"a.s.sist you! how? Mr. Morris."
"In this way. You are here toiling your life away for a meagre pittance.
You must give it up."
"Indeed I--"
"Stay, let me finish. I want you to clear your name and honour before the world. I want you to rise again to your old position, and be revenged that way."
"Impossible," she said.
"No it"s not, sir," chimed in Jones, eagerly.
"She could get a good engagement to-morrow if she liked."
"Miss Williamson, as I said before, I am a rich man. I have thousands a year, and now I have no use for the money I want you to accept--"
"I shall accept nothing, sir," said she, sharply.
"I want you to accept," resumed Reg, tranquilly, "a small loan in order to enable you to have a fair start, and as you will not quite trust me, I will place it in Jones"s hands. Here, Jones," he continued, handing him a roll of notes, "are a hundred and fifty pounds. You are to watch over Miss Williamson and see that she resumes her calling. Miss Williamson, once more I beg of you to a.s.sist me, and when you are a successful woman again, and making lots of money, you can repay me."
"Miss Marjorie, do it. I"ll help you," said Jones, appealingly.
"Then I"ll do it, Mr. Morris, and G.o.d bless you;" then words failed her, and she laid her head on the sofa and burst into tears.
Reg bid her good-bye and, followed by Jones left the house, feeling lighter-hearted than he had been for several days. And Jones, when he was put down at the theatre door, said, in a choking voice:
"You"ll never regret this day"s work, sir. G.o.d bless you."
Reg next went to the shop at which he had ordered his die, and found it a most satisfactory piece of workmanship. Then he drove to the offices of the Orient Company, and found if he left London on the following Friday he could catch the _Orltuz_ at Naples.
"There"s only one berth left, sir," said the clerk. "It"s in a two-berth cabin, and a Mr. Allen Winter has the other."
"Then cable and secure it for me," he said, putting down the money and receiving his ticket.
The next day he called on Bridgland, related all he had done, and told him his plans.
"You are a marvel, Morris," said that worthy man. "I could not understand why you left me so suddenly. So you leave England to-morrow for certain?"
"Yes. Wyck has a clear week"s start and, as the _Himalaya_ is a faster boat, I expect he will reach Adelaide eight days ahead of me."
"And when you catch him what will you do?"
"Do you see this die, Bridgland?" asked Reg, as he produced his case.
"This is his device. I"ll brand him with it on both ears. He shall be a marked man for life."
"But that"s rather dangerous, is it not?"
"Listen, Brigland. I have sworn by the corpse of the girl I loved that I would avenge her death, and I will do it at any cost. Your high-cla.s.s Englishman looks upon a woman"s honour as his legitimate prey, and his fellows feast and toast and testimonialise his success in his nefarious deeds; but we Australians are made of different stuff from the rotten fabric of European civilisation. We hold the honour of our women in respect, and we have only one law for those who sully or sport with it--the law that a right-minded man makes for himself. Here is a murderer gone to our country to continue his infamous amus.e.m.e.nt. Mark my words, Bridgland, if he ever returns alive to England, he will return so that it is impossible for him to hold up his head. Now good-bye, old chap. When you see me again, rest a.s.sured Australia will have been revenged."
"My G.o.d!" said Bridgland to himself when Reg had left him. "I would rather be dead than have a sleuth-hound like that on my track. Wyck, your time has come, but not before you deserve it."
The final arrangements were completed, and Reg started on his journey.
He bade a fond farewell to the Whytes, and his last word rang in Oliver Whyte"s ears for many a day. It was "Revenge."
CHAPTER VII.
HAL.
"Now then, Reginald Morris, my name is Allen Winter. I am going to have it out with you," said a tall, handsome man, fully six feet in his socks and broad in proportion, as he closed the cabin door, and stood with his back to it.
Reg had been lounging on his bunk, deep in his own thoughts, when he was disturbed by the abrupt entrance of his fellow-pa.s.senger, and the above good-humoured demand. Reg got up from his bunk, and faced him without speaking.
