A SERIES OF SHORT STORIES, BY GEORGE R. SIMS, TALES OF TO-DAY.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 376, 12 June 1889, Page 6

A SERIES OF SHORT STORIES, BY GEORGE R. SIMS,

TALES OF TO-DAY.

Author of ' Rogues and Vagabonds, * Three Brass Balls,' 'How the Poor Live,' « The Lights o' London, ' &c, &c.

XI. A RAILWAY ROMANCE. Mr CnivßLEs Potts, familiarly known among his friends as Charley Potts, arrived at Eusfcon Square Station within on© minute of the hour that the Scotch Express was timed to start. 4 Where for, sir ?' said the porter, as he took Mr Potts's portmanteau from the cabman. ' Glasgow.' • Quick then, sir, or you'll miss ifc ; the train's justoS.' A wild dash at the ticket office, a scramble with his change, a rush through the booking office and along the platform, and Mr Potts just seized the handle of a first class carriage as the train commenced to move slowly out of the station. A man's head was thrust out of the window, and an angry voice exclaimed, ' This compartmtnt is engaged.' But it was no time to stand on ceremony or to argue the question, so Mr Pobts pulled the door open and leaped in, an unwelcome guest, his portmanteau being hurled in after him by the porter. 'I'm sure I beg your pardon,' said Mr Potts, as soon as he had recovered his breath and taken stock of his fellow-travellers, a gentleman and a young lady. ' I was bound to get in where I could.' The gentleman glared at Mr Pobts and muttered something under his breath. The young lady, who was a pretty, rather sadfaced girl, of two or three and twenty, slightly bowed, and Mr Potts made up his mind that as he was de trop he would change carriages at Rugbj'. Finding that his fellow- travellers were not inclined to unbend and become sociable, Mr Potts took an evening paper from his pocket, and holding it up ia front of him proceeded to study ins companions from behind it. The man was a decent-looking fellow, tall, well-ouilt, and about thirty, but his expre&sion was decidedly surly. The young lady was certainly pretty, but too pale and pensive looking, He thought she had been crying. He noticed her lips trembled a little now and then, as if she was intensely nervous about something. Charley Potts was the junior partner in the fkni of Stephenson, Potts, and Fordham, solicitors, of Lincoln's Inn Fields, and he was going to Gla?gow on business. A client of the firm had telegraphed for someone to come to him at St. Enoch's Hotel. The client in question was aMr Judson, a wealthy but eccentric old gentleman, who was the sole proprietor ot a patent medicine by the sale of which he had made an enormous fortune. ' Judson's Liver Pills ' were advertised over the length and breadth of the land. The Only wonder was that the enormous sale ot them had not made a disordered liver a complaint un- ' known in the three kingdoms, especially as they were warranted to cure (vide advertisement) after one box had been taken. The most remarkable feature of Mr Judson's case was this. In spite of his being sole proprietor of this marvellous medicine, he was "the unhappy possessor of a liver which was in a chronic atate ot disturbance, and as a natural consequence he was as irritable, fanciful, melancho'.y, dyspeptic, and crorchetty an old widower as it was possible to find. It was after a furious quarrel with his only son, who was a Captain in a Line regiment, that an event happened which made the old man more melancholy, more irritable, and more difficult to get on with than ever. Captain Judson had displeased his father by falling in love with a charming young lady who was only the governess in a family where the Captain was received as a guest — a family of distinction, and a titled family. Judson pere had always cherished the idea that he should like to have a title in the family. He couldn't expect aCountess to fall in love with him with all his infirmities, and at his time of life ; but he thought that his son, with his handsome appearance, his military rank, and his splendid expectations, might at least secure a wife who would be a lady in her own right. He thought that ' Captain and Lady Judson ' would sound exceedingly well, and he was therefore almost beside himself with rage when he discovered thatthe Captain, instead ot making love to Lady Araminta Fitz gerald, eldest daughter of an Iribh Earl, had actually dared to fall in love with Miss Millicent Ashworth, governess to Lady Laura Fitzgerald, Lady Araminta's youngest sister. The falling in lovo perhaps the Captain couldn't help, but that he should have dared to allow his affection to be visible to the family to &ueh an extent that the governess was dismissed with a quarter's salary, and that he should further have requested his father to sanction an engagement, and to look upon Miss Ashworth as the future Mrs Captain Judson, was the last straw that broke the camel's back. When the Captain boldly announced the situation to his father, the latter absolutely danced about the room with