LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume XX, Issue 1579, 12 March 1879, Page 3

LITERATURE.

— MY STEADY PUPIL. [•‘All the Year Round’”] (Concluded ) Left alone my reflections were very bittc-, 1 r ould not doubt the truth Or the timeliness of the warning that had been conv yed to me, and with ut loan of time I set out for the Rue de Loches. It was very dark, and as I crossed the bridge a fine chilly rain began to fall, but I --ftroely heeded it, but pressed on. I reached to* Rue do loches, and, just as T raised my hand t«) tbG iid.. hand e of number Sixteen, 1 noticed th»,t the gate W a< ’, ( c °u tra yto custom, slightly ajar. I"B f incliVSiy I pushed >t open, passed in, and silently roclosed it behind me. No one observed me ns 1 crossed the gr iss-growu courtyard, and, unchallenged, entered the big old house, the windows of which were now ablnze with lis;ht, while strains of music reached my ears, mingling with the ciink of glasses and the mn" our of conversation. The wellknown sta reuse however, was clear, and I met wi’h no impediment as I traversed two small rooms, and, myself screened by a heavy crimson curtain, commanded a view of the great gloomy salon and its occupants. , More than forty persons, as I judged, were pre-ent, and of this numl er, besides t e colonel’s wife and daughter, but three were women. One of these, a professional performer, I should say, wafl s> ated at (he piano The other two, bejewelled, painted, and with elaborate chignons and waving fans, were mere living decorations, as it appeared to me, of the scene. As for the male guests, there was the usual mixture of gulls and sharpers—thelatter element predominating—to he found in such places. All were well dressed and several were more or less intoxicated. Choice v’ands, varied wines and liqueurs were groupe 1, am d flowers and silver, on a buffet adjacent, and two lynxey< d serving men, with very evil conn to nances, aud baggy blue liveries that might have been supplied by the c stumier of a third-rate theatre, were busy iu ministering to the creature comforts of the company.

Some game, lansquenet or baccarat, was going in, and in it some eighteen or nineteen players were engaged. Near the head of the table, conf onting the dtab r. sat Cecil, his face flushed, his eyes si>a kling, a champagne glass in his hand and a gr< at heap of gold and notes lying on the velvet cloth before him. Most of the other faces near him, iac uding that of the Baron Duplessis, expressed annoyance, dismay, or savage ill-hvtmour, and I saw at once that t'.is was an instance of one of those extraordinary runs of luck which 'ometimes enab]. s a tyro to conquer the wilest practitioner at the gambl ng table. Again and again the cards were dealt, and still fickle Fortune betrayed Cecil. The pile of gold before him swelled and swelled, until at la t, with a muttered oath, the last stake of the bank was reluctantly pushed towards the pupil.

‘ Brnke the bank, by Jove ! I said I’d do it!’ cried the lad, with boyish exultation, as he held out hia glass to be reple nish'-d.

1 was in the very act of rushing from my place of concealment to reproach my pupil wita duplicity, and to fling hia ill gotten guns broadcast among the harpies who surrounded him, when I happened to observe one of the evil-visaged serving-men, in obedience to a nod from Colonel the Baron Dnp’essis, add a few drops from a little vial that he carried hidden in his sleeve, to the foaming contents of the broad glass of champagne which he presently placed in Cecil’s outstretch d hand. The lad swallowed the frothin.- wine at a draught and again laughed in foolish triumph, as he passed his fingers through the gold coin and rustling notes, and tUen —so rapid, no doubt, was the action of the drug—his bright eyes swam and grew dim, ho nodded drowsily, and sank forward in a sort of stupor, his head resting on hia arm. Instantly there began to be a movement among the company, and with many a ‘ Hon soir’ and ‘An plaisir,’ the majority of the guests to k their leave, Tang! The sharp little hammer of the bronze clock on the chiraneypiece as it struck the hour of one, suggested to me the neee-sity of being prompt and cool, if I would save Cecil Manvers from a worse peril than the mere loss of mo n ey. By this time only five persons excepting my pupil, remained in the room, for even the baron’s scared wife and dull-eyed daughter had disappeared, and of these five, two were the serving-men in theat ical livery. The other three were the baron himself, a cadaverous little old fellow, with a hatchet face and harsh voice, and a big, black-browed man whose sharp white teeth filed to a point like those of savages, looked disagreeably wolfish whenever he smiled or epoke. I grew seriously alarmed as 1 not d the significant glances which these worthies exchanged, as they surrounded the sleeping strippling. That they would allow the lad to carry off his winnings I had never thought probable, but now it seemed evide-1 that something beyond commonplace knavery was in question. ‘Who sleeps, sups,’ remarked the senior of the group, with a crackling laugh that chilled my b'o 'd as I heard ‘ Vour soothing syrup, Duplessis, did the trick well ’