"You"ve shared my cabin since we left Naples, three days ago. Not a word have you spoken. You have done nothing but mope about, and look as miserable as a boiled owl. I say again, I won"t have it, for you are infecting me with your low spirits," said Winter.
Reg looked at him with curiosity, but still answered nothing, so that Winter began to show signs of annoyance.
"Hang it all! can"t you speak, man? I can box, shoot, fence, fight, or anything you like. I don"t think I am a bad sort of fellow myself, and it"s because I know you are a good sort that I feel so annoyed to see you moping."
"I am much obliged to you for the compliment; still I fancy I can do what I please," said Reg, quietly.
The other showed no signs of resentment, but continued smiling at him as he rattled off the following, "You are in trouble, I know. You have had a severe blow lately. There was a woman in it, and she"s dead. You loved that woman; her name was Amy, and the man who came between you was a certain Wyck. You are an Australian, and have plenty of money. You are seeking revenge, and your instrument of vengeance is in your breast pocket. These are details I have gathered from what I have seen of you, or what I have heard you mutter in your sleep; and knowing this much I am curious to know more."
"You are quite an up-to-date detective, sir," said Reg, frankly.
"Ah! then you acknowledge that I have hit the mark."
"But pray, sir, are there not enough people on board to amuse you without the need of exercising your powers on me. I am in trouble, I acknowledge, but I prefer keeping my troubles to myself," answered Reg, really angry this time.
"I apologise, Morris, if I have been abrupt, but really I did not mean to be so. It is strange that though there are over two hundred pa.s.sengers on board, I have not seen a face I care about but yours, and when I see you fretting away I feel for you, for I have gone through the mill, and know what it is."
"What do you mean?" said Reg, growing interested.
"Let me tell you my history. I was born in Victoria. My father died when I was fifteen, and left me to look after my mother, who was a confirmed invalid. She died twelve months later, and I was left alone. While walking down Collins Street one day I had an adventure which changed the course of my career. A carriage and pair of flash horses were being driven by, the coachman lounging on the box holding the reins carelessly, when a tram-car rounded the corner at a good pace. The horses gave a bound, the sudden shock sent the coachman off his box, and away they galloped. They turned one corner, and then another safely, and I was able by cutting through a cross street to come up with them. Well I was always a handy youngster, and as they dashed by me I made a run for the back of the carriage, caught one of the springs, scrambled on the top of the carriage, and reached the box, only to find the reins hanging round the pole beyond my grasp; but it did not take me long to slip along the pole, pick them up, and get back to the box. I, like most Australians can handle the ribbons, but it took me all my time to pull those horses up in time to avoid a collision. I didn"t think much of the feat, in fact I rather liked the fun of it, but the old gentleman inside, who was the only occupant, chose to think differently, and when the coachman came up in a cab, in which he had been following us, not much hurt, the old gentleman made me get in beside him.
""What"s your name?" he asked.
""Allen Winter," said I.
"Then he asked me my history. I told him that I was an orphan and had to work for my living. Well, to make this long story short, I have never had to work since, for he gave me twelve months at the Scotch College in Melbourne, and during my holidays he died, leaving me the whole of his fortune. He was an old bachelor, and his money was well invested, so I have now an income of a thousand a year. I have been over every inch of Australia; I know the Colonies well, and I have been round the world twice."
"But you have not explained your interest in me," said Reg.
"No, I thought I would keep that to the last," he said, his voice growing sadder. "I never was much of a Society man, for although I have been through a lot, I never feel at home amongst fashionable folk, and Australian Society is rotten--I don"t like it. But I chanced to be thrown into contact with a young girl, with whom I fell madly in love, and whom I endowed, as every man in love does, with all the virtues. I courted her for two years, and she professed to return my devotion. Now, her mother had a great fondness for Society ways and fads, and we were not the best of friends in consequence, but I thought we loved each other too well for that defect in my character to make any difference.
The wedding-day was at last fixed. I had presented her with funds to buy her trousseau, as they were not at all well off, when a young sprig of English n.o.bility visited the Colonies, and became acquainted with them.