The Caxtons — Volume 15
59 pages
English

The Caxtons — Volume 15

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The Project Gutenberg EBook The Caxtons, by Bulwer-Lytton, Part 15 #29 in our series by Edward Bulwer-LyttonCopyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the copyright laws for your country beforedownloading or redistributing this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do notchange or edit the header without written permission.Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom ofthis file. Included is important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how the file may be used. Youcan also find out about how to make a donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts****EBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971*******These EBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers*****Title: The Caxtons, Part 15Author: Edward Bulwer-LyttonRelease Date: March 2005 [EBook #7601] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] [This file was firstposted on January 10, 2003]Edition: 10Language: English*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CAXTONS, BY LYTTON, PART 15 ***This eBook was produced by Pat Castevens and David Widger PART XV.CHAPTER I.There would have been nothing in what had chanced to justify the suspicions that tortured me, but for my ...

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The Project Gutenberg EBook The Caxtons, byBulwer-Lytton, Part 15 #29 in our series by EdwardBulwer-LyttonsCuorpey triog chth leacwk st haer ec ocphyarniggihnt gl aawll so fvoerr  ytohue r wcooruldn.t rByebefore downloading or redistributing this or anyother Project Gutenberg eBook.vTiheiws inhge atdhiesr  Psrhoojeulcdt  bGeu ttehne bfierrsgt  tfihlien. gP lseeaesne  wdho ennotremove it. Do not change or edit the headerwithout written permission.Please read the "legal small print," and otherinformation about the eBook and ProjectGutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included isimportant information about your specific rights andrestrictions in how the file may be used. You canalso find out about how to make a donation toProject Gutenberg, and how to get involved.**Welcome To The World of Free Plain VanillaElectronic Texts***C*oEmBopoutkesr sR, eSaidnacbel e1 9B7y1 *B*oth Humans and By*****These EBooks Were Prepared By Thousandsof Volunteers*****Title: The Caxtons, Part 15
Author: Edward Bulwer-LyttonRelease Date: March 2005 [EBook #7601] [Yes,we are more than one year ahead of schedule][This file was first posted on January 10, 2003]Edition: 10Language: English*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERGEBOOK THE CAXTONS, BY LYTTON, PART 15***This eBook was produced by Pat Castevens andDavid Widger <widger@cecomet.net>PART XV.
CHAPTER I.There would have been nothing in what hadbchuta fnocre dm tyo i jmupsrtiefys stihoen ss uassp ticoi othnes  tchhaatr taocrtteurr eofd me,Vivian.Reader, hast thou not, in the easy, carelesssociability of youth, formed acquaintance withsome one in whose more engaging or brilliantqualities thou hast,—not lost that dislike to defectsor vices which is natural to an age when, evenwhile we err, we adore what is good, and glow withenthusiasts for the ennobling sentiment and thevirtuous deed,—no, happily, not lost dislike to whatis bad, nor thy quick sense of it,—but conceived akeen interest in the struggle between the bad thatrevolted, and the good that attracted thee, in thycompanion? Then, perhaps, thou hast lost sight ofhim for a time; suddenly thou hearest that he hasdone something out of the way of ordinary good orcommonplace evil; and in either—the good or theevil—thy mind runs rapidly back over its oldreminiscences, and of either thou sayest, "Hownatural! Only, So-and-so could have done thisthing!"Thus I felt respecting Vivian. The most remarkablequalities in his character were his keen power ofcalculation and his unhesitating audacity,—qualitiesthat lead to fame or to infamy, according to thecultivation of the moral sense and the direction of
