text
stringlengths 2.66k
5.61k
| author
int64 1
50
|
|---|---|
with and there were and for carrying queens framed and with and with handled poles and curtain rings there were golden hung with pierced that quivered on the branches there were studded images five feet high of forgotten gods silver with eyes there were coats of mail gold on steel and fringed with and blackened seed pearls there were and with pigeon s blood there were of of and hide and with red gold and set with at the edge the kings there were of diamond swords and hunting knives there were golden and and of a shape that never see the light of day there were cups and there were and pots for perfume and eye powder all in gold there were nose rings head bands finger rings and past any counting there were seven fingers broad of square cut diamonds and and wooden boxes with iron from which the wood had fallen away in powder showing the pile of star cat diamonds and within the white was right no mere money would begin to pay the value of this treasure the of centuries of war plunder trade and the alone were leaving out of count all the precious stones and the dead weight of the gold and silver alone might be two or three hundred tons every native ruler in india to day however poor has a to which he is always adding and though once in a long while some enlightened prince may send off forty or fifty cart loads of silver to be exchanged for government the bulk of them keep their treasure and the knowledge of it very closely to themselves the book but naturally did not understand what these things meant the knives interested him a little but they did not balance so well as bis own and so he dropped them at last he found something really fascinating laid on the front of a half buried in the it was a three foot or elephant � something like a small boat hook the top was one round shining and twelve inches of the handle below it were studded with rough close together giving a most satisfactory grip below them was a rim of with a flower pattern running round it � only the leaves were and the blossoms were sunk in the cool green stone the rest of the handle was a shaft of pure ivory while the point � the and hook � was gold steel with pictures of elephant catching and the pictures attracted who saw that they had something to do with his friend the silent the white had been following him closely is this not worth dying to behold he said have i not done thee a great favour i do not understand said the things are hard and cold and by no means good to eat but this � he lifted the � i desire to take away that i may see it in the sun thou they are all thine wilt thou the king s give it to me and i will bring thee to eat the white fairly shook with evil delight assuredly i will give it he said all that is here i will give thee � till thou away but i go now this place is dark and cold and i wish to take the thorn pointed thing to the look by thy foot what is that there picked up something white and smooth it is the bone of a man s head he said quietly and here are two more they came to take the treasure away many years ago i spoke to them in the dark and they lay still but what do i need of this that is called treasure � if thou wilt give me the to take away it is good hunting if not it is good hunting none the less i do not fight with the poison people and i was also taught the master word of thy tribe there is but one master word here it is mine flung himself forward with blazing eyes who bade me bring the man he i surely the old it is long since i have seen man and this man speaks our tongue the book but there was no talk of killing how can i go to the and say that i have led him to his death � said i talk not of killing till the time and as to thy going or not going there is the hole in the wall peace now thou fat monkey i have but to touch thy neck and the will know thee no longer never man came here that went away with the breath under his ribs i am the of the treasure of the king s city but thou white worm of the dark i tell thee there is neither king nor city the is all about us cried there is still the treasure but this can be done wait awhile of the rocks and see the boy run there is room for great sport here life is good run to and fro awhile and make sport boy put his hand on s head quietly the white thing has dealt with men of the man pack until now he does not know me he whispered he has asked for this hunting let him have it had been standing with the held point down he flung it from him quickly and it dropped just behind the great snake s hood him to the floor in a flash s weight was upon the body it from hood to tail the king s the red eyes burned and the six spare inches of the head struck furiously right and left kill said as s hand went to his knife no he said as he drew the blade will never kill again save for food but look you he caught the snake behind the hood forced
| 39 |
rules of weight to be more explicit we will say that while you would properly weigh miss s art on a hay scales you must use a more delicate machine if you would seek to learn the true magnitude and of s art it is quite true that to both fe men and things i i the same amount of practical appreciation is paid her in when miss played at the theatre last january she was applauded by two thousand delighted at fifty cents apiece now comes along with her and does business to j of the de la crime of our pork at three dollars per head you see that the box office are the same in both instances it would be impossible therefore to compare the merits of each by the amount of money derived from the performance of each it is far from our purpose to any between these two gifted women each in her way and the way of the one is as far from the way of the other as the beauties of a fat stock show are removed from the beauties of a display if there is in s art a breadth and a weight that remind us of the ponderous of a meat axe there is it must also be confessed in s art a and an that remind us of the covert of a paper knife has explained this very difference in that charming wherein he tells of who with ruddy glowing arm holds out an cup of goat s milk while on the other hand extends to the poet a silver filled to the brim with old chilled with snow now there is no doubt in mind best funny stories that chose the but we are not all and we presume to say that as between goat s milk at prices and at war a vast majority of would choose the former the last act was a great disappointment said one of our most beef it is there that gets away with this why s with that young is the piece of art i ever saw she just tears around and the furniture like a steer in a box car george leader of the at the says that he knew just as soon as he saw the score of the music that s was very s s score says he is throughout with con and on the other hand the music of s is in big black type and every other bar is or and our player blew himself into a last january trying to keep up with the rest of the in the death struggle in the last act we can see that labors under one serious disadvantage and that is the fact that her plays are in a foreign language we asked colonel j m hill why did not write his plays in english and he said he supposed it was because was a frenchman the critics men and things this may be all very well for paris but we that it will not do in what protection has a audience in a case of this kind what assurance have we that while we are admiring this woman s art the woman herself is not and us in her absurd foreign language now we would not seek to create the impression that s work is not on the contrary we are free to say and we say it boldly that we recognize considerable merit in it we fancy however that is not always original we find him making use of a good many lines certainly were not bom of his genius as we remember now into his dialogue the very the very du and the very too which we hear every day in our best society and will he have the to deny that he has stolen from us � ay stolen from us � the very which is the grand commercial basis upon which culture stands and all competition � oh how glad � how proud � is that and william shakespeare and and her other favorite have been content to put their plays in honest but saxon rev cream and the new livery a letter from mrs to miss by george william new york april my dear � lent came so early this year that i was very much afraid my new bonnet a would not be out from paris soon enough but it arrived just in time and i had the satisfaction of taking down the pride of mrs who fancied hers would be the only hat in the first sunday she could not keep her eyes away from me and i sat so and so calmly looking at the doctor that she was quite vexed but whenever she away i ran my eyes over the whole congregation and would you believe that almost without an exception people had their old things however i suppose they forgot how soon lent was coming as i was passing out of church mrs brushed by me men and things ah said she good morning why bless me you ve got that pretty hat i saw at s well now it s really quite pretty has some taste left yet what a lovely sermon the doctor gave us by the by did you know that mrs has actually bought the blue velvet it s too bad because i wanted to cover my prayer book with blue and she sits so near the effect of my book will be quite spoiled dear me there she is to me good bye do come and see us you know well really does very well i was so mad with the old thing that i could not help catching her by her mantle and holding on while i whispered loud enough for everybody to hear mrs you see i have just got my bonnet from paris it s made after the s if you
| 34 |
is to me that she associates with gentlemen s daughters no one i apprehend will deny she is superior to mr martin whoever might be her parents said mr whoever may have had the charge of her it does not appear to have been any part of their plan to introduce her into what you would call good society after receiving a very indifferent education she is left in mrs s hands to shift as she can � to move in short in mrs s to have mrs s acquaintance her friends evidently thought this good enough for her and it was good enough she desired nothing better herself till you chose to turn her into a friend her mind had no for her own set nor any ambition beyond it she was as happy as possible with the in the summer she had no sense of superiority then if she has it now you have given it you have been no friend to smith robert martin would never have proceeded so far if he had not felt persuaded of her not being to him i know him well he has too much real feeling to address any woman on the hap hazard of selfish passion and as to conceit he is the farthest from it of any man i know depend upon it he had encouragement it was most convenient to not to make a direct reply to this assertion she chose rather to take up her own line of the subject again you are a very warm friend to mr martin but as i said before are unjust to s claims to marry well are not so contemptible as you represent them she is not a clever girl but she has better sense than you are aware of and does not deserve to have her understanding spoken of so that point however and supposing her to be as you describe her only pretty and good natured let me tell you that in the degree she possesses them they are not trivial to the world in general for she is in fact a beautiful girl and must be thought so by ninety nine people out of a hundred and till it appears that men are much more philosophic on the subject of beauty they are generally supposed till they do fall in love with well informed minds instead of handsome faces a girl with such loveliness as has a certainty of being ad and sought after of having the power of choosing from among many consequently a claim to be nice her good nature too is not so very slight a claim as it does real thorough sweetness of temper and manner a very humble opinion of herself and a great readiness to be pleased with other people i am very much mistaken if your sex in general would not think such beauty and such temper the highest claims a woman could possess my word to hear you the reason you have is almost enough to make me think so too better be without sense than it as you do to be sure cried she i know that is the feeling of you all i know that such a girl as is exactly what every man delights in � what at once his senses and his judgment oh may pick and choose were you yourself ever to marry she is the very woman for you and is she at seventeen just entering into life just beginning to be known to be wondered at because she does not accept the first offer she receives no � pray let her have time to look about her i have always thought it a very foolish intimacy said mr presently though i have kept my thoughts to myself but i now perceive that it will be a very unfortunate one for you will puff her up with such ideas of her own beauty and of what she has a claim to that in a little while nobody within her reach will be good enough for her vanity working on a weak head produces every sort of mischief nothing so easy as for a young lady to raise her expectations too high miss smith may not find offers of marriage flow in so fast though she is a very pretty girl men of sense whatever you may choose to say do not want silly wives men of family would not be very fond of connecting themselves with a girl of such obscurity � and most prudent men would be afraid of the inconvenience and disgrace they might be involved in when the mystery of her came to be revealed let her marry robert martin and she is safe respectable and happy forever but if you encourage her to expect to marry greatly and teach her to be satisfied with nothing less than a man of consequence and large fortune she may be a parlor at mrs s all the rest of her life � or at least for smith is a girl who will marry somebody or other till she grow desperate and is glad to catch at the old s son we think so very differently on this point mr that there can be no use in it we shall only be making each other more angry but as to my letting her marry martin it is impossible she has refused him and so decidedly i think as must prevent any second application she must abide by the evil of having refused him whatever it may be and as to the refusal itself i will not pretend to say that i might not influence her a little but i assure you there was very little for me or for anybody to do his appearance is so much against him and his manner so bad that if she ever were disposed to favor him she is not now i can imagine that before she
| 26 |
might be known then having procured a horse he set forth long before daylight threw its flush upon the eastern sky upon his journey to st mary s not doubting to hear upon his arrival there a story of outrage though against whom or how he could not guess done by the band of the s chapel without stopping to notice the wandering gaze of the at the strange and spectacle he exhibited to them he made his way directly to the dwelling of father by the aid of the good father himself he was dismounted from his horse and straightway conducted into the study of the you have reason to be amazed at this early visit reverend � father he said but my errand will allow no ceremony you come to tell somewhat of the hastily answered father with a look and tone of sorrow which informed the at the outset that some deed of horror had already been done � who last night the of the worthy s roof and stole away his daughter exclaimed rob with sudden wonder was that the drift of s last night he has stolen the i hell hound i heard it not holy father but i guessed some such outrage i have hastened hither faster than these crippled limbs are wont to travel to tell thee where the robber may be found i knew his purpose of mischief though not against whom it tended � ha ha ha i i have him i have him speak old man more we are lost in doubt and overcome with grief � say has the fled by ic rob of the bowl to the islands at the mouth of the river there ha hopes to find his � but i have cheated him father i lose no time � but set pursuit on foot the town is wild with conjecture returned the priest master s servants have told the dreadful tale but whither to search no one yet has told come instantly with me to the s he who can point out the path of rescue will be more than a welcome guest the priest lost no time in causing rob to be again set in his saddle and walking beside the horse across the plain which separated the dwelling of the from the city father soon halted with his companion at the door previous to the arrival of the and afterwards during the conference between him and the in which measures were for the pursuit of the the excitement of the inhabitants of st mary s was aroused to the most intense agitation the tidings brought from the rose had awakened the town at the dawn of day and told in every dwelling the sad history of the s the fate of was by all with bitter old and young grew frantic at the thought of a delicate and maiden torn from her parent bower in the dead of the night and abandoned to the of in whose not one sentiment of pity or remorse the fury of their brutal passions and they uttered deep as they dwelt upon the dreadful fate which had befallen their cherished rose of st mary s all were to do something for her rescue yet none seemed to know what was proper to be done the women wrung their hands and wept running wildly from place to place the elder conversed in doubting and and the young men of the port their anger in loud cries for vengeance against the by ic of the bowl of the outrage � suggesting as many plans of pursuit as were of the retreat of the and calling loudly to be led into immediate action the olive branch did not slip ff so quietly on a harmless flight said the lieutenant of the fort as he stood in the midst of some eight or ten on a bank which near the middle of the town gave a view of the whole extent of the river i thought that there was something too both in the craft and in her to have either of them accounted honest in the port honest i exclaimed master � one of the five who were elected every two years to preserve the of the city and who contrived to make up for the want of official duty by a of official importance honest that fellow has ever been under the suspicion of the board we have noted him masters but what could we do when his has always been personally present in the city and has i may say encouraged the fellow as a � because his custom helped to fill the of the province morals before money has always been my song but it is preaching to a age � what have we to expect and the women added the women ran away with the man s wits why mark you � what man i would ask but would grow bold and � ay and wicked � who has wife maid and widow ever at his heels singing and saying all manner of till at last one would think they had no other note oh but it was horrible � most and miserable � this taking off i groaned the proudly and gladly would i have felt to be taken in her stead i i would suffer every misfortune � by ic rob of he bowl and the worst of it is master interrupted wise they have taken mistress � that s a to the province � i should not lie if i said to the whole town why stand and like at a funeral said john the smith whilst all the time the rascal thieves are putting more land and water between them and us i think their of the council are somewhat tedious over the matter they talk longer than is necessary � or else that old crop face rob of the bowl hath
| 29 |
heard my lord sir said the man sitting like a statue on his horse and do not you say amen likewise to which john made no reply at all but sat looking straight before him you surprise me said the gentleman at a crisis like the present when queen elizabeth that maiden monarch within her tomb and bloody mary with a brow of gloom and shadow oh sir cried the man where s the use of talking of bloody mary under such circumstances as the present when my lord s wet through and tired with hard riding let s either go on to london sir or put up at once or that bloody mary will have more to answer for � and she s done a deal more harm in her grave than she ever did in her lifetime i believe by this time mr who had never heard so many words spoken together at one time or delivered with and emphasis as by the long gentleman and whose brain being wholly unable to sustain or compass them had quite given itself up for lost recovered so far as to observe that there was ample accommodation at the for all the party good beds neat excellent entertainment for man and beast private rooms for large or small parties dinners dressed upon the shortest notice choice and a lock up coach house and in short to run oyer such scraps of language as were painted up on various portions of the building and which in the course of some forty years he had learnt to repeat with tolerable he was considering whether it was at all possible to any no el sentences to the same purpose when the gentleman who had spoken first turning to him of the long wind exclaimed what say you shall we at this house he speaks of or press forward you shall decide i would submit my lord then returned the person he appealed to in a tone that your health and spirits � so important under providence to our great cause our pure and cause � here his pulled off his hat again though it was hard � require refreshment and repose go on before landlord and show the way said lord george we will at a l� you give me leave my lord said john in a low voice i change my proper place and ride before you the looks of the landlord s friend are not over honest and it may be as well to be cautious with him john is quite right interposed mr fi back hastily my lord a life so precious as yours must not be put in peril go forward john by all means if you have any reason to suspect the blow his brains out john made no answer but looking straight before him as his custom seemed to be when the secretary spoke bade push on and dose behind him then came his with mr at his bridle rein and last of au his s secretary � for that it seemed was s office strode briskly on often looking back at the servant whose horse was close upon his heels and glancing with a at his case of pistols by which he seemed to set great store he was a square built strong made fellow of the true english breed and as measured him with his eye he measured regarding him meanwhile with a look of bluff disdain he was much older than the man being to all appearance � and forty but was one of those self possessed hard headed fellows who if they ever are beat at or other kind of warfare never know it and go on coolly till they win k i led you wrong now said you d � ha ha ha � you d shoot me through the head i suppose john took no more notice of this remark than if ho had been deaf and dumb but kept riding on quite comfortably with his eyes fixed on the horizon did you ever try a fall with a man when you were young master said can you make any play at john looked at him sideways with the same contented air but not a word in answer � like this said giving his one of those skilful in which the rustic of that time delighted � or that returned john beating down his guard with his whip and striking him on the head with its butt end yes i played a little once you wear your hair too long i should have cracked your crown if it had been a little shorter it was a pretty smart loud sounding rap as it was and evidently astonished who for the moment seemed disposed to drag his new acquaintance from his saddle his neither malice triumph rage nor any lingering idea that he had given him offence his eyes gazing steadily in the old direction and his manner being as careless and composed as if he had merely brushed away a fly was so puzzled and so disposed to look upon him as a customer of almost supernatural that he merely laughed and cried well done then off a little led the way in silence before ike lapse of many minutes the party halted at the door lord george and his secretary quickly gave their horses to their servant who under the guidance of repaired to the stables glad to escape from the of the night they followed mr into the common room and stood warming themselves and drying their clothes before the cheerful fire while he busied himself with such orders and preparations as his guest s high quality required as he in and out of the room intent on these arrangements he had an opportunity of observing the two travellers of whom as yet he knew nothing but the voice the lord the great personage who did the so much honour
| 8 |
be worth much i have not altered it but you have no it is altered go and see she went and read that in spite of losing his he would keep his grace came back surprised well i never she said who can have made such nonsense of it who indeed said he i have rubbed it all out as the point of it is quite gone you d no business to rub it out i didn t tell you to i meant to let it stay a little longer some idle boy did it no doubt she murmured as this seemed very probable and the actual was said no more and dismissed the matter from his mind from this day of his life onward for a considerable time though not absolutely out of his house as yet retired into the background of human life and action � a feat not particularly of performance any thb where when the has the assistance of a lost grace thinking that saw her write made no ther sign and the frail bark of fidelity that she had thus timidly launched was and lost chapter xvi dr lived on the slope of the hill in a house of less both as to architecture and as to magnitude than the timber merchant s the latter had without doubt been once the residence to the snug and modest domain of little of which the boundaries were now lost by its with others of its kind into the adjoining estate of mrs though the themselves were unaware of the fact there was every reason to believe � at least so the parson said � that the owners of that little had been s own ancestors the family name in numerous documents relating to of land about the time of the civil wars mr s dwelling on the contrary was small and comparatively modem it had been occupied and was in part occupied still by a retired farmer and his wife who on the surgeon s arrival in quest of a home had him by receding from their front rooms into the kitchen quarter whence they administered to his wants and emerged at regular intervals to receive from him a not unwelcome addition to their income the cottage and its garden were so regular in their arrangement that they might have been laid out by a dutch of the time of william and mary in dense hedge cut to was a door over which the hedge formed an arch and from the inside of the door a straight path bordered with box ran np the slope of the garden to the porch which was exactly in the middle of the house front with two windows on each side right and left of the path were first a bed of bushes next of next of next of next of old fashioned at the comers opposite the porch being of the w box resembling a pair of school over the roof of the could be seen the orchard on yet higher ground and behind the orchard the forest trees reaching up to the crest of the hill opposite the garden door and visible from the parlor window was a swing gate leading into a field across which there ran a foot path the swing gate had just been and on one fine afternoon before the paint was dry and while were still dying the surgeon was standing in his sitting room looking out at the different who passed and along that route being of a philosophical stamp he perceived that the character of each of these travellers exhibited itself in a somewhat amusing manner by his or her method of handling the gate as regarded the men there was not much variety they gave the gate a kick and passed through the women were more to them the wood work was a a disgust a menace a treachery as the case might be the first that he noticed was a woman with her skirts tucked up and her hair she grasped the gate without looking giving it a push with her shoulder when the white drew from her an exclamation in language not too refined she went to the green bank sat down and rubbed herself in the grass cursing ike while ha i ha ha laughed the doctor the next was a girl with her hair short in whom the surgeon recognized the daughter of his late patient the south moreover a black bonnet that she wore by way of mourning reminded him that he had ordered the of a tree which had caused her parent s death and s losses she walked and thought and not but her led her to grasp the bar of the gate and touch it with her arm felt sorry that she should have soiled that new black frock poor as it was for it was probably her only one she looked at her hand and arm seemed but little wiped off the with an almost unmoved face and as if without her original thoughts thus she went on her way the then there came over the green quite a different sort of personage she walked as delicately as if she had been bred in town and as firmly as if she had been bred in the country she seemed one who dimly knew her appearance to be attractive but who retained some of the charm of being ignorant of that fact by forgetting it in a general she approached the gate to let such a creature touch it even with a tip of her glove was to almost like letting her proceed to self destruction he jumped up and looked for his hat but was unable to find the right one glancing again out of the window he saw that he was too late having come up she stopped looked at the gate picked up a little stick and using it as
| 45 |
you want he said in a hoarse whisper only tell me that whatever you are � be reason able but the ugly thing gave no reply no sign of aiid disgusted with his own superstition went to bed in a state of stony despair the next morning he rose with a weary impatience of his surroundings he felt that he ought to do a fallen idol to break the spell of horror but he wanted resolution to deal with his formidable � his nerves were and he felt ill and discouraged so when he found with the cast which had according to promise a note saying that he was going down to his that very day and proposing that should come with him at once instead of waiting tiu saturday he welcomed this as a means of escaping from the idol and its vague suggestions of evil and accepted eagerly before he left came up with a troubled counter about that there of flowers sir he began i think you ought to be told stopped him i know � i know he said hurriedly it s all right i� i had an accident with it last night who could have thought that he would sink to such as this to lay before a barbarous idol and when it them actually to shield it at his own expense let no one imagine that did not feel this degradation � he despised himself for it bitterly s usually wooden face became quite a for emotions oh very well sir i m sure was all he could manage to say but when he was by himself his perplexity found a vent now what the governor to tell me that he asked himself can t say i see what he s up to at all however so long as he a satisfied tain t none o my business and had driven oflf with the thought that perhaps had suspected or seen something to have his miserable plight known to his servant would be intolerable and s sole comfort was in the recollection of s a fallen idol chapter after one or two mrs s projected evening was actually about to come off she had often exerted herself before for the benefit of struggling to whom she had been of real assistance people were apt to compare her benevolence to that of the � which though it does not and it was perhaps true that her heart opened more readily than her purse aft r all money is not the only or the most valuable contribution in all cases and even of money mrs could be liberal when she saw occasion but it was quite a new sensation to her to figure as the of a rising faith which might with a little assistance society and she received her friends with deep satisfaction i do think she assured several of them that we are going to have a most interesting dear mr hopes to be allowed to go quite beyond the usual phenomena the rooms filled and as the chariot wheels which bore the hero of the evening still there was little to distinguish the gathering from an ordinary evening party young men stood talking with the usual conviction that it was uncommonly good of them to talk at all down to the eager girl faces to catch their here and there with an evident pride in his social dexterity would pick his way through the groups until he dropped into the opening he desired much as the marble in the game of nursery down a of pins everybody seemed to be talking at once at high pressure and full speed and the effect at a short distance was painfully suggestive of the monkey house but there were the usual silent individuals without whom no social evening would be complete � the men who don t know a soul and who are to be seen sometimes together for mutual encouragement like cattle in wind more often brooding apart in comers wondering why they came and one another with a there were the airy little greetings which not carried a hidden sting and the intended least of all for the actual the slow beat of and the restless shifting of crush hats the only features were a certain suppressed excitement and the fact that the talk ran everywhere in the same � the probable nature of the s performances concerning which there was much vague speculation mr come here and tell me all about this said mrs in her imperious tones what will it be like � youve seen it before i know well let me see said if you can conceive a fallen idol a cross between a rather clumsy foreign and a performing you ll get a faint idea of the kind of thing is it amusing then inquired the lady solemnly there s an element of quiet fun without vulgarity about it certainly said we must make him bring out his best miracles � we shall have you a mrs before the evening s over he was passing on in the endeavour to reach the spot where stood by one of the open windows when he was again delayed this time by little mrs tell me mr isn t it getting fearfully late i really don t think this prophet man can be coming now if he ever meant to for they re obliged of course to be very particular where they go just at starting aren t they � they can t go everywhere it s a great disappointment to dear mrs no doubt after getting us all here to meet him but perhaps she was a little too ready to take his acceptance for granted � don t you think so i am so grieved about it well i wouldn t begin to despair yet said i think he is pretty sure to turn up some time ah said mrs you
| 44 |
but what did the boy do last night october � he called out to tom to get out of the way and not spoil the fun then tom turned on the crowd and i guess he gave it to them hot and heavy i m sure i hope he did i said fervently he said he thought they might be in better business than an old drunken woman like that and called them to their faces they got mad and wanted to know what business it was of his anyway then he blazed out again and said � i do not know whether the pause aunt made was designed to rouse me still further or whether she hesitated unconsciously but i was too excited to care what did he say i asked he told them she was his mother in law tom said that to that crowd cried i and i felt the tears spring into my eyes it was chiefly excitement of course but the pluck of it and the hurt to tom came over me in a flash what did they do they just muttered and got out of the way john said it was n t two minutes before tom was left alone with the old woman and then he took her home it s a pity she would n t drink herself to death i think it is aunt was my answer though i wished to add that the sentiment was rather a queer one to come from anybody who believes as she does i do not know what else aunt said indeed when she had told her tale she seemed in something of a hurry to leave and i suspect her of going on to repeat it somewhere else tom s sin has left a trail of consequences behind it which he could never have the of a saint dreamed of i cannot tell whether i pity him more for this or honor him for the courage with which he stood up poor tom october an odd thing has happened to the a man came in the storm last night and dropped insensible on the he might have lain there all night and very likely would have died before morning but george when he started for bed chanced to open the door to look at the weather he found the tramp wet and covered with and at first thought that he was either dead or drunk when he had got him in and out by the kitchen fire the man proved to be ill george sent for dr and had a bed made up in the shed chamber but when he told me this morning he said it seemed rather doubtful if the tramp could live what did mrs say i asked i do not know how i came to ask such a question and i meant nothing by it george however in a moment as if he suspected me of something unkind mrs did n t like my taking him into the house he said she thought i ought to have sent him off to the poor farm you could hardly do that last night i returned wondering how i could have offended him i am afraid the tramp s looks set her against him she has n t seen him she d gone to bed before i found him last night and this morning he is pretty sick dr says he can t be moved now he s in a high fever and keeps talking all the time it is so very seldom we hear of in october that it is strange to have one appear like this and it is odd he chose george s house to tumble down at as it is a little out of this road have a law of their own however and never do what one would expect of them i hope his illness will not be serious i offered to do what i could but george said they could take care of the man for the present then he hesitated and flushed a little as if confused i am sorry he said it should happen just now for ought not to be troubled when � when she is n t well it is a pity and i hope no harm will come of it but if mrs has not seen the tramp and has not been startled i do not see why any should october if i could be superstitious i think i should be now but of course the whole thing is nonsense people are talking � in forty eight hours i how gossip does spring and spread as if there were something peculiar about that tramp there is nothing definite to say except that he came to george s house which is a little off from the main street and that in his delirium he keeps calling for some person he says he knows is there and he wiu surely find no matter how she hides the idea of the sick in a delirium is always painful and the talk about this man makes it doubly so i am afraid the fact that mrs s servants do not like her has something to do with the whispers in the air dislike will create suspicion on the slightest excuse and there can be nothing to connect her with this dying tramp what could there be i wish aunt would not repeat such unpleasant things the of a saint october i have been with tom hanging the pictures in the new reading room and everything is ready for the opening when the magazines and the books come next wednesday is the first of the month and then we will have it opened tom has already a list of over twenty men and boys who have joined and lame peter is to be it is delightful to see how proud and pleased he is he can help
| 3 |
already prepared before he came there was much excitement in the place had boasted that he had made a great deal of money in south america the old ideal he claims now said s captain that he owns all of squire s lands he says you knew it was all his when you sold it to them englishmen and that mr the president of the company knew it was his and he has been well we will see about that said grimly that s what old squire said the old man came up as soon as he heard he was here but didn t stay but one night he had lighted out what did the squire come fort inquired moved by his old friend s expression he said he came to kill him and he d have done it if s got any friends they d better keep him out of his way his face his earnestness had a curious feeling s return meant that he was desperate in some way too felt that was concerned in his movements he was glad to think that she was abroad but was being drawn again into his life in a way that he little knew in the seclusion and of at that season soon felt as if she had reached at last a safe harbor the care of the old doctor gave her employment and her mind after a while began to recover its healthy tone she knew that the happiness of which she had once dreamed would never be hers but she was sustained by the reflection that she had tried to do her duty she had sacrificed herself for others she spent her time trying to help those about her she had made friends with squire and the old man found much comfort in talking to her of sometimes in the afternoon when she was lonely she climbed the hill and looked after the little plot in which lay the grave of her father she remembered her mother but vaguely as a beautiful vision by the years � but her father was clear in her memory his smile his his devotion to her remained and the memory of him who k en her came to her sometimes her till she would arouse herself and by an effort banish him from her thoughts often when she went np to the she would see others there women in black with a sorrow than hers and sometimes the squire who was beginning now to grow feeble and with age would be sitting on a bench among the beside a grave on which he had placed flowers the grave was s once he spoke to her of he had brought a suit against the old man claiming that he had a title to all of the latter s property the old fellow was greatly stirred up by it he him furiously he has robbed me of her he said let him beware if he ever comes across my path i shall kill him so the winter passed and spring was beginning to come its in their livery of red and green were already showing on the the was burning on the southern slopes the turf was springing fresh and green were the grass like golden sown by a prodigal were beginning to peep from the shelter of leaves caught along the fence rows and some favored trees were blushing into pink for some reason the season made sad was it that it was nature s season for the season for youth to burst its bonds and blossom into she tried to fight the feeling but it clung to her dr watching her with quickened eyes grew graver and prescribed a once he had spoken to her of and she had told him that he was to marry mrs but the old man had made a discovery and he never spoke to her of him again to her surprise and indignation received one morning a letter from asking her to make an appointment with him on a matter of mutual interest he wished he said to make friends with old mr and she could help him he mentioned and casually spoke of his engagement she took no the old ideal notice of this letter but one afternoon she was than and she went up the hill to her father s grave adam s horse was tied to the fence and across the lots she saw him among the rose bushes at s grave she sat down and gave herself up to reflection gradually the whole of her life in new york passed before her ite its promise of joy for a moment and then the shutting of it out as if the windows of her soul had been closed she heard the gate click and presently heard a step behind her as it approached she turned and faced she seemed to be almost in a dream he had aged somewhat and his dark face had hardened otherwise he had not changed he was still very handsome she felt as if a chill blast had struck her she caught his eye on her and knew that he had recognized her as he came up the path toward her she rose and moved away but he cut across to her and she heard him speak her name she took no notice but walked on miss he stepped in front of her her head went up and she looked him in the eyes with a scorn in hers that stung him move if you please his face flushed then again i heard you were here and i have come to see you to talk with you he began i wish to be friends with you she waved him aside let me pass if you please not until you have heard what i have to say you have done me a great injustice but i put that by i
| 46 |
best eaten in a highly condition a dozen or so of wrinkled apples which to judge by their and worn must have been several old kept melancholy companionship with of the choice tea whereof the was displayed in the window and was just about wondering whether she would or could buy anything out of the collection when the click click click stopped abruptly and stepped forth from the interior den of the post office all right miss he said your are sent correctly as far as anyhow and there is one there who is acquainted with the french language they will correctly from london i shouldn t like to say i � we are a singular nation and one of our is that we scorn to know the language of our nearest neighbours she smiled up at him � and as his glance met hers he was taken as it were by the beauty and frank god s good man innocence of the grave dark blue eyes that shone so serenely into his own thank you so very very much you have been most kind and with a swift of her white eyelids she veiled those of the soul beneath a concealing fringe of long golden brown lashes � it s quite a new experience to find a clergyman able and willing to be a telegraph clerk as well i so useful isn t it in a village like this it is rejoined gaily � and after all there s not much use in being a minister unless one can practically succeed in the art of to every sort of demand made upon one s i even to miss s needs should she require anything from the preservation of trees to the sending of that st rest can provide again glanced at him and again a little smile lifted the comers of her mouth i must pay for the she said abruptly � mrs yes miss � written it all down murmured mrs nervously � it s right mr isn t it if you would be so good as to look at it bein a word it do make it different like an m there might be a mistake glanced over the scrap of paper on which she had her rough figures out i declare mrs he said merrily dear whatever is going to become of you eh to cheat yourself wouldn t matter � nobody minds thai � but to do the british government out of would be a dreadful thing now if i had not seen this you would have been what is called short this evening in making up accounts here he handed the corrected paper to i think you wiu find that right opened her purse and paid the amount � and mrs in giving her change for a sovereign included among the a bright new piece with a hole in it this little bit of silver held it up in front of s eyes triumphantly luck she exclaimed � that s for you it s a reward for operations will you be grateful if i give it to you he laughed profoundly it shall be my d s o i o god s good man then there you are i and she placed the tiny coin in the of the hand he held out to receive it the is worthy of his now you can never go about like some grumbling and saying you work for no pay her eyes sparkled what shall we do next oh i know let s buy some drops i mrs stared and smiled or drops continued glancing at the various of � i see the real old fashioned pink ones up there � at one end and at the other do you like them or brandy balls i think the drops carry one back to the age of ten most quickly but which do you prefer tried to look serious but could not succeed laughter all over his face arid he began to feel extremely young well � really miss � he began there i know what you are going to say exclaimed � you are going to tell me that it would never do for a clergyman to be seen drops in his own parish understand but do ever so much worse than that sometimes they do really two of drops for me mrs please i � and one of brandy balls mrs out of her government office and came to the counter to dispense these they k to the jar so said watching her thoughtfully they always did i remember as a child seeing a man put his finger in to them don t put your finger in mrs � take a bit of wood � an old or something oh they re coming out all right that s it and she one of the drops into her mouth they are really very good � better than french � so much more innocent and refreshing here she took possession of the little paper bags which mrs had filled with the sweets thank you mrs if any answers to my come from paris please send them up to the at once good morning good morning miss and mrs pulled the door of her double establishment wider open to let the young lady pass out which she did a smile and nod following her rose and paced after his mistress trotting meekly at the rear and god s good man they all went forth from the s garden into the road where pausing raised his hat in farewell oh are you going won t you walk with me as far as your own certainly if you wish it � he answered with a slight touch of embarrassment i thought perhaps tou thought perhaps � what laughed glancing up at him � that i was going to make you eat drops against your will not i wouldn t be so
| 33 |
incredulity that will be felt at hearing what you have done for as to secrecy henry is quite the hero of an old romance and glories id his you should come to i to know how to estimate your if you were to see how he is and how i am for his sake now am well aware that i shall not be half so welcome to mrs in consequence of his situation with you when she comes to know the truth she will very likely wish me in park i again for there is a dan ter of mr a first wife whom she is wild to get and wants to take oh she has been trying for him to a degree i innocent and quiet as you sit here yoa have an idea of the that you win be the curiosity there will be to sec you of the endless questions i shall have to answer i poor margaret will be at me for ever about your eyes and your teeth and you do your hair and who makes your shoes i wish margaret were married for my poor friend s sake for i look upon the to be about as unhappy as most other married people and yet it was a most desirable match at the time we were all she could not do than accept him for he was rich and she had nothing but he turns out iu tempered and and wants a woman a young woman of five twenty to be as steady as himself and my friend not manage him well she does not seem to know how to make die best of it there is a spirit of irritation which to say nothing worse is certainly very ill bred in their i call to mind the manners of with respect even dr grant does a confidence in my sister and a certain for her judgment which m es one there u attachment but of that i shall see nothing with the i shall be at for ever my own as a wife thomas as a husband are my standards of perfection poor has been sadly taken in and yet was nothing improper on her side she did not run into the match there was no want of foresight she took three days to consider of his proposals and during those three days asked the advice of every body connected with her whose opinion was worth having and especially applied to my late dear aunt whose knowledge of the world her judgment very generally and looked up to by all the young people of her acquaintance and she was in favour of mr this seems as if were a security for matrimonial comfort i have not so much to say for my friend who a very nice young man in die � park the sake of that horrid who has about ai much sense as mi but much looking and with a i my doubts � t the time about her being right for he has not even ae air of a gentleman and now i am sure she was wrong by the by was dying for henry the first winter she came out but were i to attempt to tell you of all the women whom i have known to be in love with him i should never have done it is you only you insensible who can think of him with anything like indifference but are you so insensible as you profess yourself no no i see you are not there was indeed so deep a blush over s ce at that moment as might strong in a mind excellent creature i will not you every thing shall take its course but dear you must allow that you were not so absolutely unprepared to have the asked as your cousin fancies it is not possible but that you must have had some thoughts on the subject some as to what might be you must have seen that he was trying to please you by every attention in his power was not he devoted to you at the ball and then before the ball the oh you received it just as it was meant you were as conscious as heart could i remember it do you mean then that your brother knew of the beforehand ob miss thai was not knew of it it was his own doing entirely his own thought i am ashamed to say that it had never entered my head but i was delighted to act on his proposal for both your i wiu not say replied that i was not half afraid at the time of its being so for there was something in your look that me hut not at first � i was as of it at first i� indeed indeed i was it is as as that i sit here and had i had an idea of it nothing should have induced me to accept the as to brother s behaviour certainly i was sensible of a is i had been sensible of it some little time two a but then i considered it as i pot it down u simply being hia way and was as r � as from wi him to have any thou ts of in i had not an of what was passing between him and some part of in the summer and autumn i was quiet but i was not i could not bat see that mr allowed in which did mean � ah i cannot deny it he has now and then been a and veiy little for the he might be making in ladies affections i have often him for it but it is his only and there is to be � aid that very few young ladies have any affections worth caring for and then the of fixing one who has been shot at by
| 26 |
spirited but no wiser it would be a fine thing to be you miss she said one night when had endeavoured to make her for next day something clearer to her do you think so i should know so much miss all that is difficult to me now would be so easy then you might not be the better for it submitted after a little hesitation i should not be the worse miss to which miss answered i don t know there had been so little communication between these two � both because life at stone lodge went round like a piece of machinery which discouraged human interference and because of the relative to s past career � that they were stiu almost strangers with her dark eyes directed to s face was uncertain whether to say more or to remain silent you are more useful to my mother and more pleasant with her i can ever be resumed you are pleasanter to yourself than i am to my self but if you please miss pleaded i am � o so stupid with a brighter laugh than usual told her she would be wiser by and by you don t know said half crying what a stupid girl i am all through school hours i make mistakes mr and mrs m call me up over and over again regularly to make mistakes i can t help them they to come natural to me mr and mrs m never make any mistakes themselves i suppose o no she eagerly returned they know everything tell me some of your mistakes i am almost ashamed said with reluctance but to day for instance mr m was explaining te us about natural prosperity national i think it must have been observed yes it was � but isn t it the same she timidly asked you had better say national as he said so returned with her dry reserve national prosperity and he said now this is a nation and in this nation there are fifty millions of money isn t this a prosperous nation girl number twenty isn t this a prosperous nation and a n t you in a state what did you say asked miss i said i didn t know i thought i couldn t know whether it was a prosperous nation or not and i was in a state or not unless i knew who had got the money and whether any of it was mine but that had nothing to do with it it was not in the figures at all said wiping her eyes that was a great mistake of yours observed yes miss i know it was now then mr m said he would try me again and he said this is an immense town and in it there are a million of inhabitants and only five and twenty are starved to death in the streets in the course of a year what is your remark on that proportion and my remark was � for i couldn t tl of a better one � that i thought it must be just as hard upon those who were starved whether the were a or a million million and that was wrong too of course it was then mr m said he would try me once more and he said here are the � said yes miss � they always remind me of and that s of my mistakes � of accidents upon the sea and i find mr m said that in a given time a hundred thousand persons went to sea on long voyages and only five hundred of them were drowned or burnt to death what is the and i said miss here fairly sobbed as with extreme to her greatest error i said it was nothing nothing nothing miss � to the relations and friends of the people who were killed i shall never learn said i and the worst of all is that although my poor father wished me times much to learn and although i am so anxious to learn because he wished me to i am afraid i don t like it stood looking at the pretty modest head as it drooped abashed before her until it was raised again to glance at her face then she ae ed did your father know so much himself that he wished you to be well taught too hesitated before replying and so plainly showed her sense that they were entering on forbidden ground that added no one hears us and if any one did i am sure no harm could be found in such an innocent question no miss answered upon this encouragement shaking her head father knows very little indeed it s as much as he can do to write and it s more than people in general can do to read his writing though it s plain to me j your mother father says she was quite a scholar she died when i was bom she was made the terrible communication nervously she was a did your father love her asked these questions with a strong wild wandering interest peculiar to her an interest gone astray like a banished creature and hiding in solitary places o yes as dearly as he loves me father loved me first for her sake he carried me about with him when i was quite a baby we have never been asunder from that time yet he leaves you now only for my good nobody understands him as i do nobody knows him as i do when he left me for my good � he never would have left me for his own � i know he was almost broken hearted with the trial he wiu not be happy for a single minute tiu he comes ba k teu me more about him said i will never ask you again where did you live we travelled about
| 8 |
result of the whole was to her disappointment and depression as they prepared by general agreement to return to the house on reaching the bottom of the steps to the terrace mrs and mrs presented themselves at the top just ready for the wilderness at the end of an hour and a from their leaving the house mrs had been too well employed to move faster whatever cross bad occurred to the pleasures of her she had found a morning of complete enjoyment � for the housekeeper after a great many on the subject of had taken her to the told her all about their cows and given her the receipt for a famous cream cheese and since s leaving them they had been met by the gardener with whom she had made a most acquaintance for she had set him right as to his s illness convinced him it was an and promised him a charm for it and he in return had shown her all his nursery of plants and actually presented her with a very curious specimen of heath on this they all returned to the house together there to away the time as they could with and chat and till the return of the others and the arrival of dinner it was late before the and the two gentlemen came in and their did not appear to have been more than partially agreeable or at all productive of any thing useful with regard to the object of the day by their own accounts they had been all walking after each other and the which had taken place at last seemed to s observation to have been as much too late for re establishing harmony as it had been for on any alteration she felt aa i b looked at and mr that was not tha only dissatisfied bosom amongst them there was gloom on the face of each mr d and hiss were much more gay and she thought that lie was taking particular pains during dinner to do away any resentment of the other two and restore general good humour dinner was soon followed by tea and coffee a ten miles drive home allowed no waste of hour and from the time of their down to table it was a quick succession of busy till the carriage came to the door and mrs having about and obtained a few s cream cheese from the housekeeper and made of civil speeches to mrs was ready to lead the way at the same moment mr approaching said i hope i am not to lose mj companion unless she is afraid of the evening air in so exposed a seal the request had not been foreseen but was very graciously received and a day was likely to end almost as well as it began miss had made up her mind to something different and was a little disappointed but her conviction of being really the one preferred comforted her under it and enabled her to receive mr s parting attentions as she was certainly better pleased to hand her into the than to assist her in ascending the box � and his complacency seemed confirmed by the arrangement well this has been a fine day for you upon my word said mrs as they drove through the part nothing but pleasure from beginning to end i am sure you ought to he very much obliged to your aunt and ma for to let you go a pretty good day s amusement vou have bad i maria was just discontented enough to directly i think you have done pretty well yourself ma am your lap seems full of good things and here is a basket of between us which has been knocking my elbow my dear it is only a beautiful little heath that nice old would make me take but if it is in your way will have it in my l p directly there you shall carry that parcel for me � take great care of it� do not it it is a cream e just like t q e i� one we bad park at dinner nothing would satisfy that good old mrs but ray taking one of ihe i stood out as long as i could till the s almost came into her eyes and i knew it was just the sort that my sister would be delighted with that mrs is a treasure she was quite shocked when i asked her whether wine was allowed at the second table and she has turned away two for wearing white gowns take care of cheese now i can manage the other parcel and the basket very well what else have you been said maria half pleased that should be so my dear i it is nothing but four of those s egg which mrs would quite force upon me she would not take a denial she said it must be such an amusement to me as she understood i lived quite alone to have a few living creatures of that sort and so to be sure it will i shall get the maid ta set them under the first spare hen and if they come to good i can have them moved to my own house and borrow a and it will be a great delight to me in my lonely hours to attend to them and if i have good luck your mother shall have some it was a beautiful evening mild and still and the drive was as pleasant as the serenity of nature could make it but when mrs ceased speaking it was altogether a silent drive to those within their spirits were in general exhausted and to determine whether the day had afforded most pleasure oi pain might occupy the meditations of almost all chapter xi thb day at with all its afforded the much more agreeable feelings than were derived from
