text
stringlengths 2.66k
5.61k
| author
int64 1
50
|
|---|---|
vi society in the south government by the of the towns made even the farms to the several towns the town meeting from being a side meeting to a date for the putting in and out of cows became a place where the very sources of political power lay the leading were by the representatives of the towns over and over this was unexpected in a day when the magistrate was as the appointed of the lord the offered strong resistance but the stronger resistance of the would not down efforts were made to the lover house but the having got the bit in their teeth carried things their own way and then the government fell into the hands of the towns or rather as has been said into the hands of the churches whose members did all the ix the custom of farms in the first generation to prominent citizens in return for the assistance given in colony planting was in the between independent towns and farms the towns by natural selection won the day the prominent man a little more eminent than the others was content to take a larger share in the town instead of a separate grant after the first generation there were fewer men of distinction engaged in planting towns and hence fewer occasions for special land and labor in the early colonies the new became exceedingly fond of the town system he did not think of doing without it everywhere that new went in the first and later generations the town system went with them but it did not elsewhere acquire any such as in and there were no political privileges and the church was not of the prevailing order long island new and certain regions in the bay all had the inevitable town plan one or two churches moved away into south and where their village plan was lost in the larger of the south if we had the evidence that is perhaps lost we should find that the or village community could be found in the southern colonies such a sub colony as that of or to which an by some or fit name was promised must have contemplated common lands and other elements of the that and its rustic ally the hundred and its type the were the form in which nearly all the local government of england was cast but nearly all the men of perished at the hands of the indians or otherwise indian the growth of a demanding much land and the consequent rapid development of soon destroyed every of the town in virginia a hundred in proved that a had been granted to it in if we look to it is hard chap vi note ii note smith of note the of civilization chap vi johnson s old md s s assistant ch v and s ms contrast between the north and south to make out whether with courts established there very early had of as is probable from the usual organization of a but the circumstances were most to the community the great of tobacco set people s teeth on edge to become rich out of it cultivation almost from the start began to change its character great and greater of bond servants free and were in virginia and and sold for four years service for half a century or more large estates with white bond servants were the rule in there were three times as many white bond servants as in virginia within ten or fifteen years after that as the century drew to a close virginia ceased to buy white servants in any numbers and worked by black servants became the rule a very usual method of holding land in england was by the system the were to the eldest son or other heir of the lord but parts of these were village from the most ancient times in new england they made village without any lord of the and were left out of the count the of farms quite independent of the town contemplated another english mode of but just as land and labor in the early colonies villages were crowded out in virginia so were independent farms driven to the wall in the an order went forth that farms should belong to the towns in which they were situated it was inconvenient to have them separate the church was the ground to keep the people strictly in line with advanced the farmer could have no rights in common fields his cattle were foreign to the pasture his pigs had no right to pick up nuts from the common he had no acre rights when were made but he must attend the town church and pay the upon him for the clergy and other town burdens and all burdens were put directly on the town individuals were unknown the town was the and the sometimes as at the town bought out a man s his accommodation exchanging a carved out of the great wilderness but the favorite method of settling land came to be in a colony or town by this means the power was greatly the minister was usually the one educated man in the parish he knew some latin a nd greek and he had even a of hebrew he was educated in what was the only branch of knowledge affected by minister or � his over the was tolerably complete on the other hand the southern with long stretches of between him and his neighbors could chap vi the of civilization chap vi cultivate his wide fields in almost entire independence his code of morals even was mostly his own but his public interests were as extensive as his county or his province this state of society self reliance and produced more leading than the other but the people lacked the new england and to organization without which the of the revolution would have been vain the from his and | 11 |
an unpleasant manner by mr he knew his own powers of however too well to despair of being able could he see to replace himself as firmly as ever in his good opinion with this purpose in view he his way to the house where he understood the newly made bishop yet was having made arrangements to proceed the if next morning to in order to be consecrated there waa therefore no time to be lost and he accordingly to effect an interview if he could on arriving the servant who was ignorant of the change against him which had been produced in his master s sentiments instantly admitted him and the bishop who had expected a present of game from his neighbour lord desired him to be admitted � the servant having only intimated that the man was come how is this said the in a loud and angry voice how did you get in sir your replied i came in by the door of course � an that your is generally the right way for as holy scripture says he proceeded anxious to let his see how deeply he was with as holy scripture says verily verily i say unto you he that not by the door into the but up some other way the same is thief and a robber indeed my lord i never the consolation that s in scripture lately glory be to god the bishop looked at him with an angry and eye for s to say truth puzzled him very much whether his con thb irish agent proceeded from audacity or sheer simplicity he felt to determine from any thing that he see in s features what is your business with me now v asked the why your replied i ve made out a couple of tes that will be a credit to our blessed establishment as soon as they re one of them my lord is called an the other tom in regard of � go about your business sir replied the with indignation i will my lord only my lord just before i about the your appointment to it is replied the other for many reasons you that wild priest but sure i said my lord that when i d get your appointment to it is i repeat t is o i haye too much regard for your morals and the advances you haye recently made in � knowledge to place you in such a situation u only some hardened sinner some ye and not an honest man like you that ought be appointed to such an office the nature of its m duties would only draw you into bad habits and corrupt your principles the fact is your very virtues and good qualities prevent you from getting it � for get it you assuredly is that your last my lord my last respecting that matter the then upon my conscience returned according to that rule hell the ha of the kind there was to prevent you from bein a bishop i hear you re goin up to to be consecrated and be me you want it but i d take my book oath that all the grace in your church won t be able to you into religion the back o my hand to you i say for i hate everything that s ungrateful it often happens that a petty insult coming from an unexpected source our indignation m re than an offence from a higher quarter the new made actually got black in the face and giddy in the head with the furious fit of passion which seized him on hearing this language from in the mean time we leave him to cool as best he may and follow to castle where he thought it probable he might meet father m nor was he mistaken he found that very zealous the irish gentleman the of a new chapel on a site given to father by mr the priest who know that the other had recently avoided him felt considerably at seeing the approach him of his own free will well said he in a voice which contained equal parts of irony and anger what do you want with me mr ah what a blessed you are i and what a they made when they caught you what do you want you shuffling scoundrel the grace o god i fear replied humbly and what brings you to me then i mean what s your business now why sir devil a one o me but s come back to the ould creed your reverence the impressions you made on me the day we liad the great argument was bo my it s yourself that can send home the � word your reverence in a way that it won t be forgotten how an sure hell the one o me but back his dirty to � an left him an it � although he offered if i d remain them to put short out and make me full my lord says i s best i ve m heard both sides o the argument from you and father m an be my if you were a bishop ten times over you couldn t a candle to him at scripture neither are you the mild and christian that he is sure i know your church well says i up to him it s a fat church no doubt an i ll tell you what s in it what s that you v says he t why then plenty of says i but no salvation an salvation to me your reverence but he got black over the whole face and rank passion but sure � would your reverence come a little more this way i think the men s to us � but sure continued in a low confidential and very friendly voice sure sir he wanted me to you for the religious instruction � | 50 |
remarkably confirmed by a passage in mr defence in which he hence i met alone in my house and opened up the of his mission with a b the that me he that his purpose was to the country as he had sufficient grounds for it unless i could so alter as to satisfy his my plan of a new constitution after that of america of a standing police force of two hundred mounted men was then proposed he promised to give me time to call the together and to abandon ms design if the would adopt these measures and the country be willing to submit to them and to carry them out further on he says in justice to i must say that i would not consider an officer of my government to have acted faithfully if he had not done what did it has also been frequently alleged in england and always seems to be taken as the of argument in the matter of the that the special represented that the majority of the inhabitants wished for the and that it was on that ground this statement shows the great ignorance that exists in this country of south african affairs an ignorance which in this case has been carefully by mr s government for party purposes they having found it necessary to assume in order to make their position in the matter that sir t and other officers had been guilty of unfortunately the government and its have been more intent upon making out their case than upon the truth of their statements if they had taken the trouble to refer to sir t s they would have found that the ground on which the was was not because the majority of the inhabitants wished for it the but because the state was drifting into was and was about to be destroyed by native tribes they would further have found that sir t never represented that the majority of the were in favour of what he did say was that most thinking men in the country saw no other way out of the difficulty but what proportion of the can be called thinking men he also said in the paragraph of his despatch to lord of th march that signed by people representing every class of the community out of a total male population of had been presented to the government of the setting forth its difficulties and dangers and praying it to treat with me for their or removal he also stated and with perfect truth that many more would have signed had it not been for the that was exercised and that all the towns and villages in the country desired the change which was a patent fact this is the foundation on which the charge of is built � a charge which has been so and with such a charming disregard for the truth that the british public has been into believing it when it is examined into it into thin air but a darker charge has been brought against the special � a charge affecting his honour as a gentleman and his character as a christian and strange to say has gained a considerable especially amongst a certain party in england i allude to the statement that he called up the army with the intention of sweeping the o the if the was objected to i may state from my own personal knowledge that the report is a complete falsehood and that no such threat was ever made either by sir t or by anybody connected with him and i will briefly prove what i say when the mission first arrived at a message came from to the effect that he had heard that the had fired at sir t and announcing his intention of attacking the if his father was touched about the middle of march alarming began to spread as to the intended action of with reference to the but as sir t did not think that the king would be likely to make any hostile movement whilst he was in the country he took no steps in the matter neither did the government ask his advice and assistance indeed a remarkable trait in the is their supreme self conceit which makes them believe that they are capable of all the natives in africa and of the whole british army if necessary unfortunately the recent course of events has tended to confirm them in their opinion as regards their white enemies to return towards the second week in april or the week before the of was issued things began to look very serious indeed that could hardly be reached the special that the whole army was collected in a chain of or with the intention of bursting into the and sweeping the country knowing how terrible would be the catastrophe if this were to thb sir t was much alarmed about the matter and at a meeting with the council of the government he pointed out to them the great danger in which the country was placed this was done in the presence of several officers of his staff and it was on this friendly of the state of affairs that the charge that he had threatened the country with invasion by the was based on the april or the day before the a message was despatched to telling him of the reports that had reached and stating that if they were true he must forthwith give up all such intentions as the would at once be placed under the of her majesty and that if he had assembled any armies for purposes of they must be at once sir t s message reached not a day too soon had the of the been delayed by a few weeks even � and this is a point which i earnestly beg englishmen to remember in connection with that act � s armies would | 18 |
back somewhere in the roof of his mouth but the next time he would not be frightened and pull the bed clothes over his head and convinced of his own courage he lay night after night thinking of all the great things he would ask the old man and of the benefit he would derive from his teaching but the brook samuel did not appear again perhaps because the nights were so dark joseph was told the moon would become full again but sleep closed his eyes when he should have been waking and in the morning he was full of fear that perhaps samuel had come and gone away disappointed at not finding him awake but that could not be for if the prophet had come he would have awakened him as he had done before his had not come again a reasonable thing to suppose for when the dead return to the earth they do so with much pain and difficulty and if the living whom they come to instruct cannot keep their eyes open the poor dead wander back and do not try to come between their descendants and their fate again but i will keep awake he said and resorted to all sorts of devices keeping up a repetition of a little phrase he will come to night when the moon is full and lying with one leg hanging out of bed and these proving he his bed with but no appeared and little by little he hope of ever being able to summon samuel to his bedside and accepted as an explanation of his persistent absence that samuel had performed his duty by coming once to visit him and would not come again unless some new necessity should arise it was then that the conviction began to mount into his brain that he must learn all that his grandmother could tell him about and david and learning from her that they had been a great trouble to samuel he resolved never to allow a thought into his mind that the prophet would deem unworthy to become worthy of his was now his aim and when he heard that samuel was the author of two sacred books it seemed to him that his education had been neglected for he had not yet been taught to read another step in his advancement was the discovery that the language his father his and himself spoke was not the language spoken by samuel the brook and every day he pressed his grandmother to tell him why the jews had lost their language in till he exhausted the old woman s knowledge and she said well now son if you want to hear any more about you must ask your father for i have told you all i know and joseph waited eagerly for his father to come home and him to tell him a story but after a long day spent in the counting house his father was often too tired to take him on his knee and instruct him for joseph s curiosity was and very often wearisome now joseph his father said you will learn more about these things when you are older and why not now he asked and his grandmother answered that it was change of air that he wanted and not books and they began to speak of the fierce summer that had taken the health out of all of them and of how necessary it was for a child of that age to be sent up to the hills dan looked into his son s face and seemed to be right a thin wan little face that the air of the hills will he said and he began at once to make arrangements for joseph s departure for a hill village saying that the pastoral life of the hills would take his mind off samuel hebrew and was doubtful if the would joseph s mind as completely as his father thought she hoped however that they would as soon as he hears the sound of the pipe his father answered a prophecy this was for while joseph was resting after the fatigue of the journey he was awakened suddenly by a sound he had never heard before and one that interested him strangely his nurse told him that the sound he was hearing was a shepherd s pipe the shepherd plays and the flock follows she said and when may i see the flock coming home with the shepherd he asked to morrow evening she answered and the time the brook seemed to him to so eager was he to see the flocks returning and to watch the she goat and in the spring as his strength came back he followed the and heard from them many stories of wolves and dogs and from a shepherd lad whom he had chosen as a companion he acquired knowledge of the and the cries and the habits of birds and whither he was to seek their nests it had become his ambition to possess all the wild birds eggs one that was easily satisfied till he came to the egg of the which he sought in vain hearing of it often now here now there till at last he and the shepherd lad ventured into a dangerous country in search of it and remained there till news of their absence reached and dan set out in great alarm with an armed escort to recover his son he was very angry when he came upon him but the trouble he had been put to and the he had had to pay were very soon forgotten so great was his pleasure at the strong healthy boy he brought back with him and whose first question to was are there in � father doesn t know his grandmother could not tell him but she was willing to make inquiries but before any news of the egg had been | 15 |
bushes a little way and came out a moment afterwards upon a sort of shelf of rock where they had a fine view a walk it was not a very extensive view for the other and trees rising on each side the prospect excepting in the direction which was down towards the general s house the house lay almost h their feet and as comfort had said they could see all the buildings and the yards and the garden saw a large flock of sheep too coming up towards the bam � x m a green path behind it there said comfort is not this a pleasant place yes said and there s my mother now just going into the house so she is said comfort she has got tired of waiting for us and has gone in now you can go up to the top of the rock with me for you see she is out of danger looked steadily at her mother and in a moment she began to call out to her with a loud voice � look at us but just as the words were uttered her mother opened tlie door and went in and saw the door close after her s attention was next arrested by seeing several cows come along a lane behind the house comfort said that they were coming fix m the pasture behind the cows were among the mountains robert and could see that had a long in hb hand and robert had an axe over his shoulder there are robert and said i verily believe yes said comfort they are driving home the cows so they are replied but robert has got an axe on his shoulder what has he been doing with his axe i wonder o i suppose replied comfort that he has been at work upon his clearing this afternoon and so after he had done his work he went and got the cows the road in which the cows were coming led down through a valley and it looked like a very pleasant road indeed asked comfort where it led to and she said it led up to the pasture then she asked comfort what she meant by robert s clearing and comfort told her that robert was clearing a piece of land somewhere up the road but that she did not know where it was or what sort of a place it was i mean to go down and ask robert where his clearing is said a walk then you will not go up to the top of the rock with me said comfort no said not this time we have come high enough for thb time i must go down and find my mother perhaps she will want me see said comfort she has just come to the window of her bedroom looked down in the direction in which comfort pointed and she saw her mother just taking a seat at the window called to her and waved her hand at her a great deal but she could not make her hear she thought that the reason was because the cow bells made such a noise but comfort told her that it was much farther than it appeared to be stopped to gather a few flowers around the spot where they were standing and then she and comfort descended was not at all in a hurry to get home for her fears of the strange and wild scenery around them were much diminished when she found that they were going towards home she kept constantly stopping to gather flowers and to pick up curious fragments of the rocks and in one place she found some beautiful red which she wanted to gather and carry down to her mother but comfort told tier that she believed that they were poisonous among the mountains they some time at the where her mother had stopped and found a curious place under the rocks which she called a it was a rude under the precipice and it was large enough for to get into she said that if she should be caught out on the mountains m a shower she could get into her den and it would not rain upon her when they got home again as they were passing along by the bam they saw the cows standing in a little green yard and robert was just bringing his stool and a tin he was going to milk the cows asked comfort to let her go in and see him milk and she told her she might go only she said that she must be not to go too near the cows so comfort went into the house and went through a little gate into the yard came in just after her bringing a little and too just as robert had done are you going to milk too said � yes said � i milk every night so took her seat near one of the cows and began into her very fast why how easy it is to milk said i did not know that it was so easy a walk ci was mistaken in that it was very easy it is a general rule that whatever we see done appears to be done with ease and as was a very good little and the milk came down in fine large streams into the supposed that it must be very easy i wish you would let me milk a little said i don t think you can milk replied o yes i can said i do harder things than that but i don t think your hand is strong enough said held out her hand and looked at it and thought it looked pretty strong and said have you ever learned to milk no said i never had any ty then i m sure you can t milk said for nobody can milk till they have | 22 |
one must claim to be divine alexander declared himself to be the son of and no one questioned it but the world has grown old and has lost its what would happen if i were to make the same claim de would smile behind his hand and the would write little upon the walls he did not appear to be addressing us but rather to be expressing his thoughts aloud while t by uncle allowing them to run to the most fantastic and extravagant this it was which he called because it recalled to him the wild vague dreams of the whose poems had always had a fascination for him de has told me that for an hour at a time he has sometimes talked in this strain of the most intimate thoughts and aspirations of his heart while his have stood round in silence waiting for the instant when he would return once more to his practical and self the great ruler said he must have the power of religion behind him as well as the power of the sword it is more important to command the souls than the bodies of men the for example is the head of the faith as well as of the army so were some of the my position must be until this is accomplished at the present instant there are thirty in france where the pope is more powerful than i am it is only by universal dominion that peace can be assured in the world when there is only one authority in europe seated at paris and when all the kings are so by the man of dreams many who hold their crowns from the central power of france it is then that the reign of peace will be established many powers of equal strength must always lead to struggles until one becomes her central position her wealth and her history all mark france out as being the power which will control and the others germany is divided is barbarous england is france only remains i began to understand as i listened to him that my friends in england had not been so far wrong when they had declared that as long as he lived � this little thirty six year old � there could not possibly be any peace in the world he drank some which constant had placed upon the small round table at his elbow then he leaned back in his chair once more still staring at the red glow of the fire with his chin sunk upon his chest in those days said he the kings of europe will walk behind the emperor of france in order to hold up his train at his each of them will have to maintain a palace in paris and by uncle the city will as far as these are the plans which i have made for paris if she wiu show herself to be worthy of them but i have no love for them these and they have none for me for they cannot forget that i turned my guns upon them once before and they know that i am ready to do so again i have made them admire me and fear me but i have never made them like me look what i have done for them where are the treasures of the pictures and statues of and of the they are in the the spoils of my have gone to her but they must always be changing always chattering they wave their hats at me now but they would soon be waving their fists if i did not give them something to talk over and to wonder at when other things are quiet i have the dome of the to keep their thoughts from mischief louis xiv gave them wars louis xv gave them the and of his court louis xvi gave them nothing so they cut off his head it was you who helped to bring him to the by ic the man of no i was always a moderate at least you did not regret his death the less so since it has made room for you nothing could have held me down i was born to reach the highest it has always been the same with me i remember when we were arranging the treaty of � i a young general under thirty � there was a high vacant throne with the imperial arms in the s tent i instantly sprang up the steps and threw myself down upon it i could not endure to think that there was anything above myself and all the time i knew in my heart all that was going to happen to me even in the days when my brother and i lived in a little room upon a few a week i knew perfectly well that the day would come when i should stand where i am now and yet i had no prospects and reason for any great hopes i was not clever at school i was only the forty second out of at i had perhaps some ability but at nothing else the truth is that i was always dreaming when the others were working by uncle there was nothing to encourage my ambition for the only thing which i inherited from my father was a weak stomach once when i was very young i went up to paris with my father and my sister we were in the and we saw the king pass in his carriage who would have thought that the little boy from who took his hat off and stared was destined to be the next monarch of france and yet even then i felt as if that carriage ought to belong to me what is it constant the discreet bent down and whispered something to the emperor ah of course said he it was an appointment i had forgotten it | 4 |
row looking for a job and get us to work on space because it bounds bigger to a sure they have space men here who amount to something fellows who get big money but they re not like us they make as much as seventy five and a hundred dollars a week but they re men old who have too big a pull and who are too sure of themselves to stand for the low they pay here but they re at the top we little fellows are told that staff about space but all we get is leg if you or i a book about should get hold of a good story don t yon ever think they d let os it i know that they d take it aw and give it to one of these fellows there s one now and he pointed to a large comfortable man in a light brown overcoat and brown bat who was bnt now in he one of my stories just the other day if they wanted yon for r work they d make yon take a regular salary for fear yon d get too of space they just keep us little fellows as to follow ap such things as they wouldn t waste a good man on and they re always firing a crowd of men every three or four m to keep up the np of the staff to keep em worried and working hard i hate the damned i told myself in h that i never would get back in it again bnt here i am i this revelation made me a little sick so this wag my grand job i a long period of for little or my hard earned money exhausted � and then just now he went on there s nothing d around tiie town or i wouldn t be here i m only staying on until i can something better it s a dog s life there s nothing � in it i worked here all last week and what do you think i twelve dollars and five for the whole week time included twelve dollars and seventy five it s an i agreed with him what is this time they i asked how do they expenses and sure they allow expenses and i m going to figure mine more liberally from now on it a a little they allow you for the time yon work but you don t get anything anyhow ill double any railroad fare i pay if they don t like it th can get somebody else but tbey won t let yon do too much of it and if you can t make a little salary on small stuff they won t keep yon even then he anything big goes to the boys on a salary and if it s real big the who are on salary and space also get the cream i went out on a story the other afternoon and around in the rain and got all the facts and just as i was going to sit down and write it � well i hadn t really got started � one of the a book about myself managing � there are twenty here � came ap and took it away from me and gave it to somebody else to write all i got was time i was sore care he added with a ill be getting out of here one of these days being handed this dose of inspiring i was in no mood for what followed i decided that this series of ills that were now him was due to the fact that be was older than myself and m be not very efficient whereas in my case being young etc etc � the youth hands itself � i do better but when it came to my this day and the next and the next and in addition i was handed the late watch my began to each day i was given unimportant or tales which came to nothing so keen was the competition between the especially between the world and the vn or the world and the herald that almost everything by one was looked into and by the others the assigned to me this second day were to visit the city e and there look ap the body of s and girl who was supposed to have drowned herself or been drowned and see if this was as another paper had said and of course she was not beautiful at all to visit a certain hotel to find out what i could a hotel beat who had been arrested this item although written was never used to visit a conference called to debate some supposed changes in faith or method of church development the date for which however had been changed without notice to the papers for which i was allowed time and my time setting aside the long and wearisome hours in which i sat in the office awaiting my turn for an me the handsome sum of two dollars and fifty cents and all the time in this very paper i could read the noblest and most about the need of a higher sense of and what not i used to frown at the shabby of it the cheap that would allow a great to and drive hia a book myself at one end of his and as to duty honesty at the other however despite these little and i was not to be discouraged the fact that i had succeeded elsewhere made me feel that somehow i should succeed here nevertheless in spite of this sense of i was strangely and made more than ordinarily by the ness and force and of the great city its startling of wealth and poverty the air of and indifference and that everywhere prevailed only recently there had been a exposure of the and | 43 |
to succeed to the possession of my spirits the st the day set for the trial i passed in such misery of mind as i can scarce recall to haye endured perhaps upon isle only much of the time i lay on a side sleep and waking my body motionless my mind fuu of thoughts sometimes i slept indeed but the court house of and the prisoner glancing on all sides to find his missing witness followed me in slumber and i would wake again with a start to darkness of spirit and distress of body i thought seemed to me but i paid him little heed verily my bread was bitter to me and my days a early the next morning friday nd a boat came with and placed a packet in my hand the was without address but sealed with a gk ment seal it enclosed two notes mr can now see for himself it is too late to his conduct will be and his discretion rewarded so ran the first which seemed to be laboriously writ with the left hand there was certainly nothing in these expressions to compromise the writer if thai person could be found the seal which served instead of signature was to a separate sheet on which there was no scratch of writing and i had to confess that so far my knew what they were doing and to as well as i was able the threat that peeped under the promise but the second was by far the more ing it was in a lady s hand of writ is informed a friend him and her eyes were of the grey it ran � and seemed ao extraordinary a piece to come to my hands at such a moment and under cover of a government seal that i stupid s grey eyes shone in my i thought with a bound of pleasure she must be the friend but who should the writer be to have her thus enclosed with s and of all wonders why was it thought needful to me this pleasing but most intelligence upon the bass for the writer i could hit upon none possible except miss grant her family i remembered had remarked on s eyes and even named her for their colour and she herself had been much in the habit to address me with a broad by way of a i supposed at my no doubt besides but she lived in the same house as this letter came from so there remained but one step to be accounted for and that was how have permitted her at all in an affair so secret or david her like go in the same with his own bat even here i had a glimmering for first of all there was something rather alarming the young lady and papa might be more her than i knew and second there was the man s policy to be remembered how his conduct had been continually mingled with caresses and he had scarce in the midst of so much laid aside a mask of friendship he must that my imprisonment had me perhaps this little friendly message was intended to my i will be honest � and i think it did i felt a sudden warmth towards that miss that she should stoop to so much interest in my affairs the up of me of itself to and more cowardly counsels if the knew of her and of our acquaintance � if i should please him by some of that discretion at which his letter pointed � to what might not this lead in vain is the net spread in the sight of any fowl the scripture says well fowls must be wiser than folk for i thought i the policy and yet fell in with it i was in this frame my heart beating the grey eyes plain before me like two stars when broke in upon my musing i see ye gotten news said he i found him looking in my face with that there came before me like a of james and the court of and my mind tamed at a door upon its hinges trials i reflected sometimes draw out longer than is looked for even if i came to too late something might yet be attempted in the interests of james � and in those of my own character the best would be accomplished in a moment it seemed without thought i had a plan said i is it still to be to morrow p he told me nothing was changed was anything said about the hour f i asked he told me it was to be two o clock and about the place i pursued place p says the place tm to be landed at said l he owned there was nothing as to that very well then i said this shall be mine to arrange the wind is in the east my road lies west keep your boat i hire it let us work up the forth all day and land me at two o clock to morrow at the we ll can have reached ye he cried ye would try in after a i just that says i ye re ill to beat says he and i kind o sorry for ye a day yesterday he added � ye see i was never entirely sure till then which way of it ye really david here was a to a lame horse i a word in your ear l this plan � f mine has another advantage yet we can leave these behind ns on the rock and one of boats from the can bring them off tomorrow yon has a queer eye when he regards you maybe if i was once out of the gate there might be knives again these red are and if there should come to be any question here is four | 38 |
a along the edge of the long valley into which the plain dropped the sun sank in a white sky and caught the point of one of the ribs of her so that she could hold it in a better position to shade her eyes and she saw how the houses stretched into a point the last being an inn no doubt the noisy resort of the and the landscape painters there was a painter making his way towards the valley his paint box on his back but at that moment the carriage turned into a lane where a enclosed the small gardens she then noticed the or apple tree to which was attached a clothes line enormous in the dusty comers the by brick was and broken in colour and in every one of these cottages is living is laughing will soon be dead good heavens how strange we are nearly there started it was father speaking to her the cottages have spoilt the appearance on this side but the view is splendid from the other the lane ascended and remembered how the house stood inside a wall behind some trees looking westward the last southern end of the common land as the was the last northern end there had been iron gates when a great city merchant lived in the house which had been gradually transformed to suit the of the sisters the melancholy little peal of the bell hanging on a loose wire sounded far away and in the interval noticed the large double door from which the old green paint was a step was heard within and the little which closed the i in the of the door was drawn back the eyes and forehead band of a appeared for an instant in the opening and then with a rattle of keys the door was hastily opened and the little with ruddy cheeks and a shy smile stood aside to let pass in she kissed the hand of as he turned to her with a kindly word of salutation the reverend mother is expecting you she said her agitation being due to the im i of the occasion no doubt they have been praying that i might sing well poor thought as she followed the up the paved covered way through the iron frame work woven through and through with ers and monthly roses she caught glimpses of the partly carriage drive and of the neatly kept flower beds filled with and tall white in the hall an adam s ceiling in graceful lines from a central and before a statue of the sacred heart a light was burning remembered how the poor lay sisters to keep the stone floor and it was into the parlour on the left which remembered to be the best parlour sister ushered them by in the old days before a sudden crisis on the stock exchange had obliged the owner to sell the house for much less than its true value to the little community of sisters of the passion who were then seeking a permanent house this room round which and the two priests were looking for seats had been used as a morning room three long french windows looked out on the garden and the flowers and air made it a bright cheerful room in spite of the severe pictures on the walls she recognised at once the of s last supper which hung over the solid marble chimney piece a little above the statue of our lady of and the two blue and also the pale walls and the coloured smiling portrait of the pope and a full length photograph of cardinal signed in his own clear neat handwriting and the priests still where they should sit looked at the little sofa brought forward for her one of the six high straight backed chairs and they sat at the circular table laid out with severe books a volume of the lives of the saints lay under her hand and she glanced at a little box for she looked at the priests and then round the room striving to penetrate the meaning which it vaguely conveyed to her � an indescribable air of scrupulous neatness and cleanliness a sense of but suddenly a startling sense of the came upon her that she the s mistress should be admitted into a should be received the honoured guest of holy women and she got up leaving the two priests to discuss the financial results of the concert and stood gazing out at the window there was the with the bushes shutting out the view of the green fields beyond and this was the portion of the garden given up to visitors and she used to walk there during the retreat away to the right was the big sunny garden where the went for their daily by special permission she had once been allowed there she remembered the sloping the fringe of stately elms and over them the view westward of park she thought of the walking under their trees half ghost like half they used to seem in their grey habits with their long grey falling their thoughts fixed on an by infinite life and this life seeming more to them than a little passing shadow returned slowly to the table the priests were talking of the choir turned to address a question to her but before he spoke the door opened and two entered hardly of this world did they seem in their long grey habits the mother a small thin woman with eager eyes and a nervous intimate manner hastened forward felt that the mother could not be less than sixty yet she conveyed an idea of youth between her rapid an expression of sadness came upon her face through the bright eyes and contrasted her with mother the sub even the touch of these women s hands was different there was a nervous emotion in the mother | 15 |
being given to low company she was very much in the habit of talking to them on the beach miss and sitting by their boats i have known her to do it when mr james has been away whole days mr james was far from pleased to find out once that she had told the children she was a s daughter and that in her own long ago she had about the beach like them oh unhappy beauty what a picture rose before me of her sitting on the far off shore among the children like herself when she was innocent listening to little voices such as might have called her mother had of david she been a poor man s wife and to the great voice of the sea with its eternal never more i when it was clear that nothing could be done miss � did i tell yon not to speak to me she said with stern contempt you spoke to me miss he replied i beg your pardon but it s my service to obey do your service she returned finish your story and go when it was clear he said with infinite respectability and an obedient bow that she was not to be found i went to mr james at the place where it had been agreed that i should write to him and informed him of what had occurred words passed between us in consequence and i felt it due to my character to leave him i could bear and i have borne a great deal from mr james but he insulted me too far he hurt me knowing the unfortunate difference between himself and his mother and what her anxiety of mind was likely to be i took the liberty of coming home to england and relating for money which i paid him said miss to me just so ma am � and relating what i knew i am not aware said mr a moment s reflection that there is anything else i am at present out of employment and should be happy to meet with a respectable situation miss glanced at me as though she would inquire if there were anything that i desired to ask as there was something which had occurred to my mind i said in reply the personal history and experience i could wish to know from this � creature i could not bring myself to utter any more word whether they a letter that was written to her from home or whether he that she received it he remained calm and silent with his eyes fixed on the ground and the tip of every finger of his right hand delicately poised against the tip of every finger of his left miss turned her head towards him i beg your pardon miss he said awakening from his abstraction but however to you i have my position though a servant mr and you miss are different people if mr wishes to know anything from me i take the liberty of reminding mr that he can put a question to me i have a character to maintain after a momentary struggle with myself i turned my eyes upon him and said you have heard my question consider it addressed to yourself if you choose what answer do you make sir he rejoined with an occasional separation and of those delicate tips my answer must be qualified because to betray mr james s confidence to his mother and to betray it to you are two different actions it is not probable i consider that mr james would encourage the receipt of letters likely to increase low spirits and but further than that i should wish to avoid going is that all inquired miss of me i indicated that i had nothing more to say except i added as i saw him moving off that i under of stand this fellow s part in the wicked story and that as i shall make it known to the honest man who has been her father from her childhood i would recommend him to avoid going too much into public he had stopped the moment i began and had listened with his usual repose of manner thank you sir but you ll excuse me if i say sir that there are neither slaves nor slave drivers in this country and that people are not allowed to take the law into their own hands if they do it is more to their own peril i believe than to other people s consequently speaking i am not at all afraid of going wherever i may wish sir with that he made a polite bow and with another to miss went away through the arch in the wall of by which he had come miss and i regarded each other for a little while in silence her manner being exactly what it was when she had produced the man he says besides she observed with a slow curling of her lip that his master as he hears is spain and this done is away to gratify his tastes till he is weary but that is of no interest to you between these two proud persons mother and son there is a wider breach than before and little hope of its heal ing for they are one at heart and time makes each more obstinate and imperious neither is this of any interest to you but it what i wish to say this devil whom you make an angel of i mean this low girl whom he picked out of the tide mud with her black eyes full upon me and her passionate finger up may be alive � for i believe some common things are hard to die if she is you will desire to have a pearl of such price found the personal history and experience and taken care of we desire that too that he | 8 |
thousands of are driven up from and turned loose on the and are not again till they are sent east at three or four years old these pure the old spanish breed weigh from to pounds and the crossed cattle from to pounds the cattle king of the state is mr of south who owns nine with runs of acres and cattle he is improving his herd rapidly by means of imported stock and indeed the opening of the dead meat trade with this country is giving a great to the improvement of the breed of cattle among all the larger and richer stock owners for this enormous herd men are employed in summer about in winter and horses in the rare case of a severe and protracted snow storm the cattle get a little hay owners of and head of cattle are quite common in sheep are now raised in the state to the extent of half a million and a between the sheep men and the cattle men sheep raising is said to be a very profitable x the rocky mountains business but its risks and losses are greater owing to storms while the for labour dipping materials etc is considerably larger and owing to the comparative inability of sheep to scratch away the snow from the grass hay has to be provided to meet the emergency of very severe snow storms the flocks are made up mostly of pure and but though some flocks which have been carefully for some years show considerable merit the average sheep is a ragged beast mutton four and five years old is sold when there is any demand for it but except at s in i never saw mutton on any table public or private and wool is the great source of profit the old being allowed to die off the best flocks yield an average of seven pounds of wool and the worst two and a half pounds the season which begins in early june lasts about six weeks get six and a half cents a head for inferior sheep and seven and a half for the better quality and a good hand from sixty to eighty in a day it is not likely that sheep raising will attain anything of the which cattle raising is likely to assume the scare is not of much account in the country of the the farmers seem much more depressed by the magnitude and of the wliich finds their fields in the morning as the garden of a lady s x and leaves them at night a desolate wilderness it was so odd and novel to have a beautiful bedroom hot water and other luxuries the snow began to fall in good earnest at six in the evening and all night accompanied by intense frost so that in the morning there were eight inches of it glittering in the sun miss p gave me a pair of men s to draw on over my boots and i set out tolerably early and broke my own way for two miles then a single had passed making a track for thirty miles otherwise the snow was the sky was absolutely and as i made the long ascent of the divide the mountains by deep came sweeping down to the valley on my right and on my left the foot hills were crowned with coloured fantastic rocks like everything was buried under a glittering of snow the of the streams was bound by of ice so branches in the still air no birds sang ko one passed or met me there were no near or far the only sound was the of the snow under s feet we came to a river over which some logs were laid with some yoimg trees across them put one foot ou tliis then drew it back and put another on then smelt the bridge wore useless she only smelt held back and turned hei x the rocky mountains cunning head and looked at me it was useless to argue the point with so sagacious a beast to the right of the bridge the ice was much broken and we the river there but as it was deep enough to come up to her body and was icy cold to my feet i wondered at her preference afterwards i heard that the bridge was dangerous she is the queen of and is veiy gentle though she has not only wild horse blood but is herself the wild horse she is always cheerful and hungry never tired looks at everything and her legs are like rocks her one trick is that when the saddle is put on she herself to a very large size so that if any one not accustomed to her her i soon find the three or four inches too large when i saddle her a gentle slap on her side or any slight start which makes her cease to hold her breath puts it all right she is quite a companion and bathing her back her nostrils and seeing her fed after my day s ride is always my first care at last i reached a log cabin where i got a feed for us both and further directions the rest of the day s ride was awful enough the snow was thirteen inches deep and grew deeper as i ascended in silence and loneliness but just as the sim sank behind a snowy peak i reached the top of the divide feet above the sea level there in lay a frozen lake among the pines a lady s life x the trail was obscure the was not settled the was � below my feet had lost all sensation and one of them was frozen to the wooden i found that owing to the depth of the snow i had only ridden fifteen miles in eight and a half hours and must look about for a place | 20 |
has been in for years y af s said the it was only held together by the ivy the bricks and mortar were rotten but even then a good strong push would have sent it over and gave it that push he was climbing over i believe as he wanted mad with drink to get into the s house and because of the had ordered the gates to be closed and locked however he found that the wall leaned a trifle towards the cliff and managed to knock it down the man has an immense strength naturally and when drink is added to that shrugged his big shoulders i have known drunken men do some wonderful things in the way of strength he finished i think must have been to have pushed that wall over rotten as it was if you remember mr climbed it i remember and a good thing it was it didn t fall and drop him into the pool below however it s down now and on that side the grounds of the s house lie open to the world by the way how is mr has he got over the death of that y girl laughed t don t think myself that she was y or that she killed that wretched it w n r i believe that she is dead and he at the officer s red face have any reason to think she h alive if r her body has not been found rejoined what of that plenty of bodies are not but the girl was never outside the s house that time she fled after the murder not knowing the lie at the sealed message the country it is more than probable that she tumbled into some river or water hole and was drowned if alive she certainly would have been caught by now we have had all over the place for weeks even now ell no the men have been withdrawn as so long a time has elapsed since the commission of the crime we ll hear no more of the matter never until you know mr i do know said positively i don t go about with my eyes shut mr and after he stalked in a military way down the street leaving to pursue his � which had come out to do rather chuckled at the positive way in which this official who could see no further than his nose asserted that the s house murder had been to the past on the fourth day of s absence received a letter from his friend in the character of a bridegroom everything had gone well as the clergyman on hearing the whole story told in manner had joined and his friend s son in holy matrimony now had lost his income as the conditions of the will had been fulfilled and in spite of all his precautions had come into her own would have been less than human had he not reflected with great glee that the income being safe from s his wife as the twin sister of would benefit to the extent of three thousand a year and lady called me a fool chuckled complacently what will she say when she knows that i have married an and will be able to get back a part of the family estate in his letter informed g eat pride that had learned ho to sign her name and the sealed had produced a singularly fine specimen of the rest of my darling s education wrote the young man will be completed by me after all these troubles are over and we can spend a proper education as a means of passing a did not commend itself to and he made a then he sat down and wrote a letter to telling charity to come over and repair to mrs s london flat where he would join her later he also gave her a full account of all that had taken place and detailed the story of the major as to her birth mentioning also the income which intended to hand over as soon as the mystery of the crime was solved when posted this letter he took his way to to see if he could find and arrange for him to appear at the s house it was necessary as had explained that all the actors in this drama should come together for the clearing up all but was not easy to be found afraid of the official warning uttered by he had taken to the hills and although all over the place he could not find the man he returned to the prince s head quite fatigued and found a from stating that he and his bride would be in by the midday train next day communicated the joyful news to who had come back from a round of � for the did not neglect his business even in these anxious days � and the two had a merry little dinner on that same night prepared by mrs own hands and the landlady s cooking when she desired was something to be wondered at insisted on a bottle of champagne being sent for and the and the lawyer drank long life and happiness to the bride and bridegroom with all honors although the sealed message said setting down his glass we are not yet out of the wood an hour after dinner and while was his early connection with mrs came in much oh sir she said here s that horrid black landlord of the maid he asks to see you sir i wouldn t if i were you he s always drunk and may be dangerous never mind i am not afraid show him up said mrs shook her head but did as she was and in a few minutes mr looking a wreck of his former self came into the room however he was perfectly sober and | 12 |