‘ /\y,’ replied the baron, as he passed the flame of a caudle before Cecil’s unconscious eyes ; *it was time, comrades, to pour out aomethir g stronger that Clicquot, for, peste ! what c»rds the c nglish boy did hold, as if the devil had shuffled the pack ; and, trust me, we would not have found it easy to make him lose the gold he won! Young as he is, he nas sense and spirit too, and ha had the effrontery to tell me to-night that ho was ashamed of playing tricks on his good-na tured tutor, and that, win or lose, he’d gamble no more ’ The stout-built man responded with some brutal joke about a tender young pigeon that was ready fnr the spit. ‘ 'I here is no risk, no risk at all/ said the eldest of the scoundrel-); what can they prove against us, hein ? The young gentleman has w n our money, now we his. He has drunk much wine. He insisted on returning home on foot, with his gold in his p-ckets. Is it our fault, IVI. le President, if those pockets were empty when the body, discovered m the Seine, was laid out on the wet slabs of the M*r'ne V I shuddered for there was something peculiarly hideous in the affectation of the old v Rain’s mann r, as, drawing himself up, and extending one arm in forensic fashion, he pleaded nis own cans i before an imaginary tribunal. But the two evil vis»ged and the hurley black-browed ruffian were of another miad, for they laughed with evident enj oyment of-the je it ‘ That for the Cour d’Assise/ retorted the big man, snapping his fingers ; * and now, mon vieux, if you like, I am ready to administer the coup-de-ponce to this young aristo/ and he stretched forth his brawny hands half jocularly towards Cecil's throat. ‘Not yet,’ returned the baron, peremptorily ; ‘ not yet this hour to come. One o’clock is too early for our good friends, Jaiques and Jean Baptiste here, to carry such a load thr -ugh the riverside streets, better wait till the last wine shop closes, the last drunkard has reeled homewards ’

And then all five eat down together at the table, in familiar conversation, much of which was to me unintelligible, sipping Curagoa and Chartreuse the while with ap prrciative relish. Tho only one who looked carevvorn and anxious was the colonel him-f-e f. I did, not, however, linger long to play the part of eavesdropper. Clearly, if I wou'd save Ce il, I must lose no ti ne in summoning rescue. Noi elessly, cautiously, I threaded my way through the darklieg antechambers and down the folitary staircase. 1 reached the courtyard. It was empty, and the porter’s 1 dge dark and deser id. Softly un. 1 sing the gate, I glided out into the street, and, mindful of the address which M. Caruit had given me, (lew rather than walked to Number Seven, Rue Joachim. The inspector of police listened with eager interest to my story. Twice he interrupted me. with an urbane apology for the nub ness of the act, that he might apply his lips to tho mouthpiece of a call-pipe that communicated

with the lower salle of the Bureau, aud when I had finished he rubbed his hands and a,most purred, in feline fashion, over the news,l had brought. ‘ A great haul for the net of the law !’ he murmured blandly; ‘Georges Le Moino — lor your corpulent inch'd, Mr Baker, can be no other-runaway forgat, oU"il*T. and aßsassin, much wanted in his old quarters Toulon; then (‘ld Vinet, of Lyons, dit Trompe-la-loi; then the DuplessU himself, who has a long score to settle with justice ; and the two minor villians, Jacques Poach and Jean Baptiste Tellier, thrown in to oompleto the batch of jail bircfa. Now, my children!’ he added londly, and thtf door opened, disclosing four gendarmes and eight agents, armed to the teeth ; ‘ho quick and silent. This gentleman will guide us. Only one of this gibier de-f otoncc is likely tomak • serious resistance. I mean Le Mcine, If he does ' “ Very well, inspector,” answered an agent of police, as he examined the lock of his phtol. But there was no fighting. The whole rascally gang gave proof of the most a v ject cowardice. when pounced upon by the police, and did not even attempt to use the weapons which four out of the five had concealed about their persons. In prison, each made a confession damaging to the defence of the remainder, and I believe all were ultimately sentenced to long terms of Imprisonment at Toulon or Lambessa, while I received praises, unmerited 1 am sure, for the share T had taken in providing for the safety of my pupil. Cecil Manvera is Lord Hunad'-m now, and has long since Lamed to profit hr the follies of his youth : but we are fast friends, and my former charge has never fo'gotten the debt of gratitude which he declares himself to owe me f >r my coolness on that night in the Rue de Loches.