| 26 |
butler it is all a matter of chance for to you the plain truth i don t know who to depend upon a quick eye a foot and a ready hand will be our friends then with the pistols at your saddle besides a pair in your pocket a for close quarters and my rifle here for a long shot horse shoe robinson major i am not much doubtful but what we shall bold our own how far are we from s asked butler not more than a mile replied horse shoe you may see the just ahead lives upon the top of the first hill on the other side is that fellow to be trusted better with the help of gold major than without it was never over honest but it is worth our while to make a friend of him if we can our travellers had now reached the river which was here a smooth and deep stream though by no means so broad as to it to the distinction by which in its lower portion it has earned its name it here flowed along jn deep and melancholy shade butler and his companion were destined to encounter a difficulty at this spot which less hardy travellers would have deemed a serious embarrassment the boat was not to be seen on either side of the river having been carried off a few hours before according to the information given by the inmates of a negro cabin the family of the by a party of soldiers robinson regarded this obstacle with the resignation of a practised philosopher he nodded his head significantly to his companion upon receiving the intelligence as he said there is some mischief in the wind these are always about in and when they collect the boats on the river it is either to help them forward on some house burning and business or to secure their retreat when they expect to have honest men at their heels it would be good news to hear that was near their which by the by is not neither you would be told of some pretty sport then major s means replied butler i fear are equal to his will there are heavy odds against him and it isn t often that he can venture from his hiding place but what are we to do now ha ha do as we have often done before this our legged ships and take a wet jacket coolly and as that devil lieutenant used to tell us when he waa horse shoe robinson going to make a charge of the we no time to lose major and if we had i don t think the river would run dry so here goes with these words robinson plunged into the stream and with his rifle resting across his shoulder he plied his voyage towards the opposite bank with the same as if he had on dry land as soon as he was fairly afloat he looked back to give a few to butler head up stream major lean a little forward so as to sink your horse s nose nearer to the water he all the better for it your reins and give him play you have it now it isn t in a day s ride to get a cool seat once in a while here we are safe and sound he continued as they reached the further margin and nothing the worse for the excepting it be a trifle of about the breeches the two companions now galloped towards the higher grounds of the adjacent country by the time that they had gained the summit of a long hill that rose immediately from the plain of the river robinson butler that they were now in the vicinity of s dwelling the sun had sunk below the horizon and the varied lustre of early twilight tinged the surrounding scenery with its own beautiful colors the road as it wound upwards gradually emerged from the forest upon a tract of open country given signs of one of those original which at that day were sprinkled through the great wilderness the space that had been snatched from the of nature for the purpose of comprehended some three or four fields of cultivated land these were yet spotted over with of trees that seemed to leave but little freedom to the course of the and a and a piece of half cleared ground occupying the side of one of the adjacent hills presented to the eye of our travellers a yet more uncouth spectacle this spot was still clothed with the native trees of the forest all of which had been death stricken by the axe and now heaved up their withered and branches towards the heavens without leaf or spray in the phrase of the they had been some years before and were destined to await the slow n shoe robinson decay of time in their upright attitude it was a grove of huge that had already been into an hue by the sun and whose stiff and dry members rattled in the breeze with a amongst the most of these victims of the axe the of winter had done their work and thrown them to the earth where the shattered and boughs lay as they bad fallen and were slowly into their original dust others whose appointed time had not yet been fulfilled gave evidence of their struggle with the frequent storm by their from the perpendicular line some had been caught in falling by the boughs of a neighbor and still leaned their huge upon these awakening the mind of the spectator to the fancy that they had sunk in some deadly into charitable and friendly arms and thus locked together their but doom it was a field of the dead and the more striking in its from the contrast which it furnished to the rich and lively forest that with all
| 29 |
arises from bad motives we do not feel certain that charles and james were any worse in this respect than their of the established church who and were engaged in carrying on these but for their conduct in church and state both charles and james may have some excuse in the doctrines of divine right passive obedience and non resistance so diligently by the church as we have just seen and also by the parliament and the university of oxford to a sovereign inclined to tyranny and persecution there can be no stronger temptation than the assurance that he can indulge his bad passions with this assurance the church the parliament and the university of oxford endeavoured to furnish the first parliament chosen after the restoration passed an act that the power of the sword was solely in the king and declared that in no extremity whatever could the parliament be justified in resisting him by force by another act all and officers of were required to declare on oath their belief that it was not lawful upon any pretence whatever to take arms against the king and their of the position of taking arms by the king s authority against his person or against those by him a motion to the word before was rejected the of oxford in full passed a decree against certain books and doctrines destructive to the sacred persons of princes their state and government and all human society the doctrines condemned consist of twenty seven taken from the works of milton and several others one of these is that when kings the constitution of their country and become absolute they their right to the government and may be resisted this and other sim no vn of june they declare to be scandalous and to the christian religion they forbid the students to the writings of those authors and order their books to be burnt one would suppose the parliament the church university of oxford were for slavery charles and james had some excuse for taking them at their word the history of thb period has a peculiar interest for as being essentially connected with their own the revolution of was not less a from power for new england than for old the tyranny of sir had become so that he was and imprisoned before the success of the was known here but though the revolution was a great blessing to the colonies yet some of them had much reason to of the government under the new settlement could not obtain a restoration of her though deprived of it by a judgment acknowledged to be and unjust sir so noted as a tyrant in was rewarded by being sent out as governor of virginia the act so essential to freedom was passed by the general court of but was and by the committee of at the head of which was the famous lord it seems to have been the opinion of this great constitutional lawyer that the act of did not extend to the colonies and that they could not have this security of freedom except from the of the crown the character of william of orange the great hero of the revolution the idol of the and in former times the of the is drawn at great length and in the most favorable colors he seems indeed with some faults and disagreeable qualities to have been on the whole hie best and most able of the great public men of the age he was ua and liberal in his views of religion and church � a great merit in that age a wise and far sighted with an invincible courage and perseverance in a contest which was the cause not only of england and holland but of the greater part of europe against the ambition of louis the in this case as well as some others has availed himself oi important sources of infer s of england which do not seem to have been known to any other historian and attributes to him more amiable qualities than william was supposed to possess a very picture is given of him by the which we quote merely as showing the extravagance of party zeal dr johnson according to pronounced to be most worthless of all but then it is to be recollected that the doctor had an extraordinary veneration for charles the second s character of william more point and vivacity than is often found in his history and probably shows the sentiments of the of that age the following is s view of the government of certain it is he involved these in foreign connections which in all probability will be productive of their ruin in order to establish this favorite point he not to employ all the engines of corruption by which the morals of the nation were totally he procured a sanction for a standing army which now seems to be in the constitution he introduced the practice of upon remote funds an expedient that necessarily a brood of and stock to prey upon the of their country he upon the nation a growing debt and a system of politics big with misery despair and destruction to sum up his character in a few words � william was a in religion in war in politics dead to all the warm and generous emotions of the human heart a cold relation an indifferent husband a disagreeable man an prince and an imperious sovereign the account of william s intimacy with james and his concern m some acts of oppression by the king his and court ladies will excite much surprise and probably resentment in some quarters if the charges are true it is proper they should be made known if they are and are abundantly able to his character his reputation would bear a considerable and yet leave him one of the best among the of his age says that it had been the
| 37 |
that the great s portrait would have the zest of an document the scandalous attraction of secret and instead it was as as an it was as though the artist had been in league with his bad pledged himself to oppose to the lust for post revelations an blank wall of the public was the critics were even mrs had to lay down her arms yes the portrait of is a failure she admitted and i ve never known why if he d been an obscure type of villain one could understand s the portrait missing the mark for once but with that f the she turned at the announcement of a name which our discussion had drowned and found herself shaking hands with the pretty woman started and put her hands to her curls dropped a he never himself by degrees in the profession and mrs cheerfully aware that she had been overheard said as she made room for � i wish you d explain it smoothed his beard and waited for a cup of tea then would there be any failures he said if one could explain them ah in some cases i can imagine it s impossible to seize the type � or to say why one has missed it some people are like in certain lights one can t see them at at but surely was obvious enough what i want to know is what became of him what did you do with him how did you manage to him out of sight it was much easier than you think i simply missed an opportunity � that a sign painter would have seen very likely in fighting shy of the obvious may miss the significant � � and when i got back from paris the pre j woman was heard to wail i found all the women here were wearing the very models i d home with me mrs as became a hostess got up her guests and the question of yard s portrait was dropped i left the house with and on the way down fifth avenue after one of his long he suddenly asked is that what is generally said of my picture of don t mean in the newspapers but by the fellows who know e well be said i le tries to one i of it he drew a deep breath good to know that when on make such a complete s tries to fail well no that s not quite it either i didn t want to make a failure of s picture but i did so with my eyes open all the same it was what one might call a failure but why the why of it is rather complicated i tell you some he hesitated come and dine with me at the club by and by and i tell you afterwards it a a nice morsel for a at dinner he said httle but i did n t mind that ss the portrait had known him for years and had always found something soothing and in his long from speech his silence was never it was bland as a natural hush one felt one s self included in it not left out he his beard and gazed at me and when we had finished our coffee and we strolled down to his at the � which was less draped less posed less artistic than of the smaller men � he handed me a cigar and fell to smoking before the fire when he began to talk it was of indifferent matters and i had dismissed the hope of hearing more of s portrait when my eye lit on a photograph of the picture i walked across the room to look at it and presently followed with a light it certainly is a complete disguise he muttered over my shoulder then he turned away and stooped to a big propped against the wall did you ever know miss he asked with his head in the and without waiting for my answer he handed me a sketch of a girl s i had never seen a of s and i lost sight of the s in the interest aroused by this new aspect of the master s complex genius the few lines � faint yet how decisive � out of the rough paper with the lightness of opening the portrait it was a mere hint of a picture but vivid as some word that long in the memory i felt at my shoulder again you knew her i suppose i had to stop and think why of course i d known her a silent handsome girl yet whom i had seen without seeing the winter that � had to still looking at the tried to trace some connection between the miss i recalled and the grave young of a sketch had the yards him p by what of suggestion had he been into drawing the terrible father as a s block the commonplace daughter as this memorable creature you don t remember much about her no i suppose not she was a quiet girl and nobody noticed her much even when � he paused with a smile � you were all asking to dine yes it was true � we had all asked to dine it was some comfort to think that fate had made him our weakness put the sketch on the mantel shelf and drew bis arm chair to the fire it s cold to night take another cigar old man and some there ought to be a bottle and � ome glasses in that cupboard you help yourself i ii about yard s portrait he began well i ll tell yoa it s a queer and most people would n t see anything in it my enemies might say it was a way of explaining a failure but you know better than that mrs was right between and
| 10 |
street was so narrow � and alive with people along under or walking in the rain lights were burning in all the stores and dark recesses running back to the restless tide of the thames and they were full of an industrious commercial life it was interesting to me to think that i was in the of so much that was old but for the exact details i confess i cared little here the thames was especially delightful it presented such odd i watched the tumbling tide of water whipped by wind where moderate sized and were going by in the mist and rain it was delicious artistic far more significant than and sunlight could have made it i took note of the houses the the quaint winding passages but for the color and charm they did not compare with the indescribable mass of working boys and girls and men and women which moved before my gaze the mouths of many of them were weak their noses their eyes their their ears their flat most of them had a look but for interest they were american working crowds may be much more but not more interesting i could not weary of looking at them lastly i followed the river once more all the way from s needle to one heavily afternoon and found its mood varying splendidly though never once was it anything more than black gray changing at times from a pale or almost yellow to a solid leaden black hue it looked at times as though the thames something remarkable were about to happen so yellow was the sky above the water and the tall chimneys of over the way appearing and disappearing in the mist were irresistible there is a certain kind of which up and down the thames with a mast and sail which looks for all the world like something off the these boats with the smoke and the gray skies i was never weary of looking at them in the changing light and mist and rain over the water here very freely all the way from black to and along the they sat in scores solemnly the state of the weather perhaps i was delighted with the picture they made in places greedy wide winged artistic things finally i had a novel experience with these same one sunday afternoon i had been out all morning strange sections of london and arrived near black bridge about one o clock i was attracted by what seemed to me at first glance thousands of lovely clouds of them about the heads of several different men at various points along the wall it was too beautiful to miss it reminded me of the about the steamer at i drew near the first man i saw was feeding them out of a small box he had purchased for a penny throwing the tiny fish aloft in the air and letting the for them they ate from his hand above and about his head walked on the wall before him their bills and salmon pink feet showing delightfully i was delighted and hurried to the second it was the same i found the of small near by a man who sold them for this purpose and purchased a few boxes instantly i became the of another cloud and in hungry an a at forty it was a great sight finally i threw out the last tossing them all high in the air and seeing not one escape while i meditated on the speed of these birds which while scarcely moving a wing rise and fall with incredible swiftness it is a matter of gliding up and down with them i left my head full of birds the thames forever fixed in mind i went one morning in search of the tower and coming into the neighborhood of witnessed that peculiar scene which concerns fish fish or at least their always look as though they had never known a bath and are covered with and scales and here they wore a peculiar kind of rubber hat on which or of fish could be carried the hats were quite flat and round and reminded me of a smashed as the silk hat has been called the peasant habit of carrying bundles on the head was here to be a common characteristic of london on another morning i visited and the neighborhood of square i was delighted with the of life i found there particularly in ground and street horse road touched me as a name and street was strangely suggestive of a hospital not a wolf it was here that i encountered my first cart drawn by the little donkey you ever saw his ears standing up most nobly and his eyes suggesting the mellow philosophy of indifference the load he hauled spread out on a large table like rack and arranged neatly in baskets consisted of vegetables � potatoes and the like a merchant or followed in the wake of the cart calling out his wares he was not arrayed in uniform however as it has been pictured in america i was delighted to the thames listen to the accent in ground where ere you are could be constantly heard and these ere madam in earl street i found an old cab yard now turned into a where the of a church tower were visible tucked away among the of other things i did my best to discover of what it had been a part no one knew the ex now washing the wheels of an informed me that he had only been ere a little and the could not remember but it suggested a very ancient english world � as early as the just beyond this again i found the little chapel � part of an abandoned machine shop with a small hand bell over the door which was rung by means of a piece of common binding who could
| 43 |
day to you too ma am said my aunt turning suddenly upon his sister let me see you ride a donkey over my green again and as sure as you have a head upon your shoulders i knock your bonnet off and tread upon it it would require a painter and no common painter too to my aunt s face as she delivered herself of this very unexpected sentiment and miss s face as she heard it but the manner of the speech no less than the matter was so fiery that miss without a word in answer put her arm through her brother s and walked out of the cottage my aunt remaining in the window looking after them prepared i have no doubt in case of the donkey s to carry her threat into instant execution no attempt at defiance being made however her face gradually relaxed and became so pleasant that i was to kiss and thank her which i did with great and with both my arms clasped round her neck i then shook hands with mr dick who shook hands with me a great many times and hailed this happy close of the proceedings with repeated bursts of laughter you ll consider yourself guardian with me of this child mr dick said my aunt i shall be delighted said mr dick to be the guardian of david s son very good returned my aunt that s settled i have been thinking do you know mr dick that i might call him certainly certainly call him certainly said mr dick david s son s you mean returned my aunt yes to be sure yes said mr dick a little abashed my aunt took so kindly to the notion that some ready made clothes which were purchased for me that afternoon were marked in her own handwriting and in marking ink before i put them on and it was settled that all the other clothes which were ordered to be made for me a complete was that afternoon should be marked in the same way thus i began my new life in a new name and with everything new about me now that the state of doubt was over i felt for many days like one in a dream i never thought that i had a curious couple of in my aunt and mr dick i never thought of anything about myself distinctly the two things in my mind were that a the personal history and experience had come upon the old life � which seemed to lie in the haze of an distance and that a curtain had for ever fallen on my life at and s no one has ever raised that curtain since i have lifted it for a moment oven in this narrative with a reluctant hand and dropped it gladly the remembrance of that life is with so much pain to me with so much mental suffering and want of hope that i have never had the courage even to examine how long i was doomed to lead it whether it lasted for a year or more or less i do not know i only know that it was and ceased to be and that i have written and there i leave it xv i make another beginning mr dick and i soon became the best of friends and very often when his day s work was done went out together to fly the great eveiy day of his life he had a long sitting at the memorial which never made the least progress however hard he labored for king charles the first always strayed into it sooner or later and then it was thrown aside and another one begun the patience and hope with which he bore these perpetual disappointments the mild perception he had that there was something wrong about king charles the first the feeble efforts he made to keep him out and the certainty with which he came in and tumbled the memorial out of all shape made a deep impression on me what mr dick supposed would come of the memorial if it were completed where he thought it was to go or what he thought it was to do he knew no more than anybody else i believe nor was it at all necessary that he should trouble himself with such questions for if anything were certain under the sun it was certain that the memorial never would be finished it was quite an affecting sight i used to think to see him with the when it was up a great height in the air what he had told me in his room about his in its the statements on it which were nothing but old leaves of might have been a fancy with him sometimes but not when he was out looking up at the in the sky and feeling it pull and at his hand he never looked so serene as he did then i used to fancy as i sat by him of an evening on a green slope and saw him watch the high in the quiet air that it lifted his mind out of its confusion and bore it such was my boyish thought into the skies as he wound the string in and it came lower and lower down out of the beautiful light until it fluttered to the ground and lay there like a dead thing he seemed to wake gradually out of a dream and i remember to have seen him take it up and look about him in a lost way as if they had both come down together so that i pitied him with all my heart while i advanced in friendship and intimacy with mr dick i did not go backward in the favor of his friend my aunt she took so of david kindly to me that in the course of a few weeks
| 8 |
she was fully aware of her danger though not appalled by it it is true that there was much to attach her to life she was happy in her family she was just beginning to feel confidence in her own success and no doubt the exercise of her talents was an enjoyment in itself we may well believe that she would gladly have lived longer but she was enabled without dismay or complaint to prepare for death she was a humble believing christian her life had been passed in the performance of home duties and the cultivation of domestic affections without any self seeking or craving after applause she had always sought as it were by instinct to promote the happiness of all who came within her influence and doubtless she had her reward in the peace of mind which was granted her in her last days her sweetness of temper never failed she was ever considerate and grateful to those who attended on her at times when she felt rather better her of spirit revived and she amused them even in their sadness once when she thought herself near her end she said what she imagined might be her last words to those around her and particularly thanked her sister in law for being with her saying you have always been a kind sister to me mary when the end at last came she sank rapidly and on being asked by her attendants whether there was anything that she i i i � � i t � � v o � � i � � � ii � t i � � i i n � w s i i m � i n s m � v a a i si ii i i fi h r u � j l � � � a of jane wanted her reply was nothing hut death these were her last words in and peace she breathed her last on the morning of july on the th of that month she was buried in cathedral near the centre of the north aisle almost opposite to the beautiful tomb of william of a large of black marble in the pavement marks the place her own family only attended the funeral her sister returned to her home there to devote herself for ten years to the care of her aged mother and to live much on the memory of her lost sister till called many years later to her her brothers went back to their several homes they were very fond and very proud of her they were attached to her by her talents her virtues and her engaging manners and each loved afterwards to fancy a resemblance in some niece or daughter of his own to the dear sister jane whose perfect equal they yet never expected to see inscription on jane s tomb � jane to bt her to family bt the varied charms of her character a a bt n faith and was at in the county of and buried in this cathedral xxiv she her mouth with wisdom and in � th� law kindness � t a of jane chapter xi thb chapter chap x of with all this knowledge of mr and this authority to impart it anne left buildings her mind deeply busy in revolving what she had heard feeling thinking recalling and everything shocked at mr sighing over future and pained for lady whose confidence in him had been entire the embarrassment which must be felt from this hour in his presence how to behave to him how to get rid of him what to do by any of the party at home where to be blind where to be active it was altogether a confusion of images and doubts � a perplexity an agitation which she could not see the end of and she was in gay street and still so much engrossed that she started on being addressed by admiral as if he were a person unlikely to be met there it was within a few steps of his own door you are going to call upon my wife said he she will be very glad to see you anne denied it she really had not time she was in her way home but while she spoke the admiral had stepped back and knocked at the door calling out yes yes do go in she is all alone go in and rest yourself a of jane anne felt so little disposed at this time to be in company of any sort that it vexed her to be thus constrained but she was obliged to stop since you are so very kind said she i will just ask mrs how she does but i really cannot stay five minutes you are sure she is quite alone the possibility of captain had occurred and most fearfully anxious was she to be assured either that he was within or that he was not � which might have been a question h yes quite alone nobody but her maker with her and they have been shut up together this half hour so it must be over soon her maker then i am sure my calling now would be most inconvenient indeed you must allow me to leave my card and be so good as to explain it afterwards to mrs no no not at all not at all � she will be very happy to see you mind i will not swear that she has not something particular to say to you but that will all come out in the right place i give no hints why miss we begin to hear strange things of you smiling in her face but you have not much the look of ity as grave as a little judge anne blushed ay ay that will do now it is all right i thought we were not mistaken she was left to guess
| 26 |
that the brute came to the with less of courage as if there had at last come into his brain the dawning of a fear of that which rid him and which all his madness could not from its throne upon his back by god cried more than one of the seeing this despite the animal s fury the beast g way he gives way she has him and john shutting his teeth cut short an oath and turned pale as death from that moment her victory was a thing assured the of strength became less desperate and having once begun to learn his lesson the brute was made to learn it well his bearing was a thing superb to behold once taught obedience there would scarce be a horse like him in the whole of england and day by day this he learned from her and being mastered was put through his paces and led to answer to the rein so that he trotted galloped and leaped as a bird flies then as the town had come to see him fight for freedom it came to see him adorn the victory of the being who had conquered him and over their dishes of tea in the afternoon a lady of quality and beauties of fashion of the interest ing and exciting event and there were ladies who vowed they could not have beaten a brute so and that surely my lady must have looked hot and while she did it and have had the air of a great rough man and there were some pretty and even quarrels when the men swore that never had she looked so magnificent a beauty and so the hearts of all beholding her on the first day after her s last battle with her horse the one which ended in such tory to her that she rode him home hard through the streets without an outbreak he white with and marked with but his large eye holding in its velvet a look which seemed almost like a human thought � on the day after there occurred a thing which gave the town new matter to talk of his grace of had been in france called there by business of the state and during his absence the gossip concerning the horse devil had taken the place of that which had before touched on himself twas not announced that he was to return to england and indeed there were those who speaking with authority said that for two weeks at least his affairs abroad would not be brought to a close and yet on this morning as my lady rode a lady of quality the trees holding devil well in hand and watching him with eagle of eye many looking on in wait for the moment when the brute might break forth suddenly again a was seen approaching at a pace so rapid that twas on the verge of a gallop and the first man who beheld him looked amazed and lifted his hat and the next seeing him spoke to another who bowed with him and all along the line of hats were removed and people wore the air of seeing a man unexpectedly and hearing a name spoken in exclamation by his side sir john looked round and beheld ride by my lord duke of the sun was shining brilliantly and all the park was gay with bright warmth and of turf and trees felt the glow of the summer morning her being she kept her watch upon her beast but he was going well and in her soul she knew that he was beaten and that her victory had been beheld by the one man who knew that it meant to her that which it seemed to mean also to himself and filled with this thought and the joy of it she rode beneath the trees and so was riding with splendid spirit when she heard a horse behind her and looked up as it drew near and the rich crimson swept over her in a sweet flood so that it seemed to her she thought she felt it warm on her very a lady of quality shoulders her habit for twas s self who had followed and reached her and un covered keeping pace by her side ah what a face he had and how his eyes burned as they rested on her it was such a look she met that for a moment she could not find speech and he himself spoke as a man who through some deep emotion has almost lost his breath my lady he began and then with a sudden passion my beloved the time had come when he could not keep silence and with g eat of her heart she knew yet not one word said she for she could not but her beauty glowing and quivering under his eyes great fire answered enough were it not that i fear for your sake the beast you ride he said i would lay my hand upon his bridle that i might crush your hand in mine at post haste i have come from france hearing this thing � that you every day that which i love so madly my god beloved cruel cruel woman � sure you must know she answered with a breathless wild surrender yes yes she gasped i know and yet you this danger knowing that you might leave me a man for life but she said with a smile whose melting a lady of quality seemed akin to tears � but see how i have mastered him � and all is passed yes yes he said as you have conquered all � as you have conquered and did from the first hour but forbid that you should make me so again your grace she said faltering i � i will not forgave me for the tempest of my passion he said twas
| 13 |
come again into any room in this house you wiu make a short stay in it if you don t behave towards that lady in your most manner now i don t care a button what you do to � w because i don t affect to be anybody so far from having high connections i have no connections at all and i come of e of the earth but towards that lady i do care what you do and you shall do what is and respectful or you shall not come here i hope said mr in a voice that this was merely an my mend tom suggests mrs said tiiat this was merely an very likely however as you are aware ma am i don t allow of even towards you you are very good indeed sir returned mrs her head with her state humility it is not worth speaking of who all this time had been faintly herself with tears in her eyes was now waved over by the master of the house to mr she stood looking intently at him and stood coldly by with her eyes upon the ground while he proceeded thus i have made up mind to take you into my house and when you are not in attendance at the school to employ you about mrs who is an invalid i have explained to miss � this is miss � the miserable but natural end of your late career and you are to expressly understand that the whole of that subject is past and is not to be referred to any more from this time you begin your history you are at present ignorant i know yes sir very she answered i shall have satisfaction of causing you to be strictly educated and you wiu be a living proof to all who come into communication with you of the advantages of the training you will receive you wiu be and formed you have been in the habit now of reading to your father and hard people i found you among i dare say said mr her nearer to him before he said so and dropping his voice only to father and sir at least i mean to father when was always there never mind said mr with a passing frown i don t ask about him i understand you to have been in the habit of reading to your father o yes sir of times they were the happiest � o of all the happy times we had together sir it was only now when her sorrow broke out that looked at her and what asked mr in a still lower voice did you read to your father about the sir and the dwarf and the and the she sobbed out and about � hush said mr that is enough never breathe a word of such destructive nonsense any more this is a case for rigid training and i shall observe it with interest well returned mr i have given you my opinion already and i shouldn t do as you do but very well very well since you are bent upon it very well so mr and his daughter took off with them to stone lodge and on the way never spoke one word good or bad and mr went about his � daily pursuits and mrs got behind her eyebrows nd meditated in the gloom of that retreat all the evening chapter wonder let us strike the key note again before pursuing the tune when she was half a dozen years younger had been overheard to begin a conversation with her brother one � day by saying tom i wonder � upon which mr who was the person stepped forth into the light and said never wonder hard lay the spring of the mechanical art and mystery of the reason without stooping to the cultivation of the sentiments and affections never wonder by means of addition and division settle everything somehow and never wonder bring to me says m yonder baby just able to walk and i will engage it shall never wonder now besides very many babies just able to walk there happened to be in a considerable population of babies who had been walking against time towards the infinite world twenty thirty forty fifty years and more these being alarming creatures to stalk about in any human society the eighteen incessantly scratched one another s faces and pulled one another s hair by way of agreeing on the steps to be taken for their improvement � which they never did a surprising circumstance when the happy of the means to the end is considered still although they differed in every other particular conceivable and inconceivable inconceivable they were pretty well on the point that these were never to wonder body number one said they must take everything on trust body number two said they must take ever on political economy body number three wrote leaden little for them showing how the good grown up baby invariably got to the bank and the bad grown up baby invariably got transported body number four under dreary of being when it was very melancholy indeed made the of concealing of knowledge into which it was the duty of these babies to be and but au the bodies agreed that they were never to wonder there was a library in to which general access was easy mr greatly tormented his mind about what the people read in this library a point whereon little rivers of statements flowed into the howling ocean of statements which no ever got to any depth in and came up sane it was a circumstance but a melancholy fact that even these readers persisted in wondering they wondered about human nature human passions hopes and fears the struggles triumphs and the cares and joys and sorrows the lives and deaths of common men and women they some hard
| 8 |
complexion is still fresh and beautiful with the beauty of an her proud lips and her head thrown a little backward as she walks give an expression of which is not contradicted by the cold gray eye the rising full over tne low tight of her blue dress sets off the majestic form of her bust and she the lawn as if she were one of sir s stately ladies who had suddenly stepped from her frame to enjoy the evening cool put the cushions lower that we may not have so much sun upon us she called out in a tone of authority when still at some distance obeyed and they sat down making two bright patches of red and white and blue on the green background of the and the lawn hich would look none the less pretty in a picture because one of the women hearts was rather cold and the other rather sad and ft charming picture would have made that evening if some english had been there to paint it the house of gray tinted stone with the flickering of golden light across the many shaped panes in the windows and a great leaning one of the towers and breaking with its dark boughs the too formal of the front the broad gravel walk winding on the right by a row of tall pines towards the pool � on the left out among grassy surmounted by of trees where the red trunk of the scotch fir in the descending sunlight against the bright green of and the great pool where a pair of are swimming lazily with one leg tucked under a wing and when the open water lilies lie calmly accepting the kisses of the fluttering light the lawn with its smooth sloping down to the and of the park from which it is by a little stream that winds away � from the pool and a wooden bridge in the distant pleasure ground and on this lawn our two ladies whose part in the landscape the painter standing at a point of view in the park would represent with a few little of red and white and blue se n from the great windows of the dining room they had much more of outline and were distinctly visible to the three gentlemen their there j as two fair women in whom all three had a personal interest these gentlemen were a group worth considering attentively but any one entering that dining room for the first time would perhaps have had his attention even more strongly arrested by the room itself which was so bare of furniture that it impressed one with its beauty like a cathedral a piece of stretched from door to door a bit of worn carpet under the dining table and a in a deep recess did not detain the eye for a moment from the lofty ceiling with its richly carved all of white relieved here and there by touches of gold oh one side this lofty was supported by pillars and arches beyond which a lower ceiling a miniature copy of the higher one covered the square which with its three large pointed windows formed the central feature of the building the room looked less like a place to dine in than a piece of space simply for the sake of beautiful outline and the small dining table with the party round it seemed an odd and insignificant accident rather than any thing connected with the original purpose of the apartment but examined closely that group was from insignificant for the eldest who was reading in the newspaper the last of the french and mr s love with comments to his companions was as fine a specimen of tbe old english gentleman as could well have been found in those days of and his dark eyes sparkled under brows made more prominent by eyebrows but any apprehension of severity excited by these penetrating eyes and by a somewhat i by the good natured lines about the mouth which all its teeth and its of expression in spite of sixty the forehead a little from the projecting brows and its outline was made conspicuous by the arrangement of the powdered hair drawn backward and gathered into a he sat in a small hard chair which did not admit the approach to a and which showed to advantage the of his back and the breadth of his chest in fact sir was a splendid old gentleman as any one may see who enters the saloon at where his portrait taken when he was fifty hangs side by side with that of his wife the stately lady seated on the lawn looking at sir you would at ence have been inclined to hope that he had a full grown son and heir but perhaps you would have wished that it not prove to be tbe young man on his right hand in whom a certain resemblance to the in the of the nose and brow seemed to indicate a family relationship if this young man had been less elegant in his person he would have been remarked for the elegance of his but the of his slim well figure were so striking that no one but a tailor could notice the of his velvet coat and his small white bands with their blue veins and fingers quite the beauty of his lace the face however � it was difficult to say why � was certainly not pleasing nothing could be more delicate than the complexion � its bloom set off by the powdered hair � than the overhanging eyelids which gave an indolent expression to the eyes nothing more finely cut than the transparent and the short upper lip perhaps the chin and lower jaw were too small for an but the defect was on the side of that delicacy and which was the characteristic of the whole person and which
| 14 |
people that he could hardly t of his hearers from the first casting of tho i i i l e it was all and there were il to have been a party en � � the play had q w have been count to my e a i� si a i � i not accept i to make lord the duke the only playing before i reached i lord offered to resign hie to me it wh � uke it jou know i was sorry for lam that his for lie no t little man with n weak voice always all it must have injured the piece to make no sir henry thought i i not equal to but that because sir henry is tlie part whereas it was certainly in the of the two i was to see sir henry a luckily strength of the piece did not upon mc and tbe was thought very great by many t on tile whole it would certainly have gone off it was a hard case upon my word and i do were to bo the kind of listening sympathy it but the could not hare died at a wo e time aod it is to wishing that the could hare for we wanted it was but three da e and being br grandmother and all happening two hundred miles os i thin there would bare been no great harm and it tea i but lord i suppose is one of the men in england would not hear of it an instead of s comedy mr were at an end and lord and left to not my by well tbe nay comfort im and perhaps between he began to tremble his credit and his lungs in tbe baron and was to and to j r u amends i im a theatre at and ask you to be is though the of the moment did not with in moment j the to act was and in no strongly than in him who was now master of the who having so much leisure as u make almost any certain good had a degree of lively talents and taste as were exactly adapted to tbe novelty of thought returned again and a ain oh for the � nd to try something with l each sister could the wish and henry to whom in all the riot of it was yet an was quite c at idea i really believe said be i be foul ii nt moment to undertake any character tliat ever or iii down to the singing � � et and cocked bat feel at if v if mid ot ly tr iu the ir be it a an w � i mi ti e for a theatre what a theatre we be mom in house we must have mid tom u few yards of green fur a and be ft quite cried mr with only it i wing or two too up io flat and three or four to be im down nothing more would be on ii plan ta for mere among we more t be satisfied with lest laid maria there not be time and o cr difficulties would we adopt sir s views and make the theatre our object many parts of onr best plays are � nay said who began to with let na do nothing by it we are to act let it be in n completely fitted up with boxes and gallery and let ue � i play entire from beginning co end so as it be a german play no witli a good shifting and � dance and a and a between the acts if ve do not we do nothing now do not be disagreeable said a play better than you do or can have gone farther to to see real acting good hardened real acting j but i hardly walk ih m this room to the next to look � t the raw of those who have not been bred to the trade a mt o i gentlemen and ladies who have all of education � ad decorum to struggle through a short pause however the subject still continued and i with every one s in by the and a knowledge of the of tlie rest land though nothing was settled but that tom prefer comedy and hia sisters and henry a and that nothing in tlie world be easier to find piece which would please them all the resolution to act or other seemed so decided as to make edward he was determined to prevent it if his mother who equally heard the conversation which at did not the least die same evening him an opportunity of trying his strength and mr were in the room tom returning from them into r was standing by the � lis on the sofa at a little distance and ring her work thus began a t � i j table as ours a not n m i can stand it no � that shall ever tempt me � � � i ii � � just � et to i and � � � � � � with each aa k moving tlie the very we have if had down to for it and father s room will be it to join the room on you not tom in meaning to act said in r low voice as hia brother approached the fire not never more ao i assure you what is there to you in it i think it would be very wrong in a ate open to but aa lee are � i think it would be highly and mon than to attempt anything of the kind it would show want of on my father s account absent as ho ii and in some degree of constant danger and it would be i think with regard co maria whose situation is a very delicate
| 26 |
her table it is very late i shall want nothing more to night ah miss returned the i m sure i often wish for them old times when i sat up with you hours later than this and fell asleep through being tired out when you were as broad awake as spectacles but you ve ma s in law to come and sit with you now miss and i m thankful for it i m sure i ve not a word to say em i shall not forget who was my old companion when i had none returned gently never and looking up she put her arm round the neck of her humble friend drew her face down to hers and bidding her good night kissed it which so miss that she fell a sobbing now my dear miss said let me go down stairs again and see how your pa is i know you re wretched about him do let me go down stairs again and knock at his door my own self no said go to bed we shall hear more in the morning i will inquire myself in the morning mamma has been down i dare say blushed for she had no such hope or is there now perhaps night was too much softened to express her private opinion on the probability of mrs s l in attendance on her husband and silently withdrew alone soon hid her head upon her hands as she had done in other days and did not restrain the tears from down her face the misery of this domestic discord and the withered hope she cherished now if hope it could be called of ever being taken to and son ber father s heart her doubts and fears between the two the yearning of her innocent breast to both the heavy disappointment and regret of such an end as this to what had been a vision of bright hope and promise to her all crowded on her mind and made her tears flow fast her mother and her brother dead her father unmoved towards her opposed to him and casting him away but loving her and loved by her it seemed as if her could never prosper rest where it would that weak thought was soon hushed but the thoughts in which it had arisen were too true and strong to be dismissed with it and they made the night desolate among such reflections there rose up as there had risen up all day the image of her father wounded and in pain alone in his own room by those who should be nearest to him and passing the hours in lonely suffering a frightened thought which made her start and clasp her hands � though it was not a new one in her mind � that he might die and never see her or pronounce her name thrilled her whole frame in her agitation she thought and trembled while she thought of once more stealing down stairs and venturing to his door she listened at her own the house was quiet and all the lights were out it was a long long time she thought since she used to make her nightly to his door it was a long long time she tried to think since she had entered his room at midnight and he had led her back to the stair foot with the same child s heart within her as of old even with the child s sweet timid eyes and hair as strange to her father in her early maiden bloom as in her nursery time crept down the staircase listening as she went and drew near to his room no one was stirring in the house the door was partly open to admit air and all was so still within that she could hear the burning of the fire and count the of the clock that stood upon the chimney piece she looked in in that room the housekeeper wrapped in a blanket was fast asleep in an easy chair before the fire the doors between it and the next were partly closed and a screen was drawn before them but there was a light there and it shone upon the of his bed all was so very still that she could and son hear from his breathing that he was asleep this gave her courage to pass round the screen and look into his chamber it was as great a start to come upon his sleeping face as if she had not expected to see it stood arrested on the spot and if he had awakened then must have remained there there was a cut upon his forehead and they had been his hair which lay and entangled on the pillow one of his arms resting outside the bed was up and he was very white but it was not this that the first quick glance and first assurance of his sleeping quietly held rooted to the ground it was something very from this and more than this that made him look so solemn in her eyes she had never seen his face in all her life but there had been upon it� or she fancied so � some disturbing consciousness of her she had never seen his face in all her life but hope had sunk within her and her timid glance had drooped before its stem and as she looked upon it now she saw it for the first time free from the cloud that had darkened her childhood calm tranquil night was in its stead he might have gone to sleep for anything she saw there blessing her awake unkind father awake now sullen man the time is flitting by the hour is coming with an angry tread awake there was no change upon his face and as she watched it awfully its motionless repose recalled the faces that were gone so they
| 8 |
went to my heart always the same always inarticulate and stifled always accompanied with an incapable motion of the head but with no change of face always proceeding from a rigid mouth and closed teeth as if the jaw were k and the face frozen up in pain of david do you remember when he did this she proceeded do you remember when in his inheritance of your nature and in your of his pride and passion he did this and me for life look at me marked until i die with his high displeasure and moan and groan for what you made him miss i entreated her for heaven s i speak she said turning on me with her lightning eyes be silent you look at me i say proud mother of a proud false son moan for your of him for your corruption of him moan for your loss of him moan for mine i she her hand and trembled through her spare worn figure as if her passion were killing her by inches you resent his self will i she exclaimed injured by his haughty temper you who opposed to both when your hair was gray the qualities which made both when you gave him birth you who from his cradle reared him to be wliat he was and what he should have been are you rewarded now for your years of trouble o cruel t i tell you she returned i will speak to her no power on earth should stop me while i was standing here have i been silent all these years and shall i not speak sow i loved him better than you ever loved him i turning on her fiercely i could have loved him and a� no return if i had been his wife i could have been the of his for a word of love a year i should have been who knows it better than i you were proud self the personal and experience my love would have been devoted � would have trod your paltry under foot i with flashing eyes she stamped upon the ground as if she actually did it look here i she said striking the again with a hand when he grew into the better understanding of what he had done he saw it and repented of it i could sing to him and talk to him and show the that i felt in all he did and attain with labor to such knowledge as most interested him and i attracted him when he was and truest he loved me yes he did i many a time when you were put off with a slight word he has taken me to his heart she said it with a pride in the midst of her frenzy � for it was little less � yet with an eager remembrance of it in which the embers of a feeling kindled for the moment i descended � as i might have known i should but that he fascinated me with his boyish courtship � into a doll a trifle for the occupation of an idle hour to be dropped and taken up and with as the humor took him when he grew weary i grew weary as his fancy died out i would no more have tried to strengthen any power i had than i would have married him on his being forced to take me for his wife we fell away from one another without a word perhaps you saw it and were not sorry since then i have been a mere piece of furniture between you both having no eyes no ears no feelings no moan moan for what you made him not for your love i tell you that the time was when i loved him better than you ever did i she stood with her bright angry eyes the of david wide stare and the set face and softened no more when the moaning was repeated than if the face had been a picture miss said i if you can be so as not to feel for this afflicted mother � who feels for me she sharply retorted she has sown this let her moan for the harvest that she to day and if his faults � i began faults she cried bursting into passionate tears who dares him he had a soul worth millions of the friends to whom he stooped no one can have loved him better no one can hold him in dearer remembrance than i i replied i meant to say if you have no compassion for his mother or if his faults � you have been bitter on them � it s false she cried tearing her black hair i loved him � cannot i went on be banished from your remembrance in such an hour look at that figure even as one you have never seen before and render it some help i all this time the figure was unchanged and looked motionless rigid staring moaning in the same dumb way from time to time with the same helpless motion of the head but giving no other sign of life miss suddenly down before it and began to the dress a curse upon you she said looking round at me with a mingled expression of rage and grief it was in an evil hour that you ever came here a curse upon you go after passing out of the room i hurried back to ring the bell the sooner to alarm the servants she had the personal and experience then taken the figure in her arms and still upon her knees was weeping over it kissing it calling to it rocking it to and fro upon her bosom like a child and trying every tender means to rouse the senses no longer afraid of leaving her i noiselessly turned back again and alarmed the house as i went
| 8 |
