Comrades Once and A Treacherous Calm

Front matter

NO LONGER UNKNOWN. t ( \ 1 0W that the cold and chilly I \ season of the year has ' arrived, the food we take is a matter requiring serious con sideration. ' Coffee ' has always been regarded as a superior winter beverage, its warming and invigo rating properties being generally recognised The famous FRENCH COFFEE, as used in Paris, should be selected for the morning breakfast. It can be obtained in Shilling Canisters from Messrs. BARBER & COMPANY, 274, Regent Circus, and their various branch establishments in Brighton and Birmingham. This eminent firm has been established nearly a century (since 1797) and has always been noted for the superior quality of its Teas and Coffees." — The Court Journal, Oct. 29, 1892. This is the Choicest and most Carefully Selected Coffee, " Roasted on the French Principle," and mixed with the Finest Bruges Chicory. 2-lb.

Sample, in Tins, sent free by Parcel Tost to any Post Town in the United Kingdom and Channel Islands for _?s. Oil.; 5 Ibs., in Tins, for (is.; S Ibs., in Tins, for Os. (id. Larger Quantities Carriage Free in England. Cheques and Postal Orders to be crossed "National Provincial Sank." BARBER & COMPANY, (THE ORIGINAL.) "Established in the last Century (1797)." ONLY ADDRESSES NOW ABE— 274, REGENT CIRCUS, OXFORD STREET, W. 61, Bishopsgate Street, London, E.C. I 67, Brixton Road, S.W. 102, Westbourne Grove, W. 42, Great Titchfield Street, W. Quadrant, New Street, BIRMINGHAM. 147, North Street, & 75, East Street, BRIGHTON ; also 60, Church Road, Hove [their only Addresses in Sussex). "INSTEAD OF THE FATHERS, THE CHILDREN." "Comrades Once"(/. 104). AND A TREACHEROUS CALM EY THOMAS KEYWORTH AUTHOR OF "MISTRESS JUNE" ETC.

CASSELL and COMPANY Limited LONDON PA /■IIS & MELBOURNE 1894 ALl- BIGHTS RESERVED Reprinted from Cassell's Magazine. chapter i. ONLY A NEWSPAPER PARAGRAPH. It was among the general news in the Longdale Weekly Courier, and it might easily have been passed over in the hunt for something definite and personal, for it simply said — " Several forged cheques have been presented lately at various branches of a newly-established bank in the district. The forgery was so skilfully accomplished that the cheques were cashed, and no suspicion was excited. Blank cheques had been extracted from the book of a well-known manufacturer, who is also a director of the bank. No apprehensions have been made, but sus picion points to a confidential clerk, who was lately discharged by the manufacturer without any reason being given.

Chapter II. The Comrades

Mordene was proud of Abel Claxton, and in a sense it was proud of Thew Norland, but not in the same unanimous and emphatic manner. Abel Claxton was said to have made Mordene, which meant that he had built large mills there, and had attracted a number of people to the place ; he also built Holmwood Hall, a great deal larger house than the Knoll, and he made money. In the opinion of many Mordeners there was only one way in which a man could prove that he had made the best of this present world : that way was to accumulate a fortune. Abel Claxton had done so, and therefore he deserved the admiration of all who were acquainted with these circumstances. On the other hand, Thew Norland was universally acknowledged to have been a long-headed fellow, who knew a wonderful lot about books, and plants, and stars ; he was also perfectly upright in all his dealings, but he had lived and died a hand-loom weaver.

It was very difficult to become enthusiastic about him under those circumstances. There was one fact to be remembered, however: Abel Claxton never changed in his fondness for Thew. That ought to stand for something, and it did stand for something in the estimation of the people who were almost ready to worship the man who had acci m dated wealth and built Mordene Mills. Thew and Abel started life together. Thew was a carpet weaver, Abel was a velvetweaver ; and in their early days both materials were woven by hand. Abel had a wonderful gift for machinery, and he made the best of the new age of steam, which transformed the various manufacturing processes with which he was familiar. By means of ingenuity and enterprise he managed to keep himself well in the front rank of those who adopted the new state of things, and endeavoured to use, or improve, every fresh device.

Thew Norland wove Axminster carpets, and it was looked upon as a fortunate circumstance that, amid all the changes which took place, a man could earn a good living at that trade without giving up the old kind of loom or the old method of weaving. When Abel and Thew were young men together, the militia was very considerably strengthened, and recruits were balloted for. A number of the Mordeners were drawn to serve. In later days, Militia Clubs were formed, and if any members of a club were drawn, the funds were available for providing substitutes ; but, at that early period, no such provision was made at Mordene, and the men had to go. Abel Claxton, Thew Norland, and Snapc Tatterway were among those who had to leave their homes and undergo training in the garrison town. They were companions, though Snape was never quite as steady as the other two.

