Clergy -- Fiction; English fiction; Lincolnshire (England) -- Fiction
At that moment, Daisy, who had remained crouching behind the brickwork
of one of the furnaces, came forward trembling.
"Daisy Banks!" cried the vicar in astonishment. "You here?"
"Don't speak to me; don't speak to me," she cried wildly, as she threw
herself sobbing beside her father to passionately raise his head, and
kiss him again and again. "He's dead, he's dead, and I've killed--I've
killed him."
There was silence for a few moments, which no one cared to break, and
Tom Podmore stood with folded arms and heaving breast, gazing down at
the weeping figure of her he so dearly loved.
"He's not dead, my poor girl," said the vicar, kindly; "only in a swoon.
That bleeding will do him good. Constables, we must get him home at
once, or--no, you must guard this place. Harry, Podmore, and two more--
a stout piece of carpet from the nearest house. We can carry him in
that."
"Bring him home--to my place," said Richard Glaire, who had somewhat
recovered.
"I think not, Mr Glaire," said the vicar, firmly. "His own house will
be best."
"Excuse me, sir," said the chief policeman. "He's the leader, I
believe; we must have him at the station. The doctor can see him there.
He had laid the train, and was to fire it. Harry and Podmore here
know."
Daisy uttered a shriek, and the vicar's brow knit as he turned to
Richard.
"It's a lie," cried the latter, sharply. "I was here, and know some
scoundrels put the powder here, and the train; but Banks destroyed it,
and saved my life."
The vicar had him by the hand in a moment, and pressed it hard.
"It's a lie, parson," he said in a whisper; "but I must tell it. He did
save my life."
"How came he by that cut, then, sir?" said the policeman.
"You see," said Richard, coldly, "he fell and struck himself against
that piece of clinker. He did not know I was there, and that his child
had come to warn him, and he was overcome."
"I will be answerable for his appearance to reply to any charge," said
the vicar.
"There's no charge against him," said Richard, hastily. "I saw him
destroy the train."
Daisy crept to his side, and Tom Podmore groaned as he saw her kiss
Richard's hand.
"Very good, sir," said the constable; "that will do. We'll watch here,
sir, though there's no fear now; and the others are locked up."
A piece of carpet was then fetched, and Banks was carefully lifted upon
it, four men taking the corners, and bearing him hammock-fashion down
the crowded street, the work people who had been in the street having
been augmented by the rest; and a strange silence brooded over the place
as they talked in whispers, the story growing every instant until it was
the common report that Banks and Richard Glaire had met in the foundry,
that Banks had been killed, and Richard Glaire was now dying at home.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account