A Modern Judas

Chapter I

' Late again, Arthur. I have been waiting nearly an hour.' ' An hour by the heirloom, I suppose you mean ? ' ' That is an evasion,' retorted Ida Moore. ' The heir loom is a steady old timekeeper, worthy of all respect.' ' Reverence, if you like, as an antique, but as a mere vulgar timekeeper, I would prefer to pin my faith to a Waterbury.' 1 Oh, you Vandal ! ' returned Ida gaily, laughing up at him. ' Well, I suppose I must forgive you,' she con tinued, making room for him on the log upon which she was seated. ' Thank you so much,' he said laughingly, seating himself by her side, ' but what will you give me for my news ? ' ' News, Arthur ? ' ' Well, what is your offer ? ' he asked. ' Alas ! I am penniless. I have nothing wherewith to purchase your tidings, unless you will accept the heir loom ? ' she rejoined, holding it out with mock gravity. 'I must brighten up my commercial instincts,' he replied, thrusting it away with a scornful gesture, 1 nobody in his senses would lumber up his store-room with such doubtful merchandise, and I'll e'en make a A virtue of necessity, and present you with the news, gratis.

I have been replying to a letter,' he continued, 'and that's what made me late. Far away in the great city,' flourishing his arm for oratorical effect, ' is an office-stool, unoccupied, awaiting the advent of the industrious clerk, who, from small beginnings, is to build up a colossal fortune.' ' Oh, Arthur ! you are going to London, then ? ' ' Yes, lady fair. Listen to the glowing prospect before me. My worthy Uncle Joshua, writes that he has secured me a clerkship in the office of Messrs Hurst & Broad, Solicitors, at the magnificent salary of fifty pounds a year.' ' Only fifty pounds a year ? ' interrupted Ida, ' it is not good enough for you, Arthur ; why did you accept it ? ' ' Well,' he returned, with a suspicion of bitterness in his tone, ' I have no choice, it was this — or a broom and crossing.

I do not know much about my Uncle Joshua, but I know that if I had refused, he would have promptly washed his hands of me, and left me to shift for myself.' Arthur Woodford was the son of a country solicitor. His mother, a woman of singular intelligence and re finement, but physically delicate, had died when Arthur was about twelve years of age. While she lived he lacked nothing in affection and sympathy. All the depth and tenderness of her nature — which her commonplace, though honest and considerate husband failed to draw upon — was lavished upon her child. So devoted was she, and so anxious to shield him from the contaminations of the world, that it seemed inevitable the boy should grow to be somewhat effeminate. His father's influence, and a certain toughness of fibre in the lad saved him from this unenviable fate.

Upon his mother's decease, his matter-of-fact father began to hustle the dreamy youth into activity. What he had accepted in the wife, he detested in the boy, and grew daily more irritated at his unpractical ways. He desired his son to become a solicitor, but Arthur hated the law, as revealed in the pettifogging details of his father's business, and steadily refused. He wanted to go to college. While the matter was still in abeyance, his father died, after a short illness, and at the age of seventeen, the boy was thrown upon his own resources. Only a few pounds remained after his father's liabilities were provided for. At this juncture, Joshua Flint, a relative of his father, wrote offering to find him employment, and he accepted, not knowing what else to do. It was a dull afternoon at the end of April, when Arthur took the letter which informed him of Joshua's success on his behalf, to the pond in the wood, where he sometimes met his only friend, Ida Moore.

In summer it was cool, and at all times secluded, and so they had formed a habit of spending many hours to gether at this spot. For a few minutes they sat in silence then Ida said abruptly. ' When are you going, Arthur ? ' 4 To-morrow ! ' he returned briefly. ' To-morrow ? ' she re-echoed, ' then I shall not see you again ? ' ' Does it grieve you ? ' he queried. ' Of course ! ' she returned, ' do you think I look forward with pleasure to the prospect of being shut up to the society and conversation of Mrs Grabbe ? ' ' You forget your uncle,' he suggested. ' Oh, no,' she returned, ' but he is so much engaged lately, that I have seen very little of him ; as you know, he spends most of his time in London.' ' Yes, I know ! ' he replied, ' it is unkind of him to ne glect you in that way ! ' 1 No, he is not unkind,' she returned quickly, ' but he has been so used to live in town, that he finds it difficult to settle down to a humdrum existence in the country.' 'How does Mrs Lane like the idea of losing her lodger ? ' questioned Ida, after a short pause. 'She has not had much time to get used to him,' replied the youth. ' It is only three weeks, you know, since our home was sold up.

