CHAPTER XXVIII.

Waikato Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1613, 4 November 1882, Page 1 (Supplement)

CHAPTER XXVIII.

" Walk up to town with me," said Walter. " The air is cool, and you'll enjoy the tramp." We had been having a swim at St. Kilda, and, iv accordance with his proposal, we started off at a brisk pace along the Melbourne road. As we neared the Alfred Hospital, however, we caught Bight of a buggy standing at a corner, which, upon a nearer approach turned ont to be the spider- wheeled vehicle of Mr. Crusher. Brown Mattie was between the shafts, and, as we came up to the spot, the redoubtable Bill himself made his appearance, coming down the road from the hospital, and closely followed by a poorly dressed woman, with a child on each side of her. " May God reward you, Mr Crusher !" she was saying, earnestly. " You're a better Christian than a good many as pretends"— "Hush— hush! my good woman,'! said Crusher hurriedly, growing very red in the face as he saw ■ us. " It's nothing — nothing at all ! There — goodbye ! I'll come and sec him again in a day or two. Servant gen'lemen ! he added to us, goin' to have a lift into town ? Great fuss about nothing I" he went on, by way of explanation, when, in compliance wfth his invitation, we had climbed into the buggy. " Come now, Crusher," said Walter, as soon as we started, " you've been doing something of which you have no need to be ashamed. Let's hear what it was !" " Well,no,Mr.Addison," said Crusher; "it's nothin to be ashamed on — if it aint much to be proud on neither. That woman's the wife of a man as used to look after my horsesBill Jenkins by name, and a steady chap enough, as a rule ; but last Saturday night, it seems, he had a drop too much, and got run over by a cab here at St. Kilda. They took him to the Alfred Hospital, and I heard nothin 1 of the affair till to-day ; but it seems lie's badly crushed, and like to be a long time laid up. Well, the wife, she belongs to the Banters, or some people o' that sort,and a very decent, hard-workin' woman she is, I've heard tell ; but she can't get 'em to do anything for her now. The passon was down at the Hospital to-day, and it seems he told her as they didn't feel justified itf asskstin' of her, 'cause her husband had been in the service of a man of Beelul." " Man of Belial, I suppose," said Walter. "Ay; that's it, sir. Beferrin' to me, of course— so I suppose it means somethin' awful wicked." <*' " Never mind what it means, Bill, so long as you don't deserve it. What more ?" "Oh nothin', sir; only I gave the poor creature a trifle to go on with, and promised her husband to look after her and the kids till he was able to be about again. Nothin' to make a noise over — only you see, what with the .passon a-speakin' cruel to her, and then me comin' unexpected like, the poor thing was a bit upset. Get on.Mattie, get on ?" and Mr. Crusher shook up his reins and chirped to his mare, as if he were ashamed of the subject. Walter cast a meaning glance at me. " I'm afraid, Crusher," he said, solemnly, '.' that youlll never make a' Ranter,' as you call it." " Don't expect I will, sir, 1 ? returned. Crusher, accepting the remark in perfect good . faith. "My ways is too settled now, you see ! •> Still, I tries to do as well as I ,can. » I never gets drunk now, and I scarce ever swears — still I knows I'm a long way behind. 1 But I, do v think as that there passon might have let the poor woman down a little milder.' * 'Taint her fault that her man used to work for me ; and even if it was; I don't see how there, can be any more harm, in tendin' to the horses. of a man of Beelul than to the horses of a passon. There's ' a > passon now in front of < us ! Shouldn't wonder if it's the very man ,weE speakhV of !" , I had hitherto been in some doubt a,s to what Mr., Crusher meant by a " passon," but, upon -overtaking the person ,he referred to, ] concluded that it was his version of the word " parson." A short, puffy man, clad in the regulation black garments and "white reekcloth,' the wayfarer turned a pallid, unwholesome countenance'upon us as we came alongside'him. ' ' ' '' "Why, it's Mr. Sleekiel" said' Waller, "Have a lift, Mr. Sleekie; the road is dirty Let us take him up io town with' us," tic adde'S, in a hurried, aside. " He'is the esserict of sanctimoniousness! and will' be- horrified te 'find he'has been riding with d,"prize-fighter." i I scarcely approved of the' idea", but before 1 could ' offer any objection the *BeVerend Mr ' Sleekie had 'climbed' with alacrity* into th( buggy, -and himself upon- the' him 'seat, With the remark that, his young friem was exceeding kind: '. " ' '„„ ;'. ■ ' l 'Been to 1 ' St.. Kilda/ 'Mr. Sleekie?" askec 'Walter. *• "' ' f * ""'' . ' -" ' . "I have been untd 1 the Alfred Hdapital;' ans^ered.Mf.' ! Sle%kieV'c6mplacently f blinking a paii- of' l red-rimmed ( 'eyeB, !r -'"toVieitßa chU< of sin, who lies'there grievously injured^ ° * ; <<'H6w did 'it occur'?'" '"> T \»\ *"'.<'"' '' M& Sl6eMet;sblenihly^shdok his.' head «' THem'an* §asin;tosd,<ifat4d )^he l ans'wei'ed,i'in i < voice' 6f f hofrdr,< af a r rid' J a' f vehicle I 'did^rtin'6Ve] Jaim/ M lt shduld Hafetb^r a^warniflg to hint ■fcufalasr r'fduiid v him HaM^of hearts-think in* inore^o&the 1 fiesfily 'fotafcfW df;his<wlf< fl anc^cKildrei^ th'arf^bT'W'; own' uflihorta

