But now matters took an unexpected turn. Little, to all appearance, was blind and deaf. He hung there, moaning, and glaring, and his one sinewy5 arm supported his muscular but light frame almost incredibly. He was out of his senses, or nearly.
“Let thyself come, lad,” cried a workman, “we are all right to catch thee.”
He made no answer, but hung there glaring and moaning.
“The man will drop noane, till he swouns,” said another, watching him keenly.
“Then get you closer to the wall, men,” cried Cheetham, in great anxiety. “He'll come like a stone, when he does come.” This injunction was given none too soon; the men had hardly shifted their positions, when Little's hand opened, and he came down like lead, with his hands all abroad, and his body straight; but his knees were slightly bent6, and he caught the bands just below the knee, and bounded off them into the air, like a cricket-ball. But many hands grabbed at him, and the grinder Reynolds caught him by the shoulder, and they rolled on the ground together, very little the worse for that tumble. “Well done! well done!” cried Cheetham. “Let him lie, lads, he is best there for a while; and run for a doctor, one of you.”
“Ay, run for Jack7 Doubleface,” cried several voices at once.
“Now, make a circle, and give him air, men.” Then they all stood in a circle, and eyed the blackened and quivering figure with pity and sympathy, while the canopy8 of white smoke bellied9 overhead. Nor were those humane10 sentiments silent; and the rough seemed to be even more overcome than the others: no brains were required to pity this poor fellow now; and so strong an appeal to their hearts, through their senses, roused their good impulses and rare sensibilities. Oh, it was strange to hear good and kindly11 sentiments come out in the Dash dialect.
“It's a —— shame!”
“There lies a good workman done for by some —— thief, that wasn't fit to blow his bellows12, —— him!”
“Say he WAS a cockney, he was always —— civil.”
“And life's as sweet to him as to any man in Hillsborough.”
“Hold your —— tongue, he's coming to.”
Henry did recover his wits enough to speak; and what do you think was his first word?
He clasped his hands together, and said,—“MY MOTHER! OH, DON'T LET HER KNOW!”
This simple cry went through many a rough heart; a loud gulp14 or two were heard soon after, and more than one hard and coaly cheek was channeled by sudden tears. But now a burly figure came rolling in; they drew back and silenced each other.—“The Doctor!” This was the remarkable15 person they called Jack Doubleface. Nature had stuck a philosophic16 head, with finely-cut features, and a mouth brimful of finesse17, on to a corpulent and ungraceful body, that yawed from side to side as he walked.
The man of art opened with two words. He looked up at the white cloud, which was now floating away; sniffed19 the air, and said, “Gunpowder20!” Then he looked down at Little, and said, “Ah!” half dryly, half sadly. Indeed several sentences of meaning condensed themselves into that simple interjection. At this moment, some men, whom curiosity had drawn21 to Henry's forge, came back to say the forge had been blown up, and “the bellows torn limb from jacket, and the room strewed22 with ashes.”
The doctor laid a podgy hand on the prisoner's wrist: the touch was light, though the fingers were thick and heavy. The pulse, which had been very low, was now galloping23 and bounding frightfully. “Fetch him a glass of brandy-and-water,” said Dr. Amboyne. (There were still doctors in Hillsborough, though not in London, who would have had him bled on the spot.)
“Now, then, a surgeon! Which of you lads operates on the eye, in these works?”
A lanky24 file-cutter took a step forward. “I am the one that takes the motes25 out of their eyes.”
“Then be good enough to show me his eye.”
The file-cutter put out a hand with fingers prodigiously26 long and thin, and deftly27 parted both Little's eyelids28 with his finger and thumb, so as to show the whole eye.
“Hum!” said the doctor, and shook his head.
He then patted the sufferer all over, and the result of that examination was satisfactory. Then came the brandy-and-water; and while Henry's teeth were clattering29 at the glass and he was trying to sip30 the liquid, Dr. Amboyne suddenly lifted his head, and took a keen survey of the countenances31 round him. He saw the general expression of pity on the rugged2 faces. He also observed one rough fellow who wore a strange wild look: the man seemed puzzled, scared, confused like one half awakened32 from some hideous33 dream. This was the grinder who had come into the works in place of the hand Cheetham had discharged for refusing to grind cockney blades.
“Hum!” said Dr. Amboyne, and appeared to be going into a brown study.
But he shook that off, and said briskly, “Now, then, what was his crime? Did he owe some mutual34 aid society six-and-four-pence?”
“That's right,” said Reynolds, sullenly36, “throw every thing on the union. If we knew who it was, he'd lie by the side of this one in less than a minute, and, happen, not get up again so soon.” A growl37 of assent38 confirmed the speaker's words. Cheetham interposed and drew Amboyne aside, and began to tell him who the man was and what the dispute; but Amboyne cut the latter explanation short. “What,” said he, “is this the carver whose work I saw up at Mr. Carden's?”
“This is the very man, no doubt.”
“Why, he's a sculptor39: Praxiteles in wood. A fine choice they have made for their gunpowder, a workman that did honor to the town.”