an expression of gross if the big drunken brute had kept his feet he could have done it i do not show my own regard for you by flying like a bull dog at the faces of your friends but i strive to serve you sir as best i can you do you r o interrupted it is an ill return to be treated thus indeed it shall not happen again i will speak to � robert smiled � ah you think speaking of no use well we shall see tell to come hither at v i s master about matter so immediately urged robert when you get well and strong i said at once did yon not hear me robert opened the cabin door and there stood in close attendance mr wants you without a glance at the speaker made one stride to his master s pillow and there stood obedient as the dog that hears the shepherd s voice and springing to his side his signal i wish to speak to you dick about our good friend robert here we are not in england now by and hunted by the of the law and when we were remember though you doubted him this lad proved true as steel there is no danger in his being one of us in short and if there were i still would wish it don t speak � his voice became imperative and even harsh � my mind is fixed upon it and immovable what you and i lack we have found in this good lad he can use his wits and fingers too and in the days to come will be more useful to us even than he has been at present he has no authority and you he tells me take advantage of it to treat him as you dare not treat one of those whom i have placed imder his charge this must not be in future look on bim as my lieutenant my second in command whom in my absence you will obey as though he were myself the saints forbid ejaculated still it may happen dick continued kindly and then what would become of fellows without a head ii promotion so far as i can make him and with you at least i can � is my do you hear p the expression of mr richard s was curious to witness rage dislike humiliation were struggling within him against a habit of obedience to his master s wishes that was second nature he looked from to from to in such pitiable perplexity that the latter who had a generous spirit was moved by it indeed mr said he i have no wish io exercise authority over but merely to be made secure from any such outrage as he put upon me other night that i feel sure of robert or i should not jou with it i know too weu from my own case how ill it is to possess a power that one is not fit to here he stopped and sighed be mr frank sure yourself is the king of men whispered but the other took no notice yes that is the only way continued he thoughtfully i tried to make you a friend of this good lad dick but that through your own fault has failed i now make him your superior you could not give good will it seems but there will be no excuse for refusing your obedience and is the likes of him to come between me and you frank asked no dick no man can do that i think nor answered tenderly don t the lad has had honour done him but not of you s before on the night of their first meeting grasped s fingers heartily and returned the pressure keeping his eyes however intently fixed upon s face you see what i am doing master for your sake they seemed to say that s well dick now leave us for the present for i have some private talk to finish with mr very good frank � perhaps sir � and here he turned to robert with an air of hesitating respect � you will kindly let me know when you have done and i may come back again as he said these words he ran out of the cabin as though he could bear the scene no longer to address robert as his superior thus voluntarily had probably been the hard est task which he l ad ever set himself to do poor dick ejaculated i think that ought to content you lad indeed sir it was more than i asked or even desired answered robert perhaps replied the other but it was necessary i remember when i was at the military college � ago in france � the only way by which a certain worthy could be saved from a most persecution was by creating him a sub lieutenant and a first rate officer he made you were in the army then sir asked robert simply yes and no that is i had a military training which might have been useful had circumstances turned out as they were expected to do in ireland i suppose tes there is no need to make be x promotion ter now even if you have not guessed it i nourished a vain dream which was only real inasmuch as it was dangerous on board ship i was obliged to be in street i was you see i keep nothing from you lieutenant yes sir replied robert i should like however if you would not t ke it ill to ask you one more question what is that s tone became suddenly impatient and even suspicious and imder pretence of settling his skull cap on his head he covered his eyes with his hand i never promised to tell you all my private affairs however indeed sir i should not be so | 25 |
a man in indifferent health te s of the d who proposed to start ou a before one in the ought not to be at an at late liis blood she said presently to her do you put ou your hat � you t afraid i � and go a to s aud see wliat has of father i mother the boy jumped promptly from his seat and opened i door and the night swallowed him up half an passed yet a rain neither man nor child like his parents seemed to have been and caught by tlie i must go myself she said lu then went to bed and them all in started on her way up the dark and crooked lane or e not for hasty progress a street laid ont � inches of land had value and when one handed s f the day i c s inn the single ale house at this end at t long aud ken village boast of only an off hence as nt could drink ou the premises t i amount of for was limited to a little board about six wide and two yard long fixed to the garden by pieces of wire so as tu form a ledge on this board thirsty l their cups as they stood iu the road and and t the on the dusty ground to the pattern of and they could have a seat inside thus the strangers but there were also local who felt the some wish j aud where there s a will way � the maiden tj n a large bedroom the window of ck with a great shawl lately d by the landlady mrs were gathered ou this evening nearly a dozen all seeking all old of the nearer end of and of this retreat not only did the distance to the pure drop the fully tavern at the part of the dispersed village render its accommodation for at this end but the far more serious question the of the confirmed tlie opinion that it was to drink with in a comer of the e top than with the other landlord in wide house a gaunt four post which stood in the room � sitting space for several persons ed three � its sides a couple more men had � ii a chest of drawers another rested on the oak another on the stool and thus all were some w seated at their ease tlie stage of mental comfort to they had at this hour was one wherein their seemed to beyond skins spreading their warmly through the room in this process b and its grew more and more and luxurious the shawl hanging at the window took upon itself the richness of the brass handles of the chest of drawers were as golden and the � seemed to have some with the pillars of solomon s temple having quickly walked r from opened the front door crossed tlie s room which was in deep gloom and then i the stair door like one whose fingers knew the b of the well her ascent of the crooked stair b was a slower process and her face as it rose into the t the last stair encountered the gaze of all the y in the bedroom op the d � being a few friends i ve asked in tn keep tip club walking at my expense the landlady at the sound of footsteps as as a while she peered over t ie stairs tis you mrs how you frightened me it mid be some sent by ment mrs was welcomed with glances and by the remainder of the and turned to where her husband sat he was humming to himself in a low tone i be as good as some folks here and there i ve got a great family vault at sub i and finer than any man in the county o i i vo something to tell ee that s come into my head about � a grand project whispered his cheerful wife here john don t ee see me i she him while he looking through lier as through a pane went on with his hush don t ee sing so loud my good man said the landlady j in case any member of the should be passing and take away my he s told ee what s happened to us i suppose asked mrs yes � in a way d ye there s any money hanging i ah that s the secret said field but tis well to lie kin to a coach even if you don t ride i in en she dropped her public voice and continued in i low tone to her husband been thinking since brought the news that there s a great rich lady out on the edge o the chase of the name d hey � what s that said sir john she repeated the information that lady must be o relation she said and my project ia to send t kin the f m a lady of the name now yon mention it said pa son didn t of that but she s we � a branch of us no long since king s day while this question was being discussed neither of the in their that little liad crept into the room and was awaiting an opportunity h � ot asking them to return she is rich and she d be sure to take notice o the continued mrs and be a very � thing i don t see why two branches of one family should not he on terms � yes and we ll all claim kin said brightly from under the and we ll all go and see her when tes s has gone to live with her and we ll ride in her i and wear black clothes how do yon come here child what be | 45 |
on you well it s you that ll have to come inside white walked stiff legged up the steps and across the porch with tail rigidly erect keeping his eyes on dick to guard against a flank attack and at the same time prepared for whatever fierce of the unknown that might out upon him from the interior of the house but no thing of fear out and when he had gained the inside he carefully around looking for it and finding it not then he lay down with a contented at the master s feet observing all that went on ever ready to spring to his feet and fight for life with the terrors he felt must under the trap roof of the dwelling chapter iii the god s domain not only was white by nature but he had travelled much and knew the meaning and necessity of in vista which was the name of judge scott s place white quickly began to make himself at home he had no further serious trouble with the dogs they knew more about the ways of the gods than did he and in their eyes he had qualified when he accompanied the gods inside the house wolf that he was and as it was the gods had his presence and they the dogs of the gods could only recognize this sanction dick had to go through a few stiff at first after which he calmly accepted white as an addition to the premises had dick had his way they would have been good friends but white was averse to friendship all he asked of other dogs was to be let alone his whole life he had kept aloof from his kind and he still desired to keep aloof dick s white so he dick away in the north he had learned the lesson that he must let the master s alone and he did not forget that lesson now but he insisted on his own privacy and self and so thoroughly ignored dick that that good r creature finally gave him up and scarcely took as much interest in him as in the post near the stable not so with while she accepted him i because it was the of the gods that was no reason that she should leave him in peace woven into her being was the memory of countless crimes he and his had against her not in a day nor a generation were the to be forgotten all this was a spur to her her to she could not fly in the face of the gods who permitted him but that did not prevent her from making life miserable for him in petty ways a ages old was between them and she for one would see to it that he was reminded so took advantage of her sex to pick n white and him his instinct would not permit him to attack her while her would not permit him to her when she rushed at him he turned his fur protected shoulder to her sharp teeth and walked away stiff legged and stately when she forced him too hard he was com the god s domain to go about in a circle his shoulder presented to her his head turned from her and on his face and in his eyes a patient and bored expression sometimes however a on his hind quarters hastened his retreat and made it anything but stately but as a rule he managed to maintain a dignity that was almost solemnity he ignored her existence whenever it was possible and made it a point to keep out of her way when he saw or heard her coming he got up and walked oflf there was much in other matters for white to learn life in the was simplicity itself when compared with the complicated affairs of vista first of all he had to learn the family of the master in a way he was prepared to do this as and had belonged to gray sharing his food his fire and his blankets so now at vista belonged to the love master all the of the house but in this matter there was a difference and many differences vista was a far affair than the of gray there were many persons to be considered there w a s judge scott and there was his wife there were the master s two sisters and mary there was his wife and then there were his children and of four and six there was no way for anybody to tell him about all these people and of blood ties and relationship he knew nothing whatever and would be capable of knowing yet he worked it out that all of them belonged to the ter then by observation whenever opportunity offered by study of action speech and the very of the voice he slowly learned the and the degree of favor they enjoyed with the ter and by this ascertained standard white treated them accordingly what was of value to the master he valued what was dear to the master was to be cherished by white and guarded carefully thus it was with the two children all his life he had disliked children he hated and feared their hands the lessons were not tender that he had learned of their tyranny and cruelty in the days of the indian villages when n and had first approached him he growled and looked malignant a from the master and sharp word had then compelled him to permit their caresses though he growled and growled under their tiny hands and in the growl there was no note later he observed that the boy and girl were of great value in the master s eyes then it was no nor sharp word was necessary before they could pat him yet white was never he yielded to the master s children with an ill | 21 |
was complete we believe there are things � artistic things in which america may measure her powers with europe which now owing to their being above lie standard of vulgar determination are not recognized by their countrymen let it then be fairly and fully understood that the crystal palace is a permanent foundation let it be recognized that every possible artistic and production can he sent there and seen and by competent persons whether it be iron wood or ivory gold silver velvet or cotton whether it appeal to the eye or the ear or the or to general or special let there he a standing court and jury to determine or seek to determine its relative and positive value its realities its suggestions its its triumphs then the sickening which talent or genius suffer would be greatly done away with if the public cannot be taught to embrace a great thing at once � aa they never have there may at least be great machinery in processes leading in part to such a result the best largest and most potent machine for such a is surely tbe crystal palace � not simply in its present moral and physical state but connected with the possible which are inherent in its national and character in another point of view the crystal palace as a standard place of exhibition ia of the highest value the original acquaintance which tbe american public at large had with a good statue may be dated from the of a single one by some few back however we have in the palace a whole gallery of statues not to mention paintings and introduction xii the force of comparison which works cannot be tested is available the reasons too appear for our pursuing high art in order to produce � works wherein our inferiority is evident we cannot survey the rich collection of articles which europe presents without being made sensible of we must feel too the economical beauty of ourselves whatever noble art is practised in other countries the persons it may be stated have accepted the office of to determine and honorable for the of the ci palace are now engaged in their work those who have not looked into the matter cannot fully imagine the extent of the labors so assumed by a considerable number of our fellow citizens besides the toil of travel � and the must often come from a distance as they have been chosen from various parts of the union in order that all may have a fair chance � there is a degree of separate and labor required that must prevent rapid however desirable from taking place we are particularly of one jury the individual members of which spend much of he day examining carefully and the hundreds of things within their taking down at the same time copious positive and comparative notes besides this they hold the day a secret where the utmost latitude of debate is indulged in the maintaining due order and seeing that every one has a full chance for equal discussion this morning lasts sometimes three hours or more and it is an excellent study to the vast amount of information then brought forward whole of knowledge come forth the most accurate and experience of men almost every one of whom is a in his department are detailed and often a discussion of an hour is held in unbroken upon the more intricate parts of the question we could also name a jury tliat meets at ten o clock at night and goes through in combination the work of investigation which had been pursued by its members this is the most of all rival artists are summoned on the stand in their works at least the great exhibition before this body how different the high talk on this occasion from th ordinary which passes with the world deemed are shattered by a single keen and remark some unexpected is suddenly suggested new and more difficult standard of excellence agreed upon and then the great works for competition already are placed side by side for comparison sometimes ranged as in battle array come the and artistic hosts of france britain germany italy america carefully cold is the decision now enthusiasm is out of the question the words are few and the s book is out the various shades of excellence and inferiority are by a list of of genial or merciless import as they or the object before them the opinion of each is separately asked is this or that quality a of the work examined of the first second third fourth or fifth order is this other quality so and so is this at such or such a point of excellence j and so through the whole searching catalogue if the reader in his more inquiring moods has ever attended a room if he has seen the fearfully made body laid its vitality fled on a deal table if he has observed the surgeon s knife piercing the wondrous texture of the outward skin and all the startling economy of glory and beauty which god has arrayed to perfect bis greatest work man revealed heart brain all patent to the eye and the mysteries of their trance and relations developed as they lie almost undisturbed save as to their outward � he can by comparison imagine the body of an idea laid before such a jury in such a place nothing is to escape them no partiality no flattery to win the dull cold ear of death is needed for the first and in its way the last hears naught but words of searching truth the puff s of the or foolish to this or that thing are in especial contrast with the scenes we have hinted at the great force and dignity of truth are here exhibited the value of such a high court of appeals � th f f th p f th | 19 |
cool can be selected wool growing in america is an important branch of the scope for its successful operation is immense and the choice of locality excellent opportunities for useful experiments with the rent of sheep the demand for wool in england is generally greater than the supply and it is this circumstance combined � with tie profitable nature of the business � which has given rise to the the great exhibition trade while we have endeavored to describe this trade for the benefit of our who may have had no opportunity of seeing the processes we should much rather recommend the more extensive growth of new wool and attention to its improvement with all its rural pursuits than the extensive introduction of the trade in this country the and blankets of the american department of the crystal palace deserve especial notice there is a case exhibiting three of in at the mills n h by the plains company and placed in the by the wool ol tl blankets is e u selected and i the color ig at the ends ia and the blankets arc silk bound l saw nothing m the department e i n h equals these excellent articles either for i tr and al though there � a pair ot blankets which to like those presented to the a id prince m april and by mr e of which are probably the best that can ik made in england selected from a variety of we must bay they do not come up to these blankets either in whiteness or finish whatever may be said of their strength and for beauty and exquisite finish however wo must mention a case of embroidered blankets exhibited by messrs co oi boston the ends of the blankets which appear to be the size lor children s are embroidered with a bold pattern of a vine and flowers one in scarlet and the others in crimson green blue and orange colors the case being locked and no person to exhibit tho goods we were unable to feel the quality of the wool but judging from the appearance we should say it is the best that could be selected the surface is more closely than that of ordinary blankets probably in order to show the to greater perfection we have never seen better taste displayed in this department of manufacture it being unusual to ornament blankets so the department contains some prize blankets said to have taken the prize at the crystal palace in london in comparison with the blankets just referred to they wool and the qualities of strength and in a pre eminent degree � qualities to which our home would do well to pay some attention � tut we cannot pronounce them superior to the for any other quality there is also in this department an of home made gray wool c serving to contrast the work of former ages and of the women i the present with the results of and modern improvements in the other and s r to the ib of the m this country as well as showing low the far west till stand m to this branch of manufacture in the english department there are good of tt but their being well known we need not upon them further than to say they our home manufacture m the of or re of and weight ties which must continue to the market until our home have learned to combine them with their own superiority both in whiteness and in the french department we observe several blankets by t co of france for e n by messrs a t co of this city these blankets appear to ua to combine all the strong spinning and of the blanket with the softness and finish of the goods above referred to we can recommend these blankets aa models for our home to imitate they certainly present the qualities most desirable in a good blanket being made of good soft wool even free from thin places strong well spun closely woven well or prettily colored at the ends and free from all unpleasant smell better and more serviceable blankets we have never examined there is also in the american department a case of exhibited by john co and by the company they are four quarter wide and are � for of texture and for whiteness by the best the most approved however are in our opinion those ai the great exhibition in a ease sent by messrs co of this city from the of ge h ware mass we have never seen made of finer wool than these appear to be the case being locked was inaccessible but judging from the appearance � we have good reason td compliment the on the excellence of his goods the amount expended in the of blankets and during the year ending june was as follows england � british american france va the atlantic jl france on the holland total in our on these important productions we have been guided entirely by the principles with regard to quality with the statement of which we commenced this article we believe we cannot better serve the of the united states and the best interests of the country than by the candid statement of opinion whether favorable or not to the present state of our science and we trust it will be seen that our object ia to encourage the home trade not by any flattering of inferior articles because they are american but by giving credit where it is justly due and holding up for approval what in our judgment is most worthy of praise of the country or state which may have produced it knowing that the only sure foundation lor successful enterprise consists ia a steady determination to a constant and effort to attain perfection it is this alone which will remove all prejudice in favor of foreign goods and if may judge | 19 |
of this i must tell her the truth or she may in her ignorance commit herself to some course or other that may be she said just now that if he could see her and know how occupied with him and him alone is her every waking hour she is sure he would forgive her the wicked of becoming his wife very sweet all that and touching i not conceal my tears april � the house is in confusion my father is angry and distressed and i am distracted has disappeared � gone away secretly i cannot help thinking that i where she is gone to how guilty i seem and how innocent she o that i had told her before now i o clock � no trace of her as yet we find also that the little waiting maid we have here in training has disappeared with and there is not much doubt that fearing to travel alone has induced this girl to go with her as companion i am almost sure she has started in desperation to find him and that is her goal why should she run away if not to join her husband as she thinks him s now that i consider there have been indications of this wish in her for days as in birds of passage there signs of their intention and yet i did not she would have taken such an extreme step and without consulting me i can only down the bare facts � i have no time for reflections but fancy travelling across the continent of europe with a of a girl who will be more of a charge than an assistance they will be a mark for every who them evening o clock � yes it is as i she has gone to join him a note posted by her in at daybreak has reached me this afternoon � to the fortunate chance of one of the servants calling for letters in town to day or i should not have got it to morrow she merely her determination of going to him and has started privately that nothing may hinder her stating nothing about her route that such a gentle thing suddenly become so calmly resolute quite surprises me alas he may have left she may not find him for weeks � may not at all my father on learning the facts bade me at once have everything ready by nine this evening in time to drive to the train that meets the night steam boat this i have done and there being an hour to spare before we start i relieve the suspense of waiting by taking up my pen he says overtake her we must and calls charles the hardest of names he believes of course that she is merely an girl rushing off to meet her lover and how can the wretched i tell him that she is more and in a sense better than that � yet not sufficiently more and better to make this flight to charles anything but a still greater danger to her than a mere lover s impulse we shall go by way of paris and we think we may overtake her there i hear my father walking up and down the hall and can write no more s viii � she travels in pursuit april evening paris j � there is no her at this place but she has been here as i thought no other hotel in paris being known to her we go on to morrow morning april � a morning of adventures and emotions which leave me sick and weary and yet unable to sleep though i have lain down on the sofa of my room for more than an hour in the attempt i therefore make up my to date in a hurried fashion for the sake of the it affords to ideas which otherwise remain suspended hotly in the brain we arrived here this morning in broad sunlight which lit up the sea buildings as we approached so that they seemed like a city of cork floating like on the smooth blue deep but i only glanced from the carriage window at the lovely scene and we were soon across the intervening water and inside the railway station when we got to the front steps the row of black and the shouts of the so bewildered my father that he was understood to require two instead of one with two oars and so i found him in one and myself in another we got this after a while and were rowed at once to the hotel on the where m de la had been staying when we last heard from him the way being down the grand canal for some distance under the and then by narrow which eventually brought us under the bridge of sighs � harmonious to our moods � and out again into open water the scene was purity itself as to colour but it was cruel that i should behold it for the first time under such circumstances as soon as we entered the hotel which is an place like most places here where people are taken en as well as the ordinary way i rushed to the framed list of visitors hanging in the s hall and in a moment i saw charles s name upon it among the rest but she was our chief thought i turned to the hall porter and � knowing that she would have travelled as madame de la � i asked for her under that name without my father hearing he poor soul was making outside the door about an english lady as if there were not a score of english ladies at hand she has just come said the porter madame came by the very early train this morning when was asleep and she requested us not to disturb him she is now in | 45 |
i history of richard ii history of queen elizabeth history of mary queen of history of charles i history of charles ii histories not yet replaced by works of higher merit the boys king arthur legends of wales the story of robin hood the thirsty sword a story of the invasion of scotland relating to modern history in freedom s cause a story of and jane porter the chiefs story of the times of maid and robin hood god save king alfred in the days of william the conqueror and story of the time of henry vii my friend anne a story of the sixteenth century time of henry viii the boys scott tales of a grandfather historical stories of scotland mark twain the prince and the fanciful story of the time of henry viii with in india a gallant a tale of the war for � continental countries a short history of france for young people history of henry iv history of louis xiv a child s history of france a child s history of spain in days and youthful deeds historic boys historic girls a boy of the first empire of times of im the book lover ii the united states history is the and compass for national endeavor general histories and books for reference history for ready reference excellent also for general history indispensable for the historical student history of the united states history of the united states under the constitution narrative and critical history of america history of the united states from the discovery of america to the of the constitution history of the united states from the discovery of america to and gay history of the united states from the discovery to a popular history in four volumes fully illustrated constitutional history of the american people e b history of the united states a b american history told by a b of american history america ancient america the � their history manners etc relating to modern history races of the united states the red man and the white man h h native races of the pacific states a work in volumes valuable for reference the ancient cities of the new world the period of the discovery the discovery of america and his companions history of the conquest of history of the conquest of helps the spanish conquest of america the fair god or the last of the romantic story of the conquest of mrs the lady of fort st john romance of french discovery and hale stories of discovery short true stories grace de and his men in the land of the period old and her neighbors the of new england the of a nation history of new england days and through customs and fashions in old new england home life in days child life in days the book lover new england legends coffin old times in the colonies fights and the of civilization wood the story of john smith thomas page social life in old virginia the old new york frontier lamb history of the city of new york james grant memorial history of new york history of william of france in the new world the in north america la and the discovery of the great west the old r me in canada and new france under louis xiv a half century of conflict and the conspiracy of and the indian war after the conquest of canada discovery and of the translation of early french the discovery of the old mrs of mrs david s daughter other stories of times stories of new england the s daughter a story of dutch new york to modern history johnson prisoners of hope story of early life in virginia king story of virginia and new england anne story of the courtship of miles poem s history of new york the scarlet letter du a tale of and of our coast the story of south the the last of the the time of washington the story of stories of old french times the golden dog historical romance canada in time of the the seats of the mighty historical romance time of the conquest of canada the period of the revolution the american revolution lodge the story of the revolution short history of the american revolution field book of the revolution historical view of the american revolution literary history of the american revolution lodge washington the book lover the true washington george washington life of washington in some respects and yet of much value paul the many sided henry samuel lives of the the spy tale time of the rev the pilot sea tale exploits of paul jones paul ford novel new and new york in the revolution free novel philadelphia in the revolution richard novel introducing exploits of paul jones the of fiction might be extended paul s ride poem q and grandmother story of hill battle poem from the close of the revolution history of the people of the united states from the revolution to the civil war very valuable for reference at reading to be completed in six volumes rise of the republic in the united states history of the united states under the constitution relating to modern history constitutional history of the american people ft von constitutional history of the united states the american triumphant john thomas john john lodge alexander john gay james james john thomas h von john c lodge daniel henry clay also other volumes of the american series life of the true thomas editor journal of and tions west of the the history of our navy the influence of upon history not relating exclusively to american history but of general interest the winning of the west the book lover division and the war with the f expedition history of the united states from the compromise of the robinson the conflict the century war book battles and leaders of the war the rise and fall of the h constitutional history of the | 23 |
got a business to attend to and you mi t not believe it but i ve got a wife and that i m food ofl then during the murder he was was d n by be able to fed nobly want m to be friends hat i cant go on this way i got to come q so often � oh darling and always yon so that yoa were free i just wanted yon to around when you were tired and wanted to talk to m or could enjoy oar parties was so she was so gently tl it took him an hour to make his escape with nothing settled and horribly settled in a barren freedom of icy northern wind he si thank god that s poor poor decent but it is over ite d n by chapter his wife was when be came in did you have a time she i did not i had a rotten ti m e i anything i got to e q lain george how can you like � oh i don t know what s come over good lord there s nothing come over why do yoa look for trouble all the time he was warning himself stop bang so disagreeable course she feels it being left alone here all evening but he forgot his warning as she went on why do you go out and see all sorts of strange people i say you ve been to another committee meeting this i ve been calling on a woman we sat by the fire and each other and had a whale of a good time if yoa want to � from the way say it i be it s my fault yoa went i probably sent you did i well upon my word � you hate strange people as you call em if you had your way i d be as of an old stick in the mud as you never want to have anybody with any to em at the house you want a of old that sit around and gas about the weather you re doing your level best to make me old well let me tell i m not going to have � d n by bent to bis and in she ob dearest i t think that s true i don t mean to make you old i know perhaps you re partly right perhaps i am slow about getting acquainted with new people but you think of all the dear good times we have and the per parties and the and all � with true masculine be not only convinced him that she had injured him but by the of his voice sod the of bis attack he convinced her also and pr he had her ng for bis having q ent the evening with he went i to bed pleased not only the but the martyr of the household for a distasteful moment after he had lain down he wondered if he had been altogether just ought to be ashamed her is de to things maybe she hasn t had such a time herself but i don t good for her o get up a little and i m going to keep free of her and and the fellows at the and everybody i m going to run my own in this mood be was particularly objectionable at the club lunch next day they were addressed by a man who had just returned from an three study of the political systems divisions resources and of great britain italy and he told them all about those subjects together with three funny stories about european of america and some words on the necessity of keeping ignorant foreigners out of america say that was a talk real he � aid d n by but the grumbled four bunch of hot air i and what s the matter with the aren t all ignorant and i got a we re ail descended oh you make me said was aware that dr a i was sternly from across the table dr was one of the most important men in the he was not a physician but a surgeon a more romantic and sounding he waa an intense large man with a boiling of black hair and a thick black the new often his he was professor of in the state university he went to dinner at the very best on royal ridge and he was said to be hundred thousand dollars it was to to have such a person at him he hastily praised the s wit to but for dr s benefit that afternoon three men shouldered into office with the air of a committee in frontier days they were huge resolute big men and they were all hi in the land of � dr the surgeon charles the and most of all the white bearded snow owner of the advocate in their presence felt small and insignificant well great pleasure have chairs what c n i do for you be they neither sat nor offered observations on the weather said snow we ve come from the good league we ve decided we want you to join says you don t care to but i think we can show you a light league is going to combine with the d n by � � f io a can for the open shop so ting for you to put your name down in hu could not recall for not wishing to join the league if indeed he had ever definitely known them but he was certain that he did not wish to join and at the t of their him he a stirring of anger against even these princes of colonel have to think it over a little he that means you re not to george something black and and ferocious from now you look ben i m if i m | 42 |
was a mrs and that as i have been since informed is the name of miss grey s guardian it is but have you likewise heard that miss has fifty thousand pounds in that if in anything we may find an explanation it may be so but is capable � at least i think � he stopped a moment then added in a voice which seemed to distrust itself and your sister � how did she � her sufferings have been very severe i have only to hope that they may be short it has been it is a most cruel affliction till yesterday i believe she never doubted his regard and even now perhaps � but am almost convinced that he never was really attached to her he has been very and in some points there seems a hardness of heart about him said colonel is in sense and deed i but your sister does not � i think you said so � she does not consider it quite as you do you know her disposition and may believe how eagerly she would still justify him if she could he made no answer and soon afterwards by the removal of the tea things and the arrangement of the card parties the subject was necessarily dropped mrs who had watched them with pleasure while they were talking and who expected to see the effect of miss s communication in such an on colonel s side as might have become a man in the bloom of youth of hope and happiness saw him with amazement remain the whole evening more serious and thoughtful than usual iv a night of more sleep than she had expected awoke the next morning to the same consciousness of misery in which she had closed her eyes encouraged her as much as possible to talk of what she felt and before breakfast was ready they had gone through the subject again and again with the same steady conviction and counsel on s side the same impetuous feelings and varying opinions on s as before sometimes she could believe to be as unfortunate and as innocent as herself and at others lost every consolation in the impossibility of him at one moment she was absolutely indifferent to the observation of all the world at another she would herself from it forever and at a third could resist it with energy in one thing however she was uniform when it came to the point in avoiding where it was possible the presence of mrs and in a determined silence when obliged to endure it her heart was hardened against the belief of mrs sense and s entering into her sorrows with any compassion no no no it cannot be she cried she cannot feel her kindness is not sympathy her good nature is not tenderness all that she wants is gossip and she only likes me now because i supply it had not needed this to be assured of the injustice to which her sister was often led in her opinion of others by the irritable refinement of her own mind and the too great importance placed by her on the of a strong sensibility and the graces of a polished manner like half the rest of the world if more than half there be that are clever and good with excellent abilities and an excellent disposition was neither reasonable nor candid she expected from other people the same opinions and feelings as her own and she judged of their motives by the effect of their actions on herself thus a circumstance occurred while the sisters were together in their own room after breakfast which sunk the heart of mrs still lower in her estimation because through her own weakness it chanced t prove a source of fresh pain to herself though mrs was governed in it by an impulse of the utmost good will with a letter in her outstretched hand and countenance smiling from the persuasion sense and sensibility of bringing comfort she entered their room saying � now my dear i bring you something that i am sore will do you good heard enough in one moment her imagination placed before her a letter from fall of tenderness and of all that had passed satisfactory convincing and instantly followed by himself eagerly into the room to enforce at her feet by the eloquence of his eyes the assurance of his letter the work of one moment was destroyed by the next the handwriting of her mother never till then unwelcome was before her and in the of the disappointment which followed such an ecstasy of more than hope she felt as if till that instant she had never suffered the cruelty of mrs no language within her reach in her moments of happiest eloquence could have expressed and now she could reproach her only by the tears which streamed from her eyes with passionate violence � a reproach however so entirely lost on its object that after many expressions of pity she withdrew still referring her to the letter for comfort but the letter when she was calm enough to read it brought little comfort filled every page her mother still confident of their engagement and as warmly as ever on his constancy had only been sense and by s application to entreat from towards them both and with such tenderness towards her such affection for and such a of their future happiness in each other that she wept with agony through the whole of it all her impatience to be at home again now returned her mother was dearer to her than ever dearer through the very excess of her mistaken confidence in and she was wildly urgent to be gone unable herself to determine whether it were better for to be in london or at offered no counsel of her own except of patience till their mother s wishes could be known and | 26 |
what had once been should remain forever here but with the glad colours of life not the faded ones of death upon it it satisfied her conscience to do this for it appeared to her that so very much of good had been granted her of late so large a measure of peace and hope vouchsafed to her that it was but fitting she should bear testimony to her of all that by of the last outward sign of the rebellion of her sorrowful youth the richard of to day busy with much kindness thoughtful of her comfort her with delicate � which to receives them makes her womanhood a privilege rather than a burden � yet her not a little too in the security of a fair and equal affection bore such moving resemblance to that other richard first master of her heart that could afford to the cruelty of certain memories retaining only the portion of them and could find a peculiar sweetness in of this room formerly devoted wholly to sense of injury and blackness of hate and on the day in question s presence a specially tender brightness even as the thirsty earth refreshed by the thunder rain sent up a rare whiteness as of incense smoke for she had been somewhat anxious about lately to her sensitive observation of him his virtue his of temper his had come to have in them a pathetic element he was lovely and pleasant in his ways but sometimes when tired or off his guard she had surprised an expression on his face a constrained patience of speech even of attitude which made her fear he had given her but that half of his confidence calculated to cheer while he kept the half calculated to rather to himself and in good truth richard did suffer not a little at this period the first push of enthusiastic conviction had passed while his new manner of conduct and of thought had not yet acquired the of habit the tide was low and sand bars disclosed themselves he endured the temptations arising from the state known to writers as spiritual and found those temptations of an and wholly sort and though he held his the new heaven and new earth feared for him � feared that the way he elected to walk in was over strait and that though resolution would hold health might be my darling you never now she had said to him a few days back to which he answered � poor dear mother have i cheated you of one of your few small pleasures was it so very delightful to listen to that same grumbling i begin to believe it was declared it conferred a distinction upon me you see because i had a comfortable conviction you grumbled to nobody else one is jealous of distinction yes � i think i miss it whereupon he laughed and kissed her and swore he d fast enough if there was anything � which positively there wasn t � to about au of which though it charmed appeased her anxiety but the young man worked too hard his opportunities of amusement were too scant cast about in thought and in prayer for some of his daily life even if such should lessen the completeness of his dependence upon herself and it was just at this juncture that miss st wrote proposing to come to for a week she had not been there since the recess she wrote from where she was staying on her way south after paying a round of country house visits in scotland it was now september she would probably go to for the winter with young lady � grand niece by marriage of her late god mother and � whose lungs were pronounced to be badly touched might she therefore come to to say good bye and to this proposed visit richard offered no opposition though he received the announcement of it without any marked demonstration of approval � oh by all means let her come of course it must be a pleasure to his mother to have her and he d got on very well with her in the spring � he had � richard s expression was slightly � but he did really like her � oh dear yes he her exceedingly she was quite curiously clever and she was sincere and she was rather beautiful too in her own style � he had always thought that by all means have her � after which conversation richard went for a long ride cottages in building at and visited a house extensive internal alterations which stands back from s green about a hundred yards short of the s shop at row he came in late unusual sir richard silence held him during dinner and lady took herself to task herself with selfishness was very dear to her and so only too probably she had the friendliness of s attitude towards the young lady but they had seemed to get on so extremely well in the spring and very fairly well at yet perhaps in that as in so much else richard put a upon himself obeying conscience rather than inclination was nor had her yesterday upon miss st s arrival richard remained today however matters had improved something � possibly the � seemed to have his coldness broken up his of manner therefore gave thanks and moved with a lighter heart as for miss st herself an innate pervaded her aspect not easy to resist lady had been sensible of it when the young lady first greeted her that morning it remained by her now as she stood after luncheon at one of the open windows watching the up rolling thunder cloud the the solemn behaviour of the was easily entertained to day she felt weu disposed towards every living creature and the diverted her extremely they reminded her of certain garden parties with this improvement | 32 |
i cannot now say for shame we must remind them to speak well of their master we must help their wandering memories now whither went they with thy the alone knows toward the sunset i believe said we had thought that thou know i how i take them when they come in my way but i do not hunt the log � or � or green on a water hole for that matter up up up up look up of the wolf pack looked up to see where the voice came from and there was the sweeping down with the sun shining on the the book of his wings it was near s but he had ranged all over the looking for the bear and missed him in the thick foliage what is it said have seen among the log he bade me tell you i watched the have taken him beyond the river to the monkey city � to the cold they may stay there for a night or ten nights or an hour i have told the to watch through the dark time that is my message good hunting all you below full and a deep sleep to you cried i will remember thee in my next kill and put aside the head for thee alone o best of it is nothing it is nothing the boy held the master word i could have done no less and up again to his he has not forgotten to use his tongue said with a chuckle of pride to think of one so young remembering the master word for the birds while he was being pulled across trees it was most firmly driven into him said but i am proud of him and now we must go to the cold s hunting they all knew where that place was but few of the people ever went there because what they called the cold was an old deserted city lost and buried in the and beasts seldom use a place that men have once used the wild will but the hunting tribes do not besides the lived there as much as they could be said to live anywhere and no self respecting animal would come within eye shot of it except in times of when the half ruined and held a little water it is half a night s journey � at full speed said looked very serious i will go as fast as i can he said anxiously we dare not wait for thee follow we must go on the quick foot � and i feet or no feet i can keep abreast of all thy four said shortly made one effort to hurry but had to sit down and so they left him to come on later while hurried forward at the rocking said nothing but strive as might the huge rock held level with him when they came to a hill stream gained because he bounded across while swam his head and two feet of his the book neck clearing the water but on level ground made up the distance by the broken lock that freed me said when twilight had fallen thou art no slow i am hungry said besides they called me worm � and yellow to boot a one let us go on and seemed to pour himself along the ground finding the shortest road with his steady eyes and keeping to it in the cold the monkey people were not thinking of s friends at all they had the boy to the lost city and were very pleased with themselves for the time had never seen an indian city before and though this was almost a heap of ruins it seemed very wonderful and splendid some king had built it long ago on a little hill you could still trace the stone that led up to the ruined gates where the last of wood hung to the worn hinges trees had grown into and out of the walls the were tumbled down and decayed and wild hung out of the windows of the towers on the walls in hanging s hunting a great palace crowned the hill and the marble of the and the fountains was split and stained with red and green and the very in the where the king s used to live had been thrust up and apart by and young trees from the palace you could see the rows and rows of houses that made up the city looking like empty filled with blackness the block of stone that had been an idol in the square where four roads met the and at street corners where the public wells once stood and the shattered of temples with wild on their sides the called the place their city and pretended to despise the people because they lived in the forest and yet they never knew what the buildings were made for nor how to use them they would sit in circles on the hall of the king s council chamber and scratch for and pretend to be men or they would run in and out of the houses and collect pieces of plaster and old bricks in a corner and forget where they had hidden them and fight and cry in crowds and then break off to play up and down the of the king s garden where they would shake the rose trees and the book the in sport to see the fruit and flowers fall they all the passages and dark in the palace and the hundreds of little dark rooms but they never remembered what they had seen and what they had not and so drifted about in ones and or crowds telling one another that they were doing as men did they drank at the and made the water all muddy and then they fought over it and then they would all rush together in and shout | 39 |
looked vacant at the mention of a country so far away as russia now they edged in and asked what he thought about the car in oil wells the comparative merits of young men born in and in the question of the future cost of and wasn t it true that american put it all over these they were glad to find that he agreed with them on every point as she heard announce we re perfectly willing to talk to any committee the men may choose but we re not going to stand for some outside in and telling us how we re going to run our plant remembered that elder now meekly receiving new ideas had said the same thing in the same words while sam was digging up from his memory a long and immensely detailed story of the crushing things he had said to a porter named george his knees and rocked and watched she wondered if he did not understand the of the smile with which she listened to s account of the good one he had on that improper ten times told tale of how she had forgotten to attend to because she was all up the box � which may be translated as eagerly playing the piano she was certain that saw through her when she pretended not to hear s invitation to join a game of she feared the comments he might make she was irritated by her fear she was equally irritated when the returned through main street to find that she was proud of sharing in s as people waved and leaned from a window she said to herself as though i cared whether i m seen with this fat and simultaneously everybody has noticed how much will and i are playing with mr the town was full of his stories his friendliness his memory for names his clothes his flies his generosity he had given a hundred dollars to father the priest and a hundred to the reverend mr the minister for work at the bon ton heard the tailor old certainly pulled a good one on this that always is shooting off his mouth he s supposed to of settled down since he got married but lord those fellows that think they know it all they never change well the red got the grand handed to him all right he had the nerve to breeze up to at s and he said he said to i ve always wanted to look at a man that was so useful that folks would pay him a million dollars for existing and gave him the once over and come right back have eh he says well he says i ve been looking for a man so useful sweeping floors that i could pay him four dollars a day want the job my friend ha ha ha i say you know how is well for once he didn t have a thing to say he tried to get fresh and tell what a rotten town this is and come right back at him if you don t like this country you better get out of it and go back to germany where you belong say maybe us fellows didn t give the horse laugh though i oh is the white haired boy in this all had borrowed elder s he stopped at the he at rocking with on the porch better come for a ride she wanted to him thanks so much but i m being maternal bring him along bring him along was out of the seat up the and the rest of her and were feeble main street she did not bring along was silent for a mile in words but he looked at her as though he meant her to know that he understood everything she thought she observed how deep was his chest lovely fields over there he said you really like them there s no profit in them he chuckled sister you can t get away with it i m you you consider me a big bluff well maybe i am but so are you my dear � and pretty enough so that i d try to make love to you if i weren t afraid you d slap me mr do you talk that way to your wife s friends and do you call them sister as a matter of fact i do and i make em like it score two i but his chuckle was not so and he was very attentive to the in a moment he was cautiously attacking that s a wonderful boy will great work country are doing the other day in washington i was talking to a big scientific a professor in medical school and he was saying that no one has ever sufficiently appreciated the general and the sympathy and help he gives folks these crack the young scientific fellows they re so and so wrapped up in their that they miss the human element except in the case of a few diseases that no respectable human being would waste his time having it s the old that keeps a community well mind and body and strikes me that will is one of the and headed country i ve ever met eh i m sure he is he s a servant of reality come again um yes all of that whatever that is say child you don t care a whole lot for if i m not mistaken there s where you re missing a big chance there s nothing to these cities believe me i know is a good town as they go you re lucky to be here i wish i could stay very well why don t you why � lord � can t get away fr you don t have to stay i do so i to it main street do you know that men | 42 |
whose protecting care he entirely the strange that broke out in the council of the and the that prevailed in the east j whereby the hostile against the were for a time and his favourite of new preserved fi om imminent peril and deadly warfare darkness and superstition over the fair valleys of the east � the pleasant banks tf tne no longer echoed with the sounds of gaiety � and were seen in the air � gliding haunted ev ery wild brook and dreary � strange voices made by were heard in desert � and the border towns were so occupied in and the knowing old women that had produced these alarming appearances that for a while the of and its inhabitants were totally forgotten the great p ter therefore finding that nothing was to be immediately apprehended from his eastern neighbours himself about with a vigilance that distinguished him to put a stop to the of the my attentive reader will had begun to be very troublesome towards the latter part of the reign of william the having set the of that httle governor at naught and put the to a perfect peter however as has already been shown was a governor of different habits and turn of mind without more he immediately issued orders for raising a corps of troops to be stationed on the southern frontier under the command of general history of von this illustrious warrior had risen to great importance during the reign of and if histories speak true was second in command to the van when he and his ragged regiment were kicked out of fort good hope by the in consequence of having been ut such a m� am affair and of having received more wounds on a certain honourable part that shall be nameless than any of his he was ever after considered as a hero who bad seen some service certain it is he enjoyed the unlimited confidence and friendship of william the who would sit for hours and listen with wonder to his i of surprising he had never gained and dreadful battles � from which be had run away and the governor was once heard to declare that had he lived in ancient times he t unquestionably have claimed the of being not merely like j a mighty man of battle but in the cabinet a second that is to say very of speech and long � all which as nobody in new knew aught of the ancient heroes in passed totally it was observed by honest old that heaven had into some men at their birth a portion of intellectual gold into others of intellectual silver while others furnished out with abundance of brass and ii on now of this last class was undoubtedly the great general von and from the display he continually made thereof i am inclined to think that dame nature who will sometimes be partial had blessed him with enough of those materials to have fitted up a dozen ordinary but what is most to be admired is that he contrived to pass o� f all his brass and copper upon who was no great judge of base coin as pure and genuine gold the consequence was that upon the resignation of who after the loss of fort retired like a general to live under the shade of his the mighty copper captain was promoted to his this he with great always himself in � of tlie armies of the new though to tell the truth the armies ur � york of a handful of such was the character of the warrior by peter to defend his southern frontier nor may it be tin f to my reader to have a glimpse of his person he was tall but notwithstanding a huge man whose bulk did not so much arise from his being fat as windy being so completely with bis own importance that he resembled one of those bags of wind which in an incredible fit of generosity to that wandering warrior his dress with this character for he bad much brass and er without as nature had stored away within his coat was crossed and and i with of copper lace and round the body with a crimson of the size and of a fishing net doubtless to keep his heart from bursting through his ribs his head and whiskers were powdered from the midst of which his blooded face glowed like a fiery furnace and his soul seemed ready to out at a pair of large eyes which projected like those of a i swear to thee worthy reader if report not this warrior would give all the money in my pocket to have seen him cap d pie ia martial to the middle � to tlie � to the cars � to the teeth � crowned with an cocked hat and with a belt ten inches from which a of a length that i dare not mention thus equipped he about as bitter looking a man of war as the far more of more hall when he forth armed at all points to the of notwithstanding all the great and had you but seen him in this dress how fierce he looked and bow big yon would have thought him for to be some egyptian he all cats dogs and all each cow each horse and each for fear they did flee for they took him to be some e ballad of drag of want of qualities of renowned f i must he was not exactly the kind of man that the g peter would have chosen to command his but the id that in those days the province did not abound as at present in military characters j who like sc many people every little village � out instead of soldiers and themselves in the corn field instead of the field of battle who have surrendered the toils | 48 |