- " " The same, at your service !" ' ' 1 " Stop- the animal 1" cried Mr. Sleekie. -"Stop, I say, that I. may descend! I will descend forthwith 1 !" -and/Mattie' having been accordingly brought to a stand-still, he clambered down, • and strode off in a state of the most holy horror. For a moment Crusher trembled on the verge of a portentous oath, and then burst out laughing. "If that's your religion," he said, " let me remain as I am ; I don't want to see things in that way. You seems to know him, Mr. Addison," he added, as he started the mare onoe more. " I have seen him at the house of the head of our firm, Mr. M'Phun. ' M'Phun himself is a Presbyterian, but his maiden aunt, who keeps' house for Mm, belongs to the society of which the Reverend Samuel Sleekie is the pastor— the Church of the Purified Few I think they call themselves. But Miss M'Crankie is npt a, bad little soul. It is true_ she thinks that .everybody who is not of her way of thinking will be lost, but she laboi'3 hard to .diminish the number of the doomed by a profuse distribution of tracts and so forth." - "Bet a crown I knows her I" exclaimed Crusher. "Little, yellow-faced lady, with grey' ringlets aside of her temples." " Exactly !" said Walter. " How come you to know her ?" ' "'Oh, I knows her," said Crusher, "and she knows me — knows me well, bless you ! If she's left me one trac', she's left me five hundred." "What— at your place?" " Ay, at my place ! First time she come in, she says, ' Mr. Crusher, I wants to leave you ' a trac'.' ' Certainly, marm,' says I. 1 you inusn't laugh at it,' she says, ' 'cause I gives it you for the benefit of your immortal j soul.' ' I'm sure I've no intention of laughin' at it, marm,' says I, ' and I'm much obliged j to you.' ' Well, from that time to this there's scarce a week passes that she don't walk into my place and distribute them there tracs'. Some of my people was inclined for to laugh at her at first, but I pretty soon stopped that game. ' The party means well,' says I, ' and the man I catches sayin' a disrespeckf ul word of her will leave my service quicker nor he came into it.' That was enough for 'cm — they knows me." " And how do you like the tracts?" I asked. " Well, sir, you sees I ain't the best hand in the world at readin', but from what I can make out, they's all pretty much alike. About people bein' struck all of a heap like, and turnin' all in a moment from awful bad lots into such precious good nns, as / never came across, anyhow, and I've been in the world a good few years, too. But the little old lady, she's sincere, she is, and she ain't ashamed of comin' near a prize-fighter, same as that thing we picked up on the road just now. Here we are, then," he added, as he pulled up at the door of his house. " I hopes you'll step inside for a few minutes, gen'lemen ; I can give you a tip-top glass o' sherry, and I've got some prime Cavitas I would like your opinion on." "Hallo, Bill, my hearty! — how goes it?" said a loud pretentious voice, as we ascended the stairs. The speaker was coming down ; he was a iall', slim, curly -haired young man, with a high nose and high color. He was flashily dressed in black velvet coat, yellow-cord trousers, white hat and waistcoat, and staring blue necktie. Crusher looked displeased. " I'm very well, thank-ye," lie answered, gruffly. " How now, old un ! What's up, eh ?" said the young man, with a horse laugh. " You knows very well what's up, Mr. Harrison. You knows I doesn't want to see you here, after .what Mr. Stone has said." (To be continued.)