i am so your eldest cousin is gone that he be mr there is something in the sound of mr so formal so pitiful so like that i it how we feel cried to me the sound of mr is so cold and nothing meaning bo entirely without warmth or character it just stands for a gentleman and that s all but there is in the name of it is a name of heroism and renown of princes and knights and seems to breathe the spirit of chivalry and warm affections i grant you the name is good in itself and lord or sir sounds delightfully but sink it under the chill the of a mr and mr is no more than mr john or mr thomas well we and disappoint them of half their lecture upon sitting down out of doors at this time of year by being np before they can begin met them with particular pleasure it was the first time of his seeing them together since the beginning of that better acquaintance which he had been hearing of with great satisfaction a friendship between two to very dear to him was exactly what he could have wished and to the credit of the lover s understanding be it stated that he did i park not by any means consider as the only or even as the greater by such a friendship well said miss and do you not us for our what do you think we have been sitting down for but to be talked to about it and entreated and never to do so again perhaps i might have said if either of you had been sitting down alone but while you do wrong together i can overlook a great deal they cannot have been sitting long cried mrs grant for when i went up for my shawl i saw them from the staircase window and then they were walking and added the day is so mild that your sitting down for a few minutes can be hardly thought our weather must not always be judged by the we may sometimes take greater liberties in november than in may upon my word cried you are two of the most and kind i ever met with there is no giving you a � uneasiness you do not know how much we have been nor what we have felt but i have long one of the worst subjects to work on m grant my my own sister i f j alarm you a uttle � do not flatter yourself my dearest � v u not the smallest chance of moving m j l li they are quite in a different quarter i t m tf altered the weather you would we i f wind blowing on j n the time i� at once ai j t � i shall lose every one and what i y r wished i know more dr a er the of tlie i� w these are the weather most a village sail me to the ml m or grant to the of � i should be as glad of be but we ha � would you have me do r what you do be t oe your temper no escaping these little when jou are settled in t e say i find you with and the � or ut their and until t charges will be o lament or to feet anything of the best for happiness may secure all tiie and rich said with a look hid a great deal of serious meaning n a do not we all ig which it must be so completely may she has only to on her number of re can be no of their coming to be poor economy and bringing down your m all that i understand you � it � for a at your time of life d with such limited means and what can you want but a decent maintenance you have not much time before you and relations are in no situation to do anything for you or to you by the of their wealth and lie and poor by all means � but j shall not envy you i do not much think i shall even respect you have a much greater respect for those that are honest and rich your degree of respect for j rich or poor ib precisely what have no manner of concern with do not mean to be poor poverty is exactly what have determined a in the something between in the middle state of worldly is all that i am anxious for your not looking down on but do look down upon it if it might have been higher i must look down upon anything contented with obscurity when it might rise to distinction but how may it rise how may my honesty at least rise to any distinction this was not so very easy a to answer and an oh i of some length from the lady before she could add you ought to be in parliament or you should have gone into the army ten year a ago that is not so much to the purpose now and aa to my being in i believe wait till there is an especial assembly for the representation of sons who have little to live on no miss he added in a more serious tone there are distinctions which should be miserable if i thought myself without any chance � absolutely without chance or possibility of obtaining � but they are of a different character a look of consciousness as be spoke and what seemed a consciousness of manner on miss s side aa she made some laughing answer was sorrowful food for a and finding herself quite unable to attend as ought to mrs grant by whose side she was now following the others she had ly resolved on going home and only
| 26 |
is supposed that had the made a general attack on the camp immediately on the prince s death they might have delivered their city unhappily long confinement starvation and the secret of had severed the that so long and nobly had bound this unfortunate people captain general of had treated with the enemy and on receiving the s orders to attack the imperial camp he refused well aware he had a party within the walls that would support him the ever since their from had been seeking to regain their position in it and won over by their to his eternal disgrace admitted the enemy into the city how much is achieved by fraud that could never be done by force i nothing no nothing e er shall make us if we unto ourselves will be but true but treachery within the walls of a house or a city the t by of d the uttle city of � equally the garrison the i beholding their submitted in despair to their fate and as a last resource endeavoured to procure honourable terms for their city they obtained the promise of general forgiveness and the preservation under certain of the semblance of liberty but scarcely was the treaty signed before it was broken a mock parliament was assembled consisting only of the of the under whose vote the principal of liberty were banished tortured or put to death and alexander de was proclaimed first grand duke of the republic s day was ended chapter xl of his woes near the hill of so famous for its sweet may still be seen an old tower on used by a great for his hard by is his country house kept till very and perhaps still much as he left it not in that but at a middle sized man with hair and beard of brown and keen blue eyes gazed intently through a with by himself and since known as a and took his first observation through it of the moon it appeared near i � as if it had been distant only two semi of the earth he gazed with intense interest then directed his wondrous instrument towards various and fixed stars which he beheld he tells us with incredible delight the of italy he returned to the moon he was soon able to trace on its of mountains deep hollows and other the dark and luminous spaces he regarded as seas and in different degrees the light of the sun important and as these were they were nothing to what this ardent made on the th of january at one o clock in the morning when directing his glass to the planet he observed three stars near it that were new to him in a straight line subsequent observation on following nights discovered to his amazement that these stars and another four in all round they were in fact his when he announced this discovery the world was in a burst into a fit of laughter from surprise rather than incredulity for a capacity for reasoning the capacity for believing on the other hand the absurd and obstinate would not so much as look through s to see if the thing were so the story of italy because they were sure it could not be would have been ashamed of such stupid however continued to add one brilliant discovery to another and the opposition which they encountered was more a triumph to him than a mortification he laughed merrily said something cutting and went on taking observations at length he announced as a certain fact that the sun did not move round the earth but the earth round the sun the clergy thought this was going a little too far one of them preached against him on his name by choosing for bis text ye men of why stand ye here looking up into heaven he was to the and after examining the charges against him its decree was that he should his doctrines and pledge himself that he would neither teach defend nor publish them in future shrugged his shoulders and promised he was not a martyr of science the system was therefore put down of course the earth could not go round the sun the story of italy if it were forbidden by the diverted his attention to a new method of finding the at sea observe he was not merely an he was a philosopher of the highest kind an into truth of every description except truth however he could not help teaching indirectly what he had denied formally and he did not conceal privately that his belief in the earth s round the sun remained he published a work on his theory in which he spoke of the ignorance of the in and language pope who had given him much support could no longer do so with was summoned to appear before the at rome and his advanced age and health were not allowed to excuse him worn out with illness and fatigue he arrived in borne on the th of february and having his arrival to the awaited its orders at the palace of the his examination commenced in april when h thk of t wm to the holy bnt the with which his were attended to was indeed contrasted with ihe conduct of the table was by die his own waited on him and slept in an adjoining apartment he fretted himself ill and the pope s cardinal him on his own responsibility and al him to to the s palace after the had examined he was allowed to defend himself which he did with some attempt at which was into an a of his offence on the day appointed for him to hear his sentence he was clothed in a dress and then conducted to his judges a long and tedious of his errors was read which he was told deserved but that this
| 2 |
fell useless at his side he ll do said the doctor quietly it must have been a toss up all through the night think you re to be congratulated on this case oh said i thought the man had gone out long ago � only � only i didn t care to take my hand away rub my arm down there s a good chap what a grip the brute has i m chilled to soldiers three the he passed out of the tent shivering private was allowed to his of death by strong waters four days later he sat on the side of his cot and said to the mildly � i d a to a spoken to im � so i should but at that time was reading yet another letter � he had the most persistent correspondent of any man in camp � and was even then about to write that the sickness had and in another week at the outside would be gone he did not intend to say that the chill of a sick man s hand seemed to have struck into the heart whose for affection he dwelt on at such length he did intend to the illustrated programme of the whereof he was not a little proud he also intended to write on many other matters which do not concern us and doubtless would have done so but for the slight feverish headache which made him dull and at mess only a you are it said his might give the rest of us credit of doing a little work you go on as if you were the whole mess rolled into one take it easy i will said i m feeling done up somehow looked at him anxiously and said nothing there was a flickering of about the camp that night and a that brought men out of their to the tent doors a of the naked feet of and the rush of a galloping horse s up asked twenty tents and through twenty tents ran the answer � e s down they brought the news to and he groaned any one but and i shouldn t have cared the major was right not going out this journey gasped as he was lifted from the not going out this journey then with an air of supreme conviction � i you see soldiers three not if i can do anything said the surgeon major who had hastened over from the mess where he had been dining he and the surgeon fought together with death for the hfe of their were interrupted by a hairy apparition in a blue gray who stared in round eyed horror at the bed and cried � ow my it can t be until an indignant hospital orderly him away if care of man and desire to live could have done aught would have been saved as it was he made a fight of three days and the surgeon major s brow we ll save him yet he said and the surgeon who though he with the captain had a very youthful heart went out upon the word and in the mud not going out this journey whispered gallantly at the end of the third day said the surgeon major that s the way to look at it only a s as evening fell a gray shade gathered round s mouth and he turned his face to the tent wall wearily the surgeon major frowned tm awfully tired said very faintly what s the use of me with medicine i � don t � want � it let me alone the desire for life had departed and was content to drift away on the easy tide of death it s no good s id the surgeon major he doesn t want to live he s meeting it poor child and he blew his nose half a mile away the band was playing the to the sing song for the men had been told that was out of danger the clash of the brass and the wail of the horns reached s ears is there a single joy or pain that i should never � ow � you do not love me tis in vain bid me good by and go an expression of hopeless irritation crossed soldiers three the boy s face and he tried to shake his head the surgeon major bent down � what is it not that muttered our own � our very own dear with this sentence he sank into the stupor that gave place to death early next morning his eyes red at the and his nose very white went into s tent to write a letter to papa which should bow the white head of the ex of in the keenest sorrow of his life s store of papers lay in confusion on the table and among them a half finished letter the last sentence ran � so you see darling there is really no fear because as long as i know you care for me and i care for you nothing can touch me stayed in the tent for an hour when he came out his eyes were than ever only a private sat on a turned down bucket and listened to a not tune private was a and should have been tenderly treated ho said private there s another ed the bucket shot from under him and his eyes filled with a of sparks a tall man in a blue gray bed gown was regarding him with deep you ought to take shame for yourself � til learn you to the likes of im bloom in that s e is and the hospital orderly was so satisfied with the justice of the punishment that he did not even order private back to his cot in black and white by the to my father � when i was in your and we went
| 39 |
the knows this and rides him on a native saddle a kind of thick so that he is able to sit far back almost on the animal s tail indeed as doubtless for the same reason the rides a donkey to the stranger until he grows accustomed to it this saddle is most but old in the island generally prefer to use it upon a long journey also it is dangerous to the since the are very short not being fixed they slide from side to side suddenly themselves let us say to the right with any movement which will produce a on the left and the unexpected consequence that the traveller finds himself face downwards on the ground with a european saddle this particular accident cannot happen also it is more comfortable for a short as a set off to this advantage however the rider s weight comes upon that portion of his which is least able to support it namely the the result is that the mule especially if pushed a winter pilgrimage out of its customary sometimes falls as though it were shot him over its head it is a mistake to suppose also that these creatures are always sure footed many of them although they do not often actually fall i forget my first mule ride in in the days when there were no roads it was from to a distance of about sixteen miles over a mountain path the into whose charge i was given was a huge man weighing at least eighteen stone and i thought to myself that where this monster could go certainly i could follow in this i was right i did follow but at a very considerable distance mr perched himself upon his animal doubtless one of the best in the island looking in his long robes for all the world like a gigantic and half filled sack and o� f we scarcely were we clear of the town when my mule i suppose to the weight upon his and the european saddle began to i do not when i say that he stumbled all the way to keeping me absolutely damp with apprehension of sudden on to my head down and unpleasant places meanwhile mr very possibly my difficulties had been careful to place about five yards between us a distance which he maintained throughout the journey i for assistance � in fact i wished to persuade him to exchange � but either he would not or he could not hear moreover he had no knowledge of my tongue or i of his so we accomplished that very disagreeable journey once however i made one much more dangerous this time over the rarely travelled mountains of in my companions i remember had excellent � they lived in the country that given to me as the lighter weight was weak and poor with no fore legs worth mentioning we scrambled up the somehow but when it to descending the fan began a road in then at any rate was made of three part first a deep and ditch worn out by the feet of generations of animals covered at the bottom with from six inches to a foot of red butter or clay quite as greasy as butter down which one slowly secondly stretches sometimes miles in length of swamp land where the path consists of little of hard clay about two feet apart the space between each ridge into which the mule must step filled with some three feet of liquid and mud that often reached to the saddle when the were passed great tracts of the most which to my taste were worst of all along these the path never more than three to five feet in width would run across and sloping rock very slippery in nature below yawned more or less sheer of anything from two to fifteen hundred feet in depth now a mule always chooses the extreme edge of a precipice for this reason its load is commonly bound on in far or bags were it therefore to walk on the inner side of the path it would constantly strike its burden against the cliff so not being troubled with nerves it to the outer edge a common result is that in going round a comer it meets another mule proceeding from the opposite direction in the attempt to struggle past one of the pair into space and with it the load or man on this particular journey i very nearly came to a sudden and end the mule will not go your way he always goes his own at one point in the precipice path it the lower fork being a winter pilgrimage rough but safe and solid the upper which travelled round some twenty yards and then again joined the lower smooth but exceeding greasy the mule insisted upon taking the top road with the result that when we reached its he began to slide down we shot ten or fifteen paces to the very edge of that awful cliff and i confess it without shame i have rarely been in such a fright in my indeed i thought that i must be gone there seemed no help for it since to was quite impossible at the utter verge of the gulf however the animal put on a sort of of which a mule alone has the secret and when its head was absolutely hanging over it we stopped that day also this same creature fell with me in the midst of a river and in the evening i ended an entertaining journey by being across another roaring torrent some eighty yards wide in a of string attached to a very rotten rope along which i was pulled in but of the varied experiences of that expedition i must not stop to tell i lived through it so let its memory be blessed still i do not wish to the mule as
| 18 |
this partly because the latter remarks prove be all doubt that mr hill s in the pulpit were not affected but were quite natural to him in justice to the memory of so excellent a man as the rev hill let me here observe that he never introduced any of his ludicrous illustrations with the view of exciting laughter amongst his audience his was no spirit of levity he felt the deepest reverence for everything sacred as well as for the being himself whom he served in the gospel he was i have reason to believe often utterly unconscious that he was making use of any th� land hill thing ludicrous until the smile he saw playing on the faces of his audience him of the if i am not greatly mistaken those who knew him most intimately were not only the most forward to him of all intention of saying anything in the pulpit which could cause a smile but invariably bore testimony to the fact that nothing was the source of greater grief to him than to find that he had in the course of his sermon made use of any expressions which could have in the slightest degree disturbed the seriousness of mind and gravity of countenance which so peculiarly become the house of god i have been assured by one who heard him for years that on one occasion two of his called at his house for the purpose of him of the of some of his remarks and illustrations and mildly with him on the of introducing anything into his which was calculated to excite a smile on proceeding up stairs to the door of his study they heard the sound of his voice as if engaged in prayer they paused and listened for a few g the rev hill moments when they had the happiness to hear him most bitterly before god on his knees the very habit of saying ludicrous things in the pulpit for which they had come gently to rebuke him the seeming levity of spirit which mr hill displayed in his remarks and illustrations was equally conspicuous in his in the pulpit while the congregation were engaged in singing the hymn or part of the hymn given out immediately before the ent of his sermon his eye constantly wandered from one part of the chapel to the other you would have that that there was not a person present whose he had not carefully this i presume must have been a habit of mr hill s without his being conscious of it himself he had the same in private that he so lai displayed in public the most instance of his domestic which has come to my knowledge is one which i shall presently relate but before doing so let me that i once the rev hill saw a version of the same anecdote in a newspaper though it was one which by no means could afford the reader any adequate idea of the itself in the manner of relating it therefore the anecdote will be new the late rev william for so many years the celebrated of and who invariably to his name the letters s s to indicate not that he was a member of any society or that the letters implied some personal honour but that he was a sinner saved � this mr had a decided aversion to all the ministers in london who did not go to his extreme length in what are called high doctrines towards mr hill his aversion was so strong as to amount to an which he could not repress or conceal it may be that the reason of mr s enmity to mr hill was that the latter was at the time one of the most popular if not the most popular of the london ministers and that consequently the other may have viewed him as a rival or the it may be that he under the ca tions which the minister of chapel was in the practice of giving both himself and his creed be the thing as it may mr hill was so disliked by the preacher that the latter not satisfied with giving vent to his feelings on the subject fix m the pulpit took occasion to make one of the most attacks in one of his books on the character and doctrines of mr hill that ever firom the press the latter reverend gentleman read the abuse heaped upon him so without exhibiting any symptom of irritation at last he tossed the volume down among the ashes below the grate and rang the bell with a violence unheard of before in the house the servant hurried up stairs with a she had not manifested on any previous occasion imagining that some accident or other had befallen her master the same apprehension seized mrs hill and the other persons in the house at the time who heard the of the it is the b� v hill to say that the steps of the inmates were all towards the reverend gentleman s apartment the servant who made her appearance was the only party he addressed on the occasion have you got a fire in the kitchen sally r inquired mr hill yes sir a very good one answered the latter in tremulous accents caused by the she had received weu then take up that book pointing to the volume by his coarse lying beneath the grate take up that book carry it down stairs and throw it into the kitchen fire and see that the last of it be consumed � the servant was so confounded at the of the command that she hesitated a few seconds looking all the while in amazement at the of her master before obeying it don t you hear me sally yes sir out the other then why don t you at once do as you are bid the servant stooped down
| 24 |
about standing � maybe there isn t in mechanical the s they got seven out of eleven in the new to chapter the strike turned into two and red began late in with a walk out of girls and in protest against a of wages the newly formed union of workers went out partly in s and partly in demand for a f ji ty four hour week they were followed by the union industry was tied up and the whole city was nervous with talk of a strike a strike a general strike furious citizens trying to get calls through strike breaking girls danced helplessly every that made its way from the to the freight stations was guarded by a policeman tr to look beside the driver a line of fifty from the z steel and machinery company was attacked by � crushing out from the pulling drivers from the seats and while girls cheered from the walk and small boys heaved bricks the national guard was ordered out colonel who in private life was mr secretary of the company put on a long coat and stalked crowds a in hand even s friend drum the shoe merchant � a round and merry man who told stories at the club and who strangely resembled a dog � was to be seen as a but ferocious captain with his belt tight about his comfortable little belly and his round little mouth as he to chattering groups on corners move on there i can t have any of this every new per in the city save one was against the when the news stands at each was stationed a a young embarrassed citizen soldier with eye glasses or clerk in private life trying to look dangerous while small boys get de tin soldier i and striking drivers inquired tenderly say joe when i was fighting in france was you in camp in the states or was you doing exercises in the y m c a be careful of that now or you ll cut yourself there was no one in who talked of anything but the strike and no one who did not take sides you were either a courageous friend of labor or you were a fearless of the rights of property and in either case you were and ready to any friend who did not hate the enemy a milk plant was set � each side charged it to the other � and the city was hysterical and chose this time to be publicly liberal he belonged to the sound sane right thinking wing and at first he agreed that the crooked ought to be shot he was sorry when his friend defended arrested and he thought of going to and explaining about these but when he read a that even on their former wages the girls had been hungry he was troubled all lies and figures he said but in a doubtful for the sunday after the road church announced a sermon by dr john drew on how the would end strikes had been about church going lately but he went to the service hopeful that dr drew really did have the information as to what the divine powers thought about strikes beside in the large glossy was whispered hope the gives the hell i ordinarily i don t believe in a preacher into political matters � let him stick to straight religion and save souls and not sur a lot of discussion � but at a time like this i do think he ought to stand right up and out those to a fare you said the rev dr drew his rustic bang with the intensity of his poetic and during the series of which have � let us be courageous and admit it boldly � the business life of our fair city these past days there has been a great deal of loose talk about scientific of scientific � scientific f now let me tell you that the most thing in the world is science take the attacks on the established of the christian creed which were so popular with the a generation ago oh yes they were mighty fellows and great of criticism i they were going to destroy the church they were going to prove the world was created and has been brought to its extraordinary level of morality and civilization by blind chance yet the church stands just as firmly to day as ever and the only answer a christian needs make to the of his simple faith is just a pitying and now these same want to replace the natural condition of free competition by crazy systems which no matter by what high names they are called are nothing but a naturally i m not labor courts against men to be striking or those excellent in which the men and the get together but i certainly am the s in which the free and of independent labor is to be replaced by cooked iq scales and and government and labor and all that what is not generally understood is tbat this ii trial matter isn t a question of it s essential and a matter of love and of the practical application of the christian imagine a factory � instead of of workmen the the goes among them smiling and they smile back the elder brother and the younger brothers that s what they must be loving brothers and then strikes would be as inconceivable as hatred in the it was at this point that muttered oh said c he doesn t know what he s talking about it s just as dear as mud it doesn t mean a dam thing maybe looked at him doubtfully through all the service kept at him till was nervous the had announced a parade for tuesday morning but colonel had forbidden it the newspapers said when drove west from his at ten that morning
| 42 |
can be obtained cheaper than by honestly buying and fairly paying for it in tliat day it will be felt and admitted tliat we have seriously injured and our country by the formation of its mind morals and manners mainly to foreign authors through the relative and consequent of their works inevitably from the denial of tight p perhaps there is no chapter in the history of literature more amusing and yet none which is essentially more melancholy than that which us with the of authors and especially of those of decided genius that shakespeare was for deer stealing � a most poetical and delicate sort of all admit � that the great bacon father of modern philosophy was disgraced and for corruption as lord the most responsible and one of the most as well as posts in the kingdom that burns was irregular in love and in drink that was a and a cheat that some have nm away with other men s wives while a good many have run away from their own � these literature as a and like deplorable facts are and over hj millions are much better acquainted v th the vices and errors of the greatly gifted than with their writings too many of us find an if not malicious pleasure in those whose intellectual stature to dwarf us at least to our own moral level we catch at the evidences of their in order to assure ourselves that we too are as they or they at least mortal as we are and their lives are necessarily so public so transparent so that the least flaw observation they seem worse than others at least as bad as they only because they are better known how many follies vices sins in the lives of the common place are hidden from public view by the friendly oblivion wliich the majority from observation in them from public interest or curiosity how many have stolen deer and been convicted and whipped or imprisoned for it and had the matter all over and forgotten within a year or two while here stands great shakespeare still in the stocks for deer stealing though he has stood there so patiently � a little yet quite � for almost three centuries it is a fearful thing for one greatly gifted to cherish vices or yield to temptations his errors cover and him like hissing whose sides and gleaming shine in the by wliich his genius has surrounded him from the towering height to which his achievements have lifted him so that the whole world sees them the good with pitying sorrow the thoughtless with levity the bad with ill concealed exultation vice is lamentable in any � is the source not merely of moral degradation but of physical suffering but of all are the most signal and enduring the of those fitted by nature to be great � the kings of the mighty realm of thought the necessities the the of s � these too have afforded the multitude an literature as a they were very poor security while yet for the bread that be eaten and the wine which would be drank by the authors while writing them so each poor for literary distinction was obliged at the outset of his undertaking to seek and find a patron wealthy and fond of doing public spirited acts or at least of the fame thence arising who would be willing to him while at his work and reward him at its close the then was the author s public and formal acknowledgment of his obligation to his patron � his that the credit of the work ought to be divided between them � just as to day the of a mechanical improvement and the who supplies the money wherewith to perfect and secure it often take out a patent but the art of and the general of knowledge and literary appetite have by the necessity which them so that there is now but one real patron the public and nearly all to particular individuals are affected and it is a very common but a very mischievous notion that the writing of a book is creditable per e on the contrary i hold it and only to be justified by proof of lofty qualities and generous aims embodied therein to write a book when you have nothing new to � nothing to say that has not been better said already � that is to inflict a real injury on mankind a new book is only to be justified by a new truth if however and commonplace has been on s bay and has travelled thence to or by a route previously unknown then he may give us a book � if he will attempt no more than to tell us as clearly as possible what he experienced and saw by the way � will have a genuine value and which the world may well thank him for and so of a man who having all his days should favor us with a on burning showing what was the relative value for that use of the various woods how long they should be on fire how much wood should be burned in one pit and how the burning should be managed every contribution however rude and humble our knowledge of nature and of the means by which her may most be made to our needs is beneficent and worthy of our regard but the of new poems or novels or essays or histories which really add nothing to our stock of facts to out fund of ideas but so far as they have any significance merely what has been more forcibly happily said already � this is a work which does less than no good � which ought to be and put down under the general police duty of i would have every writer of a book a competent and made to answer the questions
| 19 |
observed the child slightly and sometimes though seldom spoke of her appearance or asked after her health quite as if she were the daughter of people in whom she took no particular interest was informed of everything that occurred and his fears wore away gradually on the succeeding spring he took a short only a few days in extent and went with and a young nurse that he had engaged for the trip to here he bore the cross questioning in relation to his wife with to that she was not very well and did not feel like taking a journey mr and mrs drew welcomed the visitors warmly and was taken to their hearts without i thought you were going to tell the truth at any cost remarked one day when george bad just repeated the stock story about his wife s health to a person who stopped to speak to him i knew you would learn to like the rest of the world if you were only given a little time you did not understand me he answered i never said i should tell everything to who chose to bore me with questions i treat them in any way that seems best for the moment but to i shall never utter a deception whatever she asks me shall be answered as honestly as i can find words to express mrs had not been informed of her husband s intended journey and she did not ask about it until the second day where is your child she inquired of mrs after waiting as long as she thought advisable for the woman to say something of her own accord i have not seen her all day long the woman replied that she had gone out of town there was a dead silence for some minutes then mrs asked in a low tone if she would remain long i don t know exactly said mrs for this was what had told her to say in case she was the next day mrs came down earlier than usual and remained most of the morning after lunch she returned and stayed all the afternoon several times she went to the street windows and peered through the curtains as if she thought one of the passing had stopped at the door at night the light in her window on the second floor burned late on the other side of the street saw a white figure crouched at the sill out of in the morning she came down again early and watched the nurse as she received the mail from the noticing that she opened none of it after the addresses but neither did she any of it which intimated that the would soon return it was on the third day after this that mrs spoke again to mrs about the absent child she had been out for a walk and on her return she came into her husband s apartments without going first to her own rooms has your little girl got home yet she asked in a low voice not yet was the composed reply you you are expecting her no gathering up her mrs left the room and went upstairs the maid who served her reported to the cook that she did not touch the dinner during the evening dr who still attended the family when his services were required was sent for he told mrs when he came down that it was nothing serious no more than a severe attack of such as mrs was subject to where s he added shortly out of town replied the quiet i know that said the doctor with a snap u but where i want to write to him leave the letter here and i will send it the devil i will do nothing of the kind so he wants to keep his whereabouts a secret does he well i ll wait till he returns when is he coming i don t know w i never had a child the physician grew impatient confound it woman i don t mean to an hour or a minute is he coming within a day or two or will it be a month i don t know muttering something about dr beat a baffled retreat and mrs returned smiling to her sitting room midnight was striking on that very evening when the lost ones came home ascended the steps with his sleeping daughter in his arms and assisted the younger nurse to her and place her in her cot bed bending lovingly over her he was aroused from a reverie by mrs who had hurriedly a portion of her attire and hastened to see them both perfectly well he responded to her first inquiry never better in her life and how have you been yourself as usual she said we have all been well sir but but mrs she had the doctor twice m m what was the matter he said it was a nervous attack you see sir she was down here most of the time after you left and she asked after and i couldn t tell her how long you were to be away for you did not let me know exactly and she seemed very uneasy and when she went back upstairs she walked her room a good deal and that evening she had asked me again that evening she was taken and i could not answer her and she did not eat her dinner and then went for the doctor gazed at his sleeping child as our or if he envied the that hid her sweet eyes from him she asked for did she yes sir and she seemed very anxious sup pose you would not have liked me to tell hei anything would you the husband straightened up in his chair certainly not he said dr tried hard to find out where you were too continued the woman but he learned
| 1 |
loud the general voice might be in giving me encouragement and however fervent the emotions and to which it roused me i heard her word of praise as i heard nothing else at least once a week and sometimes oftener i rode over there and passed the evening i usually rode back at night for the old unhappy sense was always hovering about me now � most sorrowfully when i left her � and i was glad to be up and out rather than wandering over the past in weary or miserable dreams i wore away the longest part of many wild sad nights in those rides as i went the thoughts that had occupied me in my long absence or if i were to say rather that i listened to the echoes of those thoughts i should better express the truth they spoke to me from afar off i had put them at a distance and accepted my inevitable place when i read to what i wrote when i saw her listening face moved her to smiles or tears and heard her cordial voice so earnest on the of that imaginative world in which i lived i thought what a fate mine might have been � but only thought so as i had thought after i was married to what i could have wished my wife to be my duty to who loved me with a love which if i i wronged most and poorly and could never restore my assurance that i who had worked out my own destiny and won what i had set my heart on had no right to murmur and must bear what i felt and what i had learned but i loved her and now it even became some consolation to me vaguely to conceive a distant day when i might it when all this should be over when i could say so it was when i came home and now i am old and i never have loved since i she did not once show me any change in herself what she always had been to me she still was wholly between my aunt and me there had been something in this since the night of my return which i cannot call a restraint or an of the subject so much as an implied understanding that we thought of it r r the personal history and experience together but did not shape our thoughts into words when according to our old custom we sat before the at night we often fell into this train as naturally and as to each other as if we had said so but we preserved an unbroken silence i believed that she had read or partly read my thoughts that night and that she fully comprehended why i gave mine no more distinct expression this christmas time being come and having no new confidence in me a doubt that had several times arisen in my mind � whether she could have that perception of the true state of my breast which restrained her with the apprehension of giving me pain � began to me heavily if that were so my sacrifice was nothing my obligation to her and every poor action i had shrunk from i was doing i resolved to set this right beyond all doubt � if such a barrier were between us to break it down at once with a determined hand it was � what lasting reason have i to remember it � a cold harsh winter day there had been snow some hours before and it lay not deep but hard frozen on the ground out at sea beyond my window the wind blew from the north i had been thinking of it sweeping over those mountain of snow in then inaccessible to any human foot and had been which was the those solitary regions or a deserted ocean to day trot said my aunt putting her head in at the door yes said i i am going over to it s a good day for a ride i hope your horse may think so too said my aunt but at present he is holding down his head and his ears standing before the door there as if he thought his stable my aunt i may observe allowed my horse on the forbidden ground but had not at all toward the he will be fresh enough presently said i the ride will do his master good at all events observed my aunt glancing at the papers on my table ah child you pass a good many hours here i never thought when i used to read books what work it was to write them it s work enough to read them sometimes i as to the writing it has its own charms aunt ah i see said my aunt ambition love of approbation sympathy and much more i suppose well go along with you do you know anything more said i standing before her � she had patted me on the shoulder and sat down in my chair of that attachment of she looked up in my face a little while before replying i think i do trot are you confirmed in your impression i inquired � i think i am trot she looked so at me with a kind of doubt or pity or suspense in her affection that i summoned the stronger determination to show her a perfectly cheerful and what is more trot � said my aunt yes of david i think is going to be married god bless her said i cheerfully god bless her said my aunt and her husband too i echoed it parted from my aunt went lightly down stairs mounted and rode away there was greater reason than before to do what i had resolved to do how well i recollect the wintry ride the frozen of ice brushed from the blades of gi
| 8 |
powers to attack the country a temptation that they were only too ready and anxious to yield to and that the state was in far too feeble a condition to such attacks from which it had hitherto only been saved by the repeated representations of the government of the next i will quote as they stand for they sum up the reasons for the that the war which would have produced but little effect on a healthy constitution has not only proved suddenly fatal to the resources and reputation of the but has shown itself to be a point in the history of south africa in that a or tribe and of no account in estimation successfully the strength of the state and disclosed for the first time to the native powers outside the from the to the cape the great change that had taken place in the relative strength of the white and black races that this disclosure at once shook the of the white man in south africa and placed every european community in peril that this common danger has caused universal anxiety has given to all concerned the right to investigate its cause and to protect themselves from its consequences and has imposed the duty upon those who have the power to shield from the of and it proceeds to point out that the will be the first to suffer from the results of its own policy and that it is for every the reason perfectly impossible for her majesty s to stand by and see a friendly white state knowing that its own possessions will be the next to suffer that her majesty s government being persuaded that the only means to prevent such a catastrophe would be by the of the and knowing that this was the wish of a large proportion of the inhabitants of the the step must be taken next follows the formal together with the an address was issued by sir t to the of the state laying the facts before them in a friendly manner more suited to their mode of thought than it was possible to do in a formal this document the issue of which was one of those touches that the success of the was a powerful up in language of the arguments used in the strengthened by from the speeches of the president it ends with these words it remains only for me to b of you to consider and weigh what i have said calmly and without undue prejudice let not mere feeling or sentiment prevail over your judgment accept what her majesty s shall be and what you will soon find from experience is a blessing not only to you and your children but to the whole of south africa through you and believe that i speak these words to you as a friend from my heart two other were also issued one the of the office of of the government by sir t and the other the the war tax which was doubtless an unequal and oppressive i have in the preceding pages stated all the principal grounds of the and briefly the history of that event in the next chapter i propose to follow the fortunes of the under british rule iv the british rule the news of the was received all over the country with a sigh of relief and in many parts of it with great at the gk ld fields for instance special services were held and god save the queen was sung in church nowhere was there the slightest disturbance but on the contrary addresses of and thanks literally poured in by every mail many of them signed by who have since been conspicuous for their bitter opposition to english rule at first there was some doubt as to what would be the course taken under the by the by the late major ra was sent to convey the news and to take command of them save by his servant on arrival at the principal fort he at once ordered the flag to be hauled down and the union jack run up and his orders were obeyed a few days afterwards some members of the force thought better of it and having made up their minds to kill him came to the tent where he was sitting to carry out their on learning their kind intentions major fixed his eye glass in his eye and after steadily glaring at them through the it for some time said you are all drunk go back to your the quite overcome by his coolness and the of his gaze at once slipped off and there was no further trouble about three weeks after the the i i th regiment arrived at having been very well received all along the road by the who came from miles round to hear the band play its entry into was quite a sight the whole population turned out to meet it indeed the feeling of rejoicing and relief was so profound that when the band to play god save the queen some of the women burst into tears meanwhile the effect of the on the country was perfectly credit and commerce were at once restored the railway bonds that were down to nothing in holland rose with one bound to par and the value of landed property nearly doubled indeed it would have been possible for any one knowing what was going to happen to have large sums of money by buying land in the beginning of selling it shortly after the on the th may being her majesty s birthday all the native who were anywhere within reach were summoned to attend the first formal of the english flag the day was a general festival and the ceremony was attended by a large number of and natives in addition to all the english at midday amidst the cheers of the crowd the salute of
| 18 |
hotel which had been built since bis last he stared up at it muttering twenty two hundred rooms and twenty two hundred that s got everything in the world beat lord their must be � well suppose price of rooms is four to eight dollars a day and i suppose maybe some ten and � four times twenty two hundred � say six times twenty two hundred � well anyway with and everything say between eight and fifteen thousand a day every day i never thought i d see a thing like that some of course the average fellow in has got more individual than the here but i got to hand it to new york yes sir town you re all � some ways well old i guess we ve seen everything that s worth while howl we kill the rest of the time but paul desired to see a always wanted to go to europe � and by thunder i will too some day before i pass out he sighed from a rough wharf on the north river they stared at the stem of the and her and lifted above the dock house which shut her in by wouldn t be so bad to go over to the old country and take a at all these ruins and the place where shakespeare was born and think of being able to order a drink whenever you wanted one just range up to a bar and out loud a and the police not bad at all what like to see over there v i did not answer turned paul was standing with clenched fists bead drooping staring at the as in terror his thin body seen against the summer glaring of the wharf was again what would you hit for on the other side paul at the steamer his breast heaving paul oh my while watched him anxiously he snapped come on let s get out of this and hastened down the wharf not looking back that s considered the boy didn t care for seeing the ocean boats after all i t he d be interested in em thou he and made sage speculations about horse power as their train climbed the and from the summit be looked down the shining way among the pines though he remarked well by when he discovered that the station at the end of the line was an aged freight car s moment of impassioned release came when they sat on a tiny wharf on lake awaiting the from the hotel a had floated down the lake between the logs and the shore the water was transparent thin looking flashing with a guide in black felt hat with flies in the band and flannel shirt of a peculiarly daring blue sat on a log and and was silent a dog a good country dog black and gray a dog rich in leisure and in meditation scratched and and slept the thick sunlight was lavish on the bright water on the rim of gold green the silver and and across the lake it burned on the sturdy shoulders of the mountains over everything was a holy peace silent they on the edge of the wharf swinging their legs above the water the immense tenderness of the place sank into and he murmured i d just like to sit here � the rest of my life � and � and sit and never hear a or in the or and ted just sit he patted paul s shoulder how does it strike you old oh it s dam good there s something sort of eternal about it for once understood him their rounded the bend at the head of the lake under mountain slope they saw the little central of their hotel and the of log cottages which served as they landed and endured the critical examination of the who had been at the hotel for a whole week in their cottage with its high stone fireplace they hastened as expressed it to get into some regular he they came out paul in an old gray suit and soft white shirt in shirt and vast and flapping trousers it was excessively new bis spectacles belonged to a city and his face was not hut a city pink he made a noise in the place but with infinite satisfaction he his legs and say this is getting back home eh they stood on the wharf before the hotel he winked at paul and drew from his back pocket a of tobacco a forbidden in the home he took a beaming and his head as he at it maybe i haven t been hungry for a of eating have some they looked at each other in a grin of understanding paul took the at it they stood quiet their jaws working they solemnly one after the other into the water they stretched with lifted arms i and arched backs beyond the came the shuffling sound of a far os train a leaped and back in a circle they sighed together they had a before their families came each evening they planned to get up early and fish before breakfast each morning they lay till the breakfast bell pleasantly conscious that there were no efficient wives to rouse them the mornings were cold the fire was kindly as they dressed paul was clean but in a good sound in not having to till his spirit was moved to it he every spot and fish scale on his new trousers all morning they or the dim and lighted among rank and moss sprinkled with crimson bells tbey slept all afternoon and till midnight played with the guides was a serious business to the guides they did not gossip the thick greasy cards with a ferocity menacing to the x and joe paradise king of guides was sarcastic to who halted the game even to scratch at midnight as paul
| 42 |
end of their time and they never love they never love at all they never know great sorrows or great joys they might almost as well never have been bom but all are not like that and i although i am still young have lived both in joy and sorrow till i feel like an old old woman do you think he asked after a moment s silence that you will always feel the same i think so i don t believe when men and women have passed through great storm and stress that they can ever again become as placid as they were before when you once feel old i doubt if you ever grow to feel really young again but don t you think he said wistfully that it would be very dreadful to your husband if he could know that the strange story of my life your entire life was given up to a desolation of regret i have never thought of that i returned simply if he really and truly loved you he went on don t you think that he would rather you were happy even if you were not quite so happy as you had once been than that you should live out the rest of your life practically alone i could not imagine my husband wishing � wishing me i repeated with a certain feeling of outraged dignity to marry again he was so unselfish prince that if it would make me happier i know he would be the last if he could give an opinion to set himself in the way of my any measure of happiness i won t pretend that i do not know what you mean it would be foolish and while i am as i am with your mother it will tend to make us less good friends than we should otherwise be if we only make believe to understand each other in a half kind of way i thought the other day when you spoke on this subject that you understood me that you realized not that i felt i was tied by the wishes of my husband but that i myself had no wish to alter existing arrangements mrs he said � may i call you � i had no intention of speaking to you again because i feel that in a sense i have the of my hospitality forgive me it is only s presence here which has made me speak forgive me and believe that i am moved by a desire first and foremost for your happiness he rose from his chair as he spoke and so did i from mine he took my hand for a moment in his and raised it to his lips and as he turned away he trod upon one of the great hounds which was lingering very near to him i remember when he first came home that i had thought there might be something of the brute in him yet even in what i saw was a moment of deadly pain he stopped and time goes on patted the great dog on the head with a word of regret upon his lips i had never liked prince so much as i did at that moment i don t know that i had ever felt so sympathetic towards him so completely at home with him that i had ever before felt so little of his � i mean that i had never felt so nearly as if he were indeed an englishman i don t think that the princess ever suspected that matters had gone as far between us as they really had done for months after that little visit of colonel s we went on without very much change in our every day life it was to me that they did not wish to travel more to leave more often more than once the princess told me that for several years her son had not been at home for so many months at one spell louis is very much changed she said to me one day he used to be always longing to about to travel abroad to shoot big game to live a life of adventure and change but since he came home this time he seems to have altered he seems to content himself with such placid and domestic things in comparison with his past life perhaps he feels that he must stay more with you now i suggested now that i have not for a companion yes perhaps that is so no doubt that is it dear princess i said in a tone of acquiescence although in my heart i knew perfectly well that such was not the reason perhaps said she he has another and a different reason be that as it may it is delightful to me to have my son always with me even while i wonder that he does not grow tired of i wonder that you do not travel more i said perhaps rather you would like to travel more you would like to move about to go to paris � to well our year of seclusion is over now and there is no reason the strange story of my life why if you would like to have a change my dear that we should not take it oh no i did not say so i cried perhaps you did not say so but you are young and change is good for young people you have never been to you would like to see it oh yes if it would please you to go certainly it would please me i shall speak to louis about it the result of this conversation was that we very shortly left and took up our abode in their house in just at first i was half reluctant to undertake even so short a journey and yet when i found myself in the beautiful
| 30 |