They were treated like heroes when they returned to their village ; for the times were times of war and national danger. News travelled slowly then, and knowledge of current events was scanty and inaccurate in remote places like Mordene. Men who returned from the militia training were supposed to have been face to face with the great foes who threatened the liberties of England ; their company was sought and their opinions asked about distant battles and rumoured campaigns. Neither Thew nor Abel enjoyed the taste of military life which they had experienced, and they had much to do with starting the club which enabled those who preferred staying at home to do so. With Snape it was different ; he liked the periodical muster, and the company of a garrison town. Perhaps more than all, he enjoyed the welcome which he always received on his return to Mordene.

The result was that Snape drifted away from the old companionship ; but Abel and Thew never ceased to be the close friends which they had been in hardship and perplexity, and with many a quiet joke they used the words " Comrades once," in reference to their brief experience of military life. It would be almost impossible to find two steady men with fewer characteristics in common than Abel and Thew. One laid himself out for making a fortune, the other cared chiefly about self-improvement, and the knowledge which could be gained from books and nature. Thew admired Abel's energy and enterprise and when he heard anybody say that his success was unaccount able, he was always ready to answer — " Hard work has done it, hard work and a big brain. Abel could always see more than was before his face ; he could see into the possibilities of things.

That is it. If anybody had much to do with it besides Abel, it was his wife. I never knew a woman exactly like her. I sometimes 'think if I had married her she would have made me miserable, because she was all for The Comrades. 17 trying new plans, and I never cared about them ; but she just suited Abel, for he was as fond of inventions as she was. Betty Claxton was Abel's helper, and she was almost the only one he had." It would be difficult to imagine two good women who resembled each other in disposition as little as Betty Claxton and Judith Norland. People who fancied they knew exactly how the world ought to have been made were fond of saying it was a pity that Abel did not marry Judith, and Thew did not marry Betty. " Abel wanted holding back," said the wiseacres, " but Betty was just as much for driving on as he ever was.

A woman like that was thrown away on a man who never needed spurring to any job which had money at the end of it. But Thew was always easy-going, and Judith was so well suited with easy-going ways, that she never gave her husband a hint to stir himself. Matches don't often turn out as well as might be expected, even if lads and lasses were as fond-as-fond when they were courting." It was only outsiders who indulged in these regrets. The persons chiefly concerned were quite satisfied with their respective partners in life. Abel was sorry that Thew had not a wife more like Betty, and Thew often thought that a woman with the tastes of Judith would have been a blessing to his friend Abel. The women were never as intimate as the men. Perhaps feminine friendship is not as often characterised by contrary qualities as masculine friendship.

Betty Claxton could not understand how people were able to go on, year after year, without making an effort to improve their position ; and Judith Norland was unable to enter into the thoughts and feelings of those who were for ever striving to increase their responsibilities that they might enlarge their fortunes. Judith Norland was very beautiful in her girlhood, and she retained her pleasant looks to old age ; her amiability never departed from her, and she never manifested any disappointment at having to continue in a humble position ; for the best of all reasons, that she did not feel disappointed. Betty Claxton, as she continued to be called in confidential speech, long after her husband had become the chief man in Mordene, was a shrewd, keen woman, with an eye to business, and a mind that could grasp the bearings of a case in a moment.

There was no softness about her, but Abel was not disappointed at that ; Betty was a wonderful manager, he said, and she had a better head than any man he ever knew. If he had expressed his opinion, he would B have said that the luckiest thing he ever did was to marry his wife. " Making a fortune in business is never like finding a big nugget at the gold-fields." This fact was often insisted on by Thew Norland, when he heard his neighbours talking as if Abel had gone to sleep one night poor, and had awoke next morning rich. " Abel has enjoyed the work, mind you," he would often say ; " but that is the most astonishing thing about it. Not one man in ten thousand could do what he has done, and not one in ten hundred thousand could do it and like it better than sitting still." Snape Tatterway, in the language of Mordene, married but he did not settle, and his wife had to be the breadwinner.

One son, Maddox, was born to them, and then Snape was found frozen to death on Blackstone Moor. Snape's widow made no secret of her intention to bring up Maddox to be a gentleman, which purpose was the cause of much sarcastic amusement among the neighbours. The Claxtons and the Norlands had children born to them ; and it was often remarked in Mordene that poor as Thew Norland was, he gave his children more "schooling" than Abel Claxton did. All Thew's children, as they grew up, left Mordene, to settle in the neighbouring towns, except Henry, the eldest son. He married and lived in the cottage next to his father in Grew Corner, where he followed his trade as carpet weaver. Abel Claxton said his children were worth money, and at a very early age his sons and daughters became useful at the Mills.

