GUY HEAVYSTONE; OR, "ENTIRE." A MUSCULAR NOVEL.

Auckland Star, Volume II, Issue 555, 20 October 1871, Page 2

GUY HEAVYSTONE; OR, "ENTIRE." A MUSCULAR NOVEL.

By BkbtHabte

ChAFjCBR I

" incurvicevicuinpecus." . A vtsH swashy, splashy afternoon jfin October; a school-yard filled with a mob of riotous boys. A lot of us standing outside. . . , Suddenly came a dull crashing sound from the school-room. At the interruption I shuddered involuntarily and called to Smithsye : " What's up brnithums ? .»......■„ " Guy's clearing out the fourth form, ( he replied. r -, T . n , r._ -, At the samem6meiitGeorge->de Cover- ; ley passed me, holding his nose from wPence the bright Norm an blood streamed icdly. To :him the':'plebeian Soilth-sye lau^liin^lyt ' ' '. ,' . ...:- . ". (Jully ! how's his nibs ? ''"I pushed the door of the school-room opea. There are some spectacles which a man never forgets. ''7£h'e burning of Troy probably seemed a^largewwzed conflegration to -the pious jEtieas, and made an impression on him which he carried away with the feeble :Anchisesj-< -' la the centre of the room lightly brandishing the piston-rod of a steam-engine, stood Guy Heavystone alone. 11 I say alone, for the pile of small boycott the floor in Vie corner could hardly be called com - pany. ".- ■ .-..-; I willtry and sketch Hica for the reader. Guy Heavy stone only fifteen. H/3 broad, deep phest,:his sinewy: and quivering flank, his .straight pasienn, showed him to be a thoroughbred; .Perhaps he was a trifle heavy in the fe.tlook, Jbut he held his head haughtily erect.- His eyes were glittering..but pitiless.'. -There- was a i sternness about the lower parfc df his face —i.be old; Heavystone look—a sternness heightened,' perhaps by the snaffle-b't which in one ofimslrange freaks, he wore !in his mouth; to curb Ms occasional ferocity. His dress'was well adapted to his siquare-set and heruculean frame. &• striped knit undershirt, close - fitting tights, and a few spangles set off his figure ; a neat Glengarry cap adorned his bead. On it was displayed the Heavystone crest, a cock regardant on a dunghill o.^ and the motto, £? Devil. a better !" I thought of Horatius on the bridge, cI Hector before the walls. I always make ?t a point to think of something classier! ft suc'i t'n es.•■- '

He saw me, and his sternness partly relazrd. ;tSon?etliin^-likeasmile struggled (ij.-oughhis grim iineaments. Ifc'was like looking on the Juu r;frau after haying seen LYlort Blanc—iVrifle, only a trifle less suij':me and awful. Kesting- his hand li^ht'y on the shpulder of the head master, who shaddered and co^.apsed under his toucb, lie s'trude .toward me. .. . H"s walk was peculiar. You could not call it a stride. It was like the " crestf;oaS'U3 Bellerophon"—a kind of prancin^ «i'ih G-uy Heavystone pranded toward tre. • ■ ■ ■' >'■ '»a(»^

Chapter 11.

"Lo dLove" he the i,fl-dei

A-." > nb'T ■ I"1'? n

;-wV c ~.rcd

It was the winter of 186— when I next

met Guy Heavystone. He had left the University and had entered the 76th '< Heavies." " I liare exclianged the gown for the sword, you see," he said, grasping njy hand and fracturing the bones of my little finger, as he shook it. I gazed at him with unmixed admiration. He was squarer, sterner, and in every way smarter and more' remarkable than ever. I! began to feel toward .this man as IJhalaster felt towards Phyrsino.Es ?n me body must have felt toward A,rchid|dasculus, as Bbswell felt towards Johnson. " Oome into my den," he said, and lifting me gently by the seat'bf my pantaloons he carried me upstairs a"nd deposited me, before I could apologise, on the sofa. , I looked around the room; 'It was a bachelor's room, cliaractei'i'sti^ally ■furnished in the taste of the proprietorr A few* claymores and battle-axes were ranged against

ihe wall, and a culveriu captured by Sir 'Ralph Heavystone occupied the corner, the other end of theroom being taken up by; a light battery. Foils, boxing-gloves, saddles, Mand fishinejtpoles lay around"' carelessly. A small pile of billet-doux' lay upon a silver safver. !iThe' man was not an anchorite nor yet a Sir ofalahad. I never could tell what Guy thought of women. " Pop/ little, Jbeas.ts," h,e would ofium say when 6onversatidn t'lirnea on any : of histjfresh oo^ quests.-. -Then.passing hi§, his raarble brow,'.the' old look of ; stern fixedness 'of purpose - and un::;flia;chiug severity r would, gtr,aigl^en ptLe lines of his'mouth and he would imutter, " half to; •himself,.-; "Sdeafch IHolJ;»ti-.j&»i as «i " Couie with me to Heavy f tone Grange,;. , 9?j?e Exmoßr Hounds throw oBTto-mo^row*. ■IX give you a mount," Jh&' said- "rfs he' amused <; hipiself .by r roiling up. a^.sily^Ej ■c^ndlest''clt t)between his nugers. "You shall have Cleopatra. But stay," h!e;added* thoughtfully ;'"now I remember^.,li or:,