the they might and probably did all visit our old town at one time or another but not simultaneously and you have fallen into that i positively shudder to think of the fellow adds the scarcely civil critic has learned a bead roll of historic names whom he into his show as he calls it without caring whether they were or not � and sets them all by the ears together but was there ever such a fund of impudence to hear his running you would suppose that these miserable slips of painted with hardly the remotest outlines of the human figure had au the character and expression of michael s pictures well go on sir sir you break the illusion of the scene mildly the illusion what illusion the critic with a contemptuous on the word of a gentleman i see nothing in the sheet of canvas that forms your back ground or in these slips that and jerk along the front the only illusion permit me to say is in the s tongue � and that but a wretched one into the bargain we public men replies the meekly must lay our account sometimes to meet an severity of criticism but � merely for your own pleasure sir � let me entreat you to take another point of view sit further back by that young lady in whose face i have watched the reflection of every changing scene only oblige me by sitting there and take my word for it the slips of shall assume spiritual life and the canvas become an airy and of what it to represent i know better the critic settling himself in his seat with sullen but self complacent i main street and as for my own pleasure i shall best it by remaining precisely where i am the bows and waves his hand and at the signal as if time and had been awaiting his to move onward the street becomes alive again years have rolled over our scene and converted the forest track into a dusty which being with lanes and cross paths may fairly be as the main street on the ground of many of the log built sheds into which the first crept for shelter houses of quaint architecture have now risen these later are built as you see in one generally style though with such subordinate variety as keeps the s curiosity excited and causes each structure like its owner s character to produce its own peculiar impression most of them have one huge chimney in the centre with so vast that it must have been easy for the to fly out of them as they were wont to do when bound on an visit to the black man in the forest around this great chimney the wooden house clusters itself in a whole community of ends each ascending into its own separate peak the second story with its windows projecting over the first and the door which is perhaps arched provided on the outside with an iron hammer wherewith the s hand may give a thundering the timber frame work of these houses as compared with those of recent date is like the skeleton of an old giant beside the frail bones of a modem man of fashion many of them by the vast strength and of their substance have been preserved main street through a length of time which would have tried the of brick and stone so that in all the decay and continual of the street down to our own days we shall still behold these old occupying their long accustomed for instance on the upper comer of that green lane which shall hereafter be north street we see the house newly built with the still at work on the roof down the last of on the lower comer stands another dwelling � destined at some period of its existence to be the abode of an � which shall likewise survive to our own generation and perhaps long it thus through the medium of these we have now established a sort of kindred and hereditary acquaintance with the main street great as is the produced by a short term of years each single day through the settlement enough it shall pass before your eyes into the space of a few moments the gray light of early morning is slowly itself over the scene and the whose office it is to cry the hour at the street corners rings the last peal upon his hand bell and goes wearily with the the and other creatures of the night are thrust back on their hinges as if the town were opening its eyes in the summer morning forth the still drowsy cow herd with his putting which to his lips it a impossible to be represented in the picture but which reaches the pricked up ears of every cow in the settlement and tells her that the pasture hour is come house after main street house and sends the smoke up curling from its chimney like frosty breath from living nostrils and as those white wreaths of smoke though with climb so from each dwelling does the morning worship � its spiritual essence bearing up its human � find its way to the heavenly father s throne the breakfast hour being passed the inhabitants do not as usual go to their fields or but remain within doors or perhaps walk the street with a grave yet a disengaged and aspect that belongs neither to a holiday nor a sabbath and indeed this passing day is neither nor is it a common week day although of all the three it is the thursday lecture an institution which new england has long ago and almost forgotten yet which it would have been better to retain as bearing relations to both the spiritual and ordinary life and bringing each acquainted with the other the tokens of its however which
| 35 |
farmers he suspected of killing the what game he had that very morning what spot he would recommend as a new cover and the comparative of all existing sport compared with under which old england had been prosperous and glorious while so ar as he could see it had gained little by the of practice which sharpened the faculties of men gratified the instincts of the fowl and carried out the designs of heaven in its admirable device of spurs from these main topics which made his points of departure and he easily enough at any new suggestion or so that when got home at a late hour he was conscious of having gathered from amidst the full toned of his uncle s chat some impressions which were of practical importance among the s it appeared was mr a fat handed fellow with a scented handkerchief one of your educated low bred fellows a who got his latin for nothing at christ s hospital one of your middle class who want to rank with gentlemen and think they ll do it with kid gloves and new furniture but since meant to stand for the county mr was equally emphatic as to the necessity of his not with till the election was over must be his agent must wink hard till he found himself safely returned and even then it might be well to let drop gently and raise no scandal he himself had no quarrel with the fellow a clergyman should have no quarrels and he made it a point to be able to take wine with any man he met at table and as to the estate and his sister s going too much by s advice he never with business it was not his duty as a clergyman that be the radical considered was the meaning of and the a subject into which he had gone to some depth thirty years ago when he preached the sermon the discovery that meant to stand on the liberal side � nay that he boldly declared himself a radical � was rather startling but to his uncle s good humor by the of port wine nothing could seem highly objectionable provided it did not disturb that operation in the course of half an hour he had brought himself to see that any really worthy to be called british had been entirely extinct since the duke of and sir robert had passed the catholic bill that with its rights of man stopping short at ten pound and its policy of a wild beast with a bite was a ridiculous that therefore since an honest man could not call himself a tory which it was in fact as impossible to be now as to fight for the old and could still less become that a there remained but one course open to him why lad if the world was turned into a swamp i suppose we should leave off shoes and stockings and walk about like � whence it followed plainly enough that in these hopeless times nothing was left to men of sense and good family but to the national ruin by declaring themselves and take the inevitable process of changing � � ry thing out of the hands of and purse proud it is true the was helped to this chain of reasoning by s remarks but he soon became quite ardent in asserting the conclusion if the mob can t be turned back a man of family must try and head the mob and save a few homes and and keep the country up on its last legs as long as he can and you re a man of family my lad � dash it you re a whatever else yon may be and i ll stand by you i ve no great interest i m a poor parson i ve been forced to give up hunting my and a glass of good wine are the only becoming my station that i can allow myself but i ll give you my countenance � i ll stick to you as my nephew there s no need for me to change sides exactly i was bom a � tory and i shall never be a bishop but if any body says you re in the wrong i shall say my nephew is in the right he has turned radical to save his country if william had been living now he d have done the same for what did he say when he was dying not oh save my party but h save my country heaven that was what they in our ears about and the duke and now i ll turn it round upon them they shall be with their own yes yes i ll stand by you did not feel sure that his uncle would thoroughly retain this satisfactory thread of argument in the hours of the morning but the old gentleman was sure to take the facts easily in the end and there was no fear of family coolness or on this side was glad of it he was not to be turned aside from any course he had chosen but he disliked all as an unpleasant expenditure of energy that could have no good practical result he was at once active and luxurious fond of mastery and good natured enough to wish that every one about him should like his mastery n ot caring greatly to know other people s thou t and ready to despise them if their thoughts differed from his and yet that they should have no reason for slight thoughts about the must be forced to respect him hence in proportion as he foresaw that his equals in the neighborhood would be indignant with him f his political choice he cared keenly about making a good figure before them in every way his conduct as a was to be judicious his establishment was to be
| 14 |
interrupted his you got to give us two dollars and he got it a week later a to a window of the and the out of the darkness frightened into screaming since then in four months she had beheld hanging a cat stealing throwing at the house and making tracks across the lawn and had heard him explaining the mysteries of generation with great and knowledge he was in fact a museum specimen of what a small town a well public school a tradition of hearty humor and a pious mother could produce from the material of a courageous and ingenious mind was afraid of him far from protesting when he set his on a she worked hard at not seeing him the was a shed with paint tools a lawn and ancient of hay above it was a which and earl young brother of harry used as a den for smoking hiding from and planning secret societies they climbed to it by a ladder on the alley side of the shed this morning of late january two or three weeks after s revelations had gone into the stable to find a hammer snow softened her step she heard voices in the above her ah � oh go down the lake and some out of somebody s traps was yawning and get our ears beat off grumbled earl these are member when we were just and used to smoke corn silk and spit silence say earl ma says if you tobacco you get consumption aw rats your old lady is a that s so pause but she says she knows a that did aw didn t used to tobacco all the time before he married this here girl from the cities he used to spit some shot he could hit a tree ten feet off this was news to the girl from the cities m m main street say how is she continued earl how s who you know who i mean a a of loose boards silence weary from mrs oh she s all right i guess relief to below e a o cake one time but ma says she s stuck up as hell ma s always talking about her ma says if mrs thought as much about the as she does about her clothes the wouldn t look so spit silence s always talking about her too from she says mrs thinks she knows it all says she has to laugh till she almost bursts every time she sees mr along the street with that take a look � i m a swell skirt way she s got but i don t pay no attention to she s n a ma was telling somebody that she heard that mrs claimed she made forty dollars a week when she was on some job in the cities and ma says she knows that she never made but eighteen a week � ma says that when she s lived here a while she won t go round making a fool of herself pulling that stuff on folks that know a whole lot more than she does they re all laughing up their sleeves at her say notice how mrs around the house other evening when i was coming over here she d forgot to pull down the curtain and i watched her for ten minutes you d a died laughing she was there all alone and she must a spent five minutes getting a picture straight it was funny as hell the way she d stick out her finger to the picture � see my finger oh my ain t i what a fine long tail my cat s but say earl she s some good just the same and o the glad rags she must of bought for her wedding notice these low cut dresses and these thin she wears i had a good at em when they were out on the line with the wash and some ankles she s got then fled in her innocence she had not known that the whole town could discuss even her garments her body e felt that she was being dragged naked down main street the moment it was dusk she pulled down the all the shades flush with the sill but beyond them she felt moist eyes m she remembered and tried to forget and remembered more sharply the vulgar detail of her husband s having observed the ancient customs of the land by tobacco she would have preferred a prettier vice � gambling or a mistress for these she might have found a luxury of forgiveness she could not remember any wicked hero of fiction who tobacco asserted that it proved him to be a man of the bold free west she tried to him with the hairy heroes of the motion pictures she curled on the couch a softness in the twilight and fought herself and lost the battle did not identify him with riding the it merely bound him to � to the tailor and the but he gave it up for me oh what does it matter we re all filthy in some things i think of myself as so superior but i do eat and i do wash my dirty and scratch i m not a cool slim goddess on a column there aren t any he gave it up for me he stands by me believing that every one loves me he s the rock of ages � in a storm of meanness t s driving me mad it will drive me mad all evening she sang scotch to and when she noticed that he was an cigar she smiled at his secret she could not escape asking in the exact words and mental which a thousand million women and mischief making queens had used before her and which a million million women will know hereafter was it au a horrible mistake my marrying
| 42 |
had escaped death was not s fault and the dead man was practically a murderer but the � the lost in the excitement of finding their alive began to overlook s share in the matter the question most frequently asked was whether would resume his charge of the parish seeing that his successor had been appointed but all talk on this point was ended when it became known that the inflicted on the unfortunate man both by being struck down and by being buried alive had so shaken his system that he was not likely to live was attending to him and did so in an entirely sober state as his narrow escape from trouble kept him away from the drink indeed regarded the whole matter as a blessing in disguise and hoped that her father would reform he had every reason to do so seeing what a lesson he had received with regard to his giving a of death s fellow held that he was perfectly justified since the had been in a trance but the villagers headed by held that dr had been drunk at the time when he examined the body and this opinion was not favorable to s reputation however when it was seen that he had turned over a new leaf his conduct was considered more kindly and the doctor began to hope that he would weather the storm but it had very nearly wrecked him and the escape he had had greatly improved his character in time by acting and keeping strictly sober he managed to his position a week later when ever in connection with the catastrophe was quite settled made his appearance at the big house he was more subdued than usual as he also had learned a lesson but there remained something of his old manner when a final surprise he entered the library and produced john s will from his pocket guessed that his cousin had come to demand a settlement and himself to face a disagreeable future it was not pleasant to become a but there seemed to be nothing for it but to accept the inevitable yet it was not so much the loss of the money which the young man regretted as the probable loss of as his wife knew his cousin well enough to be sure that once in the possession of the estates and income he would not be inclined to permit the marriage to take place and seeing that he was likely to be poor it was useless for the girl to insist upon the fulfilment of the engagement it was with a sad face and a weary heart that asked to take a seat i suppose you have called to discuss matters regarding the will he said leaning his head on his hand and speaking quietly in a way though i don t see that there is anything to discuss retorted who was rapidly his former ways a you have to do is to clear out and allow me to come here walk out bag and baggage you mean something of that sort i don t mind giving you one hundred pounds with which to make a new start in life if i were you i would go to with when he and what about she is not for you said resolutely as the daughter of the squire of she must marry a man with a position does say so inquired quietly said the affectionate parent is as obstinate as a pig she is coming here in a few minutes the lost to argue the matter i told her that i intended to settle the matter of the will to day but she shan t marry you with my consent and as i have the money you can see that it would be wrong of you to drag her down to poverty you put the case very plainly how else do you expect me to put it said the other who was not in the least ashamed of the cowardly way in which he was you might have a little more consideration for my position remarked with a shrug what consideration did you ever show to me looked at the little man in amazement i have always been your good friend he said after a pause i have given you money and my own money interrupted the visitor much thanks for that it won t do i won t allow you to work on my feelings i never knew that you had any to work on no more i have i want justice and justice i intend to have don t make such a row over the matter said contemptuously you shall have what you want but you can scarcely expect me to walk out of this house this very minute we must take the will to the lawyers and have it gone into since you are so i am inclined to defend my position there is the of to be considered and there is me to be considered said a quiet voice at the door and the two turned to see at the door you have been listening snapped her father a final surprise yes i have she replied boldly and what i have heard shows me what a cruel nature you have father don t speak to me in that way furiously oh yes i shall and entered to place her hand on s shoulder as if to give him confidence you have not got s money yet but i shall get it the will is plain enough before could reply rose to his feet and made a gesture that she should be silent has something to say about the will he remarked and had you not come over i should have sent for you wishes to see you and me and if to try on any said uneasily for the summons seemed strange and ominous to him he ll find
| 12 |
re rather hard on poor father said mrs with a face and don t let him have half as much change and fresh air as would benefit him but he ll soon be home for good now won t you father yes my dear i hope so in good time please god here mr delivered himself of an which he invariably made word for word the same on all such opportunities it was in the following terms little john sir while there s a of or drink of any sort in this present roof you re fully welcome to your share on it while there s a handful of fire or a of bed in this present roof you re fully welcome to your share on it if so be as there should be nothing in this present roof you should be as welcome to your share on it as if it was something much or little and this is what i mean and so i don t deceive you and consequently which is to stand out is to entreat of you and therefore why not do it to this address which mr always delivered as if he had composed it as no doubt he had with enormous labor mrs s father replied i thank you kindly thomas and i know your intentions well which is the same i thank you kindly for but no thomas until such times as it s not to take it out of your children s mouths which take it is and call it by what name you will it do remain and equally deprive though may they come and too soon they can not come no thomas no mrs who had been turning her face a little away with a corner of her apron in her hand brought herself back to the conversation again by telling miss that father was going over the water to pay his respects unless she knew of any reason why it might not be agreeable her answer was i am going straight home and if he will come with me i shall be so glad to take care of him � so glad said little always thoughtful of the feelings of the weak of his � company there father cried mrs ain t you a gay young man to be going for a walk along with miss let me tie your neck handkerchief into a regular good bow for you re a regular beau yourself father if ever there was one with this filial joke his daughter him up and gave him a loving and stood at the door with her weak child in her arms and her strong child tumbling down the steps looking after her little old father as he away with his arm under little s they walked at a slow pace and little took him by the iron bridge and sat him down there for a rest and they looked over at the water and talked about the shipping and the old man mentioned what he would do if he had a ship full of gold coming home to him his plan was to take a noble lodging for the and himself at a tea gardens and live there all the rest of their lives attended on by the waiter and it was a special birthday for the old man they were within five minutes of their destination when at the corner of her own street they came upon in her new bonnet bound for the same port why good gracious me cried that young lady starting you never mean it mean what dear well i could have believed a great deal of you returned the young lady with burning indignation but i don t think even i could have believed this of even you cried little wounded and astonished little oh don t me you mean little thing don t the idea of coming along the open streets in the broad light of day with a firing off the last word as if it were a ball from an air gun i tell you not to me for i ll not submit to it i never knew such a thing the way in which you are resolved and determined to disgrace us on all occasions is really infamous you bad little thing does it disgrace anybody said little very gently to take care of this poor old man yes miss returned her sister and you ought to know it does and you do know it does and you do it because you know it does the principal pleasure of your life is to remind your family of their misfortunes and the next great pleasure of your existence is to keep low company but however if you have no sense of decency i have you ll please to allow me to go on the other side of the way with this she across to the opposite pavement the old disgrace who had been bowing a pace or two off for little had let his arm go in her wonder when began and who had been and cursed by impatient passengers for stopping the way rejoined his companion rather giddy and said i hope nothing s wrong with your honored father miss i hope there s nothing the matter in the honored family no no returned little no thank you give me your arm again mr we shall soon be there now so she talked to him as she had talked before and they came to the lodge and found mr on the lock and went in now it happened that the father of the was towards the lodge at the moment when they were coming out of it entering the prison arm in arm as the spectacle of their approach met his view he displayed the utmost agitation and despondency of mind and � altogether regardless of old who making his reverence stood with his
| 8 |
� that he had no very strong reasons for e t that tlie demand was particularly disagreeable as he had been ordered to maintain his post to the last he time therefore to consult with j and proposed a for that purpose the peter indignant at having his fort so taken from him and thus withheld the an swore the pipe of st which like the sacred fire was never extinguished that unless the fort were surrendered in ten minutes he would storm the works make all the garrison run the and their scoundrel of a commander like a to give new york menace the greater effect he drew forth his sword and shock it at with such a fierce and motion that doubtless if it had not been exceeding rusty it would have lightened terror into the eyes and hearts of the enemy he then ordered his men to bring a to bear upon the fort consisting of two three a long duck piece and two brace of horse pistols in the mean time the sturdy all his forces and commenced his warlike operations his cheeks like a very he kept up a most of his the of sing sing broke forth into a hideous song of the warriors of and the blew a potent and blast on their shells together forming as outrageous a as though five thousand french were displaying their skill in h modem whether the formidable of war thus suddenly presented smote the garrison with sore dismay or whether the terms of the summons which mentioned he should surrender � at discretion were by who though a was a very easy tempered man as a compliment to his discretion i will not take upon me to say certain it is he found it impossible to resist so courteous a demand in the very nick of time just as the cabin boy had gone a coal of fire to discharge the a was beat on the by the only drum in the garrison to the no small satisfaction of bo i parties who notwithstanding their great stomach for fighting had full as good an to eat a quiet dinner as to exchange black eyes and bloody noses thus did this fortress once more return to the of their high and his garrison of twenty men were allowed to march out ik history of the honours of war and the victorious peter who was is generous as brave permitted them to keep possession of all their arms and the same on inspection being totally unfit for service having long in the magazine of the fortress even before it was by the from the but windy von po but i must not omit to mention that the governor was so well pleased with the services of his squire van in the of this great that be made him on the spot lord of a goodly in the vicinity of new which goes by the same of s hook unto this very day the liberality of the towards the occasioned great surprise in the of new nay certain of those who had been enlightened by the political meetings that prevailed during the days of william the who had not dared to indulge their under the eye of their present ruler now his absence dared even to give v nt to their c in the streets � murmurs were heard in the very chamber rf new and there is no knowing whether they would not have broken out into speeches and had not peter sent home his walking to be laid as a on the of the council chamber in the midst of his who like wise men took the hint and forever a ter held their peace � pe mention in one of bis voyages of s and or f � � � � vi the great advantage that the author over hu reader in time o r with divert movements that terrible is about o i u as a � when at a t his his � a appetite but quickened and attacks upon the his � es projecting from hb � head j toll round ever things at did the peter feel that hunger for martial which raged his by the cap ture of fort nothing it but the of all no sooner had he secured his st tie resolutely on flushed with to at fort f � � � � � this was the grand post ed on a small river or as it is more termed creek of the same name and here that governor lay grimly drawn up a gray bearded spider in the web � � � � hurry into the scenes that must intend the of two such powerful it is advisable that we pause for a moment and hold a kind of warlike council battles should not be rushed into by the historian and his readers any more than by the general and his soldiers the great of antiquity never engaged the enemy without previously prepare this is at present a flourishing town called or about thirty seven miles from philadelphia on the post road to n s history of ing the minds of their by them up to heroic feelings assuring them protection of the gods and inspiring them with a confidence in the of their leaders so the historian should awaken the attention and the passions readers and having set them all on fire with the of his subject he should put himself at their head his pen and lead them on to the of the fight an illustrious example of this rule be seen in mirror of the immortal arrived at the breaking out of the one of his that he the in all the disposition and spirit of he the on both sides he oar and fast our attention au mankind are in the important point now going to be are made to disclose heaven itself is
| 48 |
as the procession approached the paul who had attentively studied the map of paris had an opportunity to explain the use of a high of the light yellow stone used in the city beneath the arches of which the carriages passed it is a railroad connecting the different lines that from paris passing through the d one of the gates of the city the party entered the de the most beautiful park in paris it contains two thousand five hundred acres laid out with walks drive ways groves flower beds artificial lakes and rock work and a race course central park in new york contains about eight hundred and fifty acres but what there is of it rather the de passing out of this park at its northern end the company proceeded to the de st it is a beautiful little young america in france and marble building in the form of a greek cross and the death of the duke of the oldest son of louis and heir to the throne who was killed on this spot by a fall from his carriage in the horses ran away the duke in attempting to get out was thrown to the ground and his skull he was carried into a house near the spot and died in a few hours surrounded by his family he was buried at and the king the house in which he died erected this chapel upon its site it contains several of the duke pictures and bass representing his death and a brought from canada by his brother the prince de which the deceased used upon the the rooms now occupied by the were formerly used by the royal family when they visited the chapel and contain two one indicating the instant of the accident and the other the time of the duke s death leaving this mournful place the drove to the nearest gate the drivers stopped to permit the officers of the to examine the carriages in search of goods liable to the city duty following the broad avenue de la arm e the party arrived at the arc de or arc de it is an immense arch the largest in the world commenced in by napoleon to the of the french armies it is one hundred sixty one feet high one hundred forty five wide and one hundred and ten deep the arch itself is nearly a hundred feet high it has upon it bass of various french battles and representations of palace and cottage or national subjects it cost over two million dollars a dark staircase leads to the top where a beautiful view of the city is obtained admission twenty five it was now about five o clock in the afternoon and the ton of paris were on the avenue des � at the head of which and on an elevation stands the structure described many dashing with and were to be seen while the students were examining the arc the lieutenant of police in charge of the party announced that the emperor was coming up the avenue the word was given to form a line where they could see his majesty and they were instructed what to do and say the approach of the emperor was indicated by the profound paid to him by the people he was seated in a light drawn by two high spirited horses which he drove himself at his side sat the prince imperial while near them rode a small of in and long boots his majesty was plainly dressed in black clothes and wore nothing to distinguish him except the cross of the of honor his look was hard and stolid but it was full of imperial dignity shouted the students removing their caps as the royal approached his majesty bowed gracefully but did not smile though he seemed to wonder who and what the party were a ride through the de the returned to the hotel and dined as on the preceding day after this important duty had he m w york public library a u and i young america in france and � been discharged those of the students who could be trusted were permitted to take a stroll on their own account ben the wag of the and captain haven of the young america happened to be together and agreed to take a walk though many of the boys were what is called good french scholars in school there was hardly one of them who could speak the language it was a notorious fact that the people of paris could not understand their own tongue as our spoke it when they attempted to express themselves the stared and looked blank captain haven and ben strolled through the royal and then into � one of the curious by streets gazing about them at the strange little shops so unlike in their petty proportions the fine stores of new york and boston but filled with rare and costly they paused to examine the dim and walls which enclosed the residence of some french noble who traced his ancestors back to the days of hold on a minute ben i wonder whose shop this is said captain haven suddenly stopping it isn t a shop at all replied his companion it has a sign over the door but i can t make it out spell it out loud then added ben laughing as he always did in school when he came to a jaw l e g � leg shouted ben any one in or out of france knows what that is i should say palace and cottage or nonsense don t interrupt me l e g � hon des that means young america or fm a you are a then for the sign means of the united states i m surprised that the captain of a big ship should not know that these marks over the letters bother me laughed the commander i
| 36 |
chorus her serene princess of y the heroine the hero of this ballad shame in s ears he up short and sat stunned in the saddle and the singers continued to descend the hill without him the song went to a rough popular air and long after the words became the swing of the music rising and falling echoed insult in the prince s brain he fled the sounds hard by him on his right a road struck towards the palace and he followed it through the thick shadows and of the park it was a busy place on a fine summer s afternoon when the court a romance and met and saluted but at that hour of the night in the early spring it was deserted to the birds among the covert here and there a statue stood glimmering with its eternal gesture here and there the echo of an imitation temple ghostly to the of the mare ten minutes brought him to the upper end of his own home garden where the small stables opened over a bridge upon the park the yard clock was striking the hour of ten so was the big bell in the palace bell tower and farther off the of the town about the stables all else was silent but the stamping of horses and the rattle of dismounted and as he did so a memory came back to him a whisper of and stolen corn once heard long forgotten and now in the nick of opportunity he crossed the bridge and going up to a window knocked six or seven heavy blows in a particular and as he did so smiled a was opened in the gate and a man s head appeared in the dim l to night said a voice bring a lantern said the prince dear heart a mercy i cried the groom who s that it is i the prince replied bring a lantern take in the mare and let me through into the garden the man remained silent for a while his head still projecting through the prince his he said at last and why did your knock so strange it is a superstition in answered that it com with a sound like a sob the groom fled he was very white when he returned even by the light of the lantern and his hand trembled as he the and took the mare your he began at last for god s sake and there he paused oppressed with guilt for god s sake what asked cheerfully for god s sake let us have cheaper com say i good night and he strode off into the garden leaving the groom once more the garden descended by a succession of stone to the level of the fish pond on the far side the ground rose again and was crowned by the confused roofs and of the palace the modern front the ball room the great library the apartments the busy and illuminated quarters of that great house all faced the town the garden side was much older and here it was almost dark only a few windows quietly lighted at various the great square tower rose by stages like a and on the top of all the flag hung motionless the garden as it now lay in the dusk and glimmer of the breathed of april under night s arch the shrubs through the and down a romance the marble stairs the prince rapidly descended before uncomfortable thoughts but alas from these there is no city of refuge and now when he was about of the descent distant strains of music began to fall upon his ear from the ball room where the court was dancing they reached him faint and broken but they touched the keys of memory and through and above them heard the melody of the wood merchants song mere blackness seized upon his mind here he was coming home the wife was dancing the husband had been playing a trick upon a and meanwhile all about them they were a to their subjects such a prince such a husband such a man as this had become and he sped the faster onward some way below he came unexpectedly upon a yet a little further and he was by a second and as he crossed the bridge over the fish pond an officer making the rounds stopped him once more the parade of watch was more than usual but curiosity was dead in s mind and he only at the interruption the porter of the back admitted him and started to behold him so disordered thence by private stairs and passages he came at length unseen to his own chamber tore off his clothes and threw himself upon his bed in the dark the music of the ball room still continued to a very lively measure and still behind that he heard in spirit the chorus of the merchants down the hill book n of love and politics chapter l what in the at a quarter before six on the following morning doctor was already at his desk in the library and with a small of black coffee at his elbow and an eye occasionally wandering to the and the long array of many colored books was quietly the labors of the day before he was a man of about forty haired with refined features a little worn bright eyes somewhat faded early to bed and early to rise his life was devoted to two things and wine an ancient friendship existed latent between him and they rarely met but when they did it was to take up at once the thread of their suspended intimacy the virgin priest of knowledge had envied his cousin for half a day when he was married he had never envied him his throne reading was not a popular diversion at the court of and that great pleasant gallery of
| 38 |
down he commanded you make me sick i know i am doing is she still at der door pleaded the mother no he said i don t so she should come ven i call his nerves were however and now they finally she vent de up he said anxiously after a time i go after slipping on his coat he went down the stairs and out into the night it was growing late and the stillness and gloom of midnight were nowhere in sight was his first one way and then old and his another he went looking here there everywhere finally groaning he said the sweat bursting out on his brow in s name dis he thought he would seek a policeman but there was none officer had long since gone for a quiet game in one of the neighboring his partner had temporarily ned to his own beat still ow hunted on worrying more and more finally he him to hasten home again for she must have got back mrs too would be frantic if she had not li she were not there he must go to the police such a night and his this thing could not go on as he turned into his own corner he ran coming up to the little wet and panting at a puffing step he turned and almost fell over a white body at liis feet a prone and woman he cried aloud almost i in his distress and excitement dis a light now bring a light now i say for sake bat help he had fallen to his knees and was turning over the groaning figure by the pale light of the street however he make out that it was not his fortunately as he had at first feared but another and yet there was something very like in the figure um said the stranger weakly the dress was gray not white as was his s but the body was round and plump it cot the of his intensity this thought of death to a young old and his woman but there was something else about the situation which made him forget his own troubles mrs loudly almost tumbled down the stairs at the foot she held the light she had brought � a small glass oil lamp � and then nearly dropped it a fairly attractive figure more than woman rich in all the physical charms that v a certain type lay near to dying her soft hair had fallen back over a good forehead now quite white her pretty hands well with were clutched tightly in an grip at her neck a blue silk and light lace collar were torn away where she had clutched herself and on the white flesh was a yellow stain as of one who had been burned a strange in the area and in one was a bottle exclaimed mrs it a she herself run for der police oh my oh my did not kneel for more than a moment somehow this creature s fate seemed in some h way identified with that of his own daughter he bounded up and jumping out his front door began to call for the ix officer at his social game heard the very first cry and came running what s the matter here now he exclaimed rushing up full and read for murder robbery fire or indeed anything in the whole of human a said excitedly she herself she dying in my own yet i old and his v ere der hospital put in mrs thinking clearly of an but not being able to express it she sure oh oh and bending over her the poor old soul the hands and tears upon the blue did you do dot she said for officer was essentially a man of action he jumped to the amid the gathering company and beat loudly with his club upon the stone then he ran to the nearest police returning to aid in any other way he might a milk wagon passing on its way from the with a few tons of fresh milk aboard he held it up and demanded a helping give us a there will you he said a woman s swallowed in here sure said the driver anxious to learn the cause of the excitement got a glass anybody ran back and returned bearing a measure mrs stood looking nervously on while the officer raised the golden head and poured the milk here now drink this he said come on try an swallow it the girl a of the type the world too well knows opened her eyes and looked groaning a little drink it shouted the officer fiercely do you want to die open your mouth used to a fear of the law in all her days she obeyed now even in death the lips parted the fresh milk was drained to the end some on neck and cheek old and his while they were working old came back and stood looking on by the side of his wife also officer having heard the peculiar wooden ring of the stick upon the stone in the night had come up exclaimed rather und she yet i could not find her oh there was a of a up the street as the racing turned rapidly in a young hospital surgeon dismounted and seeing the woman s condition ordered immediate removal both officers and as well as the surgeon helped place her in the after a moment the lone bell ringing in e night was all the evidence remaining that a tragedy had been here do how she came here asked officer back to get s testimony for the police no no answered she here i for my daughter i my daughter lost she mrs also the significance of s absence all the more painfully by this the officer did not at first get the import of this he was
| 43 |
in one in der world is afraid of der except der snake so i snake against monkey and he keep quite still life s was too much in his dot is der of are you asleep or will you listen and i will tell a dot you shall not there s no tale in the wide world that i can t believe i said if you learned you learned now i shall try your when i was collecting dose � it was in or i was in der islands of der � over in der dark � he pointed southward to new guinea generally � i would sooner collect life red devils than when do not bite off your are always dying from � � for der imperfect soul which is arrested in � und too much i was for nearly a year und i found a man dot was called he was a frenchman und he was man � to his bone said he was an escaped but he was und dot was enough for me he would call all der life beasts from der forest und would come i said he was st francis of in a new produced he laughed und said he never preach to der fishes he sold for � de und dot man who was king of beasts men he had in der house such as dot devil animal in der cage � a great dot thought he was a man he foimd him when he was a child � der � und he was child und brother opera all round to he had his room in dot not a cage but a room � a bed sheets und he would go to bed get up in der morning und smoke his cigar u nd eat his dinner und walk him band in hand which was most horrible f l and i hat seen dot beast throw himself back in his chair und laugh when made fun of me he was not a beast he was a man und he talked to und comprehend for i have seen und he was always to me except when i talk too long to und say at all to him den he would pull me dis great dark devil his enormous as if i was a child he was not a beast he was a man dis i saw i know him three months und he saw the same and der understood us both his cigar between his big dog teeth und der blue i was a year und at islands � for und for und one time says to me dot he will be married because he found a girl dot was und he if this marrying was right i would not say it was not me dot was going to be married den he go off der girl � she was a half caste french very pretty you got a new for my cigar very pretty only i say you thought of if he pull me away when i talk to you what will he do to your wife he will pull her in pieces if i was you i would my wife for wedding present der stuff figure of by dot time i had learned some about der monkey � shoot him says he ts your beast i said if he was mine he would be shot now den i felt at der back of my neck der fingers of i tell you dot he talked through dose fingers it was der and dumb all he slide his hairy arm round my neck und he up my chin und looked into my face to see if i his talk so well as he understood mine life s see now sa und you would shoot him he is you dot is der but i knew dot i had made a life s enemy his fingers talk murder through the back of my neck next i see was a pistol in ray bell und he touched it once und i open der to show him it was loaded he seen der killed in der woods he understood so he was married and he forgot clean about dot was alone on der beach der half of a human soul in his belly i was see him und he took a big bough und der sand till he made a great hole like a grave so i says to for any kill he is mad der jealousy said he is not mad at all he obey und my wife und if she speak he will get her slippers und he looked at his wife der room she was a very pretty girl den i said to him dost pretend to know und dis beast dot is himself mad upon der sands you do not talk to him shoot him when he comes to der house for he der light in his eye dot means und killing come to der house but was no light in his eye it was all put away cunning � so cunning � und he fetch der girl her slippers und turn to me und say dost know him in nine months more dan i known him in twelve years shall a child his i fed him und he was my child do not speak this nonsense to my wife or to me any more dot next day came to my house to help me make some wood cases for der specimens und he tell me dot he left his wife a while in der p and garden den i finish ray cases quick und i say let us go to your houses und get a he laugh and say come along dry his wife was not in der garden und did not come when called und his wife did not come when he called und he knocked at her bedroom door und dot
| 39 |
all think of the joy of over half the earth � seeing it again out of darkness every morning sometimes when i ve been up all night with a patient and have seen the world back to like that i ve been almost mad with its beauty and then the thought thai the fruit op the tree i ve never seen more than a little corner of it makes me feel as if i were chained but i think if i had wings i should choose to be a house swallow and then after had my fill of wonders i should come back to my familiar comer and my house full of busy people and fly low to warn them of rain and wheel up high to show them it was good weather and know what was going on in every room in the house and every house in the village and all the while i should be my wonderful big secret � the secret of snow plains and burning deserts and coral islands and buried cities � and should put it all into my chatter under the that the people in the house were always too busy to stop and listen to� and when winter came i m sure i should hate to leave them even to go back to my great forests full of and but in winter you could take care of the the practical suggested yes � and that would remind me of home cried swinging al out to pinch the little girl s chin she was in one of the moods when the spirit of life caught her in its grip and shook and tossed her on its mighty waves as a sea bird is tossed through the spray of fl ing at such moments all the light and music of the world seemed into her veins and forced up in of laughter to her lips and the fruit of the tree eyes had never seen her thus and be watched her with the sense of which the contact of gaiety brings to a mind obscured failure and self distrust the world was not so dark a place after if such springs of merriment could well up in a heart as sensitive aa hers to the burden and toil of existence isn t it strange she went on with a sudden drop to gravity that the bird whose wings carry him farthest and show him the most wonderful things is the one who always comes back to the and is happiest in the of life her eyes met s it seems to me he said that you re like that yourself moving long flights yet happiest in the thick of life she raised her dark brows so i imagine � but then you see i ve never had the long flight smiled ah there it is � one never knows � one never says this i� tlie moment because however good it is it always seems the door to a better one beyond never said it till the end when he d nothing left of all he began by thinking worth while and then with what a difference it was said she pondered yes � but it the best after all � the moment in which he had nothing left oh broke in suddenly do look at the the fruit of the tree up there see father � he s oflf let s follow him as she crouched there with head thrown back and sparkling lips and eyes her fair hair � of her mother s very hue � making a shining haze about her face recalled the winter evening at when he and had the grey under the snowy scarcely three years ago � and how bitter memory had turned a chilly cloud spread over his spirit thing once more to the leaden hue of reality it s too late for any more adventures � we must be going he said xx s morning excursions with his daughter and miss renewed themselves more than once he welcomed any pretext for escaping from the round of his thoughts and these with their gay of search for some rare plant or bird and the contact the child s happy wonder and with the morning brightness of s mood gave him his only moments of self forgetfulness but the first time tliat s chatter carried home an echo of their adventures saw a cloud on his wife s face her resentment of s influence the fruit of the tree over the child had long since subsided and in the temporary absence of the she was glad to have amused but she was never quite satisfied that those about her should have pursuits and in which she did not share her jealousy did not itself on her husband and miss had never shown any inclination for the society of other women and if the possibility bad been suggested to her she would probably have said that was not in his style � so is a pretty woman apt to be of the of tastes but saw that she felt herself excluded from amusements in which she had no desire to join and of which she consequently failed to see the purpose and he gave up accompanying his as if in acknowledgment of his rose earlier in order to their rides together dr had her against the fatigue of following the hounds and she instinctively turned their horses away from the course the hunt was likely to take but now and then the cry of the pack or the flash of red on a distant slope sent the blood to her face and made her press her mare to a gallop when they escaped such she showed no great zest in the exercise and their rides resolved themselves into a middle aged along the autumn lanes the fruit op the tree iq the early days of their marriage the
| 10 |
about one mile then we often get a day with the but sir george thinks that the sport of fox hunting is distinctly on the down grade he attributes ho the decline to the advance of shooting interests the don t make such good points as thirty years ago in open hill country no fox is allowed to live on account of preserving and and many of the owners and of the large do not hunt and close them to hounds in the early part of the season j so it is with difficulty we are able to hunt three times a week in then she would sell ho his voice was so sternly repressed that it sounded strange lady shot a quick pitying glance at him still on the same wild goose chase she said � for a horse that will win the grand national he nodded san won t sell she said adding under her breath can t i am going over with you to morrow he said quietly ho how she hates racing i she seems mad on the point like most her eyes snapped at him she had no patience with the that ruled his life still i must not forget that it is owing solely to your attendance at the race meeting and being within a short ride that i am indebted for the honour of your company now laughed and hunted to day because i heard a word dropped about a wonderful horse called ho but did not know you knew its owner he said don t know what i should do without that he added with an abrupt change of subject it takes me from one race meeting to another and up and down to at a of time and fatigue as to scenery i ve seen you grasp more in an hour s run in a than in a week s driving or walking where s i wish you would come oftener to he added quietly i ve asked you times without end you are hardly ever there she said and the waste the extravagance rs me besides i mustn t get a taste for luxuries i can t afford he smiled glancing round at the delightful room the entire harmony of it all he had long ago realized how much more to some women even as to a man comfort is than luxury i have nothing with which to tempt you he said nothing she said and laughed for it was true but might like it he said poor must find it dull here he spoke as he might of a or and lady laughed outright it was one of the most interesting points in that he honestly detested all women under fifty then they get he said women were a nuisance no wanted women sport was so much better ho then he went off for a hot bath and lady left alone grinned poor i she said that hair and cold as a fish here was a b in human history but if could not wake him up � and came from that burning country where the peasant knows more about the arts of love has studied them more deeply than the most finished student of women in any other country in the where men and women live for love and love alone � who could lady had a lively remembrance of her italian sister in law with the eloquent animal eyes blood of quality and passions of the ancient dimensions hidden in under a of breeding but there all the same son of lady s favourite sister as was she knew him very little � not half so well as his cousin he interested her as most men who never even chapter ii t y horses coats never look like the aid lady in a dissatisfied way glancing through the window at the handsome chestnut waiting to take her and to the cross roads but they get up in the middle of the night to groom them and reckon their success by the number of of they get out of their horses protested body and water you mean you little said who was also looking out no two do a horse alike but a b seldom used except on a cart horse inwardly however he he belonged to the order that takes care of its women never lets them do the smallest thing that can be done for them the last time took a man over said gaily i went too san was a pony right under his and baby was turning the handle of the machine then san crawled out and put his fore across her knee she pretended to him and he to savage her it was really very pretty she added with no malice in her tone for hated scandal but in any case he was in a so great hurry to depart that he did not hear her or even see her lady with the essential lack of principle inherent in really artistic people was struck anew with the perfect colour scheme and composed for the girl s ho hair was blue black and in some lights had the bloom of grapes on it curling in just as s hair did in close crisp the intense vitality the temperament that hair can express surely never reached a higher point of illustration than in these two and yet in the case of one of them lied for might have been bald headed for all knew or cared he almost forgot to jerk a good bye with his whip to her as she stood on the in lady how far it was to the cross roads five miles we could have done it in ten minutes in my he muttered thank you said lady i scale half a stone more than i should already and ive no intention of getting the waist that half the women are
| 17 |
excited by the giant was to cut one of them down and dance on its stump we have also seen dancing in the spray of dancing in the famous bower cave above and nowhere have i seen so much dancing as in a dance on the inaccessible south dome would likely follow the making of an easy way to the top of it it was delightful to witness here the infinite deliberation of nature the simplicity of her methods in the production of such mighty results such perfect repose combined with restless enthusiastic energy though cold and as a landscape of ice building was going on in the j the mountains of dark with incessant activity the and were everywhere hung with down growing like groves of some of them large others delicately each tipped with a single drop of water like the bud of a pine tree the only sounds were the dripping and of water falling into pools or faintly on the crystal floors k v in some places the crystal are arranged in graceful flowing folds deeply like stiff silken in others straight lines of the ordinary forms are combined with reference to size and tone in a regularly system like the strings of a harp with musical tones corresponding and on these stone we played by striking the crystal strings with a stick the delicious liquid tones they gave forth seemed perfectly divine as they sweetly whispered and wavered through the majestic halls and died away in faintest � the music of fairy land here we lingered and rejoicing to find so much music in stony silence so much splendor in darkness so many in the depths of the mountains buildings ever in process of construction yet ever finished developing from perfection to perfection profusion without every visible or invisible in glorious motion marching to the music of the in a region regarded as the abode of eternal stillness and death the outer chambers of mountain are frequently selected as homes by wild beasts in the in the foot hills however they seem to prefer homes and hiding places in and beneath as i have never seen their tracks in any of the this is the more remarkable because notwithstanding the darkness and water there is nothing cellar like or about them when we emerged into the bright the sun everything looked brighter and we felt our faith in nature s beauty strengthened and saw more clearly that beauty is universal and immortal above beneath on land and sea mountain and plain in heat and cold light and darkness � u chapter xvi the bee when was wild it was one sweet bee garden throughout its entire length north and south and all the way across from the snowy to the ocean wherever a bee might fly within the bounds of this virgin wilderness � through the forests along the banks of the rivers along the and the sea over valley and plain park and grove and deep leafy or far up the slopes of the mountains � throughout every belt and section of climate up to the timber line bee flowers in lavish abundance here they grew more or less apart in special sheets and patches of no great size there in broad flowing folds hundreds of miles in length � of forests of of and wild rose sheets of golden beds of beds of beds of and and so on certain species blooming somewhere all the year round but of late years and sheep have made sad in these glorious pastures destroying of thousands of the acres like a fire and species of the best honey plants to the bee pastures cliffs and fence corners while on the other hand cultivation thus far has given no adequate compensation at least in kind only acres of for miles of the richest wild pasture ornamental roses and around cottage doors for of wild roses in the and small square and orange groves for broad of the great central plain of during the months of march april and may was one smooth continuous bed of honey bloom so rich that in walking from one end of it to the other a distance of more than miles your foot would press about a hundred flowers at every step and innumerable were so crowded together that had ninety nine per cent of them been taken away the plain would still have seemed to any but the radiant ul touching and and rising above one another glowed in the living light like a sunset sky � one sheet of purple and gold with the bright pouring through the midst of it from the north the san from the south and their many sweeping in at right angles from the mountains dividing the plain into sections fringed with trees along the rivers there is a strip of bottom land beneath the general level and wider toward the foot hills where magnificent oaks from three to eight feet in cast grateful masses of shade over the open like and close along the water s edge there was a fine the mountains of of tropical composed of wild rose and bushes and a great variety of climbing vines and the branches and trunks of and and swinging across from summit to summit in heavy here the wild bees in fresh bloom long after the flowers of the plain had withered and gone to seed and in when the v were ripe the indians came from the mountains to feast � men women and babies in long noisy trains often joined by the farmers of the neighborhood who gathered this wild fruit with appreciation of its superior flavor while their home were full of ripe and and their were laden with grapes but though these luxuriant shaggy river beds were thus distinct from the smooth plain they made no heavy dividing lines in general views the whole appeared as one continuous sheet of bloom
