le. God knows how much of subsequent trouble he might have spared himself by obeying that impulse: for Mrs Penhaligon was a woman ho

urned to a distrust of the sex; a general distrust which preoccupied with its shadow the br

His hand even fumbled for the latch, and found it. But a sudden shyness seized him and he drew back. He heard her footsteps creaking on th

al service which by tradition should be rewarded in ready money. ("I always," explained a Polpier matron, "pays 'en ver one when I engages 'en ver the next; an' the laast I'll never pay ver"- and she never did.) On top of this, Polpier folk argued that doctoring wasn't, like property, a gift which a man could pass on to his heirs, and most certainly not if they happened to be-as they were-a corn-factor and an aged maiden sister of independent but exiguous means. "As I look at it," some one put this argument, on the Quay, "th' Old Doctor's mastery was a thing to hisself, and a proper marvel at that. Us brought nothin' into the world, my sons an' us can't carry nothin' out: but that don't mean as you can leave it behind-leastways, not

enough what had happened. Almo

ened to invade us and deposit banks were scarce. And the Doctor, by all that tradition told, was never a man to break a habit once formed. For more

e old house!-had held on to this relic of a

and would defy Pamphl

it is to have

t it is to

he knew

through with courage but will turn and fight desperately for it, like stags at bay-it is to be doubted if one in ten ever guesses how constantly he is sustained by this spirit scorning the substance, gallantly

ack to his bedroom. Some one might rob him while he slept, and- horror!-he would never even know of how much he had been robbed. The

ed a coin and clutched it-comfort, tangible proof that he had not been dreaming. He seated himself in the corner

e had started this hoard in Bonaparte's days, and had gone on adding to it in the long years of

The scattered coins he had seen by that one brief flash of the candle danced and multiplied themselves bef

Bank to-morrow, slap seven sovereigns down on the counter-but not too boldly; for Pamphlett must not suspect- and demand the change in silver, with his rece

, as a godsend. His family and the Old Doctor's had intermarried, back along, quite in the old days; or so he had heard. . . . Nicky-Nan knew nothing of any law about treasure-trove. Wealth arrived to men as it befell or as they deserv

une lifted him and began

eeded, conferring favours right and left, departing this life amid the mourning of the township, perchance (who could tell?) surviving for the wonder of generations to come in a carved statue at the Quay-head. He had observed, in the ports he had visited abroad, such statues erected in memory of men he had never heard tell of. It would be a mighty fine thing-though a novelty in Polpier-to have one's memory kept alive in this fashion. . . . He would lord it in life too, as became a Nanjivell-albeit

with no cushion of flesh but a crushed nerve or two that kept telephoning misery to his knee and fetching fierce darts of pain for response. A quick succession of these, running into one a

them-like Pamphlett. Who in this world ever heard of a rich man being hauled off to serve in the Navy as a commo

w itself might be another enemy-you could never predict which side the law would take-and between them, if they got to know his secret, they would despoil him. . . . On the other

-having staved off Pamphlett-hide it tomorrow wit

(as I have told) lies in a deep cleft of the hills. Nicky-Nan's parlour looked out on a mere slit at the botto

an to glimmer in the parlour. It found him on his knees-not in prayer, nor in thanksgiving

mitted, he was still on his knees. Already he had collected more th

his grey eyebrows, and dripped, sometimes on his hands, sometimes on the pile of old plaster-greyish-white, and fine alm

exertion-did he pause and straighten himself up to listen. Upstairs the Penhaligon children had

w the d

cock cr

on in his dim parlou

e eight hundred coins of golden money. His belly was fasting: but he had forgott

an, startled, raised himself upright

dmitt

oor, to press his weight against it,

anjiv

a'

'll fetch it in, if you wish: but the

own corporal envelope, begrimed as it was just now with dust and plaster and cobwebs. But the end of her message alarmed him with misgivings more serious. "Why should Lippity-L

'll be out

n smoothed them briskly down his chest in a hasty effort to remove the cobwebs that c

passage, and found to his great relief that Mrs Penhaligo

Lippity-Libby stood in plain view, with the street full of sunshine behind him.

in the shape of a Christmas-box. . . . I ought in fairness to tell you," Lippity-Libby added, "that there is a third way- though I hate the sight of it-and that's a letter-box with a slit in the door. Parson Steel

cky-Nan hobbled forward, bl

s Majesty Service'; post-mark, Troy. .

E

terin

. "What's that to yo

. You'd be surprised the number that puts me the very question you've just asked. An' they tell me that 'tis with money the same as with letters. I read a tract on

an firmly. "If you're hidin' something behind

set this mornin', that's what you are: been up too early an' workin' too hard at that plasterin' job, whatever it is." The little man limped back into the roadway and cricked his head back for a gaze up

y s

ss, plasterin' at th' old house, out o' which-i

letter. . . . 'Turn me out,' will they? Go an' tell 'em they can't do it

my things consistin'-marches to an' fro, short commons, shootin's of cannon, rapes, an' other bloodthirsty goin's-on; an' here we be in the midst thereof! That'

re, Nicky-Nan broke the seal of

olas Na

., Po

ugust 3

vice under the Act 22 and 23 Vict. c. 40; nor have you reported yourself at the Custom-House,

u will let me know the cause of your non-compliance with H.M. summons; and, if the cause be sickness

ua J

Royal Nav