after awhile he began to hare at iutervuls the same dreamy impres sion of voices aud awakening to an indolent curiosity ipon tbe subject opened his eyes


he was so indolent that after glancing at the libssocks and the pew he was already half way off to sleep again when it occurred to him that there really were voices in the church low voices talking earnestly hard by while the echoes seemed to mutter responses


he roused hiinsellj aud listened


before lie had listened half a dozen seconds he became as broad awake as ever be bad beeu in all his life


avith eyeb and ears and mouth wide open lie moved himself very little with the utmost caution anil gathering the curtain in his hand peeped out


tom pinch aud mary


of course


he had recognised their voices and already knew the topic they discussed


looking like the small end of a guillotined man with his chin on a level with the top of the pew so that he might duck down immediately in case of either of them turning round he listened listened with such concentrated eagerness that his very hair und shirtcollar stood bristling up to help him


no cried tom


no letters have ever reached me except that one from new york


but dont be uneasy on that account far its very likely they have gone away to me far off place where the posts are neither regular nor frequent


he said in that very letter that it might be so even in that city to which they thought of travelling eden you know


it is a great weight upon my mind said mary


oh but you mustnt let it be said tom


theres a true saying that nothing travels so fast as ill news and if the slightest barm had happened to martin you may be sure you would have heard of it long ago


have ofttu wished to say this to you tom continued witli an embarrassment that became him very well bat you have never given me an opportunity


have sometimes been almost afraid said mary that you might suppose i hesitated to confide in you mr pinch


no tom stammered i i am not aware that i ever supposed that


i am sure that if i have have checked the thought directly as an injustice to you


i feel the delicacy of your situation in having to confide in me at all said tom


hut i would risk my life to save you from one days uneasiness indeed i would i


poor tom


i i have dreaded sometimes tom continued that have displeased you by by having the boldness to try and anticipate your wishes now and then


at other times i have fancied that your kindness prompted you to keep aloof from me


indeed


it was very foolish very presumptuous and ridiculous to think so tom pursued but i feared you might suppose it possible that i i should admire you too much for my own pence and so denied yourself the slight assistance you would otherwise have accepted from me


if such as idea has ever presented itself to you faltered turn pray dismiss it


i am easily made happy and shall live con tented here long after you and martin have forgotten me


i am a poor shy awkward creature not at all a man of the world and you should think no more of me bless you thnn if i were an old friar if friars bear such hearts as thine tom let friars multiply though they have no such rule in all their stern arithmetic


dear mr pinch i said mary giving him her hand i cannot tell you how your kind ness moves me


i have never wronged you by the slightest doubt and have never for an instant ceased to feel that you were all much more than all that martin found you


with out the silent cure and friendship i have ex perienced from you my life here would have been unhappy


but you have been a good angel to me filling me with gratitude of heart hope and courage


i am as little like an angel i am afraid replied tom shaking his head as any stone cherubim among the gravestones and i dont think there are many real angels of that pattern


but i should like to know if you will tell me why you have been so very bilent about martin


because i have been afraid said mary of injuring you


of injuring me cried tom


of doing you an injury with your employer


the gentleman in question dived


willi pecksniffl rejoined tom with cheerful confidence


oh dear hed never think of usl hes the best of men


the more at ease you were the happier he would be


oh dear you neednt


ho afraid of peck sniff


he is not a spy


many a man in mr pecksniffs place if he could have dived through the floor of the pew of state and come out at calcutta or any other inhabited region on the other side of she earth would have done it instantly


mr pecksniff sat down upon a hassock and listeuiug more attentively than ever smiled


mary seemed to have expressed some dissent in the meanwhile for tom went on to say with honest energy


well i dont know how it is but il always happens whenever i express myself in this way to anybody almost that i find they wont do justice to pecksniff


it is one of the most extraordinary circumstances that ever came within my knowledge but it is so


theres john westlock who used to be a pupil


here one of the besthearted young men in the world in all other matters really believe john would have pecksniff flogged atthecans tail if he could


and john is not a solitary case for every pupil we have had in my time has gone away with the same inveterate haired of him


there was mark tapley too quite in another station of life said tom the mockery he used to make of pecksuiff when he was at the dragon was shocking


martin too martin was worse than any of cm


but i forgot


he prepared you to dislike peck sniff of course


so you came with a prejudice you know miss graham and are not a fair witness


tom triumphed very much in this discovery and rubbed his hands with great satisfaction


mr pinch said mary you mistake him


no no i cried tom


you mistake him


but he added with a rapid change in his tone what is the matter


miss graham nliatis the matter i mr pecksniff brought up to the top of the new by slow degrees his hair hia forehead lii eyebrow his eye