tea or two to be as as spectator wai as she d mr was lost actor of all he had ii tom talent taste than i l not uke as o man but she t admit i ami on thia point there were not many tr ag ha ri the day at when mr a black took and do you fine in all ii i for the life aad him and to see in set i fur a fine actor d pass the n and ihe first line ol and being to follow the the re m her pity and at eat u to giving him the and directions ir trying to make no artificial for him and of his pan herself but hia much the many uncomfortable feelings had but with all these and claims on her time and was as far finding herself without or as without a companion in quite aa far from having no demand oo her as on her the of her was to been she was occasionally useful to all vas as much at peace as any there was a great deal of to he done moreover in which her was wanted and that mrs thought os well off as the rest was by the in which it � come she cried these arc � ae times in but must not be always walking from one room to thb and the on at your case in this way i want here i have been myself till i can m contrive mr s cloak sending for any more and now i your help in putting it are bat three you may do them in a it would be lucky me if i nothing but the part to da tou arc best off i con tell you but if nobody did more than ire should not get on very fast took the very quietly without attempting but her kinder observed on her behalf � one cannot wonder sister that should be delighted it is all new to her you know you and i used to be very fond rf a play and so am still and as soon as i am a little at i to look in at their too what ia the play about you have never told me oh i sister pray do nut ask her now for is not those who can talk and work at tlie same time it is about i believe said to her aunt there will be three acts to morrow evening and that will give you m opportunity of seeing the at once ton had better stay till the curtain is hung ill the curtain will be hung in a day or n little sense in a play without a curtain � and if you do not find it draw up into very lady seemed resigned aunt s composure thought of thi d a for if the acts were find would then for the first ti � � a rf ri a scene between them which � � the was lone a v v b b perform the whole subject � u � h � to be bj the and little of i of ba made by the f ind read and read again with painful i and looked foi ard to rt it i almost too interesting she did not believe they f it in private i came for the continued and i of it did not become less d she i i very diligently under her aunt a directions but her md ber n absent m made her escape with her work to the ei e might bare no in another and as il of the act ii henry at desirous at once of ber lime to herself f arc the mr a a through h of the two ladies walking up rom th� fl ne no change in her wish of retreat and she worked f i in the east room undisturbed for a quarter of ar hen a gentle tap at tbe door was by the i i i right this is the east room my dear price j � pardon but i made my way to you on purpose ic i your help ay quite surprised endeavoured to show herself mistress o by her and looked at the bright bars of bee with concern you i am quite warm tory warm allow m while and do the goodness to hear me my third � i brought my hook and if jou would but le i should be so obliged i came here to day intending tc le it with � by � tht lot in the way and if he were i do not think could tf with till i bare hardened myself a little d � or two you will be so good wont you ny was most civil in her though she not um in a very steady voice you ever happened to look at the part i mean con opening her book hero it is i did not of u at but upon my word there look at that and that how am i ever to look in the id � y � thing could you do it but then he is your makes oil the you must � � may fancy you him and get on by his i i do my best with the greatest readiness but b � � � r i con say very little of it j e you are to have the hook of a two at hand for you to � i t there � very j i i dare much g k feet against when they used for a purpose sit in q u just now lie would bless for we are tbe tales is ia ri � him as i came np and the theatre is and k if they an � not perfect i be by tlie bye i | 26 |
and powerful to sink a we persisted mr hale was clear through he at the rate of one hundred thousand per week for secret service the aid of the and of countless private was called in and in addition to this thousands were upon our our agents everywhere in all penetrating all classes of society they grasped at a hundreds of were and at various times thousands of suspicious persons were under but nothing came to light with its communications the m of m continually changed its method of delivery and every messenger they sent us was arrested forthwith but these inevitably proved to be innocent individuals while their descriptions of the persons who had employed them for the errand the of never on the last day of december we received this office of the m of m december mr hale money baron dear sir � of our policy with which we flatter ourselves you are already well we beg to state that we shall give a from this of tears to with whom because of our attentions you have become so well acquainted it is custom to be in his private office at this hour even as you read this he breathes his last cordially yours the of i dropped the letter and sprang to the great was my relief when i heard the s hearty voice but even as he spoke his voice died away in the to a sob and i heard faintly the crash of a falling body then a strange voice d me sent me the regards of the m of m and broke the like a flash i called up the public office of the central police telling them the of to go at once to the s aid in his private office i then held the line and a few minutes later received the intelligence that he had been found bathed in his own blood and breathing his last there were no and no trace was of the murderer whereupon mr hale immediately increased his secret service till a quarter of a million flowed weekly from his he was determined to win out his rewards over ten millions you have a fair idea of his resources and you can see in what manner he drew them it was the principle he affirmed tbat he was fighting for not the gold and it must be admitted that his course proved the nobility of his motive the police of all the great cities and even the united states government stepped in and the affair became one of the highest questions of state certain funds of the nation were devoted to the of the m of m and every government agent was on the alert but all in vain the of carried on their work they had their way and struck the of but while he fought to the last mr hale could not wash his hands of the blood with which they were though not a murderer though no jury of his would ever have convicted him none the less the death of every individual was due to him as i said before a word from him and the slaughter would have ceased but he refused to give that word he insisted that the integrity of society was assailed that he was not sufficiently a coward to desert his post and that it was just that a few should be for the ultimate welfare of the many nevertheless this blood was upon his head and he sank into deeper and deeper gloom i was likewise with the guilt of an babies were killed children aged men and not only were these local but they were distributed over the country in the middle of february one evening as we sat in the library there came a sharp knock at the door on to it i found lying on the carpet of the corridor the following the of office of the m of m february mr hale money baron dear sir � does not your soul cry out upon the red harvest it is perhaps we have been too abstract in conducting our business let us now be miss is a young woman as good we understand as she is beautiful she is the of your old friend judge and we happen to know that you carried her in your arms when she was an infant she is your daughter s friend and at present is visiting her when your eyes have read thus far her visit will have terminated very cordially the of my god did we not instantly realize the terrible import we rushed through the day rooms � she was not there � and on to her own apartments the door was locked but we it down by ourselves against it there she lay just as she had finished dressing for the opera smothered with pillows torn from the couch the flush of life the of yet on her flesh the body still and warm let me pass over the rest of this horror you will surely remember john the newspaper accounts late that night mr hale summoned me to him and before god did pledge me most solemnly to stand by him and not to compromise even if all and kin were destroyed the next day i was surprised at his cheerfulness i had thought he would be deeply shocked by this last tragedy � how deep i was soon to learn all day he was light hearted and as though at last he had found a way out of the frightful difficulty the next morning we found him dead in his bed a peaceful smile upon his face � through the of the police and the authorities it was given out to the world as heart disease we deemed it wise to withhold the truth but little good has it done us little good has anything done us barely had i left | 21 |
his rules thus in volume first we have a long story translated from a german magazine about certain antique y amusing enough but with no more reference to than to england while in return the lied is despatched in something less than one line and comes no more to light who was not an satire entitled the mirror of but a real hero of that name whose is standing to this day near has some four lines for his share de about as many which also are again if have his half volume and poor poor and numerous other poor each his chapter also has his two sentences and is in these weighed against � dr does not occur here and his escape notice or even do worse the poetry of the is not alluded to the name of s survey of german poetry appears not to be known to mr or if want of rhyme was to be the test of a how comes here stranger still is not once mentioned neither is neither is but why dwell on these and is not all included in this one incredible fact that one of the largest articles in the book a tenth part of whole historic survey of german poetry treats of that genius august von the truth is this historic survey has not anything historical in it but is a mere of notices and notes bound together indeed by the circumstance that they are all about german poetry about it and about it also by the of time and still more strongly by the s but by no other sufficient tie whatever the title were not some in such cases might be general jail delivery of all and original or translated composed or borrowed on the subject of german poetry by c to such jail delivery at least when it is from the prison of mr s desk at and relates to a subject in the actual of german poetry among us we have no objection and for the name now that it is explained there is nothing in a name a rose by any other name would smell as sweet however even in this lower and lowest point of view the historic survey is to grave objections its worth is of no character we mentioned that mr did not often authorities for which doubtless he may have his reasons if it be not from french and the and other the like sources we confess ourselves altogether at a loss to divine whence any reasonable individual gathered such notices as these books indeed are scarce but the s miscellaneous writings most situation may command s horn s und chat s or some of the thousand and one of that sort numerous and accurate in german more than in any ther literature at all events s und and the world renowned conversations no one of these appears to have been in mr s sion � alone and him he seems to have consulted a certain proportion of errors in such � a work is and scarcely so the proportion observed here the historic survey with errors perhaps beyond any book it has ever been our lot to review of these many indeed are harmless enough as for instance where we learn that was born in not in though in that case he must have published his at the age of three years or where it is said that s mary to pray for his soul which it does not do if indeed any one cared what it did some are of a quite mysterious nature either with a wit which continues latent or indicating that in spite of and newspapers some portions of this island are still for example it von was admirably translated into english in at by william scott advocate no doubt the same person who under the poetical but assumed name of walter has since become the most popular of the british writers � others again are the fruit of a more ignorance as when we hear that s und is literally meant to be a narrative and no genuine biography that his ends quietly in to mr s satisfaction which however the french translation may run in the original it certainly does not mr s survey of german poetry likewise that his copy of is so we grieve to state is ours still worse is it when speaking of distinguished men who probably have been at pains to veil their sentiments on certain subjects our author takes it upon him to lift such veil and with perfect composure this to be a that a that other an often without any due foundation it is quite for example to describe by any such unhappy term as that of it is very particularly to say that anywhere himself an that he is a � indeed that he is was or is like to be any ist to which mr would attach just meaning but on the whole what struck us most in these errors is their surprising number in the way of our calling we at first took pencil with intent to mark such but soon found it too appalling a task and so laid aside our black lead and our art happily however a little natural invention assisted by some of came to our aid six pages studied for that end we did mark finding therein thirteen errors the pages are of volume third and still in our copy have their which can be before a jury of authors now if give who sees not that the entire number of pages will give and a or allowing for which are from errors and for philosophical wherein the errors are of another sort nay with a perhaps liberality that these six pages may yield too high an average which we know not that they do � may not in round numbers fifteen hundred be given as the amount | 37 |
upon to go out with the manager for a drink and presented him with twenty suggestions for new and circular letters he the methods of the and two days later he was at work as though he had never in his life been farther from the company than � dear � i am back in new york feeling very well hope this finds you the same i have been wanting to write to you for quite a while now but there has not been much news of any kind so i have not written to you but now i am back working for the company i hope you are having a good time in paris it must be a veiy pretty city st i have often wished to be there perhaps some day i go i several here have been reading quite a few books since i got back now i shall get on better with my reading you told me so many things about books so on i do appreciate it in closing i am yours very sincerely william there was nothing else he could say but there a number of things he could think as i crouched by the window overlooking west street whose dull hue had not changed during the c tunes while he had been england her sm he remembered � and he cried oh i want to see her i much her gallant dash through the and again the cry at last he cursed himself why don t you do that d count for her and not sit around t her like a he worked on his plan to bring the south into line � the company s line again and again he sprang up from the writing table in his hot room when the presence of came and stood by his chair but he worked l presence he is our mr the company had not been able to get from the south the business which the company deserved if right and justice were to prevail on the steamer from england mr had conceived the idea that a ink well with the and union draped in graceful cast iron would make an admirable present with which to draw the attention of the southern trade the ink well was to be followed by a series of letters sent on the slightest provocation on order or re order hoping the various of the were good and the season important all to a welcome to the on the southern route he drew up his letters he his ink well he got up the courage to talk with the office manager to forget love and the beloved men have ascended in and conquered african tribes to forget love a new busy much absorbed mr very much ours into mr s office down his papers on the desk and demanded here s that plan about the south interested that i was telling you about say honest i d like awful much to try it on i d just have to have part time of one well you know our are pretty well crowded but you can leave the outline with me i ll look it over said mr that same afternoon the manager o k d the plan to o k is an office for saying gloomily well i don t suppose it d hurt to try it anyway but for the love of be careful and let me see any letters you send out so mr dictated a letter to each of their southern merchants sending him a ink well and inquiring about the crops he had a an efficient young woman who wrote down his halting words as though they were examples of bad english she wanted to show her friends and waited for the next word with cynical amusement i s h wanted t v with our mr h use l by growled bill the show her i m running this i ll show her she s got other think coming but he dictated so busily and was so hot to get results that he forgot the girl s air of he watched the southern results in the papers he seized on every on the southern route as he came in and inquired about the and politics of the merchants in his district he even forgot to worry about his next rise in salary and found it much to rush back for an important letter after quick lunch than to watch the time and make sure that he secured every minute of his lunch hour when october came � october of the vagabond with the leaves out on the and sixth avenue moving picture palaces cool again and gay � mr stayed late under the lights making card cross of the southern merchants their and prejudices and as he worked stopping now and then to slap the desk and by i l em � em he rarely thought of till he was out on the again proud of having worked so late that his eyes in fact his chief troubles these days came when wouldn t let him put through an idea their first battle was over mr s thi letters personally for the letters the office manager were as much ours as was mr and should signed by the firm after some difficulty mr persuaded him that one of the best ways to handle a personal letter was to make it personal they nearly cursed each other before mr was allowed to use his own judgment it s not at all certain that mr should have yielded what s the use of a manager if his use judgment next battle mr lost he had demanded a he is our mr monthly holiday for his mr pointed out that she d merely be the worse off for a holiday that it d make her discontented that it was a kindness to her to keep her mind occupied | 42 |
review and other tory have on this point abundantly proving this might be made but lately a different tone has been assumed by the review and it has just been discovered that though the english have generally in the charges of of ireland yet that they are totally that england has been in fact the great benefactor of ireland � the better we love the real ireland the more strong is our conviction of the duty of to rescue her from the deplorable extremity to which she has been reduced not more we are satisfied by the unexpected of providence than by the extravagant the almost incredible obstinacy and of her own people and why should we hesitate to tell the truth the irish as they call themselves accuse england of all the misfortunes and miseries of ireland even the other day when we sent them ten millions of they told us it was only a paltry and forced of a long series of and whenever they are driven to admit that there is any thing wrong either in the habits or feelings of their countrymen they the reluctant by charging it all on the selfish policy and jealous tyranny of england why therefore are toe not to on such wild by statements of the sober truth why are we not to insist on a fact � notorious to all who are not blinded by national vanity or deceived by popular and delusion � namely that all of civilization arts comfort wealth that ireland she owes exclusively to england � all her errors misery she owes to herself � and not accidentally but by a dogged and unaccountable obstinacy in not merely the counsels not merely the example of england but in and all the attempts that england and englishmen have with most patient and prodigal generosity been for nearly a century and especially for the last fifty years making for her advantage this unfortunate result is mainly to that confusion of ideas that of purpose and above all that reluctance to steady work which are features of the national character but also no doubt in a most important degree to the adverse influence of the roman catholic priests who have always been jealous of any improvement or instruction even in of the present condition of ireland june the ordinary arts of life proffered by the saxon which they � not we must own � have looked on with apprehension as likely to their own influence and as the probable of light and education in other directions if the statement of the review is well founded the prospect of america as well as of england so far as relates to the irish is dismal indeed and we may well despair of any if the irish for seven centuries have and resisted all the efforts of a wise and paternal government for their improvement and remain for all the lavish generosity of the english they must be given up as but if there is reason to agree with most writers on this subject english as well as others in their degradation to persecution oppression and then it may be hoped that a different treatment may produce some improvement in their character in opposition to the review we quote the opinion of the rev smith so well known in various walks of literature as expressing though in pretty strong phrase the general opinions of both english and irish writers on this subject � we think the conduct of the english to ireland to have been a system of cruelty and contemptible meanness with such a climate such a soil and such a people the inferiority of ireland to the rest of europe is directly to the long wickedness of the english government nothing we believe can be more and more directly the of the truth than the statements in the review any one who will take the trouble to examine the history of ireland during its whole connection with england will be abundantly satisfied of this the measures of uie english in relation to ireland and especially the laws against in operation during nearly the � whole of the last century will go very far towards for the present and degradation of the irish people without supposing any peculiar faults in their national character we have but little information concerning ireland prior to the reign of henry the second about the middle of the twelfth century according to whose information must have been derived chiefly from his father in law of whom he has left such a beautiful memorial the inhabitants e of the present of of ireland were similar in character and manners to the people of britain this renowned commander after the conquest of would gladly have carried the roman arms into the neighboring island and have subjected it to the imperial sway says that often spoke of the facility of this enterprise a single being in his opinion sufficient to conquer and retain possession but the emperor jealous of the fame already acquired by in britain was by no means disposed to r his general to gather fresh in ireland thus as says this rational plan of conquest was forever defeated and ireland remained the only country of western europe not subjected to the dominion of home the reason assigned by for the conquest of ireland shows a curious contrast between the relative condition of the people of the two british islands at that time and the present it was supposed by this able that the would wear their chains with less reluctance if the prospect of freedom in the neighboring island were forever removed from their sight alas during the seven centuries of ireland s connection with england there has never been the slightest danger that the prospect of irish freedom or felicity would excite the envy or discontent of the if as it would seem such counsel were given by and rejected by the emperor it might | 37 |
till this moment what i was like it is time you saw me as i am gray shocked measure the husband drew him love gone astray self away from her protesting that she had forgotten herself wholly and must come to her senses i have not forgotten myself she answered vehemently though her lip shook it is you who forget you are seed that may into a harvest you may not wish to gather look at me i am not yet twenty and all the warm blood of health flows in my veins i am already a mother to my shame if you wish it so but a mother i am why was i led into that awful path was it from love my child s father i hated him at the moment i received his caresses what then why the impulse to be kissed to be to be told that i was beautiful and sweet do not interrupt me i must have this out it has burned in my heart too long he could not speak for astonishment and she continued for that sin i suffered the of hell cannot exceed those i passed through and then i was told that a man had been found so generous so noble that he would forgive that error and take me for his wife as if it had never occurred i had seen his face and my heart still virgin in its affections went out to him i knew it would require time to make him love me and i wanted time as much as he i anticipated a struggle with him perhaps the need of prayers and that he would wait for proofs of my love until the first fault had been in some sense when he began to treat me like a brother i blessed him in my heart for what i believed his consideration and i loved him more and more but months have passed and it is my husband s what i took to be i find was only a subtle cruelty a refined torture to which he has compelled me to submit and which i begin to think he means to carry out to the end i warn you gray you are on dangerous ground i cannot be driven too far so rapidly were these sentences delivered and with such vehemence of utterance that the husband hardly l understood their full purport the had fallen upon him without warning the most he realized was that this woman whom he had esteemed for her modest bearing had thrown decency to the winds and was delivering a of abuse in a costume in which he had never imagined she would allow herself seen on the other hand it was plain that would not have done these things unless driven forward by some extraordinary emotion he had seen her silent weeping in the reflection of the mirror and was ready to make what he could i am sorry for anything i have done to you he said and when we meet again i will talk it over with you and see wherein we differ to night you must remember is the last i spend near you for present and my head is too full of your father s errands to think of anything else so if you will calm yourself and go to bed she interrupted him fiercely then you intend to drive me away f see i am on my knees begging for your love she fell at his feet as she spoke to his consternation i am here your wife praying for the kisses the caresses are mine by right what do you me love gone astray when i lower myself like this will you not me in your arms for one moment will you not press your lips for the first time to mine she had thrown those bare arms around his neck and was trying to drag his face down to hers in the fury of desperation it was all he d do to her clasp and when he succeeded and rose much disturbed to his feet she fell a limp heap of loveliness across his i am astonished at you was all he could articulate but she did not answer lying there in perfect carelessness as to her appearance and giving vent to a flood of tears that he could for some time do nothing to arrest this has gone on long enough he said at last raising his voice if you do not cease i shall send for your father she sat up on the rug and brushed her long hair back from her swollen eyes send for him she said send now let tell him what kind of husband he gave me let me tell him that in eight months you have never offered me a caress except in the presence of my mother ask him if he thinks a girl like me should be contented with a man of ice and snow he knows what i am to his sorrow ask him if he believes you the man to trust my future with she was pretty rosy round sweet and fair had she not been his wife he might have been unable to resist her but her conduct had outraged his feelings of propriety his sense of what mrs gray should be and he remained firm it is my husband s boom you put me in an awkward he answered if i send for your father i shall give pain i would prefer to spare him on the other hand it is very certain you cannot remain here all night why not she retorted it is my husband s room i have been a true and faithful wife in spite of his coldness and neglect by what law can he drive me forth she cried changing her defiant tones to pleading ones again help me there is no one else that | 1 |
her eyes to him with the hopeless defiance of the s gaze before its its neck whip me crush me you need not mind those people the i shall not cry out once victim always victim � that s the law o no no he said i can make full allowance for this yet you most forget one thing that i would have married you if you had not put it out of my power to do so did i not ask you to be my wife � hey answer me you did and you cannot be but remember one thing his voice hardened as his temper got the better of him with the recollection of his sincerity in asking her and her present ingratitude and he stepped across to her side and held her by the shoulders so that she shook under his grasp remember my lady i was your master once i will be master again k you are any man s wife you are mine the now began to stir below so much for our quarrel he said letting her go now i shall leave you and shall come again for your answer during the afternoon you don t know me yet but i you she had not spoken again remaining as if d retreated over the and descended the ladder while the workers below rose and stretched their arms and shook down the beer they had drunk then the machine started and amid the renewed rustle of the straw resumed her position by the drum as one in a dream after in endless succession by in the afternoon the farmer made it known that the was to be finished that night since there was a moon by which they could see to and the man with the engine was engaged for another farm on the morrow hence the and humming and rustling proceeded with even less than usual it was not till about three o clock that raised her eyes and gave a glance round she felt but little surprise at seeing that d had come back and was standing under the hedge by the gate he had seen her lift her eyes and waved to her while he blew her a kiss it meant that their quarrel was over looked down again and carefully from gazing in that direction thus the afternoon dragged on the wheat shrank lower and the straw grew higher and the were away at six o dock the wheat was about shoulder high from the ground but the remaining untouched seemed countless still notwithstanding tiie enormous numbers that had hem down by the fed by the man and through whose two young hands the greater part of them had passed and the immense of straw where in the morning there had been nothing appeared as cl the same red from the west sky a shine � all that wild march could afford in the way of sunset � had burst forth after the cloudy day the tired and faces of the by the convert them with a light as also the flapping garments of the women whidi to them like flames a panting ache ran through the the man who fed was weary and could see that the red of his neck was with dirt and she still stood at her post her flushed and face with the com dust and her white bonnet by it she was the only woman whose place was upon the machine so as to be shaken bodily by its spinning and the of the now separated her from and and prevented their changing duties with her as they had done the incessant quivering in which every fibre of her frame had thrown her into a reverie in which her arms worked on of her consciousness she hardly knew where she was and did not hear tell her from below that her hair was tumbling down by degrees the among them b to grow and eyed whenever lifted her head she beheld always the great straw with the men in shirt sleeves upon it against the grey north sky in front of it the long red like a jacob s ladder on which a per p stream of straw ascended a yellow river running up hill and out on the top of the she knew that d was still on the scene observing her from some point or other though she could not say where there was an excuse for his remaining for the drew near its final a little was always done and men with the sometimes dropped in for that performance � sporting characters of all descriptions with and with sticks and stones but there was another hour s work before the of live rats at the base of the would be by op the d reached and as the evening light in the direction of the giant s hill by s dissolved away the white fa moon of the season arose from the horizon that lay towards abbey and on the other side for the last hour or two had uneasy about whom she could not get near enough to speak to� the other women having kept up their strength by drinking and having done without it through dread owing to its results at her home in childhood but still kept going if she could not fill her part she would have to leave and this which she would have regarded with and even with relief a month or two had become a terror since d had begun to round her the and had now worked the so low that people on the ground could talk to them to s farmer came up on the machine to her and said that if she desired to join her friend he did not wish her to keep on any longer and would send somebody else to take her place the friend was d she knew | 45 |
at first to see the little man settling the double chin into his chest in bis efforts to get at the low d used to with laughter but after a time even this grew monotonous and wearily she begged to leave him nothing seems to yon now he would � ay with a mingled look of affection and regret a shrug of the shoulder she considered a sufficient answer for him and she would sink back as if pursuing to consequences the train of some far ideas and in wonder these men watched the progress of s malady without ever what was really the matter with her she was but not for the house in and the of she had come to look upon and mrs the and as a dream to which she could not return and did not wish to return her was not to go to the point from which she had started but to settle down in a house for a while not for long dick she said a month even a fortnight would make all the difference we spent a fortnight at but we have never stayed a fortnight at the same place since i know what s the matter with you he answered you want a holiday so do i we all want a holiday one of these days we shall get one when the tour comes to an end it did not seem to that the would ever come to an end she would always be going round like a wheel i a s wife dick begged her to have patience and she resolved to have patience but one saturday night in the middle of her packing the vision of the long railway journey that awaited her on the morrow rose up suddenly in her mind and she could not do else than spring to her feet and standing over the half filled trunk she said dick i cannot i cannot don t ask me ask you what he said to go to bath with you to morrow morning she answered you won t come to bath he cried but who will play i will of course i don t understand dick replied i only want one day off why shouldn t i spend the sunday in and go to church i want a little rest i can t help it dick well i never you seem to get more and more capricious every day then you won t let me said with a flush flowing through her olive cheeks won t let you why shouldn t you stay if it pleases you dear is staying too he wants to see an of his who lives in the town dick s unaffected kindness so touched s that the tears up into her eyes and she flung herself into his arms sobbing for the moment she was very happy and looked into the dream of the long day she was going to spend with afraid lest some incident might rob her of her happiness but nothing fell out to blot her hopes everything seemed to be happening just as she had foreseen it and trembling with excitement the twain hurried through the town out the way to the church at last it was a s wife s l found in a distant and ber emotion almost from tbe moment she entered into the peace of the building became so that to hide the tears upon her cheeks she was forced to bury her face in her hands and in the soft of the organ recollections of ber life up but as tbe proceeded ber excitement until at last it subsided into a state of languid ecstasy nor was it till tbe congregation knelt down with one accord for the prayer that she asked pardon for her sins but how could god forgive her ber sins if she in them she asked herself how could she leave dick and to her husband would not receive her her life bad got into a and might never get straight again but all is in the hands of god and thinking of the woman that had been and the woman that was she prayed god to consider god will she said how it all came about i cannot was kneeling in the beside her and he wondered at seeing her so absorbed in prayer he did not know that she was so pious and thought that such piety as hers was not in accord vith the life she had taken up and the company with which they were but perhaps it was a mere passing emotion a sudden of her past life which would fade away and never return again he hoped that this was tbe case for he believed in her talent and that a london success awaited her he kept his eyes averted from knowing that his observation would distress her and after church she said she would like to go for a walk and be suggested the river in the shade of spreading trees they watched the boats passing in tbe of the afternoon they talked of many things and of many people and it pleased and surprised them to find that their ideas and in the pauses of the a s wife conversation they wondered why they had never spoken to each other like this before he was often tempted to hold out prospects of a london success with a view to cheering her but he felt that this was not the moment to do so but she being a little less spoke to him of his music with a view to pleasing him but he could not his thoughts from her and could only tell her that he heard her voice in the music as he composed it the afternoon is passing he said it s time to beg n thinking of tea whereupon they rose to their feet and walked a long | 15 |
have felt some remorse at the grief and pain he had caused in the heart of the poor girl what have you done this for mr dock are you sailing away with me from my parents won t you please to inform me perhaps if you will tell me what you want i can help you to get it perhaps you can replied dock musing but we won t talk about that to night won t you tell me where you are going pleaded i hardly know myself but don t go to being frightened for i tell you again no one shall hurt you there is one of those little state rooms that you can have all to yourself you may go in there and lock yourself in but you haven t had any supper the flag or o i don t want any supper if you only tell me mr dock what you mean to do with me that is all i will ask i guess we won t talk about that to night send a man down to get some supper for you and we will talk over all these things to morrow could not induce the evil man to disclose his plans to her and she gave up the point in despair but his solemn assurance that she should not be was some comfort to her though she felt that she could not trust him in his rude manner he had attempted to be kind to her he was not a nor a for his language was as respectful as his natural would allow him to use she sat down in the gloom of the dirty cabin to think of the grief and anxiety which awaited her parents when her absence should be discovered she thought her mother might suppose she had gone to s island in the flag and she might not be missed till a late hour in the evening she concluded that had made the sion without the young of cape ann her for he would not wish to disappoint the rest of the party she wept when she thought of her mother � the fond and devoted one who seemed to live only for her she would think that her daughter was drowned for no one could possibly suspect that she had been carried off by the evil man � by him who had saved her father s life poor was as sad and miserable as she could be and the long gloomy night before her looked like an age of sorrow and dock went on deck and presently one of the two men who formed the crew of the came down into the cabin and made a fire in the little or cooking stove which was fastened to the floor in one corner of the dingy den can you tell me where we are going asked of this man i can t miss i don t know anything about it replied the sailor i wash my hands of this business don t you know what mr dock is going to do with me the flag or i have no miss but he says he ain t going to hurt you you see we sailors have to mind tlie n and we don t know about his business but i ll this to you miss he shan t do you no hurt and me is agreed on this point my father and mother will be terribly when i don t come home sighed i shouldn t wonder if they was but i don t see as we can do anything about it we ll see that you ain t hurt and if you ll keep still we ll find out what can be done for you thank you sobbed don t cry miss may be we shall be able to do for you before morning if you will we ll keep a and see now miss what can you eat for your supper we haven t got much but i ll do the best i can for you i ll a for you or give you some tea and toast i don t wish for anything replied but dove the man who did the cooking spoke so kindly to her and pressed her so hard that she finally consented to take some tea and toast which the young op cape ann he prepared for her with much difficulty and rather to please dove than hei she partook though very of the food and then went to her state room the door behind her dock and his men took their by turns but nothing was said about when they went on deck dove and made an emphatic protest against the high crime which dock was and in which they had been compelled to take a part dove you never saw a thousand dollars in all your life said the nor you neither i don t ask either of you to do or say anything but i will give you a dollars apiece to keep your places in the vessel for three or four days more or may be a week yes and i will give you the vessel besides the men were tempted by this magnificent offer as they regarded it dock then assured them that should be treated like a lady and not a hair of her head and that she should be restored to her parents within three or four days they agreed to let him know decision in the and the flag ob dock wont down into the cabin again taking the lantern down from the beam on which it hung lie placed it upon the table a bottle of ink a pen and some paper from his state room he wrote for about two hours and then after going on deck he turned in perhaps slept a little � she could not tell in the morning whether she had | 36 |
was now cool enough to dispense with any other revenge she did not want exposure to be added to desertion henry gone she could even pity her sister with a purer spirit did rejoice in the intelligence she heard it at dinner and felt it a blessing by all the others it was mentioned with regret and his merits honored with due of feeling from the sincerity of s too partial regard to the of his mother speaking entirely by mrs began to look about her and wonder that his falling in love with had come to nothing and could almost fear that she had been herself in it but with so many to care for how was it possible for even her activity to keep pace with her wishes another day or two and mr was gone likewise in his departure sir thomas felt the chief interest wanting to be alone with his family the presence of a stranger superior to mr must have been irksome but of him trifling and confident idle and expensive it was every way in himself he was wearisome but as the friend of tom and the admirer of he became offensive sir thomas had been quite indifferent park to mr s going or staying but his good wishes for mr a having a pleasant journey as he walked with him to the hall door were given with genuine satisfaction mr had stayed to see the of every theatrical at the removal of everything to the play he left the house in all the of its general character and sir thomas hoped in seeing him out of it to be rid of the worst object connected with the scheme and the last that must be inevitably reminding him of its existence mrs contrived to remove one article from his sight that might have distressed him the curtain over which she had presided with such talent and success went as with her to where she happened to be particularly in want of green chapter thomas s return made a striking change in the ways of the family independent of lovers vows under his government was an altered place some members of their society sent away and the spirits of many others it was all and gloom compared with the past � a sombre family party rarely there was little intercourse with the sir thomas drawing back from in general was particularly at this time for any engagements but in one quarter the were the only addition to his own domestic circle which he could did not wonder that such should be his father s feelings nor could he regret anything but the of the but they he observed to have a claim they seem to belong to us � they seem to be part of ourselves i could wish my father were more sensible of their very great attention to my mother and sisters while he was away i am afraid they may feel themselves neglected but the truth is that my father hardly knows them they had not been here a when he left england if he knew them better he would value their society as it deserves for they are in fact exactly the sort of park people he would like we are sometimes a little in want of animation among ourselves my sisters seem out of spirits and tom is certainly not at his ease dr and mrs grant would us and make our evenings pass away with more enjoyment even to my father do you think so said in my my uncle would not like any addition think he the very you speak of aud that the repose of his own family circle is all he wants and it does not appear to me that we are more serious than we used to be � i mean before my uncle went abroad aa well as i can recollect it was always much the same there was never in his presence or if there ia any difference it is not more i think than such an absence has a tendency to produce at there must be a sort of shyness but i cannot recollect that our evenings formerly were ever merry except when ray waa in town no people s are i suppose when those they look up to are at home i believe you are right was his reply after a short consideration i believe our evenings ate rather returned to what they were than assuming a new character the novelty was in their being lively yet how strong the impression that only a few weeks will give i have been feeling as if we had never lived so before i suppose i am graver than other people said the evenings do not appear long to me i love to heat my uncle talk of the west park indies i could listen to him for an hour together it me more than many other things have done � but then i am unlike other people i dare say why should you dare say that smiling do you want to be told that you are only unlike other people in being more wise and discreet but when did you or anybody ever get a compliment from me go to my father if you want to be he will satisfy you ask your uncle what he thinks and you will hear compliments enough and though they may be chiefly on your person you must put up with it and trust to his seeing as much beauty of mind in time such language was so new to that it quite embarrassed her your uncle thinks you very pretty dear � and that is the long and the short of the matter anybody but myself would have made something more of it and anybody but you would resent tliat you had not been thought very pretty before but the truth is that your uncle never | 26 |
frame infancy youth and old age so in some future frame will it find like one who is confirmed in this belief is not disturbed by any thing that come to pass the sensibility of the heat and cold pleasure and which come and go and are transient and bear them with patience son of for the wise man whom these disturb not and to whom pain and pleasure are the same is formed for immortality a thing imaginary hath no existence while that which is true is a stranger to by those who look into the principles of the design of each is learn that he by whom all thing were formed is and that no one is able to the destruction of this thing which is inexhaustible the man who that it is the soul which and he who that the soul may be destroyed are both alike deceived for it neither nor is it killed it is not a thing of which a man may say it hath been it is about to be or is to be hereafter for it is a thing without birth it is ancient constant and eternal and is not to be destroyed in this its mortal frame � as a man away old garments and on new even so the soul having quitted its old mortal frame enter into which are new but whether thou it of eternal birth and duration or that it with the body still thou hast no cause to lament death is to all thing which are subject to birth and to all things which are mortal wherefore it doth not thee to grieve about that is inevitable the state of beings is unknown the middle state is evident and their future state is not to be discovered why then thou trouble about such as these some regard of the ancient the soul as a wonder whilst some speak and hear of it with astonishment but no one it although he may have heard it described p the wisdom of that man is established who in all things is without affection and having good or evil neither at the one nor is cast down by the other his wisdom is confirmed when like the he can draw in all his members and restrain them from their purposes the hungry man every other object but the gratification of his appetite and when he is become acquainted with the supreme he even that p but the man who may be self delighted and and who may be happy in his own sod hath no occasion he hath no interest either in that which is done or that which is not done and there is not in all things which may have been created any object on which he may place dependence wherefore perform thou that which thou hast to do at all times of the event for the man who that which he hath to do without affection the supreme p the which proceed from the feelings are as the of future pain p he my servant is dear unto me who is free from enmity the friend of all nature merciful from pride and selfishness the same in pain and pleasure patient of wrongs contented devout of subdued passions and firm and whose mind and understanding are fixed on me alone he also is my beloved of whom mankind are not afraid and who of mankind is not afraid and who is fr e from the influence of joy impatience and the dread of harm he my servant is dear unto me who is just and pure impartial free from distraction of mind and who hath forsaken every enterprise he also is worthy of my love who neither nor fault who neither nor and being my servant hath forsaken both good and evil fortune he also is my beloved servant who is the same in friendship and in hatred in honor and in in cold and in heat in pain and in pleasure who is about the event of to whom praise and blame are as one who is of speech and pleased with whatever to pass who no particular home and who is of steady mind s e i as philosophy of the ancient the carpenter having his tools in hand toils and suffers and them aside rests and is easy so the soul in with its is active and them p the being is unto the tree the whose root is above and whose branches are below and whose are the he who that is acquainted with the its branches growing from the three qualities whose lesser shoots are the objects of the organs of sense spread forth some and some low the roots which are spread abroad below in the regions of mankind are restrained by action its form is not to be found here neither its beginning nor its end nor its likeness when a man hath cut down this whose root is so firmly fixed with the strong axe of from that time that place is to be sought from whence there is no return for those who find it p the in his fancies that the of hunger thirst cold and the like is pleasure but of a truth it is pain for suffering is pleasure to those whose eyes are darkened by ignorance whose limbs exceedingly desire pleasure by exercise the of fire is caused by cold of water by thirst of food by hunger by other circumstances their are equally agreeable p let us therefore lay aside the angry passions of our race and so strive that we that perfect pure and eternal happiness which shall be beyond the power of hie elements or their duties which shall be by men or beasts or by the of human nature by bodily sickness and disease or hatred envy malice passion or desire which nothing shall and which every one who his | 37 |
and asked if soon meant to day round whose neck said he never cared for story of a sin it was not said frank his voice sounding as though he were moving away and had left her all alone for the garden was almost in darkness now � the night had taken its revenge and extinguished those colours that most vividly by day � and were now but black shadows and only the ghosts of the evening gave a vague suspicion of their presence was it � was it said in a whisper that barely expected a response yes replied a voice but a little way her heart is bound up in him � she lives but in his life and she watches over him in your absence as only you could do � but she does not your place for awhile there was silence and his whole soul to her knowing that she was weeping then she said � there are things that even god does not with like the growing seed or a human soul to become good in its own way and she is good her hand stole out to his in the darkness and so in mute accord they moved towards the light consecrated to each other he by his sacrifice for her she by her old love for him and new passionate desire for his repentance they have the faces of angels said mrs in a low voice to the duke as the two entered but even angels may trip and fall sometimes and nobody ought to know that better than � satan y of a sin she nodded towards mr as she spoke who looked singularly old and haggard in contrast with the two beautiful young people and as if her thought had reached him mr suddenly looked at himself in a mirror opposite then at the two � and a curious idea took possession of his mind chapter vii such a getting up stairs never was seen that evening was the last in which mr and the his wife and frank were alone for within three days the house was filled with those persons that mr had prompted the to invite by a of brighter wits from town � these latter expressly born as the county supposed to teach solid men the value of their own slow there was scarcely a man there who had not known and frank s father and gradually he made his way with each for the wives judgments were always in his favour and on all sides the verdict that he had been more unfortunate than was returned and indeed to the women frank was the central figure of the house as unconsciously to herself was to the men producing an unexpected effect on their minds and almost them to the that as human beings are divided into three classes � story of a sin men women and � so there might be a fourth class of which was a representative she had no taste for � perhaps she was a total from birth having loved but once and once only and so escaped any of the poison that might be lingering in her system and when certain county on mr s with the offered their veiled admiration something that was neither woman nor child flashed out of her eyes and checked them for men are but what women make them as in their turn they their features whether base or noble on what they deal with and the mere recognition of a pure woman will shed an influence in circles upon the souls of men who have painfully taught themselves that no such creature exists but the wives who quickly frank s attitude towards her said that it was easy for a woman secretly so adored to decline ordinary there was a general conviction too that mr was amusing the rather than himself being too finished a man of the world to display in public his profound affection for his wife and meanwhile tired of it all and longed for a sight of her children of whom she had not received so much as a message for two whole days frank s position was now established and why would not mr take her away she did not know that each hour however story of a sin little spent to his liking was a breathing space to him before the struggle that must commence on his return to that here he felt himself independent as his fellow men there he was a slave fast chained and bound by the weight of those sins from which it was beyond the power of either god or man to loose him now he felt as a criminal who with sentence of death upon him is permitted to wander for a brief season he wills or as a boy who playing forgets the lesson that will stare him in the face when to morrow he returns unwillingly to school and though he felt and knew a little from him for while sure of his love the touch of she had discovered in his character had sunk him in her estimation and it was less as than judge that her clear eyes now and again met his yet he would not hurry himself to please her and she must go hungry for a sight of her for he knew that if he once took her over to see them it would be beyond his power to persuade her back again to the white house but when the had been about ten days there it happened one morning for some reason inscrutable to middle aged minds that two young people chose to get up very early though naturally the woman was first in the field she had even time to wash her face in the dew before she chanced upon the humble cause of the of that fatal day � the ex story of | 17 |
