The Storyteller

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 22, 29 May 1902, Page 23

The Storyteller

DEEDS, NOT WORDS.

A large party is assembled to celebrate the holidays ushermg in the New Year at Havelstoke Hall, an old country house rfbout two miles distant from the north-west coast of Devon. The various brandies of English society arc very fairly represented by its component parts. There are two peers, three members of the lower house, some guardsmen, some undergraduates, a clergyman, and a lieutenant in the navy. But our hero is not a representative man yet he belongs to a class, which called into existence by the accumulated wealth of the nineteenth century, is ever on the increase Frederick Tyrawley resembles Sir Charles Coldstream, inasmuch as he has been everywhere, and done everything , but he is by no means used up, and can still take an interest in whatever his hand finds to do Nor is his everything everybody else's everything. It is not bounded by Jerusalem and the pyramids. Mr. Tyrawley has fought in more than one State of South America, and has wandered for more than two years from isle to i.sle of the Faciiie A mysterious reputation hovers round him. He is supposed to have done many things, but no one is very clear what they are , and it> is not hkely that much information on the point will be obtained from him, for he seldom talks much, and never speaks of himself His present mission appears to be to kill partridges, play cricket, and diess himself. Not that it must be supposed that he has been m the habit of wearing less clothing than the custom of the country in which he may have been located required ; but only that at the present tune he devoted much attention to buff waistcoats and gauze neckties, braided coats and curled mustachios. Such as he is, however, he is an object of interest to the feminine portion of the party at Ravelstoke Hall ; for ho is< rich and handsome as well as niv sterious, and cannot be nioie than two-and->thirty And the ladies at Ravelstoke outnumbered the men, for although it is still rare for the fansex to participate actively in th<» saturnalia of the pai tridge-god, they will always be found ho\eimg in considerable numbers on the outskirts of the feast . and the vaiieties of the British lady are fan ly represented There are some mommas with daughters to marry, and there ;we some daughters with a mamma to prevent marrying again, — which is, perhaps the most difficult thing of the two, as she has an income m her own right There are blondes and brunettes, and pretty, In o\\ n-haired, brown-eyed girls who hover between the two 01 tiers, and combine the most dangerous charactei istic of both, who can wear both blue and pink, and who look prel'lior in the one color than they do 111 the other but who always command v out suffrage in favor of what they we.v when you look at them And there is Constance Bavnton with gray eyes and black hair , and the nicest critic of feminine appearance would be defied to state vvhat she had worn half an hour after he left her, for no one can ever look at anything except her face Yet Constance is three-and-twei tv. and still unmarried Alas, what cowards men are ! The fact is t iat Constance is very clever, but as Mis Hellish (the widow) says, 'not clever enough to hide it.' Is she a little vexed at her present condition ? Certainly she does not exhibit any tendency to carry out Mrs. Mellish's suggestion, iif it has ever been repeated to her The young men are more afraid of her

than ever ; and certainly she does hay very sharp things sometimes. Especially she is severe upon idlers, the butterllies of fashionable existence She appears to consider that she has a special mission to arouse them , but they do not appear to like being lectured. With the young ladies she is a great favorite, for she is very affectionate ; and though so beautiful and distinguished, she lias proveft herself to bo not $0 dangerous a rival as might have been expected. Indeed, it has happened, more than once, that male admiration rebounded from the hard surface of her manner, has found more yielding metal in the bosoms of her particular friends. Besides, she is always ready to lead the van in the general attack upon the male sex, when the ladies retire to the drawing room. Not that she ever says anything behind their backs she would not be leady to repeat to their faces ; but in that course probably she would not meet with such general support. In Mr. Ty raw ley she affected to disbelieve. She stated as her opinion to her intimate friends that she didn't believe he ever had done or e\er would do anything worth doing, but that he plumed himself on a cheap reputation, which, ns all were ignorant of its foundation, no one could possibly impugn. Theie is reason to belie\e that in tihis instance Miss Constance was not as conscientious as usual, but that she really entertained a higher opinion of the gentleman than she chose to confess, lie certainly was not afraid of her, and had even dared to contradict her favorite theory of the general woriblessness of Eaiglish gentlemen of the nineteenth century Jt was one wet morning, when she had been reading Scott to three or four of her particular friends — and it -must bo confessed that she read remarkably well — th.it she began to lament the decline of chivalry Tyrawley was sittiuig half in and half out of range. Perhaps she talked a little at him At any rate he chose to accept the challenge ' 1 cannot agice with you, Miss Baynton,' he said ' It is true we no longer wear ladies' glo\cs in our helmets, nor do we compel harmless individuals, who possibly may have sweethearts of tluir owi', to admit t ho superiority of our ladylove at the pornt of the lance; but of all that was good m chi\ali\v, of courage, truth, honor, enterpt lse, selfsacrifice, jou will find as much in the nineteenth century as m the twelfth.' He brightened up as he spoke, and it was quite evident th.it he behoved what he said, a circumstance which always gi\es an advantage to a disputant More than one pair of bright eyes ■-nuilcd approval, and Miss Constance «w a probability of a defection ftom her ranks She changed her tactics \on are too moderate in your claims for ,\ our contempoi aries, Mr T.vr.iwlev. If I remember right, modesty has always been considered a qualification of a true knight ' ' I am not ashamed to speak the truth,' he ruphed ' Your theory would have been more tenable before the days of the Crimean war and the. Indian mutiny, but the men who lit their cig.us m the trenches of the Kcfkui and who caiiiod the gate of Delhi, may bear compai lson w llh Bayard or Coeur de Lion ' ' Oh, T do not allude to our soldiers,' said she ; 'of course 1 know they are brave, but, I—and1 — and here she hesitated a moment till, posstibly piqued because her usual success had not attended her ni the passage of arms, she concluded — ' but to our

