Part 21 (1/2)
”Are you little Arthur's father?” she asked. ”If you are, you should know that this young man saved his life not long ago on board s.h.i.+p.”
”So much the better for you, then,” said the Duke to Feargus.
Turning on his heel, he strode across the fields. Billie remembered very little more after that. Mary must have run the ”Comet” to the city of St. Albans and Feargus ridden with them, for she heard him say:
”Devil incarnate.”
She also gathered that he was walking from London to St. Albans and expected to meet Mr. Kalisch there.
A doctor was sent for as soon as they arrived at the inn, and with a poultice on her side and a bandage on her head, Billie at last dropped off to sleep.
CHAPTER XIV.-OXFORD.
Youth a.s.serts itself quickly after a shock. That is, when it is wholesome youth with a good appet.i.te and a good circulation, and after one day in bed Billie was up and about, eager to be on the road again.
But the incident of the bull and the encounter with the Duke of Kilkenty had set Miss Campbell thinking.
”I am of the opinion, my dear,” she observed to her cousin, ”that we need a protector. It's true we crossed the continent without one and got on pretty well; but America is a free land and people are not so ridden by aristocracy as they are in this kingdom. I asked Feargus to come, and even offered to pay him a salary as our courier, because I know the boy is quite poor, but he could not accept until he had received permission from Mr. Kalisch.”
There was a tap at the door, and Feargus, looking very agitated, entered the room.
”I have come to accept your offer, Miss Campbell, if it is still open,”
he said.
”Of course, Feargus, we are very glad. But what has happened? You look as if you had seen a ghost, or suffered a nervous shock.”
Feargus made an unsuccessful attempt to smile.
”It's nothing,” he said. ”Something unpleasant did occur, but I shall be all right by to-morrow, I daresay. Do we start early?”
”Quite early,” answered Billie. ”We want to be in Oxford by one o'clock at the latest.”
”I shall meet you, then, on the road to Oxford a few miles from St.
Albans. I will be walking and you can overtake me. Until then, good-by.
Oh, yes,” he said, coming back into the room. ”Would you mind not mentioning to any one that I am going?”
He left the room, leaving them wondering at his mysterious behavior.
Did he mean that they were not to mention it to Telemac Kalisch, who, having heard that they were staying at the hotel, presented himself at their sitting-room? He heard the story of the bull and of how Mary had outwitted the Duke of Kilkenty.
”I would not take a fortune for that,” he exclaimed, giving the young girl a brilliant, delightful smile. ”The low brute! He was worse than his own dead beast, because G.o.d has endowed him with intelligence, which he uses only to gain wealth and rob the poor. He is one of the greatest scoundrels in all England and one of the richest. None of his family will have anything to do with him; neither his stepmother, the present dowager d.u.c.h.ess of Kilkenty, nor his half-brother, Lord Glenarm. He is so powerful that he is feared almost as much as he is disliked. But,”
here Telemac lowered his voice, ”it is said that he has lent large sums in high places and for that reason he is safe. But he is not safe. No one is safe. There is a hand that smites in the dark, and some day it will strike the Duke of Kilkenty!”
Telemac had risen as he made this dire prophecy, which he spoke in an emphatic whisper. It was impossible not to feel impressed at his words; but suddenly, becoming aware of their serious faces and wide-stretched eyes, he sat down and began to laugh.
”What an absurd old person you must think me,” he exclaimed, ”to frighten you like this about a man we all have our reasons for disliking. Let us change the subject.”