I daresay she will be glad to be rid of me.' ' Why ? I understood she desired to have you ! ' ' Yes, in a sense, but not from any mercenary motive. She was strongly attached to my mother, and it was for her sake she took me in. She seems to think it her duty to take a great interest in me, and already I have had to promise to write her — Hurrah ! ' he broke off, ' that reminds me of something. You know Mrs Lane, don't you, Ida ? ' 'Yes,' she replied, wonderingly, ' Have you ever visited her ? ' ' Oh, yes. She is a member of our church, and I have been there several times for the Rev. Joseph.' ' Splendid ! ' cried Arthur. ' She knows we are friends, and you can call there and hear all about me, when I write to her, or better still, I can enclose a note for you ; that is, if you care to have it.' ' If I care ?

Why, you know there is nothing I should like better,' she replied enthusiastically. ' I shall expect you to reply,' he said, smiling at her evident satisfaction. ' I will be sure to do that, though I don't know what I shall find to say ; nothing ever seems to happen down this part of the world. You won't mind if I have to fall back upon Mrs Grabbe for a subject, will you ? ' she asked, jestingly. ' I dare not dictate the nature of your correspondence ' he returned, laughing, ' but I promise to like it, whatever it is.' ' I'll try to be lively,' she replied, laughing in return ' but if I don't succeed, you won't be hard on me, will you ? ' They rose and loitered through the wood until the fading light warned them it was time to part. ' Good-bye, Ida ! ' said Arthur, with a lingering clasp of the hand. ' Good-bye ! ' she returned, lifting her face to his.

Although they had been friends for years, he had never yet kissed her. From the first their friendship had been unconstrained, a simple camaraderie, and now, as he stooped and touched her cheek with his lips, it was with the calm affection of a brother. She stood and watched him as he struck down a path in the direction of the high road, and the tears rose to her eyes as he turned at the bend and waved her a last farewell.

Chapter II

Late on Saturday, the first of May, Arthur Woodford arrived, with his scanty belongings, all contained in one small box, at No. i Denbigh Villas, Norwood, the house of his Uncle Joshua. It was a rather large, semi-detached house, with more garden than is usually allotted to suburban residences. It was characteristic of the thrifty and utilitarian Joshua, that this garden, back and front, should be exclusively devoted to the cultivation of vegetables, which he alternately coaxed and bullied with a view to their becoming abnormally prolific. This economic eccentricity was a source of great annoyance to the Misses Verschoyle who conducted a select seminary for young ladies in the adjoining house. ' So plebeian,' said the elder Miss Verschoyle, her habitu ally acidulated expression condensed into pure vinegar by this outrage on the proprieties of life. 'Just like a workman's cottage.

I am sure I was quite alarmed when Mr Montmorency walked to the window and looked out. I was afraid it would prove a serious prejudice in his mind against our establishment, and I am sure I could not blame him, for it is unequivocally low to look from a drawing-room window upon the growth of vulgar cabbages.' They had indeed gone the length of remonstrating in a polite little pink scented note ; which had no effect save to appeal to the grim humour of Joshua, who chuckled, and forthwith proceeded to the only un occupied corner, and sowed a thick crop of onions ! It was up the path, with cabbages on one side, and potatoes on the other, that Arthur Woodford pro ceeded in the soft twilight of the bright, warm May day. He rang the bell, and was forthwith ushered into the presence of the family, assembled for supper, to all of whom he was a complete stranger.

