Ten Thousand a-Year Volume Iii Part 35

"I have something for you," said Lord Drelincourt, after a pause, taking out his pocket-book, "from my wife and sister, who charged me to give it into your own hands with their fervent love;" and he gave two letters into the doctor's hands, which trembled with emotion as he received them.

"I shall read them by-and-by, when I am alone," said he, as, gazing fondly at the superscriptions, he placed the two letters on the mantelpiece.

"Come in! come in!" quoth the doctor, quickly, hearing a knocking at the door--"that's Betty. You have not forgotten old Betty, have you?" said he to Lord Drelincourt, as the good old woman opened the door in a fl.u.s.tered manner, with the kettle in her hands, and dropped an awful courtesy on seeing Lord Drelincourt, whom she instantly recognized.

"Well, Betty," said he, with infinite cordiality, "I am glad to see you again, and to hear that you are well!"

"Yes, sir!--if you please, sir!--thank you, sir!" stammered Betty, courtesying repeatedly, and standing, with the kettle in her hand, as if she did not intend to come in with it.

"That will do, Betty," quoth the doctor, looking delighted at Lord Drelincourt's good-natured greeting of his faithful old servant; "bring it in! And Thomas is quite well, too," he added, turning to Lord Drelincourt--Thomas being Betty's husband--and both of whom had lived with the doctor for some eighteen or twenty years--Thomas's business being to look after the doctor's nag while he kept one, and now to do odd jobs about the little garden and paddock. After one or two kind inquiries about him, "I must join you, Doctor--if you please," said Lord Drelincourt, as Betty put the kettle on the fire; "you'll give me a cup of tea"----

"A cup of tea? Ay, to be sure! Betty! here," said he, beckoning her to him, and whispering to her to bring out the best tea-things, and to run out into the village for a couple of tea-cakes, and a little more tea, and some eggs and b.u.t.ter, and half a pound of lump sugar--for the doctor was bent upon doing the thing splendidly, on so great an occasion; but Lord Drelincourt, who overheard him, and who had asked to take tea with him only that he might not delay the doctor's doing so--(for Lord Drelincourt had not yet dined)--interposed, declaring that if anything of the sort were done, he would leave immediately; adding, that he expected his horses at the door every moment, and also that Lord De la Zouch (who had come over with him from Fotheringham, and had come down to the Hall) would presently call to join him on his way home. This secured Lord Drelincourt's wishes, and you might within a few minutes'

time have seen him partaking of the doctor's humble beverage, while they continued in eager and earnest conversation. Lord Drelincourt had that morning had a very long interview with Mr. Parkinson, from whom he had learned the life of persecution which the poor doctor had led for the last two years--listening to it with the keenest indignation. The doctor himself softened down matters a good deal in the account which _he_ gave Lord Drelincourt--but his Lords.h.i.+p saw at once that the case had not been in the least overstated by Mr. Parkinson; and, without intimating anything of his intentions to the doctor, resolved upon forthwith taking certain steps which, had they known them, would have made two conspicuous persons in the village shake in their shoes.

"What's that, Doctor?" suddenly inquired Lord Drelincourt, hearing a noise as of shouting outside. Now, the fact was, that the appearance of Lord Drelincourt, and Lord De la Zouch, and their two grooms, as they galloped down the village on their way to the Hall, (from which Lord Drelincourt, as I have stated, had walked to the vicarage, whither he was to be followed by Lord De la Zouch,) had created a pretty sensation in the neighborhood; for Lord Drelincourt, rapidly as he rode in, was soon recognized by those who were about, and the news spread like wildfire that "my Lord the squire" had come back, and was then at Yatton--a fact which seemed to be anything but gratifying to Messrs.

Bloodsuck and Mudflint, who were talking together, at the moment when Lord Drelincourt asked the question of Dr. Tatham, at the door of Mr.

Mudflint, whose face seemed to have got several degrees sallower within a quarter of an hour, while Mr. Bloodsuck looked quite white. There was a continually increasing crowd about the front of the vicarage; and as they got more and more a.s.sured of the fact that Lord Drelincourt was at that moment with Dr. Tatham, they began to shout "hurrah!" So----

"What's that?" inquired Lord Drelincourt.