i work save advance myself and better my condition generally so as to be worthy of her at the very same time i was still able to lee beauty in other women and the delights of those who would never be able to be as good as she i they might be good for me bnt far beneath her whose eyes were too pure to evil a book about in the latter part of er she came to st and me my first delighted sight of her since we had left at this time i was at the toss of my in st louis i was as i now by now also i had found a new room in the very heart of the on near the and was leading a bachelor existence truly circumstances this room was on the third floor rear of a which looked ont over some music hall whose ass roof was below and from whence nightly and frequently in the afternoon issued all sorts of music hall clatter including music and singing and voices in or dialogue one block were the southern hotel s and the in the block north were the and dick s old room which by now he abandoned having in of all his fine dreams of a married a girl whom together we had met in the church some months before � a rider thereafter he had removed to a on the side an which seemed to me bnt a crude and rather pathetic at worthless i like to report here that something over a year later this first marriage of his terminated in the death of his wife later � some two or three years � he indulged in a second most and romance � wedding finally on this occasion the daughter of a carpenter and her name � and a year or two after this she was to death by an oil stove and this was the man who was bent on an in my new room therefore because it was more of a i had already managed to set up a kind of garret which was by dick and peter and a number of other acquaintances no sooner was i settled here whose affairs i had straightened out by getting him a place on the republic put in an appearance and also john who because of conditions in bad come to st louis to bet ter bis fortunes bnt more of that later a about in spite of all these friends and labors and attempts at others it was my affair with w which now completely engrossed me so had i taken this new to heart that i was scarcely able to eat or sleep once i knew definitely that she was inclined to like me as her letters proved and the exact day of her arrival had been fixed i walked on air i had not been able to save much money i had been on the possibly a dollars all told and that since my brothers had left bnt of that i took forty or fifty and bo a new fall suit of a most pronounced if not startling pattern the coat being extra long and of no known relation to any current style an idea of my own to say nothing of as patent leather shoes ties a new pearl gray hat � all in view of this expected visit for her especial although i had little money for what i considered the of � boxes dinners and at the best flowers � still i hoped to make an impression why t it being a newspaper man and an ex dramatic editor to say nothing of my rather close friendship with the present critic i easily obtain tickets although the of my work often prevented as i discovered afterward my accompanying her for more than an at a time chapter on the day of ber i arrayed myself in my best armed myself with flowers and two tickets for the and made my way oat to her s in one of the home streets in the west end i was so that my afternoon prove a barrier to my seeing her that day that i went to her as as ten thirty intending to offer her the tickets and arrange to stop for her afterwards at the or failing that to see her for a little in the evening if my permitted i was so tain of my standing in her eyes so anxious to make a good impression that i was ashamed to confess that my duties made it for me to see her at all after my free days in i wanted her to think tiiat i was more than a mere re a sort of correspondent and man which in a way i was only my were determined to keep me for some reason in the ordinary taking daily as usual instead of my difficulties i made a great show of freedom i found her in a small tree shaded cool looking brick with a brick before it and a space of grass on one side never did place seem more charming i stared at it as one might at a shrine here at last was the temporary home of my beloved and she was within i knocked and an attractive slip of a girl her niece as i learned answered i was shown into a long darkened parlor after giving me time to weigh the taste and of her relatives according to my standards she arrived the beloved the in view of many later things it seems that here at least i might attempt to do her full justice she seemed exquisite to me then a trim agreeable of a girl with a lovely oval face red hair and after the fashion of a head a about myself b dear pink akin long narrow hands a perfect small feet there was | 43 |
looked and lo he saw on that darkness there appeared something soft and cloudy and he knew that it was a woman s hair then within the frame of hay arose a ghost like face and in it shining eyes from which tears ran down and on it such a look of utter tenderness as he never never had beheld oh it was beautiful that face always it would have been beautiful but to this man who after those weeks of utter blindness beheld it first of anything it was like a vision out of heaven and the look upon it surely that too had been borrowed from some pitying angel in heaven turned his head then looked again thinking that it would be gone but no it still was there and now he could even see the hand beneath the chin and the quivering of the lips which strove to back a sob he said in english why do you cry she sprang up dashing the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand i no cry she answered in a merry voice you not hear me cry no but i saw you your cheek was all wet and you sat with your chin upon your hand she uttered some exclamation of joy then snatched the linen veil or from her head and threw it over his face look no more she said not good for your eye to look too much or you go blind again also she added with a happy laugh great shame of you to spy upon a lady when she no think you see you should tell her first you going look then she put on proper face i don t want to see any other answered gently at first i thought that i and that it was an angel only angels don t cry i think that angels cry always if they see down here � such a lot to cry over a proposal then she tried to control herself for a moment and failed miserably for she began to weep and sob outright she threw herself upon her knees beside him and said you ask me why i cry i sob tell you sob all the truth because you made like that for me and � i no can bear it it break my heart for my heart love you very much you want to die for me i � i want to live for you sat up on the throwing the white veil from his head whereon at once forgetting herself in the danger to his new born sight she placed her little hand across his eyes and held it there the crisis had come and he knew it but how to deal with it he did not know don t do that dear he said in a troubled voice if you think the light will harm me tie the veil over my eyes then we will talk she came behind him and obeyed while felt her hot tears falling on his hair it was an awful moment but he sat still holding the with his hand and uttering no tender word of the many that rushed to his lips now he said sit down no not on the there the stool i sit she answered humbly talk on he continued with a desperate effort all this won t do you are sorry for me and it you and makes you say things you must not i am married he stopped but she made no answer he began to wonder what she was doing or if she had gone away and left him as he devoutly hoped unable to bear it any more he pushed the from his forehead no there she sat silent and pained i am married he remarked again not knowing what else to say then she looked up and asked you hate me mai of tbe spirit of course not he answered indignantly very much the reverse i thank you then you think me not nice ugly indeed no you are one of the most beautiful women i ever saw i thank you she said again i like hear you say that though you no mean it then you angry with me because you lose your foot and eye and get your people killed though that old s fault not mine please don t think so it was not you or it was what you call yes i think it too all round here and she laid her hand upon her bosom well then you not hate you not think ugly you not angry and i � oh i love and she put such tender passion into the word that the room seemed full of it � and i great lady too in my own place i not dirt bom why you no take me see now and she stood up before him and turned slowly round i not beautiful as you say too small too thin but i not so bad i make you good wife i give you children i love you always till i die my people hate strangers still they very glad you take me they love you too they praise you much they think you man in world my ask me this morning if i married to you yet as they want make feast pulled down the over his eyes again he thought it best muttering something about the light him he said in despair don t you understand that i am already married what that matter she asked man can have two wives four if he like he can t answered i beg you � don t go on it is not right it is more than i can bear by our english law he can only have one wife no one else � no one at all you must have heard it a proposal h yes i hear | 18 |
and john meeting that sad and steadfast gaze and shaken beyond control by his pent up suffering and suspense suddenly fell on his knees help me i he cried with the tears struggling in his throat � you are right � i need help me to be strong you are nearer god than i am pray for gently the bishop withdrew his hands from the clasp that held them and laid them tenderly on the bowed head his lips moved but he uttered no words there waa a solemn pause broken only by the slow of the clock in the outer hall god s good man presently rising in obedience to his friend s touch stood awhile with face turned away trying to master himself yet trembling in every nerve despite his efforts � he began i am ashamed that you should see me like this so weak a weakness that will make you stronger by and by john and the bishop linked a friendly arm within his own � come into the church with me will you i feel the influence of your saint upon me i let us wait for news good or bad at the altar � and while waiting we will pray do you remember what i said to you when you came to see me last summer some day when we are in very desperate straits we will see what your saint can do for us without a word of john obeyed they passed out of the house together and took the private by path to the church it was then about noon and the sun shone through a soft mist that threatened rain without permitting it to fall the faint of a in the near distance suggested the music of the coming spring and the delicate of plant life pushing its way through the earth gave a freshness to the quiet air arriving at the beautiful little they entered it by the though the public door stood open according to invariable custom a singularly brilliant glare of reflected from the plain clear glass that filled the of the rose window above the altar struck on the old world which doubtless contained the remains of one who all miraculous attributes apart had nobly lived and bravely died � and as the bishop moved reverently round it to the front of the altar rails his eyes were uplifted and full of spiritual rapture kneel here with me john he said � and with all our hearts and all our minds let us pray to god for the life of the beloved woman whom god has given you � given surely not to take away again but to be more completely made your own i let us pray as the faithful servants of christ prayed in the early days of the church � not hesitatingly not not f i � but believing and making sure that our prayers will if good for us be granted they knelt together folding his arms on the altar rails hid his face � but the bishop clasping his hands and fixing his eyes on the word that flashed out god s good man of the worn wherein the unknown saint seemed to gather to himself all the sunlight that poured through the window above him and to from his own slight worn frame something like the mystic of glory pictured round the figure of an or the minutes slowly away the church clock the half hour after noon � and they remained absorbed in a trance of speechless passionate prayer they were unaware that some of s moved by the same idea of praying for while she was the operation which was to save or had come to the church also for that purpose but were brought to a pause on the threshold of the building by the sight they saw within that their own beloved should be at the altar in the agony of his own heart s was too much for their simple and affectionate souls � and they withdrew in haste and silence many of them with tears in their eyes they were considerably awed too by the discovery that no less a personage than the bishop of the himself was in his trouble � and moving away in little groups of and they stood about here and there in the churchyard waiting for they knew not what and all affected by the same thrill of mingled suspense hope and fear among them was who when he had peered into the white silence of the church and had seen for himself that it was indeed his master who was praying there beside his bishop made no pretence to hide his emotion we be all fools � he said to adam frost in hoarse accents wiping his eyes with the back of his hand � we ain t no stronger nor wiser than a lot o on a i old he be too weak an to get out in this kind o weather he he s ard which i truly believe he is though he ain t in church all the village is on its knees this i reckon whether it s in fields or gardens or or an if the lord a mighty don t take no notice of us he must be powerful ard of i adam frost � jerked his thumb in the direction of the church and was silent suddenly a lark sang rising from the thick moss and grass which over the grave of th squire s father the bird aloft into the warmed february air � and by one common impulse the villagers looked up watching the quivering of its wings god s good man bless that s the first of the said mrs frost who holding her blue eyed baby otherwise by the han stood near the church ain t it sweet f fine i murmured one or two of her near | 33 |
to run the car puzzled me s father had already expressed himself to me as opposed to the idea i can t understand what he sees in that fellow he said to me early this morning he s a reckless little devil and i don t think he really knows anything about machinery frank will stick to him though if it were my machine i wouldn t have him near it now that i looked at though i felt that he had so much courage and hope and � such an look in his eyes � that i quite envied him he was assistant mail clerk or something at the post office and when i came up and had been introduced through the window he promptly handed me out several letters when i told what his father had said he merely smiled the old man is always talking like that he said s all right he s better than speed it takes a certain slow moving type of intellect to enjoy or endure life in a small country town to be a doctor in a place like this or a lawyer or a merchant i or a clerk in the main in spite of many preliminary descriptions did not interest me as much as i thought it would or might it was interesting � as one says with the wave of a hand or a shrug of the shoulders of more im port to me was the household and the peculiar girl who would not come out to greet me at first and s father and mother and sister this day passed rather reading proofs which had been sent me and listening to passing expresses which tore through here northward and southward to and from only fifteen miles away � never even hesitating as n an village the negro said � and listening to the on which i put all the records i could find three by james little the man and my grandfather captured my fancy so strongly that i spent several hours just listening to them over and over they were so delightful then i would vary my diet with and during the afternoon and i went for a walk in a woods � a and oak grove � the occupying one section and the oaks another truly grey and described this day it was but in addition the clouds hung so low and thick and dark that they were almost in their sense of and it was warm and damp quite like a bath i had arrayed myself in great length rubber boots borrowed from s father and my and a worthless old cap so that i was independent of the long dripping wet grass and the frequent pools of water i know what i ll do i exclaimed suddenly i ll go in swimming it s just the day fine i when we reached the stream in the depth of the woods i was even more enchanted with the idea the leafy depth of the hollow was so dark and wet the water so and yellow a veritable made so by the heavy rains everywhere about would not come in with me instead he stood on the shore and told me local tales of and deaths and and joys to many my problem was how to without getting my clothes wet and my feet so muddy when i came out that i could not put on my boots by thought i solved it i took off my spread it down on the shore as a floor then took off my boots and stood on it dry and clean under one corner of it i tucked all my clothes to protect them from the rain then naked i plunged into the boiling flood it nearly swept me away so terrific was the of the waters i caught a branch hanging low and with my feet a holiday against a few rocks below lay flat and let the water rush over me it was wonderful to lie in this warm yellow water a bright gold color really and feel it go foaming over my breast and arms and legs it at me so quite like a man that i had to fight it to keep up my arms ached after a time but i hung on loving the feel of it sticks and leaves went racing past i would kick up a stone and instantly it would be swept onward toward some better lodging place farther down i figured an angle finally by which i could make shore letting go and and so i did coming up and scratched but happy then i dipped my feet in the water stood on my drying myself with my handkerchief and finally dressed and refreshed strode up shore then we went off flower gathering and made a big of iron weed he told me how for years he had been coming to this place how he loved the great oaks and the silvery huddled in a friendly company to the north and how he had always wanted to paint them and some day would the people have for cutting their names on trunks came up for here were so many covered with lover s hearts � their names inside � and so many all but by that i could not help thinking how lives flow by quite like the water in the stream below then we went back to a fine chicken dinner and a pie made especially for me and the and the rushing trains the of which i was never tired hearing � they sounded so sad another black rainy night and then the next morning the sun came up on one of the most perfect days imaginable it was and glistening and fragrant and � a wonder world what with the new wet trees and grass as cool and delightful as any day could be it was like | 43 |
been long enough in the service to hate a � it s so much in every way and the major s hut is such an good one and the garden quite a little paradise major took infinite pains with it yes and my wife is very fond of a bit of garden major replied so i am having the place and painted and made as comfortable as possible and you must help my wife to get settled i m told you re a great hand at anything of that sort well sir i do try to make myself useful sometimes returned jack modestly � i ve been helping mrs oh yes she showed us her furniture said the major taking the words out of jack s mouth � and though mrs won t exactly want you to do that sort of thing i she ll be very pleased if you ll advise her about one or two little things her pictures and plants and so on i shall be only too delighted sir said jack in all good faith i am really out of all that sort of thing the major continued with an air of great good humour � and when i get into any kind of a shop except the other man s wife it s a s or a boot shop i always feel like the bull among the china i i look like it too � ha ha he walked away laughing heartily and jack stood looking curiously after him well you re a queer fish upon my word you are and to think you married my little friend poor little soul no wonder she looks so miserable every now and then and talks about and the as if the old days were paradise then he too turned on his heel and went about his own business which at that moment happened to be something concerning one of his horses while he was talking to the groom passed the door and seeing him came in and as men do they looked at the sleek satin horses together you ve heard the news said as they walked towards the mess together � no � i ve heard nothing except that the are going to live in camp jack answered oh i ve heard that too you knew her when she was a child didn t you � yes what did she marry him for oh i don t fancy she had much choice about it jack said carelessly her mother was the sort of woman who does not give anyone within her range too much rope as a little girl mrs was let to go her own way pretty much but a ghost op the past young lady i believe she had the devil s own time you see the title weighed a good deal with her with the mother i suppose � of course h m what an odd thing it is that titles do weigh so heavily with women as they do i should have thought that all the titles under the sun would never have gilded a brute like that let alone it s being only a title in yes it s rough on her anyway said jack with a sigh by the bye what w as your news oh i � is going to be married � you don t say so and who is he going to marry said looking straight in front of him an � � drum � nonsense cried jack nonsense or no nonsense � it s true asserted positively i had it from himself this morning and what did you say to him i said he was an ass � or something like it and then of course i had to and say that i didn t mean anything personal only that i thought it a pity that soldiers should marry at all till they re out of the service and old what did he say oh he laughed � said i was a jolly old cock that had gone wrong altogether and would never be better till i d in love myself in love � me i the man s wo e � just think of it he ended in disgust jack laughed aloud my dear old chap i can t think of it � i can t imagine any woman ever giving you the chance of knowing her well enough to be in love with her they d give me the chance fast enough no fear said grimly yes i they would but old chap laughed jack � you may take my word for this � you u go on for a time well enough and then one of these fine days you ll get bitten before you know where you are and oh by jove won t you have it bad no mistake about it yes my friend returned as they reached the door of the mess room when i do have it i shall have it badly you are quite right about that � quite right well about two hours after this jack was walking briskly along the narrow high street in which the principal shops of may be found when he literally ran against mrs who came out of a shop attended only by the majestic my dear i ask a thousand he cried i had no idea that you or anyone else was coming out of that shop � i didn t hurt you did i not a bit jack she said laughing and if you had it wouldn t have been your fault where are you going with you if may he answered promptly a of the past oh yes indeed you may � i am going to the s and then to a s little shop where they have odds and ends to make my drawing room look pretty the major tells me that you are going to be grand | 30 |
him up on the sofa where he really was my aunt to such a furious extent that he couldn t keep straight but himself sideways the more my aunt looked at him the more he reproached her for she had lately taken to spectacles and for some inscrutable reason he considered the glasses personal made him lie down by her with a good deal of persuasion and when he was quiet drew one of his long ears through and through her hand repeating thoughtfully even little oh poor fellow his lungs are good enough said my aunt gaily and his are not at all feeble he has a good many years before him no doubt the personal history and experience but if you want a dog to race with little blossom he has lived too well for that and i give you one thank you aunt said faintly but don t please no said my aunt taking off her spectacles i could nt have any other dog but said it would be so unkind to besides i couldn t be such friends with any other dog but because he wouldn t have known me before i was married and wouldn t have at when he first came to our house i couldn t care for any other dog but i am afraid aunt to be sure said my aunt patting her cheek again you are right you are not offended said are you why what a sensitive pet it is cried my aunt bending over her affectionately to think that i could be offended no no i didn t really think so returned but i am a little tired and it made me silly for a moment � i am always a silly little thing you know but it made me more silly � to talk about he has known me in all that has happened to me haven t you and i couldn t bear to slight him because he was a little altered � could i closer to his mistress and lazily licked her hand you are not so old are you that you ll leave your mistress yet said we may keep one another company a little longer my pretty when she came down to dinner on the sunday and was so glad to see old who always dined with us on sunday we thought she would be running about as she used to do in a few days but they said wait a few days more and then wait a few days more and still she neither ran nor walked she looked very pretty and was very merry but the little feet that used to be so when they danced round were dull and motionless i began to carry her down stairs every morning and upstairs every night she would clasp me round the neck and laugh the while as if i did it for a would bark and round us and go on before and look back on the landing breathing short to see that we were coming my aunt the best and most cheerful of nurses would after us a moving mass of and pillows mr dick would not have his post of candle bearer to any one alive would be often at the bottom of the staircase looking on and taking charge of messages from to the dearest girl in the world we made quite a gay procession of it and my child wife was the there but sometimes when i took her up and felt that she was lighter in my arms a dead blank feeling came upon me as if i were approaching to some frozen region yet unseen that my life i avoided the recognition of this feeling by any name or by any with myself until one night when it was very strong upon me and my aunt had left her with a parting cry of good night little blossom i sat down at my desk alone and cried to think what a fatal name it was and how the blossom withered in its bloom upon the tree of david chapter i am involved in i received one morning by the post the following letter dated and addressed to me at doctors which i read with some surprise my dear sir circumstances beyond my individual control have for a considerable lapse of time effected a of that intimacy which in the limited opportunities to me in the midst of my professional duties of contemplating the scenes and events of the past tinged by the hues of memory has ever afforded me as it ever must continue to afford gratifying emotions of no common description this fact my dear sir combined with the distinguished elevation to which your talents have raised you me from to to the liberty of addressing the companion of my youth by the familiar of it is sufficient to know that the name to which i do myself the honor to refer will ever be among the of our house i allude to the connected with our former preserved by mrs with sentiments of personal esteem to affection it is not for one situated through his original errors and a combination of events as is the bark if he may be allowed to assume so a who now takes up the pen to address you � it is not i repeat for one so to adopt the language of or of that he leaves to and to purer hands if your more important should admit of your ever tracing these imperfect characters thus far � which may be or may not be as circumstances arise � you will naturally inquire by what object am i influenced then in the present allow me to say that i fully to the reasonable character of that inquiry and proceed to it that it is not an object of a pecuniary nature without more directly referring to any latent ability | 8 |
her eyes bright as they were for such a look � it was the least that our poor could do to give her heart for a great many of them there was the more danger of this inasmuch as the footing on which we all associated at was widely different from that of conventional society while us to the soft affections of the golden age it seemed to any individual of either sex to fall in love with any other regardless of what would elsewhere be judged suitable and prudent accordingly the tender passion was very among us in various degrees of or but mostly passing away with the state of things that had given it origin this was all well enough but for a girl like and a woman like to one another in their lore of a man like was likely to be no child s play had i been as cold hearted as i sometimes thought myself nothing would have interested me more than to witness the play of passions that must thus have been but in honest truth i would really have gone far to save at least from the catastrophe in which such a drama would be apt to had now grown to be a very pretty girl and still kept and and daily putting on some new charm which you no sooner became sensible of than you thought it worth all that she had previously possessed so vague and without substance as she had come to us it seemed as if we could see nature out a woman before our very eyes and yet had only a more sense of the mystery of a woman s soul and frame yesterday her cheek was pale � to day it had a bloom s smile like a baby s first one a wondrous novelty her and short affected me with a kind of playful pathos which was as absolutely a sensation as ever i experienced after she had been a month or two at her animal spirits high and kept her pretty constantly in a state of and her to far more bodily activity than she had yet strength to endure she was very fond of play the ing with the other girls out of doors there is hardly another sight in the world so pretty as that of a company of young girls almost women grown at play and so giving themselves up to their airy impulse that their barely touch the ground girls are and more than boys more and regardless of rule and limit with an ever shifting variety breaking continually into new modes of fun yet with a harmonious propriety through all their steps their voices appear free as the wind but keep with a strain of music to us young men and boys on the other hand play according to recognized law old games permitting no of fancy but with scope enough for the outbreak of savage instincts for young or old in play or in earnest man is prone to be a brute especially is it delightful to see a vigorous young girl run a race with her head thrown back her limbs moving more than they need and an air between that of a bird and a young but s peculiar charm in a foot race was the weakness and with which she ran growing up without exercise except to her poor little fingers she had never yet acquired the perfect use of her legs setting forth therefore as if no rival less swift than could with her she ran and often tumbled on the grass such an incident � though it seems too slight to think of � was a thing to laugh at but which brought the water into one s eyes and lingered in the memory after far greater joys and sorrows were swept out of it as s life as i beheld it was full of trifles that me in just this way when she had come to he quite at home among us i used to fancy that played more and more mischief than any other girl in the community for example i once heard foster in a very voice threatening to three round s neck and chain her to a post because she with some other young people had upon a load of hay and caused it to slide off the cart how she made her peace i never knew but very soon afterwards i saw old with his hands round s waist swinging her to and fro and finally her on one of the oxen to take her first lessons in riding she met with terrible in her efforts to milk a cow she let the poultry into the garden she spoilt whatever part of the dinner she took in charge she broke she our biggest into the well and � except with her needle and those little wooden instruments for � was as a member of society as any young lady in the land there was no other sort of about her yet everybody was kind to everybody loved her and laughed at her to her and did not laugh behind her back everybody would have given her half of his last crust or the bigger share of his cake these were pretty certain indications that we were all conscious of a pleasant weakness in the girl and considered her not quite able to look after her own interests or fight her battle with the world and � perhaps because he had been the means of introducing to her new thb abode � appeared to recognize her as his own especial charge her simple careless childish flow of spirits often made me sad she seemed to me like a butterfly at play in a flickering bit of sunshine and it for a broad and eternal summer we sometimes hold mirth to a than sorrow � it must show od cause or | 35 |
husband kept his money or some little fall of that kind � would be the making of her and could hardly fail to render her one of the most agreeable companions in existence whether they were right or wrong in this conjecture certain it is that minds like bodies wiu often fall into a ill state fi om mere excess of comfort and like them are often successfully cured by in themselves very and mrs s chief and and at the same time lier principal victim and object of wrath her single domestic servant one miss or as she was called in with those prejudices of society which and top from poor all such genteel � this was a tail young lady very much to in private life slender and of a rather uncomfortable figure and though not absolutely ill looking of a sharp and as a general principle and abstract proposition held the male sex to be utterly contemptible and unworthy of notice to be false base inclined to and wholly when particularly exasperated against them which scandal said was when sim her most she was accustomed to wish with great emphasis that the whole race of women could but die off in order that the men might be brought to know the real value of the blessings by which they set so little store nay her feeling for her order ran so high that she sometimes declared if she could only have good security for a fair round number � say ten thousand � of young following her example she would to spite mankind hang drown or poison herself with a joy past all expression it was the voice of that greeted the when he knocked at his own house with a shrill cry of who s me girl me returned what already sir said opening the door with a look of surprise we was just getting on our to sit up � me and mistress oh she has been so bad said this with an air of uncommon and concern but the parlour door was standing open and as very well knew for whose ears it was designed he regarded her with anything but an look as he passed in master s come home cried running before him into the parlour you was wrong and i was right i thought he wouldn t keep us up so late two nights running master s always considerate so far i m so glad on your account i m a little � here � a little sleepy myself i u own it now though i said i wasn t when you asked me it an t of no consequence of course you had better said the who most devoutly wished that s was at ankles you had better get to bed at once then thanking you kindly sir returned i couldn t take my rest in peace nor fix my thoughts upon my prayers than that i knew mistress was comfortable in her bed this night by rights she should have been there hours ago you re mistress said pulling off his great coat and looking at her taking the hint sir cried with a flushed face and thanking you for it most kindly i will make bold to say that if i give offence by having consideration for my mistress i do not ask your pardon but am content to get myself into trouble and to be in suffering here mrs who with her in a large had been all this time intent upon the manual looked round and acknowledged by commanding her to hold her tongue every little bone in throat and neck developed itself with a quite alarming as she replied yes how do you find yourself now my dear said the taking a chair near his wife who had resumed her book and rubbing his knees hard as he made the inquiry you re very anxious to know an t you returned mrs with her eyes upon the print you that have not been near me all day and wouldn t have been if i was dying my dear � said mrs turned over to the next page then went back again to the bottom line over leaf to be quite sure of the last words and then went on reading with an appearance of the deepest interest and study my dear said the how can you say such things when you know you don t mean them if you were dying why if there was anything serious the matter with you shouldn t be in constant attendance upon you yes cried mrs bursting into tears yes you would i don t doubt it certainly you would that s aa much aa to tell me that you would be hovering round me like a waiting till the breath was out of my body that you might go and marry somebody else groaned in sympathy � a little short groan checked in its birth and changed into a cough it seemed to say i can t help it it s wrung from me by the of that monster master but you u break my heart one of these days added mrs with more resignation and then we shall both be happy my only desire is to see comfortably settled and when she is you may settle me as soon as you like ah cried � and again poor twisted his wig about in silence for a long time and then said mildly has gone to bed your master speaks to you said mrs looking sternly over her shoulder at miss in waiting no my dear i spoke to you suggested the did you hear me cried the lady stamping her foot upon the ground you are beginning to despise me now are you but this is example at this cruel rebuke whose tears were always ready for large or small parties on the shortest notice and the | 8 |
you were dead sir said dick gently sliding to the ground and the short and the long of it is that we cannot allow single gentlemen to into this establishment and sleep like double gentlemen without paying extra for it indeed cried the yes sir indeed returned dick to his destiny and saying whatever came uppermost an equal quantity of was never got out of one bed and and if you re going to sleep in that way you must pay for a room instead of being thrown into a greater passion by these the into a broad grin and looked at mr with twinkling eyes he was a brown faced man and appeared and more thk old shop from having a white on as it was clear that he was a fellow in some respects mr was relieved to find him in such good humour and to encourage him in it smiled himself the in the of being so rudely roused had pushed his very much on one side of his bald head this gave him a eccentric air which now that he had leisure to observe it charmed mr exceedingly therefore by way of he expressed his hope that the gentleman was going to get up and j that he would never do so any more come here you impudent rascal was the s answer as he re entered his room mr followed him in leaving the stool outside but the ruler in case of a surprise he rather congratulated himself on his prudence when the single gentleman without notice or explanation of any kind double locked the door can you drink anything was his next inquiry mr that he had very recently been the pangs of thirst but that he was still open to a modest if the materials were at hand without another word spoken on either side the took from his great trunk a kind of temple shining as of polished silver and placed it carefully on the table greatly interested in his proceedings mr observed him closely into one little chamber of this temple he dropped an egg into another some coffee into a third a compact piece of raw from a neat tin case into a fourth he poured some water then with the aid of a box and some matches he procured a light and applied it to a spirit lamp which had a place of its own below the temple then he shut down the of all the little chambers then he opened them and then by some wonderful and unseen agency the was done the egg was boiled the coffee was accurately prepared and his breakfast was ready hot water � said the handing it to mr with as much coolness as if he had a kitchen fire before him � extraordinary rum � sugar � and a travelling glass mix for yourself and make haste dick complied his eyes wandering all the time from the the old shop temple on the table seemed to do to the great trunk which seemed to hold everything the took his breakfast like a man who was used to work these miracles and thought nothing of them the man of the house is a lawyer is he not said the dick nodded the rum was amazing the woman of the house � what s she a said dick the single gentleman perhaps because he had met with such things in his travels or perhaps because he was a single gentleman evinced no surprise but merely inquired wife or sister sister said dick � so much the better said the single gentleman he can get rid of her when he likes i want to do as i like young man he added after a short silence to go to bed when i like get up when i like come in when i like go out when i like � to be asked no questions and be surrounded by no in this last respect servants are the devil there s only one here and a very little one said dick and a very little one repeated the well the place wiu suit me will it yes said dick i suppose said the dick nodded assent and drained his glass let them know my humour said the single gentleman rising if they disturb me they lose a good tenant if they know me to be that they know enough if they try to know more it s a notice to quit it s better to understand these things at once good day i beg your pardon said dick halting in his passage to the door which the prepared to open when he who thee has left but the name � what do you mean it � but the name said dick � has left but the name � in case of letters or � i never have any returned the or in case anybody should call nobody ever calls on me if any mistake should arise from not having the name don t say it was my fault sir added dick still lingering � oh blame not the thb old curiosity shop i blame nobody said the with such that in a moment dick found himself on the staircase and the locked door between them mr brass and miss sally were lurking hard by h been indeed only from the by mr s abrupt exit as their utmost exertions had enabled them to a word of the interview however in consequence of a quarrel for which though limited of necessity to and and such quiet had lasted the whole time they hurried him down to the office to hear his of the conversation this mr gave them � as regarded tlie wishes and character of the single gentleman and poetical as concerned the great trunk of which he gave a description more remarkable for of imagination than a strict to truth declaring with many strong that | 8 |
speed to a friend going to europe is a great loss it was so to me especially because there was always more to me in every departure than the parting and the farewell i was gradually this pleasure as i saw small prospect of ending before noon when after looking at me a moment came to my side of the desk and said i should like to finish that for you i looked at him poor he had no friends to wish g speed upon any journey t bv sea shore quietly wiped my pen took down my hat and went out it was in the days of sail and regularity when going to europe was more of an epoch in life how gaily my cousin stood upon the deck and detailed to me her plan how merrily the children shouted and sang how long i held my s little hand in mine and gazed her great eyes remembering that they would see and touch the things that were invisible to me for ever but all the more precious and fair she kissed me � i was younger then � there were tears i remember and prayers aud promises a waving handkerchief � a fading sail it was only the other day that i saw another parting of the same kind i was not a principal only a spectator but so fond am i of sharing afar off as it were and unseen the sympathies of human beings that i cannot avoid often going to the dock upon steamer days and giving myself to that pleasant and melancholy observation there is always a crowd but this day it was almost impossible to advance through the masses of people the eager faces hurried by a constant stream poured up the into the steamer and the upper deck to which i gradually made my way was crowded with the passengers and their friends there was one group upon which my eyes first bv so and i fell and upon which my memory a glance brilliant as daybreak � a voice her voice s music � call it tlie well s tlie bird s a goddess with flowers and smiling farewell upon a circle of to each one of whom that gracious calmness made the smile sweeter and the farewell more sad � other figures other flowers an angel face � ail these i saw in that group as i was swayed up and down the deck by the eager swarm of people the hour came and i went on shore with the rest the plank was drawn away � the captain raised his hand � the huge steamer slowly moved � a cannon was fired � the ship was gone the sun sparkled upon the water as they sailed away in five minutes the steamer was as much separated from the shore as if it had been at sea a thousand years i leaned against a post upon the dock and looked around ranged upon the edge of the wharf stood that band of waving handkerchiefs and straining their eyes to see the last smile of farewell � did any eager selfish eye hope to see a tear they to whom the handkerchiefs were waved stood high upon the stern holding flowers over them hung the great flag raised by the gentle wind into bv sea shoes the graceful folds of a � rather a gorgeous waved over tlie triumphant departure over that supreme youth and bloom and beauty going out across the mystic ocean to carry a finer charm and more human splendor into those of my imagination beyond the sea you will return o youth and beauty i said to my dreaming and foolish self as i contemplated those fair figures richer than alexander indian spoils all that historic association that copious civilization those and graces of art that variety and of life will mellow and your experience even as time silently touches those old pictures into a more and pathetic beauty and as this increasing summer sheds ever softer lustre upon the landscape you will return and not conquered you will bring europe even as brought captive to deck your homeward triumph i do not wonder that these clouds break away i do not wonder that the sun presses out and floods all the air and land and water with light that graces with happy your stately farewell but if my faded face looked after them with such earnest and longing emotion � i a solitary old man unknown to those fair beings and standing apart from that band of lovers yet in that sa and bound more closely to them than they knew � how was it with those whose hearts sailed away with that youth and beauty i watched them closely from behind my post i knew that life had paused with them that the world stood still i knew that the long long summer would be only a yearning regret i knew that each asked himself the mournful question is this parting typical � � this slow sad sweet and i knew that they did not care to ask whether they should meet again nor dare to contemplate the chances of the sea the steamer swept on she was near island and a final gun far and low across the water the crowd was but the little group remained was it not all hood had sung i saw lovely along tha shore with bands of noble gentlemen and waved before and gentle youths and maidens gay and snowy wore j � it would been a dream if it bad ao more o youth i said to them without speaking be it gently said as it is solemnly thought should they return no more yet in your memories the high hour of their loveliness is for ever envied sea from shore should they come no more they never will be old nor changed to you you will | 16 |
sir thomas but you do not know how dry the path is to my would have bad quit as good a walk there i assure you with the advantage being of some use and obliging her aunt it is all her if would but have let us know she was going out � bu there is a something about have often observed i before � she likes to go her own way to work she no like to be dictated to she t her own independent whenever she can she certainly has a little spirit of j ms p and independence and nonsense about her i would advise her to get the better of as a general on sir thomas thought nothing could be more unjust he had been lately expressing the same and lie tried to turn the conversation tried repeatedly before he could for mrs had not to perceive either now or at any other time to wliat degree be well of his niece j or how very far he was from wishing to have his own children s merits act off by the of hers she was talking ai and this private walk half thi the dinner it was over however at last and the evening set in with more composure to and more cheerfulness of spirit than she have hoped for after so stormy a morning but she trusted in the first that she had done right that her judgment had not ber for the purity of her intentions she could answer and she was willing to hope secondly that her uncle s displeasure was and would farther as he considered the matter with more and felt as a good man must fe i how wretched and how how hopeless and bow wicked it was to marry without affection when the meeting with which she was threatened for the morrow was past she could not but flatter herself that the subject would be finally concluded and mr once gone from that everything would soon be as if no such subject had existed she would not could not believe that mr s affection for her could distress him long his mind was not of that sort london would soon bring its cure in london he would learn to wonder at his and be thankful for the right reason in ber which had saved him from its evil s mind was engaged in this sort of hopes her uncle was soon after tea called out of the an occurrence too common to strike her and she thought nothing of it till the butler re appeared ten minutes afterwards and l of it till t park advancing decidedly towards herself said sir wishes to speak with you ma am in own room tl it occurred to her what might he going on a suspicion rushed over her mind which drove the colour from her cheeks bull rising was to obey when mrs nor i called out stay stay what are you about where are you going don t he in such a hurry depend upon j it it is not jou who are wanted depend upon it it is at the butler but you are so very eager to yourself forward what should sir thomas want you it is me you mean i am coming thia moment you mean me i am sure sir thomas wants me l not miss price but was stout no ma am it is miss price i am certain of its being miss price and there was a smile witli the words which meant i do not think j o� answer the purpose at all mrs much discontented was obliged to herself to work and � walking off in consciousness found herself as she anticipated in another minute alone with mr chapter thi conference was neither so short nor so i the lady had designed the gentleman was not so easily satisfied he had all the disposition to that sir could wish him he had vanity which strongly inclined him in the place to think she did love him she might not know it and secondly when constrained at last to admit that she did know her own pr sent feelings j convinced him that he should be able in tim to make those feelings what he wished he was in love very much in love and it was a love which on an active sanguine spirit of warmth than delicacy made her affection appear of park i it was withheld and him to have the glory aa well aa the felicity of forcing her to love him he would not despair he would not he had every well reason for solid attachment he knew her to have all the worth that could justify the warmest hopes of lasting happiness with her her conduct at this veiy time the and delicacy of her character qualities which he believed most rare indeed was of a sort to all his wishes and confirm ad his resolutions he knew not that he had a pre engaged heart to attack of that he had no suspicion he considered her rather aa one who had never thought on the subject enough to be in danger who had heen guarded by youth a youth of mind as lovely as of person whose modesty had prevented her from understanding his attentions and who was still overpowered by the suddenness of addresses so wholly unexpected and the novelty of a situation which her fancy had taken into account must it not follow of course that when he was understood he should succeed he believed it love such aa his in a man like himself must with perseverance secure a return and at no great distance and he had so much delight in the idea of obliging her to him in a very short time that her not loving him now was scarcely regretted a little difficulty to be overcome was no evil | 26 |
home news until the of the clock in the hall warned the guests up stairs that dinner had been served sat down in great comfort amid the of the great louis dining room he liked this home atmosphere � his mother and father and his sisters � the old family friends so he smiled and was exceedingly genial announced that the were going to give a dance on tuesday and inquired whether he intended to go you know i don t dance he returned why should i go f don t dance won t dance you mean you re getting too lazy to move if robert is willing to dance occasionally i think you might robert s got it on me in lightness replied and politeness retorted be that as it may said don t try to stir up a fight observed robert after dinner they to the library and robert talked with his brother a little on business there were some coming up for he wanted to see what suggestions had to make was going to a party and the carriage was now announced so you are not coming she asked a trifle too tired said lightly make my excuses to mrs pace asked about you the other night called back from the door kind replied i m greatly obliged she s a nice girl put in his father who was standing near the open i only wish you would marry her and settle down you d have a good wife in her she s charming mrs what is this asked � a conspiracy you know i m not strong on the matrimonial business and i well know it replied his mother i wish you were changed the subject he really could not stand for this sort of thing any more he told himself and as he thought his mind wandered back to and her peculiar oh no no there was that appealed to him that was a type of womanhood worth while not not seeking not iso d l watched over and set like a man trap in the path of men but a sweet little girl � sweet as a flower who was with l � out anybody apparently to watch over her that night in his room he composed a letter which he dated a week later because he did not want to appear too and because he could not again leave for at least two weeks my dear � although it has been a week and i have said nothing i have not forgotten you � believe me was the impression i gave of myself very bad i will make it better from now on for i love you little girl � i really do there is a flower on my table which reminds me of you very much � white delicate beautiful your personality lingering with me is just that you are the essence of everything beautiful to me it � is in your power to flowers in my path if you will � but what i want to say here is that i shall be in on the i th and i shall expect to see you i arrive thursday night and i want you to meet me in the ladies parlor of the at noon friday will you you can lunch with me you see i respect your suggestion that i should not call i will not � on condition these are dangerous to good friendship write me that you will i throw myself on your generosity but i can t take no for an answer not now with a world of affection he sealed the letter and addressed it she s a remarkable girl in her way he ht she really is l chapter xxi the arrival of this letter coming after a week of silence and after she had had a chance to think moved deeply what did she want to do what ought she to do how did she truly feel about this man did she sincerely wish to answer his letter if she did so what should she say heretofore all her movements even the one in which she had sought to sacrifice herself for the sake of bass in had not seemed to involve any one but herself now there seemed to be others to consider � her family above all her child the little was now eighteen months of age she was an interesting child her large blue eyes and light hair giving promise of a which would closely that of her mother while her traits indicated a clear and intelligent mind mrs had become very fond of her had so gradually that his interest was not even yet clearly but he had a distinct feeling of toward her and this of her father s attitude had aroused in an ardent desire to so conduct herself that no pain should ever come to him again any new folly on her part would not only be base ingratitude to her father but i would tend to injure the prospects of her little one her life was a failure she fancied but s was a thing apart she must do nothing to spoil it she wondered whether it would not be better to write and explain everything she had told him that she did not wish to do wrong suppose she went on to inform him d l that she had a child and beg him to leave her in peace would he obey her she doubted it did she really want him to take her at her word the need of making this confession was a painful thing to it caused her to hesitate to start a letter in which she tried to explain and then to tear it up finally fate in the sudden home coming of her father who had been seriously injured by an accident at the glass works in where he worked it | 43 |
back an struck out for me for life an how as i went down de last time he me an on to me tell we wash down to de bank curve an de current so rapid hit him off back but he on to de reins tell de horse so he hit him he fo foot an he collar bone an den he had to let him go an on to me an den we wash up de bank an in a tree an de got quick as could an when us george on to me an had he arm a limb an we lodged in de an as dead as a nail an de she got out but he his foot in de rein an de saddle he side an ain know george ain dead too cause he not only but he arm broke up nigh de shoulder an say miss she de thing anybody know bout it when some de servants bust in de hall an an say george an me done washed way an an she down dead on de an when bring her to she low to miss she de on he death an say when de him in de house an de not to meek no an a little piece o blue silk out he breast somebody picked up an gin miss miss right in virginia down an some on em say she did for him an now when he upstairs dead hit too late for him ever to know it well i couldn it in george and dead an den somebody say george done to an gi me so much i went to sleep an next i got up an went to george room an see him in de bed he face so white an he eyes so tired an he ain know me no mo n ef he see me an i couldn it i down on de an bust out i couldn help it cause an george he gone an he came goin cause he had a strain an been so long in de water he heart done got an he got an all de time he thought he to cross de river to see miss an hit so high he hit pitiful to see him an not he tell it all mr an me could do to keep him in de bed an de doctors say he out much longer an all dis time miss she bout de house her face right white an say she don do all day long in her room but cry an say her rs for george s by count o not she love him an i tell how he all de time to see her an how he constant her name well so tell he done out an lay his face white as de pillow an he pitiful eyes bout so restless like he still for her he all de time her name an cross river to see an one bout sunset he to be he weaker n he been at all he ain able to no mo an so quiet an he say mighty wistful � i m goin to night ef i don cross dis time i ll gin t up mr nigh de head o de bed an he say well by he shall see her � so an he went out de room an to miss do an call her an tell her she got to come ef she don t he ll die night an thing i know miss bring miss in her face right white but as tender as a angel s an she come an by de side de bed an lean down over him an call he name george � so an george he ain answer he look at her study for a minute an den he forehead got smooth ai he he eyes to me an say i m cross lady a story of the war tt n go when he a v v on de een o dis the speaker was standing in the bushes just below me for i was on the where the little foot path through the straggling pines and ran over it he was holding in his hand a newly fishing pole while a number more lay in the path at the foot of the old i watched for a moment in silence and then said uncle what are you doing poles for de boys he answered promptly and definitely we s em soon then he added won have none from else done ma tell how used to poles right on dis ridge an fling a line nay sort o poles at all he mo like n he like he pa sometimes i think he done come back � he s he ve y spit an image who are the boys i asked taking a seat on the moss covered hi we all s boys � lady s de fish run lady a story of tlie war good now an ll be up in new york now but me an got a letter from em you keep em long after de fish to run no you i bout his pole right now and a short laugh of delight followed the reflection how many are there fo on em de little an she like lady at her age to keep up her an do ev do lord hit me back so sometimes i de ain been no war nor yes tu ns de house down when comes like an lady um � m making that peculiar sound so suggestive used to de to pieces you see after die an two she used to gi em head an all over de plantation lady de little white in her little white apron her curls all down in her eyes used to look white ns as a o blossoms de i don what do it | 46 |
