabob, and drifted into the engagement with a vague idea that he was a lucky fellow, and certainly thought he could make his little playmate' of fifteen years thoroughly happy. He had no thought but that Helen’s affections were his own; and as her happiness was his object, he readily resigned in favor of Jack ; nay more, he assisted them to bring the Nabob to their way of thinking. At last the Nabob had to give way, and in they went to the greatly delayed dinner. Mr Goldsmith sat 'sat next to a buxom widow, and appeared to enjoy himself in spite of his loss.

I During dinner the Nabob burst out laughing several times at the “ awful rage Goldsmith was in,” quite oblivious to the fact that he himself had been angry. When the dinner was nearly ;over, he said to Helen —

i “ Tell me, you little puss, that is if you can spare a moment from that great boy there, did you know of the change of letters ?’* ‘ y ... j “Yes, papa. When you left .the room, you left them: both/on the table Sunsealed. I took up one, and found Uni had put them in wrong envelopes. I should have told you, but— but —I knew you and Mr Goldsmith would never really quarrel, you know ; and—and—l believed—that is thought—that Jack would so like to get that other letter.”

It was arranged that Jack should drive Mr Goldsmith over to his farm and back in the morning. As tjhey, drove home* Mr G. expressed Ms opinion that he thought he was getting almost past a marrying age, but the subject soon dropped, and: by- way of changing it said, “A remarkably fine woman Mrs Money penny'is. ’ I; have nbt met her since'‘be died. I knew Moneypenny 1 well.” Jack; gave a peculiar smile and wished him “ Good niglit” Just- a year afterwards within two days, ;j the Nabob was sitting in.. his library, when he was startled by a great excitement in the house. At last he heard someone say “ It’s Mrs Uagriels and baby.” Helen had brought over little Jack, aged one month, for the first time. The Nabob was in great excitement, but at last said —“Well, Helen, I’m glad you have come over. You must arrange'for Christmas. We shall be about the same party as last year, as I have just had a letter from the Goldsmiths. Their honeymoon is over, and they are back in Christchurch. They will be here to-morrow.”