a million others similarly dressed and accoutred, the women keeping apart from the men. Proceeding direct to where the Houses of Parliament were then sitting, they were at once refused admittance. Raising her sword high above her head, Lady Beatrice pronounced the word 'Arise!' In an instant the whole of her followers had ascended and were on a level with the roof of the great building, which was hot from the effects of the fury of the blast. While they were awaiting her commands she touched the top with her foot; the great roof flew open, the affrighted members rising spontaneously to a level with the indignant multitude of U.V.V.'s. In vain did the Speaker call' Order!' and the members shout frantically Chair.' In their tumultuous midst there was neither. With pale countenance and trembling voice the Speaker implored his unwelcome visitors to say what it was they required, but no one spoke a word. As they thus stood looking at each other, the male U.V.V.'s still separated from the women, an unruly Railway Director, who, owing to his having been behind the scenes on so many Boards, had grown enormously rich, foreseeing that if the Vortex were destroyed, one great source of his income would be lost, determined to make a stand, and in a white heat, trembling from head to foot, demanded What the devil Lady Beatrice meant by assuming such airs?' 6 เ Lady Beatrice is at least a-a—a gentleman, sir!' stammered forth Ralph breathlessly, and with a look of thunder. This cutting reproof was scarcely administered when the irate M.P. became black in the face, and was seized with such a violent fit of spasms, that another member, regarding it as a terrible example, rose and said, 'Oh, Mr. Speaker, we really must-erdo something!' 'Smoke from the Vortex!' an affrighted voice was heard to say from below, while the fumes from the sulphur grew more and more unendurable. Members, thinking their House was on fire, rushed for their hats, terror and despair being depicted on every countenance; but they found the lobbies were all changed, and nothing was as it used to be. The confusion was now intense. In the midst of it all, some members tried to escape by the roof. Here, however, they were met by infuriated and long-suffering Victims, who, flashing their swords before the eyes of the terrified members, compelled them to retire. Some vociferated, others moved the previous state of things,' but it would not return as it was, while the unruly railway director, having somewhat recovered, begged to move that Lady Beatrice be immediately arrested, with a view to her being bound over to keep the peace for the period of her natural life. In the midst of the Babel of tumult and disorder Lady Beatrice advanced, and turned towards him, saying, 'You are amongst that number who sacrifice annually, at the shrine of gold, your hundreds of victims! who would yield honour, self-respect-ay, life itself, for gold! The Old Countree does not look to such as you' (laying emphasis upon the word, while she flashed a look of withering contempt) to redress its crying wrongs! You-market-riggers, traffic-return-manipulators who, to realise an eighth per cent in a railway dividend, grind down your employés, overtax their energies, and skin the very flints along your permanent ways; while you hurl your trains into each other at so fearful a sacrifice of human life!' In vain they cried Order!' the tumultuous cheers of the myriads of indignant Victims rent the air, dividing the thick smoke which surrounded them into two distinct volumes, so that for a time all was clear. In the midst of it the young Marquis of Trememdon and Lord Alfred rode up from the meeting in Loud Park. Seeing the wild confusion which reigned, they approached the Victims from the roof of the Lords' end of the building, and were gladly welcomed. Their appearance was the signal for a general rally on the part of the affrighted Commons, who appealed to the young Marquis were not their liberties being infringed? was it not scandalous? &c. &c. 'The House of Commons is omnipotent!' roared the railway director between his attacks of spasms. 'The Vortex smokes !' cried out the voice from below. All started in terror. Advancing quietly into their midst, Lady Beatrice, addressing the Speaker, said, Sir, the patience of my people has passed all limits. Tomorrow!' 'To-morrow-what?' shrieked a hundred voices. 'To-morrow!' she repeated in prophetic tones, which were echoed by a million voices. The Commons now descended to their former place, and the roof resumed its old position, but a gloom like a pall had settled upon their dejected spirits. Although it was late, and a Wednesday, a midnight sitting was held. All orders, counter-orders, and standing orders, of whatever kind, were, amidst the greatest disorder, abolished and wiped away; and that night, by virtue of the Law of Necessity, a Bill was given notice of,-read one-two -three times in the Commons and in the Lords, and signed with the most intense pleasure by Her Most Gracious Majesty before the morrow had arrived; and when it did arrive, the Old Countree knew, and testified to its delight at knowing, that not only was the Undone Vortex destroyed ipso facto, but was by law abolished. And the bells of every town and village rang, running down the scale, God bless dear La-dy Be-a-trice!' and then up, 'For Bird-ie is a Queen!' เ CHAPTER IX. 'There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, There is society where none intrudes By the deep sea, and music in its roar. I love not man the less, but Nature more.'-BYRON. IT had been raining a perfect torrent all day. Birdie and Ralph wandered upon the sea-girt shore of old Bluffshire towards evening, and neither spoke a word. It was now a calm. They stood listening to the tiny waves as they broke upon the deep, shelving shore, with the moon's rays sparkling upon the waters, each ripple seeming to say something to their excited imaginations. 