Australia Revenged.
by Boomerang.
PREFACE.
Each character in this work is a type. The Australian characters may be met with every day in the Colonies. Nor are Villiers Wyckliffe and the Detlij Club distorted figments of the imagination; and the broken heart is a symbol of the aims of the one, and the object of the others, softened down so that the cheek of modesty may be spared a blush.
In those parts of the work where Colonial Governors are mentioned, they appear in a less heroic light than that in which one ordinarily sees them in print. Therefore for the further enlightenment of the reader, an appendix has been added, in which the standpoint wherefrom Young Australia views them is fully explained.
"Boomerang" is the joint _nom-de-plume_ of a Young Australian and his collaborator.
B.
London, October, 1894.
CHAPTER I.
THE DETLIJ CLUB.
In a handsome block of buildings in the neighbourhood of Piccadilly--a phrase which may embrace a considerable area, North, South, East or West--is located the quarters of that small and extremely select Club, known, and known up till now only to a favoured few, as the Detlij Club.
The name, like the Club itself, is an uncommon one, and is simply indicative of the sad mischance which must befal each member before he can qualify for admission. No mysterious or secret rites were shadowed in the t.i.tle, and the ultra-curious in search of the origin of the name, need no more overhaul their Hindu or Persian dictionaries, than they need their Liddell and Scott. A simple inversion of the letters is all that is necessary to solve the riddle, a process which discovers the word "jilted," and discloses the character of the Club.
Briefly, the origin of the Club was in this wise. Some four years previous to the date our story opens, a certain Major Fitzgerald, a man of unenviable notoriety in Society, whose name was almost as well known in the Divorce Court as it was in the clubs and boudoirs--a fact which, though it caused his exclusion from some circles, made him more welcome in others--chanced to meet the young and charming heiress, Helen Trevor, at the time of her _debut_.
"That"s the girl for my money," was the Major"s inward comment. He had no money, by-the-bye, it was merely his _facon de parler_. So he lost no opportunity of cultivating Miss Trevor"s acquaintance. Now the Major was a handsome, dashing man, with complete knowledge of the world, much _savoir faire_, the faculty for making himself dangerously agreeable, and no morals to speak of. Helen Trevor, too, though a girl of her time, was one of those strong characters that--thank goodness!--have not yet been eliminated from the human species, either by the artificial restrictions of Fashion on the one hand, or the undisciplined vagaries of Female Emanc.i.p.ationists on the other. She was too young and enthusiastic to have surrendered her habit of sympathy for the cheap cynicism that marked the culture of her day. Br.i.m.m.i.n.g over with sympathy, impatient for some sphere of active interest, and just sufficiently tinged with the spirit of martyrdom to be anxious to feel herself doing some work in the world, her sympathetic young heart, that had no suspicion of evil, went out to the Major when he murmured in a tone of manly contrition: "It is true, Miss Trevor, I have been wild and reckless, but it was all due to my having no one to guide me."
Helen"s older acquaintances shook their heads in mysterious warning, and supplied just the needful hint of opposition to cause her to devote herself to what seemed to be a labour of moral heroism, helping him to the best of her ability. And Fitzgerald congratulated himself on his success in having brought about the very condition of mind he had laid himself out to produce. But he over-estimated his powers, and he made an irretrievably false step in trying to persuade Helen to elope with him to avoid her father"s antic.i.p.ated disapproval.
Helen was prepared to go far in her antagonism to her parents" wishes, even to consent to an open engagement, but to fly with her _fiance_ in the fearless, old fashion did not commend itself to her somewhat rigid ideas of right and wrong. She frankly, therefore, told her father everything, and he, prompt to nip this affair in the bud, removed his daughter out of the way of Major Fitzgerald"s influence; and, calling upon the Major himself, subjected the latter to an unpleasant quarter-of-an-hour. The result of the interview was that the Major a.s.sumed the air of an injured man, whose love had been ruthlessly trodden on, and who had suffered the humiliation of being jilted.
