in a corner of one of the winding courts that lie behind fleet street stood a dingy-looking house, the lamp over the door bearing the words, "billiards and pool." during the daytime no one would be seen to enter save between the hours of twelve and two, when perhaps a dozen young fellows, after eating a frugal lunch, would resort there to pass their hour out of office in smoking and a game of billiards. of an evening, however, there were lights in every window, and the click of balls could be heard from the ground floor and that above it. in each of these there were two tables, and the play continued uninterruptedly from seven until eleven or half-past.
the lights on the second floor, however, often burned until two or three o'clock in the morning, and it was here that the proprietor reaped by far the larger proportion of his profits. while the billiard-room windows generally stood open, those of the large room on the second floor were never raised, and when the lights below were extinguished, heavy curtains were dropped across the windows to keep both the light and the sounds within from being seen or heard in the court below. here was a large roulette table, while along the sides of the room were smaller tables for those who preferred other games. here almost every evening some thirty or forty men assembled. of these, perhaps a third were clerks or shop assistants, the remainder foreigners of almost every nationality. betting lists were exposed at one end of the room. underneath these a bookmaker had a small table, and carried on his trade.
in 1851 there were a score of such places in the[pg 53] neighborhood of the strand and fleet street, but few did a larger business than this. it was generally understood that wilkinson, the proprietor, had been a soldier; but the belief originated rather from his upright carriage and a certain soldierly walk than from anything he had himself said, and he was not the sort of man whom even the most regular of the frequenters of his establishment cared to question. he was a tall man, some five-and-forty years of age, taciturn in speech, but firm in manner while business was going on. he kept admirable order in the place. he was generally to be found in the room on the second floor, but when a whistle blew, and one of the markers whispered up a speaking-tube that there was a dispute going on between the players or lookers-on, he was at once upon the spot.
"now, gentlemen," he would say, interposing between them, "you know the rules of this establishment; the marker's decision on all points connected with the game is final, and must be accepted by both parties. i will have no quarrels or disputes here, and anyone making a row goes straight out into the street, and never comes in here again."
in the vast majority of cases this settled the matter; but when the men were flushed with liquor, and inclined to continue the dispute, they were seized by the collar by wilkinson's strong arm and were summarily ejected from the house. in the inner room he preserved order as strictly, but had much more difficulty in doing so among the foreign element. here quarrels were not uncommon, and knives occasionally drawn; but wilkinson was a powerful man and a good boxer, and a flush hit from the shoulder always settled the business.
but though stern in the management of his establishment, wilkinson was popular among its frequenters. he was acquainted with most of their callings and business. indeed, none were admitted to the upper room unless well introduced by habitués, or until he had made private inquiries concerning them. thus he knew among the foreigners whom he could trust, and how far, when, after a[pg 54] run of ill luck, they came to him and asked him for a loan, he could venture to go.
with the english portion of his customers he was still more liberal. he knew that he should not be a loser from transactions with them; they must repay him, for were it known to their employers that they were in the habit of gambling, it would mean instant dismissal. there were among them several lawyers' clerks, some of whom were, in comparison with their means, deeply in debt to him. one or other of those he would often invite up to his private room on the floor above, where a bottle of good wine would be on the table, a box of excellent cigars beside it, and here they would chat more or less comfortably until the roulette room opened.
mr. wilkinson made no pretense that these meetings were simply for the purpose of drinking his wine and smoking his cigars. "i am a straightforward man," he would say, "and business is business. i oblige you, and i expect you to oblige me. i have always had a fancy that there is money to be made in connection with lawyers' businesses. there are missing heirs to be hunted up; there are provisos in deeds, of whose existence some one or other would give a good deal to know. now, i am sure that you are not in a position to pay me the amount i have lent you, and for which i hold your i. o. u.'s. i have no idea of pressing you for the money, and shall be content to let it run on so long as you will let me know what is being done at your office. the arrangement is that you will tell me anything that you think can be used to advantage, and if money is made out of any information you may give me, i will engage to pay you a third of what it brings in. now, i call that a fair bargain. what do you say?"
in some cases the offer was closed with at once; in others it was only agreed to after threats that the debt must be at once paid or an application would be made forthwith. so far the gambling-house keeper's expectations had not met with the success he had looked for. he had spent a good deal of time in endeavoring to find[pg 55] the descendants of persons who stood in the direct line of succession to properties, but of whom all clew had been lost. he had indeed obtained an insight into various family differences that had enabled him to successfully extort blackmail, but his gains in this way had not, so far, recouped him for the sums he had, as he considered, invested in the speculation.
he was, however, a patient man, and felt, no doubt, that sooner or later he should be able to make a coup that would set him up for life. still he was disappointed; his idea had been the one held by many ignorant persons, that lawyers are as a class ready to resort to tricks of all kinds, in the interests of their clients or themselves. he had found that he had been altogether wrong, and that although there were a few firms which, working in connection with money-lenders, financial agents, and the lowest class of bill discounters, were mixed up in transactions of a more or less shady character, these were the black sheep of the profession, and that in the vast majority of cases the business transacted was purely technical and connected with the property of their clients. nevertheless, he took copious notes of all he learned, contending that there was no saying what might come in useful some day.
