A Crown of Gold

Front matter

A CROWN OF GOLD Frontispiece THE WRECK AT PRADTHISTLE A CROWN OF GOLD BY ALBERT HARDY WITH A FRONTISPIECE BY THE AUTHOR Xonfcon DIGBY, LONG & CO., PUBLISHERS 1 8 Bouverie Street, Fleet Street, E.C. ALL rights reserved CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE I. A STORM I II. THREE DAYS AFTER . . . -13 III. KYNANCE COVE 1 8 IV. DOXTED PARK 26 V. A LIE . . . . . . -39 VI. THE LAST LESSON 5 1 VII. NEARLY A TRAGEDY . . . . 56 VIII. SUPPOSE IT IS ALL A LIE . . -65 IX. AN UNEXPECTED MEETING . . -74 X. ON THE FOLGEFOND 82 XI. A QUARREL 89 XII. A SEPARATION IOI XIII. A PEEP AT THE EAST END . . .Ill XIV. A CONSPIRACY 1 24 XV. AN IMPORTANT ENGAGEMENT . . -131 XVI. A FIRST APPEARANCE . . . . 1 45 XVII. A CATASTROPHE 156 XVIII. FROM CRIME TO CRIME . . - -173 XIX. SOME SHADOWS FALL . . . . l8l XX. A LEGACY l86 XXI. ANOTHER ANARCHISTS' MEETING . -195 VI CONTENTS XXII.

AN ABDUCTION 199 XXIII. IN PURSUIT 205 XXIV. A SURPRISE 220 XXV. A TRAGEDY 232 XXVI. IN ITALY 239 XXVII. THE CAPTURE 248 XXVIII. THE CLOUDS DISPERSE . . . • 2S5 XXLX. SUNSHINE 261 XXX. THE RETURN TO LONDON . . . . 270 xxxi. millie's new home . . . .277 xxxii. the picnic 283 XXXIII. THE ANARCHISTS IN TROUBLE . . . 295 XXXIV. A WEDDING

Chapter I

A STORM An awful night on the Cornish coast : a cruel, dark night, with a mighty wind rushing up Channel from the south-west. Oh, the mighty power of the restless sea, as it poured with frightful force on those granite rocks, which have stood there for many thousands of years, and will continue to stand, until the word ' Finis ' is written against this troublesome world. A crowd of men and women had collected on the cliff at the fishing village of Pradthistle. Among them stood a stranger, a young man who had come down from London for the purpose of sketching. Hollington Harding, for such was this young man's name, stood straining his eyes and ears, as he looked out on the wild waste of waters — a seething grey mass of indescribable confusion, a hoarse roar of tumultuous waters, and then a huge crash against a hard, relentless rock, and the spray flew upwards hundreds of feet in the air. ' Look ! look ! a signal of distress,' shouted some of the men, as loud as their lungs would allow them, but the waves were louder.

A ' What is she ? Can you make her out ? ' ' Yes, yes, a big steamer of three or four thousand tons. Good heavens ! she's close in. God help her now ; she's lost ! Look at that wave ! It's clearing her from prow to stern ! ' Some of the men rushed back to the village for the purpose of finding a horse. ' A horse ! Get a horse to Trenovas, only a mile. Do you hear ? Bring the rocket apparatus. We may save some of them yet ! ' Hollington stood for two or three minutes as if spell bound by the grand and awful sight : it was the first time in his life he had seen a huge vessel tossed about like a cork in a seething sea. He struggled hard to free himself from the horror that was creeping over him ; he violently shook himself to throw off the dreadful numbness. ' Act, man, act ! ' he shouted to himself, ' don't be a nerveless fool ; what is the use of standing still and looking ? ' At last he roused himself out of his lethargy, — ' I'll give a pound to the man who'll bring me a horse ! ' he cried, with all his lung power.

