Half a Hero

Half a Hero, by Anthony Hope

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Title: Half a Hero A Novel
Author: Anthony Hope
Release Date: August 1, 2007 [EBook #22191]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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HERO ***

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[Illustration: "Sir John Oakapple's dance was agreed to be a very
brilliant affair." (Page 41.)]

HALF A HERO

A NOVEL BY ANTHONY HOPE
AUTHOR OF 'MR. WITT'S WIDOW,' 'COMEDIES OF
COURTSHIP,' ETC.
WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED LONDON, MELBOURNE AND
TORONTO 1911

CONTENTS.
CHAP. PAGE
I. THE IMPOSSIBLE--INEVITABLE 1 II. A POPULAR
DEMONSTRATION 11 III. HOSPITALITY EX OFFICIO 19 IV.
WEEDING OUT THE WEAK-KNEED 30 V. A TALK AT A DANCE
41 VI. A CANDIDATE FOR OFFICE 50 VII. A COMMON
SPECTACLE 59 VIII. FOR THE HIGHEST BIDDER 69 IX. TWO
HASTY UTTERANCES 80 X. THE SMOKE OF HIDDEN FIRES 90
XI. A CONSCIENTIOUS MAN'S CONSCIENCE 100 XII. AN
ABSURD AMBITION 110 XIII. OUT OF HARM'S WAY 121 XIV. A
FATAL SECESSION 133 XV. AN ATTEMPT AT TERRORISM 144
XVI. A LEAKY VESSEL 153 XVII. THE TRUTH ABOUT THE
MAN 162 XVIII. BY AN OVERSIGHT OF SOCIETY'S 173 XIX.
LAST CHANCES 183 XX. THE LAW VERSUS RULE 3 196 XXI.
ALL THERE WAS TO TELL 205 XXII. THE STORY OF A
PHOTOGRAPH 215 XXIII. AN ORATOR'S RIVAL 227 XXIV.
THREE AGAINST THE WORLD 236 XXV. THE TRUTH TOO
LATE 244 XXVI. THE UNCLEAN THING 255 XXVII. THE
DECISION OF THE ORACLE 268 XXVIII. STEALING A MARCH
280 XXIX. A BEATEN MAN'S THOUGHTS 291 XXX. THE END
OF A TUMULT 300

HALF A HERO.
CHAPTER I.

THE IMPOSSIBLE--INEVITABLE.
In the garden the question was settled without serious difference of
opinion. If Sir Robert Perry really could not go on--and Lady
Eynesford was by no means prepared to concede even that--then Mr.
Puttock, bourgeois as he was, or Mr. Coxon, conceited and priggish
though he might be, must come in. At any rate, the one indisputable
fact was the impossibility of Mr. Medland: this was, to Lady
Eynesford's mind, axiomatic, and, in the safe privacy of her family
circle (for Miss Scaife counted as one of the family, and Captain
Heseltine and Mr. Flemyng did not count at all), she went so far as to
declare that, let the Governor do as he would (in the inconceivable case
of his being so foolish as to do anything of the kind), she at least would
not receive Mr. Medland. Having launched this hypothetical
thunderbolt, she asked Alicia Derosne to give her another cup of tea.
Alicia poured out the tea, handed it to her sister-in-law, and asked,
"But, Mary, what is there so dreadful about Mr. Medland?"
"Everything," said Lady Eynesford.
"Still," suggested Miss Scaife, "if the creatures are bent on having
him----"
"My dear Eleanor, what is a Governor for?" demanded Lady
Eynesford.
"To do as he's told and subscribe to the Cup," interposed Dick Derosne.
And he added, "They are having a palaver. Old Perry's been in an hour
and a half."
Captain Heseltine and Mr. Flemyng looked at their watches and nodded
gravely.
"Poor Willie!" murmured Lady Eynesford. "He'll miss his ride."
Poor Willie--that is to say, His Excellency William Delaporte, Baron
Eynesford, Governor of New Lindsey--deserved all the sympathy his

wife's exclamation implied, and even more. For, after a vast amount of
fencing and an elaborate disquisition on the state of parties in the
colony, Sir Robert Perry decisively refused the dissolution the
Governor offered, and ended by saying, with eyebrows raised and the
slightest shrug of his shoulders,
"In fact, sir, it's my duty to advise you to send for Mr. Medland."
The Governor pushed his chair back from the table.
"You won't try again?" he asked.
"Impossible, until he has failed."
"You think Puttock out of the question?"
"Quite. He has not following enough: people wouldn't stand Medland
being passed over. Really, I don't think you'll find Medland hard to get
on with. He's a very able man. For myself, I like him."
The Governor sat silent for a few minutes. Sir Robert, conceiving that
his interview was at an end, rose to take leave. Lord Eynesford
expressed much regret at being obliged to lose his services: Sir Robert
replied suitably, and was at the door before the Governor reverted to
Mr. Medland.
"There are queer stories about him, aren't there?" he asked. "I mean
about his private life."
"Well,