Nearly Lost but Dearly Won Part 3

"I wish I was like Mr Tankardew," says Mary, after a pause; "did you see, mamma, how he refused the negus? I never saw such a frown."

"Well, Mary, I'm not certain that total abstinence would suit either of us, but it is better to be on the safe side. I am sure, in these days of special self-indulgence, it would be worth a little sacrifice if our example might do good; but I'll think about it."

It was a lovely morning in the September after the juvenile party, one of those mornings which combine the glow of summer with the richness of autumn. A picnic had been arranged to a celebrated hill about ten miles distant from Hopeworth. The Rothwells had been the originators, and had pressed Mary Franklin to join the party. Mrs Franklin had at first declined for her daughter. She increasingly dreaded any intimacy between her and Mark, whose habits she feared were getting more and more self-indulgent; and Mary herself was by no means anxious to go, but Mark's father had been particularly pressing on the subject, more so than Mrs Franklin could exactly understand, so she yielded to the joint importunity of father and son, though with much reluctance. Mary had seen Mark occasionally since the night of the 6th of January, and still liked him, without a thought of going beyond this; but she was grieved to see how strongly her mother felt against him, and was inclined to think her a little hard. True, he had been betrayed into an excess on Twelfth night; but, then, he was no drunkard. So she argued to herself, and so too many argue; but how strange it is that people should argue so differently about the sin of drunkenness from what they argue about other sins! If a man lies to us _now and then_, do we call him _habitually_ truthful? If a man steals _now and then_, do we call him _habitually_ honest? Surely not; yet if a man is _only now and then_ drunken, his fault is winked at; he is considered by many as _habitually_ a sober man; and yet, a.s.suredly, if there be one sin more than another which from the guilt and misery that it causes deserves little indulgence, it is the sin of drunkenness. Mary took the common view, and could not think of Mark as being otherwise than habitually sober, because he was only now and then the worse for strong drink.

It was, as we have said, a lovely September morning, and all the members of the picnic party were in high spirits. An omnibus had been hired expressly for the occasion. Mark sat by the driver, and acted as presiding genius. The common meeting-place was an old oak, above a mile out of the town, and thither by ten o'clock all the providers and their provisions had made their way. No one could look more bright than Mark Rothwell, no one more peacefully lovely than Mary Franklin. All being seated, off they started at an uproarious signal from Mark. Away they went, along level road, through pebbly lane, its banks gorgeous with foxgloves and fragrant with honeysuckles, over wild heath, and then up gra.s.sy slopes. There were fourteen in the party: Mr Rothwell, Mark and his three sisters, and a lady neighbour; Mrs Franklin and her daughter, with a female friend; and five young gentlemen who were or seemed to be cousins, more or less, to everybody. Five miles were soon pa.s.sed, and then the road was crossed by a little stream. Cautiously the lumbering vehicle made its way down the shelving gravel, plunged into the sparkling water, fouling it with thick eddies of liquid mud, and then, with some slight prancings on the part of the willing horses, gained the opposite bank. The other five miles were soon accomplished, all feeling the exhilarating effect of drinking in copious draughts of mountain air--G.o.d's pure and unadulterated stimulant to strengthen the nerves, string up the muscles, and clear the brain, free from every drop of spirit except the glowing spirit of health. And now the omnibus was abandoned by a little roadside inn to the care of a hostler, who took the horses (poor dumb brutes!) to feast on corn and water, G.o.d's truly "good creatures," unspoilt by the perverse hand of self-indulgent man!

The driver, with the rest of the party, toiled up the hill-side, and all, on gaining the summit, gazed with admiration across one of those lovely scenes which may well make us feel that the stamp of G.o.d's hand is there, however much man may have marred what his Creator has made: wood and lane, cornfields red-ripe, turnip fields in squares of dazzling green, were spread out before them in rich embroidery with belts of silver stream flashing like diamonds on the robe of beauty with which Almighty love had clothed the earth. Oh! To think that sin should defile so fair a prospect! Yet sin was there, though unseen by those delighted gazers. Ay, and thickly sown among those sweet hills and dales were drunkards' houses, where hearts were withering, and beings made for immortality were destroying body and soul by a lingering suicide.

An hour pa.s.sed quickly by, and there came a summons to luncheon. Under a tall rock, affording an unbroken view of the magnificent landscape outspread below, the tablecloth was laid and secured at the corners by large stones. Pies both savoury and sweet were abundant, bread sufficient, salt scanty, and water absent altogether. Bottles were plentiful--bottles of ale, of porter, of wines heavy and light. Corks popped, champagne fizzed, ale sparkled. Mark surrendered the eatables into other hands, and threw his whole energies into the joint consumption and distribution of strong drink. He seemed in this matter, at least, to act upon the rule that "Example is better than precept": if he pressed others to drink, he led the way by taking copious draughts himself. The driver, too, was not forgotten; the poor man was getting a chance of rising a little above his daily plodding as he looked out on the lovely scenery before him: but he was not to be left to G.o.d's teachings; ale, porter, champagne, he must taste them all. Mark insisted on it; so the unfortunate man drank and drank, and then threw himself down among some heath to sleep off, if he could, the fumes of alcohol that were clouding his brains.