t know where to find one i shouldn t know how to manage her if i did find her so i ve got to post up for the position myself the child was so happy with him in all circumstances in connection with the de claim that it was easy to teach her anything she had learned to read and write before she discovered that the process she went through to acquire these accomplishments was not an agreeable specially invented by tom for her amusement at eleven years old she had become so interested in her work that she was quite an excited little student by the time she was twelve tom began to shake his head at her if you go on like this he said i sha n t be able to keep up with you and what i ve got to do is to keep ahead if i can t i shall have to send you to the academy at and how should we stand that she came and sat upon his big knee � a slim little thing as light as a bird we couldn t stand it uncle tom she said we have to be together we always have been haven t we and she rubbed her ruffled head against his huge breast yes we always have been answered tom and it would go pretty hard with us to make a change she was not sent to the war broke out and altered the aspect of things even at the cross roads the bank in which tom s modest were deposited was swept away by misfortune the primitive resources of county were as the resources of all the land were but for the existence of the white vine house and the garden full of and bloom tom s position at the close of the rebellion was far less fortunate than it had been at the time the mystery of s hollow had occurred in those old happy go lucky days the three rooms behind the store and the three meals cooked for him had been quite sufficient for free and easy peace he had been able to himself these primitive comforts with so little expenditure that money had scarcely seemed an ob in connection with the de claim he had taken eggs in exchange for sugar bacon in exchange for tea and butter in exchange for everything now he had no means of resource but the store and the people were poorer than they had been farms had gone to temporary ruin through neglect during the absence of their masters more than one honest fellow had marched away and never returned and their were left to struggle with the land and their children the store which had so wonderfully for a year or two before the breaking out of the war began to wear a less cheerful aspect as far as he himself was concerned tom knew that life was a simple enough thing but by his side there was growing up a young goddess she was not aware that she was a young goddess there was no one in the vicinity of the cross roads who could have informed her that she presented somewhat of that aspect and that she was youth and happiness and nature s self at once tom continually indulged in deep reflection on his charge after she was twelve years old she shot up into the tall of a lovely young and she was a sweetly glowing thing a baby had been a different matter the baby had not been so difficult to manage but when he found himself day by day the sweetness of child womanhood in the eyes that were gold brown pools and the softening grace of the fair young body he began to be conscious of something like alarm he was not at all sure what he ought to do at this crisis and whether life its experiences entirely to s cross roads was all that was required i don t know whether it s right by thunder he said i don t know whether it s right and that s what a man who s taken the place of a young mother ought to know s in connection with the de claim there came a sunday when one of the occasional was to be held at the log cabin church a few miles distant and they were going together as they always did it was a heavenly warm spring morning and having made herself ready wandered into the garden to wait among the flowers the first of the year were there drawn by the sun and blown by of wind from and white and blue walked among the beds every few minutes kneeling down upon the grass to bury her face in pink and yellow and white clusters the breath of flowers and the freshness of the sweet brown earth at the same time she had lived among leaves and growing things until she felt herself in some way a part of the world they belonged to the world beyond the mountains she knew nothing of but this world which was the brown earth springing forth into green blades and leaves and little warming into bloom and sun fragrance setting the birds singing and nest building giving fruits and grain and yellow and scarlet leaves and folding itself later in snow and winter sleep � this world she knew as well as she knew herself the birds were singing and nest building this morning and as she hung over a bed of purple and white kneeling on the grass and getting as close to them as she could their perfume mounted to her brain and she began to kiss them i love you she said dwelling on their sweet coolness with her lips i love and love you and suddenly she made a little and kissed the brown earth itself and oh i love you | 13 |
my family tou my mother and margaret must henceforth be all the world to me you will share my affections entirely between you from you from my home i shall never again have the smallest to move and if i do mix in other society it will be only t j show that my spirit is my heart and that i can practise the the duties of life with gentleness and forbearance as for to say that i shall soon or thai i shall ever forget him would be idle his re can be overcome by no change of or opinions but it shall be regulated sense and sensibility it shall be c by religion b reason by constant employment she paused and added in a lower voice if i could but know his heart everything would become easy who had now been for some time reflecting on the propriety or of speedily her without feeling at all nearer decision than at first heard this and perceiving that as reflection did nothing resolution must do all soon found herself leading to the fact she managed the recital as she hoped with address prepared her anxious listener with caution related simply and honestly the chief points on which his apology did justice to his repentance and softened only his of present regard said not a word she trembled her eyes were fixed on the and her lips became than even sickness had left them a thousand inquiries sprung up from her heart but she dared not urge one she caught every syllable with panting eagerness her hand to herself closely pressed her sister s and tears covered her cheeks her being tired led her towards home and till they reached the door of the cottage easily what her curiosity sense and sensibility must be though no question was suffered to speak it talked of nothing but and their conversation together and was carefully minute in every particular of speech and look where could be indulged as soon as they entered the house with a kiss of gratitude and these two words just articulate through her tears tell mamma withdrew from her sister and walked slowly upstairs would not attempt to disturb a solitude so reasonable as what she now sought and with a mind anxiously its result and a resolution of the subject again should fail to do it she turned into the parlor to fulfil her parting chapter xx mrs did not hear unmoved the of her former favorite she rejoiced in his being cleared from some part of his guilt she was sorry for him she wished him happy but the feelings of the past could not be recalled nothing could restore him with a faith unbroken a character to nothing could do away the knowledge of what the latter had through his means nor remove the guilt of his conduct towards nothing could replace him therefore in her former esteem nor injure the interests of colonel had mrs like her daughter heard s story from himself � had she witnessed his distress and been under the influence of his countenance and his manner � it is probable that her compassion would have been greater but it was neither in s power nor in her wish to rouse such feelings in another by her explanation as had at first been called forth in herself reflection had given calmness to her judgment and her own opinion of s deserts she wished therefore to de sense and only the simple truth and lay open facts as were really due to his character without any of tenderness to lead the fancy astray in the evening when they were all three together began voluntarily to speak of him again but that it was not without an effort the restless in which she had been for some time previously sitting her rising color as she spoke and her unsteady voice plainly showed i wish to assure you both said she that i see everything as you can desire me to do mrs would have interrupted her instantly with soothing tenderness had not who really wished to hear her sister s opinion by an eager sign engaged her silence slowly continued � it is a great relief to me what told me this morning i have now heard exactly what i wished to hear for some moments her voice was lost but recovering herself she added and with greater calmness than before i am now perfectly satisfied i wish for no change i never could have been happy with him after knowing aa sooner or later i must have known all this i should have had no confidence no esteem nothing could have done it away to my feelings i know it i know it cried her mother sense am happy with a man of with one who had so injured the peace of the dearest of our friends and the best of men i no my has not a heart to be made happy with such a man her conscience her sensitive conscience would have felt all that the conscience of her husband ought to have felt sighed and repeated i wish for no change you consider the matter said exactly as a g d mind and a sound understanding must consider it and i dare say you perceive as well as myself not only in this but in many other circumstances reason enough to be convinced that your marriage must have involved you in many certain troubles and disappointments in which you would have been poorly supported by an affection on his side much less certain had you you must have been always poor his is acknowledged even by himself and his whole conduct declares that self denial is a word hardly understood by him his de and your together on a small very small income must have brought on which would not be the less grievous to you from having been entirely | 26 |
fever of the garden in the scent of and the white advancing sleek of mood � � he reminds me of the dark eyed who comes into a tavern silently and standing in a comer plays long wild strains i see him not i hardly hear him my thoughts are far away my soul desiring nothing i care not to lift my head why should i break the spell of my meditations but i feel that his dark eyes are fixed upon me and little by little in spite of my will my senses awake a strange is in progress within me thoughts and desires that i dread of whose existence in myself i was not aware whose existence in myself i would fain deny come swiftly and come slowly and settle and and become part of me � � fear is upon me but i may not pause i am hurried on is impossible and the wringing of hands are vain has abandoned me my worst nature is uppermost i see it floating up from the depths of my being a but i can do nothing to check or control � � � has abandoned me i am the prey to that dark eyed and his abominable fiddle and seizing my bank notes my gold and my silver i throw him all i have i bid him cease and fall back exhausted give me the ring give me the ring its palaces its sea and forests and the therein its giants and and its and its � surely it is nearer to life or go into the meadows with and listen to the lark sunday evening in london and the we are nearer life lying by a shady brook hearing the in the meadows and the yellow hammer in the thicket than we are now under this oppressive sky this street is like s garden here too are flower maidens � ere is the atmosphere of come let us go let us seek the the moon haunted we shall see through have you ever stood in the p of and watched the moonlight among the trees and imagined a comedy by acted there a goodly company of and fine ladies seated under the trees watching it � very one has come there in painted chairs the are gathered together at a little distance my dear friend you re talking so much that you don t see those who are passing us that girl she who has just turned to look back it is delicious still upon the air she is as pretty a girl as any that ever came in a chair to see a comedy by the comedy very little it is always the same comedy and it is always interesting the in a summer night under a full moon is very like garden come if you be not s chapter i wa in london when my brother wrote me that mother was ill she was not in any immediate danger he said but if a change for the worse were to take place and it were necessary for me to come over he would send a a few hours after a was handed to me it contained four words at once � so mother is dying i muttered to myself and i stood at gaze myself taken into her room by a nurse and given a chair by the bedside a hand lying outside the bed which i should have to hold until i heard the death rattle and saw her face become quiet for ever this was my first vision but in the midst of my packing i remembered that mother might linger for days the dear friend who lies in the church yard imder the downs lingered for weeks every day her husband and her children saw her dying under their eyes why should not this misfortune be mine i know not to what god but i prayed all night in the train and on board the boat i got into the train at the praying it is impossible at least for me to find words to express the agony of mind i endured on that journey words can only at it but i think that any one possessed of any of life or who has any gift of imagination will be able to guess at the terror that haunted me � terror of what � not so much that my mother might die nor hope that she might live but just that i might arrive in time to see her die in this confession i am afraid i shall seem hard and selfish to some that will be because many people lack imagination or the leisure to try to understand that there are not only many degrees of sensibility but many kinds and it is doubtful if any reader can say with truth any more than that my sensibility is not his or hers it is my privilege to be sympathetic with ideas i do not share and in certain moods i approach those who take a sad pleasure in last words good and at looking on the dead in my present mood it seems to me that it is not unlikely that my mother s last good bye and her death appeared to me more awful in imagination than it would have ever done in reality indeed there can be hardly any doubt that this is so for we are only of what is happening reality clouds our actions our perception we can see clearly only when we look back or forwards there is something very merciful about reality if there were not we should not be able to live at all but to the journey how shall i tell it the third part must have been the most painful so clearly do i remember it the curious agony of mind caused by a sudden recognition of objects long forgotten � a tree | 15 |
the light beyond it the men leaning on their guns and arranged themselves in a circle around the minister � a group of indian men and women had gathered and stood on one side listening reverently the minister prayed and wept to the last of his long good life he was marked by a sensibility that forth in sympathy for all his people the just and unjust � saints and all shared a heart wide enough for all the boy of whom we have spoken was permitted by his mother to go out and listen to the service no wonder the scene never passed from his memory that war was thus begun in the self devotion and self sacrifice of thoughtful fathers faithful husbands brothers and sons and by the prayers of holy men which was for self government an equality of rights and privileges � the freedom and happiness of all the battle was fought on their mother earth about their own on the other side the soldiers were a good part and from the household for which they fought and for the most part ignorant and men a home scene i have no time to give any directions said william to his sister a tall gaunt elderly woman you know full as well as i how to take care of every thing � the horses cattle pigs and you ll give them all plenty to eat for that s your nature and that s the main chance ben will be a boys always are but he being a tradition you won t feel it so much don t humour him too much don t go out as you did last winter in the snow and feed the horses that he went to bed and forgot take care i don t tie up the yet i want to put this in what is it brother asked who kept her head averted that her brother might not see the tears that were pouring down her cheeks well its s that cut for me last week � it is only an outline but i can fill it up with blue eye and round cheeks and a sweet little fair child s face you think i am foolish � i more than forty i no no brother don t i set by her almost as much as you poor little dove yes and that is a comfort to me now if it tore my heart in two to leave and i should go but now i go cheerfully for i know you will always consider for them i confide them to you and go in peace is a helpless little thing but it is my fault she was so young when we married that she has always seemed to me like a child oh never mind brother it is easy to care for her � truly the pleasure and comfort of my life � i have no words to thank you but words are nothing between you and i i have bid her good bye it has taken the strength out of me it makes me feel like a poor soldier and he wiped away his tears as he added this little woman makes such a child of me i left her with on her lap both sobbing i hear them now by the way i have forgotten to tell you that i have engaged to teach will to teach brother is but six i have a heard that mr is a finished scholar sorely he is not a suitable teacher for maybe not but is halting about his profession he is fallen under suspicion as a tory and he would like to stay quietly here and mind his books so i offered him his board for teaching but if it will be a trouble to you to me what trouble can it be to me to get for four instead of three no truly i am glad he is coming he will be company for � poor little dove i a wagon drove to the door william threw in his turned and looked around for the last time every object was on his heart he kissed his sister s coarse cheek as fervently as if she were the loveliest woman in creation and knocking with his iron on his wife s bed room door he said in a cheering tone � � god bless you dear dearest little dashed off his tears and departed as our story has little to do with the military career of the commander of the little from l but is confined to the domestic incidents of his life we must take � william s body mind and heart were in that state which in our present phrase would be called normal capricious nature � no this is but vulgar � nature is but another name for the great creator of perfect works not nature then but the wrongs done to her so often effect such combination as a heart of infinite in a half developed body a gigantic intellect like pope s napoleon s or alexander s a in a almost frame that when the world has assurance of a man in the highest intellectual and moral attributes with their fitting majestic he receives as william did the tribute of trust and love and reverence was of a good old english stock but the branch in this country had bj adverse accidents been reduced to an humble condition of life and william and his sister four or five years older than himself were left at an early age with no inheritance but a farm on the cold sea shore of this they for one in better position and condition in a lovely valley in the most western county of the same state this by the joint management of brother and sister improved rapidly in value and as it was the good custom of those times for | 6 |
but he liked a friendly chat over his own home and though it was pleasant to lay down the law to a stupid neighbor who had no notion how to make the best of his farm it was also an agreeable variety to learn something from a clever fellow adam for the last three years � ever he had the building of the new bam � adam had always been made welcome at the hall farm especially of a winter when the whole family in f master and mistress children and servants were assembled in that glorious kitchen at well distances from the fire and for the last two years at least had been in the habit of hearing her uncle say adam may be working for now but he ll be a master man some day as sure as i sit in this chair is in the right on t to want him to go partners and marry his if it s true what they say the woman as him have a good take be t lady y or � a remark which mrs ways followed up witli her cordial assent ah she would say it s all very line having a ready made rich man but may happen he ll be a ready ma fe fool and it s no use your po o money if you ve got a hole in the comer it ll do you no good to sit in a o your own if you ve got a soft to drive you he ll soon turn you over into the ditch i said i d never marry a man aa had got no brains for where s the use of a woman having bi of her own if she to a as every body a laughing at she might as well dress herself fine to sit back ard on a donkey these expressions though indicated the bent of mi s s mind with regard to adam and though she and her husband might have viewed the differently if had been a daughter of their own it was clear that they would have welcomed the match with adam for a niece for what could have been but a servant elsewhere if her uncle had not taken her in and brought her up as a domestic help to her aunt whose health since the birth of had not been equal to more positive labor than the of servants and children but had never given adam any steady encouragement even in the moments when she was most thoroughly of his superiority to her other admirers she had never brought herself to think of accepting him she liked to feel that this strong keen eyed man was in her power and would have been indignant if he had shown the least sign of slipping from under the yoke of her tj and himself to the gentle mary who would have been grateful enough for the most trifling notice from him mary indeed such a sallow faced girl if she put on a bit of pink ribbon she looked as as a crow flower and her hair was as straight as a bank of cotton and always when adam away for several weeks from the hall farm and otherwise made some show of resistance to his passion as a foolish one took care to him back the net by little airs of and timidity as if she were in trouble at his neglect but as to marrying adam that was a very different affair there was nothing in the world to tempt her to do that her cheeks never grew a shade deeper when his name was mentioned she felt no thrill when she saw him passing along the by the window or advancing toward her unexpectedly in the across the meadow she felt nothing when his eyes rested on her but the cold triumph of knowing that he loved her and would not care to look at mary he could no more stir in her the emotions that make the sweet of young love than the mere picture of a sun can stir the ing sap in the subtle of the plant she saw him as he was a poor man with old parents to keep who would not be able for a long while to come to ve her even such luxuries as she shared in her uncle s house and dreams were a of to ia a parlor j and a to large beautiful such as were all the fashion to have e round the top of her gown and something to mate her handkerchief smell nice like miss s when she drew it out at church and not to be obliged to get up early or be by any body she thought if adam had been rich and could have given her these she loved him well enough to marry him but for the last few weeks a new influence had come over vague itself into no self confessed hopes or prospects but producing a pleasant making her tread the ground and go about her work in a sort of dream unconscious of weight or and showing her all things through a soft liquid veil as if she were living not in this solid world of brick and stone but in a world such as the sun lights up for us in the waters had become aware that mr arthur would take a good deal of trouble for the chance of seeing her that he always placed himself at church so as to have the fullest view of her both sitting and standing that he was constantly finding reasons for calling at the farm and always would contrive to say something for the sake of making her speak to him and look at him the poor child no more conceived at present the idea that the young squire could ever be her lover than a | 14 |
whether what we blindly perhaps term folly may not be a gift to be thankful for you know the word says that the wisdom of man is foolishness before god our duty therefore is to be thankful and humble well sir but about the child that is a term i don t understand sam why sir it means a woman who carries sam hold if it be associated with human it is best left the woman however be she what she may � and i know not what she is � but that she is a responsible being � a par m of our common and is entitled to our sympathy she is i understand in some difficulty out of which it seems professional advice may help to take her i expect her therefore about this time and will you samuel just stand at that window and when you see her approach the house do just quietly and without noise open the hall door something has occurred to the christian tone which usually in our household and poor is going but at all events sam you are aware it is said that we ought not to let our left hand know what our right hand i know the text sir well it ends with � and he that in secret will reward thee openly he � hem � yes it does so end i i feel sam slightly depressed in spirit as it were and moved as if somewhat of my usual support were withdrawn from me here she is sir said sam very well sam please to let her in as quietly as may be and then take this declaration to the back office and copy it as soon as you can � it is of importance we should always endeavour to render services to our fellow creatures in the mean time sam very softly opened the hall door and the next moment entered the agent solomon as usual was seated at his office and held his features composed and serious to a degree still in spite of every thing he could do there was an expression half of embarrassment and half of the very perceptible tendency to a � smile we can scarcely call it � but whatever it might be there it certainly was betraying to in spite of all his efforts that there was still the least imaginable of human associated with such a vast mass of when she entered took a seat and the strings of her bonnet raised it a little and without uttering a word sat silently looking in m s face with a very comic and significant expression on her own no said he with a serious smile no you are mistaken indeed � frail we all are i grant you but in this case i am acting for another no no � i trust those days of vanity are gone well then what else am i to do i sent the reports abroad about m and s bein about to break and of m til soon have my revenge by the way � i and somebody else have the train laid for it it was from no spirit of ill will to them � for i trust that of such a spirit i am m incapable � but to prevent them by an unjust act from perhaps from others that is my motive but at the same time the whole matter is understood to be strictly confidential between you and me don t you know mr m that when there was an occasion for me i didn t betray you to the world no � you did not and it is for that reason that i trust you now ay and you may too honour bright is my motive you remember the day you passed o drive and me on our way to m s i pretend to know you then you acted then with great and discretion which you will please to remember i did not overlook no said you behaved decently enough but observe me now if this report concerning the firm of m and should by any possibility be traced to us or rather to yourself and that you should be pressed to disclose it which of course you could not be but if a weak moment should ever come � it is best then to speak the truth and put the saddle as they rather say upon m the right horse here the irish agent upon m why bad as he is he never opened his lips to me on this subject but he did to me because it was from him i first heard the suggestion so that in point of truth and justice you are bound by your own conscience or you ought at least � to lay it at his door � and that now you understand better � he smiled a little as he uttered these words � but why don t you get a better bonnet that one is very shabby it s said than done replied the poor must always look poor and will too there then are ten shillings bestow them on that or any other purpose you prefer thank you mr m in the uttle job i did for you at our first acquaintance i found you � any way not worse than another well but you can t me now � i see it in your eye � you have something else to say to me oh nothing to signify merely a serious young person would wish to remove for change of air to some quiet nook until health � which indeed is the of blessings might be recovered man or woman a serious young woman i see i see mr m i know nothing more about it m listen � i shall no longer withhold confidence from you in this matter � unfortunately a member indeed i | 50 |
all this would never lord we were all the victims of circumstances weren t we but i at least have no reason to regret it and if i may ask one last indulgence will you � a � let me have an opportunity of saying good bye to miss mrs she she doesn t deserve � oh i don t know what i m saying of course lord anything anything i can do to i will send her down to you if you will only wait she shall not keep you long lord alone to himself it s an ill wind c i shall have all to myself now to think that � but for a lucky blunder � i should be out and things on the wrong side of that wall at this moment and never dreaming that was so ah she s coming miss enters looking pale and you ve no idea what you ve missed i must tell you � it s too good to lose what do you think all these good people have been taking me the man from for never guess they actually believed i was hired from s give you my word they did � why don t you laugh miss faintly i � i am laughing no i m not i can t i haven t the conscience to oh i never meant you to know � but i must tell you whatever comes of it believed it too at first i did lord did you though then by jove i must have looked the character miss timidly i knew you � you weren t very well off and so i fancied you might oh i know it was hateful of me ever to think such a thing but i did and you can never really forgive me i lord couldn t think of it shall i tell you something else i ve a strong impression that you will not be an of this happy english household m longer miss i m sure i shan t from mrs s expression just now but i don t care lord don t be reckless how do you know there isn t a moral lion about and where will you go next miss with a shrug i don t know i suppose to anybody who wants a and doesn t mind taking her without a reference if there is such a person lord well oddly enough i fancy i know somebody who has been trying for a long time to find a young person of just your age and appearance and might be induced to a reference after a personal interview miss looks incredulous � � don t you understand if i hadn t been such a i d have spoken long ago when we were up in scotland together only it didn t seem fair then i � i dare say i ve no better chance now but at least i ve more right to speak than i had and � and � will you have me she turns away i � i won t worry you dear if you really can t care about me in that way but � but if you only could even a little miss the man from same scene � somewhat later lord not yet � i can t let you go just yet i � must i really before i ve said half what i wanted well � in one minute then and you re coming to my people as soon as you can get out of this and shall see you every day till � till we shall never be separated any confound it � who s that mr enters suddenly mr oh � er � lord sorry to interrupt you but � hem � my wife who s feeling too to come down again desires me to say that in her opinion miss has been here quite long enough miss escapes by tlie back drawing room lord i entirely agree with mrs but i am happy to say that miss will not remain here very much longer as she has just done me the honour of to be my wife � good night sir and many thanks for a most � a � evening he goes out mr making an effort to escort him down stairs but giving it up and sitting down heavily on a instead she ll be lady and i shall have to break it to maria � after she s just gone in and stuck a month s salary and immediate notice on her i oh lor � as if my poor wife hadn t trouble enough to bear as it was end of the man from s � c one side of the an scene � a narrow south london of two houses with a rag and bone at one end and a public house at the other time about four o clock on a saturday afternoon enter mr a middle aged gentleman in get up who in a moment of weakness undertaken to the district for his friend the candidate mr c j to himself as he regards his surroundings with dismay and tries to arrange his cards i suppose this is little maria street i didn t understand at the committee rooms that it was quite such a � however i must do my best for dear old who s the first man i must see and use my best to persuade him into promising his vote ah mr j no i he his way delicately along attempting to make out t ie numbers on the which are all thrown back female watch him from and windows with amused interest no no the next is no i is but the entrance is blocked by a small infant with a very dirty face who is in a baby chair between the door posts very embarrassing really can t ask | 44 |
any other man will he not feel this thought no he can feel nothing as he ought the party being now all united and the chief each other she remained in tranquillity and as park a table was formed after tea � formed really for the amusement of dr grant by his attentive wife though it was not to be supposed so � and miss took her harp � she had nothing to do but to listen and her tranquillity remained undisturbed the rest of the evening except when mr now and then addressed to her a question or observation which she could not avoid answering miss was too much vexed by what had passed to be in a humour for any thing but music with that she soothed herself and amused her friend the assurance of s being so soon to take orders coming upon her like a blow that had been suspended and still hoped uncertain and at a distance was felt with resentment and mortification she was very angry with him she had thought her influence more she had begun to think of him � she felt that she had � with great regard with almost decided intentions but she would now meet him with his own cool feelings it was plain that he could have no serious views no true attachment by fixing himself in a situation which he must know she would never stoop to she would learn to match him in his indifference she would henceforth admit his attentions without any idea beyond immediate amusement if he could so command his affections hers should do her no harm chapter vi henry had quite made up his mind by the next morning to give another fortnight to and having sent for his hunters and written a few lines of explanation to the admiral he looked round at his as he sealed and threw the letter from him and seeing the coast clear of the rest of the family said with a smile and how do you think i mean to amuse myself mary on the days that i do not hunt i am grown too old to go out more than three times a week but i have a plan for the days and what do you think it is to walk and ride with me to be sure not exactly though i shall be happy to do both but that park would be exercise only to my body and i must take care of my mind besides that would be all and indulgence without the wholesome of labour and i do not like to eat the bread of idleness no my plan is to make price in love with me price nonsense no no you ought to be satisfied with her two cousins but i cannot be satisfied without price without making a small hole in price s heart you do not seem properly aware of her claims to notice when we talked of her last night you none of you seemed sensible of the wonderful improvement that has taken place in her looks within the last six weeks you see her every day and therefore do not notice it but i assure you she is quite a different creature from what she was in the autumn she was then merely a quiet modest not plain looking girl but she is now absolutely pretty i used to think she had neither complexion nor countenance but in that skin of hers so frequently tinged with a blush as it was yesterday there is decided beauty and from what i observed of her eyes and mouth i do not despair of their being capable of expression enough when she has any thing to express and then � her air her manner her is so improved i she must be grown two inches at least since october this is only because there were no tall women to compare her with and because she has got a new gown and you never saw her so well dressed before she is just what she was in october believe me the truth is that she was the only girl in company for you to notice and you must have a somebody i have always thought her pretty � not strikingly pretty � but pretty enough as people say a sort of beauty that grows on one her eyes should be darker but she has a sweet smile but as for this wonderful degree of improvement i am sure it may all be resolved into a better style of dress and your having nobody else to look at and therefore if you do set about a with her you never will persuade me that it is in compliment to her beauty or that it proceeds from any thing but your own idleness and folly park her brother gave only a smile to this accusation and soon afterwards said i do not quite know what to make of miss i do not understand her i could not tell what she would be at yesterday what is her character is she solemn is she queer is she why did she draw back and look so grave at me i could hardly get her to speak i never was so long in company with a girl in my life � to entertain her � and succeed so ill never met with a girl who looked so grave on me i must try to get the better of this her looks say i will not like you i am determined not to like you and i say she shall foolish fellow and so this is her attraction after all this it is � her not caring about you � which gives her such a soft skin and makes her so much taller and produces all these charms and graces i do desire that you will not be making her really unhappy a little love perhaps | 26 |
necessity from the vulgar fate by being instant and alive and man as well as his works in its flowing this influence is visible in the principles and history of art on one side in communication with absolute truth through thought and instinct the human mind by an equal necessity on the other side to the publication and of its thought � modified and by the and which in all our experience the wonderful medium through which it passes the child not only suffers but cries not only but eats the man not only thinks but speaks and acts every thought that arises in the mind in its rising aims to pass out of the mind into act just as every plant in the moment of struggles up to light thought is the seed of action but action is as much its second form as thought is its first it rises in thought to the end that it may be uttered and acted the more profound the thought the more always in proportion to the depth of its sense does it knock at the gates of the soul to be spoken to be done what is in will out it struggles to the birth speech is a great pleasure and action a great pleasure they cannot be the utterance of thought and emotion in speech and action may be conscious or unconscious the child is an unconscious actor a man in an of fear or anger is an unconscious actor a large part of our habitual actions are unconsciously done and most of our necessary words are unconsciously said the conscious utterance of thought by speech or action to any end is art from the first of a child to the of eloquence from his first pile of toys or bridge to the of light house or the canal from the of the on art to the gallery from the simplest expedient of private prudence to the american constitution from its first to its last works art is the spirit s voluntary use and combination of things to serve its end the will it as spiritual action to themselves the bee the bird the have no art for what they do they do instinctively but to the supreme being they have and the same is true of all unconscious action to the it is instinct to the first cause it is art in this sense the spirit which nature rightly said those things which are said to be done by nature are indeed done by divine art art universally is the spirit it was defined by the reason of the thing without the matter as he i defined the art of ship building to be all of the ship but the wood if we follow the popular distinction of works according to their aim we should say the spirit in its creation aims at use or at beauty and hence art itself into the useful and the fine arts the useful arts comprehend not only those that lie next to instinct as building weaving c but also practical and the construction of all the grand and delicate tools and instruments by which man serves himself as language the watch the ship the and also the so far as they are made serviceable to political economy the moment we begin to reflect on the pleasure we receive from a ship a railroad a dry dock or from a picture a dramatic representation a statue a poem we find that they have not a quite simple but a blended origin we find that the question � what is art leads us directly to another � who is the artist and the solution of this is the key to the history of art i hasten to state the principle which through means its firm law to the useful and the beautiful arts the law is this the universal soul is the alone creator of the useful and the beautiful therefore to make anything useful or beautiful the individual must be submitted to the universal mind in the first place let us consider this in reference to the useful arts here the agent is nature all m art human acts are to her nature is the representative of the universal mind and the law becomes this � that art must be a to nature strictly it was said in allusion to the great of the ancient the and bridges � that their art was a nature working to ends that is a true account of all just works of useful art built on the model of an oak tree as being the form in nature best designed to resist a constant force formed his on the model of the human eye built a bridge by letting in a piece of stronger timber for the middle of the under surface getting his hint from the structure of the bone the first and last lesson of the useful arts is that nature over our works they must be to her law or they will be ground to powder by her activity nothing droll nothing will endure nature is ever interfering with art you cannot build your house or as you will but as you must there is a quick bound set to our caprice the leaning tower can only lean so far the or roof can curve upward only to a certain point the slope of your roof is determined by the weight of snow only within narrow limits that the discretion of the may range gravity wind sun rain the size of men and animals and such like have more to say than he it is the law of that the shape of the boat � and bows � and in the finer above the form and tackle of the sails man seems to have no about his tools but merely the necessity to learn from nature what will fit best as if he were | 37 |
t also general a pay and of a general b pay and of a colonel y the for i and ten ta by continued france paris new york germany william walter n w great britain london robert t greece r a � islands john l italy rome g porter vacant thomas the samuel b � and richard new york � j and george john russia st charles smith spain e new and william w thomas john d turkey con solomon � oo william l ministers resident and general heard port au prince john s vacant o o new york h also d to san of and general new york samuel virginia general states a i de h north china joseph a h thomas william b france paris adam e king ds m nt r william germany h f samuel i g i e john c threat britain i h charles l new york g lay of � j h islands henry w italy rome o island � washington tu p richard st john m spain o new york h john a i t the general is also agent foreign in the united states don g e e and m p de e e and m p mr alfred le e e and m p de e e and m p don e e and m p in charge of business of the mr tin e e and m p don e e and m p don charge d count de e e and m p absent don charge d mr paul charge d ad mr von charge d ad great sir g c m g k c b e e and m p mr m r i absent united states k foreign in the united continued don e e and m p dr j smith special charge d ad mr price e e and m p baron de e e and m p absent mr e e and m p mr ye charge d ad don e e and m p k mr g de e e and m p don e e and m p don a e e and m p de e e and m p mr charles de e e and m p dr ii e e aad m p don e e and m p absent a e e and m p absent don e e and m p and mr j a w e e and m p mr alfred de e e and m t e e and m p don e e and m p officers of the supreme chief vi w fuller th circuit appointed in no of when ap circuit pointed samuel new york q c m david j henry b brown of when ap circuit pointed j field a joseph p new john m gray retired justice william strong a year salary of the chief justice of each justice circuit judges of the united states those in were appointed between march and march l le baron b island i e j new york walter q je henry j g new york j vacant l bond annual salary don a the first circuit consists of the states of new and island the second of new york and the third of new and the fourth of north south virginia and west virginia the fifth of and the sixth of and the seventh of and the eighth of and the ninth of and district judges state name where employed n i � john d � harry t ark e a lit tie rock tr d � c fort smith n � vacant s d � m � los c moses n a e wales n d � fir james w key west n d � wm t � i r i � henry w s d � william j a william a woods n d � p d � john s g foster w ban � ed � edward c n o tt i annual salary state name employed j l n boston e d � henry h swan d � henry f q r at paul mis b c n oxford e d � m st w d jo in f city e met s s p city new new t green ton new york n d � alfred c u t i ea brown n y city e � charles l n c ki � s w d � robert p dick north k d n d � j s j � george g � the for district continued state where employed p e d � tt i � james h reed j� t d� george m carpenter pr south h on n south da j e and t � david m key le w d � s m if i � p state name where employed e z david e w ij s h � robert w w � john paul h seat tie � john j r e i � o w n � john a retired district john southern district of george s south samuel treat martin robert a hill a year united states courts in the john s na c ii � � ce fi s s i f w indian u s m � o j d lee john r is me f justice j o mien j j p seeds alfred a t ry s t t af � thomas j james a n s john w c tf � edward b green associates a j john g pay a year court of claims chief am a � charles c new york john retired chief d retired edward g a year annual salary each supreme court of the district of chief f i associate s d of c associate m v charles p james d of c b c t annual salary of the chief justice of each associate justice appointed in retired associate | 19 |
to see his sisters again it rather gave them satisfaction and his after their mother were and sense and sensibility found that he and had been in town two days i wished veiy much to call upon you yesterday said he but it was impossible for we were obliged to take to see the wild beasts at exchange and we iq ent the rest of the day with mrs harry was vastly pleased morning i had intended to call on you if i could find a spare half hour but one has so much to do on first coming to town i am come here to a seal but to i think i shall certainly be able to call in street and be introduced to your mrs i understand she is a woman of very good fortune and the too you must introduce me to as my mother s relations i shall be happy to show them every respect they are neighbours to you in the i understand � au indeed their attention to our comfort their in every particular is more than i can i am extremely glad to hear it upon my word extremely glad indeed but so it ought to be i they are people of large fortune they are related to you and eveiy civility and accommodation that can serve to make your situation pleasant might be reasonably expected and so you are most comfortably in your little cottage and want for nothing i edward brought us a most account of the place the most complete thing of its kind he said that ever was and you all seemed to enjoy it beyond it was a great satisfaction to us to hear it i assure yon did feel a little ashamed of her brother and was not to be spared the necessity of answering him by the arrival of mrs s servant who came to tell her that his mistress waited for them at the door mr attended them down stairs was introduced to mrs at the door of her and repeating his hope of being able to call on them the next day took leave his visit was duly paid he came with a pretence at an from their sister in law for not coming too but i she was so engaged with her mother she had no leisure for going any where mrs however assured him directly that she should not stand upon c for they were all cousins or something like it and she certainly wait on mrs john veiy soon and bring her sisters to see her his to though calm were perfectly kind to mrs most attentively civil and on colonel s coming in soon after himself he eyed him with a curiosity which seemed to say that he only wanted to know him to be rich to be equally to him after staying with them half an hour he asked to walk with him to street and introduce him to sir john and lady the weather was fine and she readily consented as soon as they out of the house his b an who is colonel is he a man of fortune t yes he has very good in i am glad of it he seems a most man and i think i may congratulate you on the prospect of a respectable establishment in life me brother what do you mean he likes you i observed him narrowly and am convinced of it what is the amount of his fortune i believe about two thousand a year two thousand a year and then working np to a pitch of enthusiastic generosity he added i wish with all my heart it were twice as much for your sake indeed i believe you replied but i am veiy sure that colonel has not the smallest wish of me you are mistaken you are very much mistaken a very little trouble on your side him perhaps just at present he may be the of your fortune may make him hang back his friends may all advise him against it but some of those attentions and which ladies can so easily give will fix him in spite of himself and there can t e no reason why you should not try for him it is not to be supposed that any prior attachment on your side � in you sense and sensibility know as to an attachment of that kind it is quite out of the question the objections are � you have too much sense not to see all that colonel must be the man and no civility shall be wanting on my part to make him pleased with you and your it is a match that must give universal satisfaction in short it is a kind of thing that lowering his voice to an important whisper will be exceedingly welcome to all parties himself however he added that is i mean to say � your friends are all truly anxious to see you well settled particularly for she has your interest very much at hear assure you and her mother too mrs a very woman i am sure it would give her great pleasure she said as the other day would not any answer it would be something remarkable now he continued something if should have a brother and i a sister settling at the same time and yet it is not very unlikely is mr edward said with resolution going to be married it is not actually settled but there is such a thing in a he has a most excellent mother mrs with the utmost liberality will come forward and settle on him a thousand a year if the match takes place the lady is the hon miss only daughter of the late lord with thirty thousand pounds a very desirable connection on both sides and i have not a doubt of its taking place in time a thousand a | 26 |
herself in those disastrous days on the death of her father ii the rebellion of was so unexpected that she had been forced to fly had she then gained a few days during which she could have rallied her she would without doubt have remained queen of after such a crushing blow as the loss of her kingdom many expected that she would make no attempt to regain her throne but they did not know the imperious spirit of the woman in england she had incessantly for the of but finding him too firmly established to to she had accepted s offer to replace her on the throne and had risked her personal safety in the desperate attempt owing to the treachery of the conspiracy had proved and by the merest miracle she escaped from the grasp of her enemies still she used as the instrument of a new attempt and was now in the capital itself making one final effort to regain her cruel she was in many ways in london in all things but no one could fail to admire her spirit her genius for and her powers of endurance after suffering all these crushing here she was as hopeful as ever over a council of her few remaining followers many of her had perished in the fight at villa and the paradise her right hand was now in prison and powerless to help her was too honest for not clever enough so she had to manage all things with the assistance of the cardinal indeed had it not been for that ingenious this second attempt would also have failed in spite of her efforts to bend circumstances to her will however was a tower of strength and controlled the of the provinces the princess having been absent for nearly two years from was but a shadow to many of the and they looked to for their instructions the cardinal loved to control everything in this manner his palace was the centre of the web whither all threads from all parts of messengers in the guise of were incessantly arriving they came to the palace for and having thus escaped the vigilance of method there delivered their messages to the car he them to and together they conferred over matters important to the cause the cardinal was very anxious for the restoration of he admired the brilliant intellect of yet at the same time foresaw clearly that in down with the republic power she would not be an easy person with whom to deal the late king had been a mere in the hands of the church but was as as the cardinal himself and obstinate beyond words in fact it seemed to as though the struggle between and would be succeeded by a contest between church and state however he had committed himself too far to draw back and besides despite s inclinations could do more with a queen than with a president so he pushed on matters as rapidly as possible now the crisis was approaching and this council was being held in the chamber to receive who was expected to make his appearance shortly there were about a dozen men present including many of the leading nobility of principally from the provinces as the citizens of inclined more to the republic in truth from a point of view it would have been wiser to have raised the royal standard in the provinces but in this instance the capital offered particular advantages for securing so had decided to strike her last blow for the throne in the very jaws of danger your eminence is certain that will come asked with an anxious glance at the clock i have no doubts about it your majesty replied the cardinal probably he is waiting now but i do not wish to introduce him here until the council has fully decided what is to be done in london the matter is decided already exclaimed the princess this man is to be she added turning to you have the gold pointed to a large box at the end of the room beside which stood it is there madame four hundred thousand in gold excellent this time we will not fail once we secure and my return to the throne can be proclaimed to morrow at the cathedral said the with a smile of satisfaction i have taken care that all those devoted to your majesty will be there alas there are many dead at villa who would have been there said with a touch of regret for those who had fallen in her but this is not the time to sorrow for their fate when i have regained my and punished my enemies then will i raise a monument to those who have died for their queen there was a burst of applause from those present at the expression of this noble sentiment introduced by the princess all present save the cardinal and believed that she meant what she said but they knew it was merely clap trap to please her the majority present felt that she was indeed a sovereign who could thus with her subjects but in after years they had reason to change their opinion was pleased at the sensation produced by her speech and would h ve down with the republic gone on speaking but at that moment the electric bell rang sharply said the cardinal in a joyous tone i will go and prepare him to meet this honorable company he left the room with his usual dignified walk while those behind remained in a state of great anxiety everything turned on and if he declined to be bought there would be a repetition of the scenes at the villa there was no escape this time as well knew and sitting back in her chair with an artificial smile on her lips she passed through agonies during the absence of the it was the most critical | 12 |