| 28 |
he did not understand what said but thought he meant that he could not find any one to play with him i will play with you said and as he spoke he held out his hands with the wrists together and the palms open between them in a manner customary with boys for catching a ball the boy understood the sign though he did not understand the words he tossed the ball to and caught it then tossed it back again presently made signs to the boy to sit down upon the floor at one end of the hall while he sat down at the other explaining his wishes also at the same time in words the boy talked too in reply to accompanying what he said with signs and gestures they got along thus together in their play very well each one imagining that he helped to convey his meaning to the other by what he said while in fact neither understood a word that � in with w spoken by the other and so took notice of nothing bat the signs listened attentively once or twice to short replies that his new friend made to him in order to see if he could not distinguish some words in it that he could understand but he could not and he finally concluded that it must be some other language than french that the boy was speaking was sorry for this for he could understand short sentences in french pretty well and could speak short sentences himself in reply when however he tried to speak to the boy in french he observed that he did not appear to understand him any better than when he spoke in english this confirmed him in the opinion that the boy must belong to some other nation after playing together for some time with the ball the boys began to feel quite acquainted with each other wished very much to find out his new companion s name so he asked him in english � what is your name the boy smiled and throwing the ball across again to as he spoke said something in reply but it was a great deal too much to be his name what he said was when interpreted into in paris a droll english my father bought this ball for me and gave two for it then thought he would try french so he translated his question and asked it in french and i am going to carry it with me to and italy said the boy speaking still in the unknown tongue that can t be your name either said i am very sure then after a moment s pause he added in an eager voice and manner as if a new idea had suddenly struck him � we are going to the garden of plants � uncle george and and i wouldn t you like to go too the boy smiled and held out his hands for to roll the ball to him saying something at the same time which to seemed totally he does not understand me i suppose but i know how i can explain it to him so he rose from the floor and by means of a great deal of earnest and he induced the boy to get up too and follow him led the way into his uncle s chamber the boy seemed pleased though a little timid in going in s invitation by signs uncle george said here is a boy that talk are you willing that i should invite him to go with us to the garden of plants yes said mr george though i don t see how you are going to do it led the boy to the window and pointed to the carriage which stood down before the door below then he opened a map of which lay upon the table and found the garden of plants laid down upon it and showed it to the boy then he pointed to his uncle george to and to himself and then to the carriage then he made a motion with his hand to going by these he conveyed the idea quite distinctly to his new acquaintance that they were all going to the garden of plants he then finally pointed to the boy himself and also to the carriage and looked at him with an inquiring look which he meant as an invitation to the boy to accompany them the boy paid close attention to all these signs and when had finished instead of either nodding or shaking his head in token of his accepting or declining the invitation as expected he would have done he took up the map and making certain mysterious gestures which ir in paris what the boy did upon tbe tion could not comprehend he walked off rapidly out of the room looked at his uncle george with aa expression of great astonishment on his countenance what does that mean said he perhaps he has gone to ask his father or his mother suggested mr george he has exclaimed he has that s it i m sure so went out immediately into the hall to wait till the boy came back in a few minutes a door opened led into a of apartments in the rear of the hotel and the boy with the map in his hand came into the hall nodding his head and looking very much pleased talking all the time moreover in a very but perfectly manner a moment after he came the door opened again and a very dressed man of middle age came into the hall the boy pointed to and said something to this man are you going to the garden of plants said the man to speaking in english though with a very decidedly foreign accent yes sir said l � the and did you invite to go with you yes sir said only i
| 22 |
strive after clean living and morality mr accompanied them to the all smiles patronage and while the clerks turned their heads to follow joe s retreating figure and to night joe mr asked anxiously as they waited at the shaft how do you feel think you ll do him the game sure joe answered never felt better in my life you feel all right eh good good you see i was just a � you know ha ha � goin to get married and the rest � thought you might be eh a trifle � nerves just a bit off you know know how married is myself but you re all right eh of course you are no use asking you that ha ha well good luck my boy i know you ll win never had the least doubt of course of course and good by miss he said to gallantly handing her into the hope you call often will be charmed � charmed � i assure you everybody calls you joe she said reproachfully as the car dropped downward ji y the game why don t they call you r c mr that s no � more than proper but he was staring at the boy and did � � not seem to hear ii c what s the matter joe she asked with a tenderness the power of which to thrill him she v knew full well oh nothing he said i was only thinking � and wishing wishing � what her voice was itself and her eyes would have melted stronger than he though they failed in calling his up to them then deliberately his eyes lifted to hers i was wishing you could see me fight just once she made a gesture of disgust and ji y the game his face fell it came to her sharply that the rival had thrust between and was bearing him away i � i d like to she said hastily with an effort striving after that sympathy which the strongest men and draws their s heads to women s breasts will you again his eyes lifted and looked into hers he meant it � she knew that it seemed a challenge to the greatness of � love it would be the moment of my life he said simply it may have been the of love the wish to meet his need for her sympathy and the desire to see the game face to face for wisdom s sake and it may ji y the game have been the call of adventure ringing through the narrow of existence for a great daring thrilled through her and she said just as simply i will y i didn t think you would or l i wouldn t have asked he confessed as they walked out to the but can t it be done she asked anxiously before her resolution could cool oh i can fix that but i didn t think you would o the game i didn t think you would he repeated still amazed as he helped her upon the electric car and felt in his pocket for the fare chapter ii chapter ii and joe were working class in an made up largely of and wretchedness they had kept themselves and wholesome theirs was a self respect a regard for the and clean things of life which had held them aloof from their kind friends did not come to them easily nor had either ever possessed a really intimate friend a heart companion with whom to ji y the game and have things in common the social instinct was strong in them yet they had remained lonely because they could not satisfy that instinct and at that same time satisfy their desire for and decency if ever a girl of the working class had led the sheltered life it was in the midst of and she had all that was rough and brutal she saw but what she chose to see and she chose always to see the best avoiding and without effort as a matter of instinct to begin with she had been peculiarly an only child with an invalid mother upon whom she attended she had not joined in the street games and of the children of the neighborhood her father a narrow little ji y the game clerk domestic because i of his inherent i m l t � ity to mix with men had done his full share toward giving the home an atmosphere of sweetness and tenderness an orphan at twelve had gone straight from her father s u funeral to live with the in their rooms above the store and here sheltered by jn kindly she � la earned her keep and clothes by waiting on the shop being she was especially necessary to the ji y the game who would not run the business themselves when the day of their sabbath came around and here in the little shop six years had slipped by her acquaintances were few she had elected to have no girl for the reason that no satisfactory girl had appeared nor did she ji y the game choose to walk with the young fellows of the neighborhood as was the custom of girls from their year that stuck up doll face was the way the girls of the neighborhood described her and though she earned their enmity by her beauty and she none the less commanded their respect and cream she was called by the young men � though softly and amongst themselves for they were afraid of the ire of the other girls while they stood in awe of in a dimly religious way as a something mysteriously beautiful and for she was indeed beautiful springing from a long line of american descent ji y so the game she was one of those wonderful which occasionally appear all precedent of and apparently without cause or explanation she
| 21 |
patent implements it was his favorite that the and constituted that culture of the mind which prepared it for the reception of any subsequent crop i say nothing against mr s theory if we are to have one for au minds his seems to me as good as any other f only know it turned out as for tom as if he had been plied with cheese in order to remedy a weakness which prevented him from it it is astonishing what a rent result one gets by changing the once call the brain an intellectual stomach and one s ingenious conception of the and as and seems to settle nothing but then it is open to some one else to follow great authorities and call the mind a sheet of white paper or a mirror in which case one s knowledge of the process becomes quite it was doubtless an ingenious idea to call the the ship of the desert but it would hardly lead one far in training that useful beast oh if you had had the advantage of being the modem instead of the greatest ancient would you not have mingled your praise of speech as a sign of high intelligence with a that intelligence so rarely shows itself in speech without � that we can so seldom declare what a thing is except by saying it is something else tom being abundant in no form of speech did not use any to declare his views as to the nature of latin he never called it an instrument of torture and it was not until he had got on some way in the next half year and in the that he was advanced enough to call it a bore and stuff at present in relation to this demand that he should learn latin and tom the mill ok thb was in a state of as blank concerning the and tendency of his sufferings as if he had been an innocent imprisoned in the split trunk of an ash tree in order to cure in cattle it is doubtless almost incredible to instructed minds of the present day that a boy of twelve not belonging strictly to the masses who are now understood to have the of mental darkness should have had no distinct idea how there came to be such a thing as latin on this earth yet so it was with tom it would have taken a long while to make conceivable to him that there ever existed a people who bought and sold sheep and oxen and the every day affairs of life through the medium of this language and still longer to make him understand should be called upon to learn it when its connection those affairs had become entirely latent so far as tom had gained any acquaintance with the at mr academy his knowledge was strictly correct but it went no farther the fact that they were in the new testament and mr was not the man to and his pupil s mind by and explaining or to reduce the effect of by mixing it with ex � information such as is given to girls yet strange to say under this vigorous treatment tom became more like a girl than he had ever been in his life before he had a large share of pride which had hitherto found itself very comfortable in the world old and in the sense of rights but now this same pride met with nothing but and tom was too clear sighted not to be aware that mr s standard of things was quite different was certainly something higher in the eyes of the world than that of the people he had been living among and that brought in contact with it he tom appeared uncouth and stupid he was by no means indifferent to this and his pride got into an uneasy condition which quite his boyish self satisfaction and gave him something of the girl s he was of a very firm not to say obstinate disposition but there was no brute like rebellion and in his nature the human and if it had occurred to him that he could enable himself to show some quickness at his lessons and so acquire mr s approbation by standing on one leg for an inconvenient length of time or his head against the wall or ny voluntary action of that sort he would certainly have tried it but no tom had never heard that these measures would the understanding or strengthen the verbal memory and he was not given to and thb mill ox thb it did to him that he could perhaps get some help by praying for it but as the prayers he said eye y were forms learned by heart he rather shrank firom the novelty and of introducing an passage on a topic of petition for which he was not aware of any precedent but one day when he had broken down for the fifth time in the of the third and mr convinced that this must be carelessness since it the bounds of possible stupidity had him veiy seriously pointing out that if he failed to seize the present golden opportunity of learning he would have to regret it when he became a man tom more miserable than usual determined to try his sole resource and that evening after his usual form of prayer for his parents and little sister he had begun to pray for she was a baby and that he might be able always to keep god s he added in the same low whisper and please to make me always remember my latin he paused a little to consider how he should pray about � whether he should ask to see what it meant or whether there was any other mental state which would be more to the case but at last he added and make mr say
| 14 |
whispered mr to his master nice notion of fun they has sir mr nodded assent and to attract the attention of the young gentlemen behind the who having now relaxed their minds by a little conversation among themselves condescended to take some notice of the stranger i wonder whether s disengaged now said i ll see said leisurely from his stool what name shall i tell mr replied the illustrious subject of these mr departed up stairs on his errand and immediately returned with a message that mr would the club see mr in five and having it returned again to his desk did he say his name was whispered replied it s the in and a sudden of feet with the sound of i pressed laughter was heard om behind the they re a of you sir whispered mr of me sam replied mr what do you mean by me mr replied by pointing with his thumb over his shoulder and mr on looking up became sensible of the pleasing fact that all the four with expressive of the utmost amusement and with their heads thrust over the wooden screen were the figure and general appearance of the supposed with female hearts and of female happiness on his looking up the row of heads suddenly disappeared and the sound of pens travelling at a furious rate over paper immediately succeeded a sudden ring al the bell which hung in the office summoned mr to the apartment of from whence he came back to say that he was ready to see mr if he would step up stairs up stairs mr did step accordingly leaving sam below the room door of the one pair back bore inscribed in characters the imposing words mr and having ts and been desired to come in ushered mr into the presence is mr in inquired mr just come in sir replied papers of ask him to step here yes sir exit take a seat sir said there is the paper sir my partner will be here directly and we can converse about this matter sir mr took a seat and the paper but instead of reading the latter peeped over the top of it and took a survey of the man of business who was an elderly faced vegetable diet sort of man in a black coat dark mixture trousers and small black a kind of being who seemed to be an essential part of the desk at which he was writing and to have as much thought or sentiment after a few minutes silence mr a plump stem looking man with a loud voice appeared and the conversation commenced this is mr said ah tou are the sir in and said i am sir replied mr well sir said and what do you propose ah said thrusting his hands into his trousers pockets and throwing himself back in his chair what do you propose mr hush said let me hear what mr has to say i came gentlemen replied mr � gazing placidly on the two partners � i came here gentlemen to express the surprise with which i received your letter of the other day and to inquire what grounds of action you can have against me grounds of � had ejaculated thus much when he was stopped by the club mr said i am going to speak i beg your pardon mr said for the grounds of action sir continued with moral elevation in his air you will consult your own conscience and your own feelings we sir we are guided entirely by the statement of our that statement sir may be true or it may be false it may be or it may be incredible but if it be true and if it be i do not hesitate to say sir that our grounds of action sir are strong and not to be shaken you may be an unfortunate man sir or you may be a one but if i were called upon as a upon my oath sir to express an opinion of your conduct sir i do not hesitate to assert that i should have but one opinion about it here drew himself up with an air of offended virtue and looked at who thrust his hands farther in his pockets and nodding his head said in a tone of the fullest most certainly well sir said mr with considerable pain depicted id his countenance you will permit me to assure you that i am a most unfortunate man so far as this case is concerned i hope you are sir replied i trust you may be sir if you are really of what is laid to your charge you are more than i had believed any man could possibly be what do t ou say mr i say precisely what you say replied with a of incredulity the writ sir which the action continued was issued regularly mr where is the book papers of here it is said handing over a square book with a cover here is the entry resumed bar widow v samuel � and for the all regular sir perfectly and looked at who said perfectly also and then they both looked at mr i am to understand then said mr that it really is your intention to proceed with this action understand sir � that you certainly may replied with something as near a smile as his importance would allow and that the are actually laid at pounds said mr to which understanding you may add my that if we could have prevailed upon our they would have been laid at the amount sir i believe mrs specially said however observed glancing at that she would not compromise for a less unquestionably replied sternly for the action was only just begun and it wouldn t have done to let mr compromise it then even if be had been so disposed as you offer
| 8 |
wander over many a weary mile the � i could work � but little who would care for her the while t sweet the songs that she can sing you like the lark when first it wakes while her little heart seems lightened by the music that she makes would your daughters gentle lady hear my httle sister sing small the that we ask you hunger is a fearful thing may you never know how bitter sorrow is and want and shame gracious heaven has made you happy may it keep you still the same e thi homes of old the homes of old england i see them again the flowers on the meadow the flocks mi the plain the white gleaming among the green trees o who could be weary c pictures like these i see the green lawn with its border of i feel the cool shade of its work i hear the sweet music of and grove and are they not near me � the friends whom i love t once more i behold the neat cottages too the windows where sunshine smiles through the so gay with the of spring the gardens of roses where summer birds sing the returning at night from his toil to sit by his fire and to see the sweet smile of more felt than express d that him back to the home of his rest the homes of old england f all these have i sigh d when far far away when soft was the moonlight and dazzling the when all things around me were changing and new to the homes of old england my thoughts were still true i ve been where the streams vith more silvery have woke the wild echoes of many a green where more lovely and more than fancy e er pictured have burst on my sight i ve been where the flowers were more brilliant in hue the skies more with and blue i ve been where the rocks were more bold and sublime � but i wanted the sound of the evening bell s been where the air was more pure and more the breath of the morning more laden with i ve been where the sun in more glory has set but the homes of old england i ne er could forget � e the idiot they say i am an idiot boy and surely they should know who mock me for my senseless joy my still more senseless wo they call the children from their play er we chance to meet they teach the village dogs to bay and track my wandering feet and some turn pale with foolish fear and look so stern and still my loud laugh to hear as if i meant them ill how should i wish or dare to laugh so loud and merrily if i had given them half the pain which they give me the idiot no mine is all a harmless joy by doubt or fear the poor neglected idiot boy has never caused a tear mine is a joy that leads me where no other go no other human step would dare to tread the paths i know there while the winds and waves at play hold wild and free i laugh and sing the hours away with none to mock my glee on the bold rock i sit and watch the golden sun go down or in my outstretched hand i catch the glory of his crown is it not joy to hear the roar and see the s foam to dance upon the sparkling shore and make the my home such is my joy to climb alone up to the brow � � i o o ths idiot of some old or stone with the dark waves below what is it guides me � leads me on and points the path it is no wisdom of my own for none the idiot hath it is some power � i know not where nor what that power can be tliat seems so like a father s care surrounding even me is it in earth or air or sky that all protecting hand in vain i look in vain i try that power to understand one thing have i learned to know though storms and roar it safely leads where er i go can wisdom teach me more lake glad scene rejoicing � how we turn to thee f the old land the country of the free what though thy skies may not be always blue thy mountains tinged with heaven s ethereal hue thy lakes magnificent � thy rocks sublime � thou hast a beauty still unchanged by time nor gorgeous palace of the golden east nor pomp of ancient rome nor feast nor loud from melting that come lashed by their own wild fury into foam nor giant woods to waste run nor all the of a southern sun can the heart to turn from thee land of the just the noble and the free green are thy pastures happy land and green thy forest boughs that shade the scene and calm the mellow light of evening falls or slopes and peaceful cottage walls while the lake in the golden ray till softly fade those evening tints away lake o england let us love thee while we can thou nurse of all that most man turn not a deaf ear to thy people s cause but shield us still with just and equal laws thou art no favoured spot of genial earth thy beauty is thy moral worth when this shall fail thee with the power it gives the soul that in the lives shall fail him too and then a long adieu to all that made thee happy and true ths sons of jacob this toe found � mysterious falsehood why was evil blended thus with heaven s own plan was there no way but this most artful lie
| 41 |
value of foreign to united states foreign in the s foreign nations of foreign foreign trade of united states ancient order of french s i how to blast of society the t j lo i state g meeting of next general election population � h with gold of ill government and officers of united states office and of states i see also under state grace days of grand army of the republic national great commerce of with order of historical societies in � he u b holidays records racing area meeting of next general election population state officers area platform meeting of next general election population republican platform state officers in united states of t of of foreign nations of states and in united states area den platform f meeting of next general election population republican platform state indian act i indians in united states platform interest legal of internal by states internal internal tables commerce and cattle commerce commission commerce on area ig platform meeting of next general election j population republican platform state officers irish national irish national irish fund n irish societies iron and steel in joint resolutions of of s jumping justice department of i area platform f alliance platform meeting of u l next general election republican platform state officers ft area meeting of next general election people s platform population platform republican platform state officers kings county republican committee king s daughters of knights labor american of labor department of lakes great commerce of land claims court of private grant land public lands public vacant lawn legal holidays army indian internal � public land state meeting of of of live stock lives lost by are loan and trust companies of ll military order of area meeting of next general election population t the for page area platform meeting of population platform state officers lo spirits used in marine corps tables marriage laws area � platform ih next general election population platform platform state officers information area platform meeting rf next election people s party platform population republican platform platform state officers meat american in europe meat inspection act concerning medical association american passage of plan s south war area platform meeting of next general election population platform state officers military academy united states military commands and posts military order of the ix area platform meeting of next general population s republican platform state officers in area meeting of v v next general election population area platform meeting of next general election population republican platform state officers act vn tf j a f h tables it m and of � treasury area � meeting of next general election population state officers moon of i morning stars v v i l ass n clubs national j national laws il � naval � � � naval reserve association principal officers of of � i marine corps pay tables naval academy go officers of principal r pay tables � vessels new io platform � is independent platform party platform meeting of j next general election platform republican platform ti state � � area � j meeting of next general election i population o state officers o new j fog � � � platform � � y meeting of loo next general election population v h republican state officers new � � area meeting of next general election meeting of hon state officers new area population j officers new area for r county clerks f platform na governor vote for meeting of population n � tion platform republican county committee � � i platform c t s page state officers state vote for wine beer and p � o new york city canal of states non w c t u north area meeting of next general election u population republican platform state officers north area farmers alliance platform meeting next general election h li republican platform state platform farmers alliance ocean mail service ocean racing records odd fellows area m e meeting of next general election people s party platform population platform republican platform state officers area population area platform meeting of next general election republican platform s state officers origin ot states pacific railroad debt pacing records canal party patent office patent office area platform meeting of next general election log people s party platform c platform population republican platform state officers � allowed bills private t of by states office wa people s party platform page of t t l l il i l l li � a l e m ol ij l � ji of lt j j li l al t e i � � � � also under mi n my pf i j ki i j jt fi ia ai s ht l n tt uie s l for i d for i of � canada � jl ot ui b � u tj � v s of v s g i tf t i� ki � of of i po mu ji u po i x � l of ij n ass l l l for � ist for lo te a t l� � ft of loo i l iii h li it � � i i l s of � � v of � � � � � y t h tn ti c i tb ly tt l d of i l w public ac � � f i ui on � � li i n public a fur i j road i � t on i o � of and t in u s so � g and west ry fi r f t t ta d of rs br iii u s l i ri h in ment j li t t f also wi i and state i th p r � of the u s � x st iti i a also call of a� s� � s und of v s s f y i of i island g platform � j next
| 19 |
was a� constant in her own feelings and as full of faith in the constancy of mine as ever � awakened all my remorse i awakened because time and london business and bad some measure it and i had been growing a fine hardened villain myself indifferent to her and choosing to fancy at too must have become indifferent to me talking to myself of our past attachment as a mere idle trifling business up my shoulders in proof of its being so and every reproach every scruple saying now and then i shall be heartily glad to bear is well married but this note made me know myself better felt that she was infinitely dearer to me than any other woman in the world and that i was using ber but every was then just settled between miss grey and me to retreat was impossible all that had to do was to avoid you both i no answer to intending by that means to preserve myself from her notice and for some time i was even to call in street j but at last it wiser t affect the air of a cool common acquaintance than any thing else i watched you all out of the house one morning and left my name and watched us out of the house even you would be surprised to hear how often i watched you how often i was on the point of falling in with you i haye entered many a shop to your sight as the drove by lodging as i did in bond street there was hardly a day in which i did not catch a glimpse of one or other of you and nothing but the most constant on my side a most invariably prevailing desire to keep out of your sight could have separated us so long i avoided the as much as possible as well as every body else who was likely to prove an acquaintance in common not aware of their being in town however i on sir john i believe the first day of his coming and the day after i had called at mrs s he asked me to a party a dance at his house in the evening had he not told me as an that you and your sister were to be there i should have felt it too certain a thing to trust myself near him the next morning brought another short note from � stiu affectionate open confiding � every thing that could make my conduct most hateful i could not answer it i tried � but could not frame a sentence but i thought of her i believe every moment of the day if you can pity me miss pity my situation as it was then with my head and heart of your sister i was forced to play the happy lover to another woman those three or four weeks were worse than all well at last as i need not tell you you were forced on me and what a sweet figure i cut what an evening of agony it was beautiful as an angel an one side calling me in such a tone oh god holding out her hand to me asking me for an explanation with those eyes fixed in such speaking solicitude on my face and jealous as the devil on the other hand looking all that was � well it does not signify it is over now such an evening i ran away from you au as soon as i could but not before i had seen s sweet face as white as death that was the last last look i ever had of her the last manner in which she appeared to me it was a horrid sight yet when i thought a d of her to sa it was a kind of comfort to me imagine that i knew exactly how would appear to who saw her last in this world she was before me before me as i travelled in the same look and hue a pause of mutual though succeeded first rousing himself broke it thus well let me make haste and be gone your ii better out of danger we are of it j your poor mother too on but the letter mr own letter hm you any to say about that yes yes that in particular your sister wrote to me again you know the very nest morning you saw what said i was at the � and her letter with some others was brought to me there from my i j it happened to s eye before it caught mine � and its the elegance of the paper the handwriting altogether immediately gave her a suspicion some vague report had reached her before of mj attachment to some young lady in and what had passed within her observation the preceding evening had marked who the young lady was and made her more jealous ever that air of j therefore which is in a woman one loves she opened the letter directly and read its contend she was well paid for her impudence she read wliat ma s her wretched her wretchedness i could have borne but her passion � her malice � at all events it must be appeased and in short what do you think of toy wife s style of letter writing � delicate � tender � truly feminine was it not your wife the letter was in your own handwriting yes but i had only the credit of such sentences as i was ashamed to put my name to the original was all her own � her own happy thoughts and gentle but what could i do we were engaged every thing in preparation the day almost � but i am talking like a fool preparation in honest words her was and to me and in a situation like mine anything was to
| 26 |
fair to us out of uie church with their tell me now what habit is than the of our priests well we owe them au to except the and the stole which are as for the an ice and the they retain the very names they bore in s day the worn by the comes from tis a of those rude times when the sacrificing priests wore the skins of the beasts with the fur outward strip thy black gown thy and for they come to us all three th m the pagan ladies let thy hair grow like s for the is as pagan as the take care what thou said sternly we know the very year in which the church did first it but not invent it the wore it a few thousand years ere that from it came through the to the priests of in egypt and afterwards of at tlie late pope the saints be good to him once told me the was forbidden by god to the in the if so this was because of the egyptian priests wearing it i trust to his i am no scholar the latin of thy is a barrier i cannot ad me ad no thank you holy i can stand a good deal but i cannot stand thy latin nay give me the new testament tis not the greek of but tis greek and there be heathen sayings in it too for st paul was not so against them as thou when the heathen said a good thing that suited his matter by he just took it and mixed it to all eternity with the inspired text come forth come forth said rising and know that but for the powerful house that thee accursed should go no farther for i would have thee burned at the stake and he strode out white with indignation s reception of this threat did credit to him as an he ran and joyfully after and i is pagan burning of men s bodies for the opinions of their souls is a purely pagan custom � as pagan as incense holy water a hundred in one church the the cardinal s or s hat the word pope the here the door the and the hearth but ere they could get clear of the house a was flung open and the came out head and shoulders and the street � ac and having delivered this parting blow he felt a great triumphant joy and strode to and and not attending with his usual care to the way for his room could only be by little paths among the tripped over the of an egyptian and rolled upon a regiment of gods which found tough in argument though small in stature � you will go no more to that said to sighed shall we leave him and not try to correct make allowance for heat of discourse i he was words are worse than his acts oh tis a pure and table soul so are all arch satan does not tempt them like other men rather he makes them more moral to give their teaching weight era cannot be corrected his family is in rome pray we the saints he to him not be the first time they have returned good for evil meantime art forbidden to with him from this day go alone through the city confess and i i comfort the sick i the preach wherever men ai e gathered and occasion serves i and hold no converse with the era � bowed his head then the prior at s request had the watched and one day the spy d with th news that brother had passed by the era s lodging and had ed a little while in the street and then gone on with his hand to his eyes and slowly this report to the prior the prior asked his opinion and also s who was then taking leave of him on his return to l i he obeyed but with regret ay with childish he shed a natural tear at turning his back on a friend and a benefactor but he obeyed now was one of your gentle he had at tim a mild even over worthy brother said is weak to the very bone he will disappoint thee he will do nothing either for the church or for our holy order yet he is an orator and hath drunken of the spirit of st fly him then with a string that same day it was announced to that he was to go to england immediately with brother folded his hands on his breast and bowed his head in calm submission chapter a is not an good in a strange house the governing power is strong in her she has scarce crossed the threshold ere the seem to the hearth to sweep itself the windows to let in more light and the soul of an enormous to the place but this is a busy body and t is a tremendous character it has no it sets everything to rights and everybody now many are the better for being to rights but everything is not everything is the one thing that wont stand being set to rights except in that calm and cool retreat the grave altered the position of every chair and table in margaret s house and perhaps for tiie better but she must go farther and upset the live furniture when margaret s time was close at hand invited tlie aid of and martin and on ttie poor simple minded fellows asking her earnestly what service they could be she told them they might make themselves comparatively useful by going for a little walk so far so good but she intimated further that should the extend into the middle of next week all the better this was not the subsequent conduct of the strong under the yoke of
| 9 |
enough for me they then separated the tailor s must have been powerful or he would have died in two years more his friends could not distinguish him from his own shadow a circumstance which was of great inconvenience to him several grasped at the hand of the shadow instead of his and one man was near pa it five and sixpence for making a pair of it is true him with some trouble but candidly admitted that he was not able to carry home the money it was difficult indeed for the poor tailor to bear what he felt it is true he bore it as long as he could but at length he became and often had thoughts of making his own with his bare after many and he ultimately made the attempt but alas he found that the blood of the refused to flow upon so an occasion so he solved the phenomenon although the truth was that his blood was not i the vein for it none was to be had what then was to be done he resolved to get rid of life by some process and the next that occurred to him was hanging in a solemn spirit he prepared a and suspended himself from the of his but here another disappointment awaited him he would not hang such was his want of gravity that his own weight proved insufficient to occasion his death by mere his third attempt was at drowning but he was too light to sink all the elements all his own energies joined themselves he thought in a wicked conspiracy to save his life having thus tried every avenue to destruction and failed in all he felt like a man doomed to live forever he shrank and by slow degrees until in the course of time he became so that the of human vision could no longer reach him this however could not last always though still alive he was to all and purposes he could only now be heard he was reduced to a mere essence the very echo of human existence et it is true the asserted that he occasionally caught passing glimpses of him but that was because he had been himself nearly by affliction and his ray in the furnace of domestic by and by s voice lessened got fainter and more indistinct until at length nothing but a doubtful murmur could be heard which ultimately could scarcely be distinguished from a ringing in the ears such was the awful and mysterious fate of the tailor who as a hero could not of course die he merely dissolved like an wasted into and finally melted away beyond the perception of mortal sense mr o is still living and once more in the fulness of perfect health and strength his wife however we may as well hint has been dead more than two years the the of all the amongst the natives of ireland at any period past or present there is none so grand or fanciful none which has been so universally assented to or so cordially cherished as the belief in the existence of the there are very few however acquainted with irish life or irish history but must have heard or read of the irish still as there are different stories and different opinions afloat respecting this strange being i think a little explanation concerning her appearance functions and habits will not be to my readers the then is said to be an and immortal being attached time out of mind to various respectable and ancient families in ireland and is said always to appear to announce by cries and the death of any member of that family to which she belongs she always comes at night a short time previous to the death of the fated one and takes her stand outside convenient to the house and there the most plaintive cries and generally in some unknown language and in a tone of voice resembling a human the female she continues her visits night after night unless vexed or annoyed until the mourned object dies and sometimes she is said to continue about the house for several nights after sometimes she is said to appear in the shape of a most beautiful young and dressed in the most elegant and fantastic garments but her general appearance is in the likeness of a very old woman of small stature and bending and form enveloped in a winding sheet or grave dress and her long white hair waving over her shoulders and descending to her feet at other times she is dressed in the costume of the middle ages � the different articles of her clothing being of the richest material and of a hue she is very shy and easily irritated and when once annoyed or vexed she flies away and never returns during the same generation when the death of the person whom she is or to occur by accident she is particularly agitated and troubled in her appearance and unusually loud and mournful in her some would fain have it that this strange being is by a feeling quite to the interests of the family which she haunts and that she comes with joy and triumph to announce their misfortunes this opinion however is rejected by most people who imagine her their most devoted friend and that she was at some remote period a member of the family and once existed on the earth in life and loveliness it is not every irish family can claim the honour of the an attendant they must be descended and of ancient line to have any just pretensions to a warning spirit however she does not appear to be influenced by the difference of creed or provided there be no other as several families of and saxon origin boast of their own and to this hour several noble and distinguished families in the country feel
| 39 |
as i had anticipated considering the of the place i found it very from other country places and that it was not so easy to make a dash there sinner that i was the very dignity and decorum of the little community was to me i feared my past idleness and folly would rise in judgment against me i stood in awe of the of the cathedral whom i saw mingling familiarly in society i became nervous on this point the of a s shoes sounding from one end of a quiet street to the other was appalling to me and the sight of a hat was sufficient at any time to check me in the midst of my poetical and then the good aunt could not be quiet but would cry me up for a genius and my poetry to every one so long as she confined this to the ladies it did well enough because they were able to feel and appreciate poetry of the new romantic school nothing would content the good lady however but she must read my verses to a who had long been the critic of the place he was a thin delicate old gentleman of mild polished manners to the lips in classic lore and not easily put in a heat by any hot blooded poetry of the day he listened to my most thoughts and words without a glow shook his head with a smile and condemned them as not being according to as not being legitimate poetry several old ladies who had heretofore been my admirers shook their heads at hearing this they could not think of any poetry that was not according to and as to any thing it was not to be in good society thanks to my stars however i had youth and novelty on my side so the young ladies persisted in admiring my poetry in despite of and i consoled myself with the good opinion of the young ladies whom i had always found to be the best judges of poetry as to these old scholars said i they are apt to be chilled by being in the cold fountains of the still i felt that i was losing ground and that it was necessary to bring matters to a point just at this time there was a public ball attended by the best society of the place and by the gentry of the neighbourhood i took great pains with vol i a a my toilet on the occasion and i had never looked better i had determined that night to make my grand assault on the heart of the young lady to battle it with all my forces and the next morning to demand a surrender in due form i entered the ball room amidst a and flutter which generally took place among the young ladies on my appearance i was in fine spirits for to tell the truth i had myself by a cheerful glass of wine on the occasion i talked and rattled and said a thousand silly things slap dash with all the confidence of a man sure of his � and every thing had its effect in the midst of my triumph i observed a little knot gathering together in the upper part of the room by degrees it increased a broke out there and glances were cast round at me and then there would be fresh some of the young ladies would away to distant parts of the room and whisper to their friends wherever they it there was still this and glancing at me i did not know what to make of all this i looked at myself from head to foot and peeped at my back in a glass to see if any thing was odd about my person any awkward exposure any hanging out � no � every thing was i was a perfect picture i determined that it must be some choice saying of mine that was about in this knot of merry beauties and i determined to enjoy one of my good things in the i stepped gently therefore up the room smiling at every one as i passed who i must say all smiled and in return i approached the group and my chin like a man who is full of pleasant feeling and sure of being well received the cluster of little opened as i advanced heavens and earth whom should i perceive in the midst of them but my early and flame the everlasting she was grown it is true into the full beauty of womanhood but showed by the provoking merriment of her that she perfectly recollected me and the ridiculous of which she had twice been the cause i saw at once the cloud of ridicule that was bursting over me my crest fell the flame of love went suddenly out in bosom or was extinguished by overwhelming shame how i got down the room i know not i fancied every one at me just i reached the door i caught a glance of my mistress and her aunt listening to the whispers of the old lady raising her hands and eyes and the face of the yoimg one lighted up as i imagined with scorn i paused to see no more but made two steps from the top of the stairs to the bottom the next morning before sunrise i beat a retreat and did not feel the cool from my cheeks until i had lost sight of the old towers of the cathedral i now returned to town thoughtful and my money was nearly spent for i had lived freely and without calculation the dream of love was over and the reign of pleasure at an end i determined to while i had yet a trifle left so selling my and horses for half their value i quietly put the money in my pocket and turned i had
| 48 |
her mother had hopelessly spoiled � made a fool of her was her exact phrase she considered that when a good looking six foot high with a lovely voice and a tremendous following in the congregation with private means and a decent family behind him condescended to look at a little fool like ought to have been made to see which way her duty and her interests lay and had proved herself absolutely she didn t like mr nothing should induce her to marry mr she had even gone so far in impertinence as to suggest that might take him in hand and had hinted quite plainly that would make an excellent parson s wife while she would prove an failure in the same capacity considered that mrs would only have been doing her bare duty by the a ring girl had she insisted upon her accepting mr as her lover but alas mrs had proved as as herself she said that if didn t like the young man that made an end of it as if knew her own mind � a baby like that after sitting for some little time put down her work and with a word of excuse went off to her own room there she locked the door behind her and sitting down at the dressing table looked at herself long and earnestly in the toilet glass so he had passed her over had she been mistaken oh surely not surely not for a whole year past she had up every little sign of love every little trifle that he had given her � a flower a song some new quaint toy sold on the london streets odd numbers of the more expensive ladies papers all the small change with which a bachelor the hospitality which he cannot return in kind and all the time his happy looks his serious intentions had been for who never in her life had given expression to an original thought that little soft blushing creature who had scarcely seemed the happier for his coming oh it was to think that the man she loved could be so mistaken in what was best for him to think that he could be content to pass all the rest of his life with that empty headed little doll she was very sweet very good � oh yes but there was nothing in her and yet it was to her that he had come in the hour of his triumph and had been so sure so sure that harry lived only for her � love and twenty well it was no use sitting there thinking over what was and could not be changed she had to accept the horrid truth she must swallow the she must make up her mind to what she could not alter she must hide the gaping wound in her heart she had no right that her heart should have a wound of any kind and yet she told herself we cannot help our hearts they are not always in our own control there was only one thing for her to do now � to accept the inevitable to put a bold face upon it to always wear a smile to have a gay word for all who might cross her path and to hide from the fact that she had given her love chapter ii at the end of the month harry turned his back upon and his sweetheart and set out for the new life which awaited him in south america to it had been a glorious month a magic month she had lived every minute of the time from the moment that she opened her dove eyes in the morning until she closed them again at night and now she was left with nothing but a big engagement ring upon her left hand and the consciousness that harry loved her still she was very happy she gave herself little airs and graces she assumed little shades of superiority over which was absolutely powerless to withstand she started what girls in a i a ring poorer rank call a bottom drawer she was for ever making little odds and ends when she was through the day s portion of more serious which in reality meant her harry will like this harry won t like the other was continually on her lips her mother was indulgent as mothers are hasn t she got any idea in her head but harry said impatiently one day about a fortnight after the lover s departure my dear it s natural said mrs thinking of the day when she too had existed for a harry i don t see any sense in living in a dream world said shortly after a while she ll find out the truth well my dear she ll find out the truth anyhow let her dream her dream while she can so life in the little house in went on the mother indulgent the sister contemptuous the little heroine in oh how wonderful youth is were ever such letters as those that harry first wrote to his little e she wore them next to her heart by day and hid them under her pillow by night she read them and re read them some favourite bits she to her mother and to one or two other intimate girl friends but seemed as if her common sense had entirely dried up in her breast all the milk of human kindness she never imparted to one word of the contents of harry s letters so a whole year went by harry was firmly fixed in his and thoroughly liked his life and love and twenty work in the new country his descriptions glowing his accounts of the extreme and hospitality of those with whom he ha become acquainted since his arrival at most enthusiastic i am sorry for one thing he wrote when h had been out a little
| 30 |
t care a half penny i know i m an ass and you may laugh at me to your heart s delight and as s lips opened with a smile he once more dropped into music there s the land of cherry isle he sang her with his eyes the jim n it s like an opera said rather faintly what should it be said am i not it would be strange if i did not my love oh yes i mean the word my and i mean to win you i am in dreadful trouble and i have not a penny of my own and i have cut the figure and yet i mean to win you look at me if you can and tell me no she looked at him and whatever her eyes may have told him it is to be supposed he took a pleasure in the message for he read it a long while and uncle ned will give us some money to go on upon in the meanwhile he said at last well i call that cool i said a cheerful voice at his elbow and sprang apart with wonderful alacrity the latter annoyed to observe that although they had never moved since they sat down they were now quite close together both presenting faces of a very heightened color to the eyes of mr edward that gentleman coming up the river in his boat had captured the and what had happened had thought to steal a march on miss at her sketch he had unexpectedly brought down two birds with one stone and as he looked upon the pair of flushed and breathless the pleasant human instinct of the match maker softened his heart well i call that cool he repeated you seem to t the box very upon uncle ned but look here i thought i had told you to keep away to keep away from replied but how should i expect to find you here there is something in that mr admitted you see i thought it better that even you should be ignorant of my address those the would have it out of you and just to put them off the scent i hoisted these abominable colors but that is not all you promised me to work and here i find you playing the fool at please mr you must not be hard on mr said poor boy he is in dreadful straits what s this inquired the have you been fighting or is it a bill these in the opinion of the were the two misfortunes incident to gentlemen and indeed both were from his own career he had once put his name as a matter of form on a friend s paper it had cost him a cool thousand and the friend had gone about with the fear of death upon him ever since and never turned a comer without in front of him for mr and the staff as for fighting the was always on the brink of it and once when in the character of president of a radical club he had cleared out the hall of his things had gone even further mr the can the who lay bo long on the bed of was prepared to swear to mr i will swear to it in any court � it was the hand of that brute that struck me down he was reported to have said and when he was thought to be sinking it was known that he had made an statement in that sense it was a cheerful day for the when was restored to his it s much worse than that said a combination of circumstances really unjust � a � in fact a of seem to have perceived my latent ability to rid them of the traces of their crime it s a legal study after all you see i and with these words for the second time that day began to describe the adventures of the grand i must write to the times cried mr do you want to get me asked i come it can t be as bad as that said his uncle it s a good honest liberal government that s in and they would certainly move at my request thank god the days of tory are at an end it wouldn t do uncle ned said but you re not mad enough cried mr to persist in trying to dispose of it self there is no other path open to me said it s not common sense and i will not of it cried mr i command you positively to from this criminal interference the box very well then i hand it over to you said and you can do what you like with the dead body god forbid ejaculated the president of the radical club i ll have nothing to do with it then you must allow me to do the best i can returned his nephew believe me i have a distinct talent for this sort of difficulty we might forward it to that house the club observed mr it might damage them in the eyes of their and it could be worked up in the local if you see any political capital in the thing said you may have it for me no no � no no i thought you might i will have no hand in the thing on reflection it s highly that either i or miss should linger here we might be observed said the president looking up and down the river and in my public position the consequences would be painful for the party and at any rate it s dinner time what cried plunging for his watch and it is great heaven the piano should have been here hours ago i mr was back into his boat but at these words he paused i saw it arrive myself
| 38 |
