Part 5
Affairs, however, were speedily fated to take a turn which caused the implicated parties to laugh the other way. A large vessel arrived in the port of Chubleigh from Alexandria, which had among her passengers a celebrated London virtuoso, who, some months before, had been induced to pay a visit to Egypt by reason of the excitement produced in antiquarian circles by the discoveries of the celebrated Belzoni. This gentleman was posting to London when his chaise broke down opposite the _Red Indian_, and he entered the hostelry while the vehicle was being repaired. After partaking of a little refreshment, he took a walk in the garden, and his eye caught the fragments of the gladiator, which had been shot in a corner while waiting the arrival of the marine store-dealer’s cart. Having elicited the story of the statue from the host, the antiquary submitted the pieces to a most careful examination; and despite the whitewash and coats of paint with which the figure had been adorned, he recognised it as a specimen of the work of the renowned ancient Greek sculptor Lysippus; and in answer to the excited inquiry of the astonished landlord, appraised its value at six hundred pounds!
Having, at the host’s urgent request, given a written opinion on the matter, the virtuoso departed on his journey, and then Mr Slade hurried with his certificate to a Chubleigh attorney, in whose hands he placed the matter, with instructions to leave no stone unturned to recover the full amount from the officers.
Words could scarcely express the chagrin of the purloiners of the gladiator, when the colonel of the 31st Light Dragoons read at mess the contents of the letter he received from the legal adviser of the landlord of the _Red Indian_. The commanding officer further significantly hinted that the implicated parties would have to uphold their reputation as officers and gentlemen by paying the amount demanded, or run the risk of being cashiered.
At first, the jokers were inclined to dispute the claim, and invited the opinion of an expert; but that authority, when he had inspected the figure, corroborated the London man’s decision, with a further assurance that the statue was cheap at the money.
Cornet Macnamara, with reasonable show of justification, stoutly declined to pay a farthing of the six hundred pounds. It was, however, with a very bad grace, indeed, that the sum was subscribed by the interested parties; and served as a valuable lesson to them to modify for the future their spirit of mischief.
When Mike discovered the identity of his tormentors, he sent a challenge to each, and an arrangement was come to by which a representative was selected by ballot to meet the Irishman. The old trick of leadless pistols was resorted to; the combatants fired three shots at each other without any perceptible result, and then the seconds interfered, and declared honour satisfied.
A Jew purchased the fragments of the gladiator from the officers for a few guineas; but the wily Israelite well knew that a genuine Lysippus is almost as valuable broken as whole. He had the pieces skilfully rejoined, and disposed of the statue to a local virtuoso for a large sum, who in turn bequeathed it to the Chubleigh Museum.
With part of the money the lucky landlord of the _Red Indian_ received for his gladiator, he invested in a wooden figure, which did duty for a sign equally well, and which he placed above the porch out of the reach of predatory officers, and where, as has been mentioned, it still stands, battered, cracked, and mouldy.
Shortly after the episode of the gladiator, the 31st Light Dragoons were hurriedly despatched to Lancashire, in order to quell the bread riots which had broken out in that county; and the actors in the comedy just narrated were heard of no more by the good folks of Chubleigh.
A little more remains to be told of the statue by Lysippus. We must come down to 1851, the year in which the Great Exhibition was held in Hyde Park. A middle-aged Frenchman landed at Chubleigh from Havre on his way to London, and while taking a walk about the town, entered the _Red Indian_. The landlord, who had profited so handsomely by his statue, had years before gone to his rest, and his son the ex-boatswain, then an aged man, reigned in his stead. The Frenchman was interested in learning that his host had taken a share in the old war, and after a time, he had narrated to him the whole history of the statue.
‘Vat vas de name of de vessel you took?’ he eagerly asked.
‘The _Hercules_, sir.’
To the landlord’s astonishment, Monsieur leant back in his chair and indulged in a fit of uncontrollable laughter, and recovering himself, asked to be directed to the Museum. Having reached that establishment, he was not long in picking out the Lysippus, of which the learned in Chubleigh were so proud. The Frenchman put on his glasses and examined the gladiator’s toe-nail, and then gave vent to another guffaw, which speedily brought round him the officials of the establishment. He asked to see the secretary; and when introduced to the presence of that functionary, exclaimed: ‘Begar, sir, dat gladiateur is no more a Lysippus dan I am de Czar Nicholas of all de Russias. My oncle, who die ven I vas a leetle boy, keep vat you call a foundree in Athens, and have casts, or _replicas_ you call dem, made of all de antiques. He den put dem down a sewer until dey get a green magnifique; dey look like de real article; and he make heaps of money by selling dem as such in Paris. Your gladiateur is one of dem!’
‘But, my dear sir,’ asked the astounded secretary, ‘how are you going to substantiate your statement?’
‘Come wit me,’ said the Frenchman; and the twain proceeded to the statue. ‘My oncle,’ resumed the Frenchman, ‘deal in de antique, as I have told you; and in case he himself be cheated wit his own spurious statues, he have a private mark. Here is dis mark—a leetle hole drilled under dis toe-nail!’
The secretary communicated the purport of Monsieur’s statement to the Museum directors; experts were called who substantiated the Frenchman’s assertion that the work was spurious, and was no more the production of Lysippus than an Italian moulder’s plaster-cast of Venus is the work of Phidias. In disgust, the directors ordered the statue to be transferred to the lumber-room of the establishment, and its description, ‘Gladiator, by Lysippus, B.C. about 324; bequeathed by the late ——, Esq.,’ disappeared from the Museum catalogue.
ANOTHER ‘SHIP-CANAL.’
Another has been proposed, although the idea is not new, but seems to have been an old idea revived, and that is, to cut a canal from the sea to Birkenhead Docks across the low flat country lying between the outfalls of the Dee and Mersey, and thus getting a wide passage which will enable ships to avoid the bar of the Mersey. Elaborate plans have been prepared by an eminent engineer; and as the whole scheme seems feasible, and as money for great schemes seems to be readily forthcoming in this wealth-producing country, there can be no reason why the ‘ship-canal of Birkenhead’ should not be carried out as well as the ‘ship-canal of Manchester.’ It would have a great and reviving effect on the town of Birkenhead, which by this means may one day become an important commercial city, a rival to, instead of a mere suburb of, her wealthy sister on the opposite Lancastrian shore; and the expectations of half a century ago of a grand city, with magnificent streets, and squares, and splendid commercial docks, may even yet be realised.
THIS IS ALL.
Just a saunter in the twilight, Just a whisper in the hall, Just a sail on sea or river, Just a dance at rout or ball, Just a glance that hearts enthral— This is all—and this is all.
Just a few harsh words of doubting, Just a silence proud and cold, Just a spiteful breath of slander, Just a wrong that is not told, Just a word beyond recall— This is all—and this is all.
Just a life robbed of its brightness, Just a heart by sorrow filled, Just a faith that trusts no longer, Just a love by doubting chilled, Just a few hot tears that fall— This is all—ah! this is all.
ROSIE CHURCHILL.
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