The Second Dandy Chater

in March, it is that part of Essex which lies some twenty miles to the north of the Thames, and is bordered nowh

, the very sun, if he happen to have shown his face at all during the day, sinks more sullenly than anywhere else, as though disgusted with the prospect, and glad to get to bed;

very much to the ruffling of his temper, on the way to the small village of Bamberton. The railway leaves off suddenly, some six miles from Bamberton, and the

mud and a drizzling rain, as cheerfully as might be. He was a tall, well-built man, of about eight-and-twenty years of age; with strong, well-defined featu

and rain drove at him. "Why-if the devil himself were in league against me, and had made up his mind to oppose my coming, h

winkling lights of the village, as though he has something weighty on his mind, which must be thrashed out before he could proceed to his destination. De

right; I've seen a picture of the respected Dandy Chater-and there's nothing to be feared, from that point of view. The only thing is, that I must feel my way, and know

d not hear the sound of light steps approaching him, from the direction of the village; and was absolutely unaware that there was

oor and common, there was an indefinable air of grace about her, which set her apart-or seemed to do, in the man's eyes-from any mere rustic girl. To his surprise, s

tter?" he asked

traces of tears in them-and looked steadily at him. Even though the man knew that he had been mistaken by her for some one el

ice had a faint touch of the rustic in it-"you

on of the name; he turned away abruptly-partly in order to have

. "Nearer and nearer! Now-who on earth is t

eously. "You know why I can't go. You promised to meet me to-

ng turn of events, his one object was to gain time-to give such replies as should l

little nearer to him. "You know how much it means to me-my goo

her, felt a certain hot indignation growing in him against the real Dandy Chater, who could have brought tears to eyes which must once h

fear. I will meet you, as I hav

d the girl, gratefully. "And you are

felt that he must deal delicately with the matter, as he had still much to

m I to do with you the

see you've forgotten all about it already-the old place at Woolwich-the Three Watermen-near the river; didn't you say we might wait there until to-

of the girl. "Why-in Heaven's name, does he want to meet her in a wood, if he's going to take her to London? I must follow this up,

uickly-"will be man and wife-and Patien

goodness the man is dealing fairly with her." Turning to the girl again, he s

time to walk across the fields, from there to the station, to cat

lied the man. "I shan't be

paces down the road towards the village,

ng like that? Won't y

ly round her shoulders, and bent his face towards hers, he looked fully and strongly into

standing in the road looking after him. "The likeness must be greater even than I suspected. No

de by a small inn. On the one side-the right hand-was the Chater Arms; on the other-the Bamberton Head. Standing between them, and looking up the long straggling stree

e position, or shall I try one of the inns? I think I'll try one of the inns; if I happen to drop into the wrong one, and he's there, I must trust to mak

ng, he thrust open a door which led into the little parlour, and boldly entered it. There were one or two men in the room, and a big surly-looking giant of a fellow, who appeared

man. "'Tain't of'en as we sees anyt

real man, until I wish to do so." Aloud he said, with a shrug of the shoulders-"Oh-anything for a

my word for 't," replied the landlor

f the man they supposed him to be, there was a curious resentment at his presence, and a distrust of him personally, which was not to be disguised. When, having leisurely drunk his brandy, he l

utside the village, had gone, for the time, clean out of his mind; when he looked at his watch, he discovered, to his dismay, that it was near

or even of a wood, he lost more valuable time still; and at last, in sheer desperation, remembering that the last train for London started at a few

wood long ago, and are well on their way to the station. I'll follow them; that's the best course. Besides-I don't like the look of that business with the gir

g, seeing the lights of the station in the distance before him, a figure suddenly broke through the low hedge beside the road, scarcely more than a hund

the figure which had broken through the hedge, and run on before, had stopped, and was carefully scraping and shaking some heavy wet clay from its boots. Catch

a door, and jumped in. He heard a shout, and, looking out, saw a porter pulling open another door, while the man who had been so part

. Well, most respectable Great Eastern Railway Company," he added, with a laugh, apostrophising the name of the Company staring at him from the wall of the carriage-"it isn't

g the other man; and, on getting out, discovered to his annoyance that the other man had vanished-swallowed up in the restles

riverside, by huge baulks of timber, round which the muddy water creeps and washes; and it is the presiding genius, as it were, over a number of tumble-down sheds and out-houses, used for the storage of river lumber of one s

and afterwards, when he had reached the place. In consequence, he had lost a very considerable amount of time; and was well aware that, if the man he pursued had come to the place at all, he had had all the advantage, from the fact of knowing the way

reached the end of it, and was shivering a little, at the melancholy prospect of dark water and darker mud before him, when a man, rushing hurriedly from the direct

he murmured to himself. "Now, I wonder what

he place was quite lonely and deserted, and only the skeleton-like frames of some old barges and other vessels, which some one, at some remote period, had been breaking up, stood up gaunt against the sky

owdy touched was quite warm, although the man was stone dead. But that was not the strange part-that was not the

ere alike in every particular, down to the smallest detail; it was as though the living man gazed

dy to himself in an awed voice