LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2593, 29 July 1882, Page 4

LITERATURE.

THE VALET'S STORY ; 08, THE STOLEN JttWJBLS. {Concluded,) I could only imile and obey. 'lf she can stand the smoie, surely I can,' was my thought; aud with that I gave myself up to the quiet enjoyment of my cigar. But did I enjoy It ? Madame had said truly when she spoke of it as composed of a peculiar tobacco. There was something very peouliar about it. It was tobacco certainly, but of a a sort that I had never smoked before, having a pungent aromatic herb-like flavour about it that, in itself, might not have bceo disagreeable, but which seemed utterly out of place when associated with one's idea of a good cigar, ' The olgar—l bops that monsieur find* it to his liking V said madame after we had puff-.d away in silence for a little while. 'Delightful, madame; the finest cigar I ever smoked,' answered I with all the Insincerity of your thorough man of the world. Madame's expansive smile oame and went like a stage trick as I gave utterance to my little fib.

Really, the atmosphere was becoming very cloudy, not that it mattered to me, of course, so long as my companion was suited. There was something very soothing, very/ar niente about the c'gar of madame's; some thing that disprsed oue to reverie and castle building, and put far out of eight, as things that did not concern one, all the oares and troubles of every-day life. A da'ioitus calm seemed to be stealing over my faculties. It was very smoky in the oatr-lage, certainly by this time. Not that I cared a jot about it, but how my little snuff brown Frenchwoman could eDJoy it, as she apparently did, was a mystery. To me there was nothing disagreeable about the smoke except that it made my eyes smart; but that could be easily obviated by shutting them ; aud as madame seemed to be in no humour for conversation, I might as well keep them shut as open for the present. Yos ; that was decidedly better. I opened my eyes for a moment once or twice oniy tj see madame's witch-like face dimly through the smoke wreaths, was still opposite to me, and was puffiig away at her second cigar, although, as yet, I had smoked but little more than half my fiwt. My eyes would not keep open mora than a moment at a time ; the lids teamed to close heavily of their own aorord. In the roar and rush of the hurrying train I fane'ed that I could detest an undertone, a minor chord, a something that brought baok strangely to my reco'lection the brawling of the little mill stream near the home where I was botn. I heard it dashing noisily over the stones and leaping the weir, and saw again the great flashing wheel go round, green, besprent with mo 33 and water-drops ; with flickering trout in the shallows further down, leaning at the flies th.it skimmed the surface of the si roam. All those things I raw again as clearly as I had ever seen them in reality. I saw, too, my father, burly man, all white with flour, come oat of the mill, and heard his cheery call for Kelpie, his dog, which came bounding after him next moment, barking and quarrelling with its own tail, Ihea I heard my father say — 'Bob's dead—a good riddance.' But I was n-)t dead. In my oars, there was presently a low humming noise, a s >und th»t shapei itself by degrees into the refrain of a cradlesong, of whlob, in my waking moments, I had retained no recollection, but whioh mw came to me as the soDg with which my mother had hushed me to Bleep whan I lay a child in her arms. I felt the conscious dart of tre gliding into unoonße-iousneesuncTer the soothing sweetness of this old tune, but I bad neither power nor inclination to wish it otherwise.

When I regained my sense', It was to find myself still ia the railway carriage, and still hurrying through the night at headlong speed - but alone. I rubbed my eyes, pulled myself together, and stared around. On the floor, where it had dropped frjm m fingers, was the bnrnt out end of my cigar. One of the windows was open and the fresh air was pouring In, but the peculiar fragrance of the smoke was still perceptible. When and how had my travelling companion left me ? We must have stopped at Oxenholme during tbe time I was S 3 fooolishly asleep, and doubtless that was where she had quitted the train. What was the subtle agent worked up into the composition of those infernal cigars that sent me off to sleep as soundly a% If Great heavens ! the jeweloase ! What a thrill of terror and despair, as I saw tha h . it was gone. I was never so near going mad as I was during the next few minutes. My first act, as soon as soma touch of reason had come back Jto me, was to search every nook and cranny of the carriage in the same insane hope that It might be bidden in some impossible corner. Then I looked at my watch, and tried to steady my mind while I ascertained from my "Bradshaw" when and where we should stop next. The time was just twenty-five minutes past two. and we were due In Lancaster at seven minutes before three. There was not much time for thinking ; itwas needful to act, and that without a moment's delay. I actual'y seemed to freeze with terror when I thought of what Lord Castle ford would say and do when he should corns to hear of his loss. It was a thought that sparred me to immediate action. Evidently, my first object must bs to induce the driver of the train to pull up at the nearest station, from which point I must make my way back to Oxenholme as I best oould, and there try to track the thief. But how was I to communicate with the driver, and tell him what I wanted ? That was precisely one of those things which English railway oompanles at that time took care to put out of the power of their passengers to do. Never heless, in the present instance it nuut be done. I knew that I might shout out of the window till I was black in the faoe without being heard further than the next carriage. The only plan I could think of was to go to the driver. I had, on one or two occasions, seen a guard pass along the outside of the carriages from end to end of a train while it was going at fall speed, ond, my neoessity being so great, there was no reason why I should not do the thing. I opened the door, and put one foot on to the step, and then my nerve nearly failed me. We were rushing through the night, at such a tremendous pace, we were cutting the wind so fiercely, that I was fairly frightened. Standing thus with one foot on the step, I presently took fresh nerve from the recollection of what I had lost; so drawing in my breath, and turning my face from the wind, I stepped bodily down on to the board that runs from end to end of all railway carriages, about a foot below the stops, and abut the door of my compartment after me. For a full minute I did not stir an inch, but standing on the footboard, held fust with both hands to the thin iron bar plaoed shouldar high along the side of tho c arriagn. As soon as I hid in some measure accustomed myself to the the position, I began to advance cautiously, step by stop, towards the front of tbe train. I mat-aged vsry well till I reached the end of the first carriage, but here there was a dangerous gap to be crossed before the next one could be reached,