In a few minutes two horses were obtained : a stalwart Cornishman jumped on the back of one of them, and Hollington a second later was on the other, and then there took place such a race between the two, as had not occurred in those parts for many years. The young artist stuck his knees hard and fast against the frightened animal, and galloped off over the cliffs, in the direction of Trenovas. A neck and neck race : but Holl had often ridden a bare backed pony in his boyhood, and now, in his highly nervous state, he strained all the powers he possessed to get ahead, which he soon succeeded in doing, being by far the lighter man of the two. A short space of time sufficed to reach the village, and then there A STORM arose, in the dark night air, loud shoutings for the rocket apparatus. The coastguardsman was soon found, and in two or three minutes one of the horses was attached to the machine, and off they started at breakneck speed to return.

Oh ! the shouting and hurrahing by the men, and the screaming and crying of the women, when they came iin sight of Pradthistle ! Not a moment was lost. The apparatus was brought into position, charged, and most carefully sighted for the wreck. A bang, a blaze, a shout ! and away sped the rocket on its errand of mercy, through the dark, dark night, followed by the cord. ' Hurrah ! right over her ! It has caught ! Steady ! my men, one moment ! Have they got it ? Yes ! now for it ! ' The rope was carefully adjusted to the cord, and it immediately began to be pulled towards the wreck, another shout from the men, and more and more rope was paid out. ' Steady, don't pay out too fast,' shouted the man in charge. ' They have it right enough — the other line now, mates : now let the basket go ! ' It soon arrived at the ill-fated steamer, which was lying at an angle of 45 degrees among the rocks, with her prow raised high in the air, over which dashed at short intervals the mighty, relentless waves, which made the poor doomed vessel quiver through out the whole length of her gigantic structure.

Truly an appalling sight, to watch man's cunning workmanship being gradually, but surely, battered out of all shape and form. As the all-powerful waves swept the deck, the crew and passengers climbed various parts of the rigging, endeavouring to get out of reach of the cruel, cold sea. In an incredibly short space of time the foremast broke off about three feet from the deck, and went plunging over the side of the steamer into the seething mass of water below, carrying with it about twenty passengers. The dark angry-looking clouds were occasionally outlined by the bright light of a full moon, but only for two or three seconds at a time, then a thick veil of mist and darkness enveloped all ! While the men on shore were straining their eyes, endeavouring to observe the movement of the basket, a sailor among the rigging showed a ' flare,' when a human form, evidently that of a female, could just be discerned through the spray and mist, being placed in the basket, and the men on shore commenced to haul in the rope. ' One moment, mates ; there is something wrong !

Too fast, too fast ! ' cried the coastguardsman, in a hoarse voice. ' Great heavens ! the lines are en tangled : easy mates, it's tilting ! Hold ! ' he shouted with all his might : and the mighty men were as children in his hands ! A most awful scream was heard, even above the roar of the sea : the basket was seen to sway to right and left, and a black form to fall from it into the seething foam. A dead silence, for a second, among the crowd, and then a strong movement towards the sea. Shouts and screams arose. ' Give me a rope,' cried out Hollington, in great mental anguish ; ' fasten it around me ! ' ' No, no ; it is certain death ! ' screamed the women : ' You shall not go, it is suicide.' ' Give me a rope, I tell you ; I will go,' and in his frenzy he commenced to fasten a rope around his waist, that some man had offered him: and he rushed down to the sea. ' The Lord have mercy upon him ! ' cried the women, and some of them went down on their knees and prayed.

The young man, with a line around him, plunged A STORM 5 into the mad wild sea, to be thrown back by a huge wave immediately. Once more he plunged in, and was instantly lost to view. ' He is gone, he's lost, he's mad ! Heaven take his brave soul ! ' cried the women. The men stared out to sea, in sullen despair. Two minutes passed. ' Haul away boys 1 I think I see him,' cried a man. 'Yes, he has hold of some thing dark ! Haul away, boys, haul away ! ' They pulled at the rope with all the energy left them : soon among the foam on shore, was seen a tangled dark mass. ' He has hold of her ! ' and there was a mighty rush of people down to the margin of the sea. Poor Holl was one mass of bruised and bloody flesh : but in his hands, as if in the stiff and silent grip of death, he clutched a human form, dark and dank.

