LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 1850, 27 January 1880, Page 3

LITERATURE.

THE LOSG-LOST BROTHER,

[Abridged from "London Society.]

(Continued.)

Pete", sti'l with his mouth full, made some unintelligible answer ; Miss Pamela, struck apparently by a happy thought, skipped playfully to the mantelpiece, and took from it the miniature of the chubby-faced young man. ‘There, Peter,’ she said, ‘can you tell me who that is?' 4 Pon’t know him,’ said Peter, after due examination. ‘You don't recognise it ; why, Peter, that is your own likeness, at the age of twenty-two.’ ‘Me! that fluffy-headed chap! Oh, come now,’ said Peter, with a look of disgust. ‘lt is, indeed,’said Miss Pamela, ‘and a very g od likeness it was ; indeed, it is still, isn’t it, Penelope, see, the very now, and the selfsame oyea.’ ‘ Probably, my dear !’ said Miss Penelope, with her habitual air of gent'e correction ; ' foreign travel may alter people a good deal, but it generally loaves them in pissession of the same noses and eyes. Bat I agree with you, that Peter’s likeness to the portrait is very surprising. I should have recognised him anywhere.’ ‘ Fancy you not recognising your own portrait, Peter !’ said Miss Pamela ; * however, yoa must surely recognise that other likeness (the one cut out of black paper, in profile) tf our dear papa. Dear papa ! What a vein of humor he had, hadn’t he ? Do you remember how he used to call Penelope and roe ton account of our initials) bis 4 sweet P’s,’ and ray asking him what he would call Pater, as he was a P too. I think I see him now, as ho answered, with that ready wit of his, ‘What, Peter? Why, g r een P—, of course 1’ And he broke out at intervals, all tbe rest of the evening—‘Ha, ha 1 Very guod ! Green P —, of course.’’ 4 1 like p os,’ said Peter, altogether ignoring the late Mr Pimpernel's little joke; 4 wa don’t g-l ’em over there, though ; they’re too expensive—it don’t run to it ’ ‘I daresay the living is rather different from what we get in dear old England,’ said Mias Penelope. ’i bis was partly in answer to Peter’s last remark, and partly a commentary on his manor-r of feed ug, which was somewhat peculiar. He was now eating shrimps with raspberry jam, and the sisters observed with surprise that it did not appear to be cuet imary in India to remove their heads or t-ils. At this moment a knock was heard at the front d or, and presently the trim parlourmaid entered with a note upon a fcra? and a countenance brimful of some exciting intelligence. 4 What is it, Susan?’ said Mbs Penelope, with diged’y; ‘and how many times must I tell you never to come into a room without knocking ?’ ‘ r ‘h, please mnm, I'm very sorry; but 1 was so flustered I quite forgot it. It’s the prge boy from the ’sylum mum ; and one of them lunatics has escaped, and we shall all bo murdered in our beds ; and he's a Inkin’ of ’em round to all the houses in the village.’ ‘Taking the lunatics round to si l the h -uses in the village ! What on earth does the girl mean?’ said Miss Pamela ; ‘ explain girl, for goodness’ sake, or I really think I shall shake you ! ’ ‘ Lor no tnum ; not the lunatics. On'y letters atePicg everybody ail about it. and the best way to ketch ’em, and such like.’ ‘ Peace, girl! ’ said Mias Penelooe, 4 give me the letter ’ And with the aid ■ f her double eye-gla-.s she read aloud as follows; ‘The Priory', Dec 23, 1873.

‘ Dr DolHmore regrets to have to announce that one of the inmates of his establishment has escaped, and is supposed to be lurking in the immediate neighborhood. He is quite harmless; and it is requested that anyone to whom he may address himself will have the kindness to detain him, which may easily be done by the offer of some slight refreshment, and at once to communicate with Dr Dollimore.’

‘Good gracious, Penelope!’ exclaimed Miss Pamela, as her sister finished reading, ' what a frightful state of things ! A maniac wandering in our very midst !’ ‘No, Pamela,’ interposed her cister, ‘in the neighbourhood, but not in cur very midst.’ ‘ A maniac—a raving maniac! Good gracious !ho may even now be on our doorstep ! And wo are requested to offer him some slight refreshment. I’d refresh him, and Dr. Dollimore too, if I had him here.’ 1 Sold, Pamela,’ said her sister solemnly, ‘this is not a matter to be dealt with by two weak women. This is a matter for a men. Peter, wo look to you. If this unhappy person should present himself within these peaceful walls, how would you advise us to act ?’ Peter reflected. J Give him some bread and jam and some shrimps, and while ha’s eating of ’em throw a blanket over his head, and sit upon him. That’s what I should do with him.’ ‘What a thing it is to be a man !’ said Miss Pamela ; ‘ how promt, how vigorous, how much to the point! I’m afraid, though, we should have a difficulty about the sitting upon him. Ho might 8 rugg‘e, you know.’ ‘I think wo might manage,’observed Miss Penelope; ‘suppose wo had Prodder, the gardener, ready behind the hall door to throw the blanket over his head, and then wo could push him into the china closet at tho end of the passage, and lock him up until assistance arrived.’ ‘Ex cellent, Penelope ; nothing could be better. But what a frightful experience for two defenceless females ! Nay, not so ! Peter, I beg your pardon. No longer defenceless, since yon are with us, my gallant brother!’ ‘ Oh, yes, I’m here, and I’m a-g .iug to stop,’ said Peter. ‘ I must say I admire bravery in b man,’ said Miss Penelope, ‘happily woman don’t often need it. But there is no time to be lost. Wo hud bettor Lava up the gardener at ouce.’