rage. He clenched his fists. He went purple to the rootd of his hair, he foamed at the mouth, and he swore with the oaths of his bygone poor and plebeian days, that if ever the Captain married 'th it yonng person ' he would leave every farthing of the pill money away from him — he would leave every shilling he was worth in the world to his nephew, Frank Stratford — and at the samo time stop the allowance which the Captain enjoyed. The blow to his hopes had a disastrous effect upon the young officer. To drive away the melancholy thoughts which oppressed him, he plunged into excess, and one night after a heavy drinking bout, a quarrel arising at the card table, he so grossly insulted his colonel, who was looking on at the game, that the matter eventual^' led to his leaving the regiment. Old Judfoon was then more furious than ever, and refusing to pay his son's debts or to have anything further to do with him, Jack Judson announced to his friends his intention of going abioad. That was the last news that anyone had of him. When twelve months had gone by, and the silence still remained unbroken, the old pill proprietor began to feel seriously uncoraforcablc. He blamed himself for what had happened, and his liver becoming worse, he worked himselt into such a state of depression and nervousness that at last hk health utterly broke down, and the doctors said that he was in a bad way. While travelling in Scotland he was taken seriously ill, and came to Glasgow to consult a physician there. At St. Enoch's Hotel he grew worse, and believing himself fchat he should not recover, he pent written instructions to his solicitor to draft a new •will for him, and later on he telegraphed for it to be brought to him that he might complete it. The junior partner was requested to attend to the matter, and that is how ib was that Mr Charles Potls was travelling to Scotland by the night mail.

As soon as ho had taken a general observation of "his fellow passengers, Mr Potts opened his dressing bag and took out his ti-avelling cap, and proceeded to make himself comfortable, as it was a good 1 two hours to Rugby, where he intended to change carriages, it being evident that he was re garded as an intruder where he wa.s. Ho had an evening paper with him, and this he commenced to read, but gradually a sense of drowsiness stole over him, and presently he fell fast asleep. When ho awoke, the train was rattling along through the darkness at full speed. Half opening his eyes, he looked towards his fellow travellers. The young lady had, like himself, fallen asleep, but the man was reading a legal-looking document which had evidently been taken from a bag beside him. When he had finished it he folded it up, and was about to put it back into the bag when he uttered a cry of pain and fell back on the seat. Charley Potts sprangupand went towards him, and at fche same time the young lady started up. 'I'm atraid the gentleman is ill,' said Charley. ''He has fainted.' The girl looked at her companion's face. It was deadly pale and the eyes were closed. 'It is a heart attack, 3 she cried, 'he is subject to them. What can we do ' Hadn't we better pull the cord and stop the train ?' * Nothing could be done till we got to a station. Perhaps a little brandy will revive him. I have some in my flask.' Charley put his flask to the sick man's lips, and forcing his mouth open, poured a ! little down his throat. Presently the colour I'eturned to his cheeks. ' lie's better now,' said Charley, ' it may have been only a sudden faintness ; don't alarm yourself.' The man drew a deep breath and opened his eyes. ' I'm bettor now,' he murmured, ' I shall be all right presently. ' That't all right,' said Charley. ' You'd better sit quite quiet and not talk for a bit. We shall be at the station directly, and then you'd better break your journey, I should think.' ' No, no, it's impossible. I must be in Glasgow to-morrow morning,' ' Well, you know best, but don't try to talk now, there's a good fellow. Have a little more brandy.' The man took the proffered flask and almost emptied it. Id evidently revived him, for he sat up and his tace became of a healthier colour. But presently ho put his hand to his heart again, and his breathing: became difficult. 'The pain is coming on again,' he groaned. ' I'm afraid I'm going to have a bad attack.' He turned to the girl. 