They hauled the rope right in ; a dozen willing hands seized Hollington and his burden, and dragged them out of the cruel foam on to the narrow beach. At that moment, and for a moment only, the moon shone out between two huge, angry-looking clouds, and partially illumined the awful scene. Holl and his burden lay motionless on the beach. ' Are they dead ? Bring some brandy, run and get some brandy ; we may save them yet ! ' shouted the crowd, in noisy confusion. One man cooler than the rest, rushed off to a tavern, and quickly returned with a large flask of brandy. While they were administering the coloured alcohol to the half-drowned couple, most of the men returned to the rocket apparatus, and proceeded to get the basket back again to the wreck. They were soon successful, and could dimly discern some human being getting into it.

Quickly, though cautiously, they hauled it in, and were mightily pleased to see a man in it, as it rose up to the cliffs. A rush was made for the basket, and willing hands helped the poor exhausted human creature out, who immediately fainted into one of the strong seamen's arms. Back went the line and the basket, and another man was safely landed. This was repeated until thirty people were saved from the wreck. ' How many left ? ' cried the coastguardsman. ' About a hundred i ' was the answer. The basket was sent back once more, but one huge, mighty wave rose up, the vessel heeled over, and then suddenly disappeared. 1 She's gone, Heaven have mercy upon them ! ' the people cried, and all was over. The steamer had slipped off the rocks and sank into deep water, with the hundred human beings with her, not one of whom ever saw the light of day again.

To return to the bruised and battered young man on the beach ; after a goodly quantity of brandy was poured down his throat, he and his companion, whom he had rescued from death, a young lady apparently about nineteen years of age, were carried up the cliff to ' The Jolly Sailors,' where a glorious fire was burn ing in the grate of the bar parlour. The doctor of the village was speedily summoned, and arrived in the person of a tall, thin, elderly man, with a head like a magnified billiard ball. He quickly and silently examined his patients, but shook his head as he bent over the senseless body of poor Hollington. ' How be he, sir ? ' asked the kind fat landlady of the inn, at the same time taking up the corner of her apron and wiping the young artist's mouth. ' He is bad — very bad — he may recover, but I cannot say positively.

Warm a bed and put him into it at once, and mind you keep him quiet — that is A STORM his only chance. As for the girl she is terribly bruised, but that is all, nothing to fear in her case. See, she is opening her eyes.' At that moment, the girl slowly opened her eyes, and looked around the small snug parlour, but evi dently could make nothing of it. 'My father, oh, tell me where is my father,' she cried, trying to lift herself up slowly. 'Don't try to move, my darling; pray keep still; your father is all right. A gentleman with some grey hair, wearing a heavy watch-chain, with two seals attached, and a small compass : is that he ? ' 'Yes, yes; oh, thank heaven, he is saved, my poor dear father ! ' and she sank back into the arms of Mrs Pescoed, the landlady. Holl, and the girl, were soon carried upstairs; one put into a snug clean bedroom in front of the house, and the other, into an equally clean room at the back of the premises.

The following morning, the sun rose clear and bright in the heavens, as if nothing had happened particularly in the night. The sea was heaving with big waves, 'tis true, but oh, how differently it looked now ! bright and smiling, as if it could never do harm to any living thing ! The sea is like a deceitful woman : can kill and smile afterwards ! The same crowd of people assembled on the beach in the morning to look after the wreckage — and the poor lifeless bodies, about twenty of which were washed ashore. The dead were respectfully and reverently buried in the small and quiet God's acre at the top of the hill. Dr Pickford came early to ' The Jolly Sailors ' to see his patients. Hollington lay perfectly quiet, his breath ing being scarcely perceptible. The doctor, after washing the patient's face, lifted the eyelids and examined the eyes. ' Well, doctor, how now ? ' asked Mrs Pescoed, putting the bedclothes in order. 'He is in a serious condition; keep him quiet, there is little else to be done just at present.