idle gentlemen, who seem to have no heart for anything.' Tyrawley smiled. ' Possibly you may judge too much by the outsijde, 1 he said. ' I am inclined to fancy that some of those whom you are pleased to call idle gentlemen would be found to have heart enough for anything that honor or cruty or even chivalry could find for them to do. 'I hope you are right,' said Miss Constance, with a slightly perceptible curl of her upper lip, which implied that she did not think so Pyrawley bowed, and the conversation terminated a few miiuites afterwards. When he had left the room the conversation of the young ladies was suddenly interrupted by Master George Baynton, aged fourteen, who suddenly attacked his sister. T think you are wrong, you know, when you Tyrawley a humbug.' 'My dear,' said Constance with a start, ' I never said anything so ru— — ' ' Well, you have implied it, you know, in yo.ur girl s words, and I think you make a mistake, for he can shoot like one o'clock, never misses a thing, and I hear he can ride no end He was rather out of practice in his cricket when he came down, hut he is improving every day. You should have seen the hit ho made yesterday—right up to the cedars.' 'Bo you think there is nothing else for a man to do but ride and shoot and play cricket ? ' ' Oh, that's all very well ; butj you should hear what Merton, our second master, says, and a great brick he is, too. " Whatever you do, do it as well as you can, whether it's cricket or verses." And 1 believe if Tyrawley had to fight, he'd go in and win, and no mistake.' ' Ah '' said Constance with a sigh, 'he has evidently — what is it you boys call it —tipped you, isn't it?' Indignant at this insult, George walked off to find his friend and have a lesson in halliards. The day lingered on, after the usual fashion of wet days in September in full country houses. There was a little dancing after dinner,; •ftyui iaJI retired (early in hopes of a uner day on the morrow. Tyrawley had son e ~ letters to write, so that it was past rvo before he thought of going so bed. He always slept with ins window c-p(n, and as he threw up the sash a u-^rro pus', of wind blew out nis .-andh.N and blew down the looking-glass. 1 Pleasant, by Jove ! ' ho soliloquised ' I wonder whether it's smashed— unlucky to break a look-ing-glass—l'm hanged if I know where the matches are ;i never mind, I can find my way to bed in the dark What a night ' ' as a flash of lightning illumined the room for a moment, and he bent out of the window ' The wind must be about nor-nor-west Cheerful for anything coming up to Bristol from the southward k I wonder what a storm lis like on this coast I have a great mind to go and see. I shall never be able to get that hall-door open without waking them up. jWhat a nuisance ! Stay capital idea ! I'll go by the window.' Before starting on this expedition he changed the remains of his evening dress (for he had been writing m Ims dressing gown) for a flannel shirt and trousers, whilst a short pea-jacket and glazed hat completed his array His room was on the first floor, and he had intended to drop from the window-sill ; but the branch of an elm came so near that he fou n d it unnecessary, as springing to it, he was on the ground, like a cab in an instant He soon found his way across country, • like a bird' to the edge of the cliff. The sea for umlps seemed one sheet of foam. But a flash of lightning discovered a group of figures about a quarter of a mile distant , and he distinguished shouts in the intervals of the storm.

