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And as for yourself, to make an end of arguments, you have no right to a farthing, and, unless I'm much mistaken, you are going to die." It was certainly very cruelly said; but Mr. Huddlestone was a man who attracted little sympathy; and, although I saw him wince and shudder, I mentally indorsed the rebuke; nay, I added a contribution of my own.
The accountants who were charged to verify the failure had, it seemed, come upon the traces of a very large number of thousands, which figured for some time in the transactions of the house of Huddlestone; but which came from nowhere, and disappeared in the same mysterious fashion.
I do not think we were attacked: I do not remember even to have seen an assailant; and I believe we deserted Mr. Huddlestone without a glance. I only remember running like a man in a panic, now carrying Clara altogether in my own arms, now sharing her weight with Northmour, now scuffling confusedly for the possession of that dear burden.
"I am going to make sure," returned Northmour; and he stepped up to the window, holding the lamp above his head, and stood there, quietly affronting death, for half a minute. Clara sought to rush forward and pull him from the place of danger; but I had the pardonable selfishness to hold her back by force. "Yes," said Northmour, turning coolly from the window; "it's only Huddlestone they want."
"It is; and I wish it were in the bottom of the sea instead," said Northmour; and then suddenly "What are you making faces at me for?" he cried to Mr. Huddlestone, on whom I had unconsciously turned my back. "Do you think Cassilis would sell you?" Mr. Huddlestone protested that nothing had been further from his mind. "It is a good thing," retorted Northmour in his ugliest manner.
I made a bargain for Missy's hand, and I mean to have it too." "That by the way," said I. "I understand. But how will Mr. Huddlestone take my intrusion?" "Leave that to Clara," returned Northmour. I could have struck him in the face for this coarse familiarity; but I respected the truce, as, I am bound to say, did Northmour, and so long as the danger continued not a cloud arose in our relation.
With these I sought the tavern, and, ordering some breakfast, sat down to study the "Huddlestone Failure." It had been, it appeared, a very flagrant case. Thousands of persons were reduced to poverty; and one in particular had blown out his brains as soon as payment was suspended. It was strange to myself that, while I read these details, I continued rather to sympathize with Mr.
There was not a human being to be seen to right or left. "Ah, well!" said Northmour, "here's the end, thank God." And we returned to My Uncle's Room. Mr. Huddlestone was putting on his boots, still violently trembling, but with an air of determination such as I had not hitherto observed.
I do not think we were attacked; I do not remember even to have seen an assailant; and I believe we deserted Mr. Huddlestone without a glance. I only remember running like a man in a panic, now carrying Clara altogether in my own arms, now sharing her weight with Northmour, now scuffling confusedly for the possession of that dear burden.
Huddlestone, shaking his finger, "I am no precisian, if you come to that; I always hated a precisian; but I never lost hold of something better through it all. I have been a bad boy, Mr. Cassilis; I do not seek to deny that; but it was after my wife's death, and you know, with a widower, it's a different thing: sinful I won't say no; but there is a gradation, we shall hope.
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