had been so happy as to win her affections and possess her heart win her affections retorted mr with contempt and possess her heart i says the cat says the duck bow says the dog i win her affections and possess her heart i bow i john stared at him in his outburst as if with some � idea that he had gone mad wh t is due to this yoimg lady said mr is money and thia lady right weu w it you the young lady tou the young you with your affections and hearts and returned mr n it s of a piece with th rest of your behaviour i heard of these doings of yours only last night or you should have heard of em from me sooner take your oath of it i heard of em from a lady with as good a as the best and she knows this young lady and i know this young lady and we all three know that it s money she makes a stand for � money money money � and that you and your and hearts are a lie sir i mrs said quietly turning to her for your delicate and kindness i thank you with the warmest gratitude good bye i miss good bye i and now my dear said mr laying his hand on s head again you begin to make yourself quite comfortable and i hope you fed that you ve been but was so mr from appearing to feel it that shrank from n his hand and from the chair and starting up in an of tears and stretching out her arms cried o mr b yon go if you could but make me poor again make me poor again somebody i beg and pray or my will break if this goes on pa dear make me poor again and take me home i was bad there but i haye been so much worse here don t give me mr i won t have money keep it away from me and only k me speak to good little pa and lay my head upon his shoulder aod tell hun all my nobody else can understand me nobody else can comfort me nobody else knows how unworthy i am and yet me like a little i am better with pa than any innocent more sorry more glad i so crying out in a wild way she could not bear this drooped her head on mrs s ready breast john from his place in the room and mr te his looked on at her in silence until she was silent herself mr observed in a soothing and comfortable tone there dear there you are now and it s au right i don t i m sure at your being a little by having a scene with fellow but it s all oyer my dear and you re and it s au it s au right which mr repeated with a highly satisfied li of completeness and i hate you cried turning suddenly upon him with a of her little at least i can t hate you but i don t like � lo exclaimed mr in an amazed tone you re a scolding unjust bad old creature cried i am angry with my ungrateful self for calling f names but you are you are you know you are mr stared here and stared there as must be in some sort of fit � i have heard you with shame said with f myself and with for you you ought to be above the t bearing of a time serving woman but you are above nothing mr seeming to become convinced that this was a fit his eyes and loosened his when i came here i respected you and honored you and i sc you cried and now t can t bear the sight of tf at least i don t know that i to go so far as that a � you re a monster this bolt out with a t of force laughed and cried the best wish i can wish you is said returning to charge that you had not one single in the world w true friend and well could make you a you a duck but as a man of property you are a demon after this second bolt with a still greater of force laughed and cried still more j � mr pray stay one moment pray hear one from me before you go i am deeply sorry for the p have borne on my account out of the depths of my heart i and truly beg your pardon i as she stepped towards him he met her as she mutual friend hand he put it to his lips and said god bless you no was mixed with crying then her tears were pure and fervent there is not an word that i have heard addressed to you � heard with scorn and indignation mr � but it has wounded me far than you have deserved it and you never have mr it is to me you owe this account of what passed between us that night i parted with the secret even while was angry with myself for doing so it was very bad in me but indeed it was not wicked i did it in a moment of conceit and folly � one of my many such moments � one of my many such hours � years as i am punished for it severely try to forgive it i i do with all my soul thank you thank you don t part from me till i have said one other word to do you justice the only you can be truly charged with in having spoken to me as you did night � with much delicacy and how much forbearance no one but i can know or be grateful
| 8 |
this the more willingly because who was now conscious for the greater part of the time had asked for her once or twice and had seemed easier when she was in the room but she still gave only occasional aid the other nurses when they dined or rested but keeping herself partly free in order to have an eye on the household and give a few hours daily to a this had become part of a system that already seemed as old as memory she could hardly recall what life had been before the accident � the seven dreadful days seemed as long as the days of creation every morning she rose to the same report � no change � and every day passed without a word from minor news of course had come poor mr at length overtaken at was hastening back as fast as ship and rail could carry mrs at with her invalid anxious but still no word from the correspondent at had simply not here will � and since then silence had taken to sitting in a small room beyond bedroom near enough to to be within l o the fruit of the tree call yet accessible to the rest of the household the walls were hung with old prints and with two or three photographs of early italian pictures and in a low had put the books he had brought from � the english poets the greek some text books of and kindred subjects and a few stray well worn volumes s european morals s translation of a german grammar a pocket bacon it was unlike any other room at � even through her misery felt the relief of escaping there from the rest of die great house sometimes she took up one of the books and read a page or two letting the beat of the verse lull her throbbing brain or the strong words of wisdom sink into her heart and even when there was no time for these brief flights from reality it soothed her to feel herself in the presence of great thoughts � to know that in this room among these books another restless baffled mind had sought escape from the dusty answer of life her hours there made her think less bitterly of � but also alas made her see more clearly the difference between the two natures she had to that which was the essence of life to one was a shadow to the other and the gulf between them was too wide for the imagination of either to bridge as she sat there on the seventh afternoon there was a knock on the door and entered she had only time to notice that he was very pale � she had been struck once or twice with his look of sudden exhaustion the fruit of the tree which passed as quickly as it came � then she saw that he carried a and her mind flew back to its central anxiety she grew pale herself as she read the message he has been found � at it will take him at least a month to get here a month � good god and it may take mr longer their eyes met it s too long she asked i don t know � i don t know he shivered slightly turning away into the window sat down to dash off messages to mr and the s return must be made known at once when she glanced up was standing near her his air of intense weariness had passed and he looked calm and ready for action shall i take these down no ring please i want to ask you a few questions the servant who answered the bell brought in a and having despatched the seated herself and began to pour out her tea food had been to her during the first unsettled days but with the of the nurse s habits the nurse s punctual appetite returned every drop of energy must be now and only sleep and nourishment could fill the empty she held out a cup to but he drew back with a gesture of aversion thanks not hungry you ought to eat more of the tree ii of the tree no no i m very well she lifted her head revived by the warm draught the mechanical act of nourishment performed her mind back to the prospect of s return a whole month before he reached l he had instructed her where news might find him on the way but a whole month to wait she looked at and they read each other s thoughts it s a long time he said yes but can do wonders � and she s very strong shuddered just so a skilled agent of the might have spoken calculating how much longer the power of suffering might be preserved in a body broken on the wheel how does she seem to you to day the general conditions are about the same the heart keeps up wonderfully but there is a little more oppression of the yes � her breathing is harder last night she suffered horribly at times oh � she ll suffer murmured of course the can be increased just what did dr say this morning he is astonished at her strength but there s no hope � i don t know why i ask hope looked at her you mean of what s called recovery � of death she nodded the fruit of the tree how can tell � or anyone we all know there have been cases where such injury to the cord has not caused death this may be one of those cases but the biggest man couldn t say now hid her eyes a fate recovery yes keeping people alive in such cases is one of the of cruelty that it was left for christianity to invent and and yet � it s got
| 10 |
mr low s clerk a came to arrange an expedition and early the next morning after i had with the he arrived bringing the elephant as well broken and stately an animal as i should wish to ride he is such a height they say ten feet that though he lay down to be mounted a good sized ladder was needed for the climb upon his back put pillows and a good lunch into the baskets and as the day was glorious from sunrise to sunset i had an altogether delightful expedition we turned at once into the and rode through it for seven hours on the left bank of the river the loveliness was the trees were lofty and magnificent there were very many such as i have not seen before many run up a hundred feet or more before they branch the was green and dim and amidst the wealth of vegetation not a flower was to be seen but as often through in the far aloft there were glimpses of the sunny letter xx a heavenly blue sky and now and then there were where trees had fallen and the glorious tropical sunshine streamed in on gaudy blossoms of huge trees and on pure white and coloured clusters borne by on sun birds and gorgeous in the sunlight and on some all golden others and black and and blue some with bands of violet and green others altogether black with spots of or green the under side of the wings corresponding to the spot while sometimes a of blue or wholly coloured fluttered in the the flash of sun birds and the flutter of giving one an idea of the joy which possibly was intended to be the of all animated existence in these i was glad for the moment to be neither an nor an so that i might leave every one of these coloured creatures to the enjoyment of its life and beauty it was not the trees and only that were beautiful in these sunny but the and with the crimson tipped and the crimson and the great red with purple on its nearly and another plant of an habit with green to a great height over the branches of the smaller trees the beautiful tree themselves were loaded with other and every fallen tree was draped with fresh green forms every bit was the home of and foliage plants mostly green and gold while in some places there were with noble shining leaves six feet long in the green twilight of the depths of the forest the dew the leaves till nearly a m but in the the sun blazed with the heat of a furnace the golden letter xx the silence and of the heart of the forest and the colour vivacity light and movement in the and among the tree tops contrast most curiously of the tree tops and seem to lead a completely life it is said that they never come down to earth but that they cross the forests swinging themselves from tree to tree the if they can build their near rivers and during the day we passed several of these several had more or less rude every village consists of such houses as i have described before but not by any means closely under the shade of bread fruit and other fruit trees of are never far off many of these people have dug or other boats on the adjacent river some have bathing sheds and others these have much of the as well as of tropical life about them they are beautiful and appropriate and food is above them and around them the curse can hardly be known a very little labour all that the desires and if the of the land be secure and the lack of security is one of the great evils and he be not over his life must be calm and easy if not happy the people were always courteous and my escort held long conversations in every these raise their houses on high posts partly because abound the trees near of kin to the bread fruit and the flourish round all the dwellings the fruit which may be food rather than fruit grows without a visible stem from the trunk and branches of the very handsome tree which bears it and from sixty to seventy pounds the grows to the size of a man s head and is covered closely with hard sharp letter xx village life the fall of either on ones head or shoulder is much to be and the stretch strong above their houses to secure themselves from accidents i saw for the first time the growing in perfection it was a great delight as is the first sight of any tree or flower well known from description it is a beautiful tree from forty to fifty feet high when with shining foliage somewhat resembling that of the bay and its fruit looks like a very large one ripe was gathered for me it had opened and revealed the with its dark brown showing through its crimson envelope of the whole lying in a bed of pure white a beautiful object each house in the seemed to have all its inmates at home doing nothing but nut in their home the men wear only the and a handkerchief knotted round their heads and i think that the women also dispense with an upper garment for i noticed at the approach of two strange men they invariably huddled another over their shoulders heads and faces holding it so as to conceal all but their eyes the young children as usual were only clothed in silver ornaments this dress in the privacy of their homes is merely a matter of custom and climate for these people are no more savages than we are these glimpses of a native entirely by european are most interesting in these the people have
| 20 |
t show to visitors she was not staying at the f said no but i was taken to to see the old house and as a consequence i saw the s family i suppose you have been there and know all about them f yes i have been there said quietly a fine old place an excellent setting for a widow with romantic fortunes and she seems to have had several i think i have found out that there was between her and my friend long before her marriage said really da interested for they had only been a year at how came you to know any thing of it f oh � not ignorant of what it is to be a miserable devil i to on tbe signs of misery in others i found out that never goes to and has never seen the since she came back and miss let fall something in our talk about for i went through some of my nonsense to please the young ones � something which proved to me that was once hovering about his fair cousin close enough to get i don t know what was her part in the perhaps the duke came in and carried her o� that is always the way when an worthy young man forms an attachment i understand now why talks of making the law his mistress and remaining a bachelor but these are green since the duke did not get himself drowned for your sake it may turn out to be for my friend sex s sake who knows f is it absolutely necessary that mrs should marry again v said ready to add that s success in her fortunes hitherto had not been enough to warrant a now attempt you monster retorted do you want her to wear weeds for you all her life � bum herself in perpetual you are alive and merry could say nothing but ho looked so much annoyed that turned the current of his chat and when he was alone shrugged his shoulders a little over tho thought that there really had been some stronger feeling between and the than would like to know of why didn t she fall in love with me f thought laughing at himself would have had no rivals no woman ever wanted to discuss with mc no wonder that under that sort of joking with a whip lash it touched that were quivering with the anticipation of witnessing some of that pain to which even s light words seemed to give more reality � any sort of recognition by another giving emphasis to the of our anxiety and now he had come down with tho firm resolve that he would not again the trial the next � mn � all m rode to bo liad tent bo od to and to if bim found her him in tho old when chief of her life had happened les ad than he had her her a but then vm no smile on her bat a in with the mood in which he had hut her she wm d tho to the in no sooner he aft a little distance of to bar said yon were afraid of coming to i was so m of grief and despair tho last time i am not ao to i hare been sorry since i have been it a why i keep np my hope and be as aa i � aa b� i would not yon any about there was an unwonted sweetness in a tone and look as uttered these words that seemed to to in utmost cruelty into tho task now laid upon him bat ho felt obliged to make his answer a beginning of the i am in some trouble to day he said looking at her rather mournfully but it is because i have things to tell jou which you will almost think it a want of confidence on part not to have spoken of before they arc things affecting mj own life � my own future i shall seem to have made an ill return to yon for the trust you have placed in mo � to have given you an idea of events that make great changes for me but when wo have been together wo have hardly had time to enter into subjects which at tho moment were really less pressing to me than the trials you have been going through was a sort of timid tenderness in s deep tones and he paused with a pleading look as if it had been only who had conferred any thing in her scenes of and confession a thrill of surprise was visible in her such meaning as she found in his words had shaken her but without causing fear her mind had at once to some change in his position with regard to sir and sir s property she said with a sense of comfort from s way of asking her par don � you of any thing bat what a could do to mo and i was so troublesome could you tell mo things r it will perhaps astonish you said that i have only quite lately known who were my parents was not astonished she felt the more assured that her expectations of what was coming were right went on without check the reason why you found me in italy was that i had gone there to learn that � in fact to meet my mother it was by her wish that i was brought up in ignorance of my she parted with me after my father s death when i was a little creature but she is now very ill and she felt that the secrecy ought not to be any longer maintained her chief reason had been that she did not wish me to know i was a jew a t ev exclaimed in a low tone
| 14 |
you are a brave kind girl worthy i be to think of a better brother than i am but i have nothing more to say go to bed go to bed you are tired she whispered presently more in her usual way yes i am quite tired out you have been so hurried and disturbed to day have any discoveries been made only those you have heard of from � him tom have you said to any one that we made a visit to those people and that we saw three together no didn t you yourself particularly ask me to keep it quiet when you asked me to go there with you yes but i did not then what was going to happen nor i neither how could i he was very quick upon her with this retort ought i to say after what has happened said his sister standing by the bed � she had gradually withdrawn herself and risen that i made that visit should i say so must i say so good heavens returned her brother you are not in the habit of asking my advice say what you like if t� you keep it to yourself i shall keep it to if you disclose it there s an end of it it was too dark for either to see the other s face but each seemed very attentive and to consider before speaking tom do you believe the man i gave the money to is really in this crime i don t know i don t see why he shouldn t be he seemed to me an honest man another person may seem to you and yet not be so there was a pause for he had hesitated and stopped in short resumed tom as if he had made up his mind if you come to that perhaps i was so far fix m being altogether in his favor that i took him outside the door to tell him quietly that i thought he might consider himself well off to get such a as he had got j om my sister and that i hoped he would make good use of it you remember whether i took him out or not i say nothing against the man he may be a very good fellow for anything i know i hope he is was he offended by what you said no he took it pretty well he was civil enough where are you loo he sat up in bed and kissed her good night my dear good night you have nothing more to tell me no what should i have you wouldn t have me tell you a lie i wouldn t have you do that to night tom of all the nights in your life many and much happier as i hope they thank you my dear loo i am so tired that i am sure i wonder i don t say anything to get to sleep go to bed go to bed kissing her again he turned drew the over his head and lay as still as if that time had come by which she had him she stood for some time at the bedside before she slowly moved away she stopped at the door looked back when she had opened it and ai ed him if he had called her but he lay stiu and she closed the door and returned to her room then the wretched boy looked cautiously up and found her gone crept out of bed fastened his door and threw himself hard times upon his pillow again tearing his hair crying loving her but himself and no less hate and all the good in the world chapter ix hearing the last of it lying by to recover the tone of her nerves in mr s retreat kept such a sharp look out night and day under her eyebrows that her eyes like a couple of on an iron coast might have warned all prudent fix m that bold rock her roman nose and the dark and region in its neighbourhood but for the of her manner although it was hard to believe that her retiring for the night could be anything but a form so severely wide awake were those classical eyes of hers and so impossible did it seem that her rigid nose could yield to any influence yet her manner of sitting her not to say they were constructed of a cool fabric like a or of to unknown places of destination with her foot in her cotton was so perfectly serene that most would have been constrained to suppose her a dove embodied by some of nature in the earthly of a bird of the hook order she was a most wonderful woman for about the house how she got from story to story was a mystery beyond solution a lady so in herself and so highly connected was not to be suspected of dropping over the or sliding down them yet her extraordinary of suggested the wild idea another noticeable circumstance in mrs was that she was never hurried she would shoot with from the roof to the hall yet would be in possession of her breath and dignity on the moment of her arrival there neither was she ever seen by human vision to go at a great pace she took veiy kindly to mr and had some pleasant conversation with him soon after her arrival she made him her stately in the garden one morning before breakfast it appears but yesterday sir said mrs that i had the honor of receiving you at the bank when you were so good as to wish to be made acquainted with mr s address an occasion i am sure not to be forgotten by myself in the course of ages said mr his head to mrs with the most indolent of all possible airs we live
| 8 |
way in which he caught at the suggestion no thanks i don t care for horses much perhaps it is because i do not understand them in fact i consider it bad form for a lady to know all the points of a horse as if she were a dealer that s one for me i observed in an sure i don t know returned i never did care a great deal for form myself or anything cherry s child else that half a dozen old women constitute as such i am afraid you are a radical she laughed i believe i am he answered frankly then you won t come and look at the horses i think not thank you then i shall see you again at breakfast and he briskly himself away in the direction of the stables poor boy what a take in i whispered gave me a little that i might look at who was bending forward watching the departing with a very unpleasant expression of countenance indeed you young idiot she said aloud at that i could contain myself no longer i buried my face against s broad chest and went off into a violent of laughter he held me close to him so close that i was almost and my laughter changed to equally which i tried my very best to with his handkerchief when i had recovered myself had vanished where is she i asked wiping my streaming eyes gone answered laughing himself now she looked round ever so sharply and muttered rats and then she fairly took to her heels and ran away come let us be out of this it was a fortunate circumstance those two strangers meeting at a festival only they were not strangers nor at a festival henceforth we shall find this by both of them and so we enjoyed a very pleasant half hour until the breakfast bell summoned us back to the house we were the last to appear and it was no easy task to t it il it or another greet and as if we had not seen them before but s example helped me to do it good morning miss de la he said cheerily what a charming morning oh lovely she answered pleasantly i was out � oh ever so early � and gathered myself a you see what you late have missed ah i didn t want to interrupt your pleasant with he said deliberately my a she stammered for once quite taken who told you i had seen mr this morning a little bird whispered it he answered laughing at her dismayed expression and s angry face i gave him a ever such a hard one � to say no more for mrs looked terribly annoyed but he took no notice of it and continued in a tone yes a little bird told me all about it then the little bird must have been a complete fool prince broke in the fact of the matter was this i happened to be passing through the east garden on my way to the stables and miss de la was sitting in the if saying good morning a a well then we had one and pray did the little bird tell you anything else she asked having somewhat recovered her by this time oh yes it told me that you ran away in fear of rats he said coolly and that you got your dress soiled on the dusty floor of the oh she glanced down and so did i for i was next to her at the hem of her dress and saw that in it child several places it was soiled and marked with dust i looked from it to her face but i turned my eyes away immediately for just then she was not pleasant to see presently i heard if he had vexed her did you really see me in the she asked raising her eyes to his face did i not tell you it was a little bird who told it to me he said gravely no but really really he repeated the temptation to laugh was too strong for me and miss de la turned upon me in dignified astonishment did you hear this absurd story too she demanded yes i heard it i answered laughing from prince of course prince did not tell me i returned it is inexplicable she said at last and i wish you would explain it to me i cannot do that answered quietly why because the secret is not my own and i do not feel justified in betraying it i did not add as i might have done that if the secret were my own and only my own i should still be to tell her i should like to know said mrs suddenly and in a tone which implied that she wished our conversation at an end what plans there are for this morning mrs de la and i are going out in the victoria but what do you all intend to do you promised to ride with me said hastily tt or another very w u i answered i am quite willing are you thinking of going � turning to and will you ride he asked her i oh thank you i do not ride then we must have the said mrs unless you and would like to drive somewhere in my cart i am quite at your service said courteously are you murmured miss de la softly and in a slightly incredulous tone then she spoke in her usual voice i should very much like to drive to that pretty at � at � oh i forget the place at put in mrs complacently it is only about five miles then shall we arrange so asked us yes i think so answered his mother i dare say will be over this afternoon and we could have a
| 30 |
out to her that she ought as a christian to reconcile herself to the sacrifice especially as it was so uncertain and to bear no feeling towards me as to myself i give you my word i felt a perfect bird of prey towards the family the sisters took your part i hope why i can t say they did he returned when we had comparatively reconciled mrs to it we had to break it to you recollect my mentioning as the one that has something the matter with her perfectly she clenched both her hands said looking at me in dismay shut her eyes turned lead color became perfectly stiff and took nothing for two days but toast and water administered with a what a very unpleasant girl i remarked oh i beg your pardon said she is a very charming girl but she has a great deal of feeling in fact they all have told me afterwards that the self reproach she while she was in attendance upon no words could describe i know it must have been severe by my own feelings which were like a criminal s after was restored we still had to break it to the other eight and it produced various effects upon them of a most pathetic nature the two little ones whom have only just left off de me at any rate they are all reconciled to it now i hope said i ye � yes i should say they were on the whole resigned to it said doubtfully the fact is we avoid mentioning the subject and my unsettled prospects and indifferent circumstances are a great consolation to them there will be a deplorable scene whenever we are married it will be much more like a funeral than a wedding and they all hate me for taking her away his honest face as he looked at me with a comic shake of his head me more in the remembrance than it did in the reality for i was by this time in a state of such excessive and wandering of mind as to be quite unable to fix my attention on anything on our approaching the house where the i was at such a in respect of my personal looks and presence of mind that proposed a gentle in the form of a glass of ale this having been administered at a neighbouring public house he conducted me with tottering steps to the s door i had a vague sensation of being as it were on view when the maid opened it and of wavering somehow across a hall with a weather glass in it into a quiet little drawing room on the ground floor commanding a neat garden also of sitting down here on a sofa and seeing s hair start up now his hat was removed like one of those little figures made of springs that fly out of snuff boxes when the lid is taken off also of hearing an old fashioned clock away on the e e the personal history and experience chimney piece and trying to make it keep time to the of my heart � which it wouldn t also of looking round the room for any sign of and seeing none also of thinking that once in the distance and was instantly choked by somebody ultimately i found myself into the fire place and bowing in great confusion to two dry little elderly ladies dressed in black and each looking wonderfully like a preparation in or tan of the late mr pray said one of the two little ladies be seated when i had done tumbling over and had sat upon something which was not a cat � my first seat was � i so far recovered my sight as to perceive that mr had evidently been the youngest of the family that there was a of six or eight years between the two sisters and that the younger appeared to be the manager of the conference inasmuch as she had my letter in her hand � so familiar as it looked to me and yet so odd � and was referring to it through an they were dressed alike but this sister wore her dress with a more youthful air than the other and perhaps had a trifle more or or or or some little thing of that kind which made her look more lively they were both upright in their carriage formal precise composed and quiet the sister who had not my letter had her arms crossed on her breast and resting on each other like an idol mr i believe said the sister who had got my letter addressing herself to this was a frightful beginning had to indicate that i was mr and i had to lay claim to myself and they had to themselves of a opinion that was mr and altogether we were in a nice condition to improve it we all distinctly heard give two short and receive another choke mr said the sister with the letter i did something � bowed i suppose � and was all attention when the other sister struck in my sister said she being with matters of this nature will state what we consider most calculated to promote the happiness of both parties i discovered afterwards that miss was an authority in affairs of the heart by reason of there having existed a certain mr who played short and was supposed to have been of her my private opinion is that this was entirely a assumption and that was altogether innocent of any such sentiments � to which he had never given any sort of expression that i could ever hear of both miss and miss had a superstition however that he would have declared his passion if he had not been cut short in his youth at about sixty by over drinking his constitution and an attempt to set
| 8 |
teeth and did you never find them in trouble when you came home oh sir forgive me it is the first time i have in way and sorry indeed i am to have insulted my first impressions s i have done but if you will believe me i have gone through that this which would have a stronger brain than mine who are you asked you don t know me then sir why i m the wife of your own gardener james grant the man you turned away for drinking and he has been out of work these hard times r � why bo sir i can t say that he has exactly out of work but it s the drink sir that s him and us all felt his color as he spoke but his natural pride reminded him that he ought to assume a dignity which he could not feel have you ever talked to your husband oa this subject he asked talked to him said the woman rising from her posture of abject wo i have prayed him on my knees to spare himself and me but when did you know talking of any use in such a case as his yet surely the kind of a faith ful sir � sir � continued the woman fixing her eyes with something more than upon s face i would fain hope to be kept from saying what is from me t ion to one in your station but i am a poor creature and you must forgive me if i do it is fit too that you should learn my history for you of all men ought to be made acquainted with it felt it right to encourage t e poor woman to go on hoping he might be able in his pastoral office to render her some assistance though had his own feelings been consulted he would more willingly have closed an inter tie w which had already cost him sufficient pain the simple history of james grant was soon told he had been a young man of uncertain habits before entering the service of the of when the example of his master the of his mistress and the domestic of their house and family had wrought so great a change in his character that his wife for some time esteemed herself the happiest of women still james was never to be depended upon for he hung his good resolutions upon the principles of other men rather than upon his own � resting his confidence upon what the did instead of upon what he resolved to do himself nor did his wife fear anything even on this ground for she thought if her husband remained steady first impressions long as his master s example was the same there could be no reason for any change one evening however about a year before this time james grant home and himself by t e fireside opposite his wife he looked in her face with a strange kind of meaning in his eye it was half comic half wild and his wife thought he had some strange story to tell her which would afford them both amusement for the evening what was her astonishment then to that his own natural tendency to evil had received a powerful from circumstances which had in his master s family and of which her husband s personal observation permitted her not to the conduct of james grant assumed a different aspect from that time a willing slave to inclination he soon became the victim of and though dismissed on this ground from the en of a kind and generous master he still maintained that it was the example of that master which had been the cause of his ruin and it was so said the poor wife at the conclusion of her story though i say it who perhaps ought not for so long as i could the clergyman as being clear of every thing of the kind n y husband never had a word to say was silent what could he reply taking the first opportunity of a moment s pause to turn away the woman laid her hand upon his arm and with a fresh burst of agony implored him not to leave her until he had told her what to do you can go back to your happy home said she where know there is one who always meets you with love and kindness and you v asked ow n for despite his self reproaches he could not his pity my home said the woman oh sir it is so desolate last night my stayed out later than so i took my child in my arms and crept round by the orchard hedge and down the back lane of the public house where i knew he always was the shutters were closed but through a in the wood i could see into the room where he sat with two or three neighbors and a merry company they were if one might judge by their songs and their laughter that went to my very heart while i stood shivering there in the cold i said there were two or three neighbors and there was that girl the s daughter going in and out and with impressions james about the curtain he would get at home oh sir i could not bear it i think my poor head was turned so instead of going back to our house i wandered over the common and sat down by the hedge and cried while my baby slept and here we have been all night now tell me sir if you have any christian kindness in your heart � tell me what i must do for there is no supporting this misery stood all this while with his eyes fixed upon the ground and his foot unconsciously down some flowers which grew upon the bank the
| 41 |
seen without the hat for anything there is not a bell in this or any house on the islands and the of is hardly known for the do their work like and disappear at sunset in a land where there are no carpets no fires no dust no hot water needed no windows to open and shut � for they are s open � no further service is really required it is a simple life and people live more happily than any that i have seen elsewhere it is very cheerful to live among people whose are not ed by the east wind or wrinkled by the worrying effort to keep up appearances which deceive nobody who have no formal visiting but real regard the light manual labour of domestic life as pleasure not a thing to be ashamed of who are with their circumstances and have leisure to and agreeable and who live so taste though simply that they can at any time ask a passing stranger to occupy the simple guest chamber or te the simple meal any of the soul p which often make the exercise of hospitality of terror to people in the same circumstances at home i will ask you what is the food we have everywhere bread and made of flour p � cakes with and often cracked wheat not very good sweet potatoes boiled irish potatoes and i have not seen fish on any table except at the hotel or any meat but beef w is hard and dr as compared witli ours we have ix china or tea and island coffee is the only place in which are allowed to be sold and i have not seen beer wine or spirits in any house are an important article of diet and eaten with milk and sugar are very good the cooking is always done in detached cook houses in and on american cooking as to clothing i wear my flannel riding dress for both riding and walking and a black silk at other times the resident ladies wear prints and and the gentlemen black cloth or dark suits flannel is not required neither are or white hats or at any season the changes of temperature are very slight and there is no chill when the sun goes down the air is always like the rain is and does not give cold in summer it may be three or four degrees warmer windows and doors stand open the whole year a blanket is agreeable at night but not absolutely necessary it is a truly delightful climate and mode of living with such an of air and my health daily and i do not consider myself an invalid between working reading aloud talking riding and i have very little time for letter but i must tell you of a delightful expedition on the margin of the forest that i took yesterday accompanied by mr and the two elder boys we rode in the direction outside cane ready for cutting with silvery gleaming in the sun till we reached the verge of the forest where an old trail was nearly by a trailing grass four feet a forest paradise high and thousands of which conceal streams and when further was impossible we our horses and proceeded on foot we were then feet above the sea by the and the increased coolness was perceptible the is about four degrees lower for each feet of ascent � rather more than this indeed on the side of the islands the forest would be quite impenetrable were it not for the remains of wood which though grown up to the height of my are still underneath the green invisible streams deep down made sweet music sweeter even than the gentle murmur of the cool breeze among the trees the forest on the track which i thought so tropical and wonderful a short time ago is nothing for beauty to compare with this garden of god i wish i could describe it but cannot and as you know only pale l trees with their uniform green i cannot that it is like this or that the first of a hymn ol paradise oh paradise rings in my brain and e rustic exclamation we used to hear when we were children well i never followed by notes of admiration seems to the whole of the former cutting of some trees gives atmosphere and the tumbled nature of the shows everything to the best there were o over which huge candle nuts with their and silver foliage spread their giant arms and the light played through their branches on an infinite variety c letter ix of there were gi of and with shiny leaves feet long like enormous s tongue the bright the dark the mahogany of the pacific the great glossy � a forest ti ee as large as our largest elms the small its rose crimson flowers making a glory in the forests and its young shoots of red with the colouring of the new england fall and the strange its stiff drooping which in the faintest breeze and the superb its fruit and from spreading we shook the ripe j treasures out the inside all and crimson to make drinking cups of the and there were trees that had surrendered their own lives to a conquering army of which had clothed their with an and beauty and over trees and the tender of great morning glories and themselves and the strong stems of the ie wound themselves round the tall which supported their quaint like of leaves fifty feet the there were some superb plants of the glossy bird s nest or which makes its home on the stems and branches of trees and the forest with its great shining i got a specimen from a tree the plant had nine each one measuring fe om feet inch to feet inches in length and from to inches in breadth
| 20 |
on the te s to which the girl had ro h on the bank end on the same side of w twist chapter the appointment kept the three quarters past eleven as two figures emerged on london bridge one which advanced with a swift and rapid step was that of a woman who looked eagerly about her as though in quest of some expected object the figure was that of a man who along in the deepest shadow he could find and at some distance his pace to hers stopping when she stopped and as she moved again creeping stealthily on but never allowing himself in the of his pursuit to gain upon her footsteps thus they crossed the bridge from the to the shore when the woman apparently disappointed in her anxious scrutiny of the foot passengers turned back the movement was sudden but he who watched her was not thrown off his guard by it for shrinking into one of the recesses which the of the bridge and leaning over the the better to conceal his � figure he suffered her to pass by oh the opposite pavement when she was about the same distance in advance as she had been before he slipped quietly down � ind followed her again at nearly the centre of the bridge she stopped the man stopped too it was a very dark night the day had been and at that hour and place there were few people stirring such as there were hurried quickly past very possibly without seeing but certainly without noticing either the woman or the man who kept her in view their appearance was not calculated to attract the regards of such of london s destitute population as chanced to take their way over the bridge that night in search of some cold arch or wherein to lay their heads they stood there in silence neither speaking nor spoken to by any one who passed i told you before replied that i was b fl speak to you there i don t know it is said the i but i have such a fear and dread me u night that i can hardly stand a fear of what the who beamed u pity her i scarcely know of wliat replied the girl i wish did horrible thoughts of death and upon them and a fear that has made me aa if wm ou fire have been upon me all day i was n a a book k night to the time away and the same things c� the print imagination said the gentleman her no imagination replied the girl in a hoarse voice i b swear saw coffin written in page of the book is large black letters � aye and they carried one dose to me in tiie streets to night � there ia nothing unusual in that said the they have passed me often real ones the girl this was not there waa something ao uncommon in her manner that u of the concealed listener crept as he heard the girl b these words and the blood chilled within him he had n experienced a greater relief than in hearing the sweet t the young lady as she beg her to be calm and not a herself to become the prey of such fearful fancies speak to her kindly said the j lady to her poor creature she seems to need it your haughty people would have held th� r hi up to see me as i am to night aud preached of f vengeance cried the girl oh dear lady why ar n t u who claim to be god s own folks as gentle end as kind u poor wretches as you who having youth and beauty o m that they have lost might bo a little proud instead much ah said the gentleman a his after washing it well to the east when he s his those good people after giving their faces h a world as to take the smiles os turn with i to the side of heaven between the the commend me to the first these words appeared to be addressed to the twist saint s form a landing stairs from the river to this spot the man bearing the appearance of a hastened and after a moment s survey of the place he began to descend these stairs are a part of the bridge they consist of three flights just below the end of the second going down the stone wall on the left in an ornamental towards the thames at this point the lower steps so that a person turning that angle of the wall is necessarily unseen by any others on the stairs who chance to be above him if only a step the looked hastily round when he reached this point and as there seemed no better place of and the tide being out there was plenty of room he aside with his back to the and there waited pretty certain that they would come no lower and that even if he could not hear what was said he could follow them again with safety so stole the time in this lonely place and so eager was the spy to penetrate the motives of an interview so different from what he had been led to expect that he more than once gave the matter up for lost and persuaded himself either that they had stopped far above or had resorted to some entirely different spot to hold their mysterious conversation he was on the very point of emerging from his and the road above when he heard the sound of footsteps and directly afterwards of voices almost close at his ear he drew himself straight upright against the wall and breathing listened attentively this is enough said a voice which was evidently that of the gentleman i will not suffer the yoimg lady to go any
| 8 |
mr s the assumption of the times so happily that i could not let it pass � nay i am willing to brave the of by a faithful of what i did say on that occasion that the reader may guess why the times deemed its advisable after baron had concluded being next called upon by the chair rose aod said glances at europe la my own land lords and where is still so rugged and here population u yet so scanty and the demands for human exertion are so various and urgent it is but natural that we should render marked honor to labor and to those who by invention or discovery contribute to the processes and increase the of industry it is bat natural therefore that this grand conception of a comparison of the state of industry in all nations by means of a world s should there have been received and with a lively and general interest � an interest which is not measured by the extent of our ours is still one of the youngest of nations with few large of the fruits of activity or artistic skill and these so generally needed for use that we were not likely to send them three thousand miles away merely for show it is none the less certain that the progress of great exhibition from its original conception to that perfect which we here has been watched and discussed not more earnestly throughout the of europe than by the s and the i bench in america especially the hopes and fears alternately on this side respect to the edifice required for this exhibition � he doubts ss to the of one sufficiently and to contain and display the of uie whole world � the that it could not be rendered to water � the confident that it could not be completed in season for opening the exhibition on the first of may as promised � all found an echo on our shores and now the tidings that all these doubts have been these difficulties removed will have been hailed there with satisfaction i trust gentlemen that among the ultimate fruits of this exhibition we are to reckon a wider and deeper appreciation of the worth of labor and especially of those captains of industry by whose and achievements our race is so rapidly borne onward in its progress to a and more destiny we shall not be likely to appreciate less fully the merits of the wise by whose measures a people s and happiness are promoted � of the brave soldier who joyfully out his blood in of the rights or in of the honor of his country � of the sacred teacher by whose and example our steps are guided in the pathway to heaven � if we render fit honor also to those captains of whose no river and whose conquering march is by the tears of the widow and the cries of the orphan i give you therefore the health of esq of the crystal palace � honor to him whose genius does honor to industry and to man if the reader shall discern in the above which is as nearly literal as may be � i having only recollection to depend on the reason why the times saw fit to suppress not merely the remarks but the words of the toast and the name of the i shall be satisfied though i think the exposure of that s argument for dear newspapers as to cheap ones on the ground that the former always gave fa t and ce fc x of exhibition meetings while the latter never is worth the space i have given to this i am very sure that if my remarks had been deemed to myself or my country they would have been fully reported in the times exhibition the queen and prince spent an hour in the american department a few mornings since and appeared tb regard the articles there displayed with deep interest prince who is esteemed here not merely a man of sterling good sense but thoroughly in and expressed much surprise at the variety of our and the utility and excellence of many of them i mention this because there are some americans here who declare themselves ashamed of their country because of the of its share in the exhibition i do not suppose their country will deem it worth while to return the compliment but i should have been far more ashamed of the and want of sense evinced in sending an profusion of american than i am of the actual state of the case it is true as i have already stated that we are deficient in some which might have been sent here with advantage to the and with credit to the country but for americans to send here articles of luxury and fashion to be exhibited in competition with all the and of europe which must have beaten them if only by the force of mere quantity alone would have evinced a want of sense and consideration which i trust is not our national characteristic if i ever do feel ashamed in the american department it is on observing a pair of very well shaped and exquisitely finished oars a present for the prince of wales or something of the sort spare me the necessity of blushing for what we have there and i am safe enough from shame on account of our l � at mr a c of the lock making concern of day has improved his leisure here in picking a bank lock of mr the great english and he now gives notice that he can pick any of s locks or any other based on similar principles as he is willing to in any fair trial i trust he will have a chance the queen the exhibition for a time this week and to her house on the
| 19 |
seem less strange if i give the purport of the dialogue interrupted some time back margaret went on to say � then in that case you can easily make him fancy you and for my sake you must for my conscience it me and i must needs fit him with a wife the best i know margaret then instructed to be always kind and good humoured to and she would be a model of to him � but be not thou so simple as to run me down said she leave that to me make thou excuses me i will make myself black received these instructions like an to sweep a room and obeyed them when they subjected poor to thi double for a couple of years he got tc look upon margaret as fog and wind an as his sunshine and his affections transferred themselves and he scarce knew how oi when on the wedding day embraced margaret and thanked her almost with tears he wa always my said she firom the first hour i clapped eyes on you never told me that what are you as sly as the rest nay nay said eagerly but i thought you would really part with him to me in my country the mistress looks to be before the maid margaret settled them in her shop and them f the profits and were years of great trouble tc whose conscience compelled him to oppose the pope his with the grey in their to swamp every palpable distinction between the virgin mary and her son the christian world into his by pardon of all sins to such as would add to the ave mary this and blessed be thy mother from whom without blot of original sin proceeded thy virgin flesh in common with many of the northern clergy held this sentence to be flat he not only refused to utter it in his church but warned his against using it in private and he refused to the new feast the pope invented at the same time the feast of the miraculous conception of the virgin but this drew upon him the bitter enmity of the and they were strong enough to put him into more than one serious difficulty and ii many a little mortification on him in he consulted margaret and she always did one of two things either she said i do not see my way and refused to guess or else she gave him advice that proved wonderfully sagacious he had genius but she had marvellous tact and where affection came in and the woman s judgment he stepped in his turn to her aid thus though she knew she was little and was him for life she would not part with him but kept him at home and his abilities and there was a shrewd boy of nine years instead of learning to work and obey playing about and learning selfishness from their infinite and thk and the hearth with a rod of iron over two women both of them sagacious and spirited but reduced by their fondness for him to the exact level of saw this with pain and interfered with mild but firm remonstrance and after a considerable struggle prevailed and got little sent to tl e best school in europe kept by one at this was in many tears were shed but the great progress the boy made at that famous school reconciled margaret in some degree and the fidelity of now her partner in business enabled her to spend weeks at a time hovering over her boy at and so the years and these two persons subjected to as strong and constant a temptation as can well be conceived were each other s guardian angels and not each other s to be sure the well morality of the next century which taught that solemn vows to god are sacred in proportion as they are reasonable had at that time entered no single mind and the alternative to these two minds was self denial or it was a strange thing to hear them talk with tenderness to one another of their boy and an icy barrier between themselves all the time eight years had now passed thus and fairly compared with men in general was happy but margaret was not the habitual expression of her face was a sweet but sometimes she was irritable and a little she even snapped now and then and when she went to see him if a was with him she would turn her back and go home she hated the for having parted and her and she her boy with a contempt for them which lasted him till his dying day bore with her like an angel he knew ber heart of gold and hoped this ill gust would blow over he himself being now the right man in the right place this many years loving his and beloved by them and occupied from till night in good works recovered the natural of his disposition to tell the truth a part of his was a blind he was the greatest except mr harmony in the play that ever was bom he reconciled more enemies in ten years than his had done in three hundred and one of his in the art was to make the laugh at the cause of quarrel so did he the demon of discord but of that he really loved a harmless joke he was a wonderful of animals c so half in jest a who had a mule supposed to be possessed with a devil gave it him and said tame this parson if ye can well in about six months heaven knows how he not only tamed jack but won his to such a degree that jack would come running to his whistle like a dog one day having taken shelter a shower on the stone settle outside a certain public house he
| 9 |
that s so uke all of em � that s a th and were silent and and tbe conductor came in he bad once called at office to ask about h are you mr we to you witb us to this your boy yes this is my son ted well now what do you know about that i here i thinking you were a ter yourself not a d over hardly and you with this great big fellow forty why brother ni never see forty five again is that a wouldn t hardly a thought it yes sir it s a bad give away for the old man when he has to travel with a young whale like ted you re right it is to ted i suppose you re in college now proudly no not till next fall i m just kind of i the dis rent the once over now as the conductor went on his way huge against bis blue chest and ted gravely they arrived at late at ni t lay in the morning pretty nice not to have to get q and get down to breakfast they were stay ing at uie hotel because business men always stayed at tbe but tb had dinner in the crystal room of the ordered blue point with a witb a tremendous of potatoes � o pots of pie with ice cream foe both ri than an for ted an extra piece of pie d n by � hot staff some feed ted admired � stick with me man and you a good tbey went to a musical comedy and each other at the matrimonial jokes and the jokes they the arm in arm between acts and in the g ee of bis release from the shame which fathers and sons ted chuckled did you ever hear the one about the three and the judge when ted had returned to was lonely as he was trying to make alliance between and certain interests which wanted the race track plot most of his time was taken up in waiting for calls sitting on the edge of his bed holding the asking wearily mr not in yet didn be leave any for me all right hold the wire staring at a on the wall reflecting that it resembled a shoe and bored by this twentieth that it resembled a shoe lighting a then to the with no ash tray in reach wondering what to do with this burning and trying to toss it into the at last on the no message eh all right call again one afternoon he wandered snow streets of which he had never heard streets of small and houses and cottages it came to him that he had nothing to do that there was nothing he wanted t� do he was lonely in the evening when he dined by at the hotel he sat in the afterward m a chair with the arms lifting a cigar and for some one who would come and play with him and save him from thinking in the chair next to him showing the arms of was a familiar man large red faced man with pop es and a deficient d n by he seemed kind and insignificant and as as himself he wore a and a e tie it came to with a t the stranger was sir instinctively rose how tt you sir p member we met in at s s my real estate how d you do sir shook hands embarrassed standing wondering how be could retreat well i suppose been having a great trip since we saw you in quite british and and all over the place he said doubtfully looking at how did you find business conditions in british or i suppose maybe you didn t lo � into em scenery and and so cm scenery oh capital but business � know mr they re having almost as much ment ss we are sir was speaking warmly now so business conditions not so good di no business conditions weren t at all what i d hoped tr find them not good eh no not � not really good that s a dam shame � i you re waiting tar somebody to take you out to some big sir oh vo to tell you the truth i was wondering what the deuce i could do this evening don t know a soul in i wonder if you happen to know � there s a good in this city good why say they re grand open ri t i guess maybe you d like that eh eh went to the opera once in london d n by garden sort of no i was wondering if there was a good � was sitting down his i r over shouting say sir i supposed of course you had a of waiting to lead you out to some � god forbid � but if you what do you say you and me go to a there s a of a at the in a picture t ol just a moment while i get my coat with greatness slightly afraid lest the noble mood of change its mind and leave him at any street comer with sir to the palace and in ent bliss sat beside him trying not to be too enthusiastic lest the knight his adoration of and at the end sir murmured jolly good picture this so awfully decent of you to take me haven t enjoyed myself so much for weeks all these � they never let you go to the the devil you s had lost the delicate refinement and all the broad a s with which he had adorned it and become hearty and natural well i m to death you like it sir they crawled past the knees of fat into the aisle they stood in the waving their arms in the of putting on
| 42 |
