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some places covered with drift sand but not nor even for the most part the is hard or the bent might be cultivated as they have been in holland to give firmness to the drift sand where it occurs and this superficial obstacle removed the is to the construction of a notes of travellers the great difficulty b of works by access to the canal b to be the apparently would to be carried r out into the sea and apparently it be difficult to vent their being up by the waves the winds drive upon the coast for a great part of the year difficulties thou gi at are not ia tie advanced of marine and to be able to cope with them by re opening the i of the and throwing into it the wa is which would their tray into the and a stream of water might be thrown into th at to keep a passage open by its we about a locality which ha been sc in j ing it oa to judge there are no serious to construction of a ship canal from to which would be perfectly and practicable for vessels of om to tons and there is a growing among merchants and tiiat this class vessels is the best for trading purposes but the great difficulty remains yet to be noticed the condition of government and security in that country is close on tlie borders of europe supplies of effective could be procured and thi and african but s j long as the country is subject to a could c fair and sufficient protection from the i s j and are the jealous towers of i likely to combine in good lo afford a y should be d t pro their enterprise iii h i the world here and there or fitful of romance fed bj ihe i nights fairy tales and the wonderful of and of towns springing up ready built out of deserts tales of paved with gold the happy valley of the of and robert s new harmony and the land of s travels the adventures of peter legends of beggars made kings and the sailor baron law of mt or colonel the loan exaggeration lying the most of the most the wildest visions of the poet the castle of the most any one of these and all of them put together do not exceed the wondrous web of realities that is being daily woven both of the globe not to mention on thousands of miles apart by means of and a hundred other that science has converted into places we would now confine ourselves to the latest wonder that has ever been wondered at the gold region of but more especially to its capital san the story of the magic growth of this would belief had it not rapidly grown up literally under the c europe when the returns were made to the unite authorities in it contained three hundred and sc notes of travellers individuals and very few more resided in it up to the discovery of gold at s mill in the river even in april we learn from a eye witness that there were only from thirty to forty houses in san and that the population was so small that so many as twenty five persons could never be seen out of doors at one time there now he before us two prints one of san taken in november soon after the discovery was made and another exactly a year afterwards in the first we are able to count huts and other dwellings dotted about at distances and four small ships in the harbour in the second the are countless the hollow upon which the city partly stands presents a bird s eye view of packed so together that the houses they cover are innumerable while the sides of the surrounding hills are thickly tents and temporary dwellings on every side are buildings of all kinds begun or half finished but the greater part of them mere canvas sheds open in front and displaying all sorts of signs in all languages great quantities of goods are piled up in the open air for want of a place to store them the streets are full of people hurrying to and fro and of as and a character as the houses of every possible variety native in and firom chinese with long tails and others in whose and bearded it is impossible to recognise any especial in the midst is the now dignified by the name of square it lies on the slope of the hill and from a high pole in front of a long one story building used as the custom house the american flag is on the lower de the world here and there or hotel the bay of ban ia black with the of and a thick of the of the coast and the of flags of all nations flutter in the breeze and the smoke of three is borne away on its wings in dense wreaths the first picture is one of and poverty the other presents activity and wealth in glowing colors verily says the of a boston paper place was in a marvel to say that it was daily by from twenty to thirty houses may not sound very remarkable after all the stories tliat have been told yet this for a country which imported both lumber and houses and where labor was then ten dollars a day is an growth the n ity witli which a ready made house is put up and inhabited strikes the stranger in san as little short of magic ho walks over an open bt in liis stroll the next morning a house complete with a family inside up his way he goes down to the bay and looks out on the shipping two
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in this way about five a day blowing the fine dirt carefully in their hands a few of were left which they placed in a piece of white paper i number of children were engaged in the same business out the fine by applying to them the head of a pin in their mouths i was told of a small boy having taken home fourteen dollars as the result of one day s on climbing the hill to the post office i observed in places the wind had swept away the sand several glittering of the real metal but like the who kicked the dollar out d his way concluded to wait till i should reach the heap tbe presence of gold in the streets was probably occasioned by the fix m the bags and the of though it may also be to a slight extent native in the earth having been found in the day thrown up fix m a deep well the prices for labour were at thai time equally the of one firm messrs and co drew a salary of twelve hundred a year and it was no thing for such persons to be paid from fifteen to twenty or between three and four pounds sterling per day were paid from forty to eighty pounds per month since this time august however wages had fallen the for the kinds of work could poor fellows get no than something above the pay of a lieutenant colonel in the british army or about four hundred per the d labour is best illustrated by the cost of washing which was one pound twelve shillings per dozen it was therefore cheaper to put out washing to the and to this d san shirts are washed and got up in china and tim notes of travellers islands so many hundred of dirty and so many of washed linen form the part of every outward and inward cargo to and from the golden city the profits upon about the time we are writing may be judged of by one uttle transaction recorded by mr many passengers he writes began speculation at the moment of landing the most ingenious and operation was made by a gentleman of new york who took out fifteen hundred copies of the and other papers which he disposed of in two hours at one dollar a piece hearing of this i me of about a dozen papers which i had used to fill up in packing my there was a newspaper merchant at the comer of the city hotel and to him i proposed the sale of them asking him to name a price i shall want to make a good profit on the price said he and can t give more than ten dollars for the lot i was satisfied with the price which was a gain of just four thousand per cent the prices of food are enormous and unhappily so are the for two months after my arrival says a respectable authority my sensations were like those of a wolf yet the first glance at the of a san bill of fare is calculated to turn the keenest european stomach where shall we dine to day asked mr during his visit the display their signs on all sides we have of the united states s the and many other equally classic but s like its distinguished original in new york has the highest prices and the greatest variety of dishes we go down street to a two story wooden house on the comer of the lower story is a market the walls are with quarters of beef s thb and om ton a hi pile of one nd l two than in the window we enter a little at end a of and d in a long low room with and walk of and a floor with are in two rows all of them so well thai we have some in up the written bill of we find the mock st fish boiled boiled leg of bee ham and tongues of beef mutton chop of baked beef tongue so that with but a moderate appetite the dinner will cost us five dollars if we are at all in our tastes there are cries of steward from all parts of the room the word waiter is not considered sufficiently respectful that the waiter may haye been a lawyer or a merchant s clerk a few months the dishes look very small as they are placed on the table notes of travellers bnt they are cooked and are very to men that have ridden in from the lodging was equally extravagant a bedroom in an hotel per month and a sleeping berth or one of fifty in the same apartment s per week social intercourse is almost unknown there are no females and men have no better resource than gambling which is carried on to an extent and with a desperate energy hardly conceivable gambling says a private correspondent whose letter dated april now lies before us is carried on here with a bold and open front bo as to alarm and astonish one thousands and thousands change hands nightly go in for instance to a place called house which is a splendid mansion fitted up as well as any hotel in england step into the front room and you see five or six and other tables each having a bank of nearly half a of gold and silver piled up in the centre that the excitement shall not be wholly devoid of diversion the lend their aid and a band plays constantly to rooms step into the next building called el and there a similar scene is presented and which is repeated on a smaller scale all over the town the seem to control the town but of course their days must be numbered fortunes are
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made or lost daily people with a and which you can never dream ofl young men who come here must at all times resist or it must eventually end in their ruin the same with drinking as there is much of it here the variety of habits manners tastes and prejudices occasioned by the in one spot of almost every variety ci the human species is another bar to a speedy d q the world here and there or these floating and opposite elements into a compact and well community here writes the same gentleman we see the character and habits of the english irish scotch german pole french and almost every other nation of europe then you have the south american the the and finally the force of this golden has dissolved the chain that has hitherto bound china in national solitude and she has now come forth like an from bis cell to join this varied mass of golden here we see in miniature just what is done in the large cities of other countries we have some of our luxuries from the united states and the butter from and for the most upper or lower us with our the streets are all bustle as you may imagine in a place now of nearly thirty thousand inhabitants independent of a small world of floating population not the smallest wonder however presented in this region is the rapid manner in which social order was shaped out of the human chaos when a new or was discovered the first thing done was to elect officers and extend the area of order the result was that in a district five hundred long and inhabited by one hundred thousand people who had neither government regular laws rules military or civil protection nor even locks or and a great part of whom possessed wealth enough to tempt the vicious and there was as much security to and property as in any part of the union and as small a proportion of crime the capacity of a people for self government was never so illustrated never perhaps was there a community of more elements yet from all this seeming notes of travellers chaos grew a beyond what the most sanguine of progress could have expected indeed there is nothing more remarkable connected with the capital of el than the centre point it has become the story of who teeth and armed men who became the of cities the confusion of tongues at the tower of and the beautiful of the lion lying down with the lamb are all types of san the first of its sudden rise the second of the varieties of the man it has and the third of the extremes of those varieties which range from the savage to the most individuals that europe can produce it is a coincidence well worthy of note that besides the intense attractions possessed from its gold upper or new is of all other places the best adapted from its position to become a for all nations of the earth and that the bay of san is one of the best and most convenient for shipping throughout the western margin of the american continent it is precisely the locality required to make a constant communication across the pacific ocean with the of china and the eastern practicable its situation is that which would have been selected from choice for a of from the ends of the earth if the chinese the the or the had wished to meet his saxon or brother on a matter of mutual business he would deciding have selected as the spot of assembly the attractive powers of gold could not therefore have struck forth over the world from a better point than in and around san both for the interests of commerce and for o iu xl si et i v x the world here and there or the practical question respecting the golden city remains yet to be touched does it offer wholesome for on this subject we can do no more than quote the opinions of the intelligent and gentleman to whose private letter we have already referred this i should say is the best country in the world for an active steady young man provided he can keep his health as the climate without due precaution is not a healthy one in the summer season the weather is pleasantly warm from morning till noon then it is windy till evening and dusty and then becomes so cold as to require an over coat this weather lasts to october when the wind gets round to the south west it is warm and pleasant now april this and the rainy season are the and warmest here thousands on ing victims to the prevailing disease of on the latter account therefore i should not advise or be the means of any one to make the adventure here because it is impossible to foresee or calculate whether or not he can the climate and of this country and if so he is sure to be exposed to a miserable and too often neglected sickness and ending in a miserable death i have not been ill myself so far as my general health has been extremely good and i never looked so well as now the climate seems to operate on habits but to those who can stand it it is decidedly pleasanter than england fires are never necessary out of doors at night a great coat is required but in the house it is always warm the whole and only question with a man making up his mind to in should be in regard to his health business of all descriptions is better here than in any part of the world and he who is sure to succeed notes of travellers there are various opinions afloat in regard to the of the soil some holding
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that there are productive valleys in the interior which would supply sufficient for home consumption others assert the reverse certain it is however that in many parts in the interior the climate is delightful but owing to the long continued dry season i have doubts as to her ever raising a sufficient supply of vegetable necessaries of life our market now is from the islands and as to gold it is altogether a one man may make a large amount daily another wiu but just there is an inexhaustible quantity of gold however but with many it is hard to get as the operations are so many and health so very precarious that it is a mere chance matter if you succeed in getting a large sum speedily it seems a question whether it would not be advisable for the american government to work the mines ultimately must go a head the east will pour through the country her immense commerce into the states and the mines will last for a finally i would now say to my friends that if you are inclined to come to this country upon this my report of it you must to succeed attend to my as to drinking and gambling and to my precautions against the world here and there or tt yonder is the coast of we shall soon be at s the phantom is fitted out for with instructions to find her way by the north west to straits and take the south pole on her passage home just now we steer due north and yonder is the coast of that coast parted three hundred ago the first of our countrymen who wrought an bound highway to two years afterwards his ships were found in the haven of in by some russian near and about them and his seventy dead men the ships were with their frozen and sailed for england but being as it is supposed by their two years in sunk by the way witb their dead and them also that brought them ice about us now and here is a whale blowing a too very near when first was in the good old times there were here in dance then a hundred dutch ships in a crowd might go to work and boats might with each other and the only thing deficient would be room for all the produce of the now one ship may have the whole field to itself and travel home with an imperfect cargo it was fine fun in the good old times there was no need to and were fitted on the island and little colonies about them in the fishing season nothing to do but tow ik ei xi y k wit aa fast as notes of travellers they were wanted by the copper no wonder that bo a tom s ground was by all who had a love for gold and silver the english called it theirs for they first the dutch said nay but the island was of their discovery and french put in their claims and at length it was agreed to make the numerous and which the coast were divided among the rival nations and to this day many of them bear accordingly such names as english bay bay and so forth one bay there is with graves in it named sorrow for it seemed to the most desirable if possible to plant upon this island permanent and condemned were offered by the life and pardon if they would in they agreed but when they saw the icy mountains and the stormy sea repented and went back to meet a death from torture the dutch tempted men by high rewards to try the dangerous experiment one of their victims left a journal which describes his suffering and that of his companions their mouths he says became so sore that if they had food they could not eat their limbs were swollen and with pain they died of those who died first were by their dying friends a row of was found in the spring each with a man in it two men side by side were dead upon the floor the journal told how once the traces of a bear excited their hopes of fresh meat and health how with a lantern two or three had upon the track until the light became extinguished and they came back in despair to die we might speak also of eight english sailors left by accident upon who to return and i b ia i a the world and or long is before us and we most not finger the as for our it need be related that tlie of diminished as the went on until it wm no longer to keep the fuu the had to be for by the vessels and th it was not while to take the to u be boiled and the different nations having carried home their left apparatus of those fishing stations to decay take heed there is a noise like thunder and a in two the upper half comes crushing grinding down into the sea and loosened streams of water follow it the sea is before the mighty heap it and up a cloud of spray it rushes back and violently beats upon the shore the mountain rises from its bath to and fro while water along its mighty sides now it is quiet letting off as air escapes out of its that is an and in that way are all formed mountains of ice formed by rain and snow grand by the sea or by over balanced down upon the slightest provocation moved by a shout perhaps and where they float as this black looking fellow does they need deep water this in height is about ninety feet and a due balance requires that a mass nine times as large as the part visible should be are seen
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about us now which rise two hundred feet above the water s level there are above head plenty of birds ashore or on the ice are bears and in the sea there are innumerable animals we shall not see so much life near the north pole that is certain it would be worth while to go ashore upon an there near bang o i a ns o the ducks notes of travellers nests are so abundant that one cannot avoid upon them when the duck is driven by a hungry fox to leave her eggs she covers them with down in order that they may not during her absence and moreover the down into a ease with a supplied to her by nature for that purpose the deserted eggs are safe for that has an very disagreeable to the intruder s nose we still sail northward among sheets of ice whose boundaries are not beyond our vision from the mast head these are between them we find easy way it is sailing ice in the clear sky to the north a streak of white light is the reflection from an icy surface that is ice in the language of these seas the glare from snow is yellow while open water gives a dark reflection northward still but now we are in fog the ice is troublesome a gale is rising now if our ship had they would crack and if she had a bell it would be if we were shouting to each other we should not hear the sea is in a fury with wild force its dash against a heaped up wall of broken ice that and strains and battles fiercely with the water this is the pack the edge of a great ice field broken by the swell it is a perilous and an exciting thing to push through pack ice in a gale now there is ice as as eye can see that is an ice field masses are forced up like colossal on all sides our sailors call them here and there the broken ice large holes of water shall we go on upon this field in with his men north pole if that should be possible with and boats they on through snow and over i xx l c the world here and there or their boats over the larger holes of water with stout hearts by toil or danger they went boldly on though hy degrees it became clear to the leaders of the expedition that thej were almost like upon a tread mill cage making a great expenditure of leg for little gain the ice was floating to south with them as they were walking to the north still they went on sleeping by day to avoid the glare and to get greater warmth during the time of rest and travelling by night days and nights for it was all one day the men soon were unable to distinguish noon from midnight the great event of one day on this dreary waste was the discovery of two flies upon an ice these says became at once a topic of ridiculous importance presently r twenty three miles walking they only had gone one mile forward the ice having floated twenty two miles in the opposite direction and then after walking forward eleven miles they foimd themselves to be three miles behind the place from which they started the party accordingly returned not having reached the pole not having reached the eighty third parallel for the of which there was a reward of a thousand pounds held out by government they reached the parallel of eighty two degrees forty five minutes which was and still is the most point trodden by the foot of man from that point they returned in those high they met with a phenomenon common in regions as well as at the pole red snow the red colour being caused by the abundance of a minute plant pf low development the last on the borders of the vegetable kingdom most interesting to the sailors was a fat she bear which they killed and devoured with a zeal to be repented of for on sea and pushing in their to table island notes of travellers some stones were left found that the had eaten their whereon the men agreed that was now square with them an next to table island they are both mere rocks is the most northern land discovered therefore applied to it the name of lieutenant now sir james this compliment sir james has acknowledged in the most emphatic manner by discovering on his part at the other pole the most southern land yet seen and giving to it the name of it very probably would not be difficult under such as sir w has since recommended to reach the north pole along this route then especially if it be true as many believe that there is a region of open sea about the pole itself we might find it as easy to reach s straits by travelling in a straight line over the north pole as by the strait and north of america we turn our course until we have in sight a portion of the eastern coast of island somewhere about this spot in the seventy fifth parallel is the most northern part of that coast known to us colonel then captain in the was landed there to make and other observations for the same purpose he had previously visited that is where we from our fore they hardy seaman to encounter peril for the search of gold ore or for a near road to but our peril is encountered for the gain of knowledge for the highest kind of service that can now be rendered to the human race before we the northern sea we must not omit to mention the voyage by northward in of
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also to explore like our at the south pole he laid down a range of clouds as mountains and considered the way so he came home went out next year as a lieutenant in command of his first and most successful expedition he sailed up sound which was in that year clear of ice and he is the whose track we now follow in our phantom ship the whole ground being new he had to name the points of country right and left of him the way was broad and open due west a most prosperous beginning for a north west passage if this continued he would soon reach s strait a broad channel to the right directed that is to say southward he entered on the prince of wales s birthday and so called it the prince s after exploring this for some miles he turned back to resume his western course for still there was a broad strait leading ward this second part of sound he called after the secretary of the who had so to promote ihe s i the world here and there or channel turning to the right or northward and he named that channel then he had on his right hand ice islands large and small and intervening channels on the left ice and a cape visible cape at an island named after the first lord of island the great frozen wilderness barred farther progress there he on the coast of island they had passed the latitude of one hundred and ten degrees and the men had become entitled to a royal of five thousand pounds this group of islands called north but they are usually called by his own name islands this was the first european winter party in the circle its details are familiar enough how the men cut in three days through ice seven inches thick a canal two miles and a half long and so brought the ships into safe harbour how the genius of equalled the occasion how there was established a theatre and a north to cheer the of a night which continued for two thousand hours the dreary dazzling waste in which there was that little patch of life the stars the fog the moonlight the glittering wonder of the northern lights in which as believe souls of the wicked dance tormented are familiar to us the she bear stays at home but the he bear and looks in vain for a stray seal or woe to the man who meets him in his hungry mood i wolves are abroad and pretty white the have sought other pasture ground the runs down to more than sixty degrees below a temperature tolerable in calm weather but distressing in a wind the eye piece of the must be protected now with leather for the skin is destroyed that comes in contact with co d m a i notes of travellers distance can be heard happy the day when the son is seen to the edge of the horizon but summer must come and the heat of a constant day must and summer before the ice is melted then the ice cracks like and moves with a loud grinding noise but not yet is escape to be made with safety after a of ten got free but in escaping narrowly missed the destruction of both ships by their being between the mighty mass and the shore what animals are found on island we may judge from the results of sport during ten months the island ve thousand miles square and yielded to the gun three oxen twenty four deer sixty eight fifty three ducks and one hundred and forty four weighing together three thousand seven hundred and sixty six pounds not quite two of meat per day to every man grass and a feeble willow are the plants of island but in sheltered there are found a yellow butter cup and double are very common consequences of in this quarter of the world returned from his first and most famous voyage with his men all safe and sound except the loss of a few fingers frost bitten we sail back only as far as s being bound for s strait the reputation of sir john being clouded by the discontent expressed against his first expedition mr a rich provided seventeen thousand pounds to enable his friend to redeem his credit sir john accordingly in went out in the victory provided with steam machinery that did not answer well he was accompanied by sir james i s t ft i v the world here and there or on this occasion first surveyed s down which we are now sailing with our phantom ship the coast on our right hand westward which saw is called north hut south where the the land is named five years before this in his third ge had to pass down s where among ice and storm one of his ships the had been driven violently ashore and of necessity abandoned the stores had been removed and sir john was able now to his own vessel from them a point at the bottom of prince s we find harbour where sir john his nephew made from this point scientific discovered a strait called after him the strait of and on the northern shore of this strait on the main land of planted the british flag on the northern pole the ice broke up so did the victory after a escape the party found a searching vessel and arrived home after an absence of four years and five months sir john having lost his ship and won his reputation the in need was made a for his sir john was for all his losses and the crew liberally taken care o sir james had a rod and flag pole given to him for a new crest by the college for which he was no doubt
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greatly the better we have sailed northward to get into strait the high road into bay along the shore are in boats extremely active but these filthy creatures we pass by the in strait are like the of the coast by intercourse with european these are not true pictures of the o ng ci i ol v aa our notes of travellers phantom on the wide waters of bay the grave of its as the story is of henry s for john king s sake how gladly we repeat it while sailing on the waters he discovered in his men the was aided by henry green a prodigal whom had generously from ruin the master and his son with six sick or members of tiie crew were driven from their forced into a and helpless to the water and tiie ice but there was one stout man john king tiie carpenter who stepped into the boat his companions and chose rather to die even be in so foul a crime john king we who after will remember you here on an island island near our entrance to the bay in poor captain james with his wrecked crew this is a point outside tiie circle but quite cold enough of nights with a good fire in the house they built frost covered beds and the cook s water in a metal pan before tiie fire was warm on one side and on the other here it and extremely at which time we looking from the shore towards the ship she appeared a piece of ice in the of a ship or a ship resembling a piece of ice here the who had lost his leg that for the little time he had to he might sack he died and was buried in the ice from tiie vessel but when afterwards two more were dead of and the others in a miserable state were working with faint hope about their shattered vessel the was found to have returned home to the old vessel his leg had penetrated through a port hole they him clear out and he was as free from iq q the world here and there or the record says as when we first committed him to the sea this alteration had the i and water and time only wrought on him that his flesh would slip up and down upon his bones like a glove on a man s hand in the evening we buried him by the others these worthy souls laid up with the agonies of knew that in action was their only hope they forced their limbs to labour among ice and water every day they set about the building of a boat but the hard frozen wood had broken all their so they shift with the pieces to fell a tree it was first requisite to light a fire around it and the carpenter could only labor with his wood over a fire or else it was like stone under his tools before the boat was made they buried the carpenter the captain them to put their trust in god his will be done if it be our fortune to end our days here we are as near heaven as in england they all protested to work to the utmost of their strength and that they refuse nothing that i should order them to do to the utmost hazard of their lives i thanked them all truly the north pole has its triumphs k we took no account of the fields of trade opened by our if we thought nothing of the wants of science in comparison with the lives lost in supplying them is not the loss of life a gain which proves and the fortitude of i noble hearts and teaches us respect for human nature all the lives that have been lost among regions are less in number than the dead upon a battle field the battle field inflicted shame upon our race is it with shame that our hearts throb in following these heroes march st says captain james was very cold with snow and hail which pinched our sick men more than any time this year this evening being may eve we returned late from out and made a notes of travellers good fire and chose ladies and wore their names in our caps endeavouring to revive ourselves by any means on the th i a little patch of ground that was bare of snow and it with hoping to have some shortly to eat for as yet we could see no green thing to comfort us those saved the party as they came up the young shoots were boiled and eaten so their health began to mend and they recovered from the eventually after other perils they succeeded in making their escape a strait called sir thomas s welcome leads due out of s bay being parted by island from the strait through which we entered its name is quaint for so was its fox a worthy man much to fox sailed from london in the same year in which james sailed from they were rivals meeting in straits fox dined on board his friendly rival s vessel which was very unfit for the service upon which it went the sea washed over them and came into the cabin so says fox would not have been wanted if there had been roast mutton fox being ice bound and in peril writes god thinks upon our imprisonment with a but he was a good and honourable man as well as his sir thomas s welcome leads into fox channel our phantom ship is pushing through the welcome passes on the left hand bay this portion of the regions with fox channel is extremely here captain in the was thrown upon the mercy of a stormy sea ice crashing around him one island in fox channel is called
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the before they the south pole is evidently a more thorough than the north why is this we shall soon see we push through pack ice and through and fields by lofty by an island or two covered with until there before us a long range of mountains nine or ten thousand feet in height and all in eternal snow that is a portion of the southern continent lieutenant in the american exploring expedition first this and out some part of the coast putting a few clouds in likewise a mistake easily made by those who omit to every foot of land sir james in his most south pole expedition during the years sailed over some of this land and confirmed the rest the as well as the honours he secured for england l turning a comer of the land and sailing far southward along an impenetrable icy barrier to the latitude of seventy eight d nine minutes it is an elevated continent with many in the extreme southern point reached by the ships a magnificent was seen fire and smoke out of the everlasting snow this twelve thousand four hundred feet high was named mount for the and terror now sought anxiously among the and sounds and of the north pole then by the solid ice walls of the south only as c s the world here and there or live these lofty mountain cold to the these vast and elevated plains of ice no wonder that they cast a chill about their neighbourhood our very ghosts are cold and the only make the frost colder by contrast we descend upon the other side take ship again and float up the atlantic through the we have been round the world now and among the ice and have not grown much older we started of travellers f ia has for centuries been for and value of its pearls its banks are to hare the in ber i e to the health ot the was a the greek and it is still as highly by the native princes of india im costly produce of the is carried v and to the indian continent tlie are mostly to the countries of europe the reader need hardly be informed that the pearl is a found in the flesh of a peculiar species of is met with on the north west coast of as weu as in the in the islands on the coast of in tie bay of and in one or two other places these are more prettily shaped than the of this country the interior of the shell has a most beautiful mother o pearl appearance tho finest are usually found in the beard of the whilst the smaller varieties and those known aa seed pearls are met in the thick part of the flesh some have seen as large as and one is on record as having been worth hundred and ten thousand the average value however of the sizes is about three or four whilst the sm the world and there or since the of by the the pearl has proved a source of considerable to government yielding occasionally as much as eighty thousand pounds per the season for fishing is during the of march just when the force of the north east has passed over and previous to the first appearance of the winds the bank are situated off a point of land called on the west coast of the island to the of and not very distant from adam s bridge a ridge of rocks crossing the channel nearly rom to uie most southern point of the indian continent the are numerous and mostly of but a few in extent they out of sight of land which is here very low so that to fish requires some degree of experience and skill the right to this rests with uie government and this right was for many years sold by or by private to native in more recent times the the banks on their own account of the as brought on shore by on the th of february arrived in the bay of the of a passenger on board the government of whose commander i was the guest the of the pearl banks was also on board with his own boat and crew his was fitted up very comfortably with and cushions precautions i soon found highly necessary on such service early the next morning i landed with the at a small village distant a few miles from the station at this was a most miserable little place consisting of but b row of small mud huts standing in hot and dusty or travellers ml la n ap a ms ar them but as tbe reach inland or there was nothing t the of sand plains save the distant of tiie a lofty building mr which and shone so in the rays rf the morning as to make one s eyes for wound lay heap of snowy shells i the of many ridge over ridge heap upon they to have no end and one might well have that in years long past some conflicting armies of bad met to do battle on those sea washed sands and left many of slain on those were a dirty women and thin faced children on the whose curiosity had for the moment overcome their on under three palms stood the of w of the district a fine grey bearded old man attended by hi the and a few to the t with paper and painted the with these looking to a open by a small where they were in details respecting the approaching ry the scene was altogether so desolate and uninteresting and the sun was becoming so powerful that i was to return to the ship by the first opportunity a native the following morning we stood out fur the banks which
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boats with their respective of divers were to leave precisely at midnight so as to arrive on the banks day light the wind being at that time off the land and in their in order to see as as possible of their proceedings i remained to accompany the fleet with uie old in his ten i lay down at dusk in a small shed attached to the temporary military quarters intending to a few hours repose but i soon found sleep was quite out of the question the noise in the was greater than ever and it was with an effort that i made myself heard by the attendants above the din of voices tom and pipes i walked out and found the and divers sur from attempting any rest previous to their heavy labours merry making m the sea beach many were many i the world and there the tom hundreds were their wild and al had been well supplied with and the night nm dark and but few stars were over the of many a huge over the flag ing up trees and temples in one glare and flinging a few rays on the distant shining of done the too stood in all his on the d one of the vast heaps of shells he was forth to uie assembled crowd with shouts and wild and as the glare of the fire shot past him he appeared to be clothed in flame while his gaunt arms flung shadows the distant plain like those of a monster hard at in the midnight breeze the appointed time drew near a sent forth a few notes of thunder and with ma c suddenness the dancing singing and drinking ceased the away no one knew where some to pray more probably into the the divers and government down the beach and through the water passed to their poets in the boats more than four thousand human beings packed themselves into those frail looking and yet they were not so crowded as not to leave room for the the led me to his we seated ourselves and he gave orders to the head or oi the fleet to make all ready then arose a low indistinct murmur which gradually swelled into hollow thunder the echo of thousands of voices the rose up on their benches flung high their opened their huge mouths and rolled their shining eyes what could all this mean was it a revolt no ihe fit m his post without his tent presence not a boat notes of travellers of all the fleet would put to ea a of and a few were despatched in search of the holy in a few they returned leading the of uie deep staggering along in a most mysterious manner and flinging his arms about him as though possessed the rolled him very into one of the largest boats where he fell on the with a heavy crash the gave the final signal amidst a momentary hush and a small field piece was fired from the base of the half ii dozen shot into the air and scattered themselves in a thousand over our heads and away went the two hundred boats in gallant style a loud shout was raised on shore answered by the and divers and then all was still again the land breeze was fi the water smooth as glass and our fleet made rapid way the large yellow pointed in air with their enormous beautifully white transparent filling with the breeze and lit up by the cm ht seemed as though they were a host of huge winged creatures of the deep hastening to their sea homes away on the soft cushions of our craft i laid me down beneath the s shade and slept some quiet hours i started from my rest on hearing some one near me giving orders in a loud voice it was still dark and looking out i perceived a bright small light not very far distant it was a signal light at the mast head of the we were close to the banks and in a few minutes i was on board the vessel the fleet went and there quietly awaited day light by the time we had a c ip of hot coffee and smoked a it was daylight and then a move was made i passed more to the soft cushions of the tbe the world and there or ready and in a few minutes a gun was fired and off we west as before the fishing grounds lay above half a mile a of the and arriving on them it occupied some time to arrange the many boats in proper order so as to prevent delay or the sun had risen bright and gorgeous over uie land all eyes were turned towards the awaiting the expected signal to commence operations five divers in each boat were mounted on the armed and ropes t ie remaining five stood eagerly watching them the standing on the vessel s e by his side the signal in his hands seemed hours at last there was a move on deck and the rose slowly upwards the union jack fluttered in the morning breeze and just as it touched the mast head a thousand with their stones and plunged silently into the sea i shall not easily forget the sensation i experienced when i saw the crowd of human beings sink as by magic in the depths below leaving but a few to mark their downward path i pulled out my watch a minute elapsed and not one of all the thousand appeared a minute and a quarter a minute and a three quarters two minutes still not a soul rose to the surface i dreaded some fearful calamity two minutes and a quarter had flown the drops of perspiration gathered thickly on my forehead my hands trembled so that
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i could scarce hold my watch i turned to the in an agony of anxiety for he was sitting calm and quiet as an how gladly my heart beat when i saw first a dozen heads and shoulders then fifty then five hundred and more ascend to the and as well they might after such a excursion and then j bed began in earnest on the helped to pull in the full of the but fatigued climbed over the boats sides and saw their fish distinct leaps by the in charge of the boat net to have brought up fifty u seventy as the last o the divers came over the boats sides the he hundred who had quietly waited their turn rose up and with their and stones plunged had before as rapidly and as silently the for are exceedingly the is a piece of granite shaped and weighing about ten pounds through one end of it a double cord of is love of length tu reach the bottom easily one end of it being secured to the boat when about to plunge in the his right foot on the stone and between ti it ss a the w to his d and on at the bottom the stone is cast away and np hy the so as to be dear of the net rope this rope is and the the of the net between the of his left foot for the natives use toes as as we do our and when on the bank below the net in his left band himself flat on his ce and sweeps the rapidly into his big with his right hand when he has secured sufficient fish ho gives his comrades above the signal by the ro iq thi v immediately commence it in to give himself an ip the lays hold of the for i w or two r liis h above liis i n l l id the from the of the id sh ch tm cr had stationed in i li i h the world and there or the of the fleet he muttered a short or charm his arms in us but at intervals he descended to something from a nut shell doubtless to aid him in his during one of his and about one hour e we were suddenly startled by hearing a shrieking and howling in one of the distant boats by a and loud cries the i the onr boat w immediately pulled to the scene of commotion and there enough one of those monsters of the deep had t een at w k a poor was being pulled into the boat and bleeding the water all around being deeply tinged with blood one leg was nearly severed from his body and the pain had caused him to away the alarm went rapidly round from boat to boat uie divers left the water and it was soon evident that there would be no more fishing on that day so effectually did the accident that mass of people that all with one accord sat gazing at each other neither speaking nor moving after a time some of the boats without orders began to leave the fishing ground and were soon followed by the rest making way to the the was too well acquainted with native prejudice to any on this diversion he however sent for the old who attended the summons the utmost ef in reply to the question how he dared to permit a to injure a in the employ of the british government he said there were some spirits adverse to the powers he possessed and that during the brief time of his taking a little refreshment one of those had broken his charm and the jaws of the i all was now vain no fish notes of travellers and although the sea breeze was still lazily behind the fleet pushed the their oars for a few miles an hour later the breeze came up from the at first then steadily up went the great spider li and the wide winged sails and the boats slipped noiselessly our approach to the shore was by a gun thousands were again on the beach awaiting our coming and anxious to hear of our success as we drew near a long wild shout rent the air then a pause no reply was given from the boats the spirits of all were depressed by the not so much sympathy with the poor sufferer as n a feeling that the accident at so early a stage was a bad omen the whole of the fleet reached the shore a party of and cleared an open space between them and the crowd on the beach so as to allow the of t ie boats which was at once commenced the were divided cm the sandy shore into four equal parts three of which went to the government or the as the case might be the remaining was shared amongst the the divers the and the boat owner the divers receiving twice as much as the and the owner rather more than the divers the were carried up in baskets to large called where were kept until sold by on the following day the native shares of the were disposed of in a similar way though sometimes they were retained by their owners on their own account and the pearls in them sold afterwards i did not go off to the next day s being desirous of witnessing the the boats l w the world here and there oh die having woven a spell of extra which it was said would astonish the marine monsters and secure their jaws as effectually as if by locks the were carried on with an to frenzy the were offered in lots of one thousand taken from the some fine looking fellows
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into a the women keep their entire crop of hair standing and they make the most of it they spread it out into a and stick throng it not a few pieces of polished as big as office rulers inviting admiration the young beauty of her face red and white and puts a purple stain upon her lips but the remaining touches are forbidden to a till her heart is lost the who seeks to marry her outside her other s house a certain if this be taken in doors by the his suit he knows to be accepted and when next he gets a peep at his beloved he watches with a heart the movement of her lips to see whether her teeth be blackened for by blackened teeth she the affection only after marriage however is the lady with a permission not only to have black teeth but also to pull out her eyebrows those are not little beggars yonder trotting by that lady who is so dressed they are her children the children of the are all dressed upon moral grounds hats are not used by either sex except in rainy weather but every carries a even the beggar yonder holds his to that young lady whereupon she drops her charitable gift thb world and there or notice those gentlemen who bow to one another the worn by of them meet ihe ground yet one bows lower than another and they go on in the bowed position until each has lost the other from his sight are regulated by the law must bow so that in shall touch the ground and it is so made long or that he may humble himself more or less profoundly in accordance with his rank of rank there are eight classes after the and the whom we shall come to visit in our travels there are one the princes two the who owe service to the prince or the empire three the priests and four the soldiers these four form the higher orders and privilege of wearing two swords and trousers five counts as respectable inferior and doctors this class and wear one sword with the trousers merchants sod respectable form class six whose legs may not the trousers though by entering themselves as to a man of rank they may enjoy the privilege of carrying one sword these are the only people by whom wealth can be accumulated class seven artists and petty glass eight day and who work on leather c are excluded from they are and may not even live with other men they live in villages of their own so thoroughly that authority in measuring the miles along a road breaks off at the entrance of a s village leaving it excluded firom his which is resumed upon the other side so if we travel post we get through leather villages for nothing these in which at a distance looked so much notes of travellers are die rooms keep th and valuable fo fires are common in the towns and cities of that almost every is provided proof store room having copper shutters to the windows j covered a foot thick with clay attached to each is a of liquid mud which the whole building is on an alarm of fire and tliis method of re is effective where there is nothing like a sun or company to fall upon and the most oi fires eats up u rate a street door is open and there ia no shoe over it there a an iron shoe in so two ghosts sup into the first here is a for shoes into this the open in the back we shall the family we walk into tbe drawing room lai re the sits it is most that we are for d we in the flesh we should be by the of civility that gentleman would his heels before us we should sit on our heels before him we then all bow our heads as low as possible then we should make compliments to one another the answer to each being he he then pipes and tea would be brought in this we might begin to talk before we left we should on a sheet of white paper in which it would be our duty to fold up we did not eat and put it in our pockets eat what you like and pocket what remains is good breeding at a dinner party the servant of each guest brings baskets that he may take away hia master s portion f the feast tliis master however is i of our sha the world and there or and continues busy with his book it ii place translated into through dutch the j m are th to the advanced state of european and on those fixed occasions when the the visit the capital the dutch physician is invariably visited by the native and who display ca their own parts wonderful and most pomp for european knowledge scientific books in the they and publish into the has not been shut up out of contempt for foreigners and men of science have so diligently by opportunities from without that by their own make their own and i own hovering about this gentleman our eyes detect at once that the impression on his page is taken from a wood imitation of hand writing types are not yet into the writing like chinese is up and down the page and not across it three or four different characters to be used and some of them are certainly the good folks of are indebted to the for the first strong impulse to their not being themselves of chinese origin but a distinct branch of the their language is quite different and has long words instead of being built up like chinese oi written in chinese character is understood any
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but so would english be since chinese represents ideas so if a writes five an reads it as five and understands correctly yet the would tell you that he wrote not five but hovering still about i m r l k l to a n k a m l n ld ia u j u i i i h re with a rf j lu w tt il l j ii i i j t j j ml the world here and there or gentleman at his wife enters and by their behaviour it is evident that ladies in are to their very much what ladies are in england this passes to the garden the room ends with a projecting angle open to the on each side a sort of bay which every has md if thorn l e no mom ground than just the on each side to complete the square still there is always and that is always quite enough for want of more it is to spend a fortune upon in dwarf trees and the shine like the chinese in they em dwarf so that in a box inches square saw growing a fir a and a in f ih blossom or they plants if they please until a in produced us large as a boy six old their however small are always laid out in landscape style and each is adorned with a temple not a mere ornamental but the real shrine of a household god into this walks the lady and returns with a few flowers she takes tr elegant shelf fixed in a recess of the apartment upon which a stands and is engaged upon her as art of taste f o dear no every drawing room in has such a shelf with flowers placed upon it every lady entering who found her husband there and meant to talk with him would in the first place make the talk and say the wife and h band are alone together if company arrive the flowers be otherwise adjusted the position of eveiy and even of green leaves in that is fixed by custom which is law to vary with the use to which the room is put one of the most difficult and necessary parts of female education in is to perfect of laid down in a large notes of travellers k ob the arrangement of tiie drawing room in a to every case it is the use of the to ladies schools to and girls after reading and writing which are taught hear england to the meanest the most necessary part of education is an elaborate in the of life proper for every elegant ko x the whole science and practice of have to be learned through many tedious to there is given training in the or the art of one s self up many occasions present themselves on it as much concerns the honour of a e to cut him jf open as it concerned an englishman some years ago to fire pistol at his friend the occasions are so frequent that a boys school would be in which instruction not given in this art of suicide boys practise all the details in dramatic and in after life if a day come when disgrace caused often by the deeds of other men appear inevitable he a day and according to the of the case before his family or his assembled connections cuts open his own belly at a solemn dinner dying in way be ia to have died in tlie course of nature dying before shame came to him he is said to have died and so has saved his family from that in his fell which otherwise was imminent now we must leave house in which we have spent perhaps a little too much time yet in the whole time we did not once hear the of a baby though a baby was there certainly if this should meet the eye of mr meek he is informed that in children until they are three years old are not allowed to wear anything tight about their persons now we are once more in the streets of find the world hers and theme ob tliat for ft to turn his back upon a in original of lands it that be w in to the face a the bride in her long white veil there is a of poetry connected witli that veil it literally is the in which will be buried we are out of town now and in the open views of hill and and wood and water tan i the sight fields of course we pass rice is a of diet to the as to so many other millions of the race it is the vegetable food that finds its way into mouths than any other there is wheat also in chiefly for making cakes and for feeding cattle the cattle being used as beasts of draught and burden it is improper to kill or to deprive the young of milk the therefore refrain from milk and beef they eat great quantities of fish poultry and in the gardens we see and too fields abound and of which the hedges are all tea where soil and climate favour many a side in is cultivated as a tea plantation but beyond this the tea plant is used by the farmers generally as a hedge d which they gather their own leaves and dry tea for home use just as our their own october beer now we are flitting under groves now under now under for the silk worm every good point in
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the landscape is occupied by a temple which is composed of one large and many little ones the little ones are used by pleasure parties there is a snake and there you see in the tree a long monkey u i no ol i kind of monkey in notes of travellers these islands and the are all of species found nowhere the tree and the live in the north of here we have there are no lions and there is not a single animal of the cat tribe known upon these islands yon can meet with nothing worse than a wild great pains are taken to destroy the here are without game laws and the yonder looks as if he felt himself at home several have passed us on the road varying much in shape and minor details the shape of the the length of the poles their position the way in which they are held and the number of are all fixed so as to accord precisely with the rank of the good gentleman inside the number of attendants in the train even of an man is startling and as for a prince he might be setting out to conquer china the roads are good and there is no lack of but we have not seen draught carriages perhaps these hills are an to travelling by such conveyance roads over hills and mountains being simply flights of steps what couple by in such a hurry the post the greatest princes must put by their etiquette and get out of its way one man runs with the letters and another keeps pace with him to supply his place in case of illness or accident if both posts fail the nearest man whatever be his dignity must do their work for them these posts are never but each pair at the conclusion of a stage finds the next couple waiting to catch the important bundle thrown to them and set oflf instantly before the spent have reached the spot where they may halt and get their wind again goods are conveyed on or oxen over land but r by lakes rivers or m much more common the a w the world and or on each side md as with dear the way before a of rank the is kept in a neat condition m k for and straw shoes for the horses which of frequent renewal pick np a by the and we fm them observe that mighty ti whidi traveller has mentioned to it was for iti ap in the year still it is healthy and so that can stand within its hollow hot springs of we pas in a there is a coal mine here though coal is the fuel usually burned we have now crossed and reached the of where we find our n ship in to take ns through a sea covered with to the large island of we shall and travel very rapidly through to where the divine holds his court we pass some strange looking men covered with each of whom has in hand a long wooden spoon the spoon is their shell for they are in the most pious form as b to the shrine of their own goddess this pilgrimage is made by all good the the better especially as they grow old because they get each time full from the priests for their past sins the sun goddess and the are allied together and as we now are towards a seat of government we can do nothing better than discuss the religion it begins with an oriental once upon a time of gods who reigned for a few millions of years apiece above whom there was and is and ever will be one supreme god from care the last of royal gods said to i w ie one d y share s earth notes of travellers where i m sure i and so he about with his spear in the water feeling for it drops falling from his spear point made the islands of then this god made eight millions of other gods and also created the ten things ordered matters to his he made a present of his earth to his pet daughter the sun goddess the sun goddess reigned only two and fifty thousand years and her four filled the next two million the last of the being the great great of the sun goddess fancied a mortal life and left a mortal boy who reigned on earth and was the first from him all are descended this is the native religion called the sun goddess and which are minor gods or saints the bow before no images but put as in their temples a sheet of white paper and a mirror to the soul pure and incapable of stain the at the mirror offers sacrifice of or rice money and upon this creed has been but the religion of the learned is a philosophic moral doctrine which they cherish secretly while outwardly observing rites prescribed by custom but a the first though of descent is an historical person mu ten and with him history at a period from whence we date ra annals in some other countries about b c we will note those points of history that are essential to a comprehension of the present followed each other sole rulers and powerful until they fell into a trick of in favour of their children and then doing the duty without being annoyed by the ceremonies of their office that had its inconvenient results for presently ow fi i v the world and oh married the daughter of a papa and came for retirement and he had in of a son three years old the powerful papa thrust him aside into a and ihe a war was the of leaped up as champion of the so a king released him and restored him to the