"Ah!--I know!" cried the doctor, with not a little excitement; "they've found you out, bless them!--hark!--I have not heard such a thing I don't know how long--I wonder they don't set the bells a-ringing!--Why, bless me! there's a couple of hundred people before the door!" exclaimed he, after having stepped into the front room, and reconnoitred through the window. Though the gloom of evening was rapidly deepening, Lord Drelincourt also perceived the great number that had collected together, and his eye having caught the approaching figure of Lord De la Zouch, for whom, and the grooms, the crowd made way, he prepared to leave. Lord De la Zouch dismounted, and, entering the vicarage, shook hands with the utmost cordiality with the little doctor, whom he invited to dine and sleep at Fotheringham on the morrow, promising to send the carriage for him. The little doctor scarce knew whether he stood on his head or his heels, in the flurry of the moment; and when he and Lord Drelincourt appeared at the door, and a great shout burst from those present, it was with difficulty that he could resist his inclination to join in it. It was growing late, however, and they had a long ride before them: so Lord Drelincourt, having stood for some moments bareheaded and bowing to all around, and shaking hands with those who pressed nearest, following the example of Lord De la Zouch, mounted his horse, and waving his hand affectionately to Dr. Tatham, rode off amid the renewed cheers of the crowd. From that moment worthy little Dr. Tatham had regained all his former ascendency at Yatton!

As the two peers sat together over their wine that evening, the fate of the Rev. Mr. Mudflint, and Barnabas Bloodsuck, junior, "gentleman, &c.,"

was sealed. The more that they talked together about the wanton and bitter insult and persecution which those worthies had so long inflicted, upon one, surely, of the most inoffensive, peaceable, and benevolent beings upon the earth, Dr. Tatham, the higher rose their indignation, the sterner their determination to punish and remove his enemies. The next morning Lord De la Zouch wrote up to town, directing instructions to be given to Mr. Winnington, who had conducted the proceedings in the actions of Wigley _v._ Mudflint, and Wigley _v._ Bloodsuck, to issue execution forthwith. Lord Drelincourt also did his part. Almost every house in the village was his property, and he instructed Mr. Parkinson immediately to take steps towards summarily ejecting the two aforesaid worthies from the premises they were respectively occupying--convinced that by so doing he was removing two princ.i.p.al sources of filth and mischief from the village and neighborhood; for they were the founders and most active members of a sort of spouting-club for radical and infidel speechifying, and which club their presence and influence alone kept together.

Early the next morning Lord Drelincourt returned to the Hall, having appointed several persons to meet him there, on business princ.i.p.ally relating to the restoration of the Hall to its former state, as far as was practicable; at all events, to render it fit for the reception of the family within as short a period as possible. According to an arrangement he had made before quitting town, he found, on reaching the Hall, a gentleman from London, of great taste and experience, to whose hands was to be intrusted the entire superintendence of the contemplated reparations and restorations, both internal and external, regard being had to the antique and peculiar character of the mansion--it being his Lords.h.i.+p's anxious wish that Lady Drelincourt and Miss Aubrey, on their return, should see it, as nearly as might be, in the condition in which they had left it. Fortunately, the little Vandal who had just been expelled from it had done little or no permanent or substantial injury.

There was the same great irregular ma.s.s of old brickwork, with its huge stacks of chimneys, just as they had ever known it, only requiring a little pointing. That fine old relic, the castellated gateway, clad in ivy, with its gray, crumbling, stone-capped battlements, and escutcheon over the point of the arch, had suffered no change; even the quaint, weather-beaten sun-dial stood in the centre of the gra.s.s-plot, within the court-yard, as they had left it. The yew-trees still lined the high walls which surrounded the court-yard; and the fine old clump of cedars of Lebanon was there--green, stately, and solemn, as in days of yore.

The moment, however, that you pa.s.sed the threshold of the Hall, you sighed at the change that had taken place. Where were now the armed figures, the pikes, bows, guns, spears, swords, and battle-axes, and the quaint old pictures of the early ancestors of the family of the Aubreys?

Not a trace to be seen of them; and it gave Lord Drelincourt a pang as his eye travelled round the bare walls. But the case was not desperate.