'If I get worse I must stay at Rugby,' he said, * but you will go on.' ' Yes.' ' You know what you have to do ?' * Yes.' The invalid's prognostication was verified. By the time Rugby was reached he was so ill that he had to be removed from the train and cai ried into the waiting-room, where a doctor %vas sent for. The young lady wished to accompany him, but the man refused to allow it. Alter he had been carried away she took her bag and usked to be put in a compartment where there were some ladies. Her request was complied with, and when the train started, Charley Pofcfcs was alone in the compartment he had been thrown into at Euston. Being alone, he lit a cigar. He flung the wax vesta wbicn he had used down on the floor. Instead of going out it continued to flame under bhe seat where it had fallen. He took his umbrella and btooped down to put it out. As he stooped he caught sight of something. He fished it out with his umbrella, and found that it was the document which tho gentleman who had been taken ill had been perusing. In the confusion it had evidently fallen on to the floor, and in moving about the carrriage he or the lady had swepb ifc out of siefht, so that neither of them noticed that it had falThe document consisted of several sheets of foolscap paper. What kind of a document it was Mr Potts knew without opening it, for endorsed upon it were these words, ' The Will of James Judson, Esq.' The discovery took Charley's breath away. He could scarcely believe his eyes. Could it be possible that jNlr Judson had secured another solicitor, and this solicitor had beeji taking down the draft of a will for Mr Judson — just as he was doing ? Perhaps it was merely a wonderful coincidence, and there were bwo James Judsons desirous of making wills, and both were in Glasgow. Inspired by a curiosity natural under the circumstances, Chailey Potts opened the document and read it. The first paragraph showed him that the James Judson in question was his own client. Then he read on — read on with an expression of astonishment on his face that increased as he proceeded, until, by the time he had finished, his eyes were almost starting from his head. He opened his own bag, and drew from it the draft for Mr Judson's will, which had been prepared by his own firm according to Mr Judson's written instructions. Ho read that through, compared it with the document he had picked up, and then put both drafts away together in his bag, and looked it. ( 'There's a mystery here,' he exclaimed, 1 to which Mr Judson alone can supply the key. I shall certainly ask for his explanation to-morrow.' Mr Totts sat back in his corner and finished his cigar ; when that was out he I smoked another. He found it impossible to &o to sleep. His brain was too active. He was thinking of the two drafts for the will of the same man, each diametrically opposed to the other, and of both of which, by an extraordinary accident, he was now the possessor. When he left off trying to fathom that mystery in despair, he began to wonder who the young lady was who had accompanied the original bearer of the mysterious document, and how far she was concerned in the allair. At nine o'clock on the following morning Mr Potts was ushered into the presence of JVr Judson. The old gentleman was in bed, and a glance showed the young solicitor how ill he was. ' I'm glad you've come, Pott?,' he said. ' I was getting anxious. I don't think I shall ever get over thi3 bout, and I want to leave everything straight. You've brought the will for me to sign ?' ' I've brought a draft for your approval,' replied Mr Potts. 'If it's aIL right -I can prepare the actual deed here in a very short time. ' * That's all right," You see the last will I made left everything to my nephew, JTrank Stratford. I made it after the quarrel with my son. But I couldn't die and leave the boy penniless. I've forgiven him long ago, and I don't want to be unjust to him.' ' Quite right, sir. We understand from your instructions, that the bulk of your fortune jjoes to your son, and the sum of five thousand pounds goes to your nephew.' * Yes, that will bo quite fair.'

1 There are smaller legacies as well. Shall I read the draft to you, 1 or will .you read it yourself ?' ' Read it to me please ;my eyesight is very bad. In fact, I cant read at all now.' Mr Pott's drew from his bag a document which he commenced to read. It was the draft of a will which left his entire fortune to his son on condition that he never married Millicent Ashworth. As the lawyer began to read the conditions the invalid sat up in bed. • What the devil are you reading, sir ?' he cried in his old passionate manner. ' I never told you to insert such a clause.' The young lavvyeV, without noticing the . interruption, read on. ' If my said son at the time of my death be married to the said Millicent Ashworth, or if he shall at any time marry her, the estate shall pass to my nephew Frank Stratford ' Charley Potts got no further. Mr Judson was almost black in the face with passion. ' Confound you,' he yelled, ' what do you mean by this conduct, sir ? There was nothing o? the sort in the instructions 1 sent you.' ' 'Oh, I beg your pardon,' replied Mr Potts, ' I've been reading the wrong draft. This is one I picked up in the train I travelled from London by last night' Then Mr Potts explained the whole circumstance, to the utter amazement of his client. Just as he finished there was a knock at the door and Mr Jud son's servant came in. 