The Dynamiter | Page 7

by the
resonant tread and distant figure of a constable, returned to the charge
with more of spirit and directness.
'I thought,' said he, in the tone of conversation, 'that I had indistinctly
perceived you leaving a villa in the company of two gentlemen.'
'Oh!' she said, 'you need not fear to wound me by the truth. You saw
me flee from a common lodging-house, and my companions were not
gentlemen. In such a case, the best of compliments is to be frank.'
'I thought,' resumed Challoner, encouraged as much as he was surprised
by the spirit of her reply, 'to have perceived, besides, a certain odour. A
noise, too--I do not know to what I should compare it--'
'Silence!' she cried. 'You do not know the danger you invoke. Wait,
only wait; and as soon as we have left those streets, and got beyond the
reach of listeners, all shall be explained. Meanwhile, avoid the topic.
What a sight is this sleeping city!' she exclaimed; and then, with a most
thrilling voice, '"Dear God," she quoted, "the very houses seem asleep,
and all that mighty heart is lying still."'
'I perceive, madam,' said he, 'you are a reader.'
'I am more than that,' she answered, with a sigh. 'I am a girl condemned
to thoughts beyond her age; and so untoward is my fate, that this walk

upon the arm of a stranger is like an interlude of peace.'
They had come by this time to the neighbourhood of the Victoria
Station and here, at a street corner, the young lady paused, withdrew
her arm from Challoner's, and looked up and down as though in pain or
indecision. Then, with a lovely change of countenance, and laying her
gloved hand upon his arm -
'What you already think of me,' she said, 'I tremble to conceive; yet I
must here condemn myself still further. Here I must leave you, and here
I beseech you to wait for my return. Do not attempt to follow me or spy
upon my actions. Suspend yet awhile your judgment of a girl as
innocent as your own sister; and do not, above all, desert me. Stranger
as you are, I have none else to look to. You see me in sorrow and great
fear; you are a gentleman, courteous and kind: and when I beg for a few
minutes' patience, I make sure beforehand you will not deny me.'
Challoner grudgingly promised; and the young lady, with a grateful
eye-shot, vanished round the corner. But the force of her appeal had
been a little blunted; for the young man was not only destitute of sisters,
but of any female relative nearer than a great-aunt in Wales. Now he
was alone, besides, the spell that he had hitherto obeyed began to
weaken; he considered his behaviour with a sneer; and plucking up the
spirit of revolt, he started in pursuit. The reader, if he has ever plied the
fascinating trade of the noctambulist, will not be unaware that, in the
neighbourhood of the great railway centres, certain early taverns
inaugurate the business of the day. It was into one of these that
Challoner, coming round the corner of the block, beheld his charming
companion disappear. To say he was surprised were inexact, for he had
long since left that sentiment behind him. Acute disgust and
disappointment seized upon his soul; and with silent oaths, he damned
this commonplace enchantress. She had scarce been gone a second, ere
the swing-doors reopened, and she appeared again in company with a
young man of mean and slouching attire. For some five or six
exchanges they conversed together with an animated air; then the
fellow shouldered again into the tap; and the young lady, with
something swifter than a walk, retraced her steps towards Challoner.
He saw her coming, a miracle of grace; her ankle, as she hurried,
flashing from her dress; her movements eloquent of speed and youth;
and though he still entertained some thoughts of flight, they grew

miserably fainter as the distance lessened. Against mere beauty he was
proof: it was her unmistakable gentility that now robbed him of the
courage of his cowardice. With a proved adventuress he had acted
strictly on his right; with one who, in spite of all, he could not quite
deny to be a lady, he found himself disarmed. At the very corner from
whence he had spied upon her interview, she came upon him, still
transfixed, and- -'Ah!' she cried, with a bright flush of colour. 'Ah!
Ungenerous!'
The sharpness of the attack somewhat restored the Squire of Dames to
the possession of himself.
'Madam,' he returned, with a fair show of stoutness, 'I do not think that
hitherto you can complain of any lack of generosity; I have suffered