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wouldn t fare to feel comfortable to try and get his mind upon t he never said a to me as warn t as as could be and it ain t likely as he d begin to speak any other ways now but it s fur from being fleet water in his mind where them lays it s deep sir and i can t see down you are right said i and that has sometimes made me anxious and me too r he rejoined even more so i do assure you than his ways though both belongs to the alteration in him i t know as he d do violence under any circumstances but i hope as them two may be we had come through temple bar into the city conversing no more now and walking at my side he yielded himself up to the one aim of his devoted hfe and went on with that hushed of his faculties which would have made his figure solitary in a multitude we were not far from when he turned his head and pointed to a solitary female figure flitting along the opposite side of the street i knew it readily to be that fi that we sought we crossed the road and were pressing on towards her when it occurred to me that she might be more disposed to feel a woman s interest in the lost girl if we spoke to her in a place aloof from the crowd and where we should be less observed i advised mj companion therefore that we should not address her yet but david follow her consulting in this likewise an indistinct desire i had to know where she went he we followed at a distance never losing sight of her but never caring to come very near as she frequently looked about once she stopped to listen to a band of music and then we stopped too she went on a long way still we went on it was evident from the manner in which she held her course that she was going to some fixed destination and this and her keeping in the busy streets and i suppose the strange fascination in the and mystery of so following any one made me to my first purpose at length she turned into a dull dark street where the noise and crowd were lost and i said we may speak to her now and mending our pace we went after her chapter we were now down in westminster we bad turned back to follow her having encountered her coming towards us and westminster abbey was the point at which she passed from the and noise of the leading streets she proceeded so quickly when she got free of the two currents of passengers setting towards and from the bridge that between this and the advance she had of us when she struck off we were in the narrow water side street by before we came up with her at that moment she crossed the road as if to avoid the footsteps that she heard so close behind and without looking back passed on even more rapidly a glimpse of the river through a dull where some were for the night seemed to arrest my feet i touched my companion without speaking and we both to cross after her and both followed on that opposite side of the way keeping as quietly as we could in the shadow of the houses but keeping very near her there was and is when i write at the end of that low lying street a little wooden building probably an old house its position is just at that point where the street ceases and the road begins to lie between a row of houses and the river as soon as she came here and saw the water she stopped as if she had come to her destination and presently went slowly along by the brink of the river looking intently at it all the way here i had supposed that she was going to some house indeed i had vaguely entertained the hope that the house might be in some way associated with the lost girl but that one dark glimpse of the river through the had instinctively prepared me for her going no farther the neighbourhood was a dreary one at that time as oppressive bad and solitary by night as any about london there were neither nor houses on the melancholy waste of road near the great blank prison a ditch deposited its mud at the prison walls coarse grass and rank weeds over all the land in the in one part of houses begun and never finished away in another the ground was with rusty iron monsters of steam wheels pipes bells sails and i know not what strange objects accumulated by some and in the dust underneath which having sunk into the soil of their own weight in wet weather they had the appearance of vainly trying to hide themselves the clash and glare of sundry fiery works upon the river side arose by night to disturb everything except the heavy and unbroken smoke that poured out of their chimneys and winding among old wooden piles with a sickly substance clinging to the latter like green hair and the rags of last year s offering rewards for drowned men fluttering above high water mark led down h the and to the ebb tide there was a story that one of the dug for the dead in the time of the great plague was and a influence seemed to have proceeded from it over the whole place or else it looked as if it had gradually into that nightmare condition out of the of the stream as if she were a part of the refuse it had cast out and left to corruption and decay the girl we had followed strayed down to
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of any part in it we thoroughly we know oh i might have been much the better for her if i had had a better heart exclaimed the girl with most forlorn regret for she was always good to me she never spoke a word to me but what was pleasant and right is it likely i would try to make her what i am myself knowing what i am myself so well when i lost everything that makes life dear the worst of all my was that i was parted for ever from her mr standing with one hand on the of the boat and his eyes cast down put his disengaged hand before his face and when i heard what had happened before that snowy ht from some belonging to our town cried the bitterest thought in all my mind was that the people would remember she once kept company with me and would say i had her when heaven knows i would have died to have brought back her good name long unused to any self control the piercing agony of her remorse and was terrible to have died would not have been much what can i say i would have lived she cried i would have lived to be old in the wretched streets and to wander about avoided in the dark and to see the day break on the ghastly lines of houses and remember how the same sun used to shine into my room and wake i would have done even that to save her sinking on the stones she took some in each hand and clenched them up as if she would have ground them she into some new posture constantly her arms twisting them before her face as though to shut out from her eyes the little light there was and ing her head as if it were heavy with ins ip recollections what shall i ever do she said fighting thus with her despair david how can i go on as i am a solitary curse to myself a living disgrace to every one i come near suddenly she turned to my companion stamp upon me kill me when she was your pride you would have thought i had done her harm if i had brushed as ain t her in the street you can t believe i you a syllable that comes out of my lips it would be a burning shame upon you even now if she and i exchanged a word i don t complain i don t say she and i are alike i w there is a long long way between us i only say with all my guilt and wretchedness upon my head that i am grateful to her from my soul and love her oh don t think that all the power i had of loving anything is quite worn out throw me away as all the world does kill me for being what i am and having ever known her but don t think that of me he looked upon her while she made this in a wild distracted manner and when she was silent gently raised her said mr god forbid as i should judge you forbid as i of all men should do that girl you t know half the change that s come in course of time upon me when you think it likely well he paused a moment then went on you t understand how tis that this here gentleman and me has wished to speak to you you t understand what tis we has afore us listen now his influence upon her was complete she stood before him as if she were afraid to meet his eyes but her passionate sorrow was quite hushed and mute if you said mr of what passed between r and me th night when it so hard you know as i have been not fur to seek my dear niece my dear niece he repeated steadily fur she s more dear to me now than ever she was dear afore she put her hands before her face but otherwise remained quiet i have her tell said mr as you was early left and with no friend fur to take in a rough way their place maybe you can guess that if you d had such a friend you d have got into a way of being fond of him in of time and that my niece was daughter like to me david as she was silently trembling he put her shawl carefully about her taking it up from the ground for that purpose whereby said he i know both as she would go to the s end with me if she could once see me again and that she would fly to the s end to keep off seeing me for though she ain t no call to doubt my love and t and t he repeated with a quiet assurance of the truth of what ne said there s shame steps in and keeps us i read in every word of his plain impressive way of delivering himself new evidence of his having thought of this one topic in every feature it presented according to our reckoning he proceeded r s here and mine she is like one day to make her own poor solitary course to london we believe r me and all of us that you are as innocent of everything that has her as the child you ve spoke of her being pleasant kind and gentle to you bless her t knew she was i knew she always was to all you re thankful to her and you love her help us all you can to find her and may heaven reward you she looked at him hastily and for the first time as
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if she were doubtful of what he had said will you trust me she asked in a low voice of astonishment full and free said mr to speak to her if i should ever find her shelter her if i have any shelter to divide with her and then without her knowledge come to you and bring you to her she asked hurriedly we both replied together yes she lifted up her eyes and solemnly declared that she would devote herself to this task fervently and faithfully that she would never in it never be diverted from it never it while there was any chance of hope if she were not true to it might the object she now had in life which bound her to something devoid of evil in its passing away from her leave her more forlorn and more despairing if that were possible than she had been upon the river s brink that night aud then might all help human and divine her she did not raise her voice above her breath or address us but y david said this to the night sky then stood profoundly quiet looking at the gloomy water we judged it expedient now to tell her all we knew which i at length she listened with great attention and with a face that often changed but had the same purpose in all its varying expressions her eyes occasionally filled with tears but those she repressed it seemed as if her spirit were quite altered and she could not be too quiet she asked when all was told where we were to be communicated with if occasion should arise under a dull lamp in the road wrote our two addresses on a leaf of my pocket book which i tore out and gave to her and which she put in her poor bosom i asked her where she lived herself she said after a pause in no place long it were better not to know mr suggesting to me in a whisper what had already occurred to myself i took out my purse but i could not prevail her to accept any money nor could i exact any promise from her that she would do so at another time i represented to her that mr could not be called for one in his condition poor and that the idea of her engaging in this search while depending on her own resources shocked us both she continued steadfast in this particular his influence upon her was equally powerless with mine she gratefully thanked him but remained inexorable there may be work to be got she said i ll try at least take some assistance i returned until you have tried i could not do what i have promised for money she replied i could not take it if i was starving to give me money would be to take away your trust to take away the object that you have given me to take away the only certain thing that me from the river in the name of the great judge said i before whom you and all of us must stand at his dread time dismiss that terrible idea we can all do some good if we will she trembled and her lip shook and her face was paler as answered it has been put into your hearts perhaps to save a wretched david creature for repentance i am afraid to think so it seems too bold if any good should come of me i might begin to hope for nothing but harm has ever come of my deeds yet i am to be trusted for the first time in a long while with my miserable life on account of what you have given me to try for i know no more and i can say no more again she repressed the tears that had begun to flow and putting out her trembling hand and touching mr as if there were some healing virtue in him went away along the desolate road she had been ill probably for a long time i observed upon that closer opportunity of observation that she was worn and haggard and that her sunken eyes expressed and endurance we followed her at a short distance our way lying in the same direction until we came back into the lighted and streets had such confidence in her declaration that i then put it to mr whether it would not seem in the like her to follow her any further he being of the same mind and equally on her we suffered her to take her own road ind took ours which was towards he accompanied me good part of the way and when we parted with a prayer for the success of this fresh effort there was a new and thoughtful compassion in him that i was at no loss to interpret it was midnight when i arrived at home i had reached my own gate and was standing listening for the deep bell of st the sound of which i thought had been borne towards me among the multitude of striking when i was rather surprised to see that the door of my aunt s cottage was open and that a faint light in the entry was shining out across the road thinking that my aunt might have into one of her old and might be watching the progress of some imaginary in the distance i went to speak to her it was with very great surprise that i saw a man standing in her little garden he had a glass an i bottle in his hand and was in the act of drinking i stopped short among the thick foliage outside for the moon was up now though obscured and i recognised the man whom i had once supposed to be a delusion of mr dick s and had once encountered with my aunt in
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the streets of the city david he was eating as well as drinking and seemed to eat with a hungry appetite he seemed curious regarding the cottage too as if it were the first time he had seen it after stooping to put the bottle on the ground he looked up at the windows and looked about though with a covert and impatient air as if he was anxious to be gone the light in the passage was obscured for a moment and my aunt came out she was agitated and told some money into his hand i heard it what s the use of this he demanded i can spare no more returned my aunt then i can t go said he here you may take it back you bad man returned my aunt with great emotion how can you use me so but why do i ask it is because you know how weak i am what have i to do to free myself for ever of your visits but to abandon you to your deserts and why don t you abandon me to my deserts said he you ask me why returned my aunt what a heart you must have he stood rattling the money and shaking his head until at length he said is this all you mean to give me then it is all i can give you said my aunt you know i have had losses and am poorer than i used to be i have told you so having got it why do you give me the pain of looking at you for another moment and seeing what you have become i have become shabby enough if you mean that he said i lead the life of an owl you stripped me of the greater part of all i ever had said my aunt you closed my heart against the whole world years and years you treated me and cruelly go and repent of it don t add new injuries to the long long list of injuries you have done me aye he returned it s all very fine well i must do the best i can for the present i suppose in spite of himself he appeared abashed by my aunt s indignant tears and came out of the garden taking two or three david quick steps as if i had just come up i met him at the gale and went in as he came out we eyed one another narrowly in passing and with no favour aunt said i hurriedly this man alarming you again let me speak to him who is he child returned my aunt taking my arm come in and don t to me for ten minutes we sat down in her little parlour my aunt retired behind the round green fan of former days which was on the back of a chair and occasionally wiped her eyes for about a quarter of an hour then she came out and took a seat beside me trot said my aunt calmly it s my husband your husband aunt i thought he had been dead dead to me returned my aunt but living i sat in silent amazement don t look a likely subject for the tender passion said my aunt but the time was trot when she believed in that man most entirely when she loved him trot right well when there was no proof of attachment and affection that she would not have given him he repaid her by breaking her fortune and nearly breaking her heart so she put all that sort of sentiment once and for ever in a grave and filled it up and it down my dear good aunt i left him my aunt proceeded laying her hand as usual on the back of mine generously i may say at this distance of time trot that i left him generously he had been so cruel to me that i might have effected a separation on easy terms for myself but i did not he soon made ducks and of what i gave him sank lower and lower married another woman i believe became an adventurer a and a cheat what he is now you see but he was a fine looking man when i married him said my aunt with an echo of her old pride and admiration in her tone and i believed him i was a fool to be the soul of honour she gave my hand a squeeze and shook her head he is nothing to me now trot less than nothing but sooner than have him punished for his as he would be if he david about in this country i give him more money than can afford at intervals when he re appears to go away i was a fool when i married him and i am so far an fool on that subject that for the sake of what i once believed him to be i wouldn t have even this shadow of my idle fancy hardly dealt with for i was in earnest trot if ever a woman was my aunt dismissed the matter with a y sigh and smoothed her dress there my dear she said now you know the beginning middle and end and all about it we won t mention the subject to one another any more neither of course will you mention it to anybody else this is my story and we ll keep it to ourselves trot chapter domestic i hard at my book without allowing it to interfere with the punctual discharge of my newspaper duties and it came out and was very successful i was not stunned by the praise which sounded in my ears notwithstanding that i was keenly alive to it and thought better of my own i have little doubt than anybody else did it has always been
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wanted so much to see before he went away that went to visit him and fainted when she found herself inside the iron bars in short i had no peace of my life until he was and made as i afterwards heard a shepherd of up the country somewhere i have no idea were all this led me into some serious reflections and presented our mistakes in a new aspect as i could not help communicating to one evening in of my tenderness for her david my love said i it is very painful to me to think that our want of system and management not only ourselves which we have got used to but other people you have been silent for a long time and now you are going te be cross said no my dear indeed let me explain to you what i mean i think i don t want to know said but i want you to know my love put down put his nose to mine and said to drive my seriousness away but not succeeding ordered him into his and sat looking at me with her hands folded and a most resigned little expression of countenance the fact is my dear i began there is in us we about us i might have gone on in this manner if s face had not me that she was wondering with all her might whether i was going to propose any new kind of or other medical remedy for this state of ours therefore i checked myself and made my meaning it is not merely my pet said i that we lose money and comfort and even temper sometimes by not learning to be more careful but that we the serious responsibility of who comes into our service or any dealings with us i begin to be afraid that the fault is not entirely on one side but that these people all turn out ill because we don t turn out well ourselves oh what an accusation exclaimed her wide to say that you ever saw me take gold watches oh my dearest i remonstrated don t talk i nonsense who has made the least allusion to gold watches you did returned you know you did you i hadn t turned out well and compared me to him to whom i asked to the page sobbed oh you cruel fellow to compare your affectionate wife to a transported page why didn t you tell me your opinion of me before we were married why didn t you say you hard hearted thing that you were convinced i was worse david than a transported page oh what a dreadful opinion to have of me oh my goodness now my love i returned gently trying to remove the handkerchief she pressed to her eyes this is not only very ridiculous of you but very wrong in the first place it s not true you always said he was a story sobbed and now you say the same of me oh what shall i do what shall i do my darling girl i retorted i really must entreat you to be reasonable and listen to what i did say and do say my dear unless we learn to do our duty to those whom we employ they will never learn to do their duty to us i am afraid we present opportunities to people to do wrong that never ought to be presented even if we were as as we are in all our arrangements by choice which we are not even if we it and found it agreeable to be so which we don t i am persuaded we should have no right to go on in this way we are positively people we are bound to think of that i can t help thinking of it it is a reflection i am unable to dismiss and it sometimes makes me very uneasy there dear that s all come now don t be foolish would not allow me for a long time to remove the handkerchief she sat sobbing and murmuring behind it that if i was uneasy why had i ever been married why hadn t i said even the day before we went to church that i knew i should be uneasy and i would rather not if i couldn t bear her why didn t i send her away to her aunt s at or to mills in india would be glad to see her and would not call her a transported page had never called her anything of the sort in short was so afflicted and so afflicted me by being in that condition that i felt it was of no use repeating this kind of though never so mildly and i must take some other course what other course was left to take to form her mind this was a common phrase of words which had a fair and promising sound and i resolved to form s mind i began immediately when was very childish and i would infinitely have preferred to humour her i tried to l e g david and disconcerted her and myself too t talked to her on the subjects which occupied my thoughts and i read to her and fatigued her to the last degree i accustomed myself to giving her as it were quite casually little scraps of useful information or sound opinion and she started from them when i let them off as if they had been no matter how incidentally or naturally i endeavoured to form my little wife s mind i could not help seeing that she always had an instinctive perception of what i was about and became a prey to the keenest apprehensions in particular it was clear to me that she thought a terrible fellow the formation went on very slowly i pressed into the
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service without his knowledge and whenever he came to see us exploded my mines upon him for the of at second hand the amount of practical wisdom i bestowed upon in this manner was immense and of the best quality but it had no other effect upon than to her spirits and make her always nervous with the dread that it would be her turn next i found myself in the condition of a a trap a of always playing spider to s fly and always out of my hole to her infinite disturbance still looking forward through this stage to the time when there should be a perfect sympathy between and me and when i should have formed her mind to my entire satisfaction i even for months finding at last however that although i had been all this time a very or all over with determination had effected nothing it began to occur to me perhaps that s mind was already formed on farther consideration this appeared so likely that i abandoned my scheme which had had a more promising appearance in words than in action henceforth to be satisfied with my and to try to change her into nothing else by any process i was heartily tired of being sagacious and prudent myself and of seeing my darling under restraint so i bought a pretty pair of ear rings for her and a collar for and went home one day to make myself agreeable was delighted with tlie little presents and kissed me joy david g fully but there was a shadow between us however slight and i made up my mind that it should not be there if there must be such a shadow anywhere i would keep it for the future in my own breast i sat down by my wife on the sofa and put the ear rings in her ears and then i told her that i feared we had not been quite as good company lately as we used to be and that the fault was mine which i sincerely felt and which indeed it was the truth is my life i said i have been trying to be wise and to make me wise too said timidly haven t you i nodded assent to the pretty inquiry of the raised eyebrows and kissed the parted lips it s of not a bit of use said shaking her head until the ear rings rang again you know what a little thing i am and what i wanted you to call me from the first if you can t do so i am afraid you ll never like me are you sure you don t think sometimes it would have been better to have done what my dear for she made no effort to proceed nothing said nothing i repeated she put her arms round my neck and laughed and called herself by her favorite name of a goose and hid her face on my shoulder in such a profusion of curls that it was quite a task to clear them away and see it don t i think it would have been better to have done nothing than to have tried to form my little wife s mind said i laughing at myself is that the question yes indeed i do is that what you have been trying cried oh what a shocking boy but i shall never try any more said i for i love her dearly as she is without a story really inquired creeping closer to me why should i seek to change said i what has been so precious to me for so long you never can show better than as your david own natural self my sweet and we ll try no conceited but go back to our old way and be happy and be happy returned yes all day and you won t mind things going a tiny morsel wrong sometimes no no said i we must do the best we can and you won t tell me any more that we make other people bad will you because you know it s so dreadfully cross no no said i it s better for me to be stupid than uncomfortable isn t it said better to be naturally than anything else in the world in the world ah it s a large place she shook her head turned her delighted bright eyes up to mine kissed me broke into a merry laugh and sprang away to put on s new collar so ended my last attempt to make any change in i had been unhappy in trying it i could not endure my own solitary wisdom i could not reconcile it with her former appeal to me as my child wife i resolved to do what i could in a quiet way to improve our proceedings myself but i foresaw that my utmost would be very little or i must into the spider again and be for ever lying in wait and the shadow i have mentioned that was not to be between us any more but was to rest wholly on my own heart how did that fall the old unhappy feeling pervaded my life it was deepened if it were changed at all but it was as as ever and addressed me like a strain of sorrowful music faintly heard in the night i loved my wife dearly and i was happy but the happiness i had vaguely anticipated once was not the happiness i enjoyed and there was always in fulfilment of the compact i have made with myself to reflect my mind on this paper i again examine it closely and bring its secrets to the light i missed i still i i always regarded as something that had been a dream of my ul that was incapable of that i was now discovering g to be
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so with some natural pain as all men did but that it would have been better for me if my wife could have helped me more and shared the many thoughts in which i had no partner and that this might have been i knew between these two conclusions the one that what i felt was general and the other that it was particular to me and might have been different i balanced curiously with no distinct sense of their opposition to each other when i thought of the airy dreams of youth that are incapable of i thought of the better state preceding manhood that i had and then the contented days with in the dear old house arose before me like of the dead that might have some renewal in another world but never never more could be here sometimes the speculation came into my thoughts what might have happened or what would have happened if and i had never known each other but she was so with my existence that it was the of all fancies and would soon rise out of my reach and sight like floating in the air i always loved her what i am describing and half awoke and slept again in the recesses of my mind there was no evidence of it in me i know of no influence it had in anything i said or did i bore the weight of all our little cares and all my projects held the pens and we both felt that our shares were adjusted as the case required she was truly fond of me and proud of me and when wrote a few earnest words in her letters to of the pride and interest with which my old friends heard of my growing reputation and read my book as if they heard me speaking its contents read them out to me with tears of joy in her bright eyes and said i was a dear old clever famous boy the first mistaken impulse of an heart those words of mrs strong were constantly to me at this time were almost always present to my mind i awoke with them often in the night i remember to have even read them in dreams inscribed upon the walls of houses for i knew now that my own heart was when it first loved and that if it had david been it never could have felt when we were married what it had felt in its secret experience there can be no in marriage like of mind and purpose those words i remembered too i had endeavoured to to myself and found it it remained for me to myself to to share with her what i could and be happy to bear on my own shoulders what i must and be happy still this was the discipline to which i tried to bring my heart when i began to think it made my second year much happier than my first and what was better still made s life all sunshine but as that year wore on was not strong i had hoped that lighter hands than mine would help to mould her character and that a baby smile upon her breast might change my child wife to a woman it was not to be the spirit fluttered for a moment on the threshold of its httle prison and unconscious of took wing when i can run about again as i used to do aunt said i shall make race he is getting quite slow and lazy i suspect my dear said my aunt quietly working by her side he has a worse disorder than that age do you think he is old said astonished oh how strange it seems that should be old it s a complaint we are all liable to little one as we get on in life said my aunt cheerfully i don t feel more free from it than i used to be i assure you but said looking at him with compassion even little oh poor fellow i dare say he ll last a long time yet blossom said my aunt patting on the cheek as she leaned out of her couch to look at who responded by standing on his hind legs and himself in various attempts to scramble up by the head and shoulders he must have a piece of flannel in his house this winter and i shouldn t wonder if he came out quite fresh again with the flowers in the spring bless the little dog exclaimed my aunt if he had as many lives as a cat and was on the point of losing em all he d bark at me with his last breath i believe david had helped 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 httle oh poor fell w 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 but if you want a dog to race with little blossom he has lived too well for that and give you one thank you aunt said faintly but don t please no said my aunt taking off her spectacles i couldn t 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
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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 uttle 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 httle longer my pretty when she came down to dinner on the david ing 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 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 hfe 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 o what a fatal name it was and how the blossom withered in its bloom upon the tree chapter i am involved in mystery i received one by the post the following letter dated and addressed to me at doctors wliich 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 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 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 lie 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 compliment 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 david 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 without more directly referring to any latent ability that may possibly exist on my part of the or directing the devouring and flame in any quarter i may be permitted to observe in passing that my brightest visions are for ever that my peace is shattered and my power of enjoyment destroyed that my heart is no longer in the right place and that i no more walk erect before my fellow man the is in the flower the cup is bitter to the brim the worm is at his work and will soon dispose of his victim the sooner the better but i will not placed in a mental position of peculiar beyond the reach even of mrs s influence though exercised in the character of woman wife and mother it is my intention to fly from myself for a short period and devote a of eight and forty hours to some scenes of past enjoyment among other of domestic tranquillity and peace of mind my feet will naturally tend towards the king s bench prison in stating that i shall be d v on the outside of the south wall of that place of on process the day after to morrow at seven in the evening
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precisely my object in this communication is accomplished i do not feel in my former friend mr or my former friend mr thomas of the inner temple if that gentleman is still and to condescend to meet me and renew so far as may be our past relations of the time i confine myself to throwing out the observation that at the hour and place i have indicated may be found such ruined as yet remain of a fallen tower david p s it may be advisable to to the above the statement that mrs is not in confidential possession of my intentions i read the letter over several times making due allowance for mr s lofty style of composition and for the extraordinary relish with which he sat down and wrote long letters on all possible and impossible occasions i still believed that something important lay hidden at the bottom of this communication i put it down to think about it and took it up again to read it once more and was still pursuing it when found me in the height of my perplexity my dear fellow said i i never was better pleased to see you you come to give me the benefit of your sober judgment at a most time i have received a very singular letter from mr no cried you don t say so and i have received one from mrs with that who was flushed with walking and whose hair under the combined effects of exercise and excitement stood on end as if he saw a cheerful ghost produced his letter and made an exchange with me watched him into the heart of mr s letter and returned the elevation of eyebrows with which he said the or directing the devouring and flame bless me and then entered on the perusal of mrs s it ran thus my best regards to mr thomas and if he should still remember one who formerly had the happiness of being well acquainted with him may i beg a few moments of his leisure time i assure mr t t that i would not intrude upon his kindness were i in any other position than on the of distraction though to myself to mention the of mr formerly so from his wife and family is the cause of my addressing my unhappy appeal to mr david and his best indulgence mr t can no adequate idea of the change in mr s conduct of his of his violence it has gradually until it appearance of of intellect scarcely a day passes assure mr on which some does not take place mr t will not require me to my feelings when i inform him that i have become accustomed to hear mr assert that he has sold himself to the d mystery and have long been his principal characteristic have long replaced unlimited confidence the slightest provocation even being asked if there is anything he would prefer for dinner causes him to express a wish for a separation last night on being for to buy a local he presented an knife at the i entreat mr to bear me in entering into these details without them mr t would indeed find it difficult to form the faintest conception of my heart situation may i now venture to confide to mr t the purport of my letter will he now allow me to throw myself on his friendly consideration oh yes for i know his heart the quick eye of affection is not easily blinded when of the female sex mr is going to london though he concealed his hand this morning before breakfast in writing the direction card which he attached to the little brown of happier days the eagle glance of matrimonial anxiety detected d o n distinctly traced the west end destination of the coach is the golden cross dare i fervently mr t to see my husband and to reason with him dare i ask mr t to endeavour to step in between mr and his family oh no for that would be too much i if mr should yet remember one unknown to fame will mr t take charge of my regards and similar entreaties in any case he will have the benevolence io consider this communication strictly private and on no account whatever to he alluded to however in the presence of mr if mr t should ever reply to it which cannot but david feel to he most improbable a letter addressed to m e post office will be with less painful consequences than any addressed immediately to one who herself in extreme distress mr thomas s respectful friend and what do you think of that letter said casting his eyes upon me when i had read it twice what do you think of the other said i for he was still reading it with brows think that the two together replied mean more than mr and mrs usually mean in their correspondence but i don t know what they are both written in faith i have no doubt and without poor thing he was now alluding to mrs s letter and we were standing side by side comparing the two it will be a to write to her at all events and tell her that we will not fail to see mr i to this the more readily because i now reproached myself with having treated her former letter rather lightly it had set me thinking a good deal at the time as i have mentioned in its place but my in my own affairs my experience of the family and my hearing nothing more had gradually ended in my the subject i had often of the but chiefly to wonder what pecuniary they were establishing in and to recall how shy mr was of me when he became clerk to however i now wrote a
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comforting letter to mrs in our joint names and we both signed it as we walked into town to post it and i had a long conference and launched into a number of speculations which i need not repeat we took my aunt into our counsels in the afternoon but our only decided conclusion was that we would be very punctual in keeping mr s appointment although we appeared at the place a quarter of an hour before the time we found mr already there he david was standing with his arms folded over against the wall looking at the on the top with a expression as if they were the boughs of trees that had shaded him in his youth when we him his manner was something more confused and something less genteel than of he had his legal suit of black for the purposes of this excursion and wore the old and but not quite with the old air he gradually picked up more and more of it as we conversed with him but his very eye glass seemed to hang less easily and his shirt collar though still of the old formidable dimensions rather drooped gentlemen said mr after the first you are friends in need and friends indeed allow me to offer my inquiries with reference to the physical welfare of mrs in and mrs in that is to say that my friend mr is not yet united to the object of his affections for and for woe we acknowledged his politeness and made suitable replies he then directed our attention to the wall and was beginning i assure you gentlemen when i ventured to object to that form of address and to beg that he would speak to us in the old way my he returned pressing my hand your cordiality me this reception of a shattered fragment of the temple once called man if i may be permitted so to express myself a heart that is an honor to our common nature i was about to observe that i again behold the serene spot where some of the happiest hours of my existence by made so i am sure by mrs i i hope she is well thank you returned mr whose face clouded at this reference she is but so so and this said mr nodding his head sorrowfully is the bench where for the first time in many revolving years the overwhelming pressure of pecuniary was not proclaimed from day to day by im david voices declining to the passage where there was no on the door for any to appeal to where personal service of process was not required and were merely lodged at the gate gentlemen said mr when the shadow of that iron work on the summit of the brick structure has been reflected on the gravel of the parade i have seen my children thread the of the intricate pattern avoiding the dark marks i have been familiar with every stone in the place if i betray weakness you will know how to excuse me we have all got on in life since then mr said i mr returned mr bitterly when i was an of that retreat i could look my fellow man in the face and punch his head if he offended me my fellow man and myself are no longer on those glorious terms turning from the building in a downcast manner mr accepted my proffered arm on one side and the proffered arm of on the other and walked away between us there are some observed mr looking fondly back over his shoulder on the road to the tomb which but for the of the a man would wish never to have passed such is the bench in my career oh you are in low spirits mr said i am sir interposed mr i hope said it is not because you have conceived a dislike to the law for i am a lawyer myself you know mr answered not a word how is our friend mr said i after a silence my dear returned mr bursting into a state of much excitement and turning pale if you ask after my employer as your friend i am sorry for it if you ask after him as my i smile at it in whatever capacity you ask after my employer i beg without offence to you to limit my reply to this that whatever his state of health may be david his appearance is not to say you will allow me as a private individual to decline pursuing a subject which has lashed me to the utmost verge of desperation in my professional capacity expressed my regret for having innocently touched upon a theme that roused him so much may i ask said i with out any hazard of repeating the mistake how my old friends mr and miss are miss said mr now turning red is as she always is a pattern and a bright example my dear she is the only spot in a miserable existence my respect for that young lady my admiration of her character my devotion to her for her love and truth and goodness take me said mr down a turning for upon my soul in my present state of mind i am not equal to this we wheeled him off into a narrow street where he took out his pocket handkerchief and stood with his back to a wall if i looked as gravely at him as did he must have found our company by no means it is my fate said mr sobbing but doing even that with a shadow of the old expression of doing something genteel it is my fate gentlemen that the finer feelings of our nature have become reproaches to me my homage to miss is a flight of arrows in my bosom you had better leave me
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if you please to walk the earth as a vagabond the worm will settle my business in double quick time without attending to this we stood by until he put up his pocket handkerchief pulled up his shirt collar and to any person in the neighbourhood who might have been observing him a tune with his hat very much on one side i then mentioned not knowing what might be lost if we lost sight of him yet that it would give me great pleasure to introduce him to my aunt if he would ride out to where a bed was at his service you shall make us a glass of your own punch mr said i and forget whatever you have on your mind in pleasanter reminiscences david or if confiding anything to friends will be more likely to relieve you you shall impart it to us mr said gentlemen returned mr do with me as you will i am a straw upon the surface of the deep and am tossed in all directions by the i beg your pardon i should have said the elements we walked on arm in arm again found the coach in the act of starting and arrived at without any difficulties by the way i was very uneasy and very uncertain in my mind what to say or do for the best so was evidently mr was for the most part plunged into deep gloom he occasionally made an attempt to himself and hum the end of a tune but his into profound melancholy were only made the more impressive by the mockery of a hat exceedingly on one side and a shirt collar pulled up to his eyes we went to my aunt s house rather than to mine because of s not being well my aunt presented herself on being sent for and welcomed mr with gracious cordiality mr kissed her hand retired to the window and pulling out his pocket handkerchief had a mental with himself mr dick was at home he was by nature so exceedingly compassionate of any one who seemed to be ill at ease and was so quick to find any such person out that he shook hands with mr at least half a dozen times in five minutes to mr in his trouble this warmth on the part of a stranger was so extremely touching that he could only say on the occasion of each successive shake my dear sir you me which gratified mr dick so much that he went at it again with vigor than before the friendliness of this gentleman said mr to my int will allow me ma am to a figure of speech from of our national sports floors me to a man who is struggling with a burden of perplexity and such a reception is trying assure you david my friend mr dick replied my aunt proudly is not a common man that i am convinced of said mr my dear sir for mr dick was shaking hands with him again i am deeply sensible of your cordiality how do you find yourself said mr dick with an anxious look indifferent my dear sir returned mr sighing you must keep up your spirits said mr dick and make yourself as comfortable as possible mr was quite overcome by these friendly words and by finding mr dick s hand again within his own it has been my lot he observed to meet in the of human existence with an occasional but never with one so green so as the present at another time i should have been amused by this but i felt that we were all constrained and uneasy and i watched mr so anxiously in his between an evident disposition to reveal something and a counter disposition to reveal nothing that i was in a perfect fever sitting on the edge of his chair with his eyes wide open and his hair more emphatically erect than ever stared by turns at the ground and at mr without so much as attempting to put in a word my aunt though i that her observation was concentrated on her new guest had more useful possession of her wits than either of us for she held him in conversation and made it necessary for him to talk whether he liked it or not you are a very old friend of my nephew s mr said my aunt i wish had had the pleasure of seeing you before madam returned mr i wish i had had the honor of knowing you at an earlier period i was not always t wreck you at present behold i hope mrs and your family are well sir my aunt mr inclined his head they are as well ma am david he desperately observed after a pause as and can ever hope to be lord bless you sir exclaimed my aunt in her abrupt way what are you talking about the of my family ma am returned mr in the balance my employer here mr left off and began to the that had been under my directions set before him together with all the other he used in making punch your employer you know said mr dick his arm as a gentle my good sir returned mr you recall me i am obliged to you they shook hands again my employer ma am mr once did me the favor to observe to me that if i were not in the receipt of the to my engagement with him i should probably be a about the country a sword blade and eating the devouring element for anything that i can perceive to the contrary it is still probable that my children may be reduced to seek a by personal while mrs their unnatural by playing the mr with a random but expressive flourish of his knife signified that these
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performances might be expected to take place after he was no more then resumed his with a desperate air my aunt leaned her elbow on the little round table that she usually kept beside her and eyed him attentively notwithstanding the aversion with which regarded the idea of him into any disclosure he was not prepared to make voluntarily i should have taken him up at this point but for the strange proceedings in which saw him engaged whereof his putting the into the kettle the sugar into the tray the spirit into the empty and confidently to pour boiling water out of a were among the most remarkable i saw that a crisis was at hand and it he all means and implements together rose david from his chair pulled out his pocket handkerchief and burst into tears my dear said mr behind his handkerchief this is an occupation of all others requiring an mind and self respect i cannot perform it it is out of the question mr said i what is the matter pray speak out you are among friends among friends sir repeated mr and all he had reserved came breaking out of him good heavens it is principally because i am among friends that my state of mind is what it is what is the matter gentlemen what is not the matter is the matter is the matter deception fraud conspiracy are the matter and the name of the whole mass is my aunt clapped her hands and we all started up as if we were possessed the struggle is over said mr violently with his pocket handkerchief and fairly striking out from time to time with both arms as if he were swimming under difficulties i will lead this life no longer i am a wretched being cut off from everything that makes life tolerable i have been under a in that infernal scoundrel s service give me back my wife give me back my family substitute for the petty wretch who walks about in the boots at present on my feet and call upon me to swallow a sword to morrow and i do it with an appetite i never saw a man so hot in my life i tried to calm him that we might come to something rational but he got and and wouldn t hear a word put my hand in no man s hand said mr gasping puffing and sobbing to that degree that he was like a man fighting with cold water until i have blown to fragments the a detestable serpent i ii partake of no one s hospitality until i have a moved mount to on a the abandoned rascal refreshment a underneath this roof punch would a me david field unless i had previously the eyes out of the head a of interminable cheat and liar i a i ml know nobody and a say nothing and a live nowhere until i have crushed to a the and immortal and i really had some fear of mr s dying on the spot tlie manner in which he struggled through these inarticulate sentences and whenever he found himself getting near the name of f his way on to it dashed at it in a fainting state and brought it out with a vehemence little less than marvellous was frightful but now when he sank into a chair steaming and looked at us with every possible color in his face that had no business there and an endless procession of following one another in hot haste up his throat whence they seemed to shoot into his forehead he had the appearance of being in the last extremity i would have gone to his assistance but he waved me off and wouldn t hear a word no no communication a until miss a from wrongs inflicted by scoundrel i am quite convinced he could not have uttered three words but for the amazing energy with which this word inspired him when he felt it coming secret a from the whole world a no exceptions this day week a at breakfast time a everybody present including aunt a and extremely friendly gentlemen to be at the hotel at a where mrs and myself in chorus and a will expose intolerable no more to say a or listen to persuasion go immediately not capable a bear society upon the track of devoted and doomed traitor with this last repetition of the magic word that had kept him at all and in which he surpassed all his previous efforts mr rushed out of the house us in a state of excitement hope and wonder that reduced us to a condition little than his own but even then his passion for writing letters too strong to be resisted for while we were yet in the of our excitement hope and wonder the following pastoral note david was brought to me from a neighbouring tavern at which he had called to write it most secret and confidential my dear sir i beg to be allowed to convey through you my apologies to your excellent aunt for my late excitement an explosion of a long suppressed was the result of an internal contest more easily conceived than described i trust i rendered tolerably intelligible my appointment for the morning of this day week at the house of public entertainment at where mrs and myself had once the honor of our to yours in the well known
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strain of the immortal beyond the the duty done and act of performed which can alone enable me to contemplate my mortal i shall be known no more i shall simply require to be deposited in that place of universal resort where each in his narrow cell for ever laid the rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep the plain w chapter l mr s dream comes true by this time some months had passed since our on the bank of the river with i liad never seen her since but she had communicated with mr on several occasions nothing had come of her zealous nor could i infer from what he told me that any clue had ever been obtained for a moment to s fate i confess that i began to despair of her recovery and gradually to sink deeper and deeper into the belief that she was dead his conviction remained unchanged so far as i know and i believe his honest heart was transparent to me he never wavered again in his solemn certainty of finding her his patience never tired and although i trembled for the agony it might one day be to him to have his strong assurance shivered at a blow there was something so religious in it so expressive of its anchor being in the purest depths of his fine nature that the respect and honor in which i held him were exalted every day his was not a lazy that hoped and did no more he had been a man of sturdy action all his life and he knew that in all things wherein he wanted help he must do his own part and himself i have known him set out in the night on a that the light might not be by some accident in the of the old boat and walk to i have known him on reading something in the a er that might apply to her take up his stick and go forth on a journey of three or four score miles he made his way by sea to and back after hearing the narrative to which miss had assisted me all his journeys were performed for he was always steadfast in a purpose of saving money for s sake when she should be found in all this long pursuit i never heard him i heard him say he was fatigued or out of heart david had often seen him since our marriage and was quite fond of him i fancy his figure before me now standing near her sofa with his rough cap in his hand and the blue eyes of my child raised with a timid wonder to his face sometimes of an evening about when he came to talk with me i would induce him to smoke his pipe in the garden as we slowly paced to and fro together and then the picture of his deserted home and the comfortable air it used to have in my childish eyes of an evening when the fire was burning and the wind moaning round it came most vividly into my mind one evening at this hour he told me that he had found waiting near his lodging on the preceding night when he came out and that she had asked him not to leave london on any account until he should have seen her again did she tell you why i inquired i asked her r he replied but it is but few words as she ever says and she on y got my promise and so went away did she say when you might expect to see her again i demanded no r he returned drawing his hand thoughtfully down his face i asked that too but it was more she said than she could tell as i had long to encourage him with hopes that hung on threads i made no other comment on this information than that i supposed he would see her soon such speculations as it within me i kept to myself and those were faint enough i was walking alone in the garden one evening about a fortnight afterwards i remember that evening well it was the second in mr s week of suspense there had been rain all day and there was a damp feeling in the air the leaves were thick upon the trees and heavy with wet but the rain had ceased though the sky was still dark and the hopeful birds were singing cheerfully as i walked to and fro in the and the ht to close around me their little voices were hushed and that peculiar silence which belongs to such an evening in the country when tho trees are quite still save for the occasional from their boughs prevailed david there was a little green perspective of work and ivy at the side of our cottage through which i could see from tlie garden where i was walking into the road before the house i happened to turn my eyes towards this place as i was thinking of many things and i saw a figure beyond dressed in a plain cloak it was bending eagerly towards me and said i going to it can you come with me she inquired in an agitated whisper i have been to him and he is not at home i wrote down where he was to come and left it on his table with my own hand they said he would not be out long i have tidings for him can you come directly my answer was to pass out at the gate immediately she made a hasty gesture with her hand as if to entreat my patience and my silence and turned towards london whence as her dress she had come on foot i asked her if that were not our destination on her yes with the same hasty gesture as before i stopped
