CHAPTER XXI
RECONCILIATION AND RETROSPECTION
Although the letter from Mr William Goodall to Squire Dove, in which the merchant promised to visit them, proved consoling at Wedwell Hall, still the fate of the aeronauts was the great engrossing topic that grew in intensity hour after hour, so that reports of the vaguest kind were eagerly caught at by the gamekeeper and Lucy, who knew how deeply Miss Dove especially was concerned about Harry Goodall; nor was Lucy herself much less anxious as to Trigger, so that she took every opportunity of acquiring each scrap of information that she could gather, both as to where the balloon had descended and whether Croft had been arrested or any information had been obtained as to his whereabouts.
One of the earliest, if not reliable, sources of intelligence was generally to be met with in the person of Doctor Peters, who was an inveterate newspaper reader, subscribing to many of the metropolitan and local papers. Knowing this, Bennet, who was very eager for news, determined to waylay the doctor. Meeting him on the confines of the park with a newspaper in his hand, he at once accosted him after touching his hat,--
“Any stirring news this morning, sir?” asked the gamekeeper.
“Yes, there’s something fresh,” replied the doctor, “though I daresay that you and others have heard it.”
“It will be news to me at all events,” replied Bennet.
“Well, then, I’ll read you the paragraph which the _Daily Post_ gives:--
“‘A FISHING-LUGGER’S STRANGE ADVENTURE.--A remarkable report reached Dieppe yesterday that the French lugger, No. 365, was attacked off the coast by a party of English aeronauts, who, representing themselves as emissaries of justice, arrested a passenger named Croft in the name of the law. It may be remembered that the prisoner is wanted, together with his confederate Falcon, on various criminal charges. Our report is furnished by the captain of the _Retriever_, who stood by and gave assistance. Further details will be at hand shortly!’”
“Well, to be sure!” cried Bennet, “that is news indeed.”
“I should just think it is, Bennet. Well, you can take the newspaper and show it to them at the Hall. I sha’n’t go up myself, as the squire is so strangely incensed against me. He seems to think I still support those miscreants; however, he would change his mind if he would listen to a few important details I could tell him. Just look, there goes the postman. Follow him up, Bennet; I daresay he may bring some startling intelligence.”
Notwithstanding the gamekeeper’s agreeable surprise at the doctor’s change of mind, which he was at some loss to understand, he did not waste time in speculation, but hurried up to the Hall and found that the newspaper paragraph had been seen and discussed, and that its effect on the squire was the reverse of agreeable, especially as a letter from Newhaven was of a less sensational character. His informant advised him not to pay much attention to what the reporters had written as a great deal of fiction had been mixed up with a modicum of fact.
“There can be little doubt,” said the correspondent, “that the balloon and a French lugger, which was believed to contain Croft, were engaged, but there was another fugitive on board, though not Falcon, I regret to say. It is impossible at present to say whether your property was saved or not, though I am disposed to think that it was, after a sharp contest, in which two of the three balloonists were slightly wounded, although they came off the victors in the end.”
Edith Dove and Miss Chain, as well as Lucy, were naturally much depressed by the news, but the squire, on the other hand, stoutly maintained that there was nothing in what they had heard to cause anxiety. In this state of affairs, the receipt of several telegrams was joyfully welcomed.
Miss Dove’s was from Harry Goodall. It said,--
“Have reached Cherbourg and captured C. _en route_. Hope soon to arrest F. before returning. Excuse more at present.”
“Well, that’s short and sweet enough!” exclaimed the squire. “Edith, no doubt Harry does not think it safe to say more, fearing that the French authorities might detain him.”
“Or worse, papa, he may be badly wounded and too ill to write, and, out of consideration for my feelings, tries to disguise the fact.”
“Not he, Edith. How could he continue the chase for Falcon if he--”
“Well, well, let’s hope for the best. Now, dear Miss Chain, let us hear yours.”
“Mine is from Captain Link, dear. There, read it yourself.”
“Just witnessed spirited, glorious engagement between the balloon party and a French lugger. Have caught Croft. On the track of the other. Returning shortly.”
“Hurray! God bless them!” exclaimed the squire. “But who’s that snivelling?”
“Lucy in the next room, papa.”
“Come in here, Lucy,” cried the squire. “What’s amiss with you?”
“Please, sir, my telegram says that Trigger’s wounded.”
“Nonsense, girl, let me read it.”
“Croft taken with the swag. Am wounded but nothing serious.”
“There’s nothing to cry about in that, Lucy, my good girl. I daresay his wound is a mere scratch.”
“And no doubt, squire,” said Miss Chain, who was much reassured since the receipt of her telegram, “that they had good reasons for being brief and cautious, as they have taken their prisoners and prize into Cherbourg.”
“Quite so, Miss Chain,” cried the squire. “I daresay they have, and, of course, they have to be cautious that they don’t give themselves away in the matter. The fact is, they have engaged in a deucedly delicate matter.”
“Oh, please, sir, do you think Tom will come back on crutches?” asked Lucy.
“More likely, girl, with flying colours and lots of prize money,” said the squire, laughingly.
The ladies then took a stroll in the park, taking much comfort in each other’s society. But they were again considerably upset by noticing on their return, that the squire was rather agitated. Directly he saw his daughter, he asked her, excitedly, if Lucy could take a letter of importance to Newhaven as Bennet could not be spared? He added that Doctor Peters was ill and wished to see him in order to make a communication that permitted no delay.
“Very well, papa, if you really must send Lucy; and pray see the poor old doctor at once. I wonder what he has to say?”
We must now turn to Hawksworth and his actions. He had heard just enough, both at Haywards Heath and elsewhere, about the fugitive financier and his supposed whereabouts to induce him to have another attempt to capture Falcon, as the detective had been told that he was evading the police, and that Warner had been on a wild-goose chase after him, and had failed. So Hawksworth set out for the south coast with the idea of redeeming his waning reputation, and he resolved that he would leave no stone unturned to effect his capture, especially as he held warrants for the arrest of the financier and for Croft, respecting some Australian doings and other charges relating to crimes on the high seas.
Hawksworth left London with his usual jaunty air of confidence, which was one of his weak points, and another was his susceptibility to the charms of the fair sex. It was in endeavouring to make himself agreeable to Miss Chain, and to ingratiate himself with that young lady, that he made that fatal mistake at the Crystal Palace, in fancying that Captain Link was Filcher Falcon, merely because he personally resembled him to some extent. However, had he known the particulars of Warner’s pursuit of the fugitives, he would probably have felt less confident in his mission, which subsequent events--but we must not anticipate.