The Bill was suffered to pass the second reading, but was thrown out, on the motion of its being committed, by two hundred and twenty-two against two hundred and fourteen. Fox then gave notice of his intention of bringing in a new Bill of his own on India, and demanded to know from the Ministers whether he might expect to proceed in security with it, or whether the House would be dissolved. Pitt did not answer; the question was repeated by other members, but Pitt continued silent, till General Conway said it was a new thing to see a Minister sitting in sulky silence, and refusing to satisfy the reasonable desires of the House. This brought out Pitt with an indignant denial; but he preserved silence as to the probability of a dissolution.
It was plain, even to Felipa, how thoroughly he enjoyed being with one who could talk of the past and of the present, from his own point of view. His Coventry had been almost complete since the day that the entire army, impersonated in Crook, had turned disapproving eyes upon him once, and had then looked away from him for good and all. It had been too bitter[Pg 310] a humiliation for him ever to subject himself to the chance of it again.Then we have found the man who is guilty! exclaimed Dick. He was with Tommy Larsen, hired him to go out to meet the yacht!
If Cairness had not slipped and gone sprawling down[Pg 232] at that moment, the fourth bullet would have brought him up short. It sung over him, instead, and splashed against a stone, and when he got to his feet again the eyes had come out from their hiding-place. They were in the head of a very young buck. He had sprung to the top of his rock and was dancing about with defiant hilarity, waving his hands and the Winchester, and grimacing tantalizingly. "Yaw! ya!" he screeched. Cairness discharged his revolver, but the boy whooped once more and was down, dodging around the stone. Cairness dodged after him, wrath in his heart and also a vow to switch the little devil when he should get him. But he did not seem to be getting him.Then a big cow-boy left the bar and loitering over, with a clink of spurs, touched him on the shoulder. "The drinks are on you," he menaced. The minister chose to ignore the tone. He rose, smiling, and stretching his cramped arms. "All right, my friend, all right," he said, and going with the big fellow to the bar he gave a general invitation.On the 20th of November this memorable march commenced. For the convenience of quarters, the two divisions of the army were still maintained, the first led by Lord George Murray, the second by the prince himself. They left a garrison of two hundred men at Carlisle, though, on a muster, it was discovered that above a thousand men had deserted since they left Edinburgh, and that they had now only four thousand five hundred to attempt the conquest of England with. At Penrith the whole army halted for a day, hearing that Wade was coming against them; but finding, on the contrary, that he was gone back, they pursued their route by Shap, Kendal, and Lancaster, to Preston, where they arrived on the 27th. On the way, so far from meeting with any signs of adhesion, the farmers from whom they had taken horses congregated and pursued them on other horses, dismounted some of their cavalry, and carried their horses away again. Preston was a place of ill omen to the Highlanders ever since the defeat of the Duke of Hamilton in the Civil War there, and the surrender of Mackintosh in 1715. They had a fixed idea that no Scottish army could ever advance farther. To break this spell, Lord George led his vanguard at once over the bridge, and quartered them beyond it. The army halted there a day, and then proceeded to Wigan, which they entered the next day. Till he reached Preston, however, Charles received no tokens of sympathy. At Preston, for the first time, he received three hearty cheers, and a few men joined his standard. On the road from Wigan to Manchester the expressions of goodwill increased; throngs of people collected to see him pass, but none would consent to join them. At Manchester the approach of the army had been heralded by a Scottish sergeant, a drummer, and a woman, the men in plaids and bonnets exciting great astonishment, and bringing together thousands of spectators. They announced the prince for the morrow, and began recruiting for his service. They offered a bounty of five guineas, to be paid when the prince came. A considerable number enlisted, receiving a shilling in token of engagement.In the meantime, petitions, memorials, and remonstrances were presented from New York and other places, and from the British inhabitants of Canada, but all were rejected. On the 26th of May George III. prorogued Parliament, and expressed his perfect satisfaction in its proceedings; so utterly unconscious was this king that he was alienating a great empire, and which, indeed, was already virtually gone from him; for during the very time that Parliament had been protesting against even the contemptible crumbs of concession offered by Ministers, war had broken out, blood had flowed, and the Americans had triumphed![See larger version]