'i beg your pardon, sir, put there's a young lady come from London, and she wishes to see you on most important business. ' ' That's the woman,' exclaimed Mr Potts. Then Mr Judson asked the servant if the young lady gave any name. ' Yes, sir, she said I was to say Miss Ashworth. 1 1 Miss Ashworth !' exclaimed the lawyer. ' See her — I'll go and come back again in half an -hour.' Half-an-hour later Mr Potts returned to the sick room, and found Mr Judson alone. ' Well, 5 he said, ' what; had the young lady to say ?' 4 She has told me a most extraordinai'y story,' said Mr Judson. ' What it is I have promise, to reveal to no one. How long do you stay in Glasgow ?' ' Why do you ask'?' ' Because I must have time to think what I am going to do.' • You don't wish to feign the will for which you gave us instructions, at present. Is that what you, mean ?' ' Yes. Leave both the drafts with me, will you ?' ' Certainly, if you desire it,' replied the young solicitor ; ' but pray weigh well what you are going to do. Did Miss Ashworth tell you whom the g-entleman was who accompanied her until he was taken ill ?' ' Yes. It was my nephew, Frank Stratford.' Mr Potts gave a little whistle which meant a great deal. ' So he and your son's former sweetheart were coming to see you together, eh ? And your nephew was bringing you the extraordinary document. He evidently intended to try and make you sign it.' ' Undoubtedly. Frank i 3 subject to these heart attacks, I know ; but he speedily recovers from them. He will probably come on here in a day or two. I would rather sign nothing until I have seen him.' ' You have of course a perfect right to do as you choose, Mr Judson,' said Charley, ' but I tell you candidly I don't like the < idea of these two people being in league. I There is more in it than you probably i imagine. 3 •At any rate the girl must be disinteiested. If I left my money to my son unconditionally she would be his wife and benefit by it.' 'Do you mean to say that she asks you to disinherit your son if lie should many hey V ' I mean to say that in consequence of what she has told me I shall sign no will until I have seen Frank Stratford. Can you wait a few days and see if he comes ?' ' Certainly, I'll take a room here and wait your further instructions.' ' Very well, but don't bother me. If I want you I'll send for you. Good morning.' Mr Potts accepted his conge, with a good grace, and telcscraphed.at once to his firm to say that he should be detained perhaps lontr<?r than he expected. Then he made himself comfortable and amused himgelf as well as he was able to in Glasgow. Two days after this 9trange interview with hie client, he was sitting in the smokeroom of the hotel which looks out upon the station, when he saw among the newlyarrived passengers on the platform a gentleman whom he at once recognised as his fellow traveller, Mr Frank Stratford. 'He has come, then,' he said to himself. • Now I shall soon see what the next move is to be.' Late that evening a message was delivered to him from Mr Judson. Would he come to thab gentleman's room at once. He went and found his client alone. 'M- Potts,' said the invalid, 'I have decided to make a will on the lines of this draft. Be good enough to have it properly prepared, ' Charley took the draft and saw at once that it was the document he had picked up in the railway train. Mr Judson had determined to disinherit his son if he should marry Milhcent Ashworth. Two days afterwards a will wa.° duly signed by Mr Judson and witnessed by two of the clerks ! of a local solicitor, who was the agent in Glasgow of Messsr Stophouson, Posts, and Fordham. Charley Potts left Glasgow at once and returned to his duties in town, more than ever mystified at the connection between Stratford and Miss Ashworth, and the reasons thay were able to urge to induce Mr Judson to accept their draft of a will instead of the one prepared for him by his solicitors according to his own written instructions. Mr Judson xeoovered sufficiently to return to London, but he did not live very long. Three months afterwards the firm received the news of his death, and it became necessary that his son should be found. An advertisement was at once inserted in the London and in the Colonial papers. But a week after Mr Judson's funeral Mr Frank Stratford called upon the firm and was shown into Mr Charley Potts' room. He stated his business at once. ' I have called upon you,' he said, ' with regard to my uncle's will.' ' You have no knowledge of the son, I suppose,' said Charley. ' None, nor do I think' we need trouble very much about him. Look at this. ' Mr Stratford took a paper from his pocket. It was -a copy of a marriage certificate, one of those copies which are obtained at Somerset House on payment of a shilling. It was a copy of the marriage certificate of Charles Judson and Millicent Ashworth, and was dated fifteen months previously. At the time Captain Judson disappeared he was the husband of Millicent Ashworth. Under the terms of his father's will, Frank Stratford was therefore the possessor of the fortune which his son had forfeited.