A faint flush of gratified pride colored the ghastly cheek a moment.
“Doctor, shall I live to finish the bust40?” said Henry, piteously.
“That and hundreds more, if you obey me. The fact is, Mr. Cheetham, this young man is not hurt, but his nerves have received a severe shock; and the sooner he is out of this place the better. Ah, there is my brougham at the gate. Come, put him into it, and I'll take him to the infirmary.”
“No,” said Little, “I won't go there; my mother would hear of it.”
“Oh, then your mother is not to know?”
“Not for all the world! She has had trouble enough. I'll just wash my face and buy a clean shirt, and she'll never know what has happened. It would kill her. Oh, yes, it would kill her!”
The doctor eyed him with warm approval. “You are a fine young fellow. I'll see you safe through this, and help you throw dust in your mother's eyes. If you go to her with that scratched face, we are lost. Come, get into my carriage, and home with me.”
“Mayn't I wash my face first? And look at my shirt: as black as a cinder.”
“Wash your face, by all means: but you can button your coat over your shirt.”
The coat was soon brought, and so was a pail of water and a piece of yellow soap. Little dashed his head and face into the bucket, and soon inked all the water. The explosion had filled his hair with black dust, and grimed his face and neck like a sweep's. This ablution made him clean, but did not bring back his ruddy color. He looked pale and scratched.
The men helped him officiously into the carriage, though he could have walked very well alone.
Henry asked leave to buy a clean shirt. The doctor said he would lend him one at home.
While Henry was putting it on Dr. Amboyne ordered his dog-cart instead of his brougham, and mixed some medicines. And soon Henry found himself seated in the dog-cart, with a warm cloak over him, and whisking over the stones of Hillsborough.
All this had been done so rapidly and unhesitatingly that Henry, injured and shaken as he was, had yielded passive obedience41. But now he began to demur42 a little. “But where are we going, sir?” he asked.
“To change the air and the scene. I'll be frank with you—you are man enough to bear the truth—you have received a shock that will very likely bring on brain-fever, unless you get some sleep tonight. But you would not sleep in Hillsborough. You'd wake a dozen times in the night, trembling like an aspen leaf, and fancying you were blown up again.”
“Yes, but my mother, sir! If I don't go home at seven o'clock, she'll find me out.”
“If you went crazy wouldn't she find you out? Come, my young friend, trust to my experience, and to the interest this attempt to murder you, and your narrow escape, have inspired in me. When I have landed you in the Temple of Health, and just wasted a little advice on a pig-headed patient in the neighborhood (he is the squire43 of the place), I'll drive back to Hillsborough, and tell your mother some story or other: you and I will concoct44 that together as we go.”
At this Henry was all obedience, and indeed thanked him, with the tears in his eyes, for his kindness to a poor stranger.
Dr. Amboyne smiled. “If you were not a stranger, you would know that saving cutlers' lives is my hobby, and one in which I am steadily45 resisted and defeated, especially by the cutlers themselves: why, I look upon you as a most considerate and obliging young man for indulging me in this way. If you had been a Hillsborough hand, you would insist upon a brain-fever, and a trip to the lunatic asylum46, just to vex47 me, and hinder me of my hobby.”
Henry stared. This was too eccentric for him to take it all in at once. “What!” said Dr. Amboyne, observing his amazement48, “Did you never hear of Dr. Doubleface?”
“No, sir.”
“Never hear of the corpulent lunatic, who goes about the city chanting, like a cuckoo, 'Put yourself in his place—put yourself in her place—in their place?'
“No, sir, I never did.”
“Then such is fame. Well, never mind that just now; there's a time for every thing. Please observe that ruined house: the ancient family to whom it belongs are a remarkable example of the vicissitude49 of human affairs.” He then told him the curious ups and downs of that family, which, at two distant periods, had held vast possessions in the county; but were now represented by the shell of one manor50 house, and its dovecote, the size of a modern villa51. Next he showed him an obscure battlefield, and told him that story, and who were the parties engaged; and so on. Every mile furnished its legend, and Dr. Amboyne related them all so graphically52 that the patient's mind was literally53 stolen away from himself. At last, after a rapid drive of eleven miles through the pure invigorating air, they made a sudden turn, and entered a pleasant and singularly rural village: they drew up at a rustic54 farmhouse55, clad with ivy56; and Dr. Amboyne said, “This is the temple: here you can sleep as safe from gunpowder as a field-marshal born.”
The farmer's daughter came out, and beamed pleasure at sight of the doctor: he got down, and told her the case, privately57, and gave her precise instructions. She often interrupted the narrative58 with “Lawkadaisies,” and other rural interjections, and simple exclamations60 of pity. She promised faithful compliance61 with his orders.
He then beckoned62 Henry in, and said, “This picture of health was a patient of mine once, as you are now; there's encouragement for you. I put you under her charge. Get a letter written to your mother, and I'll come back for it in half an hour. You had a headache, and were feverish63, so you consulted a doctor. He advised immediate64 rest and change of air, and he drove you at once to this village. Write you that, and leave the rest to me. We doctors are dissembling dogs. We have still something to learn in curing diseases; but at making light of them to the dying, and other branches of amiable65 mendacity, we are masters.”
