A Heart well Won; or, the Life and Adventures of Arthur Oldfield. A tale of modern time

Front matter

A HEAET WELL WON, VOL. Ill, A HEART WELL WON, OR THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF ARTHUR OLDFIELD. A TALE OF THE MODERN TIME. IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. III. LONDON: TINSLET BROTHERS, 8, CATHERINE ST, STRAND. 1874. [All rights reserved.} JOHN CBILDS ANl> SON, PRINTERS. CONTENTS OF VOL. III. CHAP. • PAGE I. THE TEIAL . . . . . . 1 II. CHTJ GGABEEE . . . . . . 17 III. CHEISTIAN OB INFIDEL ? . . . . 34 IV. BE OMNIBUS REBUS . . . . 47 V. THE GREAT GUN-TEICK . . . . 71 VI. ACEOSS THE WATEE . . . . 89 VII. TTNDEB PBESSIAN BULE . . . . 116 VIII. WITH OUB BREAD TTPON OUB BACKS 134 IX. ' LOVE GOES EBOM LOVE ' . . 155 X. IN THE HANGAR . . . . . . 165 XI. DEATH . . . . . . . . 183 XII. DISHONOUR . . . . . . 199 XIII. BREAKING THE NEWS . . . . 215 XIV. THE SQUIRE REPENTS . . . . vi CONTENTS. CHAP. PAGE XV. THE TEMPTATION.. .. .. 240 XVI.

BEGINNING AGAIN . . . . 257 XVII. THE WEDDING . . . . . . 270 XVIII. A CONFESSION . . . . . . 281 XIX. THE OLD BEIDGE . . . . . . 291 j XX. TWELVE MONTHS AFTEB . . . .

Chapter I. The Trial

the accounts of 'The Examination at 'jffiwgfi the Mansion House of two city clerks BsSJigg§ charged with stealing a cheque,' and ' Committal of one of the prisoners,' appeared the following day in big type in all the neAvspapers, and in gig-antic letters on the ' bill of contents.' I thought it as well to write home and tell my father of the affair, lest he should entertain any fear that there was the least ground for the charge against me. He wrote me a sympathetic reply, and my mother a most loving letter, in which she said she was so distressed to think that she had not known of it so that she might have been near me during my time of trouble. My brother James said there must bave been either blundering or precipitate action on the part of the police to have taken me in charge at all, but now it was all over I looked upon it as an experience gained, and so I was not inclined to blame either Jenkinson or tbe police-officer.

David VOL. III. Baxter feted me by having mo to stay with him a week, ' in order to quiet my nerves after such a shock,' and if I were in need of quiet surely I could find no place like his house, and no sympathy equal to his. He had always something to interest me by its newness and originality, and under his teaching I recommenced sketching from Nature, Avhich art I had at one time taken a great pleasure in. He pointed out how important it was, in order to make correct drawings, that one should have a knowledge of Botany, ' for,' said he, ' it is painful to an educated eye to see in a well-designed drawing, faulty detail which a slight knowledge of Botany would have enabled the artist to avoid.' But in this I thought him too particular, although I did not say so, for I had always regarded rather the general effect of a picture than the minutiæ, but ever since that time I have noticed whenever in landscape-drawings there are any defects in the form of leaves, flowers, or trees, and have found that artists really sometimes take great liberties with Nature.

On the whole I was very happy with him, and we had many long talks on all sorts of subjects beside Botany and the other sciences. I told him one day of Avhat the students had said of him, and what a dreadful person I had thought he must be, at which he laughed heartily. I sometimes got him to talk on religious sub jects, but his idea was tbat there was a great deal too much profession in the world, without sufficient earnest and conscientious practice and self-denial ; and I came to know afterward how much more he practised benevolence, real charity, and self-denial, than he allowed to appear. His great fear seemed to be that he might be led to find that satisfaction in profession Avhich ho was perfectly convinced could never be attained ex cept in really sincere practice. His principles pervaded and influenced his daily life, and shed a mellowing influence over all that he did.

Simpli city of life, he said, Avas what we were fast losing in the great pressure of the present day, Avhen people seemed to be living under the impression that it was necessary to be unnatural because their neighbours were so ; and this, he said, ex tended from habits of life to manners, habits of thought, and even to worship, which he lamented was so widely different from that of primitive times. I felt the good effect of his society and conversation, but more than all of his daily life, and I wished that others could have an opportunity of knowing his worth. I wrote to Charlie Pratt and Putty Dobson, and told them of my Mansion House experience. Charlie bad seen the account in the papers, and congratulated me that I had at length commenced an acquaintance with the Lord Mayor, but feared that I had not found his residence Avhat I an ticipated.