For the s.p.a.ce of two whole days the Major was absent from his usual haunts, and when he did appear again he wore a becoming air of dignified dejection.
"Hullo, Major!" said a young fellow named the Honourable George Buzzard, as he familiarly struck him on the shoulder. "Why these tears of sadness, eh?"
"My boy, I"ve been badly treated. I"ve been jilted."
"Jilted, have you! and by whom?"
"Young Trevor."
"What! Helen Trevor! that youngster who is causing all our fashionable beauties to hug the green-eyed monster. Then shake hands, Major. For I met the same fate yesterday."
"You did, George?"
"Yes. I suppose you noticed that I have been paying a good deal of attention to old Browne"s daughter."
"Don"t know her, George."
"Oh! her father is a squatter in Australia, with millions. She"s his heiress, and not a bad sort either."
"She refused you. Eh?"
"Rather, and now she"s engaged to the Earl of Bentham."
"It"s the t.i.tle, my boy. Younger sons have no show nowadays; but how those Australians run after t.i.tles. Eh?"
"By Jove, they do," said the other. "But now, as we are companions in misfortune, let"s drown our sorrows," and he led the Major in the direction of his club.
Here they were joined by Thomas Thomas, Esq., known to the entire Society world as "Tommy" only. He was one of that common cla.s.s of young men whom only Society produces. Without any income or apparent means of subsistence he did not work, yet he was invariably well-dressed, and had the _entree_ of the best houses. Welcome there because he could readily adapt himself to any occasion, preserve a constantly agreeable manner, and had the details of the latest scandal at his finger-ends; in fact was one of the parasites that Society creates, and without whom it cannot get along the th.o.r.n.y path of its day"s enjoyment. Tommy greeted the two men with a silent nod, and waited, with the caution typical of his species, to discover the subject of their conversation. This did not take him long, as experience in this work had sharpened his wits.
Sitting down beside them, he heaved a deep sigh, and said, sadly:
"I have been atrociously treated, you fellows. The little widow has thrown me over."
"What, another!" cried the Major. "Then sit down, Tommy, and enjoy yourself. By Jove, we ought to start a club for fellows like ourselves, and call it the Jilted Club."
"A grand idea!" said Tommy, rubbing his hands. "Why we can already number five, for I know Watson and Carrington have suffered the same fate."
From that hour the Jilted Club was formed, and as time went on its membership increased. The mysterious t.i.tle of Detlij Club was agreed on, and, at the time of writing, its adherents numbered some seventy _habitues_ of London Society.
The Major was elected President; Tommy held the honourable and lucrative post of Secretary, and a code of rules, of which we quote the princ.i.p.al, was drawn up:
1. This Club shall be called the Detlij Club.
2. None but jilted men shall be eligible to become members.
3. The objects of the Club shall be:
(_a_). To extend shelter and sympathy in their calamity to all members whose affections have been trifled with.
(_b_). To a.s.sist them in their schemes of vengeance.
(_c_). To encourage them to jilt others in return.
4. Each member shall be required to take the oath of secrecy.
5. A gold badge shall be voted annually to that member who shall prove to the satisfaction of the Committee that he has made the highest record in broken hearts.
6. The badge of the Club shall be a heart rent in twain.
There were a great many other rules, but they are of minor importance relative to this narrative.
When Tommy announced at the first general meeting that he wished to propose Villiers Wyckliffe as a member, the announcement was greeted with loud cheers, for that gentleman was a man of town notoriety, popular with all sections of Society, but especially so in the boudoirs.
He was immensely wealthy, having inherited a vast fortune from his father, the celebrated Seymour Wyckliffe, the world-wide known head of the great banking firm of Wyckliffe & Co. Having joined he soon let it be known that he intended making strong running for the coveted gold badge. He was generally known and addressed as "Wyck."
The fifteenth of July, when the season was well on the wane, was the date fixed on which the first compet.i.tion for the badge was to be held.
Great preparations were made for a banquet at the Club, on the most lavish and extensive scale.