As soon as he was gone, the comely66 young hostess began on her patient. “Dear heart, sir, was it really you as was blowed up with gunpowder?”
“Indeed it was, and not many hours ago. It seems like a dream.”
“Well, now, who'd think that, to look at you? Why, you are none the worse for, by a scratch or two, and dear heart, I've seen a young chap bring as bad home, from courting, in these parts; and wed18 the lass as marked him—within the year.”
“Oh, it is not the scratches; but feel my hand, how it trembles. And it used to be as firm as a rock; for I never drink.”
“So it do, I declare. Why, you do tremble all over; and no wonder, poor soul. Come you in this minut, and sit down a bit by the fire, while I go and make the room ready for you.”
But, as soon as he was seated by the fire, the current began to flow again. “Well, I never liked Hillsborough folk much—poor, mean-visaged tykes they be—but now I do hate 'em. What, blow up a decent young man like you, and a well-favored, and hair like jet, and eyes in your head like sloes! But that's their ground of spite, I warrant me; the nasty, ugly, dirty dogs. Well, you may just snap your fingers at 'em all now. They don't come out so far as this; and, if they did, stouter67 men grows in this village than any in Hillsborough: and I've only to hold up my finger, for as little as I be, and they'd all be well ducked in father's horsepond, and then flogged home again with a good cart-whip well laid on. And, another thing, whatever we do, Squire, he will make it good in law: he is gentle, and we are simple; but our folk and his has stood by each other this hundred year and more. But, la, I run on so, and you was to write a letter again the doctor came back. I'll fetch you some paper this minut.”
She brought him writing materials, and stood by him with this apology, “If 'twas to your sweetheart I'd be off. But 'tis to your mother.” (With a side glance), “She have been a handsome woman in her day, I'll go bail68.”
“She is as beautiful as ever in my eyes,” said Henry, tenderly. “And, oh, heaven! give me the sense to write to her without frightening her.”
“Then I won't hinder you no more with my chat,” said his hostess, with kindly good humor, and slipped away upstairs. She lighted a great wood fire in the bedroom, and laid the bed and the blankets all round it, and opened the window, and took the homespun linen69 sheets out of a press, and made the room very tidy. Then she went down again, and the moment Henry saw her, he said “I feel your kindness, miss, but I don't know your name, nor where in the world I am.” His hostess smiled. “That is no secret. I'm Martha Dence—at your service: and this is Cairnhope town.”
“Cairnhope!” cried Henry, and started back, so that his wooden chair made a loud creak upon the stones of the farmer's kitchen.
Martha Dence stared, but said nothing; for almost at that moment the doctor returned, all in a hurry, for the letter.
Henry begged him to look at it, and see if it would do.
The doctor read it. “Hum!” said he, “it is a very pretty, filial letter, and increases my interest in you; give me your hand: there. Well, it won't do: too shaky. If your mother once sees this, I may talk till doomsday, she'll not believe a word. You must put off writing till to-morrow night. Now give me her address, for I really must get home.”
“She lives on the second floor, No. 13 Chettle Street.”
“Her name?”
“Sir, if you ask for the lady that lodges71 on the second floor, you will be sure to see her.”
Dr. Amboyne looked a little surprised, and not very well pleased, at what seemed a want of confidence. But he was a man singularly cautious and candid72 in forming his judgments73; so he forbore all comment, and delivered his final instructions. “Here is a bottle containing only a few drops of faba Ignatii in water, it is an innocent medicine, and has sometimes a magical effect in soothing74 the mind and nerves. A table-spoonful three times a day. And THIS is a sedative75, which you can take if you find yourself quite unable to sleep. But I wouldn't have recourse to it unnecessarily; for these sedatives76 are uncertain in their operation; and, when a man is turned upside down, as you have been, they sometimes excite. Have a faint light in your bedroom. Tie a cord to the bell-rope, and hold it in your hand all night. Fix your mind on that cord, and keep thinking, 'This is to remind me that I am eleven miles from Hillsborough, in a peaceful village, safe from all harm.' To-morrow, walk up to the top of Cairnhope Peak, and inhale77 the glorious breeze, and look over four counties. Write to your mother at night, and, meantime, I'll do my best to relieve her anxiety. Good-by.”
Memory sometimes acts like an old flint-gun: it hangs fire, yet ends by going off. While Dr. Amboyne was driving home, the swarthy, but handsome, features of the workman he had befriended seemed to enter his mind more deeply than during the hurry, and he said to himself, “Jet black hair; great black eyes; and olive skin; they are rare in these parts; and, somehow, they remind me a little of HER.”
Then his mind went back, in a moment, over many years, to the days when he was stalwart, but not unwieldy, and loved a dark but peerless beauty, loved her deeply, and told his love, and was esteemed78 and pitied, but another was beloved.
And so sad, yet absorbing, was the retrospect79 of his love, his sorrow, and her own unhappy lot, that it blotted80 out of his mind, for a time, the very youth whose features and complexion81 had launched him into the past.