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an empty coach that was coming by and we got into it when t asked her where the coachman was to drive she answered anywhere near golden square and quick then shrunk into a corner with one trembling hand before her face and the other making the former gesture as if she could not bear a voice now much disturbed and dazzled with conflicting of hope and dread i looked at her for some explanation but seeing how strongly she desired to remain quiet and feeling that it was my own natural inclination too at such a time i did not attempt to break the silence we proceeded without a word being spoken sometimes she glanced out of the window as though she thought we were going slowly though indeed we were going fast but otherwise remained exactly as at first we alighted at one of the to the square she had mentioned where i directed the coach to wait not knowing but that wo might have some occasion for it she laid her hand upon my arm and hurried me on to one of the sombre streets of which there are several in that part where the houses were once fair dwellings in tho occupation of single families but have and had long into poor lodgings let off in rooms entering at the open door of david c p p e r f i e l d one of these and my arm she beckoned me to follow lier up the common staircase which was like a channel to the street the house with inmates as we went up doors of rooms were opened and people s heads put out and we passed other people on the stairs who were coming down in glancing up from the outside before we entered i had seen women and children at the windows over flower pots and w e seemed to have attracted their curiosity for these were principally the who looked out of their doors it was a broad staircase with massive of some dark wood above the doors ornamented with carved fruit and flowers and broad seats in the windows but all these tokens of past grandeur were miserably decayed and dirty rot damp and age had weakened the which in many places was and even some attempts had been made i noticed to new blood into this frame by the costly old wood work here and there with common deal but it was like the marriage of a reduced old noble to a and each party to the ill union shrunk away from the other several of the back windows on the staircase had been darkened or wholly blocked up in those that remained there was scarcely any glass and through the crumbling frames by which the bad air seemed always to come and never to go out i saw through other windows into other houses in a similar condition and looked down into a wretched yard which was the common dust heap of the mansion we proceeded to the top story of the house two or three times by the way i thought i observed in the indistinct light the skirts of a female figure going up before us as we turned to ascend the last flight of stairs between us and the roof we caught a full view of this figure pausing for a moment at a door then it turned the handle and went in what s this said in a whisper she has gone into my room i don t know her knew her i had recognised her with amazement for miss i said something to the effect that it was a lady whom i had seen in a few words to my and had scarcely done david so when we heard her voice in the room though not from where we stood what she was saying with an astonished look repeated her former action and softly led me up the stairs and then by a little back door which seemed to have no lock and which she pushed open with a touch into a small empty garret with a low sloping roof little better than a cupboard between this and the room she had called hers there was a small door of communication standing partly open here we stopped breathless with our ascent and she placed her hand lightly on my lips i could only see of the room beyond that it was pretty large that there was a bed in it and that there were some common pictures of ships upon the walls i could not see miss or the person whom we had heard her address certainly my companion could not for my position was the best a dead silence prevailed for some moments kept one hand on my lips and raised the other in a listening attitude it matters little to me her not being at home said i know nothing of her it is you i come to see me replied a soft voice at the sound of it a thrill went through my frame for it was s yes returned miss i have come to look at you what you are not ashamed of the face that has done so much the resolute and hatred of her tone its cold stern and its mastered rage presented her before me as if i had seen her standing in the light i saw the flashing black eyes and the passion wasted figure and i saw the with its track cutting through her lips quivering and throbbing as she spoke i have come to see she said james s fancy the girl who ran away with him and is the town talk of the commonest people of her native place the bold practised companion of persons like james i want to know what such a thing is like there was a rustle as if the girl on whom she heaped these
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know you know perhaps what his power with a weak vain girl might be i don t defend but i know well and he knows well or he will know when he comes to die and his mind is troubled with it that he used all his power to deceive me and that i believed him trusted him and loved sprang up from her seat and in struck at her with a face of such so darkened and by passion that i had almost thrown myself between them the blow which had no aim fell upon the air as she now stood panting looking at her with the utmost that she was capable of expressing and trembling from head to foot with rage and scorn i thought i had never seen such a sight and never could see such another you love him you she cried with her clenched hand quivering as if it only wanted a weapon to the object of her wrath had shrunk out of my view there was no reply and tell that to me she added with your shameful lips why don t they whip these creatures if i could order it to bo done i have the girl whipped to death and so she would i have no doubt i would not have trusted her with the rack itself while that furious look lasted she slowly very slowly broke into a laugh and pointed at with her hand as if she were a ht of shame for and men she love she said that and he ever ed for her she d tell me ha ha the that these are her mockery was worse than her rage of the two i would have much preferred to be the object of the latter but when she suffered it to break loose it was only for a moment she david c p p e r f i e l d had chained it up again and however it might tear her within she subdued it to herself i came you pure fountain of love she said to see as i began by telling you what such a thing as you was like i curious i am satisfied also to tell you that you had best seek that home of yours with all speed and hide your head among those excellent people who are expecting you and whom your money will console when it s all gone you can believe and trust and love again you know i thought you a broken toy that had lasted its time a worthless that was and thrown away but finding you true gold a very lady and an ill used innocent with a fresh heart full of love and which you look like and is quite consistent with your story i i have something more to pay attend to it for what i say i ll do do you hear me you fairy spirit what i sa i mean to do i her the better of her ain for a moment but it passed over her face like a and left her smiling hide yourself she pursued if not at home somewhere let it be somewhere beyond reach in some obscure life or better still in some ob cure death i wonder if your loving heart will not break you have found no way of helping it to be still i have heard of such means sometimes i believe they may be easily found a low cr ing on the part of interrupted her she stopped and listened to it as if it were music i am of a strange nature perhaps went on but i can t breathe freely in the air you breathe find it sickly therefore i will have it cleared i will have it of you if you live here to morrow til have your story and your character proclaimed on the stair there are decent women in the house i am told and it is a pity such a light as you should be among them and concealed if leaving here you seek any refuge in this town in any character but your true one which you are welcome to bear without from me the same service shall be done you if i hear of your retreat being a by a gentleman who not ago to the favor of your hand i am sanguine as to that would he never never come how was i to bear this f how long could i bear it oh me oh me exclaimed the d in a tone that david might have touched the hardest heart i should have thought but there was no in s smile what what shall i do do returned the other live happy in your own reflections your existence to the recollection of james s tenderness he would have made you his serving man s wife would he not or to feeling grateful to the upright and deserving creature who would have taken you as his gift or if those proud and the consciousness of your own virtues and the honorable position to which they have raised you in the eyes of everything that wears the human shape will not sustain you marry that good man and be happy in his condescension if this will not do either die there are and for such deaths and such despair find one and take your flight to heaven i heard a distant foot upon the stairs i knew it i was certain it was his thank god she moved slowly from before the door when she said this and passed out of my sight but mark she added slowly and sternly opening the door to go away i am resolved for reasons that i have and that i entertain to cast you out unless you withdraw from my reach altogether or drop your pretty mask this is
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what i had to say and what i say i mean to do the foot upon the stairs came nearer nearer passed her as she went down rushed into the room uncle a fearful cry followed the word i paused a moment and looking in saw him supporting her insensible figure in his he gazed for a few seconds in the face then stooped to kiss it oh how tenderly and drew a handkerchief before it r he said in a low tremulous voice when it was covered i thank my father as my dream s come true i thank him hearty for having guided of me in his own ways to my darling with those words he took her up in his arms and with the veiled face lying on his bosom and addressed towards his own carried her motionless and unconscious down the stairs chapter li the beginning of a longer journey it iv ts yet early in the morning of the following day when as i was walking in my garden with my aunt who took little other exercise now being so much in attendance on my dear i was told that mr desired to speak with me he came into the garden to meet me half way on my going towards the e and his head as it was always his custom to do when he saw my aunt for whom he had a high respect i had been telling her all that had happened over night without saying a word she walked up with a cordial face shook hands with him and patted him on the arm it was so done that she had no need to say a word mr understood her quite as well as if she had said a thousand ni go in now trot said my aunt and look after little blossom who will be getting up presently not along of my being ma am i hope said mr unless my wits is gone a s by which meant to say bird s this morning tis along of me as you re a going to quit us you have something to say my good friend returned my aunt and you ll do better without me by your leave ma am returned mr i should take t kind you t my if you d bide would you said my aunt with short good nature then i am sure i will so she drew her arm through mr s and walked with him to a leafy little summer house there was at the bottom of the garden where she sat down on a bench and i beside her there was a seat for mr too but he preferred to stand leaning his david hand on tlie small rustic table as he stood looking at his cap for a little while before beginning to speak i could not help observing what power and force of character his hand expressed and what a good and companion it was to his honest brow and iron gray hair i took my dear child away last night mr began as he raised his eyes to ours to my lodging i have a time been expecting of her and preparing for her it was hours afore she me right and when she did she down at my feet and said to me as if it was her prayers how it all come to be you may believe me when i her voice as i had at home so playful and see her as it might be in the dust our wrote in with his blessed hand i felt a go to my art in the midst of all its lie drew his sleeve across his face without any pretence of concealing why and then cleared his voice it warn t for long as i felt that for she was found i had on y to think as she was found and it was gone i t know why i do so much as mention of it now i m sure i didn t have it in my mind a minute ago to say a word about myself but it come up so that i yielded to it afore i was you are a self denying soul said my aunt and will have your reward mr with the shadows of the leaves playing his face made a surprised of the head towards my aunt as an acknowledgment of her good opinion then took up the thread he had when my era ly took flight he said in stern wrath for the moment from the house she was made a ner by that spotted snake as r see and his story s and may god confound him she took flight in the night it was a dark night with a many stars a shining she was wild she ran along the sea beach believing the old boat was and calling out to us to turn away our faces for she was a coming by she herself a crying out like as if it was another person and cut herself on them sharp stones and rocks and felt it no more than if she had been rock herself ever so fur she run and there o l david waa fire afore her eyes and in her ears of a sudden or bo she you the day broke wet and windy and she was lying b low a heap of stone upon the shore and a woman was a speaking to her saying in the of that country what was it as had so much amiss he saw everything he related it passed before him as he spoke vividly that in the intensity of his earnestness he presented what he described to me with greater distinctness than i can express i can hardly believe writing now long afterwards but that
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instead the child says of a sudden s daughter here s a shell then em ly her and she answers bursting out a crying and it all comes back when em ly got strong again said mr after another short interval of silence she cast about to leave that good young and get to her own country the husband was come home then and the two together put her aboard a small bound to and from that u france she had a little money but it was less than little as they would take for all they done i m a most glad on it though they was so poor what they done is laid up neither nor doth corrupt and thieves do not break though nor steal r it ll all the treasure in the em ly got to france and took to wait on travelling ladies at a in the port come one day that snake let him never come me i t know what hurt i do him i soon as she see him without him seeing her all her fear and david returned upon her and she fled afore the very breath he draw d she come to england and was set ashore at i t know said mr for sure when her art begun to fail her but all the way to england she had to come to her dear home soon as she got to england she turned her face tow it but fear of not being fear of being at fear of some of us being dead along of her fear of many things turned her from it by force upon the road uncle uncle she says to me the fear of not being worthy to do what my torn and bleeding breast so longed to do was the most fright fear of all t turned back when my art was full of prayers that i might crawl to the old in the night kiss it lay my wicked face upon it and be found dead in the morning she come said mr dropping his voice to an whisper to london she as had never seen it in her life alone without a penny young so pretty come to london a most the moment as she lighted all so desolate she found as she believed a friend a decent woman as spoke to her about the needle work as she had been brought up to do about finding plenty of it fur her about a lodging for the night and making secret concerning of me and all at home to morrow when my child he said aloud and with an energy of gratitude that shook him from head to foot stood upon the brink of more than i can say or think on to her promise saved her i could not repress a cry of joy he said my hand in that strong hand of his it was you as first made mention of her to me i sir she was she had know d of her bitter to watch and what to do she had done it and the lord was above all she come white and hurried upon em iy in her sleep she says to her rise up from worse than death and come with me them belonging to the house would have stopped her but they might as soon have stopped the sea stand away from me she says i am a ghost that calls her from beside her open grave she told em ly she had seen me and know d i loved her her she wrapped her hasty in her clothes she took david her faint and trembling on her arm she no more what they said than if she had had no ears she walked among em with my child only her and brought her safe out in the dead of the night from that black pit of ruin she attended on em ly said mr who had released my hand and put his own on his heaving chest she attended to my em ly lying wearied out and wandering till late next day then she went in search of me then in search of you r she didn t tell em ly what she come out fur lest her art should fail and she should think of hiding of herself how the cruel lady know d of her being i can t whether him as i have spoke so much of chanced to see em going or whether which is most like to my thinking he had it from the woman i do ent greatly ask myself my niece is found all night long said mr we have been together em ly and me tis little considering the time as she has said in through them broken hearted tears tis less as i have seen of her dear face as grow d into a woman s at my hearth but all night long her arms has been about my neck and her head has laid and we knows full well as we can put our trust in one another ever more he ceased to speak and his hand upon the table rested there in perfect repose with a resolution in it that might have conquered it was a gleam of light upon me trot said my aunt drying her eyes when i formed the resolution of being to your sister who disappointed me but next to that hardly anything would have given me greater pleasure than to bo to that good young creature s baby mr d his understanding of my aunt s feelings but could not trust himself with any verbal reference to the subject of her we all remained silent and occupied with our own reflections my aunt drying her eyes and now sobbing and now laughing and calling herself a fool until i
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spoke you have quite made up your mind said i to mr as to the future good friend i need scarcely ask you quite r he returned and told em ly s mighty countries fur from our future life over the sea david they will together aunt said i yes said mr with a hopeful smile no one can t reproach my darling in we will begin a new life over i asked him if he yet proposed to himself any time for going away i was down at the early this morning sir he returned to get information concerning of them ships in about six weeks or two months from now there ll be one sailing i see her this morning went aboard and we shall take our passage in her quite alone i asked aye r he returned my sister you see she s that fond of you and and that accustomed to think on y of her own country that it wouldn t be hardly fair to let her go besides which s one she has in charge r as t ought to be forgot poor ham said i my good sister takes care of his house you see ma am and he takes kindly to her mr explained for my aunt s better information he ll set and talk to her with a calm spirit it b like he couldn t bring himself to open his lips to another poor fellow said mr shaking his head s not so much left him that he could spare the little as he has and mrs said i well i ve had a of con i do tell you returned mr with a perplexed look which gradually cleared as he went on concerning of you see falls a thinking of the old un she an t what you may call good company you and me r and you ma am mrs takes to our old county word for crying she s liable to be considered to be by them as didn t know the old un like now i did know the old un said mr and i know d his merits so i her but tan t entirely so you see with others rally t be my aunt and i both said mr my sister might i t say the would but might find give her a david trouble now and again tan t my intentions to long with them but to find a fur her she can fur herself a in that dialect a home and to is to provide fur which purpose said mr i means to make her a afore i go as leave her comfort ble she s the oi tan t to be expected of course at her time of life and being lone and as the good old is to be knocked about and in the woods and of a new and fur away country so that s what i m a going to do with her he forgot nobody he thought of everybody s claims and but his own em ly he continued will keep along with me poor child she s sore in need of peace and rest until such time as we goes upon our voyage she ll work at them clothes as must be made and i hope her troubles will begin to seem longer ago than they was she finds herself once more by her rough but loving uncle my aunt nodded confirmation of this hope and imparted great satisfaction to mr s one thing r said he putting his hand in his breast pocket and gravely taking ont the little paper bundle i had seen before which he on the table s these here bank notes fifty pound and ten to them i wish to add the money as she come away with i ve asked her about that but not saying why and have added of it up i au t a scholar would you be so kind as see how tis v he handed me for his a piece of paper and me while looked it over it was quite right sir he said taking it back this money if you t see objections r i shall ut up jest afore i go in a cover d to him and put that up in another d to his mother i shall tell her in no more than i speak to you what it s the price on and that i m gone and past receiving of it back i told him that i thought it would be right to do so that i was thoroughly convinced it would be since he felt it to be right david i said that was on j one thing he proceeded with a grave smile when he had made up his little bundle again and put it in his pocket but was two i warn t sure in my mind i come out this morning as i could go and break to ham of my own self what had so happened so i writ a letter while i was out and put it in the post office of em how all was as tis and that i should come down to morrow to my mind of what little needs a doing of down and most like take my farewell leave of and do you wish me to go with you said i seeing that he left something if you could do me that kind favor r he replied i know the sight on you would cheer em up a bit my little being in good spirits and very desirous that i should go as i found on talking it over with her i readily pledged myself to accompany him in accordance with his wish next morning consequently we were on the
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do her any kindness in private so put me down for whatever you may consider right will you be so good and drop me a hue where to forward it dear me said mr when a man is drawing on to a time of life where the two ends of life david meet when he finds himself however hearty he is being wheeled about for the second time in a speeches of go cart he should be over rejoiced to do a kindness if he can he wants plenty and don t speak of myself particular said mr because sir the way i look at it is that we are all drawing on to the bottom of the hill whatever age we are on account of time never standing still for a single moment so let us always do a kindness and be to be sure he knocked the ashes out of his pipe and put it on a ledge in the back of his chair expressly made for its reception there s em ly s cousin him that she was to have been married to said mr rubbing his hands feebly as fine a fellow as there is in he ll come and talk or read to me in tho evening for an hour together sometimes that s a kindness i should call it all his life s a kindness i am going to see him now said i are you said mr tell him i was hearty and sent my respects and s at a ball they would be as proud to see you as i am if they was at home won t hardly go out at all you see on account of father as she says so i swore to night that if she didn t go i d go to bed at six in consequence of which mr shook himself and his chair with at the success of his device she and s at a ball i shook hands with him and wished him good night half a minute sir said mr if you was to go without seeing my little elephant you d lose the best of sights you never see such a sight a musical little voice answered from somewhere upstairs i am coming grandfather and a pretty little girl with long curling hair soon came into the shop this is my little elephant sir said mr the child breed sir now little elephant the little elephant set the do of the parlor open me to see that in these r days it was converted into a bedroom for mr who could not be easily conveyed upstairs and then hid her pretty forehead and tumbled her long hair against the back of mr s chair david the elephant you sir said mr when he goes at a object once elephant twice three times r at this signal the little elephant with a dexterity that was next to marvellous in so small an animal the chair round with mr in it and rattled it off into the parlor without touching the door post mr enjoying the performance and looking back at me on the road as if it were the triumphant issue of his life s exertions after a stroll about the town i went to ham s house had now removed here for good and had let her own house to the successor of mr in the carrying business who had paid her very well for the good will cart and horse i believe the very same horse that mr drove was still at work i found them in the neat kitchen accompanied by mrs who had been fetched from the old boat by mr himself i doubt if she could have been induced to desert her post by any one else he had evidently told them all both and mrs had their to their eyes and ham had just stepped out to take a turn on the beach he presently came home very glad to see me and i hope they were all the better for my being there we spoke with some approach to cheerfulness of mr s growing rich in a new country and of the wonders he would describe in his letters we said nothing of by name but referred to her more than once ham was the of the party but told me when she lighted me to a little chamber where the book was lying ready for me on the table that he always was the same she believed she told me crying that he was broken hearted he was as full of e as of sweetness and worked harder and better than any boat in any yard in all that part there were times she said of an evening when he talked of their old life in the boat house and then he mentioned as a child but he never mentioned her as a woman i thought i had read in his face that he would like to speak to me alone i therefore resolved to put myself in his way next david evening as he came home from his work having settled this with myself i fell asleep that night for the first time in all those many nights the candle was taken out of the window mr in his old in the old boat and the wind murmured with the old sound round his head all next day he was occupied in of his fishing boat and tackle in packing up and send ng to london by such of his little domestic possessions as he thought be useful to him and in parting with the rest or t em on mrs she was with him all day as i had a sorrowful wish to see the old place once more before it was locked up i engaged to meet them there in the evening but i so arranged it that i should meet
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business in it if there s any thing to add up besides i don t know when i shall make it out and my bad boy will look so miserable all the time there now you ll go won t you you ll only be gone one night and tip will take care of me while you are gone will carry me up stairs before you go and i won t come down again till you come back and you shall take a dreadfully scolding letter from me because she has never been to see us we agreed without any more consultation that we would both go and that was a httle who feigned to be rather because she liked to be she m as greatly pleased and very merry and we four that is to say my aunt mr dick and i went down to by the mail that night at the hotel where mr had requested us to await him which we got into with some trouble in the middle of the night a letter that he would appear in the morning at half past nine after which we went shivering at that uncomfortable hour to our respective beds various close j which smelt as if they had been for ages m a solution of soup and tables early in the i sauntered through the dear old tranquil and again mingled with the shadows of the gate david ways and churches the were sailing about the cathedral towers and the towers themselves overlooking many a long mile of the rich country and its pleasant streams were cutting the bright morning air as if there were no such thing as change on earth yet the bells when they sounded told me sorrowfully of change in everything told me of their own age and my pretty s youth and of the many never old who had lived and loved and died while the of the bells had through the rusty of the black prince hanging up within and upon the deep of time had lost themselves in air as circles do in w i looked at the old house from the corner of the street but did not go nearer to it lest being observed i might do any harm to the design i had come to aid the early sun was striking on its and windows touching them with gold and some beams of its old peace seemed to touch my heart i strolled into the country for an hour or so and then returned by the main street which in the interval had shaken oflf its last night s sleep among those who were stirring in the shops i saw my ancient enemy the butcher now advanced to top boots and a baby and in business for himself he was nursing the baby and appeared to be a member of society we all became very anxious and impatient when we sat down to breakfast as it approached nearer and nearer to half past nine o clock our restless expectation of mr increased at last we made no more pretence of attending to the meal which except with mr dick had been a mere form from the first but my aunt walked up and down the room sat upon the sofa affecting to read the paper with his eyes upon the ceiling and i looked out of the window to give early notice of mr s coming nor had i long to watch for at the first of the half hour he appeared in the street here he is said i and not in his legal attire my aunt tied the strings of her bonnet she had come down to in it and put on her shawl as if she were for anything that was and his coat witb a determined air mr dick disturbed by these for david appearances but feeling it necessary to imitate them pulled his hat with both hands as over his ears as he possibly could and instantly took it off again to welcome mr gentlemen and madam said mr good morning my dear sir to mr dick who shook hands with him violently you are extremely good have you said mr dick have a chop not for the world my good sir cried mr stopping him on his way to the bell appetite and myself mr have been mr was so pleased with his new name and appeared to think it so very obliging in mr to confer it upon him that he shook hands with him again and laughed rather dick said my aunt attention mr dick recovered himself with a now sir said my aunt to mr as she put on her gloves we are ready for mount or anything else as soon as you please madam returned mr t trust you will shortly witness an mr i have your permission believe to mention here that we have been in communication together it is undoubtedly the fact said to whom i looked in surprise mr has consulted me in reference to what he has in contemplation and i have advised him to the best of my judgment unless i deceive myself mr pursued mr what i contemplate is a disclosure of an important nature highly so said perhaps under such madam and gentlemen said mr you will do me the favor to submit yourselves for the moment to the direction ot one who however unworthy to be regarded in any other light but as a and stray upon the shore of human nature is still your fellow man though crushed out of his original form by individual errors and the force of a combination of circumstances v we have perfect confidence in you mr said i and will do what you please david mr returned mr your confidence is not at the existing juncture ill bestowed i would beg to be allowed a start of five minutes by the clock
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and then to receive the present company inquiring fur miss at the office of and whose i am my aunt and i looked at who nodded his approval i have no more observed mr to say at present with which to my infinite surprise he included us all in a com bow and disappeared his manner being distant and his face extremely pale only smiled and shook his head with his hair standing upright on the top of it when i looked to him fur au explanation i took out my watch and as a last resource counted the five minutes my aunt with her own watch in her hand did the hke when the time was expired gave her his arm and we all went out together to the old house without saying one word on the way we mr at his desk in the office on the ground floor either writing or pretending to write hard the large office ruler was stuck into his waistcoat and was not so well concealed but that a ur more of that instrument from his bosom like a new kind of shirt as it appeared to me that i was expected to speak i said aloud how do you do mr mr said mr gravely i hope i see you well r is miss at home said i mr is in bed sir of a fever he returned but miss i have no doubt will be happy to bee old friends will you walk in sir he preceded us to the dining room the first room i had entered in that house and flinging open the door of mr s former office said in a voice miss mr david mr thomas and mr i liad not seen since the time of the blow our visit astonished him evidently not the less i dare say because it david a ourselves he did not gather his eyebrows together for he had none worth mentioning but he frowned to that degree that he almost closed his small eyes while the hurried raising of his hand to his chin betrayed some or surprise this was only w hen we were in the act of entering his room and when i caught a glance at him over my aunt s shoulder a moment afterwards he was as and as humble as ever well i am sure he said this is indeed an unexpected pleasure to have as i may say all friends round saint paul s at once is a treat for mr i hope i see you well and if i may express self so friendly towards them as is ever your friends whether or not mrs sir i hope she s getting on we have been made quite uneasy by the poor accounts we have had of her state lately i do assure you i felt ashamed to let him take my hand but i did not know yet what else to do things are changed in this office miss since i was a clerk and held your pony ain t they said with his smile but am not changed miss well sir returned my aunt to tell you the truth i think you are pretty constant to the promise of your youth if that s any satisfaction to you thank you miss said in his manner for your good opinion tell em to let miss know and mother mother will be quite in a state when she sees the present company said setting chairs you are not busy mr said whose eye the cunning red eye accidentally caught as it at once and us no mr replied his official seat and his bony hands laid palm to palm between his bony knees not so much so as i could wish but lawyers and are not easily satisfied you know not but what myself and have our hands pretty full in general oa account of mr s being hardly fit for any occupation sir but it s a pleasure as well as a duty i am sure to work for him you ve not been intimate with mr i think mr i behave i ve only had tlie honor of seeing you once myself david no i have not been intimate with mr returned or i might perhaps have waited on you long ago mr there was something in the tone of this reply which made look at the speaker again with a very sinister and suspicious expression but seeing only with his good natured face simple manner and hair on end he dismissed it as he with a jerk of his whole body but especially in his throat i am sorry for that mr you would have admired him as much as we all do his little would only have him to you the more but if you would like to hear my fellow partner spoken of i should refer you to the family is a subject he s very strong upon if you never heard him i was prevented from the compliment if i should have done so in any case by the entrance of now ushered in by mr she was not quite so self possessed as usual i thought and had evidently undergone anxiety and fatigue but her earnest cordiality and her quiet beauty shone with the lustre for it i saw watch her while she greeted us and he reminded me of an ugly and rebellious watching a good s in the meanwhile some slight sign passed between mr and and unobserved except by me went out don t wait said mr with his hand upon the ruler in his breast stood erect before the door most contemplating one of his fellow men and that man his employer what are you waiting for said did you hear me tell you not to wait yes replied the immovable mr then why do you wait said because
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he said had no effect on me or any of us he sat on the edge of his table with his hands in his pockets and one of his feet twisted round the other leg waiting for what follow mr whose i had restrained thus far with the greatest difficulty and who had repeatedly interposed with the first syllable of without getting to th e second now burst forward drew the ruler from his breast apparently as a weapon and produced from his pocket a document folded in the form of a large letter opening this packet with his old flourish and glancing at the contents as if he cherished an artistic admiration of their style of composition he began to read as follows dear miss and gentlemen bless and save the man exclaimed my aunt in a low voice he d write letters by the if it was a capital offence mr without hearing her went on in appearing before you to probably the most villain that has ever existed mr without david looking off the letter pointed the ruler like a ghostly at ik i ask no consideration for myself the victim from my cradle of pecuniary to which have been unable to respond have ever been the sport and toy of circumstances want despair and madness have or separately been the attendants of my career the relish with which mr described himself as a prey to these dismal was only to be equalled by the emphasis with which he read his letter and the kind of homage he rendered to it with a roll of his head when he he had hit a sentence very hard indeed in an of want despair and madness i entered the office or as our lively neighbour the would term it the of the firm conducted under the of and but in reality by alone and only is the of that machine and only is the and the cheat more blue than white at these words made a dart at the letter as if to tear it in pieces mr with a perfect miracle of dexterity or luck caught his advancing with the ruler and his right hand it dropped at the wrist as if it were broken the blow sounded as if it had fallen on wood the devil take you said in a new way with pain i ll be even with you approach me again you you you of gasped mr and if your head is human i ll break it come on come on i think i never saw anything more ridiculous i was sensible of it even at the time than mr making broad sword guards with the ruler and crying come on while and i pushed him back into a corner from which as often as we got him into it he persisted in emerging again his enemy muttering to himself after wringing his wound d hand for some time slowly drew off his neck and bound it up then held it in his other hand and sat upon his table with his sullen face looking down mr when he was sufficiently cool proceeded with his letter g david the in consideration of which i entered into the service of always pausing before that and uttering it with astonishing vigor were not defined beyond the of twenty two shillings and six per week the rest was left on the value of my professional exertions in other and more expressive words on the of my nature th of my motives the poverty of my family the general moral or rather resemblance between myself and need i say that it soon became necessary for me to from pecuniary advances towards the support of mrs and our but rising family need i say that this necessity had been foreseen by that those advances were secured by i o u s and other similar known to the legal institutions of this country and that i thus became in the web he had spun for my reception v mr s enjoyment of his powers in describing this unfortunate state of things really seemed to any pain or anxiety that the reality could have caused him he read on then it was that began to favor me with just so much of his confidence as was necessary to the discharge of his infernal business then it was that i began if i may so express myself to peak and pine i found that my services were constantly called into for the of business and the of an individual whom i will as mr w that mr w was imposed upon kept in ignorance and in every possible w ay yet that all this while the was unbounded gratitude to and unbounded friendship for that much abused gentleman this was bad enough but as the philosophic with that universal which the illustrious ornament of the era worse remains behind mr was so very much struck by this happy off with a quotation that he indulged himself and us with a second reading of the sentence under pretence of having lost his place it is not my intention he continued reading on to enter on a detailed list within the compass of the present though it is ready elsewhere of the various of a minor nature david affecting the individual whom i have mr w to which i have been a party my object when the contest within myself between and no baker and no baker existence and non existence was to take advantage of my opportunities to discover and expose the major committed to that gentleman s grievous wrong and injury by stimulated by the silent within and by a no less touching and appealing without to whom i will briefly refer as miss w i entered on a not task of
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investigation protracted now to the best of my knowledge information and belief over a period exceeding twelve months he read this passage as if it were from an act of parliament and appeared refreshed by the sound of the words my charges against he read on glancing at him and drawing the ruler into a convenient position under his left arm in case of need are as follows we all held our breath i think i am sure held his st said mr when mr w s faculties and memory for business became through causes into which it is not necessary or expedient for me to enter weakened and confused perplexed and complicated the whole of the official transactions when mr w was least fit to enter on business was on hand to force him to enter on it he obtained mr w s signature under such circumstances to documents of importance representing them to be other documents of no importance he induced mr w to him to draw out one sum of trust money to twelve six fourteen two and nine and employed it to meet pretended business charges and which were either already provided for or had never really existed he gave this proceeding throughout the of having originated in mr w s own intention and of having been accomplished by mr w s own act and has used it ever since to torture and him you shall prove this you said with a threatening shake of the head all in good time ask mr who lived in his house after him said mr j ofl the letter will you david the fool himself and lives there now said ask if he ever kept a pocket book in that house said mr will you i saw s hand stop involuntarily in the of his chin or ask him said mr if he ever burnt one there if he says yes and asks you where the ashes are refer him to and he will hear of something not at all to his advantage the triumphant flourish with which mr delivered himself of these words had a powerful effect in alarming the mother who cried out in much agitation i be and terms my dear mother i he retorted will you keep quiet you re in a fright and don t know what you say or mean he repeated looking at me with a i ve some of em for a pretty long time back as t was mr his chin to his presently proceeded with his composition second has on several occasions to the best of m knowledge information and belief but that won t do relieved mother you keep quiet we will endeavor to provide something that will do and do for you finally sir very shortly replied mr second has on several occasions to the best of my knowledge information and belief to various books and documents the signature of mr w and has distinctly done so in one instance capable of proof by me to wit in manner following that is to say again mr had a relish in this formal up of words which however displayed in his case was i must say not at all peculiar to him i have observed it in the course of my hfe in numbers of men it seems to me to be a general rule in the taking of legal oaths for instance seem to enjoy themselves when they come to several good words in for the expression of one idea a that they utterly and or so and tlie ld were david made on the same principle we talk about the tyranny of words but we like to over them too we are fond of a large superfluous establishment of words to wait upon us on great occasions we think it looks important and sounds well as we are not particular about the meaning of our on state occasions if they be but fine and numerous enough so the meaning or necessity of our words is a secondary consideration if there be but a great parade of them and as individuals get into trouble by making too great a show of or as slaves when they are too numerous rise their masters so i think i could mention a nation that has got into many great difficulties and will get into many greater from maintaining too large a of words mr read on almost his lips to wit in manner following that is to say mr w being and it being within the bounds of that his might lead to some discoveries and to the of s power over the w family as i the assume unless tlie filial affection of his could be secretly influenced from allowing any investigation of the to be ever made the said deemed it expedient to have a bond ready by him as from mr w for the before mentioned sum of twelve six fourteen two and nine with interest therein to have been advanced by to mr w to ave mr w from though really the sum was never advanced by him and has long been replaced the to this instrument to be executed by mr w and by are by i have in ray possession in his hand and pocket book several similar of mr w s signature here and there by fire but to any one i never any such document and i have the document itself in my possession with a start took out of his pocket a bunch of keys and opened a certain drawer then suddenly himself of what he was about and turned again toward us without looking in it and i have tlie document mr road again looking about as if it were the text of a sermon in my possession
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that david is to say i had early this morning when this was written but have since it to mr it is quite true assented cried the mother be and make terms i know my son will be gentlemen if you give him time to think mr i m sure you know that he was always very sir it was singular to see how the mother still held to the old trick when the son had abandoned it as useless mother he said with an impatient bite at the handkerchief in which his hand was wrapped you had better take and fire a loaded gun at me but i love you cried mrs and i have no doubt she did or that he loved her however strange it may appear though to be sure they were a congenial couple and i can t bear to hear you provoking the gentlemen and of yourself more i told the gentleman at first when he told me up stairs it was come to light that i would answer for your being humble and making amends oh see how am gentlemen and don t mind him why there s mother he angrily retorted pointing his lean finger at me against whom all his was as the prime in the discovery and i did not him there s would have given you a hundred pound to less than you have out i can t help it cried his mother i can t see yo running into danger through carrying your head so high be as you always was he remained for a little biting the handkerchief and then to me with a what more have you got to bring forward if anything go o with it what do you look at me for mr promptly resumed his letter only too glad to to a performance with which he was so highly satisfied third and last i am now in a condition to show by s false books and s real beginning witli the partially destroyed pocket k wliich i was unable to david comprehend at the time of its accidental discovery by mrs on our taking possession of our present abode in the or devoted to the reception of the ashes on our domestic hearth that the weaknesses the faults the very virtues the affections and the sense of honor of the mr w have been for years acted on by and to the base purposes of that mr w has been for years and in every conceivable manner to the pecuniary of the false and grasping that the object of was next to gain to subdue mr and miss w of his views in reference to the latter i say nothing entirely to himself that his last act completed but a few months since was to induce mr w to execute a of his share in the and even a bill of sale on the very furniture of his house in consideration of a certain to be well and truly paid by on the four common quarter days in each and every year that these beginning with alarming and accounts of the estate of which mr w is the at a period when mr w had launched into and ill judged speculations and may not have had the money for which he was morally and responsible in hand going on with pretended of money at enormous interest really coming from and by obtained or withheld from mr w himself on pretence of such speculations or otherwise bv a miscellaneous catalogue of gradually until the unhappy mr w could see no world beyond as he h alike in circumstances in all other hope and in honor his sole reliance was upon the monster in the garb of man mr made a good deal of this as a new turn of expression who by making himself necessary to him had achieved his destruction all this undertake to show probably much more i i whispered a few words to who was weeping half joyfully half sorrowfully at my side and there was a movement among us as if mr had finished he said with exceeding gravity pardon me proceeded with a mixture of the lowest spirit and the most intense enjoyment to the k of letter i have now concluded it merely remains for to these and then with my ill family tc disappear from the landscape on which we appear to be an that is soon done it may be reasonably inferred that our baby will first of as being the member of our circle and that our will follow next in order so be it for myself my pilgrimage has done much imprisonment on civil process and want will soon do more i trust that the labor and hazard of an investigation of which the results have been slowly together in the pressure of under grinding apprehensions at rise of at eve in the shadows of night under the eye of one whom it were superfluous to call demon combined with the struggle of parental poverty to turn it when completed to the right account may be as the of a few drops of sweet water on my i ask no more let it be in justice merely said of me as of a gallant and eminent hero with whom i have no pretensions to cope that what i have done i did in despite of and selfish objects for england home and beauty remaining always c c much affected but still intensely enjoying himself mr folded up his letter and handed it with a bow to my aunt as something she might like to keep there was as i had noticed on my first visit long ago an iron safe in the room the key was in it a hasty suspicion seemed to strike and with
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a glance at mr he went to it and threw the doors open it was empty where are the books he cried with a frightful face some thief has stolen the books mr tapped himself with the ruler did when i got the key from you as usual but a little and opened it this morning don t be uneasy said they have come into my possession i will take care of them under the authority i david you receive stolen goods do you cried under such circumstances answered yes what was my astonishment when i beheld my aunt who had been profoundly quiet and attentive make a dart at and seize liim by the collar with both hands you know what want said my aunt a strait waistcoat said he no my property returned my aunt my dear as long as i believed it had been really made away with by your father i wouldn t and my dear i t even to trot as he knows breathe a syllable of its having been placed here for but now i know this fellow s for it and i ll have it trot come and take it away from him whether my aunt supposed for the moment that he kept her property in his neck i am sure i don t know but she certainly pulled at it as if she thought so i hastened to put between then and to assure her that we would all take care that he should make the utmost of everything he had got this and a few moments reflection her but she was not at all disconcerted by what she had done though i cannot say as much for her bonnet and resumed her seat during the last few minutes mrs had been to her son to be and had been going down on her knees to all of us in succession and making the wildest promises her son sat her down in his chair and standing by her holding her arm with his hand but not rudely said to me with a ferocious look what do you want done i will tell you what must be done said that no tongue muttered i would do a good deal for you if you could tell me without lying that somebody had cut it out my means to be cried his mother don t mind what he says good gentlemen what must be done said is this first the deed of that we have heard of must be given over to me now here david suppose i haven t got it he interrupted but you have said therefore you know we won t suppose so and i cannot help that this was the first occasion on which i really did justice to the clear head and the plain patient practical good sense of my old then said you must prepare to all that your has become possessed of and to make restoration to the last all the books and papers must remain in possession all your books and papers all money accounts and of both kinds in short everything here must it don t know that said i must have time to think about that certainly replied but in the meanwhile and until everything is done to our satisfaction we sha l maintain possession of these things and beg you in short compel you to keep your own room and hold no communication with any one i won t do it said with an oath jail is a safer place of observed and though the law may be longer in us and may not be able to right us so completely as you can there is no doubt of its you dear me you know that quite as well as i will you go round to the and bring a couple of officers here mrs broke out again crying on her knees to to interfere in their behalf exclaiming that he was very humble and it was all true and if he didn t do what we wanted she would and much more to the same purpose being half frantic with fears for her ling to inquire what he might have done if he had had any boldness w ould be like inquiring what a cur might do if it had the spirit of a tiger he was a coward from head to foot and showed his nature through his and mortification as much as at any time of his mean life stop he growled to me and od his hot face with his hand mother hold your noise well let em have that deed go and fetch it do you help her mr dick said if you please proud of his commission and understanding it mr dick david her as a shepherd s dog might accompany a sheep but mrs gave him httle trouble for she not only returned with the deed but with the box in which it was where we found a banker s book and some other papers that were afterwards serviceable good said when this was brought now mr you can retire to think particularly observing if you please that declare to you on part of all present that there is only one thing to be done that it is what have explained and that it must be done without delay without lifting his eyes from the ground across the room with his hand to his chin and pausing at the door said i have always hated you you ve always been an and you ve always been against me as i think i told you once before said i it is you who have been in your and cunning against all the world it may be profitable to you to reflect in future that there never were and in the world yet that did not do too much and over reach
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themselves it is as certain as death or as certain as they used to teach at school the same school where i picked up so much from nine o clock to eleven that labor was a curse and from eleven o clock to one that it was a blessing and a cheerfulness and a dignity and i don t know what all eh said he with a sneer you preach about as consistent as they did won t go down i shouldn t have got round my gentleman fellow partner without it i think you old bully i ll pay you mr defiant of him and his extended finger and making a great deal of his chest until he had out at the door then addressed himself to me and proffered me the satisfaction of witnessing the re establishment of mutual confidence between himself and mrs after which he invited the company generally to the contemplation of that spectacle the veil that has long been interposed between mrs and myself is now withdrawn said mr and my children and the author of their can once more come into contact on equal terms as we were all very grateful to him and all desirous to show david tliat we were as well as the hurry and disorder of our spirits would permit i dare say we should all have gone but that it was necessary for to return to her father as yet unable to bear more than the dawn of hope and for some one else to hold in safe keeping so remained for the latter purpose to be presently relieved by mr dick and mr dick my aunt and t went home with mr as i parted hurriedly from the dear girl to whom i owed so much and thought from what she had been saved perhaps that her better resolution notwithstanding i felt devoutly thankful for the miseries of my younger days which had brought me to the knowledge of mr his house was not far off and as the street door opened into the sitting room and he bolted in with a quite his own we found ourselves at once in the bosom of the family mr exclaiming my life rushed into mrs s arms mrs shrieked and folded mr in her embrace miss the unconscious of mrs s last letter to me was sensibly affected the stranger leaped the their joy by several inconvenient but innocent master whose disposition appeared to have been by early disappointment and whose aspect had become yielded to his better feelings and said mr the cloud is past from my mind mutual confidence so long preserved between us once is restored to know no farther interruption now welcome poverty cried mr shedding tears welcome misery welcome welcome hunger rags tempest and mutual confidence will sustain us to the end with these expressions mr placed mrs in a chair and embraced the family all round a variety of bleak prospects which appeared to the best of my judgment to be anything but welcome to them and calling upon them to come out into and sing a chorus as nothing else was left for their t but mrs having in the strength of her emotions fainted away the first thing to be done even before the chorus could be considered complete was to recover her this my aunt david thoroughly persuaded bye the bye that he had never thought of it in his life aye said my aunt with a glance at me why what a thing it would be for yourselves and your family mr and mrs if you were to now capital madam capital urged mr gloomily that is the principal i may say the only difficulty my dear mr assented his wife capital cried my aunt but you are doing us a great service have done us a great service i may say for surely much will come out of the fire and what could we do for you that d be half so good as to find the capital t i could not receive it as a gift said mr full of fire and animation but if a sufficient sum could be advanced say at five per cent interest per upon my personal say ray notes of hand at twelve eighteen and four months to allow time for something to turn up could be can be and shall be on your own terms returned ir y aunt if you say the word think of this now both of you here are some people david knows going out to shortly if you decide to go why shouldn t you go in the same ship you may help each other think of this now mr and mrs take your time and weigh it well there is but one question my dear ma am i could wish to ask said mrs the i believe is healthy finest in the world said my aunt just so returned mrs then my question arises now are the circumstances of the country such that a man of mr s abilities would have a fair chance of rising in the social scale i will not say at present might he to be governor or anything of that sort but would there be a reasonable opening for his talents to develop that would be amply sufficient and find their own no better opening anywhere said my aunt for a man who himself well and is industrious for a man who himself well repeated mrs with her business manner and is industrious precisely david it is evident to me that is the legitimate sphere of action for mr i entertain the conviction my dear madam said mr that it is under existing circumstances the land the only land for myself and family and that something of an extraordinary nature will turn up on that shore it is no distance comparatively
