Spring Heeled Jack | Page 4

baronet whose creation went back as far back as 1619.
Jack's father had been a younger son, and, as was frequently the case in those days, he had been sent out to India to see what he could do for himself.
This was rendered necessary by the fact that I although the Dacres possessed a considerable amount of land the whole of it was strictly entailed.
This fact was added to the perhaps more important one that each individual Dacre in possession of the title and estates seemed to consider that it was his duty to live close up to his income, and to give his younger sons nothing to start in life with, save a good education.
That is to say, the younger sons had the run of the house.
They were taught to shoot by the keepers; to ride by the grooms; to throw a fly, perhaps, by the gardener; and to pick up what little "book-learning" they could.
Not altogether a bad education, perhaps, in those days when fortunes could be made in India by any who had fair connections, plenty of pluck, and plenty of industry.
Jack's father was early told that he could expect no money out of the estate, and he was also informed that he could choose his own path in life.
This did not take him long.
Sidney Dacre was a plucky young fellow, and thought that India would afford the widest scope for his talents, which were not of the most brilliant order, as may be expected from his early training.
To India he therefore went, and managed to shake the "pagoda tree" to a pretty fair extent.
In 1837 he thought he was justified in taking to himself a wife, and of this union Jack, who was born in the year of Waterloo, was the only result.
Fifteen years later Sidney Dacre received the intelligence that his father and his two brothers had perished in a storm near Bantry Bay, where they had gone to assist as volunteers in repelling a supposed French invading party which it was anticipated would attempt to effect a landing there.
This untimely death of his three relatives left Sidney Dacre the heir to the baronetcy and estates; and although he had plantation after plantation in the Presidencies, he made up his mind that he would at once return to the old country.
He therefore placed his Indian plantations in the hands of one Alfred Morgan, a clerk, in whom he had always placed implicit confidence.
This man, by the way, had been the sole witness to his marriage with Jack's mother.
A month later, and Sir Sidney and Lady Dacre, with their son, set sail in the good ship Hydaspes on their way to England.
Nothing of any importance occurred on the voyage, and the Hydaspes was within sight of the white cliffs of old Albion when a storm came on, and almost within gunshot of home the brave old ship which had weathered many a storm went to pieces.
All that were saved out of passengers and crew were two souls.
One, our hero Jack Dacre, afterwards to become the notorious Spring- Heeled Jack; the other, a common sailor, Ned Chump, a man who is destined to play a not unimportant part in this history, even if the part he had already played did not entitle him to mention in our columns.
And when we tell our readers that had it not been for the friendly office of Ned Chump our hero must inevitably have perished with the rest, we think they will agree that they owe the jolly sailor a certain amount of gratitude.
Ned Chump had taken very great interest in our hero on the voyage home.
Jack was such a handsome, bright-looking lad, that everyone seemed to take to him at first sight.
Ned's devotion to him more resembled that of a faithful mastiff to his master than any other simile that we can call to mind.
When Ned saw that the fate of the Hydaspes was inevitable he made up his mind that Master Jack and he should be saved if there was any possibility of such a thing.
The jolly tar bound Jack Dacre fast to a hen coop, and then attached his belt to it with a leather thong.
This done Ned threw the lad, the coop, and himself into the sea, and beating out bravely managed to get clear of the ship as she went down head first.
Had he not have done this they must inevitably have been drawn into the vortex caused by the sinking ship.
Fortunately for both of them Jack had become unconscious, or it is not likely that he would have deserted his father and mother, even at this critical juncture.
However, the Hydaspes and all on board, including Sir Sidney and Lady Dacre, had gone to the bottom of the sea ere Jack recovered consciousness and found himself on