Their education was neglected, but neither Abel nor his wife Betty cared much about that. In their opinion, education ought to be numbered among the luxuries of life. Abel Claxton's eldest son was called Arthur; he was a rougher man than his father had ever been; he was full of energy, and was what people called a "tremendous worker." But if the word tremendous were admissible, then many of his characteristics might have been designated in the same way. Whatever Arthur Claxton did, he did with a will, and it was whispered that his thoroughness was not confined to business pursuits. Abel's other sons were also good workers, but none of them had the energy of Arthur. The daughters had not enjoyed any greater educational advantages than the sons, but they were more refined, and they The Comrades. 19 were better liked by the " hands " than the male members of the family.

Only one of them married, and that was Christine, or Chris, as she was always called at home. Christine's marriage was opposed by all the Claxtons, who made no secret of their opinion that " brass agreed best with brass." Dr. Travis had settled at Mordene, because the prosperity of the Mills brought many people to the neighbourhood, and there seemed to be a promising opening for a young medical man who had his own way to make in the world. The doctor was poor, but he was skilful and kind, and soon won the confidence and affection of the people. There was unpleasant work among the Claxtons when it was known that Dr. Travis was paying his addresses to Christine. Nobody had a word to say in favour of the doctor, but on the contrary, he was mentioned in a contemptuous manner, and his motives were condemned as mercenary and grovelling.

" If you think he cares the value of a mouse-trap for you," said Arthur, addressing his sister, " you are very much mistaken. He'd marry any lass in Mordene, big or little, nice or ugly, if he thought he would get a slice out of the Mills." Christine was always the quietest of the Claxtons, and it seemed only natural to expect that she would give way to the importunities of her friends. " Chuck that pill-box chap up, and have no more to do with him," said Ned, her second brother. " What is the use of making mischief in the family ? " Her father and mother were not as offensive in what they said as Arthur and'Ned, but were equally opposed to the match. Arthur was the only married one among the sons and daughters. He had sought his wife at Grasscarr, where the extensive collieries were situated ; he had married Lydia Coalville, the eldest daughter of a man who was known by the nickname of King Coal, and who was supposed to be one of the richest men in the district.

With that example before her eyes, it did seem strange to Abel and Betty that " Chris should dream of allying herself with a fellow who had nothing but a shelf full of physic bottles to bless himself with." Christine shed no tears, and she besought no forgiveness ; she told Dr. Travis how the matter stood, and she made no secret of her fear that her father would cut her off without a penny. If the doctor had shown the slightest hesitation, she would never have spoken to him again ; but instead of that, he declared that B it was herself he loved, and not her expectations. From that moment she was his altogether ; she troubled her friends no more about the matter, but married the doctor, and went to live in the small house which he occupied. " Thou'lt go to the wedding ? " said Thew Norland to Abel, when the two were talking the matter over, after Christine had expressed her final determination.

Abel was at Grew Corner. " Nay, I shall not," replied Abel. " If anybody expects to have me, they must have me in my way." "Thou art wrong," said Thew warmly. " This doctor is as fine a chap as I ever knew; and if Christine likes, I'll give her away when she's wed, come what there may of it." There was a dangerous look in Abel Claxton's eyes when he heard this. But Thew had never received a favour from him, and was perfectly free to please himself in regard to the matter. Abel was smoking a long clay pipe in the loom-house ; he smashed the pipe against the opposite wall, and departed with out a word. He came back the next day, however, and found a fresh pipe in the customary corner. Nothing was said about the wedding, but when the ceremony took place, Thew was there, and acted the father's part.

Most people looked upon Thew's presence as a sign of com promise. Abel would not go himself, he was too obstinate for that, and he had asked Thew to act for him. " It's poor work," said the critics. " If Abel had stuck to his word, he would have been wiser. Sending Thew Norland in his place is like the fellow who gave up swearing, and then made some new words of his own which meant the same thin"-." Thew never set anybody right on the point ; he was not sorry that people should think Abel had at least half relented at the last moment. Dr. Travis took a fever and died, within two years of his marriage. Abel and Betty both went to see the doctor, but not until they were tolerably certain that he could not recover. Christine, of course, did not know about this last circumstance, and therefore she was prepared to be reconciled to her parents.