he became what he ought to be � useful to his father steady and quiet and not living merely for himself here was comfort indeed and quite as soon as sir thomas could place dependence on such sources of good was to his father s ease by improvement in the only point in which he had given him pain before � improvement in his spirits after wandering about and sitting under trees with all the summer evenings he had so well talked his mind into submission as to be very tolerably cheerful again these were the circumstances and the hopes which gradually brought their to sir thomas his sense of what was lost and in part him to himself though the anguish arising from the conviction of his own errors in the education of his daughters was never to be entirely done away too late he became aware how to the character of an young people must be the totally opposite treatment which maria and had been always at where the excessive indulgence and flattery of their aunt had been continually contrasted the home of the iu london chapters from jane with his own severity he saw how ill he had judged in expecting to what was wrong in mrs by its reverse in himself clearly saw that he had but increased the evil by teaching them to repress their spirits in his presence as to make their real disposition unknown to him and sending them for all their to a person who had been able to attach them only by the blindness of her affection and the excess of her praise here had been grievous but bad as it was he grew to feel that it had not been the most mistake in his plan of education something must have been wanting within or time would have worn much of its ill effect he feared that principle active principle had been wanting that they had never been taught to govern their inclinations and b that sense of duty which can alone suffice they had been instructed in their religion but never required to bring it into daily practice to be distinguished for elegance and accomplishments � the object of their � could have had no useful influence that way no moral effect on the mind he had meant them to be good but his cares had been directed to the understanding and manners not the disposition and of the necessity of and he feared the had never heard from any lips that could profit them bitterly did he a deficiency which now he could scarcely comprehend to have been possible did he feel that with all the cost and care of an anxious and expensive education he had brought up his daughters without their understanding their first duties or his being acquainted with their character and temper the high spirit and strong passions of mrs especially were made known to him only in their sad result she was not to be prevailed on to leave mr she hoped to marry him and they continued park together till she was obliged to be convinced that such hope was vain and till the disappointment and arising from the conviction rendered her temper so bad and her feelings for him so like hatred as to make them for a while each other s punishment and then induce a voluntary separation she had lived with him to be reproached as the ruin of all his happiness in and carried no better consolation in leaving him than that she had divided them what can exceed the misery of such a mind in such a situation mr had no in a divorce and so ended a acted under such circumstances as to make better end the effect of good luck not to be reckoned on she had despised him and loved another and he had been very much aware that it was so the of stupidity and the x of selfish passion can excite little pit his punishment followed his conduct as did a deeper punishment the deeper guilt of his wife he was released from the engagement to be and till some other girl could attract him into matrimony again and he might set forward a second and it is to be hoped more prosperous trial of the state � if to be at least with good humor and good luck while she must withdraw with infinitely stronger feelings to a retirement and reproach which could allow no second spring of hope or character where she could be placed became a subject of most melancholy and momentous consultation mrs whose attachment seemed to with the of her niece would have had her received at home and b all sir thomas would not hear of it and mrs s anger against was so much the greater from considering her residence there as the motive she persisted in placing his scruples to her account though sir thomas solemnly assured her that had there been no young woman in question chapters from jane had there been no young i of either sex belonging to him to be b the society or hurt by the character of mrs rush worth he would never have offered so great an insult to the neighborhood as to expect it to notice her as a daughter � he hoped a penitent one � she should be protected by him and ed in ever comfort and supported by encouragement to do right which their relative situations admitted but farther than that he would not go maria had destroyed her own character and he would not by a vain attempt to restore what never could be restored be affording his sanction to vice or in seeking to lessen its disgrace be to introducing such misery in another man s family as he had known himself it ended in mrs s to quit and devote herself to her unfortunate maria and in an establishment being
| 26 |
fool as to think of giving it up for a foolish love dream she looked more than handsome � she looked as she advanced with a soft luminous gaze to meet and asked his pardon for the trouble she had given him but something has occurred since last night my dear friend she said that makes it necessary for me to take a short sea voyage my doctor is rather alarmed about my health and on my obedience so as i have always had a supreme longing to visit your delightful country i have decided to go to america for the autumn and want you to tell me the best means of getting there you must know so much she concluded as she slipped her arm through his ah mrs der exclaimed the colonel patting her little hand why can t you make up your mind to let me take you there you should travel like a queen loo and there s a house waiting for you in new york city that might satisfy an say the word by the fate of mrs der say the word and you ll make me the happiest man in the united states but there is an obstacle to our marriage she whispered perhaps an one had it not been so i should have said yes last night dollars can overcome all obstacles replied the colonel what is it i guess it ll make no difference between us i have a little nephew the orphan child of an only sister now deceased and i will marry no man who asks me to leave him behind that man won t be myself mrs der bring him along by all means there s room in the states for another boy or two and i ll do by him as if he were my own oh you are too good too good exclaimed fervently as she pressed his hand the was not young and in no mind to wait besides which he was anxious to get back to his own country so as the lady s wishes appeared to with his own they arranged matters to their mutual satisfaction that evening and in a fortnight were married at a s office in london without anyone but themselves being the wiser for the transaction had pleaded for secrecy lest her friends should interfere to prevent her leaving england and the colonel had arrived at that age when a man all and fuss so de was transformed into mrs colonel as if by by marry at magic and went home to the hotel with her husband as if they had been married for twenty years four days after a well known steamer was to start from liverpool for new york and their were already secured on board of her and now said with a winning smile the day before they started you must let me run down into colonel and fetch my little nephew that s a long way said colonel hadn t i better go for you oh no no i couldn t hear of it the little fellow would be frightened out of his senses at the sight of a stranger he is terribly sensitive i can never him away but by pretending we are going to meet his poor dear mother very well mrs have it your own way replied the colonel who was beaming with pride in the possession of so handsome a wife so armed with lord francis s card down on the following day to where s sister mrs was staying with her own son and little this was the s revenge she had heard while at of s destination and knew that in so small a place she would experience little difficulty in finding out which house was occupied by mrs by the fa te of she disliked children as most women of her stamp do but she felt she could no vengeance on lord francis and his wife than by them of their son and heir so dearly loved by both of them her marriage had been conducted so secretly that she was most unlikely to be recognized as mrs and once she had got the boy to america she believed that he would be lost what was to follow after that or whether the game would be worth the candle to her she never stayed to consider mrs while engaged over her midday meal with the children was much surprised to hear that a lady wished to speak to her still more so when on entering the drawing room she saw the attired mrs you are doubtless surprised to receive a call from a perfect stranger madam commenced with her charming accent but time did not permit me to prepare you for my appearance i come as a messenger from lord francis i am an intimate friend of his and of his poor dear wife indeed said mrs gravely her first opinion of s conduct had been to horror when the news of the murder and the trial were made public and she had only taken charge of under protest � he urgent of her er � and by marry at because she had felt it to be a christian duty to keep the poor child as far as possible from hearing the terrible things that were said of his mother but her dislike of the subject was so great that when said she was an intimate friend of the she shrunk from her with ill concealed aversion indeed she slowly yes and have been so for years this has been a terribly sad affair for them both but let us hope the worst is over lord francis feels naturally that it is best they should spend the next few years at least out of england therefore they start for the to morrow and wish naturally to take with them lord francis is then reconciled to his wife oh yes
| 4 |
and swiftly increased a storm of the most awful and earth sounds shall i own to you that i fell upon my face and shrieked and yet this was but the train winding among the near mountains the very means of my salvation the strong wings that were to carry me from when i was dressed the guide gave me a bag which contained he said both money and papers and telling me that i was already over the borders in the territory of bade me follow the stream until i reached the railway station half a mile below here he added is your ticket as far as council the east express will pass in a few hours with that he took both horses and without further words or any salutation rode oflf by the way that we had come three hours afterwards i was seated on the end platform of the train as it swept eastward through the and thundered in of the mountain the change of scene the sense of escape the still throbbing terror of pursuit thb � above all the magic of my new conveyance kept me from any logical or melancholy thought i had gone to the doctor s house two nights before prepared to die for worse than death what had passed terrible although it was looked almost bright compared to my and it was not till i had slept a full night in the flying palace car that i awoke to the sense of my loss and to some reasonable alarm about the future in this mood i examined the contents of the bag it was well supplied with gold it tickets and complete directions for my journey as far as liverpool and a long letter from the doctor supplying me with a name and story the most guarded silence and bidding me to await faithfully the coming of his son all then had been arranged beforehand he had counted upon my consent and what was worse upon my mother s voluntary death my horror of my only friend my aversion for this son who was to marry me my revolt against the whole current and conditions of my life were now complete i was sitting by my distress and helplessness when to my joy a very pleasant lady offered me her conversation i clutched at the relief and i was soon telling her the story in the doctor s letter how i was a miss of city going to the angel england to an uncle what money i had what family my age and so forth i had exhausted my instructions and as the lady still continued to me with questions began to on my own account this soon carried one of my beyond her depth and i had already remarked a shadow on the lady s face when a gentleman drew near and very addressed me miss i believe said he and then himself to the lady by the authority of my guardian drew me to the fore platform of the car miss he said in my ear is it possible that you suppose yourself in safety let me completely you one more such and you return to and in the meanwhile if this woman should again address you you are to reply with these words madam i do not like you and i will be obliged if you will suffer me to choose my own associates alas i had to do as i was bid this lady to whom i already felt myself drawn with the strongest of sympathy i dismissed with insult and through all that day i sat in silence gazing on the bare plains and my tears let that suffice it was the pattern of my journey whether on the train at the hotels or on board the ocean steamer i never exchanged a friendly word the angel with any fellow but i was certain to be interrupted in every place on every side the most unlikely persons man or woman rich or poor became to forward me upon my journey or to observe and my conduct thus i crossed the states thus passed the ocean the eye still following my movements and when at length a cab had set me down before that london lodging house from which you saw me this morning i had already ceased to struggle and ceased to hope the landlady like every one else through all that journey was expecting my arrival a fire was lighted in my room which looked upon the garden there were books on the table clothes in the drawers and there i had almost said with contentment and certainly with resignation i saw month follow month over my head at times my landlady took me for a walk or an excursion but she would never suffer me to leave the house alone and i seeing that she also lived under the shadow of that terror felt too much pity to resist to the child bom on soil as to the man who the engagements of a secret order no e is possible so i had clearly read and i was thankful even for this meanwhile i tried honestly to prepare my mind for my approaching the day drew the angel near when my bridegroom was to visit me and gratitude and fear alike obliged me to consent a son of doctor s be he what he pleased must still be young and it was even probable he should be handsome on more than that i felt i dared not reckon and in my mind toward consent i dwelt the more carefully on these physical attractions which i felt i might expect and averted my eyes from moral or intellectual considerations we have a great power upon our spirits and as time passed i worked myself into a frame of acquiescence nay and i began to grow impatient for the hour at night sleep me i sat
| 38 |
and a with her apron thrown over her face and head stood in the who is it said the woman mr much amazed by this appearance replied that he was ham italy and that he wished to ask a question relative to the missing person whom he knew hi cried the woman a cracked voice upon this a dry old man appeared whom mr thought he identified by his as the rusty screw the woman was under of the dry old man for she her apron away as he and a pale face open the door fool said the old man and let the gentleman in mr not without a glance over his shoulder towards his driver and the walked into the dim hall now sir said mr j ou can iii iv yoa k are no here bit before a could be made h a i from above is it returned a italy bring him up here i l an if ho bat to mr said t h� l u like i ll you the he hen s r up staircase that not him on the road saw the woman her m over her head again in her former mrs had her open on r � said she as she eyed her visitor with n � tend look are from sir are you was at u loss fur any al moment ha � well where is missing man you rome to na tion where he is i hope you have � so far from it � hum � come to tion unfortunately for us i� none to be got the the liim u t� aw hold the for him to rt it did as be d and ur it as if he had not seen it enough of far opportunity of collecting his presence of mind the air af house and of the people in it had n while hi were on tlie paper he felt that the eyes of mr af mrs were on him he when he looked up lu sensation not a now you know as much said mrs a� m is mr s friend of yours no � a � hum � an mr tou have no on from bim perhaps i c not tlie searching look turned gradually to the floor after mi s face in its way mr l j that he the questioned instead of the applied m� � v to the of that unexpected order of things i am � � a gentleman of property at in my my servants ami � hum � my lor t if being in london for a short time on � ha � my estate and hearing of strange i la make myself d with the at hand there is � ha hum � an english gentleman in italy whom i shall no doubt sec on my return h ts been in of e and with mr yoa ni ver of it t ir � to � ha � make the narrative and to him said mi may i ask � say three questions if you choose h te you known long d mr flint here will refer to the and tell you when and by whom at paris he was introduced to us if that mrs added should be any satisfaction if it is poor tb lis � u f f mb � i e and m ir said mr with a ing fancy upon him as b d his that he in su i way in tbe of the pray i for the greater satisfaction of the gentleman wh m i have the honor ha � or or let ale s� t to� hum � know � to know � was here on business on the night indicated in this on what he called business returned is � ha e e is its nature to be communicated so � � � � it t pass the barrier of that reply the question has been asked before said mrs and the been no we don t choose to publish our to all the town we say no i mean he took no money with him for example said mr he to k away none of ours sir and got none here observed mr glancing from mrs to mr and from mr to mrs you have no way of to yourself for this mystery why do you suppose so rejoined mrs by the cold and mr was unable to any reason for his supposing so i account for it sir she pursued after an awkward silence on mr part by having no doubt that he is travelling somewhere er somewhere do you ha � why he should hide no it was exactly the same no as before and ut another barrier up you asked me if i accounted for the disappearance to myself mrs sternly reminded him not if i accounted for it to you i do not pretend to account for it to you sir i it to be no more my business to do that than it is yours to require that mr answered with an bend of his head as he stepped back preparatory to saying he had no more to ask he could not but observe now and she sat with her eyes fastened on the and a certain air upon her of resolute waiting also how exactly the self same expression was reflected in mr standing at a little distance from v x t i at i the ground his right hand mistress of tho thi dropped tu d sod urn good it is again if any at all it n ai su alight tbat ae bare fallen into a confirmed ut ur believed he did bear a c the ti leaves the woman s for a very seemed to the three and they mr was the first to stir he ut her witli bis ck i u i with
| 8 |
to that point of wanting to you know it may be questioned therefore whether anyone but mr es had much enjoyment of the time mr however y enjoyed yoimg as a mere of the golden water in tlie tale become a full fountain when it was poured out so mr o seemed to feel that this small of to his the flavor of the whole family tree in its presence his frank fine genuine qualities he was not so easy he was not so natural he was striving after something that did not belong to him he was not himself what a strange peculiarity on the part of mr and where should we find such another case at last the wet sunday wore itself out in a wet night and went home in a cab feebly smoking and uie objection je went away on foot accompanied by the objectionable dog had taken the most amiable pains all day to be friendly with but had been a little reserved since breakfast � that is to say would have been if he had loved her when he had gone to his own room and had again thrown himself into the chair by the fire mr knocked at the door candle in hand to ask him how and at what hour he returning on the morrow after settling this question he said a word to mr about tliis � who would have run in his head a good deal jf he had been his rival those are not good prospects for a painter said ko returned mr stood chamber in hand the other hand in his pocket looking hard at the flame of his candle with a certain quiet perception in his face that they were going to say something more i thought our good friend a little changed and out of spirits after came this morning said yes returned but not his daughter said iso said was a pause on both sides mr still looking at the flame of his candle slowly the truth is he has twice taken his daughter abroad in the ho o of separating her from mr he rather thinks she is disposed to like him and be has doubts i quite agree with bim as i dare say you do of the of a marriage choked and and stopped yes you hare taken cold said daniel but without looking at him is an engagement between them of course said no as i am told certainly not it has been on the gentleman s part but none has been made since their recent return mr mend has yielded to a weekly visit but that is the utmost would not deceive her father and mother you have travelled with them and i you know what a bond there is among em extending even beyond this present life all that there is l miss and mr i have no doubt we see ah we see enough cried arthur mr wished him good night in the tone of a man who had a not to say despairing exclamation and who sought some encouragement and hope into the mind of the person t y whom it had been uttered such tone was probably a part of his as one of a band for how could he have heard any of that kind without s hearing it too i the rain fell heavily on the roof and on the ground and among the and the branches of the trees the i p fell heavily it was a night of tears f � if had not decided against in love with pet if he had the to do it if he had little by little persuaded to set all the earnestness of his nature all the might of his and all the wealth of his character on that cast if he h d done this and found that was lost he would have been that miserable as it was as it was the rain fell chapter little s lover had not attained her twenty second birthday without a lover even in the sallow the ever young hot off a few arrows now and then from a bow d winged a or two little s er however was not a he was the son of a his father hoped in the fulness of c to leave him the inheritance of an key and had from early youth him with the duties of his office and with ii ambition to retain the prison lock in the family while the was yet in he assisted his mother in the conduct of a tobacco business round the comer of lane his little � being a non resident which could command a neat within the college walls years when the object of his affections was wont to sit in her little arm chair by the high lodge john family name a year older than herself had eyed her with admiring wonder when he had played with her in the yard his had been to her up in comers and to letting her out for real kisses when he grew tall enough to peep through l� c of the great lock of the main door he had divers times set down his other s dinner or supper to get on as it might on the outer side thereof while he stood taking cold in one eye by dint of peeping at her through that airy perspective if young john had ever in his truth in the less days of his boyhood when youth is prone to wear its boots and is happily unconscious of organs he had soon strung it up again and it tight at nineteen his hand had inscribed in chalk on that part of the wall which her lodging on the occasion of her birthday welcome sweet of the at twenty three the same hand presented cigars on sundays to the father of c and father of
| 8 |
to all have oi ns which they cherish with anything whereon to employ tlie natural presumption that ver stood the and f of centuries is in nature and the divine purpose is invincible i grant you says the that many things seem rather out of tune but what then is it my duty to upset what so many great and good men have left untouched and some of them have expressly commended that the world is full of ignorance and wrong crime and woe is very true but cannot help that and it wiu do no good to shed of tears over it and try to put others into mourning no let us take things as we find them relieve distress when we can afford it and float along as nearly with the current as wiu answer bad as the world is a man with good fortune which health a reasonable self control a tolerably clear conscience a well filled store house and a fair balance with his banker may extract a good deal of enjoyment from it if he will wisely improve his opportunities and not insist on making himself miserable by too deeply in the miseries of others millions live all of this who do not say more than half of it perhaps one of the most instructive spectacles is that of the impulsive young a gradual � formation or off into a staid respectable th property to care for a position to maintain and a reputation to cherish he was honest of and is honest as the world goes now but circumstances alter cases when he against the or of lands he had none of his own but he has since become seized as the ers say of a snug estate and he would not like to have any one seize it away from him it may be larger than one man absolutely needs but he wants to improve it and it wiu cut up nicely among his rather numerous children or so he liim an elegant mansion and fills it with evidences of taste and ministers to luxury and sits down to contemplate matters in general more calmly and than he did in his impulsive headlong youth and the great world without takes on a very different aspect viewed through his elegant liis velvet lawn and colored by the of generous which often gets between his eyes and the distant prospect from that it wore when viewed with naked or with only a cup of crystal water between him and and the sun yes he says slowly and languidly there is need of reform but let it be and these modem are different from those of my young days they are rash reckless destructive i can have no sympathy no fellowship with such true you can have none but did you say sir ah no of any depth will never be urged and cautiously for if their were prudent they would not be at all very likely prudence may step in at the moment and successfully between heedless and stubborn reaction but to wait for prudence to a reform is to wait for death to life � and indeed the embarrassment of headlong is one of the chief sorrows of the s lot he can never say a without some one else following with a b which he is sure does not belong to the same but this the other as confidently and the whole party backs the latter with all its force s career was perpetually made by this sort of and knew exactly from wliat to draw the most deadly shafts to against the advancing hosts of the if you assert this how will you defend your position against him who will assert that if you put the bible above the church how answer him who puts reason above the bible if you insist that every man shall be allowed to vote how resist the demand that every woman be equally if you how justify punishment at au i think it was who observed that there never yet was a reform proposed that might not have been defeated by giving adequate weight to the question if you go so far why not farther if this be right is not more equally right and where can you stop and thus many a fiery radical has been cooled down into placid or by discovering that the character of his associates the tendency of their doctrines the ends which they contemplated were such as he could never approve i presume there are not many worthy of the who ever anticipated fame or wealth as a result of their labors in the cause of humanity yet i recollect an application once made to me by a particularly green youth who wished employment as a writer or urging as an that he thought he could some forcible essay in favor of the wherein i was deeply interested my friend i felt constrained to reply i can very easily write myself quite as much in favor of those as the public will bear another such hand at the would ruin me many faults but it is a good while is out at the elbows and may toss you its purse with ever so an air but all you take by the motion is a poor worth of dried true now and then a lives to fight out his special battle and secure the hard won triumph of his well directed effort but by this time has taken the into snug house there to and cherish it as her o vn while has swept on to new efforts new struggles perhaps ultimately new triumphs so the forlorn stands shivering at the door which has his darling he cannot hope to overtake the rushing host which is now far on its eager way and indeed he has no heart for the attempt so he commonly ends by begging into the mansion and
| 19 |
blankets a lady s life in in and in half an hour i was all right and ready for a ferocious meal m if there s a traveller on the to night god help him the host had said to hie wife just before i came in i found there storm stayed and that � tc his great credit at the time � my money matters were all right after the sound and refreshing sleep which one gets in this splendid climate i was ready for an early start but warned by yesterday s experience waited till twelve to be sure of the weather the air was intensely clear and the seventeen degrees below the snow sparkled and snapped under one s feet it was beautiful in this climate if you only go out for a short time you do not feel cold even without a hat or any additional i bought a for myself however and some thick got some stout for s hind feet had a pleasant talk with some english friends did some for the men in the park and hung about waiting for a freight train to break the track but eventually by the good news from you left alone and for the last time i little thought that miserable day on which i arrived at it with dr and mrs of the glories of which it was the gate and of the good time i should have now i am at home in it every one in it and along the t addresses me in a friendly way by � the rocky mountains name and the newspapers with their intolerable personality have made me and my riding exploits so notorious that travellers speak courteously to me when they meet me on the doubtless wishing to see what sort of monster i am have met nothing but civility both of manner and speech except that pistol shot it looked beautiful the snow so pure and the sky such a bright sharp blue the snow was so deep and level that after a few miles i left the track and for storm peak rode sixteen miles over the without seeing man bird or beast � a solitude awful even in the bright sunshine the cold always great became piteous i increased the of yesterday by exposing my hand in mending the and when the sun sank in indescribable beauty behind the mountains and colour in the sky i got off and walked the last four miles and stole in here in the coloured twilight without any one seeing me the life of which wrote before is scarcely less severe though lightened by a hope of change and this weather brings out some special the stove has to be in the living room the children cannot go out and good and delightful as they are it is hard for them to be shut up all day with four it is more of a trouble than you would think for a lady in precarious health that before each meal a lady s life in xvi eggs butter milk preserves and have to bt unless they are kept on the stove there is no part of the room in which they do not it is uninteresting down here in the i long for the rushing winds the piled up peaks the great pines the wild night noises the poetry and the prose of the free jolly life of my i can hardly that the river which lies ice bound outside this house is the same which flashes through park and which i saw snow born on long s peak park december yesterday morning the had disappeared so it was � below at least i lay awake from cold all night but such is the wonderful effect of the climate that when i got up at five to the household for my early start i felt quite refreshed we on beef and i left at eight to ride forty five miles before night dr and a gentleman who was staying there me the first miles i did like that ride racing with the other through the air in that indescribable sunshine the snow from the horses feet like dust i was soon warm we stopped at a s to feed and the old amused me by seeming to think park almost inaccessible in winter the distance was the rocky mountains greater than i had been told and he said that could not get there before eleven at night and not at all if there was much drift i wanted the gentlemen to go on with me as far as the devil s gate but they could not because their horses were tired and when the heard that he exclaimed indignantly what that woman going into the mountains alone she ll lose the track or be to death but when i told him i had ridden the trail in the storm of tuesday and had ridden over six hundred miles alone in the mountains he treated me with great respect as a fellow and gave me some matches saying you ll have to camp out anyhow you d better make a fire than be to death the idea of my spending the night in the forest alone by a fire struck me as most grotesque we did not start again till one and the two gentlemen rode the first two miles with me on that track the little there a full stream has to be crossed eighteen times and they had been wood across it breaking it and it had broken and several times making thick and thin places � indeed there were which even i thought bad where the ice let us through and it was hard for the horses to struggle upon it again and one of the gentlemen who though a most accomplished man was not a was once or twice a lady s life in in the ludicrous
| 20 |
to me there is a poultry lecture at the to night do yon think you could bring your sister with you we did use to keep a great many at home and had the feeding of them and now she s turned them and she wants to live in town and she even tells pat she would not marry a farmer however much he was worth but if you tell her that pat will be at the lecture will she come yes your reverence if she believes me then do as i bid you said the priest you can tell her that pat will be there chap ii after leaving the priest ned crossed over the road to avoid the public house and went for a walk on the hills it was about � ye when he turned towards the village on his way there he met his father and ned told him that he had been to see the priest and that he was going to take mary to the lecture they re quarrelling at home michael was very tired and he thought it was pretty hard to come home after a long day s work to find his wife and daughter quarrelling i am sorry your dinner isn t ready father said but it won t be long now i ll cut the bacon i met ned on the road her father answered it s sorry i am that he has gone to fetch mary he s going to take her to the lecture on poultry keeping at the ah he has been to the priest has he said and her mother asked her why she said that and the began again ned was the there was generally quiet in the cabin when he was there and he dropped in as michael was finishing his dinner bringing with him mary a small fair girl who everybody said would keep his cabin tidy his mother and sisters were broad shouldered women with blue black hair and red cheeks and it was said that he had said he would like to bring a little fair hair in the we ve just looked in for a minute said mary ned said that perhaps you d be coming with us all the boys in the village will be there to night said ned you had better come with us and pretending he wanted to get a coal of fire to light his pipe ned whispered to as he passed her pat will be there she looked at the striped � he had brought back from the s � she had once been to a � but ned said that a storm was � blowing and she had better leave the behind the rain beat in their faces and the wind came sweeping down the mountain and made them sometimes the road went straight on sometimes it turned suddenly and went after walking for a mile they came to the a number of men were waiting outside and one of the boys told them that the priest had said they were to keep a for the and ned said that he had better stay with them that his lantern would be useful to show her the way the women had collected into one comer and the priest was walking up and down a long smoky room his hands thrust into the pockets of his overcoat now he stopped in his walk to two children who were trying to light a fire in a grate don t be tired go on blowing he said yon are the child i have seen this long while ned came in and blew out his lantern but the lady he had mistaken for the was a lady who had come to live in the neighbourhood lately and the priest said you must be very much interested in poultry ma am to come out on such a night as this the lady stood shaking her now then run to your mother and get the lady a chair and when the child came back with the chair and the lady was seated by the fire he said i m thinking there will be no here to night and that it would be kind of you if you were to give the lecture yourself you have read some books about poultry i am sure well a but oh that doesn t matter said the priest i m sure the book you have read is full of instruction he walked up the room towards a group of men and told them they must cease talking and coming back to the young woman he said we shall be much obliged if you will say a few words about poultry just say what you have in your mind about the different the young woman again protested but the priest said you will do it very nicely and he spoke like one who is not accustomed to being we will give the five minutes more is there no farmer s wife who could speak the young lady asked in a fluttering voice she d know much more than i i see m hale there she has done very well with her poultry i say she has said the priest but the people would pay no attention to her she is one of themselves it would be no amusement to them to hear her the young lady asked if she might have five minutes to a few notes the priest said he would wait a few minutes but it did not matter much what she said but couldn t dance or sing said the young lady dancing and singing said the priest no and the young lady hurriedly a few notes about fowls for fowls for regular feed f warm houses and something about a of matter she had not half finished when the priest said now will you stand over there near the whom shall
| 15 |
but she never to move she d got a big piece of bread on her lap adam had ven a faint of despair while this witness was speaking he had hidden his face on his arm which rested on the boarding in front of him it waa the supreme moment of his suffering was guilty and he was silently calling to god for help he heard no more of the evidence and was unconscious when the case for the had closed � unconscious that mr was in the witness box telling of s character in her own parish and of the virtuous habits in which she had been brought up this testimony could have no influence on the verdict but it was given as part of that plea for mercy which own counsel would have made if he had been allowed to speak for her � a favor not granted to in those stem times at last adam lifted np his head for there was a general movement him the judge had addressed the jury and they were retiring the decisive moment was not far adam felt a shuddering horror that would not let him look at but she had into her blank hard indifference ail eyes were ed to look at her but she stood like a statue of dull despair there was a mingled rustling whispering and low throughout the court during this interval the desire to listen was suspended and every one had some feeling or opinion to express in under tones adam sat looking before him but he did not see the objects that were right in front of his eyes � tlie counsel and talking with an of business and mr in low conversation with the judge did not see mr sit down a in a and his head when somebody whispered to him the inward action was too intense for adam to in outward objects some strong sensation roused him it was not very long hardly more a quarter of an before the knock which told that the jury had come to their decision fell as a signal for silence on every ear it is sublime � that sudden pause of a great multitude which tells that one soul moves in all deeper and deeper the silence seemed to become like the deepening night while the s names were called over and the prisoner was made to hold up her hand and the jury were asked for their verdict guilty it the verdict every one expected but there was a sigh of disappointment from some hearts that it was followed by no recommendation to mercy still the sympathy of the court was not with the prisoner the of her crime stood out the more harshly by the side of her hard and obstinate silence even the verdict to distant eyes had not appeared to move her but those who were near saw her trembling the stillness was less intense until the judge put on his black cap and the in his was observed behind him then it deepened again before the had had time to command silence if any sound were heard it must have been the sound of beating hearts the judge spoke the blood to s face and then fled back again as she looked up at the judge and kept her wide open eyes fixed on him as if fascinated by fear adam had not yet turned toward her there was a deep horror like a great gulf between them but at the words � and then to be hanged by the neck till you be dead a piercing shriek rang through the hall it was s shriek adam started to his feet and stretched out his arms toward her but the ai ms could not reach her she had fallen down in a fit and was carried out of court adam chapter s arthur landed at liverpool read the letter from his aunt briefly announcing his grandfather s his first feeling was poor grandfather i could have got to to be with him when he died he might have felt or wished at the last that i shall never know now it was a lonely death it ia impossible to say that hie grief was deeper than that pity and softened memory took place of the old and in hia busy thoughts about the future as the chaise carried him rapidly along toward the home where he was now to be master there was a continually effort to remember any thing by which he could show a regard for his grandfather s wishes without hia own cherished aims for the good of the tenants and the estate but it is not in human nature � only in human � for a young man uke arthur with a fine constitution and fine spirits ig well of himself believing that others think well of him and having a very ardent intention to ve them more and more reason for that good opinion � it is not possible for such a young man just coming into a splendid estate through the death of a very old man whom he was not fond of to feel any thing veiy different from joy ow hia real life was beginning now he would have room and opportunity for action and he would use them he would show the people what a fine country gentleman was he would not exchange that career for any other under the sun he felt himself riding over the hills in the days looking after favorite plans of and then admired on sombre mornings as tlie best rider on the best in the hunt spoken well of on market days as a first rate landlord by and by making speeches at election dinners and showing a knowledge of the patron of new and the severe of and withal a jolly fellow that every body must happy faces greeting him every where on
| 14 |
of the world these are a few and but a few of the good effects of improving one s talents to the highest point by careful and constant study and to distinction i am very much pleased with your letter you read the with a of and judgment unusual at your years and therefore the more honourable to you i with you in your remarks upon the of as well as the of chap conspiracy i am fond of a vivid picture painted to the fancy such as s storm too is thought a good in his way his way is a very bad one and his can be estimated and enjoyed only by the who has himself rolled in the on which alone the genius of seems to have i hope you will never possess this test for judging his merit you will gratify me by writing to me often and if you will allow me to write to you like an elder brother who would wish you to profit by his own experience and to attain all those honours which he has missed you shall hear from me as often as i can find a leisure hour my love to our brothers and sisters when you see them let me be remembered to mr and mrs and mr r all of whom i very much esteem your friend and brother wm chapter to � for treason � retained as counsel by the government � the trial � some op its incidents � the of � of the argument the year is memorable in the life of as the year of the trial of s conspiracy is one of the most extraordinary incidents connected with the history of this country whether it were the mere dream of a bold ambitious and wicked citizen or his meditated and prepared enterprise enough has been brought to light in the investigation of that incident to excite the amazement of every one that a man so eminent so gifted with splendid talents and so able to appreciate the character and temper of the american people should have permitted himself to fall into the of even an idle speculation upon his power to accomplish what from all the evidence which has been we are hardly at liberty to was his purpose put upon his trial man is really innocent these will put the devil in his head unless he is more than man in the examination of the prisoner was made before justice on the th and st of march this was by caesar a the attorney general of the united states and george hay the attorney for the district of virginia messrs and appearing for the result was a upon the charge of a in setting on foot a military expedition against the of the king ci spain � the court refusing to include in the the charge of treason which had been urged by the counsel for the united states colonel was in consequence admitted to upon a to appear in the circuit court at its next term on the d of may the case was again taken up at the appointed day the chief and judge in the court colonel now appeared with two additional counsel messrs and baker on the part of the mr having withdrawn mr hay was assisted by mr and mr a grand jury consisting of some of the most eminent citizens rf virginia with john of as the was sworn on that day after several and many protracted between the counsel upon the nature of the evidence to be submitted to them and on other topics the grand jury finally on the th of june brought in both for treason and against and which were followed in two days by similar against john smith comfort smith and colonel on the same day that these last were presented pleaded not guilty and the trial was postponed until d of august without saying more at present as to the incidents of the trial or making any reference to the facts brought into proof or the of law discussed it will be sufficient to note that a most and profound opinion was delivered by the chief justice which ex chap reflections upon it from the as it was affirmed a large of testimony which might have shown s intentions and thus on the st of september put an end to the trial on the for treason the verdict was we of the jury say that is not proved to be guilty under this by any evidence submitted to us we therefore find him not guilty the for the met the same fate the opinion of the court in that case excluded the testimony relied on and the jury again found a verdict of not guilty upon this the was committed and held to to answer in on the charge of setting on foot and providing the means for a military expedition against the of spain in a letter of colonel s to his daughter dated october we find the following notice of the event after all this is a drawn battle the chief justice gave his opinion on tuesday after declaring that there were no grounds of suspicion as to the treason he directed that and should give in three thousand dollars for further trial in the opinion was a matter of regret and surprise to the friends of the chief justice and of ridicule to his enemies � all believing that it was a sacrifice of principle to jack mr hay immediately said that he should advise the government to from further that he has actually so advised there is no doubt the conduct of throughout the trial was in keeping with this against the firmness and integrity of chief justice there is apparent in his during the trial and before it an affectation of innocence which under the circumstances almost of insolent defiance and which very significantly
| 29 |
custom and then i went to chapel one morning and married him in secret because mother didn t care about him and i didn t either by that time and then he quarrelled with me and just before you and i came to london he went away to then i saw a soldier i never knew his name but i fell in love with him because i am so quick at that still as it was wrong i tried not to think of him and wouldn t look at him when he passed but it made me cry very much that i mustn t i was then very miserable and you asked me to come to london i didn t care what i did with myself and i came heaven above us said his pale and distressed face showing with what a shock this announcement had come why have you done such extraordinary things or rather why didn t you tell me of this before then at the present moment you are the wife of a man who is in whom you do a young man of forty not love at all but instead of him love a soldier whom you have never spoken to while i have nearly brought scandal upon us both by your letting me love you really you are a very wicked woman no i am not she still looked pale and rather frightened and did not lift her eyes from the floor i said it was nonsense in you to want to have me she went on and even if i hadn t been married to that horrid i couldn t have married you after you told me that you was the man who ran away from my mother i have paid the penalty he said sadly men of my sort always get the worst of it somehow now � i ll call you dear for your mother s sake and not for your own � i must see what i can do to help you out of the difficulty that unquestionably you are in why can t you love your husband now you have married him looked aside at the as if the of her organization were not very easy to define was he that black bearded typical local character i saw you walking with one the well beloved day the same as mine though of course you don t notice that in a place where there are only half a dozen yes that was ike it was that evening we he me again and i answered him and the next day he went away well as i say i must consider what it will be best to do for you in this the first thing it seems to me will be to get your husband home she impatiently shrugged her shoulders i don t like him then why did you marry him i was obliged to after we d proved each other you shouldn t have thought of such a thing it is ridiculous and out of date nowadays ah he s so old fashioned in his notions that he doesn t think like that however he s gone ah � it is only a between you i dare say i ll start him in business if he ll come is the cottage at home still in your hands yes it is my is taking care o it for me a young man of forty good and back there you go straightway my pretty madam and wait till your husband comes to make it up with you i won t go i don t want him to come she sobbed i want to stay here or anywhere except where he can come you will get over that now go back to the flat there s a dear and be ready in one hour waiting in the hall for me i don t want to but i say you shall she found it was no use to precisely at the moment appointed he met her there himself only with a and umbrella she with a box and other things directing the porter to put and her into a four wheeled cab for the railway station he walked out of the door and kept looking behind till he saw the cab approaching he then entered beside the astonished girl and onward they went together they sat opposite each other in an empty and the tedious railway journey began regarding her closely now by the light of her revelation he wondered at himself for never her secret whenever he the well beloved looked at her the girl s eyes grew rebellious and at last she wept i don t want to go to him she sobbed in a repressed voice was almost as much distressed as she why did you put yourself and me in such a position he said bitterly it is no use to regret it now and i can t say that i do it affords me a way out of a trying position even if you had not been married to him you would not have married me yes i would sir what you would you said you wouldn t not long ago i like you better now i like you more and more sighed for he was not much older than she that in his development rendering him the most of god s creatures was his standing misfortune a proposal to her which crossed his mind was dismissed as particularly to an inexperienced fellow and one who was by race and traditions almost a little more passed between the twain on that wretched never to be forgotten day or whoever the a young man of forty love queen of his isle might have been was him sharply as she knew but too well how to punish her when they from the to the stable mood when was it to end �
| 45 |
she could really almost fancy herself at grove � and the staircase you know as i came in i observed how very like the staircase was placed exactly in the same part of the house i really could not help exclaiming i assure you miss it is very delightful to me to be reminded of a place i am so extremely partial to as grove i have spent so many happy months there with a little sigh of sentiment a charming place undoubtedly everybody who sees it is struck by its beauty but to me it has been quite a home whenever you are like me miss you will understand how very delightful it is to meet with anything at all like what one has left behind i always say this is quite one of the evils of matrimony made as slight a reply as she could but it was fully sufficient for mrs who only wanted to be talking herself so extremely like grove and it is not merely the house the grounds i assure you as far as i could observe are strikingly like the at grove are in the same profusion as here and stand very much in the same way � just across the lawn and i had a glimpse of a fine large tree with a bench round it which put me so exactly in mind my brother and sister will be enchanted with this place people who have extensive grounds themselves are always pleased with anything in the same style doubted the truth of this sentiment she had a great idea that people who had extensive grounds themselves cared very little for the extensive grounds of anybody else but it was not worth while to attack an error so double and she therefore only said in reply � when you have seen more of this country i am afraid you will think you have over is full of beauties oh yes i am quite aware of that it is the garden of england you know is the garden of england yes but we must not rest our claims on that distinction many i believe are called the garden of england as well as no i fancy not replied mrs with a most satisfied smile i never heard any county but called so was silenced my brother and sister have promised us a visit in the spring or summer at continued mrs and that will be our time for exploring while they are with us we shall explore a great deal i dare say they will have their of course which holds four perfectly and therefore without saying anything of our carriage we should be able to explore the different beauties extremely well they would hardly come in their chaise i think at that season of the year indeed when the time draws on i shall decidedly recommend their bringing the it will be so very much when people come into a beautiful country of this sort you know miss one naturally wishes them to see as much as possible and mr is extremely fond of exploring we to king s twice last summer in that way most delightfully just after their first having the you have many parties of that kind here i suppose miss every summer no not immediately here we are rather out of distance of the very striking beauties which attract the sort of parties you speak of and we are a very quiet set of people i believe more disposed to stay at home than engage in schemes of pleasure ah there is nothing like staying at home for real comfort nobody can be more devoted to home than i am i was quite a proverb for it at grove many a time has said when she has been going to i really cannot get this girl to move from the house i absolutely must go in by myself though i hate being stuck up in the without a companion but i believe with her own good will would never stir beyond the park many a time has she said so and yet i am no advocate for entire seclusion i think on the contrary when people shut themselves up entirely from society it is a very bad thing and that it is much more advisable to mix in the world in a proper degree without living in it either too much or too little i perfectly understand your situation however miss looking towards mr your father s state of health must be a great why does not he try bath indeed he should let me recommend bath to you i assure you i have no doubt of its doing mr good my father tried it more than once formerly but without receiving any benefit and mr whose name i dare say is not unknown to you does not conceive it would be at all more likely to be useful now ah that s a great pity for i assure you miss where the waters do agree it is quite wonderful the relief they give in my bath life i have seen such instances of it and it is so cheerful a place that it could not fail of being of use to mr s spirits which i understand are sometimes much depressed and as to its recommendation to you i fancy i need not take much pains to dwell on them the advantages of bath to the young are pretty generally understood it would be a charming introduction for you who have lived so secluded a life and i could immediately secure you some of the best society in the place a line from me would bring you a little host of and my particular friend mrs the lady i have always resided with when in bath would be most happy to show you any attentions and would be the very person for you to go into public with
| 26 |
could account for it he stands looking at them this one called dick was all in a well i think i know now said he they are ton see there a in this n old n the n the old cattle and she rides your horses backs all night yoa may take your oath then he us a lot of stories whose cow died after giving this old a rough word and how she had been often seen to go across the meadows in the shape of a she has a spite against me says he she at yon had send for the go for the says i so ve had in the he sat on the bin and smoked his pipe ia dead silence looking at them they seem a little says he about half an hour so i was in two minds about his head i waa send for the � they have gi he came some disorder says i are clear too let me them eat they took their food pretty well then he asked where we came from last i him said he cheerful c says another dick will die if we here so then they both pressed me lo leave tlie town tou know governor we can t lo lose the horses now i was clearing ton pounds a day in the place and si expenses paid so i looked blank so did the i n t go says he wait a day or two then the disease will declare itself and we shall know what we are doing you see be did not relish my a n out of his town ho was a whatever it is sa he you brought it with you well now said x my opinion is i found it here did you notice at the last place ho the both bore me out � oh says the mu can t by that it had not itself well if yon will believe me i often laugh when i of it it was not two minutes he said that that it did declare itself it was sunday had got a clean shirt on sleeve of his white shirt looked dirty what now cries he and comes the light i do believe it is says he and if it is they are np with it what i have we invented a new too t they no hi cr than points � looked like on his shirt what do yon say sir � is it � a doubt of it says the are unless i am mistaken have you any anywhere near both the out why there are full hundred up in the hay so by jack of all trades s and the eating the we stopped that supply of aiid what with and witb a ihe gave we cured that � if any we had a little scene at away from this place i liad agreed to charge nothing for the use of we spent so much in other ways with him in spite of that ha put it down at tlie foot of the list i would not pay you most i won t then you sha n t go till jou do and with that he and his servants closed the treat the yard was entered y two great double doors like barn doors secured by a � beam so there he had us fast it got wind and there was the whole population three thousand strong then it was come don t wc will alter our usual line of mai ch this lime lake from the roar to ihe front so all formed behind me and two carriages and six all in order now said i landlord you have had joke open tlie door and let us part friends we have been witli you a week you know and you hare had one profit out of us and another out of the we brought to your bar open the door pay me my hill and i ll open says he if turned away one traveller from my stable for you i vo turned away twenty a bargain is a bargain will you open she your door into f oh i risk my door if you ii risk your beast no i won t open till i am paid once will you open no twice will you open thrice no � go she walked at the door as if she did not sec it the moment she t it bo til doors were in ihe road the in half in the road most times one thing stands another goes hero it all went oa all sides like paper on a and the people went of all there was the yell of a under our noses an empty street our eyes we marched on calm and tlie silent night doors and indeed to a lady that had stepped a brick wall before that day � an english brick chapter i determined to bo into above to i could not help it in due coarse of time and i arrived near and sent forward my green and gold but alas they with the news that were not admitted into that ancient city the last elephant that had been there had p ei � lady whose c er for she had another that killed one or two people in was publicly executed in the fortress fortunately as then thought i had provided myself with the mayor and govern � hich we had passed i produced and made in the t� wn particularly with a br at last we were admitted was proved a dove by such overpowering testimony i had now paid m six thousand and myself possessed of five thousand more business was very good in was very popular her intelligence and became a by word i had bat one bitter disappointment though by s jack of all never came to and