Putty had not much to say aboutlit, he was too full of his own troubles. Kate still re mained obdurate, and although she always received him kindly, he said there was a cloud between them, and the hope of his life seemed to be gone, but he was determined to be faithful. A HEART AA'ELL AVON. ' Then,' added he, ' if Kate won't have me after all, why I shan't have to reproach myself.' I gathered from his letter that his father was rather glad than otherwise of the prospect of his quasi engagement with Kate 'being broken off, and did all he could to interest him in the charms of ' a daughter of one of the county families.' A fortnight after the committal of Timothy, the Sessions of the Central Criminal Court com menced at the Old Bailey. Stagg & Buckets were to prosecute instead of Jenkinson, as the cheque had been paid to their servant when he committed the alleged theft, and consequently it was their property which he had stolen.

Timothy's father came up to London some days before the com mencement of the trial, and found his son protest ing his innocence by word and look, so he was under the belief that Timothy was the victim of some egregious blunder or worse. Two Counsel were engaged for the defence, Mr Octavius Smirk was the junior, and Serjeant Bluster the leading Counsel. My brother James also came up to town ' to watch the case on my behalf,' for he said there was no telling how it might be attempted to in volve me. I was to be the principal witness against Timothy, and I would willingly have been spared so trying a position ; now that it was made clear that I was perfectly free from any blame in the matter, I would — in my soft-heartedness, Harold Yonge said, — have got Timothy off, for after all he had been my school-fellow, although he had never been my friend, and I might even feel sure that he had done his best to do me an irreparable injury, still I knew not the temptation which had led him astray, and short of changing places with him I was determined to do everything in my power to mitigate the severity of the sentence he wrould receive.

No one now who knew all the facts of the case could doubt his guilt, but he per sisted in his innocence, and that he had never received the cheque from me. Beside those wit nesses who had appeared at the Mansion House there were Taylor and another clerk from Carter & Simpson's, and half the staff from Stagg & Buckett's office. The books of the latter firm were in Avaiting, as well as those from Carter & Simp son's, to prove by the entries the drawing and payment of the cheque and the non-receipt of the amount by Stagg & Buckett. It was a cause celebre in connection with ' the Alley,' where there existed quite a freemasonry between the different firms, and on the day ap pointed for the opening of the sessions many of the brokers stepped down to the cheerful vicinity of the Old Bailey, in order to see how the case was likely to go ; but as there was an important trial on, which would most likely occupy a couple of days, it was arranged that all the Avitnesses were to be in readiness to appear at half-an-hour's notice, which was to be given them by the junior Counsel.

The summons came about mid day on the morrow, and we were to make all haste, since it was of the utmost importance that we WON. should go to the court instantly, as the Judge had adjourned for luncheon, and our case would come on immediately on the re-assembling of the court. Mr Jenkinson, Taylor, Bridge, and myself started immediately for the Old Bailey. The Counsel for the prosecution was engaged in opening the case as we arrived, and Serjeant Bluster was expected every minute. I thought I Avould rather have Mr Smirk cross-examine me than Serjeant Bluster, as if the name of the latter were an index to his style of examination, I should not much care about him ; beside, I had an idea that a Serjeant Avas the highest rank to which a man in the army of paid talkers could aspire. At length an usher of the court called me to appear.

I Avas partly hustled, partly led through the crowd by two officious policemen, whose serA'ices I did not in the least require, and found myself confronting the Counsel for the prosecution, Avhose name I did not learn, with Greenmeadow by his side, for Greenmeadow having commenced the case, Stagg said he might as well continue it for him. I was asked much the same questions that I had been asked at the Mansion House, and I gave replies similar to those I had given then ; but Serjeant Bluster coming in before my examination was finished, took the notes which Smirk had been making, and conducted my cross-examination. Was I perfectly clear that I had handed the cheque to Jackson on the day mentioned ? I replied that I was perfectly sure I had paid it him on the day it was dated. ' Remember,' said Serjeant Bluster, ' you are under oath, and if you state what is untrue, you commit perjury, and are liable to severe penalties.' While the learned Serjeant had been addressing this caution to me, I stole a glance at Timothy, who looked the very personification of meek resig nation and noble resolve to suffer martyrdom for the sins of others. ' Look at me, sir, do you hear ? ' thundered Serjeant Bluster ; ' you need not regard your victim, it would be Avell if you took pattern by him.