All the aforesaid pictures still lay rolled up in the lumber-room, where they had continued as articles utterly valueless ever since Mr. t.i.tmouse had ordered them to be taken down. They had been brought from their obscurity, and now lay on the floor, having been carefully unrolled and examined by the man of taste, who undertook quickly to remove the incipient ravage of mould and dirt at present visible, and to have them suspended in their former position, in such a state as that only the closest scrutiny could detect any difference between their present and former condition. The other relics of antiquity--viz. the armor--had been purchased by the late Lady Stratton at one of the sales of t.i.tmouse's effects, occasioned by an execution against him, and they still were at her late residence, and of course at Lord Drelincourt's disposal, as her Ladys.h.i.+p's administrator. These, on his seeing them, the man of taste p.r.o.nounced to be very fine and valuable specimens of old English armor, and undertook to have them also in their old places, and in a far better condition even than before. Lord Drelincourt sighed repeatedly as he went over every one of the bare and deserted rooms in the mansion--nothing being left except the beautiful antique mantelpieces of inlaid oak, and the oak-panelling of the different apartments, which, as a part of the freehold, could not be seized as the personal property of Mr. t.i.tmouse. His creditors had swept off, from time to time, everything that had belonged to him. The hall, the dining-room, breakfast-room, drawing-rooms, the library, the bedrooms, dressing-rooms, boudoirs of Mrs. Aubrey and his sister, the long galleries, the rooms in which Charles and Agnes used to romp and play about--were all now bare and desolate, and the echoes of their footfalls and voices, in pa.s.sing through them, struck Lord Drelincourt's heart with sadness. But all this was to be easily and quickly remedied; for a _carte blanche_ was given to the man of taste at his elbow, who undertook within two, or at most three months' time, to leave nothing for the eye or the heart to sigh for--guided, moreover, as all his movements would be, by those who were so deeply interested in their success. On reaching the two rooms in the north-eastern extremities of the building, the windows of which commanded a view of nearly three-fourths of the estate, he gazed around him in silence,--one which those beside him thoroughly appreciated. _There_ was nothing to shock the eye or pain the heart; for as Mr. t.i.tmouse had been restrained from cutting timber, behold! what a sight would be seen when, in the approaching spring, the groves and forests, stretching far and wide before him, should have put on all their bravery! And he found on inquiry, and going over a portion of the grounds, that Mr. Waters and d.i.c.kons had kept pretty sharp eyes about them, and maintained everything in infinitely better condition than could have been expected. Mr. Tonson had, moreover, looked very keenly after the game; and Pumpkin undertook, by spring-time, to make his gardens and greenhouses a sight delightful to behold. In a word, Lord Drelincourt left everything under the management of the London man of taste and of Mr. Griffiths, the former being guided, of course, in the purchase of the leading articles of furniture in town, from time to time, by the tastes of Lord and Lady Drelincourt, and Miss Aubrey. Mr. Griffiths was desired to re-engage as many of the former servants of Mr. Aubrey as he could; and informed Lord Drelincourt of two, in particular, who had signified their anxious wish to him on the subject; viz. Mrs. Jackson, the housekeeper, who had lived in that capacity with a brother of hers at York, on quitting the service of Mrs. Aubrey. She was, of course, to be immediately reinstated in her old place. The other was Harriet, Miss Aubrey's maid, who, it may be recollected, was so disconsolate at being left behind by Miss Aubrey, who had secured her a place at the late Lady Stratton's, at whose house she still lived, with several of the other servants, the establishment not having been yet finally broken up. The poor girl very nearly went distracted with joy on receiving, a short time afterwards, an intimation, that as soon as she had got her clothes in readiness, she might set off for town, and enter at once upon her old duties as lady's maid to Miss Aubrey. Finding, on inquiry, that there was not one single tenant upon the estate, whose rent had not been raised above that which had been paid in Mr. Aubrey's time, he ordered the rent of all to be reduced to their former amount, and inquiries to be made after several respectable tenants, whom the extortion of Mr. t.i.tmouse and his agents had driven from their farms, with a view of restoring them, in lieu of their very questionable successors. Having thus set everything in train for a restoration to the former happy and contented state of things which prevailed at Yatton before the usurpation of Mr. t.i.tmouse, Lord Drelincourt returned to town; but first left a hundred pounds in Dr.

Tatham's hands, to be distributed as he thought proper among the poorer villagers and neighbors on Christmas-eve; and also insisted on the doctor's acceptance, himself, of fifty pounds in advance, on account of his salary, a hundred a-year, as chaplain to Lord Drelincourt, which appointment the doctor received from his Lords.h.i.+p's own hands, and with not a little delight and pride. His Lords.h.i.+p, moreover, desired Mr.