the passions. Had I recognized those qualities insome agency apparently of good,—and it seemedyet doubtful if Vivian were the agent,—I shouldhave cried, "It is he; and the better angel hastriumphed!" With the same (alas! with a yet moreimpulsive) quickness, when the agency was of evil,and the agent equally dubious, I felt that thequalities revealed the man, and that the demonhad prevailed.Mile after mile, stage after stage, were passed onthe dreary, interminable, high north road. Inarrated to my companion, more intelligibly than Ihad yet done, my causes for apprehension. TheCaptain at first listened eagerly, then checked meon the sudden. "There may be nothing in all this,"he cried. "Sir, we must be men here,—have ourheads cool, our reason clear; stop!" And leaningback in the chaise, Roland refused furtherconversation, and as the night advanced, seemedto sleep. I took pity on his fatigue, and devouredmy heart in silence. At each stage we heard of theparty of which we were in pursuit. At the first stageor two we were less than an hour behind;gradually, as we advanced, we lost ground, despitethe most lavish liberality to the post-boys. Isupposed, at length, that the mere circumstance ofchanging, at each relay, the chaise as well as thehorses, was the cause of our comparativeslowness; and on saying this to Roland as we werechanging horses, somewhere about midnight, he atonce called up the master of the inn and gave himhis own price for permission to retain the chaise tillthe journey's end. This was so unlike Roland's
ohirsd ionawrny, thrsifot ,u wnjhuesttihfieer d dbeya ltinhge  fwoitrthu nmey  omf oeintheey r,orthat I could not help muttering something inapology."Can you guess why I was a miser?" said Roland,calmly."mAi litmairsye rm? eAn noyfttheinn ga rbeu ts toh."at! Only prudent,"I was a miser," repeated the Captain, withemphasis. "I began the habit first when my sonwas but a child. I thought him high-spirited, andwith a taste for extravagance. 'Well,' said I tomyself, 'I will save for him; boys will be boys.'Then, afterwards, when he was no more a child (atleast he began to have the vices of a man), I saidto myself, 'Patience! he may reform still; if not, Iwill save money, that I may have power over hisself-interest, since I have none over his heart. I willbribe him into honor!' And then—and then—Godsaw that I was very proud, and I was punished. Tellthem to drive faster,— faster; why, this is a snail'space!"All that night, all the next day, till towards theevening, we pursued our journey, without pause orother food than a crust of bread and a glass ofwine. But we now picked up the ground we hadlost, and gained upon the carriage. The night hadclosed in when we arrived at the stage at which theroute to Lord N—'s branched from the direct northroad. And here, making our usual inquiry, my worst
suspicions were confirmed. The carriage wepursued had changed horses an hour before, buthad not taken the way to Lord N—'s, continuing thedirect road into Scotland. The people of the inn hadnot seen the lady in the carriage, for it was alreadydark; but the man-servant (whose livery theydescribed) had ordered the horses.The last hope that, in spite of appearances, notreachery had been designed, here vanished. TheCaptain at first seemed more dismayed thanmyself, but he recovered more quickly. "We willcontinue the journey on horseback," he said; andhurried to the stables. All objections vanished atthe sight of his gold. In five minutes we were in thesaddle, with a postilion, also mounted, toaccompany us. We did the next stage in little morethan two thirds of the time which we should haveoccupied in our former mode of travel,—indeed Ifound it hard to keep pace with Roland. Weremounted; we were only twenty-five minutesbehind the carriage,—we felt confident that weshould overtake it before it could reach the nexttown. The moon was up: we could see far beforeus; we rode at full speed. Milestone after milestoneglided by; the carriage was not visible. We arrivedat the post-town or rather village; it contained butone posting-house. We were long in knocking upthe hostlers: no carriage had arrived just before us;no carriage had passed the place since noon.What mystery was this?"Back, back, boy!" said Roland, with a soldier's
yqauricdk.  "wTith, eay nwdi lls phuarvrien tga khiesn j aad cerdo shso-rrsoea fdr oorm  btyh-elhaonres.e sW oer  sthhael l ptrriantc ko ft htehem  wbhy etehles ."hoofs of theOur postilion grumbled, and pointed to the pantingsides of our horses. For answer, Roland openedhis hand—full of gold. Away we went back throughthe dull, sleeping village, back into the broadmoonlit thoroughfare. We came to a cross-road tothe right, but the track we pursued still led usstraight on. We had measured back nearly half theway to the post-town at which we had lastchanged, when lo! there emerged from a by-lanetwo postilions and their horses!At that sight our companion, shouting loud, pushedon before us and hailed his fellows. A few wordsgave us the information we sought. A wheel hadcome off the carriage just by the turn of the road,and the young lady and her servants had takenrefuge in a small inn not many yards down thelane. The man-servant had dismissed the post-boys after they had baited their horses, saying theywere to come again in the morning and bring ablacksmith to repair the wheel."How came the wheel off?" asked Roland, sternly."Why, sir, the linch-pin was all rotted away, Isuppose, and came out.""oDuit,d  tahned  sbeerfvoaren tt hgee t aocfcf itdheen td ihcakpepy eanfteedr? "you set