But the moment his horse's feet rang on the stones, this burly philosopher shook off the past, and set himself to recover lost time. He drove rapidly to several patients, and, at six o'clock, was at 13 Chettle Street, and asked for the lady on the second floor, “Yes, sir: she is at home,” was the reply. “But I don't know; she lives very retired82. She hasn't received any visits since they came. However, they rent the whole floor, and the sitting-room83 fronts you.”
Dr. Amboyne mounted the stair and knocked at the door. A soft and mellow84 voice bade him enter. He went in, and a tall lady in black, with plain linen collar and wristbands, rose to receive him. They confronted each other. Time and trouble had left their trace, but there were the glorious eyes, and jet black hair, and the face, worn and pensive85, but still beautiful. It was the woman he had loved, the only one.
“Mrs. Little!” said he, in an indescribable tone.
“Dr. Amboyne!”
For a few moments he forgot the task he had undertaken; and could only express his astonishment86 and pleasure at seeing her once more.
Then he remembered why he was there; and the office he had undertaken so lightly alarmed him now.
His first instinct was to gain time. Accordingly, he began to chide87 her gently for having resided in the town and concealed88 it from him; then, seeing her confused and uncomfortable at that reproach, and in the mood to be relieved by any change of topic, he glided89 off, with no little address, as follows:—“Observe the consequences: here have I been most despotically rusticating90 a youth who turns out to be your son.”
“My son! is there any thing the matter with my son? Oh, Dr. Amboyne!”
“He must have been out of sorts, you know, or he would not have consulted me,” replied the doctor, affecting candor91.
“Consult! Why, what has happened? He was quite well when he left me this morning.”
“I doubt that. He complained of headache and fever. But I soon found his MIND was worried. A misunderstanding with the trades! I was very much pleased with his face and manner; my carriage was at the door; his pulse was high, but there was nothing that country air and quiet will not restore. So I just drove him away, and landed him in a farm-house.”
Mrs. Little's brow flushed at this. She was angry. But, in a nature so gentle as hers, anger soon gave way. She turned a glance of tearful and eloquent92 reproach on Dr. Amboyne. “The first time we have ever been separated since he was born,” said she, with a sigh.
Dr. Amboyne's preconceived plan broke down that moment. He said, hurriedly,
“Take my carriage, and drive to him. Better do that than torment93 yourself.”
“Where is he?” asked the widow, brightening up at the proposal.
“At Cairnhope.”
At this word, Mrs. Little's face betrayed a series of emotions: first confusion, then astonishment, and at last a sort of superstitious94 alarm. “At Cairnhope?” she faltered95 at last, “My son at Cairnhope?”
“Pray do not torment yourself with fancies,” said the doctor. “All this is the merest accident—the simplest thing in the world. I cured Patty Dence of diphtheria, when it decimated the village. She and her family are grateful; the air of Cairnhope has a magic effect on people who live in smoke, and Martha and Jael let me send them out an invalid96 now and then to be reinvigorated. I took this young man there, not knowing who he was. Go to him, if you like. But, frankly97, as his physician, I would rather you did not. Never do a wise thing by halves. He ought to be entirely98 separated from all his cares, even from yourself (who are doubtless one of them), for five or six days. He needs no other medicine but that and the fine air of Cairnhope.”
“Then somebody must see him every day, and tell me. Oh! Dr. Amboyne, this is the beginning: what will the end be? I am miserable99.”
“My man shall ride there every day, and see him, and bring you back a letter from him.”
“Your man!” said Mrs. Little, a little haughtily100.
Dr. Amboyne met her glance. “If there was any ground for alarm, should I not go myself every day?” said he, gravely, and even tenderly.
“Forgive me,” said the widow, and gave him her hand with a sweet and womanly gesture.
The main difficulty was now got over; and Dr. Amboyne was careful not to say too much, for he knew that his tongue moved among pitfalls101.
As Dr. Amboyne descended102 the stairs, the landlady103 held a door ajar, and peeped at him, according to a custom of such delicate-minded females as can neither restrain their curiosity nor indulge it openly. Dr. Amboyne beckoned to her, and asked for a private interview. This was promptly104 accorded.
“Would ten guineas be of any service to you, madam?”
“Eh, dear, that it would, sir. Why, my rent is just coming due.”
Under these circumstances, the bargain was soon struck. Not a syllable105 about the explosion at Cheetham's was to reach the second floor lodger's ears, and no Hillsborough journal was to mount the stairs until the young man's return. If inquired for, they were to be reported all sold out, and a London journal purchased instead.
Having secured a keen and watchful106 ally in this good woman, who, to do her justice, showed a hearty107 determination to earn her ten guineas, Dr. Amboyne returned home, his own philosophic pulse beating faster than it had done for some years.
He had left Mrs. Little grateful, and, apparently108, in good spirits; but, ere he had been gone an hour, the bare separation from her son overpowered her, and a host of vague misgivings109 tortured her, and she slept but little that night. By noon next day she was thoroughly110 miserable; but Dr. Amboyne's man rode up to the door in the afternoon with a cheerful line from Henry.