Parkinson to hold him responsible for any little demand which might be due from the poor doctor, in respect of the litigation in which he had been involved; and thus Dr. Tatham was made a free man of again, with no further question about his right to t.i.thes, or any more of the interruption of any of the sources of his little income, to which he had lately been subjected; and with fifty pounds, moreover, at his absolute disposal. The doctor made his appearance on Christmas-day in a very fine suit of black, new hat and all, and had a very full attendance at church, and, moreover, a very cheerful and attentive one.

A day or two after Lord Drelincourt's return to town, Messrs. Mudflint and Bloodsuck received a very pressing invitation to York Castle, whose hospitable owners would receive no refusal. In plain English, they were both taken in execution on the same day, by virtue of two writs of _capias ad satisfaciendum_, for the damages and costs due to Mr. Wigley; viz. 2,960, 16s. 4d. from Smirk Mudflint, and 2,760, 19s. from Barnabas Bloodsuck, junior. Poor Mr. Mudflint! In vain--in vain had been his Sunday evenings' lectures for the last three months, on the errors which pervaded all systems of jurisprudence which annexed any pecuniary liabilities to political offences, instead of leaving the evil to be redressed by the spontaneous good sense of society. A single tap of the sheriff's officer on the eloquent lecturer's shoulder, upset all his fine speculations; just as Corporal Trim said, that one shove of the bayonet was worth all Dr. Slop's fine metaphysical discourses upon the art of war!

In the next _Yorks.h.i.+re Stingo_, (which, alas! between ourselves, was very nearly on its last legs,) there appeared one of, I must own, the most magnificent articles of the kind which I ever read, upon the atrocious and unparalleled outrage on the liberties of the subject, which had been committed in the incarceration of the two patriots--the martyr-patriots--Mudflint and Bloodsuck. On that day, it said, the sun of liberty had set on England forever--in fact, for it was a time for speaking out--it had gone down in blood. The enlightened patriot, Mudflint, had at length fallen before the combined forces of bigotry and tyranny, which were now, in the shape of the Church of England and the aristocracy, riding rough-shod over the necks of Englishmen. In his person lay prostrate the sacred rights of conscience, and the inalienable liberty of Englishmen. He had stood forth, n.o.bly foremost, in the fray between the people and their oppressors; and he had fallen!--but he felt how _dulce et decorum_ it was, _pro patria mori_!

He felt prouder and happier in his bonds than could ever feel the splendid fiend at F----m, in all his blood-stained magnificence! It then called upon the people, in vivid and spirit-stirring language, to rise against their tyrants like one man, and the days of their oppressors were numbered; and stated that the first blow was already struck against the black and monstrous fabric of priestcraft and tyranny; for that a SUBSCRIPTION had been already opened on behalf of Mr. Mudflint and Mr.

Bloodsuck, for the purpose of discharging the amount of debt and costs for which they had been so infamously deprived of their liberty. An unprecedented sensation had--it seemed--been already excited; and a reference to the advertising columns of their paper would show that the work went bravely on. The friends of religious and civil liberty all over the country were roused; they had but to continue their exertions, and the majesty of the people would be heard in a voice of thunder. This article produced an immense sensation in that part of York Castle where the patriots were confined, and in the immediate neighborhood of the office of the _Yorks.h.i.+re Stingo_, (in fact, it had emanated from the masterly pen of Mudflint himself.) Sure enough, on referring to the advertising columns of the _Stingo_, the following did appear fully to warrant the tone of indignant exultation indulged in by the editor:--

Subscriptions already received (through C. Woodlouse) towards raising a fund for the liberation of the Reverend Smirk Mudflint and Barnabas Bloodsuck, junior, Esq., at present confined in York Castle.

An ardent admirer of the talents and character of the Reverend Smirk Mudflint 200 0 0 Several friends of the Rev. S. M 150 0 0 Anonymous 100 0 0 John Brown, Esq. 50 0 0 James Smith, Esq. 50 0 0 John Jones, Esq. 50 0 0 Sir Harkaway Rotgut Wildfire, Bart. 50 0 0

Now, to conceal nothing from the reader, I regret being obliged to inform him that, with the exception of Sir H. R. Wildfire, Bart., the above n.o.ble-spirited individuals, whom no one had ever heard of in or near to Grilston, or, in fact, anywhere else, had their local habitation and their name only in the fertile brain of the Rev. Mr.