"Why, yes. He said the wheels were catching fire,that they had not the patent axles, and he hadforgot to have them oiled.""afAtnedr whaer dlos otkheed l iantc thh-epi nw hceaemlse,  oauntd?  sEhho?rt"ly"Anan, sir!" said the post-boy, staring; "why, andindeed so it was!""GCood,m ep roany,  GPiosdi stthraattus,"  wThe ea rCea ipnt atiinm ed;a sbhute dp rhaiysspurs into the horse's sides, and the rest of hiswords were lost to me.A few yards back from the causeway, a broadpatch of green before it, stood the inn,—a sullen,old-fashioned building of cold gray stone, lookinglivid in the moonlight, with black firs at one sidethrowing over half of it a dismal shadow. Sosolitary,—not a house, not a but near it! If theywho kept the inn were such that villany mightreckon on their connivance, and innocence despairof their aid, there was no neighborhood to alarm,no refuge at hand. The spot was well chosen.iTn hteh ed oroorosm o fb tehloe wi:n nb uwt etrhee  coloutsseidd;e  tshherutet ewras s wae rlieghtdrawn over the windows on the first floor. My unclepaused a moment, and said to the postilion,—"Do you know the back way to the premises?"t"hNeoy,  sbier;  nI edwo efosl kns't  tohfatte nh acvoem tea kbeyn t thhise  whaoyu,s ea,ndand
I hear it don't prosper over much.""yKonu odcok  saot .t Ihf e adnoy oor;n ew ea swkil l wshtaatn dy oau l itwtlaen ta, simdee rewlhyilehsaayv ey foouu nwdo ual dp surpseea.k  Htoe rteh, eh soledr vuapn t,min et.h"at youRoland and I had dismounted, and my uncle drewimmep acltioesnec teo i ltl hseu bwmalilt tbeyd  tthoe  wdhoaotr ,s eoebsmeerdv itnog  tmhea ti dlmeypreliminaries."Hist!" whispered he. "If there be anything toconceal within, they will not answer the door tillsome one has reconnoitred; were they to see us,they would refuse to open. But seeing only thepost-boy, whom they will suppose at first to be oneof those who brought the carriage, they will haveno suspicion. Be ready to rush in the moment thedoor is unbarred."My uncle's veteran experience did not deceive him.There was a long silence before any reply wasmade to the post-boy's summons; the light passedto and fro rapidly across the window, as if personswere moving within. Roland made sign to the post-boy to knock again. He did so twice, thrice; and atlast, from an attic window in the roof, a headobtruded and a voice cried, "Who are you? Whatdo you want?""I'm the post-boy at the Red Lion; I want to see theservant with the brown carriage: I have found thispurse!"
"Oh! that's all; wait a bit."The head disappeared. We crept along under theprojecting eaves of the house; we heard the barlifted from the door, the door itself cautiouslyopened: one spring, and I stood within, and set myback to the door to admit Roland.f"eHlto ,a  hhealpn!d t hgireipv east ! mhye ltph!"r ocarti.e Id  sat rluocukd  avto ircaen, daonmd  iInthe dark, and with effect, for my blow was followedby a groan and a curse.Roland, meanwhile, had detected a ray through thechinks of a door in the hall, and, guided by it, foundhis way into the room at the window of which wehad seen the light pass and go, while without. Ashe threw the door open, I bounded after him andsaw, in a kind of parlor, two females,—the one astranger, no doubt the hostess; the other thetreacherous abigail. Their faces evinced theirterror."Woman," I said, seizing the last, "where is MissTrevanion?" Instead of replying, the woman set upa loud shriek. Another light now gleamed from thestaircase which immediately faced the door, and Iheard a voice, that I recognized as Peacock's, cryout, "Who's there?—What's the matter?"I made a rush at the stairs. A burly form (that ofthe landlord, who had recovered from my blow)obstructed my way for a moment, to measure itslength on the floor at the next. I was at the top ofthe stairs; Peacock recognized me, recoiled, and
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