His reception, without being cold, was sufficiently chilly and in different to give him the feeling of an interloper. The family consisted of Joshua, his wife, and four children, two boys and two girls, their ages ranging from Harry, nineteen, to Josephine, just turned twelve. Joshua, a tall, spare man, with bushy hair, a thick, coarse moustache, keen grey eyes and sunken cheeks, gave a snort of welcome, and proceeded, ' So here you are then. Don't look much like a country lad ; no colour ; not half the boy I was at your age. You're not mopish, are you ? because that won't do, ye know.' Arthur flushed, but replied that he hoped not. Mrs Flint, a podgy woman of florid complexion, who spoke with a strong accent, and breathed hard between every few words, said in a tone of reproof, ' So you coom in a keb.

That's very extravagant ! ' ' Hey ! what's that, what's that ? ' said Joshua, pricking up his ears, ' Had a cab, did you ? ' ' yes, sir. I was obliged to, for that box.' 1 Oh, nonsense ! nonsense ! you'll never make your fortune like that. You ought to have carried it ; a shilling wasted.' Arthur did not think it necessary to inform his uncle that he had paid the man eighteenpence, which was well if he desired to win Joshua's respect; such reckless ness would have stamped him in the eyes of his uncle as a born fool. On the table was a plain but abundant meal, with a profusion of viands, for the eccentric Joshua, whose character absurdly contradicted itself in details, always kept a liberal table. The meal was enlivened by a flow of anecdote from Joshua; reminiscences of his busi ness career.

Many of them redounded to the credit of the narrator ; at least, from his point of view. Arthur was considerably astonished to hear his uncle exulting over his own smartness, which consisted for the most part of acts of deceit and falsehood, practised upon the gullible. Of these Joshua was genuinely proud. For some time Arthur listened with a growing sense of uneasiness ; he had been trained to reverence truth. It was therefore very confusing to his inexperience to discover that the essential qualities of a successful business man were not honour and probity in his dealings, but a certain smartness, ever on the alert to overreach the un wary when an opportunity presented itself. He gathered from his uncle's conversation that it was highly meri torious to call black — white, and cotton — wool, so long as you were not found out ; to be discovered was the crime.

Arthur could not listen to this jostling of his ideals without a protest. He interrupted one anecdote by saying, ' But the customer bought the goods under the impression that they were ofthe best quality.' ' Yes, silly creature ; didn't know what stuff was.' ' But she had your word for it, I suppose ? ' queried Arthur, with surprise. ' The more fool she.' ' But surely, uncle, it is not right to take advantage of a woman's ignorance, is it ? ' ' Yes, yes, business is business ; what do you think we spend all the years learning the trade for ? The woman has no business to buy stuff if she can't value it. Where did you get your notions from, young shaver ? Is that what your father taught you ? ' Arthur blushed, but answered, ' My father taught me never to lie, in business, or out of it.' This provoked the merriment of the Flints, who had a hearty laugh at the young greenhorn's expense.

Immediately after supper, Arthur retired. His bedroom, a small apartment barely furnished, was situated near the top of the house. One of the characteristics of Joshua Flint's house was the Spartan simplicity of the bedrooms. On a bare floor, two cane-bottomed chairs, a chest of drawers, a washing-stand, and a small iron bedstead, completed the arrangements, except in his own room, and that occupied by his daughters, in each of which a small strip of carpet lay by the bedside. In case this thrifty man should be deemed extravagant, let it be known that they were patterns which had cost him nothing but the trouble of carrying home. To any but the most fastidious, the snowy sheets and spotless aspect of the room was ample compensation for the lack of adornment. No sleep could have been sounder or sweeter than that enjoyed by the tired youth.

On Sunday at No. i Denbigh Villas, breakfast was at nine o'clock. Arthur was up long before the others were stirring, and spent the time among the cabbages. It was a brilliant morning, full of the promise of summer ; to the average youth simple existence would have been a joy. Though not insensible to the beauty of the morning, Arthur was engrossed in a consideration of his position. In his self-consciousness, he re coiled from further intercourse with his matter-of fact relations, not one of whom had impressed him favourably. He was aroused from his rather melancholy reflections by the announcement that break fast was ready. When he entered the breakfast-room, Joshua sat at the head of the table in his Sunday garments, a badly-fitting suit of pepper and salt. The two sons were similarly attired.