“All right, dear mother. Better already. Letter by post.
“Henry.”
She detained the man, and made up a packet of things for Cairnhope, and gave him five shillings to be sure and take them.
This was followed by a correspondence, a portion of which will suffice to eke111 out the narrative.
“DEAREST MOTHER,—I slept ill last night, and got up aching from head to foot, as if I had been well hided. But they sent me to the top of Cairnhope Peak, and, what with the keen air and the glorious view, I came home and ate like a hog112. That pleased Martha Dence, and she kept putting me slices off her own plate, till I had to cry quarter. As soon as I have addressed this letter, I'm off to bed, for it is all I can do not to fall asleep sitting.
“I am safe to be all right to-morrow, so pray don't fret113. I am, dear mother,” etc., etc.
“DEAREST MOTHER,—I hope you are not fretting114 about me. Dr. Amboyne promised to stop all that. But do write, and say you are not fretting and fancying all manner of things at my cutting away so suddenly. It was the doctor's doing. And, mother, I shall not stay long away from you, for I slept twelve hours at a stretch last night, and now I'm another man. But really, I think the air of that Cairnhope Peak would cure a fellow at his last gasp115.
“Thank you for the linen, and the brushes, and things. But you are not the sort to forget anything a fellow might want,” etc.
“No, my darling son. Be in no hurry to leave Cairnhope. Of course, love, I was alarmed at first; for I know doctors make the best of every thing; and then the first parting!—that is always a sorrowful thing. But, now you are there, I beg you will stay till you are quite recovered. Your letters are a delight, and one I could not have, and you as well, you know.
“Since you are at Cairnhope—how strange that seems—pray go and see the old church, where your forefathers116 are buried. There are curious inscriptions117, and some brasses119 nobody could decipher when I was a girl; but perhaps you might, you are so clever. Your grandfather's monument is in the chancel: I want you to see it. Am I getting very old, that my heart turns back to these scenes of my youth?
“P.S.—Who is this Martha Dence?”
“DEAR MOTHER,—Martha Dence is the farmer's daughter I lodge70 with. She is not so pretty as her sister Jael that is with Miss Carden; but she is a comely girl, and as good as gold, and bespoke120 by the butcher. And her putting slices from her plate to mine is a village custom, I find.
“Mother, the people here are wonderfully good and simple. First of all, there's farmer Dence, with his high bald head, like a patriarch of old; and he sits and beams with benevolence121, but does not talk much. But he lets me see I can stay with him six years, if I choose. Then, there's Martha, hospitality itself, and ready to fly at my enemies like a mastiff. She is a little hot in the temper, feathers up in a moment; but, at a soft word, they go down again as quick. Then, there's the village blacksmith. I call him 'The gentle giant.' He is a tremendous fellow in height, and size, and sinew; but such a kind, sweet-tempered chap. He could knock down an ox, yet he wouldn't harm a fly. I am his idol122: I sauntered in to his smithy, and forged him one or two knives; and of course he had never seen the hammer used with that nicety; but instead of hating me, as the bad forgers in Hillsborough do, he regularly worships me, and comes blushing up to the farm-house after hours, to ask after me and get a word with me. He is the best whistler in the parish, and sometimes we march down the village at night, arm-in-arm, whistling a duet. This charms the natives so that we could take the whole village out at our heels, and put them down in another parish. But the droll123 thing is, they will not take me for what I am. My gentle giant would say 'Sir' till I pretended to be affronted125; the women and girls will bob me courtesies, and the men and white headed boys will take off their hats and pull their front hair to me. If a skilled workman wants to burst with vanity, let him settle in Cairnhope.”
[EXTRACT]
“Martha Dence and I have had words, and what do you think it was about? I happened to let out my opinion of Mr. Raby. Mother, it was like setting a match to a barrel of gunpowder. She turned as red as fire, and said, 'Who be you that speaks against Raby to Dence?'
“I tried to pacify126 her, but it was no use. 'Don't speak to me,' said she. 'I thought better of you. You and I are out.' I bowed before the storm, and, to give her time to cool, I obeyed your wishes, and walked to Cairnhope old church. What a curious place! But I could not get in; and, on my return, I found Mr. Raby keeps the key. Now, you can't do a thing here, or say a word, but what it is known all over the village. So Martha Dence meets me at the door, and says, very stiffly, she thought I might have told her I wanted to see the old church. I pulled a long, penitent127 face, and said, 'Yes; but unfortunately, I was out of her good books, and had orders not to speak to her.' 'Nay,' says she, 'life is too short for long quarrels. You are a stranger, and knew no better.' Then she told me to wait five minutes while she put on her bonnet128, as she calls it. Well, I waited the five and-forty minutes, and she put on her bonnet, and so many other smart things, that we couldn't possibly walk straight up to the old church. We had to go round by the butcher's shop, and order half a pound of suet; no less. 'And bring it yourself, this evening,' said I, 'or it might get lost on the road.' Says the butcher, 'Well, sir, that is the first piece of friendly advice any good Christian129 has bestowed—' But I heard no more, owing to Martha chasing me out of the shop.