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speaking and though consideration is due to the kindness of your proposal i assure you that it is a mere matter of form shall i ever forget how in a moment he was the most sanguine of men looking on to fortune or how mrs presently about the habits of the shall i ever recall that street of on a market day without recalling him as he walked back with us expressing in the hardy manner he assumed the unsettled habits of a temporary in the land and looking at the as they came by with the eye of an farmer chapter another i must pause yet once again o my child wife there is a fi in the moving crowd before my memory quiet and still saying in its innocent love and childish beauty stop to think of me turn to look upon the little blossom as it to the ground i do all else grows dim and away i am again with in our cottage i do not know how long she has been ill i am so used to it in feeling that i cannot count the time it is not really long in weeks or months but in my usage and experience it is a weary weary while they have left off telling me to wait a few days more i have david begun to fear that the day may never shine when i shall bee my child wife running in the sunlight with her old friend he is as it were suddenly grown very old it may be that he in his mistress something that him and made him younger but he and his sight is weak and his limbs are feeble and my aunt is sorry that he objects to her no more but near her as he lies on s bed she sitting at the bedside and mildly her hand lies on us and is beautiful and no hasty or complaining word she sa s that we are very good to her that her dear old careful boy is himself out she knows that my aunt has no sleep yet is always active and kind sometimes the little bird like ladies come to see her and then we talk about our wedding day and all that happy time what a strange rest and pause in my life there seems to be and in all life within doors and without when i sit in the quiet shaded orderly room with the blue eyes of my child wife turned towards me and her little fingers round my hand many and many an hour i sit thus but of all those times three times come the on my mind it is morning and made so trim by my aunt s hands shows me how her pretty hair will curl upon the pillow yet and how long and bright it is and how she likes to have it loosely gathered in that net she wears not tbat i am vain of it now you mocking boy she says when i smile but because you used to say you thought it so beautiful and because when i first began to think about you i used to peep in the glass and wonder whether you would like very much to have a lock of it oh what a foolish fellow you were when i gave you one that was on the day when you were painting the flowers i had given you and when i told you how much in love i was ah but i didn t like to tell says then how i had cried over them because i believed you really me when t can run about again as i used to do let us go and see those places where we were such a silly couple shall we and take some of the old walks and not forget poor papa david yes we will and have some happy days so you must make haste to get well my dear ob i shall soon do that i am so much better you t know it is evening and i sit in the same chair by the same bed with the same face turned towards me we have been silent and there is a smile upon her face i have ceased to carry my light burden up and down stairs now she lies here all the day my dear you won t think what i am going to say unreasonable after what you told me such a little while ago of mr s not being well i want to see very much want to see her i will write to her my dear will you directly what a good kind boy take me on your arm indeed my dear it s not a whim it s not a foolish fancy i want very much indeed to see her i am certain of it i have only to tell her so and she is sure to come you are very lonely when you go down stairs now with her arm about my neck how can i be otherwise my own love when i see your empty r my empty chair she to me for a little while in and you really miss me looking up and brightly smiling even poor giddy stupid me my heart who is there u on earth that i could miss so much oh husband i am so glad yet so sorry creeping closer to me and folding me in both her arms she laughs and sobs and then is quiet and quite happy quite i she says only give my dear love and tell her that i want very very much to see her and i have nothing left to wish for except to get well again david ah sometimes i think you know t always was a little thing that that will never be don
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are originally indebted to the jews who appear to me to have had a devilish deal too much to do with them ever since because they are but if a bond or any other description of security would be preferred i be happy to execute any such instrument as between man and man my aunt observed that in a case where both parties were willing to agree to anything she took it for granted there would be no difficulty in settling this point mr was of her opinion in reference to our domestic preparations madam said mr with some pride meeting the destiny to which we are now understood to be self devoted i beg to report them my eldest daughter at five every morning in a neighbouring establishment to acquire tlie process if process it may be called of cows my y children are instructed to observe aa as circumstances will permit the habits of the pigs and maintained in the poorer parts of this a pursuit from david which they have on two occasions been home within an inch of being run over i have myself directed some attention during the past week to the art of and my son issued forth with a walking stick and driven cattle when permitted by the rugged who had them in charge to render any voluntary service in that direction which i regret to say for the credit of our nature was not often he being generally warned with to all very right indeed said my aunt mrs has been very busy too i have no doubt my dear madam returned mrs with her air i am free to confess that i have not been engaged in pursuits immediately connected with cultivation or with stock though well aware that both will claim my attention on a foreign shore such opportunities as i have been enabled to from my domestic duties i have devoted to corresponding at some length with my family for i own it seems to me my dear mr said mrs who always fell back on me i suppose from old habit to else she might address her discourse at starting that the time is come when the past should be buried in oblivion when my family should take mr by the hand and mr should take my family by the hand when the lion should lie down with the lamb and my family be on terms with mr i said i thought so too this at least is the light my dear mr pursued mrs in which view the subject when i lived at home with my papa and mamma my papa was accustomed to ask when any point was under discussion in our limited circle in what light does my view the subject that my papa was too partial i know still on such a point as the coldness which has ever between mr and my family i necessarily have formed an opinion though it may be no doubt of course you have ma am said my aunt precisely so assented mrs now i may be wrong in my conclusions it is very likely that t am but my individual is that the gulf between my and mr david may be traced to an apprehension on the part of my family that mr would require pecuniary accommodation i cannot help thinking said mrs with an air of deep sagacity that there are members of my family who have been apprehensive that mr would them for their names i do not mean to be conferred in upon our children but to be inscribed on bills of exchange and in the money market the look of penetration with which mrs announced this discovery as if no one had ever thought of it before seemed rather to astonish my aunt who abruptly replied well ma am upon the whole i shouldn t wonder if you were right mr being now on the eve of casting off the pecuniary that have so long him said mrs and of a new career in a country where there is sufficient range for his abilities which in my opinion is exceedingly important mr s abilities requiring space it seems to me that my family should the occasion by coming forward what i could wish to see would be a meeting between mr and my family at a entertainment to be given at my family s expense where mr s health and prosperity being proposed by some leading member of my family mr might have an opportunity of developing his views my dear said mr with some heat it may be better for me to state distinctly at once that if i were to develop my views to that assembled group they would possibly be found of an offensive nature my impression being that your family are in the impertinent and in detail said mrs shaking her head no you have never understood them and they have never understood ou mr they have never understood you said his wife they may be incapable of it if so that is their misfortune i can pity their misfortune i am extremely sorry my dear said mr david to have been betrayed into any expressions that might even have the appearance of being strong expressions all i would say is that i can go abroad without your family coming forward to favor me in short with a parting of their cold shoulders and that upon the whole i would rather leave england with such as i possess than derive any of it from that quarter at the same time ray dear if they should condescend to reply to your communications which our joint renders most improbable far be it from me to be a barrier to your wishes the matter being thus settled mr gave mrs his arm and glancing at the heap of books and papers lying
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rent the dear old house and keep a school i shall be and happy david the calm of her cheerful voice brought back so vividly first the dear old house itself and then ray solitary home that my heart was too full for speech pretended for a little while to be busily looking among the papers next miss said that property of yours well sir sighed my aunt all i have got to say about it is that if it s gone can bear it and if it s not gone i shall be glad to get it back it was originally i think eight thousand pounds said right replied my aunt i can t account for more than five said with an air of perplexity thousand do you mean inquired my aunt with uncommon composure or pounds five thousand pounds said it was all there was returned my aunt i sold three myself one i paid for your articles trot my dear and the other two i have by me when i lost the rest i thought it wise to say nothing about that sum but to keep it secretly for a rainy day i wanted to see how you would come out of the trial trot and you came out nobly self self denying so did dick don t speak to me for i find my nerves a little shaken nobody would have thought so to see her sitting upright with her arms folded but she had wonderful self command then i am delighted to say cried beaming with joy that we have recovered the whole money don t congratulate me anybody i exclaimed my aunt how so sir you believed it had been by mr said of course i did said my aunt and was therefore easily silenced not a word i and indeed said it was sold by virtue of the power of management he held from you but i needn t say by whom sold or on whose actual signature it was afterwards pretended to mr by that rascal and proved too by figures tliat he david had possessed of the money on general instructions ae said to keep other and difficulties from the light mr being so weak and helpless in his hands as to pay you afterwards several sums of interest on a pretended principal which he knew did not exist made himself unhappily a party to the fraud and at last took the blame upon himself added my aunt and wrote me a mad letter charging himself with robbery and wrong unheard of upon which i paid him a visit early one morning called for a candle burnt the letter and told him if he ever could right me and himself to do it and if he couldn t to keep his own counsel for his daughter s sake if anybody speaks to me i ll leave the house we all remained quiet covering her face well my dear friend said my aunt after a pause and you have really the money back from him why the fact is returned mi had so completely hemmed him in and was always ready with so many new points if an old one failed that he could not escape from us a most remarkable circumstance is that i really don t think he grasped this sum even so much for the gratification of his which was as in the hatred he felt for he said so to me plainly he said he would even have spent as much to or injure ha said my aunt knitting her brows thoughtfully and glancing at and what s become of him i don t know he left here said with his mother who had been and and the whole time they went away by one of the london night and i know no more about him except that his to me at parting was audacious he seemed to consider himself hardly less indebted to me than to mr which i consider as i told him quite a do you suppose he has any money i asked oh dear yes i should think so he replied shaking his head seriously i should say he must have a good deal in one way or other but i think you would find if you had an opportunity of observing his course that money would never keep d a v i d c u r r e field that man out of lie is such an that whatever object he he must pursue it s liis only compensation for the outward he puts upon himself always creeping along the ground to some small end or other he will always every object in the way and consequently will hate and suspect everybody tliat comes in the most innocent manner between him and it so the crooked courses will become at any moment for the least reason or for none it s only necessary to consider his history here said to know that he s a monster of meanness said my aunt really don t know about that observed thoughtfully many can be very mean when they give their minds to it and now touching mr said my aunt well really said cheerfully i must once more give mr high praise but for his having been so patient and for so long a time we never could have hoped to do anything worth speaking of and i think we ought to consider that mr did for lt s sake we reflect wliat he might have made with himself for his silence so too said i now what would you give him inquired my aunt oh before you come to that said a httle disconcerted i am afraid i thought it discreet to omit not being able to carry everything before me two points in making this lawless for it s perfectly lawless from beginning to end of
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us after a sale of their goods to a that mr s affair should be brought to a settlement with all convenient speed under the direction of and that should also come to london these arrangements we passed the night at the old house which freed from the presence of the seemed of a disease and i lay in my old room like a wanderer come home we went back next day to my aunt s house not to mine and when she and i sat alone as of old before going to bed she said trot do you really wish to know what i have had upon my mind lately indeed i do aunt if there ever was a time when i felt unwilling that you should have a sorrow or anxiety which i could not share it is now you have had sorrow enough child said my aunt affectionately without the addition of my httle miseries i could have no other motive trot in keeping anything from you i know that well said i but tell me now david f would you ride with me a little way to morrow asked my aunt of course at nine said she tell you then my dear at nine accordingly we went out in a little chariot and drove to london we drove a way through the i until we came to one of the e standing hard by the building was a plain the driver recognised my aunt and in obedience to a motion of her hand at the window drove slowly off we following you understand it now trot said my aunt he is gone i did he die in the hospital yes she sat immovable beside me but again i saw the stray s on her face he was there once before said my aunt presently he was a long time a shattered broken man these many years when he knew his state in this last illness he asked them to send for me he was sorry then very sorry you went i know aunt i went i was with him a deal afterwards he died the before we went to said i my aunt nodded no one can harm him now she said it was a vain threat ave drove away out of town to the it better here than in the streets said my aunt he was born here we alighted and followed the plain coffin to a corner i well where the service was read it to the dust six and thirty years ago this day my dear said my aunt as we walked back to the chariot i was married god forgive us all we took our seats in silence and so she sat beside me for a long time my hand at length she suddenly burst into tears and said he was a fine looking man when i married him trot and he was sadly changed it did not last after the relief of tears she soon became david composed and even cheerful her nerves were a little shaken she said or she would not have given way to it god forgive us all so we rode back to her little cottage at where we found the following short note which had arrived by that morning s post from mr friday my dear madam and the fair land of promise lately blooming on the horizon is again enveloped in impenetrable mists and for ever withdrawn from the eyes of a drifting wretch whose doom is sealed another writ has been issued in his majesty s high court of king s bench at westminster in another cause of v and the in that cause is the prey of the having legal in this now s the day and now s the hour see the front of battle lower see approach proud edward s power chains and slavery consigned to which and to a speedy end for mental torture is not beyond a certain point and that point i feel i have attained my course is run bless you bless ou some future traveller visiting from motives of curiosity not let us hope with sympathy the place of confinement allotted to in this city may and i trust will as he traces on its wall inscribed with a rusty nail the obscure w m p s i re open this to say that our common friend mr thomas who has not yet left us and is looking extremely well has paid the debt and costs in the noble name of miss and that myself and the family are at the height of earthly chapter ly tempest i now approach an event in my life so so awful so bound by an infinite variety of ties to all that has preceded it in these pages that from the beginning of my narrative i have seen it growing larger and larger as i advanced like a great tower in a plain and throwing its fore cast shadow even on the incidents of my childish days for years after it occurred i dreamed of it often i have started up so vividly impressed by it that its fury as yet seemed raging in my quiet room in the still night i dream of it sometimes though at lengthened and uncertain intervals to this hour i have an association between it and a stormy wind or the mention of a sea shore as strong as any of which my mind is conscious as plainly as i behold what happened i will try to write it down i do not recall it but see it done for it happens again before me the time drawing on rapidly for the sailing of the ship if y good old nurse almost broken hearted for me when we first came up to london i was constantly with her and her brother and the they being very
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much together but i never saw one evening when the time was close at hand t was alone with and her brother our conversation turned on ham she to us how tenderly he had taken leave of her and how and quietly he had borne himself most of all of late when she believed he was most tried it was a subject of which the affectionate creature never tired and our interest in hearing the many examples which she who was so much with him had to relate was equal to hers in relating them my aunt and i were at that time the two cottages at i intending to go abroad and she to return to her house david at we had a temporary lodging in garden as i walked home to it after this evening s conversation reflecting oa what had passed between ham and myself when i was last at i wavered in the original purpose i had formed of leaving a letter for when i should take leave of her uncle on board the ship and thought it would be better to write to her now she might desire i thought after receiving my communication to send some parting word by me to her unhappy lover i ought to give her the opportunity i therefore sat down in my room before going to bed and wrote to her i told her that i had seen him and that he had requested me to tell her what i have already written in its place in these sheets i faithfully repeated it i had no need to upon it if i had had the right its deep fidelity and goodness were not to be adorned by me or any man i left it out to be sent round in the morning with a line to mr him to give it to her and went to bed at daybreak i was weaker than i knew then and not falling asleep until the sun was up lay late and next day i was roused by the silent presence of my aunt at my bedside i felt it in my sleep as i suppose we all do feel such things trot my dear she said when i opened my eyes i couldn t make up my mind to disturb you mr is here shall he come up i replied yes and he soon appeared r he said when we had shaken hands i era ly your letter sir and she writ this and begged of me fur to ask you to read it and if you see no hurt in t to be so kind as to take charge on t have you read it said i he nodded sorrowfully i opened it and read as follows i have got your message oh what can i write to thank you for your and blessed kindness to me i have put the words close to my heart i shall keep them till i die they are sharp thorns but they are such comfort i have prayed over them oh i have prayed so much i find what you are and what uncle is i think what god must be and can cry to him david c good bye for ever now my dear my friend good bye for ever in this world in another world if i am forgiven i may wake a child and come to you all thanks and blessings farewell this blotted with tears was the letter may i her as you t see no hurt in t and as you ll be so kind as to take charge on t r said mr when had read it unquestionably said i but i am thinking yes r i am thinking said i that til go down again to there s time and to spare for me to go and come back before the ship sails my mind is constantly running on him in his solitude to put this letter of her writing in his hand at this time and to enable you to tell her in the moment of parting that he has got it will be a kindness to both of them i solemnly accepted his commission dear good fellow and cannot discharge it too completely the journey is nothing to me i am restless and shall be better in motion til go down to night though he anxiously endeavored to me t saw that he was of my mind and this if i had required to be confirmed in my intention would have had the effect he went round to the at my request and took the box seat for me on the mail in the evening i started by that conveyance down the road had traversed under so many don t you think that i asked the coachman in the first stage out of london a very remarkable sky i don t remember to have seen one like it nor i not equal to it he replied that s wind sir there ll be mischief done at sea i expect before long it was a confusion here and there blotted with a colour like the colour of the smoke from damp fuel of flying clouds tossed up into mo st remarkable heaps suggesting greater heights in the clouds than there were depths below them to the bottom of the deepest hollows in the earth through which the wild moon seemed to plunge headlong as if in a dread disturbance of the laws of nature she had lost her way and was frightened there had been a wind all day and it was rising then with an extraordinary great david sound in another hour it had much increased and the sky wa more and it blew hard but as the night advanced the clouds closing in and the whole sky then very dark it came on to blow harder and harder
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long exposure to the fierce wind had confused me there was that in my thoughts and recollections that i had lost the clear arrangement of time and distance thus if i had gone out into the town i should not have been surprised i think tc encounter some one who i knew must be then in london so to speak there was in these respect a curious in my mind yet it was busy too with all the the place naturally awakened and they were particularly distinct and vivid in this state the waiter s dismal intelligence about the ships immediately connected itself without any effort of my with my uneasiness about ham i was persuaded that i had an apprehension of his returning from by sea and being lost this grew so strong with me that i resolved to go back to the yard before i took my dinner and ask the boat if he thought his attempting to return by sea at all likely if he gave me the least reason to think so i would go over to and prevent it by bringing him with me i hastily ordered my dinner and went back to the yard i was david none too soon for the boat with a lantern in his hand was the yard gate he quite laughed when i asked him the question and said there was no fear no man in his senses or out of them would put oft in such a gale of wind least of all ham who had been born to so sensible of this beforehand that i had really felt ashamed of doing what i was nevertheless impelled to do i went back to the inn if such a wind could rise i think it was rising the howl and roar the rattling of the doors and windows the in the chimneys the apparent rocking of the very house that sheltered me and the prodigious tumult of the sea were more fearful than in the morning but there was now a great darkness besides and that invested the storm with new terrors real and fanciful i could not eat i could not sit still i could not continue to anything something within me faintly answering to the storm without tossed up the de ths of my memory and made a tumult in them yet in all the hurry of my thoughts wild running with the thundering sea the storm and my uneasiness regarding ham were always in the fore ground my dinner vi ent away almost and i tried to refresh myself with a glass or two of wine in vain i fell into a dull slumber before the fire without losing ray consciousness either of the uproar out of doors or of the place in which i was both became by a new and horror and when i awoke or rather when i shook off the that bound me in my chair my whole frame thrilled with and unintelligible fear i walked to and fro tried to read an old listened to the awful noises looked at faces scenes and figures in the fire at length the steady of the undisturbed clock on the wall tormented me to that degree that i resolved to go to bed it was re assuring on such a night to be told that some of the inn servants had agreed together to sit up until morning i went to bed exceedingly weary and heavy but on my lying down all such sensations vanished as if by magic and i was broad awake with every sense refined for hours i lay there listening to the wind and water imagining david now that i heard shrieks out at sea now that i distinctly heard the firing of signal guns and now the fall of houses in the town i got up several times and looked out but could see nothing except the reflection in the window panes of the faint candle i had left burning and of my own haggard face looking in at me from the black void at length my restlessness attained to such a pitch that i hurried on my clothes and went down stairs in the large kitchen where i dimly saw bacon and ropes of hanging from the beams the were clustered together in various attitudes about a table purposely moved away from the great chimney and brought near the door a pretty girl who had her ears stopped with her apron and her eyes upon the door screamed when i appeared supposing me to be a spirit but the others had more presence of mind and were glad of an addition to their company one man referring to the to ic they had been discussing asked me whether i thought the souls of the who had gone down were out in the storm i remained there i dare say two hours once i opened the yard gate and looked into the empty street the sand the and the of foam were driving by and i was obliged to call fir assistance before i could shut the gate again and make it fast against the wind there was a dark gloom in my solitary chamber when i at length returned to it but i was tired now and getting into bed again fell off a tower and down a precipice into the depths of sleep i have an impression that for a long time though i dreamed of being elsewhere and in a variety of scenes it was always blowing in my dream at length i lost that feeble hold upon reality and was engaged with two dear friends but who they were i don t know at the siege of some town in a roar of cannon the thunder of the cannon was so loud and incessant that i could not hear something i much desired to hear until i made a great
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exertion and awoke it was broad day eight or nine o clock the storm raging in of the and some one knocking and calling at my door what is the matter i cried david a wreck close by i sprung out of bed and asked what wreck a from ain or laden with fruit and wine make haste sir if you want to see her it s thought down on the beach she ll go to pieces every moment the excited voice went along the staircase and i wrapped myself in my clothes as quickly as i could and ran into the street numbers of people were there before me all running in one direction to the beach i ran the same way a good many and soon came facing the wild sea the wind might by this time have a httle though not more sensibly than if the i had dreamed of had been diminished by the of half a dozen guns out of hundreds but the sea having upon it the additional agitation of the whole night was infinitely more terrific than when i had seen it last every appearance it had then presented bore the expression of being swelled and the height to which the rose and looking over one another bore one another down and rolled in in interminable hosts was most in the difficulty of hearing anything but wind and waves and in the crowd and the unspeakable confusion and my first to stand against the weather i was so confused that i looked out to sea for the wreck and saw nothing but the foaming heads of the great waves a half dressed standing next me pointed with his bare arm a d arrow on it pointing in the same direction to the left then great heaven i saw it close in u on u one mast was broken short oflf six or eight feet from the deck and lay over the side entangled in a of sail and and all that ruin as the ship rolled and beat which she did without a moment s pause and with a violence quite inconceivable beat the side as if it would it in some efforts were even then being made to cut this portion of the wreck away for as the ship which w is on turned towards is in her rolling i plainly her people at work with especially one active with long curling hair conspicuous among the rest but a great david cry which was audible even above the wind and water rose from the shore at this moment the sea sweeping over the wreck made a clean breach and carried men heaps of such toys into the boiling the second mast was yet standing with the rags of a rent sail and a wild confusion of broken flapping to and fro the ship had struck once the same hoarsely said in my ear and then lifted in and struck again i understood him to add that she was parting and i could readily suppose so for the rolling and beating were too tremendous for any human work to suffer long as he spoke there was another great cry of pity from the beach four men arose with the wreck out of the deep clinging to the of the remaining mast uppermost the active figure with the hair there was a bell on board and as the ship rolled and dashed like a desperate creature driven mad now showing us the whole sweep of her deck as she turned on her beam ends towards the shore now nothing but her as she sprung wildly over and turned towards the sea the bell rang and its sound the of those unhappy men was borne towards us on the wind again we lost her and again she rose two men were gone the agony on shore increased men groaned and clasped their hands women shrieked and turned away their faces some ran wildly up and down along the beach crying for help where no help could be i found myself one of these imploring a knot of sailors whom i knew not to let those two lost creatures perish before our eyes they were making out to me in an agitated way i don t know how for the little i could hear i was scarcely composed enough to understand that the life boat had been bravely an hour ago and could do nothing and ms no man would be so desperate as to attempt to off with a rope and establish a communication with the shore there was nothing left to try when i noticed that some new sensation moved the people on the beach and saw them part and ham came breaking through them to the front i ran to him as well as i know to repeat my appeal for help david but distracted though i was by a sight so new to me and terrible the determination in his face and his look out to sea exactly the same look as i remembered in with the morning after s ht awoke me to a of his i held him back with both arms and implored the men with whom i had been speaking not to listen to him not to do murder not to let him stir from off that sand another cry arose on the shore and looking to the wreck we saw the cruel sail with blow on blow beat off the lower of the two men and fly up in triumph round the active figure left alone upon the mast such a and against such determination as that of the calmly desperate man who was already accustomed to lead half the people present i might as have entreated the wind r he said cheerily grasping me by both hands if my time is come tis come if tan t i
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ll bide it lord above bless you and bless all mates make me ready i m a going off i was swept away but not to some distance when the people around me made me stay urging as i perceived that he was bent on going with help or without and that i should the precautions for his safety by troubling those with whom they rested i don t know what i answered or what they rejoined but i saw hurry on the beach and men running with ropes from a that was there and penetrating in a circle of figures that hid him from me then i saw him standing alone in a seaman s frock and a rope in his hand or to his wrist another round his body and several of the best men holding at a little distance to he latter which he laid out himself slack u on the shore at his feet the wreck even to my un eye was breaking up i saw that she was parting in the middle and tl at the life of the solitary man upon the mast hung by a thread still he clung to it he had a singular red cap on not like a sailor s cap but of a finer color and as the few yielding between him and destruction rolled and ed and his death rung he was seen by all of us to wave it i saw him do it now and thought i was going distracted when his action brought an old remembrance to my mind of a once dear friend david ham watched the sea standing alone with the silence of suspended breath behind him and the storm before until there was a o wave when with a backward at those who held the rope which was made fast round his body he dashed in after it and in a moment was with the water rising with the hills falling with the valleys lost beneath the foam then drawn again to land they hauled in hastily he was hurt i saw blood on his face from where i stood but he took no thought of that he seemed hurriedly to give them some directions for leaving him more free or so i judged from the motion of his arm and was gone as before and now he made for the wreck rising with the hills falling with the valleys lost beneath the rugged foam borne in towards the shore borne on towards the ship striving hard and the distance was nothing but the power of the sea and wind made the strife at th he the wreck he was so near that with one more of his strokes he would be to it when a high green vast hill side of water moving on from beyond the ship he seemed to leap up into it with a mighty bound and the ship was gone some fragments i saw in the sea as if a mere had been broken in running to the spot where they were in consternation was in every face they drew him to my very feet insensible dead he was carried to the nearest house and no one preventing me now i remained near him busy while every means of restoration were tried but he had been beaten to death by the great wave and his generous heart was for ever as i sat beside the bed when hope was abandoned and all was done a who had known me when and i were children and ever since whispered my name at the door sir said he with tears starting to his weather beaten face which with his was pale will you come over yonder the old remembrance that had been recalled to me was in his look i asked him terror stricken leaning on the arm he held out bo support me has a body come ashore david he said yes do i know it i asked then he answered but he led me to the shore and on that part of it where she and i had looked for shells two children on that part of it where some lighter fragments of the old boat blown down last night had been scattered by the wind among the ruins of the home he had wronged i saw him lying with his head upon his arm as i liave often een him lie at school chapter the new wound and the old no need to have said when we last spoke together in that hour which i so httle deemed to be our parting no need to have said think of me at my best i had done that ever and could i change now looking on this sight they brought a hand and laid him on it and covered him with a flag and took him up and bore him towards the houses all the men who carried him had known him and gone sailing with him and seen him merry and bold they carried him through the wild roar a hush in the midst of all the tumult and took him to the cottage where death was already but when they set the down on the threshold they looked at one another and at me and whispered i knew why they felt as if it were not right to lay him down in the same quiet room we went into the town and took our burden to the inn so soon as i could at all collect my thoughts i sent for and begged him to provide me a conveyance in which it could be got to london in the night knew that the care of it and the duty of preparing his mother to receive it could only rest with me and i was anxious to discharge that duty as faithfully as i could i
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chose the night for the journey that there might be less curiosity when i left the town but although it was nearly midnight when i came out of the yard in a chaise followed by what i had in charge there were many people waiting at intervals along the town and even a little way out upon the road i saw more but at length only the bleak night and the open country were around me and the ashes of my youthful friendship upon a mellow autumn day about noon when the ground was by fallen leaves and many more in beautiful tints of david low red and brown yet hung upon the trees through which the sun was shining i arrived at i walked the last mile thinking as i walked along of what i had to do and left the carriage that had followed me all through the night awaiting orders to advance the house when i came up to it looked just the same not a blind was raised no sign of life was in the dull paved court with its covered way leading to the door the wind had quite gone down and nothing moved t had not at first the courage to ring at the gate and when i did ring my errand seemed to me to be expressed in the very sound of the bell the little parlour maid came out with the key in her hand and looking earnestly at me as she unlocked the gate said i beg your pardon sir are you ill i have been much agitated and am fatigued is anything the matter sir mr james hush said i yes something has happened that i have to break to mi s she is at home the girl anxiously replied that her mistress was very seldom out now even in a carriage that she kept her room that she saw no company but would see me her mistress was up she said and miss was with her what message should she take up stairs giving her a strict charge to be careful of her manner and only to carry iti my card and say i waited i sat down in the which we had now reached until she should come back its former pleasant air of was gone and the shutters were half closed the harp had not been used for many and many a day his picture as a boy was there the cabinet in which his mother had kept his letters was there i wondered if she ever read them now if she would ever read them more the house was so still that i heard the girl s light step up stairs on her return she brought a message to the effect that was an invalid and could not come down but that if i would excuse her being in her chamber she would be glad to see me in a few moments i stood before her david she was in his room not in her own i felt of course that she had taken to occupy it in remembrance of him and that the many tokens of his old sports and accomplishments by which she was surrounded remained there just as he had left them for the same reason she murmured however even in her reception of me that she was out of her own chamber because its aspect was to her infirmity and with her stately look the least suspicion of the truth at her chair as usual was from the first moment of her dark eyes resting on me i saw she knew was the bearer of evil tidings the sprang into view that instant she withdrew herself a step behind the chair to keep her own face out of mrs s observation and me with a piercing gaze that never faltered never shrunk i am sorry to observe you are in mourning sir said mrs i am unhappily a said i you are very young to know so great a loss she returned i am grieved to hear it i am grieved to hear it i hope time will be good to you i hope time said i looking at her will be good to all of us dear mrs we must all trust to that in our heaviest misfortunes the earnestness of manner and the tears in ray eyes alarmed her the whole course of her thoughts appeared to stop and change i tried to command my voice in gently saying his name but it trembled she repeated it to herself two or three times in a low tone then addressing me she said with enforced calmness my son is ill very ill you have seen him i have are you reconciled i could not say yes i could not say no she slightly turned her head towards the spot where had been standing at david her elbow and iu that moment i said by the motion of my lips to dead that mrs might not be induced to look behind her and read plainly written what she was not yet prepared to know i met her look quickly but i had seen throw her hands up iu the air with vehemence of despair and horror and then clasp them on her face the handsome lady so like so like regarded me with a fixed look and put her hand to her forehead i her to be calm and prepare herself to hear what i had to tell but i should rather have entreated her to weep for she sat like a stone figure when i was last here i faltered miss told me he was sailing here and there the night re last was a dreadful one at sea if he were at sea that night and near a dangerous coast as it is said he was and if the vessel that was seen should really be
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the ship which i said mi s come to me she came but with no sympathy or gentleness her eyes gleamed like fire as she confronted his mother and broke into a frightful now she said is your pride appeased you mad woman now has he made to you with his life do you hear his hfe mrs fallen back stiffly in her chair and making no sound but a moan cast her eyes upon her with a wild stare aye cried herself passionately on the breast look at me moan and groan and look at me look here striking the at your dead child s handy work the moan the mother uttered from time to time went to my heart always the same always inarticulate and ed always accompanied with an incapable motion of the head but with no change of face always proceeding from a rigid mouth and closed teeth as if the jaw were locked and the face frozen up iu pain do you remember when he did this she proceeded do you remember when in his inheritance of your nature and in your david of his pride and passion be did this and for life look at me marked until i die with his high and moan and groan for what you made him miss i entreated her for heaven s sake i will speak she said turning on me with her lightning eyes be silent you look at me i say proud mother of a proud false son moan for your of him moan for your corruption of him moan for your loss of him moan for mine she clenched her hand and trembled through her spare worn figure as if her passion were killing her by inches you resent his t she exclaimed you injured by his haughty temper you who opposed to both when your hair was grey the qualities which made both when you gave him birth y u who from his cradle reared him to be what he was and what he should have been are you rewarded now for j our years of trouble miss shame o cruel i tell you she returned i will speak to her no on earth should stop me while i was standing here have i been silent all these years and shall i not speak now i loved him better than you ever loved him turning on her fiercely i could have loved him and asked no return if had been his wife i could have been the slave of his for a word of love a year i should have been who knows it better than i you were proud selfish my love would have been devoted would have trod your paltry under foot with flashing eyes she stamped upon the ground as if she actually did it look here she said striking the again with a hand when he grew into the better understanding of what he had done he saw it and repented of it i could sing to him and talk to him and show the that i felt in all he did and attain w ith labor to such knowledge as most interested him and attracted him when he was and truest he loved me yes he did many a time when you were put off with a slight word he has taken me to his heart she said it with a pride in the midst of her frenzy i am the bearer of evil tidings library of the u i ver ity of i d for it was little less et with an eager remembrance of it in which the embers of a feeling kindled for the moment i descended as i have known i should but that he fascinated me with his boyish courtship into a doll a trifle for the occupation of an idle hour to be dropped and taken up and with as the humor took him when he grew weary i grew weary as his fancy died out i would no more have tried to strengthen any power i had than i would have married him on his being forced to take me for his wife we fell away from one another without a word perhaps you saw it and were not sorry since then i have been a mere piece of furniture between you both having no eyes no ears no feelings no moan moan for what you made him not for your love i tell you that the time was when i loved him better than you ever did s he stood with her bright angry eyes the wide stare and the set face and softened no more when the moaning was repeated than if the face had been a picture miss said i if you can be so as not to feel for this afflicted mother who feels for me she sharply retorted she has sown this let her moan for the harvest that she to day and if his faults i began faults she cried bursting into passionate tears who dares him he had a soul worth millions of the friends to whom he stooped no one can have loved him better no one can hold him in dearer remembrance than i i replied i meant to say if you have no compassion for his mother or if his faults you have been bitter on them it s false she cried tearing her black hair i loved him cannot i went on be banished from your remembrance in such an hour look at that figure even as one you have never been before and render it some help all this time the figure was and looked motionless rigid staring moaning in the same dumb way from david time to time with the same helpless motion of the head but giving no other sign of life miss suddenly down before it and began
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to the dress a curse upon you she said looking round at me with a mingled expression of rage and grief it was in an evil hour that you ever came here a curse upon you go after passing out of the room i hurried back to ring the bell the sooner to alarm the servants she had then taken the figure in her arms and still upon her knees was weeping over it kissing it calling to it rocking it to and fro upon her bosom like a child and trying every tender means to rouse the senses no longer afraid of leaving her i noiselessly turned back again and alarmed the house as i went out later in the day i returned and we laid him in his mother s room she was just the same they told me miss never left her doctors were in attendance many things had been tried but she lay like a statue except for the low sound now and then went through the dreary house and darkened the windows the windows of the chamber where he lay i darkened last i lifted up the leaden hand and held it to my heart and all the world seemed death and silence broken only by his mother s moaning chapter the one thing more i had to do before yielding myself to the shock of these emotions it was to conceal what had occurred from those who were going away and to dismiss them on their voyage in happy ignorance in this no time was to be lost i took mr aside that same night and confided to him the task of standing between mr and intelligence of the late catastrophe he undertook to do so and to any newspaper through which it might without such precautions reach him if it to him sir said mr striking himself on the breast it shall first pass through this body mr i must observe in his of himself to a new state of society had acquired a bold air not absolutely lawless but and one might have supposed him a child of the wilderness long accustomed to live out of the of and about to return to his native he had provided himself among other things with a complete suit of oil skin and a straw hat with a very low crown pitched or on the outside in this rough with a common s under his arm and a shrewd trick of casting up his eye at the sky as looking out for dirty weather he was far more after his manner than mr his whole family if i may so express it were cleared for action i found mrs in the and most of made fast under the chin and in a shawl which tied her up as i had been ed up when my aunt first received me like a bundle and was secured behind at the waist in a strong knot miss i david found made snug for stormy weather in the same manner with nothing superfluous about her master was hardly visible in a shirt and the suit of i ever saw and the children were done up like preserved in cases both mr and his eldest son wore their sleeves loosely turned back at the wrists as being ready to lend a hand in any direction and to tumble up or sing out heave on the shortest notice thus and i found them at nightfall assembled on the wooden steps at that time known as stairs watching the departure of a boat with some of their property on board i had told of the terrible event and it had greatly shocked him but there could be no doubt of the kindness of keeping it a secret and he had come to help me in this last service it was here that i took mr aside and received his promise the family were lodged in a little dirty tumble down public house which in those days was close to the stairs and whose wooden rooms the river the family as being objects of some interest in and about attracted so many that we were glad to take refuge in their room it was one of the wooden chambers up stairs with the tide flowing underneath my aunt and were there busily making some little extra comforts in the way of dress for the children was quietly assisting with the old insensible work box yard measure and bit of wax candle before her that had now so much it was not easy to answer her inquiries still less to whisper mr when mr brought him in that i had given the letter and all was well but i did both and made them happy if i showed any trace of what i felt my own sorrows were sufficient to account for it and when does the ship sail mr asked my aunt mr considered it necessary to prepare either my aunt or his wife by degrees and said sooner than he had expected yesterday c il david the boat ht you word i suppose said my aunt it did ma am he returned well said my aunt and she madam he replied i am informed that we must positively be on board before seven to morrow morning said my aunt that s soon is it a sea going fact mr tis so ma am she ll drop down the river with that tide if r and my sister comes aboard at o next day they ll see the last on us and that we shall do said i be sure until then and until we are at sea observed mr with a glance of intelligence at me mr and myself will constantly keep a double look out together on our goods and my love said mr clearing his throat in his magnificent way my friend mr thomas is so obliging
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as to in my ear that he should have the privilege of ordering the necessary to the composition of a moderate portion of that which is peculiarly associated in our minds with the roast beef of old england i allude to in short punch under ordinary circumstances i should scruple to entreat the indulgence of miss and miss but i can only say for myself said my aunt that i will drink all happiness and success to you mr with the utmost pleasure and i too said with a smile mr immediately descended to the bar where he appeared to be quite at home and in due time returned with a steaming i could not but observe that he had been the with his own clasp knife which as became the knife of a practical was about a foot long and which he wiped not wholly without on the sleeve of his coat mrs and tlie two elder members of the family i now found to be provided with similar formidable instruments while every child had its own wooden spoon attached to its body by a strong line in a similar anticipation of life afloat and in the bush mr instead david of helping mrs and his eldest son and daughter to punch in wine glasses which he might easily have done for there was a shelf full in the room served it out to them in a series of little tin pots and i never saw him enjoy anything so much as drinking out of his own particular pint pot and putting it in his pocket at the close of the evening the luxuries of the old country said mr with an intense satisfaction in their we abandon the of the forest cannot of course expect to iu the of the land of the free here a boy came in to say that mr was wanted down stairs i have a said mrs setting down her tin pot that it is a member of my family if so my dear observed mr with his usual suddenness of warmth on that subject as the member of your family whoever he she or it may be has kept us waiting for a considerable period perhaps the member may now wait mi convenience said his wife in a low tone at such a time as it is not meet said mr rising that every nice offence should bear its comment i stand the loss ed his wife has been my family s not yours if my family are at length sensible of the to which their own conduct has in the past exposed them and now desire to extend the hand of fellowship let it not be my dear he returned so be it if not for their s for mine said his wife he returned that view of the question is at such a moment irresistible i cannot even now distinctly pledge myself to fall upon your family s neck but the member of your family who is now in attendance have no genial warmth frozen by me mr withdrew and was absent some little time in the course of which mrs was not wholly free from an apprehension that words might have arisen between him and the david ber at length the same boy re appeared and presented me with a written in pencil and headed in a legal manner v from this document i learned that mr being again arrested was in a final of despair and that he begged me to send him his knife and pint pot by bearer as ihey might prove serviceable during the brief remainder of his existence in jail he also requested as a last act of friendship that i would see his family to the parish and forget that such a being ever of course i answered this note by going down with the boy to pay the money where i found mr sitting in a corner looking darkly at the s officer who had effected the capture on his release he embraced me with tlie utmost and made an entry of the transaction in his pocket book being very particular i recollect about a i omitted from my statement of the total this momentous pocket book was a to him of another transaction on our return to the room upstairs where he accounted for his absence by saying that it had been occasioned by circumstances over which he had no control he took out of it a large sheet of paper folded small and quite with long sums carefully worked from the glimpse i had of them i should say that i never saw such sums out of a school book these it seemed were calculations of compound interest on what he called the principal amount of forty one ten eleven and a half for various periods after a careful consideration of these and an elaborate estimate of his resources he had come to the conclusion to select that sum which represented the amount with compound interest to two years fifteen months and fourteen days from that date for this he had drawn a note of hand with great neatness which he handed over to on the spot a discharge of his debt in full as between man and man with many i have still a said mrs shaking her head that my family will appear on board before we finally depart mr evidently had his on the subject too but he put it in his tin pot and swallowed it david c o p p e ii f e l d if you have any opportunity of sending letters home on your passage mrs said my aunt you must let us hear from you you know my dear miss she replied i shall only be too happy to think that anyone expects to hear from us i shall not fail to correspond mr i trust as
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an old and familiar friend will not object to receive occasional intelligence himself from one who knew him when the were yet unconscious i said that i should hope to hear whenever she had an of writing please heaven there will be many such opportunities said mr the ocean in these times is a perfect fleet of ships and we can hardly fail to encounter many in running over it is merely crossing said mr trifling with his eye glass merely crossing the distance is quite imaginary i think now how odd it was but how wonderfully like mr that when he went from london to he should have talked as if he were going to the farthest limits of the earth and when he went from england to as if he were going for a little trip across the channel on the voyage i shall endeavour said mr occasionally to spin them a and the melody of my son will i trust be acceptable at the fire when mrs has her sea legs on an expression in which i hope there is no conventional she will give them i dare say little and i believe will be frequently observed our bows and either on the or the quarter objects of interest will be continually in short said mr with the old genteel air the probability is all will be found so exciting and aloft that w hen the look out stationed in the cries land ho we shall be very considerably astonished with that he flourished off the contents of his little tin pot as if he had made the voyage and had passed a first class examination before the highest naval authorities what chiefly hope my dear mr said mrs is that in some branches of our family we may d a d c p r e r f e l d again in the country do not frown i do not now to my own family but to our children s children however vigorous the said mrs shaking her head i cannot forget the parent tree and when our race to eminence and fortune i own i should wish that fortune to flow into the of my dear said mr must take her chance i am bound to say that she has never done much for me and that i have no particular wish upon the subject returned mrs there you are wrong you are going out to this distant to strengthen not to the between yourself and the in question my love rejoined mr has not laid me i repeat under that load of personal obligation that i am at all sensitive as to the formation of another returned mrs there i again say you are wrong you do not know your power it is that which will strengthen even in this step you are about to take the between self and mr sat in his elbow chair with his eyebrows raised half receiving and half mrs s views as they were stated but very sensible of their foresight my dear mr said mrs i wish mr to feel his position it appears to me highly important that mr should from the hour of his feel his position your old knowledge of me my dear mr will have told you that i have not the sanguine disposition of mr my disposition is if i may say so eminently practical i know that this is a long voyage i know that it will involve many and i cannot shut my eyes to those facts but i also know what mr is i know the latent power of mr and therefore i consider it important that mr should feel his position my love he observed perhaps you will allow we to remark that it is barely possible that i do feel my position at the present moment i think not she rejoined not fully my dear david mr mr s is not a common case mr is going to a distant country expressly in order that be may be fully understood and appreciated for the first time i wish mr to take his stand upon that vessel s and firmly say this country i am come to conquer have you honours have you riches have you posts of profitable pecuniary let them be brought forward they are mine mr glancing at us all seemed to think there was a good deal in this idea i wish mr if i make myself understood said mrs in her tone to be the caesar of his own fortunes that my dear mr appears to me to be his true position from the first moment of this voyage i wish mr to stand upon that vessel s and say enough of delay enough of disappointment enough of limited means that was in the old country this is the new produce your bring it forward mr folded his arms in a resolute manner as if he were then stationed on the head and doing that said mrs feeling his position am i not right in saying that mr will strengthen and not his with britain an important public character arising in that shall i be told that its influence will not be felt at home can i be so weak as to imagine that mr the rod of talent and of power in will be nothing in england i am but a woman but i should be unworthy of myself and of my papa if i were guilty of such absurd weakness mrs s conviction that her arguments were gave a moral elevation to her tone which i think i had never heard in it before and therefore it is said mrs that i the more wish that at a future period we may live again on the parent soil mr may be i cannot disguise from myself that the probability is mr will be a
