MISS BADSWORTH, M.F.H. 195 



done ; he would consult the doctor, but in the meantime he 

 must get something to enable him to make the journey — 

 just a taste, only a taste, of whisky. When he tottered to 

 the cupboard the first portion of the leaf had been turned 

 over for him, the cupboard was as bare as Mother Hubbard's 

 — no, the black bottle was there, but it was empty. 



" Curse the woman ; she's been at it again," he said 

 aloud as he seated himself disconsolately upon his bed. 

 He couldn't remember very clearly what he had done on the 

 previous evening, but the impression remained that there 

 was something in the bottle when he had seen it last. 



That Maria Baldwyn's (his landlady's) man had had 

 "another of his attacks" overnight he did not know. 



Victor Bickersdyke's eyes wandered despairingly to the 

 window once more. Suddenly he arose, more briskly than 

 before, and leaned out ; the air was fresh and cool, but that 

 was not responsible entirely for the sensation of gratitude 

 and relief such as frequently fills the waker from a dream of 

 terror. Gulls, gulls, not jim-jams ! those shadowy objects 

 which had alarmed his shaken nerves. There they were, 

 circling high up in the thinning mist — sea-gulls. ^ 



Victor took courage and a strong cup of tea. 



" Not a drop of spirits till evening, and then only one 

 tot," he said to himself. 



What a weary day it was, notwithstanding assiduous pre- 

 parations for departure ; but Mrs. Barlow's random remark 

 was ever present and burnt itself into Victor's mind. 



His hands were shaky, but he clung desperately to his 

 determination. 



It so happened that when Victor Bickersdyke took up his 

 quarters at the Crown and Cushion, in the small town of 

 Allington, whither he had gone in order to prospect for a 

 residence in the neighbourhood of Cranston, Captain Rufus 

 Majendie had at the moment a room at the same hostelry. 



He had learned at his club that disaster of some sort had 

 fallen on the Cranston Hunt, and in view of possibilities 



13 * 