“To reach the old church we had to pass the old ruffian's door. Martha went in; I sauntered on, and she soon came after me, with the key in her hand. 'But,' said she, 'he told me if my name hadn't been Dence he wouldn't trust me with it, though I went on my bended knees.'
“We opened the church-door, and I spent an hour inside, examining and copying inscriptions for you. But, when I came to take up a loose brass118, to try and decipher it, Martha came screaming at me, 'Oh, put it down! put it down! I pledged my word to Squire you should not touch them brasses.' What could I do, mother? The poor girl was in an agony. This old ruffian has, somehow, bewitched her, and her father too, into a sort of superstitious devotion that I can't help respecting, unreasonable130 as it is. So I dropped the brass, and took to reflecting. And I give you my thoughts.
“What a pity and a shame that a building of this size should lie idle! If it was mine I would carefully remove all the monuments, and the dead bones, et cetera, to the new church, and turn this old building into a factory, or a set of granaries, or something useful. It is as great a sin to waste bricks and mortar131 as it is bread,” etc.
“MY DEAR HARRY,—Your dear sprightly132 letters delight me, and reconcile me to the separation; for I see that your health is improving every day, by your gayety; and this makes me happy, though I can not quite be gay.
“Your last letter was very amusing, yet, somehow, it set me thinking, long and sadly; and some gentle remarks from Dr. Amboyne (he called yesterday) have also turned my mind the same way. Time has softened133 the terrible blow that estranged134 my brother and myself, and I begin to ask myself, was my own conduct perfect? was my brother's quite without excuse? I may have seen but one side, and been too hasty in judging him. At all events, I would have you, who are a man, think for yourself, and not rush into too harsh a view of that unhappy quarrel. Dearest, family quarrels are family misfortunes: why should they go down to another generation? You frighten me, when you wonder that Nathan and his family (I had forgotten his name was Dence) are attached to Mr. Raby. Why, with all his faults, my brother is a chivalrous135, high-minded gentleman; his word is his bond, and he never deserts a friend, however humble136; and I have heard our dear father say that, for many generations, uncommon137 acts of kindness had passed between that family of yeomen and the knights138 and squires139 of Raby.
“And now, dear, I am going to be very foolish. But, if these Dences are as great favorites with him as they were with my father, she could easily get you into the house some day, when he is out hunting; and I do want you to see one thing more before you come back from Cairnhope—your mother's picture. It hangs, or used to hang, in the great dining-room, nearly opposite the fire-place.
“I blush at my childishness, but I SHOULD like my child to see what his mother was when she brought him into the world, that sad world in which he has been her only joy and consolation140.
“P. S.—What an idea! Turn that dear old church into a factory! But you are a young man of the day. And a wonderful day it is; I can not quite keep up with it.”
“DEAR MOTHER,—I have been there. Mr. Raby is a borough13 magistrate141, as well as a county justice; and was in Hillsborough all day to-day. Martha Dence took me to Raby Hall, and her name was a passport. When I got to the door, I felt as if something pulled me, and said, 'It's an enemy's house; don't go in.' I wish I had obeyed the warning; but I did not.
“Well, I have seen your portrait. It is lovely, it surpasses any woman I ever saw. And it must have been your image, for it is very like you now, only in the bloom of your youth.
“And now, dear mother, having done something for you, quite against my own judgment, and my feelings too, please do something for me. Promise me never to mention Mr. Raby's name to me again, by letter, or by word of mouth either. He is not a gentleman: he is not a man; he is a mean, spiteful, cowardly cur. I'll keep out of his way, if I can; but if he gets in mine, I shall give him a devilish good hiding, then and there, and I'll tell HIM the reason why; and I will not tell YOU.
“Dear mother, I did intend to stay till Saturday, but, after this, I shall come back to you to-morrow. My own sweet dove of a mammy; who but a beast could hurt or affront124 you?
“So no more letters from your dutiful and affectionate son,
“Harry.”
Next day young Little took leave of his friends in Cairnhope, with a promise to come over some Sunday, and see them all. He borrowed a hooked stick of his devotee, the blacksmith, and walked off with his little bundle over his shoulder, in high health and spirits, and ripe for any thing.
Some successful men are so stout-hearted, their minds seem never to flinch142. Others are elastic143; they give way, and appear crushed; but, let the immediate pressure be removed, they fly back again, and their enemy finds he has not gained an inch. Henry's was of this sort; and, as he swung along through the clear brisk air, the world seemed his football once more.
This same morning Jael Dence was to go to Cairnhope, at her own request.
She packed her box, and corded it, and brought it down herself, and put it in the passage, and the carrier was to call for it at one. As for herself, four miles of omnibus, and the other seven on foot, was child's play to her, whose body was as lusty and active as her heart was tender and clinging.
She came in to the drawing-room, with her bonnet and shawl on, and the tear in her eye, to bid Miss Carden good-bye. Two male friends would have parted in five minutes; but this pair were a wonderful time separating, and still there was always something to say, that kept Grace detaining, or Jael lingering; and, when she had been going, going, going, for more than half an hour, all of a sudden she cried, out, “Oh! There he is!” and flushed all over.
