Frank Fairlegh

in but sport; wh

with pleasure,

rbe

as to venture a blow

lies deadly deep...

t in your pocket,..

. consider well wh

there is danger an

Eac

tobacco which pervaded it, was apparently used as a smoking-room. It opened into what seemed to be a rather spacious apartment from which it was divided by a glass half-door, across the lower panes of which hung a green blind: this door, on my entrance, was standing slightly ajar. The day being cold, there was a bright fire burning on the hearth; near this I seated myself, and, seduced by its drowsy influence, fell in

r to me-"I tell you it is the only chance for you; you must co

but too well; "utterly impossible; when once his mind is made up, and he takes th

in leading-strings as need be-this raw boy, whose hot-headedness, simplicity, and indolence rendered him as easy a pigeon to pluck as one could desire; how comes it, I s

ed himself the better player, while he was losing from twenty to thirty pounds a day? Didn't I excite him, and lead him on by a mixture of flattery and defiance, so that he often fancied he was persuading me to play against my will, and was so ready to bet that I might have won three times what I have of him, if you had not advised me to go on quietly, and by degrees? D

: why did you let the other bring him; every fo

thing," rejoined Cumberland; "but I wish to Heaven I had now; I might

stuff," observed Spicer, angrily, "so now to business, Mr. Cum

hich he appended a muttered remark not exactly ca

r, "I agreed to wait for my money till you

y pounds extra, besides anything you could make

persuade Oaklands to play again, so there's nothing more to be got from that quarter, consequently nothing more to wait for. I must trouble you, therefore, t

s at a minute's notice?" said Cumberland; "you ar

: yes! you may well turn pale, and gnaw your lip-other people can plot and scheme as well as yourself: if I'm not paid before I leave this place, and that will be by to-night's mail

it would be neither more nor less than ruin, but-and this is the real question-pray what possible advantage (save c

course, as such would pay his nephew's debts for him, more particularly when he kn

ish the family honour, forsooth! No! he will pay what the law compels him, and not a farthing more I leave you to decide whether the law is likely to be of much use to you in the present case. Now, listen to me; though you cannot obtain the money by the means you proposed, you can, as I said before, do me serious injury; therefore, if for no other reason but to stop your mouth, I would pay you the whole if I co

ountry in a day or two, and I must have money to take with me; come, on

o other money yet, excepting

y you directly; I'm pretty certain the fool's hard

his father's banker, which I am going to put into the post directly, with a cheque for thre

most sunk into a whisper, so that I could not catch more than a word here and there, but by the

er say, "Fifty pounds down

tain spoke again I caught the following words: "No

opened, while the one communicating with the other apartment wa

of calling to-morrow, at the same hour, he should be at leisure, etc. To this I answered something, I scarcely knew what, and, seizing my hat, rushed out at the front door, to the great astonishm

e of a private conversation, which accident alone had caused me to overhear? Would not people say I had behaved dishonourably in having listened to it at all? But then again, by preserving Cumberland's secret, and concealing his real character from Oaklands, should not I, as it were, become a party to any nefarious schemes he might contemplate for the future? Having failed in one instance in his attempt on Oaklands' purse, would he not (having, as I was now fully aware, such a strong necessity f

to effect with as little loss of time as possible. I consequently started off at speed in a homeward direction, and succeeded in reaching my destination in rather less than ten minutes, having, at various times in the course of my route, ru

ions of impatience and vexation; which unusual conduct on my part so astonished and alarmed the worthy Thomas that, after remaining in the room till he had exhausted every conceivable pretext for so doing, he boldly inquired whether "I did not feel myself ill, no how?" adding his hope, that "I had not been a-exhaling laughing gas, or any sich

s I had something of importance to communicate. To this he replied that it was very near dinner-time; but that, if I would come up to his room, I could talk to him while he dressed. As soon as we were safely closeted together I began my relation, but scarcely had I

out rising from his seat, he stretched out a

ate, and Cumberland entered, breathless, and with his usua

told me their band was going to play in Park Square, and asked me to go with him to hear it; and I'm afraid that, as I stood in the crowd, my pocket must have been picked, for when I got to the post-office I found that my letter,