Mudflint; who had hit upon this device as an effectual one for _getting up the steam_, (to use a modern and significant expression,) and giving that mighty impulse which was requisite to burst the bonds of the two imprisoned patriots.

Sir Harkaway's name was in the list, to be sure, but that was on the distinct understanding that he was not to be called on to _pay_ one farthing; the bargain being, that if he would give the sanction of his name to Messrs. Mudflint and Bloodsuck, they would allow him to have the credit, _gratis_, of so n.o.bly supporting the Liberal cause.

The following, however, were real and _bona fide_ names and subscriptions collected, with immense exertion, during the ensuing three weeks; and though, when annexed to the foregoing flouris.h.i.+ng commencement of the list, they give it, I must own, a somewhat tadpole appearance, yet here they are:--

Subscriptions already received 650 0 0 Cephas Woodlouse, Esq. 1 1 0 Barnabas Bloodsuck, Esq., senior 1 1 0 Gargle Glister, Esq. 0 10 0 Going Gone, Esq. 0 7 0 Simon Snooks, Esq. 0 5 0 "Tyrants, beware!!" 0 2 6 "One who is ready to ascend the scaffold, if required" 0 2 0 "Behemoth" 0 1 6 "A foe to priestcraft" 0 1 0 "Britons NEVER shall be slaves!" 0 0 9 "Down with the aristocracy!" 0 0 6 "Free inquiry" 0 0 4 "Brutus and Ca.s.sius" 0 0 4 "Virtue in prison, _better than vice in a castle_" 0 0 3 "Defiance!" 0 0 2 Small sums 0 0 1-3/4 ------------ Making a grand total of sums actually received by the editor of the _Yorks.h.i.+re Stingo_, of 3 13 5-3/4

Certainly this was "not as good as had been antic.i.p.ated"--as the editor subsequently owned in his leading article--and asked, with sorrowful indignation, how the people could expect any one to be true to them if they were not true to themselves! "Our cheeks," said he, "tingle with shame on looking at the paltry list of additional contributions--'Oh, lame and impotent conclusion' to so auspicious a commencement!"--This was very fine indeed. It came very well from Mr. Woodlouse in his _editorial_ capacity; but Mr. Woodlouse, in his capacity as a man of business, was a very different person. Alas! that it should fell to my lot to inquire, in my turn, with sorrowful indignation--was there NO _honor among thieves_? But, to come to the point, it fell out in this wise. Patriots must _live_, even in prison; and Mr. Mudflint, being sorely pressed, wrote a letter to his "Dear Woodlouse," asking for the amount of subscriptions received up to that date. He received, in return, a most friendly note, addressed "My dear Mudflint," full of civilities and friendly anxieties--hoping the air of the Castle agreed with him--a.s.suring him how he was missed from the Liberal circle, and that he would be welcomed with open arms if ever he got out--and--enclosing a nicely drawn out _debtor_ and _creditor account_!!

headed--

The Rev. Smirk Mudflint and Barnabas Bloodsuck, Esq., in account with Cephas Woodlouse, [in which every farthing of the above sum of 3, 13s. 5-3/4d. was faithfully set down to the _credit_ side, to be sure; but, alas!--on the DEBIT side stood the following!]--

To advertising lists of Subscriptions in _Y. S._ (three weeks) 3 15 6 To Circulars, Hand-bills, &c. (as per order) 2 13 9 Postage and Sundries 0 4 3 --------- 6 13 6 By cash, amount of Subscriptions received 3 13 5-3/4 --------- Balance due to C. W 3 0 0-1/4

On perusing the above doc.u.ment, so pregnant with perfidy and extortion, Mr. Mudflint put it into his pocket, and, slipping off to his sleeping-room, closed the door, took off his garters, and, with very deadly intentions towards himself was tying them together--casting a ghastly glance, occasionally, at a great hook in the wall, which he could just reach by standing on a stool--when he was discovered, and removed with his hands fastened behind him, "to the strong room," where he was firmly attached to a heavy wooden bench, and left to his meditations. Solitude and reflection restored the afflicted captive to something like composure and resignation; and after meditating long and deeply on the selfishness and worthlessness of worldly friends.h.i.+p, his thoughts gradually turned towards a _better place_--a haven of rest--viz. the Insolvent Debtors' Court.

