Fiction > Book editions > London, 1885 - Dynamiter

128 NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.
It was at this supreme hour of his distress, that
M'Guire spied the stout figure of one Godall, a tobacconist
of E-upert Street, drawing near along the Embankment.
The man was not unknown to him ; he had bought of
his wares, and heard him quoted for the soul of liberality ;
and such was now the nearness of his peril, that even at
such a straw of hope, he clutched with gratitude.
' Thank God ! ' he cried. ' Here comes a friend of
mine, I'll borrow.' And he dashed to meet the trades-
man. ' Sir,' said he, ' Mr. Godall, I have dealt with
3'ou — you doubtless know my face — calamities for which
I cannot blame myself have overwhelmed me. O sir,
for the love of innocence, for the sake of the bonds of
humanity, and as you hope for mercy at the throne of
grace, lend me two-and-six ! '
' I do not recognise your face,' replied Mr. Godall ;
' but I remember the cut of your beard, which I have
the misfortune to dislike. Here, sir, is a sovereign ;
wdiich I very willingly advance to you, on the single
condition that you shave your chin.'
M'Guire grasped the coin without a word ; cast it
to the cabman, calling out to him to keep the change ;
bounded dow^n the steps, flung the bag far forth into the
river, and fell headlong after it. He was plucked from
a watery grave, it is believed, by the hands of Mr.
Godall. Even as he was being hoisted dripping to the
shore, a dull and choked explosion shook the solid
masonry of the Embankment, and far out in the river a
momentary fountain rose and disappeared.
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION {continued).
Somerset in vain strove to attach a meaning to these
words. He had, in the meanwhile, applied himself
assiduously to the flagon ; the plotter began to melt in
twain, and seemed to expand and hover on his seat ; and
with a vague sense of nightmare, the young man rose
unsteadily to his feet, and, refusing the profler of a