CHAPTER VII.

"Micio. Nam qui mentiri, aut fallere insuerit patrem, Aut audebit: tanto magis audebit cæteros."

TER. ADELPHI, Act I., Sc. 1.

"Pol. This above all-to thine own self be true,

And it must follow, as the night the day,

Thou canst not then be false to any man."

HAMLET, Act I., Sc. 3.

THE distress which I had just witnessed weighed heavily on my heart, and finding that I was in no fit mood to return to Oxford before nightfall, I turned my horse's head towards Woodstock, with the intention of dining there, and indulging in a solitary stroll in Blenheim Park in the evening. Having reached my destination, I ordered dinner, and meanwhile strove to amuse myself as I best could. This, however, was not the most easy thing in the world to accomplish, as frequenters of country inns can readily testify, so, after having read the county paper, advertisements and all, down to the very printer's name, at least half a dozen times over, I went out to see what might be gleaned out of doors, and to ascertain

whether my horse was properly cared for. This done, I was in the act of leaving the stable, when a man, with his hat slouched over his eyes, and enveloped in a large horseman's cloak, pushed rudely against me. "Sir!" said I, somewhat angrily—

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"Stand on one side, then," replied he, in rough tone, and was about to pass on; but I intercepted him, and putting one hand on his shoulder, with the other I knocked off his hat, and the man whom I had struck in the gambling-house stood identified before me.

He immediately recognized me, and, turning deadly pale, looked round to see if any one had noticed the affront I had put upon him. Satisfied that it had not been observed, he attempted to apologize for his rudeness, without, however, making any allusion to our previous acquaintance.

"Hark ye," said I, "we have met before, sir." "Once, only once, upon my honour," said he eagerly.

"Your honour!" replied I. "Your own words betray you, and you know well that at this moment I could have you apprehended as a highwayman, and consigned to the common jail."

He started, and I thought would have fallen to the ground, for he staggered, and, turning ghastly pale, leaned against the wall for support.

"I beseech you," said he, in a low voice, "I beseech you to speak lower."

"Tell me, then," said I, "what injury I ever did you."

"You struck me,” replied he.

"Why, then, did you not demand the satisfaction that a gentleman was entitled to claim?"

He held down his head, and remained silent.

At length he said, with much hesitation, and drawing me aside, "If you will meet me in Blenheim Park, about a stone's throw from the house, an hour hence, I will make amends to you by disclosing his baseness to you."

"Whose baseness ?" I asked.

"George Hailey's," he replied.

"Do you think," said I, "that I am fool enough to trust myself in a secluded part of that park, unarmed and alone, with a man who knows that I have the power of hanging him whenever I please?"

"On my life," replied he, "I mean you no wrong, and, to convince you, I will let you have one of my pistols, or both, if you please."

Saying this, he drew them from under his cloak, and offered them to me.

"One will suffice," replied I.

"It is loaded," said he, as I took one from him, and examined it.

"I will come, then," I replied.

"Be it so," he said, and without further colloquy we broke off.

Dinner despatched, I desired my horse to be saddled in an hour, and repaired to the place of rendezThe stranger was already there, and also on

vous.

foot.

"Have you half an hour to spare ?" said he, as I approached him.

I replied in the affirmative.

"Come, then," he said, and he struck across the park, leading the way.

We proceeded in silence until we had lost sight of the house, when my guide suddenly stopped short under a clump of trees. He motioned to me to seat myself on the trunk of one which had been recently felled, and, placing himself on another so as to confront me, began as follows:

"Mr. Stanton, you asked me not long since why, instead of seeking revenge by waylaying you on the highroad, I did not claim the satisfaction of a gentleman. I will tell you, though I blush to confess the infamy attached to my character. Had I called you out, the friend whom you might have selected as your second would not have allowed you to meet me, as I am considered in London what is usually termed a "leg," that is, a professed gambler, who plays a very sharp game, takes all sorts of unhandsome advantages, and, where he can, cheats. You marvel at my frankness. Such, however, is my character, and such the character of more than one of the associates of

your friend, Mr. Hailey. When short of money, and none can be procured by other means, they do not scruple to have recourse to the road; but I solemnly declare to you that I never was guilty of such a crime before, and hence the haste with which I made my escape when I saw that Hailey had been shot, for, what from the fear of detection and the probability of sharing his fate, since 'conscience doth make cowards of us all,' I must own that I was unmanned by the vigorous manner in which you anticipated our purpose, and dared not remain to face you again. I therefore made the best of my way across the country to procure a doctor, if possible, thinking that, in all probability, you would not stop to look after the wounded man, and being quite certain that if you did discover who your assailant was, you would not for the world expose him. I had not ridden far, however, before I fell in with a gipsey encampment, and having selected the most ruffianly of the whole set, I promised to pay them handsomely if they would return with me, and carry my friend, whom I represented as having been shot by highwaymen, to a place of safety, where he could obtain medical advice. Two of the men accordingly returned, but when we arrived at the place where he had fallen, he was no where to be seen. We traced him, however, by drops of blood, to a considerable distance, and at length found him lying concealed among some bushes in a neighbour