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Next morning I went over to see Bink, and we felt pretty blue. Tommy, Flare-pistol Bill, Barbed-wire Pete, and Lieutenant Oldershaw were all killed, and half a dozen others, including Rust, were wounded. Poor old 10th Platoon, they were going fast! Bink, Fat, McMurchie, Erne Rowe and I were the only ones left of my old pals, and the ones who were gone were the ones I had chummed with most.
"'Does that mean Yes, or No'? I asked. "'On moral and religious grounds, Lydia, said Mrs. Oldershaw, 'it means No. "'On wicked and worldly grounds, I rejoined, 'I beg to thank you for showing me your hand. "There could, indeed, be no doubt now about the object she really had in view. She would run no more risks and lend no more money; she would leave me to win or lose single-handed.
Oldershaw, who lived a little to the north of Whithyford, agreed to accompany me, and Dicky Esse and Tom Twig happened to be going up to London the same day. We therefore all took our places on the coach together. Oldershaw had secured the box seat; we three took our places behind him.
Good-night, and keep a corner in your stony old heart for From Mrs. Oldershaw to Miss Gwilt. "Diana Street, Pimlico, Monday. "MY DEAR LYDIA I am in no state of mind to write you an amusing letter. Your news is very discouraging, and the recklessness of your tone quite alarms me. Consider the money I have already advanced, and the interests we both have at stake.
She had an elderly female friend to apply to at the time, who was just the woman to help her in ferreting out her mistress's address. Can you guess the name of the elderly female friend? Not you! Mrs. Oldershaw, of course!" Mr. Bashwood suddenly looked up. "Why should she go back," he asked, "to the woman who had deserted her when she was a child?"
"I will write again if you wish it. Please accept of my duty, and believe me to remain, sir, your humble servant, "P. S. The yacht has been rigged and repainted, waiting your orders. She looks beautiful." From Mrs. Oldershaw to Miss Gwilt. "Diana Street, July 24th. "MISS GWILT The post hour has passed for three mornings following, and has brought me no answer to my letter.
The hour came, and the train left for Norfolk at last. While the travelers were on their way back, a somewhat longer telegraphic message than Allan's was flashing its way past them along the wires, in the reverse direction from Thorpe Ambrose to London. The message was in cipher, and, the signs being interpreted, it ran thus: "From Lydia Gwilt to Maria Oldershaw. Good news! He is coming back.
The remainder, who had escaped aft, threw down their arms and cried for quarter. Our prize mounted twenty-four guns, and the crew amounted to upwards of two hundred men. Two days afterwards we were entering Kingston Harbour with her in triumph. Oldershaw was appointed First-Lieutenant of the brig, and I received an order as her Second-Lieutenant.
You catch me at the end of my evidence, dad, when you come to Miss Gwilt's proceedings in the spring and summer of the present year. She might, or she might not, have been desperate enough to attempt suicide; and she might, or she might not, have been at the bottom of those inquiries that I made for Mrs. Oldershaw.
Scarcely, however, had he reached the ship's deck when a pistol bullet through his head laid him low. I was close behind him. Oldershaw was bringing on a fresh set of boarders. "On, lads, on!" shouted Oldershaw. We swept the enemy before us, and, though they made a stout resistance, in ten minutes we had killed, or driven below or overboard, the greater part of the crew.
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