; there was my father's cheque for three hundred pounds in

parcel of it, I'll run down and give it to the guard of the mail, begging him to deliver it himself as

ut why should you have the trouble of taking it? I dare say Thomas

, the least I can do is to take the parcel; besides, I should like

began for the first time to resolve themselves into a tangible form, but when I perceived his anxiety to have the parcel entrusted to him, which was to prevent the payment of the c

you with anything else, till you can prove that you

upon his feet, regarding me with the greatest surprise as he asked "if I knew what I was saying?" while Cumberland, in a voice hoarse from

picer, who, in return for it, is to give you a receipt in full for the two hundred pounds you owe him, and fifty pounds down." On hearing this Cumberland turned as pale as ashes, and leaned on the back of a cha

er himself, and turning towards the door, "I shall not remain here

said so much unless he had strong facts to produce, you and I shall have an account to settle together, Mr. Cumberlan

of what was going on, save once, when I mentioned the fact of the door between the two rooms being slightly open, when he muttered something about "what cursed folly!" When I had finished my account Oaklands turned towards Cumberland, and asked in a stern voice "what he had to say to this statement?" Receiving no answer, he continued: But it is useless, sir, to ask you: the truth of what Fairlegh has said is self-evident-the next quest

ave proposed, had you not ment

will write to my uncle-I shall be expelled-my character lost-it will be utter ruin;-hav

t this I shall be most unwilling to do; nothing short of Dr. Mildman's declaring it to be my positive duty will prevail upon me. But our tutor ought to be informed of it, and shall: he is a good, kind-hearted man, and if his judgment should err at all, you may feel sure it will be on the side of mercy. Fai

s well after dinner) to tell Oaklands to come to him immediately. To this Oaklands replied by desiring me to hold myself in readiness for a summons, as he should want

e, I had been sent for, "I wish you to repeat to me the conversation you ove

tions on any point which did not at first appear quite clear to him. When I had concluded he resumed his

ed you recognis

s,

you take

he other that of a Captain Spicer, wh

have you

about a week ago,

to the fact of the persons you heard speaki

st; I feel quite

ing to the culprit. "I am afraid the case is only too fully proved against

t is all a matter of assertion; you choose to believe what they say, and if I were

sing look. Cumberland attempted to speak, but, meeting Dr. Mildman's eye, was un

," said Dr. Mildman; "I suppose

ir, unless you consider it my positive duty; I would rather lose th

is a very difficult case in which to know how to act. As a gener

prosecute me, and I will tell you where he may be found, so that something may be done about it yet. I will pay anything you please. I shall come into money when I am of age, and I can make some arrangement. I don't care what I sacrifice, if I have to dig

, in the solitude of your chamber, you will do well to kneel, and pray that He who died to save sinners may, in the fulness of His mercy, pardon you also." He paused, and then resumed: "We must decide what steps had better be taken to recover your cheque, Oaklands; it is true we can send and stop the payment of it-but if

oms in F-- Street, his lodgings are at No.

pare your uncle the pain which such an exposure must occasion him; and secondly, I cannot but hope that at your age, so severe a lesson as this may work a permanent change in you, and that at some future period you may regain that standing among honourable men, which you have now so justly forfeited, and I am anxious that this should not be prevented by the stigma which a public examination must attach to your name for ever. I will therefore at once go with you to the abode of this man Spicer, cal

" "It is like yourself, Doctor, the perfection o

ainful duty to perform, which may as well be done at on

" entreated Cumberland; "believe me, I will

ssible, see your uncle, to inform him of this unhappy affair. And now, sir, prepare to go with me to this Captain Spicer;-on our return you will oblige me by remaining in your room during the evening. Oaklands, will you ask Lawless to take my place at the dinner-table, and inform your companions that Cumberland has been engaged in an af

ed one of the most painful and distressing