He was soon amongst them and he found that all eyes were turned on a vessel which had stuck on a rock within two hundred yards of the cliff. It was evident that she would go to pieces under their very eyes. ' Is there no way of opening communication with her 9 ' he asked of an old coast-guard man. ' Why, ye see, sir, we have sent to Bilford for Manby's rockets, but she must break up before they come.' ' How far is it to Bilford ? ' 'Better than seven mile, your honor. . ' If we cwuld get a rope to them, we might save the crew ' ' Every one of them, your honor ; but it ain't possible.' ' I think a man might swim out.' ' The first wave would dash him to pieces against the cliff.' ' What depth of water is there ? ' ' The cliff gpes down like a wall, forty fathom, at least ' ' The deeper the better. What distance to the water '> ' ' A good fifty feet ' ' Well, I have dived off the mainyard of the Chesapeake Now listen to me. Have you got some light, strong rope 9 ' ' As much as you like.' * Well, take a double coil round my chest, and do you take care to pay it out fast enough as 1 draw upon it. ' You won't draw much after tihe first plunge ; it •will be the same tiling as suicide, every bit ' ' Well, we shall see There's no time to be lost , lend me a knife ' And in an instant he whipped off his hat, boots, and pea-jacket , then with the knife he cut of! it.s sleeves and passed the rope through them that it might chafe him less The eyes of the old boatman brightened. There was evidently a metho-jd <in his madness. " You are a very good swimmer, 1 suppose, sir 9' ' I have di\ed through the surf at Nukuheva a few times.' ' I never knew a white man that could do that.' Tyrawley smiled ' But whatever you do,' he said, 'mind and let me have plenty of rope Now out of the way, niy friends, and let me have a clear start ' Ho walked slowly to the edge of the cliff, looked over to see how much the rock shelved outwaids, Mien returned, looked to see that there was plenty of rope for him to cai ry out, then took a short run, and then leaped as if from the spring-board of a plinging-hath He touched the water full fl\e-and-twenty feet from the edge of the cliff Down into its dark depths he went, like a plummet but soon to rise again As he reached the surface he saw the crest of a mighty wave a few v ards in front of him — the wave that he had been told was to dash him lifeless against the clifß. But now his old experience of the Pacific stands him in good stead. For two moments lie draws breath, then, ere it i caches him, he dives below its centre The water dashes against the cliff, but the swimmer rises far beyond it A faint cheer rises from the shore as they feel him draw upon the iope. The waves follow m succession, and he dives again and again, rising like an otter to take breath, making very steadily onward, though moie below the water than above it We must now turn to the ship The waves had made a clean breach over her bows. The crow are crowded upon the stern. They hold on the bulwarks, and await the end, for no boat can live m such a sea Suddenly she is hailed from the waters. ' Ship-a-hoy ' ' shouts a loud, clear \oice, which nukes 'itself heard above the storm, thi ow me a rope or a buoy ! ' The life-buoy was still hanging in its accustomed place by the mainmast The captain almost mechanically takes it down, and with well-directed ami throwsit within a yard or two of the swimmer. In a moment it is under hns

arms, and in half a minute he is on board. Come on board sir,' he says to the captain, pulling one of his wet curls professionally. The captain appeared to be regarding him as a visitor from the lower world ; so turning to the crew he lifted up the rope he had brought from the shore. Then for the hrst time the object of his mission Hashed upon their minds, and a desperate cheer broke forth fi om all hands, instantly i - Lechood from the shore. Then a strong cable is attached to the small rope and drawn on board, then a second and the communication is complete. But no time is to be lost for the stern shows signs of breaking up, and there is a lady passenger. Whilst the captain is planning a sort of chaar in winch she might be moved, Tyrawley lifts her up on his left arm, steadies himself witih hjs right by the upper rope, and walks along the lower as if he had been a dancer. He is the hrst on shore, for no sailor would leave Ml the lady was safe. But they soon follow,> and in five minutes the ship is clear five minutes more and no trace of her is left. liavelstoke Hall has been aroused by the news of the wreck, and Mr. liavelstoke has just arrived with brandy and blankets. Him Trawley avoids, and thinking he can be of no further use, he betakes himself across the country once more, and by the aid of the friendly elm regains his chamber without observation. The lady, whom Tv raw ley had deposited tm a cottage, with a strong recommendation that she should go to sleep immediately, was soon carried oil in triumph by Mr. Ravelstoke to tihe Hall, and welcomed by Lady Grace at half-past three in the morning There weie \ cry few of the guests who slept undisturbed that night The- unusual noise in the house aioused everybody, and many excursions were made in unfinished costume to endea\or to ascertain what was going on. The excitement culminated when the miscellaneous assemblage who had conducted the captain and some of the crew to the hall, after being well supplied with ale and stronger liquids, concen ad that it would bo the correct thing to give three cheers at the hour of halfpast five It was then that Lord Todmoulton, an lush peer laboring under an erroneous impiession that the house was attacked, was discovered on the landing-place, in array consisting principally of a short diessmggown, flannel waistcoat, and a fowl-mg-piece Breakfast that morning was a desultory meal. I'eoplc inushi'd and talked about the wreck and began • again It seemed quite impossible to obtain anything like an accurate account of what had taken place At last the captain appeared, and though almost overwhelmed by the multiplicity of questions, nevertheless, between the intervals of broiled ham and coffee, he managed to elucidate matters a little Then came the question. ' Wtho is it who swam to the vessel 9 ' Tyrauley had only been at Ravelstoke a few d.ivs, and was a .stranger m the neighborhood None of the servants had reached the coast till it was all over, so there had been no one to recognise him I scaiccly saw him,' said the captain, ' but he was a dark, talhsh num. with a great deal ot beaid " Was he a gentleman "> ' asked Miss Constance Ba\ nton, who had been takmg a deep interest m the v hole affair. Well, tlye see Miss T can't exactly say, for he hadn't much on , but if he isni. he'd nnike a good one — that I'll go bail toi He's- the coolest hand I ever saw Stay ! now 1 think of it, 1 shouldn't wonder if he was a naval man, for he [tulled his forelock, half-laughing, like, and said, " Come on board, sir," to me, when we pulled him up.'