waiter with an smile and his head on one side young gentlemen generally has been with i commanded him in my deepest voice to order a and potatoes and all things fitting and to inquire at the bar if there were any letters for � which i knew there were not and couldn t be but thought it manly to appear to expect he soon came back to say that there were none at which i was much surprised and began to lay the cloth for my dinner in a box by the fire while he was so engaged he asked me what i would take with it and on my replying half a pint of thought it a favourable opportunity i am afraid to extract that measure of wine from the stale at the of several small i am of this opinion because while i was reading the newspaper i observed him behind a low wooden which was his private apartment very busy pouring out of a number of those vessels into one like a and making up a when the wine came too i thought it flat and it certainly had more english in it than were to be expected in a foreign wine in anything like a pure state but i was enough to drink it and say nothing being then in a pleasant frame of mind from which i infer that is not always disagreeable in some stages of the process i resolved to go to the play it was garden theatre that i chose and there from the back of a centre box i saw caesar and the new to have all those noble alive before me and walking in and out for my entertainment instead of being the stern they had been at school was a most novel and delightful effect but the mingled reality and mystery of the whole show the influence upon me of the poetry the lights the music the company the smooth changes of glittering and brilliant scenery were so dazzling and opened up such regions of delight that when i came out into the rainy street at twelve o clock at night i felt as if i had come from the clouds where i had been leading a romantic life for ages to a link lighted umbrella struggling muddy miserable world i had emerged by another door and stood in the street for a little while as if i really were a stranger upon earth but the pushing and that i received soon recalled me to myself and put me in the road back to the hotel whither i went revolving the glorious vision all the way and where after some porter and i sat revolving it still at past one o clock with my eyes on the coffee room fire i was so filled with the play and with the past � for it was in a manner like a shining through which i saw my earlier life moving along � that i don t know when the figure of a handsome well formed young op david man dressed with a easy which i have reason to remember very well became a real presence to me but i recollect being conscious of his company without having noticed his coming in � and my still sitting musing over the coffee room fire at last i rose to go to bed much to the relief of the sleepy waiter who had got the in his legs and was twisting them and them and putting them through all kinds of in his small in going towards the door i passed the person who had come in and saw him plainly i turned directly came back and looked again he did not know me but i knew him in a moment at another time i might have wanted the confidence or the decision to speak to him and might have put it off until next day and might have lost him but in the then condition of my mind where the play was still running high his former protection of me appeared so deserving of my gratitude and my old love for him my breast so and that i went up to him at once with a fast beating heart and said won t you speak to me he looked at me � just as he used to look sometimes � but i saw no recognition in his face you don t remember me i am afraid said i my god he suddenly exclaimed it s little i grasped him by both hands and could not let them go but for very shame and the fear that it might him i could have held him round the neck and cried i never never never was so glad my dear i am so to see you and i am rejoiced to see you too he said shaking my hands heartily why old boy don t be overpowered and yet he was glad too i thought to see how the delight i had in meeting him affected me i brushed away the tears that my utmost resolution had not been able to keep back and i made a clumsy laugh of it and we sat down together side by side why how do you come to be here said clapping me on the shoulder i came here by the coach to day i have been adopted by an aunt down in that part of the country and have just finished my education there how do i ou come to be here well i am what they call an oxford man he returned that is to say i get bored to death down there � and i am on my way now to my mother s you re a devilish amiable looking fellow just what you used to be now i look at you not altered in the least i knew ou immediately i said | 8 |
for those in not to take any official notice of the a� fair which would possibly be used as a handle for attack upon them you would therefore receive no written and the necessary money would be handed to you in gold i quite understand answered and so long as i am not thought the worse of in such an event or made to suffer for it it is all the same to me only he added suddenly remembering his marriage when should i have to start by the evening mail to morrow said the secretary of state for the conditions may change and will not bear delay s jaw fell i am to be married to morrow at half past two sir the secretary of state and lord looked at each other then the former spoke we know that colonel especially as one of us is to have the pleasure of attending your wedding still in your own interests and what we are sure you will consider much more in those of your country we felt it right to give you the first offer of this delicate and responsible mission situated as you are we do not urge you to accept it especially as in the event of your refusal for which we shall not in the least blame you we have another officer waiting to take your place at the same time i tell you candidly that i do not think you will refuse because i believe you to be a man who sets duty above every other earthly consideration and now as i am to hurry you when there is so much to be considered on both sides i must ask for your decision as the other gentleman must absolutely have twenty four hours in which to make his preparations rose and walked twice up and down the room while they watched him � lord very uneasily at the second turn he halted opposite to the secretary ot state a you used the word duty sir he said and therefore i have little choice in the matter i accept the mission with which you have been pleased to honour me lord opened his mouth to speak but the secretary of state cut him short as colonel has accepted i do not think we need waste further time in discussion colonel i congratulate you on the spirit that you have shown which as i thought it would from your record and the judgment i formed of you at our previous interview has led you to place your duty to your queen and country before your personal happiness and convenience i trust � and indeed i may say i believe � that our arrangement of this afternoon may prove not the starting point it is true but a very high step in a great and distinguished career good day i wish you all success lord will join you in his room presently and settle the details it seems a little rough said lord as the door closed behind on his marriage day and so forth supposing he got killed as he very likely will many men as good or better have come to grief in doing their duty answered his chief a individual who himself upon the at any rate where other people were concerned he must take his chance like the rest give him the k c b and that sort of thing if he gets through you know k c b s aren t much use to dead men or their either grumbled lord i rather wish we hadn t talked to him about duty you see he is a sort of fellow and really as he isn t even to have a commission there can t be any duty in the matter he s only a kind of on a second class forlorn hope to prepare the way by and otherwise for an advance about which nothing is to be said with the chance of being of tbe spirit as having exceeded his instructions if anything goes wrong really said his chief uneasily it is a pity all this didn t occur to you before you urged his employment � on the representations of his family i understood anyway it s settled now and we can t go back on it besides from a public point of view it was important to get who really is the only man for that major what s his name is an ignorant and conceited fellow with nothing to recommend him except his knowledge of who would have been sure to make a mess with the example of what has happened in the past before our eyes we can t commit ourselves in writing over a job of this sort if he gets killed � he gets killed and we are not to blame if he comes through he is made a k c b and his all the more so don t let s bother about him is there anything else no then good bye i ll be off to the house chapter x married left the war office a very thoughtful man he had spent nearly an hour with lord going into the details of his mission of which he now the danger and for it was one of those fantastic which seem easy enough to men in authority at home who are not called upon to execute them in person all this he did not mind however for it appealed to his love of adventure moreover he had good hopes of bringing the thing to a successful issue and understood the importance of its object namely to an ultimate advance against the and to help to the chief who was making himself active in the neighbourhood of but what would say and on the very day of their marriage the luck was hard he drove to square but was trying on her wedding dress and would not | 18 |
ihe kingdom of the prince of peace may come and in the hearts and of men unite them in holy fellowship that bo their only strife may be who shall show with most humble and holy thy praises and most and affectionately obey thy laws o lord our governor who hast been of man and him who made him lower than the angels to him with glory and worship and hast made to have of ot thy hands and put all in under hia feet we devoutly thank thee for the and protection thou hast extended b this great and benevolent enterprise to which we are now assembled we acknowledge that it is thy spirit which hath ven to man understanding in of skill enterprise and we would ask thy inspiring power in ah this of these powers of combination these hands and fingers of and this of furnished from the treasury of nature the opening bt we would bee thy we pray that the happy of may be to a generous and petition among tlie of art aud labor the world and that we may all look upon it as a of the and goodness of god in man wi li rich and which faithfully exercised will ki the comfort the and the at of the great family of man o lord onr heavenly father the high and mighty ruler of the we thy blessings upon the president of the united states and upon all in authority over aa and so them with the grace of thy holy spirit that they may always to thy will and wait in thy way give grace o heavenly father to all and other s that they may both by their life and doctrine set thy true and holy word and rightly and duly administer thy holy prosper o lord our schools and and cause them to be more than the of sound learning of pure morals and religion and we thee pour the influence of thy holy spirit on all the people of this land and save them tlie guilt of blessings of prosperity to luxury and to and vice may the devout sense of manifold as vouchsafed to us as a nation renew and in us a of love aud to a spirit of to the laws and government of our and a spirit of honest zeal for our holy faith may we improve these blessings for the advancement of religion liberty and knowledge throughout our land till the wilderness and b be glad fur them and the desert rejoice and om as the rose and now god to us thy presence in the services of the day � direct us in all our doings with thy most favor and further us with thy continual help that in all our works begun continued and ended b we may thy holy name and by thy obtain everlasting life almighty god the of all wisdom who our necessities before we and our ignorance in asking we thee to have compassion upon our and those which for our we dare not and for our we ask to give us for the of thy son christ om lord in whose name and m whose holy words we sum up our unto thee saying � our father which art in heaven be thy name thy kingdom come i thy will be done on as it is in heaven give us this day our bread aud us our oa we forgive that against us and lead us not temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the and the power and the glory for ever and ever then came stealing through the vast the hymn of old hundred set to semi words the effect where we stood the great exhibition under the dome was grand it might be imagined to the voices of distant nations rolling in harmonious through the and bearing the accents of gentleness and their artistic interpretation was to the ladies and gentlemen of the sacred society and admirably did they execute their task mr george was the conductor of the body mr however was the chief of all the musical arrangements the hymn ran thus � here � all their here where all arts tribute lay before thy presence lord we bend and for thy smile aod pray fur thou dost sway the tides of thought and hold the issues in thy hand of all l at toil has and all skill has d thou lead st the restless power of mind o er destiny s field aod st him bold but blind to mighty not yet revealed next mr the president of the l palace association rose and addressed president pierce in the following language � mr amid this of people in this assembly of per collected from all parts of the ld in every department of human skill aod by the of intellect and the eye and the mind inevitably sir upon you applause upon you the of that system to which under god we owe our public blessings � of that vast founded by the immortal whose before us and the chief powers of which have been through a long of illustrious to your hands renewed applause it has fallen and will fall to the lot of others to welcome you m it ia duty sir as the officer of the which raised this edifice to thank you most cordially most for the honor you have this day done us � we feel it deeply it was perceived by us at the very outset of our enterprise that it was to our complete success to obtain the approbation and secure the confidence of onr own government � that while we were of course mainly to rely on our own it was at the same time to create a that our the opening public and our aims national the work of on this the seal ot national as tar as | 19 |
london he meditated at first on the probable consequences of his own advice and the and of his father s it he dismissed the subject from his mind however with the reflection that time alone would show and this is the reflection we would impress upon the reader vol n papers of chapter a good christmas chapter containing an account of a wedding and some other sports beside which although in their even as good customs as marriage itself not quite so kept up in these times as brisk as bees if not altogether as light as did the four on the morning of the twenty second day of december in the year of grace in which these their faithfully recorded adventures were undertaken and accomplished christmas was close at hand in all his bluff and hearty honesty it was the season of hospitality merriment and open the old year was preparing like an ancient philosopher to call his friends around him and amidst the sound of and to pass gently and calmly away gay � and merry was the time and right gay and merry were at least four of the numerous hearts that were by its coming and numerous indeed are the hearts to which christmas brings a brief season of happiness and enjoyment how many families whose members have been dispersed and scattered far and wide in the restless struggles of life then and meet once again in that the club happy state of and mutual good will which is a source of such pure and delight and one so with the cares and sorrows of the world that the religious belief of the most civilized nations and the rude traditions of the savages alike number it among the first joys of a future condition of existence provided for the � and happy how many old recollections and how many sympathies does christmas time awaken we write these words now many miles distant from the spot at which year after year we met on that day a merry and joyous circle many of the hearts that so then have ceased to beat many of the looks that shone so brightly then have ceased to glow the hands we grasped have grown cold the eyes we sought have hid their lustre in the grave and yet the old house the room the merry voices and smiling faces the jest the laugh the most minute and trivial circumstances connected with those happy meetings crowd upon our mind at each of the season as if the last assemblage had been but yesterday happy happy christmas that can win us back to the of our childish days that can recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth and transport the sailor and the traveller thousands of miles away back to his own fireside and his quiet home but we are so taken up and occupied with the good qualities of this saint christmas that we are keeping mr and his friends waiting in the cold on the outside of the coach which they have just well wrapped up in great coats and the and carpet bags have been away and mr and the guard are endeavor papers of ing to into the fore boot a huge several sizes too large for it which is packed up in a long brown basket with a of straw over the top and which has been to the last in order that he may repose in safety on the half dozen barrels of real native all the property of mr which have been arranged in regular order at the bottom of the the interest displayed in mr s countenance is most intense as mr and the guard try to squeeze the into the boot first head first and then tail first and then top upwards and then bottom upwards and then sideways and then long ways all of which the until the guard accidentally him in the very middle of the basket whereupon he suddenly into the boot and with him the head and shoulders of the guard himself who not calculating upon so sudden a of the passive resistance of the experiences a very unexpected shock to the delight of all the and by upon this mr smiles with great and drawing a shilling from his waistcoat pocket the guard as he himself out of the boot to drink his health in a glass of hot brandy and water at which the guard smiles too and messrs and all smile in company the guard and mr disappear for five minutes most probably to get the hot brandy and water for they smell very strongly of it when they return the coachman to the box mr up behind the pull their coats round their legs and their over their noses the the horse ofi the coachman shouts out a cheery all right and away they go the club they have through the streets and the stones and at length reach the wide and open country the wheels over the hard and frosty ground and the horses bursting into a at a smart crack of the whip step along the road as if the load behind them coach passengers barrels and all were but a feather at their heels they have descended a slope and enter upon a level as compact and dry as a solid block of two miles long another crack of the whip and on they speed at a smart gallop the horses tossing their heads and rattling the harness as if in at the rapidity of the motion while the coachman holding whip and reins in one hand takes off his hat with the other and resting it on his knees out his handkerchief and his forehead partly because he has a habit of doing it and partly because it s as well to show the passengers how cool he is and what an easy thing it is to drive | 8 |
in london and twenty two days after reaching england the land of romance i he meets a temperament mr was at mrs s tea house which mrs kept in a genteel fashion in a three doors from his house on place after his night i of fear and tragic he resented the general flow e red paper nap kin aspect of mrs s establish j ment he as he at the j under the silly pink and white tea cup on green and white tray brought him by a in a apron which must have been made i a christmas fairy who was not fat hu j he at the pictures of and and and little on mrs s pink and white wall he wished it were possible � which of course it was ni � to go hack to the st house where i could talk to the honest flat footed wait and cross his feet under his chair for here he yes studied by the tea room two and daughters of an a slender pale haired english girl student � with large top barred eye glasses over h protesting eyes and a of people living along place who looked as though they wanted t know if your opinions on the national gallery a were sound his of the of mrs i so e he meets a temperament turned to a feeling of with the other as he turned with the rest to stare just entering the talk in the room halted startled mr gasped with his head solemnly revolving his eyes followed the young woman about his table to a table opposite a what red hair was his private comment a slender girl of twenty eight or twenty nine clad in a one piece gown of sage green its lines unbroken by either belt or collar fitting her as though it had been on and showing the long beautiful sweep of her fragile and long breast her collar of the material of the dress was so high that it touched her delicate jaw and it was set off only by a fine silver chain with a la of silver and carved her red hair red as a parted and drawn severely back made a sweep about the fair dead white skin of her bored sensitive face bored blue gray eyes with pathetic of faintly violet wrinkles beneath them and a scarce noticeable web of wrinkles at the side thin long cheeks a delicate nose and a straight strong mouth of thin but red lips such was the new patron of mrs she stared about the tea room like an officer raw at the stare of the thin girl student ordered breakfast in a low voice then languidly considered her toast and once she glanced about the room her heavy brows were drawn close for a second making a deep of over her nose and two little like the impressions of a box comer in her forehead over her brows mr s gaze ran down the line of her bosom again and he wondered at her hands which touched the heavy bread and butter knife as though it were a fine point pen long hands colored like ivory the joint wrinkles into her skin orange on the second finger nails si ther h at a tied our mr he stared at them to himself he commented never did see such finger nails in my life instead of such smoothly rounded nails as displayed the new young lady had nails narrow and sharp pointed the ends like little of stiff white writing paper as she she mr for a second he was too obviously caught staring to be able to drop his eyes she studied him all out with almost as much interest as a policeman gives to a passing car yawned delicately and forgot him though you should penetrate or talk to the daughter of a never shall you feel a more devouring chill than enveloped mr as the new young lady glanced away from him paid her check rose from her table and departed she rounded his table not out of its way would have done but bending from the hi thus was it revealed to mr � he was almost too to put it into words he had noticed that there was something kind of funny in regard to her waist he had had an impression of smooth waist curves and an sweep of back now he saw that it was unheard of not all like lee or ladies in the foi j the girl wasn t wearing en she had passed him he again studied her ba swiftly and no sir no question about it couldn t be denied by any one now that the girl was for charitable though our mr was he had to admit that there was no sign of the ridge and little rounded of respectability and he had a closer view of the texture of her sage crash gown to himself the cloth a dress she s bright red hair she sure is the prize kind good looking but � get a brick my re of he meets a temperament he hated to rule so clever seeming a woman quite out of court but he remembered her glance at him and his soft little heart became very hard how are our steel when mr walked out of mrs s excellent establishment and heavily the quiet street with a cat s meat man along the pavement as loneliness rushed on him and he wondered what in the world he could do he mused i bet that red headed lady would be to know a day of out from his room to do london which declined to be done he went back to the gardens and made friends with a tiger which though it came from an english colony was the thing he had seen for a week it did but it let | 42 |
cheerful than and the prospect from the drawing room window at which i now write is rather picturesque as it commands a view of the left side of street broken by three in the garden of the last house in queen s parade i am rather impatient to know the fate of my best gown but i suppose it will be some days before can get through the trunk in the mean time i am with many thanks for your trouble in making it as well as marking my silk stockings yours very affectionately jane a great deal of love from everybody miss letters of jane xv queen my dear � i am obliged to you for two letters one from yourself and the other from mary for of the latter i knew nothing till on the receipt of yours yesterday when the was examined and i received my due as i have written to her since the time which ought to have brought me hers i suppose she will consider herself as i choose to consider her still in my debt i will lay out all the little judgment i have in to get such stockings for as she will approve but i do not know that i shall execute s commission at all for i am not fond of ordering shoes and at any rate they shall all have flat heels what must i tell you of edward truth or falsehood i will try the former and you may choose for yourself another time he was better yesterday than he had been for two or three days before � about as well as while he was at he drinks at the pump is to tomorrow and try on tuesday he proposed the latter himself to dr who made no objection to it but i fancy we are all unanimous in expecting no advantage from it at letters of jane present i have no great notion of our staying here beyond the month i heard from charles last week they were to sail on wednesday my mother seems remarkably well my uncle himself at first and can now only travel in a chair but is otherwise very well my cloak is come home i like it very much and can now exclaim with delight like j bond at hay harvest this is what i have been looking for these three years i saw some in a shop in bath street yesterday at only d a yard but they were not so good or so pretty as mine are very much worn and fruit is still more the thing elizabeth has a bunch of and i seen grapes and there are likewise and french and at the but i have never seen any of them in hats a or would cost three shillings and grapes about five i believe but this is at some of the dearest shops my aunt has told me of a very cheap one near church to which i shall go in quest of something for you i have never seen an old woman at the pump room elizabeth has given me a hat and it is not only a pretty hat but a pretty style of hat too it is something like s only instead of being all g letters of jane straw half of it is narrow purple ribbon i flatter myself however that you understand very little of it from this description heaven forbid that i should ever offer such encouragement to explanations as to give a clear one on any occasion myself but i must write no more of this i spent friday evening with the and was obliged to submit to being pleased in spite of my inclination we took a very charming walk from six to eight up hill and across some fields to the village of which is sweetly situated in a little green valley as a village with such a name ought to be is sensible and intelligent and even jane considering how fair she is is not unpleasant we had a miss north and a mr of our party the latter walked home with me after tea he is a very young man just entered oxford wears spectacles and has heard that was written by dr johnson i am afraid i cannot undertake to carry s shoes home for though we had plenty of room in our trunks when we came we shall have many more things to take back and i must allow besides for my packing there is to be a grand on tuesday evening in gardens a concert with and to the latter elizabeth and i look forward with pleasure and even the concert letters of jane will have more than its usual charm for me as the gardens are large enough for me to get pretty well beyond the reach of its sound in the morning lady is to present the colors to some corps or or other in the and that such may have a proper commencement we think of going to i am quite pleased with and mrs for wanting the pattern of our caps but i am not so well pleased with your giving it to them some wish some prevailing wish is necessary to the animation of everybody s mind and in gratifying this you leave them to form some other which will not probably be half so innocent i shall not forget to write to frank duty and love etc yours affectionately jane my uncle is quite surprised at my hearing from you so often but as long as we can keep the of our correspondence from s uncle we will not fear our own miss xvi queen square tuesday june ii my dear � your letter yesterday made me very happy i am heartily glad that you have escaped any share in the of letters of jane and not sorry as it turns out that our stay | 26 |
i have not felt at liberty to bring before the public at thus explained what will seem to many a lack of in allowing pages a of social opportunities i drop the et � one can realize more fully than the writer the utter absence of literary la these letters he not nor seek to i iv preface he only asks that his sketches be taken for what they profess and to and for nothing else that they are superficial their title they were hurriedly written with no thought of style nor of enduring all whom they are likely to interest or to reach must already know a in foreign lands especially those which have been once homes of his habitual readers or at least of their ancestors cannot well from writing of what he sees and hears his observations have a value k the eyes of those readers which will be utterly by the public outside of the circle for the habitual readers of hi especially were these letters written and their original purpose hm already been accomplished here they would have rested but for the offer of the to them in a book at their own cost risk and on terms a fair share of any proceeds of their sale to die writer such offers from to authors who have no reputation as book makers are rarely made and even more rarely therefore sir critic whose dog manuscript has from on s drawer to another until its pages are scarcely vi the ample retain all their freshness of hue you are welcome to your revenge your novel may be tedious beyond endurance your a preposterous waste of once valuable but your review is to be widely read and enjoyed my aim in writing these letters was to give a clear and vivid of the districts i traversed and the incidents which came under my to this end i endeavored to see so far as practicable through my own rather than those of others to this end i generally guide even those of the indispensable and relied mainly for and distances on the shilling hand book of that i have been into many and some gross as to noted works art c is quite probable but that i have though hastily indicated the rural aspects agricultural and more obvious social characteristics of the countries i traversed i am nevertheless confident i made a point of my impressions of each day s journey within the succeeding twenty four hours if practicable for i found that even a day s the distinctness of my recollections of the ever varying of hill and and mountain with long level or stretches of woods grain grass c c i trust the picture i have attempted to give of out door life in western europe the workers in its fields and the clusters in its streets will b� recognized by competent judges af correct the opinions with respect to characteristics or will of course appear crude and rash to those who regard them as based exclusively on the few days personal observation in which they may seem to have originated to those who regard them as in some knowledge of history and of the present political and social condition of those nations corrected and modified indeed by the personal observation their and audacity will be somewhat less no one will doubt that in europe have been far better qualified to observe and to judge than i was yet i see and think and am not forbidden to speak we know already how europe appears in the eyes of the learned and wise but if some or were to publish his first impressions of great britain or italy should we utterly refuse to open it because or could give us more accurate information on that identical theme would not the s possess some value as quite i art from their worth or might they not afford some insight into indian modes of thought if none into european modes of life i deeply regret that the general impression made on me by the mm that my estimate of their character and gave offence to their brethren now settled in this country their feeling is a natural creditable one i will not reply to their yet i must let what i wrote in italy of the stand i shall be most happy indeed to confess my mistake whenever it i all have been proved such but i cannot as yet ve il and to those who not on the of such on the of one who was only some few weeks in italy and did not even understand its people language i beg leave to commend a perusal of windows by elizabeth i had not seen it when i wrote and the coincidence of its estimate of the with mine is of course utterly mrs speaks italian and knows the she lived among them throughout the late years she with their sufferings and for their but without shutting her eyes to the faults and grave defects of character which that if they do not render it doubtful to those who will read her brief hut noble poem i need say no more on those who refuse to read it words firom me would be wasted believing that among the most imminent perils of the republican cause in europe is the danger of a premature fruitless in italy i have done what i could to prevent any such catastrophe when liberty shall have been re in france and shall thereupon have in germany the ii oi d � b q vl preface speedily in italy until that time i do not see how it can wisely be even assisted a word of explanation as to the world s fair must close this too long introduction the letters in this volume which refer to the great exhibition of industry were mainly written when the persistent and ment of the british | 19 |
wished and not for the first time that i had had some other guardian of minor abilities mr and i parted at the office in little great expectations tain where for mr s notice were lingering about as usual and i returned to my watch in the street of the coach office with some three hours on hand i consumed the whole time in thinking how strange it was that i should be by all this taint of prison and crime that in my childhood out on our lonely on a winter evening i should have first encountered it that it should have reappeared on two occasions starting out like a stain that was faded but not gone that it should in this new way fortune and advancement while my mind was thus engaged i thought of the beautiful young proud and refined coming towards me and i thought with absolute of the contrast between the jail and her i wished that had not met me or that i had not yielded to him and gone with him so that of all days in the year on this day i might not have had in my breath and on my clothes i beat the prison dust off my feet as i sauntered to and fro and i shook it out of my dress and i its air from my lungs so did i feel remembering who was coming that the coach came quickly after all and i was not yet free from the consciousness of mr s when i saw her face at the coach window and her hand waving to me what was the nameless shadow which again in that one instant had passed great expectations chapter in her travelling dress seemed more delicately beautiful than she had ever seemed jet even in my eyes her manner was more winning than she had cared to let it be to me before and i thought i saw miss s influence in the change we stood in the inn yard while she pointed out her luggage to me and when it was all collected i remembered � having forgotten everything but herself in the mean while � that i knew nothing of her destination lam going to she told me our lesson is that there are two one in and one in and that mine is the the distance is ten miles i am to have a carriage and you are to take me this is my purse and you are to pay my charges out of it oh you must take the purse we have no choice you and i but to obey our instructions we are not free to follow our own devices you and i � as she looked at me in giving me the purse i hoped there was an inner meaning in her words she said them but not with displeasure a carriage will have to be sent for will you rest here a little yes i am to rest here a little and i am to drink some tea and you are to take care of me the while vol ii great expectations she drew her arm through mine as if it must be done and i requested a waiter who had been staring at the coach like a man who had never seen such a thing in his life to show us a private sitting room upon that he pulled out a as if it were a magic clue without which he couldn t find the way up stairs and led us to the black hole of the establishment fitted up with a mirror quite a superfluous article considering the hole s proportions an and somebody s on my to this retreat he took us into another room with a dinner table for thirty and in the grate a leaf of a copy book under a of coal dust having looked at this extinct and shaken his head he took my order which proving to be merely some tea for the lady sent him out of the room in a very low state of mind i was and i am sensible that the air of this chamber in its strong combination of stable with soup stock might have led one to infer that the department was not doing well and that the proprietor was boiling down the horses for the refreshment department yet the room was all in all to me being in it i thought that with her i could have been happy there for life i was not at all happy there at the time observe and i knew it well where are you going to at i asked lam going to live said she at a great expense with a lady there who has the power � or says she has � of taking me about and introducing me and showing people to me and showing me to people i suppose you will be glad of variety and admiration great expectations yes i suppose so she answered so carelessly that i said you speak of yourself as if you were some one else where did you learn how i speak of others come come said smiling delightfully you must not expect me to go to school to you i must talk in my own way how do you with mr pocket u i live quite pleasantly there at least it appeared to me that i was losing a chance at least repeated as pleasantly as i could anywhere away from you u you silly boy said quite how can you talk such nonsense your friend mr i believe is superior to the rest of his family very superior indeed he is nobody s enemy u don t add but his own interposed for i hate that class of man but he really is disinterested and above small jealousy and spite i have heard i am sure i have every reason to | 8 |
any vith e u h other so pleasantly mr up with so much i quite delightful cried mrs clay not daring how j ever turn her eyes towards anne exactly like and son i dear miss may i not and son v t h lay no on any body s words if you � have b ideas but upon mv word i am si of his attentions being beyond of other men my miss exclaimed mrs clay lifting up her j hands and and sinking all the rest of her a� in a silence � well dear you need not be so about i did invite him you know i sent bim with smiles when i found be was really going friends at park for the whole day to morrow had compassion on him anne d the good acting of t e friend in being k to show pleasure as she did in the and the arrival of veiy person whose r really u interfering her prime object ll � as im but clay must hate the sight of mr h� iv a a most obliging look and ap i f herself would have done � t with the only as to sir to anne herself it was most t enter ihe room and quite to have him approach to lier used to feel that he could not be quite sincere but now she iti ever thing attentive to father contrasted with his former language odious and when she thought of his cruel towards smith she could bear sight of his present smiles and or the sound of his good sentiments she meant to avoid any such of manners as might provoke a s on his side it was a great with her ui all or but it was her intention lo be as cool to him as might be with their relationship and to as quietly as she could the few of she bad gradually led along she wm ai more guarded and more cool than she had been tlie night before he wanted to her curiosity again as to how am where he could have heard her formerly praised wanted very much to be by more but the waa broken he found that the heat and animation of a room were ne � to his modest cousin s vanity he found at least that it was not to be done now by any of those which he could hazard among the too claims of the others he only that it was a acting now against his interest bringing into her thoughts all those parts of his conduct which were least she hai some satisfaction in finding hat he waa u going out of bath the next morning going and he would be gone the greater part of two days he was d again to place the very evening of return but from thursday to saturday evening his ab � was it was bad enough that a mrs should he b� ore her but a deeper he added to their i the on of every like peace and it was so lo on the constant on her j� m of � a not m id would e all its evil a to and elizabeth to consider the tion preparing foi i mrs clay fl te nor so as his a for at f be clear of mr e in vent it l o friday morning she to go early lo lad and lu pi the � and she would have u y after but that mrs clay was o going out on some obliging purpose of ber sister trouble which determined her to wait she might be safe from a companion she saw mrs clay fairly off therefore before she began to talk of spending the morning in street very well said i have to send bnt my love you may aa well take back that book she would lend me and pretend have read it through i really cannot be myself for ever with all the ni poems and states of tlie nation that come out quite one with her new you tell her so but i her dress hideous the i used to think she had taste in ss but ashamed of her at the concert something � o formal i in her air and she sits so upright my best loi of course and mine added sir walter kindest regards aad you may that i mean to call npon her soon make i but i shall only leave my card mon are never fair by women at her lime of hie who ii themselves up so little if she would only wear would not be afraid of being seen but last time i called i observed the blinds were let down immediately while her father spoke there was a at the who could it be i anne the visits at all of mr would have expected bin but for his known engagement off usual period of suspense the usual sounds of wet heard and mr and mrs hu were the r surprise was the strongest but anne was really v � dot so but that could put on a a welcome i i ie i to were not views ol � in tliat f ir were rt le m rise in � rid do tlie honours of it very wire lo for a witli hi and were the white so h wm bo n and but till sir walter and were mary into the other and them with her not draw upon charles s for a n f history of heir or � n of hints of pan ii which dropped mary a well as of some apparent aa to whom th� ir party con tinted of hen found that it consisted of mi s and captain beside l heir two selves he gave her a very plain of th� whole a in which she saw | 26 |
over this land of beauty we passed queen s villa these sur you may were ihe scene of some of the scandal that came out on her most scandalous trial and we passed a lovely of ta s where this woman who held the world at is living in happy on country an example of filial and maternal devotion a beautiful villa belonging to count was pointed oat to as and as i looked on its lovely portion and rich i these noble italian risked and lost in holy cause � but not lost every self effort in this cause is written in ths book d life we saw the where the little described nearly years ago and li flows � it then it me strange to ee one thing e the world has undergone such for a while my dear c we felt as if we could spend our lives in over this lovely lake do dot be shocked you at home can afford for once to be forgotten but by degrees our got uppermost the meal above the our voices one by one died away our superb looked a little g s gentle current j l laid her head on the table and fell asleep and by the time we arrived at twenty miles from the shores were wrapped in a veil and we were very glad to exchange our pleasure for a inn we went to bed at feeling that it would be little short of presumption to expect a third fine day and to be equal to either clouds or sunshine i confess i crept to the in the morning with dread but there i saw at her morning watch over the lake the sky a blue and the lake as still and lovely as a sleeping child i was malicious enough to reply to drowsy again but the was too fine to be in t ht of ot he t of freed here he a lie with � � able teacher to ite put and a in of the hi � m b w ii lake we were all soon assembled in a little n surrounding the inn for so you might call a court filled to the very water s edge with rose bu es in bud and we met our the air with cigars which they gallantly discarded and attended us to the villa which covers a hill it is the property of a gentleman in the service who serving according to the universal policy far from his own country leaves the delight of and enjoying it to a relative this gentleman is now m a carriage road around the place and up a steep where at no trifling expense of course it is supported od arches of solid work the whole hu is into a garden filled with roses and every species of growing in the open air the which will not bear our september grows here and as a proof the invariable softness of the climate c � i pointed out an olive tree to me three or four hundred years old this is the result of tbe of the shores of the lake for within a few miles the are severe we wandered up and down and around the coming out here and there on the most exquisite views once our pleasures were not by shrieks from l i hastened forward and found ha flying from a of that her shawl had enraged c leaning on cane with ter at her terror at these rather as i thought with them is on a that the lake into two branches and thence hare a of both j of on one side and oa the other and dear c it was in the morning light with the rose coloured hues on the and villages and gardens looking bright in the early day mom s mantle close drawn here and ih e the lake in the sunshine and no sound but a on the opposite shore � the bells of a distant church it was a scene of for us children of the cold north and you will comprehend its effect and foi te h into the if i tell you that when i first met him on coming back into the he exclaimed his feeble frame thrilling with a sense of and delicious beauty i will never go back to america � nature is indeed here a tender restoring nurse a ta break at we left forever alas and walked through an avenue of to the was president of the republic but when napoleon made the a and crown be made duke of the place has now into the hands of the duke s son a lad of the house fronts the lake there is a look of nature about the grounds and soft and quiet but aa they lie nearly on the level tf the lake they are in lake in to art comes in in italy to help nature to perfect her or to make you forget her we met and and other statues and single and on the were of and m among many others ng s homage to his master there is a chapel at a short distance from the house with a beautiful altar i think by and to different members o the that ther express some domestic story or are � i could not make out which of all things i should like an chapel with the good deeds of my told in painting and stone i will not make you follow me through the of as they are but to get a of the refinement of taste in the room where two little marble boys are on a the one with a sad injured countenance an empty bird s the other a little of and fun has the e s th� � are groups of children painted on di of the wall all having allusion | 6 |
the love of the j fearless and beautiful girl who slept beside him and though perhaps under such circumstances love however true and passionate ceases to occupy a commanding place in a man s heart even then he felt that this was more and that happier days might dawn when it would be if not everything at least most of all as he thought thus he saw colour creep into s pale face then she sighed opened her eyes and sat up where am i she said glancing round wildly this is not the bed on which i lay down oh and she started is it over hush dear hush i i am with you said taking her hand so i see but where are the others and what is this dreadful place are we buried alive it looks like a tomb no we are only prisoners come eat and drink something and then i will tell you the story she rose to obey him and for the first time her eyes fell upon the robe she wore why this is s where is eat and drink he repeated she did his bidding mechanically watching his face the while with wondering and frightened eyes now she said tell me i can bear this no longer where are and alas they fire dead he answered solemnly dead she wringing her hands dead why then are we still alive have courage and listen after you went to sleep in the palace came to us with a plan which we accepted what was the plan she asked hoarsely twice he strove to tell her and twice he failed the words would not come go why do you torment me it was this r that should be dressed in the robe of and offered up with in your place while you were hidden away has it been done she whispered i believe so replied bowing his head to his breast we are prisoners in a secret cell beneath the feet of the statue there has been great noise and confusion without and now for some time silence iso the people of the mist up and stood over him with eyes how dared you do she said who gave leave to do it i thought that you were a man now i se tiiat you are a coward said it is useless for you to ta this whatever was done was done for your sake not for that of anybody else oh yes you say so but i believe that you made a plot with to murder in order that you might save your own life i have done with you i will never speak to you again � you can please yourself about that answered who by now was thoroughly enraged but i am going to j speak to you look here you have said words to me fox fl which were you a man i would do my best to be upon you but aa you are a woman i can only answer and then wash my hands of you as you must know or will know when you come to your right mind i would gladly have taken s place but it was for had i attempted to dress myself lip in the robe of i should instantly have been discovered and would have paid the price of my folly we all knew this after we had consulted things were arranged as i hav told you i only consented to your being brought here on th � l condition that i was allowed to accompany you for your pro j now i wish that i had left it alone and gone witb then perhaps i should have found peace instead of bitter words and reproaches however do not be j for i think it probable that i shall soon follow him i l that you were very fond of this man � this hero � and j either by accident or design that you had succeeded i making him a great deal too fond of you for his peace ti mind therefore i make excuses for your conduct with all such still remains perfectly intolerable h he paused and looked at her as she sat on the edge the couch biting her lip and glancing towards him now and again with a curious expression on her beautiful face ui j grief pride and anger all had their share yet at j tliat moment was thinking not of and hu j sacrifice but of the man before her whom she had never j loved so well as now when he spoke to her thus paying her back in her own coin i cannot pretend to match yoa in scolding and violence she said therefore i will give up argument perhaps however when you come to your right mind yon will remember that my life is my own and that i gave nobody permission to save it at the cost of another person s what is done is done answered for his anger had burnt out another time i will not interfere with your express wish by the way my poor friend asked me to give you these and he handed her the and the note book he has written something for you to read on the last sheet of the journal and he bade me say that should you live to escape he hoped that you will wear these in memory of him and he touched the beads and also that you would not forget him in your prayers took the journal and holding it to the light opened it at hazard the first thing that she saw was her own name for in truth it contained among many other matters a record of the priest s unhappy from the first moment of their meeting and also of his pious efforts to overcome it turning the pages rapidly she came to the last | 18 |
i soul is to be known it is to from nature thus it does not come again it does not come again et this of nature firom intellect to the special elements ia performed for the of each soul done for another s sake as for self as a having exhibited herself to tlie spectator from the dance so does nature having manifested herself to soul generous nature with qualities does by means accomplish benefit to herself the wish of ungrateful soul devoid as he is of qualities nothing in my opinion is more gentle than nature once aware of having been seen she not again expose herself to the gaze of verily not any soul is bound nor ia released nor j but nature alone in relation to various beings is bound is released and by seven modes nature herself by herself by one she for the soul s wish so through study of principles the one only knowledge is attained that neither i am nor ia aught mine nor do i exist possessed of this self knowledge soul at leisure and at ease nature thereby from change and consequently from those seven forms ho because ho has seen her she does so because she has been seen in this mere union there is no motive for creation by of perfect knowledge virtue and the rest become yet soul remains awhile invested with body as the s wheel continues whirling from the effects of the impulse previously given to it separation of the informed soul from its frame at length takes place and nature ia respect of it ceases then is absolute and final accomplished nature is like a having fulfilled soul s object it ceases p they who with the eye of wisdom perceive the body and the spirit to be thus and that there is a final release from the animal nature go to the in this all absorbing wo have the first attempt at speculation it cannot bo called the earliest system for it does not get as far as a system but it is the earliest distinct endeavour to grasp the idea of the universe of the ancient the of thought and being of the mind and nature about which all philosophy turns first presents itself in a one sided form one or the other being neglected if we consider being alone or then reality is to us contained in the outward and as we do not see its true relation to thought it is an something the highest attribute of is being a pure abstraction of the outward and thus altogether rude � matter this is the natural position of the mind the on the other hand are prone to consider reality as pure thought the highest reality to them is mind from which all trace of the material is removed � abstract soul the most important to tis is that god exists but to the the highest description of god is aa the one soul which does not admit of and to whom existence is the show with which he himself the deity is here pure mere and equality with himself that is pure abstract thought this is the earliest and the simplest conceivable form of speculation and it must be that these writings display an earnestness and intensity of abstraction that would seem to indicate a great depth of philosophical genius there is something commanding in the terrible simplicity of this partially also in the colossal of and but like its opposite it rests on an extreme abstraction and is thus altogether and and although as speculation it stands higher than since it demands a comprehension of the relation of nature to the mind � yet on the other hand it cuts off the solution of the problem by a mere which does not dispose of nature but merely any further consideration of it the might seem at first sight the most possible � yet such is not the case the of the outward of nature is denied yet it remains as an it is actual existence only not the existence of god but whence does it derive its power to exist the answer is from god who created and it as an an illusion then soul the one principle which is reality does not embrace the whole universe � but there is moreover something unreal and material which ia yet and created by god � who how of the ancient ever is identical with tlie one soul and thus pure reality therefore a of the principle ia necessary soul is no longer pure soul but also material reality not purely real but also in some relations unreal namely as to man so also the material is no longer pure but qualified it is nothing as to god but something as to man nor is this to be avoided by saying that man is on and his supposed knowledge the relation of nature to his mind mere deception for the illusion by which he is deceived most be real else it is no and then our knowledge is real in other words the relation between the mind and nature being by god must be a reality and thus our perception a also � whether we perceive correctly or not a reality at least though perhaps not in spite of all then nature remains something which according to the principle it should not it is something and though created by god foreign to him existing properly only in the minds of created beings not in his own this is evil that which ought not to be but is it is interesting to observe in passing the resemblance of this view to a in whose system also nature is merely the and evil in the view as in his moreover nature though mere is yet necessary as the de by the of which its opposite is affirmed then ia here possible only as to | 37 |
money in i to take care of your animals an horses is the things on four legs some time if i can ever see my way to it i m goin to ship a of from county � big heavy ones you know d sell like hot cakes in the valley here � i didn t want for or in lighter vein by the way saxon of accounts what d you think an is worth � fair market price why i m you well say what you paid for them � three hundred dollars hum considered deeply they re worth a whole lot more but let it go at that an now back to accounts suppose you write me a for e hundred dollars oh robber you can t show me why saxon when i let you have grain an hay from my don t you give me a check for an you know how you re stuck on your accounts down to the penny he if you re any kind of a business woman you just charge your business with them two horses i ain t had the use pf em since i don t know when but the will be yours she argued besides i can t afford brood in my business in almost no time now and will have to be taken off from the wagon � they re too good for it anyway and you keep your eyes open for a pair to take their ed by the valley of the moon ill give you a check for that pair but no commission all right an come back to me but you can pay me rent for the time you did use em if you make me i ll charge you board � e threatened an if you charge me board charge you interest tor the money i ve stuck into this you can t saxon laughed it s community property he as if the breath had been knocked out of him straight on the he said an me down for the count but say them s sweet words ain t they � community property he rolled them over and off his tongue with keen relish an when we got married the top of our ambition was a steady job an some rags an sticks of furniture all paid up an half worn out we wouldn t have had any community property for you what nonsense what could i have done by myself you know very well that you earned all the money that started us here you paid the wages of gk w and and old and mrs paid and � why you ve done it all she drew her two hands across his shoulders and down along his great muscles that s what did it aw hell it s your head that done it what was my muscles good for with no head to run up an the elbow over a bar the only sensible thing my head ever done was when it run me into you honest to god saxon you ve ben the of me aw hell she in the way that delighted him where would i have been if you hadn t taken me out of the i couldn t take myself by ic the valley of the moon but i was just a helpless girl i d have been there yet if it hadn t been for yon mrs had five thousand dollars but i had yon a woman ain t got the chance to help herself that a man has he i u tell you what the two of us it s ben team work we ve run in span if we d a run single you might still be in the an if i was lucky i d be still team by the day an around to cheap dances saxon stood under the father of all ing and go out the gate the full v wagon behind them when she saw ride in leading a mare from whose silken coat the sun golden lights four year old high life a handful but no vicious tricks as he stopped beside saxon skin like paper mouth like silk kill the ever � look at them lungs an they call her � some spanish name by genuine stock and they will sell saxon gasped standing with hands clasped in inarticulate delight that s what i brought her to show you for but how much must they want for her was s next question so impossible did it seem that such tin amazement of horse flesh could ever be hers that ain t your business answered the s for her not the vegetable she s at the word what d ye i ll tell you in a minute saxon was trying to mount but the animal nervously away hold on till i tie said she ain t broke that s the trouble saxon tightly reins and mane stepped with foot on s hand and was lifted lightly into the saddle by ic the valley of the moon she s used to spurs called after spanish broke so don t check her quick come in gentle an talk to her she s high life you know saxon nodded dashed out the gate and down the road a hand to as she passed the gate of covert and continued up wild water when she came back in a pleasant saxon rode to the rear of the house past the chicken houses and the flourishing rows to join on the rim of the bench where he sat on his horse in the smoking a together they looked down through an opening among the trees to the meadow which was a meadow no longer with accuracy it was divided into squares and narrow which displayed sharply the thousand hues of green of a track garden and under enormous chinese grass hats were planting green old in | 21 |