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page of history and he ought then to be represented in the country which gave him birth and did not give him employment david c p p e r f i e l d mj love observed mr it is impossible for me not to be touched by your affection i am always to to your good sense what will be will be heaven forbid that i should grudge my native country any portion of the wealth that may be accumulated by our descendants that s well said my aunt nodding towards mr and i drink my love to you all and every blessing and success attend you mr put down the two children he had been nursing one on each knee to join mr and mrs in drinking to all of us in return and when he and the cordially shook hands as comrades and his brown face brightened with a smile i felt that he would make his way establish a good name and be beloved go where he would even the children were instructed each to dip a wooden spoon into mr s pot and pledge us in its contents when this was done my aunt and rose and parted from the it was a sorrowful farewell they were all crying the children hung about to the last and we left poor mrs in a very distressed condition sobbing and weeping by a dim candle that must have made the room look from the river like a miserable light i went down again next morning to see that they were away they had departed in a boat as early as five o clock it was a wonderful instance to me of the gap such make that although my association of them with the tumble down public house and the wooden stairs dated only from last night both seemed dreary and deserted now that they were gone in the afternoon of the next day my old nurse and i went down to we found the ship in the river surrounded by a crowd of boats a favourable wind blowing the signal for sailing at her mast head i hired a boat directly and we put oflf to her and getting through the little of confusion of which she was the centre went on board mr was waiting for us on deck he told me that mr had just been arrested again and for the last time at the suit of and that in with a request i had made to david c p p e k f i e l d him lie had paid the money which i repaid him he then took us down between decks and there any fears i had of his having heard any of what had ha j were bv mr s out of the gloom taking his arm with an air of friendship and protection and telling me that they had scarcely been asunder for a moment since the night before last it was such a strange scene to me and so confined and dark that at first i could make out hardly anything but by degree it cleared as my eyes became more accustomed to the gloom and i seemed to stand in a picture by among the great beams and of the ship and the and and bundles and barrels and heaps of miscellaneous baggage lighted up here and there by dangling and elsewhere by the yellow day light down a or a were crowded groups of people making new fi taking leave of one another talking laughing crying eating and drinking some already settled down into the possession of their few feet of space with their little arranged and tiny children established on or in dwarf elbow chairs others despairing of a resting place and wandering from babies who had but a week or two of life behind them to crooked old men and women who seemed to have but a week or two of life before them and from bodily carrying out soil of england their boots to taking away of its and smoke upon their skins every age and occupation appeared to be crammed into the narrow compass of the decks as my eye glanced round this place i thought i saw sitting by an open port with one of the children near her a figure like s it first attracted my attention by another figure parting from it with a kiss and as it glided away through the disorder reminding me of but in the rapid motion and confusion and in the of my own thoughts i lost it again and knew that the time was come when all were being warned to leave the ship that my nurse was crying on a chest beside me and that mrs assisted by some younger stooping woman in black was busily arranging mr s david is there any last r said be is there any one forgotten thing afore we parts one thing said i he touched the younger woman i have mentioned on the shoulder and stood before me heaven bless you you good man cried i you take he with you she answered for him with a burst of tears i could speak no more at that time but i wrung his hand and if ever i have loved and honored any man i loved and honored that man in my soul the ship was clearing fast of strangers the greatest trial that i had remained i told him what the noble spirit that was gone had given me in charge to say at parting tt moved him deeply but when he charged me in return with many messages of affection and regret for those deaf ears he moved me more the time was come i embraced him took my weeping nurse upon my arm and hurried away on deck i took leave of poor mrs she was looking about
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for her family even then and her last words to me were that she never would desert mr we went over the side into our boat and lay at a little distance to see the ship on her course it was then calm radiant sunset she lay between us and the red light and every line and was visible against the glow a sight at once so beautiful so mournful and so hopeful as the glorious ship lying still on the flushed water with all the life on board her crowded at the and there fur a moment bare headed and silent i never saw silent only for a moment as the sails rose to the wind and the ship began to move there broke from all the boats three cheers which those on board took up and echoed back and which were echoed and re echoed my heart burst out when i heard the sound and beheld the waving of the hats and handkerchiefs and then i saw her then i saw her at her uncle s side and trembling on his shoulder he pointed to us with an eager hand and she saw us and waved her last good bye to me aye beautiful and david drooping cling to him with the utmost trust of thy bruised heart for he has to thee with all the might of his great love surrounded by the rosy and standing high upon the deck apart together she clinging to him and he holding her they solemnly passed away the night had fallen on the hills v hen we were rowed ashore and fallen darkly upon me chapter absence i it was a long and gloomy night that gathered on me haunted by the ghosts of many hopes of many dear many errors many sorrows and regrets i went away from england not knowing even then how great the shock was that i had to bear i left all who were dear to me and went away and believed that i had borne it and it was past as a man upon a field of battle will receive a mortal hurt and scarcely know that he is struck so i when i was left alone with my heart had no conception of the wound with which it had to strive the knowledge came upon me not quickly but little by little and grain by grain the desolate with which i went abroad deepened and at first it was a heavy sense of loss sorrow wherein i could distinguish little else by degrees it became a hopeless consciousness of all that i had lost love friendship interest of all that had been shattered ray first trust my first affection the whole airy castle of my life of all that remained a ruined blank and waste lying wide around me unbroken to the dark horizon if ray grief were selfish i did not know it to be so i mourned or my child wife taken from her blooming world so young i mourned for him who might have won the love and admiration of thousands as he had won mine long ago i mourned for tho broken heart that had found rest in the stormy sea and for the wandering of the simple home where i had heard the night wind blowing when i was a child from the accumulated sadness into which i fell i had at no hope of ever issuing again i from place to place carry david ing my burden with me everywhere i felt its whole weight now and i drooped beneath it and i said in my heart that it could never be lightened when this despondency was at its worst i believed that i should die sometimes i thought that i would like to die at home and actually turned back on my road that i might get there soon at other times i passed on farther away from city to city seeking i know not what and trying to leave i know not what behind it is not in my power to one by one all the weary phases of distress of mind through which i passed there are some dreams that can only be imperfectly and vaguely described and when i oblige myself to look back on this time of my life i seem to be recalling such a dream i see myself passing on among the of foreign towns palaces temples pictures castles fantastic streets the old abiding places of history and fancy as a might bearing my painful load through all and hardly conscious of the objects as they fade before me to everything but brooding sorrow was the night that fell on my heart let me look up from it as at last i did thank heaven and from its long sad wretched dream to dawn for many months i travelled with this ever darkening cloud upon my mind some blind reasons that i had for not returning home reasons then struggling within me vainly for more distinct expression kept me on my pilgrimage sometimes i had proceeded from place to place stopping nowhere sometimes i had lingered long in one spot i had had no purpose no soul within me anywhere i was in i had come out of italy over one of the great passes of the and had since wandered with a guide among the bye ways of the mountains if those awful had spoken to my heart i did not know it i had found and wonder in the dread heights and in the roaring torrents and the of ice and snow but as yet they had taught me nothing else i came one evening before sunset down into a valley where i was to rest in the course of my descent to it by the winding david copper field track along the mountain side from which
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i saw it shining far below i think some long unwonted sense of beauty and tranquillity some softening influence awakened by its peace moved faintly in my breast i remember pausing once with a kind of sorrow that was not all oppressive not quite despairing i remember almost hoping that some better change was possible within me i came into the valley as the evening sun was shining on the remote heights of snow that closed it in like eternal clouds the of the mountains forming the in which the little village lay were richly green and high above this vegetation grew forest of dark fir the wintry drift hke and the above these were range upon range of grey rock bright ice and smooth of pasture all gradually with the crowning snow dotted here and there on the mountain s side each tiny dot a home were lonely wooden cottages so by the towering heights that they appeared too small for toys so did even the clustered village in the valley with its w bridge across the stream where the stream tumbled over broken rocks and roared away among the trees in the quiet air there was a sound of distant singing shepherd voices but as one bright evening cloud floated along the mountain s side i could almost have believed it came from there and was not earthly music all at once in this serenity great nature spoke to me and soothed me to lay down my weary head upon the grass and weep as had not wept yet since died i had found a packet of letters awaiting me but a few minutes before and had strolled out of the village to read them while my supper was making ready other had missed me and i had received none for a long time beyond a line or two to say that i was well and had arrived at such a place i had not had fortitude or constancy to write a letter since i left home the packet was in my hand i opened it and read the writing of she was happy and useful was as she had hoped that was all she told me of herself the rest referred to me she gave me no advice she urged no duty on me she only david told me in her own fervent manner what her trust in me was she knew she said how such a nature as mine would turn to good she knew how trial and emotion would and strengthen it she was sure that in my every purpose i should gain a firmer and a higher tendency through the grief i had undergone she who in my fame and so looked forward to its well knew that i would labor on she knew that in me sorrow could not be weakness but must be strength as the endurance of my childish days had done its part to make me what i was so greater would nerve me on to be yet better than i was and so as they had taught me would i teach others she commended me to god who had taken my innocent to his rest and in her affection cherished me always and was always at my side go where i would proud of what i had done but infinitely yet of what i was reserved to do i put the letter in my breast and thought what had i been an hour ago when i heard the voices die away and saw the quiet evening cloud grow dim and all the colors in the valley fade and the golden snow upon the mountain tops become a remote part of the pale night sky yet felt that the night was passing from my mind and all its shadows clearing there was no name for the love i bore her dearer to me than ever until then i read her letter many times i wrote to her before i slept i told her that i had been in sore need of her help that without her i was not and i never had been what she thought me but that she inspired me to be that and i would try i did try in three months more a year would have passed since the beginning of my sorrow i determined to make no resolutions until the of those three months but to try i lived in that valley and its neighbourhood all the time the three months gone i resolved to remain away from home for some time longer to settle myself for the present in which was growing dear to me in the remembrance of that evening to resume my pen to work i resorted humbly whither had commended me i sought out nature never sought in vain and i admitted to my breast the human interest i had lately shrunk from it was not long before i david had almost as many friends in the valley as in and when i left it before the winter set in for and came back in the spring their cordial greetings had a homely sound to me although they were not conveyed in english words i worked early and late patiently and hard i wrote a story with a purpose not out of my experience and sent it to and he arranged for its publication very for me and the tidings of ray growing reputation began to reach me from travellers whom i encountered by chance r some rest and change i fell to work in my old ardent way on a new fancy which took strong possession of me as i advanced in the execution of this task i felt it more and more and roused my utmost energies to do it well this was ray third work of fiction it was not half written when in an interval of rest i thought of returning home for a long
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time though studying and working patiently i had accustomed myself to robust exercise my health severely when i left england was quite restored i had seen much i had been in many countries and i hope i had improved my store of knowledge i have now recalled all that i think it needful to recall here of this term of absence with one i have made it thus far with no purpose of an of my thoughts for as i have elsewhere said this narrative is my written memory i have desired to keep the most secret current of my mind apart and to the last i enter on it now i cannot so completely penetrate the mystery of my own heart as to know when i began to think that i might have set its earliest and brightest hopes on i cannot say at what stage of my grief it st became associated with the reflection that in my boyhood i had thrown away the treasure of her love i believe i may have heard some whisper of that distant thought in the old unhappy loss or want of something never to be of which i had been sensible but the thought came into my mind as a new reproach and new regret when i was left so sad and lonely in the world if at that time i had been much with her i should in the weak david ness of my desolation have betrayed this it was wliat i dreaded when i was first impelled to stay away from england i could not have borne to lose the smallest portion of her affection yet in that i should have set a between us hitherto unknown i could not forget that the r with which she now regarded me had grown up in my own free choice and course that if she had ever loved me with another love and i sometimes the time was when she might have done so i had cast it away it was nothing now that i had accustomed myself to think of her when we were both mere children as one who was far removed from my wild fancies i had bestowed my passionate tenderness upon another object and what i might have done i had not done and what was to me i and her own noble heart had made her in the beginning of the change that gradually worked in me when i tried to get a better understanding of myself and be a better man i did g ance through some indefinite to a period when i might possibly hope to the mistaken past and to be so blessed as to marry her but as time wore on this shadowy prospect faded and departed from me if she had ever loved me then i should hold her the more sacred remembering the confidences i had in her her knowledge of my heart the sacrifice she must have made to be my friend and sister and the victory she had won if she had never loved me could i believe that she would love me now i had always felt my weakness in comparison with her constancy and fortitude and now i felt it more and more whatever i might have been to her or she to me if i had been more worthy of her long ago i was not now and she was not the time was past i had let it go by and had lost her that i suffered much in these that they filled me with and remorse and that i had a sense that it was required of me in right and honour to keep away from myself with shame the thought of turning to the dear girl in the withering of my hopes from whom i had turned when they were bright and fresh which consideration was at the root of every thought i had concerning her is all equally true i made no effort david to conceal from now that i loved her that i was devoted to her but i brought the assurance home to myself that it was now too late and that our long relation must be undisturbed i had thought much and often of my s out to me what might have happened in those years that were destined not to try us i had considered how the things that never happen are often as much realities to us in their effects as those that are accomplished the very years she spoke of were realities now for my and would have been one day a little later perhaps though we had parted in our e folly i endeavoured to convert what might have been between myself and into a means of making me more self denying more resolved more conscious of myself and my defects and errors thus through the reflection that it might have been i arrived at the conviction that it could never be these with their and were the shifting of my mind from the time of my departure to the time of my return home three s afterwards three years had elapsed since the sailing of the ship when at the same hour of sunset and in the same place i stood on the deck of the packet vessel that brought me home looking on the rosy water where i had seen the image of that ship reflected three years long in the though short as they went by and home was very dear to me and too but she was not mine she was never to be mine she might have been but that was past chapter return i landed in london on a wintry autumn evening it was dark and and i saw more fog and mud in a minute than i had seen in a year i walked from the custom house to the
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monument before i found a coach and although the very house fronts looking on the swollen were like old friends to me i could not but admit that they were very dingy friends i have often remarked i suppose everybody has that one s going away from a familiar place would seem to be the signal for change in it as i looked out of the coach window and observed that an old house on fish street hill which had stood untouched br painter carpenter or for a century had been pulled down in my absence and that a street of time honoured and inconvenience was being drained and i half expected to find st paul s cathedral looking older for some changes in the fortunes of my friends i was prepared my aunt had been re established at and had begun to get into some little practice at the bar in the very first term after my departure he had chambers in gray s inn now and liad told me in his last letters that he was not without hopes of being soon united to the dearest girl in the world they expected me home before christmas but had no idea ol my returning so soon i had purposely them that i might have the pleasure of taking them by surprise and yet i was perverse enough to feel a chill and in receiving no welcome and rattling alone and silent through the misty streets the well known shops however with their cheerful lights did something for me and when i alighted at the door of the gray s inn coffee house i had recovered my spirits it recalled at first david that so different time when i had put up at the golden cross and reminded me of the change that had come to pass since then but that was natural do you know where mr lives in the inn i asked the waiter as i warmed myself by the fire court sir number two mr has a rising reputation among the lawyers i believe said i well sir returned the waiter probably he has sir but i am not aware of it myself this waiter who was middle aged and spare looked for help to a waiter of more authority a stout old man with a in black breeches and stockings who came out of a place like a s at the end of the coffee room where he kept company with a cash box a a law list and other books and papers mr said the spare waiter number two in the court the waiter waved him away and turned gravely to me i was inquiring said t whether mr at number two in the court has not a rising reputation among the lawyers never heard his name said the waiter in a rich voice i felt quite for he s a young man sure said the waiter fixing his eyes severely on me how long has he been in the inn not above three years said i the waiter who i supposed had lived in his s for forty years could not pursue such an insignificant subject he asked me what i would have for dinner i felt i was in england again and really was quite cast down on s account there seemed to be no hope for him i meekly ordered a bit of fish and a and stood before the fire musing on his obscurity as i followed the chief waiter with my eyes i could not help thinking that the garden in which he had gradually blown to be the flower he was was an place to rise in it had such a stiff long established solemn elderly air i glanced about the room which had its floor no david doubt m exactly the same manner when the chief wait r was a boy if he ever was a boy which appeared and at the shining tables where i saw myself reflected in the depths of old mahogany and at the lamps without a flaw in their or cleaning and at the comfortable green curtains with their pure brass rods the boxes and at the two large coal fires brightly burning and at the rows of as if with the consciousness of pipes of expensive old port wine below and both england and the law appeared to me to be very difficult indeed to be taken by storm i went up to my bed room to change my wet clothes and the vast extent of that old apartment which was over the leading to the inn i remember and the of the four post and the gravity of the of drawers all seemed to unite in sternly frowning on the fortunes of or on any such daring youth i came down again to my dinner and even the slow comfort of the meal and the orderly silence of the which was bare of guests the long not yet being over were eloquent on the audacity of and his small hopes of a for twenty years to come i had seen nothing like this since i went away and it quite dashed my hopes for my friend the chief waiter had had enough of me he came near me no more but devoted himself to an old gentleman in long to meet whom a pint of special port seemed to come out of the cellar of its own accord for he gave no order the second waiter informed me in a whisper that this old gentleman was a retired living in the square and worth a of money which it was expected he would leave to his s daughter likewise that it was that he had a service of plate in a all with lying by though more than one spoon and a fork had never yet been beheld in his chambers by mortal vision by this
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time i quite gave up for lost and settled in my own mind that there was no hope for him being very anxious to see the dear old fellow nevertheless i despatched my dinner in a manner not at all calculated to raise in the opinion of the chief waiter and hurried out by the back way number two in the court was soon reached and an inscription ou david the door post informing me that mr occupied a set of chambers on the top story i ascended the staircase a crazy old staircase i found it to be feebly lighted on each landing by a club headed little oil dying away in a little of dirty glass in the course of my stumbling up stairs i fancied i heard a pleasant sound of laughter and not the laughter of an attorney or or attorney s clerk or s clerk but of two or three merry girls happening however as i stopped to listen to put ray foot in a hole where the honorable society of gray s had left a plank deficient i fell down with some noise and when i recovered my footing all was silent groping my way more carefully for the rest of the journey my heart beat high when i found the outer door which had mr painted on it open i knocked a considerable within ensued but else i therefore knocked a small sharp looking lad half and half clerk who was very much out of breath but who looked at me as if he defied me to prove it presented himself is mr within said i yes sir but he s engaged i want to see him after a moment s survey of me the sharp looking lad decided to let me in and opening the door wider for that purpose admitted me first into a little closet of a hall and next into a little where i came into the presence of my old friend also out of breath seated at a table and bending over papers good god cried looking up it s and rushed into my arms where i held him tight all well my dear all well my dear dear and nothing but good news we cried with pleasure both of us my dear fellow said his hair in his excitement which was a most unnecessary operation my dearest my long lost and most welcome friend how i am to see david you how brown you are how glad i am upon my life and honour i never was so rejoiced my beloved never i was equally at a loss to express my emotions i was quite unable to speak at first my dear fellow said and grown so famous my glorious good gracious me when did you come where have you come from what have you been doing never pausing for an answer to anything he said who had clapped me into an easy chair by the fire all this time stirred the fire with one and pulled at my neck with the other under some wild delusion that it was a without putting down the he now me again and i him and both laughing and both wiping our eyes we both sat down and shook hands across the hearth to think said that you should have been so nearly coming home as you must have been my dear old boy and not at the ceremony what ceremony my dear good gracious me cried opening his eyes in his old way didn t you get my last letter certainly not if it referred to any ceremony why my dear said sticking his hair upright with both hands and then putting his hands on my knees i am married married i cried joyfully lord bless me yes said by the reverend to down in why my dear boy she s behind the window curtain look here to my amazement the dearest girl in the world came at that same instant laughing and blushing from her place of concealment and a more cheerful amiable honest happy bright looking bride i believe as i could not help saying on the spot the world never saw i kissed her as an old acquaintance should and wished them joy with all my might of heart dear me said what a delightful re union this is you are so extremely brown my dear god bless mv how happy i am david and so am i said i and i am sure i am said the blushing and laughing we are all as happy as possible said even the girls are happy dear me declare i forgot them forgot said i the girls said s sisters they are staying with us they have come to have a peep at london the fact is when was it you that tumbled up stairs it was said i laughing well then when you tumbled up stairs said i was with the girls in point of fact we were playing at in the corner but as that wouldn t do in westminster hall and as it wouldn t look quite professional if they were seen by a they and they are now listening i have no doubt said glancing at the door of another room i am sorry said i laughing afresh to have occasioned such a upon my word rejoined greatly delighted if you liad seen them running away and running back again after you had knocked to pick up the they had dropped out of their hair and going on in the manner you wouldn t have said so my love will you fetch the girls tripped away and we heard her received in the adjoining room with a peal of laughter really musical isn t it my dear said it s very agreeable to hear it quite lights up these old rooms to an unfortunate bachelor of a fellow
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who has alone all his life you know it s positively delicious it s charming poor things they have had a great loss in who i do assure you is and ever was the dearest girl and it me beyond expression to find them in such good spirits the society of girls is a very delightful thing it s not professional but it s very delightful observing that he slightly faltered and that ia the goodness of his heart he was fearful of giving me some pain by what he had said i expressed my with a that evidently relieved and pleased him greatly david but then said our domestic arrangements are to say the truth quite my dear even s being here is and we have no other place of abode we have put to sea in a but we are quite prepared to rough it and s an extraordinary manager you ll be surprised how those girls are away i am sure i hardly know how it s done are many of the young ladies with you i inquired the eldest the is here said in a low confidential voice and s here the one i mentioned to you as having something the matter with her you know immensely better and the two youngest that s educated are with us and s here indeed cried i yes said now the whole set i mean the chambers is only three rooms but for the girls in the most wonderful way and they sleep as comfortably as possible three in that room said pointing two in that i could not help glancing round in search of the accommodation for mr and mrs understood me well said we are prepared to rough it as i said just now and we did a bed last week upon the floor here but there s a little room in the roof a very nice room when you re up there which herself to surprise me and that s our room at present it s a capital little sort of place there s quite a view from it and you are happily married at last my dear said i how rejoiced i am thank you my dear said as we shook hands once more yes i am as happy as it s possible to be there s your old friend you see said nodding triumphantly at the flower pot and stand and there s the table with the marble top all the other furniture is plain and serviceable you perceive and as to plate lord bless you we haven t so much as a tea spoon all to be earned said i cheerfully exactly so replied all to be earned of course we david have something in the shape of tea because we stir our tea but they re metal the silver will be the brighter when it comes said i the very thing we say cried you see ray dear falling again into the low confidential tone after i had delivered my argument in which did me great service with the profession i went down into and had some serious conversation in private with the reverend i dwelt upon the fact that who i do assure you is the dearest girl i i am certain she is said i she is indeed rejoined but i am afraid i am wandering from the subject did i mention the reverend you said that you dwelt upon fact true upon the fact that and i had been engaged for a long period and that with the permission of her parents was more than content to take me in short said with his old frank smile on our present metal footing very well i then proposed to the reverend who is a most excellent clergyman and ought to be a bishop or at least ought to have enough to live upon without himself that if i could turn the corner say of two hundred and fifty pounds in one year and could see my way pretty clearly to that or something better next year and could plainly furnish a little place like this besides then and in that case and i should be united i took the liberty of representing that we had been patient for a good many years and that the circumstance of s being useful at home ought not to operate with her affectionate parents against her establishment in life don t you see certainly it ought not said i lam glad you think so rejoined because without any on the reverend i do think parents and brothers and so forth are sometimes rather selfish in such cases well i also pointed out that my most earnest desire was to be useful to the family and that if i got on in the world and anything should happen to him i refer to the david i understand said i or to mrs ci it would be the utmost gratification of my wishes to be a parent to the girls he replied in a m st admirable manner exceedingly flattering to my feelings and undertook to obtain the consent of mrs to this arrangement they bad a dreadful time of it with her it mounted from her legs into her chest and then into her head what mounted i asked her grief replied with a serious look her feelings generally as i mentioned on a former occasion she is a very superior woman but has lost the use of her limbs whatever occurs to her usually settles in her legs but on this occasion it mounted to the chest and then to the head and in short pervaded the whole system in a most alarming manner however they brought her through it by and affectionate attention and we were married yesterday six weeks you have no idea what a monster i
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felt when saw the whole family crying and fainting away in every direction mrs couldn t see me before we left couldn t forgive me then for her of her child but she is a good creature and has done so since i had a delightful letter from her only this morning and in short my dear friend said i you feel as as you deserve to feel oh that s your partiality laughed but indeed i am in a most state i work hard and read law i get up at five every morning and don t mind it at all i hide the girls in the day time and make merry with them in the evening and i assure you i am quite that they are going home on tuesday which is the day before the first day of term but here said breaking oflf his confidence and speaking aloud are the girls mr miss miss miss margaret and they were a perfect nest of roses they looked so wholesome and fresh they were all pretty and miss was very handsome but there was a loving cheerful fireside quality in s bright looks which was better than that and which assured me that my friend had chosen well we all sat round the fire while the sharp david boy who i now divined had lost his breath in putting the papers out cleared them away again and produced the tea things after that he retired for the night shutting the outer door upon us with a bang mrs with perfect pleasure and composure beaming from her household eyes having made the tea then quietly made the toast as she sat in a corner by the fire she had seen she told me while she was tom had taken her down into for a wedding trip and there she had seen my aunt too and both my aunt and were well and they had all talked of nothing but me tom had never had me out of his thoughts she really believed all the time i had been away tom was the authority for everything tom was evidently the idol of her life never to be shaken on his by any commotion always to be believed in and done homage to with the whole faith of her heart come what might the deference which both she and showed towards the beauty pleased me very much i don t know that i thought it very reasonable but i thought it very and essentially a part of their character if ever for an instant missed the tea that were still to be won i have no doubt it was when he handed the beauty her tea if his sweet tempered wife could have got up any self assertion against any one i am satisfied it could only have been because she was the beauty s sister a few slight indications of a rather and capricious manner which i observed in the beauty were considered by and his wife as her and natural if she had been born a queen bee and the bees they could not have been more satisfied of that but their self charmed me their pride in these girls and their submission of themselves to all their w the little testimony to their own worth i could have desired to see if were addressed as u darling once in the course of that evening and to bring something here or carry something there or take something up or put something down or find something or fetch something he was so addressed by one or other of his sisters in law at least twelve times in an hour neither could they do anything without somebody s david i fell down and nobody but could put it up somebody forgot how a particular tune went and nobody but could hum that tune right somebody wanted to recall the name of a place in and only knew it something was wanted to be written home and alone could be trusted to write before breakfast in the morning somebody broke down in a piece of knitting and no one but was able to put the in the right direction they were entire of the place and and waited on thorn how many children hy could have taken care of in her time i can t imagine but she seemed to be famous for knowing every sort of song that ever was addressed to a child in the english tongue and she sang to order with the little voice in the world one after another every sister issuing directions for a tune and the beauty generally striking in last so that i was quite fascinated the best of all was that in the midst of their all the sisters had a gi eat tenderness and respect both for and i am sure when i took my leave and was coming out to walk with me to the coffee house i thought i had never seen an obstinate head of hair or any other head of hair rolling about in such a shower of kisses altogether it was a scene i could not help dwelling on with pleasure for a long time after i got back and had wished good night if i had beheld a thousand roses blowing in a top set of chambers in that withered gray s inn they could not have brightened it half so much the idea of those girls among the dry law and the offices and of the tea and toast and children s songs in that grim atmosphere of and red dusty ink brief and paper law reports and bills of costs seemed almost as pleasantly fanciful as if i had dreamed that the s famous family had been admitted on the roll of and had brought the talking bird the singing tree and the golden water into gray s inn
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no family sir i shook my head i was aware that you sustained a sir some time ago said mr i heard it from your father in law s sister very decided character there sir why yes said i decided enough where did you see her mr are you not aware sir returned mr with his smile that your father in law is a neighbour of mine no said i lie is indeed sir i said mr married a young lady f that part with a very good little property poor thing and this action of the brain now sir t you find it fatigue you said mr looking at me like an admiring robin i that question and returned to the i was ware of his being married again do you attend the family i asked not regularly i have been called iu he replied strong david development of the organ of firmness in mr stone and his sister sir i replied with such an expressive look that mr was by that and the together to give his head several short shakes and thoughtfully exclaim ah dear me we remember old times mr and the brother and sister are pursuing their old course are they said i well sir mr a medical man being so much in families ht to have neither eyes nor ears for anything but his profession still i must say they are very severe sir both as to this life and the next the next will be regulated without much reference to them i dare say i returned what are they doing as to this mr shook his head stirred his and it she was a charming woman sir he observed in a plaintive manner the present mrs a charming woman indeed sir said mr as amiable i am sure as it was possible to be mrs s opinion is that her spirit has been entirely broken since her marriage and that she is all but melancholy mad and the ladies observed mr are great sir i suppose she was to be subdued and broken to their detestable mould heaven help her said i and she has been well sir there were violent quarrels at first i assure you said mr but she is quite a shadow now would it be considered forward if i was to say to you sir in confidence that since the sister came to help the brother and sister between them have nearly reduced her to a state of i told him i could easily believe it i have no hesitation in saying said mr himself with another of between you and me that her mother died of it or that tyranny gloom and worry have made mrs nearly she was a lively young woman sir before marriage and their gloom and destroyed her they go about with her now more like her than her husband and sister in tliat was mrs s remark to me only david last week and i assure you sir the ladies are great and mi s herself is a great observer does he gloomily profess to be i am ashamed to use the word in such association religious still i inquired you anticipate sir said mr his eyelids getting quite red with tlie unwonted in which he was indulging one of mrs s most impressive remarks mrs he proceeded in the and manner quite me by pointing out that mr sets up an image of himself and calls it the divine nature you have knocked me down on the flat of my back sir with the feather of a pen i assure you when mrs said so the ladies are great sir said i to his extreme delight i am very happy to receive such support in my opinion sir he rejoined it is not often that i venture to give a non medical opinion i assure you mr public addresses sometimes and it is said in short sir it is said by mrs that the darker tyrant he has lately been the more ferocious is his doctrine i believe mi s to be perfectly right said i mrs does go so far as to say pursued the of little men much encouraged that what such people their religion is a vent for their bad s and and do you know i must say sir he continued mildly laying his head ou one side that i don t find authority for mr and miss in the new testament i never found it either said i in the meantime sir said mr they are much disliked and as they are very free in everybody who them to we really have a good deal of on in our neighbourhood however as mrs says sir they undergo a continual punishment for they are turned inward to feed upon their own hearts and their own hearts are very bad feeding now sir about that brain of yours if you ll excuse my returning to it don t you expose it to a good deal of excitement sir i found it not difficult in the excitement of mr s own david brain under his of to divert his attention from this topic to his own affairs on which for the next half hour he was quite giving me to understand among other pieces of information that he was then at the gray s inn coffee house to lay his professional evidence before a commission of touching the state of mind of a patient who had become from excessive drinking and i assure you sir he said i am extremely nervous on such occasions i could not support being what is called sir it would quite me do you know it was some time before i recovered the conduct of that alarming lady on the night of your birth mr t told him that i was going down to my aunt the of that night early
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anxiously at me i even saw her tremble that i felt now more than ever that she had followed mv late thoughts i summoned all the resolutions i had made in all those many days and nights and all those many of my heart if it should be so i began and i hope it is i don t know that it is said my aunt you must not only be ruled by my suspicions you must keep them secret they are very slight perhaps i have no right to speak if it should be so i repeated will tell me at her own good time a sister to whom i have confided so much aunt will not be reluctant to confide in me my aunt withdrew her eyes from mine as slowly as she had turned them upon me and covered them thoughtfully with her hand by and by she put her other hand on my shoulder and so we both sat looking into the past without saying another word until we parted for the night i rode away early in the morning for the scene of my old school days i cannot say that i was yet quite happy in the hope that i was gaining a victory over myself even in the prospect of so soon looking on her face again the well remembered ground was soon traversed and i came into the quiet streets where every stone was a boy s book to me i went on foot to the old house and went away with a heart too full to enter i returned and looking as i passed through the low window of the room where first and afterwards mr had been wont to sit saw that it was a little parlour now and that there was no office otherwise the staid old house was as to its cleanliness and order still just as it had been when i first saw it i requested the new maid who admitted me to tell miss david field that a gentleman who waited on her from a friend abroad wa there and i was shown up the grave old staircase of the steps i knew so well into the unchanged drawing room the books that and i had read together were on their shelves and the desk where i had at my lessons many a night stood yet at the same old corner of the table all the little changes that had crept in when the were there were changed again everything was as it used to be in the happy time i stood in a window and looked across the ancient street at the opposite houses how i had watched them on wet when i first came there and how i had used to about the people who had appeared at any of the windows and had followed them with my eyes up and down stairs while women went along the pavement in and the dull rain fell in hues and poured out of the water yonder and flowed into the road the feeling with which i used to watch the as they came into the town on those wet evenings at dusk and past with their bundles drooping over their shoulders at the end of sticks came back to me as then with the smell of damp earth and wet leaves and and the sensation of the very air that blew upon me in my own journey the opening of the little door in the wall made me start and turn her beautiful serene eyes met mine as she came towards me she stopped and laid her hand upon her bosom and i caught her in my arms my dear girl i have come too suddenly upon you no no i am so rejoiced to see you dear the happiness it is to me to see you once again i folded her to ray heart and for a httle while we were both silent presently we sat down side by side and her angel face was turned upon me with the welcome i had dreamed of waking and sleeping for whole years she was so true she was so beautiful she was so good i owed her so much gratitude she was so dear to me that i could find no utterance in what i felt i tried to bless her tried to thank her tried to tell her as i had often done in letters what an influence she had upon me but all my were in vain my love and joy were dumb david with her own sweet tranquillity she my agitation and led me back to the time of our parting spoke to me of whom she had visited in secret many times spoke to me tenderly of s grave with the instinct of her noble heart she touched the of my memory so softly and that not one within me i could listen to the sorrowful distant music and desire to shrink from nothing it awoke how could when blended with it all was her dear self the better angel of my life and you said i by and by tell me of yourself you have hardly ever told me of your own life in all this lapse of time what should i tell she answered with her radiant smile papa is well you see us here quiet in our own home our anxieties set at rest our home restored to us and knowing that dear you know all all said i she looked at me with some fluttering wonder in her face is there nothing else sister i said her color which had just now faded returned and faded again she smiled with a quiet sadness i thought and shook her head i had sought to lead her to what my aunt had hinted at for sharply painful to me as it must be to receive that confidence i
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was to discipline my heart and do my duty to her i saw however that she was uneasy and i let it pass you have much to do dear with my school said she looking up again in all her bright composure yes it is laborious is it not the labour is so pleasant she returned that it is scarcely grateful in me to call it by that name nothing good is difficult to you said i her color came and went once more and once more as she bent her head i saw the same sad smile you will wait and see papa said cheerfully and pass the day with us perhaps you will sleep in your own room we always call it yours david i not do that having promised to ride back to my aunt s at night but i would pass the day there joyfully i must be a prisoner for a httle while said but here are the old books and the old music even the old flowers are here said i looking round or the old kinds i have found a pleasure returned smiling while you have been absent in keeping everything as it used to be when we were children for we were happy then i think heaven knows we were said i and every little thing that has reminded me of my brother said with her cordial eyes turned cheerfully upon me has been a welcome companion even this showing me the full of keys still hanging at her side seems to a ki d of old tune she smiled again and went out at the door by which she had come it was for me to guard this affection with religious care it was all that i had left myself and it was a treasure if i once shook the foundations of the sacred confidence and usage in virtue of which it was given to me it was lost and could never be recovered i set this steadily before myself the better i loved her the more it me never to forget it i walked through the streets and once more seeing my old adversary the butcher now a with his hanging up in the shop went down to look at the place where i had him and there meditated on miss shepherd and the eldest miss and all the idle loves and and of that time nothing seemed to have survived that time but and she ever a star above me was brighter and higher when i returned mr had come home from a garden he had a couple of miles or so out of town where he now employed himself almost every day i found him as my aunt had described him we sat down to dinner with some half dozen little girls and he seemed but the shadow of his handsome picture on the wall the tranquillity and peace belonging of old to that quiet ground in my memory pervaded it again when dinner was done mr david taking no wine and i desiring none we went up stairs where and her httle charges sang and played and worked after tea the children left us and we three sat together talking of the by gone days my part in them said mr shaking his white head has much matter for regret for deep regret and deep you well know but i would not it if it were in my power t could really believe that looking at the face beside him i should with it he pursued such patience and devotion such fidelity such a child s love as i must not forget no even to forget myself i understand you sir softly said i hold it i have always held it in veneration but no one knows not even you he returned how much she has done how much she has undergone how hard she has dear she had put her hand on his arm to stop him and was very very pale well well he said with a sigh as i then saw some trial had borne or was yet to bear in with what my aunt had told me well i have never told you of her mother has any one never sir it s not much though it was much to suffer she married me in opposition to her father s wish and he her she prayed him to forgive her before my came into this world he was a very hard man and her mother had long been dead he her he broke her heart leaned upon his shoulder and stole her arm about his neck she had an affectionate and gentle heart he said and it was broken i knew its tender nature very well no one could if i did not she loved me dearly but was never happy she was always in secret under this distress and being delicate and downcast at the time of his last for it was not the first by many away and died she left me two david weeks old and the grey hair that you recollect me with when you first came he kissed on her cheek my love for my dear child was a love but mind was all then i say no more of that i am not speaking of myself but of her mother and of her if i give you any clue to what i am or to what i have been you will it i know what is i need not say i have always read something of her poor mother s story in her character and so i tell it you to night when we three are again together after such great changes i have told it all his bowed head and her angel face and filial duty derived a more pathetic meaning from it than they
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had had before if i had wanted anything by which to mark this night of our i should have found it in this rose up from her father s side before long and going softly to her piano played some of the old airs to which we had often listened in that place have you any intention of going away again asked me as was din bv what does my sister say to that i hope not then i have no intention i think you ought not since you ask me she said mildly your growing reputation and success your of doing good and if could spare my brother with her eyes upon me perhaps the time could not what i am you have made me you should know best made you yes my dear girl i said bending over her i tried to tell you when we met to day something that has been in my thoughts since died you remember when you came down to me in our little room pointing upwards oh she returned her eyes filled with tears so loving so confiding and so young can i ever forget as you were then my sister i have often thought since yoa david have ever been to me ever pointing upwards ever leading me to better ever directing me to lier she only shook her head through her tears i saw the same sad quiet smile and i am so grateful to you for it so bound to you that there is no name fur the affection of my heart i want you to know yet don t know how to you that all my life long i shall look up to you and be guided by you as i have been through the darkness that is past whatever whatever new ties you may form whatever changes may come between us i shall always look to you and love you as i do now and have always done you will always be my solace and resource as you have always been until i die my dearest sister i shall see you always before me pointing upwards she put her hand in mine and told me she was proud of me and what i said although i praised her very far beyond her worth then she went on softly playing but without removing her eyes from me do you know what i have heard to night said i strangely seems to be a part of the feeling with which i regarded you when i saw you first with which i sat beside you in my rough school days you knew i had no mother she replied with a smile and felt kindly towards me more than that i knew almost as if i had known this that there was something gentle and softened surrounding you something that might have been sorrowful in some one else as i can now understand it was but was not so in you she softly played on looking at me still will you laugh at my such fancies no or at my saying that i really believe i felt even then that you could be faithfully affectionate against all and never cease to be so until you ceased to live will you laugh at such a dream oh no oh no for an instant a shadow crossed her face but even in david the start it gave me it was gone and she was playing on at me with her own smile as i rode back in the lonely night the wind going by me like a restless i thought of this and feared she was not happy was not happy but thus far i had faithfully set the seal upon the past and thinking of her pointing upwards thought of her as pointing to that sky above me where in the mystery to come i might et love her with a love unknown on earth and tell her what the strife had been within me when i loved her here chapter i am shown two interesting for a time at all events until ray book should be completed which would be the work of several months i took up my abode in my aunt s house at and there sitting in the window from which i had looked out at the moon upon the sea when that roof first gave me shelter i quietly pursued my task in of my of referring to my own only when their course should incidentally connect itself with the progress of my story i do not enter on the aspirations the delights anxieties and triumphs of my art that i truly devoted myself to it with my strongest earnestness and bestowed upon it every energy of my soul i have already said if the books i have written be of any worth they will supply the rest i shall otherwise have written to poor purpose and the rest will be of interest to no one occasionally i went to london to lose myself in the swarm of life there or to consult with on some business point ho liad managed for me in my absence with the judgment ray worldly affairs were as my to bring me an enormous quantity of letters from people of whom i had no about and extremely difficult to answer i agreed with to have my name painted up on his door there the devoted on that beat delivered of letters for me and there at intervals i through them like a home secretary of state without the salary among this correspondence there dropped in every now and then an obliging proposal from one of the numerous always lurking about the to practise under cover of my name if i would take the necessary steps remaining to make a out david of myself and pay me a on the profits but i these offers being already