' Perhaps it was Rutherford,' said Mr. Ravelstoke, naming the lieutenant in the navy ; 'he is tall and dark.' ' And he has been letting his) moustache grow since he .came on shore,' observed a young lady. '' Where is he ? ' But Mr Rutherford was gone down to the cliff to inspect the scene of the disaster. Begging your pardon, sir,' said! the butiei, ' it could not have been any gentleman stopping m the house, for the door was. lasteiied till bha people came down to tell you of the wreck.' At this moment half-past ten a.m., Mr. Tyrawley walked into the breakfast room. He was got up, if possible, more elaborately than usual. ' Now here's a gentleman, captain, Mr. Tyrawley, who has been all over the world amd met with some strange adventures I'll be bound ho never saw anything to equal the affair of last night.' ' You'd a nearish thing of it, captain ? ' inquired Tyrawley, speaking very slowly. His manner and appearance quite disarmed any suspicion the captain might have had of his identity. ' Five minutes more, sir, and Daviy Jones's locker would have held us all. Begging your pardon, miss,' apologising to Constance. The captain had already repeated the story a reasonable number of times, and was anxious to finish his breakfast. So Miss Constance gave it all for the benefit of Mr. Tyrawley, dressed in her own glowing periods. Tyrawley made no observation upon her recital, but took a third egg. ' Well, Mr Tyrawley,' said she at last, ' what do you think of the man who swam out to the wreck ? ' ' Why, I think, Miss Baynton — I think,' said he, hesitating, ' that ho must have got very wet , and 1 sincerely hope he won't catch cold ' There was a general laugh ab this, 'in which the captain joined , but it is to be feared that Miss Constance stamped her pretty little foot under tiho table. Tyrawley turned and began to talk to Miss Melhsh, who was sitting on his right. As he was speaking the door on his left opened and l^idy Grace Ravelstoke entered with the lady passenger The lady heard him speak, and there are some voices which a woman never forgets, and the dangeroxis journey over the rope had not passed in silence She hud her hand upon his arm and said, ' Oh, sir, how can I thank you ? Tyrawley rose, as in duty bound, saying, ' T>o not .speak of it. I did not know when 1 came off that I was to have the pleasure of assisting you ? ' But the astonishment of the captain was beautiful to behold. ' Why, you don't mean to say — well, I never ' — dash my wig — w T ell, I'm Hero, shake hands, sir, will you 9 ' And he sti etched across the tablo a brawny hand not much smaller than a shoulder of mutton. The gnu with which Tyrawley met his seemed to do a great deal mora to convince him of his identity than the lady's recognition of their preserver The day was as wet as the preceding Half an hour after breakfast, Mr Tyrawley lounged into the back drawing room. There sat Miss Constance Baynton, and, by the singular coincidence which favors lovers of historians, she sat alone. Now Constance had made up her mind that she was bound to apologise, to Mr T\ rawley for her rude speeches of yesterday, she had also decided that she would compliment him on his gallant .conduct. Sho had, in fact, arranged a neat, quiet, cod, formal, appropriate form of words- in which she wmild give her views expression. And how do you think she delivered them "> She got up, said ' Oh, Mr. Tyrawley,' and

burst into tears. If a proud woman's pride us a shield to thee, O man, as well as to her, against the sorrows of love remember that if ever she throws it away, after she has compelled you to acknowledge its value, you are both utterly defenceless. Frederick Tyrawley capitulated at once. They are to bo married (immediately. And if Mr. Tyrawley does not, at some future time, achieve a reputation which no mystery can cloud, it will not bo Mrs Tyrawley *s fault.—' Catholic Citizen . '