The School Friends; Or, Nothing New Read online

"I daresay your mother will give me a cup,for I am fearfully thirsty."

  Lance, without downright rudeness, could not refuse to ask him in.

  The widow received her guest with the courtesy of a lady, though, moreacquainted with the world than her son, she saw defects in the mannersof his companion which he had not discovered. She was not pleased,either, with the undisguised admiration Emery bestowed on Maddie, andwas very glad when Lance, bringing out his books, observed, "Now, oldfellow, I have got to study, and you ought to be doing the same, andthough I don't want to turn you out, you will excuse me if I set towork."

  Maddie got up to remove the tea-things, and Mrs Loughton took her work;so that Emery, finding that the young lady was not likely to listen tohis fine speeches, at length, greatly to their relief, wished them goodevening.

  CHAPTER TWO.

  Emery had certainly not received the slightest encouragement to payanother visit to his schoolfellow's abode. He, however, fancied himselfdesperately smitten with the beauty of Madelene Hayward, and after thisvery frequently sauntered by the cottage, or whenever he could make anexcuse to accompany Lance, he walked with him towards his home, in thehopes of being again invited in. Lance, however, sturdily refused tounderstand his hints, and managed, generally without churlishness, toget rid of him.

  Emery, however, met Maddie one day when out walking alone, and with aself-assurance of which no gentleman would have been guilty, in spite ofher evident annoyance, accompanied her till just before she arrived athome.

  Lance felt more angry than he had ever before been when he heard whathad occurred, and the next day cautioned Emery not to repeat theoffence, telling him very plainly that his mother did not wish to seehim again at her cottage.

  Emery, who stood somewhat in awe of Lance, looked foolish; but trying toconceal his vexation, muttered a sort of apology, and walked hurriedlyaway.

  Emery had some time before made the acquaintance of a person who had fora year or so been residing at Elmerston, where he had acted as one ofthe inferior agents in the last election contest. Sass Gange had been aseaman. He was a long-tongued fellow, with an assumed sedate manner,which gained him the credit of being a respectable man.

  Sass having been employed by Mr Dulman, Emery became acquainted withhim, and he had ever since taken pains to gain the confidence of thelad, with considerable success. Emery always found himself a welcomeguest at Sass Gange's lodgings, when the old sailor was wont to indulgehim in a pipe of tobacco and a glass of ale, while he spun long yarnsabout his adventures at sea.

  After leaving Lance, Emery made his way to Sass Gange's lodgings.

  "What is up now, Master Emery?" asked the old sailor as the lad threwhimself into an arm-chair before the fire. "You look out of sortssomehow."

  "With good reason too, I should think," exclaimed Emery. "I have takenit into my head to admire a beautiful young creature; and though myfather is rolling in wealth, and I suppose I shall come in for a goodshare of it one of these days, I have just been told that I must keepaway from the house, and if they had their will, never see her again."

  "Well, take a blow, lad, and it will calm your spirits, and we will thentalk the matter over," said old Sass, handing a pipe which he had justcharged, and filling up a tumbler with ale.

  "Now tell me all about it."

  Emery gave his own version of what had just occurred.

  "Don't be cast down, Master Emery," said old Sass, "I will help you if Ican. I have no reason to love that young Loughton, and he is at thebottom of it, depend upon that. If she was his sister, he would not beso very particular; but that's not what I was going to say. I onceserved under Lieutenant Loughton, and, thanks to him, my back more thanonce got a scoring which it has not forgotten yet. I vowed vengeance,but had no opportunity of getting it; and as the lieutenant is gone,why, I shall have a pleasure in paying the son what I owed the father.We must bide our time, though; but it will come if we are on the watch,depend upon that."

  Emery, instead of being shocked at these remarks, listened to themeagerly.

  The rest of the conversation need not be repeated.

  "I must go now," said Emery, "for we have a grand party at our houseto-night, and I must be at home in time to dress."

