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"Drive to the Clarendon," said Captain Lee, as he and Gurwood followed the nurse into the cab; "we will take care of her," he added to Edwin, "till she is better able to take care of herself." Mrs Durby gave vent to a hysterical sob of gratitude. Arrived at the Clarendon they alighted, the captain paid the fare, and the cab was dismissed. Just at that moment Mrs Durby became a temporary maniac.
With a feeling of sudden anger Gurwood turned round, but before he could speak his eye fell on Mrs Tipps, who sat on a bench leaning on her son's breast, and looking deadly pale but quite composed. "My dear Mrs Tipps," exclaimed the youth, stepping hastily forward, "I hope I trust " "Oh, Edwin thank you, my dear fellow," cried Joseph, grasping his hand and shaking it.
By good fortune, the arrival of several more friends diverted attention from this incident; and, immediately after, Captain Lee set the children to engage in various games, among which the favourite was blindman's-buff. One of the new arrivals was Edwin Gurwood, who had come, he said, to introduce a gentleman Dr Noble to Mrs Tipps.
Observing her shudder, he placed his strong arm behind her, and adroitly sinking down on one knee received her on the other, very much after the manner in which, while at school, he had been wont to act the part of second to pugilistic companions. Mrs Tipps recovered almost immediately, sprang up, and hurried into the house, followed by Gurwood.
It had cost Mr Sharp and his men many weary hours of waiting and investigation, but their perseverance was at length well rewarded, for the "nest" was thoroughly "harried;" the men were dismissed and variously punished, and that portion of the Grand National Trunk Railway was, for the time, most effectually purified. Let us turn now, for a brief space, to Edwin Gurwood.
Following the wrong scent, therefore, with wonted pertinacity, the three men sauntered behind Captain Lee and Edwin, who, true to the "laws" with which Jenkins had credited human nature, passed one carriage after another until they found an empty one. "Here is one, Gurwood," said the captain. He was about to step into it, when he observed Mrs Durby sitting in the next compartment.
His friend Fred chanced at that moment to have been thrust aside by a fat female in frantic haste and Edwin Gurwood, occupying the exact spot he had vacated, had the bundle thrust into his hand. He retained it mechanically, in utter abstraction of mind. The bell rang, and the magnificent guard, whose very whiskers curled with an air of calm serenity, said, "Now then, take your seats; make haste."
Although the above can scarcely be considered a brilliant achievement of Edwin Gurwood, it nevertheless accomplished its purpose; for the letter was, in all respects, so very unlike Captain Lee, that neither Mrs Tipps nor her daughter suspected him for an instant. On the contrary, they took it in good faith.
I bring you a letter from Clatterby station. Another messenger should have brought it, but I undertook the duty partly for the purpose of introducing myself as your son's friend. I my name is Gurwood." "What! Edwin Gurwood, about whom Joseph speaks so frequently, and for whom he has been trying to obtain a situation on the railway through our friend Captain Lee?" exclaimed Mrs Tipps.
How fortunate," exclaimed Mrs Tipps, "he will take care of me. Come, Mr Gurwood, I will introduce you to him and his daughter." She turned to Gurwood, but that youth did not hear her remark, having been forced from her side by a noiseless luggage truck on India-rubber wheels.
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