Can I see the young lady ? ' 'Yes, sir; step this way,' and the landlady led him into the best bedroom, in front of the house, into which the sun was now brightly shining. ' Well, my dear, you are better now ? ' he said quietly, at the same time feeling her pulse. ' Yes, yes, you will soon mend; only a question of time, my dear, only a question of time.' ' Who saved me ? ' asked the girl, slowly raising her self up in bed. ' Do tell me; I will be quiet, do please tell me. See ! I am really much better, I can move about.' ' But don't move about,' cried the doctor, ' or I will not tell you, and please keep quiet, if you wish to recover quickly.' ' Yes, yes, I want to get well for my father's sake. I am his only child; what would he do if he were to lose me? ' ' Ah ! what indeed ? ' said the doctor. ' If you promise to keep quite still I will tell who it was that saved you.

It was a young man from London named Hollington Harding.' ' A gentleman ? ' ' Yes, a gentleman,' replied the doctor, smiling at the question. ' Perhaps you want to know if he is nice looking, and the colour of his hair and eyes, but I shall not tell you. When he recovers, which will certainly not be yet awhile, you must go and thank him.' ' Of course I will. Oh how brave of him to jump A STORM 9 into the horrid sea just for the sake of saving poor me ! Is he nice looking ? ' 'Oh, dear no, ugly as sin,' replied the doctor, laughingly. 'I don't believe it, sin and bravery never go to gether. Sin is a coward and suffers too much to be brave.' ' Well said, my darling, come, you are getting better. Now for a good breakfast, you must eat up all there is in the house.' ' Faith, she wouldn't have much trouble to do that,' replied Mrs Pescoed, 'for I am rather short of pro visions.

I must go and send out for more,' and away she toddled, as fast as her short fat legs would allow her. After the father had been carefully examined, and pronounced doing extremely well, the doctor took his leave. The landlady ordered in enough provisions for a reg iment of soldiers, and then returned to the girl's room, and took a chair by the side of the bed. ' And what is your name, my darling ? ' she asked. ' Agneta Charlton,' was the reply, ' but they always call me " Neta ". ' ' A nice name, my dear, what could be neater.' ' Don't make jokes, because I am too sore to laugh ! Please Mrs What's-your-name, is it really true the young man is so ugly ? I don't believe it.' ' No, my darling, 'tis only the doctor's fun ; he wanted to rouse you.' ' There ! I knew it was not true; may I try to get up, I am quite sure I can ? ' ' Do you really think you could ? ' ' Yes, see, I can raise myself,' said the girl, slowly sitting up in bed : ' I want to see my father.' ' And not the young man ? ' queried the landlady. ' Oh, of course, afterwards.' ' Well, don't go making a fool of yourself, as so many girl's have done, and fall in love with him.' ' Not I : you do not know me : I have never seen any gentleman yet I cared to love,' replied Miss Charlton. ' All the more danger, my dear.

However, I don't suppose you will ever see him again after you leave here ; he is not in your position, I imagine. I should say you are rich people, living in a fine house, and all that sort of thing ; and he, poor wretch, is only an artist, who dabs colours on canvasses, and very often spoils them.' ' An artist ! ' exclaimed the girl. ' Yes, an artist, a man who paints pictures, and can't sell them.' ' Do you think he is so very poor ? ' ' Oh no, for his mother died about ten months ago, and left him a few hundreds : at least he told me so.' ' Ah, I am glad he is not so poor, it is so dreadful for a clever man to be poor. A genius feels so much more acutely than a foolish man. I suppose you never heard of Tennyson, who says: " Like a beast with lower passions, like a beast with lower pains." ' Yes, indeed, I have heard of Tennyson, and have spoken to him, as he stayed one night in this very house ; he loved Cornwall,' replied Mrs Pescoed. ' Of course, I forgot for the moment I was in Corn wall.