dered (Jleopatra to be shot this .morning." " And why ?" I queried^'''' y ...'• She threw her rider yesterday andfe 1! oil him —jr^" .-■■•' ..^"And killed him?" ~)'//iJNo. That's the reason why I have ordered her to be shot. I keep no animals .jtb^ti are not dangerous—l should add ..deadlyr" He hissed the "last sentence •bejjwe^n hi^ teeth^ and; fir gloomy; frown; descended over'his 'calm bsow s . ~1 affected to turn over the tradesmen's. bills1 thatslay,fcitiJhetable;1 fox like'all of tbe Heavystone;rase, Guy, seldom,<paid cash, and said :, w ,,..' ; v > . >| ■:, uT ; i\ You remind me of the time wh^Hliea.n i idaßrrr- iT"-.<i bjio<] i:i ,I«9J v;;:.^ i*" b ? i'i o,"bother Leonidas and-your classical allusions. Uorne P" We descended to djiinef.l^ ' ■ ;,, ■ b'j1«nJ»Ioo i-Jiiii^iii!" ,sto«:HiO .islljn.

i .fja-i i CHAPTEE'llil^^

i "Hep rjies weigjit.ihe rides.a rice] ,{ _\ \\ !'T?s for a thOttsarid pound." " 'l'|'*|lhere is Flora Billingsgate, the greatest coquette and 'li&i'dest rideriri'uie country,"-said rny-companion-Kalpb: Mt)Tt-~ rnainj rswe stoodupou\D^Qglpbj;Common ifcefdrje tb.e,,meejy. . A "', *. ',' .-~ q I looked'up "ana"; beli eld' Grtiy.,Heavystouej bending haughtily' over' the 'saddle as he addressed.., a, beaiilifiil brunette. She vfas iiideed^sj^ndidjj-gr^qmedjnd. hi^h-ppirited woman. "We were near/ etiougn to overhear'the 'following:, conversa^ion, which any higli-toned , reader ftil-t no ?.iiiUH uu..-il ;.•■/£•>':il'jii i---'i;

will recognise as thecommon and natural expression of he higher classes.

" When Diana tt'kes the field the chase is not wholly confined to objects ferce nalu.-ce," s-id Guy, darting a significant ■ ijla'jce at his coin put1 ion. Flora did not shrink either from t'io glance or the meaning implied in the sarcasm. "If I were looking for an Endynjion now," she said archly, es she playfully cantered over a few hounds and leape°\a fire-barred gate. [sT Guy whispered a few words, inaad^\i\ to the rest of the party, and curvetting slightly, cleverly cleared two of the hunts™ men in' a flyingttap, galloped: up the front 3teps of the" mansion, and dashing at full speed through the hall, Jeapcd throug the dif wing-room window and rejoined me, languidly, on the lawn. ■ *

■' J3e carefal of. Flora Billingsgate," he s?.id'tome in low stern tonnes, while 1 his p:tiles3 eye shpt a baleful fire. " Gardez votes J' 1 '■'

- "" GnotM seaiiton." I replica, calmly] ifot wishing to appear to be behind him inperceptionor verbal felicity. ■ : Guy started off inhigh spirits. jSe was well carried.- He and the first whip, a tenstone man, were head and headat the last fence while the houVids were .rolling over their fox a hundred! yards further in the .Open. ~ . ~,,.;;,' •.. <.. r^V\ '.'... ~-I ? i iJut an, nnexpected cireutnstance occurred. Coming ba.qk his chestnut rdire refused a ten-foot 'wall. '," She re ;red aid fell-backward—-A-gJ-in-he led her upto-ifc HgEtly ; again she refused, falling heavily from the coping. Guy started to his feet, fhe old pitiless fire shone in bis eyes ;the old stern, look; settled .'ajbundlliisjnouth. Seizing.the,ma,re by the tai r land maPje^he threw her over the ■ waH-.ui She: landeS twenty feet on the other-side erect and tfemblin?. 'Lightty leaping the same obstacle himself,-he remounted her. She did not refuse the wall the nest,time. r _ ; t i.'A .:•■-. ; -;■ '•: •■ WII ; fii il

Chaptee IV.