"well, dawkins," he said one day to a dark-haired young fellow with a handsome face that already showed traces of the effect of late hours and dissipation, "i suppose it is the usual thing; the lawsuit as to the right of way at brownsgrove is still going on, the settlements in mr. cochrane's marriage to lady gertrude ivory are being drawn up, and other business of the same sort. you never give me a scrap of information that is of the slightest use. i am afraid that your firm is altogether too eminently respectable to have anything to do with doubtful transactions."
"i told you so from the first, wilkinson; that whatever your game might be, there would be nothing in our office that could be of the least use to you, even if you had copies of every deed drawn up in it. ours is what you might call a family business. our clients have for the[pg 56] most part dealt with the firm for the last hundred years; that is to say, their families have. we have drawn their wills, their marriage settlements, their leases, and done everything relating to their property for years and years. my own work for the last two or three days has been drafting and engrossing the will of a general mathieson, whose father and grandfather were our clients before him."
"mathieson—he is an old indian officer, isn't he, if it is the man i mean? he was in command at benares twenty years ago. he was a handsome man, then, about my height and build."
"yes, i have no doubt that is the man—john le marchand mathieson."
"that is him. he was very popular with the troops. he used to spend a good deal of money in improving their rations and making them comfortable. had a first-rate stable, and they used to say he was a rich man. anyhow, he spent a good deal more than his pay."
"yes, he was a second son, but his elder brother died, and he came into the property; but instead of coming home to enjoy it he stopped out in india for years after he came into it."
"he had a daughter, quite a little girl, in those days; her mother died out there. i suppose she inherits his property?"
"well, no; she married some time back; she and her husband are both dead, and their son, a boy, six or seven years old, lives with the old man."
"how much does he leave?"
"something over a hundred thousand pounds. at least i know that that is about the value of the estates, for we have always acted as his agents, collected the rents, and so on."
"i should like to see a copy of his will," wilkinson said, after sitting for some time silent. "i don't want all the legal jargon, but just the list of the legacies."
"i can easily jot those down for you. the property goes to the grandson, and if he dies before coming of age, to a niece, hilda covington, who is his ward and lives with[pg 57] him. he leaves her beside only five hundred pounds, because she is herself an heiress. there are a score of small legacies, to old servants, soldiers, widows, and people of that sort."
"well, you may as well give me the list entire."
dawkins shrugged his shoulders.
"just as you like," he said; "the will was signed yesterday, but i have the note of instructions still by me, and will bring round the list to-morrow evening; though, upon my word, i don't see what interest it can possibly have for you."
"i don't know myself," the other said shortly, "but there is never any saying."
after talking for a few minutes on other subjects he said, "the room is open downstairs now, dawkins, and as we have finished the bottle i will not keep you any longer. in fact, the name of that old general has called up some queer memories of old times, and i should like to think them over."
when the clerk had left, wilkinson sat for a long time in thought.
"it is a great idea," he murmured to himself at last; "it will want a tremendous lot of planning to arrange it all, and of course it is tremendously risky. still, it can be done, and the stake is worth trying for, even if it would be seven years' transportation if anything went wrong. in the first place i have to get some proofs of my identity. i own that i have neglected my family scandalously," and his face, which had been stern and hard, softened into a smile. "then, of course, i must establish myself in chambers in the west end, and as i have three or four thousand pounds in hand i can carry on for two or three years, if necessary. at the worst the general is likely to add me to his list of legatees, but of course that would scarcely be worth playing for alone. the will is the thing. i don't see my way to that, but it is hard if it can't be managed somehow. the child is, of course, an obstacle, but that can certainly be got over, and as i don't suppose the old man is going to die at present i have time[pg 58] to make my plans. when i see how matters go i can put my hand on a man who could be relied on to help me carry out anything i might put in his way. well, i always thought that i should hit on something good through these young scamps who come here, but this is a bigger thing than i ever dreamed of. it will certainly be a difficult game to play, but, knocking about all over the world as i have been for fifteen years before i came back and set up this show, i think that i have learned enough to pass muster anywhere."