your wife gone off with your best friend said the old man better stay with me � a wife is never worth running after unless she happens to belong to another man and not always then stay where you are misfortunes will happen even in families � particularly i may say in families � and i shall want you to protect me against that s by and by besides you know there are fifty roads to town and rather more to heaven and it is your duty to stay and see that i don t take the wrong turning he added with a smile you spoke last night of something you must tell me before you died said mr looking at his watch in three minutes i shall have left this house probably to fulfil a worse fate than ever an yet said the old man significantly it never story of a sin threatened me � escaped it by death but ive seen some dangerous signs in you � odd that it never occurred to anybody and still the way i found out the old s secret so you ll stay he added sharply or it to the last day of your life farewell then said mr turning on his father a look of which he knew not the strangeness and moving to the door stay cried the old man struggling to rise you are going to your doom but mr did not hear him nor if he had heard would he have returned till the moment that he should find himself face to face with he would be as one in whom the very life itself is suspended as he stood with his foot on the carriage step giving directions that any letters that should arrive for him should be re directed to a confusion made itself heard in the house behind him in the midst of which arose a woman s affected shriek your master is dead said mr calmly tell to make all arrangements for the funeral to take place at then gave the signal to drive on and was gone chapter xi since in the toils of fate thou art enclosed submit if thou brook submission mr arrived in town shortly after twelve next day friday i and proceeded immediately to the story of a sin transaction of one of the most difficult it had ever been his lot to undertake he was expected and shown immediately into the presence of the man whose hand held the scales in which more than one life was trembling and after a quarter of an hour s interview left not waiting for lord who was expected in ten minutes mr had from paris for a special train to be in readiness at one o clock to take him to there being no ordinary one for some hours and as it left the great city behind he threw himself back on the cushions and for the first time absolutely alone since he had received frank s began to think he had neither broken bread nor tasted wine since that time the day before but no signs of fatigue were visible in his face or bearing his brow was still of rock his lips of he looked a man and against fate � a whence her poisoned arrows must glance aside perchance others but never himself presently he rose and began to pace the saloon carriage from end to end action of some kind ever seemed indispensable to this man but all his deeds were as free from hurry his powerful will as little influenced by outward causes as the onward sweep of the is affected by the winds that play around it an enemy had once him to as described by the nurse of everlasting frost con story of a sin v deep the fountains of fire and it was partly perhaps this conviction that beneath an habitual reserve he profound passions that made him the force among men he undoubtedly was once he started and uttered an exclamation it had crossed his mind that even if by chance did not know the truth she might learn it by accident from the newspapers of that day to be sure she rarely read one her companionship with her husband giving her neither inclination nor need to do so he told her all that was worth hearing and passed over the rest being of s opinion who on being pressed hard as to the of s writings said that they were not so as the newspapers as mr approached one or two signs of impatience escaped him but no one who saw him alight would have dreamed that there went a man whose every hope of earthly happiness hung on the issues of the next half hour you have the sir the station master ventured to say when he had recovered from his am not i said mr looking at the man as though he would read his very soul but lord � said the man trembling at his own audacity oh he s coming said mr carelessly � you story of a sin may expect him by the last train and he went his way on foot it s all over with her said the man as he went back to the station and in less than half an hour every soul in and alike knew that all hope for the condemned woman was past mr walked across the fields with his usual firm step and observed one or two instances of neglect that would a sharp rebuke to a tenant on the morrow he noted too the old thorn beneath which loved to sit and the hedge in which at a certain time of the year she never failed to search for moss cups at every step of the way indeed he was reminded of his wife and yet he had no definite thought of her as he went i | 17 |
habit of visiting no by night and amusing herself by wandering about the empty rooms although i don t know what pleasure she found in doing so it seems that when clear became the tenant of the house was very angry as his presence interfered with her midnight however on seeing his rooms � for clear found her one night and took her in to show them to her � she was filled with admiration and with true instinct wanted to steal some of the ornaments she tried to pocket a silver paper knife on that very night clear was so hospitable to her but she was not sharp enough and the man saw the in a rage at her he turned her out of the room and swore that he would her if she came into his presence again did the threat keep away not it i am sure you saw enough of that wild o the silent house cat to know nothing would frighten her she certainly did not thrust herself personally on clear but whenever his back was turned she took to stealing things out of his room when he was foolish enough to leave the door open clear was much enraged and complained to � known to as � who in his turn read the girl a sharp lecture but having shown the into the house miss knew too much and laughed in s face he did not dare to make her public or complain to mrs lest should tell of the connection between him and the tenant of the silent house who passed under the name of therefore he told clear to keep his sitting room door locked a wise precaution with that about said i hope clear was sensible enough to adopt it yes and no when he was sober he locked the door and when drunk he left it open and at will and now comes the more important part of the confession you remember that left the from on clear s table yes with the amiable intention that the poor devil should kill himself he left it on christmas eve a pleasant time for a man to commit suicide of course the intention was horrible said mr link gravely some people might think such the silent house an act incredible but i have seen so much of the worst side of human nature that i am not surprised was too cowardly to kill the man himself so he thought to make clear his own by leaving the in his way well sir the weapon proved to be useful in the way it was intended by for clear was killed with that very weapon and by said nodding i see how did she get hold of it by accident when � i mean � and mrs went to bed on christmas eve thought she would have some of her devil dances in the haunted house so she slipped out of bed and into the yard and dropped down into the cellar whence she went up to clear s rooms was clear in bed no but he was in his bedroom and according to furiously drunk you know that said the man had been drinking all day on this night he had left his sitting room door open and the lamp burning on the table was the with the ribbon and when peered into the room to see what she could pick up she thought she would like this pretty toy she stole forward softly and took the but before she could get back to the door clear who had been watching her out and rushed at her did she run away she couldn t clear was between her and the o the silent house door she ran round the room everything for she thought he would kill her in his drunken rage don t you remember mr how the room was well clear got into a corner and was going to strike her she had the still in her hand and held it point outward to save herself from the blow she thought when he saw the weapon he would not dare to come nearer however either he did not see the or was too drunk to feel fear for he stumbled and fell forward so that the dagger ran right into his heart in a moment he fell dead before he had time as says to even utter a cry so it was an accident after all said oh yes quite an accident replied link and i can see very plainly how it took place of course was terrified at what she had although she really was not to blame � and leaving the dead man ran away with the she dropped the ribbon off it near the cellar door as she was running away and there mrs found it what did she do with the she had it in her room and when she left mrs she carried it with her down the country in proof of the truth she gave it to the who wrote down her confession and he sent it up with the papers to scotland yard queer case isn t it the silent house very queer link i thought everybody was guilty but ah said the significantly it is always the least suspected person who is guilty i could have sworn that was the man now it seems that he is innocent so instead of hanging he will only be imprisoned for his share in the conspiracy he may escape that way said but morally speaking i regard him as more guilty than chapter the end of it all two years after the discovery of s guilt mr and mrs were seated in the garden of it was a perfect summer evening at the sunset hour something like that evening when in the same garden almost at the same time had asked to be his wife but | 12 |
first awakening next morning he sprung out of bed as the dock struck seven with very little difficulty aad was soon as much on the alert as if nothing had occurred merely looking into s room and telling him that would for him very shortly descended into the street and calling a coach bade the man drive to mrs s according to the direction which had given him on the previous night it wanted a quarter to eight when they reached place began to fear that no one might be stirring at that early hour when he was relieved by the sight of a female servant employed in cleaning the door steps by this he was referred to the doubtful page who appeared with hair and a very warm and glossy face as of a page who had just got out of bed by this young gentleman he was informed that miss was then taking her morning s walk in the gardens before ihe house on the question being whether he could go and find her the page and thought not but being stimulated with a shilling the page grew sanguine and thought he could say to miss that her brother is here and in great haste to see her said the buttons disappeared with an alacrity most unusual to them and paced the room in a state of feverish agitation which made the delay even of a minute he soon heard a light footstep which he well knew and before he could advance to meet her had fallen on his neck and burst into tears my darling girl said as he embraced her how pale you are i have been so unhappy here dear brother sobbed poor so very very miserable do not leave me here dear or i shall die of a broken heart i will leave you nowhere answered � never b life and op again lie cried moved in spite of himself as he folded her to his heart tell me that i acted for the best tee me that we parted because i feared to bring misfortune on your head that it was a trial to me no less than to yourself and that if i did wrong it was in ignorance of the world and why should i tell you what we know so well returned soothingly � dear � how can you give way thus it is such bitter reproach to me to know what you have undergone returned her brother to see you so much altered and yet so kind and patient � god cried his and suddenly changing his tone and manner it sets my whole blood on fire again you must leave here with me directly you should not have slept here last night but that i knew all this too late to whom can i speak before we drive away this question was most put for at that instant mr walked in and to him introduced her brother who at once announced his purpose and the impossibility of it the quarter s notice said mr with the gravity of a man on the right side is not yet half expired therefore interposed the quarter s salary must be lost sir you will excuse this extreme haste but circumstances require that i should immediately remove my sister and i have not a moment s time to lose whatever she brought here x wiu send for if you will allow me in the course of the day mr bowed but no opposition to s immediate departure with which indeed he was rather gratified than otherwise sir having given it as his opinion that she rather with mrs s constitution with regard to the trifle of salary that is due said mr i will � here he was interrupted by a violent fit of � i i will � owe it to miss mr it should be observed was accustomed to owe small accounts and to leave them owing all men have some little pleasant way of their own and this was mr s if you please said and once more offering a hurried apology for so sudden a departure lie hurried into the vehicle and bade the man drive with all speed into to ike they went accordingly with au the speed the coach could make and as the horses happened to at and to be in the habit of taking their breakfast there when they at au they performed the journey with greater expedition than could reasonably have been expected sent up stairs a few minutes before him that his for appearance might not alarm his mother and when the way had been paved presented himself with much duly and affection had not been idle for there was a little cart at the door and the effects were hurrying out already now mrs was not the sort of person to be told anything in a hurry or rather to comprehend anything of peculiar delicacy or importance on a short notice wherefore although the good lady had been subjected to a full hour s preparation by httle miss la and was now addressed in most terms both by and his sister she was in a state of singular bewilderment and and could by no means be made to comprehend the necessity of such hurried proceedings why don t you ask your uncle my dear what he can possibly mean by it said mrs my dear mother returned the time for talking has gone by there is but one step to take and that is to cast him off with the scorn and indignation he deserves your own honour and good name demand that after the discovery of his vile proceedings you should not be to him one hour even for the shelter of these bare walls to be sure said mrs cr bitterly he is a brute a monster and the walls are very bare and want painting too and i | 8 |
s maid a quiet middle aged woman who said respectfully noted the difference between hers and cherry s manners � master says would you be pleased to come to study left alone rolled over on her face and almost bit her pillow through in a of jealousy and rage and agony was san becoming more to her horse for that night at least � yes � the eternal child that is at i chapter iv two tim came over next morning at miss s request bitter as and looking as only an can look on occasion wondering too what her game was he and mad had been cast down from their high estate by an unknown horse and a stable help from the country and he burned for revenge with such a horse and income at which he guessed pretty as now had at tim could have married his cherry and had as rattling good a time as and his stuck up mrs were having without in the least deserving it with the keen instinct of men of his class he smelt mischief suspected some reason out of sight for s rapid advancement and the of the horse at when his proper place should have been here in the racing stables he was all a for a bone to pick to fight over and it was with a surly touch to his forehead that he responded to s good morning when ushered into her he had no particular affection for the young though as regards looks he considered her a morsel fit for a king let alone his master reminding her that she should have sent oi the of the home stables not himself he told her of the resources of the latter as far as he knew them while affecting to listen measured him seeing that here was just such an instrument to her hand as she wanted presently she made some casual mention s hi insect s head � yet � of a sort and tim s an enemy to ho and to himself the major thinks a deal covert sneer p he never trusted women h done by her and she did not the resemblance between horse phantom is very abruptly that tim s eyes himself yes miss very curious h seems to have turned up in son time phantom disappeared � se i heard of course about it and master � tim don t know nothing about it there was a subtle i to husband and wife that did not yet as she looked out through j the lake suddenly two take it for granted all this is between ourselves it s s doing he always was a dirty low � tim spoke with lifted out of his proper sphere and set a b ar on horseback and he ll ride to the devil you ll notice miss it says most particularly horse not or when people about are bad they are very bad indeed if he had known it before very long would wish himself back in the cross roads stables � in the house beyond � for if his were little sound slumber was his and a conscience that never troubled him now though kept much to herself and her own delightful home he was to dread every chance word she heard for fierce meant mischief and s ruin meant s � no money could for the fraud he had helped his master to commit � if found out � but then continued tim ho he s got four brown legs that match while phantom had one white turned abruptly away her heart like mad often she had seen san ride the horse in and he had one white � � and now he had not � � of course it is a mere chance resemblance she said turning round her voice was a little s voice was never her strong point i heard them speaking of it at liverpool yesterday is devoted to mrs and would never dare to practise any trick on her besides the white finally of the whole idea tim grinned have their and hair just like the ladies miss but she cut him short by taking a sovereign from a little pile near and telling him she would have a look round the home stables though she had not the slightest intention of riding one of san s horses for was timid and tim went away iv shattered in the wife s disgust he would be woman who loved him no whit th behaviour yet from the day never seemed to get the cl him that she formerly had for was iu so that missed the fe then on for another where he cultivated men s before he was on view end and the few ugly some of his following died out assured bearing even if his na set him so high above the well known reputation for now in valuable stead for he ha pull a horse or deliberately lose a of riding on his part not the him a and the fact was quit ho was really what he pre hunted by mrs for yea his powers � � two and if some winked and talked of the was disregarded and very soon master and man living with eyes and ears open to every rumour every whisper of scandal afloat breathed freely believing like the actual moment of danger to be past but one man � and that s beaten rival � was under no the instinct that is than knowledge told him that ho was phantom s self and he swore a savage oath that no matter how long it took or at what cost he would establish the horse s true identity and publicly expose one of the most daring and gigantic in of modem times he took none of the racing into his confidence but employed to find out at what date phantom disappeared | 17 |
to the enjoyment and that dragging through is full of delight and beauty but the real sorrow that feels has not yet been touched it is the grief which mr has observed and confided to the easy chair it haunts his happy hours with sad he cannot look from his window but he sees it he cannot the charms of country and life but it seems to mock him it turns his joy to ashes he looks upon the wife of his bosom with anguish as he thinks of it he into his children s eyes pretty they know naught of the impending blow it is a shadow as would have solemnly said with which him at mid day it him at mid night and says to him sleep no more what is it do you ask mr in his most startling manner brethren tis the fell hand of improvement that is it it is that which the soul and peace no man who lives in the neighborhood of the city or in any little settlement community hamlet village or town which is occupied with people doing business in the city but is exposed in his rural retirement in his home to the of improvement there are of new york which are said to be subject to to fever and it is false as every of bay ridge and flushing knows there are others which are alleged to be a prey to and tis a base as every and by the is ready to swear it is notorious and is established upon the very best authority namely that of the inhabitants of the districts themselves that no shores are so as those of the bay of new york strict justice indeed demands � and to nothing so much as strict justice and in these matters are the peaceful people of those shores devoted � strict justice and truth demand that it should not be denied that single exceptional but upon the whole sufficiently well cases of trouble have been known but they were always brought from abroad probably from that yankee land from which most of the woe of new york has proceeded while therefore it is a wanton � and the of all property is invited to the statement � to assert that any portion of the neighborhood of new york or of any other great city let it be philadelphia or st louis boston or is subject to or is otherwise than the true of the continent yet it must be owned with sorrow that every region is with the spirit of improvement and were married yesterday and will devote their honey moon to the quest of a place in which to build their permanent nest they find it at last in the most delightful of they build the pretty cottage they spread out smooth green and plant trees and shrubs and hide themselves in flowers they have made a sweet seclusion in which they sit and smile at the eloquence of who their exile and the charm of streets streets are charming respond and in con x chorus but we will have none of them fond foolish pair for even at that moment the spirit of improvement is out a street across their most lawn and through their most sacred grove their trees and flowers and turf are doomed and their seclusion is to be turned into a dusty highway improvement is the of home there is no remedy to oppose the ruin of the place which you have carefully made which has grown around you in increasing beauty with the growth and development of your family which is associated with all that is happiest in your life and which is in some sort the and expression of yourself is to be as the public benefit and the advantage of those less fortunate than yourself the instinct of protecting the home that you have made is as sentimental selfishness and the law steps forward cuts down your trees up your lawn lays a under your window your home and hands you some dollars for what it calls compensation or demands them for what it improvement i am of opinion therefore says mr and the easy chair the reflection to those intending matrimony and thinking of a country home that there are some serious objections to a residence van the other evening to see van the old question of its moral naturally came up and warmly asserted that it was shameful to bring young children to see a play in which the exquisite skill of threw a upon the vice see she said the earnest tearful interest with which these boys and girls near us hang upon the story the charm to them of the scene and of the acting is indescribable do you suppose they can escape the effect all their sympathy is kindled for the good natured and nothing and when turns him out into the night and the storm they cannot help feeling that it is she not he who has ruined the home and that the drunken vagabond who has just made his the x cover of deception is really the victim of a and when he returns old and and we might hope of that fatal appetite which has worked all the woe it is his old victim the woman whose youth his evil habits ruined and who in consequence of those habits was driven into the power of the von who hands him � the cup that shall be death in as if it were she and not he who had been properly and converted from the fatal error of supposing that is not a good thing no no said indignantly and raising her voice to that degree that the easy chair feared to hear the appalling sh sh of the disturbed neighbors it is a spectacle and the and more fascinating the genius of mr in the representation the more deadly | 16 |
can speak of him as a capital fellow whom you will find it a pleasure to know i take the opportunity of adding my regards and with devotion i remain very sincerely yours philip in the bundle of time hesitated a moment here was the way out of her difficulties but enough at this indication of a readiness on her husband s part to humor her caprice she became unwilling to end the farce the cleverness of his device amused her but it also stirred her up to match against his her skill in it was hardly ten minutes after despatched his before the servant returned it to him accompanied by a tiny note which said � mrs regrets missing the acquaintance of mr especially when he is so cordially by an apparently disinterested third person but as she is not aware of having in the world a friend whose name is philip she is sure there must be some mistake in the delivery of this letter to her this note despatched sat waiting for nearly an hour expecting some further demonstration on the part of her husband but as at the end of that time nothing had occurred she concluded to retire she was both amused and vexed the of the situation grew more and more evident she lay tossing about in bed vainly trying to sleep becoming more and more restless every moment the man committed she heard the sounds in the hotel gradually the beams of the late risen mo n struck at length the top of her window throwing a mellow light through the chamber lay watching the golden glow as it moved slowly down the curtain when her attention was suddenly arrested by a shadow which began to define itself upon the window shade it was the of a man s hat beneath which the shape of a head soon made itself visible then the form of a man s shoulders and in time his whole figure except so far as it was obscured by the balcony chair in which he sat he was smoking and something in the pose of the shadowy head convinced the that the visitor was her husband had raised herself upon her elbow following the development of the figure upon the curtain when it was complete she slipped softly out of bed and dressed hastily her hurried completed she hesitated a moment then walked boldly to the window and drew up the shade the window was open and at the first sound the turned toward her he started as the moonlight fell upon her face he ejaculated is that you in the bundle of time hush she said in a whisper you knew it was i or you would n t be here i had n t the faintest idea where you were retorted i was here trying to think what you meant by treating me so and � do speak lower she interrupted somebody will surely hear what if they do do you want to compromise me compromise you yes compromise me i should think you d care more for the reputation of your own wife than to have it known she was talking with a strange man at midnight from her chamber window he threw back his head and laughed a long laugh which broke out afresh under every attempt to it he you you ll be the death of me i never heard such a delicious bull in my life for heaven s sake she exclaimed in a hoarse whisper leaning out of the window in her eagerness and putting her hand over his lips miss s room is directly over mine and she has ears like a i come inside he said rising lightly the man committed and making a motion to put his foot over the window sill no no no she cried then suddenly closing the window in his face and it she sat down on the floor and burst into foolish tears her husband stood helplessly regarding her by the clear moonlight he tapped on the pane softly once or twice then as she paid no heed he trimmed his cigar and walked away with an air of injured dignity and was seen no more that night iv mrs dressed herself with especial care upon the following morning and never had she looked prettier than when she took her seat at the breakfast table her husband was already there but with the first glimpse that she had of his face she perceived that he was seriously vexed he gave not the slightest heed to her presence not even acknowledging her arrival by the stirring of an he finished his meal silently and before had done more than her cup of coffee he left the table half an hour later as she sat at one end of the while her husband strode up loo in the bundle of time and the other her gloomy were interrupted by the appearance of miss who with an air of mystery took her seat by s chair and drew out her a very handsome man she said after a moment s silence mrs started with a sudden consciousness that she had been intently watching her husband and that her companion had her glances who she asked to appear indifferent mr you looked as if you thought so too oh is that his name who is he who knows him here i don t know miss answered but � a significant of the lips left the to infer that awful things remained but what oh nothing what are you about mrs asked with a shade of impatience in her tone what do you know about him nothing oh i assure you positively � the committed loi nothing returned the other only i thought i heard his voice on the balcony last night � in the night you know � and that fast mrs s room is almost under mine | 3 |
superstitious belief of the people tormented by the terrible enmity of the � a i or the red well the story nothing to any colouring or invention of mine it is unhappily a true one and to me possesses a peculiar and melancholy interest arising from my intimate knowledge of the man whose fate it holds up as a moral lesson to irish i knew him well and many a day and hour have i played about his knee and ran in my boyhood round his path when as he said himself the world was no trouble to him on the south side of a sloping tract of light ground lively warm and productive stood a white farm house which in consequence of its conspicuous situation was a prominent and we may add a graceful object in the landscape of which it formed a part the spot whereon it � was a swelling natural terrace the soil of which was heavier and richer than that of the adjoining lands on each side of the house stood a of old the only of that species then remaining in the country these extended behind the house in a kind of angle with opening enough at their termination to form a vista through which its white walls with beautiful effect in the calm splendour of a summer evening above the mound on which it stood two steep hills overgrown with and except on their tops which were clothed with heath they were also covered with patches of and studded with grey rocks which sometimes rose singly or in larger masses pointed or rounded into curious and fantastic shapes exactly between these hills the sun went down during the month of june and nothing could be in finer relief than the rocky and picturesque outlines of their sides as crowned with thorns and of wild ash they appeared to the valley whose green foliage was gilded by the un beams which lit up the scene into radiant beauty the bottom of this natural chasm which opened against the deep crimson of the evening sky was nearly upon a level with the house and completely so with the that surrounded it brightly did the sinking sun fall upon their tops whilst the neat white house below in their quiet shadow sent up its wreath of smoke among their branches itself an emblem of contentment industry and innocence it was in fact a lovely situation perhaps the brighter to me that its remembrance is associated with days of happiness and freedom from the cares of a world which like a distant mountain as we approach it and only us in struggling to climb its rugged and barren paths there was to the south west of this house another little that ended in a precipice formed by a single rock some thirty feet high over which tumbled a crystal into a basin worn in its hard bed below from this basin the stream murmured away through the wood until it joined a larger that passed with many a winding through a fine extent of meadows adjoining it across the foot of this and past the door of the house we have described ran a bridle road from time on which as the traveller ascended it towards the house he appeared to track his way in blood for a arose at its bead out of the earth and spread itself in a stream over the path in every spot whereon a foot mark could be made from this circumstance it s called or the red well in the meadow where the terminated was another spring of delicious crystal and clearly do i remember the ever beaten path way that led to it through the grass and up the green field which rose in a gentle slope to the happy looking house of for so was the man called who resided under its peaceful roof i will not your pardon gentle reader for dwelling at such length upon a scene so dear to my heart as this because i write not now so much for your gratification as my own many an eve of gentle may have i pulled the which grew about that well and over that smooth meadow often have i raised my voice to its pitch that i might hear its echoes in the bottom of the green and still where silence so to speak was deepened by the continuous murmur of the above and when the uttered her first note from among the on its side with what ling anxiety did i an of some eight or nine years look under my right foot for the white hair whose charm was such tiiat by keeping it about me the first female name i should hear was destined i believed in my soul to be that of my future wife sweet was the song of the and mellow the whistle of the as they rose in the stillness of evening over the and green of this secluded spot of rural beauty far too could the rich voice of be heard along the hills and meadows as with a little at his knee and another in his arms he sat on a bench beside his own door singing the in his native irish whilst his wife with her two maids each a low song sat before the door the cows whose sweet breath mingled its perfume with the warm breeze of evening was descended from a long line of honest ancestors whose names had never within the memory of man been by the commission of a mean or action they were always a kind hearted family but stern and proud in the com v mon intercourse of life they believed themselves to be and probably were a branch of the more stock and although only the of a small farm it was singular to observe the effect which this conviction produced upon their bearing and manners to | 50 |
it and perhaps through your one or both of na will he killed yes but we need not trouble onr heads that � the undertake everything i have no pistols if you will do me honor to use one of mine it shall be thank yon to morrow morning no i have four days painting to do on my picture i can t ie till it is finished friday mom he is mad i to ask you a question you will excuse my have you any idea what we are agreeing to about gaily the does jou little credit my lord that is to add insult to wrong he went off hurriedly leaving lord he thought was somehow connected with it but no wrong he felt little dis by those e to fight simply bow load and get called at hia instead of taking down of and their poor brains to find out whether they are game or and why as for he hurried home in a fever of passion begged his mother s pardon and ed himself foe ever having her on account of such a creature as he then told her what be had seen as distance and had presented it to him to his the old lady him short les said she there is no need to take the girl s character away she has but one � she is not in the same class of life as you and such marriages always lead to y but in other respects she is a worthy young woman � don t speak against her character or jou will make my flesh creep t know what her character is to a woman high or by this moderation she held him still faster friday morning arrived had by hard finished ills picture his from nature which were numerous left by everything to his mother and was or rather felt as ready to he had hardly spoken a word or eaten a meal these four days ills mother was in anxiety about him he rose early and went down to an hour later his mother finding him gone out rose and went to at meantime had entirely recovered but his sister s color had left her cheeks and the boy swore vengeance against the cause of her dis on morning then there paced on sands two figures one was lord the other seemed a gentleman who having swallowed the mess room and found it insufficient had added the of his company the more his reflected on the less inclined he had felt to invite a young dog from to such a he had therefore ordered to get np as a field or some such trifle and what have called was result the painter was also in sight whilst he was coming up loi d wm on a point on that worthy had always thought himself veiy superior to hia master � gentlemanly now mind and behave like or wc shall bo found i trust my lord my conduct � what i mean is you must not be gentleman as gentleman like as all that it could not be borne c est and a white handkerchief is like and nobody ties a white handkerchief so well as that of all the vices perfection is the most intolerable his then touched with his cane the s de countenance straightway fell as though he had lost successive came up they saluted where is second sir the my second said ah i i foi t to wake him � does it mat it is merely a custom said lord with a very manner said lie do us the honor to the ground and be everybody s second measured the ground and handed ft pistol to each and struck an attitude by are you ready gen said this jack o both yes i said both just as the signal was about to he an oa occurred i beg yon pardon air said lord to his i am going to take a � a great liberty with you but i think you will find is only at half cock thank you my lord what am i to do witli the draw back the cock so and be ready to fire i cried mr oh i i m a dead man the general said after a of anxiety give no concern sir said he soothingly to his � a mere � mr s pistol me mv lord � load ms pistol directly said his sternly aud behave like my lord i lord but shall to be safe behind me the of division advanced reluctantly for s pistol no my lord said it is plain i am not lit i hut expose myself � and my mother has separated us i lost her � if you do not win her some worse man may but i if yon are a man use her tenderly whom sir do not make her regret me too much was my treasure my consolation � was to be my wife she would have cheered the road of life � it is a desert now i loved � i � i � hero the poor fellow choked lord turned round aud threw his pistol to catch that on tlie contrary by a single motion chained his person from a straight line to a line parallel with the a surface and weapon sang his then a noble defiance of etiquette walked up to his and gave him bis hand with a motion no one could resist for he felt for poor fellow it is ail a mistake said he there is no between la and me but mutual esteem i will the whole thing admire her for her virtue her wit her innocence her goodness and all that sort of thing and she what sees in me i am i don t know added he slightly hia aristocratic shoulders do me the honor ix breakfast with me | 9 |
few signs of the grief he had suffered during the night true he was much paler than usual and very silent � but being well accustomed to hide his emotions and keep his troubles to himself he complained of nothing not even to when as she brought him his breakfast she said in rather a manner your ma came home last night master and went away again � what do you think of that i don t think anything � he replied wearily why should i it s not my business hesitated should she tell him what all the servants in the house too truly suspected � what the very villagers in were already about at their cottage doors and in the common room of the inn no i can t do it she mentally decided � he looks as white as a little ghost he do and x i won t bother him he wouldn t understand maybe and he s got all his lessons to learn poor little chap and it ll only him anyhow he ll hear it fast enough aloud she said i suppose your pa and the professor will be home by the first coach from this morning i suppose so assented indifferently i don t like myself went on � people talk about it a lot but it s just a nasty damp up and down place without any real comfort in it they ve got a queer car now that up the hill from to and that doesn t make it any prettier i can tell you she paused then added by way of a totally after thought there s a letter addressed to your pa in your ma s writing waiting for him on his study table remained silent pretending to be entirely absorbed in the enjoyment of his breakfast finding he was not inclined to talk soon left him to himself much to his relief for when quite alone he was fi ee to push away the food that him to even look at and to think his own thoughts without interruption his mother s strange visit to his bedside during the night � her stranger words her tears her kisses seemed this morning more like the vague impressions of a dream than a reality � and unless he had found the � his own baby � she had left with him under his pillow he would have been inclined to doubt the whole incident as it was he was afraid to dwell too much upon it for he had a horrible that it meant something more than he dared � something dreadful � something hopeless � something that for him would bring great misery he had carefully hidden away the baby � a four yards length of broad soft ribbon with the delicate design of a chain over its pale blue silken ground � he had looked at it first with critical interest wondering what he had been like when as an infant he had worn such a pretty thing and noting that it was scented with the same delicious of that had been from his mother s handkerchief when she had dried her eyes after her sudden fit of weeping having put it by in a safe place he knew of he went to his books and set himself desperately to work in order to try and forget his own beginning by a passage of into english blank verse he went on to caesar s com � then he did several difficult and sums and was stretching every small fibre of his young brain well on the rack of learning when a coach horn sounded and he saw the coach itself come rattling into his father and professor were on top � that he saw at a glance � and in another few minutes he taking cautious from the school room window perceived their two familiar figures walking up the drive and entering the house and now � something seemed to stop the boy from the of his tasks � a curious sensation came over him as though he were to wait and hear the worst what worst he could not any worst satisfactorily to himself � yet a violent ringing of bells in the outside corridor startled him and set his heart beating rapidly � he got up from his chair and stood anxiously listening and wondering what was the matter all at once his father s voice pitched in a high hoarse key of utmost wrath called loudly where is the boy has he turned tramp as his mother has turned the sentence was left unfinished for at that moment ran down the stairs quickly and faced him i am here father he trembled as he spoke for he thought his father had suddenly gone mad crimson with fury his eyes rolling wildly in his head his teeth clenched on his under lip he was a terrible sight to see � and his aspect overwhelmed poor with such alarm that he scarcely perceived the professor who stood in the background his great together and his mouth into a strangely grin directly his little son appeared mr pulled himself up as it were by a violent and bringing his eyebrows together so that they met in a hard black line on the bridge of his nose he said in choked fierce accents � oh you are here did you he paused took breath and resumed � did you see your mother yesterday yes � answered the boy faintly � i saw her last night i was in bed and she came and woke me up and said good bye to me mr glared at the fragile trembling little figure in frowning scorn said good bye to you was that all � or was there anything else speak out s teeth began to chatter with fear she said � she said she was going on a visit with � | 33 |
and in dates plainly back to the different of the two colonies new england was for the sake of an idea a and the by men who reasonably thought to better their con and make their fortune m pointed out the between these two types the and the only he finds a distinction in birth wealth and breeding in favor of the which he would not have found had he known american history somewhat better however the difference between the and the religious colonies still continues in the descendants of the two but these types unite or will unite as he says to form a future national type namely the western man let us look at the volumes of mr his work is divided into forty eight chapters and beginning with the first voyage of ends with the election of the first president after the of the constitution when so great a theme is to be treated in the small compass of three volumes the author must needs be brief accordingly he quite the preliminary matter relating to the discoveries of the continent by the italian and briefly sketches a picture of the country and its inhabitants at the period when european first began the account of the indians is short occupying but about twenty pages yet distinct and clear for one so brief it is the best account we remember to have seen the whole indian population within the united states the limits of the united states and west of the rocky mountains he thinks never exceeded if it ever reached three hundred thousand others make the number not far from one hundred and eighty thousand the indians have not yet received the attention which they demand from the historian and the philosopher they are as remarkable monuments in the development of the human race as the are in the history of the physical changes of this earth but they are passing away their institutions manners traditions and language will soon be forgotten and by and by it will be impossible to the history of which they furnish so valuable a chapter mr speaks of the french in america and then comes to the history of the english here for a long time there is an apparent want of unity in the subject which no historical treatment can wholly disguise the reader is hurried from virginia to new england then to new york to to the to to and to however for a long time virginia and new england are the objects of chief interest we shall dwell chiefly on the latter and call the attention of our readers to some things of considerable importance in the story of america the character of the has been the theme of praise and condemnation the of of and of are quite characters perhaps no one of these three great masters of the art of history has given us a fair and just likeness of the men mr is not ambitious in his attempt to defend the fathers of new england he rather leaves their actions to speak for themselves he thus speaks of them however � as the other traditions of the church fell more and more into contempt the entire reverence of the people was concentrated upon the bible recently made accessible in an english version and read with eagerness not as a mere form of words to be solemnly and gone through with but as an inspired revelation an authority in science politics morals life it began indeed to be judged necessary by the more ardent and sincere that all existing institutions in church and state all social relations and the habits of every day life should be and made to to this divine model those who entertained these sentiments increased to a considerable party composed chiefly indeed of the classes and but including also merchants landed the united and even of the they were by not inclined to go with them as but the of their and doctrines and their confident to internal assurance of a second birth and special election as the children of god made a powerful impression on the multitude while the high schemes they entertained for the of society brought them into sympathy with all that was great and heroic in the nation the the church ceremonies and presently the but they long entertained profound reverence for the church itself and a superstitious terror of some of the bolder and more ardent whose obscurity gave them courage took at length the decisive step of the english and setting up a church of their own upon what they conceived to be the bible model that however was going than the great body of the wished or dared to follow and these remained for many years obscure and � vol i there are certain in the they at first founded which mr very properly dwells upon and we refer to the which they founded no historian of america has so fully done them justice in this respect he fears no man he ia not by any for the he shows no to them nothing adds nothing and sets down naught in malice we shall a little on the tyranny which they sought to exercise in john and samuel at insisted on using the of the english church and set up a separate worship of their own for that purpose they were arrested as and evil and home to england in the government of decided that no man shall be admitted a that is a a citizen in full unless he were a member of a church in the colony the candidate for church must state his religious experience before the church convince them of his assurance and justification before he shall be admitted as a member thus the road to the box led through the church and lay directly in the range of the pulpit hence it was no easy matter to become a mr says | 37 |
you of my blood he added lying down at full length one flank thrust out of the and then between his teeth but for that which is the law it would be very good hunting the quick spread ears of the deer caught the last sentence and a frightened whisper ran along the ranks the remember the peace there peace the wild elephant the holds this is no time to talk of hunting who should know better than i answered rolling his yellow eyes up stream i am an of � a of would i could get good from branches we wish so very greatly a young who had only been bom that spring and did not at all like it wretched as the people were even could not help while lying on his elbows in the warm water laughed aloud and beat up the foam with his feet well spoken little bud horn � when the ends that shall be remembered in thy favour and he looked keenly through the darkness to make sure of the again the second book gradually the talk spread up and down the drinking places you could hear the pig asking for more room the among themselves as they out across the and the deer telling pitiful stories of their long in quest of food now and again they asked some question of the of flesh across the river but all the news was bad and the roaring hot wind of the came and went between the rocks and the rattling branches and scattered twigs and dust on the water the men folk too they die beside their said a young i passed three between sunset and night they lay still and their with them we also shall lie still in a little the river has fallen since last night said o hast thou ever seen the like of this it will pass it will pass said water along his back and sides we have one here that cannot endure long said and he looked towards the boy he loved i said indignantly sitting up in the water i have no long fur to cover my bones but � but if thy hide were pulled off shook all over at the idea and said severely man that is not to tell a teacher how fear came tj of the law never have i been seen without my hide nay i meant no harm but only that thou art as it were like the in the and i am the same all naked now that brown of thine was sitting and explaining things with his forefinger in his usual way when put out a and pulled him over backwards into the water worse and worse said the black as the boy rose first is to be and now he is a be careful that he does not do what the ripe do and what is that said oflf his guard for the minute though that is one of the oldest catches in the break thy head said quietly pulling him under again it is not good to make a jest of thy teacher said the bear when had been for the third time not good what would ye have that naked thing running to and fro makes a monkey jest of those who have once been good hunters and the best of us by the whiskers for sport this was the lame tiger down to the water he waited a little to enjoy the sensation he made among the deer on the opposite bank then second book i the second book he dropped his square head and to lap growling the has become a for naked now look at me man looked � stared rather � as as he knew how and in a minute turned away uneasily man this and man that he going on with his drink the is neither man nor or he would have been afraid next season i shall have to beg his leave for a drink that may come too said looking him steadily between the eyes that may come too � what new shame hast thou brought here the lame tiger had dipped his chin and in the water and dark streaks were floating from it down stream man said coolly i killed an hour since he went on and growling to himself the line of beasts shook and wavered to and fro and a whisper went up that grew to a cry man man he has killed man then all looked towards the wild elephant but he seemed not to hear never does anything till the time comes and that is one of the reasons why he so long at such a season as this to kill man was there no other game said scorn how fear came drawing himself out of the water and shaking each cat fashion as he did so i killed for choice � not for food the whisper began again and s watchful little white eye cocked itself in s direction for choice now come i to drink and make me dean again is there any to forbid s back began to curve like a in a high wind but lifted up his trunk and spoke quietly thy kill was from choice he asked and when asks a question it is best to answer even so it was my right and my night thou o spoke almost courteously yea i know answered and after a little silence hast thou drunk thy fill for to night yes go the river is to drink and not to none but the lame tiger would have boasted of his right at this season when � when we together � man and people alike clean or get to thy the last words rang out like silver trumpets and s three sons rolled forward half a pace though there was no need away not to growl for he | 39 |
was going on led me to act by them in a way that i must always be ashamed of and i was very foolishly tempted to say and do many things which may well lay me open to unpleasant conjectures but i have no other reason to regret that i was not in the secret earlier cried he looking eagerly at her are you indeed � but checking no no i understand you � forgive me � i am pleased that you can say even so much he is no object of regret indeed i and it will not be very long i hope before that becomes the acknowledgment of more than your reason fortunate that your affections were not farther entangled � i could never i confess from your manners assure myself as to the degree of what you felt � i could only be certain that there was a preference � and a preference which i never believed him to deserve he is a disgrace to the name of man and is he to be rewarded with that sweet young woman � jane jane you will be a miserable creature mr said trying to be but really confused � i am in a very extraordinary situation i cannot let you continue in your error and yet perhaps since my manners gave such an impression i have as much reason to be ashamed of that i never have been at all attached to the person we are speaking of as it might be natural for a woman to feel in exactly the reverse but i never have he in perfect silence she wished him to speak but he would not she supposed she must say more before she were entitled to his but it was a hard case to be obliged still to lower herself in his opinion she went on however � i have very little to say for my own conduct i was tempted by his attentions and allowed myself to appear pleased an old story probably � a case � and no more than has happened to hundreds of my sex before and yet it may not be the more in one who sets up as i do for understanding many circumstances assisted the temptation he was the son of mr � he was continually here � i always found him very pleasant � and in short for with a sigh let me swell out the causes ever so they all centre in this at last � my vanity was flattered and i allowed his attentions however for some time indeed i have had no idea of their meaning any thing i thought them a habit a trick nothing that called for seriousness on my side he has imposed on me but he has not injured me i have never been attached to him and now i can tolerably comprehend his behaviour he never wished to attach me it was merely a blind to conceal his real situation with another it was his object to blind all about him and no one i am sure could be more effectually blinded than except that i was not blinded � that it was my good fortune � that in short i was somehow or other safe from him she had hoped for an answer here � for a few words to say that her conduct was at least intelligible but he was silent and as far as she could judge deep in thought at last and tolerably in his usual tone he said � i have never had a high opinion of frank i can suppose however that i may have under him my acquaintance with him has been but trifling and even if i have not under him hitherto he may yet turn out well with such a woman he has a i have no motive for wishing him and for her sake whose happiness will be involved in his good character and conduct i shall certainly wish him well i have no doubt of their being happy together said i them to be very and very sincerely attached he is a most fortunate man returned mr with energy so early in life � at three and twenty � a period when if a man chooses a wife he generally chooses ill at three and twenty to have drawn such a prize what years of felicity that man in all human calculation has before him assured of the love of such a woman � the disinterested love for jane s character for her every thing in his favour � equality of situation � i mean as far as regards society and all the habits and manners that are important equality in every point but one � and that one since the purity of her heart is not to be doubted such as must increase his for it will be his to bestow the only advantages she wants a man would always wish to give a woman a better home than the one he takes her from and he who can do it where there is no doubt of her regard must i think be the happiest of mortals frank is indeed the favourite of fortune every thing turns out for his good he meets with a yo ng woman at a watering place gains her affection cannot even weary her by treatment � and had he and all his family sought round the world for a perfect wife for him they could not have found her superior his aunt is in the way his aunt dies he has only to speak his friends eager to promote his happiness he has used every � body and they are all delighted to forgive he is a fortunate man indeed you speak as if you envied him and i do envy him � in one respect he is the object of my envy could say no more they seemed to | 26 |