The entrance of Arthur in a well-cut mourning suit provoked his uncle to various comments on the subject of dress. He boasted of the economical way in which he attired himself and his sons. ' Hey, boy ! ' he said, ' no wonder your father left you no money, if he dressed you out like that. D'ye see that suit John's got on? Well, I wore that suit tsvo years before he had it. It was cut down for him, and looks as good as new.' Judging by John's face at this remark, whatever pleasurable anticipations he might have cherished of stepping into his thrifty father's shoes, he evidently had little relish for the economical system which compelled him to don his much-worn garments. Starting from this point, Joshua plied Arthur with numberless questions, concerning himself and his father. There was very little reticence about Joshua, and the somewhat guarded replies of his nephew, and his evident distaste for this inquisition, aroused in him a feeling of irritation. ' Don't be proud, boy,' he said sharply, ' you'll soon have that nonsense knocked out of you in the office.' Then he lapsed into taciturn resentment, and Arthur was left to himself for a few minutes.

Presently one of the boys asked his father if he were going to chapel, and Arthur learned, to his surprise, that his uncle was a prominent man at a large congregational chapel in the neighbourhood. After breakfast, they sauntered out among the cab bages, and Joshua found them little jobs of watering, weeding, etc., until it was time to go to chapel. They set forth, and ultimately found their way into Joshua's family pew ; rented on his usual business-like method ot reduction for a quantity. Arthur heard little of the sermon. His mind wandered, first to what awaited him on the morrow, and presently to his lost home and his only friend, Ida Moore. He was somewhat astonished and amused toward the end of the service by the deferential and insinuating way in which one of the deacons desired his uncle to carry round the collection-plate, nor was this amusement lessened when Joshua stalked up the aisle with a manifest desire to put dignity into his stride, the effect of which was somewhat marred by a piece of string hanging from his coat-pocket in the form of a temporary tail.

As they streamed out at the conclusion of the service, the Flints were greeted by numerous friends ; Joshua being the recipient of hearty hand-shakes from several individuals of cut and dried aspect, who looked inquiringly at the pale boy in mourning ; and were severally intro duced by Joshua, who was not altogether without a sense of pride in his nephew's distinguished appearance. These, Arthur found, were city men ; and they exhibited a certain supercilious jauntiness — common to the little great men of the city — towards a young cadet. Arthur, who added to his youthful self-consciousness rather more than the average of youthful vanity, smarted under this tone, and resented it, showing his resentment by a curt ness bordering on incivility. After they had taken leave of these people, Arthur received a severe lecture from his uncle on his abruptness and want of deference. 'You will never do any good in the city, if you are not more humble ; those men all hold good positions, and are not used to being talked to in that manner by a boy like you.

You'll have to mend your manners, or you won't do for Hurst and Broad. Ay ! they'll soon knock it out of you ! You are going into a good shop for discipline, and will have to mind your P's and Q's, my boy ! ' and more in this strain, until Arthur was roused to a frenzy of mortification. After dinner, Joshua, who seemed to have forgotten his annoyance at the incident of the morning, invited Arthur to walk with him to the Cemetery, two or three miles distant, where one of his children was buried. On the way to get his hat, he was overtaken by John, who, with his brother and sisters, had been ordered out on ' Cemetery parade.' ' You're in for it, then,' he said to Arthur, as he caught him up, ' what he wants to go to that Cemetery for I can't think ; every Sunday through the summer when it's fine, we are marched off there.