And what of Mrs Franklin and Mary? Both had declined all the stimulants, and had asked for water.

"Nonsense," cried Mark; "water! I've taken very good care that there shall be no water drunk to-day; you must take some wine or ale, you must indeed."

"We will manage without it, if you please," said Mrs Franklin quietly.

Mark pressed the intoxicants upon them even to rudeness, but without effect. Mr Rothwell was evidently annoyed at his son's pertinacity, and tried to check him; but all in vain, for Mark had taken so much as just to make him obstinate and unmanageable. But, finding that he could not prevail, the young man hurried away in anger, and plied the other members of the company with redoubled vigour.

So engrossing had been the luncheon that few of the party had noticed a sudden lull in the atmosphere, and an oppressive calm which had succeeded to the brisk and cheery breeze. But now, as Mary rose from her seat on the gra.s.s, she said to her mother:

"Oh, mamma, how close it has become! And look there in the distance: what a threatening bank of clouds! I fear we are going to have a storm."

"I fear so indeed, Mary; we must give our friends warning, and seek out a shelter."

All had now become conscious of the change. A stagnant heat brooded over everything; not a breath of wind; huge banks of magnificent storm- cloud came marching up majestically from the horizon, throwing out little jets of lightning, with solemn murmurs of thunder. Drop, drop, drop, tinkled on the gathered leaves, now quicker, now quicker, and thicker. Under a huge roof of overhanging rock the party cowered together. At last, down came the storm with a blast like a hurricane, and deluges of rain. On, on it poured relentlessly, with blinding lightning and deafening peals of thunder. Hour after hour! Would it never cease? At last a lull between four and five o'clock, and, as the tempest rolled murmuring away, the dispirited friends began their preparations for returning. Six o'clock before all had reached the inn.

Where were the driver and Mark? Another tedious hour before they appeared, and each manifestly the worse for liquor. Past seven by the time they had fairly started. And now the clouds began to gather again.

On they went, furiously at first, and then in unsteady jerks, the omnibus swaying strangely. It was getting dark, and the lowering clouds made it darker still. Not a word was spoken by the pa.s.sengers, but each was secretly dreading the crossing of the stream. At last the bank was gained--but what a change! The little brook had become a torrent deep and strong.

"Oh! For goodness' sake, stop! Stop! Let us get out," screamed the Misses Rothwell.

"In with it! In with it!" roared Mark to the driver; "dash through like a trump."

"Tchuck, tchuck," was the half-drunken driver's reply, as he lashed his horses and urged them into the stream.

Down they went: splash! Dash! Plunge! The water foaming against the wheels like a millstream. Screams burst from all the terrified ladies except Mary and her mother, who held each other's hand tightly. Mrs Franklin had taught her daughter presence of mind both by example and precept. But now the water rushed into the vehicle itself as the frightened horses struggled for the opposite bank. Mark's voice was now heard in curses, as he s.n.a.t.c.hed the whip from the driver and scourged the poor bewildered horses. Another splash: the driver was gone: the poor animals pulled n.o.bly. Crash! Jerk! Bang! A trace had snapped: another jerk, a fearful dashing and struggling, the omnibus was drawn half out of the water, and lay partly over on its side: then all was still except the wails and the shrieks of the ladies. Happily a lamp had been lighted and still burned in the omnibus, which was now above the full violence of the water. The door was opened and the pa.s.sengers released; but by whom?--certainly not by Mark. A tall figure moved about in the dusk, and coming up to Mary threw a large cloak over her shoulders, for it was now raining heavily, and said in a voice whose tones she was sure she knew:

"Come with me, my child, your mother is close at hand; there, trust to me; take my other arm, Mrs Franklin: very fortunate I was at hand to help. The drink, the drink," he muttered in a low voice; "if they'd stuck to the water at the beginning they wouldn't have stuck _in_ the water at the end."

And now a light flashed on them: it was the ruddy glow from a forge.

"Come in for a moment," said their conductor, "till I see what is to be done. Tom Flint, lend us a lantern, and send your Jim to show some of these good people the way to the inn; they'll get no strong drink there," he said, half to himself.

And now several of the unlucky company had straggled into the smithy, which was only a _few_ yards from the swollen stream. Among these was Mark, partially sobered by the accident, and dripping from head to foot.

"Here's some capital stuff to stave off a cold," he said, addressing Mrs Franklin and her daughter, whose faces were visible in the forge light: at the same time he rilled the cover of a small flask with spirits. "Come, let us be as jolly as we can under the circ.u.mstances."

"Thank you," said Mrs Franklin; "perhaps a very little mixed with water might be prudent, as Mary, I fear, is very wet."