The effect of this infamous treatment upon his fellow-captive, Bloodsuck, was quite different. Having sworn one single prodigious oath, he enclosed the above account, and sent it off to his father, in the following pithy letter:--

"_York Castle, Dec. 29, 18--_

"DEAR FATHER,--Read the enclosed! and then _sell up Woodlouse_.--Your dutiful Son,

B. BLOODSUCK, Jun."

The old gentleman, on reading this laconic epistle, and its enclosure, immediately issued execution against Woodlouse, on a cognovit of his for 150, which he had given to the firm of Bloodsuck and Son for the balance of a bill of theirs for defending him unsuccessfully against an action for an infamous libel. n.o.body would bid anything for his moribund "_Stingo_;" he had no other effects, and was immediately taken in execution, and sent to York Castle, where he, Bloodsuck, and Mudflint, whenever they met, could hardly be restrained from tearing one another's eyes out.

'Tis thus that reptiles of this sort prey upon each other!--To "begin nothing of which you have not well considered the end," is a saying, the propriety of which every one recognizes when he hears it enunciated, but no one thinks of in the conduct of actual life; and what follows, will ill.u.s.trate the truth of my reflection. It seemed a capital notion of Mudflint's to send forth such a splendid list of sham subscribers, and it was natural enough for Mr. Bloodsuck to a.s.sent to it, and Mr.

Woodlouse to become the party to it which he did--but who could have foreseen the consequences? A quarrel among rogues is almost always attended with ugly and unexpected consequences to themselves. Now, here was a mortal feud between Mr. Woodlouse on the one side, and Messrs.

Mudflint and Bloodsuck on the other; and in due time they all applied, as a matter of course, for relief under the Insolvent Debtors' Act.

Before they got to the question concerning the nature of the debt--viz.

the penalties in an action for the odious offence of bribery--in the case of Mr. Mudflint, he had to encounter a very serious and truly unexpected obstacle--viz. he had given in, with the minutest accuracy, the items of the subscription, amounting to 3, 13s. 5-3/4d., but had observed the most mysterious and (as he might have supposed) politic silence concerning _the greater sum_ of 650, and which had been brought under the notice of the creditors of Messrs. Mudflint and Bloodsuck by Mr. Woodlouse. On the newspaper acknowledging the receipt of that large sum being produced in court, Mr. Mudflint made very light of the matter, simply smiling and shrugging his shoulders; but when Mr. Woodlouse was called as a witness, you may guess the consternation of Mr. Mudflint, on hearing him swear that he had certainly never himself received the money, but had no doubt of Mr. Mudflint having done so--which, in fact, had always been his impression; for when Mr. Mudflint had furnished him with the list, which he handed up to court, in Mudflint's handwriting, he inserted it in his paper as a matter of course--taking it to be a _bona fide_ and matter-of-fact transaction. The evident consternation of Mudflint satisfied all who heard him of his villany, and of the truth and honesty of Woodlouse, who stuck to this new version of the affair manfully. But this opened quite a new view of his position to Mr.

Bloodsuck; who, on finding that he must needs adopt either Mudflint's or Woodlouse's account of the matter, began to reflect upon the disagreeable effect it would have, thereafter, upon the connection and character of the respectable firm of Bloodsuck and Son, for him to appear to have been a party to such a shocking fraud upon the public, as a sham list of subscribers, and to so large an amount. He therefore swore stoutly that he, too, had always been under the impression that Mr. Mudflint had received the 650!! and very much regretted to find that that gentleman must have been appropriating so large a sum to himself, instead of being now ready to divide it between their respective creditors. This tallied with Woodlouse's account of the matter; and infinitely disgusted was that gentleman at finding himself so cleverly outwitted by Bloodsuck. On this Mudflint turned with fury upon Bloodsuck, and he upon Mudflint, who abused Woodlouse; and eventually the commissioners, unable to believe any of them, remanded them all, as a pack of rogues, till the next court day; addressing a very stern warning to Mr. Mudflint, concerning the serious consequences of his persisting in fraudulently concealing his property from his creditors. By the time of his being next brought up, the persecuted Mudflint had bethought himself of a bold mode of corroborating the truth of his explanation of that accursed first list of subscribers--viz. summoning Sir Harkaway Rotgut Wildfire as a witness in his behalf; whom he confidently asked whether, for all his name appeared in the subscription list, he had really ever given one farthing of the 50 there mentioned? Now, had our friend Mudflint been a long-headed man, he would not have taken this step; for Sir Harkaway could never be supposed capable of bringing himself to admit that he had been a party to such a dirty deceit upon the public as he was now charged with. On a careful consideration of the circ.u.mstances, therefore, Sir Harkaway, having an eye solely to his own credit, first said, with a somewhat haughty, but at the same time embarra.s.sed air, that he was not in the habit of allowing his name to appear in such lists without his having actually paid the sum named, then, on being pressed, he swore that he _thought_ he must have paid it; then, that he had very _little_ doubt on the subject; then, that he had _no_ doubt on the matter at all; then, that he knew that in point of fact he _had_ advanced the money; and finally, that he then recollected all the circ.u.mstances most distinctly!--On this complete confirmation of the roguery of Mudflint, he was instantly reprimanded severely, and remanded indefinitely; the whole court believing that he had appropriated to his own use every farthing of the 650, defrauding even his fellow-prisoner, Mr.

