Chapter VIII.
TROUBLE FOR NELL.
One evening when the show was not open, Nell and her grandfather went out for a walk. As soon as they were clear of the town they took a foot-path which ran through some pleasant fields, and wandered on till sunset, when they stopped to rest.
The sky was dark and lowering. Large drops of rain soon began to fall, and before long the storm clouds came sailing onward, and spread over all the sky. Soon was heard the low rumbling of distant thunder, and the lightning quivered through the darkness.
Fearful of taking shelter beneath a tree or hedge, the old man and the child hurried along the highroad. They hoped to find some house in which to seek a refuge from the storm. Drenched by the pelting rain, and blinded by the lightning, they would have passed a house without noticing it had not a man, who was standing at the door, called out to them to enter.
“What were you going past for, eh?” he added, as he closed the door and led the way along a passage to a room behind.
“We didn’t see the house, sir, till we heard you calling,” Nell replied.
“No wonder,” said the man, “with this lightning in one’s eyes. By-the-bye you had better stand by the fire here, and dry yourselves a bit. You can call for what you like if you want anything. If you don’t want anything, no matter. Don’t be afraid of that. This is a public-house, that’s all. The ‘Valiant Soldier,’ by James Groves, is pretty well known hereabouts.”
The night being warm, there was a large screen drawn across the room to keep in the heat of the fire. From the other side of this screen came the sound of voices. Nell and her grandfather listened to them for a few moments. Then the old man said hastily in a whisper,—
“Nell, they’re—they’re playing cards. Don’t you hear them?”
“Look sharp with that candle,” said a voice; “it’s as much as I can do to see the cards as it is. Game! Seven-and-sixpence to me, old Isaac. Hand over.”
“Do you hear, Nell—do you hear them?” whispered the old man again, as the money chinked upon the table.
The child looked at the old man with alarm. His face was red and eager, his eyes were strained, his teeth set, his breath came short and thick, and the hand he laid upon her arm shook like a leaf.
“What money have we, Nell? Come, I saw you with money yesterday. What money have we? Give it to me.”
“No, no; let me keep it, grandfather,” said the poor child. “Let us go away from here. Do not mind the rain. Pray let us go.”
“Give it to me, I say,” cried the old man fiercely. “Hush, hush! don’t cry, Nell. If I spoke sharply, dear, I didn’t mean it. It’s for thy good. I have wronged thee, Nell, but I will right thee yet; I will, indeed. Where is the money?”
“Do not take it,” said the child. “Pray do not take it, dear. For both our sakes let me keep it, or let me throw it away; better let me throw it away than you take it now. Let us go; do let us go.”
“Give me the money,” returned the old man; “I must have it. There—there—there’s my dear Nell. I’ll right thee one day, child. I’ll right thee, never fear!”
She took from her pocket a little purse. The old man caught it from her hand and hastily made his way to the other side of the screen, Nell keeping close behind him.
The landlord had placed a light upon the table and was drawing the curtain of the window. The speakers whom they had heard were two men, who had a pack of cards and some silver money between them.
The man with the rough voice was a big fellow of middle age, with large black whiskers, broad cheeks, a coarse, wide mouth, and bull neck. The other man, whom his companion had called Isaac, was of a more slender figure—stooping, and high in the shoulders—with a very evil face.
“Now, old gentleman,” said Isaac, looking round, “do you know either of us? This side of the screen is private, sir.”
The old man replied by shaking the little purse in his eager hand, and then throwing it down upon the table, and gathering up the cards as a miser would clutch at gold.
“Oh! That, indeed,” said Isaac; “if that’s what the gentleman meant, I beg the gentleman’s pardon. Is this the gentleman’s purse? A very pretty little purse. Rather a light purse,” added Isaac, throwing it into the air and catching it again, “but enough to amuse a gentleman for half an hour or so.”
The child, in a perfect agony, drew her grandfather aside, and begged him, even then, to come away.
“Come, and we may be so happy,” said the child.
“We will be happy,” replied the old man. “Let me go, Nell. I shall but win back my own; and it’s all for thee, my darling.”