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aware that there were plenty of such covert in existence and considering the quite bad enough without my doing anything to make it worse the girls had gone home when my name burst into bloom on door and the sharp boy looked all day as if he had never heard of shut up in a back room glancing down from her work into a little strip of garden with a pump in it but there i always found her the same bright often humming her when no strange foot was coming up the stairs and the sharp boy in his official closet with melody i wondered at first why i so often found writing in a copy book and why she always shut it up when i appeared and hurried it into the table drawer but the secret soon came out one day who had just come home through the from court took a paper out of his desk and asked me what i thought of that handwriting oh tom cried who was warming his before the fire my dear returned tom in a delighted tone why not i what do you say to that handwriting it s legal and formal said i i don t think i ever saw such a stiff hand not like a lady s hand is it said a lady s i repeated bricks and mortar are more like a lady s hand broke into a laugh and informed me that it was s writing that had vowed and declared he would need a clerk soon and she would be that clerk that she had acquired this hand from a pattern and that she could throw off i forget how many an hour was very much confused by my being told all this and said that when tom was made a judge he wouldn t be so ready to proclaim it which tom denied that he should always be equally proud of it under all circumstances what a thoroughly good a d charming wife she is my dear said i when she had gone away laughing david my dear returned she is without any exception the dearest the way she this place her domestic knowledge economy and order her cheerfulness copper indeed you have reason to commend her i returned you are a happy fellow i believe you make yourselves and each other two of the happiest people in the world i am sure we are two of the happiest people returned i admit that at all events bless my soul when i see her getting up by candle light on these dark mornings herself in the day s arrangements going out to market before the clerks come into the inn caring for no weather the most capital little dinners out of the materials making and keeping everything in its right place always so neat and ornamental herself sitting up at night with me if it s ever so late sweet tempered and encouraging always and all for me i positively sometimes can t believe it he was tender of the very slippers she had been warming as he put them on and stretched his feet upon the i positively sometimes can t believe it said then our pleasures dear me they are but they are quite wonderful when we are at home here of an evening and shut the outer door and draw those curtains which she made where could we be more snug when it s fine and we go out for a walk in the evening the streets abound in enjoyment for us we look into the glittering windows of the shops and i show which of the diamond eyed up on white satin rising grounds i would give her if i could afford it and shows me which of the gold watches that are and and engine turned and possessed of the escape movement and all sorts of things she would buy for me if she could afford it and we pick out the and forks fish and sugar we should both prefer if we could both afford it and really we go away as if we had got them then we stroll into the squares and great streets and see a house to let sometimes we look up at it and say how would that do if i was made judge and then we parcel it out such a room for us and david such a room tor the girls and so forth until we settle to our satisfaction that it would do or it wouldn t do as the case may be sometimes we go at half price to the pit of the theatre the very smell of which is cheap in my opinion at the money and there we thoroughly enjoy the play which believes every word of and so do i in walking home perhaps we buy a little bit of something at a cook s shop or a little at the s and bring it here and make a splendid supper about what we have seen now you know if i was lord we couldn t do this you would do something whatever you were my dear thought i that would be pleasant and amiable and by the way i said aloud i suppose you never draw any now really replied laughing and i can t wholly deny that i do my dear for being in one of the back rows of the king s bench the other day with a pen in my hand the fancy came into my head to try how i had preserved that accomplishment and i am afraid there s a skeleton in a wig on a ledge of the desk after we k ld both laughed heartily wound up by looking with a smile at the fire and saying in his way old i have a letter from that old
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rascal here said i for i never was less disposed to forgive him the way he used to than when i saw so ready to forgive him himself from the exclaimed no among the persons who are attracted to me in my rising fame and fortune said i looking over my letters and who discover that they were always much attached to me is the self same he is not a now he is retired he is a magistrate i thought might be surprised to hear it but he was not so at all how do you suppose he comes to be a magistrate said i oh dear me replied it would be very difficult to david answer that question perhaps he for somebody or lent money to somebody or bought something of somebody or otherwise obliged somebody or for somebody who knew somebody who got the of the county to him for the commission on the commission he is at any rate said i and he writes to me here that he will be glad to show me in operation the only true system of prison discipline the only way of making sincere and lasting and which you know is by solitary confinement what do you say to the system inquired looking grave no to my accepting the offer and your going with me i don t object said then i ll write to say so you remember to say nothing of our treatment this same turning his son out of doors t suppose and the life he use to lead his wife and daughter perfectly said yet if you ll read his letter you ll find he is the tenderest of men to prisoners convicted of the whole of said i though i can t find that his tenderness extends to any other class of created beings shrugged his shoulders and was not at all surprised had not expected him to be and was not surprised myself or my observation of similar practical would have been but scanty we arranged the time of our visit and i wrote accordingly to mr that evening on the appointed day i think it was the next day but no matter and i repaired to the prison where mr was powerful it was an immense and solid building erected at a vast expense i could not help thinking as we approached the gate what an uproar would have been made in the country if any man had proposed to spend one half the money it had cost on the of an school for the young o a house of refuge for the deserving old in an office that have been on the floor of the tower of it was so constructed we were presented to our old who was one of a group composed of david or three of the sort of and some visitors ihey had brought he received me hke a man who had formed my mind in years and had always loved me tenderly on my introducing mr expressed in like manner but in an inferior degree that he had always been guide philosopher and friend our venerable was a great deal older and not improved in appearance his face was as fiery as ever his eyes were as small and rather deeper set the scanty wet looking grey hair by which i remembered him was almost gone and the thick veins in his bald head were none the more to look at after some conversation among these gentlemen from which i might have supposed that there was nothing in the world to be taken into account but the supreme comfort of prisoners at any expense and nothing on the wide earth to be done outside prison doors we began our inspection it being then just we went first into the great kitchen where every prisoner s dinner was in course of being set out separately to be handed to him in his cell with the regularity and precision of clock work i said aside to that i wondered whether it occurred to anybody that there was a striking contrast between these plentiful of choice quality and the dinners not to say of but of soldiers sailors the great bulk of the honest working community of whom not one man in five hundred ever dined half so well but i learned that the system required high living and in short to dispose of the system once for all i found that on that head and on all others the system put an end to all doubts and disposed of all nobody appeared to have the least idea that there was any other system but the system to be considered as we were going through some of the magnificent passages i inquired of mr and his friends what were supposed to be the main advantages of this all governing and universally over riding system i found them to be the perfect of prisoners so that no one man in confinement there knew anything about another and the of prisoners to a wholesome state of mind leading to sincere and repentance david now it struck me when we began to visit individuals in and to the passages in which those were and to have the manner of the going to chapel and so forth explained o us that there was a strong probability of the prisoners knowing a good deal about each other and of their carrying on a pretty complete system of intercourse this at the time i write has been proved i to be the case but as it would have been flat against the system to have hinted such a doubt then i looked out for the as diligently as i could and here again had great i found as a fashion in the form of the as i had left outside in the forms of the coats and in the windows of
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the shops i found a vast amount of profession varying very little in ir varying very little which i thought exceedingly suspicious even in words i found a great many whole of inaccessible grapes but i found very few whom i would have trusted within reach of a bunch above all i found that the most men were the greatest objects of interest and that their conceit their vanity their want of excitement and their love of deception which many of them possessed to an almost incredible extent as their histories showed all prompted to these professions and were all gratified by them however i heard so repeatedly in the se of going to and fro of a certain number twenty seven who was the favourite and who really appeared to be a model prisoner that i resolved to my judgment until i should see twenty seven twenty eight i understood also a bright particular star but it was his misfortune to have his glory a little by the extraordinary lustre of twenty seven i heard so much of twenty seven of his pious to everybody around him and of the beautiful letters he constantly wrote to his mother whom he seemed to consider in a very bad way that i became quite impatient to see him i had to restrain my impatience for some time on account of twenty seven being reserved for a concluding but at we came to the door of his cell and mr looking through a httle hole in it reported to us in a state of the greatest admiration that he was reading a hymn book david there was such a rush of heads to see number twenty seven reading his hymn book that the little hole was blocked up six or seven heads deep to remedy this inconvenience and give us an opportunity of conversing with twenty seven in all his purity mr directed the door of the cell to be unlocked and twenty seven to be invited out into the passage this was done and whom should and i then behold to our amazement in this converted number twenty seven but he knew us directly and said as he came out with the old how do you do mr how do you do mr the recognition caused a general admiration in the party i rather thought that every one was struck by his not being proud and taking notice of us well twenty seven said mr mournfully admiring him how do you find yourself to day i am very sir replied you are always so twenty seven said mr here another gentleman asked with extreme anxiety are you quite comfortable yes i thank you sir said looking in that direction far more comfortable here than i ever was outside i see my follies now sir that s what makes me comfortable several gentlemen were much and a third forcing himself to the front inquired with extreme feeling how do you find the beef thank you sir replied glancing in the new direction of this voice it was yesterday than i could wish but it s my duty to bear i have committed follies gentlemen said looking round with a meek smile and i ought to bear the consequences without a murmur partly of gratification at twenty seven s celestial state of mind and partly of indignation against the who had given him the cause of complaint a note of which was immediately made by mr having subsided twenty seven stood in the midst of us as if he felt himself the principal object of merit david in a highly museum that we the might have an excess of light shining upon us all at once orders were given to let out twenty eight i had been so much astonished already that i only felt a kind of resigned wonder when mr walked forth reading a good book twenty eight said a gentleman in spectacles who had not yet spoken you complained last week my good fellow of the how has it been since i thank you sir said it has been better made if i might take the of saying so sir i don t think the milk which is boiled with it is quite genuine but i am aware sir that there is great of milk in london and that the article in a pure state is difficult to be obtained it appeared to me that the gentleman in spectacles backed his twenty eight against mr s twenty seven for each of them took his own man in hand what is your state of mind twenty eight said the in spectacles i thank you sir returned mr i see my follies now sir i am a good deal troubled when i think of the sins of my former companions sir but i trust they may find forgiveness you are quite happy yourself said the nodding encouragement i am much obliged to you sir returned mr perfectly so is there anything at all on your mind now said the if so mention it twenty eight sir said mr without looking up if my eyes have not deceived me there is a gentleman present who was acquainted with me in my former life it may be profitable to that gentle man to know sir that i attribute my past follies entirely to having lived a thoughtless life in the service of young men and to having allowed myself to be led by them into weaknesses which i had not the strength to resist i hope that gentleman will take warning sir and not be offended at my freedom it is for his good i am conscious of my own past follies i hope he may repent of all th wickedness and sin to which he has been a party david i observed that several gentlemen were their eyes each with one hand as if they had just come into church
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this does you credit twenty eight returned the i should have expected it of you is there anything else sir returned mr slightly lifting up his eyebrows but not his eyes there was a young woman who fell into courses that i endeavoured to save sir but could not rescue i beg that gentleman if he has it in his power to inform that young woman from me that i forgive her her bad conduct towards myself and that i call her to repentance if he will be so good i have no doubt twenty eight returned the that the gentleman you refer to feels very strongly as we ail must what you have so properly said we will not detain you i thank you sir said mr gentlemen i wish you a good day and hoping you and your families will see your wickedness and with this number twenty eight retired after a glance between him and as if they were not altogether unknown to each other through some medium of communication and a murmur went round the group as his door shut upon him that he was a most respectable man and a beautiful case now twenty seven said mr entering on a clear stage with his man is there anything that any one can do for you if so mention it i would ask you sir returned with a jerk of his head for leave to write again to mother it shall certainly be granted said mr thank you sir i am anxious about mother i am afraid she ain t safe somebody asked from what but there was a whisper of hush safe sir returned in the direction of the voice i should wish mother to be got into my state i never should have been got into my present state if i hadn t come here it would be better for everybody if they got took up and was brought here this sentiment gave unbounded satisfaction greater satisfaction i think than anything that had passed yet david before i came here said stealing a look at us as if he would have the outer world to which we belonged if he could i was given to follies but now i am sensible of my there s a deal of sin outside there s nothing but sin everywhere except here you are quite changed said mr oh dear yes sir cried this hopeful penitent you wouldn t if you were going out asked somebody else oh dear no sir well said mr this is very gratifying you have addressed mr twenty seven do you wish to say anything further to him you knew me a long time before i came here and was changed mr said looking at me and a more look i never saw even on his you knew me when in spite of myself i was humble among them that was proud and meek among them that was violent you was violent to me yourself mr once you struck me a blow in the face you know general several indignant glances directed at me but i forgive you mr said making his nature the subject of a most and awful parallel which i shall not record i forgive everybody it would ill become me to bear malice i freely forgive you and i hope you ll your passions in future i hope mr will repent and miss w and all of that sinful lot you ve been visited with and i hope it may do you good but you d better have come here mr had better have come here and miss w too the best wish i could give you mr and all of you gentlemen is that you could be took up and brought here when i think of my past follies and my present state i am sure it would be best for you i pity all who ain t brought here he back into his cell amid a little chorus of approbation and both and i experienced a great relief when he was locked in it was a characteristic feature in this repentance that i was fain to david ask what two men had done to be there at all that to be the last thing about which they had anything to say addressed myself to one of the two who i suspected from certain latent indications in their faces knew pretty well what all this was worth do you know said i as we walked along the passage what was number twenty seven s last folly v the answer w as that it was a bank case a fraud on the bank of england i asked yes sir fraud and conspiracy he and some others he set the others on it was a deep plot for a large sum sentence for life twenty seven was the bird of the lot and had very nearly kept himself safe but not quite the bank was just able to put salt upon his tail and only just do you know twenty eight s offence twenty eight returned my speaking throughout in a low tone and looking over his shoulder as he walked along the passage to guard himself from being overheard in such an reference to those by and the rest twenty eight also got a place and robbed a young master of a matter of two hundred and fifty pounds in money and the night before they were going abroad i particularly recollect his case from his being took by a dwarf a what a little woman i have forgot her name not that s it he had pursuit and was going to america in a wig and whiskers and such a complete disguise as never you see in all your born days when the little woman being in met him walking along the street picked him out with her sharp eye
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in a moment ran his l to upset him and held on to him like grim death excellent miss cried i you d have said so if you had seen her standing on a chair in the witness box at bis trial as i did said my friend he cut her face right open and her in the most brutal manner when she took him but she never her hold till he was locked up david she held so tight to him in fact that the were obliged to take em both together she gave her evidence in the est way and was highly by the bench and cheered right home to her lodgings she said in court that she d have took him single handed on account of what she knew concerning him if ho had been and it s my belief she would it was too and i highly respected miss for it we had now seen ail there was to see it would have been in vain to represent to such a man as the mr that twenty seven and twenty eight were perfectly consistent and unchanged that exactly what they were then they had always been that the were just the subjects to make that sort of profession in such a place they knew its market value at least as well as we did in the immediate service it would do them when they were in a word that it was a rotten hollow painfully suggestive piece of business altogether we left them to their system and themselves and went home wondering perhaps it s a good thing said i to have an ridden hard for it s the sooner ridden to death i hope so replied chapter a light shines on my the year came round to and i had been at home above two months i had seen frequently however loud the general voice might be in giving me encouragement and however fervent the emotions and to which it roused me i heard her word of praise as i heard nothing else at least once a week and sometimes oftener i rode over there and passed the evening i usually rode back at night for the old unhappy sense was always hovering about me now most sorrowfully when i left her and i was glad to be up and out rather than wandering over the past in weary or miserable dreams i wore away the longest part of many wild sad nights in those rides as i went the thoughts that had occupied me in my long absence or if i were to say rather that i listened to the echoes of those thoughts i should better express the truth they spoke to me from afar oflf i had put them at a distance and accepted my inevitable place when i read to what i wrote when i saw her listening face moved her to smiles or tears and heard her cordial voice so earnest on the shadowy events of that imaginative world in which i lived i thought what a fate mine might have been but only thought so as i had thought after i was married to what i could have wished my wife to be my duty to who loved me with a love which if i i wronged most and poorly and could never restore my assurance that i who had worked out mv own destiny and won what i had set my heart on had no right to murmur and must bear what i felt and what i had learned but i loved her and now it even became some david tion co me vaguely to conceive a distant day when i might it when all this should be over when i could say so it was when i came home and now i am old and i never have loved since she did not show me any change in herself what she always had been to me she still was wholly between my aunt and me there had been something in this since the night of my return which i cannot call a restraint or an of the subject so much as an implied understanding that we thought of it together but did not shape our thoughts into words when according to our old custom we sat before the fire at night we often fell into this train naturally and as to each other as if we had said so but we preserved an unbroken silence i that she had read or partly read my thoughts that night and that she fully comprehended why i gave mine no more distinct expression the christmas time being come and having no new confidence in me a doubt that had several times arisen in ray mind whether she could have that perception of the true state of my breast which restrained her with the apprehension of giving me pain began to me heavily if that were so my sacrifice were nothing my obligation to her and every poor action i had shrunk from i was doing resolved to set this right beyond all doubt if such a barrier were between us to b it down at once with a determined hand it was what lasting reason have i to remember it a cold harsh winter day there had been snow some hours before and it not deep but hard frozen on the ground out at sea beyond my window the wind blew from the north i had been thinking of it sweeping over those mountain of snow in d then inaccessible to any human foot and had been which was the those solitary regions or a deserted ocean hiding to day trot said my aunt putting her head in at the door yes said i i am going over to it s a good day for a ride
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i hope your horse may think so too said my aunt but at david present lie is holding down his head and his ears standing before the door there a if he thought his stable my aunt i may observe allowed my horse on the forbidden ground but had not at all towards the he will be fresh enough presently said i the ride will do his master good at all events observed my aunt glancing at the papers on my table ah child you pass a good many hours there i never thought when i used to read books what work it was to write them it s work enough to read them sometimes i returned as to the writing it has its own charms aunt ah see said my aunt ambition love of approbation sympathy and more i suppose well go along with you do u know anything more said i standing before her she had patted me on the shoulder and sat down in my chair of that attachment of she looked up in my face a little while before replying i think i do trot are vou confirmed in your impression i inquired i think i am trot she looked so at me with a kind of doubt or pity or suspense in her affection that i summoned the stronger determination to show her a perfectly cheerful face and what is more trot said my aunt yes i think a is going to be married god her said i cheerfully god bless her said my aunt and her husband too i echoed it parted from my aunt went down stairs mounted and rode away there was greater reason than before to do what i had resolved to do how well i recollect the wintry ride the frozen of ice brushed from the blades of grass by the wind and borne across my face the hard clatter of the horse s hoofs beating a tune upon the ground the soil the snow drift lightly in the chalk pit as the breeze ruffled it the smoking team with the wagon of old hay stopping to breathe on the hill top and shaking their david bells the slopes and sweeps of down land against the dark sky as if they were drawn on a huge slate i found alone tlie little girls had gone to their own homes now and she was alone by the fire reading she put down her book on seeing me come in and having welcomed me as usual took her work basket and sat in one of the old fashioned windows i sat beside her on the window seat and we talked of what i was doing and when it would be done and of the progress i had made since my last it was very cheerful and predicted that i soon become too famous to be talked to on subjects so i make the most of the present time you see said and talk to you while i may as i looked at her beautiful face observant of her work she raised her mild clear eyes and saw that i was looking at her you are thoughtful to day ti shall tell you what about i came to tell you she put aside her work as she was used to do when we were seriously discussing anything and gave me her whole attention my dear do you doubt my being true to you no she answered with a look of astonishment do you doubt my being what i always have been to you no she answered as before do you remember that i tried to tell you when i came home what a debt of gratitude i owed you dearest and how fervently i felt towards j ou i remember it she said gently very well you have a secret said i let me share it she cast down lier eyes and i could hardly fail to know even if i had not heard but from other lips than yours which seems strange that there is some one upon whom you have ix the of your love not shut me out of what e your happiness so nearly if you can trust me is yon say you can and as know you may let me be your friend your brother in this matter of all others with hu appealing almost a glance she rose from the window and hurrying the room as if without knowing david where put her hands before her face and burst into such tears as smote me to the heart and yet they awakened something in me bringing promise to my heart without my knowing why these tears themselves with the quietly sad smile which was so fixed in my remembrance and shook me more with hope than fear or sorrow sister dearest what have i done let me go away i am not well i am not myself will speak to you by and by another time i will write to you don t to me now don t i don t i sou ht to recollect what she had said when i had spoken to her on that former night of her affection meeting no return it seemed a very world that i must search through in a moment i cannot bear to see you so and think that i have been the cause my dearest girl dearer to me than anything in life if you are unhappy let me share your if you are in need of help or counsel let me try to give it to you if you have indeed a burden on your heart let me try to it for whom do i live now if it is not for you oh spare me i am not myself another time was all that i could distinguish was it a selfish error that was leading me away or
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was up in my study said which it was her pride to keep in readiness and order for me we found her in her spectacles by the fire goodness me said my aunt peering through the dusk who a this you re bringing home said i as we had arranged to say nothing at first my aunt was not a little she darted a hopeful glance at me when i said but seeing that i looked as usual she took os her spectacles in despair and rubbed her nose with them she greeted heartily nevertheless and we were soon in the lighted parlor down stairs at dinner my aunt put on her spectacles twice or thrice to take another look at me but as often took them oflf again disappointed and rubbed her nose with them much to the discomfiture of mr dick who knew this to be a bad symptom by the by aunt said t after dinner i have been speaking to about what you told me then trot said my aunt turning scarlet you did wrong and broke your promise you are not angry aunt i trust i am sure you won t be when you learn that is not unhappy in any attachment stuff and nonsense said my aunt as my aunt appeared to be annoyed i thought the best way was to cut her annoyance short i took in my arm to the back of her chair and we both leaned over her my aunt with one clap of her hands and one look through her spectacles immediately went for the first and only time in all my knowledge of her the called up the moment my aunt was restored she flew at and calling her a silly old creature her with all her might after that she mr dick who was highly honoured but a good deal surprised and after that told them why then we were all happy together i could not discover whether my aunt in her last short conversation with me had fallen on a pious fraud or had really mistaken the david state of my mind it was quite enough she said that she had me was going to be married and that i now knew than any one how true it was we were married within a fortnight and and doctor and mrs strong were the only guests at our quiet wedding we left them full of joy and drove away together clasped in my embrace i held the source of every worthy i had ever had the centre of myself the circle of my life my own my wife my love of whom was founded on a rock dearest husband said now that i may call you by that name i have one thing more to tell you let me hear it love it grows out of the night when died she sent you for me she did she told me that she left me something can you think what it was i believed i could i drew the wife who had so long loved me closer to my side she told me that she made a last request to me and left me a last charge and it was that only i would occupy this vacant place and laid her head upon my breast and wept and i wept with her though we were so happy chapter a visitor what i have proposed to record is nearly finished but there is yet an incident conspicuous in my memory on which it often rests with delight and without it one thread in the web i have spun would have a end i had advanced in fame and fortune my domestic joy was perfect i had been married ten happy years and i were sitting by the fire in our house in london one night in spring and three of our children were playing in the room when i was told that a stranger wished to see me he had been asked if he came on business and had answered no he had come for the pleasure of seeing me and had come a long way he was an old man my servant said and looked like a farmer as this sounded mysterious to the children and moreover was like the of a favorite story used to tell them to the arrival of a wicked old fairy in a cloak who hated everybody it produced some commotion one of our boys laid his head in his mother s lap to be out of harm s way and little our eldest child left her doll in a chair to represent her and thrust out her little head of golden curls from between the window to see what happened next let him come in here said l there soon appeared pausing in the dark doorway as he entered a hale grey haired old man little attracted by his looks had run to bring him in and i had not yet clearly seen his face when my wife starting up cried out to me in a pleased and agitated voice that it was mr it was mr an old man now but in a ruddy hearty david old age when our first emotion was over and lie s t before the fire with the children on his knees and the blaze shining on his face he looked to me as vigorous and robust withal as handsome an old man as ever i had seen r said he and the old name in the old tone fell so naturally on my ear r tis a joyful hour as i see you once more long with your own wife a joyful hour indeed old friend cried i and these pretty ones said mr to look at these flowers why r you was but the of the of these when i first see you when em no bigger and our poor lad were hut
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a lad time has changed me more than it has changed j ou since then said i but let these dear go to bed and as no house in england but this must hold you tell me where to send for your luggage is the old black bag among it that went so far i wonder and then over a glass of we will have the tidings of ten years i are you alone asked yes ma am he said kissing her hand quite alone we sat him between us not knowing how to give him welcome enough and as i began to listen to his old familiar voice i could have fancied he was still pursuing his long journey in search of his darling niece it s a of water said mr fur to come across and on y stay a matter of weeks but water specially when tis salt comes to me and friends is dear and i am which is verse said mr surprised to find it out h i hadn t such intentions are you going back these many thousand miles so soon f asked yes ma am he returned i give the promise to em ly afore i come away you see don t grow younger as the years comes round and if i hadn t sailed as twas most likely i shouldn t never have don t and it s been on my mind as i must come and see r and your own sweet blooming self in your wedded happiness afore i got to be too old l i c o i i l of the university of david he looked at us as if he could never feast his eyes on us sufficiently put back some scattered locks of hia grey hair that he might see us better and now tell us said i everything relating to your fortunes our s r he rejoined is soon told we haven t but to we ve we ve worked as we ought to t and maybe we a hard at first or so but we have what with sheep farming and what with stock farming and what with one thing and what with t other we are as well to do as well could be s been a blessing fell upon us said mr his head and we ve done but prosper that is in the long run if not yesterday why then to day if not to day why then to morrow and said and i both together em ly said he you left her ma am and i never her saying of her prayers at night t other side the canvas screen when we was settled in the bush but what i your name and she and me lost sight of r that shining was that low at first that if she had know d then what r from us so kind and tis my opinion she d have drooped away but was some poor folks aboard as had illness among em and she took care of them and was the children in our company and she took care of them and so she got to be busy and to be doing good and that helped her when did she first hear of it i asked i it from her i on t said mr going on nigh a year we was living then in a solitary place but among the trees and with the roses a covering our to the roof come along one day when i was a working on the land a traveller from our own or in england i t rightly mind which and of course we took him in and him to eat and drink and made him welcome we all do that all the colony over he d got an old newspaper with him and some other account in print of the storm that s how she know d it when i come home at night i found she know d it he dropped his voice as he said these words and the gravity i o well remembered his face david did it change her much we asked aye for a good long time he said shaking his head if not to this present hour but i think the done her good and she had a deal to mind in the way of poultry and the like and minded of it and come through i wonder he said thoughtfully if you could see my em ly now r whether you d know her is she so altered v i inquired i do ent know i see her every day and nt know but odd times i have so a slight figure said mr looking at the fire worn soft sorrowful blue eyes a delicate face a head leaning a httle down a quiet voice and way timid a most that s em ly we silently observed him as he sat still looking at the fire some thinks he said as her affection was ill bestowed some as her marriage was broke oflf by death no one knows how tis she might have married well a of times but uncle she says to me that s gone for ever cheerful along with me retired when others is by fond of going any distance fur to teach a child or fur to tend a sick person or fur to do some kindness tow a young girl s wedding and she s done a many but has never seen one fondly loving of her uncle patient liked by young and old out by all that has any trouble that s em ly he drew his hand across his face and with a half suppressed sigh looked up from the fire is with you yet i asked he replied got married r in the second year a young man a farm as come by
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us on his way to market with his r s a journey of over five hundred mile and back made fur to take her fur his wife wives is very scarce and then to set up for their two selves in the bush she spoke to me fur to tell him her story i did they was married and they live hundred mile away from any voices but their own and the singing birds mrs i suggested it was a pleasant key to touch for mr suddenly burst david into a roar of and rubbed bis hands up and down his as he bad been accustomed to do when he enjoyed himself in the long boat would you believe it he said why some un even made fur to marry her if a ship s cook that was turning r didn t make fur to marry i m and i can t say no fairer than that i never saw laugh so this sudden ecstasy on the part of mr was so delightful to her that she could not leave off and the more she the more she made me h and the greater mr s ecstasy became and the more he rubbed his legs and what did mrs say i asked when i was grave enough if you ll believe me returned mr stead of saying thank you i m much to you i ain t a going fur to change my condition at my time of up d with a bucket as was standing by and laid it over that ship s cook s head till he sung out for help and i went in and of him mr burst into a great roar of laughter and and i both kept him company but i must say this for the good he resumed wiping his face when we were quite exhausted she has been all she said she d be to us and more she s the the truest the helping woman r as ever draw d the breath of life i have never known her to be lone and for a single minute not even when the colony was all afore us and we was new to it and thinking of old um is a thing she never done i do assure you since she left england now last not least mr said i he has paid off every obligation he incurred here even to s bill you remember my dear and therefore we may take it for granted that he is doing well but what is the latest news of him mr with a smile put his hand in his breast pocket and produced a flat folded paper parcel from which he took out with much care a little odd looking newspaper david copper field you are to m is r said he as we have left the bush now being so well to do and have gone right away round to port harbor where s what we call a town mr was in the bush near vou said i bless you yes said mr and turned to with a will i never wish to meet a better gen for turning to with a will i ve seen that bald head of his a in the sun r till i a most it would have melted away and now he s a magistrate a magistrate eh said i mr pointed to a certain paragraph in the newspaper where read aloud as follows from the port times the public dinner to our distinguished fellow and port district magistrate came off yesterday in the large room of the hotel which was crowded to it is estimated that not fewer than forty seven persons must have been with dinner at one time exclusive of the company in the e and on the stairs the beauty fashion and of port to do honour to one so esteemed so highly and so widely popular doctor of house grammar school port presided and on his right sat the distinguished guest after the removal of the cloth and the singing of non beautifully executed and in which we were at no loss to distinguish the bell like notes of that gifted amateur junior the usual loyal and patriotic were given and received doctor in a speech with feeling then proposed our distinguished guest the ornament of our town may he never leave us but to better himself and may his success among us be such as to render his himself impossible the cheering with which the toast was received description again and again it rose and fell like the waves of ocean at length all was hushed and presented himself to return thanks far be it from us in the present comparatively imperfect state of the of our establishment to endeavour to follow our distinguished town david c p p e r f e l d man through the smoothly flowing periods of liis polished and highly address suffice it to observe that it was a of eloquence and that in those passages in which he more particularly traced his own successful career to its source and warned the younger portion of his from the of ever pecuniary which they were unable to brought a tear into the eye present the remaining were doctor mrs who gracefully bowed her from the door where a of beauty was elevated chairs at once to witness and adorn the gratifying scene mrs late miss mrs ber junior who the assembly by remarking that he found himself unable to urn thanks in a speech but would do so with their permission in a song mrs s family well known it is needless to remark in the mother country tc fee at the conclusion of the proceedings the tables were cleared as if by art for dancing among the of who themselves until gave warning for departure e junior and the lovely
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and accomplished miss fourth daughter of doctor were particularly remarkable i was looking back to the name of dr pleased to have discovered in these happier circumstances mr formerly poor pinched to my magistrate when mr pointing to another part of tlie paper my eyes rested on my own name and i read thus to david the eminent author my dear sir years have elapsed since i liad an opportunity of the now familiar to the of a considerable i of the civilized world but my dear sir though by the force of circumstances over which i had no control from the j of the friend and companion of my youth i have not been of his flight nor have i be n david though seas between us ha roared burns from in the intellectual he has spread before us i cannot therefore allow of the departure from this place of an individual whom we respect and esteem without my dear sir taking this public opportunity of thanking you on my own behalf and i may undertake to add on that of the whole of the inhabitants of port for the gratification of which you are the ao ent go on my dear sir you are not unknown here you are not though remote we are neither melancholy nor i may add slow go on my dear sir in your eagle course the inhabitants of port may at least to watch it with delight with entertainment with instruction among the eyes elevated towards you from this portion of the globe will ever be found while it has light and life the eye to magistrate i found on glancing at the remaining contents of the newspaper that mr was a and esteemed of that journal there was another letter from him in the same pr per touching a bridge there was an advertisement of a collection of similar letters by him to be shortly iv in a with considerable additions and unless i am very much mistaken the leading article was his also we talked much of mr on many other evenings while mr remained with us he lived with us during the whole term of his stay which i think was something less than a month and his sister and my aunt came to london to see him and i parted from him when he sailed and we shall never part from him more on earth but before he left he went with me to to see a little i had put lip in the churchyard to the memory of david per field while i was the plain inscription for him at his request i saw him stoop and gather a of grass from the grave and a little earth for em ly he said as he put it in his breast i promised r a last and now my written ends i look back once more for the last time before i close leaves i see myself with at my side along the road of life i see our children and our friends around us and i hear the roar of many voices not to me a i travel along what faces are the most distinct to me in the fleeting crowd lo these all turning to me as i ask my thoughts the question here is my aunt in stronger spectacles an old woman of years and more but upright yet and a steady of six miles at a stretch in winter weather always with her comes my old nurse likewise in spectacles accustomed to do needle work at night very close to the lamp but never sitting down to it without a bit of wax candle a yard measure in a little house and a work box with a picture of st paul s upon the the cheeks arms of so hard and red in my childish days when i wondered why the birds didn t her in preference to apples are now and her eyes that used to their whole neighbourhood in her face are fainter though they glitter still but her rough forefinger which i once associated with a is just the same and when i see my least child catch at it as it from my aunt to her i think of our little at home when i could scarcely walk my aunt s old is set right now she is to a real living and the next in order says she spoils her th re is something in s pocket it is nothing david smaller book which is in rather a i l condition by this time with divers of the leaves torn and across but which to the children as a precious i find it very curious to see my own infant face looking up at me from the stories and to be reminded by it of old acquaintance of among my boys this summer holiday time i see an old man making giant and gazing at them in the air with a delight for which there are no words he me and s with many and you will be glad to hear that i shall finish the memorial when i have nothing else to do and that your aunt s the most extraordinary woman in tiie world sir who is this bent lady supporting herself by a stick and showing me a countenance in which there are some traces of old pride and beauty feebly with a wandering of the mind she is in a garden and near her stands a sharp dark withered woman with a white on her lip let me hear what they say i have forgotten this gentleman s name over and calls to her mr i am glad to see you sir i am sorry to observe you are in mourning i hope time will be good to you her impatient attendant her tells her i am not in mourning bids
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her look again tries to rouse her you have seen mv son sir says the elder lady are you reconciled looking at me she puts her hand to her forehead and suddenly she cries in a terrible voice come to me lie is dead kneeling at her feet by turns caresses her and quarrels with her now fiercely telling her i loved him better than you ever did now soothing her to sleep on her breast like a sick child thus i leave them thus i always find them thus they wear their time away from year to year what ship comes sailing home from india and what english lady is this married to a growling old scotch with great of ears can this l e mills indeed it is mills and fine with a black man co david to carry cards and letters in a golden and a copper coloured woman in linen with a bright handkerchief round her head to serve her in her dressing room but keeps no in these days never sings affection s quarrels with the old scotch who is a sort of yellow bear with a hide is in money to the throat and talks and thinks of nothing else i liked her better in the desert of or perhaps this is the desert of for though has a stately house and mighty company and dinners every day i see no green growth near her nothing that can ever come to fruit or flower what calls society i see among it mr jack from his patent place at the hand that gave it to him and speaking to me of the doctor as so antique but when society is the name of such hollow gentlemen and ladies and when its breeding is professed indifference to everything that can advance or can mankind i think we must have lost ourselves in the same desert of and had better find the way out and lo the doctor always our friend laboring at his dictionary somewhere about the letter d and happy in his home and wife also the old soldier on a considerably reduced footing and by no means so influential as in the days of working at his chambers in the temple with a busy aspect and his head where he is not bald made more rebellious than ever by the constant of his lawyer s wig i come in a later time upon my dear old his table is covered with thick piles of papers and i say as i look around me if were your clerk now she would have enough to do you may say that my dear but those were capital days too in court were they not when she told you you would be a judge but it was not the town talk then at all events says if i ever am one why you well know you will be well my dear when i am one i shall tell the as i said i would david copper field we walk away arm in arm i am going to have a family dinner with it is s birthday and on our road to me of the good fortune he has enjoyed i really have been able my dear to do all that i had most at heart there s the reverend promoted to that at four hundred and fifty pounds a year there are our tv o boys receiving the very best education and themselves as steady scholars and good fellows there are three of the girls married very comfortably there are three more keeping house the reverend since mrs s and all of them happy except i suggest except the beauty says yes it was very that she should marry such a vagabond but there was a certain and glare about him that caught her however now we have got her safe at our house and got nd of him we must cheer her up again s house is one of the very houses or it easily may have been which he and used to parcel out in their evening walks it is a large house but keeps his papers in his dressing room and his boots with his papers and he and squeeze themselves into upper rooms the best bed rooms w the beauty and the girls the s no room to spare in the house for more of the girls are here and always are here by some accident or other than i know how to count here when we go in is a crowd of them running down to the door and handing about to be kissed until he is out of breath here in is the poor beauty a widow with a little girl here at dinner on hy s birth day are the three married girls with their three husbands and one of the husband s rs and another husband s cousin and another husband s sister who appears to me to be engaged to the cousin exactly the same simple unaffected fellow as he ever was sits at the foot of the large table like a and beams upon him from the head a cheerful space that is not glittering with and now as i close mv task my desire to linger yet david these faces fade away but one face shining on me like a heavenly li ht by which i see all other objects is above them and beyond them all and that remains i turn my head and see it in its beautiful serenity beside me my lamp burns low and i have written far into the night but tho dear presence without which i were nothing bears me company o o my soul so may thy face be by me when i close my life indeed so may i when realities are melting from me like the shadows which i now dismiss
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still find thee near me pointing upwards the end for everybody at greatly reduced published and for sale by t b no chestnut street a in this catalogue will be found the latest and best works by the most popular and celebrated writers in the world among which will be found charles s mrs lee s sir e l s g p r james s s captain s mrs grey s t s charles w s d s s samuel s ben s george s c j s humorous american works henry cock ton s sue s george sands bell s and all the other best authors in the world the best way is to look through the catalogue and see what books are in it you will all be amply repaid for your trouble special notice to everybody any person whatever in this country wishing any of the works in this catalogue on the price of the ones they wish in a letter directed to t b no chestnut street philadelphia shall have them sent by return of mail to any place in the united states free of this is a splendid offer as any one can get books to the most remote place in the country for the regular price sold in the large cities free of on sending for them jf ft all orders received and filled with despatch and sent by return of mail or express or stage or in any other way the person ordering may direct news agents and all others supplied with any works published in the world at the lowest any book published or advertised by any one can be had here agents news agents ac throughout the country who wish to make money on a small capital would do well to address the who will furnish a complete for a comparatively small amount send by all means for whatever books you may wish to the and establishment of t b no chestnut street philadelphia t b no chestnut street philadelphia has just published and for sale of the works will be found to be the best and latest by the most popular and celebrated writers in tbe world every work published for sale here either at or all books in this catalogue will be sent to any one to per mail free of on receipt of the price mrs s celebrated works with a beautiful illustration in each volume india the pearl of pearl river by mrs d e n this is her new work and is equal to any of her previous ones complete in two large volumes paper cover price one dollar or bound in one volume cloth for the bride or the by mrs d e n complete in two volumes paper cover price one dollar or bound in one volume cloth for the lost by mrs d e n being a splendid picture of american life it is a work of powerful interest it is with a beautiful portrait and of the author complete in two paper cover price one dollar or bound in one volume cloth for one dollar and twenty five cents the wife s victory and nine other by mrs d e n complete in two volumes paper cover price one dollar or bound in one volume cloth for the curse op by mrs d e n complete in two volumes paper cover price one dollar or bound in one volume cloth gilt for one dollar and twenty five cents the discarded daughter by mrs d e n south worth complete in two volumes paper cover price one dollar or bound in cloth gilt for one dollar and twenty five cents the deserted wife by mrs d e n complete in two volumes paper cover price one dollar or bound in one volume cloth gilt for one dollar and twenty five cents the a love story of modern life by a daughter of the celebrated lord formerly lord high of england this is a celebrated and world renowned work it is one of the best works ever published in the english language and will be read for generations to come and rank by the side of sir walter scott s celebrated novels complete in two volumes paper cover price one dollar or bound in one volume cloth gilt for one dollar and twenty five cents a copy t b s list of charles works the best and most popular in the world ten different no library can be complete without a of these works from the author s last s is the only complete and uniform edition of charles works published in america they are from the original london and are now th only edition published in this country no library either public or private can be complete without having in it a complete of the works of this the greatest of all living authors every family should possess a of one of the the cheap edition is complete in twelve volumes paper cover either or all of which can be had separately price fifty cents each the following are names david new con the seven travellers papers nine new stories by the christmas and son fire hard times martin the s daughters etc christmas stories contain old curiosity shop a christmas the sketches by on the hearth twist battle of life haunted man an bleak house pictures from italy a complete of the above edition twelve volumes in all will be sent to any one to any place free of for five dollars a m complete library edition in five large volumes with a portrait on steel of charles containing over four thousand very large pages handsomely printed and bound in various volume contains papers and curiosity shop do twist sketches by and do and martin do david and son christmas stories and pictures from italy do bleak house and new stories containing the seven
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poor travellers nine new stories by the christmas fire hard times the s daughters and fortune etc price of a complete bound in black cloth full gilt back scarlet cloth extra library sheep half turkey half calf antique edition it on next page t b s list of illustrated edition of works this edition is printed on very thick and line white paper and is illustrated with the original illustrations by alfred etc from the original london edition on copper steel and wood each contains a novel complete and may be bad in complete beautifully bound in cloth for eighteen dollars for the in twelve volumes or any volume will be sold separately as bleak house price papers old curiosity shop twist sketches by martin david and son christmas stories new stories price of a complete of the illustrated edition in twelve in black cloth gilt back g price of a complete of the illustrated edition in twelve in full law library sheep price of a complete of the illustrated edition in twelve in half turkey price of a complete of the illustrated edition in twelve in half calf antique all subsequent works hy charles will be issued in uniform style with all the previous ten different captain s works either of which can be had separately price of all except the four last is cents each they are printed on the finest white paper and each forms one large volume complete in itself peter simple naval officer jacob faithful and three the phantom ship or the dog easy price king s own poor jack price cents sea king pages price in search of cents a father his last novel price of many tales cents s novels either of which can be had separately price cents each they are printed on the finest white paper and each forms one large complete in itself neatly bound in a strong paper cover the orphan niece the prince and the poor cousin merchant s daughter the fright the quiet husband who shall be heir the squire the secret foe the expectant the t b s list of mrs lee s works courtship and or the joys and sorrows of american life with a portrait of the author complete in e volumes paper cover price one dollar or bound in one volume cloth gilt the s northern bride with illustrations complete in two large volumes paper cover pages price one dollar or bound in one volume cloth gilt or the young pilot of the complete in two volumes paper cover price cents or bound in one volume cloth gilt one dollar robert the to and of be ing the last book but one that mrs wrote prior to her death complete in two large volumes paper cover price cents or bound in one volume cloth gilt one dollar or the snow bird a tale of real life complete in two volumes paper cover price cents or bound in one volume cloth gilt one dollar or the long moss spring a tale of the south complete in two volumes paper cover price cents or bound in one volume cloth gilt one dollar love after marriage and other stories complete in two volumes paper cover price cents or bound in one volume cloth gilt one dollar or complete in two volumes paper cover price cents or bound in one volume cloth gilt one dollar the banished son and other stories complete in two volumes paper cover price cents or bound in one volume cloth gilt and arthur complete in two volumes paper cover cents or bound in one volume cloth gilt one dollar aunt s scrap bag together with large additions to it written by mrs prior to her death and never before published in any other edition of this or any other work than this complete in two volumes paper cover price cents or bound in one volume cloth gilt one dollar t s arthur s works either of which can be had separately price cents each they are the most moral popular and entertaining in the world there are no better books to place in the hands of the young all will profit by them year after marriage trial and triumph the wife the orphan children the banker s wife the s daughter pride and prudence mary or the possessed love in a cottage the two love in high life the iron rule the two merchants the old lady at home the t b s list of charles s novels charles o the irish by charles complete in one large volume of pages price fifty cents or an edition on finer paper bound in cloth illustrated price one dollar the knight op a tale of the time of the union by charles complete in one fine volume price fifty cents or an edition on finer paper bound in cloth illustrated price one dollar jack the by charles complete in one large volume of pages price fifty cents j or an edition on finer paper bound in cloth illustrated price one dollar tom of ours by charles complete in one large volume of pages price fifty cents or an edition on finer paper bound in cloth illustrated price one dollar arthur o by charles complete in one large volume price fifty cents or an edition on finer paper bound in cloth illustrated price one dollar o a tale of ireland by charles complete in one large volume price fifty cents or an edition on finer paper bound in cloth illustrated price one dollar by charles this is s new book complete in one large volume price fifty cents or an edition on finer paper bound in cloth illustrated price one dollar harry by charles author of the above seven works complete in one volume of pages price fifty cents or an edition on finer paper bound in cloth illustrated price one dollar life and adventures of the by henry one of the most
