JOHNNY LUDLOW. "We spake of many a vanished scene, Of what we once had thought and said, Of what had been, and might have been, And who was changed, and who was dead." LONGFELLOW. JOHNNY LUDLOW. BY MRS. HENRY WOOD, AUTHOR OF "EAST LYNNE," "THE CHANNINGS," ETC. _FIRST SERIES._ [Illustration] +Fiftieth Thousand.+ LONDON: RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON, +Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen.+ 1895. (_All rights reserved._) CONTENTS. PAGE I. LOSING LENA 1 II. FINDING BOTH OF THEM 16 III. WOLFE BARRINGTON'S TAMING 28 IV. MAJOR PARRIFER 48 V. COMING HOME TO HIM 64 VI. LEASE, THE POINTSMAN 80 VII. AUNT DEAN 98 VIII. GOING THROUGH THE TUNNEL 117 IX. DICK MITCHEL 133 X. A HUNT BY MOONLIGHT 150 XI. THE BEGINNING OF THE END 165 XII. "JERRY'S GAZETTE" 182 XIII. SOPHIE CHALK 203 XIV. AT MISS DEVEEN'S 219 XV. THE GAME FINISHED 238 XVI. GOING TO THE MOP 256 XVII. BREAKING DOWN 275 XVIII. REALITY OR DELUSION? 293 XIX. DAVID GARTH'S NIGHT-WATCH 308 XX. DAVID GARTH'S GHOST 329 XXI. SEEING LIFE 348 XXII. OUR STRIKE 368 XXIII. BURSTING-UP 389 XXIV. GETTING AWAY 409 XXV. OVER THE WATER 427 XXVI. AT WHITNEY HALL 447 JOHNNY LUDLOW. I. LOSING LENA. We lived chiefly at Dyke Manor. A fine old place, so close upon the borders of Warwickshire and Worcestershire, that many people did not know which of the two counties it was really in. The house was in Warwickshire, but some of the land was in Worcestershire. The Squire had, however, another estate, Crabb Cot, all in Worcestershire, and very many miles nearer to Worcester. Squire Todhetley was rich. But he lived in the plain, good old-fashioned way that his forefathers had lived; almost a homely way, it might be called, in contrast with the show and parade that have sprung up of late years. He was respected by every one, and though hotheaded and impetuous, he was simple-minded, open-handed, and had as good a heart as any one ever had in this world. An elderly gentleman now, was he, of middle height, with a portly form and a red face; and his hair, what was left of it, consisted of a few scanty, lightish locks, standing up straight on the top of his head. The Squire had married, but not very early in life. His wife died in a few years, leaving one child only; a son, named after his father, Joseph. Young Joe was just the pride of the Manor and of his father's heart. I, writing this, am Johnny Ludlow. And you will naturally want to hear what I did at Dyke Manor, and why I lived there.