Will you swear that you did not suggest to Jackson that he should cash this cheque, and divide the proceeds with you, and that then when he had got the money, you did not, like a coward, refuse to take any of it, hoping thus to keep clear of the consequences ? Now, mind how you perjure yourself, sir ; I have witnesses that you little dream of, and in all probability you will take your place in that dock before I have done with you, for aiding and abetting ; now beware, sir ! ' And here he regarded me as a boa-constrictor may be supposed to regard a rabbit it has charmed, and is about to swallow ; and hundreds of pairs of ears in the court were listening intently for the first signs of my being engulfed by the bravado of Serjeant Bluster. Now I am not bold as some are accounted bold, I am generally rather timid, even if I have reason to be satisfied that I am in the right, and AVON. my being suddenly pitch-forked into the full court had not tended to re-assure me ; but directly I perceived the course which Serjeant Bluster intended taking, I felt nerved to hold my position, and without vaunting I may even affirm that I felt something in me which bade me rise to the occasion, for the deadly insult he had tendered me I was in no way disposed to accept.

I did not then know that the imputing of base motiA'es or dishonesty to a witness against whom there could be no suspicion was part of the daily practice of the law courts, a necessary course for Counsel to follow in order to serve the ends of justice. I replied to the Serjeant, with difficulty keeping down my anger, ' Whoever your witnesses are who suggest such a thing, they are liars.' From my docile appearance this was not the answer that he had expected, and he said with winning smoothness, ' Calm yourself, young man, calm yourself, and tell me yes or no ; did you or did you not suggest to Jackson sharing the pro ceeds of the cheque, and then afterwards withdrew from the bargain.' ' No,' I said, in rather too loud a voice, I suppose, for I saw smiles on several faces in court. Isaacs was sitting by the side of Smirk, and prompting him what questions to tell Serjeant Bluster to ask me. ' You never bet, I suppose ? ' said the Serjeant. ' Never,' I replied. 'You did not owe Jackson £8 for bets, I suppose, which you told him he might keep as your share of the cheque, eh ? ' I replied, ' I have already said that I never bet, so I could not well owe £8 for bets, I should think.' Here there was a movement in court as if ' some fun ' was anticipated, and every one brightened up expecting a few smart repartees, but I felt cut to the quick that such insinuations should be made, in order, I suppose, to damage my evidence as much as possible.

I learnt afterwards that ' the knowing ones ' regarded this as a confession of weakness on the part of Bluster, who never took this line when he saw his way clear to a better, and it was asserted that he had frequently driven witnesses into getting so confused, that they contradicted them selves in every possible way. Now, however, that the first timidity had passed off, I was perfectly cool, and regarded the Serjeant as fixedly as he did me. ' I don't want Quakers' answers,' said Serjeant Bluster ; ' tell me yes or no whether you owed Jackson any money at the time that cheque was drawn,' — then to Smirk, ' Send the cheque up to the witness that his memory may be refreshed.' Without looking at the cheque, 1 replied that I had never paid or owed Jackson one penny in my life, and had never had any money transaction Avith him.

Serjeant Bluster, however, insisted on my reading the cheque, and noting it particularly. ' Is it true/ he continued, ' that you were not on good terms with my client, in fact, that you have not been for some time ? ' ' I Avas on good terms with him, but he Avas not on good terms with me ; he was annoyed because I told him I did not wish for his society, and said he OAved me a grudge for that, which he would pay me the first opportunity,' I answered. ' Well, AveU, young man, you arc a casuist — you know what that means, I suppose ? ' said Serjeant Bluster, with an air of mock interest. I replied that I did happen to know the meaning of casuistry. ' So, then, you were on good terms with Jack son, and he was not on good terms with you ; that is to say he had cause of offence against you, and you forgave him ; admirable logic.

Perhaps you are a logician as well as a casuist ? ' I replied, that I thought by this time he ought to he capable of judging what I was. But here the Judge, who looked very sedate in wig and goAvn, interrupted to tell me to observre due respect in court. I was nearly an hour in the Avitness-box, and during that time Serjeant Bluster had not put more than half-a-dozen independent questions to me, but had so tortured and turned them about, and in terspersed them with his pleasant banter, that they seemed to amount to six hundred ; but I think I fairly tired him out. At last he looked down at Smirk, and dropping his eye-glass from his right .eye, asked who was the next witness. When the whole series had been gone through, including Bob, who remembered hearing Timothy ask for the cheque to be left ' open,' Serjeant Bluster called Stagg, and Timothy's father, to speak to the amiable character for which his client had always been distinguished, and he drew a striking picture of the contrast between the heinousness of the crime Avhich, in his ' conscientious belief,' one of the witnesses had committed, and the venial back sliding, into which his client might have been betrayed in a moment of Aveakness ; and he ap pealed to the jury to say whether they would allow the whole blame and punishment to rest on a young man of hitherto unimpeachable character, while the real culprit escaped scot free.

