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638 THE ADVENTURES OF PHILIP
The panel which had fallen towards the ground had split against a
stone, and a great gap was seen in the side. A lad was about to
thrust his hand into the orifice, when Woolcomb turned upon him.
" Hands off, you little beggar !" he cried, " no priggin' ! Drive
away some of those fellahs, you postboys ! Don't stand rubbin'
your knee there, you great fool. What's this?" and he thrusts his
own hand into the place where the boy had just been marauding.
In the old travelling carriages there used to be a well or swordcase,
in which travellers used to put swords and pistols in days
when such weapons of defence were needful on the road. Out of this
sword-case of Lord Ringwood's old post-chariot, Woolcomb did not
draw a sword, but a foolscap paper folded and tied with a red tape.
And he began to read the superscription—"Will of the Right Honourable
John, Earl of Ringwood. Bradgate, Smith and Burrows."
" God bless my soul ! It's the will he had back from my office, and
which I thought he had destroyed. My dear fellow, I congratulate
you with all my heart !" And herewith Mr. Bradgate the lawyer
began to shake Philip's hand with much warmth. " Allow me to look
at that paper. Yes, this is my handwriting. Let us come into the
' Ringwood Arms'—the ' Ram'—anywhere, and read it to you ! "
. . . Here we looked up to the balcony of the "Ringwood
Arms," and beheld a great placard announcing the state of the poll
at one o'clock :—
WOOLCOMB 216
HORNBLOW 92
"We are beaten," said Mr. Hornblow, very good-naturedly.
"We may take our flag down. Mr. Woolcomb, I congratulate you."
"I knew we should do it," said Mr. Woolcomb, putting out a
little yellow-kidded hand. " Had all the votes beforehand—knew
we should do the trick, I say. Hi ! you—What-do-you-call-'im—
Bradgate! What is it about, that will ? It does not do any good
to that beggar, does it ?" and with laughter and shouts, and cries
of " Woolcomb for ever !" and " Give us something to drink, your
honour," the successful candidate marched into his hotel.
And was the tawny Woolcomb the fairy who was to rescue
Philip from grief, debt, and poverty? Yes. And the old postchaise
of the late Lord Ringwood was the fairy chariot. You
have read in a past chapter how the old Lord, being transported
with anger against Philip, desired his lawyer to bring back a will
in which he had left a handsome legacy to the young man, as his
mother's son. My Lord had intended to make a provision for Mrs.
Firmin, when she was his dutiful niece, and yet under his roof.