It isn't affection for the dead, for there is only a three months' old baby buried there, and father hates babies. I suppose it is to look at the family grave because he bought it cheap. I've got a spiffen book upstairs,' he went on, ' I wanted to read that. Ugh ! it is unnatural to take us there, when we have to go there for good, some day ; we'll have quite enough of it then.' They started. The younger members of the family, whose taste for the society of Joshua was not pronounced, endeavoured to march ahead, but were promptly called back. ' Don't go so fast ; plenty of time, plenty of time.' They, not daring to disobey, halted until he caught them up, when the party proceeded in a group. Arthur was rather surprised by this manœuvre, but the explanation was soon forthcoming. They had walked some two or three hundred yards, when the keen eyes of Joshua lighted upon a small piece of wire netting. ' Stop ! ' he shouted, and the boys, knowing what was wanted, stopped and looked at him with no amiable ex pression. ' Here, John ! just pick that up ! ' ' Why, father, it is no good,' said John shortly. ' Do as I tell you, do as I tell you ; we can mend the fowl house with that.' Then, as John lifted it gingerly, ' Don't be afraid of it, boy ; it won't bite you.' ' It's so filthy dirty,' said John, as savagely as he dared. ' Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, it's only a little clean dirt,' said Joshua : and the procession moved on.

A little further along the road, the second halt was called ; and Harry, to his huge disgust, was requested to pick up a small piece of wood, which Joshua remarked would come in handy, somehow. Harry forthwith drew from his pocket a sheet of brown paper, which the knowledge of his father's propensities suggested to him as a defensive measure, and made a neat little parcel. After carefully tying it with string, he proceeded to carry it defiantly, in the face of the scornful remarks of his parent. Every few yards a halt was made to annex some trifle. It happened to be an afternoon prolific in ' finds.' The culminating point was reached a few yards from the cemetery gates. There lay a ram's horn. Joshua, with an exultant ring in his voice, commanded a halt ; and stirring the object with his foot, desired John, whose pockets already bulged with an ingathering of spilled coal, to add the horn to the trophies that he already bore.

But here rebellion broke out. The horn was distinctly malodourous ; and the delicate olfactory nerves of the Flint family revolted. Joshua looked round the rebellious group, saying, ' Don't be foolish. It's only a little strong ! It won't hurt you ! and it will come in very handy some way. Now then, pick it up, pick it up, and don't let us have any nonsense.' ' Oh ! father, it's simply awful,' they said in one breath, edging away. But nothing could divert Joshua from his purpose. ' Now, Harry,' he said, with a malicious twinkle in his eye, ' you had the sense to come provided with brown paper, and your forethought shall be rewarded ; you may carry it home.' Harry was aware of the unpleasant sensation of having fallen into a pit of his own digging. He was cute enough to perceive that his father had scored, and he must make the best of it.

Untying the parcel, he approached, clasping his nose with an ex aggerated energy. Placing the paper on the ground he kicked the unsavoury object into the centre of it. He then, with the aid of John, who also clasped his nose the while, succeeded in enwrapping the ' bone of contention.' It now remained to secure the parcel with string, which was not accomplished without the aid of the two girls, who positively refused to approach the parcel unless per mitted to take the same protective measures. As this left only one hand free for each, it was some time before the String was properly secured. At length it was satisfactorily fastened and they entered the cemetery. The attendant stood at the lodge door as they passed, and lavished a knowing smile upon the familiar party, saying, ' Good a'ternoon, sir ; so you brought another young gent to meditate among the tombs ; it is a healthy exercise.

It do me a powerful more good than all the church-going.' Joshua who had an aversion from pious conversation, merely snorted, and passed on. The family grave was situated in the North-West corner of the cemetery. After Joshua had spent ten minutes silently contemplating the stone, he arose and commenced the homeward journey. Arthur, who followed some few paces in the rear, could not forbear questioning the younger girl, who happened to be walking beside him, concerning this queer proceeding. ' Why does your father come here on Sunday afternoons ? ' ' Oh ! I don't know,' she said ; ' John says it is because he bought it cheap and likes to look at his bargain ; and Harry thinks he does it to aggravate us, because we detest coming.' 'And what do you think,' said Arthur, seeing she paused. ' I think it is just horrid,' she said with a laugh.