“Who?” asked Grace, eagerly.
“The dark young man. He is at the door now, miss. And me going away,” she faltered.
“Well then, why go till he has paid his visit? Sit down. You needn't take off your bonnet.”
Miss Carden then settled herself, took up her work, and prepared to receive her preceptor as he deserved, an intention she conveyed to Jael by a glance, just as Henry entered blooming with exercise and the keen air, and looking extremely handsome and happy.
His reception was a chilling bow from Miss Carden, and from Jael a cheek blushing with pleasure at the bare sight of him, but an earnest look of mild reproach. It seemed cruel of him to stay away so long, and then come just as she was going.
This reception surprised Henry, and disappointed him; however he constrained144 himself, and said politely, but rather coldly, that some unpleasant circumstances had kept him away; but he hoped now to keep his time better.
“Oh, pray consult your own convenience entirely,” said Miss Carden. “Come when you have nothing better to do; that is the understanding.”
“I should be always coming, at that rate.”
Grace took no notice. “Would you like to see how I look with my one eyebrow145?” said she. “Jael, please fetch it.”
While Jael was gone for the bust, Henry took a humbler tone, and in a low voice began to excuse his absence; and I think he would have told the real truth, if he had been encouraged a little; but he was met with a cold and withering146 assurance that it was a matter of no consequence. Henry thought this unfair, and, knowing in his own heart it was ungrateful, he rebelled. He bit his lip, sat down as gloomy as the grave, and resumed his work, silent and sullen35.
As for Jael, she brought in the bust, and then sat down with her bonnet on, quaking; for she felt sure that, in such a dismal147 dearth148 of conversation, Miss Carden would be certain to turn round very soon, and say, “Well, Jael, you can go now.”
But this Quaker's meeting was interrupted by a doctor looking in to prescribe for Miss Carden's cold. The said cold was imperceptible to vulgar eyes, but Grace had detected it, and had written to her friend, Dr. Amboyne, to come and make it as imperceptible to herself as to the spectator.
In rolled the doctor, and was not a little startled at sight of Little.
“Hallo!” cried be. “What, cured already? Cairnhope forever!” He then proceeded to feel his pulse instead of Miss Carden's, and inspect his eye, at which Grace Carden stared.
“What, is he unwell?”
“Why, a man does not get blown up with gunpowder without some little disturbance149 of the system.”
“Blown up with gunpowder! What DO you mean?”
“What, have you not heard about it? Don't you read the newspapers?”
“No; never.”
“Merciful powers! But has he not told you?”
“No; he tells us nothing.”
“Then I'll tell you, it is of no use your making faces at me. There is no earthly reason why she should be kept in the dark. These Hillsborough trades want to drive this young man out of town: why—is too long and intricate for you to follow. He resists this tyranny, gently, but firmly.”
“I'd resist it furiously,” said Grace.
“The consequence is, they wrote him several threatening letters; and, at last, some caitiff put gunpowder into his forge; it exploded, and blew him out of a second-floor window.”
“Oh! oh!” screamed Grace Carden and Jael; and by one womanly impulse they both put their hands before their faces, as if to shut out the horrible picture.
“What is that for?” said the doctor. “You see he is all right now. But, I promise you, he cut a very different figure when I saw him directly afterward150; he was scorched151 as black as a coal—”
“Oh, doctor, don't; pray don't. Oh, sir, why did you not tell me?”
“And his face bleeding,” continued the merciless doctor.
“Oh dear! oh dear!” And the sweet eyes were turned, all swimming in water upon Henry, with a look of angelic pity.
“His nerves were terribly shaken, but there were no bones broken. I said to myself, 'He must sleep or go mad, and he will not sleep in the town that has blown him up.' I just drove the patient off to peace and pure air, and confided152 him to one of the best creatures in England—Martha Dence.”
Jael uttered an exclamation59 of wonder, which drew attention to her and her glowing cheeks.
“Oh yes, Miss Jael,” said Henry, “I was going to tell you. I have been a fortnight with your people, and, if I live a hundred years, I shall not forget their goodness to me. God bless them.”
“'Twas the least they could do,” said Jael, softly.
“What a pity you are going out. I should have liked to talk to you about your father, and Martha, and George the blacksmith. Doctor, who would live in a town after Cairnhope?”
Jael's fingers trembled at her bonnet-strings, and, turning a look of piteous supplication153 on Grace, she faltered out, “If you please, miss, might I stay over to-day?”
“Of course. And then he will tell you all about your people, and that will do just as well as you going to see them; and better.”
Off came Jael's bonnet with wonderful celerity.
“Get the whole story out of him,” said Dr. Amboyne. “It is well worth your attention. As for me, I must go as soon as I have prescribed for you. What is the matter?”
“The matter is that there's nothing the matter; prescribe for that. And that I'm a goose—prescribe for that—and don't read the newspapers; prescribe for that.”