Bloodsuck. It was a good while before Mudflint recovered from the effects of this astounding conduct of Sir Harkaway. When his wits had returned to him, he felt certain that, somewhere or other, he had a letter from Sir Harkaway which would satisfy everybody of the very peculiarly unpleasant position in which the worthy baronet had placed himself. And sure enough, on desiring his wife to inst.i.tute a rigorous search among his papers, she succeeded in discovering the following remarkable doc.u.ment, which she at once forwarded to her disconsolate husband:--

"_View-Hallo Hall, 27th Dec. 18--._

"SIR, "I have a considerable regard for your services to liberty, (civil and religious,) and am willing to serve you in the way you wish.

You may _put me down_, therefore, in the list for anything you please, as my name carries weight in the county--but, of course, you know better than to _kill your decoy duck_."

"Sir, your obedient servant, "H. R. WILDFIRE.

"The REV. S. MUDFLINT, &c., &c."

This unfortunate letter, in the first frenzy of his rage and exultation, Mudflint instantly forwarded, with a statement of facts, to the editor of the _True Blue_ newspaper, which carried it into every corner of the county on the very next morning; and undoubtedly gave thereby a heavy blow and a great discouragement to the Liberal cause all over Yorks.h.i.+re; for Sir Harkaway had always been looked upon as one of its very stanchest and most powerful supporters.

CHAPTER XII.

Very shortly after Messrs. Mudflint and Bloodsuck had gone to pay this, their long-expected visit, to the governor of York Castle, Mr. Parkinson required possession of the residence of each of them, in Yatton, to be delivered up to him on behalf of Lord Drelincourt, allowing a week's time for the removal of the few effects of each; after which period had elapsed, the premises in question were completely cleared of everything belonging to their late odious occupants--who, in all human probability, would, infinitely to the delight of Dr. Tatham and all the better sort of the inhabitants, never again be there seen or heard of. In a similar manner another crying nuisance--viz. the public-house known by the name of The Toper's Arms--was got rid of; it having been resolved upon by Lord Drelincourt, that there should be thenceforth but one in Yatton, viz.,--the quiet, old, original Aubrey Arms, and which was quite sufficient for the purposes of the inhabitants. Two or three other persons who had crept into the village during the t.i.tmouse dynasty were similarly dealt with, infinitely to the satisfaction of those left behind; and by Christmas-day the village was beginning to show signs of a return to its former condition. The works going on at the Hall gave an air of cheerful bustle and animation to the whole neighborhood, and afforded extensive employment at a season of the year when it was most wanted. The chapel and residence of the Rev. Mr. Mudflint underwent a rapid and remarkable alteration. The fact was, that Mr. Delamere had conceived the idea, which, with Lord Drelincourt's consent, he proceeded to carry immediately into execution, of pulling down the existing structure, and raising in its stead a very beautiful school, and filling it with scholars, and providing a matron for it, by way of giving a pleasant surprise to Kate on her return to Yatton. He engaged a well-known architect, who submitted to him a plan of a very beautiful little Gothic structure, adapted for receiving some eighteen or twenty scholars, and also affording a permanent residence for the mistress. The scheme being heartily approved of by Mr. Delamere and Dr. Tatham, whom he had taken into his counsels in the affair, they received a pledge that the school should be completed and fit for occupation within three months' time. There was to be, in the front, a small and tasteful tablet, bearing the inscription--

_=C. A.=_ _=Fundatrix.=_ 18--.