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over his infant son for this essential service was made a sort of field or the ex dying left the of his m and ao twenty years the was in nt still to be the r became hereditary to od these last being men it eventually came to pass that the was stripped of all power and converted into a magnificent while the real court was transferred to where the reside justice we shall meet with in a but we have now reached the s and still the capital of poor what a miserable he must think it is to be divine he represents the sun goddess on earth and is required to sit upon his throne quite still and without moving bis head for several hours every day lest the whole earth should be unsteady when not sitting he must leave his crown upon the throne to keep watch in his absence being so very holy he is deprived of all use of his legs earth is not worthy of his tread his nails and hair are never cut for who may a god j every article of dress that he puts on must be new bis plates and cups and dishes everything he touches at a the kitchen used in cooking for him must not be used twice and of course no pro ne man may employ what has f een by the ft n ia je t he puts notes of travellers off are immediately burned his pots and vessels are destroyed this waste being a heavy pull on the of the the divine victim gets only the to dress in and eats off the no wonder that he still keeps up the of his palace is with and an officer without the gate au his actions and reports them to the still the poor fellow is divine the gods it is believed all spend a month at his place during which month they are not at home in their own temples and worship is accordingly the religious titles and and settles thus arose once in about the colour of the devil actions declared him to be black white red and green the knot was given to the that day to who knowing the obstinacy of well declared all parties to be right and so the devil of remains to this day a four coloured monster offices of state in the s court the it is called are above all in honour objects of ambition even to the the in the with the holy prisoner both male and female are the most refined and cultivated from their ranks are supplied the poets of the land who sing the beauties of the rapid or legends of the snow is the classic ground the of but we must go on to the london the real capital a grand metropolis with about one million six hundred thousand inhabitants of course there is a wilderness of there are endless streets there is a river through the town which flows into the bay from which this capital is not distant there are bridges there is a vast multitude of people to and ri world here and there oil fro hi ih we will a for ik s in i it of t by in fi pit there are of elegant w mi r tr our and dresses are only ill there is no as in the h the illustrated are the deeds of f u not more than two occupy the seen the characters several pieces are h divided into acts and the plan is to give after ai t i of t mt act i of the second and then to third the of second as each in h several parts one might consider ti h i r go out after the wi of to and attend to other till lu t of the piece shall come on but ladies with through tho whole dear souls i they steal i h upon our ox ornaments for they bring fi of to tlie play slip out during ut w and to catch the tion of time in a new costume t w o of tho covers much ground being in m ii rum h m and a locked up within the town ah fur k n he also is locked up within his tb how ho is and at the same time how all of have come to be locked up we must i of established aa f mi p w r of tho which flourished for a long to make subject tv without winds and waves fighting with were forbidden then to touch notes of travellers later relations were restored with china in two and landed in exciting great interest among a people trading at that time it is said with sixteen foreign nations the taught new arts they new wares and they were welcomed eagerly j some of them settled and were married in the came too with christianity and their preaching was abundantly successful now it so that about the same time when the first arrived a civil war was between two brothers for the dignity of both brothers perished in this war and th the princes fought over the bone the most powerful of these was aided by a person of obscure birth named hide became favoured the christians and invested hide with high rank an murdered was then murdered and left vacant a seat which hide was now strong enough to he took the name of and is the great hero of the annals of he it was who continued hie robbery of the s power and secured himself against revolt by establishing a system of check over hie princes which to this day he left a son bearing the name of hide six years old and to secure his power married him to the daughter of a strong
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papa played the of course and a large action supported the young hide whom he had sworn to guard the boy was christian at heart his cause also was just the therefore and the great body of the christians warmly took his part had he maintained his right successfully christianity would have become the state religion in conquered and the christians persecuted afterwards re the world here and there or they were rooted out as a hostile their rebellion broke loose in the of the prince of drove the seventy thousand in number to the of where they stood at bay since they were not to be the dutch then settled st were desired to aid the government accordingly they sent a man of war which fired upon the christians and sealed their fate to this service the dutch were indebted their permission to retain one factory all other christians were destroyed or and since those days every stranger has been required the dutch factory to on an image of the as an evidence of his not being a christian to finish our history we must record that having established his own completed the of the to a state of helplessness completed the of the princes and the system of and being d ed on death under the name of was the under of the of which still rules in and still to the system but in course of time the power of the has the himself is now a to his council which is governed by a president who by no means is able to do what he likes let us now see how all the are tied and bound and kept in profound peace in the first place nearly half the population are officials in pay and the whole empire is sprinkled thickly with some public and official who may intrude where they please others concealed and not acknowledged although paid by government every is required to watch the actions of his five neighbours and to keep notes of travellers a sharp eye upon movements opposite every prince is assisted in his government by two whom the court one to reside with him and the other to reside at these take every act of government out of his hands the secretary who with him watches him and acts upon instructions from the secretary who at who again is prompted by the council not only does the prince live surrounded by a mob of unknown but he is obliged every alternate year to leave his and to reside at his wife and family always kept at in the character of further more pains are taken to prevent a prince from being rich he is required at to himself by of pomp and if his purse be long the himself to dinner with him an honour great enough to ruin any noble in similar are upon all of towns and all officials any n reported by a spy any of a rule disgrace and makes it necessary to perform the act of before described so it was not without cause that they were taught at school the perhaps you think the council is far from it the council may indeed make any law which will be submitted by the president for sanction to the then should the his signature and differ in c from the council if he the law the question is submitted to the s three next of kin and th y are if these decide against the he is immediately if they decide the council then its president and members themselves up yet still this tyranny of custom which would seem to be so to all goes on because all are so bound that none can begin to stir the as we have partly been able the world here and there or to see are an acute race they have original and thinking minds with a dash of they are generous joyous sympathetic they love parties and music with a who first them to throw off restraint to laugh and riot in good nature and assuming then his second office draws himself up to give all a lesson in politeness the who go for hire to promote mirth with a pleasure party go also as masters of the ceremonies the treatment of as a prisoner will also illustrate the nature of the in moving from one prison to another he walked io tightly with thin that they cut wounds into his these wounds the soldiers dressed every evening but did not any string they said that he was in the customary way yet these men willingly would take him on their backs to carry him when he was foot sore people in the villages were gladly suffered to show sympathy by feeding with pleasant things as he passed through and when he had made efforts to escape which if successful would have ou his guards they still showed no of good nature under the main bridge of lies our phantom ship and from the heart of that great city of the east we float out to the sea it does not take us long to get to tower and now a phantom cab will take you home i r t mt the world here and there or have started up and at the time we the are again in arms it is about the of the that oar trip took place the night was dark and not too an old obstinate who had brought me to the very of the frontier sat with me by the fire while richard my friend and travelling companion slept on a bed of straw by oar side the storm which shook the light cottage in whidi we sat blew into it was but natural that our should follow it my curiosity was great and so was s desire to the wonders of the
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country on the other side and while i questioned him and while he talked he smoked pipe with that concentrated gravity which marks a true he said at length would you like to go across f i should but i have no money true i your bits of paper your notes are of no use when you leave these how can i then go to have you not a friend on the other side beg yes that s the man he wiu lend you silver i will find you in horses and food when richard awoke i our project and after some persuasion he consented to accompany us brought three horses and various we mounted and set oflf in high spirits although without or money a short ride brought us to beg s village where we were received by a large party of dogs which escorted us yelling in and everything is known as notes of travellers and barking to my friend s house some boys who were playing at the door raised a shout which effectually scared the dogs but they in their turn surrounded us yelling and laughing and expressing by signs their astonishment and disgust at the spectacles which adorned my face one of the shrieking and asked for beg he is gone to said the boy sullenly this was bad news for we looked to beg for everything we wanted for protection advice and money however seemed by no means inclined to with our despondency when did go said he yesterday and when will he come back this evening i thought as much said for is hardly more than half a day s ride from this place we dismounted and introduced our horses into beg s or house where we found half a dozen men and women servants and others walking and sitting about none of them spoke to us they neither welcomed us nor did they condescend to ask where we came from and on what business at length the to whom we had spoken before made his appearance and told us to tie the horses to a post and take a seat in beg s parlour he led the way into a dark apartment lighted the fire on the stone and a torch of in the centre of the room and having performed these domestic functions he retired silent as a dumb waiter we were now at leisure to examine the place the room was clean and airy it had an old piece of carpet by way of hearth rug and a heap of clean straw aad a the world and there or a of exquisite and a tt or pipes completed the list of the rest of the this air of said i has us here staring and and why we are not prisoners surely and if it so pleases us we can go back i say said thou art afraid afraid r cried richard to whom this soft applied what is there to be afraid of f never mind my dear i know you tou are but the ad is not a nation of said i to and my friend is less afraid than disgusted the travel with great comfort and i know all about it doctor they have and plenty of money just so now we have no and no money nodded in another moment beg entered with a hearty his presence changed the aspect of the place was brought in we sat and smoked the most precious tobacco and drank solid hot from the smallest cups imaginable while we smoked and drank we were grave thoughtful and silent in the true oriental fashion at length i spoke i informed beg of our intentions and asked him for funds he said neither yes nor no but told us of his journey to j where he had some business with the early in the morning beg stepped up to us and with a kind nod he handed me a large bag here he said ir your money it s the whole of notes of travellers and here is a if you should stand in need of if i gave him my best thanks and asked when he would require me to return hie money if it were mine own replied beg i would say g ve it back when most convenient but i have just borrowed it firom my neighbour and he will want it in autumn i held out my hand he took it and the affair was concluded in the true manner without bond or indeed a single scratch of hie pen we had break st and a deal of information and advice thus prepared for the journey we took leave of our host and with a crowd of little yelling and shouting at our heels we proceeded in the direction of we passed over a forest covered plain broken here and there by fine meadows and fields of and crossed our road the bushes were alive the air was so pure and the so fresh melodious and merry that the nursery tales of and and their doings i could not for the life of me believe that we were really and truly on ground besides we saw no human who might have recalled me to a sense of my situation after a hard ride of six hours we crossed the a small river but of falls and on the opposite bank we dismounted and turned the horses away to in the forest a gigantic oak was selected as the most convenient place for our and produced our firom the gaudy coloured a capital t the world here and there or he himself to be this there was a ham a lamb whole a large cake and a filled with black wine a six hours ride over plains and through forests and the fresh spring air is the very thing to prepare one for such a
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we enjoyed our we ate and and drank suddenly round i remarked a down at my elbow i stared at the new comer who scarcely returned the compliment he smoked his pipe with gravity until the remains of our dinner he dropped his drew his and coolly helped himself to a of roast lamb do you like it that is to say neighbour said l your bread is good take another piece then he took another piece and another and having finished his he said thanks there was a lengthened pause question and answer is indeed essential in etiquette whither are you going f said our new friend at length to hm there was another long pause you cannot reach it this day it is late now and there is no moonlight hm this is bad hm another pause have you met men who were towards f no of in this ss a sa ail i bt m oi i i ba down t he z d ou in be on u to mi b t t my shall be as m mud the tn teu me from did a t hm did you see beg we slept in his house did he ve you for the of t no did he give you a t this question was uttered with peculiar p by a very searching he did said shall i thee tin hm no beg is of our why i show it him said and i r ts characters it is well said the i will go with id t can confide in you tt a i u tons m r v ive it no r if r j ib z j a t til t l i ur as a i a ml vl notes of id i was not and now of from the added eagle had b ie ed plucked the largest and t les ou know said whom i o my pistol it said the tm s feathers which flew my tea t been for them even your prophet would mat r hfe was silent mistake it a signal f he after a said with great think me if mind don t i know i ed on until the of the and the in onr way o u o m of the our to reach in the of i w e md lodged out a re ting the ri ti ii i i and lighted a fire i ii the of v t as an h ft r hi ii i whether it be in ti n mil w h night at j the is in our the w oe it it at home your lies past my which he and disappeared in the he hat in nt i hot i am not quite whether we can return him the ti replied why not one man be trotted by three f think a hat two tongues in one mouth like a are we not i t whom jou may surely confide in saddle your and let us wc proceeded on our road and were afterwards overtaken by and richard led the way and i with partly for the of watching him and partly my horse on which had been pleased to pack all our luggage seemed almost unequal to the double burden neither of the party spoke for some hours all of a bang went the report of a and close to my tide too taking a from his belt turned upon the who as i now saw had dismounted and discharged his piece at an enormous eagle which sat on a tree by the road side he had evidently hit it for the feathers were flying about seeing this fired at the bird which came down with a plaintive cry flapping the ground with its enormous wings in so t manner that and thought it proper to keep at a respectful distance but a keen intended evidently to deal with the eagle as he would have done with a or black cock he stooped to take it up but the very next moment he measured his length on the ground the eagle had hit him in the d l to my notes of friend i was not afraid and now thou why i stood aloof from the the wounded eagle had meanwhile breathed its last and plucked the largest feathers and fastened them to their do you know ture said whom i thought of shooting with my pistol i saw it said the the eagle s feathers which flew about my saved you had it not been for them even your prophet would not have saved your life the was silent thou mistake it for a signal said he after a while i did said with great scorn dost think me a christian never mind ture don t i know you and we moved on until the darkness of the night and the dense impenetrable in our way convinced us of the of our effort to reach in the course of that night so we stopped and looked out for a resting place in the forest secured the horses and lighted a fire round which we smoking and the remains of our dinner the evening passed very much as an evening in the woods may be expected to pass whether it be in pagan countries or in and as the night grew dark and the fire burned with a low and flickering flame the dropped from their mouths and leaning our heads in our knees we were ut in or sleep the would and or the of our roused ns i took my and richard with all the head of hi being told what was the matter too got
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up i hear the sound of i said he be quiet they will be down upon us in a minute he was right immediately afterwards we were surrounded by a troop of armed what are you doing here said a young in die coat we are on our road to replied and it is here we pass the night at this juncture another joined the said he this is the old fox tell us why thou creep from thy cave f did you not hear it said we to it s nothing to i hope and who are these said the young soldier with a look at richard and they are men just the same as you and i implied take care old fellow i will make you howl for your you threaten because you fear i saying which grasped the handle a his some of the new comers had meanwhile dismounted they interfered leave alone said they we know old he is one l ours their produced a temporary of a fresh supply of dry wood was thrown on the fire and the t were lighted of travellers what ii business m asked one of the horse after a long we are lo hare a most certainly j show it ir the paper was and examined by the who did not however appear h by its at length he said this will not help you on it is not from the it b t of the the started to their feet what the camp you fool shouted in his torn l not this t by beg of and ns b ever known to stand by the who is b said tlie officer it ii he who days ago gained na for our party it was he who the old from hm but who whether it was he who signed this the officer cried all the thou art right who knows whether beg ever saw this i so be it who knows whether these did not mean to impose upon us who knows it i upon thi i tlie officer whispered to his neighbour latter nodded his head yes said the fellow they want lo impose upon us so they do roared the whole troop in chorus the world and there or one of the had long fixed an intent and upon my friend s he now stretched out his hand and coolly helped himself to a and chain ah said the officer that s it is it they are and seize them they are let us them i what can they want down with the dogs and in an instant we were overpowered and resistance was quite out of the question for we were three seventeen let them go said are indeed bat they are men and never did you any harm they are what an i what can they want said addressing one of the i know you well enough and you know that i am quite as good a as you are is he a i i have known him these many years ho is replied so much the worse for him said the he is one of the and he shall suffer for it let him suffer for it why should he not let us take him to and let the deal with him as be pleases by no means said the officer tie hun up on the spot remained calm and collect ed he knew the men be notes of travellers had to deal with threats prayers and entreaties were alike lost upon them very well said he tie me up i die because such is my but let my friends go their ways never mind them said hi hang them by thy side this was not a comfortable assurance the were serious and determined they wanted our money and this desire of their seemed to seal our doom still i tried to imitate s i looked at him let me say a w h d to that httle said to the who held him and up to me he asked me to purchase my own life and richard s from the as for himself he said if it was his doom he was prepared to die the old man s generosity touched me to the heart and with something like a choking sensation in my i said i would do my best i went up to the officer listen we have some money with us let us go away and it is yours i will give you all we have the money and the watches do you understand me hm how much have you got i know but you shall have all as a for us four i believe you but why thou give me what is mine i see l your right is as good as any other robber s take ii and let us go the world and there or no cannot do then take me to why to t because there i can give you ten in re which i lent to captain when he was at the listen old said the officer addressing what man is this v a a we want a r cried all the i said the officer who had already become of the ten let us give the dog his life and take him with us go said i wherever you like but my friends must go along with me the officer threw a quick glance at his men his had now fairly overcome his discretion hm i why should it matter said he we are not afraid of four men we fear them not i well we take these four men to and i lighted our pipes and the officers all our pockets day was just breaking when the troops formed and we surrounded by our proceeded on our way to if the captain
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hears of this night s proceedings know said the officer showing me his pistols that all the s treasures shall not avail to redeem thy life dost thou understand me perfectly i said l we reached early in the afternoon and were ji ite to speak ike place k an a t of and and the fortress or bed hotel bears that title has the down appearance which me as the chief of all architecture th the exception of those eternal dogs which all places there was not a being visible in the one street of the city we were taken to the captain s and my honest friend the and entered it i was afflicted wi sensation when i thought of the captain whom i had never seen though i had heard ins name and to whom i had never lent and much less en those ten the offer of which had saved my life saved it a fine saving indeed in a few moments that i bad upon his and he the lord have mercy upon us ejaculated i as reappeared with the looks imaginable even for a confound you said he is gone to he went yesterday hm did i send him said i breathing more freely he me and dragged me up the steep stairs and richard were left to follow without his kind assistance the who in the s absence sat in the centre of the room on his crossed legs smoking he was a gloomy looking old man and his eyes as they fed on us expressed vexation and what crime have they committed said he at last looking at the officer the world here and there or none sir said i none whatever we were on our load to and last night in the forest these people came and offered here honest me we them they are ci the party t cried i this is not true have i not a from beg and did not beg the of from show me the said the i handed it to him and he examined it it is our own said he let them go peace be with them looked at me but i defied him and turning to the i thanked him in at once un from his peculiar accent that he was not bom the sounds of his own language caused him to up and he called coffee and said he this is the first time i hear from a who could have thought it replied i with rather a strong tinge of conceit understand and can you read the certainly he mused for a time and then as if struck with a very bright idea started up and ordered one of the soldiers to run for the or teacher tell him added he to bring the book it was not long before the made his he stooped low before the that is to say the of travellers mid that hand the book to tlie he will to na the pious man looking at me with a curious of and envy protested that no dared to touch the sacred volume but the insisted on the book being into my hands for he you must show how yon can sing the i to my fate and opening the book after i had duly applied my lips to it i fell to singing the in pure it so happened i had lighted on a chapter which i had read over and over in the course of my studies and i consequently myself to perfection the old was amused and the admitted that my singing was as good as that of the truest i wish that little would embrace the true said the i gladly keep him here as and fall upon me he said in a louder but a moat y tone art a test and a of and a of t certainly behold these shall be thy stay with me thou shall live in my own eat at master s and ride about with me thou shalt have plenty of money and horses and if thy heart be set upon thou may st marry us many as thou what thou want listened with astonishment to this ri r so it fur i and in reply ui decline w h i the world here and there or with my thanks adding i have a house and a wife in my own nor i leave them behind and i a no master except god and law hm i you you would be your o wn master such things may be in your own country but added the here there is no master except me and the all the in the room crossed their arms and bowed we thought it time to make our and our seemed inclined to see us off but a from the kept them back in another moment we were on horseback dashing at a mad gallop down the single street of the famous of k wet i may the lord give us strength prayed as he his lean horse in advance of the e party a retreat is the trial of human courage and ours i grieve to say was found wanting each of us urged the others on by the furious speed into whidi he lashed his own horse and in this manner panting foaming and all but exhausted we reached s house at early next morning we proceeded to and our adventures and to the patient ears of beg it is what i expected said he but i thought you had considered the danger and as my advice was not asked for i did not give it thus terminated my first and last trip into notes of travellers af at t i of the religious of the of that known as the is the most important it is
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when the round face relaxed into a grin and the eyes winked and the tail moved and the thick lips uttered broken english i took a proper view of the matter and wished my acquaintance good morning i soon gathered the occupation of see in this strange place the cave we then in was one of the many in that neighbourhood in which particular kind of swallow the nests so highly by the chinese and for into and for aught we know into the told me what i was scarcely prepared to learn that he from the government the privilege to seek these birds nests in thi district for which he paid the yearly sum of one hundred or seven pounds ten shillings a or torch the chinese nest hunter showed me long of at the top of the t tv v l on of curious notes of travellers little like were some were per mt nests others were in course of formation and these latter i were the most valued those which had the young reared in them indifferently thought o and were only by the lower orders of soup makers having rested and pony i once more pushed on for where i heated and dusty by high noon a bath seldom ms to refresh the indian traveller ind fit him for the of his meal in the cool of the i strolled out to watch the preparations for the nightly these continue for about a fortnight chiefly after though may be seen laying their simple at the foot of the shrine during most part of the afternoon the little of the town was alive with business all of its and wretchedness were hidden beneath of white linen and of nut leaves and flowers hung around by bands of bright red cloth piles of tempting wares were there beads and to rice and to eat and innumerable to drink were placed in array the streets and lanes poured forth long strings of human beings heated with the sun flushed with drink and with and mock finery poor of the soil half starved lean sickly women and poor children passed in the throng burying their every day misery beneath the savage mirth of a night or two at the following the dark stream as closely as the heat dust and strange would allow me i arrived at length near to the temple of the edifice of which i caught a distant the world here and there glimpse was half concealed beneath the heavy of nut and trees an ocean of human heads filled up the space around the building firom which proceeded the well known sounds of the reed and the tom tom gay flags fluttered from the four corners and the lofty in the centre wreaths of flowers leaves and ribbons of many colours waved from roof to door whilst round the pillars of the walls and door posts clustered rich of most tempting fruit close by this busy scene another group was forming a large and lofty or open forcing my way to one comer of the shed i found a company of indian consisting of two men a girl and a child of perhaps three years the men were in strange uncouth dresses with large strings of heavy black beads round their necks the girl was simply and neatly clad in white with silver and and a of native diamonds it would be impossible to detail all their extraordinary performances which far exceeded anything i had ever read of their art the quantity of iron and brass ware which they contrived to swallow was truly marvellous ten penny nails clasp knives were all treated as so many of or and i could but picture to myself the a dozen of these would in an s shop not the least remarkable of their was that of producing a sheet of water upon the sand close at our feet and after upon its clear surface half young ducks and suddenly causing it to in such a solid mass as to allow of our walking across it without causing so much as a crack in its crystal body one more i must relate which was that of the girl while seated on a notes of travellers hi sort of to ihe ridge pole of the shed and at a given removing the rope by which she hung leaving her still suspended in the air not with a regular apparatus such as is used by the of a similar trick in london and paris but apparently witli no apparatus at all i for to my exceeding amazement a sword was given to me as the only european of the c and i was told to cut and as much as i pleased above and around the girl after some hesitation i and the air in every direction around and dose to the suspended maiden with a vigour which would inevitably have cut asunder any means of support yet there she swung unmoved without any sort of apparent agent of except air itself snake charming and dancing completed the entertainment when i left the place it was night the temple all was noise and confusion and it was with some difficulty that i forced my way through the dense crowd and reached the steps of the shrine the priest stationed at the entrance made a way in for me as well as he could but the pressure inside was intense hundreds of men and women pressed eagerly forward to reach the flight of huge stone stairs which led up to th sacred it was as bad as a crush to get into the d palace my passage was so slow that i had time to examine and admire the fine antique carved work on the pillars and ceiling of the entrance hall as well as on the tall which lined the ample stair case there was a beauty of style
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and a high degree of finish about this work that could not be attained in i in the present day arrived at length at the inner temple or sacred shrine above i passed with the rest between a richly curtain which hung in folds across the entrance at the top of the stairs and stood before the the world and there or o or the whidi il i felt disappointment at the spectacle here my taking no interest in the as a and looking at it merely as an empty show not removed from tiie of fair the strong glare oi a lights the heat and crowd of so many in so small a place the sickly perfume of the piles of heaped b tiie shrine by the the of a score d tom and vile made me glad enough to de t the stairs and flinging a into the poor box d the god to escape once more into the open air from the of i entered another crowd i round a gaily decorated building which i at once perceived w a temple here to the sound of much music and by the light of many lamps a group of young dancing girls were the there were but three of them one a finely made tall like creature with really graceful movements the others younger and r less pleasing a good deal of pains had evidently been taken with their dress which sparkled at all points with what i was assured were precious stones i have heard that it is not uncommon for these is to have about their dress to the value of twenty thousand pounds the graceful little jacket which the chief wore over her flowing white robes sparkled and with something which was quite new to me as articles of ornament along the edge of her pure white garment shone a whole host of fire flies which by some ingenious arrangement had been secured to the dress and gave a strange and pleasing novelty to the appearance of her attire as she swept gracefully around in slow and measured t ei music to which these notes of travellers u people dance is anything but iii to su ti ba i mr there is scarcely a trace of in il t th j tu measure their and difficult by io now ith ble precision has so lu less they an mo that m b would ly ik tu by if there were a few it i a ct that in tu am brought np is rare iti the only within v n i i a t w ik k order io p ie for it been and i r a e met palm stood hit iu to ihe i had m bear e fall and it above au lit up the m ful e not of earth it le p to y of in thi t d never their i ii ii j hi hand of our r might it j ii i it but the would i a l ud and did ii mi i hi i lo these would i j i ui i ii i j i i in ii i il h tm i t ti i md tl tiie i i u t w i wave the i ib ii i ii ih w t i iv u n fully l ni t i s w t the world here and there or hue than the broad sunshine the moon down in streams its gifts of light the monster palms the sl the and in the harmony and glow of radiant which leaping down in waves sprang on firom leaf to flower firom bud to and streaming through the waving seas of giant grass died sparkling at its feet some of the along this gentle river grew so thickly thai not the int st ray of light found its soft way amongst them the deepest shade was there and only in one ci these could i trace any of living beings a hut was burned away in the inmost recesses of a ail bright above all gloom below the door was open and from it shone a ing light so tiny was the ray amidst that heavy shade so distant did it seem that it defied all conception of space and made my eyes ache to gaze at it i at length distinguished sounds proceeding from it they were those of a regular harmony strolling nearer i heard that they proceeded from cultivated voices what a sensation the music was that of the evening hymn and it came upon me with the echoes of the uncouth of i had just left still ringing in ears like the sunlight on a sea when i recovered from the delightful surprise i found that the were the family of a native missionary who had embraced christianity the next day the was crowded with in and for precious stones hundreds of and were busily employed in and a most noisy operation it was in the neighbourhood of exist many tracts of and land rich in and cat s eyes for the notes of travellers privilege of digging for these or of them firom the bands of some of the rivers the natives pay heavy rents to government often sub letting the at profits to harvest is usually offered for sale during the and be their gains what they may they are generally rid of the whole amount re the end of the festival the existence of this source of wealth is unfortunately a rather than a blessing to the district for whole villages flock to the grounds and for weeks together utterly their rice fields and gardens have multiplied has increased long tracts of fertile land have ceased to be sown
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curious contrast with his own national customs in england he is accustomed to find card playing in the morning only by the most reckless in france it is the c thing in the world to see a pair of gentlemen with grey hairs and every attribute of respectability employed at nine o clock upon a game of by little glasses of brandy and the never pipe if a young englishman in london instead of an old frenchman in paris was to himself to such he would probably be cut off with a shilling the world here and there or when the heat and of the too much even for they drop off by and and seek the fresh air the are dose by and ben they principally amusing figures they look too in their present style of costume which is a upon that d the which is a upon that of park the covering for the head is a very hat with very long nap which i believe it is proper to the wrong way the coat is of the t description perfectly straight without shape or make and reaching as little below as the can persuade himself is not utterly absurd the remainder of the costume is of various shades of according to the degree of madness employed upon its ture as for the beard and their arrangement is quite a matter of there are not two persons alike in thb respect in the whole quarter it may be remarked however that is decidedly on the increase the garden is remarkable for its statues without fingers trees without and without number its groves of horse would be very beautiful if in their condition they did not remind the observer who is of course english of the dogs who in their turn are it would seem to imitate the trees the queens of france too who look down upon you from the at every turn were evidently the work of some secret republican and the lions that flank the te races on either side are apparently intended as a satire upon britain however if one could wish these animals somewhat sweet and smiling one could scarcely wish the surrounding scene more bo than it is with its blooming shrubs and the world and there or value upon his talents who is equally and who v has never yet been persuaded to show off his trick you are probably next attracted by a at a short surrounding an exhibition dear to every of punch the same familiar box hung with same green hides the same mysteries which are known to everybody but the part of hamlet that is to say though not exactly omitted is certainly not first his has lost its fulness his nose its and its point he is a feeble wag when translated into french and has a successful rival in the person of who by the way gives its name to the theatre and ii chiefly remarkable for a wonderful white hat and a bead wooden enough even for a low is supposed to be a fast man his enemies are not and as in the case of punch but husbands for the reason that his friends are among the wives this seems to be the leading idea of the drama of in common indeed with that of every other french piece on k it were not considered impertinent in the present day to draw morals i might suggest that something more than amusement is to be gained by contemplating the young children among the crowd who enjoy the of this for the mil lion with most sagacity it is delightful in ct to see the with which they anticipate and meet half way with all the well bred composure of the most audience it is not customary amongst the students to wait for the end of u ia v s c departure notes of travellers but is generally about the period when the manager s wife begins to take round the hat any one who a party of students in their will most probably find himself before long in the des which is close by the same spot the t associated in name with probably from the ct that it contains fewer flowers of that description than any other place in the neighbourhood it is a garden somewhat resembling and at dusk there is an attempt made at it up especially on certain evenings in the week which are devoted to balls these balls do not vary materially from any other temporary dances either in london or paris but as a morning the place is not without attractions one of them is the that there is no charge for admission the proprietor merely expecting his guests to something a which is generally obeyed without much objection throughout the whole day may here be seen numerous specimens of the two great classes of the quarter students and some smoking and drinking beer and brandy in pretty little others themselves on a very high swing which would seem to have been expressly constructed for the purpose of breaking somebody s neck and to have failed in its object somehow like many other great inventions is also very popular but the fact that its practice requires some little exertion of the intelligence so very inconvenient to some persons will always prevent it from entire in a place so polite as paris to meet this however some ingenious person has invented an entirely different style of game an alteration for which the appear deeply grateful a small constructed of bronze is placed upon a the world here and there or its open mouth the player throws little leaden with tbe privilege of some high number if he and of the legs of the spectators if he at this game a party of doctors and lawyers will amuse themselves at
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the for hours and moreover exhibit of a most lively interest the great of the ment i believe is that the players might be doing something worse a philosophical system of reasoning which will apply to most from pitch and toss to a few hours of this amusement is scarcely necessary to give the student that sometimes inconvenient instinct an appetite accordingly at about five he begins to think about or rather he begins to perform that operation for he has been thinking about it for some time dining in the weak imagination of conventional persons visions of and is suggestive of al but the student of the latin if he in any such visions or is visited by any such finds their end about as substantial as their beginning his dreamy dinners have alas no possibility of to him are and his trifles are literally light as air him unfortunately with more songs than and the associations with which he is best acquainted are those of the in the or des it is very probably with one of these associations des that the student to dine these societies which are fast in every of paris are by are red and by are poor the are hj tbe latter are k ui s mi notes of travellers which is the usual price at these is a very for the one or refuge for the other at these which had no existence before the last revolution ev body is equal there are no masters and there are no the who wait upon the guests are the and the guests themselves are not recognised as having any superior social position the guest who addresses the waiter as k very probably insulted and the on who addresses a guest as is liable to be from the society in each case is the current form of courtesy and any person who objects to the term is free to dine elsewhere the dishes have a republican a la a la or a la are as dear to republican hearts as they are cheap to republican pockets a dinner of this kind costs the student little more than a if he is more or he at s in the place de on here for one sixty he has an entertainment consisting of four courses and a of half a bottle of if he is a sensible man he prefers this to the associated who it must be confessed even by of taste are not quite what might be expected considering the advancing principles they profess after dinner the student if the or some equally congenial establishment is not open usually himself to the theatre his resort is not the od on as might be supposed from its superior importance and equal but the the du familiarly called by its why is a mystery s here the student is in his element he to his i c t aa the world here and there or in comic of whenever appears on the scene and in short makes himself as ridiculous and contented as can be it is necessary to add is the goddess of the quarter and has n no end of the theatre itself is everything that could be desired by any gentleman of advanced principles propriety and himself towards after the theatre the student probably goes home and there will leave him safely my object has been merely to indicate n general characteristics of his ordinary life from which he unless tempted by an unexpected to in more costly afforded by the or m of tea me r own to the ii f a ok h t parts i round t r r il p it i tub here j v there or li w r rank ox or i d cr pi iu t tie v i c a all in il m i thi ia pa w a n m f r ft an a l j di till a t here y bar b a i i is dr rs of the di t f j in ki ot sail in u i of hfe v ar a a k i the it a of and the wi a ii is to but in n have it h shorter i w ar a of coloured on and it they hare f of the women is a of long e a h wear m their ears instead of ear rings t lift i of th ar being bored large to easily drawn through it the men old ah well as adorn and e of which ihey very w ih u im i saw men wearing on and other oi in addition to th ii ordinary an thia in of n tj in ml i ir ot t lie when ft it i i v notes of travellers and french ships were lying in the harbour the town which contains between three and four thousand inhabitants consists briefly of a range of wooden houses with gardens extending along the shore a noble forest crowning a range of hills forms the background of the scene and here and there on the are scattered many small huts the only buildings of any size are the h house the french magazine the military whence the are supplied with bread and the queen s residence not yet completed many little wooden houses containing only one room had been hastily constructed to supply the demand for dwelling places which when i was there were so scarce that french officers of rank were glad to take up their quarters in wretched indian huts i looked about in vain for a lodging nowhere could i find a single room to let and at length i was fain to content myself with part of a room in short literally a comer this
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accommodation i found in a hut occupied by a carpenter his wife and two children a space about six feet in length and four in width was allotted to me behind the door the floor was not and the walls were formed of or there was neither nor chair and yet for this lodging i was obliged to pay very the hut of a indian frequently has no walls and merely of a of palm leaves supported on poles even those better sort of huts which have walls are not divided into all only one room the dimensions of which usually vary from twenty to fifty feet in length and from ten to thirty in breadth the whole furniture consists of of straw some for beds a few c the world here and there or and possibly one or two the latter however rank among of cooking or apparatus the indians possess none their food is all baked in stone the stones are heated and the meat is put into the oven without any dish at one knife for a whole party and a nut shell serves as a basin to contain water their the who have resided here during the last fifty years have wrought a change in the dress of the natives especially those in the neighbourhood of still however their costume is sufficiently characteristic of savage life both men and women wear a garment called the it is a sort of made of coloured cloth and fastened round the waist by a band by the women it is worn long enough to descend to the ankles but the men have it much shorter reaching only to the knee the men wear a short shirt of coloured cotton over the and under it they frequently have loose trousers the upper garment of the women is a sort of long full both sexes wear flowers in their ears instead of ear rings the hole in the of the ear being bored sufficiently large to admit of flower being easily drawn through it the women old as well as yoimg adorn with flowers and foliage of which they form very wreaths and i also frequently saw men wearing wreaths round their heads on holidays and other occasions they wear in addition to their ordinary dress an upper garment called the this is made of a material of their own ture prepared from the bark of the bread fruit and nut trees the bark when newly stripped from the tree is beat and pressed with stones until it becomes as thin as paper which it is coloured yellow and brown notes op travellers a wooden building used as a of i was thronged by indians au of whom had been converted to th y called but of the faith professed they nothing but the name entering the of prayer they all of which they again decorated on departing some of the women wore black satin who were resolved oa being i fine in u gay of of a has for at least half a dozen years it is to the ludicrous effect produced by flat faces of these under their fantastic shaped whilst the were being sung an air of devotion the congregation many of whom joined in the tolerable but during the delivery of the tbe clergyman was listened to with tlie utmost indifference the children were engaged in playing quarrelling and eating nd of the grown up portion of the assembly those who were not were sound asleep i was assured that moat of the natives are able to read and that many of can but during in the church i saw only two individuals aged men make use of their the are tall in stature and strongly made men of six feet high are by no means uncommon the women urn likewise tall and in general very stout the men are decidedly than the women both sexes are alike remarkable for white teeth and fine dark eyes all have very large mouths thick lips and broad flat noses the latter are so highly that as soon as infant is born it is customary to b down the of the nose in order to j ive to the the world here and theme or feature the broad flat form which is an of beauty both men and women hare which hangs down their in one pr two thick the complexion of these is copper colour all of them are on the lower limbs but the hands feet and all other parts of the body are free of these ornaments the figures employed in this chiefly are frequently executed with much artistic taste the governor of m made arrangements for some grand public on the first of may in honour of ih of louis in the a sham sea fight was got up under the of the sailors belonging to the french ships in the port this being ended the spectators to a meadow to witness of exhibited by some of the natives in climbing a at the summit of this pole coloured handkerchiefs and other trifles were the won to those who were lucky enough to reach them at the principal native chiefs were invited to a grand feast prepared for them on the lawn the governor s house the banquet consisted of salt meat bacon bread pigs and fruits of various kinds but the guests instead of sitting down as was expected they would to partake of the provided for them divided the whole into portions and each carried his share home with him in the evening there were fire works and a ball i was present at this ball and was vastly amused and interested the assembled company exhibited the most ludicrous of art and nature elegant ladies were seated side by side with coarse native females and french staff officers in fuu uniform might be seen holding conversation with k v notes of travellers
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indians of the natives desirous of making a el ant appearance on this occasion wore loose others had no other clothing than the and the loose shirt over it one of the arrayed in this costume was a most pitiable object he was perfectly crippled by on the occasion of this ball i saw queen for the first time her figure is tall and stout but well formed she b il six years of age but fresh and blooming and i have that the women of retain their youthful to a more advanced period of life than the women of other the countenance of queen is pleasing md is continually animated by a good humoured smile she wore a robe of blue satin made very full and in the form of a it was trimmed with rich black set on in double rows in her ears she wore of and a profusion of flowers were in her hair in her hand she held a worked handkerchief with very rich broad lace on that evening she wore stockings and shoes but her majesty on ordinary occasions goes bare footed i was informed that the dress worn by queen at this ball was a present from king louis r the queen s who is somewhat younger than herself ib exceedingly handsome the french have him prince of not only on account of his good looks but because like prince in england he is not the king at the ball he appeared in the uniform of a french general officer and wore it with tolerable grace besides queen and her there was another the world here and there or personage in the company this was king the sovereign of one of the neighbouring islands he was dressed in most style he wore a pair of white very wide and short over his other garments was a kind of made of cotton of a bright colour it had e been made in imitation of a european coat but it shape and style of fitting proclaimed it to be a production of native genius rather than the of a tailor the king was bare footed the queen s ladies in waiting four in number were dressed in of white muslin they also had flowers lor ear ornaments and wreaths in their hair th manners and were not devoid of grace these young ladies danced with some of the french officers but it was painful to see them dance with their bare feet and i was continually apprehensive that their toes would be trodden on by their partners boots except the queen and her none of the natives had shoes or stockings a few of the more elderly females wore old for head dresses and several young mothers were accompanied by their children even in arms a short time before supper was announced the queen withdrew into an adjoining apartment to smoke a cigar and whilst her majesty was thus engaged her amused himself by a game at at supper i had the honour of sitting between prince of and the coloured king of both were sufficiently in the rules of good breeding to show me such ordinary marks of attention as filling my glass with water or with wine helping me to the dishes near them it was evident that they took vast pains to imitate european the met tut cf of e li u r mu g r of v fi ik if older prince up ib e w hi taught of tbe who had to the to he f f il al ihe on the of hay to to at md who to escort hie proposed that i should the to tht i very and on the of we embarked in a b to pr x d along the coast of a distance of v si ii m ic il the chief a old m in s of an i well remembered the of fa v l that time first of th i fi u i j j i cook and m im i he changed v i ia i j n the world here and there receives from the french an annual of six thousand which at his death will to m son he had with him his wife a woman about twenty five years of age and five of his children the offspring of a previous marriage the lady who travelled with ns was his fifth wife we passed several interesting points as we sailed the coast nor was the sea itself less interesting than the romantic scenery on shore our little glided over where through the clear crystal current every nay almost every grain of sand was perceptible looking down through the waves i beheld groups of coral and presenting such exquisite masses of form and colour that i readily could have lent ith to the superstition which the existence of gardens at the bottom of the sea in the wide spreading of marine vegetation might be pictured miniature groves and here and there with of multitudes of little transparent fishes darted to and fro in colour and radiance the hues of the butterfly and the of the glow worm these tiny fishes were scarcely an inch in length for splendour of colouring i scarcely ever beheld anything to equal them some were of clear blue some bright yellow and others nearly transparent exhibited richly shaded tints of brown and green we had left about noon and at six o clock when the sun was setting it was resolved that we not pursue our course further that evening as the numerous rugged c i which that part of the coast render the passage somewhat after dark we therefore landed at a place situated about notes of travellers two miles from which the sixth son is the ruling chief in honour of