somewhat to the surprise of the habitués of the room below it was nearly eleven o'clock before the proprietor made his appearance there, and even when he did so he took little interest in what was going on, but moved restlessly from one room to another, smoking cigar after cigar without intermission, and acknowledging but briefly the greetings of those who were the most regular frequenters of his establishment.
two days later the following advertisement appeared, not only in the london papers, but in a large number of country journals:
"john simcoe: any relatives of john simcoe, who left england about the year 1830 or 1831, and is supposed to have been lost at sea in the bay of bengal, in the ship nepaul, in december, 1832, are requested to communicate with j. w. thompson & co., newspaper agents, fleet street, when they will hear of something to their advantage."
only one reply was received. it was dated "myrtle cottage, stowmarket," and was as follows:
"sir: a friend has shown me the advertisement in the ipswich paper, which must, i think, refer to my nephew, who left here twenty years ago. i received a letter from him dated december 2, 1832, from calcutta, saying that he was about to sail for china in the nepaul. i never heard from him again, but the rector here kindly made[pg 59] some inquiries for me some months afterwards, and learned that the vessel had never been heard of after sailing, but was believed to have foundered with all hands in a great gale that took place a few days after she sailed. so far as i know i am his only relative. awaiting a further communication from you,
"i remain,
"your obedient servant,
"martha simcoe."
great was the excitement caused by the advertisement at myrtle cottage. miss simcoe, who with a tiny servant was the sole inmate of the cottage, had called together all her female acquaintances, and consulted them as to what the advertisement could mean, and as to the way in which she should answer it.
"do you think it would be safe to reply at all?" she inquired anxiously. "you see, my nephew john was a very wild young fellow. i do not mean as to his conduct here; no one could say anything against that. he was a clerk in the bank, you know, and, i believe, was very well thought of; but when his father died, and he came into two thousand pounds, it seemed to turn his head. i know that he never liked the bank; he had always wanted to be either a soldier or a sailor, and directly he got the money he gave up his situation at the bank, and nothing would do but that he must travel. everyone told him that it was madness; his aunt maria—poor soul, you all knew her—and i cried over it, but nothing would move him. a fine-looking fellow he was, as some of you will remember, standing six feet high, and, as everyone said, looking more like a soldier officer than a clerk at a bank.
"we asked him what he would do when his money was gone, but he laughed it off, and said that there were plenty of things for a man to do with a pair of strong arms. he said that he might enter the service of some indian prince, or marry the daughter of a black king, or discover a diamond mine, and all sorts of nonsense of that sort. he bought such an outfit as you never did see—guns[pg 60] and pistols and all sorts of things; and as for clothes, why, a prince could not have wanted more. shirts by the dozen, my dear; and i should say eight or ten suits of white clothes, which i told him would make him look like a cricketer or a baker. why, it took three big trunks to hold all his things. but i will say for him that he wrote regular, either to me or to my sister maria. last time he wrote he said that he had been attacked by a tiger, but had got well again and was going to china, though what he wanted to go there for i am sure i don't know. he could not want to buy teacups and saucers; they would only get broken sending home. well, his death was a great blow to us."
"i don't know whether i should answer the advertisement, miss simcoe," one of her friends said. "there is no saying what it might mean. perhaps he got into debt in india, and the people think that they might get paid if they can find out his relations here."
the idea came like a douche of cold water upon the little gathering.
"but the advertisement says, 'will hear of something to their advantage,' mrs. maberley," miss simcoe urged timidly.
"oh, that is nothing, my dear. that may be only a lawyer's trick; they are capable of anything, i have heard."
"but they could not make miss simcoe pay," another urged; "it seems to me much more likely that her nephew may have left some of his money in the hands of a banker at calcutta, and now that it has been so many years unclaimed they are making inquiries to see who is his heir. that seems much more likely."
a murmur of assent ran round the circle, and after much discussion the answer was drafted, and miss simcoe, in a fever of anxiety, awaited the reply.
two days later a tall, well-dressed man knocked at the door of myrtle cottage. it was a loud, authoritative knock, such as none of miss simcoe's usual visitors gave.
"it must be about the advertisement," she exclaimed.[pg 61]
the little servant had been enjoined to wear her sunday clothes in case a visitor should come, and after a hasty glance to see if she was tidy, miss simcoe sat down in her little parlor, and tried to assume an appearance of calmness. the front door opened, and a man's voice inquired, "is miss simcoe in?" then the parlor door opened and the visitor entered, pushing past the girl, who had been instructed how to announce him in proper form, and exclaiming, "my dear aunt martha," fairly lifted the astonished old lady from her seat and kissed her.
