BETSY'S BEAU.

Cromwell Argus, Volume I, Issue 26, 11 May 1870, Page 7

BETSY'S BEAU.

(Concluded.) ' A All this time, poor Betsy, with tho palest 1 of pate faces, was keeping guard of the "iback Kitchen door, which my wife now Tlftpproached. I " Which surely, mum, you're not going €p faemean yourself by going into that dirty i||p9!|jjurn ?" said the girl. *m ifnvly, indeed, 1 have no doubt," said ftp Scribe's mamma, dj| There ; why not take the girl's word ?" fo. Kid I, wishing, with my customary pusilids ftnimity, to make a compromise. "Is nd Biere any one—a soldier in that back kit- »* Elizabeth V * g g 1 But instead of answering, the girl buried be If face in her apron, and began to sob Bitterly, when, leading her aside, the ladies . Kfftied the door, and motioned me to go °/| S t. I What could Ido but obey ? So, taking y'i |p the candle I had the moment before set his j jwn, I stepped boldly in, feeling sure Ver {at the murder must now be out. But ind jo: the one large cupboard stood wide übt I pen, and there was no one behind the ul d J jor ; the place was perfectly empty. ar y | "Look under the table, George!" exj|*J ! [aimed Mrs Scribe's mamma. u ri. ; "Don't talk nonsense," I exclaimed. ! Why, a cat couldn't hide itself under , I bat table. Now, I hope you are satisfied;" i ad banging down the candlestick, I strode jack to our little dining-room, soon after ikly j earing the ladies go up-stairs. \ Poor Betsy looked very pale and troubled j lien she came to announce tea : but I was ie nt IA surprised, and .spoke kindly to the girl, (Tec- j jlieving that this time she had been un- . It j istly accused ;• and then went and partook tIOU j [ my comfortless cup. tne \ The tea was removed, and an hour cor- jissed, and then Mrs Scribe's mamma, rita- j tiguecl with her journey from Hastings, I tired to her bed-room—what in most I rases would have been the back drawing- | join—while I descended to my little den ance i ,]jj n( j the dining-i-oom to try to finish an l^ t i tide commenced that morning, my wife ich- I llowing shortly,- to sit by my fire and ;reat \ tatt," that being her custom when I am P a y» j jposed to work after tea. ■?°4 ] We were both in very severe moods, she jhgua \ ion her low bergere stool, I at my table; I act ! il for a time nothing was heard but the and ckiag of Mrs S.'s tatting-shuttle, and the ;urn " timing of my pen. loses ll<: there was no article-finishing that dan- ! jht with so many clouds in the horizon ; r the |; -wising my eyes, I could see a couple ie .dy» teaS stealing down on either side of the 0 ittiest little nose in the world ; my pen opped ; the tatting fell all in a horrible lglo; and then some one was on her . ees at jny feet, and I was just going to ' 1 ss" Bs s*y U P 3 on xe white forehead within Q _ a J! rirjreaeh, when there was a noise ! kind, Ves; there was a noise—a strange, hairjld of [ring groan, apparently at our shoulders; 1 bad ) ' ra » * a ie P ;lssa S e > an d then a l° uc l flo Pi that of some one falling on the oil-cloth, folLet fed. by hysterical sobs and cries, re re- \^ e leaped up and opened the door, to 'rvinz P oor Betsy apparently in a tit—now ctions ibing, now shrieking, and pouring forth ly fob )hs!" innumerable, but quite incapable jut it answering any questions. . Then came the ringing of Mrs Scribe's mma's bell, and, as it was of course not . .» nrered, the opening of her door, and her ce descending to know what all the * laning meant that she could hear. And now, not only from Betsy, but as m the wall, came groan after groan—(l, heart-wrung, half-stifled groans, sirnito that which had first startled us, and ioh I had laid to the credit of Betsy. ' Oh!" exclaimed dear mamma, it is ie poor creature dying next door, and cries have frightened this poor girl.— Q, George, and see if you can be of any il." Jirectly after there was a loud peal at ?s< front door bell, and on going, I found neighbour Jones had evidently come n* Um heI P * 'What is the matter 1" What is the matter 1" latienU '°th in a breath. «, and 'Some one must be dying at your nese. iae," said Jones. "Trjjjf 'No, no ; at your house," I said. BAN 'But we can hear the groans in our ~ ary," ftution, 'So can we in ours!" I exclaimed, e other oma here." And leading the way into - back room, there we could hear the is giw« ed groans again, on sums , t.,° . °. „ T . din the ts m y° ur house, I said, n everj No, no; it's in the chimney," exallowed med Jones. " Good Heavens! there'll ome one smothered !" mUt &£*» yea; chimney, chimney," eI W. Elizabeth; and then Bhe went ank caa genuine hysterics, an with- la any one there?" 'I cried, going to to him. wan, \3S* ?! l ' h j " hj !" Came back a dismal groan | ! ply ; and now a light burst upon my in Post 3. r lepositej Here, Jones—this way," I cried : and d h dS mg . U P tbe little lam P> I ™ g°"ig . a-stau-j, when the shrieking of the behalf*! »in protest at being left alone in the : ago-?" ■arrested me. "dcSfi fl^ 1 - a Uglltr ' Said a s raff voice ; L e^^?-* r *i Q 2> Uooked round to encounter jachProfweman, who, attracted by Betsy's bs Banfefins, had come in by tho open door, fccbMßl ■ * '