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his father s visit the young chief ordered a supper to be prepared a pig was accordingly killed and cooked m the a hollow dug in the ground contained a number of stones which a fierce fire was kindled meanwhile bread tree fruits were and divided into by a sharp wooden when the fire burned up and the stones were sufficiently heated the pig and the bread fruits were put into the oven and heated stones laid over them the whole was then covered over with leaves branches of trees and finally with a of earth whilst the supper was being cooked by this process the table was laid out a straw mat having been spread on the ground large leaves intended to serve as plates were placed upon it as a drinking cup each guest was furnished with a nut shell half filled with a sort of called in about an hour and a half supper was announced to be ready and though the pig was not prepared in the most tempting style yet it was consumed with inconceivable rapidity by the help of a single knife the pig was divided into as many portions as there were to partake of it and each one was helped to his or her share together with half a br d placed on a leaf excepting the french officer old his wife and myself no one sat down at the rustic table it being inconsistent with the of the country for the host to eat with his guests or a child with his parent on our arrival at we were informed of the death of one of s sons the event had taken place a few days previously but the was deferred until the arrival of the aged the world here and there or i visited the hut and the attendants gave me a new pocket handkerchief directing me to offer it as a present to the departed this custom of offering presents to the dead is kept up by the even those among them who have become to christianity the body lay in a coffin resting on a low bi both coffin and were with a sort of white or before the two straw were spread on one of these were placed all the clothes drinking cups knives c which had belonged to the deceased on the other lay a vast of presents consisting of shirts handkerchiefs bits of cloth c i attended the ceremony of the the priest delivered a short over the grave and when the coffin was lowered the the straw hat and the clothes of the deceased together with some of the presents were thrown into the grave in the vicinity of the place of there were some ancient indian called they were spaces surrounded by stone four or five feet high within the or the corpse used to be laid resting on a wooden there it was left until nothing remained but the skeleton which was afterwards buried in some spot my return from i made a visit to point a little of land on which captain cook stationed himself to observe the of over the sun s the stone on which his was fixed is still on the spot where it then was one of my most interesting excursions was to and the is a point which the considered to be and where nevertheless they the most of travellers defeat by the french the last war governor lent me his horse to make this excursion and he sent with me as a guide a sub officer who had been engaged in the action and who explained to me the positions and movements of the hostile forces for the space of six miles i rode through thick forest and deep by mountain torrents in many parts of these extremely narrow passes are on either side by steep and inaccessible mountains so th t here as in ancient a small band of brave warrior were enabled to keep at bay a strong and numerous army the of may be said to be the key to the whole island during the late war was the principal of the and the only mode by which the french could hope to carry the important position was by climbing up an almost perpendicular precipice and thereby reaching a narrow ridge near the summit general announced his wish that this dangerous enterprise be only to and sixty two men were selected from the very considerable number who eagerly themselves after twelve hours of difficult and perilous exertion the gallant at length gained the summit as soon as they appeared in sight the dismayed threw down their arms exclaiming these are not men for that steep is inaccessible to mortal footsteps they must be spirits therefore let us surrender for it is needless to attempt defence at a little fort surmounted by a watch tower has been built it is reached by a running along a narrow mountain ridge beneath which a chasm of un depth for persons liable to it would be dangerous to attempt to walk along this path which however commands a the world here and there or prospect over the surrounding country valleys and the romantic scene and high above every other object m the landscape towers the i reached that colossal mass of rock after a three hours ride along a very difficult road the prospect from the is still than that from the fort extending in two directions far beyond the boundaries of the island and to some distance over the sea this was my last excursion in the lovely island of s y ml i h i r i i li i v i in v ov iv s os i down on your i ll ui wind blows j j id i ir r
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the world here and there or of the new on the constantly n appear as you ride along but the street in again and a different character large walled gardens within which one can occasionally distinguish comers or of mysterious looking houses in trees t yards devoted to business and containing huge mountains of grain or of boat and all the signs of a commercial place soon begin to appear and then you get into a or street of shops and then into the market place from near which the boats start for and the and then into another and to the neighbourhood of ike custom house where first this huge by street makes a bend and after going through a neighbourhood devoted to private houses and gardens becomes at length a country road leading out to the en or footstep what i have thus endeavored to describe is almost the only aspect of old which visitors usually witness and indeed there are many parts of the place which it is not easy to see unless you go with a very positive determination to do so if you turn off from the great street in any other direction but the real you are instantly assailed by the information generally vouchsafed by old women and children that there is no you turn and twist and wind and generally come back to the place fix m which you started after having passed through a variety of narrow lanes and ventured into twenty blind the town in fact is divided into quarters each with its separate gate and each inhabited no doubt by a kind of class of the relics probably of the original population that settled here io the time of el as some e years ago it is im to more than th s b rt ib without g for although tlie light of the is generally shut out yet here and there a i w bright find their way down upon some carved projecting window some s where a single palm tree gracefully oyer and throws a small patch of shadow upon some r where two or three children gracefully sit and look jn ent at the intruder in another costume and of another the is in itself tolerably well i shops are a certain bustle because b country people often come there to buy but the i i of the place seem a century behind those of the d ers are more grave and more impressed with the in of their social position and without being in the degree rude evidently regard a frank as an object of curiosity there they sit pipe in hand calmly waiting for customers generally in silence sometimes talking with neighbours over the way but all with a decent gravity quite delightful to behold there are a good many other things to see and notice in and about the strange old decayed city as the fortified where the chamber of the virgin is shown but the most curious object is the of that stands on the eastern side i went one day to visit it in company with a devout it stands almost alone amidst dusty and a few there is nothing very remarkable in its exterior appearance which presents nothing but long dead walls on entering the narrow gate however it is impossible not to be struck with the effect of an immense square court surrounded by vast i the world here and there or plain round of simple grandeur an in the centre containing a well the general effect we were first conducted to the pillar of purity that is to say two marble columns placed so close together that only a spare man can squeeze through in old times it was esteemed that none but good and true and yet all of these could pass between when such a standard chosen not very long after the prophet had his few indeed must have been the specimens of such as we have so often met with the streets fluttering in their ample silk robes at present it is believed the columns are still a test of remarkable purity and my companion sighed as he acknowledged the absolute impossibility of his succeeding in an attempt which was easy to me a hideous old lady who played the part of repeatedly excited him to prove his freedom from sin but even to ascend the steps would have been to him a difficult operation and he sadly all claim to be considered one of the very righteous the old lady was a capital and original not original however in her eagerness to hurry us from one point of interest to the other she led us along the vast telling us with rare faith that the true would be trampled foot by the heathen whenever the most sacred fell int decay and it really requires some such persuasion to excuse the which have recently been made at points after permitting us to peep into a small cell containing the tomb of the founder of the she took us through i perfect forest of columns to one particular one up to which ran and it triumphantly cried look there sh bad evidently what to heir c t it ting c a w fi ik x a b im k r down l t ij r her rf v and so td i i f i j the world here and there or times would have been long swept away were there not a superstition that these treasures are protected by evil spirits near on the branch i am told there is a huge stone covering the entrance of a cave supposed to contain riches and that every night a magic cock is supposed to come out and chant to draw attention to
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the fact but it is also supposed that any one who should venture to remove the stone would have his heart out by the imaginary cock that the imaginary treasure the wild of the has adorned nearly every spot in their country with similar legends even the of itself was once to contain immense wealth or rather is believed for the disappointment of the is said to be the work of but as i was saying the do respect their ancient and indeed one of the chief features in the conversation of the devout is the of various opinions on the ages of their places of public worship some of the fanciful forgetting the recent existence of the prophet heap thousands on thousands of years with complacent but generally speaking the information current seems to be tolerably exact more so than one would expect to be the case i found that donkey boys and agreed to give the of twelve hundred and odd years it was built in a d and that the knowledge of the particular incidents connected its foundation was not very the old lady told us some long stories about the period at which various additions were made and the generosity of people who gave up their houses to make room for the among other things she said that a lady of beauty built a house dose to the notes of travellers side leaving a narrow passage between it was determined to throw back the ia that direction such room being wanted for the increasing crowd of and property being held it appears on a different then to what it is now application was made to the lady to sell her house she refused and the improvement was delayed for a year when its increasing a new demand produced a new and decided refusal then the governor of egypt ia a moment of passion ordered the house to be forcibly entered and its owner she would not ve up the point but travelled all the way to to lay her complaint before the a simple statement was sufficient and an order was immediately issued that the property should not only be restored but a heavy paid but the heart of the lady was touched by the eloquence of the lord of the faithful or by divine and she suddenly not only declared herself willing to give the house in dispute as a present but embraced and the story goes became one of the wives of the in the midst of much extravagance there is often a hidden purpose in these tales and i am inclined to think this one was a correct mode of the manner in which of late years government has with private property i went away much pleased with this my first visit to the of old and was glad to find that in accordance with former experience in other places every one about was quite in and that the usual present instead of being with was gently and received with gratitude it must not be supposed however that we paid for admission to the there the door stood open for us and the world here and there or the winds to enter but we made a voluntary in ance with the custom of a country in which charity d neither the nor the i tried to avoid i mental comparison with home but could not help at least in egypt places of public worship were not level with theatres op till lately the only entrance to the celestial empire vouchsafed to us western was the or of the river and were the only places were allowed to profane with their presence the ship in which madame whose voyage round the world we have before mentioned was conveyed from to this place not being a phantom ship only introduced her to those places on the th of july she cast anchor in the roads of a throng of chinese she tells us speedily made their appearance on the deck of our ship whilst others without their boats offered for sale fruit cakes and other articles all very prettily arranged in short we were speedily surrounded by a sort of floating fair the captain ordered a boat to be got ready and we eagerly went ashore each individual on landing was required to pay half a dollar to the an which i was informed would speedily be we proceeded to the house of the merchants resident in and on our road thither we passed through a great of the town women as well as men may freely travel the streets of without fear of being a danger to which they are not exposed in other chinese towns those streets inhabited by chinese presented a very animated aspect groups of men seated out of doors were engaged in the world here and there or playing at the occupants of the shops and were working or taking their meals i saw but few women and those few belonged to the lower class i was greatly amused by the mode of eating practised by the chinese they use two pieces of stick by the help of which they the food to their mouths with extraordinary dexterity when eating rice the vessel containing it is raised to the widely expanded mouth into which the rice is thrown by help of one of the little sticks above mentioned when of dishes of a more kind they use round made of the houses present nothing remarkable as to style of building they are usually by a court yard or garden i visited the in which the celebrated wrote some portion of his the created by the poem entitled na india caused to be banished to where he remained in exile for several years the is built on a little eminence at a short distance from the town our captain finding that he could
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not the business he expected to do in proposed to sail on the following morning and he kindly invited me to make the trip to though i had engaged my passage only as far as i very gladly accepted his invitation on the morning of the th of july we sailed for which is about sixty miles from the voyage from the one place to the other is varied and interesting we were continually in sight of picturesque and groups of islands was to the ei by the chinese after the peace in the sea port town called victoria built bj the english stone of the of whom there are only a few are somewhat trade not being so il at expected the english government portions of land to merchants on condition of their houses many have erected on these of land which they would willingly sell for half the price they bare is surrounded by barren hills or not y ry hie town has altogether a european and bat for the ko m fi in streets and in shops it would be to one a oh ground i was a little surprised at not seeing any in the from which it might been inferred tliat a european female not sa ly out of alone however i never tim or on the part of tbe m i ven t mm was not manifest in i bad ike pleasure of being ut l i ail c q v a i were in beads shaded and mr m m f u worn ae tf wa f i y l chinese r x v d h u h j ni and to je tbe l i ri r k t i which th ar r k w h i ri y im r s y ij i i h r t i the world here and there or me not to in tlie as he me tlie pe le were not to be he me to take a boat or to engage a berth hi board of the bat these modes tf were too expensive the means at mj di a place in the steamer or a hired boat hare cost twelve dollars whilst the by the was only three however i most that i saw nothing in the looks or conduct of the to excite alarm pot mj pistols in the fearless lady and on the th of i went on board the as evening drew in heavy rain obliged me to return to the covered part of the vessel where i amused myself by my chinese companions the party on board the though not the most select was nevertheless perfectly in some of the men were seated at others were listening to the performance of a who drew forth d strains from a sort of with three strings a few were a great many smoking and all by turns drank tea of this which was served in small cups i was invited to pa take the chinese of all ranks and classes rich and poor drink neither pure water nor weak tea without sugar is constant late in the evening i retired to my cabin where to my discomfort i found the rain dripping through the roof the captain on being of this fact immediately me with another berth where i found myself in company with two chinese women when i entered the they were completely enveloped in a cloud of tobacco smoke which they were puffing from small pipes no larger than notes of s my that i was with the stool which in china is used instead of a pillow kindly offered me one of theirs and the offer was so pressed that i felt myself obliged to accept it these head are made of or of a very thick kind of they are about eight inches high and from one to three feet long rounded at top and have no the head rests more comfortably than might be expected on one of these early next morning i hurried on deck to see the entrance to the mouth of the si or tiger river but we had advanced o up that no trace of the mouth was i however saw it subsequently when i returned from to the si is one of the largest rivers in china at a very short distance from the point at which it falls into the sea it is nearly eight miles in width but at its mouth it is so contracted by rocks that it is only about half that breadth the views along the banks are pleasing and some erected on the heights give a romantic character to the scenery at man which place also bears the name of the river branches into several separate streams one which flows up to is called the pearl river its banks are lined with extensive rice amidst which and other trees are planted in rows the intervening spaces forming pleasant avenues but these are intended less for ornament than for use rice requires a very damp soil and the trees are planted with the view of the earth a certain degree of and preventing the rice from being washed away by the copious which the soil demands neat little chinese country houses with pointed and and adorned with coloured and clay ornaments are the world here and there or seen amid groups of shady trees and r to as they are called by the chinese varying from three to stories in height stand on hills in the of the aod from a vast distance attract the eye of the the river is along its banks by numerous fortified posts some miles below we passed a of poor looking villages for the most part consisting of hats built on piles driven into the bed of the river numerous boats floating in the stream also served as for
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was a sort of mass for the dead which a had commanded for his deceased wives at the two side there were priests whose garments as well as the ceremonies they were performing resembled those of the catholic church at the centre altar was the devoutly engaged in prayer whilst two attendants were him he frequently kissed the ground and every time he performed this ceremony three ev n i the world here and there or to him holding these in his hands he raised them up as high as he could reach and then gave them to a priest who placed them before one of the statues of but without lighting them the musical part of the service was performed by three men one on a instrument another struck a metal ball and the third played a sort of besides this principal temple there are several minor and halls all decorated with images of gods one of the smaller temples is held in especial veneration it contains twenty four images of the deity who is supposed to over mercy some of these images have six and others eight arms all the gods included are carved in wood gilt and painted in a variety of colours our guide next conducted us to the of the holy swine for the animal which the holds in utter the chinese the interior chiefly consists of a handsome stone hall and though some care is taken to keep it clean it does not smell much more agreeably than in general the holy swine are so tended and fed that they are usually killed with kindness and die a premature death at the time of my visit the contained only one happy pair and i was informed that there are seldom more than six of the animals living at a time adjoining the temple of the sacred swine was the of one of the or priests it consisted of a and sleeping apartment very neatly fitted up the walls of the sitting room were ornamented with wood carving and the furniture was very elegant and curious in the dwelling of the we saw an he was lying on the ground stretched on a mat and beside i m i i a c v l s ome notes of travellers fruit a lamp and several very small pipes through one of which he was the not being in a state of total when we entered he arose slowly laid aside his pipe and crawled to a seat his eyes were fixed and a death like pervaded his countenance he was altogether a most miserable looking creature we were next conducted to the garden in which the remains of the are burned after death an honour exclusively to them the remains of other persons being merely buried our attention was directed to a simple about thirty feet square in which the bones of the are preserved after the rest of their bodies has been consumed by e at a little distance from the stands a tower built of stone about feet in and eighteen in height on floor within the tower there is a small hollow in which a fire is kindled and the body of the dead dressed in full costume and seated in an arm chair is placed over this fire to be burned round about it are laid wood and dry rice and when the whole begins to blaze up the door of the tower is closed after the of an hour it is again opened when the wishes are scattered round the tower the bones of the are left undisturbed for a year after which time they are collected and deposited in the another remarkable object in this garden is the beautiful water rose or flower which properly claims china as its native land the chinese are so fond of this flower that for the sake of it they have a pond in every garden the flower measures about six inches in it is white but sometimes though very seldom of a pale pink hue the seeds resemble in size and taste those of the nut the roots when cooked are said to have the world here and there or the of upwards of a hundred live in the temple of their ordinary dress in no way from that worn by other chinese from whom they are distinguished only by having their heads completely shaved i made a visit to the half way so named by the english because it is situated half way between and we went by a boat up the pearl river the stands on a mound of earth in the of a village and is surrounded by immense rice fields it has nine stories and is one hundred and seventy feet high its is not very considerable and does not materially from the lower part upwards this is one of the most celebrated in china but it has long ceased to be used the interior was totally no trace of images or any other ornaments remaining there is no between the different stories so that when looking upwards from the ground in the interior the eye the pointed summit of the structure on the outside each story is marked by a small gallery without these galleries are reached by steep flights of steps and are extremely difficult of access they are curiously with coloured placed wise one over another the point of each tile projecting about four inches beyond the one below it when viewed from a distance this appears like some kind of open work and from the brilliant hues and delicate fabric of the the whole might be mistaken for a of whilst we were the some of the people from the neighbouring village collected around us and as they seemed to be very harmless and we thought we might venture to take a peep at them in their own j ca if of
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girls of the lower class were hurrying to and fro making their much in the same way as in the cities of europe they were all and many of them to of notes of female feet is nut to the higher of society tho crowd and were not a little by men on their la baskets filled with in loud voices thej the they for sale and shouting to the people who thronged the streets eveiy now and a bearing one of the wealthy chinese to his place of business work its way into a narrow lane checking the of the tide that poured through it completely up tlie all these narrow streets or lanes are situated close to the mil upon which many of them along the wall an little or gates leading into the interior of the city are closed in the and at all times re strictly from passing through them i as it t happens an unlucky foreign sailor in the of an idle y passes through one of these forbidden gates a y of stones directed upon him from all quarters is the intimation be receives of his mistake after we had walked about two miles through the rf narrow streets we came in sight of the celebrated wall it is about sixty feet high and in most parts covered with grass moss creeping plants and other kinds of vegetation so that it has the appearance of a garden wall from the summit of a little neighbouring hill we obtained a fine view over the city it was a mere chaos of small houses between most of which stood a single tree we no fine streets or squares no temples or handsome buildings of any kind a single five stories high was the only object that reminded us we were surveying a chinese the world here and there or our l course lay fertile and well meadows and fields many of ike hills are and are thickly scattered over with graves marked by httle of earth and about two feet high some of these stones were nearly covered with here and there were family consisting of large graves surrounded by walls in the form of a horse shoe the chinese do not inter all their dead they have another very peculiar mode of burial consists in the corpse in of these have two walls and a the sides left open they contain two or three and sometimes as many as four which rest on wooden benches the are made of trunks oi trees out the httle villages or through which we passed were ed by poverty and in all of them i observed vast numbers of poultry and pigs but in the course of the whole excursion i saw only two horses and a these were of a very small species when near our journey s end we met a its approach was announced by strains of dismal music and we had scarcely time to look about us and to get out of the way when the procession advanced almost at a running pace first came the followed by a few chinese probably relatives of th deceased next were two empty followed by the formed of the stem of a tree it was ou pole and carried by the procession was closed by a priests and a long train of people who followed from mere curiosity the high priest wore a white head dress with a triple looking not unlike three fool s caps e together tb vo mo s of who are all men wore a piece of white doth r the ann or wound round the head white is the worn by the chinese for mourning they are respecting death and direct allusion to it in b highly when they speak of a a white affair the world and or the following are from the of a german gentleman of education who fled from hopeless poverty occasioned by political persecution at home to endure poverty with hope of better days in london he landed at on a cold morning in december with a small spare body a nearly empty purse and a carpet bag his hope was that he might earn bread by german and he had a that he would begin with he was prepared also to labor in original composition as an english writer that he can write english well our from his testify in the waiting room at the custom house he was abashed by a party of neat gentlemen and ladies their clothes were clean he says and mine had not felt a brush since i got into the railway train at their hair was very short and while mine was long and their were as stiff as they were high and i had the assurance to wear my shirt collar turned down there was something exceedingly painful to me in the curiosity with which i was surveyed i left the room i had scarcely gone out on the when a dirty man with large whiskers came shuffling up and addressed me in german he asked me whether i had come with the boat from t and oil my saying no he wished to be what hotel i had upon i knew of the to the low who he notes of travellers ill about the london to strangers and particularly foreigners into their but what had i to fear i as no prey for thieves my falling in with a was somewhat fortunate a home was at once to me of my with the dirty face informed me he was the proprietor he called it in the midst of london after a short we agreed to his proposal that i should pay him for my board and lodging at the rate of half a crown per this he said was the usual sum but i found that i paid a shilling more than he
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was in the habit of receiving i was however well pleased with my bargain as for him he seemed in such conceit with his new customer that he would not leave me for a single moment alone for fear i should make my escape or lose my way i was very cold and felt impatient to change my dress wash my ce and brush my hair i looked consequently with great eagerness towards the in the heart of london besides i had not yet and when mr such was the man s name proposed to go to a public house on the wharf i readily accompanied him and was forthwith led into a large room where an enormous fire was drying the of above a hundred and who sat on black benches drinking ale and eating cheese they all smoked clay pipes and seemed greatly to enjoy their bad tobacco my landlord dragged me to a table at the further end of the room where he told me to sit down by the side of a pale woman whose dress and long escaping from under a embroidered with beads plainly her as one of mj ir while the landlord who a the world here and there or an of the place off to get some refreshment at the bar i entered into a conversation with the poor woman who seemed quite bewildered by the surrounding uproar she said she and her husband had but that morning arrived from dam and that they had been at once secured and carried off by mr the last named person returning with a dish of cold beef and sundry pots and glasses put the beef before me and bade me take especial care of the blunt knife and iron fork which he placed into my hands for he had become for them at the bar while i was engaged in conquering the of the meat i understood that knives and forks being stolen by the hunters of this place every guest was bound to go to the bar and return those articles when done with the noise and the smell of the room were too powerful and declaring my intention to se out by myself on a voyage of discovery for mr s hotel i returned the knife and fork to that gentleman who loudly predicted i was sure of falling into the jaws of other and who seemed half at the idea of a certain rival house in street which he told me was worse than a murderer s den but neither his curses nor his prayers could prevail with me i merely stayed to inquire for the situation and number of his house in square took my carpet bag and a few moments afterwards i alighted at the street station of the railway the men whom i saw in lane as i passed through it on my way to square seemed to be almost all jews anxious to sell me coats or buy my carpet bag and the women of whom peered out from little windows that were almost on a level with the pavement were gross in their language and in their some oi ct in notes of travellers small knots in the streets so that i found difficulty in passing along but soon i found an object of a more formidable nature in my way in the shape of a woman whose size and evident strength of limb joined to a certain be ke her a heroine of rows this woman who had watched my progress up the street separated from some of her companions and placed herself in my way there was something in her manner which made me sure she would speak to me and be angry at any answer i might give but for all that i could not avoid her i might have crossed the road but that would have betrayed the fear which i confess i felt and i therefore walked boldly up to her and in a polite tone addressing her as madam a her for the direct way to square my succeeded the woman was not accustomed to politeness she seemed half confused and immediately began to describe the route i was to take there was evidently some better feeling in her which made her feel flattered at being mistaken for what she was not but perhaps had been she accompanied me almost to the end of the lane in the course of my progress through this neighbourhood i remarked that all the inhabitants looked the very seemed full of matter i felt cold and my breath came short i thought of the of square appeared very quiet no human being met my eye when i first entered it no face appeared at the windows it was indeed the quiet of a churchyard my knock at the door of mr s house to which i had been directed was speedily answered by a looking young man in shirt sleeves a scarlet on his head astonished the appearance c a n ss t v s the world here and there or differed from what he was accustomed to see in this place he seemed unable to comprehend mj request for it was not until i showed him the card which the landlord had given me that he opened the door and led me into the parlor the room was dirty cold and damp a low fire burned in a desolate looking grate the hearth was full of and tlie of a late and break st stood upon the music wearing apparel and stone bottles tim floor a powerful square built fellow in a flushing jacket brass buttons forced an from the three remaining strings of an old there was no one else in the room but on the violent of the man in the a dressed woman ascended some place below her features were haggard and bore an expression of habitual iu
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humour such as bad health and stamp on the ace the sharp cough whidi accompanied the first words she spoke told her history at she was sinking under the attacks of consumption surveying me with an air in which kindness struggled with vexation she said a few remarks from my did my husband indeed send you here when i said yes she continued i think is mad he about his house and his hotel and his whereas you may now see with your own whether a place like this is fit for such as you is mad not so mad as you think my good woman said i at least not in the present case what his accommodation is l know not but his prices suit me therefore let the door be shut and stir the fire for it is very cold i sa d i y l i mt with notes of travellers abroad accent and lie himself eagerly to obey my commands while his companion whom the landlady called placed a chair dose to the and asked me to sit down on it since yon insist on remaining here added he we will at least do all we can to make you comfortable but i asked to be forthwith shown to a room where i might wash and dress the man in the flushing coat looked and the pale features of the landlady bore an expression of blank dismay she hesitated for some moments and then explained to me that there was no in the house but this in whidi a fire was kept and that to wash and in any other room would give me my death of cold we were interrupted by a violent knocking at the street door which being opened admitted the landlord the pale woman and half a dozen men who were evidently the worse for and who would have been the better for some water and soap their entrance was the signal for a scene of confusion which lasted until the appearance of the landlord who with a huge dish full of hot potatoes gave the signal for dinner a dozen eager hands were at once in motion to assist him the table which still bore the traces of the last meals was covered with a coarse cloth louis the waiter emptied a basket of tin knives and iron forks on the table and while the man in the flushing jacket armed with a large knife prepared to act as by himself of his upper garment and up the sleeves of his shirt the company arranged themselves the table aiid made an attack on the provisions which of cold beef boiled mutton and the hot potatoes the appetite with which the company ate was and the pauses of the w the world here and there or laughter and swearing each guest seemed eager if impress all with his great in london life coffee was brought in after dinner and the men scarcely of whom had as yet found employment in their respective produced large pipes and fell with great vehemence to and while the landlady and the pale woman with embroidered sat down in a further corner of the presently a man in rusty black entered with a boisterous l which was evidently assumed for the purpose x f a good of the landlord who at once welcomed the new you are just in the nick of time mr said im there is foreign money in the house great demand for sovereigns eh said mr well and good i have brought gold and silver and give much for a dollar or as any man in the trade gentlemen and ladies cried the landlord you he what mr says he is ready to change whatever you may have in your pockets for you must know your or or money could not buy you a penny in a shop some of the guests broke out in exclamations of b and hastened to the table mr produced a large leather bag full of english money and did what he called little business with every one the m an in the and the of the flushing coat alone had no money to change the money was just about to go when he saw the latter who looked at him with a grave ah said he i have not yet found anything for you bad time for now winter no horses in town i say what ate you doing here why are you not it your work in notes of travellers ae one has knocked a and i ve f nail into my foot some one knocked a into your said l do jou mean a d he turning to me while the money left tie room i am a carpenter by trade but finding no i engaged myself with a fellow in to cure i done it now n fortnight but some one who wished for my place me by knocking a nail into my i could not make out his meaning had to u at three in the morning he explained i and then went a with hair which i had to upon all day long if i continued that till seven in uie evening i could earn about a shilling a day to keep me and you out of ho miserable an ment there are who wait for one of the to fall ill and if they have to wail long they make him ill hy secretly him every one has his place so long as he can keep it they are all who work there and many of them are clever in trades but they cannot find other employment this afforded me food for reflection what a market is london to bring one s labour to a sudden stillness in the room interrupted the of my thoughts i looked up and found that almost all the
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guests were gone to see something of the town mrs sat on a wooden ch r close to me and violently that is a bad which you have i have you long suffered from it i no not very said the poor woman it has the world here and there or come on gradually and is very bad just now i had the fever in the spring it was my first illness and it was dreadful was out of my mind lord knows how long and when my senses came back i could not walk from sheer weakness the doctor sent me to where i remained three weeks i wish i could go there again i was very happy at are you less happy here said i i am very miserable you see the house is dirty i cannot clean it the and washing it is my death i find difficulty in mounting the i have always a mind to lie down and sleep my husband me he says it is my but it is the disease i feel it here she pressed her hand on her breast is a spot which like fire it makes me cough i knew the poor woman spoke the truth and that death was at her heart she sat there for a long time and telling me of her other s farm between and of the rich green meadows and the wild forests of the when she and her maiden crowned the rustic altar with flowers and of the merry on the where she had danced she said she had been so fond of dancing and that she had often danced all through the short summer nights and walked home after sunrise when the dew was on the deep grass and the birds were in the air but i had to attend to my own affairs i had no friends in england there was one man however to whom a mutual friend had consigned my fate and fortunes he was at to i consequently resolved to go after i had first informed him of my arrival in london i called for writing materials a letter and hastened to bed before the part of the inmates of the d from their experiment notes of travellers on london life the bedroom to which i was shown though at the top of the house was wet and cold as a cellar the plaster of the walls was in many places broken and the floor looked as if it had but just been washed this to be the case i was angry at this attempt at cleanliness but when i awoke next morning i found that this was the usual condition of the floor it was always wet the beds in the room were arranged ship fashion one standing upon the other that the room which was very small might be made to contain three persons or if necessity required it six i chose the bed for i thought there i was safest if the should break and i kept my clothes on for i found on examination that the straw over which the sheets lay and the sheets themselves and the blankets were very damp i thought my bed would ve me and with this thought i fell asleep when i awoke in the morning i was chilled and sick i found that i had shared the room with an italian who was about to go to descending to the common room i found all busy at breakfast a with the complexion of a bad candle treated the company to salmon strong cigars and other the wild young men who the evening before had gone to see the town were elated with the night s adventures they spoke highly of a certain house of public resort in dog street mr the landlord was and his whiskers were if possible more shaggy than the day before his wife still complained of her illness she said her cough had been very trying during the night after breakfast i set off for where i had an interview with mr the author to whom i had been the world here and there or mended i had been assured i confide in mr i gave plain and candid answers to the searching about mj prospects with which he assailed me i told him mj plans and intentions nor did i conceal from him that it was of vital importance to me to be at once employed he drew eyebrows up and the comers of his mouth down and said it would not da he exclaimed at the crowds of englishmen who wanted literary engagements and mentioned the number of he had received within the last month i believe it said i but those people had not the good fortune to be particularly recommended to mr he smiled but grimly and plied me with new questions he made me confess that i was almost and that my sole resource at present was my pen he condemned me for having come to england his condemnation with a little i was resolved to suffer all rather than offend him for he seemed desirous of taking offence so i merely replied that i had told him of my misfortunes and that i had come to england because poverty in a foreign country seemed to poverty at home where people knew me i entreated him to look at some of my productions he had no time besides it was useless a foreigner could never write english i asked him to try me but once but he said again it would not do i might still have spoken i might have said many things but there was something in mr s manner which crushed me i felt my spirit broken i was obliged to accept the bed which mr offered me in his house that night was dreadful mr said in the morning he would
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think about my case and asked me meanwhile to stay in his house i had no choice and accepted mis his wife seemed afraid of me not because i am a very n tr op travellers bat because i was poor to relieve her of my and of the awkwardness of my name to her which she could not remember i walked about all day and felt miserable when i saw people meet and shake hands it made me feel my loneliness next morning mr sent me to london i was but too happy to go indeed i would have gone the day before had i not feared to give him occasion to be offended he said my circumstances were such that i must be at once employed he would give me a letter of introduction to a friend of his whose literary career he had that friend should take cheap lodgings for me and i should write to give him my address he would then send of recommendation to and authors in fact he said all he could say to send me off easy i understood afterwards that his wife had persuaded him to ve me some hope lest despair should drive me to commit suicide in his house a circumstance which would have disturbed their domestic arrangements it was about seven in the evening when i knocked at the door of the house in where mr the man to whom mr had addressed me lived i had promised mr to deliver the letter that very night for it contained some information which it was important mr should have at once and mr should assist me in finding cheap lodgings because i was hard up there is at times something soothing in a cant phrase it takes the sting off a humiliating position by making it the woman who answered my knock told me mr was out but she expected him back every minute on my inquiry where i might wait for him she directed me to a in st martin s court and i out in search of it carry the world here and there or ing my carpet bag with me i had bj this time grown heartily tired of my carpet bag it was not heavy but it had become torn during the journey so that it was awkward to carry and it exposed me to the attacks of all the boys about the streets who continually to carry it me after some trouble i found st martin s court and the coffee house where i dined on a cup of coffee and some dry toast when i called on mr next morning he said that lodgings such as i wished might be found in one of the smaller streets between oxford street and court road and he accordingly accompanied m e to that quarter of the town there were many bills in the windows but we had to see a great many rooms before we found one which would suit me i knew lodgings in london were not cheap but i had no idea that such prices could be asked for rooms like those which saw we found at last two rooms on the top of a house in street at a comparatively moderate rent and mr urged me to take them i did so with a heavy heart for all the money in my pocket would scarcely suffice to pay the first week s rent i said i would come to the house that very afternoon and was about to go for my carpet bag when mr told me that it would look very bad if i carried my luggage myself he said i must send a porter with it it would only be a shilling only a shilling he looked like a man who would run away from me or knock me down if he had really known of how much importance a shilling was to me an hour after i went to street and went up the dark stairs to my rooms the bedroom which first entered struck me as and damp but in the grate of the sitting ro hb a cheerful fire which lighted the whole apartment it notes of travellers may appear strange that in my circumstances i should have indulged myself with two rooms i can only say that these two rooms together were smaller and cheaper than any one room which i had seen the bedroom which communicated with the landing on the to t of the stairs was just enough to hold a bed and a small wash hand stand the sitting room was of the size of a moderate dining table there was a view from the window of a block tin where a bell was rung at the end of every hour there was an incessant noise of the ne and the when rooms of this kind they put in an assurance that the situation is cheerful i was visited on my arrival by a little servant who looked a if she had been made on purpose to fit the room she was so small and thin she brought a candle and looked at me with almost as much interest as i did at her she said miss brown had told her to ask whether i wanted any thing for supper i was about to say no but i recollected mr s advice about appearances and told her i go out for my tea i went out and took a walk up oxford street partly with the intention of buying writing materials partly in order to myself to the london streets london street life has an influence on the minds of new comers the strong glare of light in the principal and the comparative in the streets where there are no shops joined to the incessant rattling of wheels and the crowds of people going and coming give a foreigner a in
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the head i had seen in square how violently london on the lower classes of my countrymen they seemed almost as drunk with the town as with the liquor they had taken on me it acted in a different manner i saw everything and my ears the world here and theme or were stunned with the i walked as in a dream i was curious to see and yet i could not mark anything i must have passed half a dozen shops yet i had almost reached the end of oxford street before i found one when i entered it i talked and my manner was so trembling that the shop people stared at me with surprise i had great difficulty in finding my way back and was extremely fatigued when i lay down on the little flock bed that night i had no dreams the first week which i passed in my lodging in street was a sorry one on the first i was embarrassed by miss brown the landlady coming up and whether i wished my room done at once or whether she should wait till i had gone out to my business i stared at the word business for it reminded me that i had none it is true there was a hope that i should soon be employed but there was something in that very hope which me i had duly informed mr of my exact address and written my name in large letters for the information of the little servant for i was very nervous about my letter being lost the s knock made my heart beat and i was once choked with when immediately after that knock the l came up i listened with trembling eagerness to the sound of her steps there was no letter for me since there was none the idea of that letter had become fixed in my mind i thought of it during the day i di of it in the night in the meanwhile i spent my time equally between writing and walking economy was my grand object but ignorance of the town made saving difficult my proceedings in the first days struck me sometimes as being penny wise and shilling notes op travellers but at last i hit upon a plan of spending sixpence a day for my eating rolls are very fat and consequently satisfying i bought one for my break st one for dinner and a third which i ate at night to make me go to sleep i never bought all at a time but went out for each in order to have something to do now and then being madly fond of smoking i myself of one roll and bought a cigar instead still following mr s advice about appearances i usually took my walks between three and six in the afternoon to impress the people in the house with the idea i had gone out to dinner nevertheless i saw my few shillings fast vanishing and one anxious day after another without a letter from mr i had meanwhile written an essay about the state of which i took to mr and asked him to procure its in some he put it by saying he was very busy just then but hoped in a fortnight or three weeks time he should find to look it over which he must do before he could recommend it i ventured to hint that its immediate disposal was of great importance to me and that the looking over it would scarcely take him half an hour he contemplated me with great astonishment and grew very restless and in his manner in going away i thought of the german nursery tale of people who the wheat when the child was hungry by the time the harvest came the child was dead the next day i received a letter from mr i could hardly read it for there were no letters of recommendation in it i was merely informed that mr had put off writing because he had returned to town and that he wished me to call upon him the next morning there was some hope in being ed to meet him the night passed away in feverish impatience the world here and there or i attended the appointment alas my interview with mr showed me only that i had nothing to hope from him his first question was whether i had found out and obtained pecuniary assistance from any of my countrymen at first i did not exactly understand the meaning of his words but when i did i felt greatly insulted and told him i wanted no assistance except literary employment which none oi my countrymen in london could give me the only i want are the wages of labour he shrugged his shoulders and said he would talk to some i might do but he would not hear of giving me letters to those a personal interview with him was better i should hear m m him to say that i left mr in despair would be a wrong description of my state of mind the sickening hopes which hitherto confined my energies had proved i had done with them still i was resolved not to despair c anything and to hope everything after returning from mr house i formed my plans i would offer my services to all london papers and i would try to live upon next to nothing and wait the result my state of mind was very strange it was less depressed and anxious than it had been during the previous week there were even times when i could smile and find an interest in the deep importance which pence and had acquired in my eyes i could reconcile myself to the present but dared not think of the future meanwhile i studied the names of journals in the and wrote to the stating my case and asking
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for employment the delivery of the letters at the offices was very instructive to me it made me acquainted with the principal streets of the town i delighted in carrying my own op my some beyond the mere talking i wrote aud carried some letters each day but i do whatever i had meanwhile my way tf firing a in i where little things which they called meat might be had a penny they were very and i doubt not but they did for me anything was i good was precisely the thing to be as the days and weeks wore on i felt time and more heavy on my bands i bad now nobody to speak to far the last time i bad called on mr he looked to alarmed tliat i could not repeat my visit i bad no to read there was absolutely nothing i could do except writing but then i had great reason to be care d with my paper i myself now and then by crossing the leaves of an old copy book with short notes of my feelings and impressions my little had grown sulky it seemed as if the days would not end and the n were very long i could not go to the expense of having a fire and remained in bed tbe greater part of the lay to keep myself warm day passed away almost i had no and would have remained of the beginning of the new year but for my little servant who said she was going to spend new year s with her friends at january set in with severe and i fi ill glad of it for a total loss of appetite was one of the t s of my illness my appetite had of late been very was never blessed with so lai e a capacity for as when i least bad the means of doing it justice when the fever left me in its stead came all the pangs of a morbid hun f r the here and the e or the unfortunate gentleman during the first walk after his recovery calls on a german whom he leave to sit in the shop sometimes and read the him to tea one evening he stays late and on returning to his lodgings he finds himself accidentally shut out there was no choice left he says but to keep out the cold by walking about the streets for to go to any hotel or was quite out of the question so wandering about the lonely streets upon a rainy january night he was for a time lost in london the and his connections were eventually useful the writer s were made known and procured him employment he is now connected with the foreign ment of an eminent journal and notes of travellers the indians the indians like the more civilized or descendants of the old spanish live on horseback their domestic arrangements are of the simplest kind a tent made of horse hide is the only mansion they horse flesh and ma are their food a or short cloak and a pair of boots made of skin their only clothing they herd together in separate tribes each community being governed by a or their wants are few but even these are often not well supplied in spite of the natural of their country sir francis head in his across the these regions into three sections on leaving he says the first is covered for one hundred and eighty miles with and alternately the second which extends for four hundred and fifty miles produces long grass and the third which reaches to the base of the is a grove of low trees and shrubs the whole country is in such beautiful order that if cities and millions of inhabitants could suddenly be planted at proper intervals and situations the people would have nothing to do but drive out their cattle to and without any previous to plough whatever ground their wants may require this is to a great extent true yet so are the natives for food occasionally that necessity has sharpened their wit to a high degree of cunning travellers inexperienced in the subtle tricks of the indians have but poor against them f the world here and there or while in pursuit of their h for or plunder to understand some of the which i am about to disclose it is necessary to bear in mind that in south america all journeys whether long or are made on horseback and that a traveller is always accompanied by two or three attendants likewise mounted leading and tending additional horses for use these are usually driven a head and gallop together at a quick speed followed by the whole the attendants from time to time riding forward to survey and the course of the horses in advance this is the basis of one of their most successful which is remarkable as exhibiting their ability in and moreover the absence of any other purpose than that of obtaining some petty spoil it being a common thing to see e or six persons galloping through the country and driving a large number of horses before them you who are probably in the same manner take no special notice of the party towards you from the distance they approach nearer yoa neither your pace nor from your proper course why should you there is no perceptible reason yet you are or may soon be in a look well at the advancing party now they are near enough for a more critical survey what do you make of them there are in advance about thirty horses driven forward by a party of six persons all on horseback they appear to be indians but what if they are how can they harm us well you continue to ride on now you are within shot look intently
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and do you see nothing more no nothing look again ha it k now too late on the backs of the thirty horses spring thirty created seemingly by some sl xv bears in notes of travellers iu hand a whose cast is certain deaths in the first stare of amazement before you can arrange a thought out of your bewilderment they are on you and around you you are dragged from your horses and what follows depends mainly on your own behaviour it is probable they will deprive you of your horses perhaps your clothes too what of that you escape with your life and personal outrage go home as as you can and be satisfied with so gentle a misfortune now whence did these thirty monsters spring fix m so suddenly how came they ere their seemed to subdue even the wild horses nothing is than a deception explained you cannot seriously think those monsters knew anything more of magic or than its and element deception their cunning is of nature not art they do not pretend to do their simple object to obtain effectually and as quietly as possible seems to be all they wish and all they really do the truth is that they did not spring out of the ground merely to you they came as gentlemen or tame should approach on horseback all the way on those very horses which they rode in a fashion of their own not by any means to the tame of london or paris a very quick eye might have discerned while the advancing horses were galloping along in apparent something hanging under the belly of each horse it is the dark body of the indian holding with one hand to the mane of his horse and to the with one of his feet in the other hand he carries his lance so low to the ground and carefully poised as neither to injure nor the motions of the horse the drivers keep the horses together with that side of each which is fi ee from the the world here and theme or leg of the suspended indian presented to the traveller with their interest i am not certain that these special customs of practised by them rather as sporting than in hostility or with the motive of plunder they their pursuit in the as a kind of chase human animal quite as cunning as themselves two seem to point to this conclusion the one that they d do personal injury and only take what even to them almost and the other that in consequence the appearance of all kinds of animals from their usual grounds they are obliged to seek their sport within the or settled k of the it is said that have destroyed all the animals of their own districts by and driving in from of all they could see into a between the sea coast and a river that itself at point this appears to me to be rather improbable less probable than the supposition that many of the herds perpetually hunted have from time to time escaped from districts and come into the safer of the parts even the wildest of the wild among the indians ip to be polite they come the inhabited the purpose of hunting but they invariably ask of but what cares the r he sorely feels himself on the horns of a il if he he is certain they will destroy some of his herds of tame he they will steal a few horses if ha i equally certain they will chase and hunt as in the remotest part of his and i notes of travellers bones as possible and worse than all in the case of refusal it is probable they will set fire to the grass notwithstanding the many circumstances that may be urged in of the conduct of the worst of them those called los en who however do not appear to be in reality more hostile or rather less friendly than those within the it is obvious that they are rather troublesome neighbours and frequently very to those who by of the power have the which were the only of the indians the common complaint is that they are dangerous to the ever advancing is it not so everywhere neither nor remember that the danger proceeds from themselves and is the natural consequence of their claiming the of the persecuted it is reported throughout those regions that the government have resolved to them at the first opportunity and this in of their it seems the indians wretches whose wild existence might them from the pale of politics are dreaded as an irregular political power by the powerful government because are frequent in south america and it is alleged that at such periods the indians aid them indirectly by and where they can if the declared pretext be founded on ascertained facts which i think is by no means evident may not such conduct be he result in some degree of the boasted intention of the government to them at the first opportunity it is probable that most of the indians are acquainted with the intention thus and if so what the world and there or i cannot say the indians are free from ihe d it seems that like other wild tribes ci indians these have in their contact with more civilized contracted tlie habit of occasionally indulging to excess in in almost all cases it will be found to be an imported vice the result of an imported temptation too agreeable to the of that sense from which man in his rude state one of his principal however there is a striking peculiarity in their mode of which deserves to be noted everybody has heard there is a method in madness i never heard of any method in but i have witnessed it plainly