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later or the taking of the by being the of the a or the secret history of the court of louis the sixteenth and of a physician complete in one large volume price seventy five cents de or the fall of the french mon by this work is the final conclusion of the of a physician the queen s and six y ears later or taking of the all persons who have not read in this his greatest and most instructive production should begin at once and no pleasure will be found so agreeable and nothing in novel form so useful and absorbing complete in two volumes beautifully illustrated price one dollar of the lady of or in the sixteenth century by an historical romance complete in two large volumes of pages with numerous price one dollar of or the of france for the reign charles the sixth complete in one fine of printed on the finest white paper price fifty cents being the to celebrated novel of the count of with elegant illustrations complete in one large volume of over pages price fifty cents the brothers this work has already been and is now in all the theatres of europe and in this country and it is exciting an extraordinary interest price fi e t b s list of public works sketches in france by it is as good a book as s sketches in ireland never wrote a better book it is the most delightful book of the season fifty cents or the of the by an historical romance of the french revolution complete in one large volume of over pages with numerous price fifty cents george s works washington and his or legends of the american revolution complete in two large volumes of pages printed on the finest white paper price one dollar the city or the of hall a romance of philadelphia life mystery and crime illustrated with numerous complete in two large volumes of pages price one dollar the of or the poison a romance of the dark ages s last work and never before published complete in one large volume price seventy five cents paul the of a romance of the revolution illustrated with numerous complete in two large volumes of nearly pages price one dollar of brand or september the a romance of the poetry legends and history of the battle of it makes a large volume of pages printed on the finest white paper price seventy five cents legends of or battles of general late president of the united states complete in one volume of pages price twenty five cents the or the last of the a revelation of philadelphia new york and washington in the year complete in one volume price fifty cents b novels grey by b d m p complete in one large volume of pages price fifty cents the young duke or the younger days of george thb fourth by b d m p one volume price thirty eight cents or lord and his daughter by b d m p complete in one large volume price fifty cents b temple a love story by b d m p com in one large volume price fifty cents an by b d m p one volume price thirty eight cents a romance of the twelfth century by b d m p one volume price thirty eight cents t b s list of u s works this is a powerfully written romance the characters are boldly drawn the plot striking the incidents with thrilling interest and the language and descriptions and as are all of mr s works price cents in paper cover or one dollar in cloth gilt or adventures in the far south west complete in one volume price cents in paper cover or cents in cloth gilt the will complete in one large volume of over pages paper cover price cents or bound in cloth gilt price or in the wilderness price cents in paper cover or cents in cloth gilt bride of the wilderness complete in one large volume price cents in paper cover or cents in cloth gilt the s daughter and the unknown by price cents of and a tale of evidence by price cents or the adventures of an orphan complete in one large volume price cents in paper cover or ia cloth gilt miss s new cook book miss s new for cooking new and approved methods of preparing all kinds of fish vegetables poultry game sweet cakes i rice indian meal preparations of all kinds domestic work needle work letters additional etc also list of articles suited to go together for dinners and and much useful information and many miscellaneous subjects connected with general house it is an printed volume of pages and in it there will be found one and eleven new all useful some and all invaluable to every lady miss or family in the world this work has bad a very extensive sale and many thousand copies have been sold and the demand is increasing yearly being the most complete work of the kind published in the world and also the latest and best as in addition to its for making and are by any other work new edition enlarged and improved and handsomely bound price one dollar a copy only this is the only new cook book by miss george sands works first and true love a true love story by george sand author of etc it is one of the most charming and interesting works ever published illustrated price cents by george sand author of first and true love etc a very and interesting work price cents the a tale price cents t b s list of humorous american works with original illustrations by and others and beautifully illuminated covers we have just published new and beautiful of the following humorous american works they are published in the best possible style full of original
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i the parish engine the chapter ii the the old lady the half pat captain chapter iii the four sisters chapter iv election for chapter v the s man chapter vi the ladies chapter vii our next door neighbour scenes chapter i pack the morning chapter ii the streets ni ht chapter iii shops and their tenants chapter iv scotland yard chapter v seven chapter vi meditations in street chapter vii coach stands chapter chapter ix te ts xi chapter x chapter xl s chapter xii chapter xiii theatres chapter xiv by chapter xv early chapter xvi chapter xvii the last cab driver and the first chapter xviii a sketch chapter xix dinners contents chapter xx the of mat chapter xxi and marine t shops chapter xxii ill chapter the s shop chapter xxiv criminal courts chapter xxv a visit to characters chapter i thoughts about people chapter ii a christmas dinner chapter iii the new tear chapter iv mob and the eagle contents chapter v parlour orator chapter vi the hospital chapter vii the mr john chapter viii the mistaken a tale of ambition chapter ix the dancing academy chapter x people chapter xi making a night of it chapter xii the van tales chapter i boarding house chapter ii mr and hj cousin chapter nt chapter iv tu s at ram ate chapter v chapter vi the black veil chapter vii thb excursion chapter the great chapter ix joseph porter chapter x a in the life mr chapter xi m chapter xii the s death sketches sketches by our parish chapter i the the parish engine the ch how is conveyed in those two short the parish and with how many tales of distress and misery of broken fortune and ruined hopes too often of wretchedness and successful are they i a poor man with small and a large family just to live on from to mouth and to procure food from day to day he has barely sufficient to satisfy the present of nature and can take no heed of tlie future his taxes are in quarter day passes by another ter day arrives he can procure no more quarter for himself and is summoned by the parish his goods are his children are crying with cold and hunger and the very bed on which his sick wife is lying is dragged from beneath her what can he do to whom is he to u for relief to private charity t to benevolent individuals t certainly not there his parish there are the parish the parish the parish surgeon the parish officers the parish excellent institutions and gentle kind hearted men the woman dies she is buried by the the children have no protector no they are taken care of by the parish the man first and afterwards cannot obtain work he is relieved by the parish and when distress and have done their work upon him he is maintained a harmless idiot in the parish asylum the parish is one of the most perhaps the most member of the local administration he is not so well off as the certainly nor is he so learned as the clerk nor does he order things quite much his own way as either of them but his power is very great notwithstanding and the dignity of his office is never by the absence of efforts on his part to maintain it the of our parish is a splendid fellow it is quite delightful to hear him as he explains the state of the existing poor laws to the deaf in the board room passage on business nights and to hear what he said to the senior and what the senior said to him and what we the and the other gentlemen came to the determination of doing a woman is called v room and k a b sketches by herself a widow with small children where do you one of the i rents a two pair back gentlemen at mrs brown s number little king which has lived there this fifteen year and knows me to be very hard working and industrious and when my poor husband was alive gentlemen as died in the hospital well weu the taking a note of the address i ll send the tomorrow morning to ascertain whether your story is correct and if so i suppose you must have an order into the house go to this woman s the first thing to morrow morning will you bows assent and the woman out her previous admiration of the board who all sit behind great books and with on into nothing before her respect for her lace trimmed conductor and her account of what has passed in de if that be possible the marks of respect shown by the assembled crowd to that solemn as to taking out a summons it s quite a hopeless case if it on behalf of the parish he knows all the titles of the lord may r by heart states the case without a and it is even reported that on one occasion he to make a joke which the lord mayor s head footman who happened to be present afterwards told an intimate friend was almost equal to of mr s see him again on in his state coat and cocked hat with a staff for show in his left hand and a small cane for use in ins right how he the children into their places and how the httle look at him as he them when they are all seated with a are of the eye peculiar to i the and being duly in their he seats him self on a mahogany erected for him
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at the top of the bis between his prayer book and the boys suddenly just at the commencement of the communion service when the whole congregation is hushed into a profound silence broken only by the voice of the clergyman a penny is heard to ring on the stone floor of the aisle with clearness observe the of the his involuntary look of horror is instantly changed into one of perfect as if he were the only person present who had not heard the noise the after putting forth his right leg now and then as a the victim who dropped the money to make one or two distinct after it and the softly round his httle round head when it appears above the seat with divers double administered with the cane before noticed to the intense delight of three yoimg men in an adjacent who cough violently at intervals until the the such are a few traits of the and gravity of a a gravity which has never been disturbed in any case that has ome under our observation when the vices of that particularly useful machine parish fire engine then indeed all is bustle two uttle boys run to the as fast as their legs will carry them and report from their own personal observation that some neighbouring chimney is on fire the engine is hastily got out and a supply of boys being obtained and to it with ropes away they rattle over the pavement the we do not at the side until they arrive at some house smelling strongly of at the door of the with considerable gravity for half an hour no attention being paid to these manual and the having turned on the water the engine turns off amidst the shouts of the boys it up once more at the and the up the unfortunate next i day for the amount of his the we a engine at a regular fire bat once it cane up in gallant three miles and a half an at least there of water and it the spot bang went the the people the but it was unfortunately just aa thej to put the fire out that nobody understood the by the engine was filled and eighteen and a man had exhausted them in for twenty minutes without the slightest the next in to e are the master of the and the parish the clerk as knows is a little man in black with a thick gold watch of considerable length in two lai and a key he is an attorney and generally in a bustle at no time more so than when he is hurrying to some meeting with gloves up in one hand and a lai red book under the other as to the and ore s we them altogether all we know of them is that are usually respectable who wear hats with to and who testify gilt letters ob a blue in some part of the church to the fact of a gallery having been and or an organ the master of the is not in our parish nor is he usually in any other one of that class of men the part of whose existence has ed away and who drag out tiie m some inferior situation with just enough thought of the past to degraded by and discontented with the present we are unable to guess precisely to our own satisfaction what station the man can have occupied before we should think he had been an inferior sort of attorney s or else the master of a national school whatever he was it is clear his present position is a change for the better his income is certainly as ihe rusty black coat and velvet collar but then he lives free of house rent has a limited allowance of coals and candles and an almost unlimited allowance of in his petty kingdom he is a tall thin bony man always wears shoes and black cotton stockings with his and eyes you as you pass his parlour window as if he wished yon were a just to give you a specimen of his power he is an admirable specimen of a small tyrant and ill tempered to his to his and of the influence and of ti e our is just the very reverse of this amiable official he has been one of those men one occasionally hears of on whom misfortune seems to have set her mark nothing he ever did or was concerned in appears to have a rich old relation who had brought him up and openly announced his intention of providing for him left him in his will and the in a thus unexpectedly reduced to the necessity of providing for himself he procured a situation in a public office the young clerks below him died off as if ere were a plague among them but the old fellows over his head for the of whose places he was anxiously waiting lived on and on as if they were immortal he ted and lost he again and won but never got his money his talents were great his disposition easy generous and liberal his friends by the one and abused the other loss succeeded loss misfortune crowded on misfortune each successive day brought him nearer the ge of hopeless and tlie friends who had been warmest in their professions grew strangely and indifferent he had children whom he loved and a wife on whom he the former tamed their backs on him the latter died ii i went with ax t sketches by been his and he had not sufficient to bear up against so many he had never cared for himself and the only who had cared for him in his poverty and distress was spared to him no longer it was at this period that
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he applied for relief some kind hearted man who had known him in happier times chanced to be that year and through his interest he was appointed to his present situation he is an old man now of the who once crowded round him in all the hollow friendship of some have died some fallen like himself some have all have forgotten him time and have been permitted to his memory and use has him to his present condition meek and zealous in the of his duties he has been allowed to hold his situation long beyond the usual period and he mil no doubt continue to hold it until infirmity renders him incapable or death him as the grey headed old man feebly paces up and down tlie sunny side of the little court yard between school hours it would be difficult indeed for the most intimate of his former friends to recognise their once gay and happy associate in the person of the chapter ii the the old the pat captain we commenced our last chapter with the of our parish because we are deeply sensible of the importance and dignity of his office we will begin uie present with the clergyman our is a young gentleman of such appearance and fascinating manners that within one month after his appearance in the half the young lady inhabitants were melancholy with religion and the other half with love never were so many young ladies seen in our parish church on sunday before and never had the little round angels faces on mr s monument iu the side aisle beheld such devotion on earth as ey all exhibited he was about five when he first came to astonish the he parted his hair on tlie e of his forehead in the form of a arch wore a brilliant of the first water on the fourth finger of his left hand which he always applied to his left cheek when he read prayers and had a deep voice of unusual innumerable were the calls made by prudent on our new and innumerable tho invitations with which he was assailed and which to do him justice he readily accepted if his manner in the pulpit had created an impression in his favour the sensation was increased by his appearance in private circles in the vicinity of tlie pulpit or rose in value in the centre aisle were at a an inch of room in the front row of the gallery could not be procured for love or money and some people even went so far as to assert that tlie three miss who had an obscure family just behind the were detected one sunday in tlie free seats by the communion table actually lying in wait for the as he passed to the he began to preach sermons and even grave caught the he got out of bed at half past twelve o clock one v inter s to half a the s child in a and the gratitude of the knew no the very grew and on the ring the expense of the watch box on wheels which the new had ordered for himself to perform the in in wet weather he sent three of and a quarter of a pound of tea to a poor woman who had been brought to bed of four children all at once the parish were charmed he got up a for her the woman s fortune was made he spoke for one hour and twenty minutes at an anti slavery meeting at the and boots the enthusiasm was at its height a proposal was set on foot for presenting the with a piece of plate as a mark of esteem for his valuable services rendered to the parish the list of was filled up in no time the contest was not who should escape the contribution but who should be the foremost to a splendid silver was made and engraved with an appropriate inscription the was invited to a public at the before mentioned and boots the was presented in a neat speech by mr the ex and acknowledged by the in terms which drew tears into tiie eyes of all present the very were melted one would have supposed that by this tim the theme of universal admiration was lifted to the very of popularity no such thing the began to cough four fits of one morning between the and the and five in the afternoon service here was a discovery the was how melancholy if the young ladies were energetic before their sympathy and solicitude now knew no bounds such a man as the such a dear such a perfect to be it was too much presents of black jam and elastic bosom friends and stockings poured in upon the until he was as completely fitted out with winter clothing as if he were on the verge of an expedition to the north pole verbal of tiie state of his health were throughout the parish half a times a day and the was in the very of his popularity about this period a change came over the spirit of the parish a very quiet respectable old who had in our chapel of ease for twelve years died one fine morning without having given any whatever of his intention this circumstance gave rise to counter sensation the first and the arrival of his successor occasioned counter sensation the second he was a pale thin man with large black eyes and long straggling black hair his dress was in the extreme his manner his doctrines startling in short he was in every respect the of the crowds of our female to hear him at first because he was o odd looking then because his face was expressive then because he preached so well and at last because they really thought that after all there was
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something about him which it was quite impossible to describe as to the was all very well but certainly after au there was no denying in short the wasn t a novelty and the other clergyman was the of opinion is the congregation one by one the till he was black in the face it was in vain he with it was equally ineffectual in awakening seats are once again to he had in any part of our church and the chapel is going to be enlarged as it is crowded to every sunday the best known and most among our is an old lady who resided in our parish long before our name was in the i t our b x l sa k a sketches y one and the old lady lives in a seat row of houses in the mo t airy and pleasant port of it the house is her own and it and everything about it except uie old lady herself who looks a little older than did ten years ago is in just the same state as when the old gentleman was living the little front parlour which is the old lady s ordinary sitting room is a perfect of quiet neatness the carpet is covered with brown holland he picture frame are carefully enveloped in yellow muslin the are never taken off except when the leaves are t and an operation which is regularly commenced every other at half past nine o clock and the little are always arranged in precisely the same manner the greater part of these are presents from little whose parents live in the same row but of them such as the two old watches which never keep the same time one being always a of an hour too slow and the other a quarter of an hour too the little picture of the princess and prince as they in the royal box at lane theatre and others of the same class have been in the old lady s possession for many years here the old lady sits with her i on busily engaged in near the window in time and if she sees you coming up the steps and you happen to be a favourite she out to open the street door for you before you knock and as you must ba fatigued alter that hot walk on your two glasses of before you exert yourself by talking if you call in the evening you will find her but rather more serious than usual with an open bible on the table before her of which who is and as her regularly two or chapters the parlour aloud the old lady sees except the little before of whom has regular fixed day for a with her to which the child looks forward as the greatest te at of its existence she seldom visits at a greater distance than the next door but one on either side and when she tea here runs ont and a double knock to pre vent the possibility of her s catching cold by having to wait at the door she is very scrupulous in these invitations and when she asks mr and mrs so and to meet mr and mrs somebody and dust the urn and the best china tea service and the pope board and the are received in the drawing room in great state she has but few relations and they are scattered about in different parts of the country and she seldom sees them has a son in india whom she always describes to you sa a fine handsome fellow so like the of his poor dear over the but the old lady adds with shake of the head that he has always been one of her greatest trials and that indeed he once l her heart but it pleased ood to enable her to get the better of it and she would prefer never the subject to ner again she has a great number of and on saturday after she comes firom market there is a regular of old men and women in we passage for their weekly her name always heads the of any benevolent and hen are always the most to the winter coal and soup distribution sod y she twenty pounds towards the of an organ in our parish church and was so overcome the first sunday the children sang to it that she was obliged to be carried out by the her into church sunday is always the signal for a little bustle in the side by a ns among the poor people v o bow and until the has the old lady r seat dropped a re the tain and shut the door and the same ceremony is repeated on her leaving church when she walks home with the family next door but one and talks about the sermon ail the way opening the conversation by asking the youngest boy where the text was h the annual of a trip to some quiet place on the passes the old lady s hfe it has rolled on in the same and benevolent coarse for many years now and must at no distant period be to its final close she looks forward to its termination with calm and without apprehension she has everything to hope to a very personage but one who has rendered himself very in our parish is one of the old lady next door neighbours he is an old naval officer on half pay and bis bluff and behaviour the old lady s domestic economy not a little in the first place he will smoke cigars in the front court and when he wants to drink with them which is by no means an ci r he up the old lady with his walking stick and demands to have a glass of table ale
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handed over the rails in addition to this cool proceeding he is a bit of a jack of all trades or to use his own words a regular robinson and nothing delights him better than to on the old lady s property one morning he got up early and planted three or four roots of fuu in every bed of her garden to the inconceivable astonishment of the old who actually thought when she got up and looked out df ttie window that it was some had come out in the night another time he took to pieces the eight on the front landing under pretence of the works which he put tc again by some process in so wonderful a manner tliat the large hand has done nothing but trip up the little one since then he took to breeding silk worms which he bring in two or three times a day in little paper boxes to show the old lady generally dropping a worm or two at every visit the consequence was that one morning a very stout was discovered in the act of walking up probably with the view of inquiring after his friends for on f inspection it appeared that some of his companions had already found their wi to every room in the house the old lady went to the in despair and during her absence he completely the name from her brass door plate in his attempts to polish it with but this is nothing to his conduct in public life he every meeting that is held always the constituted authorities of the parish the df the legal points against the make the tax call for his money till he won t call any and then he sends it finds fault with the sermon every sunday says that the ought to be ashamed of himself offers to back himself for any amount to the better than all the put together male and female and in short himself in the most turbulent and manner the worst of it is that having a high regard for the old lady he wants to make her a convert to his views and therefore walks into her parlour with his newspaper in his hand and talks violent politics by the hour he is a charitable open hearted old fellow at bottom after all so although he puts the old lady a out occasionally they agree very well in the main and she laughs as much at each feat of his when it is all as anybody else sketches by chapter iii thb thb row of in hich the old lady and her troublesome neighbour reside beyond all doubt a greater number of characters within its limits than all the rest of the parish put together as we cannot with our present plan however extend the number of our sketches beyond six it will be better perhaps to select the most peculiar and to introduce them at once without further preface the four miss then settled in our thirteen years it is a melancholy reflection that the old time and tide wait for no man applies equal force to the fairer portion of the creation and willingly would we conceal the fact that even thirteen years ago the miss were far from our duty as faithful however is to every other consideration and we are bound to state that thirteen years since the authorities in matrimonial cases considered the youngest miss in a precarious state while the eldest sister was positively given over as being far beyond all human hope well the miss took a lease of the house it was fresh painted and from top to bottom the paint inside was all the mai ble cleaned the old gi taken down and register you could see to dress by put up four trees were planted in the back garden several small baskets of gravel sprinkled over the front one of elegant furniture arrived spring blinds were fitted to tlie windows who had been employed in tlie various preparations alterations and made con statements to the different maid servants in the row relative to the magnificent scale on which the were the mud servants told their the told their friends and vague were throughout the parish that no in had been taken by four maiden of immense property at last the miss moved in and then the calling began the house was the perfection of neatness so were the four miss every thing was formal stiff and cold so were the four miss not a single chair of the whole set was ever seen out of its place not a single miss of the whole four was ever seen out of hers there they always sat in the same places doing precisely the same things at the same hour the eldest miss used to knit the second to draw the two others to play on the piano they seemed to have no separate existence but to have made up their minds just to winter through life together they were three long in with the addition like a school dinner of another long grace afterwards the three with another sister the multiplied by two the eldest miss grew the four miss grew the eldest miss grew ill tempered and religious the four miss were ill tempered and religious directly the eldest did the others did and whatever any body else did they all of and thus they living iu harmony among themselves and as they sometimes went out or saw company in a quiet way at home occasionally the neighbours three years passed over in this way when an for and extraordinary phenomenon occurred the miss showed symptoms of summer the frost gradually broke up a complete took place was the four sisters it f one of the four was going to be married i now where on earth the husband came from
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by what feelings the poor man have been or by what process of reasoning the four bliss succeeded in persuading tiiat it was possible for a man to marry one of them without marrying them all are questions too profound for us to resolve certain it is however that the visits of mr robinson a gentleman in a public office with a good salary and a little property of his own beside were received that the four miss were in due form by the said mr robinson that the neighbours were perfectly frantic in their anxiety to discover which of the four miss was the fortunate fair and that the difficulty they experienced in the problem was not at all lessened by the announcement of the eldest miss we are going to marry mr robinson it was very extraordinary they were so completely identified the one with the other that the curiosity of the whole row even of the old lady herself was roused almost beyond endurance the subject was discussed at every little card table and the old gentleman of did not hesitate to express his decided opinion that mr robinson was of eastern descent and contemplated marrying the whole at once and the row generally shook their heads with considerable gravity and declared the business to be very mysterious they hoped it might all end well it certainly had a very singular appearance but still it would be to express any opinion without good grounds to go upon and certainly the were quite old enough to judge for themselves and to be sure people ought to know their own business best and so forth at last one fine ng at a quarter before eight o clock a m two drove up to the miss door at which mr robinson had arrived in a cab ten minutes before dressed in a light blue coat and double white and his manner as appeared from the evidence of the at no who was sweeping the door steps at the time a considerable degree of nervous excitement it was also hastily reported on the same testimony that the cook who opened the door wore a large white bow of unusual dimensions in a much head dress than the cap to which the miss invariably the somewhat taste of female servants in general the intelligence spread rapidly from house to house it was quite clear that the morning had at length arrived the whole row stationed themselves behind their first and second floor blinds and waited the result in breathless expectation at last the miss door opened the door of the first did the same two gentlemen and a pair of ladies to correspond friends of the family no doubt up went the steps bang went the door off went the first glass coach and up came the second the street door opened again the excitement of the whole row increased mr robinson and the eldest miss i so said the lady at no i always said it was miss weu i never ejaculated the young lady at no to the young lady at no did you ever dear responded the young lady at no to the young lady at no it s too ridiculous exclaimed a of an uncertain age at no joining in the conversation but who shall the astonishment of place when mr robinson handed in all the miss one after the other and then squeezed himself into an acute angle of the glass coach which forthwith proceeded at a brisk pace after the other which other glass coach had itself proceeded at a brisk pace in the direction of the i sketches by shall the perplexity of e clergyman when all the miss knelt down at the table and the to the in an audible or who shall describe the confusion which prevailed when after the difficulties thus occasioned had been a the miss went at the of the ceremony until the sacred ce with their united as the four sisters and mr robinson continued to occupy the same house after ik a memorable occasion and as the married sister she was never appeared in public without the other we are not quite clear that the neighbours would haye the real mrs robinson but for a circumstance of the most gratifying description which ui ha pen occasionally in the best regulated three quarter days elapsed and the row on whom a new light appeared to haye been bursting for some time began to with a sort of implied confidence on the subject and to wonder how mrs robinson the youngest miss that was got on and servants might be seen running up the steps about nine or ten o clock every morning with s compliments and wi es to know how mrs robinson finds herself this morning and the answer always was mrs robinson compliments and she s in very good spirits and doesn t find herself any worse the piano was heard no longer the were laid aside drawing was neglected and making and on the smallest scale imaginable appeared to have become the favourite amusement of the whole family the parlour wasn t quite as tidy as it used to be and if yon called in the morning you would see lying on a table with an old newspaper thrown over them two or three particularly small caps father larger than if they had been made for a moderate sized doll with a small piece of lace in the shape of a let in behind or perhaps a white robe not very large in but very much out of proportion in point of length with a little round the top and a round the bottom and once when we called we saw a long white with a kind of blue margin down each side the probable use of which we were
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conveyed to the board one evening that had died and left his respects the breath was scarcely out of the body of the deceased when the field was filled with for the vacant office each of whom rested to public support entirely on tbe and extent oi his family as if the office of were originally as an encouragement for the of the human species for five small children i for seven small children for nine small children such were the in large black letters on a white ground which were on the walls and posted in the windows of the principal shops s success was considered certain several mothers of families half promised their and the nine children would have run over the course but for the production of another announcing the appearance of a still e candidate for ten small children two of them and a wife mi there was no resisting this ten small children would have been almost irresistible in themselves without the but tlie touching about that interesting production of nature and the still more touching allusion to mrs must success was the favourite at once and the appearance of his lady as she went about to which encouraged confident hopes of a still further addition to the house of at no remote period increased the general in his favour the other alone resigned in despair the day of election was fixed and the proceeded with and perseverance on both sides the members of the could not bo supposed to escape the excitement inseparable from the occasion the majority of tlie lady inhabitants of the parish declared at once for mid the took the same side on the ground that men with large families always had been elected to the office and that although he must admit that in other respects was the least candidate of the two still it was an old practice and he saw no reason why an old practice the election for be departed from this was enough for the he immediately sided with for him personally in ul directions wrote on and got his to them np on joints in his shop front frightened his neighbour the old lady into a of the heart by awful of s party and in and out and up and down and backwards and forwards until all the sober inhabitants of the parish thought it that he must die of a brain fever long before the election began the day of election it was no longer an individual struggle but a party contest between the ins and hie question was whether the influence of tlie the of the and the of the should be allowed to render the election of a form a whether they should impose a on the parish to do their bidding and their views or whether the asserting their rights should elect an independent of their own the was fixed to take place in the but so great was the throng of anxious spectators that it was found necessary to to the church where the ceremony commenced with due solemnity the appearance of the and and the ex and ex with in the rear excited general attention was a little thin man in rusty black with a long pale face and a countenance expressive of care and fatigue which might either be attributed to the extent of his family or the anxiety of his feelings his opponent appeared in a cast off coat of the cap s a blue coat with bright buttons white trousers and that description of shoes familiarly known by the of high there was a serenity in the open countenance of a kind of mom dignity in his confident an i w yon may get it sort of expression in his eye which animation into his and evidently his the ex rose to propose thomas for be le he had known hun long he had had his eye upon him closely for years he had watched him with vigilance for months a here suggested that this might be termed taking a double the observation was drowned in loud cries of order i he would repeat that he had had his eye upon him for years and this he would say that a more well conducted a more well behaved a more sober a more quiet man with a more well regulated mind he had never met with a man with a larger family he had never known cheers the parish required a man who could be depended on hear i from the side answered by cheers from the party such a man he now proposed no yes he would not allude to individuals the continued in the negative style adopted by great he would not to a who had once held a high i in the service of his majesty he would not say that that gentleman was no he would not assert that that man was no man he would not say that he was a turbulent he would not say that be had himself not only on this but on all former occasions he would not say that he was one of those discontented and spirits who carried confusion and disorder wherever they went he would not say tiiat he in his heart envy and hatred and malice and all no i he wished to have everything comfortable and pleasant and therefore he would say nothing about him cheers the captain replied in a similar style he would he was a sketches by they had just heard he would not say he was disgusted he would not retort the which had heen hurled against him renewed cheering he would not allude to men once in office but now happily out of it who had the ground the the beer slack baked the bread the meat heightened the work and lowered the tremendous cheers
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he would not ask what such men deserved a nothing a y and find he would not say thai one burst of general indignation should them from the parish they with their give it him i he would not allude to the unfortunate man who had been proposed he would not say as the s tool bnt as he would not to that individual s family he would not that nine children and a wife were very bad examples for imitation loud cheers he not in detail to the of the man stood before him and he would not say in his what he might be posed to say of him if he were absent here mr to a friend near him under cover of his hat by his left eye and applying his right to the tip of his nose it had been objected to that he had only five children hear hear from the well he had yet to learn that the had any precise amount of to the office of but taking it for granted that an family were a great requisite he entreated them to look to and compare about which there could be no mistake was years of age of whom he wished to with all possible respect was was it not more than was it not very probable that by the time attained the latter age he might see around him a family even exceeding in number and extent that w u ch at present laid claim cheers and ol handkerchiefs the captain concluded amidst loud applause by calling upon the to the rush to the free them selves from or be slaves for ever on the following day the began and we never have had such a in our parish since we got up our famous anti slavery petition which waa such an important one that the house of ordered it to be printed on the motion of the member for the district the captain engaged two and a cab for people the cab for the drunken and the two for the old ladies the greater portion of whom owing to the captain s were driven up to the and home a ain before they recovered from their sufficiently to know with any degree of what they had been doing the site party wholly neglected these precautions and the consequence was that a great many ladies who were walking leisurely up to the for it was a very hot day to vote for were into the and for the captain s arguments too had produced considerable effect the attempted influence of the produced a greater a threat of dealing was clearly established against the clerk a case of and it appeared that the had been in the habit of six of from an old woman i rents a small house in the parish and among the original on her last weekly visit a message waa conveyed to her through the medium of the cook in terms but indicating with sufficient that the clerk s appetite for in future depended entirely on her vote on the this waa sufficient the stream had been turning previously and the impulse thus directed its final course the party ordered one s man worth of for tbe remainder of the old s natural life the were loud m their exclamations and the of sealed it was in vain that the were exhibited in dresses of the same pattern and night to at the the boy in right arm and the girl in her left even mrs herself failed to be an object of sympathy any longer the majority attained by on the gross was four hundred and twenty eight and the cause of the v the s man thb excitement of the late has and our parish being once again restored to a state of tranquillity we are to to those who take little in our party or in the and e of public life and we feel sincere pleasure in that in collecting for task we hate been greatly assisted by mc himself who has im posed on us a debt of obligation which w we can repay the life of this gentleman has been one of a tory description he has not from to gay for he never was not from to for severity no part of his disposition his have been be in extreme and poverty modified or to use his own language between nothing to eat and just he is not as he forcibly remarks one of those if they were to under one side of a would come np on the other with a new suit of on and a ticket for soup in e waistcoat pocket neither is he one of those whose spirit has been broken beyond by mis and want he is just one of the good for nothing happy fellows who float like on the for the world to play at with knocked here and there and everywhere now to the rights then to the left in the air and anon to the bottom but always re and bounding with the stream and merrily along some few be was upon to stand a tion for the office of necessity attached him to the of a and on the opportunities he here acquired of the condition of most of the poorer inhabitants of the parish his patron the captain first his claims to threw the man in our way a short time we were in the first instance attracted bv his impudence at the election we were not surprised on further acquaintance to find him a shrewd knowing fellow with no power of observation and after conversing with him a were somewhat struck as we dare say our readers have been in cases with the power some men seem to hare not only of with but to all appearance of understanding
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feelings to thej themselves are entire strangers we had been expressing to the new our surprise that he should ever have served in the capacity to which we have just when we gradually led him into one or two professional anecdotes as we are induced to think on reflection that they will tell better in nearly his sketches by attempted of oars we will at once them mb s it s very true as you say sir mr bang commenced that a man s is not a life to be envied and in coarse you know as well as i do though you don t say it that people hate and em because they re the ministers of wretchedness like to poor people but what could i do sir the thing was no worse because i did it instead of somebody else and if putting me in possession of a would put me in possession of three and sixpence a day and a distress on another man s goods would relieve my distress and of my family it can t be expected but what i d take the job and go with it i never it god knows i always looked out for something else and the moment i got other work to do i left it if there is anything wrong in being the agent in such matters not the principal mind you i m sure the to a like i was at all events carries its own punishment along with it i wished again and again that the people would only blow me up or pitch into me that i wouldn t have minded it s all in my way but it s the being shut up by yourself in one room for five days without so much as an old newspaper to look at or anything to see out o the but the roofs and chimneys at the back of the house or anything to listen to but the perhaps of an old dutch clock the sobbing of the now and then the low talk ing of friends in the next room who n in whispers lest man should them or perhaps the occasional opening of the door as a child in to look at you and then runs half frightened away it s all this that makes you feel somehow and ashamed of yourself and then if it s winter time they just give you fire enough to make you think you d like more and bring in our as if they wished it ud you ns i dare bay they do for the matter of that most heartily if they re very civil they make you up a bed in the room at night and if they don t your master sends one in for you but there you are without being washed or shaved all the time by and spoken to by no one unless some one comes in at dinner time and asks you whether you want any more in a tone as much as to say i hope you don t or in the evening to inquire whether you wouldn t rather have a candle you ve been sitting in the dark half the night when i was left in this way i used to sit think think thinking till i felt as as a in a wash house copper with the lid on but i believe the old men who are regularly trained to it never think at all i have heard some on em say indeed that they don t know how i put in a good many in my time continued mr and in course i wasn t long in that some people are not as much to be pitied as others are and that people with good who get into difficulties which they keep up day after day and week after get so used to these sort of things in time that at last they come scarcely to feel them at all i remember the very first place i was put in possession oi a gentleman s house in this parish here that every body would suppose couldn t help having money if he tried i went with old my old master bout half eight in the morning rang the area bell servant in livery opened the door governor at yes he is says the man but he s just now never mind says just you tell liim there s a gentleman here as wants to speak to him so the servant he opens his eyes and about him all ways looking for the gentleman as it struck me for i t think anybody but a man as was stone blind d mistake for one and as for me i was as as a cheap ever he turns round and goes to tlie breakfast the s which a little snug sort of room at the end of the passage and as we always did in that profession without to be announced walks in him and before the servant could get out please sir here s a man as wants to to you looks in at the door as familiar and pleasant as may be who the devil are you and how dare yon walk into a s house without says the master as fierce as a bull in fits my name says to the master to send e servant away and putting the warrant into his hands folded up like a note my name s smith says be and i called from johnson s about that business of s oh says the other down on him directly how u says he pray nt down mr smith john leave the room out went ihe servant and the gentleman and looked at one another till they couldn t look any longer and then they varied the amusements bv looking at
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that one exertion from him might have saved her but he never made it i don t blame him i don t think he could rouse himself she had so long anticipated all his wishes and acted for him that he was a lost man when left to himself i used to think when j caught sight of her in the clothes she used to wear which looked shabby even upon her and would have been scarcely decent on any one else if i was a gentleman it would my very heart to see the woman that was a smart and merry girl when i her ao altered her love for me bitter cold and damp weather it was yet though her was thin and her shoes none of the best during the whole three days from morning to night she was out of doors running about to try and raise the money the money raised and the execution was paid out the whole family crowded into the room where i was when the money arrived the father was quite happy as the inconvenience was removed i dare say he didn t know how the children looked merry and cheerful again the eldest girl was bustling about making for the fl comfortable meal they had had since the distress was put in and the mother looked to see them all so but if ever i saw death in a woman s face i saw it in hers that night i was right sir continued mr hurriedly passing his over his ce the grew more prosperous and good fortune arrived but it was too late those children are now and their father would give up all he has house home goods money all that he has or ever can have to restore the wife he has lost the ladies societies chapter vi thb ladies is very in ladies charitable institutions in winter when wet feet are common and not scarce we have the ladies soup society the ladies distribution society and the ladies blanket distribution society in summer when stone fruits flourish and stomach prevail we have the ladies and the ladies sick committee and all the year round we have the ladies child s examination society the ladies bible and prayer book circulation society and the ladies linen monthly loan society the two latter are decidedly the most important whether they are productive of more benefit than the rest is not for us to but we can take upon ourselves to affirm with the utmost solemnity that they create a greater stir and more bustle than all the others put together we should be disposed to affirm on first blush of the matter that the and prayer book society is not so popular as the linen society the bible and prayer book society has however considerably increased in importance within the last year or two having derived some aid from the opposition of the child s examination society which opposition originated in manner following when the young was popular and all the unmarried ladies in the parish took a serious turn the charity all at once became objects of peculiar and especial interest the three miss enthusiastic admirers of the taught and exercised and examined and the unfortunate children until the boys grew pale and the with study and fatigue the stood it out very well because they relieved each other but the children having no relief at all exhibited decided symptoms of weariness and care the part of the laughed at all this but the more portion of the inhabitants from expressing any opinion on the subject that of the had been dearly ascertained the opportunity was not long wanting the preached a charity sermon on behalf of the charity school and in the charity sermon in terms on the and exertions of certain individuals sobs were heard to issue from the three miss the of the division was seen to down the centre aisle to the door and to return immediately bearing a glass of water in her hand a low moaning ensued two more rushed to the spot and the three miss each supported by a were led out of the church and led in again after the lapse of minutes with white to their eyes as if they had been attending a funeral in the churchyard adjoining if any doubt had for a moment existed as to whom the allusion was intended to apply it was at once removed the wish to the charity children became universal and the three miss were to divide the school into classes and to each class to the of two young ladies a little learning is a dangerous thing but a little patronage is more so the three miss appointed all the old maids and carefully excluded the young ones maiden were reduced to the lowest depth of despair and th t xi telling in ol es by general against the three miss might have itself had not a occurrence changed the tide of public feeling mrs johnson the mother of seven extremely fine girls au unmarried hastily reported to several other of several other that i ve old men six m women and m the free seats near her were in tiie habit of coming te sunday without or book was this to be in n things be in a land never i a ladies bible and prayer book distribution society was instantly formed j mrs johnson u and ihe johnson s were entered into books were bought all the free seat people p s and the lesson was given out en the first sunday these events was such a dropping of books and rustling of leaves that it was to hear one word of the for five minutes the three miss and their party saw the approaching danger and endeavoured to it by and sarcasm neither the m men nor the old
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women read their books now they had got them said the three miss never mind they could learn replied mn johnson the couldn t read either the three miss no matter they could be retorted mrs johnson a of parties took place the miss examined popular to the child s examination society the miss distributed a reaction took place m favour of the prayer book distribution a feather turned the scale and a feather did turn it a missionary returned from the west indies he was to be to the with a widow were made to the by the johnson their object was the same and why not have a joint meeting of the two societies the proposition was accepted the meeting was duly by public announcement and the room was crowded ia the appeared on the he he r e p d n he had heard between two behind ge on the subject of distribution the was he in of the two in broken the roof was rent with applause from that period wn date one trifling exception n daily in the popularity of and an increase af the feeble im of the party to now the great points about the loan society are that it is dependent on of than the or the child s and that what may there is never a lack of objects n to its benevolence our parish ia a very one and if any things we should be disposed to say rather more than its to the of in the metropolis and its the ia that the mo n t h ly lean society and its members with n most amount of bustling patronage the society whose only notion of time would appear to be its into months holds at which the month y report is received a secretary elected for the month and of the boxes as may not happen to be out on wan for the month examined we were never present at one of these meetings from all of whidi it is scarcely necessary to say are but mr has been called the board or and we his thb that ha an with order aad not more w to ai one tone oa any pretence whatever the is e d of but a of ladies of from to of a partly because tbey are in the boxes and the partly it is h ly desirable that be aa early period into the and duties of after i b and partly not known to torn this to good in matrimonial speculations in addition to the loan of the monthly boxes which are always painted blue with the name of the society in large white letters on the lid the society dispense occasional of beef tea and a composition of warm beer eggs and sugar known by the name of to its and here the of the are called into and most of or are sent out to visit the and on there is a of and beef tea a stirring of in tiny on the a and of a tying and folding aad a aad of aad feet before the fire a of talking and importance and as never can be enjoyed in its foil extent but on similar occasions in of these two institutions and as a last effort to the child s examination people determined the day on having a grand public examination of the and the large school room of the national by aad with the consent of the authorities devoted to the forwarded to tho of the of the two as ei o t for especial and la y was intended and a audience was confidently a the the was folly the day before the immediate of miss forms were the room for the of ana visitors in writing were and aa and touched up they astonished the children written them the company who read them sums in addition were and re ad the the by heart and the tions altogether were on the most laborious and most comprehensive scale the morning arrived the children were yellow and aad till their faces shone again every pupil s hair was careful into his or her eyes as the case might be the girls were adorned with ei the head ribbon tiie necks of the elder boys were the doors were thrown open aad the and co were in white muslin aad of the same the a the room filled the greetings of the were loud and d the trembled for their popularity was at the forward and delivered a address from behind has it was from the pen of mr brown the applause was and the johnson were aghast the proceeded with success and terminated in triumph the child s society gained a momentary victory and the johnson retreated in despair a secret council of the waa m t sketches by mrs johnson in the chair to consider of the means of recovering the ground they had lost in the favour of the parish what could be done another meeting alas who was to attend it the missionary would not do twice and the slaves were a bold step must be taken the parish must be astonished in some way or other but no one was able to suggest what the step should be at length a very old lady was heard to in indistinct tones hall a sudden light broke in upon the meeting it was resolved that a of old ladies should wait upon a celebrated orator imploring his assistance and the favour of a speech and that the should also wait on two or three other old women not resident in the parish and entreat their attendance the application was successful the meeting was held the orator an came he talked of green other shores vast atlantic bosom of the deep
