LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 2036, 2 September 1880, Page 3

LITERATURE.

BETWEEN TWO STOOLS. By Chables Hebvey. (Concluded.} ' Five to one on the field.' replied the Hon. Adolphua ; ' fifteen against Brother to Merrylegs.' ' Ah,' said de Mogyns, drily; ' you've backed him, I hear ?' ' Bather !' The major filled his glasa, and looked oracular. ' Ob,'said he again, *he won't win. 'Halford's mare can srive him six pounds, and beat him in a walk.' * What, Dulcibella ! Not if he knows it,' retorted Sbarpset; 'she was a length and a half behind him in the Chester Cup.' A long discussion followed respecting the comparative merits and performances of the animal in question, during which Frank, who had metal more attractive upstairs slipped quietly out of the room, leaving the two worthies tete-a-tete.

When they at length made their appearance, both the widow and Lacelles seemed pre-occupied, and indisposed to talk; while Alice, bending over her embroidery frame, played propriety in a corner. Contrary, therefore, to the usual habits of the house. tbe party broke up early, and the trio strolled together as far as the Caravansary, where the major, who was longing for his rubber, at once adjourned to the card room. ' What on earth has come te you to-night, Frank V inquired the Hon. Adolphus, when he and his friend were alone. ' You gave us the slip at dessert, aud have hardly spoken a word since. If that is the result of passing an evening with one's ladylove, courtship must be an uncommonly uphill game. Isn't Miss Barkis willing ?'

1 1 wasn't thinking about her,' replied Lascelles, ' but about what happened before you came up stairs. I had to undergo a regular cross-examination concerning tho state af my finances and my prospects at the bar, and I will say that, for our amiable hostess, Ballantine couldn't have done it better. She turned me inside cut like a glove." 'Put you through your paces, eh?' said Sharpset. 'Exactly, and the worst of it was, I fancied that Alice enjoyed my embarrassment, though she tried hard to prevent my seeing it. altogether I felt extremely uncomfortable.' 'Like our friend tho major at dinner,' remarked his companion, chuckling at the recollection. ' I think I managed to put a spoke in his wheel to-night. He won't find it a walk over, I'll answer for that.' ' Then you really intend going in for the widow ?' ' Most decidedly. It's a safer spec, than Brother to Marrylegs.' ' I don't know about that,' said the barrister, doubtfully. 'From what I have seen of her this evening, if I had the choice, I would rather depend on the horse !' The b' on, Adolphus was not a man to let the grass grow under his feet; whatever he made np his mind to do he did quickly and thoroughly, or, according to his own particular phraseology, "came with a rush." It now only wanted a week to the race, and if by that period he had not succeeded in one or other of his projects, he was, as he himself expressed it, a "gone coon." Determined, therefore, to prosecute the siege with vigor, he rarely let an afternoon go by without a pilgrimage to Wimpole street, but at whatever hour he happened to arrive he invariably found the major ♦ere before him; and though on every occasion he prolonged his visit to an unconscionable length, never by any chance was he even for a moment alone with the widow. 'She conversation being thus limited to generalities, neither party had an opportunity of ascertaining who held the first place in the lady's good graces ; and as she carefully abstained from showing the slightest preference for either, and accepted their complimentary tributes to her looks and dress as a mere matter of course, they can hardly be said to have gained much by their chivalrous devotion. This unpromising state of things continued until the day preceding that on which the handicap was to be decided, when Frank, who had employed the interval since his last meeting with Alice in heroic but ineffectual efforts to impress the attorneys with a favorable idea of his forensic abilities, received the following note : " Wimpole straet, Monday. "Dear Mr Lascelles, —Could you possibly oblige me with a call early to-morrow morning ? I wish to consult you on a litt.e matter of business.