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developed among these indians in numerous or brandy shops being there it is not likely the indians pass them without the liquor so much esteemed by the soldiers if it were intended to make of all the indians in the no su r method could be adopted than opening so great a number of such shops there whenever the indians have either money or valuable property of any description to these shops they hasten usually in parties of a considerable number of course the is to the extent of their means of payment and to many credit is given amongst every such party of th is always one who refuses to drink he will not taste a drop nothing will tempt him the offer of whatever may be at any other time to a indian to perform an act of any kind is now quite his mission is to watch over and protect his drinking companions more than a at an an enemy under arms does he per form his solitary duty he acts as or banker for all party he appears to hav va v of them notes op travellers witli authority for the time being but what is the use of over a party of how can it be exercised while they remain in let us see him he looks around and sees his companions in a state of apparent helplessness or some perhaps in excessive at any time without consulting any of them he pays the for all and with a single word his authority acknowledged by every individual of the party all cease without another word he leads them out of the and even the most drunken fellow of the party follows nor is this all every man his horse and all return to their while m the neighbourhood of our party was on the border of the one morning very early myself the six companions who slept with me in our tent were disturbed by the sensation caused by thick of smoke blown down upon us by a hot north wind the smoke had affected my eyes and i therefore rose early as it was to enjoy the freshness of the air i was proceeding slowly strolling towards the river when an unusual noise proceeding from the other side of the river attracted my attention the atmosphere being dark and misty i could not see anything to account for the noise as our lay before my eyes and i had ascertained that nobody w s missing i remained watchful until the morning mist began to clear away when i was astonished in the features of a party of indians who were approaching our in their usual t fashion in a moment i alarmed my companions as our par was numerous and we an abundance of although alarmed we felt satisfied that nothing extremely the world here and there or serious was likely to happen to us but we knew that with such neighbours of the no precaution can be considered as superfluous we held a brief council which resulted in the mission of the young who perfectly understood the language of the indians and personally knew many of their tribes to the advancing party in order to ascertain their intentions while he advanced we prepared everything for an efficient defence but happily none was necessary the of a few words the young discovered that instead of any meditated hostility it was in a party attending in honour to visit himself a truly agreeable surprise to all of us it turned out that an old who was a very old of the young having heard of his presence in our could not from indulging himself with a visit on hearing this of course the least we could do was to turn selves up all hands in the endeavour to entertain our guests who counting women and children amounted to nearly a hundred persons as those indians eat nothing but ve do was to provide the for their we could give them horses or but they must kill them and cook them and eat them without our assistance some were brought from the nearest or troop f wild horses after about half an hour s sharp chase they were presented in due form and in due form they were received some were killed cooked and eaten also in due form i suppose but certainly with very little of what we call ceremony when i mention that the blood of the animal is esteemed the chief delicacy the reader will not require me to describe the in detail notes of travellers an with a the plains of grass and other vegetation which are with lakes and of which la is chiefly composed give life to innumerable animals of the tribe the or is at home in all parts of the a de st and is of various sizes from the little animal of scarcely four in length to the magnitude of six feet in length its colours are most beautiful and in the hot summer days they appear to like to and t n the mountains where the reflection of the rays of the sun q on their brilliant colored and skins impart a striking effect i have c ten upon approaching a mountain where they themselves in the sunshine making it almost vivid with their brilliancy seen them in their fright at my approach suddenly and rapidly rush away from all sides of it producing the same sensation and effect as a flash of lightning unexpectedly passing over the shining surface of large sheets of downward rolling waters it is very difficult to catch them on account of the rapidity of their movements i remember a circumstance happening to myself while in the which will one of the few ways to kill a on a veiy hot summer afternoon i was returning from a visit i had paid to a neighbour and passing near a
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solitary the house for a a steward or of a certain part of the lands belonging to an i resolved to from my horse in order to refresh myself at the with a draught of water finding that the inhabitants had not returned from their occupations in the fields i entered the little kitchen and much with my eyes of dust at the opposite end was a very small door through which alone any light penetrated the world here and there or the at the time i entered the sun shone through the door giving a appearance to what would be in fact a little black hole my entry was not with any noise for i wore the entire boot being made of leather from the soft skin of the hind of a or young horse a lucky circumstance for myself for on looking around for the never missing or pot i perceived what i truly say quite amazed me an of the largest class close to my feet undisturbed by my entry there it lay sleeping quietly before the scarce ex fire enjoying doubtless in its repose the of the rays of the sun falling upon him so as to show the beauty and brilliancy of his colours in dazzling reflection a moment s consideration determined me how to act i quietly withdrew to the yard armed myself with a sturdy stick which is the weapon fit for attacking a and re entered the and and carefully took up my position behind the iv d leaving the door wide open my for taking a its rear was because i had been told by that of a is really dangerous and that it will never whatever it may get hold of with its teeth i did not however that there was also considerable danger in the rear on account of its of severe with its tail is armed with very hard pointed thorns taken these precautions i struck a tremendous blow at the s head it was indeed fortunate for me that i stood in it rear for as soon as the blow was struck before i could stick to strike again the made such a leap as seemed i possible several times while in the air opening and month most on it dealt the most of ob the ground with its formidable tail it then departed from the kitchen after repeated blows of equal severity i at length killed him without having received any injury i soon stripped o f hb skin which was one of the finest i ever saw i should state that the skins of these especially those the large class are very much esteemed and are used as a curiosity in covering sundry ornamental articles of household the difficulty of catching the doubtless the value of their skins which are in themselves sufficiently beautiful to be esteemed as the de st to the stranger visiting the district of la known as the de st for the first time the whole range of country presents the most surprising aspect pursuing the course of the numerous small rivers along the valleys the landscape appears black with the inconceivable multitudes of cattle covering it as far as the eye can reach no european can form any adequate idea of the appearance in such a scene of such vast bodies of cattle all in their wild and natural condition not a tree to be seen except the few planted near a solitary or house the lofty black and weather beaten of the extending as the back ground and the entire space of hills and valleys innumerable covered most with the wild cattle whose groups appear to be only divided by the numerous rivers the district and throwing a living brightness through it this is a picture which powerfully struck iy mind with an impression of another phase from the many i had received in the course of my previous travels of nature s wildest grandeur the world here and there or generally there is scarcely any perceptible movement in those multitudes of cattle thronged together the motions of individual animals are not at any distance ally and frequently this aspect of the scene is changed and tin picture becomes suddenly animated in a manner most striking a troop of a thousand or two of wild horses rush on to the scene in their wildest speed with their long tails streaming in the air and their shaggy all and they pass like a living shade over the top of a hill and as suddenly disappear in the valley beyond rising and disappearing again and again disturbing in their reckless course and breaking the groups of cattle previously so quiet and seemingly motionless in the where also cattle abound vast numbers are lost in the very dry it is supposed for want of but in the valleys of the that calamity is prevented by the numerous rivers there flowing a circumstance i suppose may in some measure account for the congregation of cattle there another curiosity of the is the peculiar kind of wood it which is not to be found in any other district this is the wood of the tree which grows in extensive forests and covers the in many parts over many miles together the leaf of these trees ends in a hard which combined with their and dose in the forest form in fact a thicket which it is quite impossible for any human being to pass through or even enter nevertheless it is throughout the summer and especially at the commencement of winter the resort and abode of cattle as as lions an other beasts the stature these trees is higher about five feet notes of travellers ft k the custom at die of every winter to set to these forests for the purpose of driving out the numerous cattle lions and other beasts taking refuge there and
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ci getting wood entirely dry in anticipation of the rainy season and as a provision necessary to protect the wood from the of water it being certain that after the trunks of these trees have become and blackened by fire water has no longer any influence upon them such often continue for several weeks and form a most magnificent spectacle imagine to yourselves one of those beautiful nights known only in southern when of intensely shining stars the bright and dearly blue covering with the of stillness the repose of earth with all its living terrors and all its hushed joys and sorrows its natural glories and its unnatural imagine yourselves at such an hour upon the wild thinking only of the beautiful and the sublime in harmony with the scene or perchance of the of a home far away with its tranquil household delights suddenly as though the flame had been caught from a passing flash of ng you behold the leaves and the branches of many and r forests gradually and the surrounding grass throwing upward of sparks above the flaming masses imagine that you behold the increasing flames compact as one living principle of the element itself marching and through the forests and along the valleys and over the hills and and through the the wild beasts whose roaring the mountains themselves with aspects wearing the burning hue of all around and you have pictured for yourselves as well as i who have the world here and there or beheld it the spectacle of one of those the which form three sides of the basin near the are overgrown with various kinds of ass d flowers of luxuriant growth it is considered rather a fact that thousands of or small take abide among those cliffs and make their nests there in him the of the situation alone prevents their entire de for no good will appears to be entertained to them account of the ruin they effect in every plantation towards sea the gradually becomes less elevated and it a distance of between two and three from the sea but the character of the district of the does not at that point for on the beach the appear more like mountains than anything else they like of the present the most striking and uncommon i visited them in the company of a who had been ed in this very spot in a voyage from the united states to when he was the only person saved and who from bi long residence in the provinces of south america is r there rather as a native than as a foreigner on back through deep sand we slowly reached the downs tb j are nearly half an hour s ride in breadth and are covered on land side with various kinds of grass and which increase in until the ground between many hills and mountains that form the downs are very deep holes filled with a thick water which is fresh and sweet notwithstanding its thickness and doubtless the produce of springs to throw off all waters notes of travellers mj there to me the circumstance of his on the scene before me so vividly that i could not throw ff its impressions while galloping with him along the beach with the downs we had now viewed together on our left and on our right the endless ocean i could not avoid thinking that even thither the bore the breath of winds more fatal than a towards those whose best earthly hope lay in the which avail nothing on such a coast the are frequent there and even at this time are often found the battered wai and that come in as continual of the fate of the large english vessel the william the third which perished there with all hands about the year there rose and before me the lurking terrors of those perilous rocks that run for miles into the sea and are so large that at low tide their form and development are scarcely concealed no living creature can be seen upon those vast downs save occasionally and rarely some curious traveller not even a single bird to the scene a living breath not an echo sports in its air of perfect stillness save when the winds come there to war with the vexed waters of the overpowering ocean lingering on the scene notwithstanding these impressions we saw the majestic atlantic in its happier mood of calmly and serenely on its awful might and in its dark blue waters how darkly beautifully blue they are in the scarcely perceptible horizon with all the glories of the skies the and wild grandeur of all things and around imparted to me a moment of feeling worth a of travelling to enjoy the world here and there or t in there is a in the notion of a colony surrounded by chinese the fixed among the fixed the ct that such a colony exists or has existed when found ought to be remarked for to and others it may prove a valuable opportunity for speculation jews in china what will they be like will the jew stand out from the surrounding of chinese life like the one tree of the desert for which see of mail and hear lecture upon same or will he become non like among like adding nothing to the first idea silence in a calm in the of concerning which we have presently to speak there are chinese the first placed there in by a literary jew is intended to prove the close between and chinese points of doctrine the author it says of the law of lo ye is lo hon his law was translated by tradition to moses he received his book on mount his book has fifty four sections the doctrine which is therein contained is much like that of the kings which are sacred volumes of
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the chinese the author of the inscription many passages to prove that in their worship to heaven their ceremonies their behaviour to the old and young their character their prayers and their mode of dead ancestors the jews resemble the chinese the author of a second inscription a grand in hfe notes of travellers own time speaks to the same purpose from the time of han says this gentleman whose name is too from the time of han the jews fixed themselves in china and in the twentieth year of the is by interpretation they offered to the emperor a tribute of cloth from india he received them well and permitted them to live in they formed then sixty six families they built a where they placed their kings or divine this with an of virtue after the approved manner of the jews emphatically cultivated commerce were in the armies upright as and rigid in of their ceremonies one only wants to wind up with the scrap affliction sore long time they bore but affliction on account of the chinese at any rate they certainly did not bear they were more than they were understood to ceremony men were polite to one another the jews and chinese even on their first introduction by way of to the chinese empire they had settled here and there in sundry chinese cities but by marriage with chinese of or the colonies were melted down into the pure chinese metal and when this history begins nothing is known of any in china save the at which is a city in the heart of the land the capital of the central province of and for an account of which we are indebted to father one of the father died in the year at which was his station father at first heard of the and the information startled him exceed the world here and there or the young jew who enlightened father on ths subject told him that there were then at barely dozen and that for five or six hundred years they had preserved in their a very ancient copy of the the ther produced a hebrew bible and the young man recognised the characters although he could not read them for he knew no language but chinese four after this father whose business at would not permit him to go had an opportunity of sending off to a chinese with a letter written in chinese to the chief of the he explained to the hi own reverence for the books of the old testament and informed him of its fulfilled and the advent of a the shook his head at that saying that so it could not be because they had yet to expect the for ten thousand years the good natured nevertheless did homage to father s great abilities he was an old man and saw none about him fit to guide his people he therefore the learned to come to and undertake the guidance of the under one only condition a true chinese one that he would pledge himself to from all forbidden however that was very much as if dr jones of y should offer his practice to sir b of london father had a large work in hand and so he stopped at in father such an uncommonly wise man that the chinese called him the of europe was directed to proceed to and make investigation father being well up in his hebrew waa a promising man to send on an but he found t j sa i i notes of though they let him see the would not produce their bo the particulars of nothing been done on this occasion are to be found related by father in choice latin and italian de cap p and by father part cap j a residence was established by the in i ow thought those who thought at all upon such matters we shall have something done if we can only compare our old testament with an ancient that will be no small gain a certain father went into the whole subject entered the copied the and them to rome the jews told father that in a temple at was a large volume wherein were inscribed the sacred books of foreigners resident in china that v was sought afterwards by at but not found certainly such a volume does exist the chinese records the jews however told father not only about what existed at but all about themselves at the ther wrote a letter dated containing what he learned in this manner it that by that application of soft which is or ought to be well understood by men of the world and the father gratified the jews so that they paid him voluntary visits he returned their visits by a call upon them at their where he says i had a long conversation with them and they showed me their some of which are in chinese and others in their own tongue i saw also their or books they suffered me to enter even the moat secret place of their to which they can have no the world here and there or themselves that place is reserved for their that is to say of the who never approaches it but with the most profound respect there were thirteen placed upon tables each of which was surrounded by small curtains the sacred of moses the was shut up in each of these twelve of which represented the twelve tribes of and the moses the books were written on long pieces of and folded up on i obtained leave from the chief of the s to draw the curtains of one of these and to one of the books which appeared to me to be written in a hand exceedingly neat and distinct one of these books had been luckily saved from the great of the river ho which
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the city the capital of the province as the letters of thia book have been and on that account are almost the jews have been at great pains to get a dozen copies made which they carefully preserve in the twelve above mentioned there are to be seen also in two other places of the in which are shut up with great care several other httle books containing different divisions of the of moses which they call ta and other parts of their law they use these books when they pray they showed me some of them which appeared to be written in hebrew they were partly new and partly old and half torn they however bestow as much attention on guarding them as if they were gold or silver in the middle of the stands a magnificent chair raised very high and ornamented with a beautiful this is the of moses in which every saturday and days of great they p oft e t notes of travellers ome portions of it there al o may be seen a or painting on is inscribed the emperor s name but they have neither statues nor images this fronts the west and when they address their prayers to the supreme being they turn towards that quarter and him imder the name of and that is to say creator of all things and lastly of van oe governor of the universe they told me that they had taken these names from the chinese books and that they used them to express the supreme being and first cause in going out from the i observed a hall which i had the curiosity to enter but i found nothing remarkable in it except a great number of they told me that in this hall they honoured their or the great men of their law the largest of these which is intended for the stands in the middle of the hall after which come those of of jacob and his twelve branches or the twelve tribes of next are those of moses and several other illustrious persons both male and female after this apartment they conducted us to the hall of strangers in order to give us an entertainment as the titles of the books of the old testament were printed in hebrew at the end of my bible i showed them to the or chief of the he immediately read them though they were badly printed and he told me that they were the names of their chin or i then took my bible and the took his thus they name the book of we compared the descendants of adam until with the age of each and we found the most perfect between both we afterwards ran over the names and the world here and or in numbers and which compose the or five books of moses the chief of the told me that they named these five books and and that they divided them into fifty three volumes into twelve into eleven and the three following books into ten volumes each which they call some of these they opened and presented to me to read but it was to no purpose as i was with the hebrew language having them respecting the titles of the other books of the bible the chief of the replied that they were in possession of some of them but that they wanted a great many and of others they had no knowledge some of his added that they had lost several books in the of the ho of which i have spoken father has spoken of the but we have not and so we will do so now previously however we may call attention to the distinct of the chinese hall of among these jews and of a place for showing hospitality to strangers as an to their place of worship it is in this way that without their own opinions they became more completely to their neighbours father also notes that their accounts of sacred history were with legends or other stories of that class a fact not to be lost sight of by the the jews in the time of father composed seven kin the man li including in all about one thousand souls they with each other and had their own d these seven of were the of seventy who had of o d s i d n is b l s notes of travellers capital now for the that event took place in the year and it occurred as follows li a rebel with a big army the city the inhabitants after defending themselves for six months still refused to because expected rescue from the emperor the emperor did come a vastly clever fellow who determined to destroy the enemy by a great master stroke i ll drown every man jack he said and broke the that confined the ho or yellow river a league distant from the city out poured the stream and drowned the and the city in its turn knocked down its walls and destroyed thirty thousand of its inmates the emperor a on the largest scale shot at the pigeon and killed the crow it was in this that the number of the jews was by the waters of the river their was and some other portions of their scripture altogether lost before passing down from father we must extract hia rough picture ot the as it existed in his day he says of the jews th have no other but this in the capital of the province of ho i perceived in it no altar nor any other furniture but the of moses with a a long table and large in which were placed candles made of this has some resemblance to our european churches it is divided into three that in the middle was occupied by the table of incense
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the chair of moses the painting and the already mentioned in which are preserved the thirteen copies of tlie these are in the form of an arch and the middle aisle is like the of the the two others are set apart as places of prayer and the world here and there or for the adoration of the supreme being within the j there is a passage which runs quite round as there formerly were and still are among them which is a degree from that of a i took the liberty of asking them if they rendered homage they replied that they honoured him in the same ner as the rest of the and that they assisted them in ceremonies which are performed in halls to their men they added that in spring and autumn they certain rites in honour of their ancestors according to the of chinese in the hall next to their that they not present them the flesh of but of other animals that i ki other ceremonies they were contented with offering them dishes filled with and which they with and profound or i asked them likewise if in their houses or hall of they had in honour of their departed relations they r b plied that they neither images nor anything but only a few we must however except their man i for whom alone they place in the hall of ancestors a t inscribed with their name and rank father adds that these jews in their call their law the law of which they ancient law law of god aj cf to signify that they from blood and cut the nerves and veins of the animals they kill in order that tlie blood may flow more easily from them this custom gives to the jews in china at the present day the name o cut nerves to the present day our story now after the tame oi a q follows in notes of travellers the way of action father who meditated a work npon the sacred in reply to the was eager to on from the letter of father and from those father and wrote upon it material was for the published under the direction of m l aim martin in which he remarks that the detail would be regarded with the more curiosity as it had been often demanded and as father du had contented himself with merely promising it in his great work description de so we have fairly got out of the past into the present where our story thus runs on in the year the chinese jews endeavoured to communicate with europe by means of a hebrew letter addressed to london which seems not to have been delivered last year the society of london determined however to communicate with them miss an energetic and devoted placed her purse in the hands of the society nothing fresh the english bishop at dr was consulted and two chinese christians were at length appointed to proceed to the elder of these two was a bachelor the younger was a student from the college at but the junior was named to head the enterprise because he had previously displayed zeal and ability and also because he could write english and would in that language his journals therefore could be laid before miss by translation our heroes for so we will call the two set out from on the th of last november by boat to tou in a car drawn by they were then along following the track of the ho at three the world here and there x or o clock on winter mornings to save time a proceeding almost self denial population yellow river they found rare and in the of the as principal s or as towns of the second class are but huge piles of rubbish surrounded by crumbling walls here and there a gate with its inscription half the traveller that he is entering d mighty town ance and a mule car brought the travellers at last to they found there many openly right of conscience and flying their religion on a flag displayed over their gate these are for the most part hotel and with one of them our heroes lodged of him they began asking about cut nerves mine host of the said there were still some jews in and offered himself as to their thither they went they found its outer walls in ruins and dirt filled tho grand entrance the pillars of the building the inscribed marble the stone before the of the temple the mental all were cracked broken and under the wings of the the built in honour of the together cold and naked sleeping on tho bare stones those objects of our european interest the jews in china poor and miserable as they are they had begun to sell the stones of their temple for bread and a portion of land within their sacred had been already sold to an adjacent temple of the still there were the the sacred rolls of the old testament which luckily had not proved in number these were about a x i fix by three notes of travellers feet wide they are of white sheep skin inscribed with very small hebrew for fifty years these poor jews have been without the guidance of a and re is not one left who can read a word of hebrew in a dozen years probably the last trace of the jews in china will the travellers gave money to the mournful congregation in the and received leave to copy the about which the had previously informed us moreover they obtained and have brought home eight hebrew six contain portions f the old testament namely of chapters and of chapters of numbers chapters of chapters and chapter with portions of the the and the other two are of the the leaves
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attempts at return so soon as the were the novelty of our situation the wild solitude of around m the picturesque appearance of the many groups of natives within and about the the stories of elephant shooting and the narrow escapes with sundry to baskets and boxes of provisions all helped to make the day pass away rapidly and comfortably enough evening however brought with it a general debate as to what should be done there were still no signs of game being near and few of us desired to spend the night in that open spot unless under a strong the discussion ended by an to the village and the boat where we slept soundly the following day was spent pretty much as had been the first some of the visitors gave strong signs of impatience and towards evening a few of worse temper than the rest declared the whole a complete take in and took their departure lor c just then intelligence was received by means of that the to the number of were in full march towards the this set us all on the lip toe of expectation every one himself to his appointed places ladies shrank away from the front seats and i detected one or two of my own sex casting anxious glances towards the stairs an e was within the the bead rushed of importance the black with their white them s the world here and there or into of three or ur at intervals amongst the surrounding the open space and especially about the entrance but what duty was to be performed by these g was more than i could divine it is true i was told by a native chief that it would on them to drive back any of the when caught in the in the event of their attempting to force the surrounding but the idea of these poor creatures some of them mere boys of any service with their white sticks i so insane and altogether ridiculous that i felt i was being by the the shades of evening descended and continued to arrive from the driving party with to hold everything in readiness for the herd were coming on the few that had been left to the gloom were put out or removed from sight the moon had not risen every tongue was silent save a few low whispers at intervals eyes were eagerly strained towards the opening through which the herd were expected to rush every ear was on the stretch to catch the most remote sounds in that direction one might have from the death like stillness of the place that we were there awaiting our own instead of the of we did not wait long in this suspense a distant shouting burst suddenly upon our startled ears it drew rapidly nearer and soon we could distinguish the violent and snapping of branches of trees and low then we heard the quick tramp of many ponderous and huge feet there was no doubt but that the animals were close upon us for were visible in the direction from which they were coming indeed the distant appeared to be alive w th i every native stood to or i b na m vent mt ae oar i two of md t e ia t di make bam points t of onr md i l t of the am tke r h ihe of f c bat then aa g l l b aw one h and were u m l or t ah om of war t b nt to at the hie r their hie va tamed up in a and th forward to hb to m a of loud laughter ll upon our n of all t vi i tbe of s in the y of i ii i ni l im we a dozen or two of ch i t v to and fro by of i i t m tbe glare of l t mv ji we crouching together in i tv knot of in su i a survey of e t il l n had been i v v wa the world here and there or one or two of them had the remains of hanging to their there not be a shadow i doubt that the i air had been a and we were not long in the origin of it to the real the party of young with whom i had slept in the boat the laughter of the evening however was not yet at an end the light of innumerable now moving about to us three nervous gentlemen perched hi among the branches of a tree dose by our stand they had made a rush up in the first alarm of the but however easy fear had made the ascent they evidently found it a somewhat task to descend all eyes were at once fixed upon the unlucky whose es to the lower branches were hailed with of furious laughter and and were fer the moment forgotten one of them was the district judge a somewhat personage another was a of customs and the third a the court of a thin fellow with a red there they were kicking and straining and struggling in as pretty a fix as any of the civil service had ever themselves and it was not until some and ropes had been handed up to them that they were able to reach the stand and thence their way the scene by the time the was the night was advanced and the moon high in the horizon advice then reached us that the had made a from the line and liad taken it into their heads to treat
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themselves to a across some score or two of acres of land where they were amusing themselves a good round game despite the a m of two c i x a notes op travellers would be done on that night and our parties themselves back to the our numbers were evidently on the next day the of n y had been exhausted towards evening intelligence was brought in that five of all were in full march towards us and shortly afterwards the government agent of the district and the native chief of the came in from the driving to see that all was made ready for tiie proper reception of the visitors again all was hurry and bustle provision baskets and nervous ladies were sent to the rear wine bottles were placed in reserve and sundry parting were made with of once move reigned over the were removed the guards and were doubled and an extra supply of the white brought to the front it was about two hours after dark when we heard the first distinct shouts of the drivers who were slowly forcing the towards the the two tame ones leading the way and pointing out the advantages of that particular path to their friends those sounds seemed to approach us at sometimes it appeared as though the were not to be moved on any account and the shouting died away they drew rapidly near then paused then until we we could distinguish the fall of the elephant s huge feet amongst the thick at last there was no mistake about it they were close upon us our anxiety and curiosity became intense the tearing and amongst the was giant and branches df trees appeased to be snapped asunder by the on coming herd like so walking in a way in short which made tremble ss the world here and there or for the of the and of our own elevated platform but there was little time for reflection of any kind a shot or two waa in the rear of the advancing herd by a of the leading elephant the moon at that moment began to peep over the distant range of low hills and by its light i could distinguish the low bending and giving way on every side and amongst it sundry huge black forms rushing about in savage disorder like mountain masses by some m of nature the two entered the at a brisk but steady trot and stationed under the of trees without any notice being taken of them indeed one of them nodded to the near him as much as to say it all right old fellow i on came the wild at a thundering pace tearing and bending and everything before them and roaring at full pitch in another moment they were within the boundaries of our fortress never shall i forget the wild strange beauty of that moment the moon was now shining on the to light up the more open parts of it away under the deep shade on one side could be seen a dense moving mass of creatures huge and trembling with rage and lighted were gleaming like flies amidst the neighbouring trees and rope barred up the narrow way forming one monster gate whilst busy groups of villagers white in hand moved to and fro and watched the furious herd more lights were brought to the front and a blazing fire was kindled outside the entrance which whilst it served te light up the whole of the the savage strangers from attempting anything in that direction notes of it waa soon evident that the were not going to take matters very quietly two of the of their number slowly and examined the walls to see where an opening might most easily h p forced and now we were not less astonished than delighted at the use made of those tiny white which had before served only to raise our contempt wherever the two elephant approached the walls of their prison they mere met by one or two villagers who gently waved before them little snow white and lo as if by some spell of potent forest magic the beasts turned back shrinking from contact with the little point after point was thus tried but all in vain the snowy magic sticks were thick within the and silently beat back the advancing foe while the two were thus engaged on their exploring expedition the tame approached the remainder of the herd and walked slowly them shaking their shaggy ears and waving high in air their curling trunks as though they would say move at your peril one of the a somewhat and elephant ventured to move from the side of its maternal parent to take a survey of our stand when tame elephant number one went up to the and sent him back with an enormous in his ear tame elephant number two at the same moment a smart tap on the skull work was at hand the evidently disgusted with the result of their operations upon the appeared to be preparing for a and treated with the most reckless levity the of the elephant which however seemed to be far less unpleasant to them than a on the from one of the white it was plain that they intended to carry object by a de trunk but a the world here and there o score of peered forth the ladies shut their stopped an elderly gentleman at my elbow id a tremulous whisper what the guns for the was replied to by a loud from one of the pair ol a harsh screaming roar like the hollow sound d a strained railway whistle very much out of repair we bad scarcely time to look at the poor brute creating this when we heard the sharp crack of a dozen around io sharp indeed that our eyes again down one of
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ll esq esq esq m b c william esq william s esq captain b n john esq esq james esq cab esq t p esq james esq day esq samuel esq john esq s esq s esq william esq feast esq john esq thomas l esq james esq j esq h esq j esq t j esq y l ce continued les esq captain b n o w esq esq w c esq esq o b john t n esq esq esq esq samuel esq esq h o b bin n esq philip esq w b esq h esq h esq esq john esq esq james esq esq the hon thomas noon esq bond esq m p f b y j b esq thomas j esq place john esq m d committee mb h j e p h t mb w h h t h mb to whom all are to be y to sir edward m p sir i am desired by the of the theatrical fund to return you their sincere and grateful thanks for the alacrity and kindness with which you accepted the position of at their annual in april last the circumstances under which they were deprived of the announced presence of mr having made the obtaining an efficient substitute a matter both of delicacy and difficulty but from which they were relieved by you that you may long continue to be the friend and patron of all institutions having for their object the independence and comfort of decayed members of literature and the arts is the earnest wish of your most obedient servant john b hon to the general theatrical fund a y y h o o o t o w co b s y y address in presenting to the and friends of the the report of the seventh festival the have the cheerful duty of thankful on the l of the institution they feel that supported by the con of that distinguished patronage which has been hitherto so kindly bestowed upon the fund and presided over by individuals so distinguished as have honoured the chair on the occurrence of the there can be no doubt that the will be second to no benevolent institution in the kingdom still they feel that much remains to be done that the objects of the association are stiu imperfectly known and that as each succeeding year wiu add to the number of so greater exertions will be necessary to obtain increased support in order to out fully the intentions of its the continued support of the public is therefore to be desired and it is hoped that the administration of the affairs is such as to secure that desirable result it should be borne in mind that in this institution there is no whatever that it is not alone those who have filled london engagements in one or other particular theatre but that over the by ic whole empire being members are objects for its sympathy and care the again return their grateful thanks to the hon mr justice charles esq and bond esq m p the of the fund to esq w c esq charles esq william esq t p esq and to mrs late miss for their constant assistance and support om the foundation of the association to r n john w h west james feast w gardener charles charles hill john john john t g walter t and henry hill for their kind and constant patronage the also have pleasure in acknowledging their great obligation to the ladies and gentlemen of the musical profession who so and kindly assisted them on the day of the festival and who have with such continued kindness displayed their friendly interest in the institution on every y festival on monday the th april the members and friends of this association established in and recently by held their seventh festival at the london tavern street sir edward m p in the chair by captain r n john esq charles esq mark esq esq j b esq t p esq r bell esq c esq t esq w esq t j esq w r esq and about other gentlemen the dinner which was admirably served having con and the cloth removed non was sung by a number of professional gentlemen the then rose amidst loud cheers and said he had to propose a toast which was always the first on the lips of every englishman he begged to give them the health of her gracious majesty the queen cheers and in doing so he might be allowed to inform them that their royal had on saturday y last enriched the fund hy a further of cheers the national having heen sung the proposed his royal prince prince of wales and the rest of the royal family cheers the would next call the attention of the company to the army and navy with which he felt he had a sort of professional having in his earlier days belonged to the army though envious fate had opened up to him other means for rendering himself useful than were to be enjoyed in his position as a it appeared that at the present moment all parties were for calling out but as he saw at their table a gentleman connected with one of the more regular branches of the profession he would give them the army and navy calling captain to return thanks cheers captain r n believed they all knew that he belonged to a profession more given to action than to speaking and they must therefore excuse him if in tr ring to make a speech he showed any deficiency in a knowledge of his part he had spent upwards of twelve years of the best part of
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his life at sea and seen on the quarter deck and though it was a long time since he had taken part in his profession he believed that if his life were to come over again there was nothing on earth which would make him adopt any other cheers he thought there was a good deal of between his profession and that of the actor they had heard a good deal of the decline of the drama and by ic if they had not heard he had felt the decline of the navy laughter for the last thirty years the government had gone on pulling down the navy little by little until it was now low indeed during tlie last war whatever might be the merits of the army he believed it was to the navy that england was mainly indebted for the position she maintained and he believed that should their services be again required the members of the navy would be found as willing and able as ever to defend their native land cheers he had shown them that the decline of the drama and the navy were and he must now be allowed to allude to one illustrious individual who had done all in her power to stop that decline her sacred majesty the queen had shown her sympathy with the navy by putting her son into the dress of a tar and had shown herself ready at au times to hold out her hand in the best manner she had been advised to do so to support the drama cheers he had seen the prince in his dress of a tar a few days since on waters and he trusted that when it came to his turn to act a more important part in life s drama he would act it as well as his parents had done theirs and that he would ever keep in view the interests of the profession into which he had been cheers in addition to returning thanks for the navy he found that he was expected to the compliment paid to the army now as he had once before said on a similar occasion in the presence of his friends mr and mr it was rather hard upon him to expect him to play box and at the same time laughter he could however assure them that he b by ic believed the sister service would ever be as ready and able to do its duty as as liis own whenever their services should be required by the country cheers the said he had now to propose the toast more immediately connected with the object which had called them together prosperity to the general theatrical fund cheers which had been established thirteen years and was now in all the of health with every prospect of he felt that a great deal of their prosperity depended upon the labours of those who had undertaken the management of the charity the great success which had attended them however was derived from the fact of recognition of two great principles upon which he thought every society which had for its object the benefit of the professors of art ought to be the first principle to which he alluded was that such a society should partake of the characteristics of a institution and that those who claimed the support and sympathy of the public should show that they had so far as their means would allow them by their prudence and foresight endeavoured to provide for any which might arise one of the principles therefore on which this society was founded was that those actors who received its benefits must first have contributed to its funds thereby raising themselves should they become destitute and require assistance from a condition of to a position of dignity and honour their claim to relief being established on a right having placed themselves in this position the public were not called upon to bestow their charity when they were y asked to assist an institution established for the protection of those who devoted their lives to the public service in providing them with rational and intellectual amusement but they were asked to perform a duty which they alike owed to the actor and to themselves it was said that property had its duties as well as its rights but he thought it a more valuable doctrine that poverty having established its rights by the performance of its duties of foresight and self denial in order to provide for had its claims last year their mr who then sat upon his ri t hand had taken the chair at their festival and had been nobly supported by the professors of their art who thereby that they knew how to perform their duties and should they be overtaken by poverty they would have a fair claim to support the second principle upon which their society was founded was the recognition of the fact that art was impulsive and could not be confined within any walls of brick and mortar where it arranged that it might or might not be exercised cheers he had seen the public called upon to support societies for the benefit of the actor who mu have served a certain number of years within what were called the temples of the legitimate drama these had been endowed by the public and by the great names of a a and a but they were not now in a condition to carry out the principles on which they were founded the actor could not appear on their boards the but so far as they carried out the intentions of the they were a mockery and delusion cheers by ic indeed they were the only places in which the english actor could not practise his art or suffer those which the were called upon to assist
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in in this society however there was no delusion and so long as the living drama happily existed in england this society would be to its objects and the public and the would know where to find its friends that society was not established for the benefit of art whenever art its and so long as it acknowledged the claims of au its professors no matter what position they held so long would it be deserving of public support cheers and he believed that it would endure so long as the drama existed and even after the should have into dust the only for a candidate for its benefits being that he was an artist and was in misfortune in the circle of the arts there were none which required so much co operation and as that of an actor an author might not require the assistance of the or even of the living for perhaps his best companions his best sources of inspiration would be foimd in the works of the dead but the actor s art was necessarily social the greatest actor produced no impression without tiie assistance of others hamlet must have his and his cheers all even in the best of times might by illness or other events be reduced comparatively low and looking at the attendant upon an actor s life it became the duty of the chiefs of the profession if not of the public to liberally contribute to the funds of an institution by actors to y themselves such support dictated alike by common sense and common justice he could not these remarks without an expression of his deep regret a regret which he ought have given utterance to at an earlier part of the proceedings of the evening at the cause which had upon that occasion placed him in the chair and deprived them of the pre of his friend mr he trusted it may be to that gentleman how deeply they with him and their regret at the illness of one who had so long in all his and of his triumphs combined with their earnest hope that her health might be happily and permanently restored that society had already done good and noble service to the independence and honour of the profession it has drawn closer together the professors of the art and shown that that art is too grand to be affected by any cheers he would conclude by calling upon them earnestly and cordially to drink success to the general theatrical fund cheers mr then rose and said gentlemen i am sure you will all agree with me that no amount of thanks or expressions of gratitude can be sufficiently given by the members and well of the general theatrical fund to our distinguished this evening many would have considered it but a poor compliment m being invited to the rescue imder the circumstances which have deprived us of the presence of mr and might have in accepting the doubtful honour we would have imposed upon them but gentlemen on receiving intelligence that domestic anxieties b by ic of an nature would prevent our promised appearing this evening in his place the application to help us in our need was no sooner made to sir edward than with that unaffected alacrity and goodness of heart which are ever the signs of a noble and a liberal nature he at assented he left us in no doubt on the matter and with one slight solely connected with matters and in which he is pretty sure to succeed cheers he promised to be here and here he is the great service he has thus rendered us will never be for gotten by the members of the fund m e especially as this is the second time he has honored and served us by at this festival he has recently told us gentlemen and it is very comfortable to know the fact that we are not so bad as we seem and that every man has mai sides to his character i am sure gentlemen you will acknowledge that in so readily standing our mend this evening sir edward has shown one of his very best sides and one which must command the respect and approbation of every person present cheers as regards our fund gentlemen to promote the prosperity of which you are assembled here i am happy to say that were it embodied in a human form and endowed with the power of speech it would this evening exclaim that it was the moment of its life indeed gentlemen i will suppose myself the and will address you stating its birth and education in the first person singular you must now imagine the fund with its capital and its large body of members to be speaking to you in y hem gentlemen i was bom at a very early period of my existence or to speak with greater it is now fifteen years ago since i came into the world my parents were some ladies and gentlemen engaged in literary and dramatic pursuits who observing that mr and mrs lane and mr and mrs possessed two very fine children but which children had grown so fat through keeping all the good things that were given them entirely to themselves without allowing any of their in the neighbourhood to have the smallest taste of their or their apple my parents came to the nation to have a baby of their own cheers and laughter who should be reared and educated in such liberal principles that when it might obtain something nice every boy and girl in the country should come forward and have a taste provided they asked in a proper manner cheers on my first appearance in the world i was looked upon as rather a sickly child mr and mrs lane and mr and mrs garden gave it as
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their opinion that i could not live or if i should perchance exist for a short time there would be so many to snatch ever out of my hand that i should perish for want of proper however gentlemen in spite of such though i was very small at my laughter as many a subsequently great person has often been at that period i daily increased in size and strength so carefully was i watched and so well was i nursed indeed nothing could be better than the latter one of my best nurses is present at this moment and i can gratefully declare how by ic e er firom month to month that excellent person may have sent out such creatures to other people that lent person was never a mrs to me laughter after years of great care i was discovered to be rather a strong fellow so much so that when i occasionally the two big boys of lane and i was enabled to give them a at last they were both afraid to come out of doors for one of them has not been seen for several years and i don t think that the other to show himself at present cheers when i attained the age of eight my parents gave a good dinner and put me out and once every year since that time they have continued the pleasant practice when i have been introduced to my friends who have greatly rejoiced to see how i continued to grow on each of these occasions my friends always did something handsome for me till at last the good and gracious queen of this country hearing much talk of me and finding that i was an honest hard working liberal fellow did something handsome for me too and continues to do so till this day cheers and laughter as this is the seventh of my being put according to the usual terms of such i am out of my time this evening i trust during the period of my service i have given satisfaction because i am now about to commence business for myself and when i tell you that i am master of a capital of nearly seven thousand pounds i think you will acknowledge that i have every prospect of success in life added to which my friends have obtained me a royal that will enable me to place my out to by ic much more advantage than i have hitherto done as it is fit i should inform you that my present capital is invested in the somewhat attempt to reduce the national laughter but now gentlemen by virtue of my i can become a landed proprietor to a very large per i can invest my money in the best government and other tiiat may present themselves i can receive i am from this day quite equal in importance to the two big boys i have alluded to and altogether i have every of becoming a prosperous i have already received notice of one benefit to be derived in consequence of the power so given to our old and esteemed friend mr t p having made his will and left me a of with advantages loud and prolonged cheers sweet william has indeed proved true to his early love cheers you will remember that at the annual dinner given me by my parents and friends i informed you the latter had always done something handsome for me i hope on this occasion they will do something than ever for tiie proud position i have achieved has not been without an alarming sacrifice for my has cost full five hundred pounds but which i am convinced your liberality this evening will lessen you also well know that a man however prosperous in life will always have some poor relations and when i inform you that i am already providing for six to each of whom i from to per besides having paid the funeral expenses of many and given money to their families i am con y you will do all in your power to encourage so good a yoimg man cheers and now having related my mr will resume his own position and continue his address as my cheers gentlemen though mr general fund in for himself may have been a little yet i can assure you every word he has uttered is true and that a more deserving and a more person never presented himself to beg your his very exultation as regards lane and might perhaps have been a little subdued because those institutions though compelled to be limited in their circle of benevolence have given comfort and independence to many a public favourite to their existence are we indebted for our own as in america owes his origin to john bull in england and with precisely the same to bully his big brother i have great pleasure in thus slightly alluding to the excellence of the great funds because there are some valued friends of mine connected with them who are present this with a generous desire to help us and i only regret that dramatic affairs of late have not given them that consequence they formerly enjoyed loud cheers and now gentlemen let me hope you will not forget your usual liberality this evening and that our worthy secretary may in his customary well toned and manly voice some substantial remember for whom it is we plead for the declining actor the the and the in town and country for those whose best days have been passed in the effort to instruct and amuse you and the by ic time has been to fight for you for it is well known that in the ranks of charles the first and also of william the third there were many actor soldiers who were good men