"Here—this -way, iny man," I cried. " There is some one stuck in the chimney." "In the what!" ho exclaimed incredulously. " Oh-h-h !" came from the wall again. " It's t'other side ; that's what it is," said the policeman. "It isn't, I tell you," cried Jones. " There, man ; listen." " Oh-h-h !" came now, and a strange rustling noise as of some one struggling. "I'm blest if there ain't!" exclaimed the constable. " Here—this way ; I know, t know," I said ; and leading tho way, we soon stood in the back kitchen, where, by the help of the policeman's bull's-eye, I could just make out a pair of boot-soles up the chimney, and something glistening, which I made out to be spurs. We shouted up the chimney; but no answer came, and there was only an occasional kicking of the boots—feeble kicking as if the occupier was in a great strait. "Let's go upstairs again," said the policeman. " He's stuck tight, that's what he is ;" and, obedient to the voice of law, we followed to the back room, where, after tapping at the wall two or three times, and eliciting a faint groan that sounded like " Help !" the constable started off—rather leisurely, I thought—but soon returned with a crowbar and hammer-armed bricklayer and other policemen. There was no stopping to tear up our Brussels carpet, for, attacking the walls, bricks, mortar, plaster, and torn paper soon formed a dusty heap; and, after guiding himself by listening once or twice, in an incredibly short space of time there was a hole made through into the chimney communicating with the back kitchen, and through that hole came a faint sigh. " Come; hold up, old chap, whoever you are," said one of the policemen ; and then to me, " Got a drop of brandy, sir V I soon fetched the spirit, and then, in the sight of the horrified women, the hole was sufficiently enlarged to enable them to see a ghastly, soot-blackened face, with protruding eyeballs and grinning teeth ; but as the air seemed to reach the man's lungs more purely, a change took place, aided by some brandy administered in a ; spoon by one of the policemen. It was all plain enough now, and I was not much surprised when, the hole being sufficiently enlarged, a tall, stout lifeguardsman was dragged out, but only to fall on the rubbish heap, completely exhausted. " Found on the premises for felonious purposes," said one policeman. " Course you'll press the charge, sir 1" But I did not answer, being too much taken up with the poor fellow before me, who it was evident would in a few minutes longer have been stifled. " Couldn't you get down again V I asked him as soon as lie could speak. "No; not an inch, sir,—nor yet up—jammed in," he gasped; and 'eat from next chimney, too, seemed to stop mybreath." " How did you get there, eh V queried one policeman. " There; don't bother him," I said. "I know; and he's half dead now.—Here, have some more brandy."' " Thanky, sir," he gasped, feebly, and swallowed a little, but only with great difficulty ; and it whs pitiful to see the complete prostration of the great fellow • his grey scarlet jacket reduced to a blackened, torn dilapidation j and his trim whiskers and moustache all limp and mor-tar-filled. " I couldn't, master," lie whispered, " T hadn't the heart, for the poor lass's sake ; and I would not have groaned when I did, if I could have kept 'em back." I always was weak ; but if the true man did not stand out there, I thought, I'm no judgo ; suffice it, those few earnest words" had quite won me to his side, and I mapped out my course. "You'll press the charge?" said one of the policemen again. " .No," I said, firmly. " He had no felonious intent, and he has been punished enough without what will follow for breaking barrack law." " Absurd !" exclaimed Mrs Scribe's mamma, shrilly. " I desire, George, that you have him taken off to prison directly, or we shall all be murdered in our beds." " The sooner you are in yours, madame, I think, the better," I said, politely, " for your costume" She stayed to hear no more, for her dressing-gown and night-cap, hitherto forgotten in the excitement, disappeared like magic, followed by a banging door. I satisfied, then, the grinning policemen and the bricklayer ; and, moved by egregious folly, as Mrs Scribe's mamma afterwards told me, I allowed the wretched man to pass the night in an easy-chair, seeing him off myself almost as soon as it was light. Betsy left us at the end of the week, and T must own to always supporting Mrs Scribe in her determination to have no followers from the neighboring barracks. Whether our maid married the man of her choice, I know not; but this I do know, that a great piece of my little library Brussels was totally spoiled; and if we wanted a reminder when loud talking or sounds from the next house had ceased to startle us in the late hours, when sitting together—if, I say, we wanted a reminder, , there it was in the faded paper over the

new wall whicli marked the hole from which we were favoured with tho advent of Betsy's Beau. P.S. —Probably owing to the shock to her nerves, Mrs Scribe's mamma returned to Hastings the next day, and did not visit us again for six months.