After a moment's hesitation th's difficulty was safely surmounted, ani with fathered confidence in myself, I now paused cautiously but swiftly forward on my way to the engine. One after one, three oarriages were safely passed, and there remained only one other carrl'ge and the guard's van between myself and the ond of my dangerous journey. Ab I passed the first compartment of the fourth carriage, my eyes met those of a man who was, at that moment, with his face turned full to the window, in the aot of lighting a cigar. In an instant his head and shoulders wore out cf the window, and I felt mynelf grasped tightly by the collar. ' Hullo 1 [my fine friend, where are you awandering to ? ' cried the stranger. ' For Heaven's sake, don't delay me 1' I exclaimed, 'l've been robbed, and I want the engine-driver to stop the train and let me down, so th 11 may hurry back to my property." 1 ycu just come in here for a little while,' said the man; and almost before I knew what had happened, I found the door opened, and mystlE safe in the compartment with the stranger and his companion. I was about to protest, when the stranger stopped me. ' Now, you just look here,' he said ; 'you have been robbed, and you want to go back —to Cxsnholme, I suppose ; now, your best plan i<> j att to go quiety on to Lancaster; we shall be there in a quarter of an hour; you oan easily get a lift back from there by a train of some sort, and in half the time that it would take you to obtain a trap at any of these road-side places, and dtlve back by road; am I light, or any other nan ? ' This was a view of the case that had en-

tirely escaped me, and I saw at once that I could not do better than adopt It. ; < * Look you here, now,' he added, holding up an Impressive forefinger; * shall I tell you by whom you have been robbed ?' 'You oannot surely do that 1' I exol aimed.

'I think I can; mind, I merely Bay I think; unless I»m greatly mistaken, you have been robbed by a little Frenchwoman, who got into the same ompartment with yourself at Edinburgh, and who eeemed to bo behaving herself as a respectable person ought to during the few minutes we stayed at Carlisle ; I had a look In at you both just before we started again ; am I right or wrong In my guess V ' You are quite right; but how do you happen to know all this ? 'lt is part of my business to make myself acquainted with such trifles,' ' Who are you, and where do you come from, may I ask ?' ' Well, my place of business is in Great Scotland-yard, London; as for my name, you will nod it on that slip of pasteboard ;' said he handed me a card.

'lt seems to me that, as circumstances now are, I could scarcely have fallen into better hands,' I said. 'Sir, you flatter me,'he answered with a grave bow. ' But the little Frenchwoman,' said I; * pray, what do ycu know of her ?' ' 1 know her to be one of the downiest and most artful swindlers between Edinburgh and Penzance, and in close league with some of the biggest scoundrels ia the kingdom ij|l just gave her a look at Carlisle to see that she was after no mischief; but I certainly thought that we should have the pleasure of her company up to town, and had no idea that ahe would leave us at Oxenholme. And now, as we shall be at Lancaster in five minutes, you had better give me an outline of your little affair.' In a couple of minutes my new-found friead had got every thine out of me that it was requisite for him to know. He pave a long low whistle when I had answered his last question, and looked very grave. ' As clever a little stroke of business as ever I heard of I' he said admiringly, ' I thought she had merely taken your watch and purse, and perhaps a silver-mounted dressing-case, or some trifle of that kind. But Lady Castle'crd's diamonds ! A serious case—very. Of course, it was a regular " plant" her travelling in the same carriage with you. That is a point that may be worth inquiring into Inter on. Equally, of course, the cfgar she gave you contained a powerful narcotic. You became unconsc'.ons somewhere between Penrith and Oxenholme, and your senses came back to you a few minutes after you left the latt- r place, which was the only station at whioh the train ■topped in the interim. The 1 ..£erenoe there - fore is, that our little madam left you during the two minutes we stopped there, taking, by mistake, some of your property with her. We will go back to Oxenholme together my friend. The case interests me immensely, and I should like to have the fingering of it.'