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and true and at this day gentlemen when invasion has been talked of and rifle corps contemplated think of what service a body of good might be such as we have amongst us fancy them advancing to an enemy and asking in an how he would like to have it whether in or with passes shoulder blows and head blows and as in such we always contrive to kill the villain at last you may easily guess who would get the worst of the encounter cheers and laughter in conclusion gentlemen i must again thank our kind and excellent and also our ever visible and friend mr charles whose re appearance at this board we can always calculate upon as regularly as the can reckon upon the return of a though luckily for us his visits are not so few and far between as one of those cheers our poet tells us if to do were as easy as to know what were good to do had been churches and poor men s cottages princes palaces gentlemen what you have to do is easy enough to accomplish it is only to be as generous as ever you can this evening then indeed will our be churches and we can to our poor men that best and happiest of all palaces the cottage of content loud cheers mr john in rising to propose the health of the charged mr with having been saying and getting applause for some of the very y best things he had himself intended to say after pursuing this strain for some time amid much laughter mr gave the health of sir edward little had remarked of the that she was a difficult subject to compliment and in matters of this kind the result was pretty much the same where there was an absence of charms as in the case of the and where the charms and claims were as in the case of their mr proceeded to say that what doctor johnson had remarked of was to be said with greater truth of sir edward than any man living cheers no man who had written so had also written so well as with so with him we associate his name with the novel with the essay with poetry with history with the delicate and generous criticism with the witty and successful comedy with the genial and laughter of the stage cheers and while he had thus done more various things at a higher pitch of excellence than any of his no man with such various powers had at the same time given them a tendency and application more uniformly generous never had he for a moment forgotten the interests of literature or of any calling or profession connected with it cheers placed in a condition of independence by his birth and he had been above the miserable affectation of appearing to condescend to letters as many dignified authors are in the habit of doing all his life he had been a working man of letters and had completely identified himself with the efforts and aims with the toil y and struggle with all but the and of the cheers referring to the expectation indulged by mr of seeing sir edward again in parliament mr then glanced at what he had done for his literary brethren during his previous career to mr chiefly it was that we owe the of what were justly called the es on knowledge he first proposed and his exertions secured the dramatic author a proper for his labours cheers that was not the place to indulge personal feelings or he might have referred to the long series of years in which he had enjoyed the advantages of sir edward s friendship he preferred to say in a more public sense that he stood there that day one of several men more distinguished authors and artists who felt that in connection with a certain effort they were at present making in behalf of their common calling they owed sir edward a debt which could never be repaid cheers if that effort should succeed if the plan in which they had embarked to encourage life assurance and other habits among authors and artists to render such assistance to both as should never compromise their independence and to found a new institution where honorable rest from labour should still be associated with the discharge of congenial duties should indeed be carried to a successful issue then would the greatest of it be for ever associated with sir edward s name as its chief its most effective most generous benefactor cheers gentlemen said mr c by ic in conclusion i give you the health of sir edward and may it be long before he comes to the possession of a greater fame and fortune than he even now i mean that second life in other s breath the estate which wits inherit after death cheers had listened with some anxiety to the remarks of his friend mr in proposing his health because he felt that the partiality of his friend was making him say more than he thought he deserved he could not however but gratefully acknowledge the kindness of mr for the way in which he had proposed his health and of his other friends for the way in which they had responded to it in the course of his observations mr had been pleased to say that he sir edward was above the of a usual literary life but if he was so it was because he had never met with anything to give him cause for jealousy and he was proud to acknowledge the and which had at all times been extended to him by his literary brethren and made him feel the truth of the observation that the world they in was large enough for all cheers
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but for the author there was a world still larger than this the world of their own creation in which to indulge their fancy and lay up stores of to dispense them cheers no one knew better than he did the trials and anxieties of an author s life owing to public caprice the change of fashion or a variety of other causes he was old enough to remember the time when lord y was dazzling the world with the of his wild and extraordinary genius and which induced crowds of after fame to endeavour to follow his footsteps lord died his failed and the public did not care a single straw about either poets or their poetry for the next quarter of a century again thanking them for the honour they had conferred upon him he would now introduce to them the name of their old friend charles cheers of whom he must be allowed to say that no man had earned a deeper popularity or a more just and lasting reputation having by his exertions raised and dignified art as much as he had his own profession cheers it had been said by lord that popularity such as that possessed by mr could only be obtained by touching the hearts of the whole people of england that had mr done no man ever possessed such a mastery over the hearts of all the rich and the poor the of the cottage or the palace as that gentleman and moreover he used that power for the best of all purposes that of working out a remedy for acknowledged social in and elsewhere and to the morals and condition of the people cheers mr had done more to hold the mirror up to nature to the passions to excite the tears of sympathy and to show that however high might be honoured the poor were equally honourable for their virtues than any author of modem times and his works had become and would remain household words so long as the saxon language continued to exist cheers he felt the greater pleasure in proposing that by ic gentleman s health on the present occasion because he had first become thoroughly acquainted with the real character of mr in his position as actor and stage manager of those gentlemen who by their talents had endeavoured to promote the interests of the of literature to which mr had referred when he stated what he was sure all who knew him would readily admit that mr possessed a heart as large as his genius he could not say more to recommend to their cordial reception the toast he was about to propose health and long life to mr charles one of the of the general theatrical fund and his brother cheers mr rose amidst renewed cheering which lasted some time and said he could assure them that he really was not using a common form of words but was honestly expressing the feeling of the moment when he himself at some loss both to thank the company for their hearty greeting and to thank his generous friend in the chair for the terms in which he had referred to him sir absolute was of opinion that in love matters it was best to begin with a little aversion and if he mr could only have started with a little coldness on the part of his friend in the chair or even a moderate warmth on the part of that audience it was quite unknown into what an admirable speech he should have presently but a tribute so noble and a welcome so cordial he found to be very bad preparations indeed for such an achievement before referring to the fund which was the main object of interest with all of them that evening y he would take leave to say that he was exceedingly glad that his friend the had happened to allude to him in that company in his stage capacity because he did particularly desire to express his conviction in such a company of all others that the dramatic profession were very ill served by some friends when they supposed that it could possibly be injured by or could possibly regard with anything like resentment or jealousy amateur cheers he had for a brief space assumed the functions of an amateur manager and actor in of a cause in which his warmest sympathies and aspirations are like those of his friend in the chair and to represent that the stage could possibly be injured or could fairly claim any right to consider itself injured by such performances was to it from the position assumed in such wise by every other liberal art cheers in literature there were received freely and without of all kinds lawyers officers of the army and navy clerks who travelled and saw strange countries lords and ladies of various degrees anybody who had anything to say and possibly now and then somebody who had nothing to say cheers and laughter during the whole of the last season a gallery was opened in pall for the exhibition of pictures of amateur artists yet he never heard that the members of the royal academy were much by the circumstance or very desperately alarmed by its public patronage and success so in music he believed it was generally acknowledged that some excellent lessons had been given to the public and c by ic the profession by the knowledge and patience oc in chorus singing and that the production of some of the most admired works of the old masters were due to the exertions of without the least injury to the regular professors of the art the liberal and generous feeling which thus distinguished other kindred arts surely was to be claimed for the stage as its just
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the stamp of public appreciation cheers no one who had seen him in his excellent and of could fall to perceive that had he made the range of that description of comedy his peculiar study he would have gone far beyond the great body of his cheers in conclusion he would give them the health of mr a man who was by ic in all his and in all his engagement mb was grateful for the paid to him he was not enough to that all the merit was to him that their respected had heen to ess hut he assure that to encourage the drama to the of his in its highest and most intellectual walks had heen at ad times the endeavour of his life the drama of this country he stood in a than that of any country in europe fer england alone had given to a whose the s of an and by their to nature spoke home to the hearts of the people of all nations and all ages cheers in the present day the drama owed to the genius of their distinguished cheers and he should like to see the man who having witnessed the performance of one of that gentleman s or had not been by his whose sympathies had not been in the fortunes of the people of his or who had been sent home happy to bed cheers a worthy companion to their in dramatic literature was his old and esteemed mend cheers and next they had the finished of cheers and the lively pieces of his mend loud cheers whilst the english stage possessed such authors as these they need not despair of the drama cheers and he trusted the law of would prove of advantage to them and that the english would never by ic imitate the example of some of its foreign and fall into the pit of vice instead of virtue cheers both as an author and an actor he had derived great pleasure in listening to the very satisfactory position of the fund and he could assure them that it would always be his best endeavour to support the art of the actor in its purest and most poetical position and to assist a fund which must tend to do so much towards securing the respectability and independence of its members cheers as he had alluded to the of he could not sit down without asking leave to propose the health of a gentleman he saw near him whose name was almost associated with the success of some of the principal of those and who had imparted that life to them which their popularity on the stage he meant mr t p loud cheers who with the true liberality of one of those heroes he had so often represented had left by his wiu the magnificent of to the funds of the institution with advantages cheers mb t p who was received with loud cheers said that he was completely taken by surprise by the toast they had just drank and after the many eloquent speeches they had heard that night he he could not say anything to their attention though he was deeply grateful for the compliment paid him cheers the communication that has been made to you relative to the i have left this fund it was not my intention should be made public but was meant only for my friend s private ear it seems however that if i had determined to do good by and blush to by ic find it fame he has determined it should not be so and if it can be productive of the slightest good to the fund by others to go and do likewise he is perfectly right and i can have no wish to keep it secret but do most fervently hope that my poor example may be and largely followed by those who have better means than myself particularly by my more wealthy professional brethren for myself i feel i have merely performed a duty in first providing for those near and dear to me and then remembering others by whose assistance i have been enabled to do so in conclusion i would beg to suggest that all present would study the instructions recently given by the lord for making a will and if they have anything to give to bestow it on the poor player who has and fretted away his existence for your amusement for of this be assured that no can be better or more bestowed cheers the was sure they could not part without expressing their obligations to those gentlemen connected with the literature of their art who had honoured them with their company that evening cheers he would not upon the present occasion call upon their friend mr to acknowledge the toast as he had already so addressed them and he was sure that his friend mr robert bell whose delightful they all admired cheers would be happy to have the opportunity of doing so cheers they were also favoured with the presence of their friend mr mark whose wit and humour added a charm and polish to the lighter drama cheers trusting that the fu ture productions of these gentlemen might be as sharp as by ic a and possess the power of be as sound as a he begged to give them dramatic literature and mr robert bell cheers mr bell responded to the toast mr then proposed the health of the professional ladies and gentlemen who had contributed to the amusement of the evening for which he was sure they were all deeply grateful it being now past midnight the retired followed by the greater portion of the company and the of the evening were brought to a close in course of the evening
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g mr and his confidential agent parts from a very old friend abstraction and recognition and on the staircase the shadow in the little parlor mr and the world secret intelligence mr in his hour of triumph on the dark road an arrival let him remember it in that room to come another wedding s and son m mm mn chapter the wooden goes to in as the weeks flew over him in his fortified retreat by no means any of hb prudent provisions against surprise because of the non appearance of the enemy the captain argued that his present security was too profound and wonderful to endure much longer he knew that when the wind stood in a fair quarter the was seldom nailed there and he was too well acquainted with the determined and character of mrs to doubt that that heroic woman had devoted herself to the task of his discovery and capture trembling beneath the weight of these reasons captain lived a very close and retired life seldom stirring abroad until after dark venturing even then only into the streets never going forth at all on sundays and both within and without the walls of his retreat avoiding as if thej were worn by raging lions the captain never dreamed that in the event of his upon by mrs in his walks it would b possible to offer resistance he felt that it could not be done he saw himself in his mind s eye put meekly in a coach and carried off to his old lodgings he fi saw that there he was a lost man his hat gone mrs watchful of him day and night reproaches heaped n and son his head before the infant family himself the guilty object of suspicion and distrust an in the children s eyes and in their mother s a detected traitor a violent perspiration and a of spirits always came over the captain as this gloomy picture presented itself to his imagination it generally did so previous to his stealing out of doors at night for air and exercise sensible of the risk he ran the captain took leave of rob at those times with the solemnity which became a man who might never return him in the event of his the captain s being lost sight of for a time to tread in the paths of virtue and keep the brazen instruments well polished but not to throw away a chance and to secure to himself a means in case of the worst of holding communication with the external world captain soon conceived the happy idea of teaching rob the some secret signal by which that might make his presence and fidelity known to his commander in the hour of much the captain decided in favor of him to whistle the n melody oh cheerily cheerily and rob the a point as near perfection in that accomplishment as a could hope to reach the captain impressed these mysterious i on his mind now my lad stand by if ever i m took took captain interposed rob with his round eyes wide open ah said captain darkly if ever i goes away meaning to come back to supper and don t come within hail again twenty four hours my loss go you to place and whistle that ere tune near my old not as if you was a meaning of it you but as if you d drifted there if i answer ip you sheer off my lad and back four and twenty hours if i answer in another tune do you stand off and on and wait till i throw out further do you understand them orders now what am i to stand off and on of captain inquired rob the ad here s a smart lad for you cried captain him and son sternly as don t know his own native away a bit and come back again d ye understand that v yes captain said rob very good my lad then said the captain do it that he might do it the better captain sometimes condescended of an evening after the shop was shut to this scene retiring into the parlor for the purpose as into the lodgings of a and carefully observing the behavior of his ally from the hole of he had cut in the wall rob the discharged himself of his duty with much and judgment when thus put to the proof that the captain presented him at divers times with seven in token of satisfaction and gradually felt stealing over his spirit the resignation of a man who had made provision for the worst and taken every reasonable precaution against an fate nevertheless the captain did not tempt ill fortune by being a whit more than before though he considered it a point of good breeding in himself as a general friend of the family to attend mr s wedding of which he had heard from mr perch and to show that gentleman a pleasant and countenance from the gallery he had repaired to the church in a with both windows up and might have even to make that venture in his dread of mrs but that the lady s attendance on the of the reverend rendered it peculiarly unlikely that she would be found in communion with the establishment the captain got safe home again and fell into the ordinary routine of his new life without any more direct alarm from the enemy than was suggested to him by the daily in the but other subjects began to lie heavy on the captain s mind walter s ship was still unheard of no news came of old e did not even know of the old man s disappearance and captain had not the heart to tell her the captain as his own hopes of the generous handsome gallant hearted youth whom he
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had loved according to his rough manner from a child began to fade faded more and sun and more from day to day shrank with instinctive pain from the thought of exchanging a word with if he had had good news to carry to her the honest captain would have the newly decorated house and splendid furniture though these connected with the lady he had seen at church were awful to him and made his way into her presence with a dark horizon gathering around their common hopes however that darkened every hour the captain almost felt as if he were a new misfortune and affliction to her and was scarcely less afraid of a visit from than from mrs herself it was a chill dark evening and captain had ordered a fire to be kindled in the little back parlor now more than ever like the cabin of a ship the rain fell fast the wind blew hard and out on the by that stormy bedroom of his old friend to take an observation of the weather the captain s heart died within him when he saw how wild and desolate it was not that he associated the weather of that time with poor walter s destiny or doubted that if providence had doomed him to be lost and it was over long ago but that beneath an outward influence quite distinct from the subject matter of his thoughts the captain s spirits sank and his hopes turned pale as those of wiser men had done before him and will often do again captain addressing his face to the sharp wind and rain looked up at the heavy that was flying fast over the wilderness of house tops and looked for something cheery there in vain the prospect near at hand was no better in sundry tea and other rough boxes at his feet the of rob the were like so many dismal breezes getting up a crazy of a with a at his eye once visible from the street but long out and complained upon his as the shrill blast spun him round and round and with him cruelly upon the captain s coarse blue the cold rain drops started like steel beads and he could hardly maintain himself against the stiff nor that came pressing against him to him over the and throw him on the below if there were any hope alive that evening and son s the captain thought as he held his hat on it certainly kept house wasn t out of doors so the captain shaking his head in a manner went in to look for t captain descended slowly to the little back parlor and seated in his accustomed chair looked for it in the fire but it was not there though the fire was bright he took out his tobacco box and pipe and himself to smoke looked for it in the red glow from the bowl and in the wreaths of that curled upward from his lips but there was not so much as an of the of hope s anchor in either he tried a glass of but melancholy truth was at the bottom of that well and he couldn t finish it he made a turn or two in the shop and looked for hope among the instruments but they worked out for the missing ship in spite of any opposition he could offer that ended at the bottom of the lone sea the wind still rushing and the rain still against the closed shutters the captain brought to before the wooden upon the counter and thought as he dried the little officer s uniform with his sleeve how many years the had seen during which few changes hardly any had among his ship s company how the changes had come all together one day as it might be and of what a sweeping kind they were here was the little society of the back parlor broken up and scattered far and wide here was no audience for lovely even if there had been anybody to sing it which there was not for the captain was as morally certain that nobody but he could execute that ballad as he was that he had not the spirit under existing circumstances to attempt it there was no bright face of r in the house here the captain transferred his sleeve for a moment from the s uniform to his own cheek the familiar wig and buttons of were a vision of the past richard was knocked on the head and every plan and project in with the lay without mast or on the waste of waters as the captain with a dejected face stood revolving these thoughts and the partly in the tenderness of old acquaintance and partly in the absence of his mind a and son at the shop door communicated a frightful start to the frame of rob the seated on the counter whose large eyes bad been intently on the captain s face and who had been within himself for the five time whether the captain could have done a murder that he had such an evil conscience and was always running away what s that said captain softly somebody s captain answered rob the the captain with an abashed and guilty air immediately on tip toe to the little parlor and locked himself in rob opening the door would have with the visitor on he threshold if the visitor had come in female guise but the figure being of the male sex and rob s orders only applying to women rob held the door open and allowed it to enter which it did very quickly glad to get out of the driving rain a job for and co at any rate said the visitor looking over his shoulder at his own legs which were very wet and covered with oh
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how de do mr the salutation was addressed to the captain now emerging from the back parlor with a most transparent and utterly futile affectation of coming out by accident the gentleman went on to say in the same breath i m very well indeed myself i m much obliged to you my name is the captain remembered to have seen this young gentleman at the wedding and made him a bow mr replied with a chuckle and being embarrassed as he generally was breathed hard shook hands with the captain for a long time and then falling on rob the in the absence of any other resource shook hands with him in a most affectionate and cordial manner i say i should like to speak a word to you mr if you please said at length with surprising presence of mind i say miss d o m you know the captain with gravity and mystery immediately waved his hook towards the little parlor whither mr followed him if f tt l ik t ij v g g f l i t n c al w s ht v ss tbe i library and son i beg pardon though said mr looking up in the captain s face as he sat down in a chair by the fire which the captain placed for him you don t happen to know the chicken at all do you mr the chicken said the captain the game chicken said mr the captain shaking his head mr explained that the man alluded to was the celebrated public character who had covered himself and his country with glory in his contest with the one but this piece of information did not appear to the captain very much because he s outside that s all said mr but it s of no consequence he won t get very wet perhaps i can pass the word for him in a moment said the captain well if you would have the goodness to let him sit in the shop with your young man chuckled mr i should be glad because you know he s easily offended and the damp s rather bad for his call him in mr with that mr to the shop door sent a liar whistle the night which produced a gentleman in a shaggy white great coat and a flat hat with very short hair a broken nose and a considerable tract of bare and country behind each ear sit down chicken said mr the chicken out some small pieces of straw on which he was himself and took in a fresh supply from a reserve he carried in his hand there an t no drain of nothing short handy is there said the chicken generally this here night is hard lines to a man as lives on his condition captain proffered a glass of rum which the chicken throwing back his head emptied into himself as into a after proposing the brief towards us mr and uie captain returning then to the parlor and taking their seats before the fire mr began mr said the captain my name s and son mr looked greatly disconcerted while the captain pro gravely cap en is my name and england is my nation this here is my dwelling place and blessed be creation job said the captain as an index to his authority o i couldn t see mr could i said mr because if you could see young gen l m n said the captain and laying his heavy hand on mr s knee old mind you with your own eyes as you sit there you d be to me than a wind to a ship l but you can t see and why c an t you see said the captain by the face of mr that he was making a profound impression on that gentleman s mind because he s mr in his agitation was going to reply that it was of no consequence at all but he corrected himself and said lor bless me that there man said the captain has left me in charge here by a piece of writing but though he was a most as good as my sworn brother i know no more where he s gone or why he s gone if so be to seek his or if so be along of being not quite settled in his mind than you do one morning at daybreak he went over the side said the captain without a splash without a ripple i have looked for that man high and low and never set eyes nor ears nor nothing else upon him from that hour but good gracious miss don t know mr began why i ask you as a feeling heart said the captain dropping his voice why should she know why should she be made to know until such time as there t any help for it she took to old did that sweet with a kindness with a with a what s the good of saying so you know her i should hope so chuckled mr with a conscious blush that his whole countenance and you come here from her said the captain and son i should think so chuckled mr then all i need observe is said the captain that you know a angel and are by a angel mr instantly seized the captain s band and requested the favor of his friendship upon my word and honor said mr earnestly i should be very much obliged to you if you d improve acquaintance i should like to know you captain very much i really am in want of a friend i am little was my friend at old s and would have been now if he d
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these words shook the captain s hand and such traces of his agitation as could be disguised on so short a notice before the chicken s penetrating glance rejoined that eminent gentleman in the shop the chicken who was apt to be jealous of his eyed captain with anything but favor as he took leave of mr but followed his patron without being otherwise of his ill will leaving the captain oppressed with sorrow and rob the elevated with joy on account of having had the of staring for nearly half an hour at the conqueror of the one long after rob was fast asleep in his bed under the counter the captain sat looking at the fire and long after there was no fire to look at the captain sat gazing on the ry bars with thoughts of walter and old crowding through his and son mind to the stormy chamber at the top of the house brought do rest with it and the captain rose up in the morning sorrowful and as soon as the city offices were opened the captain issued forth to the house of and son but there was no opening of the s windows that morning rob the by the captain s orders left the shutters closed and the house was as a house of death it chanced that mr was entering the office as captain arrived at the door receiving the manager s gravely and silently captain made bold to accompany him into his own room well captain said mr taking up his usual position before the fire place and keeping on his hat this is a bad business you have received the news as was in print yesterday sir said the captain yes said mr we have received it it was accurately stated the under writers suffer a considerable loss we are very sorry no help such is life mr his nails delicately with a and smiled at the captain who was standing by the door looking at him i excessively regret poor gay said and the crew i understand there were some of our very best men among em it always happens so many men with families too a comfort to reflect that poor gay had no family captain the captain stood rubbing his chin and looking at the manager the manager glanced at the letters lying on his desk and took up the newspaper is there anything i can do for you captain he asked looking off it with a smiling and expressive glance at the door i wish you could set my mind at rest sir on something it s uneasy about returned the captain aye exclaimed the manager what s that come captain i must trouble you to be quick if you please i am much engaged and son e here sir said the captain advancing a step afore my friend r went on this here disastrous come come captain cattle interposed the smiling manager don t talk about disastrous voyages in that way we have nothing to do with disastrous voyages here my good fellow you have begun very early on your day s captain if you don t remember that there are in all whether by sea or land you are not made uneasy by the supposition that young what s his name was lost in bad weather that was got up against him in these offices are you captain sleep and water are the best for such uneasiness as that my returned the captain slowly you are almost a lad to me and so i don t ask your pardon for that slip of a word if you find any pleasure in this here sport you an t the gentleman i took you for and if you an t the gentleman i took you for may be my mind has call to be now this is what it is mr afore that poor lad went away according to orders lie told me that he t a going away for his own good or for promotion he know d it was my belief that lie was wrong and i told him so and i come here your head governor being absent to ask a question or two of you in a civil way for my own satisfaction them questions you answered free now it case my mind to know when all is over as it is and when what can t be cured must be for which as a scholar you ll the book it s in and thereof make a note to know once more in a word that i t mistaken that i warn t back ard in my duty when i didn t tell the old man what r told me and that the wind was truly in his sail when he of it for harbor mr said the captain in the goodness of his nature when i here lust we was very pleasant together if i ain t been altogether so pleasant myself this morning on account of this poor lad and it i have again any observation of that i might have off my name is f d ard and i ask your pardon captain returned the manager with all possible must ask you to do me a favor and what is it sir inquired the captain and son to have the goodness to walk if you please rejoined the manager stretching forth his arm and to carry your somewhere else every in the captain s face turned white with astonishment and indignation even the red rim on his forehead faded like a rainbow among the gathering clouds i tell you what captain said the manager shaking his forefinger at him and showing him all his teeth but still smiling i was much too with you when you came here before you belong to an artful and audacious set of people in my desire to save
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young s his name from being kicked out of this place neck and crop my good captain i you but for once and only once now go my friend the captain was absolutely rooted to the ground and speechless go said the good manager gathering up his skirts and standing upon the hearth rug like a sensible fellow and let us have no turning out or any such violent measures if mr were here captain you might be obliged to leave in a more manner possibly i merely say the captain laying his ponderous hand upon his chest to assist himself in a deep breath looked at mr from head to foot and looked round the little room as if he did not clearly understand where he was or in what company you are deep captain pursued with the easy and frankness of a man of the world who knew the world too well to be led by any discovery of when it did not immediately concern himself but you are not quite out of either neither you nor your absent friend captain what have you done with your absent friend hey again the captain laid his hand upon his chest drawing another deep breath he himself to stand by but in a whisper you nice little plots and hold nice little and make nice little and receive nice little visitors too captain hey said bending his brows upon him with and son out showing his teeth any the less but it s a bold measure to come hare afterwards not like your discretion you and and away should know better than that will you oblige me by going my lad gasped the captain in a choked and trembling voice and with a curious action going on in the ponderous fist there s a many words i could wish to say to you but i don t rightly know where they re just at present my young friend r was only last night according to my reckoning and it puts me out you see but you and me will come alongside o one another again my lad said the captain holding up his hook if we live it will be anything but shrewd in you my good fellow if we do returned the manager with the same frankness for you may rely i give you fair warning upon my and exposing you i don t pretend to be a more moral man than my neighbors my good captain but the confidence of this house or of any member of this house is not to be abused and while i have eyes and ears good day said mr nodding his head captain looking at him steadily mr looked full as steadily at the captain went out of the office and him standing before the fire as calm and pleasant as if there were no more spots upon his soul than on his pure white linen and his smooth sleek skin the captain glanced in passing through the outer at the desk where he knew poor walter had been used to sit now occupied by another young boy with a face almost as fresh and hopeful as his on the day when they tapped the famous last bottle but one of the old in the little back parlor the association of ideas thus awakened did the captain a great deal of good it him in the very height of his anger and brought the tears into his eyes arrived at the wooden s again and sitting down in a comer of the dark shop the captain s indignation strong as it was could make no head against his grief passion seemed not only to do wrong and violence to the memory of the dead but to be by death and to and decline beside it all and son and in the were nothing to the and truth of one dead friend the thing the honest captain made out clearly in this state of mind beside the loss of walter was that with him almost the whole world of captain had been drowned if he reproached himself sometimes and keenly too for having ever at walter s innocent deceit he thought at least as often of the mr whom no sea could ever render up and the mr whom he began to perceive was as far beyond human and the heart s delight with whom he must never again and the lovely that built and trim ballad that had gone ashore upon a rock and split into mere and beams of rhyme the captain sat in the dark shop thinking of these things to the entire of his own injury and looking with as sad an eye upon the ground as if in contemplation of their actual fragments as they floated past him but the captain was not for all that of such decent and respectful in memory of poor walter as be felt within his power rousing himself and rousing rob the who in the unnatural twilight was fast asleep the captain forth with his attendant at his heels and the door key in his pocket and to one of those convenient of which there is abundant choice at the eastern end of london purchased on the spot two suits of one for rob the which was immensely too small and one for himself which was immensely too large he also provided rob with a species of hat greatly to be admired for its and usefulness as well as for a happy of the with the coal which is usually termed a sou and which was something of a novelty in with the instrument business in their several garments which the declared to be such a miracle ip point of fit as nothing but a rare combination of circumstances ever brought about and the fashion of which was within the memory of the oldest the captain and immediately arrayed themselves
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presenting a spectacle with wonder to all who beheld it in this altered form the captain received mr i m and son my lad at present said the captain will only confirm that there ill news tell the young woman to break it gentle to the young lady and for neither of em to think of me no more you that is though i will think of them when night comes on a and seas is mountains for which your doctor brother and when found make a note on the captain reserved until some time the consideration of mr s offer of friendship and thus dismissed him captain s spirits were so low in truth that he half determined that day to take no further precautions against surprise from mrs but to abandon himself to chance and be indifferent to what might happen as evening came on he fell into a better frame of mind however and spoke much of walter to rob the whose attention and fidelity he likewise incidentally commended rob did not blush to hear the captain earnest in his praises but sat staring at him and affecting to with sympathy and making a of virtuous and up every word he said like a young spy as he was with very promising deceit when rob had turned in and was fast asleep the captain trimmed the candle put on his spectacles he had felt it appropriate to take to spectacles on entering into the instrument trade though his eyes were like a hawk s and opened the prayer book at the burial service and reading softly to himself in the little back parlor and stopping now and then to wipe his eyes the captain in a true and simple spirit committed walter s body to the deep and son chapter we our eyes upon two homes not lying side by side but wide apart though both within easy range and reach of the great city of london the first is situated in the green and wooded country near it is not a mansion it is of no pretensions as to size but it is beautifully arranged and kept the lawn the soft smooth slope the flower garden the of trees where graceful forms of ash and willow are not wanting the the with sweet smelling creeping plants about the pillars the simple exterior of the house the well ordered offices though all upon the scale proper to a mere cottage an amount of elegant comfort within that might serve for a palace this indication is not without warrant for within it is a house of refinement and luxury rich colors blended meet the eye at every turn in the furniture its proportions admirably devised the shapes and sizes of the small rooms on the walls upon the floors and the light that comes in through the old glass doors and windows here and there there are a few choice prints and pictures too in quaint and recesses there is no want of books and there are of skill and chance set forth on fantastic back cards and and yet amidst this of comfort there is something in the general air that is not well is it that the carpets and cushions are too soil and noiseless so that those who move or repose them seem to act by js it that the prints and and son pictures do not great thoughts or deeds or nature in the poetry of landscape hall or hut but are of one cast mere shows of form and color and no more is it that the books have all their gold outside and that the titles of the greater part them to be companions of the prints and pictures is it that the completeness and the beauty of the place is here and there by an affectation of humility in some unimportant and regard which is as false as the face of the too truly painted portrait hanging yonder or its original at breakfast in his easy chair below it or is it that with the daily breath of that original and master of all here there issues forth some subtle portion of himself which gives a vague expression of himself to everything about him it is mr the manager who sits in the easy chair a gaudy in a cage upon the table tears at the wires with her and goes walking down in its dome top shaking her house and but mr is indifferent to the bird and looks with a musing smile at a picture on the opposite wall a most extraordinary accidental likeness certainly says he perhaps it is a perhaps a s wife perhaps some scornful according as the picture found the market when they it it is the figure of a woman handsome who turning away but with her face addressed to the spectator flashes her proud glance upon him it is like with a passing of his hand at the picture what a menace no yet something like it a wave as if triumph no yet more like that an insolent salute from his lips no yet like that he his breakfast and calls to the and imprisoned bird who coming down into a gilded within the cage like a great wedding ring in it for his delight the second home is on the other side of london near to wh re the busy great north road of days is silent and almost deserted except by who toil along on foot it is a poor small house barely and furnished but very clean and there is even an attempt to it shown in the homely flow and son era trained about the porch and in the narrow garden the neighborhood in which it stands has as little of the country to it as it has of the town it is neither of the town nor country the
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former like the giant in his travelling boots has made a stride and passed it and has set his brick and mortar heel a long way in advance but the space between the giant s feet as yet is only country and not town and here among a few tall chimneys smoke all day and night and among the brick fields and the lanes where turf is cut and where the fences tumble down and where the dusty grow and where a scrap or two of hedge may yet be seen and where the bird still comes occasionally though he every time to come no this second home is to be found she who it is she who the first in her devotion to an outcast brother she withdrew from that home its spirit and from its master s breast his solitary angel but though his liking for her is gone this ungrateful slight as he considers it and though he her altogether in return an old idea of her is not quite foi even by him let her in which he never sets his foot but which is yet main among all his costly alterations as if she quitted it but yesterday bear witness has changed since then and on her beauty there has fallen a heavier shade than time of his self can cast all potent as he is the shadow of anxiety and sorrow and the daily struggle of a poor existence but it is beauty still and still a gentle quiet and retiring beauty that must be sought out it cannot itself if it could it would be what it is no more yes this slight small patient figure neatly dressed in homely and indicating nothing but the dull household virtues that have so little in common with the received idea of heroism and greatness unless indeed any ray of them should shine through the lives of the great ones of the earth when it becomes a and is in heaven straightway this slight small patient figure leaning on the man still young but worn and grey li she his sister who of all the world went over to him his th and and put her hand in his and with a sweet composure and determination led him upon his barren way it is early john she said why do you go so early v not many minutes earlier than usual if i have the time to spare i should like i think it s a fancy to walk once by the house where i took leave of him i wish i had ever seen ot known him john it is better as it is my dear remembering his fate but i could not regret it more though i had known him is not your sorrow mine and if i had perhaps you would feel that i was a better companion to you in speaking about him than i may seem now my dearest sister is there anything within the range of rejoicing or regret in which i am not sure of companionship i hope you think not john for surely there is nothing how could you be better to me or nearer to me then than you are in this or anything said her brother i feel that you did know him and that you shared my feelings towards him she drew the hand which had been resting on his shoulder round his neck and answered with some hesitation no not quite true true he said you think i might have done him no harm if i had allowed myself to know him better think i know it heaven knows i would not he replied shaking his head mournfully but his reputation was too precious to be by such association whether you share that knowledge or do not my dear i do not she said quietly it is still the truth and my mind is lighter when i think of him for that which made it so much heavier then h checked himself in his tone of melancholy and smiled upon her as he said good b ye good b ye dear john in the evening at the old time and place i shall meet you as usual on your way home good b ye and son s the face she lifted up to his to kiss him was his home his life his universe and yet it was a portion of his and grief for in the cloud he saw upon it though serene and calm as any radiant cloud at sunset and in the constancy and devotion of her life and in the sacrifice she had made of ease enjoyment and hope he saw the fruits of his old crime ever ripe and fresh she stood at the door looking with her hands loosely clasped in each other as he made his way over the and patch of ground which lay before their house had once and not long ago been a pleasant meadow and was now a very waste with a crop of of mean houses rising out of the rubbish as if they had been sown there whenever he looked back as or twice he did er cordial face shone like a light upon his heart but when he on his way and saw her not the tears were in her eyes as she stood watching him her pensive form was not long idle at the door there was daily duty to discharge and daily work to for such commonplace spirits that are not heroic often work hard with their hands and was soon busy with her household tasks these and the poor house made quite neat and orderly she counted her stock of money with an anxious face and went out thoughtfully to buy some necessaries for their table planning and as she went how to save so sordid are
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the lives of such low natures who are not only not heroic to their and waiting women but have neither nor waiting women to be heroic to withal while she was absent and there was no one in the house there approached it by a different way from that the brother had taken a gentleman a very little past his prime of life perhaps but of a healthy hue an upright presence and a bright clear aspect that was gracious and good his eye brows were still black and so was much of his hair the of grey among the latter the very much and showed his broad frank brow and honest eyes to great advantage after knocking once at the door and obtaining no response this vol ii and son t down on a in the little porch to wait a certain skilful action of his fingers as he some bar and beat time on the seat beside him seemed to the mu and the extraordinary satisfaction he derived from humming something very slow and long which had no tune seemed to that he was a scientific one the gentleman till a theme which seemed to round and round and round and in and in and in and to involve itself like a upon a table without getting any nearer to anything when appeared he rose up as she advanced and stood with his head uncovered you come again sir she said faltering i take that liberty he answered may i ask for five minutes of your after a moment s hesitation she opened the door and gave him admission to the little parlor the gentleman sat down there drew his chair to the table over against her and said in a voice that perfectly to his appearance and with a simplicity that was very engaging miss you cannot be proud you signified to me when i called t other morning that you were pardon me if i say that i looked into your face while you spoke and that it contradicted you i look into it again he added laying his hand gently on her arm for an instant and it you more and more she was somewhat confused and agitated and could make no ready answer it is the mirror of truth said her visitor and gentleness excuse my trusting to it and returning his manner of saying these words them entirely of the character of compliments it was so plain grave unaffected and sincere that she bent her head as if at once to thank him and acknowledge his sincerity the between our ages said the gentleman and the of my purpose me i am glad to think to my mind that is my mind and so you see me for the time there is a kind of pride sir she returned after a moment s and son or what may be supposed to be pride which is duty i hope i cherish no other for yourself he said for myself but pardon mo suggested the gentleman for your brother john proud of his love i am said looking full upon her and changing her manner on the instant not that it was less composed and quiet but that there was a deep impassioned earnestness in it that made the very tremble in her voice a part of her firmness and proud of him sir you who strangely know the story of his life and repeated it to me when you were here last merely to make my way into your confidence interposed the gentleman for heaven s sake don t suppose i am sure she said you revived it in my hearing with a kind and good purpose i am quite sure of it i thank you returned her visitor pressing her hand hastily i am much obliged to you you do me justice i assure you you were going to say that i who know the story of john may think it pride in me she continued when i say that i am proud of him i am you know the time was when i was when i could not but that is past the humility of many years the the true repentance the terrible regret the pain i know he has even in my affection which he thinks has cost me dear though heaven knows i am happy but for his sorrow oh sir after what i have seen let me you if you are in any place of power and are ever wronged never for any wrong inflict a punishment that cannot be recalled while there is a god above us to work changes in the hearts he made your brother is an altered man returned the gentleman i assure you i don t doubt it he was an altered man when he did wrong said he is an altered man again and is his true self now believe me sir but we go on said her visitor rubbing his forehead in an and son absent manner with his hand and then thoughtfully on the table we go on in our clock work routine from day to day and can t make out or follow these changes they re a sort of thing we we haven t leisure for it we we haven t courage they re not taught at schools or and we don t know how to set about it in short we are so d d business like said the gentleman walking to the window aiid back and sitting down again in a state of extreme dissatisfaction and vexation i am sure said the gentleman rubbing his forehead again and on the table as before i have good reason to believe that a trot life the same from day to day would reconcile one to anything one don t see anything one don t hear anything one don
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the blaze i dare say you are thinking she said lifting her head suddenly that i used to be handsome once i believe i was i know i was look here she held up her hair roughly with both hands seizing it as if she would have torn it out then threw it down again and flung it back as though it were a heap of are you a stranger in this place asked a stranger she returned stopping between each short reply and looking at the fire yes ten or a dozen years a stranger i have had no where i have been ten or a dozen years i don t know this part it s much altered since i went away have you been far t very far months upon months over the sea and far away vol n h and son even then i have been where go she added looking full upon her i have been one myself heaven help you and forgive you was the gentle answer ah heaven help me and forgive me she returned nod her head at the fire if man would help some of us a little more would forgive us all the sooner perhaps but she was by the earnest manner and the cordial face so full of and so free from judgment of her and said less we may be about the same age you and me if i am older it is not above a year or two oh think of that she opened her arms as though the exhibition of her outward form would show the moral wretch she was and letting them drop at her sides hung down her head there is nothing we may not hope to repair it is never too late to said you are penitent no she answered i am not i can t be i am no such thing why should i be and all the world go free they talk to me of ray who s penitent for the that have been done to me she rose up bound her handkerchief about her head and turned to move away where are you going said yonder she answered pointing with her hand to london have you any home to go to t i think i have a mother she s as much a mother as her dwelling is a home she answered with a bitter laugh take this cried putting money in her hand try to do well it is very little but for one day it may keep you from harm are you married said the other faintly as she took it no i live here with my brother we have not to spare or i would give you more will you let me kiss you seeing scorn or in her face the object of her bent over her as she asked the and pressed her and son n against her cheek more she caught her arm and covered her eyes with it and then was gone gone into the deepening night and howling wind and rain urging her way on towards the mist city where the lights gleamed and with her black hair and disordered head gear fluttering round ber reckless ix and son another mother and daughter in an ugly and dark room an old woman ugly and dark too sat listening to the wind and rain and crouching a meagre fire more constant to the last named occupation than the first she never changed her attitude unless when any stray drops of rain fell hissing on the embers to raise her head with an awakened attention to the whistling and outside and gradually to let it fall again lower and lower and lower as she sunk into a brooding state of thought in which the noises of the night were as regarded as is the monotonous rolling of a sea by one who sits in contemplation on its shore there was no light in the room save that which the afforded glaring sullenly from time to time like the eye of a fierce beast half asleep i revealed no objects that needed to be jealous of a better display a heap of rags a heap of bones a wretched bed two or three chairs or the black walls and ceiling were all its brightness shone upon as the old woman with a gigantic and distorted image of herself thrown half upon the wall behind her half upon the roof above sat bending over the few loose bricks within which it was pent on the damp hearth of the chimney for there was no stove she looked as if she were watching at some witch s altar for a favorable token and but that the movement of her chattering jaws and trembling chin was too frequent and too fast for the slow flickering of the fire it would have seemed an sion wrought by the light as it came and went upon a face as motionless as the form to which it belonged if could have stood within the ro m and looked upon and son ft the original of the shadow thrown upon the wall and roof as it thus over the fire a glance might have to the figure of good mrs brown notwithstanding that her childish recollection of that terrible old woman was as grotesque and exaggerated a of the truth perhaps as the shadow on the wall but was not there to look on and good mrs brown remained and sat staring at her fire unobserved attracted by a louder than usual as the rain came hissing down the chimney in a little stream the old woman raised her head impatiently to listen afresh and this time she did not drop it again for there was a hand upon the door and a footstep in the room who s that she said looking over her shoulder one who brings