" He 1 o'.ds bwn. by his glittering eye." Gruy was:in the north of:liselaiidjjjoekscooting; Sb" Halph Mortmaim'tolct' me, aid aLo th?fc the match between Mary Brandagee and Guy had been broken off by Elora rßillingsgate; "?L don'Klike those Eillingsgates," said Efilph, "they're ia bad stock. Her father, Smithfield de. Eilxingsgate had an unpleasant, jsfajr dj huthinq; up the knave fromlhe b:ott6m vdf i.be pack. But nous verro.is; let us go and see-Guy."' * •, f : J -/ r:'-A : r-Thenext morning we started -for Fifr ma-coul's-crpssing. When I reached the ■shcotin^-bos, where Guy was entertaihiDg; a select company of friends, Flora Biniugsgreeted .me;with a saucy smile, i ' 1 Gey was even squarer and sterner tban ever. His gusts of passion.were more^ iveqiient, and it 'was1 with "difficulty tliaV he; could keep an able-bodied servant in ii's family. His present retainers were more or less maimed from exposure to the fury of their master. There was astrange cynicism, a cutting sarcasm in his address piercing through his polished manner. T' thought of Timon, &c. _

! One evening we were sitting over our Cbainbertini'affcer a hard day's work, and Guy was listlessly turning over some^letfan,, tt Il.o vcr-BVnUxXcTilj —ircr-*XITCerQd a Cry.tDid you ever liear the trumpeting of a wounded elephaut? It was like that. I I looked at him with consternation. He was glancing at a letter which he held ft arm's length, and snorting, as ifc were, at it as he gazed. The lower part of his fnce was stern, but not as rigid as nsual. He was slowly grinding betweenhis teeth l.he iragmen tV-of the glass-he haVl Just been drinking from. Suddenly he.seized.oneo£p liis servants,anJ, forcing the "wretch upon his knees, V:exclaimed with the roar of a

tiqrer,

[-'JDogX why was this. kep,t from me*?" Tf" I *\. Whys pleas*?, • sir, i Miss .Flora: said ijf how:, H was a reconciliation fronv Miss ■■>: Ei-andagee, rand it was to be kept';from ' > you Where you would not be likely to see it—!-and—land—-t-" L*jL~£l~3s '.'cjpeak, dog land you— ~- "i :-.-=!:; '" I put it among your bills, sir !'* 5 ~ (j iWith a' groan' like distaafT thunder, _ "fell swooning to-the floor. ••■ '■■"'" JHp soon, recovered, for the. nest moment-& a Servant came rushing into the room:with;.,o the imtorrh'ation that a number of the in r , T geiriuous peasantry of "the neighbourhood^ were about to indulgertifat evening in the ►hationajipasfime 'oft burning a farmhouse and shooting a landlord;, r j^oy smiled a fearful.smite, without, however,, alter! jig,^ • hi 3 stern v aricl pitiless-:expresbdn. tc" |*Let them come," he stid calmly; fee;l-like entertaining" compinyT" We barricaded the doors and,windlow.s, rand(heo'chose buraVnis irortt^e'armoury. Giij's chqip» ; wa&'aisingulaßfone/: it? waaA r.D lariding rieV with.v long.; iaud'e, and a sharp cavalry sabrel^We w ; £^enp,tdestined|-x to temain long ?in igWbranbl of rfis use! AjLX ihowl was heard fronijpiUiQit, and a party of fifty or sixty armed "mci precipitated thetrselvP3 ai'g'aiilst'thß door. - .' ' ("Suddenly - : the r^mddwir.ooQlied.- aWitß P . the* rapidiiy of lightnia~r6ki? HeaTystone .cast the neto^er the h'dadoftfeie lihgleadfer, ' eVaculated—" -Hahet-i'-' -and witl~ a""baxlC stroke of liis cavalry sabre severed the metnber from its trunk, -and dewing the net-back again, cas% theIgory- iead upon fheifloor, saying quietly: , oTT p.; «iOhe;";\ a :i: a -(i %. A J{i a o^tt p A<?ain the net was cast, the stel flashed, t^sinet was withdraw^',"aM theominous "TWo!" accoiapanied jthe ;lied; as ltr^lV rc'ibd on the floor. J. ■ v<!Dp,y.OU remember: what f Wmjsag[s:<)f''.ftU ; tjie s'ljidtator P" said Guy, calm^ wiping h;s sabre. " How graphic is tha passtfg»« «° t commencing: ' Inter nos,' Sa." The spott continued until the heads c twenty___ desperadoes had* been gathered h. TmQ telt: seemed- inclined-tp4JsP??se- ■> QP^ ?a * ! ioanljiously shEowed himself'aWhedoor ; ia iifinfang shqt was heard, and;%,iaggeE^t . batet pierced "through the heart/ G-rasp- C ing the door-pest in the last incouscipus throes'of-his: miglity frame, thS whole side ! of tHe house yielded to thatsarthguake. / tremor, and we had barely tin^ to'escape .before the whole, building -fell 1 i^ups. I : thought of Saaisbnj-the^Giantfudge, &0., &c. y but all was over. , ,■ ■ Guy .|J,^avyst6i)ie/ha(aTdM|s;:lie' M<vi_lLv.ed— "hard.