she was sitting on a bench beside the door with her hands before her face aud tom was bending over her


wliot is the matter i cried tom


have i said anything to hurt you


has any one said anything to hurt you


dont cry


pray tell me what it is


i cannot bear to see you so distressed


mercy on us i never was so surprised aud grieved in all my life


mr pecksuiff kept his eye in the same place


he could have moved it now for nothing short of a gimlet or a redhot wire


wouldnt have told you mr pincb said mary if i could have helped it but your delusion is so absorbing aud it is so necessary that we should be upon our guard that you should not be compromised and to that eud that you should know by whom i am beset that no alternative is left me


i came here purposely to tell you but i think i should have wanted courage if you had nut chanced to lead me so directly to the object of my coming


tom gazed at her etedfastly and seemed to say what else f


but he said not a word


that person whom you think the best of men said maryf looking up and speaking with a quivering lip and flashing eye lord bless me i muttered tom staggering back


wait a moment


that person whom i think the best of men


you mean peck sniff of course


yes i see you mean pecksniff


good gracious me dont speak without autho rity


what hab he done if he is not the best of men what is be


the worst


the falsest craftiest meanest crudest most sordid most


shameless said the trembling girl trembling wilh her in dignation


tom sat down on a seat and clasped his hands


what is he said mary who receiving me in hia house as lib guest his unwilling guest knowing my history and how defence less and alone i am presumes before his daughters to affront ue so that if bad a brother but a child who baw it he nould in stinctively have helped me


he is a scoundrell exclaimed tom


whoever he may be he is a scoundrel mr pecksuiff dived again


what is he said mary who when my only friend a dear and kind one too was in full health of mind humbled himself before him but was spurned away for he knew him then


like u do


who in his forgiving spirit now that that friend is sunk into a failing state can crawl about him again and use the in fluence be basely gains for everybase and wicked purpose and not for one not one thats true or good


i say he is u scoundrel answered om


but what is he oh mr pinch what is he who thinking he could compass these designs the better were i his wife assails me with tjie cowards argument that if marry him martin on whom i have brought so much misfortune shall be restored to something of his former hones and if i do not shall be plunged in deeper ruin


what is iffi who makes my very constancy to one i love with all my heart a torture to myself mill wrong to him who makes me do what i will the in strument to hurt ahead i would heap blessings ou


what is he who winding all these cruel snares about me explains their purpose to me with a smooth tongue and a smiling face in the broad light of day dragging me on the while in his embrace aud holding to his lips a hand pursued the agitated girl extending it which i would have struck off if wilh it


i could lose the shame and degradation of his touch


to be continued


maia mildrfib oa the irish orphan


bta bbsidfent of the bush


f continued from number xx


j


chapter v


whence also but from truth the light of minds human fortune gladdened with the rays


of virtue


akenside


tub conversation and subject of the party in the fishermans hut was thua brought to a close


amen the concluding word the sign of the peroration of feeling was never uttered more heartily more sincerely


how complicate how wonderful is man


under circumstances befitting how mighty is bis mind and when not under the influ ence of superstition how independent and uncontrollable and yet it is surprising by how simple and easy means the most deter minative mind may be brought to undergo a change henry had entered this cottage under a resolution to protect maria by re venging on dowd


how soon he began to breathe in another atmosphere


the very appearance of the interior of this hut and its inmates their pious demeanour their unaffected reference to a providence the encomiums bestowed on maria whom he so tenderly loved and withal the promising news df old michaels letter effectually un bent his purposes his arrows for the pre sent were returned to their quiver and other principles were suggested to his mind on the ground of which he could protect maria


he was indeed no less but it may be said more determined because his mo tives were purer and therefore better and stronger


the silence continuing he had time to ruminate and he gradually became sensible of the change come over him


mr daley broke the stillness by observ ing johnny is long the day


it borrie times happens mr elver ton that my hus band is more successful one day than ano ther and when he has no one to help him if he has taken more fish than common and the tide is ebbing and perhaps the wind blowing fresh from the shore he is longer in making his little cove but here he comes said she rising and going to the door


on entering the husband immedi ately placed his hand under her chin and imprinting a kiss on her ready lips said


god bless you


mr elverton said mrs daley intro ducing henry to her husbamd the good english gentleman of whom michael has so often told you


welcome sir said daley


henry bowed and again took bis seat


dinner being served henry was invited to take daley remarking that though they were poor and plain he yet always wished the practice of his cabin to assist in justify ing ireland as the land of hospitality