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better you swear but have you been very dutiful to me v i cried the old woman to my own a mother dutiful to her own child it sounds unnatural don t it returned the daughter looking coldly on her with her stern regardless hardy beautiful face but i have thought of it sometimes in the course of my lone years till i have got used to it i have heard some talk about duty first and last but it has always been of my duty to other people i have wondered now and then to pass away the time whether no one ever owed any duty to me her mother sat and and shaking her head but whether angrily or or in denial or only in her physical infirmity did not appear there was a child called said the daughter with a laugh and looking down at herself in terrible derision of herself bom among poverty and neglect and nursed hi it nobody taught her nobody stepped forward to help her nobody cared for her nobody echoed the mother pointing to herself and striking her breast the only care she knew returned the was to be beaten and and abused sometimes and she might have done better without that she lived in homes like this and in the streets with a crowd of little wretches like herself and yet she brought good looks out of this childhood so much the worse her she had better have been hunted and worried to death for op i go on the and son i am going on returned the daughter there was a girl called she was handsome she was taught too late and taught all wrong she was too well cared for too well trained too well helped on too much looked after you were very fond of her you were better off then what came to that girl comes to thousands every year it was only ruin and she was bom to it after all these years the old woman my begins with this she ll soon have ended said the daughter there was a criminal called a girl still but deserted and an outcast and she was tried and she was and lord how the gentlemen in the court talked about it and how grave the judge was on her duty and on her having the gifts of nature as if he didn t know better than anybody there that they had been made curses to her and how he preached about the strong arm of the so very strong to save her when she was an innocent and helpless little wretch and how solemn and religious it all was i have thought of that many times since to be sure she folded her arms tightly on her breast and laughed in a tone that made the howl of the old woman musical so was transported mother she pursued and was sent to learn her duty where there was twenty times less duty and more wickedness and wrong and than here and is come back a woman such a woman as she ought to be after all this in good time there will be more solemnity and more fine talk and more strong arm most likely and there will be an end of her but the gentlemen needn t be afraid of being thrown out of work there s crowds of little wretches boy and girl growing up in any of the streets they live in that ll keep them to it till they ve made their for tunes the old woman leaned her elbows on the table and resting her face upon her two hands made a show of being in great or really was perhaps there i have done mother said the daughter with a motion of her head as if in dismissal of the subject i have and son said enough don t let you and i talk of being dutiful ever we do your childhood was like mine i suppose so much the worse for both of us i don t want to blame you or to defend myself why should i that s all over long ago but i am a woman not a girl now and you and i needn t make a show of our history like the gentlemen in the court we know all about it well enough lost and degraded as she was there was a beauty in her both of face and form which even in its worst expression could not but be recognised as such by any one regarding her with the least attention as she subsided into silence and her face which had been harshly agitated down while her dark eyes fixed upon the fire exchanged the reckless light that had animated them for one that was softened by something like sorrow there shone through all her misery and fatigue a ray of the departed radiance of the fallen angel her mother after watching her for some time without speaking ventured to steal her withered hand a little nearer to her across the table and finding that she permitted this to touch her face and her hair with the feeling as it seemed that the old woman was at least sincere in this show of interest made no movement to check her so advancing by degrees she bound up her daughter s hair afresh took off her wet shoes if they deserved the name spread something dry upon her shoulders and hovered humbly about her muttering to herself as she recognised her old features and expression more and more you are very poor mother i see said looking round when she had sat thus for some time bitter poor my replied the old woman she admired her daughter and was afraid of her perhaps her admiration such as it was had originated long ago when she first
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found anything that was beautiful appearing in the midst of the fight of her existence perhaps her fear was in some sort to the she had so lately heard be this as it might she stood and before her child and inclined her head as if in a pitiful entreaty to be spared any further reproach and son how have you lived v by begging my and mother sometimes ally in a very small way i am old and timid i have taken trifles from children now and then my but not often i have about the country pet and i know what i know i have watched watched returned the daughter looking at her i have hung about a family my said the mother even more humbly and than before what family hush darling don t be angry with me i did it for the love of you in memory of my poor beyond seas she put out her hand and drawing it back again laid it on her lips years ago my she pursued glancing timidly at the attentive and stern face opposed to her i came across his little child by chance whose child not his don t look at me like that not his how could it be his you know he has none whose then returned the daughter you said his hush ally you frighten me mr s only mr s since then i have seen them often i have seen him in uttering this last word the old woman shrunk and as if with a sudden fear that her daughter would strike her but though the daughter s face was fixed upon her and expressed the most vehement passion she remained still except that she clenched her arms and within each other on her bosom as if to restrain them by that means from doing an injury to herself or some one else in the blind fury of the wrath that suddenly possessed her little he thought who i was said the old woman shaking her clenched hand and little he cared muttered her daughter between her teeth but ths we were said the old woman face to face i and son spoke to him and he spoke to me i sat and watched him he went away down a long grove of trees and at every step he took i cursed him soul and body he will in spite of that returned the daughter aye he is said the mother she held her peace for the face and form before her were by rage it seemed as if the bosom would burst with the emotions that strove within it the effort that constrained and held it pent up was no less formidable than the rage itself no less the violent and dangerous character of the woman who made it but it succeeded and she asked after a silence is he married no said the mother going to be not that i know of but his master and friend is married oh we may give him joy we may give em all joy cried the old woman herself with her lean arms in her exultation nothing but joy to us will come of that marriage mind me the daughter looked at her for an explanation but you are wet and tired hungry and thirsty said the old woman to the cupboard and there s little here and little down into her pocket and a few on the table little here have you any money the eager face with which she asked the question and looked on as her daughter took out of her bosom the little she had so lately received told almost as much of the history of this parent and child as the child herself had told in words is that all said the mother i have no more i should not have this charity but for charity eh said the old woman bending over the table to look at the money which she appeared of her daughter s still retaining in her hand and gazing on six and six is twelve and six eighth and son o we must make the most of it i ll go buy something to eat and drink with greater alacrity than might have been expected in one of her ap for age and misery seemed to have made her as as ugly she began to occupy her trembling hands in tying an old bonnet on her head and folding a torn shawl about herself still the money in her daughter s hand with the same sharp desire what joy is to come to us of this marriage mother asked the daughter you have not told me that the joy she replied herself with fingers of no love at all and much pride and hate my the of confusion and strife among em proud as they are and of danger what danger i have seen what i have seen i know what i know chuckled the mother let some look to it let some be upon their guard my may keep good company yet then seeing that in the wondering earnestness with which her daughter regarded her her hand involuntarily closed upon the money the old woman made more speed to secure it and added but i ll go buy something i ll go buy something as she stood with her hand stretched out before her daughter her daughter glancing again at the money put it to her lips before parting with it what ally do you kiss it chuckled the old woman that s like me i often do oh it s so good to us her own up to her bag of a throat so good to us in everything but not coming in heaps i kiss it mother said the daughter or i did then i know that i ever did before for
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v as she said the words she threw the money down upon the ground and it with her foot i tread it in the dust i wouldn t take it if it paved my way to heaven i would the bleeding foot that brought me here to day had off before it led me to your house pale and trembling restrained her brother and suffered her to go on it was well that i should be pitied and forgiven by you or any one of your name in the first hour of my return it was well that you should act the kind good lady to me i ll thank you when i die i ll pray for you and all your race you may be sure with a fierce action of her hand as if she sprinkled hatred on the ground and with it devoted those who were standing there to destruction she looked up once at the black sky and strode out into the wild night the mother who had plucked at her skirts again and again in tain and had eyed the money lying on the threshold with an ah and son that seemed to her faculties upon it would have about until the house was dark and then in the mire on the chance of herself of it but the daughter drew her away and they set forth straight on their return to their dwelling the old woman and their loss upon the road and as openly as she dared the conduct of her handsome girl in her of a supper on the very first night of their to bed she went saving for a few coarse fragments and those she sat and over a scrap of fire long after her daughter lay asleep were this miserable mother and this miserable daughter only the to their lowest grade of certain social vices sometimes prevailing higher up in this round world of many circles within circles do we make a weary journey from the high grade to the low to find at last that they lie close tc that the two touch and that our journey s end is but our allowing for great difference of stuff and texture was the pattern of this repeated among gentle blood at all say and best of mothers let m have your vol u y and chapter the happy pair dark blot on the street is gone mr ix mansion if it be a gap the other houses any longer is only so because it is not to be with in its brightness and casts them off the saying is that home is home be it so homely if it hold good in the opposite and home is home be it never so stately what an altar to the household gods is raised up here lights are sparkling in the windows this evening and the ruddy glow of fires is warm and bright upon the and soft carpets and the dinner waits to be served and the dinner table is handsomely set forth though only for four persons and the is with plate it is the first time that the has been arranged for occupation since its late changes and the happy pair are looked fi r every minute only second to the wedding morning in the interest and expectation it among the household is this evening of the coming home mrs perch is in the kitchen taking tea and has made the tour of the establishment and the and by the yard and exhausted every in the dictionary and out of it expressive of admiration and wonder the s who has left his hat with a in it both smelling strongly of under a chair in the hall about the house upwards at the and downwards at the carpets and occasionally in a silent transport of enjoyment taking a rule out of his pocket and measuring expensive objects with unutterable feelings cook is in high spirits and says give her a place where there s plenty of company as she ll bet you sixpence and son there will be now for she is of a lively disposition and she always was from a child and she don t mind who knows it which sentiment from the breast of mrs perch a murmur of support and approbation all the hopes is happiness for em but is a and the more she thinks about it the more she feels the independence and the safety of a single life mr is and grim and says that s his opinion too and give him war besides and down with the french for this young man has a general impression that ery foreigner is a frenchman and must be by the laws of nature at each new sound of wheels they all stop whatever they are saying and listen and more than once there is a general starting up and a cry of here they are but here they are not yet and cook begins to mourn over the dinner which has been put back twice and the s still goes lurking about the rooms undisturbed in his reverie is ready to receive her father and her new whether the emotions that are throbbing in her breast in pleasure or in pain she hardly knows but the fluttering heart sends added color to her cheeks and brightness to her and they say down stairs drawing their heads together for they always speak softly when they speak of her how beautiful miss looks to night and what a sweet young lady she has grown poor dear a pause and then cook feeling as president that her sentiments are waited for wonders whether and there stops the wonders too and so does mrs perch who the happy social faculty of always wondering when other people wonder without being at all particular what she wonders at mr who now an opportunity of
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bringing down the spirits of the ladies to his own level says wait and see he wishes some people were well out of this cook leads a sigh then and a murmur of ah it s a strange world it is indeed and when it has gone round the table adds but miss can t well be the worse for any change tom mr s with frightful meaning is oh can t she though and son and sensible that a mere man can scarcely be more or improve upon that he holds his peace mrs prepared to meet her darling daughter and dear son in law with open arms is attired for that pose in a very youthful costume with short sleeves at present however her ripe charms are blooming in the shade of her own apartments whence she has not emerged since she took possession of them a few hours ago and where she is fast growing on account of the of dinner the maid who ought to be a skeleton but is in truth a is on the other hand in a most amiable state considering her much safer than heretofore and a great improvement in her board and lodging where are the happy pair for whom this brave home is waiting do steam tide wind and horses all their speed to linger on such happiness does the swarm of loves and graces hovering about them their progress by its numbers are there so many flowers in their happy path that they can scarcely move along without in roses and sweetest they are here at last i the noise of wheels is heard grows louder and a carriage drives up to the door a knock from the foreigner the rush of mr and party to open it and mr and his bride alight and walk in arm and arm my sweetest cries an agitated voice upon the stairs my dearest v and the short sleeves themselves about the happy couple in turn and embrace them had come down to the hall too but did not advance her timid welcome until these nearer and dearer should but the eyes of sought her out upon the threshold and her sensitive with a slight kiss on the cheek she hurried on to and embraced her how do you do said mr putting out his hand as trembling raised it to her lips she met his glance the look was cold and distant enough but it stirred her and son heart to think hat she observed in it something more of interest than he had ever shown before it even expressed a kind of faint surprise and not a disagreeable surprise at sight of her she dared not raise her eyes to his any more but she felt that he looked at her once again and not less oh what a thrill of joy shot through her awakened by even this and confirmation of her hope that she would learn to win him through her new and beautiful you will not he mrs i presume v said mr i shall be ready immediately let them send up dinner in a quarter of an hour with that mr stalked away to his own dressing room and mrs went up stairs to hers mrs and repaired to the drawing room where that excellent mother considered it incumbent on her to shed a few ble tears supposed to i e forced from her by her daughter s fell city and which she was still drying very with a corner of her pocket handkerchief when her son in law appeared and how my dearest did you find that of cities paris she asked her it was cold returned mr gray as ever said mrs of course not particularly i thought it dull said mr my dearest dull it made that impression upon me madam said mr with grave politeness i believe mrs found it dull too she mentioned once or twice that she thought it so why you naughty girl cried mrs her dear child who now entered what dreadfully things have you been saying about paris raised her eyebrows with an of weariness and pass ing the folding doors which were thrown open to display the of rooms in their new and handsome and barely ing at them as she passed sat down by my dear said mrs how and son these people have carried out every that we hinted they have made a perfect palace of the house positively it is handsome mr round i directed that no expense should be spared and all that money could do has been done i believe and what can it not do dear observed it is powerful madam said mr he looked in his solemn way towards his wife but not a word said she i hope mrs addressing her after a moment s silence with especial distinctness that these alterations meet with your approval they are as handsome as they can be she returned with haughty carelessness they should be so of course and i suppose they are an expression of scorn was habitual to the proud face and seemed inseparable from it but the contempt with which it received any appeal to admiration respect or consideration on the ground of his riches no matter how slight or in itself was a new and expression in intensity by any other of which it was capable whether mr wrapped in his own greatness was at all aware of this or no there had not been wanting opportunities already for his complete and at that moment it might have been effected by the one glance of the dark eye that lighted on him after it had rapidly and scornfully surveyed the theme of his self he might have read in that glance that nothing that his wealth could do though it were increased ten thousand fold could win him for its own sake one look of softened
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overlooked it in his stiff sullen and wandered away and lost himself may have them some simple eloquence distinctly heard though only uttered in her eyes unconscious that he read them as by the death beds i have tended by the childhood i have by our meeting in this dreary house at midnight by the cry wrung from me in the anguish of my heart oh father turn to me and seek a refuge in my love before it is too late may have arrested them and lower thoughts as that his dead x y was now by new ties and he could forgive the having been in his affection may have occasioned them the mere association of her as an ornament with all the ornament and pomp about him may have been sufficient as he looked he to her more and more as he looked she became blended with the child he had loved and he could hardly separate the two as he looked he saw her for an instant by a clearer and a brighter light not bending over that child s pillow as his rival monstrous thought but as the spirit of his and in the action tending himself no less as he sat once more with his bowed down head upon his hand at the foot of the little bed he felt inclined to speak to her and call her to the here were rising vol n and son but slowly and with difficulty they were so very strange when they were checked and stifled by a footstep on the stair it was his wife s she had exchanged her dinner dress for a loose robe and her hair which fell freely about her neck but this was not the change in her that startled him dear she said i have been looking for you everywhere as she sat down by the side of she stooped and kissed her hand he hardly knew his wife she was so changed it was not merely that her smile was new to though that he had never seen but her manner the tone of her voice the light of her eyes the interest and confidence and winning wish to please expressed in all this was not dear papa is asleep it was now she looked towards the comer where he was and he knew that face and manner very well i scarcely thought you could be here again how altered and how in an instant i left here early pursued purposely to sit up and talk with you but going to your room i found my bird was flown and i have been waiting there ever since expecting its return if it had been a bird indeed she could not have taken it more tenderly and gently to her breast than she did come dear papa will not expect to find me i suppose when he wakes hesitated do you think he will said looking full upon her drooped her head and rose and put up her drew her hand through her arm and they went out of the room like sisters her very step was and new to him mr thought as his eyes followed her to the door he sat in his shadowy comer so long that the church struck the hour three times before he moved that night all that while his face was still intent upon the spot where had seated the room grew darker as the candles and son b d went out but a darkness gathered on his exceeding any that the night could cast and rested there and seated before the fire in the remote room where little paul had died talked together for a long time who was of the party had at first objected to the admission of and even in deference to his mistress s wish had only permitted it growling protest but by little and little from the room whither he had re tired in he soon appeared to comprehend that with tha most amiable intentions he had made one of those which will occasionally arise in the best regulated dogs as a friendly apology for he stuck himself up on end the two in a very hot place in front of the fire and sat panting at it with his tongue out and a most expression of countenance listening to the conversation it turned at first on s books and favorite pursuits and on the manner in which she had the interval since the marriage the last theme opened up to her a subject which lay very near her heart and she said with the tears starting to her eyes oh i have had a great sorrow since that day you a great sorrow yes poor walter is drowned spread her hands before her and wept with all her heart many as were the secret tears which walter s had cost her they flowed yet when she thought or spoke of him but tell me dear said soothing her who walter what was he to you he was my brother after dear paul died we said we would be brother and sister i had known him a long from a little child he know paul who liked him very paul said almost at the last take care of walter dear l i was fond of him walter had been brought in to sea him and was there then in this room and did he take care of walter inquired sternly papa t he appointed him to go abroad he was in on his voyage said sobbing does he know that h is dead asked and son i tell i have no means of knowing dear cried clinging to her as for help and hiding her face upon her bosom i know that you have seen stay stop turned so pale and spoke so earnestly that did not need
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her hand upon her lips tell me all about walter first let me understand this history all through related it and everything belonging to it even down to the friendship of mr of whom she could hardly speak in her distress without a tearful smile although she was deeply grateful to him she had concluded her account to the whole of which holding her hand listened with close attention and when a silence had succeeded said what is it that you know i have seen that i am not said with the same mute appeal and the same quick concealment of her face as before that i am not a favorite child i never have been i have never known how to be i have missed the way and had no one to show it to me oh let me learn from you how to become dearer to papa teach me you who can so well p and clinging closer to her with some broken fervent words of gratitude and relieved of her sad secret wept long but not as painfully as of within the arms of her new mother pale even to her lips and with a face that strove for composure until its proud beauty was as fixed as death looked down upon the weeping girl and once kissed her gradually herself and putting away she said stately and quiet as a marble image and in a voice that deepened as she spoke but had no other token of emotion in it you do not know me heaven forbid that you i should from me not learn from you repeated in surprise that i should teach you how to love or be loved heaven r t said if you could teach me that were better but it is too late you are dear to me i did not think that anything ever be so d r to me as yo i are in little time and son she saw that would have spoken here so checked her with her hand and went on i will he your true friend always i will cherish you much if not as well as any one in this world could you may trust in me i know it and i say it dear with the whole confidence even of your pure heart there are hosts of women whom he might have married better and truer in all other respects than i am but there is not one who could come here his wife whose heart could beat with greater truth to you than mine does i know it dear cried from that first most happy day i have known it most happy day seemed to repeat the words and went on though the merit is not mine for i thought little of you until i saw you let the reward be mine in your trust and love and in this in this on the first night of my taking up my abode here i am led on as it is best i should be to say it for the first and last time without knowing why felt almost afraid to hear her proceed but kept her eyes on the beautiful face so fixed upon her own never seek to find in me said laying her hand upon her breast what is not here never if you can help it fall off from me because it is not here little by little you will know me better and the time will come when you will know me as i know myself then be as to me as you can and do not turn to bitterness the only sweet remembrance i hall have the tears that were visible in her eyes as she kept them fixed on showed that the composed face was but as a handsome mask but she preserved it and continued i have seen what you say and know how true it is but believe me you will soon if you cannot now there is no one on this earth less qualified to set it right or help you than i never ask me why or speak to me about it or of my husband more there should be so far a division and a silence between us two like the grave itself she sat for some time silent scarcely to and son breathe meanwhile as dim and imperfect shadows of the truth and all its daily consequences chased each other through her yet incredulous imagination almost as soon as she had ceased to speak s face began to from its set composure to that and more aspect which it usually wore when she and were alone together she shaded it this change with her hands and when she arose and with an embrace bade good night went quickly and without looking round but when was in bed and the room was dark except for the glow of the fire returned and saying that she could not sleep and that her dressing room was lonely drew a chair upon the hearth and watched the embers as they died away watched them too from her bed until they and the noble figure before them crowned with its flowing hair and in its thoughtful eyes reflecting back their light became confused and indistinct and finally were lost in slumber in her sleep however could not lose an impression of what had so recently passed it formed the subject of her dreams and haunted her now in one shape now in another but always and with a sense of fear she dreamed of seeking her father in of following his track up fearful heights and down into deep mines and of being charged with something that would release him from extraordinary suffering she knew not what or why yet never being able to attain the goal and set him free then she saw him dead upon that
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very bed and in that very room and knew that he had never loved her to the last and fell upon his cold breast passionately weeping then a prospect opened and a river flowed and a plaintive voice she knew cried it is running on it has never stopped you are moving it and she saw him at a distance stretching out his arms towards her while a figure such as walter s used to be stood near him awfully serene and still in every vision came and went sometimes to her joy sometimes to her sorrow until they were alone upon the brink of a dark grave and pointing down she looked and saw what another lying at the bottom in the terror of this dream cried out and awoke she and son thought a soft voice seemed to whisper in hei ear dear it is nothing but a dream and stretching out her arms she returned the caress of her new who then went out at the door in the light of the grey morning in a moment sat up wondering whether this had really taken place or not but she was only certain that it was grey morning indeed and that the blackened ashes of the fire were on the hearth and that she was alone so passed the night on which the happy pair came home f and son chapter house warming many succeeding days passed in like manner except that there were numerous visits received and paid and that mrs held little in her own apartments at which major was a frequent attendant and that encountered no second look from her father although she saw him every day nor had she much communication in words with her new who was imperious and proud to all the house but her could not but observe that and who although she always sent for her or went to her when she came home from visiting and would always go into her room at night before retiring to rest however late the hour and never lost an opportunity of being with her was her silent and thoughtful companion for a long time together who had hoped for so much from this marriage could not help sometimes comparing the bright house with the faded dreary place out of which it had arisen and wondering when in any shape it would begin to be a home for that it was no home then for any one though everything went on and regularly she had always a secret many an hour of sorrowful reflection by day and night and many a tear of hope be upon the assurance her new had given her so strongly that there was no one on the earth more powerless than to teach her how to win her father s heart and soon began to think resolved to think would be the truer phrase that as no one knew so well how hopeless oi being subdued or changed her father s coldness to her was so she had given her this warning and forbidden the subject in very compassion unselfish here as in her every act and fancy p t w i f v ft f i t y f r wn ft r i t v v t and son preferred to bear the of this new wound rather than encourage any faint of the truth as it concerned her father tender of him even in her as for his home she hoped it would become a better one when its state of novelty and transition should be over and for herself thought little and lamented less if none of the new family were particularly at home in private it was resolved that mrs at least should be at home in public without delay a series of in of the late and in cultivation of society were arranged chiefly by mr and mrs and it was settled that the proceedings should commence by mrs s being at home upon a certain evening and by mr and mrs s the honor of the company of a great many people to dinner on the same day accordingly mr produced a list of sundry eastern who were to be to this feast on his behalf to which mrs acting for her dearest child who was careless on the subject a western list cousin not yet returned to greatly to the of his personal estate and a variety of of various degrees and ages who had at various times fluttered round the light of her fair daughter or herself without any lasting injury to their wings was as a member of the dinner party by s by a moment s doubt and hesitation on the part of mrs and with a wondering heart and with a quick instinctive sense of everything that on her father in the least took her silent share in the proceedings of the day the proceedings commenced by mr in a of extraordinary height and walking about the drawing room until the hour appointed for dinner punctual to which an east india of immense wealth in a waistcoat apparently constructed in serviceable deal by some plain carpenter but really in the tailor s art and composed of the material called arrived and was received by mr alone the next stage of the proceedings was mr s sending his compliments to mrs with a ey and son statement of the time and the next the east india s falling prostrate in a point of view and as mr was not the man to pick him up staring at the fire until rescue appeared in the shape of mrs whom the as a pleasant start in life for the evening for mrs and greeted with enthusiasm the
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one of the seven mild men unexpectedly leaped into distinction by saying he had known and adding always wore boots and son said cousin bending forward to see the mild man and smile encouragement at him down the table that was jack joe wore tops p cried the mild man rising in public estimation every instant of course said cousin you were intimate with em i knew them both said the mild man with whom mr immediately took wine devilish good fellow jack said cousin again bending forward and smiling excellent returned the mild man becoming bold on his success one of the best fellows i ever knew no doubt you have heard the story said cousin i shall know replied the bold mild man when i have heard your tell it with that he leaned back in his chair and smiled at the ceiling as knowing it by heart and be ing already in point of fact it s nothing of a story in itself said addressing the table with a smile and a gay shake of his head and not worth a word of preface but it s of the neatness of jack s humor the fact is that jack was invited down to a marriage which i think took place in said the bold mild man finding himself appealed to was it well in point of fact it might have been in any said cousin so my friend being invited down to this marriage in with a pleasant sense of the readiness of this joke goes just as some of us having had the honor of being invited to the marriage of my lovely and accomplished relative with my friend didn t require to be asked twice and were devilish glad to be present on so interesting an occasion goes jack goes now this marriage was in point of fact the marriage of an uncommonly fine girl with a man for whom she didn t care a button but whom she accepted on account of his property which was immense when jack returned to town after the a man he knew meeting and son him in he of the house of says well jack bow are the matched couple v jack not at all it s a perfectly fair and equal transaction she is regularly bought and you may take your oath ae is as regularly sold in his full enjoyment of this point of his story the shudder which had gone all round the like an electric spark struck cousin and he stopped not a smile occasioned by the only general topic of conversation that day appeared on any face a profound silence ensued and the wretched mild man who had been as innocent of any real of the story as the child had the exquisite misery of reading in every eye that he was regarded as the prime of the mischief mr s face was not a one and being cast in its mould of state that day showed little other apprehension of the story if any than that which he expressed when he said solemnly amidst the silence that it was very good there was a rapid glance from towards but otherwise she remained and unconscious through the various stages of rich and continual gold and silver of earth air fire and water heaped up fruits and that unnecessary article in mr s ice the dinner slowly made its way the later stages being achieved to the music of incessant double announcing the arrival of visitors whose portion of the feast was limited to the smell thereof when mrs rose it was a sight to see her lord with stiff throat and erect head hold the door open for the of the ladies and to see how she swept past him with his daughter on her arm mr was a grave sight behind the in a state of dignity and the east india was a forlorn sight near the end of the table in a state of solitude and the major was a military sight relating stories of the duke of york to six of the seven mild men the ambitious one was utterly and the bank was a lowly sight making a plan of his little attempt at a with knives fi r a group of admirers and cousin was a thoughtful sight and son n m he smoothed his long and stealthily adjusted his wig but all these sights were of short duration being speedily broken up by coffee and the desertion of the room there was a throng in the state rooms up stairs increasing every minute but still mr s list of visitors appeared to h ve some native impossibility of with mrs s list and no one could have doubted which was which the single exception to this rule perhaps was mr who now smiled among the company and who as he stood in the circle that was gathered about mrs watchful of her of them liis chief and the major and everything around appeared at ease with both divisions of guests and not marked as exclusively belonging to either had a dread of him made his presence in the room a nightmare to her she could not avoid the recollection of it for her eyes were towards him every now and then by an attraction of dislike and distrust that she could not resist yet her thoughts were busy with other things as she sat apart not or but in the gentleness of her quiet spirit she felt how little part her father had in what was going and saw with pain how ill at ease he seemed to be how little regarded he was as he lingered about near the door for those visitors whom he wished to distinguish with particular attention and took them up to introduce them to his wife who received them
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with proud coldness but showed no interest or wish to please and never after the bare ceremony of reception in consultation of his wishes or in welcome of his friends opened her lips it was not the less or painful to that she who acted thus treated her so kindly and with such loving consideration that it almost seemed an ungrateful return on her part even to know of what was passing before her eyes happy would have been might she have ventured fo bear her father company by so as a look and happy was in little suspecting main cause of his uneasiness but afraid of seeming to know that he was placed at any disadvantage lest he should be of that knowledge and divided between her impulse towards him and her grateful af for she scarcely dared o raise her eyes and son either and unhappy for them both the thought stole on her through the crowd that it might have been better for them if this noise of tongues and tread of feet had never come there if the old and decay had never been replaced by novelty and splendor if the neglected child had found no friend in but had lived her solitary life and forgotten mrs had some such thoughts too but they were not so quietly developed in her mind this good matron had been outraged ill the first instance by not receiving an invitation to dinner that blow partially recovered she gone to a vast expense to make such a figure before mrs at home as the senses of that lady and heap mortification mountains high on the head of mrs but i am made said mrs to mr of no more account than who takes the smallest notice of me no one no one my dear assented mr who was seated by the side of mrs against the wall and could console himself even there by softly whistling does it at appear as if i was wanted here exclaimed mrs with flashing eyes no my dear i don t think it does said mr paul s said mrs mr whistled v unless you are a monster which i sometimes think you are said mrs with don t sit humming tunes how any one with the most distant feelings of a man can see that mother in law of paul s dressed as she is going on like that with major for whom among other precious things we are indebted to your my my dear said mr astounded yes retorted mrs with great severity your lu i say how anybody can see that mother in law of paul s and that haughty wife of paul s and these old with their backs and shoulders and in short this at home and hum on which word mrs laid a emphasis that made mr start is i thank heaven mystery to me and son is mr his mouth into a with humming or whistling and looked very but i hope i know what is due to myself said mrs swelling with indignation though paul has forgotten what is due to me i am not going to sit here a member of this family to be taken no notice of i am not the dirt under mrs s feet yet not quite yet said mrs as if she expected to become so about the day after to morrow and i shall go i will not say whatever i may think that this affair has been got up solely to and insult me i shall merely go i shall not be missed mrs rose erect with these words and took the arm of mr who escorted her from the room after half an hour s shady there and it is due to her penetration to observe that she certainly was not missed at all but she was not the only indignant guest for mr s list still constantly in difficulties were as a body indignant with mrs s list for looking at them through eye glasses and audibly wondering who all those people were while mrs s list complained of weariness and the young thing with the shoulders deprived of the attentions of that gay youth cousin who went away from the dinner table alleged to thirty or forty friends that she was bored to death all the old ladies with the burdens on their heads had greater or less cause of complaint against mrs and the and in thinking that if must marry he had better have married somebody nearer his own age not quite so handsome and a little better off the general opinion among this class of gentlemen was that it was a weak thing in and he d live to repent it hardly anybody there except the mild men stayed or went away without considering himself or herself neglected and by mr or mrs and the speechless female in the black velvet hat was found to have been stricken mute because the lady in the crimson velvet had been handed down before her the nature even of the mild men got either from their it with too much or from the general that prevailed and they made sarcastic jokes to one vol i and son another and whispered on stairs and in bye the general dissatisfaction and discomfort so diffused itself that the assembled in the hall were as well acquainted with it as the company above nay the ery outside got hold of it and compared the party to a funeral out of mourning with none of the company remembered in the will at last the guests were all gone and the too and the street crowded so long with carriages was clear and the dying lights showed no one in the rooms but mr and mr who were talking together apart and mrs and her mother the former seated on an the latter in the attitude
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awaiting the arrival of her maid mr having finished his communication to the latter advanced to take leave i trust he said that the of this delightful evening will not inconvenience mrs to morrow mrs said mr advancing has sufficiently spared herself fatigue to relieve you firom any anxiety of that kind i regret to say mrs that i could have wished you had fatigued yourself a little more on this occasion she looked at him with a glance that it seemed not worth her while to and turned away her eyes without speaking i am sorry madam said mr that you should not have thought it your she looked at him again your duty madam pursued mr to have received my friends with a little more deference some of those whom you have been pleased to slight to night in a very marked manner mrs confer a distinction upon you i must tell you in any visit they pay you do you know that there is some one here she returned now looking at him steadily no i beg that you do not i insist that you do not cried mr stopping that noiseless gentleman in hb and son it mr madam as you know possesses my he is as well acquainted as myself with the subject on which i speak i beg to tell you for your information mrs that i consider these wealthy and important persons confer a distinction upon me and mr drew himself up as having now rendered them of the highest possible importance i ask you she repeated bending her steady gaze upon him do you know that there is some one here sir v i must entreat said mr stepping forward i must beg i must demand to be released slight and unimportant as this difference mrs who had been intent upon her daughter s face took him up here my sweetest she said and my dearest our excellent friend mr for so i am sure i ought to mention him mr murmured too much honor has used the very words that were in my mind and that i have been dying these ages for an opportunity of introducing slight and unimportant my sweetest and my dearest do we not know that any difference between you two no flowers not now flowers was the maid who finding gentlemen present retreated with that any difference between you two resumed mrs with the heart you possess in common and the excessively charming bond of feeling that there is between you must be slight and unimportant what words could better define the fact none therefore i am glad to take this slight occasion this trifling occasion that is so with nature and your individual characters and all that so truly calculated to bring the tears into a parent s eyes to say that i attach no importance to them in the least except as developing these minor elements of soul and that unlike most in law that odious phrase dear as they have been represented to me to exist in this i fear too artificial world i never shall attempt to between you at such a time and never can much re and son after all such little flashes of the torch of what e his name not but the other delightful creature there was a in the good mother s glance at both her children as she spoke that may have been expressive of a direct and well considered purpose hidden between these rambling words that purpose to herself in the beginning from all the of their chain that were to come and to shelter herself with the fiction of her innocent belief in their mutual affection and their to each other i have pointed out to mrs said mr in his most stately manner that in her conduct thus early in our married life to which i object and which i request may be corrected with a nod of dismissal good night to you mr bowed to the imperious form of the bride whose sparkling eye was fixed upon her husband and stopping at s couch on his way out raised to his lips the hand she graciously extended to him in lowly and admiring homage if his handsome wife had reproached him or even changed countenance or broken the silence in which she remained by one word now that they were alone for made off with all speed mr would have been equal to some assertion of his case against her but the intense unutterable withering scorn with which looking upon him she dropped her eyes as if he were too worthless and indifferent to her to be with a syllable the disdain and in which she sat before him the cold resolve with which her every feature seemed to bear him down and put him by he had no resource against and he left her with her whole beauty concentrated on him was he coward enough to watch her an hour afterwards on the old well staircase where he had once seen in the moonlight toiling up with paul or was he in the dark by accident when looking up he saw her coming with a light from the room where lay and r a ed again the face so changed which he could not subdue and son w but it could never alter as his own did it never in its utmost pride and passion knew the shadow that had fallen on his in the dark corner on the night of the return and since and which deepened on it now as he looked up and son chapter more than one and mrs were together next day and the carriage was waiting at the door to take them out for had her again now and no longer the wan stood upright in a pigeon jacket and military behind her wheel
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less chair at dinner time and no more the hair of was radiant with in these days of down and he wore kid gloves and smelt of the water of they were assembled in s room the serpent of old not to mention her was on her sofa her morning at three o clock in the afternoon and flowers the maid was on her youthful and and performing a kind of private ceremony on her with a colored velvet bonnet the artificial roses in which nodded to uncommon advantage as the with them like a breeze i think i am a little nervous this morning flowers said mrs my hand quite shakes you were the life of the party last night ma am you know returned flowers and you suffer for it to day you see who had beckoned to the window and was looking out with her back turned on the toilet of her esteemed mother suddenly withdrew from it as if it had lightened my darling child cried languidly you are not nervous don t tell me my dear that you so self possessed are beginning to be a martyr too like your unfortunately constituted mother some one at the door card ma am said taking it towards mrs and son i am going out she said without looking at it my dear love mrs how very odd to send that message without seeing the name bring it here dear me my love mr too that very sensible person i am going out repeated in so imperious a tone that going to the door informed the servant who was waiting mrs is going out g t along with you and shut it on him but the servant came back after a short absence and whispered to again who once more and not very willingly pre himself before mrs if you please ma am mr sends his respectful compliments and you would spare him one minute if you could for business ma am if you please really my love said mrs in her manner for her daughter s face was threatening if you would allow me to offer a word i should recommend show him this way said as disappeared to execute the command she added frowning on her mother as he comes at your recommendation let him come to your room may i shall i go away asked hurriedly nodded yes but on her way to the door met the visitor coming in with the same disagreeable mixture of familiarity and forbearance with which he had first addressed her he addressed her now in his hoped she was quite well needed not to ask with such looks to anticipate the answer had scarcely had the honor to know her last night she was so greatly hind held the door open for her to pass out with a secret sense of power ip her shrinking from him that all the deference and politeness of his manner could not quite conceal he then bowed himself for a moment over mrs s hand and lastly bowed to coldly return ing his salute without looking at him and neither herself inviting him to be seated she waited for him to speak in her pride and power and with all the and son of her spirit about her still her old conviction that she and her mother had been known this man in their worst colors from their first acquaintance that every degradation she had suffered in own eyes was as plain to him as to hei self that he read her life as though it were a vile book and fluttered the leaves before her in slight looks and tones of voice which no one else could detect weakened and her proudly as she opposed herself to him with her commanding face his humility her lip him her bosom angry at his intrusion and the dark lashes of her eyes sullenly their light that no ray of it shine upon him and as he stood before her with an injured manner but with complete submission to her will she knew in her own soul that the cases were reversed and that the triumph and superiority were his and that he knew it full well i have presumed said mr to an interview aod i have ventured to describe it as being one of business because perhaps you are charged by mr with some message of reproof said you possess mr s confidence in such an unusual degree sir that you would scarcely surprise me if that were your business i have no message to the lady who sheds a lustre upon his name said mr but f entreat that lady on my own behalf to be just to a very humble for justice at her hands a mere of mr s which is a position of humility and to reflect upon my perfect helplessness last night and the impossibility of my avoiding the share that was upon me in a very painful occasion my dearest hinted in a low voice as she held her eye glass aside really very charming of mr his name and full of heart for i do said mr appealing to mrs with a look of grateful deference i do venture to call it a painful occasion though merely because it was so to me who had the misfortune to be present so slight a difference as between the between those who love each other with disinterested devotion and would make any sacrifice of self in and son a nothing as mrs herself expressed with much truth and feeling last night it is nothing could not look at him but she said after a few moments and your business sir my pet said mrs all this time mr is standing my dear mr take a seat i beg he offered no reply to the
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mother but fixed his eyes on the proud daughter as though he would only be by her and was resolved to be by her in spite of herself sat down and slightly with her hand to him to be seated too no action could be colder more insolent in its air of and but she had struggled against even that concession and it was from her that was enough mr sat down may i be allowed madam said turning his white teeth on mrs like a light a lady of your excellent sense and quick feeling will give me credit for good reason am sure to address what i have to say to mrs and to leave her to impart it to you who are her best and dearest friend next to mr mrs would have retired but stopped her would have stopped him too and indignantly ordered him to speak openly or not at all but that he said in a low voice miss the young lady who has just the room suffered him to proceed she looked at him now as he bent forward to be nearer with the utmost show of delicacy and respect and with his teeth arrayed in a smile she felt as if she could have struck him dead miss s position he began has been an unfortunate one i have a in alluding to it to you whose attachment to her father is naturally watchful and jealous of every word that applies to him always distinct and soft in speech no language could describe the extent of his distinctness and softness when he said these words or came to any others of a similar import but as one who is devoted to mr in his different way and whose life is passed in admiration of mr s character may i say without off ence to your tender vol ii w and son as a wife that miss has unhappily been neglected by her father may i say by her father v replied i know it you know it said mr with a great appearance of relief it a mountain from my breast may i hope you know how the neglect originated in what an amiable phase of mr s pride character i mean you may pass that by sir she returned and come the sooner to the end of what you have to say indeed i am sensible madam replied trust me i am deeply sensible that mr can require no justification in anything to you but kindly judge of my breast by your own and you will forgive my interest in him if in its excess it goes all astray what a to her proud heart to sit there face to face with him and have him her false oath at the altar again and again for her acceptance and pressing it upon her like the of a sickening cup she could not own her of or turn away from how shame remorse and passion raged within her when upright and majestic in her beauty before him she knew that in her spirit she was down at his feet miss said left to the if one may call it of servants and people in every way her necessarily wanted some guide and compass in her younger days and naturally for want of them has been and has in some degree forgotten her station there was some folly about one walter a common lad who is fortunately dead now and some very association i regret to say with certain sailors of anything but good and a old i have heard the circumstances sir said flashing her glance upon him and i know that you them you may not know it i hope so pardon me said mr i believe that nobody knows them so well as i your generous and ardent nature the same nature which is so nobly imperative in of your beloved and honored husband and which has blessed him as his merits i must tes to bow before and son but as regards the which is indeed the i presumed to attention to i can have no doubt since in the execution of my trust as mr s confidential i presume to say friend i have fully ascertained them in my execution of that trust in my deep concern which you can so well understand for everything relating to him if you will for i fear i labor under your displeasure by the lower motive of desire to prove my diligence and make my self the more acceptable i have long pursued these by myself and instruments and have innumerable and most minute proofs she raised her eyes no higher than his mouth but she saw the means of mischief in every tooth it contained pardon me madam he continued if in my perplexity i presume to take counsel with you and to consult your pleasure i think i have observed that you are greatly interested in miss what was there in her he had not observed and did not know and yet by the thought in every new of it however faint she pressed her teeth upon her quivering lip to force composure on it and inclined her head in reply this interest madam so touching an evidence of every thing associated with mr being dear to you me to pause before i make him acquainted with these circumstances which as yet he does not know it so far shakes me if i may make the confession in my that on the intimation of the least desire to that effect from you i would suppress them raised her head quickly and starting back bent her dark glance upon him he met it with his and most smile and went on you say that as i describe them they are i fear i fear not but let us
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assume that they are the i have for some time felt on the subject arises in this that the mere circumstance of such association repeated on the of miss however and would be with mr already and son against her and would lead him to take some step i know he has occasionally contemplated it of separation and of her from his home madam bear with me and remember my with mr and my knowledge of him and f my reverence for him almost from childhood when i say that if he has a fault it is a rooted in that noble pride and sense of power which belong to him and which we must all to which is not like the obstinacy of other characters and which grows upon itself from day to day and year to year she bent her glance upon him still but look as steadfast as she would her haughty nostrils dilated and her breath came somewhat deeper and her lip would slightly curl as he described that in his patron to which they must all bow down he saw it and though his expression did not change she knew he saw it even so slight an incident as last night s he said if i might refer to it once would serve to illustrate my meaning better than a one and son know neither time nor place nor season but bear them all down but i rejoice in its occurrence for it has opened the way for me to approach mrs with this subject to day even if it has upon me the penalty of her temporary displeasure madam in the midst of my uneasiness and apprehension on this subject i was summoned by mr to there i saw you there i could not help knowing what relation you would shortly occupy towards him to his enduring happiness and yours there i resolved to await the time of your establishment at home here and to do as i have now done i have at heart no fear that i shall be wanting in my duty to mr if i bury what i know in your breast for where there is but one heart and mind two persons as in such a one almost represents the other i can my conscience therefore almost equally by confidence on such a in you or him for the reasons i have mentioned i would select you may i to the distinction of believing that my confidence is accepted and that i am relieved firom my responsibility and son he long remembered the look she gave him who could see it and forget it and the struggle that ensued within her at last she said i accept it sir you will please to consider this matter at an end and that it goes no further he bowed low and rose she rose too and he took leave with all humility but meeting him on the stairs stood amazed at the beauty of his teeth and at his brilliant smile and as he rode away upon his white legged horse the people took him tor a such was the dazzling show he made the people took when she rode out in her carriage presently for a great lady as happy as she was rich and fine but they had not seen her just before in her own room with no one by and they had not heard her utterance of the three words oh mrs on her sofa and her had heard nothing but the low word business for which she had a mortal aversion as she had long banished it from her and had gone nigh in a charming manner and with an immense amount of heart to say nothing of soul to ruin divers and others in consequence therefore mrs asked no questions and showed no curiosity indeed the bonnet gave her sufficient occupation out of doors for being perched on the back of her head and the day being rather windy it was frantic to escape from mrs s company and would be into no sort of compromise when the carriage was closed and the wind shut out the played among the artificial roses again like an house full of and altogether mrs had enough to do and got on but indifferently she got on no better towards night for when mrs in her dressing room had been dressed and waiting for her half an hour and mr in the drawing room had himself into a state of solemn they were all three going out to dinner flowers the maid appeared with a pale face to mrs saying if you please ma am i beg your pardon but i can t do no thing with and son what do you mean asked well ma am replied the frightened maid i hardly know she s making faces hurried with her to her mother s room was arrayed in full dress with the diamonds short sleeves curls teeth and other all complete but was not to be deceived had known her for the object of its and had struck her at her glass where she lay like a horrible doll that had tumbled down they took her to pieces in very shame and put the little of her that was real on a bed doctors were sent for and soon came powerful were resorted to opinions given that she would rally from this shock but would not survive another and there she lay speechless and staring at the ceiling for days sometimes making inarticulate sounds in answer to such questions as did she know who were present and the like sometimes giving no reply either by sign or gesture or in her eyes at length she began to recover consciousness and in some degree the power of motion though not yet of speech one day the use of her right hand returned and showing