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for the i xi sketches by bv ins first in a day or two the angle came in and real out rf all be a extraordinary for sitting up till three or o clock in the morning and water and smoking then lie friends home who need to come at ten o clock and begin to get happy about the small hours when their perfect contentment by singing with a l s of two lines aad a of which used to be forth by the whole strength of the company in the meet enthusiastic and manner to the great of the neighbours and the special of another single overhead now this was bad enough as it did three times a week on the but this was not all for when the company did go away instead of walking down the street as any else s would hats done they by making alarming sod frightful noises and the shrieks of females in di es s and one night a red gentleman in a white hat knocked in the most manner at the door ef the powdered headed old at no and when the powdered headed old gentleman who thought one of his married daughters mast hare been taken ill had down stairs and after a great of and key opened tiie street door the red faced man in the white hat said he hoped he d excuse his giving him so much trouble but he m fed obliged if he d him with a glass of cold spring water and the loan of a shilling for a to take him home on whidi the old gentle man the door and went up stairs and threw the contents ef his water out of window straight only it went the wrong the whole street was ut to ia a j are very capital in their m you can o y the party la sea the of them but the tion of oar street were so of ly p re h e ns ion as to be lost to a sense of the of this e e d ing and tha was our next door was to tell the gentleman oat unless he save up his friends at he really m st be compelled to part with the single the great and that time forward to spend his a general and the night passed off body delighted the but on tha next the the single s friends being to see him in his om every alternate had to the ii him every and what wa the greetings of the friends at parting and the created by the single in his passage up his subsequent es to get his off was not to be borne sa onr next tha single gentleman who was a tory good in other notice to quit and the single gentle went away and entertained friends in other lodgings the next for the first floor was of a very character from the single gentleman who had just it he was a tall thin young gentleman with a of brown hair and very he wore a with behind light gray trousers and wash leather gloves and had altogether rather a military appearance so unlike the single gentleman such and such a ad so ed too he came to look at the our he in ber he wm to a seat in tbe church and when he had agreed to take than he re to have a hat of the as he to to the our next neighbour was now jt at of his own way of a well many who ab h oi red gaiety and retirement he took down the bill with a light hearty and in a king series of on which he and his exchange and sunday the serious man and hia h ig was to arrive from the he clean door and retired to rest at an early hour that he might be called at ten o clock next morning not before as he was much fatigued he was called and did not answer he was called again but there was no reply our next door neighbour became alarmed and burst the door open the serious man bad left the house mysteriously carrying with him the the prayer book a tea spoon and the whether this occurrence coupled with the of his former gave our next door neighbour an to single gentlemen we know not we only that the next bill which made its appearance in tile parlour window intimated generally that there were furnished apartments to let on the first floor the bill was soon removed the new at first attracted our curiosity and afterwards excited our interest they were a young lad of eighteen or nineteen and his mother a lady of about fifty or it might be less the mother wore a widow s weeds and the boy was also clothed in deep mourning they were poor very poor for their only means of support arose from the the boy earned by and they had from and settled in london partly it afforded better tt fi r the boy and partly with the natural desire to leave a where they had been in better circumstances and where their poverty waa known they were proud their and above revealing their wants and to strangers bitter those were and how hard the boy worked to remove them no one ever knew hot night night two three four after mid night we hear the occasional up of tiie fire or the hollow and half which indicated his being still at work and day after day could we see more plainly that had that in his plaintive which is the of her won disease we hope by a higher feeling than mere curiosity we contrived to establish first an acquaintance and then a close intimacy with the poor strangers our worst fears were
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the boy was sinking fast through a part of the winter and the whole of the following spring and his labours were prolonged and the mother attempted to procure anything for bread a few shillings now and then were all she could earn the boy worked steadily on dying by minutes but never once giving utterance to complaint or murmur one beautiful autumn evening we went to pay our customary visit to the invalid his little remaining strength had been rapidly for two or three days preceding and he was lying on the sofa at the open window gazing at the setting sun his mother had been reading the bible to him for she closed the book as we entered and advanced to meet us i was telling william she said that we must manage to take him into the country sketches by he may get quite well he is not ill know but he is not very strong and has exerted himself too much lately poor thing the tears that streamed through her fingers as she turned aside as if to her close widow s cap too plainly showed how fruitless was the attempt to herself we sat down by the head of the sofa but said nothing for we saw the breath of life was passing gently but rapidly from the young form before us at his heart beat more slowly the boy placed one hand in ours grasped his mother s arm with the other drew her hastily towards him and kissed her cheek there was a pause he sunk back upon his pillow and looked long and earnestly in his mother s face william t murmured the mother after a long don t look at me so speak to me dear f the boy smiled languidly but an instant afterwards his features resolved into the same cold solemn gaze william dear william rouse yourself dear don t look at me so love pray don t i oh my god what shall i do cried the widow clasping her hands in agony my dear boy i he is dying the boy raised himself by a violent effort and folded his hands together mother i dear dear mother bury me in the open fields anywhere but in these dreadful streets i should like to be where you can see my grave but not in these dose crowded streets they have killed me kiss me again mother put your arm round my neck he fell back and a strange expression stole upon his features not of pain or suffering but an fixing of every line and muscle the boy was dead the scenes chapter i the the appearance presented hy the streets of london an before sunrise on a summer s morning is most striking even to the few whose unfortunate pursuits of pleasure or scarcely less pursuits of business cause them to be well acquainted with the scene there is an air of cold solitary desolation about the noiseless streets which we are accustomed to see thronged at other times by a busy eager crowd and over the quiet which throughout the day are with life and bustle that is very impressive the last drunken man who shall find his way home before sun light has just staggered heavily along roaring out the burden of the drinking song of the previous night the last whom and police have left in the streets has up his limbs in some paved comer to dream of food and warmth the drunken the dissipated and the wretched have disappeared the more sober and orderly part of the population have not yet awakened to the labours of the day and the stillness of death is over the streets its very hue seems to bo imparted to them cold and lifeless as they look in the gray sombre light of daybreak the coach stands in the larger are deserted the are closed and the chosen of misery are empty an occasional policeman may alone be seen at the street comers gazing on the deserted prospect before him and now and then a looking cat runs stealthily across the road and his own area with as much caution and bounding first on the water butt then on the dust hole and then on the flag as if he were conscious that his character depended on his of the preceding night escaping public observation a partially opened bedroom window here and there the heat of the weather and the uneasy of its and the dim scanty of the through the window blind the chamber of watching or sickness with these few exceptions the streets present no signs of life nor the houses of habitation an hour wears away the of the churches and roofs of tlie principal buildings are faintly tinged with the light of the rising sun and the streets by almost degrees begin to resume their bustle and animation market carts roll slowly along the sleepy impatiently urging on his tired horses or vainly endeavouring to awaken the boy who stretched on the top of the fruit baskets forgets in happy oblivion his long cherished curiosity to behold the wonders of london rough sleepy looking animals of strange appearance something between and begin take down the shutters of early public houses and little deal tables with the ordinary preparations for a street breakfast i at the customary i mr of men and women principally the utter carrying upon their heads heavy baskets of fruit toil down the park side of on their way to garden and following each other in rapid succession form a long straggling line from thence to the torn of ihe road at here and there a s with the day s dinner tied up in a handkerchief walks briskly to his work and occasionally a little knot of three or four on a stolen bathing expedition rattle
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merrily over the pavement their mirth forcibly with the of the little sweep who having knocked and rung till his arm aod being inter ted by m merciful from his by calling out sits patiently down on the door step the may happen to awake co vent garden market and the avenues leading to it are thronged with of all sorts sizes and descriptions from the heavy with its four stout horses to the s cart with its donkey the pavement is already with decayed leaves broken and all the indescribable litter of a vegetable market men are carts horses boys fighting basket women talking on the excellence of their and these and a hundred other sounds form a compound enough to a s and remarkably disagreeable to those of country gentlemen who are sleeping at the for the first time another hour passes away and the day begins in good earnest the servant of all work who under the plea of sleeping soundly has utterly disregard s ringing for half an hour previously is warned by ter whom has sent up in his to the landing place for that purpose that it s half past six she all of a sudden with well feigned astonishment and goes down very wishing while she strikes a light that the of spontaneous tend itself to coals and kitchen r when the fire is lighted she street door to take in the milk i by the most singular the world she that the next door has just taken ii milk too and that mr s j man over the way is by an extraordinary chance taking dow master s shutters the inevitable is that she just steps in hand as far as next door to say good morning to c and that mr s man steps over way to say good n ing to both of em and as the a said mr s man is al as good and fascinating a baker himself the becomes very interesting and would become more so tf ci who always will be a her about didn t give an angry t her bedroom window on s young man to as he goes back to his much faster than he came and the two girls run back to respective places and shut their ta doors with surprising softness ea them their heads out oi front parlour window a minute f wards however witli view of looking at the mail then passes by but really for the pose of another mr s man who being of but more of females short look at the and a long at the girls much to the all parties concerned the mail itself goes on to the c o in due course and the who are going out by the early c stare with astonishment at uie pa who are coming in by the coach who look blue and dismal are evidently under the that odd feeling produced by travel which makes the events of morning seem as if tliey had lu p at least six months ago and in j to wonder with thb whether the and thej took leave of a thej the coach ie all aad uie which are just going out are surrounded by the usual crowd of jews aod who seem to consider heaven knows that it is quite im k an can mount a coach without requiring at least of a a pocket book a last a pencil a piece of aad a small series of an hour more and the sun his bright rays cheerfully down the still half empty u and shines with force to rouse the dismal of the who pauses every other minute from his task of sweeping out ihe shop and watering the pavement in front of it to tell another employed how hot it will be to day or to with his right hand his eyes and his left resting on the gazing at the wonder or the ho or the other at till it is out of sight when he re eaten the shop ihe passengers en ihe d the coach and thinking of the old red brick house in the where he went to the miseries of the milk and water and thick bread and into nothing the pleasant of the green field the boys used to in and the green pond he was lor to into and other with and between the drivers and outside apron rattle op aad down streets on their way to the or steam packet and i e cab drivers and who are on the stand up the ornamental part of their dingy the former wondering how people can prefer them wild of to a cab with a and the latter admiring how people can trust their necks into o them crazy when they have a with a pair of t ran away with no a on seeing that a coach horse was known to ran at all as die in front of the rank except aad he run the shops are now opened and and busily engaged in cleaning and the windows far the day the shops in town are filled with servants and children waiting for the drawing of the first of rolls an operation which was performed a full hour ago in the for tiie early clerk population of and towns and are fast pouring into the city or directing their steps towards and the of court ed men whose have by no means increased in the same proportion as their families steadily along apparently with no object in view but the counting house knowing by sight almost everybody they meet or overtake for they have seen them every morning sundays during the l t twenty years but speaking to no one if they do happen to overtake a personal they just exchange a hurried and keep walking on either by his side or
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in front of as his rate ef may chance to be as to stopping to shake hands or to take the friend s arm they seem to think that as it is not included in their salary they have no right to de it office in hats who are made men before are boys hurry along in with their first brushed and the white trousers of last sunday with dust and ink it evidently requires a considerable mental to avoid part of the day s dinner money in the of the stale so exposed in dusty at the cook s doors but a of their own importance and the of o w sketches by the prospect of an early rise to eight comes to their aid and they accordingly put their hats a little more on one side and look under the of all the and they meet poor girls the hardest worked the worst paid and too often the worst used class of the community eleven o dock and a new set of people fill the streets the goods in the shop windows are arranged the in their white and coats look as if they clean a window if their lives depended on it the have d from garden the have returned and the repaired to their ordinary beats in the clerks are at their offices and and saddle horses are conveying masters to the same destination the streets are thronged with a vast of people gay and shabby rich and poor idle and industrious and we come to the heat bustle and activity of chapter ii thb but tlie streets of london to be beheld in the very height of their glory should be seen on a dark dull winter s night when there is just enough damp gently stealing down to make the pavement greasy without it of any of its and when the heavy lazy mist which over every object makes the gas lamps look brighter and the brilliantly lighted shops more splendid from the contrast they present to tiie darkness around all the people who are at home on such a night as this seem disposed to make themselves as snug and comfortable as possible and the passengers in the streets have excellent reason to envy the fortunate individuals who are seated by their own in the larger and better kind of streets dining parlour curtains are closely drawn kitchen fires blaze brightly up and of hot dinners salute the nostrils of the hungry as he wearily by we area in the the boy rings his way down the little street much more slowly than he is wont to do for mrs of no has no sooner opened her little street door and screamed out t with all her might than mrs at no puts her head out of the and screams too and mrs has scarcely got the words out of her lips than mrs over the way lets loose master who down the street a which nothing but in perspective could possibly inspire and the boy back by force whereupon mrs and mrs just to saw the boy trouble and to say a few words to mrs at the same time run over the way and buy at mrs s door when it appears from the voluntary statement of mrs that her s a and the cups and ready laid and that as it was such a wretched night out o she d made up her mind to have a nice hot comfortable cup o tea a determination at h by the most singular coincidence the other two ladies had simultaneously arrived after a little conversation about the wretchedness of the weather and the merits of tea witli a relative to tlie of boys as a rule and the of the night p low as an exception mrs sees her husband coming down the street and as he must want his tea poor man after his dirty walk from the she instantly runs across in hand and mrs does the same and after a few words to mrs they all pop into little houses and their little street doors which are not opened again for the remainder of the evening except to the nine o clock beer who comes round with a lantern in front of his tray and says as he mrs yesterday s that he s blessed if he can hardly hold the pot much less feel the paper for it s one of the bitterest nights he ever felt the night when the man was frozen to death in the brick field after a little prophetic conversation with the policeman at the touching a probable change in the weather and ue setting in of a hard frost the nine o clock beer to his master s house and himself for the remainder of the evening in stirring the tap room fire and d taking part in the conversation of the assembled round it the streets in the vicinity of the marsh gate and victoria theatre present an appearance of dirt and discomfort on such a night which the groups who about in no degree tend to even the block tin temple sacred to baked potatoes surmounted by a splendid design in lamps looks less gay than usual and as to the stand its glory has quite departed the candle in the transparent lamp of oil paper with characters has been blown out fifty times so the pie merchant tired with running backwards and forwards to the next to get a light has given up the idea of illumination in despair and the only signs of his are the bright sparks of wliich a long irregular train is whirled down the street time he opens his oven a hot pie to a customer no flat fish and fruit linger hopelessly in the in vain endeavouring to attract customers and the ragged boys who usually themselves about the streets
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stand crouched in uttle knots in some projecting doorway or under the canvas blind of the s where great gas lights by any glass display huge piles of bright red and pale yellow mingled with little five penny of dingy bacon various of weekly and rolls of best fresh here they amuse themselves with converse arising out of their last half price visit to the victoria gallery admire tlie terrific combat which is nightly and on the manner in which bill can come the double monkey or go through the mysterious of a sailor s it is nearly eleven o clock and the cold thin rain which has been so long is beginning to pour down in good earnest the baked man has departed the pie man han just walked away with bis on his arm the has drawn in his blind and the boys have dispersed the constant of on the and pavement and the rustling of as the wind blows against the shop windows bear testimony to the of the night and the policeman with his cape closely round him seems as he holds his hat on his head and turns round to avoid the gust of wind and rain which drives against him at the street comer to be very far from himself on the prospect before him the uttle s shop with the cracked bell behind the door whose melancholy has been regulated by the demand for of sugar and half of coffee is shutting up the crowds which have been passing to and fro during the whole day are rapidly away and the noise of an x d be by which from the is almost the only sound that breaks the melancholy stillness of ths night there was another it has ceased that wretched woman with the infant in her arms round whose meagre form the remnant of lier own scanty shawl is carefully wrapped has been attempting to sing some popular ballad in the hope of wringing a few pence from the compassionate by a brutal laugh at her weak voice is all she has gained the tears fall thick and fast down her own pale the child is cold and hungry and its low half stifled wailing adds to the misery of its wretched mother as she aloud and sinks down on a cold damp door step singing how few of those who pass such a miserable creature as this think of the anguish of heart the sinking of soul and spirit which ihe very effort of singing produces bitter mockery disease neglect and starvation faintly the words of the joyous that has your hours of and merriment god knows how often it is no subject of the weak tremulous voice tells a fearful tale of want and and the feeble singer of this roaring song mi away only to die of cold and hunger one o clock parties returning from the different theatres foot it through the muddy streets carriages and roll by with dim dirty in their hands and large plates upon their breasts who have been shouting and rushing about for the last two hours retire to their watering houses to solace themselves with the creature comforts of pipes and tlie pit and box of the theatres throng to the different houses of refreshment and stout cigars and goes innumerable are served up amidst a noise and confusion of smoking knife mad waiter chattering perfectly the more musical portion of the community themselves to some meeting as a matter of curiosity let us follow them thither for a few moments in a lofty room of spacious dimensions are seated some eighty ed guests knocking uttle the tables and away the handles of their as if tliey were so many trunk they are a glee has just been executed by the three professional at the top of the centre table one of whom is in tiie chair the little man the bald head just emerging from the collar of his green coat the others are seated on either side of lie stout man wi the small voice and the thin dark man in black the little man in the chair is a most amusing personage c ee en grandeur and a bass as ihe young gentleman near us with the blue remarks to his bass i believe yon he go down lower than any man so low sometimes that you hear him and ao he does to hear him growling away lower and lower down till he can t get back again is the most thing in the world and it is impossible to witness unmoved the impressive solemnity with he forth soul in my art in the or the old the stout man is also to and fly fly from the world my with me or some such song wi i like sweetness and in tiie most tones imaginable pr give your orders gen n n give your orders says pale man with the red head and demands for goes of gin and goes of brandy and of and cigars of peculiar are made from all parts of the room the professional gentlemen are in the very of glory and b tow or even a word or two of recognition the night on the better known of the room in the most bland and manner possible that little round faced man with the sm brown white stockings and shoes is in the comic line the air denial of his own with he the call of is gen i the httle man the word with a of the s hammer on the allow in to our mr mud oblige shout the company and after quantity of by wi of and a most m or two which afford a with a de d at the end of than the itself it is and some genius has volunteered a
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and therein uie little man gives another knock and says men we will attempt a glee if you please this announcement calls fox tumultuous i and the energetic spirits express ihe i it affords by knocking one or two t pi glasses off their li a but one frequently some slight when the foam of paying the damage is to be gone through by the waiter these are continued until or four in the mornings and en close fresh open to ihe inquisitive but as a of all of them however alight would require a ie the of which however would be hy no means pleasing we make onr bow and d sketches by chapter iii shops and their tenants what food for do the streets of london afford we were able to agree with in pitying the who could travel from dan to beer and say that all was barren we hare not the slightest for the man who can take np his hat and stick and walk from garden to st paul s churchyard and back into the bargain without some amusement we had almost said instruction from his and yet there are such beings we meet them day large black stocks and light jet and discontented countenances are the characteristics of the race other people brush quickly by steadily on to business or cheerfully running after pleasure these men linger past looking as happy and animated as a policeman on duty nothing seems to make an impression on their minds nothing short of being knocked down by a porter or run over by a cab will disturb their you will meet on a fine day in any of the leading peep through the window of a west end cigar shop in the if you can manage to get a glimpse between the blue curtains which the gaze and you see them in their only enjoyment of existence there they are lounging about on round and pipe boxes in all the dignity of whiskers and gilt watch guards whispering soft to the young lady in with the large ear rings who as she sits behind the counter in a blaze of adoration and gas light is the admiration of all the female servants in the neighbourhood and the envy of every s within two miles round one of our principal amusements is to the gradual progress the n ae or of shops we have formed an intimate acquaintance with several in different parts of town and are perfectly acquainted their whole history we could name twenty at least which we are quite sure have paid no taxes for the last six years they are never inhabited for more than two months and we verily believe have witnessed every trade in the there is one whose history is a of the rest in whose we have taken especial interest having had the pleasure of knowing it ever since it has been a shop it is on the side of the water a little distance beyond the marsh gate it was originally a substantial looking private house enough we landlord got into difficulties uie house got into the tenant went away and the house went to ruin at this period our acquaintance with it commenced the paint was all worn off the windows were broken the area was green with neglect and the of the water butt the butt itself was without a lid and the street door was the very of misery the chief of the children in the vicinity had been to in s body on the steps and take it in torn to knock loud double at the door to the great satisfaction of the neighbours generally and especially of the nervous old lady next door but one numerous complaints were made and several small of water discharged over the but without effect in this state of things the marine store dealer at the comer of the street in the mo t obliging manner took the and sold it and the unfortunate house looked more wretched than ever we deserted our friend for a weeks what was our surprise on our return to find no trace of iti shops and their tenants existence in its place wm a handsome shop fast approaching to a state ci completion and on tlie shutters were large bills informing the public that it would shortly be opened with an stock of linen and it opened in due course there was the name of the proprietor and co in gilt letters too dazzling to look at such ribbons and and two such young men behind the counter in a dean collar and white like the lover in a farce as to the proprietor he did nothing but walk up and down the shop and hand seats to the ladies and hold important with the of the young men who was suspected by the neighbours to be the we saw all this with sorrow we felt a fatal that the shop was doomed and so it was its decay was slow but sure tickets gradually appeared in the windows rolls of flannel with on them were stuck outside the door then a bill was on the that the first floor was to let then one of the young men disappeared altogether and the other took to a black and the proprietor took to drinking the shop became dirty broken panes of glass remained and the stock disappeared at last the company s man came to cut off the water and then the cut off himself leaving the landlord his and the key the next was a fancy the shop was more modesty painted than before still it was neat bat somehow we always thought ss we passed that it looked like a poor and struggling concern we wished the man well but we trembled for his success he was a evidently
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with exposing gilt rings and copper out of number put op an announcement which still sticks in his window that ladies ears may be pierced within the dress maker a young lady who wears in her apron and the tailor the public that gentlemen may have own materials made up amidst all this change and restlessness and there remains but one old man who seems to mourn the of this ancient place he holds no converse with human kind but seated on a wooden bench at the of the wall which fronts the from place watches in the of his and well fed dogs he is the genius of scotland yard years and years have rolled over his head but in fine weather or in foul hot or cold wet or dry hail rain or snow he is still in his accustomed spot misery and want are depicted in his countenance his form is bent bv age his head is gray with length of but there he sits from day to day brooding over the past and thither he will continue to drag his feeble limbs until his eyes have closed upon and upon the world together a few years hence and the of generation looking into some record of the strife and passions that agitated the in these times may glance his eye over the pages we have just filled and not all his knowledge of the history of the past not all his black letter lore or his in book collecting not all the dry studies of a long life or the dusty volumes that have cost him a fortune may help him to the whereabouts either of scotland yard or of any one of the we have mentioned in describing it sketches by bo chapter v been of opinion thai if tom king aod frenchman had not seven would have seven the region of song and poetry first and last dying speeches by the names of and of names that will themselves and barrel when penny shall penny yards of song and capital punishment be unknown look at the construction of the place the knot was all very well in its way so was the of court so is the at the so were die ties of stiff white when the of getting one on was only to be by the apparent of ever getting it off again but what can compare with those of seven where is there such another of streets courts lanes and where such a pure mixture of englishmen and as in this complicated part of london we boldly tiiat we doubt the of the to whidi we have we can suppose a man cash enough to inquire at random at a house with for a mr with all but the certainty before his eyes of finding at least two or three in any house of moderate dimensions but a frenchman a frenchman in seven i he was an tom king s education had been neglected in his infancy and as he couldn t understand half the man s d he took it for granted he was talking french the stranger who finds himself in the for the first time and stands at the entrance of obscure passages uncertain to take will see enough around him to keep his curiosity and awake for no from the square in he has plunged die streets an dart in all until lost in the hangs over the house to renders the dirty tain and confined and every as if they came a few of such free has found it way so far hi much exhausted already t r force itself into th au are groups oi appearance and fill any mind but a regular lo with astonishment on one side a little en collected round a couple ol who having the various three of gin as in the course of the morning length on some and ai ere of settling the quarrel by an appeal to blows to the of other lad live in the same house and te adjoining and who are all on one side or other t you pitch ii one matron by way of don t you if treated her with a drain to me i d tear eyes out a what s the matter n another old woman y just up to die spot matter i replies the first i talking at the matter i here s poor as has five blessed of her own can t go out a one but what be a and as she s been mar i twelve year come next monday for i see i a a cup o tea vith her only the last blessed ven as ever was sent i d to say mrs says i what do you mean by a champion of the other party who has evinced a strong inclination throughout to get up a branch fight on her own account a pot boy in put the on her mary what do you mean by p the champion mind replies the opposition mind go home and ven you re mend your stockings this somewhat allusion not only to the lady s habits of but also to the state of her wardrobe her utmost ire and she accordingly with the request of the to in with considerable alacrity the became general and in minor play bill with arrival of tiie men interior of the and impressive d in addition to the numerous groups who are about the gin shops and in the centre of the road ev ry post in the open space has its who against it for hours with perseverance it is odd enough that one class of men in london appear to have no enjoyment beyond leaning against posts we never saw a regular s take any other fighting pass through st in the evening of a week day there they
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three hats of quaint appearance have given place to the low crowns and broad of the coachman school but it is the times that have changed not mouth street through every alteration and every change has still remained the of the fashions and such to judge from all present appearances it will remain until there are no more fashions to bury we love to walk among extensive groves of the illustrious dead and to indulge in the speculations to which they give rise now fitting a deceased coat then a dead pair of trousers and anon the mortal remains of a gaudy waistcoat upon some being of our own up and endeavouring from the shape and fashion of the garment itself to bring its former owner before our mind s eye we have gone on in this way until whole rows of coats have started from their and up of their own accord round the of imaginary lines of trousers have jumped down to meet them have almost burst with anxiety to put themselves on and half an acre of shoes have suddenly found feet to fit them and gone down the street with a noise which has fairly awakened us from our pleasant reverie and driven us slowly away with a bewildered stare an object of astonishment to the good people of street and of no slight suspicion to the at the opposite street comer we were occupied in this manner the other day endeavouring to fit a pair of lace up half boots on an ideal personage for whom to say the truth they were full a couple of sizes too small when our eyes happened tf alight on a few suits of ranged outside a shop window which it immediately struck us must at different periods have all belonged to and been worn by the same individual and had now by one of those strange of circumstances which sketches by come to be exposed together for sale in tlie same shop the idea seemed a fantastic one and we looked at the clothes with a firm determination not to be easily led away no we w re right the more we looked uie more we convinced of the accuracy of our previous impression there was the man s whole life written as on those clothes as if we had en on before us the first was a patched and skeleton suit one of straight blue cloth cases in small boys used to be confined before and had come in and old notions had gone out an ingenious contrivance for displaying the full of a boy s figure by him into a very tight jacket with an ornamental row of buttons over each shoulder and his trousers over it as to his legs the appearance of being on just under the this was the boy s dress it had belonged to a town boy we could see there was a about the legs and arms of suit and a at the knees peculiar to the rising youth of london streets a small day school he had been at evidently if it had been a regular boys school they wouldn t have let him play on the floor so much and rub his knees so white he had an indulgent mother too and plenty of as ihe numerous of some substance about the pockets and just below the chin which even the s skill could not succeed in sufficiently they were decent people but not with riches or he would not have so fur the suit when he passed into those with the round jacket in whidi he went to a boys school however learnt to write and in ink of pretty tolerable blackness too if tlie place where he used to wipe his pen might be taken as evidence a black suit and the jacket changed into a coat his father died and the mother had got the boy a message lad s place in some office a long worn suit that one rusty and before it was laid aside but clean and free from soil to the last poor woman we could imagine her assumed cheerfulness over the scanty meal and the refusal of her own small portion that her hungry boy might have enough her anxiety for ills welfare her pride in his grow mingled sometimes with the almost too to bear that as he grew to be a man his old affection old fade from his mind and old promises be forgotten the sharp pain that then a careless or a cold look would give her all crowded on our ts as vividly as if the very scene were passing b ore us these things happen every hour and we all know it and yet we felt as much sorrow when we saw or we saw it makes no which the change that began to take now as if we had just conceived the bare possibility of such a thing for the first time the next smart but meant to be and yet dot half so as ihe apparel of the idle e told us we thought widow s comfort had away we imagine that imagine i we see it we had seen it a times in company with three or four other coats a the cut about place of resort at night we dressed from tiie some in an instant half a boys of from fifteen to twenty and putting into their mouths and their han into pockets them as they sauntered down the street and lingered at the comer with the jest and the oath we never lost sight of them till th had cooked their hate a little more on one side and into the public house and then we entered tlie desolate home where the mother sat late in tlie night alone we watched her as she paced the room in feverish
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meditations in anxiety and e er and opened the door looked wistfully into the dark and empty street and again returned to be again end again disappointed we beheld the look of with which she bore the threat may the drunken blow and we heard the agony of tears that rom her ery as upon her knees in her and a long period had elapsed and a greater had taken by ihe time of casting off the that hung above it was that of a man and we knew at as any body would who broad skirted green coat with the large metal buttons that its seldom walked forth without a dog at his heels and some idle very of himself at his side the vices of the boy had grown with the man and we fancied his me then if such a deserve the name we saw the bare and miserable room destitute of furniture crowded with his wife and children pale hungry and the man their staggering to the from whence he had just followed by wife and a sickly infant for bread and beard the his striking hear and imagination led us some in the midst of crowded streets and filled with and ringing with boisterous cries where an and woman im pardon for um lay dying in a dark room with no to deep her hand and no pure air from heaven to fan her brow a stranger the eyes that settled into a cold glare and strange ears received words murmured from the white and half closed lips a coarse round frock with a worn cotton and other articles of of the commonest description completed the history a prison and the sentence or the gallows what would tlie man have given to be once again tiie contented humble of his boyish years to have restored to life but for a week a day an hour a minute for so as would enable him to lay one word of passionate regret to and hear one sound of from the cold and ghastly form that lay in the s grave the wild in the streets the mother a destitute widow both deeply with the deep disgrace of the husband and s and impelled by sheer necessity down tile that had led liim to a death possibly of many years duration thousands of miles away we had no due to ihe end of tiie tale but it was easy to guess its termination we took a step or two further on and by wi of restoring the naturally cheerful tone of our thoughts began fitting feet and legs into a cellar board full of boots and shoes with a speed and accuracy that would have the most expert artist in leather living there was one pair of boots in a jolly good tempered hearty looking pair of tops that our warmest regard and we had got a fine red jovial fellow of a gardener into them before we had made their acquaintance half a minute they were just the very thing for him there were his huge fat legs over the tops and fitting too tight to admit of his in the he had pulled them on by and his knee with an of and his blue apron tucked up round his waist and his red and blue and a white hat stuck on one side o his head and there he stood with a broad grin on his great red face away as if any other idea but that of being happy and comfortable had never entered his brain this was the very man after our own heart we knew all about him we had seen him coming np to in his green chaise cart with the fat little horse half a thousand times and v ni q sketches by an affectionate look upon his boots at that instant the form of a suddenly sprung into a pair of satin shoes stood beside them and we at once recognised the girl who accepted his offer of a ride just on this side the bridge the ery last tuesday morning we rode into town from a very smart female in a bonnet stepped into a pair of gray cloth boots with black fringe and binding that were pointing out their toes on the other side of the top boots and seemed very anxious to engage his attention but we didn t that our friend the appeared at all with these for beyond giving a knowing wink when they first began as if to imply that he quite understood their end and object he took no further notice of them his indifference however was amply by the excessive gallantry of a very old gentleman with a stick who into a pair of large list shoes that were standing in one comer of the board and indulged in a variety of gestures expressive of his admiration of the lady in the cloth boots to the amusement of a young fellow we put into a pair of long who we thought would have split the coat that slid down to meet him with laughing we had been looking on at this little with great for some time when to our unspeakable astonishment we perceived that the whole of the characters including a numerous corps de of boots and shoes in the into which we had been thrusting as many feet as we could press into the service were arranging themselves in order for dancing and some music striking up at the moment to it they went without delay it was perfectly delightful to witness the of ue out went the boots first on one side then on the other then cutting then then setting to the then advancing then retreating then going round and then repeating the whole of the again without appearing to suffer in the least from the violence of the exercise nor
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were the a bit for they jumped and bounded about in all and though they were neither so regular nor so true to the time as the cloth boots still as they seemed to do it from the heart and to enjoy it more we candidly confess tiiat we preferred their style of dancing to the other but the old gentleman in the list shoes was the most amusing object in the whole party for besides his grotesque attempts to appear youthful and which were si entertaining in themselves the young fellow in the managed so that every time the old gentleman advanced to salute the lady in the cloth boots he trod with his whole weight on the old fellow s toes which made him roar with anguish and rendered all the others uke to die of laughing we were in the f enjoyment of these when we heard a shrill and by no means musical voice exclaim hope you know me i and on looking intently forward to see from whence the sound came we found tiiat it proceeded not from the young lady in uie cloth boots as we had at been inclined to suppose but from a lady of appearance who was seated in a chair at the head of the cellar steps apparently for the purpose of the sale of the articles arranged there a barrel organ which had been in full force close behind us ceased playing the people we had been fitting into the shoes and boots took to flight at the interruption and as we were conscious that in the depth of our meditations we might have been rudely staring at the old lady for half an hour without knowing it we took to flight too and were in the deepest obscurity of the adjacent coach stands chapter vii coach stands ni int that properly bo called belong solely to the metropolis we may be told that there are coach stands in and not to go quite so ur for a contradiction to position ire may be reminded that and other large towns as the goes hate coach stands we to these places the po op of certain which may look almost sa dirty and even go almost as slowly as london but that they have the claim to with the metropolis either in point of stands or cattle we indignantly deny take a regular ponderous london coach of the old school and let man haye the to assert if he can that he ever beheld any object on the face of the earth which at all it unless indeed it were another coach of the same date we have recently observed on certain stands and we say it with deep regret rather green and of polished yellow with four wheels of the same colour as the coach whereas it is perfectly notorious to one who has the subject that wheel ought to be of a different colour and a different size these are and like other mis called awful signs of the restlessness of the public mind and the respect paid to our time honoured institutions why should be clean our ancestors found them dirty and left them so why should we with a feverish wish to keep moving desire to roll along at the rate of six miles an hour while were content to over the stones at four these are solemn considerations are part and parcel of the law of the no e they were settled by the and numbered by the wisdom of parliament then why have they been by and or why should people be allowed to ride for a mile after parliament come to the solemn decision that they should pay a shilling a mile for riding slowly we pause for a reply and having no chance of getting one begin a paragraph our acquaintance with stands is of long standing we are a walking book of feeling ourselves half bound as it were to be always in the right on points we know all the regular within three miles of by and should be almost tempted to that all the coach horses in that district knew us by sight too if one half of them were not we take great interest in but we seldom drive having a of turning ourselves over when we attempt to do so we are as great friends to horses coach and otherwise as ihe renowned mr martin of and yet we never ride we keep no horse but a clothes horse enjoy no saddle so much as a saddle of mutton and following our own inclinations have never followed the hounds leaving these means of getting over the ground or of upon it to those who like them by coach stands we take our stand there is a coach stand under tiie very window at which we are writing is only one coach on it now but it is a fair specimen of the class of to which we have alluded a great square concern of a dingy yellow colour like a with very small but very ax i sketches by are ornamented with a faded coat of arms in shape something like a bat the is red and the majority of the wheels are green the box is partially covered by an old great coat with a of and some clothes and the straw with which the canvas cushion is is sticking op in several places as if in of the hay which is peeping through the in the boot the horses with drooping heads and ea with a mane and tail as scanty and straggling as those of a worn out rocking horse are standing patiently on some damp straw occasionally and rattling the harness and now and then one of them lifts his mouth to the ear of his companion as if he were saying in a whisper that he should uke to
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the coachman the coachman himself is in the watering and the with his hands forced into his pockets as r as they can possibly go is dancing the in of the pump to keep his feet warm the girl with the pink ribbons at no opposite suddenly opens the street door and four small children forthwith rash out and scream ck r with all their might and main the om the pump the horses by their respective and them and the coach too to the house shooting all the time for the coachman at the very top or rather very bottom of his voice for it is a deep bass growl a response is heard from the the coachman in his shoes makes the street echo again as he runs across it and there is such a struggling and and grating of the to get the opposite the door that the children are in perfect of delight what a commotion the old lady who has been stopping there for the last month is going back to the comes box a r box and one of the vehicle is filled with in no time the children get into b way and the youngest who has upset himself in his attempts to carry an umbrella is borne off and kicking the disappear and a pause during which the old lady is no doubt kissing them all round in the back parlour she appears at last followed by her married daughter all tin children and both the who with the joint of the coachman and manage to safely into the coach a cloak is handed in and a little basket we could almost swear contains a black bottle and a paper of up go the steps bang goes the door golden cross tom says the good bye cry the children off the coach at the rate of three miles an hour and the mamma and children retire into the house with the tion of one villain who op the street at the top of his speed par by the servant not ill pleased to have such an opportunity of displaying her attractions she brings him back and alter two or three glances across the way are either intended for us or tlie we are not quite certain whidi shots the door and the coach stand is again at a stand still we have been with the intense delight with which a servant of all work who is sent for a coach herself inside and the unspeakable gratification which boys who have been on a errand appear to derive from the box but we never recollect to have been more amused with a coach party than one we the other morning in court road it was a and emerged from one of the inferior streets near square there were the bride with a thin white dress and a great red face and the a little good young woman dressed of in the same appropriate and the bridegroom and his friend in coals yellow and gloves to stands they stopped at the corner of the street and called a coach with an air of indescribable dignity the moment they were is the threw a red shawl which she had no on purpose over the on the door evidently to into the belief that ihe was a private and away they went that the was and tiiat was a great staring up on a as large as a s a a mile was five at io r e g book a might produce if it carry as much in its head as it does in its body the of a broken down coach would surely be as as tiie of a broken wn and it might tell as much of the pole as others hare of to it many stories might be related of the people it had on of business or or pain and many melancholy tales of the same people at different periods i the country girl the over dressed woman the drunken the raw the di bi the thief talk of are all very well in of expedition when it s matter of neck or nothing life or death your temporary home or your long one but beside a cab s lacking that gravity of di so a let it never be forgotten that a is a thing of yesterday and that he never was anything better cab has always been a from his first entry into life whereas a is a remnant of past a victim to a on of an old en wearing their and in days of by men wearing stripped of his finery and thrown upon the world like a when he is no longer for his office lower and lower in the scale of four wheeled degradation until at last it comes to a e sketches by chapter viii doctors walking without any definite object through st paul s churchyard a uttle while ago we happened to turn down a street entitled paul s and keeping straight forward for a few hundred yards foimd as a natural consequence in doctors now doctors being familiar by name to everybody as the place where grant to lore sick couples and to ones register the wills of people who have any property to leave and punish hasty gentlemen who call ladies by unpleasant names we no sooner discovered that we were really within its than we felt a desire to become better acquainted and as the first object of our was the court whose can even the bonds of matrimony we procured a direction to it and bent our steps thither without delay crossing a quiet and shady paved with stone and frowned upon by old red brick houses on the doors of which were painted the names of sundry learned we paused before a small green nailed door which yielding to our gentle push at
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once admitted us into an old quaint looking apartment with sunken windows and carved at the upper end of which seated on a raised platform of shape were about a dozen solemn looking gentlemen in crimson gowns and at a more elevated desk in the sat a very fat and red faced gentleman in shell spectacles whose dignified appearance announced the judge and round a long table below something like a table without the cushions and pockets were a number of very looking personages in stiff and with white fur whom we at once set down as at the lower end of the table was an individual in an arm and a wig whom we afterwards discovered to be the and seated behind a little desk near the door were a respectable looking man in black of about twenty stone weight or and a fat faced civil looking body in a black gown black kid gloves knee and with a shirt in his bosom curls on his head and a silver staff in his hand whom we had no in as the officer of the court the latter indeed speedily set our mind at rest upon this point for advancing to our elbow and opening a conversation forthwith he had communicated to us in less than five minutes that he was the and the other the court keeper that this was the arches court and then fore the wore red gowns and the fur and that when the other courts sat there they didn t wear red gowns or fur either with many other scraps of intelligence equally interesting besides these two officers there was a little thin old with long hair crouched in a remote comer whose duty our friend informed ua was to ring a large hand bell when the court opened in the morning and who for aught his appearance to the contrary might have been employed for the last two centuries at least the red faced gentleman in the shell got all ths talk to himself just then and veiy well he was doing it too only be spoke very fast but that was habit and rather thick but that was good living so we had plenty of time to look about us there was one individual who amused us this was one of the in doctors the red robes who was before the fire in the of the in the attitude of the brazen to the complete of body c he had gathered up his robe behind in much the same manner as a woman would her on a very dirty day in that he might feel the warmth of the fire his wig was put on all with the tail straggling about his neck his scanty gray trousers and short black made in the worst possible style imparted an additional appearance to his person and his limp shirt collar almost obscured his eyes we shall be able to any credit as a again for after a careful scrutiny of this gentleman s countenance we had come to the conclusion that it nothing but conceit and when our friend with tlie silver staff whispered in our ear that he was no other than a doctor of civil law and heaven knows what besides so of course we were mistaken and he must be a very man he it so well though perhaps with the merciful view of not astonishing ordinary people too much that you would suppose mm to be one of the dogs alive the in the spectacles having concluded his judgment and a few having been allowed to to afford time for the in the court to the called on the next cause was the office of the judge promoted by against a general movement was visible in the court at this announcement and the obliging with silver staff whispered us that there would be some fun now for this was a we were not rendered much the wiser by this piece of information till we found by the opening speech of the counsel for the that under a half of one of the court was to visit with the penalty of any person who should be proved of the crime of or in any church or adjoining and it appeared by some eight i which were duly referred to that on a certain night at a certain meeting in a certain parish particularly set forth thomas the party appeared against in that suit had made use of and applied to michael the the words you be and that on the said michael and others with the said thomas on the of his conduct the said thomas repeated the express sion you be and more desired and requested to know whether the said wanted himself adding that if the said michael did want anything for himself he the thomas was the man to give it him at the same time making use of other and sinful expressions all of which submitted came within the intent and meaning of the act and therefore he for the soul s health and of prayed for sentence of against him accordingly upon these facts a long it was entered into on both sides to the great of a number of persons interested in the who crowded the court and when some very long and grave speeches had been made pro and con the red faced gentleman in the tor spectacles took a review of the case which occupied half an hour more and then pronounced upon the awful sentence of for a fortnight and payment of the costs of uie suit upon this who was a uttle red faced sly addressed the court and said if they d be good enough to take off the costs and him for the term of his natural life instead it would be much more convenient to him for he went a sketches by all to this i
