None Other Gods | Page 4

sir. When you first told me of your intention, I
warned you what would happen if you persisted, and I repeat it now.
Since you have deliberately chosen, in spite of all that I have said, to go
your own way, and to become a Papist, I will have no more to do with

you. From this moment you cease to be my son. You shall not, while I
live, darken my doors again, or sleep under my roof. I say nothing of
what you have had from me in the past--your education and all the rest.
And, since I do not wish to be unduly hard upon you, you can keep the
remainder of your allowance up to July and the furniture of your rooms.
But, after that, not one penny shall you have from me. You can go to
your priests and get them to support you.
"I am only thankful that your poor mother has been spared this blow.
"T."
Jack made a small murmurous sound as he finished. Frank chuckled
aloud.
"Pitches it in all right, doesn't he?" he observed dispassionately.
"If it had been my governor--" began Jack slowly.
"My dear man, it isn't your governor; it's mine. And I'm dashed if
there's another man in the world who'd write such a letter as that
nowadays. It's--it's too early-Victorian. They'd hardly stand it at the
Adelphi! I could have put it so much better myself.... Poor old
governor!"
"Have you answered it?"
"I ... I forget. I know I meant to.... No, I haven't. I remember now. And
I shan't till I'm just off."
"Well, I shall," remarked Jack.
Frank turned a swift face upon him.
"If you do," he said, with sudden fierce gravity, "I'll never speak to you
again. I mean it. It's my affair, and I shall run it my own way."
"But--"

"I mean it. Now! give me your word of honor--"
"I--"
"Your word of honor, this instant, or get out of my room!"
There was a pause. Then:
"All right," said Jack.
Then there fell a silence once more.
(II)
The news began to be rumored about, soon after the auction that Frank
held of his effects a couple of days later. He carried out the scene
admirably, entirely unassisted, even by Jack.
First, there appeared suddenly all over Cambridge, the evening before
the sale, just as the crowds of undergraduates and female relations
began to circulate about after tea and iced strawberries, a quantity of
sandwich-men, bearing the following announcement, back and front:
TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.
THE HON. FRANK GUISELEY has pleasure in announcing that on
JUNE 7TH (Saturday) at half-past ten a.m. precisely in Rooms 1, Letter
J, Great Court, Trinity College, he will positively offer for
SALE BY AUCTION
_The household effects, furniture, books, etc., of the Hon. Frank
Guiseley, including_--
A piano by Broadwood (slightly out of tune); a magnificent suite of
drawing-room furniture, upholstered in damask, the sofa only slightly
stained with tea; one oak table and another; a bed; a chest of drawers
(imitation walnut, and not a very good imitation); a mahogany
glass-fronted bookcase, containing a set of suggestive-looking volumes

bound in faint colors, with white labels; four oriental mats; a portrait of
a gentleman (warranted a perfectly respectable ancestor); dining-room
suite (odd chairs); numerous engravings of places of interest and
noblemen's seats; a
_Silver Cigarette-box and fifteen Cigarettes in it (Melachrino and
Mixed American_); a cuckoo-clock (without cuckoo); five
walking-sticks; numerous suits of clothes (one lot suitable for
Charitable Purposes); some books--all VERY CURIOUS
indeed--comprising the works of an Eminent Cambridge Professor, and
other scholastic luminaries, as well as many other articles.
AT HALF-PAST TEN A.M. PRECISELY All friends, and strangers,
cordially invited. NO RESERVE PRICE.
It served its purpose admirably, for by soon after ten o'clock quite a
considerable crowd had begun to assemble; and it was only after a very
serious conversation with the Dean that the sale was allowed to proceed.
But it proceeded, with the distinct understanding that a college porter
be present; that no riotous behavior should be allowed; that the sale was
a genuine one, and that Mr. Guiseley would call upon the Dean with
further explanations before leaving Cambridge.
The scene itself was most impressive.
Frank, in a structure resembling an auctioneer's box, erected on the
hearth-rug, presided, with extraordinary gravity, hammer in hand,
robed in a bachelor's gown and hood. Beneath him the room seethed
with the company, male and female, all in an excellent humor, and
quite tolerable prices were obtained. No public explanations were given
of the need for the sale, and Jack, in the deepest dismay, looked in
again that afternoon, about lunch-time, to find the room completely
stripped, and Frank, very cheerful, still in his hood and gown, smoking
a cigarette in