" Sincerely your?, "Emily Man rob." •What can this mean?' he thought; ' why should Bhe apply to me of all peopld in the world—unless, indeed,' as an Idea struck him, ' she wants to pump ma about Dolly ! I had better look him up at any rate, and ascertain how the land lies before I go; for if she does intend to marry him—which I don't believe—l shall be in the witness box again for a certainty !' Late on the same afternoon ha found his friend, as he had anticipated, in the smoking room of the club, highly elated at the steady advance in the betting of Brother to Merrylegs, who, his backer exultlngly declared, was now nearly aa good a favorite a 3 anything in the racs. Wnen Luscellej informed him of bis summons to Wimpole street, Sharpset emphatically affirmed that

r I nothing oonld be more satisfacf orily concluI eive. 'Don't yon see her drift Y he argued ; 'she can't say " Yes " before she's asked, so she lets me know in a ronndabont way that the sooner Ido aak her the better. I'll look in there to-morrow before the telegrams come, and Btrike while the iron's hot. I tell yoa candidly, old fellow, I shouldn't be in the 1 least surprised if I landed the double event.' ' I Bhould,' thought Frank, as the friends separated. Soon after eleven on the following morn ing the young lawyer was ushered into the widow's boudoir. She was alone, and received him with her usual cordiality, but with a gravity of manner by no means habitual to her. ' I was anxious to see you, Mr Lascelles,' she began, ' for I have to ask your opinion on a subject which, if I do not mistake, interests us both. Sit down here,' she added, pointing to a chair beside her, • and let me tell my story my own way, as clearly and as briefly as I can.' Frank bowed and obeyed her, wondering what was coming next. 'Since my arrival in England from India,' she continued, 'an old friend, to whom my husband, from motives of gratitude, was sincerely attached, died in Calcutta, partly from grief at the loss of his wife, partly from a sudden reverse of fortune, which had reduced him from a otate of affluence to absolute poverty. He left one daughter, who had been for some years, on account of delicate health, under the charge of an aunt in Devonshire, the widow of an officer, and in receipt of a small annual pension. She alsi died a few months ago, and I immediately sent for the youns; girl—yon will already have guessed that I am speaking of Alice Carruthers—and installed her here as my companion. 'Son are wondering, no doubt, why I am telling you this, bnt I have aB good eyes as most people, and have noticed the direction of yoars pretty accurately whenever you have been here. I am perfectly aware that the circumstances you alluded to the other evening have alone prevented you from asking my protegee to be your wife, and as I have an idea that she ia nob altogether disinclined to listen favorably to such a proposal on your part, I intend helping you as far as I can. My adopted daughter—yon have never heard of her, but you will see her some day—will of course inherit the bulk of my property, bnt when Alice marries, three hundred a-year will be settled on her; it is not much to begin housekeeping upon, but your own exertions must supply the rest. "What do you say ?' * What can I say,' orled Frank, radiant with delight, ' but that you are the best and kindest of women, and I the happieEl of men !' 'Not quite so fast,' interrupted Mrs Mangoe, with a smile, 'there is another person to be consulted, and I will send her to yon that you may plead your cause yourself. I expect Major de Mogyns this morning,' 6he added, wilh a merry twinkle of her eye, • and as I have not hitherto mentioned the existenos of my adopted daughter either to him or your friend Mr Sharpset, I think it as well for several reasons that I Bhonld do so to-day. Perhaps you understand why?' and without wating for an answer she left the boudoir. Short after Alice made her wished-for