“God help us!” cried the child. “Oh, what hard fortune brought us here?”
“Hush!” said the old man, laying his hand upon her mouth. “We must not blame fortune, or she shuns us; I have found that out.”
As he spoke he drew a chair to the table; and the other three closing round it at the same time, the game began.
The child sat by and watched it with a troubled mind. Losses and gains were to her alike. She only knew that the cards were evil things, and that now her quiet, happy life was at an end.
The storm had raged for full three hours, and now began to lull; but still the game went on, and still the poor child was forgotten.
The players sat for a long time at their game, and when it was over Isaac was the only winner, and Nell’s little purse was quite empty.
“Do you know what the time is?” said Mr. Groves, who was smoking with his friends. “Past twelve o’clock.”—”And a rainy night,” added the stout man.
“‘The Valiant Soldier,’ by James Groves. Good beds. Cheap entertainment for man and beast,” said Mr. Groves, quoting from his sign-board. “Half-past twelve o’clock.”
“It’s very late,” said the uneasy child. “I wish we had gone before. What will they think of us? It will be two o’clock by the time we get back. What would it cost, sir, if we stopped here?”
“Two good beds, one-and-sixpence; supper and beer, one shilling; total, two shillings and sixpence,” replied the landlord.
Now, Nell had still a piece of gold sewn in her dress, and when she thought of the lateness of the hour she made up her mind to remain. She therefore took her grandfather aside, and telling him that she had still enough left to pay for their lodging, said that they ought to stay there for the night.
“If I had but had that money before—if I had only known of it a few minutes ago!” muttered the old man.
“We will stop here, if you please,” said Nell, turning to the landlord.
“I think that’s prudent,” returned Mr. Groves. “You shall have your suppers directly.”
Very early the next morning they set out on their return journey, as Nell wished to reach home before Mrs. Jarley was up. The child’s heart was very sore when she thought of all that had happened, but she could not forget that the old man wished to win wealth only for her sake.
So she spoke to him very gently, trying to show him as clearly as she could that she had no desire to become rich, and least of all by such evil means.
“Let me persuade you—oh, do let me persuade you,” said the child, “to think no more of gains or losses.
“Have we been worse off,” she went on, “since you forgot these cares and we have been travelling on together? Have we not been much better and happier without a home to shelter us than ever we were in that unhappy house, when thoughts of winning wealth were on your mind?”
“She speaks the truth,” murmured the old man. “It must not turn me; but it is the truth—no doubt it is.”
“Only remember what we have been since that bright morning when we turned our backs upon it for the last time,” said Nell; “only remember what we have been since we have been free of all those miseries—what peaceful days and quiet nights we have had—what pleasant times we have known—what happiness we have enjoyed. If we have been tired or hungry, we have been soon refreshed, and slept the sounder for it. Think what beautiful things we have seen, and how contented we have felt. And why was this change?”
The old man stopped her with a motion of his hand, and bade her talk to him no more just then, for he was busy. After a time he kissed her cheek, without a word, and walked on, looking far before him, as if he were trying to collect his thoughts. Once she saw tears in his eyes.
When they reached the wax-work show they found that Mrs. Jarley was not yet out of bed. Nell at once set herself to the work of preparing the room, and had finished her task and dressed herself neatly before her mistress came down to breakfast.
That evening, as she feared, her grandfather stole away, and did not come back until the night was far spent. Worn out as she was in mind and body, she sat up alone, counting the minutes until he returned—penniless, broken-spirited, and wretched.
“Get me more money,” he said wildly, as they parted for the night. “I must have money, Nell. It shall be paid thee back with interest one day, but all the money that comes into thy hands must be mine—not for myself, but to use for thee. Remember, Nell, to use for thee!”
What could poor Nell do but give him every penny that came into her hands? If she told the truth (so thought the child) he would be treated as a madman; if she did not supply him with money he would try to steal it. Worn out by these thoughts, the colour forsook her cheek, her eye grew dim, and her heart was very heavy. All her old sorrows had come back upon her; by day they were ever present to her mind; by night they haunted her in dreams.
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