« Mr Stratford,' exclaimed Charley, as he pufc the duplicate down and looked steadily at his visitor,' 'at the time you induced your uncle to make a will according to your suggestions, you were fully aware of your cousin's marriage ?' Mr Stratford shrugged his shoulders. • Does that in any way affect my legal poaition ?' 1 'Certainly not.' ' Then this is my business and no one elee's. I have merely called to save you all further trouble in advertising for the miss-, ing man, and to inform you that I shall at once put in my claim to the property.' Charley Potts was, in his own expressive phraseology 'fairly straggered.' The position was plain. Frank Stratford had played his own game with diabolical cunning. Knowing of his cousin's marriage, he had succeeded in making that marriage a bar to his cousin's hsirship. But the girl herself, the Captain's, wife, what could have been her motive in assisting in her husband's ruin ? This was what ;Mr Potts thought he would like to ascertain. He redoubled his exertions to find the missing man, and he sent cables bo Melbourne and Sydney to well-known solicitors, asking them to try and discover young Judson's whereabouts, a rumour having reached him that the young man was in Australia ; and he secured the services of a private inquiry agent in London and instructed him to try and find out the lady who had called herself by her maiden name at the time she was a married woman. Every effort to find Miss Ashworth, or Mrs Judson, failed in London, and no news coming from Australia, Mr Potts was almost in despair, when one day the private detective came to him and informed him that he had at last discovered a lady who answered the description given to him of Miss Ashworth. 4 Where is she ?' asked Mr Potts, eagerly. 'She is living in a house in Edith-grove, Brompton,' answered the detective, ' but if she is ihe lady in question it's a rummier gamo than even you imagined.' ' What do you mean ?' 4 Only that the lady I am x-eforring to is living with Mr Stratford. He rents the house in Edithgrove, and spends most of his time there. ' ' '" , • Good heavens !' exclaimed' Charley, 'what a scoundrel that fellow', must be if this is true. It shows the 'woman's motive for trying to get her husband's fortune for her lover, but 1 can't believe that a girl like Mies Ashworth, a woman poor Captain Judson could have asked. to be his wife, would behaye in such an", infamous way. However, we'll sift this imatter to the i bottom now. Find out all you can aboub the precious couple at onee — how long they have been living together — everything — you understand-?' 1 I'll do my best,' said the detective, ' and report to you as soon as I have anything fresh.' The detective had hardly left when one of the clerks came in with a cable which bad just arrived. Mr Potts opened it and'gave an exclamation of delight. It was as follows : — c From Morell, Sydney. Judson left Sydney some weeks ago by Massillia for London.' ! Two minutes afterwar&s Charley Potts was in a hansom, being , driven rapidly to the offices of the Peninslajlar and Oriental Steamship Company. - pi" There he ascertained ijhat • the Massillia was expected to arrive injjji couple of days. He determined to mde'b it. He would give young Judson no chance of disappearing again. -He had arranged* at the P. and 0. office to have a telegram-informing him when it was actually likely, to arrive, and this he duly received and; went to the docks to meet the ships. He' went on board directly she came alongside, and made enquiries for Mr Judson. -r While he was enquiring a' gentleman' passed him. He recognised him directly. It was Captain Judson himself. ' The interview that followed was short, but to th"c purpose. The Captain knew nothing of his father's death. He had been out to a sheep .farming settlement. He had made a little money, and then was fairly lucky when dabbing in land. Finding himself independent and on his way to make a fortune^hehad determined to come back to England and try and be reconciled to his father, and then to return. He was very grieved to hear of his father's death. As soon as he had partially recovered from the shock, he said, ' By-the-bye I must introduce you to Mrs Potts. She's getting her things together in the cabin. She'll be up directly.' ' Your wife !' Mr Potts exclaimed, in astonishment. ' I thought you left her at home in England.' ' Indeed I did not.- She went with me, like the true-hearted little woman she is. Here she comes.' As he spoke a pretty, dark, little woman came up to him. 4 Millicent, my dear,' said the Captain, 1 this is Mr Potts, our family solicitor.' 