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peal the ia the made no other than a look of and and hia friends as the man with the silver staff informed os that the court was on the point of we retired as we walked away upon the spirit of these ancient laws the kind and feelings they are calculated and the strong to religious institutions which they cannot fail to en we were so lost in these that we had turned into the street and run up against a door poet before we recollected where we were walking on looking upwards to see what house we had stumbled upon words office written in characters met our eye and as we were in a sight and the place was a public one we walked in the room into which we walked was a long busy looking place off on either side into a variety of little boxes in which a few clerks were engaged in or examining deeds down the centre of the room were several nearly breast high at each of which three or four people were standing over large volumes as we knew that they were searching for wills they attracted our attention at once it was curious to contrast the indifference of the clerks who were making a search for some legal purpose with the air of earnestness and interest which distinguished the strangers to the place who were looking up the will of some deceased relative me former pausing every now and then with an impatient or raising their heads to look at the people who passed up and down the room the latter over the book and running down column after column of names in the deepest abstraction there was one little dirty man in a blue apron who after a whole extending some fifty back had just uie will to he wished to refer which one of the officials was reading to him in a low hurried voice firom a thick book with large it was evident that the more the read the less the man with the blue apron understood about the matter when the was brought down he took off his hat down his hair smiled with self satisfaction and looked up m the reader s face with the air of a man who had made up his mind to recollect every word he heard the first two or three lines were intelligible enough but then the and the little man began to look rather then came a whole string of complicated and he was at sea as the reader proceeded it was quite apparent that it a hopeless case and the little man with his mouth open and his eyes fixed upon his looked on with an of be and perplexity ludicrous a little further on a hard old man with a deeply wrinkled ee intently a will the aid of a pair of horn occasionally pausing from his task and noting down some brief of the contained in it every his mouth and sharp keen eyes told of and his were nearly but it was easy to see that he wore them from choice and not from all his looks and gestures down to the very small of snuff which he every now and then took from a little tin of wealth and and as he leisurely closed the register put up his spectacles and folded his scraps of paper in a large pocket book we thought what a nice hard bargain he was driving with some poverty stricken who tired of waiting year after year until some life interest should fall in was selling chance just as it began to london grow most for a twelfth part of its worth it was a good a very safe one the old mad his book in the breast of his great coat and away with a of triumph that will had made him ten years at the lowest having commenced our we should certainly have them to another dozen of people at least had not a sudden shutting up and putting away of the worm eaten old books warned us that the time for closing the office had and thus deprived us of a and spared our readers an we naturally fell into a train of reflection as we walked upon the curious old records of and of and re of affection the power of death and hatred pursued beyond the grave which these contain silent but striking tokens some of them of of heart and of soul melancholy examples others of the worst passions of human nature how men as they lay speechless and helpless on the bed of death would have given worlds but for the strength and power to blot out the silent evidence of and bitterness which now stands against them in doctors chapter ix n the wish of persons in the classes of life to the manners and customs of those whom fortune has above them is often the subject of remark and not of complaint the inclination may and no doubt does exist to a great extent among e small the of the middle classes and clerks with fashionable novel o families and library daughters get u k small in humble imitation of s and the dingy room of some rate hotel with as much complacency as the few who are to exhibit their magnificence in that exclusive haunt of fa on and young ladies who read flaming accounts of some fair in high life suddenly grow desperately charitable visions of admiration and matrimony float before their eyes some wonderfully institution which by the strangest in the world has never been heard of before is discovered to be in a condition s great room or johnson s nursery ground is forthwith engaged and the young ladies from mere charity themselves for three days from twelve to four for the small charge of one shilling per head with the exception
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our readers to imagine them stationed by our side in some well known rural tea gardens the heat is intense this afternoon and the people of whom there are additional parties every moment look as warm as me tables which have been recently painted and have the appearance of being red hot what a dust and noise men and women boys and girls and married people babies in arms and children in pipes and cigars and tea and tobacco gentlemen in alarming and steel watch guards about three abreast with surprising dignity or as the gentleman in the next box cutting it uncommon fat i ladies with great long white pocket like small in their hands chasing one another on the grass in the most playful and interesting manner with the view of the attention of the gentlemen husbands in perspective bottles of for the objects of their affections with a lavish disregard of expense and the said objects washing down huge quantities of and with an equal disregard of j their own bodily health and subsequent comfort boys with great silk hats balanced on the top of their smoking cigars and trying to look as if they liked them gentlemen in pink shirts and blue occasionally themselves or somebody else with their own some of the finery of these people a smile but they are all clean and happy and disposed to be good natured and those two looking women in the smart who are so a ma am at every fourth word scraped an acquaintance about a of an hour ago it originated in admiration of the little boy who belongs to one of them that specimen of in the three pink satin hat with black feathers the two men in the blue coats and trousers who are walking up and down smoking their pipes are their husbands the party m the opposite box are a fair specimen of the of the visitors these are the father and mother and old grandmother a young man and woman and an addressed by the of undo bill who is evidently the wit of the party have some half dozen with them but it is scarcely necessary to notice the fact for that is a matter of course here every woman in the gardens who has been married for any length of time must have had on two or three occasions it is impossible to account for the extent of population in any other way by observe the delight of the old grandmother at bill s splendid joke of tea for four bread and for forty f aad the loud of mirth which follows his a paper on the waiter s collar the young is evidently keeping company with bill s niece and bill s hints such as don t ma at the dinner you know i shall look out for the cake sally i u be to your first it s a bo and so forth are equally to the young people and delightful to the elder ones as to the old grandmother die is in perfect and does nothing but laugh herself into fits of until they have finished the gin and water warm with of which uncle bill ordered glasses round after tea just to keep the night air out and do it up and hot day it is k and the begin to move the field town is quite of them the hand are dragged along the children are tired amuse themselves and the com by crying or resort t more going to de the mothers beg wish they were at home tn hearts grow more sentimental ever as the time for parting an the gardens look mournful by the light oi the two w hang against the trees for the of and the wai who have been running about ii for the last ax hours think fed a httle tired as they and their the chapter x the fond of ike is a very in hot weather by men very is the an t you i hardly ever off it is the response by sundry s m te of the speaker s admiration ci that element now with all for the opinion of society in general and clubs in we suggest that some of the most in tha mind of who has himself on tlie thames most be with his who ever of a party f or to pot the in a still more form who ever mar one f we been on water oat of but we that we call to mind one single occasion of the which was not marked by more any one would could be crowded into the of some ei t or nine hours some has gone wrong either the cork of the dressing has come ont or the most expected of the party has not come out or the meet disagreeable man in come out era child or two have into the water or the gentleman who to steer has every body s life all the way or the who r c d to row have been ont of aad performed alarming putting their oars down into the and not being able to get them np or without them in at all in either case over on the backs of with and the ef their to the c in the boat in a very humiliating manner we grant that the banks of the thames are very beautiful at and and other distant often sought though seldom reached but from the back to s bridge the scene is wonderfully changed the is a noble building no doubt and the who go in at that particular part of the river on a summer s evening may be all very well in perspective but when ou are obliged to keep in shore home and tiie
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pots to a pint on yellow c c every little public house fires its gun and its flag and the men who win the heat come in amidst a and shouting and and confusion which no one can imagine who has not witnessed it and of which any description would convey a very idea one of the most amusing places we know is the steam wharf of the london or st s dock on a saturday morning in when the and are usually crowded to excess and as we have just taken a glance at the river above bridge we hope our readers will not object to accompany us on board a packet are every moment setting down at the entrance to the wharf and the of bewildered astonishment with which the and their luggage into ue hands of the who seize all the pack ages at once as a matter of course and run away with them heaven knows where is in the extreme a boat lies alongside the wharf the boat which starts first lies alongside that again and as a temporary communication is formed between ihe two by means of a plank and hand rail the natural confusion of the scene is by no means diminished a stout father of a stout family who follow him under the guidance of their mother and a servant at the no small risk of two or three of them being left behind in the confusion t pass on if you please sir replies the attendant other boat sir the stout father being rather and the stout mother rather distracted by maternal anxiety the whole party deposit themselves in the boat and after having congratulated himself on having secured very comfortable seats the stout father to the chimney to look for his luggage which he has a faint recollection of having given some man something to take somewhere no luggage however bearing the most remote resemblance to his own in shape or form is to be discovered on which the stout father calls very loudly for an officer to whom he states the case in the presence of another father of another family a little thin man who entirely with him the stout father in thinking that it s high time something was done with these steam companies and that as the bill failed to do it something else must for really people s property is not to be sacrificed in this way and that if the luggage isn t restored without he wiu take care it shall be put in the papers for the public is not to be the victim of these great to this the officer in his turn replies that that company ever it has been st s dock company has protected life and property that if it had been the london bridge wharf company indeed he shouldn t have seeing that the morality of that company f b b i sketches by can t be answered for bj no one but as it is he s convinced ere must be some mistake and he wouldn t mind making a solemn oath afore a magistrate that the find his luggage afore he gets to here e stout u ac thinking he is making a capital p that as it happens he is not going to at all and that passenger to was on the luggage in letters of full two inches long on the officer rapidly explains the mistake and the stout mother and the stout children and the servant are hurried all possible despatch on board the boat which they reach just in time to discover that their luggage is there and that their comfortable seats are not then the bell which is the signal for the boat starting ins to ring most furiously and people keep time to the bell by running in and out of our boat at a double quick pace the bell stops the boat starts people who have been taking leave of their friends on board are carried away against their will and e who have been taking leave of their friends on shore find that they have performed very needless ceremony in consequence of their not being carried away at all the regular passengers who have season tickets go w to breakfast people who have purchased morning papers compose to read them and people who have not been down the river before think that the shipping and the water look a great deal better at a distance when we get down about as far as and to move t a quicker rate the of the passengers appear to rise in proportion old women who have brought large hand baskets with them set seriously to work at the of heavy and pass round a which is frequently bottle like warmer with glee handing it first to the gentleman in the who plays the partly as an of with his previous and partly to him to play for to dance to which done who is a damp child in red takes certain upon the deck to tiie unspeakable satisfaction of his who have brought the first of some new novel in become extremely plaintive and to mr brown or young mr who has looking over them on the of the sky and brightness of the water on which mr brown or mr o as the case may be remarks in a voice that he has been quite insensible of late to the beauties of nature that his whole thoughts and wishes have in one object alone whereupon the young lady looks up and failing in her attempt to appear unconscious looks down again and turns over the next leaf with great difficulty in order to afford opportunity for a lengthened pressure of the sand and of brandy and water cold without begin to be in great and men who have been looking down the at the engine
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find to their great relief a subject on which they can converse with one and a copious one too steam wonderful thing ah a deep drawn sigh it is indeed great power sir immense immense great deal done by steam sir ah another sigh at the of the subject and a knowing shake of the head you may say dr still in its in they say sir novel remarks of this kind are generally the of a conversation which is prolonged until the conclusion of the trip and perhaps lays the of a speaking acquaintance between half a dozen gentlemen having their families at take son tickets for the boat and dine oo board every afternoon c chapter xl s we never see any large staring black roman in a book or or on a wall their immediately recalling to our mind an indistinct and confused recollection of the time when we were first in the mysteries of the we almost fancy we see the pin s point following the letter to impress its form more strongly on oar bewildered imagination and as we remember the hard with which the reverend old lady who into oar mind the first principles of education for per week or ten and sixpence per quarter was wont to oar head occasionally by way of the confusion of ideas in which we were generally involved the same kind of feeling us in many other instances but there is no place which so strongly our recollections of childhood as s it was not a in those days nor had arisen to shed the light of classic taste and gas over the of the but the whole character of the place was the same the pieces were the same the s jokes were the same the riding were equally grand the comic equally witty the equally hoarse and the highly trained equally spirited s has altered for the better we have changed for the worse our taste is gone and with shame we confess that we are more delighted and amused with the audience than with the we once so highly we like to watch a regular s party in the or pa and ma and nine or ten children varying from five foot six to two foot eleven fourteen years of to four we had just our seat in one of the boxes in the centre of the house the other when the next was occupied by just such a party as we should have attempted to describe had we depicted our beau ideal of a group of s visitors first of all there came three little boys and a little girl who in of pa s directions issued in a very audible voice from the box door occupied the front row then two more uttle girls were ushered in by a young lady evidently the then came three more uttle boys dressed like the first in blue and trousers with lay down shirt then a child in a frock and high state of with very large round eyes opened to their utmost width was lifted over the seats a process which occasioned a display of httle pink legs then came and pa and then the eldest son a boy of fourteen years old who was evidently trying to look as if he did not belong to the family the five minutes were occupied in taking the off the little girls and the bows which ornamented their hair then it was discovered that one of the little boys was seated behind a pillar and could not see so the was stuck behind the pillar and the boy lifted into her place then pa the boys and directed the away of their pocket handkerchiefs and ma having first nodded and winked to the to the girls a more off their stood up to review the little troop an inspection which i to to her own satisfaction for she looked with a complacent air at pa who was at the further end of the seat fa the glance and his nose very emphatically b b sc sketches by i got m peeped mt from behind the pillar and timidly tried to catch ma s eye with a look of her high admiration of the whole then two of little boys who had been the point whether s was more than twice as large as agreed to refer it to george for his decision at which george who was no other than the gentleman before noticed indignant and remonstrated in no gentle terms on the gross of having his name repeated m so loud a voice at a public place on which all the children laughed very heartily and one of the boys wound up by expressing his opinion that george began to think himself quite a man now whereupon both pa and laughed too and who carried a dress cane and was whiskers muttered that william always was encouraged in his impertinence and assumed a look of profound contempt which lasted the whole evening the play began and the interest of the little boys knew no bounds pa was clearly interested too although he very endeavoured to look as if he wasn t as for ma she was perfectly overcome by the of the principal and laughed till every one of the immense bows on her ample cap trembled at which the peeped out from behind the pillar again and whenever she could catch ma s eye put her handkerchief to her mouth and as in duty bound to be in of laughter also then when the man in the splendid vowed to rescue the lady or perish in the attempt the little boys applauded vehemently especially one little fellow who was apparently on a visit to tho family and had been on a child s the whole evening with a small of twelve years old who looked like a
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model of her mamma on a reduced and who in common with the other little girls who generally speaking have even more them than older ones looked very properly shocked w the knight s squire kissed the prince confidential when the scenes in the circle o the children were more lighted than ever and the wish to what was going forward conquering pa s he stood in the box and as any of them between each the i across to ma and the di remarks of the children on that had preceded and ma in the o ness of her heart offered the an drop and the gratified to be taken notice of behind her pillar again with a countenance and the whole p seemed quite happy except the en site in the back of the box who b too grand to take any interest ii en and too insignificant tc taken notice of by any body else c himself m time to tim rubbing the place where the to be and was completely a we defy any one who has bee s two or three times ac consequently capable of the perseverance with which the same jokes are repeated night i night and season after season n be amused with one part of the at least we mean scenes in the circle for know that when the of gas is let down the an drawn up for the convenience ol half price on their ring the orange cleared away the shaken with precision into a complete circle feel as much as the child present and actually join ii laugh which follows the s i shout of here we are just foi acquaintance sake nor can we of our old feeling of i for the riding master who the with a long whip in his fa and bows to the audience with dignity he is none of your sec rate riding masters in d s with brown but the lar gentleman attendant on the who always wears a uniform with a table cloth the breast of the coat in which he forcibly reminds one of a for he is but ly should we attempt to describe t of which no description can adequate idea everybody knows man and everybody remembers i polished boots his graceful stiff as some have in their jealousy it and the splendid head of parted high on the to impart to the countenance an of deep thought and poetic his soft and pleasing ice too is in perfect with his ble bearing as he the indulging in a little and e striking recollection of his own with which he now if yon please inquire for miss sir can never be forgotten le air too with which he miss into the na and after assisting her to the die follows her round circle can never fail to create a impression in the bosom of every lie servant present hen miss and the horse all stop together to he takes part in dialogue as the following by the i say w well mr it s always con i in the manner did ter happen to hear i was in the mr no sir oh yes lean go through my exercise sir i do it if yon please sir come s haste a cut with the long ha done now i don t from the here the himself on the ground through a variety of himself himself again and look very uke a man extreme of human ie delight of the r f gallery until he is interrupted by a second cut from the long whip and a request to see what miss s stopping for on which to the mirth of the gallery he now miss what can i come for to go for to fetch for to bring for to carry for to do for you ma am v on the lady s announcing with a sweet smile that e wants the two flags they are with sundry procured and handed up the observing after the performance of the latter ceremony he he oh i say sir miss knows me she smiled at me another cut from the whip a burst from the a start from the horse and round goes miss again on her graceful performance to the of every member of the audience young or old the next pause affords an opportunity for similar the only additional fun being that of the making ludicrous at the riding master every time his back is and finally the circle by jumping over his head having previously directed his attention another way did any of our ever notice the class of people who hang about the stage doors of our minor theatres in the you will rarely pass one of these without seeing a group of three or four men conversing on the pavement with an indescribable public house and a kind of conscious peculiar to people of this description they always seem to think they are exhibiting the lamps are ever before them that young fellow in the faded brown coat and very full light trousers down the of his check as as if it were of the finest linen and the white hat of the summer before last as over his right eve aa if it were a purchase of yesterday look at the dirty white gloves and the cheap silk handkerchief stuck in tlie bosom of his coat is it possible to see him for an instant and not come to the i sketches by gentleman who a clean collar and white for half an hour and then into his worn out clothes who has to boast night after night of his splendid fortune with the of a pound a week and his boots to find to talk of his father mansion in the country a dreary of his own two pair back
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an impression which is immediately confirmed by a gentleman in top boots who is standing by and who in a low tone regrets his own inability to bet in consequence of ui left his purse at home but strongly the stranger not to neglect such a golden opportunity the plant is successful the bet is made the stranger of course loses and the gentleman with the him as he pockets the money with an assurance that it s all the of war this time i tin next time you tin mind the loss oc two bob and a do it up in a small parcel and break out in a fresh place here s the sort o game c and the eloquent with such as the speaker s fancy suggests is again repeated to the gaping crowd by the accession of several new comers the chief place of resort in the the public houses is the park in which the principal amusement is to dr young ladies up the steep hill which leads to the and then drag them down again at the very top of their speed greatly to the of their curls and bonnet caps and much to the of on from below kiss in the ring and my grandmother s needle too are sports which receive their full share of patronage love sick under the influence of gin and water and the tender passion become violently affectionate and the fair objects of their regard the value of stolen by a vast deal of struggling and holding down of heads ana cries of oh ha done then oh do him for me mary i never and similar little old men and women with a small basket under one arm and a wine glass without a foot in the other hand tender a drop o the right sort to die different groups and young ladies who are persuaded to indulge in a drop of the t right sort display a pleasing to taste it and cough af wards with great propriety the old who for moderate charge of a penny the mast house the thames and al the place where the men use hang in and other interest sights through a are as questions about objects within range of the which it wo puzzle a solomon to answer and to find out particular hot in particular streets which it wo have been a task of some difficulty mr not the young who ate with his the man of discover here and there where sc three or four couple are sitting on grass together you will see a sun bo woman in a red cloak telling tunes and which it requires no observation to describe for the or are before her thereupon lady concerned laughs and and ultimately her face in imitation handkerchief i the gentleman described looks foolish and her ha and the liberally and goes away perfectly herself and leaving those behind perfectly satisfied also and the p uke many other greater importance itself time but it grows dark the crowd dispersed and only a j are left behind the li in the direction of the church h that the fair is illuminated and distant noise proves it to be filling i the spot which half an hour ago i ringing with the shouts of mirth is as calm and quiet as if could ever disturb its serenity fine old trees the majestic building their feet with the noble river glistening in the moonlight appeal all their beauty and under their m favourable aspect the voices of t boys singing their evening hymn i borne gently on the air and the hu fair who has been lingering on the grass so pleasant to the feet that the same dull round from week to week in the paved streets of london feels proud to think as he the scene before him that he belongs to the country which has selected such a spot as a retreat for its oldest and best in the decline of their lives five minutes walking brings you to the air a scene calculated to awaken very different feelings the entrance is occupied on either by the of and toys the are g lighted up the most attractive disposed and young ladies in their zeal for the interest of their t you by the coat and use all the of do dear there s a love don t be cross now c to induce you to purchase half pound of the real nuts of which the majority of the regular carry a pound or two as a present supply tied up in a cotton occasionally you pass a deal table on which are exposed pen of salmon included in httle white with shells as large as and divers specimens of a species of we think they are called floating in a somewhat green liquid cigars too are in great demand gentlemen must smoke of course and here they are two a penny in a regular cigar box with a lighted candle m the centre imagine yourself in an extremely dense crowd which you to and bo and in and out and every way but the right one add to this the screams of women the shouts of boys the of the firing of pistols the ringing of bells the of trumpets the of the noise of a dozen with three drums in each all playing different tunes at the same time the of and an occasional roar from the wild beast and you are in the very centre heart of the fair this with the large in front so brightly illuminated lamps and pots of burning fat is s where you have a drama with three and a ghost a a comic song an and some music all done in five minutes the company are now outside in all the dignity of red and see
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with what a ferocious air the gentleman who the chief paces up and down and with what an eye of calm dignity the on the crowd below or with the i the four who are engaged in a mock combat may be all very well for the low minded holiday makers but these are the people for the portion of the community they look so noble in those roman dresses with their yellow legs and arms long black curly heads eyebrows and expressive of and vengeance and everything else that is grand and solemn then the ladies were there ever such innocent and awful looking beings as they walk up and down the in and with their arms round each other s or leaning for support on one of those majestic men i their muslin dresses and blue satin shoes and a the worse for wear are the admiration of all and the playful manner in which they check the advances of the is perfectly just a going to begin i pray come for come u r the man in the s dress for the time and people force their way up the steps in crowds the band suddenly strikes up the and set the example are formed in less than no time the roman heroes place their arms a and dance with considerable and the leading tragic and die gentleman who the swell in the foot u to i t c ii sketches by in to begin the manager when no more people can be induced to come for and away rush the leading members of the company to do the dreadful in the first piece a change of performance takes place every day during the fair bat the story of me tragedy is always pretty much the same there is a heir who loves a young lady and is beloved by her and a heir who loves her too and isn t beloved by her and the heir gets hold of the heir and throws him into a just to kill him off when convenient for which purpose he a couple of a good one and a bad one who the moment they are left alone get up a little murder on their own account the good one killing the bad one and the bad one the good one then the heir is discovered in prison carefully holding a long chain m his hands and seated y in a large arm chair and tbe young lady comes in to two bars of soft music and embraced tiie heir and then the heir comes in to two bars of quick music called a hurry and goes on in the most shocking manner throwing the young lady at t as if she was nobody and calling the heir ar ar wretch i in a very loud voice which answers the double purpose of displaying his passion and preventing the sound being by the the interest becomes intense the heir draws his sword and rushes on the heir a blue smoke is seen a is heard and a tall white figure who has been an this time the arm chair covered over a rises to the tune of oft in the night this is no other than the ghost of he heir h who was killed by the heir s at sight of which tiie heir becomes and is struck all of a heap the stage not being large to admit of his down bt length then the was hired in the bad by the heir to kill the heir and he s killed a good many people in his time but he s very sorry for it and won t do so any more a promise which he by dying off hand without any nonsense about it then the heir throws down his chain and then two men a sailor and a young woman the of the heir come in and tiie ghost makes dumb motions to them they by supernatural interference understand no one else can and the ghost who t do any thing without blue fire the right l heir and the young lady by half them with smoke and then a rings and the curtain drop the next in popularity to these theatres are tho travelling or to speak more the wild beast shows where a military band in beef s costume with caps incessantly and where la coloured of tearing men s heads open and a lion being burnt with red hot irons to induce to drop his victim are up outside by way of visitors the principal at is generally a very tall hoarse man in a coat a cane in hia hand with which ne occasionally the pictures we have just noticed by way of his in this way here here hers the bon the lion tap exactly as he is represented ob the outside three no waiting remember no deception ro tap who bit im the gentleman s head bat a and has killed on three a ever he arrived at no extra tm this account recollect the ol admission is only sixpence address never to a sensation and into the with fair the are also objects of great and as a dwarf a a living skeleton a wild indian a lady of singular beauty with perfectly white and pink eyes and two or three other natural usually exhibited together for the small of a penny they attract very the best thing about a dwarf is that he has always a httle box about two feet six inches high into by long practice he can just manage to get by himself up like a boot jack this box is painted uke a six house and as the crowd see him ring a bell or fire a pistol out of the first floor window they verily believe that it is his ordinary town divided like other
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into drawing rooms dining parlour and up in thb the little object is brought out to delight the throng by a m dialogue with the proprietor in the course of which the dwarf who is always himself to sing a comic inside and pays various compliments to the ladies which them to for with great as a giant is not so easily a pair of at most dimensions and a huge shoe are usually brought ont into whidi two or three stout men get all at to the of the are quite satisfied with the solemn assurance that form part of the giant s costume the and most in the whole however is the crown and a temporary ball room we how many hundred feet the of to which is one shilling immediately on your right as yoa enter after paying your money is a refreshment place at which cold beef roast and boiled french rolls stout wine tongue ham even fowls if we recollect right are displayed in tempting array there is a raised and the place is all the way down in patches just wide enough for a dance there is no master of the ceremonies in this artificial all is primitive and the dust is blinding the heat the company somewhat noisy and in the highest spirits possible the ladies in the height of their innocent animation dancing in the gentlemen s hats and the gentlemen the gay and scene in the ladies or with the more ornaments of false noses and low crowned box looking hats playing children s drums and by ladies on the penny trumpet the noise of various the the shouting the and the dancing is perfectly bewildering the itself beggars description every figure lasts about an hour and the ladies up and down the middle with a degree of s which is quite indescribable as to the gentlemen they stamp their feet against the ground every time hands four round begins go down the middle and up again with cigars in their months ai silk handkerchiefs in their and their partners round nothing loth and falling and embracing and knocking up against the other couples until they are tired out and can move no longer the same scene is repeated and again varied by an occasional row until a late hour at night and a great many clerks and find themselves next ing with aching heads empty pockets hats and a very imperfect of how it was they did not get sketches by chapter xiii theatres richard the third duke op earl of il duke of d lord s lord mayor of london s dr such are the written up in the gentlemen s or the green room where there any at a private theatre and such are sums extracted from the shop till or in tiie office expenditure by the who are prevailed upon to pay for permission to exhibit their lamentable ignorance and on the stage of a private this they do in proportion to the scope afforded by the character for the display of their for instance duke of is well worth two pounds because he has it all to himself he must wear a real sword and what is better still he must draw it several times in the course of the piece the alone are well worth fifteen shillings then there is the king henry decidedly cheap at three and sixpence tliat s and sixpence the say eighteen pence though it s worth much more that s a pound then the love scene with lady ann and the bustle of the fourth act can t be dear at ten shillings more that s only one pound ten including the off with his head which is sure to bring down the applause and it is very easy to do with his ed very quick and loud then slow and so much for bu u u lay the emphasis on the get yourself gradually into a comer and work with your right band while you re saying it as if you were feeling your way and it s sure to do the tent scene is worth half and so you have the fight in and every body knows what an effect may be produced by a good combat one two three four over then one two three four under then thrust then and slide about then fall down on one knee then fight upon it and then get up again and yon may keep on doing this as long as it seems to take say ten minutes and then fall down backwards if yon can manage it without yourself and die game nothing like it for an effect they always do it at s and s wells and if they don t know how to do this sort of thing who in the world does a small child or a female in white the interest of a combat indeed we are not aware that a regular legitimate terrific combat could be done without but it would be rather difficult and somewhat unusual to introduce this effect in the last scene of richard the third so the only thing to be done is just to make the best of a bad bargain and be as long as possible fighting it out the principal of private theatres are dirty boys low in offices youths from city jews whose business as of fancy dresses is a sure to the amateur stage shop boys who now and then mistake their master s money for their own and a choice of idle the proprietor of a private theatre may be an ex a low coffee house keeper a disappointed eighth rate actor a retired or an the theatre itself may be in street strand the of the
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city the neighbourhood of or the vicinity of s wells or it may perhaps form the nuisance of some shabby street on the side of bridge private theatres the lady pay nothing for their characters and it is needless to add are usually selected from one class of society the are necessarily of much the same character as the who receive in return their to the management tickets to the amount of the money they pay all the minor theatres in london especially the lowest constitute the centre of a little stage struck neighbourhood each of them has an audience its own and at any you will see dropping into the pit at half price or into tne back of a box if the price of admission be a reduced one divers boys of from fifteen to twenty one years of age who throw back their coat and turn up their after the portraits of count d hum tunes and whistle when the curtain is down by way of persuading the people near them that they are not at all anxious to have it op again and speak familiarly of the inferior as bill such a one and ned so and so or tell each other how a new piece the unknown of invisible is in how is to play the unknown how is to take the part of an english sailor and fi ht a combat with six unknown at one and the same time one theatrical sailor is always equal to half a dozen men at least how and are to go through a double in in the second act how the interior of the invisible is to occupy the whole extent of uie stage and other surprising theatrical these gentlemen are ihe the and the captain and charles of a private theatre see them at the neighbouring or the theatrical coffee shop they are the kings of the place supposing no real to be present and roll about hats on one side and arms a as if they had actually come into possession of eighteen a week and a share of a ticket night if one of them does but know an s he is a happy fellow the mingled air of envy and admiration with which his companions will regard him as he familiarly with some man in a fancy whose partially eyebrows and half face testify to the fact of his having just left the stage or the circle sufficiently shows in what high admiration these public characters are held with the double view of guarding against the discovery of friends or and the interest of an assumed character by a high sounding name to its representative these assume names which are not the least amusing port of the play bill of a private theatre st and so forth are among the and the less imposing titles of c are completely laid aside there is something imposing in this and it is an excellent apology for into the bargain a faded coat a decayed hat a patched and soiled pair of trousers nay even a very dirty shirt and none of these appearances are very among the members of the corps may be worn for the purpose of disguise and to prevent the remotest choice of recognition then it prevents any troublesome inquiries or explanations about employment and pursuits every body is a gentleman at large for the occasion and there are none of those unpleasant and unnecessary distinctions to which even genius must occasionally elsewhere as to the ladies god bless them they are quite above any formal the mere circumstance of your being behind the scenes is a sufficient introduction to their society for of course they know that none but strictly sketches by i be admitted into that dose fellowship witli them which acting they place reliance on the manager no doubt and as to the manager he ia all he knows you weu or in other words when he has your money once and confident hopes of doing so again a quarter before eight there will be a full house to night six parties in the boxes already four little boys and a woman in tiie pit and two and a in the who hare got through five since seven o clock the hour fixed for the commencement of the performances and have just begun tiie sixth there will be plenty of it though when it does begin for there is enough in the bill to last six hours at least that gentleman in the white hat and checked brown coat and brass buttons behind the stage box on the o p side is mr st his line comedy s and he does alfred in the last piece and very well he ll do it at the price the of gentlemen in the opposite box to whom he has just nodded are friends and of mr otherwise the of the night you observe their attempts to appear easy and gentlemanly each member of party with his feet cocked upon the cushion in front of the box i they let them do these things here upon the same humane principle which poor people s children to knock double at the door of an empty house because they can t do it any where else the two stout men in tiie centre box with an opera glass placed before them are friends of tiie country as he every individual among the crew behind the curtain country looking out a representation whidi mr the who is in the manager s interest and j just with the to confirm upon oath if required evidence however is quite unnecessary the believe it at once the stout who has just is the mother of the pale bony little girl with the of blue glass beads sitting by her she is being brought up to the
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profession is to be her line and she is coming out to night in a after the tragedy the short thin man beside mr st whose white face is so deeply with the and whose dirty shirt front is with open work and with coral like is the low and comic singer of the the remainder of the audience a tolerably numerous one by this time are a group of and the have just made their appearance the of the oil lamps round the only tier of boxes are being np and the additional light thus afforded serves to show the presence of dirt and absence of which forms a prominent feature in the audience part of the house as these preparations however announce tiie speedy commencement of the play let us take a peep behind previous to ringing up the narrow passages beneath the stage are neither especially clean nor too lighted and hie of any er with the damp smell which the place does not in any great degree to their comfortable appearance don t fall over this it s one of the properties tiie for the cave and the three uncouth looking figures with broken in their hands who are drinking gin out of a pint pot are the weird sisters this miserable room lighted by candles in placed at lengthened intervals round the wall is the dressing room common to tile gentlemen and the square hole in uie ceiling is he trap door of the stage above you w observe tiiat private theatres o the is ornamented with the beams that support the boards and hung with the characters in the tragedy are all dressed and their own clothes are scattered in hurried confusion oyer the wooden which room that snuff shop in front of the glass is and uie lady with the display of legs who is kindly painting his with a hare s foot is dressed for the large woman who is the stage directions in s edition of is the of the night she is always selected to play part because she is tall and stout and looks a like at a considerable distance that stupid looking with light hair and bow legs a kind of man whom you can war town made is fresh caught he plays to night just to himself to an audience he will g et on better by degrees he will play in a month and in a month more will very probably be apprehended on a charge of the black eyed female with whom he is talking so earnestly is dressed for the it is act first appearance in that character the of fourteen who is having his eyebrows with soap and is king of scotland and the two dirty men with the countenances in very old green and dirty boots are the look sharp below there the a red and red jew through the trap they re a going to up the says he ll be if he plays any more and they re precious noisy in a general rush takes place to the half dozen little steep steps leading to the stage and the group are soon assembled at the side scenes in breathless anxiety and confusion now cries the manager consulting the written list which hangs behind the first p s wing scene open country lamps down thunder and lightning all ready white v this is addressed to one of the army all ready very well scene front front chamber yes very weu jones to the other army who is up m the wind up the open when we ring up scene back with bridge bridge ready white got the there au right very wed tlie stage cries the manager hastily packing ev ry member of the company into the little space is between the wings and tho and one wing and er places places now then bleeding officer where s ihe bleeding officer f here i replies the officer who has been rose for uie character ready then now white ring the second the actors who are to be are hastily arranged and the actors who are not to be discovered place in their anxiety to peep at the house just where the whole audience can see them the bell rings and the in acknowledgment of the call play three distinct the bell rings the tragedy and our tion sketches by chapter xiv bt there was a time when if a man ventured to wonder how gardens would look by day he was hailed with a shout of derision at the absurdity of the idea by daylight a porter pot without porter the house of without the speaker a gas lamp without the gas nonsense the thing was not to be thought of it was too in those times that gardens by day were the scene of secret and hidden experiments that there were exercised in the mystic art of cutting a moderate sized ham into thin enough to the whole of the grounds tiiat beneath the shade of the tall trees men were constantly engaged in experiments the view of discovering how much water a bowl of possibly bear and that in some retired appropriated to the study of other sage and learned men were by a process known only to themselves incessantly employed in fowls to a mere combination of skin and bone vague of this kind with many others of a nature cast over gardens an air of deep mystery and as there is a great deal in the mysterious there is no doubt that to a good many people at all events the pleasure they afforded was not a little by this very circumstance of this class of people we confess to having made one we loved
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to wander among these illuminated groves thinking of tlie patient and laborious which had been carried on there during the day and witnessing their results in the which were served up beneath the light of lamps and to the sound of music at night the temples and and and glittered aud sparkled before our eyes the beauty of the lady singers and the elegant of the gentlemen our hearts a few hundred thousand of additional lamps dazzled our senses a bowl or two of punch bewildered our brains and we were happy in an evil hour the of gardens took to opening them by day we regretted this as rudely and harshly disturbing that veil of mystery which had hung about the property for many years and which none but the sun and the late mr had ever penetrated we shrunk from going at this moment we scarcely know why perhaps a morbid consciousness of approaching disappointment perhaps a fatal perhaps the weather whatever it was we did not go until the second or third announcement of a race between two tempted us and we went we paid our shilling at the gate and then we saw for the first time that the entrance if there had ever been any magic about it at all was now being in fact nothing more nor less than a combination of very roughly painted boards and we glanced at the and supper room as we hurried past we just recognised them and that was all we bent our steps to the ground there at least we should not be disappointed we reached it and stood rooted to the spot with mortification and astonishment that the tower that wooden shed with a door in the centre and of crimson and round like a gigantic that the place where night after night we had beheld the mr make his terrific ascent surrounded by flames of fire and of and where the white garments of madame some gardens by day body we forget even her name now who nobly devoted her life to the manufacture of had so often been seen fluttering in the wind as she called up a red blue or light to her temple ai the but at this moment the bell rung the people away to spot from whence the sound proceeded and we from the mere force of habit found running among the first as if for very life it was for the concert in the a small party of dismal men in cocked hats were the to and a numerous assemblage of ladies and gentlemen with their families had rushed from their half emptied stout in the supper boxes and crowded to the spot intense was the low murmur of admiration when a particularly small gentleman in a dress coat led on a particularly tall lady in a blue and bonnet of the same ornamented with large white feathers and forthwith a plaintive we knew the small gentleman well we had seen a semblance of him on many a piece of music with his mouth wide open as if in the act of singing a wine glass in his hand and a table with two and four pine apples on it in the background the tall lady too we had gazed on lost in of admiration many and many a time how different people do look by and without punch to be sure it was a beautiful first the small gentleman asked a question and then the tall lady answered it then the gentleman and the tall lady sang together most then the small gentleman went through a little piece of vehemence by himself and got tenor indeed in the excitement of his feelings to which the tall lady responded in a similar manner then the small gentleman had a shake or two after which the tall lady had the same and then they both into the original air and the band wound themselves up to a pitch of fury and the small gentleman handed the tall lady out and tho applause was the comic singer however was the especial favourite we really thought that a gentleman with his dinner in a pocket handkerchief who stood near us would have fainted with excess of joy a gentleman that comic singer is his characteristics are a wig approaching to the and an aged countenance and he bears the name of one of the english if we recollect right he sang a very good song about the seven ages the first half hour of which afforded the assembly the purest delight of the rest we can make no report as we did not stay to hear any more we walked about and met with a disappointment at every turn our favourite views were mere patches of paint the fountain that had sparkled so by lamp light presented very much the appearance of a that had burst all the ornaments were dingy and all the walks gloomy there was a attempt at rope in tne little open theatre the sun shone upon the dresses of the and their were about as and appropriate as a country in a vault so we our steps to the and mingled with the little crowd of people who were contemplating mr green some dozen men were the of one of the which was completely filled and had the oar already attached and as had gone abroad that a lord was up the crowd were more than usually anxious and there was one little man in faded black with a dirty face and a rusty black with a red border tied in a narrow round his neck who entered into conversation with every body and had something to say upon every remark that was made bi vi sketches by wa standing with his arms folded staring np and now and then his of reverence for the a by saying as he looked
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to somebody s eye he s a mm un is green think o this here being np of his two ihe man as is to g en never had the yet nor wont have within this hundred year and s all about it when yon with real talent and native too it that s what i and when he had delivered to this effect he would fold his with more than ever and stare at e with a of defiance of any other man beyond himself and that impressed the crowd with tiie that he was an ah you re very right air said another gentleman with his and children and mother and wife s sister and a host of female in all the of and mr green is a steady sir and there s no fear about him said tiie little man isn t it a lovely thing to see him his wife a going up in one and his own son and tf wife a up against them in another and of tl m going twenty or thirty mile in three hours or so and then coming back in i know where this here science is to stop mind you that s what me here there was a considerable talking among the females in the the a at sir inquired the little man it s only my sister mary said one of the girls as says she hopes his won t be frightened when he s in the car and want to come out again make sa about tiiat there my dear replied the little man if he was so much as to move a without leave green fetch him a over the head with the as send him into the bottom of the basket in no time and him till they down again would he though the other man yes would he replied the one and think nothing of it neither if he was the king green s presence of mind is wonderful just at this moment all eyes were directed to the preparations which were being made for starting the ear was to the the two were brought pretty together and a military band commenced playing with a mai and would render the most timid man in but too happy to accept any means of that particular spot of earth on they were stationed then mr green sen and his noble entered one car and mr green and the other and then the went up and the a sl stood up and the outside roared with delight and the two who had never before tried to wave their flags ss if were not nervous but on very test all the while and the were solemnly protesting long after they were i to mere in the air that he could stiu distinguish the white hat of mr the gardens their multitudes boys ran up and down and m du the crowded people out of their shops into the middle of the road and stared up is the air at two till they their walked slowly in again the next day there was a of the in the papers and the public were informed now it was the finest day but four in mr s they si ht of the earth till lost it behind the and the of the bar on the early of together with a about tiie of the sim b rays and some mysterious respecting neat and of air there was also an interesting how a man in a boat was distinctly heard by mr green to exclaim my eye i which green attributed to his voice rising to tlie and the sound being thrown back from its ee into the car and the whole concluded with a slight allusion to another next w all of which was very and very as readers will see if they look to the papers if we have forgotten to mention the date they have only to wait next summer and take the account of the first ascent and it will answer the purpose equally well chapter xv we have often wondered bow many months incessant in a it would ti e to kill a man and wondering by we should very much like to know how many months of constant travelling in a of early an mortal could endure breaking a man upon the wheel would be nothing to breaking his rest his ins heart but his last upon four and the punishment of the only person by the by who has the secret cf the perpetual motion would sink into utter before the one we have suggested if we had been a powerful in those good times when blood was shed as as water and men were down like grass in the sacred cause of religion we would have lain by very quietly till we got hold of some obstinate who positively refused to be converted to our fu and then we would have him for an inside place in a coach which day and night and securing the remainder of e places for stout men with a slight tendency to and we would have started him f m th on his travels leaving him to all the which the guards boots and on his line of road think to inflict who has not the miseries inevitably consequent upon a summons to a hasty journey yon receive an intimation from your place of business wherever that may be or whatever you may be that it will be necessary to leave town without delay you and your family are forthwith thrown into a state of tremendous excitement an express is immediately to the s every body is in a bustle and you with a feeling of dignity you cannot altogether conceal sally forth to the to secure your place here a consciousness of your own first rushes on your mind
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