| 9 |
do you turn away your face could not help following at a little distance they went to the house of an old se where the elder sister had engaged a bed room for the child i shall come to you early every morning she said and we can be together au the day � why not at night time too dear sister would they be angry with you for that why were the eyes of little wet that night with tears like those of the two sisters why did she bear a grateful heart because they had met and feel it pain to think that they the old shop s would part let us not that any selfish reference � unconscious though it might have been � to her own trials awoke this sympathy but thank god that the innocent joys of others can strongly move us and that we even in our nature have one source of pure emotion which must be in heaven by morning s cheerful glow but oftener stiu by evening s light the child with a respect for the short and happy intercourse of these two sisters which forbade her to approach and say a thankful word although she to do so followed them at a distance in their walks and stopping when they stopped sitting on the grass when they sat down rising when they went on and feeling it a companionship and delight to be so near them their evening walk was by a river s side here every night the child was too unseen by them of but feeling as if they were her friends as if they had confidences and together as if her load were lightened and less hard to bear as if they mingled their sorrows and found mutual consolation it was a weak fancy perhaps the childish fancy of a young and lonely creature but night after night and still the sisters in the same place and the child followed with a mild and softened heart she was much startled on returning home one night to find that mrs had commanded an announcement to be prepared to the effect that the collection would only remain in its present quarters one day longer in fulfilment of which threat for all connected with public amusements are well known to be and most exact the collection shut up next day are we going from this place directly ma am said look here child returned mrs that ll inform you and so saying mrs produced another announcement wherein it was stated that in consequence of numerous inquiries at the wax work door and in consequence of crowds having been disappointed in obtaining admission the exhibition would be continued for one week longer and would re open next day for now that the schools are gone and the regular exhausted said mrs we come to the general public and they want thb old shop upon the following day at noon mrs herself behind the highly ornamented table attended by the distinguished before mentioned and ordered the to be thrown open for the of a and enlightened public but the first day s operations were by no means of a successful character inasmuch as the general public though they manifested a lively interest in mis personally and such of her were to be seen for nothing were not affected by any impulses moving them to the payment of sixpence a head thus notwithstanding that a great many people continued to stare at the entry and the figures therein displayed and remained there with great perseverance by the hour at a time to hear the barrel organ played and to read the bills and notwithstanding that they were kind enough to recommend their to the exhibition in the like manner until the door way was regularly by half the population of the town who when they went off duty were relieved by the other half it was not found that the treasury was any the richer or that the prospects of the establishment were at all encouraging in this depressed state of the classical market mrs made extraordinary efforts to the popular taste and the popular curiosity certain machinery in the body of the on the leads over the door was cleaned up and put in motion so that the figure shook its head all day long to the great admiration of a drunken but very over the way who looked upon the said motion as typical df the degrading effect wrought upon the human mind by the ceremonies of the church and upon that theme with great eloquence and morality the two constantly passed in and out of the exhibition room imder various protesting aloud that the sight was better worth the money than anything they had beheld in all their lives and urging the with tears in their eyes not to neglect such a brilliant gratification mrs sat in the pay place silver from noon till night and solemnly calling upon the crowd to take notice that the price of admission was only sixpence and that the departure of the whole collection on a short tour among the crowned heads of europe was positively fixed for that day week the old curiosity shop so be in time be in time be in time said mrs at the dose of eveiy such address remember that this is s collection of upwards of one hundred figures and that it is the only collection in the world all others being and be in time be in time be in time the old shop chapter as the course of this tale requires that we should become acquainted somewhere with a few particulars connected with the domestic economy of mr brass and as a more convenient than the present is not likely to occur for that purpose the historian takes the reader by the him into the air ai l the same at a greater rate than ever
| 8 |
to what struck him a short time after the man upon whose arm she hung was not a soldier what then became of her gaze at the she could hardly have transferred her so promptly or to give her the benefit of his own theory her beloved could scarcely have flitted from frame to frame in so very brief an interval and which of them had been he who whistled softly in the dusk to her without further attempt to find alfred walked homeward thinking that the desire to make to the original woman by wedding and the copy � which lent such an to his new love � was as if by set intention of his destiny at the door of the grounds about the castle there stood a carriage he observed that it was not one of the homely from the under hill town but apparently from the fashionable town across the bay wondering why the visitor had not driven in he entered to find in the drawing room pine at his first glance upon her dressed and graceful in movement she seemed beautiful at the second when he observed that the well beloved her face was pale and agitated she seemed pathetic likewise altogether she was now a very figure from her who sitting in her chair with such finished composure had him in her drawing room in square you are surprised at this of course you are she said in a low pleading voice languidly lifting her heavy eyelids while he was holding her hand but i couldn t help it i know i have done something to offend you � have i not o what can it be that you have come away to this rock to live with in the midst of the london season you have not offended me dear mrs pine he said how sorry i am that you should have supposed it yet i am glad too that your fancy should have done me the good turn of bringing you here to see me i am staying at she explained then i did see you at a church service here a little while back she blushed faintly upon her and she sighed their eyes met well she said at last i don t know why i shouldn t show the a sketch of a temperament virtue of you know what it means i was the stronger once now i am the weaker whatever pain i may have given you in the and downs of our acquaintance i am sorry for and would willingly repair all errors of the past by � being to reason in the future it was impossible that should not feel a tender towards this attractive and once independent woman who from every worldly point of view was an excellent match for him � a superior match indeed except in money he took her hand again and held it awhile and a faint wave of gladness seemed to flow through her but no � he could go no further that island girl in her sunday frock and little hat with its bunch of cock s feathers held him as by of rope he dropped s hand i am leaving to morrow she said that was why i felt i must call you did not know i had been there all through the holidays i did not indeed or i should have come to see you i didn t like to write i wish i had now i wish you had too dear mrs pine m the well beloved but it was that she wanted to be as they reached the he told her that he should be back in town himself again soon and would call immediately at the moment of his words now alone passed close along by the carriage on the other side towards her house hard at hand she did not turn head or eye to the pair they seemed to be in her view objects of indifference became cold as a stone the towards that the presence of the girl � witch that she was � brought with it came like a doom he knew what a fool he was as he had said but he was powerless in the grasp of the passion he cared more for s finger tips than for mrs pine s whole personality perhaps saw it for she said mournfully now i have done all i could i felt that the only to my cruelty to you in my drawing room would be to come as a to yours it is most handsome and noble of you my very dear friend said he with an emotion of courtesy rather than of enthusiasm then were spoken and she drove a sketch of a temperament away but saw only the retreating and knew that he was helpless in her hands the church of the island had risen near the foundations of the pagan temple and a christian from the former might be him through the very false gods to whom he had devoted himself both in his craft like of and in his heart perhaps divine punishment for his had come the beloved she fails to vanish still ii x had not turned far back towards the castle when he was overtaken by and the man who carried his painting lumber they paced together to the door the man deposited the articles and went away and the two walked up and down before entering i met an extremely interesting woman in the road out there said the painter ah she is a a indeed i i was struck with her it shows how beauty will out through the guise yes it will though not always and this case doesn t prove it for the lady s attire was in the latest and most approved taste i o a sketch of a temperament oh you mean the lady who was driving of
| 45 |
look and word then the rapture of the final she tried to think that the life she proposed to had not brought her happiness but she could not put back memory of the days she had spent with her lovers oh the intense hours of anticipation and the wonderful recollections rich and red as the heart of a flower such rapture seemed to her to be worth the remorse that came after and the peace of mind that a life would secure a poor for dreary days and months she the length and the colour of the time � grey week after grey week blank month after blank months void year after void year and she always getting a little older getting older in a lifeless time in a lifeless life a weary life filled with intolerable craving she had endured it once a feeling as if she wanted to go mad she picked up her letters among the letters she received that morning was one from he was still in paris and would not be back for another week or ten days he had been lonely he had missed her and looked forward to their meeting he told her about the opera the people he had met and what they had said about his music but the tender affection of his letter was not to her mind why did he not say that he longed to take her in his arms and kiss her on the lips knitting her brows she tried to think that if he had written more passionately she would have taken the train and gone to him she had sent away on account of scruples of conscience and a life of extended before her but who was this woman to whom had shown his music and who had said that if anything happened to prevent from singing the part she hoped that would give it to her why should she have thought that something would happen to prevent from creating had suggested it to her but how could know she tried to think if she had ever told him she was tired of the stage perhaps he had consulted the stars and had divined her future this woman seemed to know that something might happen and something was happening there could be no doubt about that there was no doubt that she was tired of the stage but perhaps that was on account of hard work perhaps she required a rest in two or three months she might eagerly to the study of for the of she might remain on the stage till she had established the success of his opera this might be if she and were not lovers she had promised that she would not keep him for her lover but that did not mean that she would not sing his opera if she didn another woman would some wretched singer who did not understand the music and it would be a failure would hate her he would believe that her refusal to his opera was a vile plan to do him an injury he did not know what conscience meant � he only understood the legends and the she laughed and a moment afterwards was in difficulties her conduct would seem more incomprehensible to him than it did to she did not wish him to hate her but he would hate her and to avoid seeing her he would not go to and so she would rob her father of his friend � the friend who had kept him company when she deserted him there was another alternative if she liked him well enough to be his mistress she should like him well enough to be his wife but knowing that she would not marry him she took up her other letters and began reading lady liked was there and she hoped would not be detained in london much longer the duke of had proposed to miss and lady was always about with young mr so and so didn t read it all she lay back thinking for this letter about things that interested her no longer had led her thoughts back to self and she inquired why in the midst of all her she had felt that her real life was elsewhere why she had always known that sooner or later the hour would come when she would leave the things which she enjoyed so intensely the idea of departure had never quite died down in her and she had always known that she would be one day quite a different woman she had often had of her future self and of her future life but the moment she tried to what was there the vision faded even now she knew that she would not marry and this not because she would refuse her father anything but merely because it was not to be her eyes went to the piano but on the way there she stopped to ask herself a question why was she in london at this time of year she knew why she did not care to go to � because she was tired of society but why did she not go to some quiet place where she could enjoy the summer weather she would like to sit on the beach and hear the sea her soul threatened to give back a direct answer and she dismissed the question she paced the empty alley facing the road no one was there except a and a small child and she and they shared the solitude she could see the passing and hear the of the heavy harness and seated on one of the seats she drew on the gravel with her said there was no meaning in life that it was no more than an unfortunate accident between two eternal sleeps but she had never been able to believe that this was so and if she had sought to
| 15 |
others always standing in the light and he so content to save himself fuss and argument and let them have their way at the fall of m we the of the personal staff were with the father and uncle at the inn in their private parlor drinks and breaking ground for a homely talk about and the neighbors when a large parcel arrived from to be kept till she came and soon she came herself and sent her guard away saying she would take one of her father s rooms and sleep under his roof and so be at home again of the staff rose and stood as was meet until of arc made us sit then she turned and saw that the old men had gotten up too and were standing in an embarrassed and way which made her want to laugh but she kept it in as not wishing to hurt them aud got them to their seats and down between them and took a hand of each of them upon her knees and her own hands in them and said now we will have no more ceremony but be kin and as in other times for i am done with the great wars now and you two will take me home with you and i shall see � she stopped and for a moment her happy face as if a doubt or a had flitted through her mind then it cleared again and she said with a passionate yearning oh if the day were but come and we could start the old father was surprised and said i why child are you in earnest would you i leave doing these wonders that make to be praised by everybody while there is still so glory to be won and would you go out from grand with princes and to be al again and a nobody it is not rational no said the uncle it is amazing tc hear and indeed not it is a stranger thing to hear her say she will stop the than it was to hear her say she would begin it and i who speak to you can say in all truth that that was the � � � c t r � aa hear i i � t n if i t s v r r y r n� fi ir ei z z i r i � f h r e n x � u of arc such a woman � she and and and wakes nights and lies so thinking � that is worrying worrying about you and when the night storms go raging along she and says ah god pity her she is out in this with her poor wet soldiers and when the and the thunder she her hands and saying it is like the a cannon and the flash and yonder somewhere she is riding down upon the guns and i not there to protect her ah poor mother it is pity it is pity yes a most strange woman as i have noticed a many times when there is news of a victory and ail the village goes mad with pride and joy she rushes here and there in a frenzy till she finds out the one only thing she cares to know � that you are safe then down she goes on her knees in the dirt and praises god as long as there is any breath left in her body and all on your account for she never the battle once and always she says now it is over � now france is saved � now she will come home � and always is disappointed and goes about mourning don t father it breaks my heart i will be so good to her when i get home i will do her work for her and be her comfort and she shall not suffer any more through me there was some more talk of this then uncle i said of arc you have done the will of god dear and are it is true and none may deny it but what of the king you are his best soldier what if he command you to stay that was a � and sudden it took a moment or two to recover from the shock of it then she said quite simply and the king is my lord i am his servant she was silent and thoughtful a little while then she brightened up and said cheerily but let us drive such thoughts away � this is no time for them tell me about home so the two old talked and talked talked about everything and everybody in the village and it was good to hear out of her kindness tried to get us into the conversation but that failed of course she was the commander in chief we were her name was the in france we were invisible she was the comrade of princes and heroes we of the humble and obscure she held rank above all personages and all whatsoever in the whole earth by right of bearing her commission direct from god to put it in one word she was of arc � and when that is said all is said to us she was divine between her and us lay the abyss which that word we could not be familiar with her no you can see yourselves that that would have been impossible and yet she was so human too and so good and of arc kind and dear and loving and cheery and charming and and unaffected those are all the words i think of now but they are not enough no they are too few and and to tell it all or tell the half those simple old men didn t realize her they couldn t they had never known any people but human beings and so they had no other standard
| 34 |
you talk m that way i ll give you in charge to the police and have you five thk person of the house and the bad child the new york public li and foundations r l or mutual shillings when you can t pay and then i won t pay the money for you and you ll be transported for life how should you like to be transported for life r shouldn t like it poor shattered invalid trouble nobody long cried the wretched figure m come said the person of the house tapping the table near her in a business like manner and shaking her head and her chin you know what you ve got to do put down your money this instant the obedient figure began to in its pockets u spent a of your wages fee bound said the person of the house put it here all yon v got left every such a business as he made of collecting it from his pockets of expecting it in this pocket and net finding it of not expecting it in that pocket and passing it over of finding no pocket where that other pocket ought to be is this all demanded the person of the house when a confused heap of pence and shillings lay on the table got no more was the answer with an shake of the head let me make sure yon know what you ve got to do turn all tour pockets inside out and leave em so cried the person of the house he obeyed and if anything could have made him look more abject or more ridiculous than before it would have been so displaying himself here s but seven and exclaimed miss after the heap to order oh you prodigal old son now you shall be starved m no don t starve me he urged tt if you were treated as you ought to be said miss you d he fed upon the of cats meat � only the after the cats had had the meat as it is go to bed when he stumbled out of the corner to he again put out both his hands and pleaded circumstances over which no control get along with yon to bed w cried miss snapping him up don t speak to me i m not going to forgive you go to bed this moment seeing another emphatic what upon way he it by and was heard to heavily np and shut his door and throw himself on his bed within while afterwards came down tt shall we have our supper dear t ah bless us and save us we need have something to keep us going returned miss her shoulders laid a cloth upon tne little bench more handy for the person of the house than an ordinary table and put upon it such plain fare as they were accustomed to have and drew up a stool for herself now for supper what are you thinking of darling mutual friend i was thinking she returned coming out of a deep study i would do to him if he should turn out a oh but he won t said you ll take care of that beforehand shall try to take care of it beforehand but he might deceive me oh my dear all those fellows with their tricks and their manners do deceive with the little fist in full action and if so i tell you what i think i d do when he was asleep i d make a spoon red hot and i d have some boiling liquor in a and i d take it out hissing and i d open his mouth with tho other or perhaps he d sleep with his mouth ready open � and i d pour it down throat and it and choke him am sure you would do no such horrible thing said shouldn t i well perhaps i shouldn t but i should like to am equally sure you would not not even like to well you generally know best only you haven t always lived among it as i have lived � and your back isn t bad and your legs are not queer as they went on with their supper tried to bring her round to that prettier and better state but the charm was broken the person of the house was the person of a house full of sordid and cares with an upper room in which that figure was even innocent sleep with and degradation the doll s had become a little quaint of the world worldly of the earth poor doll s how often so dragged down by hands that should have raised her up how often so when losing her way on the eternal road and asking guidance poor poor little doll s chapter � piece of work sitting meditating one fine day perhaps in the attitude in which she is presented on the copper all of a sudden that she wants in parliament it occurs to her that is i a representative man � which cannot in these times be doubted � and that her majesty s faithful are without him so to a legal gentleman of her acquaintance that if will put down five thousand pounds lie may write a couple of letters after his name at the extremely cheap rate of two thousand five hundred per letter it is clearly understood between and the legal gentleman that nobody is to take up the five thousand pounds but that being put down they will disappear by and enchantment the legal gentleman in s confidence going straight from that lady to thus declares himself highly flattered but requires breathing time to ascertain whether his friends will rally round him above all things he our mutual it him to be clear at a crisis of this importance whether his friends will rally round him the legal gentleman in
| 8 |
to express it the deep majestic solemn organ of the church may be better fitted than the pipe of a withered trivial that still more that and could on the strength of such put off or put on their religious creed like a new suit of apparel we are far from asserting they are men of earnest hearts and seem to have a deep feeling of devotion it should be remembered that what forms the of their religion is not demonstration but faith and so a theory could not but help to soften the transition from the former to the latter that some such principle in one shape or another in s mind we think we can perceive from several indications among others the to his last tragedy where mysteriously enough under the emblem of a he seems to be forth the history of his own faith and represents himself even then as merely climbing the tree where the of his vanished but not hoping to regain that vision till his eyes shall have been opened by death life and of on the whole we must not pretend to understand or him with scientific acting many times with only half consciousness he was always in some degree an to himself and may well be obscure to us above all there are mysteries and in every heart and that is but a questionable philosophy which so readily to explain them religious belief especially at least when it seems and is no subject for harsh or even investigation he is a wise man that having such a belief knows and sees clearly the grounds of it in himself and those we imagine who have with scrutiny the secret of own will be least apt to rush with violence into that of other men s the good says paul fell like our more vigorous into the poetical our time where all tastes and are foaming through each other and where all is to be found excepting truth diligence and the polish of the file both would have come forth clearer had they studied in s day we cannot justify yet let him be condemned with pity and well ere it could each of us apply to himself those words which in his friendly indignation would thunder in the ears of many a german take thou the beam out of thine own eye then thou see clearly to take the out of thy brother letter to in paul s by s ous writings s � foreign review has rather asserted of that the grand law of his being is to conclude whatsoever he that let him engage in any task no matter what its difficulties or how small its worth he cannot quit it till he has mastered its whole secret finished it and made the result of it his own this surely whatever might think is a quality of which it is far safer to have too much than too little and if in a spirit we admit that it does strikingly belong to these his present occupations will not seem out of harmony with the rest of his life but rather it may be regarded as a singular constancy of fortune which now allows him after so many single to deliberately the details and combination of the whole and thus in his individual works to put the last hand to the highest of all his works his own literary character and leave the impress of it to posterity in that form and accompaniment which he himself for the last two years as many of our readers may know the venerable poet has been employed in a patient and thorough of all his writings an tion of which as the complete and final one was commenced in under external of s hand s works complete edition with his final � first portion i v mo and vo s the most flattering sort and with arrangements for private which as we learn have secured the constant progress of the work against every accident the first of five volumes is now in our hands a second of like extent we understand to be already on its way hither and thus by regular from half year to half year the whole forty volumes are to be completed in to the lover of german literature or of literature in general this undertaking will not be considering as he must do the works of to be among the most important which germany for some centuries has sent forth he will value their and completeness for its own sake and not the less as forming the conclusion of a long process to which the last step was still wanting whereby he may not only enjoy the result but instruct himself by following so great a master through the changes which led to it we can now add that to the mere book also the business promises to be satisfactory this edition avoiding any attempt at splendor or unnecessary ranks nevertheless in regard to accuracy convenience and true simple elegance among the best specimens of german the cost too seems moderate so that on every account we doubt not but that these will spread far and wide in their own country and by and by we may hope be met with here in many a british library hitherto in this first portion we have found little or no alteration of what was already known but in return some changes of arrangement and what is more important some additions of heretofore poems in particular a piece entitled a which some eighty pages of volume fourth it is to this piece that we now propose directing the attention of s miscellaneous writings our readers such of these as have studied for themselves must have felt how little calculated it is either or by its relations and allusions to be rendered very interesting or even very intelligible to the english public and may
| 37 |
world talks about � the thing is so � so out of drawing that it makes me laugh i don t like writing women as a rule � they give themselves too many airs to please but you innocent he paused well go on she said coldly he looked at her smiling you are cross don t be cross � you lose your expression well � you don t give yourself any airs and you seem to play at literature like a child playing at a game of course you make money by it � but � you know better i do that tiie greatest writers � he the word greatest slightly � never make money and are never popular does failure constitute greatness she asked with a faintly in her sweet voice which he had never heard before sometimes � in fact pretty often he replied his brush busily on his canvas � you should read about great authors i have read about them she said � walter scott was popular and made money � charles was popular and made money � was popular and made money � shakespeare himself seemed to have had the one principal aim of making money enough to live comfortably in his native town and he was popular in his day � indeed he played to the gallery but he was not a failure � and the whole world his greatness now though in his life time he was unconscious of it surprised at her quick eloquence he paused in his work very well spoken he remarked � i see you take a high view of your art but like all women you wander from tiie point we were talking of lord � and i say it would be far better for you to be � well � his � for he might leave you all his fortune � than go on writing books her fancy and his fact her lips quivered despite her efforts tears started to her eyes he saw and throwing down his brush came and knelt beside her passing his arm round her waist what have i said he murmured � innocent � sweet little love forgive me if i have � what � and he laughed softly � rubbed you up the wrong way she forced a smile and her delicate white hands wandered through his hair as he l id his head against her bosom i am sorry she said at last � i thought � i hoped � you might be proud of my work i was planning it all for that you see � she hesitated � i learned so much from the de � the brother of your � that i have been thinking all the time how i could best show you that i was worthy of his teaching the or the public � you know the things they say of me � but i do not want their praise i believe i could do something really great if you cared � for now it is only to please you that i live a sense of shame stung him at this simple nonsense he said almost � you have a thousand other things to live for � you must not think of pleasing me only besides i m not very keen on literature � i m a painter surely painting owes something to literature she � we should not have had all the wonderful and of tiie old masters if there had been no bible true � but perhaps we could have done them he said lightly � i m not at all sure that painting would not have got on just as well without literature at all there is always nature to study � sky sea landscape and the faces of lovely women innocent and children � quite enough for any man where is lord now in italy she replied � he will be away some months she spoke with her heart was heavy � the hopes and she had cherished of adding lustre to her fame for the joy and pride of her lover seemed all crushed at one blow she was too yoimg and inexperienced to the fact that few men are proud of any woman s success especially in the arts their attitude is one of amused when it is not of actual sex jealousy or contempt least of all can any man endure that tiie woman for whom he has a short spell of passionate fancy should considered notable or in an intellectual sense superior to himself he likes her to be dependent on him alone for her happiness � for such poor of comfort he is pleased to give her when the heat of his first passion has cooled � but he is not altogether pleased when she has sufficient intelligent perception to see through his web of and break away clear of the ing threads standing free as a goddess on the height of her own independent innocent s idea of love was the dream of truth and set forth by poets whose sweet singing and others � she was ready to devote all the unique powers of her mind and brain to the of herself for her lover s delight she to be beautiful brilliant renowned and admired simply that he might take joy in knowing that this beautiful brilliant renowned and admired creature was his body and soul � existing solely for him and content to live only so long as he lived to work only so long as he worked � to be nothing apart from his love but to be everything he could desire or command while his love her her fancy and his fact she thought of the eternal union of souls � while he had no belief in the soul at all his half french persuading him that there was nothing eternal and like men of his type he estimated her
| 33 |
i don t believe in talent which can t find a market in the the far horizon ordinary course of business i grant you sometimes put a play on which is no good and sometimes what might be a fine play by it in deference to the of that of all maiden and of british the but they very rarely in my experience reject a play which has money in it why should they poor brutes they are not exactly with the play which requires private though a record in the opinion of its author is usually rubbish in that of the public and the public take it all round is very fairly level headed and just you must not judge it by the of the he represents only an extreme section of it if at this time of day he really represents anybody � a section which does the screaming sitting at home getting its information at second hand through the papers and never the doors of a play house at all moreover you must remember that the public is master there is no getting behind its verdict s had brought her back beside mr again she patted him on the shoulder see here my beloved no longer nameless one she said be advised learn wisdom for i tell you i ve been through that gate if ever a woman has the � i wish to heaven we could keep him out of our talk but for cause unknown he persistently himself � he invariably does so when i m and � well you see he was an genius in the way of a from which fact i derived first hand acquaintance with the habits of the species what i don t know about those animals is not worth knowing they re just simply i tell you their utter is only equalled by their lunatic vanity they imagine the whole world lay and professional is in league to and them so don t touch them i entreat you as you value your peace � � m f � � � ai � the far horizon of mind and your pocket they ll you white and never give you a of thanks � more likely turn on you and make out somehow or other you are responsible for the failure of their precious productions � now let s try to forget them and talk of pleasanter subjects these of the always bring me bad luck i m downright scared at them � tell me about your goods your books and your pictures and show me something which belonged to your mother � that is if it wouldn t pain you to do so i should like to hold something she had touched in my hands it would be comforting somehow and just set that door wider open there s a dear i want to have a look into the other room and see where you sleep for the half hour was an companion wholly womanly gentle and delicate eager too with the pretty spontaneous eagerness of a child at the recital of stories and exhibition of treasures beloved by her companion the lonely tree its exile as the wind swept through the of its dry branches moved her almost to tears it is tragic she said still i am glad you have it it s very much in the picture and lifts the sentiment of the place out of the awful it s a little of you yourself too � there s style and poetry and breeding about it only thank the powers you differ from it in this that its best days are over while you are but in the flower of your age and your rooms are delightful � they re like you too � the rest of the house my dear soul the ushered me into a drawing room when i arrived the colours of which were simply frantic i bolted if i d stayed another five minutes they d have given me � now i must go smiled very sweetly upon mr i m better ten thousand times better � he said when i came i was the far horizon rather by my own virtuous actions now it s an square between them and me fm good right give you my word i am if only it u last s lips quivered and she looked rather desperately in the face never fear he answered but that it will last still you ll come and see me often very often till i settle down into the running it will be heavy going � must be fm afraid � for a long while yet holding her hand bent low and kissed it i will serve you perfectly god helping me as long as i live he said five minutes later mrs supported by the outraged and sympathetic watched through the ture afforded by the rising of the dining room door an unknown lady escorted by mr sweep in whispering skirts and costly across the hall passing out and down the white steps usually so light of foot and of movement stumbled and but for prompt assistance would have fallen headlong at that same moment de in dress with shuffling footsteps crossed the road and then aside his arm jerked up almost as though off a blow no no fm not hurt not in the least hurt said in response to inquiry but it s given me a bad fright i ll go straight home put me into the first you see � no fu go by myself i d far rather i give you my word i m not hurt but a lot of things to think about � i want to be alone i want to be quiet come soon i was very happy bye � good night chapter xxvi a landscape of the brand of peculiar to the of a great city to that region where
| 32 |
to the temple that night that he resolved to a look at society which he had not seen for a considerable period chapter the last the of society therefore to answer a dinner card from mr and mrs the honor and to signify that mr will be happy to have the other honor the have been as usual dealing dinner cards to society and whoever desires to take a hand had best be quick about it for it is written in the books of the that shall make a next week yes having found out the clue to that great mystery how people can contrive to live beyond their means and having over his as to the universe by the pure of pocket breeches it shall come to pass next week that will accept the hundreds that the legal gentleman in s confidence will again accept the pocket breeches thousands and that the will retire to there to live on mis s diamonds in which mr as a good husband has from time to time invested considerable sums and to relate to and others how that before retired from parliament the house of was composed of himself and the six hundred and fifty seven dearest and oldest friends he had in the world it shall likewise come to pass at as nearly as possible the same period that society will discover that it always did despise and distrust and that when it went to to dinner it always had � though very secretly at the time it would seem and in a perfectly private and confidential manner the next weeks books of the however being not yet opened there is the usual rush to the of the people who our mutual friend go to their house to dine with one another and not with them tl ere is lady there are the great and mrs there is there are boots and there is the who is providence to five hundred thousand men there is the travelling three thousand miles per week there is the brilliant genius who turned the shares into that remarkably exact sum of three hundred and seventy five thousand pounds no shillings and to whom add coming in among them with a of his old languid air founded on and belonging to the days when he told the story of the man from somewhere that fresh fairy all but screams at sight of her false she summons tne to her with her fan but the not to come talks britain with always talks britain and talks as if he were a sort of private employed in the british interests against the rest of the world we what russia means sir says we know what france wants we see what america is up to but we know what england is that s enough for us however when dinner is served and drops into his old place over against lady she can be off no longer long banished robinson says the exchanging m how did you leave the island thank you says it made no complaint of being in pain anywhere say how did you leave the savages v asks lady they were becoming civilized when i left says at least they were eating one another which looked like it returns the dear young creature you know what i mean and you trifle with my impatience tell me something immediately about the married pair you were at the wedding was i by the by at great leisure to consider so i was how was the bride dressed in costume looks gloomy and to answer i hope she herself herself herself and herself or whatever the term may be to the ceremony proceeds the playful however she got to it she it says lady with a little scream the general attention it take care of me if i faint he means to tell us that a horrid female is graceful pardon me i mean to tell you nothing lady replies and keeps his word by eating his dinner with a show of the utmost indifference you shall not escape me in this way you man lady you shall not the question to screen your friend who has made this exhibition of himself the knowledge shall be brought home to you that such a ridiculous is condemned by the voice of society my dear mrs i o e mutual friend do let us resolve ourselves into a committee of the whole house on the subject mrs always charmed by this rattling cries a h s� do let us resolve ourselves into a committee of the whole so delicious says as many as are of that opinion say aye � contrary the have it but nobody takes the slightest notice of his joke now i am of cries lady what spirits she has mrs to whom likewise nobody and this the one is a committee of the whole house to what you may call it � i the voice of society the question before the committee is whether a young man of very fair family good appearance and some talent makes a fool or a wise man of himself in marrying a female turned factory girl hardly so i think the stubborn strikes in i the question to be whether such a man as you describe lady does right or wrong in marrying a brave woman i say nothing of her beauty who has saved his life with a wonderful energy and address whom he knows to be virtuous and possessed of remarkable qualities whom he has long admired and who is deeply to him but excuse me says with his temper and his about equally was this young woman ever a female never but she sometimes rowed in a boat with her father i believe general sensation against the young woman shakes his head boots shakes head shakes his head and now mr was she ever with his indignation rising high
| 8 |
timidly i have sometimes thought about him and wondered if he supposed we were set against him there was so much hard between the families when we were all young and we would n t speak to him when we were girls a man would be cut by that as much as anything � i would n t speak to him now either and s voice and her linen thread snapped together everybody said they treated our folks you needn t expect me to go after such and mary and mary hardly knew what gave her such i don t want to vex you i m sure she said simply if he did n t answer or did n t treat us well any way i should think aa you do but i to ask him to come and spend day with us and show him a spirit he ain t so well off that he need think we ve got low motives and � taking courage � you know this u be the first since his wife died � if t was his wife we saw mentioned in the paper i must say you are consistent with our for dinner miss grimly together her big needle and her steel without any top i won t lend myself to any such notions and there s an end to it she rose and disappeared angrily into the and began to the pots and as if she had to begin the preparations for at that very moment but miss mary dean whom everybody thought a little and went on sewing as long as the pale daylight lasted she did not know why she was so disappointed about not inviting mary and their unknown cousin she had not thought of him very often but she had always been a little ashamed and sorry about the family quarrel that had made everybody so bitter and when she w a girl her father thought that this cousin s father cheated him of his rights in the old home farm at least three days afterward sister was discovered to be very silent and unreasonable and in spite of previous experiences miss mary was entirely surprised to be told late in the evening just as they were going to bed that a letter had been sent that day to cousin john asking him to come to spend with them on the you d never have been satisfied without it i suppose the good woman said as she went hurrying about the room and gentle mary was filled with fear she knew that it would be a trouble to her sister and an unwelcome one but at last she felt very glad and was grateful as she thanked the head of the family for this generous deed i don t know why my heart was so set on it she announced later with great humility and mary and m from under the i hope he won t stop long she observed quite cheerfully and so peace was restored and miss dean thought about the dinner and talked over her plans while mary listened with pleased content and looked out through the little bedroom window from her pillow to see the white twinkling winter like stars goodness me exclaimed on morning there he comes and he looks as old as i the sisters stood together and watched their guest climbing the long hill and made characteristic comments h does look real said mary but off to look at the chicken which had just been put into the oven he looks as if he were hungry she growled on the way and took a complacent look into the after she had seen that the oven continued to be in a proper state of warmth there was enough for her to do to look after the dinner mary could attend to the company but after all it was good to have company especially some one who seemed to be glad to be with them he had grown to look mary and like her own dear honest hearted father ix these latter years he could not be a bad man and it seemed a great while since they had seen one of their own folks at the table so put her whole heart into making her little dinner just as good as it could be she sat down in the front room once or twice and tried to talk over old times but she was not very successful they were constantly running against unpleasant subjects it seemed as if the mistaken household that had been divided against itself had no traditions of anything but warfare but the guest was glad to come he could talk to his cousin mary about the pleasure s note had given him he did not say that it was not very affectionate but he told the truth about having often wished since he had grown older that they could talk over the old times and have a kinder feeling toward each other and i was so broken up this year he added i miss my wife worse and worse she was some years younger than i and always seemed bo pleasant and � well if one of you girls is left without the other you ii know mary and about it that s all i can say and a sudden pang shot through the listener s heart and mary dean looked so sorry and so kind that she had to listen to a great many things about the wife who had died cousin john moved her sympathy more and more and by the time dinner was ready they were warm friends then there was the dinner and the two elderly women and their guest enjoyed it very much miss had put on the best table cloth and the best dishes she had done all she could to make the little festival a success and presently even she
| 40 |
perfect good nature death many things to us he said and he lifted his head to listen for the silence in the house and about the house reminded him of the silence of the dead and he began to consider what his own span of life might be he might live as long as father peter father peter was fifty five when he died if so twenty one years of existence by the lake s side awaited him and these years seemed to him empty like a desert � yes and as twenty one years wondering what became of her and every evening like this evening � the same loneliness the lake he sat watching the hands of his clock and a peaceful meditation about a certain that unfortunately burst its was interrupted by a sudden thought whence the thought had come he could not tell nor what had put it into his head but it had occurred to him suddenly that if father peter had lived a few weeks longer he would have found means of exchanging rose for another more suitable to the of the parish if father peter had lived he would have done her a grievous wrong he wouldn t have allowed her to suffer but he would have done her a wrong all the same and it were better that a man should meet his death than he should do a wrong to another but he wasn t contemplating his own death nor rose s when this solution of the difficulty occurred to him our inherent is so great that it is difficult to know what one does think he surely did not think it well that father peter had died his friend his benefactor the man in whose house he was living of course not then it was strange he could not keep the thought out of his mind that father peter s death had saved the parish from a great scandal for if rose had been dismissed he might have found himself obliged to leave the parish again he turned on himself and asked how such thoughts could come into his mind true the coming of a thought into the consciousness is often unexpected but if the thought were not latent in the mind it would not arise out of the mind and if father peter knew the base thoughts he indulged in � yes indulged in for he the lake could not put them quite out of his mind � he very much feared the gift of all this furniture might � no he was judging father peter ill father peter was incapable of a mean regret but who was he he d like to be told that he should set himself up as father peter s judge the evil he had foreseen had happened if father peter felt that rose was not the kind of the parish required should he not send her away the need of the parish of the many before the one moreover father peter was under no obligation whatsoever to rose she had been sent down by the school board subject to his approval but my case is quite different i chose her i decided that she was to remain and he asked himself if his decision had come about gradually no he had never hesitated he had dismissed father peter s prejudices as unworthy the church needed some good music but had he thought of the church hardly at all his first consideration had been his personal pleasure and he had wished that the best choir in the should be in his church rose had enabled him to gratify his vanity he had made her his friend he had taken pleasure in her smiles and in the fact that he had only to express a desire for it to be fulfilled after school tired though she might be she was always willing to meet him in the church for choir practice she would herself propose to the altar for feast days how many times had they walked round the garden together gathering flowers for the altar t and it was strange that she could the lake so well without knowing much about flowers or having much natural taste for flowers feeling he was doing her an injustice he admitted that she had made much progress under his guidance in her knowledge of flowers but how did he treat her in the end despite all her and getting up from his chair he walked across the room and when he turned he stopped and drew his hand across his eyes the clock struck twelve i shall be awake at dawn and with all this story running in my head and he paused at his bedroom door but having suffered in thought he was spared the and that morning he lay awake hardly annoyed at all by the whistling going over the mistakes he had made � a little surprised however that the remembrance of them did not cause him more pain at last he fell into profound sleep and when his housekeeper knocked at his door and he heard her saying that it was past eight he leaped out of bed cheerily and sang a of song as he shaved himself he his chin however for he could not keep his attention fixed on his work but must peep over the top of the glass whence he could see his garden and think how next year he would contrive a better arrangement of color it was difficult to stop the bleeding and he knew that would at the state he left the in he should not have used his bath but these were minor matters he was happier than he had been for many a day the sight of on his breakfast table the lake delighted him and the man who had driven ten miles to see him yesterday called and he shared his with him they
| 15 |
mostly in the language the church was pretty but plain in the they print in thirty two languages the priest was willing to sacrifice his dignity by selling us a quantity of colored photographs of the island of the ceremonies and the officials in full costume of their church we walked through the garden which was the part of the excursion in the stables were twenty seven cows very fine animals and fo r ten each we were furnished with a drink of warm milk just from the various women with two copper suspended on a stick bring water to the hotels and private houses � six for two or a cent and one fifth one of our full would cost three of a cent � large � run through the grand canal to the railroad station in italy and chapter xx and the students on board of the american prince were little inclined to go on shore so delighted were they with their new quarters the situation was novel and there was much to be done in making themselves familiar with the new vessel the officers and were in getting making and taking in sail till they could perform these as perfectly in the steamer as they had in the ship with tlie engineer s department they had nothing whatever to do though tlie cabin officers and the were instructed in the use of the bells but all the students found it necessary to go on shore in order to prepare to write up journals the of the young america had gone down in tlie ship so had the text books required in the classes but the principal had to his agent at home for a full supply and the books of the were fairly divided in the it was hardly practicable now to keep the together in the voyages from port to port though as no long ones were required at present this occasioned no trouble the and were ordered do sunny shores or to sail ten hours in advance of the time appointed for the departure of the american prince and at daylight in the morning the two w ere imder way the wind was fresh from the north and the course was quite near fort at the extremity of the tongue of land which the port of tlie city steamer the point shouted the on the top gallant of the the captain saw her and decided that no change of course was necessary it was the rule of the road that the steamer should keep out of the way and the young officers had been instructed always strictly to follow the rule at whatever apparent peril the steamer was french and she passed so near the that a could have been thrown from one vessel to the other so that it might have hit the gray haired man on the deck of the stranger who shouted with all his might and otherwise acted like a crazy man when he saw the it was what is the matter with that man said he acts as though he was insane i don t know replied scott but i think he is taking his morning exercise but he hke a madman he seems to be his mind of something he is talking at us that is said o stepping up and touching his cap to the captain has recognized and is frightened out of her wits tell her not to be alarmed italy and i o returned to who was crouching under the in mortal terror he assured her it be impossible for to pursue her at present and as the steamer continued on her course the of the villain were no longer heard it was evident that s agent had been transferred to this vessel some time after the catastrophe to the the with the wind on the beam went off on her course and at sunrise passed between and without any of the difficulties which disturbed ancient at the vessels were off one of the islands where rises the like which fire and night and day all the year round but is by no means the terrible looking affair some of tlie pictures resent it to be having obtained an to the northward of the island the little and laid a course for after breakfast the reading of the journals was commenced general view of the houses in the city are built of a kind of white stone which is strongly in contrast with the green behind it and on which it is partly built it is a beautiful place and the climate is one of the finest in europe all around it and on the slopes above it are of orange and trees whose fruit is one of the most important articles of commerce they have in which are trying to the nerves of who winter here it is celebrated in ancient history under the name of the principal street is the � after z sunny shores or the italian who helped out the people in the revolution of s it has plenty of squares fountains and statues the market is a covered near the water where the of fish meat and vegetables can make more noise in the same time than any others in the world they yell all the time till they get a customer we went to the garden of the de on the side of the steep hill where we had a magnificent view of the city and of the shores of italy the garden was of flowers orange and trees and tropical plants churches the principal one is the cathedral an building on the outside it looks low and gloomy but the interior is full of objects of interest to the lover of art the finely carved marble pulpit and the are worthy of attention when the city was in a shot struck the pulpit breaking off a piece and doing
| 36 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.