appearance, and exactly at the same moment the major, gorgeously attired, and with an air of supreme self-confidence, entered the drawing-room, where the widow was ready to receive him. Of the interview'between the lovers we need merely say that it was very long and perfectly satisfactory, and only abridged by a summons to the luncheon table. They found Mrs Mangoe endeavoring to check an uncontrollable inclination to laugh. * I really ought to be ashamed of myself,' she said, * but I can't help it; the man's face was ridiculous. He had a new coat on, with a flower in his button hole, and his whiskers were fresh dyed for the occasion. Quite the bridegroom, as he evidently thought, and was terribly impatient to come to the point, I suppose for fear of interruption, that he stammered out his phrases like a school hoy. However, their meaning was clear enough, so I cut him short without any ceremony by a flat refnsal. At first, he seemed a) if he couldn't believe his ears, and looked so utterly woe-begone that I had pity on him, told him plainly that it would be hia own fault if we did not remain good friends, and asked him to dinner next week. Just as he was going away, Warner brought him a telegram which had been sent on from his club. He asked my permission to open j it,_ turned very pale, and muttering something I could not understand about scratching a mare, took leave of me abruptly and hurried away. What did he mean, Mr Lascelles ?' ' That he has the same ill-luck at Newmarket as in Winipole street, I fancy,' replied Frank. *He expected to win a large stake to-day by backing a mare called Dulcibella, and from what you say she must have been struck out of the race. I have no particular liking for the major, but I have been so fortunate myself that I am almoßt sorry for him.' 'More fortunate, perhaps, than yon imagine,' said the widow. 'Don't you think, Alice, we may tell him all ?' ■ I think we may,' replied MissCarruthers, glancing slily at her betrothed. ' Well then, Frank—l shall call you so, in future, mind—l must say that whatever your faults may be, and I'll warrant yon have plenty, enriosity is not one of them.' ' How so, my dear madam ?' inquired the barrister

I My good sir, if you had been, a woman, and bad heard me speak of an adopted daughter, of whose existence you had not the remotest idea, yon would never have rested until you had found out who she was, and all about her.' 'Ah, yes, I remember, said Lascellss, ' but I am afraid that I hardly listened to what you were saying. I was thinking * 'Of somebody else ! Very natural, perhaps, but not over polite. However, when you see her, you will own that she ia a charming girl.' *No doubt,' said JFrank, feeling that he was expected to s»y something. ' A sweet pretty creature,' continued the widow, ' with the softest blue eyes and the loveliest fair hair imaginable, and a complexion like alabaster.' •But, my dear Mrs Mangoe,' laughingly observed the young man, ' if yon were talking of Alice, you oculd not have described her more exactly.' • And of whom but Alice do yon suppose I am talking V retorted the lady ; ' is she not my adopted daughter, and have you only just found it out you silly fellow?' Before Frank could answer, the door opened, and the butler, his face redder than usual, for he had been disturbed at his dinner, announced that Mr Sharpset was in the drawing room. •Bless me!' exclaimed the widow, rising hastily from her chair, 'I had quite forgotten he was coming. Alice must tell you the rest. If it's the old story over again,' she said to herself as she went upstairs, • I shall have easier work with him than with the major !' bhe was apparently right in her previsions, for In less than a quarter of an hour the Hon. Adolphus, cloeing the street door with a tremendous bang, jumped into a hansom which was waiting, and bade the driver 'bowl away like bucks' to the Caravansary.' ' Floored!' he muttered as he lit a cigar. ' Kegularly up a tree ! Frank was right in recommending me to trust to the horse. It's my only chance now. Might as well have been on the course afber all—wish I had ! Half-past three, by Jove !' he added, consulting his watch, ' the news must have arrived by this time. Push along, Cabby!' ' Cabby ' was equal to the occasion, and in a fow minutes later landed at the club door. There stood the major, smoking h!a cheroot, his eyes twinkling maliciously as he recognised the new-comer. 'Who's won!' shouted the Hon. Adolphus, darting out of the vehicle. Lightfcot by a neck, curtly replied De Mogyns, looting his questioner full in the face to Bee how he took it; ' Achilles second, Dorchester third.' Sharp3et stared at him for a moment, as if unable to realise what he heard. 'And Brother to Merrylegs,'he gasped; ' where was he ?' •Brother to Merrylegs,' slowly repeated the major, inwardly enjoying his rival's mortification ; ' nowhere.' 'Not scratched ?' • Pretty nearly the same thing as far as hiß backers (with a satirical emphasis on the word) aro concerned,' responded his tormentor ; ' Brother to Merrylegs was Ujt at the pott I'