"dear me! dear me!" she gasped, as he put her on her feet again, "can it be that you are my nephew john?"
"why, don't you know me, aunt? twenty years of knocking about have changed me sadly, i am afraid, but surely you must remember me."
"ye—es," she said doubtfully, "yes, i think that i remember you. but, you see, we all thought that you were dead; and i have only got that likeness of you that was cut out in black paper by a man who came round when you were only eighteen, and somehow i have always thought of you as like that."
"yes, i remember," he laughed. "well, aunt, i have changed since then, there is no doubt. so you see i was not drowned, after all. i was picked up by a passing ship, clinging to a spar, but i lost all my money in the wreck of the nepaul. i shipped before the mast. we traded among the islands for some months, then i had a row with the captain and ran away, and threw in my lot with the natives, and i have been knocking about in the east ever since, and have come back with enough to live on comfortably, and to help you, if you need it."
"poor maria died four years ago," she said tearfully. "it would have been a happiness to her indeed, poor creature, if you had come back before."
"i am sorry indeed to hear that," he replied. "then you are living here all alone, aunt?"
"yes, except for my little maid. you see, john, maria and i laid out the money our father left us in life[pg 62] annuities, and as long as we lived together we did very comfortably. since then, of course, i have had to draw in a little, but i manage very nicely."
"well, well, aunt, there will be no occasion for you to stint yourself any more. as i said, i have come home with my purse warmly lined, and i shall make you an allowance of fifty pounds a year. you were always very kind to me as a boy, and i can very well afford it, and i dare say it will make all the difference to you."
"my dear john, i could not think of taking such a sum from you."
"pooh, pooh, aunt! what is the use of money if one cannot use it to make one's friends comfortable? so that is settled, and i won't have anything more said about it."
the old lady wiped her eyes. "it is good of you, john, and it will indeed make all the difference to me. it will almost double my income, and i shan't have to look at every halfpenny before i spend it."
"that is all right, aunt; now let us sit down comfortably to chat about old times. you don't mind my smoking, i hope?"
miss simcoe, for almost the first time in her life, told a lie. "not at all, john; not at all. now, how was it that you did not come down yourself instead of putting in an advertisement, which i should never have seen if my friend mrs. maberley had not happened to notice it in the paper which she takes in regularly, and brought it in to show me?"
"well, i could not bring myself to come down, aunt. twenty years make great changes, and it would have been horrible to have come down here and found that you had all gone, and that i was friendless in the place where i had been brought up as a boy. i thought that, by my putting it into a local paper, someone who had known me would be sure to see it. now let me hear about all the people that i knew."
john simcoe stayed for three days quietly at the cottage. the news of his return spread rapidly, and soon many of the friends that had known him came to welcome[pg 63] him. his aunt had told her own circle of her nephew's wealth and liberality, and through them the news that john simcoe had returned home a wealthy man was imparted to all their acquaintances. some of his old friends declared that they should have known him anywhere; others said frankly that now they knew who he was they saw the likeness, but that if they had met him anywhere else they did not think they should have recognized him.
john simcoe's memory had been greatly refreshed by his aunt's incessant talk about his early days and doings, and as his visitors were more anxious to hear of his adventures abroad than to talk of the days long past, he had no difficulty whatever in satisfying all as to his identity, even had not the question been settled by his liberality to his aunt, from whom no return whatever could possibly be expected. when he left he handed her fifty pounds in gold.
"i may as well give you a year's money at once," he said; "i am a careless man, and might forget to send it quarterly."
"where can i write to you, john?" she asked.
"i cannot give you an address at present," he said; "i have only been stopping at a hotel until i could find chambers to suit me. directly i do so i will drop you a line. i shall always be glad to hear of you, and will run down occasionally to see you and have a chat again with some of my old friends."
the return of john simcoe served stowmarket as a subject for conversation for some time. he had spent his money generously while there, and had given a dinner at the principal hotel to a score of those with whom he had been most intimate when a boy. champagne had flowed in unstinted abundance, and it was generally voted that he was a capital fellow, and well deserved the good fortune that had attended him. in the quiet suffolk town the tales of the adventures that he had gone through created quite a sensation, and when repeated by their fathers set half the boys of the place wild with a desire to imitate his example, and to embark in a life which was at[pg 64] once delightful, and ended in acquiring untold wealth. on leaving he pressed several of them, especially one who had been a fellow-clerk with him at the bank, and was now its manager, to pay him a visit whenever they came to town.
"i expect to be in diggings of my own in a week or two," he said, "and shall make a point of having a spare bed, to put up a friend at any time."
"you don't remember me, general?"