They took the other side of the road on the way home, adding two or three trifles to their collection ; and arrived at Denbigh Villas with a considerable quantity of spoils, scandalising their neighbours at the ' Young Ladies Seminary,' to the verge of distraction. The treasures were deposited in a shed at the rear of the house, among a large quantity of miscellaneous articles, the result of previous expeditions.

Chapter III

When Arthur awoke on Monday morning, the consciousness that he was to make a new start in life, crowded upon him a host of hopes and fears. To the home-bred lad, delicately nurtured, there was something appalling in the experience to come. But the sense of a wider life was not without its inspiration, and his condition alternated between a shrinking dread of the struggle before him, and a buoyant belief in his ultimate success. After breakfast, his uncle, who looked like an old-clo' man in a suit that was green with age, hurried him off to catch the 8.30 train. As they walked across London Bridge into the city, Arthur, who was new to London, was uplifted with an exhilarating sense of the life and bustle of the streets. Not yet old enough to get more than a surface impression of things, unless brought into intimate personal contact with them, he failed to gather the significance of care-lined faces and toil-worn forms.

Life was what he saw ; strong, sweeping, vigorous life. His first view of this mighty aggregation of human beings was too bewildering to allow of discrimina tion. At the corner of Moorgate Street, they were hailed by a breezy young man, who was smoking a cigar. ' Hullo ! ' cried he jauntily, ' is this the new limb of the law ? ' ' Yes,' responded Joshua, ' rather a stiff limb ; wants a little oiling I think ; just take him in hand, Chester.' ' I'll take him by the hand, if he'll permit me,' returned Chester, looking quizzically, but not unkindly at Joshua's nephew. ' This is Mr Chester,' remarked Joshua, in explanation, ' who has been kind enough to recommend you to his employers ; mind you do credit to his recommendation.' Chester laughed gaily. ' Oh ! that's all right,' he re marked. ' Well !

I'll leave him with you ; but I'm afraid he's too honest for a lawyer.' ' Or a draper ; ' shouted Chester, as Joshua departed to the ' Beehive Drapery Stores,' a snug little business on the outskirts of the city, which under his skilful management, yielded a handsome income. ' Come along,' said Chester, when Joshua had retreated, ' and I will introduce you to Hurst and Broad.' 'I have to thank you,' said Arthur, 'for interesting yourself on my behalf.' 'O! I hadn't much to do with that,' explained Chester, ' Hurst and Broad are your uncle's solicitors ; at least, they do odd jobs for him occasionally. Save your thanks until you've tried it.' After threading a number of narrow streets, Chester led his companion up a court, and into the dingy offices of Messrs Hurst and Broad. ' Gentlemen,' said he, as he opened the door, and motioned Arthur to pass in, ' allow me to introduce you to Mr Woodford, the future Solicitor-general of this great empire.' Some half-dozen clerks who were assembled, but had not yet settled down to work, greeted this effusion with a laugh. ' Shame, poet,' said one, ' spare the embryo's blushes ; never mind him,' he continued, turning to Arthur ' it's only the poet, and everybody knows he's ' — and he tapped his head significantly. ' There's a method in my madness, Does it not cause care and sadness Far to fly ? ' spouted Chester, whose eccentric rhyming propensities had earned him the sobriquet of ' poet.' At this juncture, Mr Grubber, the managing clerk, entered, to whom Arthur was introduced and the work of the day proceeded.

It fell to Chester to supervise the work of the new-comer; and under his genial guidance, Arthur was initiated into the mysteries of a London lawyer's office. There was nothing of the petty martinet about Chester ; careless and good-humoured, he treated his subordinate with unaffected friendliness. Several times during the morning, the poet, vain of his verses, passed little slips of paper covered with rhymed effusions, across the desk ; skits on his fellow-clerks. When Mr Hurst came into the office from his private room, and shouted, ' Gunn, have you got that report of Baggalay's ? ' one of the clerks with a ' Yes, sir,' snatched something from his desk, and hurried into the great man's room. A minute later Chester thrust a paper across the desk and Arthur read, ' Did you see that lanky rascal run ?