'Fooer, hooer!' one said, and then they listened; 'fooer, hooer!' again. After that each wavelet said something fresh. What little wind there was came from off shore-there was breathless silence. Fi-hi-e-eer-ha!' said one which rose higher than the rest, forming a fresh bed for itself among the small shingle, and receding while others came on. 'Foo--iahoo-hia-hooa!' sprawled in another, followed by 'hia-hoo --hi!' 'What are the waves saying to-night?' asked Ralph of Birdie. She did not reply. 'Nothing pursued he, as though in reverie. 'Who says nothing? Have they been saying nothing all these countless ages? do they say the same now that they ever did? for here the hand of man has not interfered with contrivances and protections all along the coast, or altered anything, and, therefore, cannot have changed their language and made them less natural in consequence.' At length Birdie spoke. 'Ah, did you hear that one, Ralph? how still the night is! it died away so beautifully too. Oh, there's music in it as it draws the tiny pebbles down along with it; "whi-hiar-r-r-r-r!"—but nothing can imitate them. Yes, Ralph, they do seem to speak. See now it's spent, and receding gathers up for another spring-there! "Whoo-hiar-hahia-ha-ha-a!” Oh, I love to listen to them so, Ralph; they seem to say so much; they talk more to me when they are tiny than when they are grand and crushing !' ' And to me, too, Birdie; for they are so much more soothing than the great rollers,' faltered he. When Ralph had arrived at the Westernport Railway Station en route for Bluffshire, he had met a man whose countenance was not unfamiliar to him. In another instant he had grasped the stoker's hand, and, his breath coming so fast as to almost choke his utterance, had introduced Birdie to the man who had covered him with coke and given him a lift at the Company's expense down to Westernport. 'I told you I would never forget you, old fellow,' said he. 'Here, what do I owe the Company-first-class I went for my fare?' Dick, the stoker, vowed he was too happy to meet Ralph again, and didn't want the sovereign he forced into his hand, besides another for Armstrong, the driver, and the Company's fare; and as to the little lady by his side 'Oh!' exclaimed he, dropping a tear, 'aw ha' often thought o'ee sin that day, maester, and wondered all aboot yer little 'un; -and noo to see her! 'tis tu foine! God bless 'ee boath !' 'And you, too, Dick!' exclaimed Lady Beatrice, 'for taking such care of my own boy.' 'And for giving me such a jolly warm monkey-jacket to lie upon,' chimed in Ralph. I hope you didn't catch cold without, eh, Dick?' 'Me catch coald, sir!-wi yu so neere! Why, miss, he wor otter nor moi boiler that day, I du assure 'ee! Ha! ha! me catch coald wi' the young maester in the coake box! He wor "beany," miss, aw can tell 'ee, ha! ha! ha!' CHAPTER X. 'Agude cause makes a strong arm.'-Old Saying. IN 'all Ralph's dilemmas he now consulted Lady Beatrice Playfair. The visit to Welcome Grange had temporarily separated them. He was in Undone city, and hard at work; for even after such a terrible judgment from Heaven, with the nation willing to listen to any one who professed himself ready to help them out of their difficulties, the opposition to his plans was violent and obstinate. The brokers and jobbers still adhered, with a firm grasp, to their fancied rights. He proposed to communicate with Birdie upon the subject. She at once urged a conference with Captain Slasher, the young Marquis, Lord Alfred, Charles Markham, Sir Watt Scroughem, and Harry Somers. Several leading Vortex brokers were invited. Ralph's advice from the first was, Open the markets. Stamp out Gambling; no carrying over; pay for everything you buy. Sell nothing you have not got. Form an influential body of men whose names shall be unsullied, through whom alone all Loans and Undertakings can be placed upon the market. Let every project be submitted to the keenest and most searching scrutiny. Don't allow such a scandal as Foreign Loans to be foisted upon the gaping multitude, merely to fill the pockets of the knowing ones; who in the course of two or three days succeed, by devilish acts, in entrapping the unwary, and filling the subscription lists! If Countrees, Near or Far, require money, they must exercise the patience and undergo the scrutiny and the examination of ordinary mortals, to say the least, and be content to wait until they can satisfy the would-be lenders of their ability to pay both interest and capital at stated periods. Treat them with no more consideration than you would bestow upon private individuals! Deal a home-thrust at Speculation* and Peculation simultaneously! You will thus restore that confidence in the monetary classes which is now so justly and so deservedly wanting!' After a fierce battle with contending interests, his advice was taken. An association was at once formed upon a grand scale, for the purpose indicated. It comprised, among its members, all the leading bankers, capitalists, and merchants of Undone city, which was then the emporium of the world. These had long been desirous of dissociating themselves from the Great National Swindling House, which still continued to emit smoke and flame whenever an unfortunate Vortex broker approached it, in a state of drivelling insanity, to search for his strong box of 'securities.' The new body was called, and is to this day, 'The Steadiers' Association.' It entirely did away with the Undone Vortex, and had new and commodious premises close by. How it came to pass that the Spirits below the Vortex allowed them to come so near, and how the Vortex itself became transformed into a pleasant flower-garden in the very heart of the city, are matters of history. It was long in coming about. Ever since that day a healthy tone and feeling have universally and triumphantly prevailed. * Used here in the sense of Gambling. THE SPECTRE. |