"Do you think you will be able to walk a bit?"
"I will try, Tom--and you will help me?"
"That I will. I could carry you, but it would draw attention upon us.
Perhaps we may get a cab. Then there will be no difficulty."
"Tom, I will do everything you tell me."
"Thank you, Miss Phoebe."
They had taken the Croydon road to London Bridge, and in half an hour, when they reached a quiet street, in which no soul but themselves was to be seen, Tom lifted Phoebe from the horse.
"Hold on to me, Miss Phoebe, and turn your face a bit."
She did so. With a branch which he had plucked from the hedge and had used as a whip Tom struck the horse a smart blow. Away it galloped with an empty saddle on its back, and in three moments was lost to his sight.
"Now, Miss Phoebe, if we can only find a cab!"
Angel Fortune was on their side. They had taken scarcely a dozen steps when a four-wheeler turned the corner of the street. The bargain was soon made, and Phoebe and Tom, safely ensconced in the cab, were on their way to Camden Town.
"My dear," said Aunt Leth, shaking her husband, "the street-door bell has rung; and, hark! do you hear the loud knocking? What can have happened?"
He was out of bed in a moment and gliding down the stairs, and Aunt Leth quickly drew on a dressing-gown, and hastened after him.
"Open the door," cried Tom Barley, outside. "It"s all right! There"s nothing to be frightened at."
Uncle Leth threw open the door.
"Aunt Leth! oh, dear Aunt Leth!" murmured Phoebe, and fell sobbing into the good woman"s arms.
"Phoebe! my poor dear Phoebe! Oh! look here! look here! There is blood upon her!"
"I am well and happy now!" sobbed Phoebe. "Oh! so happy! so happy!
Dear aunt, dear uncle, don"t let them take me from you again!"
"They never shall! they never shall! Oh, my poor dear! oh, my poor dear!"
Close, close, to the tender womanly heart, close to the faithful breast--closer, closer, closer!
"Phoebe!" screamed f.a.n.n.y, flying down the stairs. "Oh, Phoebe!
Phoebe! Mother, give her to me! give her to me!"
And here was "Melia Jane, in the most outrageous of costumes, quite scandalous, indeed, running down to the kitchen to light the fire.
"I will tell you all to-morrow," said Tom Barley. "n.o.body must know she is here. Good-night."
"Tom!" murmured Phoebe.
"Yes, Miss Phoebe?"
"Good-night, Tom."
"Good-night, miss."
He took the thin white hand she held out to him. She drew his face to hers and kissed him.
"Thank you, Tom! Oh, thank you!"
The tender light of the coming day shone upon his tear-stained face as he walked home to his humble bed.
CHAPTER XIX.
A VISIT TO DONCASTER AND ITS RESULTS.
The "system" which Jeremiah Pamflett, after infinite patience, had discovered of winning large sums of money upon the turf did not turn out the absolute certainty which his calculations upon paper had foreshadowed. At first all went well; he commenced with small amounts, and a peculiar run of wins in a certain direction favoured him. For three or four weeks his good fortune continued; every day"s results showed a balance on the right, his lowest daily win being 3, his highest 62. At the end of that time he was the richer by 280. So far, so good.
He did not think so; he was mad with himself for winning so little. That was because he had ventured so little. "What an idiot I am!" he groaned, in the solitude of his bedchamber. "What an idiot! what an idiot! Had I multiplied my stakes by fifty I should have won 14,000. Where are my brains? Where is my pluck? Without courage, no one who was not born to riches has ever made a great fortune. And here am I wasting the precious time and letting my opportunities slip! 14,000 in four weeks. Forty racing weeks a year, 140,000. Five years of that, 7,000,000. Oh, Lord!
_seven million pounds!_ Seven millions! I could double it while I was making it. FOURTEEN MILLION POUNDS! What could I do with fourteen millions? What _could_ I do?" he screamed. "What couldn"t I do? I could turn the world topsy-turvy! I could become anything I liked!--a Prince--a King--an Emperor! And all in five years from to-day--with a long life before me to enjoy my money! I"ll do it--I"ll do it--I"ll do it!"
These contemplations turned his head. He resolved to dash in and become a millionaire.
The race-courses upon which his initial trials were made were situated at an easy distance from London--Kempton Park, Sandown, Epsom, Croydon, Ascot, Hampton, Windsor, and other such meetings, from which, when the last race was run, he could reach Miser Farebrother"s office at seven or eight o"clock in the evening.
"I"m going to commence my system in real earnest," said Jeremiah to Captain Ablewhite. "No more shillyshallying."
"Brave boy!" replied Captain Ablewhite admiringly. "Where?"
"Well," questioned Jeremiah, seeking information. "Where?"
"Come with me to Doncaster," said Captain Ablewhite. "Glorious place! No end of swells there, waiting to hand you their money. A fortune ready made for you. We"ll have a rare week. I know to a certainty what"s going to win the Leger. A dark "un."
"Doncaster"s a long way off," said Jeremiah ruminatively.
"All the better. You can manage it: throw over the office for five days.
What is life without beer and skittles? You will come back rolling in money."
Jeremiah did manage it. Miser Farebrother had one of his worst attacks, and there was no likelihood of his being able to leave his room the Doncaster week. Away went Jeremiah on Monday, in the company of Captain Ablewhite and three other swells, to commence the solid foundation of the great fortune in store for him. He had made his preparations for the grand _coup_, and had possessed himself of no less a sum than two thousand pounds in ready cash. How he had obtained this money need not be too curiously inquired into; sufficient to say that it was his master"s, and that forgery was the means by which he had come into possession of it. He had "borrowed" it for a week. When the Doncaster Meeting was over, he would be able to replace it. He had confided to his mother that he was leaving London for a few days, and had instructed her to communicate regularly with him at Doncaster, giving her the address of an inn at which he and Captain Ablewhite intended to stop. She had implored him to confide in her the nature of the business which took him away; but he was obdurate, and he sternly refused to let her into the secret.
"All it is necessary for you to know," he said to her, "is that when you see me next I shall have twenty thousand pounds of my own."
"Don"t run yourself into danger," she begged. "Oh, Jeremiah, be careful!"
"Let me alone for that," he replied. "I know what I"m about."