He continued : ' You who are fathers can well imagine the agony of that father whom you have heard speaking from his heart, not only of his love for one of the most dutiful of sons, but also of his conviction of that son's innocence ; weigh, gentlemen of the jury, I beseech you, the facts of the case. Here is a young man of respectable position in society, who has always been the pride and joy of his family, Avho by possibly having yielded to the promptings of another, is now in one of the most dreadful positions a young man can possibly be placed in ; and I maintain the greater offender has escaped, if only for the moment, from the punishment of the law, though his guilty conscience must ever keep him on the rack. Gentlemen, I implore you, I beseech you, if you think this young man may have ceded to the suggestions of one older in the ways of this wicked world than himself, I beseech you, I say, to accompany your verdict with a recommendation to mercy, so that a merely nominal sentence may be passed upon him.' When the learned Serjeant sat down, the Judge, addressing the jury, said, ' You have heard everything that can possibly be said on behalf of the prisoner ; he may have hitherto led an honest and devout life, he may have ceded to a sudden temptation, and have appropriated the proceeds of this cheque, intending to refund them at a future time, before the theft could be discovered ; but with that you have nothing whateArer to do.

I am bound to tell you also, that so far as the evi dence has gone there is no ground for imputing to Oldfield any knowledge of the theft, and the suggestions thrown out by Counsel may or may not have been originated by the prisoner, but they can only damage his case, as assertions in a court of justice without the shadow of proof to support them must always do. To me, the matter appears to be simple in the extreme. Jackson collects a cheque, and asks that it may be left uncrossed so that he may be able to get it cashed ; you have had that substantiated by the errand boy, who was in the office at the time of the payment of the cheque. You have also heard from the manager at the prisoner's late employers, that the prisoner was not instructed to ask for an " open " cheque " for wages," as he has alleged, the wages having been always paid on the Friday.

You have also heard the evidence of the clerk from the bank, who is perfectly clear as to his having paid the amount of the cheque to the prisoner ; and, lastly, there are the new sovereigns, in which the cheque was paid, and in such coin you have heard that the prisoner paid to two individuals a sum of £6 each ; to my mind, this is as clear a case as ever was brought before the court.' When the Judge had finished addressing the jury they consulted without leaving the court. During their consultation Timothy had the old, dogged look upon him, knitting his brows, and appearing of all in that court the least concerned. In less than five minutes the foreman of the jury informed the Judge that they were agreed in their verdict, and Timothy all at once appeared to be aware of what might be the consequence of their decision. ' We find the prisoner, Timothy Jackson, guilty of stealing the cheque dated June, value £25 17s. 2d., and of appropriating the pro ceeds to his own use.' The Judge was proceeding to pass sentence, when Serjeant Bluster rose and said that the prisoner craved permission of the court to make a statement through him, Serjeant Bluster ; he had endeavoured to dissuade the prisoner from making it, but, as his Counsel, he was bound to acquiesce ; and the Serjeant then proceeded to read from a slip of paper as follows : — ' I, Timothy Jackson, do hereby acknowledge my guilt in stealing a cheque, value £25 17.5. 2d., the property of my employers, Messrs Stagg & Buckets, collected by me on June from the firm of Carter & Simpson ; and I hereby declare that I alone am gudty, and no one else has had anything to do with it, or has any knowledge of the theft, and I throw myself on the mercy of the court.

I further declare that for some time I was in the habit of taking small sums, the property of my employers ; but till I stole this cheque, I for for some months had no opportunity of stealing any cash of theirs, and I justify myself for what I have done — ' 1st. Because of the small amount of salary that I have received since I have been in the em ploy of Stagg & Buckets. ' 2nd. Because the said firm of Stagg & Buckets are in the habit of adding on to the cost price of goods they buy, something beyond the amount of their commission, and thus they in turn rob their customers, for they profess to charge only the commission in addition to the cost price of the article.' Serjeant Bluster said he felt persuaded that such a statement could do the prisoner no good, and might damage a respectable firm ; but he had felt bound to read it.