  Mr Dulman's party was the grandest he had ever given. The member forthe borough with all his family was there, and he had persuaded a numberof his friends to come and honour Mr Dulman, by whose means he hadgained his election. All the magnates of the town were also present, sothat Elmerston had never before seen a more brilliant assemblage.

  Mr Dulman exerted himself to the utmost to make the party go off well,and poor Mrs Dulman did her best, though she always felt overwhelmedwith the responsibilities of the new position in which she was placed,and awed by the great people. Emery, though not a bad-looking youngman, felt too much abashed to appear to advantage, in spite of hisoff-hand manner among his ordinary associates; and though he made manyefforts to do the polite to his father's guests, he as often failed fromawkwardness, and would have felt much happier smoking his pipe anddrinking beer with old Sass.

  During the evening, as Mr Dulman went into the hall, a letter was putinto his hand by a messenger who had been waiting to see him. Heretired to a corner to read it. His usually ruddy countenance turneddeadly pale. He hurriedly thrust it into his pocket.

  "I will attend to the matter to-morrow," he said, in as firm a voice ashe could command. "It's impossible to do so now."

  He went to the supper-room, and rapidly drinking off three or fourglasses of wine, hastened back to his guests. Many of them, however,remarked his agitated and absent manner, while some of his acquaintancesobserved that old Dulman had been over-fortifying himself for hisarduous duties.

  As soon as his guests were gone he shut himself up in his room, andspent the remainder of the night, with the fatal letter before him,making calculations. Before the rest of the family were up he had leftthe house, and was off by the first train to London.

  The next day it was whispered that Mr Dulman, who was known to havespeculated largely in railway shares, was ruined. People said that hehad only love of ostentation to thank for what had occurred, and fewpitied him.

  His fine house and furniture were sold, but his estate did not yield apenny in the pound.

  Ashamed of again showing his face at Elmerston, he sailed for Australia,leaving his wife and younger children living in a mean cottage in theneighbourhood, a small allowance having been made to them by thecreditors, while Emery was sent to seek his fortune in London.

  About the same time Sass Gange, for reasons best known to himself,finding it convenient to leave the town, went up also to London, where,with the character of a highly respectable and confidential man, throughthe influence of some of his political friends, he obtained a situationas porter in the large West End draper's establishment of Messrs Padmanand Co. Sass was not a man to allow his talents to remain under abushel. By means of his persuasive eloquence, he soon induced theconfiding Mr Padman to place the most unbounded confidence in hishonesty and devoted attention to business. When the cash receivedduring the day was sent to the bank by one of the clerks, Sass wasinvariably ordered to follow, to be ready to assist him should he bewaylaid by pickpockets, and to see that he faithfully deposited theamount as directed. Sass did not know how much was carried, but heguessed that at times it must be a considerable sum.

  CHAPTER THREE.

  Sass Gange had been for some time in the employment of Messrs Padman,when one day as he entered the shop he saw behind the counter his formerElmerston acquaintance, Emery Dulman, busily engaged in serving acustomer. Emery did not recognise him, nor did he just then wish to berecognised, so he passed quickly on to deliver the parcels he had justbrought in. He observed, however, that Emery was even better dressedthan usual--that he wore a fashionably-cut black suit, a neck-cloth ofsnowy whiteness, a gold ring on his finger, and a somewhat large goldwatch-chain, ostentatiously exhibited. As he was repassing, Emerylooked up,
when Sass gave him an almost unperceived wink, and turningaway his head, hurried on.

  "I hope that he will have the sense not to tell any one that we areacquainted," he thought. "I must let him know where I live, and he willsoon be coming to have a talk over old times."

  Sass might have been pretty sure that Emery was not likely to tell anyone that they were acquainted; indeed, that young gentleman's chiefpleasure was boasting to his new associates of his highly-connected andfashionable friends, and bewailing the hard fate which had compelled himto become a draper's assistant. Some were inclined in consequence totreat him with respect, but many of the older hands laughed at hisfolly, and having discovered who his father was, observed that he wasfortunate in obtaining so good a situation in a business for which heought to be well suited.

  Sass soon found an opportunity of letting Emery know where he lived, andthe next day