.three minutes later we were at lanc-ster. My friend tbe inspector aatd a faw words in ptlvate to hie companion, who was going forward to Huston, and then he and I quitted the tran, together with three or four other passengers; the remainder were all going further south. ' The train will be off In two or three minutes,' said the inspector; 'and we will then make some inquiry as to the readiest mode of getting back to Oxenholme.' With that, he left me standing a yard or two from the shut up bookstall, aud strolled leisurely along the platform by himself, taking silent note of everything after his fashion at all times and places. Hardly knowing what I was about, fjr my mind was utterly absorbed with the thought of my gre.t loss, I wandered slowly through the er-t-anca hall, and so to tha outside of the station, where I found three or four cabs,the drivers of whioh were touting eagerly among the few passengers disgorged by tbe train. Two or three passengers shouldered their modest luggage, and set off on foot. One, a stylishly-dressed middle-aged lady, called for a cab; another, a commercial traveller with numerous boxes, called for a cab; and a thiid, a very decrepit and infirm old gentleman, also called for a cab ; by which time the passengers were exhausted. I turned t > re-enter the station, and, to my surprise, found the inspector at my elbow. ' Get into that cab,' he said, indicating the only one now disengaged. I obeyed without a word. My new friend having first said a word or two to the driver of the cab into which the infirm old gontlemaa had been assisted, spake next to the driver of the cab I had engaged, and then himself got into the vehicle. Next minute the four cabs were racing from the ataUon as hard as tbey could go. Two of them turned off in different dlreotions before we had gone very far, but we seemed to be following tbe third one, which kept a short way ahead of us. ' The meaning of this ?' 1 said to the inspector, ' Wait, and ask no questions ; presently you will learn.' Oar ride was soon over. The foremost cab drew np by the side of a building that certainly looked like anything rather than a hotel, aad In another minute we also stopped a yard or two behind it. My friend was out of the oab in a moment, and I was not long in following him. The old gentleman, with his head protruded through the cab-window, was saying to the driver, * This is not a hotel. What for yon bring me here V

The sound of Ms voice startled me as If I had been shot.

' The driver was instructed to bring you here. This ia the hotel at which you are expsoted,' said my Scotland-yard friend aa he stepped quietly forward ; ' will you be good enough to alight?' ' I will not alight, as you call it. I demand to go on my journey.' 'No more nonsense, madiitre?' said the inspector sternly ; ' can't you see that the game's up P Take the matter quietly—it will be your best plan. Allow me to offer you my arm.' Madame—for she it was—gave a gasp and a little cry, and her face, even through the paint and powder, turned as white as that of a corpse. But there was something about the inspector's politeness that would not be denied. The cab door w»i opened. As madame alighted, the inspector drew her hand within his arm, and together they entered the police station, that being tha plaoo he had Instructed the cabman to c rive to. When mala'ne's large far-oollarei cloak had been thrown aside, atd she had been despoiled of har epectacles and white wig and moustache, there could not be the slightest doubt as to ber idectity with the woman who had travelled with me from Edinburgh to Oxenholme. On leaving me insensible at the latter station (as she afterwards confessed 1 !, she had got into an empty compartment of the same train, and had there, while on the road to Lancaster, effected her disguised judging that no one would suppose otherwise than that she had quitted the trail at Cxenholme. Besides whiob, she felt confident that no ordinaty eyes would detect her under her changed appearance. Fortunately, the inspector's eyes werd not ordinary ones, bo that, as that gentleman himself put it, 'Madame was bowled cut as clean as a whistle ' The jewel-case was found intact In her black leather bag. Later in the day I was allowed to prococd with it en my journey, so that her ladyship was not disappointed after all; in fact, she was not told till a week or two afterwards how near she had been to losing her diamonds for ever. As for that clever old Frenchwoman, whom I could not help pitying, in spite of the triok she had played on me, she was sentenced at the following A'aizta to leven years' imprisonment; but I heard af erwards that she died before the expiration of her term. She could not be induced to Bay by what means she had obtained her Information respecting my journey to London, and the valuable property committed to my oharge ; bnt it was noticed as somewhat singular that the butler to the gentleman at whose house Lord Castleford was staying disappeared immediately after the robbery without saying a word to any one, and was cot heard of again.