4 1 beg your pardon, 1 exclaimed Mr Potts, wondering if he was awake, or asleep and dreaming, ' but was this lady formerly Miss Millicent Ashworth ?' ' She was.' ' Then who the devil is the other woman ?' cried Charley, forgetting in his excitement that he was in the presence of a lady. The clue to the mystery which had staggered Mr Potts, and which also filled Captain Judson and his wife with amazement, was furnished a few days later by the detective. Following up the information which he had obtained, that gentleman managed to find out that the lady with whom Frank Stratford was hvine: was his wife — that her maiden name was not Millicent Ashworth but Mary Burton. Mr Potts was taken to Edithgrove and waited several hours one day for the lady to come out". -When she did he at once recognised her as the lady with whom he had travelled, and who had gone to Mr Judson and represented herself as Millicent Ashworth, his son's sweetheart. This was a discovery, but it still left the conspirators in possession of the fortune which should have been young Judson's. What had she told the sick man to induce him to make such a will, and how could that will, which had evidently been obtained by misrepresentation, be upset? gj|jjA letter which was- found among Mr Judson's effects, a letter addressed to his son, cleared up a portion of the mystery. ' My dear son,' it ran, • I earnestly hope that this letter may fall into your hands, that your long silence will soon be broken, and that you will let your friends know where you are. You may think the terms of my will hard, but the woman for whose sake you sacrificed your position and your prospects, your home and your friends, has had the honesty to tell me what she would not tell you." .She does not love you, and desires to preverrt any recurrence of your mad folly on her account. Sho 13 terrified lest on your return ' to England you should resume your attentions to her. If you do she will accept you — that is if you are still my heir. Her father, of whom she is greatly afraid, for reasons which she has confided' to me under a solemn promise of secrecy, will force her to accept you if you are a man of fortune. My dear son, she does not wish ,-to marry you, because she loves another man. Flattered by your attention to her she hesitated to tell you so at first. Afterwards Her father insisted

upon her encouraging your suit. But if your marriage with her robs you of the fortune which is- your great) attraction in her father's eyee, his object will be gone, and she will be free to follow the dictates of her own heart. By r leaving you my fortune under the conditions I have, I am, I feel sure, preserving you from making a grievous mistake, and really securing your ultimate happiness ' ' Well,' exclaimed the Captain, as he pub down the letter, ' of all the frauds I have heard of, this is the most infamous. The poor old gentleman must have been weak indeed to betaken in by such a cock and bull stoi'y The woman must have been clever to make him believe it.' ' She was a woman that 1 should have bolieved,' exclaimed Mr Potts ; 'no one to look at her would suspect her of anything but candour and simplicity itselt. It was Frank Stratford who coached her, you may depend upon it. She acted entirely under his influence. There is no doubt that he backed her story up, and made the old man believe that he hart found out how things were, and was anxious to do his cousin a good turn.' ' However it was done, it was done, for here's the letter, and you've seen the will,' cried the Captain ; ' it's extraordinary, but it's unfortunately a fact. I can understand my father being deceived as to the girl's identity, as he had never, of course, seen Millicent. Wo can't alber all that now ; the question is, can we upset the will by proving the fraud by which it was obtained ?' ' Certainly, 3 said the solicitor, 'at any rate we will have a good try.' The necessity to try the case did not arise. Mr Sti'atford was communicated with, and Mr Pobts had an interview with him He was quite unprepared for the letter which his uncle had left behind him. That was evidently a blow. He had counted upon no one knowing how the will was obtained, or the part the false Millicent Ashworbh had played in it. He had compelled his • wife to aid him, and had calculated that once the will was obtained from the weak and dying man, nothing would ever be known* of the plpt he had conceived and carried out. Fairly cornered, like most cunning schemers, he showed the white feather. The threats of prosecution for fraud terrified him, and he realised for the first time timo that his conduct had been criminal in the eyes o fthe law. In the end he placed himself at the mercy of the man he had injured, and the matter was compromised by his giving up voluntarily, and legally securing to Captain Judson the fortune of which he had deprived him. Then the Captain was generous, and agreed to give him the £5,000, and pay him an annual income as long as he lived. He didn't live two years after the matter i was settled, but died suddenly of heart disease. After his death his wife wenb abroad and eventually married again. But when he heard of her second marriage, Captain Judson, in spite of her share in the transaction that had nearly cost him a fortune, continued her husband's allowance to her. The Captain and his wife have not returned to Australia. A young gentleman made his appearance shortly alter their arrival in London, and they determined to remain in Ibe old country and not try the sheep farming again. It would be too rough a life for the baby who, in honour of the young solicitor who had fought his father's battle so well, was christened Charles Potts Judson. And sometimes, when the elder Charley is giving his godson a ride to Banbury Cross, he says, ' Ah, my boy, things might have been -very different if I hadn't been so late for roy train, that night. I shouldn't have been put into the compartment reserved for Mr and Mrs Frank Stratford. Moral : Never get to a station too long before the train smarts.'