Now, if you will kindly leave me for a time, I think I will get up and try if I can dress ; if I cannot, I will ring for you.' And the good-tempered landlady at once departed. The jolly landlord was busy cleaning the small bar when Miss Neta Charlton appeared suddenly before him in full attire, which glorious sight nearly took his breath away. A STORM 11 ' My stars and a-hem, what a change ! ' he ex claimed, opening his eyes to their fullest extent ; ' who would have thought, last night, you were such a beauty ! ' ' You are very complimentary, sir ! ' ' I meant to be, miss. Excuse my bluntness, I am only country born : but bless me if I thought you were such a beautiful creature ! ' ' I don't like flattery, it is not sincere,' replied Neta, tossing her head, as much as the pains and soreness of her body would allow. ' Pray come into the parlour, miss, and enjoy a hearty breakfast, you'll find my old woman in there.

This way, please,' and he politely opened the door for her. ' Oh ! you are an angel, come down on our coast, miss ! ' exclaimed Mrs Pescoed, when she saw the young lady enter the room. ' You and your husband are both very flattering : one says I'm a beauty, the other an angel.' ' So you are, miss, you're both. And now to breakfast, here's ham, and there's eggs, with plenty of fresh bread and butter. Your father is coming down in a minute.' ' Oh, I am so glad, my poor, dear, darling father : and the young man — Mr Harding ? ' ' No, dear, I fear it will be some days before he can be moved : he has only opened his eyes once, and then only for a minute or two. He appears to have some ugly wounds on his head. I hope they will not prevent him from painting any more pictures, as he is such a kind, thoughtful young man.

He never grumbles at any of the food I give him, although I imagine it is not quite up to what he has been used to in that big London up yonder. I suppose he makes a living somehow, but how the artists manage to exist, painting all that niggling sort of stuff I can't imagine ! I suppose they call it work, all that smoking and dabbing colours about ; but they should try some of mine ! Scrubbing these hard floors, which the sailor folk make so dirty ; and scouring all them pots and pans from morning to night, that's what I call work. ' But,' said the landlady, wiping her red round face with her apron, as if her burst of oratory had made her uncomfortably warm, 'I hope as how the young man will soon recover.' ' I am truly sorry for him : do all you can for him, Mrs Pescoed, there's a dear ; spare no expense, I have plenty of money : my mother left me ever so many thousands.' ' Thousands, my dear ? ' ' Yes, thousands ; I don't know how many, but my father knows.

He will pay you well for all your trouble and kindness.' ' Don't talk about that now,' replied the good old landlady, passing the eatables to Neta ; ' plenty of time to talk about that, my darling, when you all get quite well again. Why, to have such an angel in the house repays one well enough : we are not such poor folks, as you may imagine, me and my old man, thank goodness ! Good morning, sir,' she exclaimed, rising from her chair, as Mr Charlton entered the room. ' My father, my dear father ! Thank heaven you were saved ! ' and his daughter rushed into his out stretched arms, and then sobbed, and cried, as he folded her to him. The landlady discreetly left the room.

Chapter II Three Days After

' How is the young man this morning ? ' asked Mr Charlton, rising from the breakfast table, at the same time taking two cigars from a massive silver case and offering one to the doctor. ' Thank you : I am pleased to say Mr Harding is decidedly better; he has been perfectly conscious all the morning, and that is more than I anticipated yesterday. You will readily see, by his serious wounds, he was dreadfully battered about. It was truly a noble deed nobly done, and I hope we have many more young men like him in this England of ours. It will, of a surety, take him some considerable time to recover his former strength; you may trust us to do all we possibly can for him while he remains down here. Do you propose making a long stay in Cornwall ? ' ' No, I shall be compelled to ileave here for London to - morrow morning, on most important business, which I cannot leave to others,' said Mr Charlton, striking a match and lighting his cigar,' 'I should much like to see the young man, at once, if I may do so.' A GROWN OF GOLD 14 ' Only for two or three minutes,' replied the doctor, ' I do not know whether his head will be able to stand an interview : however, if you see it distresses him, please leave the room at once.