But she would not return to Holmwood Hall. Hilda was twelve months old at the time, and Christine told her father she in tended to have the training of her own child. There was the doctor's insurance money, and she intended to look round for something to do ; she had worked hard before she was married and could work again. Abel knew that perfectly well • he also The Comrades. 21 knew that she was acquainted with many facts connected with Mordene velvet which had a marketable value ; so he persuaded her to live at the Knoll, where he had lived himself before Holmwood Hall was built. A regular allowance was made to her, and the family feud was buried. Abel showed no falling off in business ability, but he began to leave things more in Arthur's hands. He manifested what people called " a wonderful fondness for his granddaughter Hilda," and he spent more time than formerly with Thew Norland at Grew Corner.

After Betty Claxton died, Abel went to live with Christine at the Knoll, and Arthur occupied Holmwood Hall in his place. Whenever the old man visited Thew Norland he took Hilda with him, and in that manner Spence became intimate with her in childhood. Spence's mother died soon after his birth, and from that time his father became silent and melancholy, as if his heart was broken. Spence would have been neglected if his grandparents had not taken charge of him ; but with his grand mother at hand, he never knew the loss he had suffered when his own mother left him, an orphan in the cradle. The presence of Hilda Travis made the loom-house into a kind of fairyland to Spence. The visits were generally paid towards evening, after he had returned from school, and his labour and delight were to entertain Hilda with pictures, toys, and books.

" Spence is good," said Hilda, in recognition of his efforts ; and this compliment she repeated without reserve when she returned home. Hilda was two years younger than Spence, and in her eyes he was a very big boy, and very clever, too. Her cousin, Caster, was four years older than she, but Caster never did anything to amuse her, and she saw very little of him. Spence was nearly seventeen when his grandfather died ; he was learning the trade of carpet-weaving, but his mind was in his books, and his heart was full of Hilda Travis, as it had been ever since he could remember anything. Abel Claxton was never quite the same after Thew died. He visited Grew Corner as often as ever, and Hilda had to accom pany him, though her governess declared that her education was being ruined by the interruptions.

Abel did not stay long ; he said Harry was " as mum as a mouse," and he scarcely noticed Spence ; but the old man would sit pondering over the past, and muttering to himself, " In all my time I never knew but one Comra des Once. 22 Thew Norland, and now he is gone. Quite young he was, only seventy-two, and we were born in the same week." Abel outlived his comrade two years ; he was on a visit to Holmwood Hall when he died, and the people thought it very appropriate that he should die there. It was soon known that Abel had made a codicil to his will, directing that he should be buried by the side of Thew Norland, and that a monument should be erected for them both, with an inscription of Abel's own drawing up. There was also to be a Scholarship founded, for Mordene boys; it was to be called " The Thew Norland Scholarship," and it was to be in connection with the County College, where each scholar was to study three years.

Then the rumour began to spread that Arthur Claxton intended to dispute the validity of the codicil, on the ground that when his father made it he was not in a fit state of mind.

Chapter III. The Thew Norland Scholarship

When Spence Norland heard about the Scholarship which was to be founded in memory of his grandfather he felt himself filled with a noble ambition to compete, and if possible to win it, that he might have the advantage of collegiate training, and make himself worthy of Hilda Travis. It was always Hilda who seemed to be drawing him on to leave his old mode of life and the pursuits of his ancestors. Why should he not raise himself ? Others had done so. The biographies of self-made men were well known to him. His grandfather had never been tired of telling about poor students who won for themselves honour and fame. There were books on Thew Norland's shelves which had been written by men who began life in factory or workshop. The men who made themselves great in the world of science and literature always ranked higher in Thew's estimation than those who had risen to wealth and power.

It was not surpris ing, therefore, that Spence believed his grandfather's doctrine : "The pen is the lever which moves the world." Spence's dreams were rudely disturbed when he heard that Arthur Claxton laughed at the bequest, and expressed his deter mination to have none of his money wasted on any madcap schemes which had been hatched in an old man's dotage. Mordene was full of gossips, and the people enjoyed nothing so much as to discuss the affairs of their neighbours, especially if their neighbours happened to occupy prominent positions in the world. It pleased Mordeners to put the worst side forward when they talked about Abel's will. They knew Arthur Clax ton, and he was not the man to be thwarted ; he had said the money should not go, and he would stick to his word. Hugh Lister and his wife, Sarah, were the doleful prophets of Mordene, and nobody was surprised to hear them predict that Arthur would have his own way.