Mark stretched out the cup towards her, but before a drop could be taken the tall stranger had stepped forward, and s.n.a.t.c.hing it, had emptied its contents on the glowing coals. Up there shot a brilliant dazzling flame to the smoky roof, and in that vivid blaze Mrs Franklin and Mary both recognised in their timely helper none other than Mr Esau Tankardew.

CHAPTER FOUR.

A MYSTERIOUS STRANGER.

"This way, this way," said Mr Tankardew, utterly unmoved by the expression of angry astonishment on the face of Mark Rothwell at the sudden conversion of his cup of liquid fire into harmless flame--"Come this way, come this way, Mrs and Miss Franklin: Tom, give me the lantern, I'll take the ladies to Sam Hodges' farm, and do you be so good as to see this young gentleman across to the 'Wheatsheaf'; Jones will look well after them all, I know."

So saying, he offered his arm to Mrs Franklin, and bade Mary follow close behind.

"It will be all right, madam," he added, seeing a little hesitation on the part of his companion; "you may trust an old man to keep you out of harm's way: there, let me go first with the lantern; now, two steps and you are over the stile: the path is rather narrow, you must keep close to the hedge: just over three fields and we shall be there."

Not a word was uttered as they followed their guide. Mrs Franklin lifted up her heart in silent praise for their preservation, and in prayer for present direction. Backward and forward swayed the lantern, just revealing s.n.a.t.c.hes of hedge and miry path. At last the deep barking of a dog told that they were not far off from a dwelling: the next minute Mr Tankardew exclaimed, "Here we are;" and the light showed them that they were come to a little gate in a paling fence.

"Hollo, Sam," shouted out their guide: the dog's barking was instantly changed into a joyful whine. A door opened a few yards in front of them, and a dark figure appeared in the midst of a square opening all ablaze with cheerful light.

"Hollo, Sam," said Mr Tankardew again, in a more subdued voice.

"Is that you, mayster? All right," cried the other.

"I've brought you some company, Sam, rather late though."

"You're welcome, mayster, company and all," was the reply. In a few moments all three had entered, and found themselves in an enormous kitchen, nearly large enough to accommodate a village. Huge beams crossed the low white ceiling; great ma.s.sive doors opened in different directions rather on the slant through age, and giving a liberal allowance of s.p.a.ce at top and bottom for ventilation. A small colony of hams and flitches hung in view; and a monstrous chimney, with a fire in the centre, invited a nearer approach, and seemed fashioned for a cozy retiring place from the world of kitchen. Everything looked warm and comfortable, from the farmer, his wife and daughter, to the two cats dozing on the hearth. Vessels of copper, bra.s.s, and tin shone so brightly that it seemed a shame to use them for anything but looking- gla.s.ses; while tables and chairs glowed with the results of perpetual friction.

"Come, sit ye down, sit ye down, ladies," said Mrs Hodges; "there, come into the chimney nook: eh! Deary me! Ye're quite wet."

"Yes, Betty," said Mr Tankardew, "these ladies joined a party to the hills, and, coming back, they've been nearly upset into the brook, which is running now like a mill stream; they came in an omnibus, and very nearly stuck fast in the middle; it is a mercy they were not all drowned; no thanks to the driver, though."

"Poor things," exclaimed the farmer's wife; "come, I must help you to some dry things, such as they are: and you must stay here to-night; it is not fit for you to go home, indeed it is not," she added, as Mrs Franklin prepared to decline.

"I'll make you as comfortable as ever I can. Jane, go and put a fire in the Red-room."

"Indeed," said Mrs Franklin, "I can't think of allowing you to put yourself to all this trouble; besides, our servants will be alarmed when they find us not returning."

"Leave that to me, madam," said Mr Tankardew; "I shall sleep at the 'Wheatsheaf' to-night, and will take care to send a trusty messenger over to 'The Shrubbery' to tell them how matters stand; and Mr Hodges will, I am sure, drive you over in his gig in the morning. Hark how the rain comes down! You really must stop: Mrs Hodges will make you very comfortable."

With many thanks, but still with considerable reluctance, Mrs Franklin acquiesced in this arrangement. Their hostess then accommodated them with such garments as they needed, and all a.s.sembled round the blazing fire. Mr Tankardew had divested himself of a rough top coat, and, looking like the gentleman he was, begged Mrs Hodges to give them some tea.

What a tea that was! Mary, though delicately brought up, thought she had never tasted anything like it, so delicious and reviving: such ham!

Such eggs! Such bread! Such cream! Really, it was almost worth while getting the fright and the wetting to enjoy such a meal with so keen a relish.

"They've got a famous distillery in this house," remarked Mr Tankardew when they had finished their tea.

"A famous what?" asked Mrs Franklin, in great surprise.

"Dear me," said Mary aghast, "I really thought I--"

"Oh! You thought they were teetotalers here: well, you should know that it is a common custom in these parts to put rum or other spirits into the tea, especially when people have company. Now, Hodges and his wife are not content with putting spirits into the tea, but they put them into everything: into their bread, and their ham, and into their eggs."