Your daughter may as well see him at the same time, to avoid two separate interviews.' ' Exactly so : Neta, you will accompany me up stairs, and thank Mr Harding.' Miss Charlton was only too pleased for the inter view, and girl-like, went to the small looking glass on the mantelpiece to see if her hair was tidy ; for she was the lucky possessor of a magnificent quantity of rich brown hair, and a beautifully formed oval head, which she had a peculiar habit of placing at a slight angle to the left or right when speaking. Her eyes were large and also brown, her figure rather tall, with most graceful movements, which are so rare in these days in England. ' Now please, if you are ready,' cried the doctor, putting down his cigar, and leading the way to the top back bedroom which had been decorated with flowers by the indefatigable landlady.

New snow white curtains had been put before the pleasant window, through which streamed the morning sun light, making some scarlet geraniums in very red flower pots appear quite overpowering to the eyesight. There were the usual china ornaments to be seen on the mantelpiece, Annie Laurie, or some such Scotch lass, dancing with a Highlander with very thick legs of no particular shape, making it a perfect mystery how he ever succeeded in dancing at all. There were bad German lithographs, piracies of English pictures, hanging on the walls; one in par ticular representing a short fat young woman, in a huge crinoline, hanging on to the arm of a young man, who appeared to be suffering from over-feeding, THREE DAYS AFTER whose legs were enormously broad, and of the same thickness through their entire length.

They were gazing upon an Italian landscape, as if they were utterly astonished to find such a scene in bonnie Scotland. Neta trembled in every limb as she entered the room behind her father ; she clutched her hands convulsively together, and felt very much as if she were going to faint. Hollington was lying on his right side, with his face towards them as they entered. He looked ghastly white, with two ugly scars across his forehead. He opened his eyes and faintly smiled when he observed his visitors. Mr Charlton put out both his hands and grasped the young man's hand, slightly extended towards him. ' Mr Harding,' he exclaimed, in a choked voice, ' we have come to thank you, in all sincerity, for the very great help you have rendered us : fewest words are best where most is meant to be expressed.

In the name of myself and daughter, my dear, noble fellow, I thank you : ' and he bowed his head for he could say no more. Neta, struggling to keep back her tears, now came forward, she also put forth both her hands and grasped those of Hollington's in her own, and, like Evangeline, she bowed her head and murmured, ' I thank you.' The patient held her hands tightly in his own, and tried to speak, but could not. He gazed long at the beautiful girl before him, and again made an effort to speak, this time with a little success. ' I only did my duty ; others would have done the same,' he murmured, evidently in pain. 'Now, if you please, we will go downstairs,' said Dr Pickford, turning towards the door, ' this interview is sufficient for the present.' He caught hold of Mr Charlton's arm, and led him A CROWN OF GOLD from the room, beckoning to his daughter to follow them.

Neta remained behind only one minute, and suddenly giving way to her feelings, she threw her arms round Hollington's neck, and kissed him three or four times, and rushed from the room. ' Mr Pescoed, can you bring us a good bottle of port, that we may have a glass or two all round, and yet defy the doctor ? ' asked Mr Charlton on arriving once more in the small snug parlour. ' And, by-the-way, ask your good lady to join us.' ' Yes, sir, thank you, sir,' replied the landlord, taking up his apron and wiping his mouth, as if in anticipa tion ; ' I have two or three bottles of port that have been in the cellars for the last ten years, there being little call for wine in these parts.' ' Let us have them up sharp, my man.' Then drawing a cheque-book from an inner pocket, where he had carefully placed it, when he found the steamer was likely to be wrecked, he continued : ' As I leave for London to-morrow, Doctor, I may as well settle with you now.