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me not even that hateful animal the major but sometimes when went nearer to her and bending down her stately head put her cold cheek to hers the mother would draw back as if she were afraid of her and would fall into a fit of trembling and cry out that there was a wandering in her wits and sometimes she would entreat her with humility to sit down on the chair beside her bed and would look at her as she sat there brooding with a face that even the rose colored curtains could not make otherwise than scared and wild the rose colored curtains blushed in course of time on s bodily recovery and on her dress more than ever to repair the of nd on the and on the teeth and on the curls and on the diamonds and the short sleeves and the whole wardrobe of the doll that had tumbled down before the mirror they blushed too now and then upon an in her speech which she turned off with a girlish and on an occasional failing in her memory that had no rule in it but came and went as if in mockery of her fantastic self but they never blushed upon a change in the new manner of her thought and speech towards her daughter and though that daughter often came within their influence they never blushed upon her loveliness by a smile or softened by the light of filial love in its stern beauty and son chapter miss an old acquaintance thb forlorn miss abandoned by her friend and of mr s countenance for no delicate pair of wedding cards united by a silver thread the chimney glass in princess s place or the or any of those little posts of display which reserved for holiday occupation became depressed in her spirits and suffered much from melancholy for a time the bird was unheard in princess s place the plants were neglected and dust collected on the miniature of miss s with the powdered head and miss however was not of an age or of a disposition long to abandon herself to regrets only two notes of the were dumb from when the bird again and in the crooked drawing room only one slip of fell a victim to imperfect nursing before she was at her green baskets again regularly every morning the powdered headed had not been under a cloud for more than six weeks when miss breathed on his and polished him up with a piece of wash leather still miss was lonely and at a loss her however shown were real and strong and she was as she expressed it deeply hurt by the she had met with from but there was no such thing as anger in miss s composition if she had on through life in her soft spoken way without any opinions she had at least got so far without any harsh passions the mere sight of in the street one day at a considerable distance so overpowered her nature that she was fain to and son seek immediate refuge in a cook s and there in a little back room usually devoted to the consumption of and pervaded by an ox tail atmosphere relieve her feelings by weeping against mr miss hardly felt that she had any reason of complaint her sense of that gentleman s magnificence was such that once removed from him she felt as if her distance always had been and as if he had greatly condescended in her at all no wife could be too handsome or too stately for him according to miss s sincere opinion it was perfectly natural that in looking for one he should look high miss with tears laid down this proposition and fully admitted it twenty times a day she never recalled the manner in which mr had made her to his and and had graciously permitted her to be one of the nurses of his little son she only thought in her own words that she had passed a great many happy hours in that house which she must ever remember with gratification and that she could never cease to regard mr as one of the most impressive and dignified of men cut off however from the and being shy of the major whom she viewed with some distrust now miss found it very irksome to know nothing of what was going on in mr s establishment and as she really had got into the habit of considering and son as the on which the world in general turned she resolved rather than be ignorant of intelligence which so strongly interested her to cultivate her old acquaintance mrs who she knew since her last memorable appearance before mr was in the habit of sometimes holding communication with his servants perhaps miss in seeking out the family had the tender motive hidden in her breast of having somebody to whom she could talk about mr no matter how humble that somebody might be at all events towards the habitation miss directed her steps one evening what time mr and was refreshing himself with tea in the bosom of his family mr had only three stages of existence he was either m and son taking refreshment in the bosom just mentioned or he was tear ing through the country at from twenty five to fifty miles an hour or he was sleeping after his he was always in a or a calm and a contented easy going man mr was in either state who seemed to have made over all his own inheritance of and to the engines with which he was connected which panted and gasped and and wore themselves out in a most manner while mr led a mild and life my said mr with a young on each knee and two more making tea for him and plenty more
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scattered about mr was never out of children but always kept a good supply on hand you an t seen our lately have you no replied but he s almost certain to look in tonight it s his right evening and he s very regular i suppose said mr his meal infinitely as our is a now about as well as a boy can do eh oh he s a doing beautiful responded he an t got to be at all secret like inquired mr no said mrs i m glad he an t got to be at all secret like observed mr in his slow and measured way and in his bread and butter with a clasp knife as if he were himself because that don t look well do it why of course it don t father how can you ask you see my boys and said mr looking round upon his family you re up to in a honest way it s my opinion as you can t do better than be open if you find yourselves in or in don t you play no secret games keep your going and let s know where you are the rising set up a shrill murmur expressive of their resolution to profit by the paternal advice but what makes you say this along of rob father asked his wife anxiously and son old said mr i don t know as i said it along o rob i m sure i starts light with rob only i comes to a branch i takes on what i finds there and a whole train of ideas gets coupled on to him afore i knows where i am or where they comes from what a a man s thoughts is said mr to be sure this profound reflection mr washed down with a pint of tea and proceeded to with a great weight of bread and butter charging his young daughters meanwhile to keep plenty of hot water in the pot as he was uncommon dry and should take the indefinite quantity of a sight of before his thirst was appeased in satisfying himself however mr was not regardless of the younger branches about him who although they had made their own evening were on the look out for irregular as possessing a relish these he distributed now and then to the expectant circle by holding out great of bread and butter to be bitten at by the family in lawful succession and by serving out small of tea in like manner with a spoon which had such a relish in the mouths of these young that after of the same they performed private dances of ecstasy among themselves stood on one leg a piece and and indulged in other tokens of gladness these for their excitement found they gradually closed about mr again and eyed him hard as he got through more bread and butter and tea affecting however to have no further of their own in reference to those but to be conversing on foreign subjects and whispering mr in the midst of this family group and setting an awful example to his children in the way of appetite was conveying the two young on his knees to by special engine and was contemplating the rest over a barrier of bread and butter when rob the in his sou hat and mourning presented himself and was received with a general rush of brothers and sisters well mother said rob kissing her how are you mother v h and son there s my boy cried giving him a and a pat on the back secret bless you father not he this was intended for mr s private but rob the whose were not caught the words as they were spoken what father s been a saying something more again me has he cried the injured innocent oh what a hard thing it is that when a has once gone a little wrong a s own father should be always a throwing it in his face behind his back it s enough cried rob to his coat in anguish of spirit to make a go and do something out of spite my poor boy cried father didn t mean anything if father didn t mean anything the injured why did he go and say anything mother nobody thinks half so bad of me as my own father does what a unnatural thing i wish somebody d take and chop my head off father wouldn t mind doing it i believe and i d much rather he did that than t other at these desperate words all the young shrieked a pathetic effect which the improved by them not to cry for him for they ought to hate him they ought if they was good boys and girls and this so touched the youngest but one who was easily moved that it touched him not only in his spirit but in his wind too making him so purple that mr in consternation carried him out to the water butt and would have put him under the tap but for his being recovered by the sight of that instrument matters having reached this point mr explained and the virtuous feelings of his son being thereby they shook hands and harmony reigned again will you do as i do my boy inquired his father returning to his tea with new strength no thank ee father master and i had tea together and how is master rob said well i don t know mother not much to boast on there ain t no bis ness done you see he don t know an about it the cap en don t there was a man come into the shop this very day and says i want a so and so he says some hard and son name or another a which v says the
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cap en a says the man brother says the cap en will you take a observation round the shop v well says the man i ve done it do you see you want says the cap en no i don t says the man do you know it you do see it v says the cap en no i don t says the man why then i tell you my lad says the cap en you d better go back and ask it s like outside for no more don t i that an t the way to make money though is it said money mother he ll never make money he has such ways as i never see he an t a bad master though i ll say that for him but that an t much to me for i don t think i shall stop with him long not stop in your place rob cried his mother while mr opened his eyes not in that place p returned the with a wink i shouldn t wonder friends at court you know but never you mind mother just now i m all right that s all the proof afforded in these hints and in the s mysterious manner of his not being subject to that failing which mr had by attributed to him might have led to a renewal of his wrongs and of the sensation in the family but for the arrival of another visitor who to s great surprise appeared at the door smiling patronage and friendship on all there how do you do mrs said miss i have come to see you may i come in the cheery face of mrs shone with a hospitable reply and miss accepting the proffered chair and gracefully mr on her way to it her bonnet strings and said that in the first place she must beg the dear children one and all to come and kiss her the ill youngest but one who would appear from the of his domestic troubles to have been bom under an unlucky planet was prevented from performing hia part in thb general salutation by having fixed the sou hat with which he had been previously trifling deep on his head hind and son ride before and being unable to get it off again which accident presenting to his terrified imagination a dismal picture of his passing the rest of his days in darkness and in hopeless seclusion from his friends and family caused him to struggle with great violence and to utter cries being released his face was discovered to be very hot and red and damp and miss took him on her lap much exhausted you have almost forgotten me sir i dare say said miss to mr no ma am no said but we ve all on us got a little older since then and how do you find yourself sir inquired miss hearty ma am thank ee replied how do you find j ma am do the keep off pretty well ma am we must all expect to grow into em as we gets on thank you said miss i have not felt any inconvenience from that disorder yet you re fortunate ma am returned mr many people at your time of life ma am is to it there was my mother but catching his wife s eye here mr buried the rest in another of tea you never mean to say mrs cried miss looking at rob that is your eldest ma am said yes indeed it is that s the little fellow ma am that was the innocent cause of so much this here ma am said is him with the short legs and they was said mr with a touch of poetry in his tone unusual short for as mr made a on the recollection almost overpowered miss the subject of it had a peculiar interest for her directly she asked him to shake hands and congratulated his mother on his frank face rob her called up a look to justify the but it was hardly the right look and now mrs said miss and you too sir addressing i ll tell you plainly and truly what i pays a to the family and son t i have here for you may be aware mrs and possibly you may be aware too sir that a little distance has interposed itself between me and some of my friends and that where i used to visit a good deal i do not visit now who with a woman s tact understood this at once expressed as much in a little mr who had not the faintest idea of what miss was talking about expressed that also in a stare of course said miss how our little coolness has arisen is of no moment and does not require to be discussed it is sufficient for me to say that i have the greatest possible respect for and interest in mr miss s voice faltered and everything that relates to him mr shook his head and said he had it said and for his own part he did think as mr was a difficult subject pray don t say sc ss if you please returned miss let me entreat you not to say so sir either now or at any future time such observations cannot but be very painful to me and to a gentleman whose mind is constituted as i am quite sure yours is can afford no permanent satisfaction mr who had not entertained the least doubt of ing a remark that would be received with acquiescence was greatly confounded all that i wish to say mrs resumed miss and i address myself to you too sir is this that any intelligence of the proceedings of the family of the welfare of the of the health of
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the family that reaches you will be always most acceptable to me that i shall be always very glad to chat with mrs about the family and about old times and as mrs and i never had the least though i could wish now that we had been better acquainted but i have no one but myself to blame for that i hope she will not object to our being very good friends now and to my coming backwards and forwards here when i like without being stranger now i really hope mrs said earnestly that you will take this as i mean it like a creature as you always were vol n and son was gratified and showed h mr didn whether be was gratified or not and preserved a stolid calmness you see mrs said miss and i hope you see too sir there are many little ways in which i can be slight ly useful to you if you will make no stranger of me and in which shall be delighted to be so for instance i can teach your children something i shall g a few little books if you ll allow and some work and of an now and then they ll dear me they ll learn a great deal i trust and be a credit to their teacher mr who had a great respect for learning his head at his wife and his hands with dawning satisfaction then not being a strange i be in nobody s way said miss t x and g will go on just as if i were not here mr will do her mending or her or her nursing whatever it ig without me and you ll smoke our pipe too if re ao disposed sir won t you thank ee said mr yes i ll take my bit of very good of you to say so sir rejoined miss and i really do assure you now that it will be a great comfort to me and that whatever good i may be fortunate enough to do the children you will more than pay back to me if you enter into this little bargain comfortably and easily and without another word about it the bargain was on the spot and miss found herself so much at home already that without delay she a preliminary examination of the children all round which mr much admired their ages names and on a piece of paper this ceremony and a little attendant gossip prolonged the time until after their usual hour of going to bed and detained miss at the fireside until it was too late for her to walk home alone the gallant however being still there politely to attend her to her own door and as it was something to miss to be m home by a youth whom mr had first into and son manly garments which are rarely mentioned by name she very readily accepted the proposal after shaking hands with mr and and kissing all the children miss left the house therefore with unlimited popularity and carrying away with her so light a heart that it might have given mrs offence if that good lady could have weighed it rob the in his modesty would have walked behind but miss desired him to keep beside her for purposes and as she afterwards expressed it to his mother drew him out upon the road he drew out so bright and clear and shining that miss was charmed with him the miss drew him out the finer he came like wire there never was a better or more promising youth r s steady prudent sober honest meek candid man than rob drew out that night i am quite p miss arrived at her own door to know you hope you ll consider me your friend and that you ll come and see me as often as you like do you keep a money box yes ma am returned rob i m saving up against i ve got enough to put in the bank ma am very indeed said miss i m glad to hear it put this half crown into it if you please o thank you ma am replied rob but really i couldn t think of you i commend your independent said miss but it s no i assure you i shall be offended if you don t take it as a mark of my good will good night robin good night ma am said rob and thank you who ran oft to get change and tossed it away with a but they never taught honor at the school where the system that prevailed was particularly strong in the of that many of the friends and masters of past said if thb were what came of education for the common people let us have none some more rational said let us have a better one but the governing powers of the company were always ready for and son by picking out a few boys who had turned out well in spite of the system and asserting that they could hare only turned out well because of it which settled the business of those out of hand and established the glory of the institution and son lit chapter further of captain edward time sure of foot and strong of will had so pressed onward that the year by the old instrument maker as the term during which his friend should refrain from opening the sealed packet accompanying the letter he had him was now nearly expired and captain began to look at it of an evening with feelings of mystery and uneasiness the captain in his honor would as soon have thought of opening the parcel one hour before the of the term as he would have thought of opening himself v study his own he merely brought it out
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at certain stage of bis first evening pipe laid it on the table and sat gazing at the outside of it through the smoke in silent gravity for two or three hours at a spell sometimes when he had contemplated it thus fer a pretty long the captain would his chair by degrees further and further off as if to get beyond the range of its fascination but if this were his design he never succeeded for even when he was brought up by the parlor wall the packet still attracted him or if his eyes in thoughtful wandering to he ceiling or the fire its image immediately followed and posted itself among the coals or took up an advantageous on the in respect of heart s delight the captain s parental regard and admiration knew no change but since his last interview with mr captain had come to entertain doubts whether his former in behalf of that young lady and his dear boy r had proved altogether so favorable as he could have wished and as he at the time believed the captain was troubled with a serious that he had done more and son harm than good in short and in his remorse and modesty he made the best he could think of by putting himself out of the way of doing any harm to any one and as it were throwing himself overboard for a dangerous person self buried therefore among the instruments the captain never went near mr s house or reported himself in any way to or miss he even severed himself from mr perch on the occasion of his next visit by forming that gentleman that he thanked him for his company but had cut himself adrift from all such acquaintance as he didn t know what magazine he t blow up without meaning of it in this self imposed retirement the captain passed whole days and weeks without a word with any one but rob the whom he esteemed as a pattern of disinterested attachment and fidelity in this retirement the captain gazing at the packet of an evening would sit smoking and thinking of and poor walter until they both seemed to his homely fancy to be dead and to have passed away into eternal youth the beautiful and i children of his first remembrance the captain did not hot in his neglect his own improvement or the men culture of rob the that young man was to read out of some book to the captain for one hour every evening and as the captain believed that all books were true he accumulated by this means many remarkable facts on sunday nights the captain always read for himself before going to bed a certain divine sermon once delivered on a mount and although he was accustomed to quote the text without book his own manner he appeared to read it with as an understanding of its heavenly spirit as if he had got it all by heart in greek and had been able to write any number of fierce on its every phrase rob the whose reverence for the inspired writings under the admirable system of the school had been developed by a perpetual of his intellectual against all the proper names of all the tribes of and y the monotonous repetition of hard verses especially by way of and son and by the of him at six old in leather breeches three times a sunday very high up in a very hot church with a great organ against his drowsy head like an exceedingly busy bee rob the made a mighty show of being en the captain ceased to read and generally yawned and nodded while the reading was in progress the latter never so much as suspected by the good captain captain also as a man of business took to keeping books in these he entered observations on the weather and on the currents of the and other which he ob served in that quarter to set westward in the morning and during the greater part of the day and eastward towards the evening two or three appearing in one week who spoke him so the captain entered it on the subject of spectacles and who without positively said they would look in again the captain decided that the business was i v ing and made an entry in the day to that the wind then blowing which he first recorded pretty fresh west and by north having change in the night one of the captain s chief difficulties was mr who called frequently and who without sa n ng much seemed to have an idea that the little back parlor was an eligible room to chuckle in as he would sit and avail himself of its in that regard by the hour without at all advancing in intimacy with the captain the captain rendered cautious by his late experience was unable quite to satisfy his whether mr was the mild subject he appeared to be or was a profoundly artful and frequent reference to miss was suspicious but the captain had a secret kindness for mr s apparent reliance on him and to decide against him for the present merely him with a sagacity not to be described whenever he approached the subject that was nearest to his heart captain out mr one day all at once as his manner was do you think you could think of that proposition of mine and give me the pleasure of your ao i m and son why ril tell yoa what it is ray lad the captain who had at length concluded on a course oi action i ve been turning that there over captain it s very kind of you retorted mr i m much obliged to you upon my word and honor cap tain it would be a charity to give me the pleasure of your
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acquaintance it really would you see brother argued the captain i don t know you you never can know me captain replied mr steadfast to his point if you don t give me the pleasure f your acquaintance the captain seemed struck by the originality and power ol remark and looked at m as if he thought waa a great deal more in him th d ao had expected well said my lad the captain nodding lis head and now e here you ve made some observations to me gives me to t nd as you admire a certain sweet hey captain said violently the hai in which he held his hat admiration is not the word honor you have no what my feelings are if i could be black and made miss s slave i should k a compliment if at the sacrifice of all my property i could get into miss s dog i i really think i should never leave off my tail i should be so perfectly happy captain mr said it with watery eyes and pressed his hat against his bosom with deep emotion my lad returned the captain moved to compassion if you re in captain cried mr i m in such a state of and am so dreadfully in earnest that if could swear to it upon a hot piece of iron or a live coal or melted lead or burning wax or anything of that sort i should be glad to hurt myself as a to my feelings and mr hurriedly about the room as if for some sufficiently pain fill means of his dread purpose and son the captain pushed his glazed hat back upon his head his face down with his heavy hand making his nose more in the process and planting himself before mr and him by the of his coat addressed him in these words while mr looked up into his face with attention and some wonder if you re in you see my lad said the captain you re a object of and is the brightest jewel in the crown of a s head or which you ll the constitution as laid down in rule and when found that is the as them garden angels was a singing of so many times over stand by this here proposal o you m takes me a little and why because holds my own only you understand in these here waters and haven t got no and may be don t wish for none steady you me first along of a certain lady as you was by now if you and me is to keep one another s company at all that there young s n c e must never be ar ed nor referred to i don t know what i a n t have been done by of it too free afore no and thereby i up short d ye make me out pretty r well you ll excuse me mr if don t quite follow you sometimes but upon my word i it s a hard thing captain not to be to mention miss i really have got such a dreadful load here mr touched his shirt front with both hands that i feel night and day exactly as if somebody was sitting upon me them said the captain is the terms i offer if they re hard upon you brother as they are give em a wide berth off and part company cheerily captain returned mr i hardly know how it is but after what you told me when i came here for the first time i i feel that i d rather think about miss in your society than talk about her in almost anybody else s therefore captain if you ll give me the pleasure of your acquaintance i shall be very happy to accept it on your own conditions i wish to ba honorable captain said mr holding back his ex vol and son tended hand for a moment and therefore lam obliged to that i can not help thinking about miss it s for me to make a promise not to think about her my lad said the captain whose opinion of mr was much improved by this candid a man s thoughts is like the winds and nobody can t answer for em for certain any length of time together is it a treaty as to words as to words captain returned mr i think i can bind myself mr gave captain his hand upon it then and there and the captain with a pleasant and gracious show of condescension bestowed his acquaintance upon him formally mr seemed much relieved and by the acquisition and chuckled during the remainder of his visit the captain for his part was not ill pleased to occupy that position of patronage and wan y well by his own prudence and foresight but rich as captain e in the latter q ol ty he received a surprise that me evening from a no less and simple youth the lad drinking tea at the same table and bending meekly over his cup and having taken observations of his master for some time who was reading the newspaper with great but much dignity through his glasses broke silence by saying oh i b your pardon captain you t be in want of any may you sir no my lad replied the captain because i was wishing to dispose of mine captain said rob aye aye cried the captain lifting up his eyebrows a little yes i m going captain if you please said going where are you going asked the captain looking round at him over the glasses what didn t you know that i was going to leave you cap tain asked rob with a smile and son t the captain
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put down the paper took off his spectacles and his eyes to bear on the oh yes captain i am going to give you warning i thought you d have known that beforehand perhaps said rob rubbing his hands and up if you could be so good as provide yourself soon captain it would be a great convenience to me you couldn t provide yourself by to morrow morning i am afraid captain could you do you think v and you re a going to desert your colors are you my lad f said the captain after a long examination of his face oh it s very hard upon a captain cried the tender rob injured and indignant in a moment that he can t give lawful warning without being frowned at in that way and called a you haven t any right to call a poor cap it t because i m a servant and you re a master that you re to go and me what wrong have done f come captain let me know what my crime is will you the stricken wept and put his coat in his eye come captain cried the injured youth give my crime a name i what have i been and done have i stolen any of the property have i set the house a fire if i have why don t you give me in charge and try it but to take away the character of a lad that s been a good servant to you because he can t rd to stand in his own light for your good what a injury it and what a bad return for faithful service this is the way young is and drove wrong i wonder at you captain i do all of which ihe howled forth in a towards the door and so you ve got another berth have you my lad said the him intently yes captain since you put it in that shape i have got another berth cried rob more and more a better berth than ive got here and one where i don t so much as want your good word captain which is fort for me after all the dirt you ve d at me because i m poor and can t to stand in my light for your good yes i hate got another berth and if it r leaving captain i d go to it w m son sooner than i d take them names from you because i m and can t afford to stand in my own light for your good why do you reproach me for being poor and not standing in my own light fi r your good captain how can you so yourself look ye here my boy replied the peaceful captain don t you pay out no more of them words well then don t you pay in no more of your words captain retorted the roused innocent getting louder in his and into the shop i d sooner you took my blood than my character because pursued the captain calmly you have may be of such a thing as a rope s end oh have i though captain v cried the no i haven t i never of any such a article well said the captain it s my belief as you ll know more about it pretty soon if ou don t keep a bright look out i can read your my you tv go oh i may go at once cried rob in his asked to go at captain you are not to take away my character again because you send me off of your own accord and you re not to stop any of my wages captain his employer settled the last point by producing the tin and telling the s money out in full upon the rob and sobbing and wounded ia his feelings took up the pieces one by one with a sob and a each and tied them up separately in knots in his pocket handkerchief then he ascended to the roof of the house and filled his hat and pockets with then came down to his bed under the and made up his bundle and sobbing louder as if he were cut to the heart by old associations then he night captain leave you without malice and then going out upon the door step pulled the little s nose as a parting and went away down the street grinning triumph the captain to himself resumed his perusal of the news as if nothing unusual or unexpected had taken place and went on with the greatest but never a did and son captain though he read a number for rob the was up one column and down another all through the newspaper it is doubtful whether the worthy captain had ever felt himself quite abandoned until now but now m walter and heart s delight were lost to him indeed and now mr deceived and him cruelly they were all represented in the false rob to whom he had held forth many a time on the recollections that were warm within him he had believed in the false rob and had been glad to believe in him he had made a companion of him as the last of the old ship s company he had taken the command of the little with him at his right hand he had meant to do his duty by him and had felt almost as kindly towards the boy as if they had been and cast upon a desert place together and now that the false rob had brought treachery and meanness into the very parlor which was a k of sacred place ca ain felt as if the parlor might down next ar jl ot surprised him much by its sinking or given him any great concern therefore cap ain read the newspaper with profound
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attention and no comprehension and e captain said nothing whatever about rob to himself or admitted to himself that he was thinking about him or would recognise in the most distant manner that rob had anything with his feeling as lonely as robinson in the same composed like way the captain stepped over to market in the dusk and an arrangement with a private on duty there to come and put up and take down the shutters of the wooden every night and morning he then called in at the eating house to by one half the daily supplied to the and at the public house to stop the traitor s beer my young man said the captain in explanation to the young at the bar my young man having himself miss lastly the captain resolved to take possession of the bed under the counter and to in there o nights instead of up stairs as guardian of the property from this bed captain daily rose and clap and son on his glazed hat at six o clock in the morning with the air of finishing his toilet with his goat skin cap and although his fears of a from the savage tribe were somewhat cooled as similar apprehensions on the part of that lone used to be by the of a long interval without any symptoms of the he still observed a regular routine of operations and never encountered a bonnet without previous survey from his castle of retreat in the meantime during which he received no call from mr who wrote to say he was out of town bis own voice began to have a strange sound in his ears and he acquired such habits oc profound meditation from much and away of the stock and from much behind the counter reading or looking out of window that the red rim made on his forehead by the hard glazed hat sometimes d again with f reflection the year being now expired deemed it expedient to open the packet but as he had always designed doing this in the presence of rob the g who had brought it to him and as he had an idea that it would be regular and ship shape to open it in the presence of somebody he was sadly put to it for want of a witness in this difficulty he hailed one day with unusual delight the announcement in the shipping intelligence of the arrival of the cautious captain john from a voyage and to that immediately a by post as to his place of residence and to be favored with an early visit in the evening season who was one of those who act upon conviction took some days to get the conviction thoroughly into his mind that he had received a letter to this effect but when he had with the fact and mastered it he promptly sent his boy with the message he s a to night who being instructed to deliver words and fulfilled his mission like a spirit charged with a mysterious warning the captain well pleased to receive it made preparation of pipes and rum and water and awaited his visitor in the back parlor at the of eight a deep as of a and son hi bull outside the shop door succeeded by the of a stick en the announced to the listening car of captain that was alongside whom he instantly admitted shaggy and loose and with his stolid mahogany as usual appearing to have no consciousness of anything before it but to be observing something that was taking place in quite another part of the world said the captain grasping him by the hand what cheer my lad what cheer v replied the voice within by any sign on the part of the commander himself hearty hearty said the captain rendering irrepressible homage to his genius here you are a man as can give an opinion as is brighter than di five me the lad with the trousers shines to me like di bright for which you ll the s and when found make a note here you are a man as an opinion in this her very place that has come true every letter on it which the captain sincerely believed aye aye growled every letter said the captain for why growled looking at his friend for the first time which way if so why ni t therefore with these words they seemed almost to make the captain giddy they launched him upon such a sea of speculation and the sage submitted te be helped off with his and accompanied his friend into the back parlor where his hand presently alighted on the rum bottle from which he a stiff glass of and presently afterwards on a pipe which he filled lighted and began to smoke captain his visitor in the matter of these particulars though the and manner of the great commander was far above his powers sat in the opposite corner of the fireside observing him respectfully and as if he waited for encouragement or expression of curiosity on s part which should lead him to his own affairs but as the mahogany philosopher gave no evidence of being of anything but and son warmth and tobacco except once when taking his pipe from his lips to make room for his glass he incidentally remarked with exceeding that his name was jack a declaration that presented but small opening for conversation the captain his attention in a short complimentary the whole history of uncle s departure with the change it had produced in his own life and fortunes and concluded by placing the packet on the table a long pause mr nodded his head open v said the captain nodded again the captain accordingly broke the seal and disclosed to view two folded paper of which he read the thus last will and testament of solomon
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letter for ned with his eye on the coast of seemed to listen for the contents the captain therefore hen j d to clear his throat and read the let j aloud my dear ned cut when left horn the west indies here the captain stopped and looked j who looked at the coast of in forlorn search of intelligence of my dear boy i knew that if you were acquainted with my design you would it or accompany me and therefore i kept it secret if you ever read this letter ned i am likely to be dead you will easily forgive an old friend s folly then and will feel for the restlessness and uncertainty in which he wandered away on such a wild voyage so no more of that i have little hope that my boy will ever read these words or your eyes with the sight of his frank face any more no no no more said captain sorrowfully meditating no more ther he lays all his days mr who had a musical ear suddenly in the of o which so affected the good captain as an appropriate tribute to departed worth that he shook by the hand in acknowledgment and was fain to wipe his eyes well well said the captain with a sigh as the lament of and son us ceased to ring and in the affliction sore long time he bore and let us the and there find it observed was in vain aye aye to be sure said the captain what s the good o them in two or three hundred o water then returning to the letter he read on i but if he should be by when it is opened the captain involuntarily looked round and shook his head or should know of it at any other time the captain shook his head again my blessing on him in case the accompanying r is not written it matters very little for there is no one interested but you and he and my plain wish is that if he is living he should have what little there may be and if as i fear otherwise that you should have it ned you will c my wish i know bless you for it and all your tr besides tc v said the captain appealing to him what do you make of this there you sit a m i a has had his head broke from infancy up and has got a opinion it at every as has been opened now what do you make o this if so be returned with unusual as he s dead my opinion is he won t come back no more if so be as he s alive my opinion is he will do i say he will no why not because the bearings of this lays in the application on it said captain who would seem to have estimated the value of his distinguished friend s opinions in to the of the difficulty he experienced in making anything out of them said the captain quite confounded by admiration you carry a weight of mind easy as would swamp one of my soon but in regard o this here will i don t mean to take no steps towards the property lord forbid except to keep it for a more owner and i hope yet as the owner is living and come back strange as it is that he an t forwarded no now what is your opinion as to these hero u and son papers away again and marking outside as they was such a day in presence of john and ard v no objection on the coast of or elsewhere to this proposal it was carried into execution and that great man bringing his eye into the present for a moment his sign manual to the cover totally with characteristic modesty from the use of capital letters captain having attached his own handed signature and locked up the packet in the iron safe entreated his guest to mix another glass and smoke pipe and doing the like himself fell a musing over the fire on the possible fortunes of the poor old instrument maker and now surprise occurred so overwhelming and terrific that captain by the presence of must have sunk beneath it and been a lost man from that fatal hour how the captain even in the satisfaction of admitting such guest could have only shut the door and not locked it of which he was undoubtedly guilty is one of those questions that must for ever remain men points of speculation or vague charges against destiny but by that unlocked door at this quiet moment did the fell dash into the parlor bringing alexander in her parental arms and confusion and vengeance not to mention and the sweet child s brother charles known about the scenes of his youthful sports as in her train she came so swiftly and so silently like a rushing air from the neighborhood of the east india that captain found himself in the very act of sitting looking at her before the calm face with which ho had been meditating changed to one of horror and dismay but the moment captain understood the full extent of his misfortune self preservation dictated an attempt at flight darting at the little door which opened from the parlor on the steep little range of cellar steps the captain made a rush at the latter like a man indifferent to and con who only sought to hide himself in the of the earth in this gallant he would probably have succeeded and son but for the affectionate dispositions of and who him by the one of those dear children holding oa claimed him as their friend with lamentable cries in the meantime mrs who never entered upon any action of importance without previously alexander to bring
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him the range of a brisk battery of and then setting him down to cool as the reader first beheld him performed that solemn as if on this occasion it were a sacrifice to the and having deposited the victim on the floor made at the captain with a strength of purpose that appeared to threaten to the the cries of the two elder and the wailing of young alexander who may be to have passed a childhood as he was black in the face during one half of that fairy period of existence combined to make this the more awful but when silence reigned again and the captain in a violent perspiration stood meekly looking at mrs its terrors were at their height oh cap en cap en said mr making her chin rigid it in what but for the weakness of her sex might be described as her oh cap en ca pen do you dare to me in the face and not be struck down in the berth the captain who looked anything but daring feebly muttered stand by oh was a weak and trusting fool when took you under my roof cap en i was cried mrs to think of the benefits i ve on that man and the way in which i brought my children up to love and him as if he was a father to em when there an t a no nor a in our street don t know that i lost money by that man and by his and his mrs used the last word for the joint sake of and rather than for the expression of any idea and when they cried out one and all shame upon him for putting upon an industrious woman up early and late for the good of her young family and keeping her poor place so clean that an might have ate his dinner yes and his tea too if he was dis and son posed off any one of the floors or stairs in spite of all his and his such was the care and pains bestowed upon him mrs stopped to fetch her breath and her face flushed with triumph in this second happy introduction of captain s and he runs a a ay cried mrs with a out of the last syllable that made the unfortunate captain regard himself as the meanest of men and keeps away a from a woman is his conscience he hasn t the courage to meet her hi i i long syllable again but away like a why if that baby of mine said mrs with sudden rapidity was to offer to go and steal away i d do my duty as a mother by him till he was covered with wales the young alexander this into a positive promise to be shortly tumbled or ith fear and grief and lay upon the floor exhibiting the of his shoes and making such a that mrs found it necessary to take him up in her arm where she him ever and as he broke out again by a shake that seemed enough to his teeth a pretty sort of a man is cap en said mrs with a sharp stress on the first syllable of the captain s name to take on for and to lose sleep for and to faint along of and to think dead and to go up and down the blessed town like a mad woman asking questions oh a pretty sort of a man ha ha ha ha he s worth all that trouble and distress of mind and much more that s nothing bless you ha ha ha ha cap en said mrs with severe re action in her voice and manner i wish to know if you re a coming home the frightened captain looked into his hat as if he saw nothing for it but to put it on and give himself up cap en repeated mrs in the same determined manner i you coming home sir the captain seemed quite ready to go but faintly suggested something to the making so much of not noise about it fc a l i m ik t and son aye aye aye said in a soothing tone my i and who may you be if you please retorted mrs with did you ever lodge at number nine place sir my memory may be bad but not with me think there was a mrs lived at number nine before me and s you re me for her that is my only ways of for your familiarity sir come come my v said captain could hardly believe it even of this great man though he saw it done with his waking eyes but advancing boldly put his shaggy blue arm round mrs and so softened her by his magic way of doing it and by these few words he said no that she melted into tears after looking upon him a few moments and observed that a child might conquer her now he was so low in her courage speechless and utterly amazed the captain saw him gradually persuade this b j woman into the shop return for rum and water and a candle take them to her and her without appearing to utter one word presently he looked in with his pilot coat on and said i m a going to act as home and captain more to his confusion than if he had been put in irons himself for safe transport to place saw the family oft with mrs at their head he had scarcely time to take down his and stealthily convey some money into the hands of his former favorite and who had the claim upon him that he was naturally of a build before the was abandoned by them all and whispering that he d carry on smart and
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hail ned again before he went aboard shut the door upon himself as the last member of the party some uneasy ideas that he must be walking in his sleep or that he had been troubled with and not a family of flesh and blood beset the captain at first when he went back to the little parlor and foimd himself alone faith and admiration of the commander of the and son us succeeded and threw the captain into a wondering trance still as time wore on and failed to the captain began to entertain uncomfortable doubts of another kind whether had been to place and was there detained in safe as for his friend in which case it would become th captain as a man of honor to release him by the sacrifice of his own liberty whether he had been attacked and defeated by mrs and was ashamed to show himself his discomfiture whether mrs thinking better of it in the uncertainty of her temper had turned back to board the again and pretending to conduct her by a short cut wa to lose the family amid the savage places of the city above all what it would captain to do in case of his hearing no more r of the or of which in these of events might possibly happen he all this until he was tired and still no he made up his bed under the counter all ready for turning in and still no at length when the captain had given him up for that night at least and had begun to the sound of approaching wheels was heard and stopping at the door was succeeded by s hail the captain trembled to think that mrs was not to be got rid of and had been brought back in a coach but no was accompanied by nothing but a large box which he hauled into the shop with his own hands and as soon as he had hauled in sat upon captain knew it for the chest he had left at mrs s house and looking candle in hand at more attentively believed that he was three sheets in the wind or in plain words drunk it was difficult however to be sure of this the commander having no trace of expression in his face when sober said the commander getting oflf the chest and opening the lid are these here your traps captain looked in and identified his property done pretty and trim hey v said and son lit the grateful and bewildered captain grasped him by the hand and was into a reply expressive of his astonished feelings when disengaged himself by a jerk of his wrist and seemed to make an effort to wink with his revolving eye the only effect of which attempt in his condition was nearly to him he then abruptly opened the door and shot away to the cautious with all speed supposed to be his invariable custom whenever he considered he had made a point as it was not his humor to be sought captain decided not to go or send to him next day or until he should make his gracious pleasure known such wise or failing that until some little time should have elapsed the captain therefore renewed his solitary life next morning and thought profoundly many mornings and nights of ol and s sentiments co him and the hopes there were of his return much c such thinking strengthened captain s hopes and j them and himself by watching for the instrument at the door as he ventured to do now in his strange liberty and setting his chair in its place and arranging the little parlor as it used to be in case he should come home unexpectedly he likewise in his thoughtful ness took down a certain little miniature of walter as a from its accustomed nail lest it should shock the old man on his return the captain had his too sometimes that he would come on such a day and one particular sunday even ordered a double allowance of dinner he was so sanguine but come old solomon did not and still the neighbors noticed how the man in the glazed hat stood at the shop door of an evening looking up and down the street and son chapter xl domestic relations it was not in the nature of things that a man of mr s mood opposed to such a spirit as he had raised against himself should be softened in the imperious of his temper or that the cold hard of p de in which he lived should be made more by collision with haughty scorn and it is the of such a nature it is a main part of the heavy on itself it bears within itself that while deference and r swell its evil qualities and are the food it grows upon resistance and a questioning of its claims foster it too no less the evil that is in it find s equally its means of growth and in it draws support and life from sweets and bowed down before or it still the breast in which it has its throne and worshipped or rejected is as hard a master as the devil in dark towards his first wife mr in his cold and lofty had borne himself like the removed being he almost conceived himself to be he had been mr with her when she first saw him and he was mr when she died he had asserted his greatness during their whole married life and she had meekly recognised it he had kept his distant seat of state on the top of his throne and she her humble station on its lowest step and much good it had done him so to live in solitary bondage to his one idea he had imagined that the proud character of
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his second wife would have been added to his own would have into it and exalted his greatness he had pictured himself than ever with s to his he had never entertained the possibility of and son lai its itself against him and now when he found it rising in his path at every step and turn of his daily life fixing its cold defiant and contemptuous face upon him this pride of his instead of withering or hanging down its head beneath the shock put forth new shoots became more concentrated and intense more gloomy sullen irksome and than it had ever been before who wears such too bears with him ever another heavy it is of proof love and confidence against all gentle sympathy from without all trust all tenderness all soft emotion but to deep in the self love it is as as the bare breast to steel and such there as follow on no other wounds no though dealt with the hand of pride itself on weaker pride and thrown down such wounds were his he felt them sharply in the solitude of his old rooms whither he now began to retire again and pass long solitary hours it seemed his fate to be ever proud and powerful ever and powerless where he would be most strong who seemed fated to work out that doom who who was it who could win his wife as she had won his boy who was it who had shown him that new victory as he sat in the dark comer who was it whose least word did what his utmost means could not who was it who by his love regard or notice and grew beautiful when those so aided died who could it be but the same child at whom he had often glanced uneasily in her infancy with a kind of dread lest he might come to hate her and of whom his was fulfilled for he did hate her in his heart yes and he would have it hatred and he made it hatred though some of the light in which she had appeared before him on the memorable night of his return home with hi bride occasionally hung about her still he knew now that she was beautiful he did not dispute that she was graceful and winning and that in the bright dawn of her womanhood she had come upon him a surprise but he even this e her in his sullen and brooding the unhappy vol ii and man with a dull perception of his from all hearts and a vague yearning for what he had all his life made a picture of his rights and justified himself with it against her the she to be of him the greater claim he was disposed to date upon her duty and submission when had she shown him duty and sion did grace his or s had her attractions been first to or why he and she had never been from her birth like father and child they had always been she had crossed him every way and everywhere she was against him now her very beauty softened natures that were to him and insulted him with an unnatural triumph it may have been that in all this there were of an awakened feeling in his breast however aroused by his position of disadvantage in comparison with what she might have made his life but he silenced the distant thunder with the rolling of his sea of pride he would hear nothing but his pride and in his pride a heap of and misery self inflicted torment he hated her to the moody stubborn sullen demon that possessed him his wife opposed her pride in its full force they never could have led a happy life together but nothing could have made it more unhappy than the wilful and determined warfare of such elements his pride was set upon his and forcing recognition of it from her she would have been to death and turned but her haughty glance of calm disdain upon him to the last such recognition from ed th he little knew through what a storm and struggle she had been driven onward to the crowning honor of his hand he little knew how much she thought she had when she suffered him to call her wife mr was resolved to show her that he was supreme there must be no will but his proud he desired that she should be but she must be proud for not against him as he sat alone he would often hear her go put and come home treading the round of london life with more heed of his liking or pleasure or displeasure than if he had been and t her groom her cold supreme his own attribute d stung him more than any other kind of treatment could have done and he determined to bend her to his magnificent and stately will he had been long with these thoughts when one night he sought her in her own ment h had heard her return home late she was in her brilliant dress and had but that moment come from her mother s room her face was melancholy and pensive when he came upon her but it marked him at the door for glancing at the mirror before it he saw immediately as in a picture frame the brow and darkened beauty that he knew so well mrs he said i must beg leave to have a few words with you morrow she replied there is no time like the present madam he returned you mistake your position am used to choose my own times not to have them chosen for me i think you scarcely who and what i am mrs i think she answered that i understand you very well she looked upon him as he said so and