The gardener was Bt mmoued, and was instructed as to tho du'y expected of him. Mr IVter Pimpernel and himsc'f, < aoh armed with a largo and heavy blanket, were to stand sue on ea. h side of the do r, and iu the event of a visit from the lunatic, they were (imultancously to inako a swoop anon > in with the blankets, throw them over his head, and hustle him into tho china closet.

Here however, an unexpected difficulty arose. Mr Prodder seemed to hesitate as to undertaking the required duty. Miss Pamela’s small figure appeared t > grow almost gigantic as she inquired with withering scnrn, ‘ What, afraid, Prodder? A man, and afrrid !’ ‘ Well, no, mum, it ain’t exactly that; but I’m always a advocate for a man a slickin’ to his spear. Always slick to your proper spear, rays I. Now it do strike me, axing your pardin, ladies both, that harpoonin’ of lunatics is not exactly the proper spear of a gardener. Fruit or wegeta’des rr dowers, or even a handy job about the house, I don’t siy nothin’ of wotsomdever; but when it comoa to Inn&tics. wbv, it ain’t a line of dooty that I lays myself out fer, and I don’t know that I feel equal to undertakin’of it.’ Here Mr Prodder paused in a shamefaced manner, and rubb d his mruth pensively with the back of his ha-:d. This last gesture was a ray of light The sisters knew that it always indicated extreme thirst. ‘ I understand you, Frodder,’ said Miss Penelope, with cutting sarcasm ; ‘perhaps yon would feel mere equal to the occasion if you were permitted to gntify your nr.rnid th’rit fir betx-. Be it so, Susan, draw a jug o: beer—a large jug.’ ‘Two jugs,’ said Pe f er. Mr Proddcr brightene 1 visibly. And r ’.marking sotto voce that it was a ‘ ram stsrt.’ but he ‘wasn’t noways particular if there was a drop o’ somethin’ hanging to it,' he bet ok himseli to the kitchen till his ser.icoa should bo required, though with a private conviction that they were not likely to be wanted. In this, however, ho was deemed to be mistaken; for scare ly had the two blankets been brought downstairs and placed in the hall, than a rat-tat-tat of a timorous and uncertain character was heard at the front door. Miss Pamela remarked that she should know that was a lunatic’s knock anywhere. Peter and the gardener took up their positions in their respective corners and spread their blankets before them. The gardener’s face were its usual expreeslon of beery apathy, as though capturing lunatics was as everyday an occupa ion as potting geraniums. Peter’s on the contrary, wore an expression of mischievous amusement.

Susan opened the door. A smart looking elderly gentleman, in a white hat and waistcoast and with a flower in his buttonhole, said, ‘ This is the Misses Pimpernels, I think?’ and stepped jauntily wi'hin the hall. No sooner had ha done so, however, than a heavy blanket descended on him from either side, crushing the white hat down over his eyebrows. Susan opened the china closet door, and before the unhappy lunatic could even struggle to free hims-lf ho was hustled violently therein and the door locked, leaving him in total darkness, with two blankets still over his head and crockery and household stores on every side of him ‘ Admirably done ! ’ said Miss Pamela, who with her sister had been lying in ambush behind the drawing room door; 'beautifully done ! Susan, give Prodder as much beer as ever he likes. Paler, you have done splendidly. Embrace your sister my noble boy !’ The noble boy embraced his sister accordingly, though without any appearance of enthusiasm, ‘And me also,’ said Penelope, taking off her double eyeglass to receive Peter’s embrace, which was again delivered very calmly. Meanwhile the captive in the china closet was struggling violently to free himself from his embarrassing drapery, and apparently doing considerable damage in his struggles to the contents of the shelves. Suddenly a tremendous crash was heard. ‘ ood gracious! ’ said Miss Penelope; * there goes the second best tea service! Dear, dear, and that must be the largo jar of pickled cab bage ! The man will certainly kill himself. He’ll have all that row of ma r m dado pots down on his head in a minute! What frightful language I ’ The inmale of the cupboard h id apparently by this time partially freed himself from his blankets, and was kicking violently at the door, mingling strong language in the vernacular with exclamations in some unknown tongue. ‘ How sad to hear him I’ said Miss Pamela ; ‘ I daresay a noble mind is here e’erthrown. And you see he has even lest the control of his speech, aud can only talk that unintelligible gibberish ’ ‘ Lcr, ma’am, is that the lunatics language?’ exclaimed Susan ; ‘ oh, ain’t it enough to make your blood stand on end!’ ‘Pamela, rr.y dear,’ said Miss Penelope, ‘come into the drawingroom. lam very sure this not the kind of language (even though, fortunately, we cannot understand it) for your innocent ears. And you. Susan, run across to Dr Dellimore at the Priory, and tell him we have caught the lunatic, and will he please send several strong men to fetch him away at cnee, or we sha’nthave a tea cup left. Como, Pamela ! Why, whore’s Peter V (To he continued.')