All eyes were turned on Stagg; those Avho knew him and were near him began ' chaffing ' him, and others said, ' Which is he ? Which is he ? ' and Stagg be came the object, for the moment, of more attention than the prisoner. After the sensation caused by the reading of the document had subsided, the Judge said, ' Timothy Jackson, not contented with endeavour ing to involve one of your acquaintances in the crime which you have committed, you have sought to cast an aspersion on one of the most eminent firms in the City of London ; but instead of serving your purpose, as you appear insanely to have imagined, it will only augment your punish ment. I sincerely trust, for your own sake and for that of your heart-broken father and family, you will repent of your wickedness in that time of retirement from the world and from your late associates which will now be afforded you.

The sentence of the court is that you be imprisoned for three years.' Still Timothy was unmoved in countenance, and the gaolers hurried him aAvay while his father went out sobbing from the court. In going back to ' Gander's Walk ' we dis cussed the truth or falseness of Timothy's asser tion with regard to Stagg & Buckett's practices. Bridge said he had no doubt it was true, as ' it was commonly said in the Alley that Pinch & Farebrother, the brokers who stood at the " top of the tree," would do the same, only that their busmess was so large they had not time to mani pulate the accounts.' But I thought this was probably only gossip, as Pinch & Farebrother were a very eminent firm indeed. Pinch senior, who did not take much part in the concern now, and who was said to have commenced business with A HEART AVELL WON. a two-shilling piece, was a director of the Bank of England, and Alderman of the City of London, who had ' passed the chair,' and could at any time be returned as member of parliament for a small borough, having a large proportion of needy voters.

I was lionized in ' the Alley ' for some time after the trial, and was much joked about the answers I had given to Serjeant Bluster, but I Avas nevertheless sorry for Timothy.

Chapter II. Chuggarree

ggggag»'TTAT July day in 1870 will long be re Ægs*^ membered in the commercial world of I5&/MI. London, the day of the declaration of war between France and Germany — a war which the more sagacious city men foresaAV would be disastrous in many ways to commerce, and would probably continue for some time. But none fore saw, nor did the wildest dreamer imagine, that it could possibly last as it did, with results so fatal to one of the combatants. In consequence of the fear Avhich prevailed at first — which feeling afterward became stronger — that in some way or other England might be dragged into the struggle, all business Avith foreign houses, con tinental or otherwise, Avas instantly limited to transactions for cash, and as this was for the most part impracticable, business in many branches was almost entirely suspended.

Financial houses having connections all over the world 'cut off every credit ' within twelve hours after the devol. in. A HEART WELL WON. claration of war ; far and wide the telegraph made known to firms abroad that they could no longer count on the usual facilities ; at such a time it was the first duty of every great house to have ' no bowels ' of compassion, lest they themselves should become involved through complications which might cccur no one knew how, and thus a general panic and wreck of fortunes follow. Bankers who had hitherto been lenient to firms who were known to be doing a sound business somewhat beyond their means, called upon such firms at once to transfer the balance of their account to that side of the bank's ledger where it had long been unknown. Loans which had till then remained unquestioned were looked into, an inspection made, and fresh inquiries set on foot as to the solvability of guarantors, or the value of goods held as security if sold in a falling market.

A general aversion to do business manifested itself even where there was no adequate cause for fear, and the signs of the times Avere nowhere to be read off with such accuracy as on the monetary pulse. On the evening of the day following, when Jenkinson reached home he found the Brixton Branch Manager of the ' Great United " Limited " ' waiting his arrival in a state of uncomfortable ex pectancy. After tea, which the Bank Manager partook of in gloomy silence, he asked his father in-law if he could have some private conversation with him. Jenkinson was in no amiable mood ; independently of the risk he ran in having to pay CHUGGARREE. 19 the drafts upon him of the house in the south of France, without knowing, if the war continued, whether the French house would be able to meet its acceptances, he knew that the continental trade, which he had of late been opening up, would bo crippled for a time, and this was the more annoy ing, as encouraged by the success of the ' Thistle head ' purchases, he had made a simdar speculation in ' Chuggarree,' an East Indian drug, which was sold almost entirely on the continent, and mainly in France.

It Avas an article but little known in ' the Alley,' as the trade in it was not sufficiently important to make it worth the attention of the brokers and merchants generally, but concentrated in the hands of a single firm might bring splendid results. Jenkinson had secured every pound of Chuggarree that had been imported that season, and he was now the only holder of the drug. It arrived during the months of May and June, and deteriorated considerably by age, so that the com mencement of the war boded ill for the Chug garree investment. Since the marriage of the Bank Manager with Amelia Jenkinson the ' Great United " Limited " ' had done more business through their Brixton branch with Jenkinson, and it had hitherto been sufficiently satisfactory not to call for any inter ference with the account from head -quarters.