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folding her white arms sparkling with gold and gems upon her swelling breast turned away her eyes if she had been less h and less stately in her cold composure she might not have had the power of him with the sense of disadvantage that penetrated through his utmost pride but she had the power and he felt it keenly he glanced round the room saw how the splendid means of al and the luxuries of dress were scattered and there and disregarded not in mere caprice and or so he thought but in a steadfast haughty disregard of costly things and felt it more and more of flowers feathers jewels and look where he would he saw riches despised poured out and made of no account the very diamonds a marriage that rose and fell upon her bosom seemed to to break the chain that clasped them round her neck and roll down on the floor where she might tread upon them s i and son he felt his disadvantage and he showed it solemn and strange among this wealth of color and glitter strange and constrained towards its haughty mistress whose beauty it repeated and presented all around him as in so many fragments of a mirror he was conscious of embarrassment and awkwardness nothing that to her self possession could fail to him and irritated with himself he sat down and went on in no improved humor mrs it is very necessary that there should be some understanding arrived at between us your conduct does not please me madam she merely glanced at him again and again averted her eyes but she might have spoken for an hour and expressed less i repeat mrs does not please me i have already taken occasion to request that it may be corrected i now insist upon it you chose a fitting occasion for your first remonstrance sir and you adopt a fitting manner and a fitting word for your second you insist to me madam said mr with his most ofi air of state i have made you my wife you bear my name you are associated with my position and my reputation i will not say that the world in general may be disposed to think you honored by that association but i will say that i am accustomed to insist to my and which may you be pleased to consider me she asked possibly i may think that my wife should partake or does partake and cannot help of both characters mrs she bent her eyes upon him and set her trembling lips he saw her bosom throb and saw her face flush and turn white all this he could know and did but he could not know that one word was whispered in the deep s of her heart to keep her quiet and that the word was blind idiot rushing to a precipice he thought she stood in i we of him f you are too expensive madam said mr you and son are extravagant you waste a great deal of or what would be a great deal in the pockets of most gentlemen in a kind of society that is useless to me and indeed that the whole is disagreeable to me i have to insist upon a total change in all these respects i know that in the novelty of possessing a of such means as fortune has placed at your disposal ladies are apt to run into a sudden extreme there has been more than enough of that extreme i beg that mrs s very different experiences may now come to the instruction of mrs still the fixed look the trembling lips the throbbing breast he face now crimson and now white and still the deep whisper speaking to her in the beating of her heart his insolence of self importance dilated as he saw this alteration in her swollen no less by her past scorn of him and his so recent feeling of disadvantage than by her present submission as he took it to be it became too mighty for his breast and burst all bounds why who could long resist his will and pleasure he had resolved to conquer her and look here you will further please madam said mr in a tone of sovereign command to understand distinctly that i am to be deferred to and obeyed that i must have a positive show and confession of deference before the world madam i am used to this i require it as my right in short i will have it i consider it no unreasonable return for the worldly advancement that has befallen you and i believe nobody will be surprised either at its being required from you or at your making it to me to me he added with emphasis no word from her no change in her her eyes upon him i have learnt from your mother mrs said with importance what no doubt you know namely that is for her health mr has been so good she changed suddenly her face and bosom glowed as if the red light of an angry sunset had been flung upon them not of the change and putting his own interpretation upon it mr resumed l and son mr has been ao good as to go down and house there for a on the return of the establishment to london i take steps for its better management as i consider necessary one of these will be the engagement at if it is to be effected of a very respectable reduced person there a formerly employed in a situation of trust in my family to act as housekeeper an establishment like this presided over but mrs requires a competent head she had changed her attitude before he arrived at these words and bow sat still looking at him burning a round and round upon
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her arm not winding it about with a light womanly touch but pressing and dragging it over the smooth skin until the white limb showed a bar of red i observed said mr and this what i deem it necessary to say to you at present mrs i observed a moment ago madam that my allusion to mr was received in a peculiar manner on t ie occasion of my happening to point out to before that confidential agent the objection i had to your mode of receiving my visitors you were pleased to object to his presence you will have to get the better of that objection madam and to yourself to it very probably on many similar occasions unless you adopt the remedy which is in your own hands of giving me no cause of complaint mr said mr who the emotion he had just seen set great store by this means of his proud wife and who was perhaps sufficiently willing to exhibit his power to that gentleman in a new and triumphant aspect mr being in my confidence mrs may very well be in yours to such an extent hope m rs he continued after a few moments during which in his increasing he had improved oa his idea i may not find it necessary ever to mr with any message of objection or remonstrance to you but as it would be to my position and reputation to be frequently holding trivial with a lady upon whom j have the highest distinction that it is in my power to be and son i shall not scruple to avail myself of his if i occasion and now he thought rising in his moral and rising a more impenetrable man than ever she me and my resolution the hand that had so pressed the was laid heavily upon her breast but she looked at him till with an face and said in a low voice wait for god s sake i must speak to you why did she not and what was the inward struggle that her incapable of doing so for minutes while in the strong she put upon her face it was as fixed as any statue s looking upon him with neither yielding nor liking nor pride nor humility nothing but a gaze did i ever tempt you to seek my hand did i ever use any art to win you f was i ever more to you when you pursued me than i have been since our marriage was i ever other to you than i am t it is wholly unnecessary madam lo enter upon such did you think i loved you f did you know i did not t did you ever care man for my heart or propose to yourself to win the worthless thing was there any poor pretence of any in our bargain upon your side or on mine v these questions said mr are all wide of the purpose madam she moved between him and the door to prevent his going away and drawing her majestic to its height looked steadily upon him still tou answer each of them you answer me before i speak i see how can you help it you who know the miserable truth as well as i v tell me if i loved you to devotion could i do more than render up my whole will and being to you as you have just demanded f if my heart were pure and all and you its idol could you ask more could you have more possibly not madam he returned coolly you know how different i you see me on yon and son bow and yoa can read the warmth of passion for you that is t in my face not a of the proud lip not a flash of the dark eye nothing but the same intent and searching look accompanied these words you know my general history you have spoken of my mother do you think you can or bend or break me to submission and obedience mr smiled as he might have smiled at an inquiry whether he thought he could raise ten thousand pounds if there is unusual here she said with a slight motion of her hand before her brow which did not for a moment from its immovable and otherwise gaze as i know there are unusual feelings here raising the hand she pressed upon her bosom and heavily returning it consider that there is no common meaning in the appeal i am going to make you yes for i am going she said it as in prompt reply to something in his face to appeal to you mr with a slightly bend of his chin that and his stiff sat down on a sofa that was near him to hear the appeal if you can believe that i am of such a nature now he he saw tears glistening in her eyes and he thought complacently that he had forced them from her though none fell on her cheek and she regarded him as steadily as ever as would make what i now say almost incredible to myself said to any man who had become my husband but above all said to you yon may perhaps attach the greater weight to it in the dark end to which we are tending and may come we shall not involve ourselves alone that might not be much but others others he knew at whom that word pointed and frowned heavily i speak to you for the sake of others also your own sake and for mine since our marriage you have been to me and i have repaid you in kind you have shown to me and every one around us every day and hour that you think i am and distinguished by your alliance i do not think and
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have shown that too it seems you do not understand or ao far as your power can go intend that each of us shall take a and son course and you expect from me instead a homage you if ill never have although her face was still the same there was emphatic confirmation of this never in the very breath she drew i feel no tenderness towards you that you know you would care nothing for it if i did or could know as well that you feel none towards me but we are linked together and in the knot that ties us as i have said others are bound up we must both die we are both connected with the dead already each by a little child let us forbear mr took a long as if he would have said oh was this all there is no wealth she went on turning paler as she watched him while her eyes grew yet more in their earnestness that could buy these words of me and the that belongs to them once cast away as idle breath no wealth or power can bring them back i mean them i have weighed them and i will be true to what i undertake if you will promise to forbear on your part i will promise to forbear on mine we are a most unhappy pair in whom from different causes every sentiment that marriage or it is rooted out but in the course of time some friendship or some for each other may arise between us i will try to hope so if you will make the endeavor too and i will look forward to a better and a happier use of age than i have made of youth or prime throughout she had spoken in a low plain voice that neither rose nor fell ceasing she dropped the hand with which she had enforced herself to be so distinct but not the eyes with which she had so steadily observed him madam said mr with his utmost dignity cannot entertain any proposal of this extraordinary nature she looked at him without the least change i cannot said mr rising as he spoke consent to or treat with you mrs upon a subject as to which yon are in possession of my opinions and expectations i have stated my madam and have only to request your very serious attention to it vol v and son to see the face change to its old expression deepened in intensity to see the eyes as from some mean and object to see the lighting of the haughty brow to see scorn anger indignation and starting into sight and the pale blank earnestness vanish like a mist he could not choose but look although he looked to his dismay go sir she said pointing with an imperious hand towards the door our first and last confidence is t an end nothing can make us stranger to each other than we are henceforth i shall take my course madam said mr you may be sure by any general she turned her back upon him and without reply sat down before her glass i place my reliance on your improved sense of duty and more correct feeling and better reflection madam said mr she answered not one word he saw no more expression of any heed of him in the mirror than if he had been an unseen spider on the wall or on the floor or rather than if he had been the one or other seen and crushed when she last turned from him and forgotten among the and dead of the ground he looked back as he went out at the door upon the well lighted and luxurious room the beautiful and glittering objects everywhere displayed the shape of in its rich dress seated before her glass and the face of as the glass presented it to him and himself to his old chamber of carrying away with him a vivid picture in his mind of all these things and a rambling and unaccountable speculation such as sometimes comes into a man s head how they would all look when he saw them next for the rest mr was very and very dignified and very confident of carrying out his purpose and remained so he did not design accompanying the family to but he graciously informed at breakfast on the morning of departure which arrived a day or two that he might d and son m fe expected down soon there was no time to be lost in getting to any place as being for deed she seemed upon the and turning of the earth without any decided second attack of her malady the old woman seemed to have crawled backward in her recovery from the first she was more lean and more uncertain in her and made stranger in her mind and memory among other symptoms of this last affliction she fell into the habit of the names of her two sons in law the living and the deceased and in general called mr i either or or indifferently both she was youthful very youthful still and in her youth appeared at break st before going away in a new bonnet made express and a travelling robe that was embroidered and like an old baby s it was not easy to put her into a fly away bonnet now or to keep the bonnet in its f ace on the back of her poor nodding head when it was got on in this instance it had not only the effect of being always on one side but of being perpetually tapped on the crown by flowers the maid who attended in the background during breakfast to perform that duty now my said mrs you she cut some of her words short and cut out others ther come down very soon i said just now
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madam returned mr loudly and laboriously that i am coming in a day or two bless you here the major who was come to take leave of the ladies and who was staring through his eyes at mrs face with the disinterested composure of an immortal being said ma am you don t ask old joe to come wretch who s he but a tap on the bonnet from flowers seeming to her memory she add d oh you mean yourself you naughty creature queer sir whispered the major to mr do and son m bad never did wrap up enough the major being to the chin why who should j b mean by but old joe joseph your slave joe ma am here s the man here are the ma am cried the major striking himself a sounding blow on the my dearest it s most thing said that j b cried the major seeing that she faltered for his name well it don t matter said my love you know i never could remember names what was it oh most thing that so many people want to come down to see me i m not going for long i m coming back surely they can wait till i come back looked all round the table as she said it and appeared very uneasy i won t have really don t want she said little repose and all that sort of thing is what i no odious brutes must me till i ve shaken off this and in a of her ways she made a at the major with her fan but mr s breakfast cup instead which was in quite a different direction then she called for and charged him to see that word was about some trivial alterations in her room which must be all made before she came back and which must be set about immediately as there was no saying how soon she might back for she had a great many engagements and all sorts of people to call upon received these directions with becoming deference and gave his for their execution but when he withdrew a pace or two behind her it appeared as if he couldn t help looking strangely at the major who couldn t help looking strangely at mr who couldn t help looking strangely at who couldn t help nodding her bonnet over one eye and rattling her knife and fork upon her plate in using them as if she were playing alone never her eyes to any face at the table and never seemed dismayed by anything her mother said or did she d to her talk or at least turned her head and son s towards her when replied in a few low words when necessary and sometimes stopped her when she was rambling or brought her thoughts back with a to the point from which they had strayed the mother however unsteady in other things was constant in that she was always observant of her she would look at the beautiful face in its marble stillness and severity now with a kind of fearful admiration now in a foolish to move it to a smile now with capricious tears and jealous of her head as imagining neglected by it always with an attraction towards it that never like her other ideas but had constant possession of her from she would sometimes look at and back again at in a manner that was wild enough and sometimes she would try to look elsewhere as if to escape her daughter s face but back to it she seemed forced to come although it never sought hers unless sought or troubled her with one single glance the breakfast concluded mrs affecting to lean upon the major s arm but heavily supported on the other side by flowers the maid and propped up behind by the page was conducted to the carriage which was to take her and to and is joseph absolutely banished said the major thrusting in his purple face over the steps ma am is so hard hearted as to forbid her i to approach the presence v go along said i can t bear you you shall see me when i come back if you are very good tell joseph he may live in hope ma am said the major or he ll die in despair shuddered and leaned back my dear she said tell what such dreadful words said he uses such dreadful words signed to him to retire gave the word to go on and left the objectionable major to mr to whom he returned whistling ts and son i ll tell you what sir said the major with his hands behind him and his legs very wide asunder a fair friend of has removed to queer street what do you mean major inquired mr i mean to say returned the major that you ll be an in law mr appeared to relish this description of himself so very little that the major wound up with the horse s cough as an expression of gravity sir said the major there is no use in a fact joe is blunt sir that s his nature if you take old at all you take him as you find him and a de rusty old of a close j b file you do find him said the major your wife s mother is on the move sir i fear returned mr with much philosophy that mrs is shaken shaken said the major smashed change however pursued mr and attention may do much yet don t believe it sir returned the major sir she never wrapped up enough if a man don t wrap up said the major taking in another button of his waistcoat he has nothing to fall back upon but some people will die
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they will do it they will they re obstinate i tell you what it may not be ornamental ii may not be refined it may be rough and tough but a little of the genuine old english sir would do all the good in the world to the human breed after this precious piece of information the major who was certainly true blue whatever other he may have possessed or wanted coming within the genuine old which has never been exactly ascertained took his eyes and his to the club and choked there all day at one time at another self complacent sometimes awake sometimes asleep and at all times reached the same night fell to pieces as usual and was put away in where a gloomy fancy might have pictured a and son im more potent skeleton than the maid who should have been watching at the rose colored curtains were carried down to shed their bloom upon her it was settled in high council of medical authority that she should take a carriage every day and that it was important she should get out every day and walk if she could was ready to attend her always ready to attend her with the same mechanical attention and immovable and they drove out alone for had an uneasiness in the presence of now that her mother was worse and with a kiss that she would rather they two went alone mrs on one particular day was in the jealous temper that had developed itself on her recovery from her first attack after sitting silent in the carriage watching for some time she took her hand and kissed it passionately the hand was neither given nor withdrawn but simply yielded to her raising of it and being released dropped down again almost as if it were insensible at this she began to and moan and say what a mother she had been and how she was forgotten this she continued to do at capricious intervals even when they had alighted when she herself wm halting along with the joint support of and a stick and was walking by her side and the carriage slowly following at a little distance it was a bleak lowering windy day and they were out upon the downs with nothing but a bare sweep of land between them and the sky the mother with a satisfaction in the monotony of her complaint was still repeating it in a low voice from time to time and the proud form of her daughter moved beside her slowly when there came advancing over a dark ridge before them two other figures which in the distance were so like an exaggerated imitation of their own that stopped almost as she stopped the two figures stopped and that one which to s thinking was like a distorted shadow of her mother spoke to the other earnestly and with a pointing hand towards them that one seemed inclined to turn back but the other in which recognised enough that was like herself to and son chapter new voices on the waves all is going on as it was wont the waves are hoarse with repetition of their mystery the dust lies piled upon the shore the sea and the winds and clouds go forth upon their flight the white arms in the moonlight to the invisible country far away with a tender melancholy pleasure finds herself again on the old ground so sadly trodden yet so happily and thinks of him in the quiet place where he and she have many and many a time conversed together with the water up about his couch and now as she sits pensive there she hears in the wild low murmur of the sea his little story told again his very words repeated and finds that all her life and hopes and in the solitary house and in the it has changed to have a portion in the burden of the marvellous song and gentle mr who at a distance looking wistfully towards the figure that he upon and has followed there but cannot in his delicacy disturb at such a time likewise hears the of little on the waters rising and falling ih the of their eternal in praise of yes and he faintly understands poor mr that they are saying something of a time when he was sensible of being brighter and not and the tears rising in his eyes when he fears that he is dull and stupid now and good for little but to be laughed at his satisfaction in their soothing that he is relieved from present responsibility to the chicken by the absence of that game head of poultry in the country training at s cost for his great mill with th boy and son but mr takes courage when they whisper a kind thought to him and by slow degrees and with many on the way approaches and blushing mr affects amazement when he comes near her and says having followed close on the carriage in which she travelled every inch of the way from london loving even to be choked by the dust of its wheels that he never was so surprised in all his life and you ve brought too miss says mr thrilled through and through by the touch of the small hand so pleasantly and frankly given him no doubt is there and no doubt mr has reason to observe him for be comes straightway at mr s legs and over himself in the desperation with he makes at him like a very dog of but he is checked by his sweet mistress down di don t you remember who first made us friends di for shame oh well may di lay his loving cheek against her hand and run off and run back and run round her barking and run headlong at anybody coming by to show his devotion mr run
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headlong at anybody too a military gentleman goes past and mr would like nothing better than to run at him full is quite in his native air isn t he miss says mr with a grateful smile miss says mr beg your pardon but if you would like to walk to s i i m going there put her arm in that of mr without a word and they walk away together with going on before mr s legs shake under him and though he is splendidly dressed he feels and sees wrinkles on the of co and wishes he had put on that brightest pair of boots doctor s house outside has as and an air as ever and up there is the window where she used to look for the pale face and where the pale face brightened when q and son it saw her and the wasted little hand waved kisses as she passed the door is opened by the same weak eyed man whose of grin at sight of mr is of character they are shown into the doctor s study where blind and give them audience as of to the sober of the great clock in the hall and where the stand still in their accustomed places as if the world were stationary too and nothing in it ever perished in obedience to the universal law that while it keeps it on the roll calls everything to earth and here is doctor with his learned legs and here is mrs with her sky blue cap and here with her sandy little row of curls and her bright spectacles still working like a in the graves of languages here is the table upon wliich he sat forlorn and strange the new boy of the school and hither comes the distant of the old boys at their old lives in the old room on the old principle says doctor i am very glad to see you mr chuckled in reply also to see you in such good company says doctor mr with a scarlet explains that he has met miss by accident and that miss wishing like himself to see the old place they had come together you will like says doctor to step among our young friends miss no doubt all fellow students of yours once i think we have no new in our little my dear says doctor to since mr left us except returns aye truly says the doctor is new to mr new to too almost for in the no longer master of mrs s shows in and a and wears a watch but bom beneath some star of ill omen is extremely and his has got so from constant reference that and son h won t and as if it really could not bear to be so so does its master forced at doctor s highest pressure but in the of there is malice and and he has been heard to say that he wishes he could catch old in india he d precious soon find himself carried up the country by a few of his s and handed over to the he can tell him that is still grinding in the mil of knowledge and too and johnson too and all the rest the older pupils being principally engaged in forgetting with prodigious labor everything they knew when they were younger all are as polite and pale as ever and among them mr b a with his bony hand and head is still hard at it with his stop on just at present and his other barrels on a shelf behind him a mighty sensation is created even among these grave young gentlemen by a visit from the who is regarded with a kind of awe as one who has passed the and is pledged never to come back and concerning the cut of whose clothes and fashion of whose whispers go about behind hands the who is not of mr s time affecting to despise the latter to the smaller boys and saying he knows better and that he should like to see him coming that sort of thing in where his mother has got an belonging to him that was taken out of the of a come now bewildering emotions are awakened also by the sight of with whom every young gentleman immediately falls in love again except as the who to do so out of contradiction black of mr arise and is of opinion that he an t so very old all but this is speedily made naught by mr saying aloud to mr b a how are you and asking him to come and dine with him to day at the in right of which he might set up as old if he chose there is much shaking of hands and much bowing and a desire on the part of each young gentleman to take u and son down in miss s good graces and then mr ing bestowed a chuckle on his old desk and he withdrew with mrs and and doctor is heard to observe behind them as he comes out last and the door gentlemen we will now resume our studies for that and little else is what the doctor hears the sea say or has hear it saying all his life then away and goes up stairs to the old bedroom with mrs and mr who fe that neither he nor anybody else is wanted there stands talking to the doctor at the study door or rather hearing the doctor talk to him and wondering how he ever thought the study a great and the doctor with his round turned legs like a an awful soon comes down and takes leave mr takes leave and who has been worrying the weak eyed young man all the time shoots out at the door and a glad defiance down the cliff while
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and another of the doctor s female out of an upper window laughing at that there and saying of miss but really though now ain t she like her brother only prettier mr l who saw when came down that there were tears upon her face is desperately anxious and uneasy and at first fears that he did wrong in proposing the visit but he is soon relieved by her saying she is very glad to have been there again and by her talking quite cheerfully about it all as they walked on by the sea what with the voices there and her sweet voice when they come near mr s house and mr must leave her he is so that he has not a scrap of free will when she gives him her hand at parting he cannot let it go miss i beg your pardon says mr in a sad but if you would allow me to to the smiling and unconscious look of brings him to a dead stop if you would allow me to if you would not consider it a liberty miss if i was to without any encouragement at all if i was to hope you know says mr and son ua looks at him miss ey says mr who that he is in for it now i really am in that state of adoration of you that i don t know what to do with myself i am the most deplorable wretch if it wasn t at the comer of the square at present i should go down on my knees and beg and entreat of you without any encouragement at all just to let me hope that may may think it possible that you oh if you please don t cries for the moment quite alarmed and distressed oh pray don t mr stop if you please don t say any more as a kindness and a favor to me don t mr is dreadfully abashed and his mouth opens you have been so good to me says m am so grateful to you i have such reason to like you for being a kind friend to me and i do like you so much and here the face smiles upon him with the look of honesty in the world that i am sure you are only going to say good by certainly miss says mr i i that s exactly what i mean it s of no consequence good by cries good by miss mr i hope you won t think anything about it it s it s of no consequence thank you it s not of the least consequence in the world poor mr goes home to his hotel in a state of desperation locks himself into his bedroom himself upon his bed and lies there for a long time as if it were of the greatest consequence nevertheless but mr b a is coming to dinner which happens well for mr or there is no know ing when he might get up again mr is obliged to get up to receive him and to give him hospitable entertainment and the generous influence of that social virtue hospitality to make no mention of wine and good cheer opens mr s heart and him to conversation he does not tell mr b a what passed at the comer of the square but when mr asks him when it is to off mr replies that there are certain subjects and son mr down a or two immediately mr adds that he don t know what right had to notice his being in miss s company and that if he thought he meant impudence by it he d have him out doctor or no doctor but he it s only his ignorance mr says he has no doubt of it mr however as an intimate friend is not excluded from the subject mr merely requires that it should be mentioned mysteriously and with feeling after a few glasses of wine he gives miss s health observing you have no idea of the sentiments with which i propose that toast mr replies oh yes i have my dear and greatly they to your honor old boy mr is then agitated by friendship and shakes hands and says if ever wants a brother he knows where to find him either by post or parcel mr likewise says that if he may advise he would recommend mr to learn the or at least the for women like music when you are paying your addresses to em and he has found the advantage of it himself this brings mr b a to the confession that he has his eye upon he mr that he don t object to spectacles and if the doctor were to do the handsome thing and give up the business why there they are pro for he says it s his opinion that when a man has made a handsome sum by his business he is bound to give it up and that would be an assistance in it which any man might be proud of mr replies by wildly out into miss s praises and by that sometimes he thinks he should like to blow his brains out mr strongly that it would be a rash attempt and shows him as a to existence s portrait spectacles and all thus these quiet spirits pass the evening and when it hm yielded place to night mr walks home with mr and parts with him at doctor s door but mr only goes up the steps and when mr is gone comes again to stroll upon the beach alone and think ut his mr plainly hears the waves informing him at and son he along that doctor will give up the and he feels a romantic pleasure in looking at the outside of the house and thinking
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that the doctor will first paint it and put it into thorough repair mr is likewise up and down outside the that contains his jewel and in a deplorable condition of mind and not by the police at a window where he sees a light and which he has no doubt is s but it is not for that is mrs s room and while sleeping in another chamber dreams lovingly in the midst of the old scenes and their old associations live again the figure which in grim reality is for the patient boy s on the same theatre once more to connect it but how differently with decay and death is stretched there and complaining ugly and haggard it lies upon its bed of and by it in the terror of her for it has terror in the sufferer s failing eyes what do the waves say in the stillness of the night to them what is that stone arm raised to strike me don t you see it there is nothing mother but your fancy but my fancy everything is my fancy look is it possible thai you don t see it indeed mother there is nothing should i sit unmoved if there were any such thing there unmoved v looking wildly at her it s gone now and why are you so unmoved that is not my fancy it turns me cold to see you sitting at my side i am sorry mother sorry you seem always sorry but it is not for me with that she cries and tossing her restless head from side to side upon her pillow runs on about neglect and the mother she has been and the mother the good old creature was whom they met and the cold return the daughters of such mothers make in the midst of her she stops looks at her daughter cries out that her wits are going and hides her upon the bed in compassion over her and speaks to her the ii s aa and son old woman her round the neck and says with f look of horror we are going home soon going back you mean that i shall go home again yes mother yes and what he said what s his name i never could remember that dreadful word when we came away it s not true with a shriek and a stare it s not thai that is the matter with me night after night the light in the window and the figure lies upon the bed and e ith sits beside it and the restless waves are calling to them both the whole night long night after night the waves are hoarse with repetition of their mystery the dust lies piled upon the shore the sea birds and the winds and clouds are on their flight the white arms in the moonlight to the invisible country far away and still the sick old woman looks into the comer where the stone arm part of a figure off some tomb she is raised to strike her at last it falls and then a dumb old woman lies upon the bed and she is crooked and shrunk up and half of her is dead such is the figure painted and patched for the sun to mock that b drawn slowly through the crowd from day to day looking as it goes for the good old creature who was such a mother and making mouths as it among the crowd in vain such is the figure that is often wheeled down to the margin of the sea and stationed there but on which no wind can blow freshness and for which the murmur of the ocean has no soothing word she lies and to it by the hour but its speech is dark and gloomy to her and a dread is on her face and when her eyes wander over the expanse they see but a broad stretch of desolation between earth and heaven she seldom sees and when she does is angry with and at is beside her always and keeps away and in her bed at night at the thought of death in such a shape and and thinking it has come no one but it is bet r that and son u few eyes should see her and her daughter watches alone by the bedside a shadow even on that face a even of the sharpened features and a of the veil before the eyes into a pall that out the dim world is come her wandering hands upon the join feebly palm to palm and move towards her daughter and a voice not like hers not like any voice that speaks our mortal language says for i nursed you without a tear down to bring her voice closer to the sinking head and answers mother can you hear me v staring wide she tries to nod in answer can you recollect the night before i married the head is motionless but it expresses somehow that she does i told you then that i forgave your part in it and prayed god to forgive my own i told you that the past was at an end between us i say so now again kiss me mother touches the white lips and for a moment all is still a moment afterwards her mother with girlish laugh and the skeleton of a manner rises in her bed draw the rose colored curtains there is something else upon its flight besides the wind and clouds draw the rose colored curtains close intelligence of the event is sent to mr in town who waits upon cousin not yet able to make up his mind for who has just received it too a good natured creature like cousin is the very man for a marriage or a funeral and his position in the family renders
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it right that he should be consulted says cousin upon my soul i am very much shocked to see you on such a melancholy occasion my poor aunt she was a devilish lively woman mr replies very much so and made up says cousin really young you know considering am sure on the day of your marriage i and son thought she was good for another twenty years in point of fact i said so to a man at s little you know no doubt man with a glass in his eye mr bows a negative in reference to the he hints whether there is any suggestion well upon my life says cousin his chin which he has just enough of hand below his to do i really don t know there s a down at my place in the park but i m afraid it s in bad repair and in point of fact in a devil of a state but for l a little out at elbows i should have had it put to rights but i believe the people come and make parties there inside the iron mr is clear that this won t do there s an uncommon good church in the village says cousin thoughtfully pure specimen of the early style and admirably well too by lady jane woman with tight stays but they ve spoilt it with i understand and it s a long journey perhaps itself mr suggests upon my honor i don t think we could do better says cousin it s on the spot you see and a very cheerful place and when hints mr would it be convenient i shall make a point says cousin of myself for any day you think best i shall have great pleasure melancholy pleasure of course in following my poor aunt to the of the in point of fact to the grave says cousin failing in the other turn of speech would monday do for leaving town says mr monday would suit me to perfection replies cousin therefore mr to take cousin down on that day and presently takes his leave attended to the stairs by cousin who says at parting i m really excessively sorry that ou should have so much trouble about it to which mr answers not at all at the appointed time cousin and mr meet and go down to and representing in their two selves the other for the deceased lady s loss attend her and son remains to their place of rest cousin sitting in the innumerable acquaintances on the road but takes no other notice of them in decorum than checking them off aloud as they go by for mr s information as tom johnson man with cork leg from white s what are you here on a blood mare the girls and so forth at the ceremony cousin is depressed observing that these are the occasions to make a man think in point of fact that he is getting and his eyes are really when it is over but he soon and so do the rest of mrs s relatives and friends of whom the major continually tells the club that she never did wrap up enough while the young lady with the back who has so h trouble with her eyelids says with a little scream that she must have been old and that she died of all kinds of horrors and you mustn t mention it so s mother lies of her dear friends who are deaf to the waves that are hoarse with repetition of their mystery and blind to the dust that is piled upon the shore and to the white arms that are in the moonlight to the invisible country far away but all goes on as it was wont upon the margin of the unknown sea and standing there alone and listening to its waves has weed cast up at her feet to her path in life withal and son chapter and accidental attired no more in captain s and sou hat but dressed in a substantial suit of brown livery which while it to be a very sober and livery indeed was really as self satisfied and confident a one as tailor need desire to make rob the thus transformed as to his outer man and all regardless within of the captain and the except when he devoted a few minutes of his leisure time to over those inseparable and recalling with much music from that brazen instrument his conscience the triumphant manner in which he had himself of their company now served his patron mr of mr s house and serving about his person rob kept his round eyes on the white teeth with fear and trembling and felt that he had need to open them wider than ever he could not have more through his whole being before the teeth though he had come into the service of some powerful and they had been his strongest the boy had a sense of power and authority in this patron of his that engrossed his whole attention and his most submission and obedience he hardly considered himself safe in thinking about him when he was absent lest he should feel himself immediately taken by the throat again as on the morning when he first became bound to him and should see every one of the teeth finding him out and him with every fancy of his mind face to face with him rob had no more doubt that mr read his secret thoughts or that he could read them by the least exertion of his will if he were so inclined than he had that mr saw him when he looked at him the was so complete and son and held him in such that hardly daring to think at all but with his mind filled with a constantly of hb
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been accustomed no doubt to receive much said the smooth sleek of his slightest look and tone but where there is affection duty and respect any little mistakes by such causes are soon set right mr s thoughts instinctively flew back to the face that had looked at him in his wife s dressing room when an imperious hand was stretched towards the door and remembering the duty and respect expressed in it he felt the blood rush to his own face quite as plainly as the watchful eyes upon him saw it there mrs and myself he went on to say had some discussion before mrs s death upon the cause of my dissatisfaction of which you will have formed a general understanding from having been a witness of what passed between mrs and son and myself on the evening when you were at our at my house when i so much regretted being present said the smiling proud as a man in my position necessarily must be of your familiar notice though i give you no credit for it you may do anything you please without losing nd honored as i was by an early to mrs before she was made eminent by bearing your name i almost regretted that night i assure you that i had been the object of such especial good fortune that any man could under any possible circumstances regret the being distinguished by his condescension and patronage was a moral phenomenon which mr could not comprehend he therefore responded with a considerable accession of dignity indeed and why i fear returned the confidential agent that mrs never very much disposed to regard me with favorable one in my position could not expect that from a lady naturally proud and whose pride becomes her so well may not easily forgive my innocent part in that conversation your displeasure is no light matter you must remember and to be visited with it before a third party said mr i presume that am the first consideration oh can there be a doubt about it replied the other with the impatience of a man admitting a notorious and mrs becomes a secondary consideration when we are both in question i imagine said mr is that so is it so returned do you know better than any one that you have no need to ask then i hope said mr that your regret in the acquisition of mrs s displeasure may be almost by your satisfaction in retaining my confidence and good opinion i have the misfortune i find returned to have and son incurred that displeasure mrs has expressed it to you mrs has expressed various opinions said mr with majestic coldness and indifference in which i do not and which i am not inclined to discuss or to recall i made mrs acquainted some time since as i have already told you with certain points of domestic deference and submission on which i felt it necessary to insist i failed to convince mrs of the of her immediately her conduct in those respects with a view to her own peace and welfare and my dignity and i informed mrs that if i should find it necessary to object or again i should express my opinion to her through yourself my confidential agent blended with the look that bent upon him was a devilish look at the picture over his head that struck upon it like a flash of lightning now said mr i do not hesitate to say to you that i carry my point i am not to be with mrs must understand that my will is law and that t cannot allow of one exception to the whole rule of my life you will have the goodness to undertake this charge which coming from me is not to you i hope whatever regret you may politely profess for which i am obliged to you on behalf of mrs and you will have the goodness i am persuaded to discharge it as exactly as any other commission you know said mr that you have only to command me i know said mr with a majestic indication of assent that i have only to command you it is necessary that i should proceed in this mrs is a lady undoubtedly highly qualified in many respects to to do credit even to your choice suggested with a show of teeth yes if you please to adopt that form of words said mr in his tone of state and at present i do not conceive that mrs does that credit to it to which it is entitled there is a principle of opposition in mrs that must be and son iso must be overcome mrs does not appear to understand said mr forcibly that the idea of opposition to me is monstrous and absurd we in the city know you better replied with a smile from ear to ear you know me better said mr i hope so though indeed i am bound to do mrs the justice of saying however inconsistent it may seem with her subsequent conduct which remains unchanged that on my expressing my and determination to her with some severity on the occasion to which i have referred my appeared to produce a very powerful effect mr delivered himself of those words with most i wish you to have the goodness then to inform mrs from me that i must recall our former conversation to her remembrance in some surprise that it has not yet had its effect that i must insist upon her her conduct by the laid upon her in that conversation that i am not satisfied with her conduct that i am greatly dissatisfied with it and that i shall be under the very disagreeable necessity of making you the bearer of yet more unwelcome and explicit communications if she has not the good
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sense and the proper feeling to herself to my wishes as the first mrs did and i believe i may add as any other lady in her place would the first mrs lived very happily said the first mrs had great good sense said mr in a gentlemanly of the dead and very correct feeling is miss like her mother do you think said car and darkly mr s face changed his confidential agent eyed it keenly i have approached a painful subject he said in a tone of voice with his eager eye pray forgive me i forget these chains of association in the interest i have pray forgive me but for all he said his eager eye mr a downcast face none the less closely and then it shot a strange and son triumphant look at the picture as appealing to it to bear how he led him on again and what was coming said mr looking here and there upon the table and speaking in a somewhat altered and more hurried voice and with a paler lip there is no occasion for apology you mistake the association is with the matter in hand and not with any recollection as you suppose i do not approve of mrs s behavior towards my daughter pardon me said mr i don t quite understand understand then returned mr that you may make that that you will make that if you please matter of direct objection from me to mrs you will please to tell her that her show of devotion for my daughter is disagreeable to me it is likely to be noticed it is likely to induce people to contrast mrs in her relation towards my daughter with mrs in her relation towards myself you will have the goodness to let mrs know plainly that i object to it and that i expect her to immediately to my objection mrs may be in earnest or she may be pursuing a whim or she may be opposing me but i object to it in any case and in every case if mrs is in earnest so much the less reluctant should she be to for she will not serve my daughter by any such display if my wife has any superfluous gentleness and duty over and above her proper submission to me she may bestow them where she pleases perhaps but i will have submission first said mr checking the unusual emotion with which he had spoken and falling into a tone more like that in which he was accustomed to assert his greatness you will have the goodness not to omit or this point but to consider it a very important part of your instructions mr bowed his head and rising from the table and standing thoughtfully before the fire with his hand to his smooth chin looked down at mr with the evil of some carving half human and half brute or like a face on an old water mr recovering his composure by degrees or his emotion in his sense of having taken a high position sat gradually again and looking and son at the as she swung to and fro in her great wedding ring i beg your pardon said after a silence suddenly his chair and drawing it opposite to mr s but let me understand mrs is aware of the probability of your making me the organ of your displeasure yes replied i have said so yes rejoined quickly but why why mr repeated not without hesitation because i told her aye replied but why did you tell her you see he continued with a smile and softly laying his velvet hand as a cat might have laid its claws on mr s arm if i perfectly understand what is in your mind i am so much more likely to be useful and to have the happiness of being effectually employed i think i do understand i have not the honor of mrs s good opinion in my position have no son to expect it but i take the fact to be that i have not got it possibly not said mr consequently pursued your making these communications to mrs through me is sure to be particularly to that lady it appears to me said mr with haughty reserve and yet with some embarrassment that mrs s views upon the subject form no part of it as it presents itself to you and me but it may be so and pardon o i you said when i think you in this a likely means of mrs s pride i use the word as expressive of a quality which kept within due bounds and graces a lady so distinguished for her beauty and accomplishments and not to say of her but of her to the submission you so naturally and justly require i am not accustomed as you know said mr to give such close reasons for any course of conduct i think proper to adopt but i will nothing of this if you have any objection to found upon it that is indeed another thing and the mere statement that you have one will be sufficient but and son i hare not supposed i confess that any confidence i could trust to you would be likely to you oh degraded exclaimed in your service or to place you pursued mr in a false position in a false position exclaimed i shall be proud delighted to execute your trust i could have wished i own to have given the lady at whose feet i would lay my humble duty and devotion for is she not your wife no new cause of dislike but a wish from you is of course to every other consideration on earth besides when mrs is converted from these little errors of judgment i would presume to
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say to the novelty of her situation i shall hope that she will perceive in the slight part i take only a grain my removed and different sphere gives room for little of the respect for you and sacrifice of all considerations to you of which it will be her pleasure and privilege to up a great store every day mr seemed at the moment again to see her with her hand stretched out towards the door and again to hear through the mild speech of his confidential agent an echo of the words nothing can make us stranger to each other than we are henceforth but he shook off the fancy and did not shake in his resolution and said certainly no doubt there is nothing more drawing his chair back to its old place for they had taken little breakfast as yet and pausing for an answer before he sat down nothing said mr but this you will be good enough to observe that no message to mrs with which you are or may be charged admits of reply you will be good enough to bring me no reply mrs is informed that it does not become me to or treat upon any matter that is at issue between us and that what i say is final mr signified his understanding of these and they fell to breakfast with what appetite they might the also in due time re appeared keeping his eyes upon his master without a moment s and passing the time in a and son reverie of terror breakfast concluded mr s horse was ordered out again and mr mounting his own they rode off for the city together mr was in capital spirits and talked much mr received his conversation with the sovereign air of a man who had a right to be talked to and occasionally condescended to throw in a few words to carry on the conversation so they rode on enough but mr in his dignity rode with very long and a very loose rein and very rarely to look down to see where his horse went in consequence of which it happened that mr s horse while going at a round trot stumbled on some loose stones threw him rolled over him and out with his iron shod feet in his struggles to get up kicked him mr quick of eye steady of hand and a good was and had the struggling animal upon his legs and by the bridle in a moment otherwise that morning s confidence would have been mr s last yet even with the flush and hurry of this action red upon him he bent over his prostrate chief with every tooth disclosed and muttered as he stooped down i have given good cause of offence to mrs now if she knew it mr being insensible and bleeding from the head and face was carried by certain of the road under s direction to the nearest public house which was not far off and where he was soon attended by divers who arrived in quick succession from all parts and who seemed to come by some mysterious instinct as are said to gather about a who dies in the desert after being at some pains to restore him to consciousness these gentlemen examined into the nature of his injuries one surgeon who lived hard by was strong for a compound of the leg which was the landlord s opinion also but two who lived at a distance and were only in that neighborhood by accident this opinion so that it was decided at last that the patient though severely cut and bruised had broken no bones but a lesser or so and might be carefully taken home before night his injuries being dressed and which was a long operation and he at and son length to repose mr mounted his horse again and rode away to carry the intelligence home and cruel as his face was at the best of times though it was a fair face as to form and regularity of feature it was at its worst when he set forth on this errand animated by the craft and cruelty of thoughts within him suggestions of remote possibility rather than of design or plot that made him ride as if he hunted men and women drawing rein at length and in his speed as he came into the more public roads he checked his white legged horse into picking his way along as usual and hid himself beneath his sleek hushed crouching manner and his ivory smile as he best could he rode direct to mr s house alighted at the door and begged to see mrs on an affair of importance the servant who showed him to mr s own room soon returned to say that it was not mrs s hour for receiving visitors and that he begged pardon for not having mentioned it before mr who was quite prepared for a cold reception wrote upon a card that he must take the liberty of pressing for an in and that he would not be so bold as to do so for the second time this he if he were not equally sure of the occasion being sufficient for his justification after a trifling delay mrs s maid appeared and conducted him to a morning room up stairs where and were together he had never thought half so beautiful before much as he admired the graces of her face and form and as they dwelt within his remembrance he had never thought her half so beautiful her glance fell upon him in the doorway but he looked at though only in the act of bending his head as he came in with some irrepressible expression of the new power he held and it was his triumph to see the glance and and to see that half
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rose up to receive him he was very sorry he was deeply grieved he couldn t say with what he came to prepare her for the of a very slight accident he entreated mrs to and son iso herself upon his sacred word of honor there was no cause of alarm but mr uttered a sudden cry he did not look at her but at composed and re assured her she uttered no of distress no no mr had met with an accident in riding his horse had slipped and he had been thrown wildly exclaimed that he was badly hurt that he was killed no upon his honor mr though stunned at first was soon recovered and though certainly hurt was in no kind of danger if this were not the truth he the distressed intruder never could have had the courage to present himself before mrs it was the truth indeed he solemnly assured her all this he said as if he were answering and not and with his eyes and his smile fastened on he then went on to tell her where mr was lying and to request that a carriage might be placed at his disposal to bring him home mamma in tears if i might venture to go f mr having his eyes on when he heard these words gave her a secret look and slightly shook his head he saw how she with herself before she answered him with her handsome eyes but he the answer from her he showed her that he would have it or that he would speak and cut to the heart and she gave il to him as he had looked at the picture in the morning so he looked at her afterwards when she turned her eyes away i am directed to request he said that the new mrs i think is the nothing escaped him he saw in an instant that she was another slight of mr s on his wife may be informed that mr wishes to have his bed prepared in his own apartments down stairs as he prefers those rooms to any other i shall return to mr almost immediately that every possible attention has been paid to his comfort and that he is the object of every possible solicitude i and son need not assure you madam let again say there is no cause for the least alarm even you may be quite at ease believe me he bowed himself out with his show of deference and and having returned to mr s room and there arranged for a carriage being sent after him to the city mounted his horse again and rode slowly thither he was very thoughtful as he went along and very thoughtful there and very thoughtful in the carriage on his way back to the place where mr had been left it was only when sitting by that gentleman s couch that he was quite himself again and conscious of his teeth about the time of twilight mr afflicted with and pains was helped into his carriage and propped with and pillows on the side of it while his confidential agent bore him company upon the other as he was not to be shaken they at little more than a foot pace and hence it was quite dark when he was brought home mrs bitter and grim and not of the mines as the establishment in general had good reason to know received him at the door and the with several little of while they assisted in conveying him to his room mr remained in attendance until he was safe in bed and then as he declined to receive any female victor but the excellent who presided over his household waited on mrs once more with his report on her lord s condition he again found alone with and he again addressed the whole of his soothing speech to as if she were a prey to the and most anxieties so earnest he was in his respectful sympathy that on taking leave he ventured with one more glance towards at the moment to take her hand and bending over it to touch it with his lips did not withdraw the hand nor did she strike his fair face with it despite the flush upon her cheek the bright light in her eyes and the of her whole form but when she was alone in her own room she struck it on the marble chimney so that at one blow it was bruised and and held it and son from her near the shining fire as if she could have thrust it in and burned it far into the night she sat alone by the sinking blaze in dark and threatening beauty watching the shadows on the wall as if her thoughts were and cast them there whatever shapes of outrage and and black of things that might happen indistinct and before her one resented figure them against her that figure was her husband he d and son chapter the watches of the night long since awakened from her dream mournfully observed the between her father and and saw it more and more and knew that there was greater bitterness between them every day each day s added knowledge deepened the shade upon her love and hope roused up the old sorrow that had for a little time and made it even heavier to bear than it had been before it had been hard how hard may none but ever know to have the natural affection of a true and earnest nature turned to agony and slight or stem for the tenderest protection and the dearest care it had been hard to feel in her deep heart what she had felt and never know the happiness of one touch of response but it was much more hard to be compelled
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