“Well, then, I prescribe the Hillsborough Liberal. It has drawn a strong picture of this outrage154, and shown its teeth to the Trades. And, if I might advise a lady of your age and experience, I would say, in future always read the newspapers. They are, compared with books, what machinery155 is compared with hand-labor. But, in this one instance, go to the fountain-head, and ask Mr. Henry Little there, to tell you his own tragedy, with all the ins and outs.”
“Ah! if he would,” said Grace, turning her eyes on Henry. “But he is not so communicative to poor us. Is he, Jael?”
“No, miss.”
“He never even told us his name. Did he, Jael?”
“No, miss. He is very close.”
“Open him then,” said the doctor. “Come, come, there are a pair of you; and evidently disposed to act in concert; if you can not turn a man inside out, I disown you; you are a discredit156 to your sex.” He then shook hands with all three of them, and rolled away.
“Jael,” said Miss Carden, “oblige me by ringing the bell.”
A servant entered.
“Not at home to any human creature,” said the young lady.
The servant retired.
“And, if they see me at the window, all the worse—for THEM. Now, Mr. Little?”
Henry complied, and told the whole story, with the exception of the threat to his sweetheart; and passed two delightful157 hours. Who is so devoid158 of egotism as not to like to tell his own adventures to sympathizing beauty? He told it in detail, and even read them portions of the threatening letters; and, as he told it, their lovely eyes seemed on fire; and they were red, and pale, by turns. He told it, like a man, with dignity, and sobriety, and never used an epithet159. It was Miss Carden who supplied the “Monsters!” “Villains!” “Cowards!” “Wretches160!” at due intervals161. And once she started from her seat, and said she could not bear it. “I see through it all,” she cried. “That Jobson is a hypocrite; and he is at the bottom of it all. I hate him; and Parkin worse. As for the assassin, I hope God, who saw him, will punish him. What I want to do is to kill Jobson and Parkin, one after another; kill them—kill them—kill them—I'll tell papa.”
As for Jael, she could not speak her mind, but she panted heavily, and her fingers worked convulsively, and clutched themselves very tight at last.
When he had done his narrative, he said sadly, “I despise these fellows as much as you do; but they are too many for me. I am obliged to leave Hillsborough.”
“What, let the wretches drive you away? I would never do that—if I was a man.”
“What would you do, then?” asked Henry, his eye sparkling.
“Do? Why fight them; and beat them; and kill them, it is not as if they were brave men. They are only cunning cowards. I'd meet cunning with cunning. I'd outwit them somehow. I'd change my lodging162 every week, and live at little inns and places. I'd lock up every thing I used, as well as the rooms. I'd consult wiser heads, the editor of the Liberal, and the Head of the police. I'd carry fire-arms, and have a bodyguard163, night and day; but they should never say they had frightened me out of Hillsborough—if I was a man.”
“You are all right,” cried Henry. “I'll do all you advise me, and I won't be driven out of this place. I love it. I'll live in it or I'll die in it. I'll never leave it.”
This was almost the last word that passed this delightful afternoon, when the sense of her own past injustice164, the thrilling nature of the story told by the very sufferer, and, above all, the presence and the undisguised emotion of another sympathizing woman, thawed165 Grace Carden's reserve, warmed her courage, and carried her, quite unconsciously, over certain conventional bounds, which had, hitherto, been strictly166 observed in her intercourse167 with this young workman.
Henry himself felt that this day was an era in his love. When he left the door, he seemed to tread on air. He walked to the first cab-stand, took a conveyance168 to his mother's door, and soon he was locked in her arms.
She had been fretting for hours at his delay; but she never let him know it. The whole place was full of preparations for his comfort, and certain delicacies169 he liked were laid out on a little side board, and the tea-things set, including the silver teapot, used now on high occasions only.
She had a thousand questions to ask, and he to answer. And, while he ate, the poor woman leaned back, and enjoyed seeing him eat; and, while he talked, her fine eyes beamed with maternal170 joy. She reveled deliciously in his health, his beauty, and his safe return to her; and thought, with gentle complacency, they would soon return to London together.
In the morning, she got out a large, light box, and said. “Harry, dear, I suppose I may as well begin to pack up. You know I take longer than you do.”
Henry blushed. “Pack up?” said he, hesitatingly. “We are not going away.”
“Not going away, love? Why you agreed to leave, on account of those dreadful unions.”
“Oh, I was ill, and nervous, and out of spirits; but the air of Cairnhope has made a man of me. I shall stay here, and make our fortune.”
“But the air of Cairnhope has not made you friends with the unions.” She seemed to reflect a moment, then asked him at what time he had left Cairnhope.
“Eleven o'clock.”
“Ah! And whom did you visit before you came to me?”
“You question me like a child, mother.”
“Forgive me, dear. I will answer my own question. You called on some one who gave you bad advice.”
“Oh, did I?”
“On some woman.”
“Say, a lady”
“What does it matter to me?” cried Mrs. Little, wildly. “They are all my enemies. And this one is yours. It is a woman, who is not your mother, for she thinks more of herself than of you.”
