Miser Farebrother (vol 3 of 3)

y two reasons. He wished to be alone, and the first-class carriages were nearly always empty at this time of the day. Then, in the position in whi

ith his safety? He had worked himself into the belief

, and he got into one, and closed the door. No other passeng

s he was reading were printed in letters of blood; his eyes became blurred, and he wiped them with his handkerchief. The blood-shadows were on the handkerchief as he looked at it; the stains spread t

ount-books in his hands, and gazed defiantly around. No one challenged or accosted him

ah! Jer

e suddenly arrested. Was he so soon d

ah! Jer

s shoulder. He shook her off violently, an

and raised his hand with the intention of strik

u come running after a fellow like that for?

, Jeremiah?" ask

lies," he replied. "How is it that

t me with a message to

ied, all his fears

to come here withou

old thief

you badly,

the telegram except that I was to

bring the a

ee. Was the old thi

et when he rang his bell, and I answered it, he was sitting at the writing-table, with the sweetest smile on his face, and his voice was like honey. 'Take this to the telegra

ed Jeremiah, in

ell him tha

didn't; but I

than a hundred

aving up secretly

y see further sometimes. 'Perhaps,' I thought to myself, 'one day Jeremiah may want a little help; there may be something he

Jeremiah. "Can you lay your hands

is in the Post-off

o-day. What's the good of it when

or, Jer

thief. He pretended to be very sweet, did

lane, and a boy in their rear had uttered a loud shout, and had thrown a

whispered Mr

el

g something wrong.

scoundrel. If I had him here now, in this quiet lane, with no one near, his life

'the murd

ous laugh. "Murder, eh? Well, if i

ad as that,

n drumming in my ears that you cared for nothing in the world but me, that you lived only for me, that you lo

know what a woman like me-what a mother like me-is capable of. I will show you. A scoundrel has ruined you, and something must be done to save you. I understand; I understand. Whatever it is, if it is for me to do it, I am ready. I have never spoken

," said Jeremiah, kissing her. "

ch Ph?be Farebrother had married

if she hadn't rounded on me. I shouldn't h

nd I am your mother. Oh, to be e

ity in his manner, and had Jeremiah's usually clear mind not been unbalanced by the threatening clouds which hung above him, this apparently favourable demeanour would have

or you, Jeremiah," s

my mother told me so. Fortun

ought the bo

hey are

at pain, and feared I had not long to live. That kind of feeling makes a man sad-it unsettles him, and he is apt to repine at the hard fate which seems determined to snatch him from all the joys of life. I have not had many of them, and the consolation

rking very hard

leaves no ill effects behind. I could bear it once; I was once young and strong as you are; I was once filled with hope and enthusiasm. And now, look at me. I am a wreck, a feeble wreck, scarcely able to contend with an infant. My strength gone, my hope and enthusiasm gone, my co

ll would be well. He could obtain possession of the valueless bracelet; he could obtain possession of the hoards of money which Miser Farebrother had put in some secret place, which, the miser dead, Jeremiah and his mother would have little difficulty in finding. Yes; then all would be well. Before he had presented himself to his master, he had confided to his mother all the particulars of the danger which threatened him, and they had debated what had best be done. His mother had said, "If Miser Farebrother were out of the way," and then had paused. If Miser Farebrother were out of the way! That is, if he were dead! Yes; if he were dead! "What then?" Jeremiah had asked, after a terrible

office. No, Jeremiah; we must stop and brave it out. I am certain there would be very little to fear, and that neither the policeman nor the cabman would be able to identify you. Besides, the bracelet restored, there would be no charge. The lady's maid stole it, not you, and she will not come back. She is in sure hiding, and so is that monster Captain Ablewhite. You would be safe, Jeremiah-you w

and ever! "If he were to die now in his chair!" thought Jeremiah. Then came the thought that Miser Farebrother was an old man, weak and nerveless, and that two strong hands around his neck w

here they are, all on a single ring-the key of the office door, the key of the room in which you sleep, the keys of the safe and the deed and cash boxes. All here, all here! Have you duplicates o

eet and stood upright before his knavish clerk. All his apparent weakness had disappea

error to Jeremiah's heart, "to obtain not only an explanati

ry of the diamond bracelet. Mechanically Jeremiah took the paper; but he

d the miser. "Ha

ltered J

That you lie is proved by your side pocket, which would not bulge out as it does if it did not conta

ah found courage to say. "I bel

f you do not, you shall stand in the felon's dock. All your cunning shall not save you. I am a fool to give you one moment's grace. You thief! you scoundrel! you swindler! I will have my money! my money! my money! Have I not toiled for it all my life?-and now to find myself robbed by a scoundrel I snatched from

, in the first instance, overwhelmed Jeremiah with despair; but as the miser went on, thi

me to the last farthing. You thief! you have fattened upon the money you have stolen from me-you have grown rich by your knavery! Well, I will beggar you-every shilling you possess is mine, and I will have it. I leave it to you to judge whether I am in earnest or not, and whether I will do what I have threatened. Do you wish to know why I wanted the keys of the office and the safe? I will tell you. It is that you shall never again

reigned a cold, ferocious cunning; but his voi

confessions will satisfy me without my money, you vi

you shall not lose

n? You have robbed me systemat

icion upon it. As for the bracelet, I did believe that the stones were genuine; and if they were genuine they would have been worth ten times the sum you lent on them. I laugh at the public exposure with which you threaten me. Me it cannot harm; you, it can. For, after all, I am only your servant; you are the principal. That the business of the bracelet was introduced to me by a man whose character will not bear investigation is true. I did not kno

I have seen to that. As to what is between us, let matters be settled quickly. You have saved a little, you say; you have friends who will assist you. Good! By noon to-morrow pay me the money you induced me to advance upon the bracelet. If this is not done, at one o'clock I will place it in the hands of the

There is nothing for which I am to blame, except the brace

ther; "I have it safe enough. Do you think

d before twelve to-morrow morning I will

you think I am in my second childhood? No, Jeremiah, no! When you give me back my money you shall have it-not till then. Fail

it shall be as you say. I must get back to London

are in time

said Jeremiah, a

not wonder that he did not hear hers. It would have been difficult, she trod so softly, and she had taken off her boots. She accompanied him like a spirit: not the o

Mrs. Pamflett put her

e sent him to his grave and no one the wiser. I am your cat-mother, am I? And he will fling us into the gutter, and laugh at us? He and his daughter are a pair. He has had the best years

st. There is no hope of escape for me. If I don't get back that bracelet, I am lost. A

soul, J

es to the h

as been here fo

mes here to-night, late, a man to

oed, gazing at her son with a

ser Farebrother's room, with the door locked. You are never admitted. You are sent to bed, and sometimes you have awoke in the middle of the night, and have heard sounds in the miser's

migh

nable construction. Once, passing the miser's room on the way to your own, you heard them quarrelling and you heard the miser say, 'I have but t

n as he has done for so many years, with no servant but

ther as usual. To-morrow morning you get up, and wait for Miser Farebrother to ring his bell for breakfast. He does not

lied, in a cold, malignant voice. "After to

safe!" sai

, dear lad; and he is puni

s at night very often thes

ften, J

house or out of the hous

holds good,

like being exact in these matters: there are peculiarities about

ll show you what I am capable of. And

eys which he tricked out of me upstairs. Give me a drink of brandy-a

uch. Keep cool for what is to come! Now go-and keep out of sight. You must not be seen in the village. The m

hes of the trees. His eyes did not rest upon the glories of a lovely sunset, but upon blotches and streaks of blood. Once, standing where he could not himself be seen, he turned to the house, and watched the bloo