But Sep Loom and his wife, Lavinia, nearly always took sides against the Listers, and it was thought to be an evil omen when the Looms remained silent, instead of calling Hugh and Sarah a couple of croakers. Arthur Claxton and his son Caster discussed the matter. They knew of a difficulty which was not known to the public. Abel had appointed several Longdale men as trustees of the Scholarship. " I feel more and more disgusted with the affair," said Caster ; " we might have known that mischief would come out of those long visits to Grew Corner. I think when people show that they are not able to look after themselves they ought to be looked after. One half the world's mischief comes from allowing people to please themselves long after they have lost the power to act wisely." No fault could be found with Caster's form or features, but he had an expression which was not pleasing, and especially when he was uttering his dogmatic opinions about the way in which the world was governed.

It was impossible for Arthur to hear his son's words with unmixed pleasure and approval. Fathers never do like to hear their sons say that old people ought to be removed out of the way, even when those fathers are in the maturity of their power. Caster was not famous for his quickness ; but he perceived that he had said something which was not quite agreeable, and therefore he changed the subject to one on which there was likely to be no difference of opinion. " Of one thing I have not a single doubt," he said ; " my grandfather might have left Longdale out of his will. The wonder is that he did not endow an orphanage there." " I should like to fight it," said Arthur ; " and if I hadn't a little scheme of my own in view, I would do so. Why should our money go towards spoiling a lot of hard-working and well-satisfied lads ?

If anybody knows Mordene, I do ; and I venture to say there is not a lad in the place who ever thought about college except as he has thought about the other side of the moon. This madcap scheme will do more harm than good." In one sense Caster was more refined than his father his speech was not as broad, and he would have been able to com port himself in good society with far more ease and success : but the tone of his mind was not higher, perhaps it was not as high. " Fight it," said Caster. " There is a big pile of money at stake, and I doubt very much whether those fellows in Longdale will care to risk much on behalf of these louts at Mordene who don't want to go to college. Why should they want to go? The Thew Norland Scholarship. 25 Every man in his place. Why should beggars be put on horse back at our expense ?

I would fight it." There were not two persons in the neighbourhood who knew less about the social and menta^ life of Mordene than did Arthur Claxton and his son Caster ; and yet they were both satisfied in their own minds that they knew exactly what could be done and what should be done for the inhabitants of the place. Arthur did not care much about education for anybody ; he and his brothers had done very well without it ; and the people in general, he felt sure, were made poorer by the operation of Acts which compelled them to send their children to school, half each day at least, when these children might have been earning double wages at the mills. Caster had been to many schools, but that was his mother's fault, as Arthur called it. " She has fine-spun notions," he said to himself, " and would send the lad here, there, and everywhere ; but I don't see that he is any better for it.

He picked up a lot of chums who don't intend to make work scarce by anything which they do. Caster is ditto ; for he has wonderful powers of resting, for a young one." Caster knew that his father was vulgar, and he laid this to the charge of insufficient education ; so that the young man's anti pathy to scholarship was not as undiscriminating as his father's. Arthur would occasionally boast about knowing very little which books could teach. Caster did not admire a spirit like that ; though he knew very little himself which books could teach, yet he never said so ; he did not even think so ; he was in a state of disguised ignorance, but the disguise was complete. Arthur's idea of the difference between himself and the work ing classes was one which depended entirely upon money. He was a great deal richer than they, therefore he was a great deal better.

Modes of reasoning like that were very easy, and they seemed very conclusive. " If I have twenty thousand pounds," he said to himself, "I am as good as any man in the world with twenty thousand pounds ; but a man with thirty thousand is better than I am, and will be until I can finger thirty thousand for myself. What is true about one sum is true about another, whether it be a hundred thousand or a round million." But Arthur Claxton did not oppose his father's will, and this was to a great extent in consequence of the interference of Bryan Coalville, his wife's father. Mrs. Arthur was proud of her father, who was a different kind of man from the Claxtons. He held the opinion that it was better to have a silver watch and a gold chain than a gold watch and a silver chain. When he spoke like that he was not really referring to watches and chains ; people knew that his words were a parable.

He was a handsome man, with bushy black hair and whiskers. His friends said the hair was his own, but the colour was a mystery. Mr. Coalville had something to say to Arthur about Abel Claxton's bequest. The two were not on the best of terms. " Coalville acts as if he had a million of money," was Arthur's complaint to his own brothers ; " but when he comes to be reckoned up, he'll not show as good a balance-sheet as some folks think. He is too fond of coming the father-in-law ; and when he gets that white waistcoat of his on, he looks as if he was lord mayor of two or three counties." Arthur was a broad-set man, and he had a fringe of red hair round his plain features ; his clothes always looked old, and they never seemed to fit him, so that he formed a decided contrast to the well-kept and well-clad coal merchant.