a sort but if the two are not in touch if the hand clasp is relaxed one of them in deep waters while the other shells on the shore ah my dear he said sadly are you not a little unhappy even those who ea m love do not always get it don t you think � he hesitated that perhaps all the time a woman is looking to a man to help her he has been looking to her to help him tou are too proud to own that you beau yet it is plain as daylight that in his selfish way he loves you coldness may have its corresponding virtue as every virtue has its attendant vice nor thou what thy life to thy neighbour s creed hath lent added softly i think said that we women lock a treasure of love in a and weigh it now and then in our hands and as it is heavy we think it must be all right but when we take it out lo it is another man s love that lives tou are he said suspiciously and she smiled somehow a man never sees anything not directly imder his nose and not even then unless he wishes i also think she went on with that hard lightness which looked so easy and had cost so much that the who puts his head in the sand was originally a woman and a wise one at that which o io saying is a but i was wise and shall be still as one grows older one demands less one we think it is in the heart but it is in the blood growing thinner and colder day by day poor he said sadly if only you would dare to be yourself i james lane says � some women in marrying all and give all with good men they are the happy with base men they are the broken hearted some demand every thing and give little with weak men they are with strong men they are the some demand little and give all with congenial souls they are already in heaven with they are soon in their graves some give little and demand little they are the heartless and they bring neither the joy of life nor the peace of death like exclaimed as he spoke the concluding words don t do it don t put a sword into a cruel hand that will you bit by bit to death it is only when you find the cup at which you drink a dried up instead of a sweet draught that you the immense amount of refreshment of support that the kind word the loving care the sympathy that might have been poured into it drop by drop by me hand and were not and what of the other cup he said sternly we have our duty too and you were never quite fair to but his anger died out suddenly as having no root in a righteous cause he looked across to where he and had sat together that morning and even as in some mysterious way nature with fingers was drawing out of sight last year s dead pushing forward in its stead little new purple red blossoms so was unconsciously being drawn out of the of his life and the more or less love that had wrapped him about as with bands had loosened about him up there in the of the wind and the sky and the sunshine it seemed to him that then his heart had tried and rejected leaving her a little heap of colour and and sweetness on the with last our acts our are or good or ul our fatal shadows that walk by us still fell unconsciously from his lips and he shivered a little somehow the magic and glory of the day had departed looked at him she had brought him here that they might be happy and the wretched human note had the beauty and turned all the music to discord as man s paltry affairs will when brought to the high concerns of we have soiled it all i we have spoiled it all she cried to herself passionately her beloved bowl would have to be with moonlight to it of the human stain they turned their heads as down the hill came whirling a couple of the man with his hand on the girl s shoulder the afternoon sun shining full on their young light as feathers they passed on the wonderful road and were gone in a moment leaving a flashing impression of mutual trust and happiness and love and sighed is my idea of marriage she said to her companion to help � to go to one another in difficulty and in trouble � not merely in laughter and to share daily bread try it he said earnestly gather all the sunshine you can and it on � above all give some to poor beau for after all � paused the good women of this world have the best of it enclosed within the walled garden of home sooner or later the man stray into the one room where the woman whom at heart he loves and who loves him patiently his return the woman in the street has no by which to enter that sacred the who silently and all her love rebellion and sorrow lived to welcome her safely within the four walls of home at last doubtless spinning was the equivalent to cars in these days for at heart you know you are an woman her lips trembled a woman s memory is very and she can t forget the days have been and had been happy once with beau they had risen and were standing side by side they had talked longer than they thought a scarlet sun with no of colour was sinking through a rosy bed sheer into the bloom | 17 |
it is mine i am afraid will get nothing well he added aloud are you satisfied perfectly in that case said the cardinal we may look on the d as already accomplished chapter xx the calm before the needless to say the princess was delighted with the success of s mission as a matter of fact its accomplishment was due more to the cardinal than to the major but as the latter was the agent in carrying out the affair he received all the credit so far as was concerned it mattered but little to her who secured so long as he was gained over to her side but confident that no ingratitude on her part could the cardinal she ignored his share in the triumph and all her praise on the major conceive the pride with which heard such compliments from royal lips he knew perfectly well that had brought to him entirely willing to join the royal cause and that nothing was needed to the matter but the promise that the money would be paid yet with this knowledge the major began to believe that he was an uncommonly clever who had conducted a difficult to a successful termination as to the of all this flattered himself that the result rested with him for he had hit upon a method of securing the in london ring through the of the affair was still in as the major s brain had not yet completed the various details but it was sufficiently forward to assure him that he would obtain possession of the ring before the money was paid over to when this happened was not sure whether he would carry out the or fly the kingdom leaving the to their fate if he stayed he ran a chance of losing the ring again for would do all in his power to recover possession of it whereas if he fled who could tell what horrors might had been promised a sum of money on payment of which he had sworn to assist the if he were disappointed in payment he would certainly revenge himself by revealing the secrets of the conspiracy to and all the inmates of could not make up his mind whether to or hasten this catastrophe but of one thing he was certain that on the night when the d was to occur he and not would be the destiny of the affair with these ideas in his mind went about with a very happy expression of face which those whom he had half decided to betray put down to satisfaction at having been the means of securing the of the major did not them on this point but chuckled to think how he would shortly hold all their lives in his hand no touch of for his proposed was in his heart but as the man was quite in a moral sense this was to be won the calm before the storm at he simply argued that as had him by keeping the ring he had a right to deceive by stealing it from him and as for the that might happen in the event of his success he never gave them a thought meanwhile encouraged by the of to the royal cause the of the princess worked hard to unite all the scattered threads of the conspiracy cardinal called at the villa and brought with him the lists of the in the provinces who had agreed to revolt against the government in support of s pretensions each of these could bring hundreds of men into the field so even though the president made a stand against the soldiers of at in a very short space of time the would arrive from far and near and the would be forced to yield to sheer strength the in of his policy sent oat messengers to all the towns villages and castles of the kingdom that the great day was approaching and so strong was the spirit in the provinces that the news of this never reached the of the being in that city they were rather contemptuous of the provinces assuming that so long as they had the capital the republic would still maintain her ground had remained faithful to this indeed might have been the case but now that he and his soldiers had gone over to the royal cause the of villa looked upon their triumph as in london knew nothing of the danger was at his very doors which said but little for his system of everywhere men in his pay were watching for signs of discontent and but secure in the certainty of their success the made no sign in any way seeing then this outward content the reported to that the cause was utterly dead and that never was the of the republic so stable it was the calm before the storm but did not know it the first intimation that there might be a conspiracy on foot came from the russian agency where it was hinted that political reasons had brought the master of villa to there was no ground for this belief but the eternal suspicions of russia made her suspect every one owing to the of the she was well aware that danger might under a seeming innocent exterior and the russian agent advised to personally visit the villa once there he could satisfy himself as to whether the inmates were at all mixed up in politics and act as he deemed best for the safety of the republic thinking over this matter came to the conclusion that it would be as well to look into it for himself and asked s opinion that cunning soldier laughed at the idea of a dull englishman mixing himself up in foreign politics and advised to call at the villa by all means if only to set his suspicions at rest at the same time he warned of the approaching the calm | 12 |
tom had been sent off immediately for the crown chaise and the had stood out and seen it pass by the boy going a good pace and driving very steady there was nothing in all this either to astonish or interest and it caught s attention only as it united with the subject which already engaged her mind the contrast between mrs s importance in the world and jane s struck her one was everything the other nothing � and she sat musing on the difference of woman s destiny and quite unconscious on what her eyes were fixed till roused by miss saying � ay i see what you are thinking of the what is to become of that very true poor dear jane was talking of it just now you must go said she you and i must part you will have no business here let it stay however said she give it house room till colonel comes back i shall talk about it to him he will settle for me he will help me out of all my and to this day i do believe she knows not whether it was his present or his daughter s now was obliged to think of the and the remembrance of all her former fanciful and unfair conjectures was so little pleasing that she soon allowed herself to believe her visit had been long enough and with a repetition of everything that she could venture to say of the good wishes which she really felt took leave chapter � s pensive meditations as she walked home were not interrupted but on entering the parlour she found who must rouse her mr and had arrived during her absence and were sitting with her father mr immediately got up and in a manner decidedly graver than usual said � i would not go away without seeing you but i have no time to spare and therefore must now be gone directly i am going to london to spend a few days with john and have you anything to send or say besides the love which nobody carries nothing at all but is not this a sudden scheme yes � rather � i have been thinking of it some little time was sure he had not forgiven her he looked unlike himself time however she thought would tell him that they ought to be friends again while he stood as if meaning to go but not going � her father began his inquiries well my dear and did you get there safely � and how did you find my worthy old friend and her daughter � i dare say they must have been very much obliged to you for coming dear has been to call on mrs and miss mr as i told you before she is always so attentive to them s colour was heightened by this unjust praise and with a smile and shake of the head which spoke much she looked at mr it seemed as if there were an impression in her favour as if his eyes received the truth from hers and all that had passed of good in her feelings were at once caught and honoured he looked at her with a glow of regard she was warmly gratified � and in another moment still more so by a little movement of more than common friendliness on his part he took her hand � whether she had not herself made the st motion she could not say � she might perhaps have rather offered it � but he took her hand pressed it and was on the point of carrying it to his lips � when from some fancy or other he suddenly let it go why he should feel such a scruple why he should change his mind when it was all but done she could not perceive he would have judged better she thought if he had not stopped the intention however was and whether it was that his manners had in general so little gallantry or however else it happened but she thought nothing became him more it was with him of so simple yet so dignified a nature she could not but recall the attempt with great satisfaction it spoke such perfect he left them immediately afterwards � gone in a moment he always moved with the of a mind which could neither be nor but now he seemed more sudden than usual in his disappearance could not regret her having gone to miss but she wished she had left her ten minutes earlier � it would have been a great pleasure to talk over jane s situation with mr neither would she regret that he should be going to square for she knew how much his visit would be enjoyed � but it might have happened at a better time � and to have had longer notice of it would have been pleasanter they parted thorough friends however she could not be deceived as to the meaning of his countenance and his unfinished gallantry � it was all done to assure her that she had fully recovered his good opinion he had been sitting with them half an s hour she found it was a pity that she had not come back earlier in the hope of her father s thoughts from the of mr s going to london and going so suddenly and going on horseback which she knew would be all very bad communicated her news of jane and her dependence on the effect was justified it supplied a very useful check � interested without disturbing him he had long made up his mind to jane s going out as and could talk of it cheerfully but mr s going to london had been an unexpected blow i am very glad indeed my dear to hear she is to be so comfortably settled mrs is very and agreeable and i | 26 |
� � n j� � � � to o� o � oo ao a c � to io r i ir c r ih t � � � � s� ol b x o t � � � o lo � � oi t i � w ni i r � � l � � � � � o� � e h i l� c � ss ss s ha sl s s� c� � � t � � � o� � st i� o j� o� o � it h ih i � i ih h � � � � � � � t ox n� o� � t io h� � o c sa l � n� co � h c t co � ic m f c mo � i� i l� � t i � � � � � a c c a c � � � t� li � � s i s i w� j� � s� t o o o � x � w � � n f � t� io s � � s t oo ct c � c nt ri � � w� � � � o� � � � ot t � � � � � t � o� o � r it � wo � g s vi � � lot c m � � � g i sa ss n� t� c � � � � � v � � � h� t j� � t � ft � o t a c o t � t � oi � o q � � � s� x t t � a � c � c� � c j� w � io x i e � j � i � � � a � s � i ij � c s w s s � f � � � � f s s i il of year vote year tor vote year vote year vote i a f h op previous j ro l� y o tl of for charles o t and virginia did not vote t the eleven states did not the for m q h i m � a e i h j m t a ih rt r i m � h m p ns � � j j j j j j i t m i t lis t i � j j � i i j is is s j i j i i s d s i j j j j i j s j i i ss is pi ah son j � � j � ss i i i i js g j i i i ih ih if i i i r i h p n h fir i � oo ft ih h � r t � ii h o i i n i is i� i s� g i i h c i h � � � r i r e� i � o� n pi oo ct u h � � r i p ih ih i i oo � s i i is i i� i� s i ss is � s i i i s � in � � is � i j � i� g i i brown � � � grant p t n i j ih oo � ih � ri � � ri a vote for president e � id h h fi m ik h p h h o o u h � oo f co ft co i i co � h s ih f h s s i oi x l t � t h fl x � ci t� ni g ik ot fi ot t i o i q m tf i i l n ca ss x r l ci t ji c t � l rt � t ip i � i o i o q co t h i� f x m � it oo le t s o tl n ip l lo t i i t i th r l jo c � t i mr k e t � lo o co co i � � m � � io d t the ai tor of the by c states s � � � i r south and west and � pacific of the whole vote oi states labor r� new l o middle � south and west and pacific of the vote x the in and no of no of u c r no of no of v c new new new york north north no of no of island south south virginia washington west virginia total a to choice the new in by groups op states new states new island states new york new west virginia oi western and north western states north south southern and south western states virginia north south � t f pacific states washington total total of former increase of this increase goes to new england to the middle states to the western and states to the southern and states and to the pacific states the vote of was thus divided new england middle n and north west n south n and south west n pacific iii majority number op ill h i h ih co d co ih ih � i r h h h w n w h � i i ih h � im ih ti i ill ih h a h w h m i i hi si � � � t� ei � � oi � � � so � � � h i i i h i i i i � c � ill � t ih � � � t n w � � ill � � � � � � o � � � l h � � � � c l the e for of candidate foi each date total each candidate h n o io h u s o i w o | 19 |
is this your whether he the wide stretches of the ocean or remains at home near the sea has a seeming or of soul that no rush of ordinary life can disturb i have noted it of every port of the sea that the eager intensity of men so often away at the water s edge boats are not loaded with the hard that marks the of trains a sense of the idle devil may care indifference of water seems to play about the affairs of these people of those who have to do with them � the indifference of the sea perhaps the suggestion of the heartless deep that is in every channel and dock basin is the element that is at the base of their motions your sailor and man will not hurry his eyes are wide with a strange suspicion of the deep he knows by contact what the and the fury of the waters are the word of the sea is to be indifferent never you mind as it was in the beginning so it ever shall be i think the peace and sweetness of bear some relationship to this wonderful spirit of the endless deep as i walked along these and and through these � seemingly worlds in which water and trees and red brick houses swam in a soft light exactly the light and atmosphere you find in dutch art � i felt as though i had come out of a hard modem existence such as one finds in germany and back into something kindly rural intellectual philosophic was i believe holland s contribution to philosophy � and a worthy dutch philosopher he was � and its great scholar both and have indicated in their lives the spirit of their country i think if you could look into the spirits and homes of thousands of simple you would find that same kindly which you admire in their paintings it is so placid it was so here in one gathered it from the very air i had a feeling of peaceful meditative delight in life and the of living all the time i was in holland which i take to be significant all the while i was there i was wishing that i might remain throughout the spring and summer and dream � in germany i was haunted by the necessity of effort it was while i was in this first morning a at forty that the that my travels were fast drawing to a close dawned upon me i had been having such a good time i that fresh interested feeling of something new to look forward to with each morning was still enduring but now i saw that my splendid world of adventure was all but ended has proved as i recalled now with some satisfaction that life can be lived with great intellectual and spiritual distinction in a way and in small compass but oh the wonder of the world s � the going to and fro amid the things of eminence and memory seeing how thus far this house of ours has been furnished by man and by nature all those wonderful lands and objects that i had looked forward to with such keen interest a few months before were now in their way things of the past england france italy germany london paris rome st peter s � i could not look on those any more with fresh and wondering eyes how brief life is i thought how in its mood it gives us a brief some of us once and then takes the cup away it seemed to me as i sat here looking out on the fresh and sweet of holland that i could idle thus forever down foolish impressions exclaiming over fleeting phases of beauty wiping my eyes at the and that are so precious and so sad holland was before me and and one more of paris and a few days in england perhaps and then i should go back to new york to write i could see it � new york with its high buildings its cars its rough oh why might i not idle abroad � � � � � � � the second morning of my arrival i received a message from a sister of madame a madame j the wife of an eminent dutch who had some thing to do with the peace court would i come to lunch this day her husband would be a little late but i would not mind her sister had written her she would be so glad to see me i promptly accepted the house was near the museum with a charming view of water from the windows i can see it now � this very pleasant holland interior the rooms into which i was introduced were gray in tone the contents spare and in good taste flowers in abundance much brass and old copper madame j was herself a study in steel blue and silver gray a reserved yet woman a better than madame a she spoke english perfectly she had read my book the latest one and had liked it she told me then she folded her hands in her lap leaned forward and looked at me i have been so curious to see what you looked like well i replied take a long look i am not as wild as early would indicate i hope you must n t start with prejudices she smiled it is n t that there are so many things in your book which make me curious it is such a strange book � self revealing i imagine i would n t be too sure she merely continued to look at me and smile in a placid way but her inspection was so sympathetic and in a way that it was rather flattering than otherwise i in turn studied her here was a woman that i had been told | 43 |
my love i cannot love where i am � i must love where love itself calls he stood still staring at her he seemed to have lost the power of speech you have insulted me almost beyond pardon she went on your are all lies i love the king � but i am not the king s mistress i would no more be his mistress than i would be your wife slowly slowly his hand got at something in his pocket and clutched it almost unconsciously slowly slowly he raised that hand still clutching that something � and his lips parted in a breathless way showing the glimmer of white teeth within you love the king he said in deliberate accents and you dare you dare to tell me so she raised her golden head with a beautiful defiance and courage between two passions i love the king she said � and i dare to tell you so with a lightning quickness of movement the hand that had been groping after an unseen evil now came out into the light with a sudden sharp crash and flame of fire a faint cry tore the air ah � � oh � god and staggered back stunned � sick dizzy death death she thought wildly this is death and with a last desperate of her sinking force as every memory of her life swept over her brain in that supreme moment she sprang at her murderer and the weapon from his hand clutching it hard and fast in her own say say i did it � myself � she gasped in short quick sobs of pain tell the king � i did it myself � myself � save your own life � i forgive she and with a choking cry fell back heavily � dead her hair came with her fall and shook itself round her in a gold wave as though to hide the horror of the blood that from her lips and breast with a horrid sense of stared upon the evil he had done he gazed around him he listened for to come and explain to him what had happened but up in that remote there was no one to hear either a pistol shot or a cry there was only one thing to be understood and learnt by heart � tha t once living was now dead dead how came she dead that was what he could not determine the heat of his wild fury had passed � leaving him cold and passive as a stone he whispered the name horrible how she looked � with all that blood � all that golden hair tell the king i did it myself yes � the king would have to be told � something stooping he tried to the pistol from the lifeless hand but the fingers though still warm were on the weapon and he dared not them he was afraid he stood up power again and looked around him his glance fell on the knot of flowers he had noticed in the morning � the great roses � the � tied with their golden ribbon he took them hastily and them down beside her � then watched a little stream of blood running running towards one of the and purest of the roses it reached it stained it � and presently drowned it in a little pool he covered his eyes and staggered backward against the door the evening was growing dark � through the small high window he could see the stars beginning to shine as usual as usual � though was dead that seemed strange putting one hand behind him he cautiously opened the door still keeping his guarded gaze on that huddled heap of clothes and blood and glittering hair which had been i must get home he muttered i have business to attend to as to the city there is much to o much to do for the people the people my god and dead a kind of laughter threatened him he pressed his mouth hard with his hand to choke back this strange struggling passion is dead there she lies i know not who killed her no � no she has killed herself � she said so there she lies poor she will never speak to the people � never comfort them � � never teach them any more � never hold little in her arms and console them � never smile on the sorrowful or cheer the sick � never i love the king she said � and she died for saying it one should not love kings tell the king i did it myself yes � lie still � be at peace � the king shall know soon enough still muttering uneasily to himself he went out always moving backwards � and with a last look at that fallen breathless form of murdered woman shut the door stealthily behind him then stumbling down the stairs he wandered blind and half into the darkening night chapter sailing to the infinite great always come suddenly with the swiftness of lightning they descend upon the world often in the very midst of fancied peace and security � and the grinning of humanity for whom even the idea of a god has but furnished food for are scattered into terror stricken who are forced to for the first time in their lives that whether they believe in or no an evident law of justice exists which may not be outraged with sometimes this law works strangely � one might almost say it sweeps away persons whom we have judged as useful to the community and allows those to remain whom we consider unnecessary but we � all important we � are not allowed to long assert or maintain our petty opinions against this unknown force which makes of all our best and most carefully conceived arrangements for example we are not given any practical reason | 33 |
a husband though fm thb mill on thb sorry for her and mrs agreed that was pitiable that evening tom observed to oh my aunt s beginning to come again fm glad tm going to school catch it all now was already so full of sorrow at the thought of tom s going away from her that this exultation of his � seemed very unkind and she cried herself to sleep that night mr s prompt on him further in finding the convenient person who was desirous of five hundred pounds on bond it must be no of s he said to himself and yet at the end of a fortnight it turned out to the contrary not because mr s will was feeble but because external fact was stronger s was the only convenient person to be found mr had a destiny as well as and in this case he might plead like that his deed was on him rather than committed by him book second school time chapter tom s tom s sufferings during the first quarter he was at king s under the distinguished care of the rev walter were rather severe at academy life had not presented itself to him as a difficult problem there were plenty of fellows to play with and tom being good at active games � fighting especially � had that among them which appeared to him inseparable from the personality of tom mr himself familiarly known as old from his habit of wearing spectacles no awe and if it was the property of old like to write like and surround their wit to si ell without and to my name is without tom for his part was ad he was not in danger of mean accomplishments he was not going to be a � he but a substantial man like his father who used to go hunting when be was younger and rode a capital black mare � as pretty a bit of as ever you saw tom had heard what her points were a hundred times meant to go hunting too and to be generally respected when people were grown up he considered inquired about their writing und bi when he was a man he should be master of every and do just as he liked it had been very difficult for him to himself to the idea that his school time was to be prolonged and that he was not to be brought up to his business which he had always thought pleasant tor it was nothing but riding giving orders and to market and he thought that a clergyman would give him great many scripture lessons and probably make him learn the gospel and l on a sunday as well as the collect but in the absence of specific information it was thb mill on thb for him to imagine that school and a be something entirely different from the academy of mr so not to be at a deficiency in case of his finding genial companions he had taken care to carry with him a small box of caps not that there was any thing particular to be done with them but they would serve to impress strange boys with a sense of his familiarity with thus poor tom though he saw very clearly through s illusions was not without illusions of his own which were to be cruelly dissipated by his enlarged experience at king s he had not been there a fortnight before it w as evident to him that life complicated not only with the latin grammar but with a new standard of english was a very difficult business made all the more obscure by a thick mist of tom as you have observed was never an exception among boys for ease of address but the difficulty of a in reply to mr or mrs was so great that he even dreaded to be asked at table whether he would have more as to the caps he had almost resolved in the bitterness of his heart that he would throw them into a neighboring pond for not only was he the solitary pupil but he began even to have a certain about guns and a general sense that his theory of life was for mr thought nothing of guns or horses either apparently and yet it was impossible for tom to despise mr as he had despised old if there was any thing that was not thoroughly genuine about mr it lay quite beyond tom s power to detect it it is only by a wide comparison of facts that the wisest fuu grown man can distinguish well rolled barrels from more thunder mr was a well sized broad man not yet thirty with hair standing erect and large gray eyes which were always very wide open he had a bass voice and an air of defiant self confidence to he had entered on his career with great vigor and intended to make a considerable impression on his fellow men the rev walter was not a man who would remain among the inferior clergy all his life he had a true british determination to push his way in the world as a in the first place for there were capital of grammar schools to be had and mr meant to have me of them but as a preacher also for he meant always to pr in a striking manner so as to have his congregation swelled admirers from neighboring and to produce a great sensation whenever he took occasional duty for a brother mill on ths of minor gifts the style of preaching he had chosen was the which was held little short of the in rural like � ing s some passages of and which he knew by heart were really very effective when rolled out in mr s deepest tones but as comparatively feeble appeals of his own were delivered in the | 14 |
survey of the guest with the assistance of his mother in law sir john was not long in discovering that the name of began with an f and this prepared a future mine of against the devoted which nothing but the of their acquaintance with edward could have prevented from being immediately but as it was she only � and learned from some significant how far penetration j founded on margaret s instructions extended sir never came to the d h woods without either in them to dine at the park the next day or do drink tea with them that evening on the present occasion for the better entertainment of their towards whose amusement he felt himself bound to contribute he wished to engage them for both you drink tea with us to night said he for we shall he quite alone and to morrow you must absolutely dine with u j for we be a large party mrs enforced the necessity and who knows but you m ay sa a dance said she � and that will tempt miss a dance cried impossible who is to dance who why yourselves and the and to be sure what i you thought nobody could dance because a certain person that shall be nameless is gone i i wish with all my soul cried sir john that were among us again this and s blushing gave new suspicions to edward and who is said he in a low to miss dash wood by whom he was sitting she gave him a brief reply countenance was more edward saw enough to comprehend not only the meaning of others j hut such of s expressions as had puzzled him before j and when their left he went immediately round her and said in a whisper have been shall tell you my guess what do you mean shall tell you certainly well then i guess that mr was surprised and confused yet she could not sense and help smiling at the quiet of his manner and after a moment s silence said � oh edward how can you � but the time will come i hope � i am sure you will like him i do not doubt it replied he rather astonished at her earnestness and warmth for had he not imagined it to be a joke for the good of her acquaintance in general founded on a something or a nothing between mr and herself he would not hare ventured to mention it chapter xix remained a week at the cottage he was earnestly pressed by mrs to stay longer but as if he were bent only on self mortification he seemed resolved to be gone when his enjoyment among his was at the height his spirits during the last two or three days though still very unequal were greatly improved � he grew more and more partial to the house and � never spoke of going away without a sigh � declared his time to be wholly disengaged � even doubted to what place he should go when he left them � but still go he must never had any week passed so quickly � he could hardly believe it to be gone he said so repeatedly other things he said too which marked the turn of his feelings and gave the lie to his actions he had no pleasure at he detested being in town but either to or london he must go he valued their kindness beyond any thing and his greatest happiness was in being with them yet he must leave them at the end of a week in spite of their wishes and his own and without any restraint on his time placed all that was astonishing in this way of acting to his mother s account and it was happy for her that he had a mother whose character was so imperfectly known to her as to be the general excuse for every thing strange on the part of her son disappointed however w sense and vexed ae she and displeased with hia behaviour to she was very well disposed on the whole to regard actions with all the and generous which had been rather more painfully from her for s by her mother his want of of and of were most attributed to hi want of independence and his better knowledge of mrs s dispositions and designs the of his visit the of in leaving originated in the same inclination the same inevitable necessity of with his mother the old well established grievance of duty against will parent against child was the cause of all she would have been glad to know when these difficulties were to cease this opposition was to yield when mrs would be and her son be at to bo happy � but from vain wishes she was to turn for comfort to the renewal of her confidence in edward s affection to the remembrance of every mark of regard in look or word which fell fi om him while at and above all to that flattering proof of it which he con wore round his finger i edward said mrs dash d as they were at breakfast the last morning you would bo a happier man if you had any profession to engage your time and give mi interest to your plans and actions borne to your friends indeed might from it � you would not be able to give them so much of your time but with a smile you would be materially in one particular at least � you would know where to go when you left them i do assure you he that i have long thought on this point as you think now it has been and is will always be a heavy misfortune to me that i have bad no business to engage me no profession to give me employment or afford me any thing | 26 |
out again in her favor till then she knows what to expect he leaned over toward her resting his arm on the table that stood between them be careful that you do not carry this feeling against the poor girl into the grave with you he said earnestly as you truly say i cannot now offer her my aid i wish i could but why do you not do her full justice as matters are she is only certain of an income while you live will it make your dying pillow to know in your last moments that you have condemned one of your flesh and blood to want the old woman shut her mouth firmly together it was her own choice she made it she answered and she knows that i never he struck the table with his hand and their eyes met if mr or her children are ever without i love you v means are ever deprived of their natural they shall have me to look to he said i will stand between them and your dangerous ground young man dangerous ground repeated miss though she did not appear half as angry as he expected she would the best thing you can do is to dismiss my niece and her troubles from your mind he rose and stood before her if you will promise to execute a new will in her favor without i will try to do it he replied come come she you are asking too much it really is not your affair but i shall make it mine in the event i speak of he answered firmly good night miss the half hour had not expired when jim wondering what had happened drove silently b to chapter i love you t t t step which mrs had taken had been by her for some weeks after the j with her husband and the circumstance connected with it became exceedingly d and although she knew nothing of the f world she felt that it would be better to husband s friend venture out into t than to stay where every scene recalled the bitterness through which she had passed knew his wife very little indeed when he imagined that she had found even partial content in the life to which he had so long doomed her the fact that for eight years no word of complaint had escaped her only showed her devotion and her pride of spirit she could never have or him into her with more of his presence she could never have suggested even by a look that he ought to take her with him on his travels the love which she had given him had burst forth in her young heart and nothing but the absolute cruelty of events could have lessened its in all those years when she and for the society which he denied her she suffered as only a deserted woman can suffer and made no sign s fling that such a sacrificing wife did not deserve a more faithful husband shows well the difference between the two women there are fires that burn with a quiet and steady light there are others which flash their beams far out into the evening but let no man say that the latter is necessarily the better flame one of those evenings of the early winter just as was about to l h his lamp for the time honored hour of retiring had nearly arrived knocked at her aunt s door it is only following the manner of speech to state the occurrence in this form as nobody ever alluded to her uncle as even a roof over his head miss s always stern face darkened as the form cm ed her threshold for she had supposed the relations between her niece and i love you j w herself severed for good but she could not resist the sad smile with which greeted her nor the outstretched hand and she was soon put in possession of the cause which led to the visit was about to leave and had thought it only right to say good bye to those who were her sole relations there miss always suspicious thought at first that there was in this an attempt on the part of her niece to re herself in the family with a view to securing the money of which s latest will had deprived her s quiet bearing and evident of spirits soon however this fear she said she was going away she did not exactly know where and she wanted her uncle to take charge of her house and sell it as soon as he could obtain a suitable offer she had enough money to last her a little while and perhaps when it was gone she could get something to do all of which showed her prudent aunt that she was about as fit to go off alone as little would be and she told her so but i cannot stay here said m you yourself have advised me to go not without money retorted the aunt you ought to secure your divorce and a handsome allow ance i hear that your husband is getting rich he can afford to give you a large sum would not listen to her not after after what he accused me of dear aunt i could never take his money while be believes that at this miss poured forth the of her wrath as a villain jf the deep eat unworthy the t charitable thought husband s he ought to support his children she said i tell you you must make him do it but was inexorable she had changed her mind on this point for once miss had met a spirit as as her own the wife was willing anxious to go away and never wanted to meet her husband again his money she would not take that point was settled and | 1 |
face to face with him at last but no footstep oyer passed the floor immediately below except his own this mystery and loneliness fancies in tom s mind the folly of which his common sense could readily discover but which his common sense was quite unable to keep away notwithstanding that quality being with most of us in such a case like the old french police � quick at detection but very weak as a power absurd inexplicable that there was some one hiding in the inner room � walking softly overhead peeping in through the doing something stealthy anywhere where he was not � came over him a hundred times a day making it pleasant to throw up the and hold communication even with the who had built in the roof and water and were about the windows all day long he sat with the outer door wide open at all times that he might hear the footsteps as they entered and turned off into the chambers on the lower floors he formed odd too regarding strangers in the streets and would say within himself of such or such a man who struck him as having anything uncommon in his dress or aspect i shouldn t wonder now if that were he but it never was and though he actually turned back and followed more than one of these suspected individuals in a singular belief that they were going to the place he was then upon his way from he never got any other satisfaction by it than the satisfaction of knowing it was not the case mr of rather deepened than the obscurity of his position for on the first occasion of tom s waiting on him to receive his weekly pay he said oh by the bye mr pinch you needn t mention it if you please tom thought he was going to tell him a secret so he said that he wouldn t on any account and that mr might entirely depend upon him but as mr said very good in reply and nothing more tom prompted him not on any account repeated tom mr repeated very good you were going to say � tom hinted oh dear no cried not at all however seeing tom confused he added i mean that you needn t life and adventures of mention any particulars about your place of employment to people generally you find it better not i have not bad the pleasure of seeing my employer yet sir observed tom putting his week s salary in his pocket haven t you said no i don t suppose you have though i should like to thank him and to know that what i have done so far is done to his satisfaction faltered tom quite right said mr with a highly creditable very proper tom hastily resolved to try him on another tack i shall soon have finished with the books he said i hope that will not my engagement sir or render me useless oh dear no retorted plenty to do ty to do be careful how you go it s rather dark this was the very utmost extent of information tom could ever get out of him so it was dark enough in all conscience and if mr expressed himself with a double meaning he had good reason for doing so but now a circumstance occurred which helped to divert tom s thoughts from even this mystery and to divide them between it and a new channel which was a very in itself the way it came about was this having always been an early and having now no organ to engage him in sweet converse every morning it was his habit to take a long walk before going to the temple and naturally as a stranger towards those parts of the town which were conspicuous for the life and animation them he became a great of the market places bridges and especially the steam boat for it was very lively and fresh to see the people hurrying away upon their many schemes of business or pleasure and it made tom glad to think that there was that much change and freedom in the monotonous routine of city in most of these morning excursions accompanied him as their landlord was always up and away at his business whatever that might be no one seemed to know at a very early hour the habits of the people of the house in which they lodged with their own thus they had often finished their breakfast and were out in the summer air by seven o clock after a two hours stroll they parted at some convenient point tom going to the temple and his sister returning home as as you please many and many a pleasant stroll they had in garden market up the perfume of the fruits and flowers wondering at the magnificence of the pine apples and catching glimpses down side avenues of rows and rows of old women seated on baskets peas looking unutterable things at the fat bundles of with which the dainty shops were fortified as with a and at the doors gratefully as of yet mixed up with brown paper seeds even with hints of and fine young curly many and many a pleasant stroll they had among the poultry where ducks and fowls with necks long lay stretched out in pairs ready for cooking where there were eggs in baskets white country beyond by cat or dog or horse or donkey new to any wild extent live birds in and looking much too big to be natural in consequence of those being much too little alive and dead innumerable many a pleasant stroll they had among the cool refreshing silvery fish with a kind of moonlight effect about their stock in trade excepting always for the ruddy many a pleasant stroll among the loads of fragrant hay beneath which dogs and | 8 |
from friend she said nothing but he who knew her was aware that she meant by her silence to reproach him with drawing cruel mrs has asked you to come when did you say she thought tuesday but would send the day before to let me know if it suited her and with this subject upon their lips they entered to breakfast tuesday came but no message from mrs nor was there any on wednesday in brief a fortnight slipped by without a sign and it looked suspiciously as if mrs were not going further in the direction of taking up grace at present her father reasoned immediately after his daughter s two with mrs � the interview in the wood and a visit to the house � she had attended s party no doubt the out and out of that gathering had made it a topic in the neighborhood and that every one present as guests had been widely spoken of � grace with her exceptional qualities above all what then bo natural as that mrs should have heard the the village news and become disappointed in ber expectations of grace at finding kept company full of post argument mr overlooked tbe infinite of possible reasons and for a woman ber mind for instance knowing tbat bis grace was attractive be quite forgot tbat mrs bad also great pretensions to beauty in bis simple estimate an attractive woman attracted all around so it was settled in bis mind tbat ber sudden mingling witb tbe villagers at tbe unlucky s was tbe cause of ber most grievous loss as be deemed it in tbe direction of house tis a i be would repeat to i am ber for conscience sake it was one morning later on were bis mind tbat curiously darkened tbe window just as tbey breakfast looking up tbey saw in person mounted on and straining bis neck forward as be bad been doing for some time to attention tbe window grace bad been tbe first to see bim and involuntarily exclaimed be is � and a new on faces as tbey regarded were written suspended and compound feelings concerning bim could be read old panes but be saw bis features just now were for a wonder lit up witb a red smile at some idea so tbey rose from breakfast and went to tbe door grace witb an anxious wistful manner ber in a reverie mrs placid and inquiring we come out to look at your said it could be seen tbat be was pleased at attention and explained tbat be bad ridden a mile or two to try tbe animal s paces i ber be added witb so severely repressed as to seem indifference because been used to carry a lady still mr did not mrs said and is quiet f assured ber tbat was no doubt of it i took care of tbat s five and twenty and very clever for ber age the well get and come in said and accordingly this event was the of s thoughts during the past week or two the want of success with his evening party he had accepted in as philosophic a mood as he was capable of but there had been enthusiasm enough left in him one day at market to purchase this old mare which had belonged to a neighboring parson with several daughters and was offered him to carry either a gentleman or a lady and to do odd of and at a pinch this obliging seemed to furnish with a means of himself in s good opinion as a man of by throwing out future possibilities to grace the latter looked at him with interest this morning in the mood which is altogether peculiar to woman s nature and which when reduced into plain words seems as impossible as the of matter � that of entertaining a tender pity for the object of her own unnecessary coldness the which marked in general was now by a freshness and animation that set a brightness in his eye and on his cheek mrs asked him to have some breakfast and he replied that he would join them with his usual lack of observation not perceiving that they had all finished the meal that the hour was late and that the note by the kettle it to be nearly empty so that fresh water had to be brought in trouble taken to make it boil and a general of the table carried out neither did he know so full was he of his tender object in buying that horse how many cups of tea he was down one after another nor how the morning was slipping nor how he was keeping the family from about their duties then he told throughout the humorous story of the horse s purchase looking particularly grim at some fixed object in the room a way he always looked when he anything that amused him while he was still thinking of the scene he had described grace rose and said i have to go and help my mother now mr wm i he ejaculated turning his eyes suddenly upon her s thb she repeated her words with a slight of awkwardness whereupon becoming conscious too conscious jumped up saying to oe sure to be sure p wished them quickly good morning and bolted out of the house nevertheless he had upon the whole strengthened his position with her at least time too was on his side for as her father saw with some regret already the of life was fast becoming from her observation as a just as the first strangeness of a face from which we have for years been separated passes off with renewed intercourse and tones itself down into simple identity with the of the past thus mr went out of the house still to the sacrifice of the he had been at such pains in mounting he | 45 |
joy and my treasure wedding a very lavish and a very substantial settlement he had given her away too and had appeared during the whole time of ceremony and reception to be in the most spirits and the best of health as for margaret she stayed on in her london rooms more from want of energy to arrange for any change than from any other reason the life that she led was dreary in the extreme � her only visitor was mrs for had faithfully done her bidding and had never once attempted to inflict his presence upon her i will come at a moment s notice he wrote to her dearest best truest of women i am always waiting but i will never force myself on you i can never forget that i have wronged you enough without that so a few more weeks passed it was radiant summer weather again and all the world seemed fresh and smiling margaret said mrs coming in like a beam of sunshine come out for a drive with me no � no cried margaret shrinking back you are thinking of a g for people mrs exclaimed you won t come but dear margaret what are you going to do with your life you cannot go on in these rooms for ever my dear i � i � came to tell you something yes i see by your eyes that you guess it yes he is going to be married she s not bad as girls go � her name is she is veiy young and � and � particularly devoted � and � it makes me ill to think of that doll at you think � you think � began margaret with lips yes i think she ll be kind to them she says she will and she seems to like all children and margaret � i ve something else to tell you i have been taking something upon myself to day � i have brought you a visitor dear margaret prince is here here margaret cried and you � you � would � dear margaret i would advise you to make the best of a bad business said mrs gently the old life is shut quite away you have always loved this man best � he you yes i would have you take him and be happy again as i feel you will be for a brief space margaret did not speak she said breaking the silence at length i shall never as x a woman long as i live come or woe forget all that you have done for me in my hours of need god bless and reward you � and he will � he surely will i may partly forget as time goes on but i shall never can never be the same again that i once was i swear to you that i am as except for having taken my fate into my hands in agreeing to a secret marriage as one of my own little girls whom i shall never see again fate and the two men who have loved me have been too strong for me i tried oh so hard to keep good to be good and now i am thrust deep down into those which i so dreaded which i thought so impossible that i could ever slip into i thought that i was stronger but i am very the world and the stress of life have been too much for me i must needs take some hand to guide me i m so tired so weary so longing to be loved and sheltered again she drooped as she spoke and mrs caught her to her kind heart with a clasp of infinite love my dear my dear she murmured you have fought so bravely and endured so nobly and i your only friend give you now to the only one who has any right to try to blot out this terrible time yes come in she said in a different tone as the door was pushed gently open in answer to a signal there take her make much of her � she needs it sorely in a moment she had slipped out of the room and had closed the door behind her margaret found herself in s arms his voice murmuring love and in her ears his kisses upon her lips his eyes filled with the old adoration the old passionate love looking into hers my margaret my love he breathed you won t send me away we will go back to the little flat where still waits and everything is just as you left it the pearl lies awaiting us at anchor in the old we will live the past all over again for a while and then we will go to together i shall never be quite the same she whispered painfully but ten thousand times more dear to me he cried more noble more lovely more charming than even in the dear past on which i have lived during the dreary years that have come between it has all been too cruel and hard here but when you find yourself once again in our you will forget much you will learn to live again my joy and my treasure we shall be older more worn less joyous perhaps but we shall be together my she said nothing � she had no words � she only stayed very still and quiet against his broad shoulder and rested there the struggle was ended at last she was so tired of beating the waters of life alone and without help in that first hour a great load fell off from her weary shoulders the spell of the old fascination was upon her his voice thrilled her as of his touch was as electric as it had ever been the present began to be touched with the gold of the past and the | 30 |
s the breed my dear returned pa i think it is because they are not done they ought to be said yes i am aware they ought to be my dear rejoined her father but ain t so the was put in and the good tempered who was often as un employed in his own family as if he had been in the employment of some of the old masters undertook to the fowls indeed except in respect of staring about him a branch of the public service to which the is much this domestic discharged as many odd functions as his with the difference say that he performed with a brush on the family s boots instead of performing on enormous wind instruments and double and that he conducted himself with cheerful alacrity to much useful purpose instead of himself in the air with the intentions helped him with his and made him very happy but put him in mortal terror too by asking him when they sat down at table again how he supposed they cooked fowls at the dinners and whether he believed they really were such pleasant dinners as people said his secret and of remonstrance in reply made the mischievous laugh until she choked and then was obliged to slap her on the back and then she laughed the more mutual x but her mother was a fine at the other end of the table to whom her father in the innocence of his good fellowship at intervals appealed with my dear i am afraid you are not en yourself why so r w t she would reply because my dear you seem a little out of sorts not at all would be the in exactly the same tone would you take a merry thought my dear thank you i will take whatever you please r w well but my dear do you like it like it as well as i like anything r w the stately woman would then with a appearance of herself to the general good pursue her dinner as if she were feeding somebody else on high public grounds had brought and two bottles of wine thus shedding splendour on the occasion mrs did the honors of the first glass by r w x drink to you thank you my dear and i to you pa and ma said permit me mrs interposed with outstretched no i think not i drank to your papa if however you insist on including me i can in gratitude offer no objection why lor ma interposed the bold isn t it the day that made you and pa one and the same i have no patience by whatever other circumstance the day may be marked it is not the day on which i will allow a child of mine to upon me i beg � nay command � that you will not b w it is appropriate to recall that it is for you to command and for me to obey it is your house and you are master at your own table both our drinking the toast with tremendous really am a little afraid my dear hinted the meekly that you are not enjoying yourself on the contrary returned mrs quite so why should i not thought my dear that perhaps your face might my face might be a but what would that import or who should know it if i smiled and she did smile the blood of mr george by so doing for that young gentleman catching her eye was so very much appalled by its expression as to cast about in his thoughts concerning what he had done to bring it down upon himself the mind naturally falls said mrs shall i say into a reverie or shall i say into a on a day like this sitting with folded arms replied but not audibly for goodness sake say whichever of the two you like best ma and get it over the mind pursued mrs in an manner naturally to papa and mamma � i here allude to my parents � at a period before the earliest dawn of this day i was considered tall our mutual perhaps i was papa and mamma were unquestionably tall i have rarely seen a finer woman than my mother never than my father the irrepressible remarked aloud whatever was he wasn t a female your retorted mrs with an awful look and in an awful tone was what i describe him to have been and would have struck any of his to the earth who presumed to question it it was one of mamma s cherished hopes that i should become united to a tail member of society it may have been a weakness but if so it was equally the weakness i believe of king of these remarks being offered to mr george who had not the courage to come out for single combat but with his chest under the table and his eyes cast down mrs proceeded in a voice of increasing and until she should force that to give himself up mamma would appear to have had an of what afterwards happened for he would frequently urge upon me not a little man promise me my child not a little man never never never marry a little man papa also would remark to me he possessed extraordinary humour that a family of must not ally themselves with his company was eagerly sought as may be supposed by the wits of the day and our house was their continual resort i have known as many as three copper plate exchanging the most exquisite and there at one time here mr delivered himself captive and said with an uneasy movement on his chair that three was a large number and it must have been highly entertaining among the most prominent members of that distinguished circle was a gentleman measuring six feet four in | 8 |
Subsets and Splits