henry was little disposed for refresh ment yet he felt as if he could do any thing they bid him besides he well knew that few things would hurt an irishman more than not to eat at his table when bidden


and if he had been impressed previously he wsb much more eonow


the intelligent piety and general knowledge of the fisher man beamed but in most of the remarks he made


the sweet influence he possessed in his own house seemed unbounded


of miss mildred he spoke with uncommon warmth averring to henry that his present health and happiness were attributable to her saint like ministrations


the time which was to have brought maria to the hut was more than expired and the shades of evening began to close in when michael proposed to return to mil dred and renry rose to go to his inn ob serving lhat he would come down in the morning leaving it with connor to bring him any information he might think ne cessary


on hi arrivals the bouge the old matt was informed that mies mildred was not very well and that she and her maid had retired early the night was dark end it threatened a storm the clouds were rolling voluminously to the eastward ad the moon was deeply overcast


connors thoughts were fixed on the return of his sorii and he silently offered up a prayer for his safety especially if he should be exposed to this storm which brooded oer the sea


he had just filled his pipe and was stooping to light it when he thought he heard the sound of footsteps he turned towards the door and beheld a man on its threshold


it was the smuggler


he had been closeted with dowd until dark


the plan of marias murder had been defi nitely laid and he had come direct from the horrid consultation


how dye do connor said he


the old man rather disconcerted replied im well thank ye but sure yeve the advantage of me


v


i yesjino doubt rejoined the smiiggleiu years have rolled since you saw me and im altered so are you


look at me said he rather stern while he took off his hat and put his hand over the bushy part of his whiskers where they met under his chin come recollect now do you know me


michael did look at him and hastily put ting down hie pipe clasped his hands and exclaimed god bliss us the attorneys clerk


yes replied the fugitive and now to business is any one here


none but you and answered michael what is it


shut the door connor arid listen


michael closed the door and the man conti nued twelve years ago you gave me my life


sure i remember that man said connor


now dont interrupt me but listen i tell you and remember that what i now disclose you keep to yourself until time and place require a developement


i tell you connor that do wds a villain


sure its i that knows that said the old man


but he is a greater villain than even you suspect him to be


god save us


how said connor i have not seen him since the unfortu nate day said brog that i drew up that cursed document until this evening


i paid him a visit to obtain if possible the sum he promised me for the job


i did not want it exactly but i thought id have it


i learned from him that the original will was likely still to be forthcoming he is aware of his danger


he has been racking his brain for a plan


he sees but one impedi ment


if that were removed it would settle the affair at bnce


he had the execrable villainy to propose to ine it was to mur der miss mildred


god in heaven have mercy on us


cried out the old man


i drew the money out of him conti nued brog


and he expects


the fool with all his crafthe expects that tonight i shall on his account dip my hands in the blood of an innocent young lady but no no he had been drunk and dreaming and i came upon him when his brain was swim ming with the notion my altered appear ance and my rough manner of address per suaded him i would be his tool


connor i have been a sufferer since i saw you i am


a sufferer yet i suffer here pointing to his breast and my punishment increases as i perceive the chance of my return to society becomes less


oh connor


i see that one false step may plunge a man into misery despair and death


from the mo ment i fled at your suggestion i have never lost


the desire to be what i once was but i seem locked up a cruel necessity seems to point out my path


ere i tread it


and sometimes i am almost mad


however i shall not lose sight of dowd and his move ments and be assured michael connor that so far from offering miss mildred the smallest injury i would die to protect her


let her keep out of the villains way connor never you lose sight of her dowd is deep


god in heaven save ye bliss yebliss ye mr brogg exclaimed michael kand he will


mies ye


oh


what do


my heart will burst


she must depart connor or he will certainly destroy her and she must go at once


she will want money


take this


give it to her


it is her own


it is the gold i earned by the forged will


the fifty extra guineas i extracted from him in con sideration of entering on this dreadful business i shall take


she would not like to see them


there you will find one hundred and fifty guineas


not a word connor


god bless you


farewell


the darkness in one moment had covered the retreat of the unhappy biog and not a sound could be heard to evidence that the scene had been real


the lord almighty bless me said midhaet to himself bure the man voti here itd only now im tritobling


he tottered to the door and looking up his attention was caught by an immensely thick cloud rolling as in the direction of mildred house


in a moment it became checked in its move ments and ri small but very clear opening edged as with silver appeared in its dense middle


bliss the lord said he to him self again thats light in the darkness and the boyr will sot all right yet ill niver sleep though till i see her out o this


he made up his fire wondered what he had done with his pipe at length found it walked into the garden and marched sentry within sight of the window of marias apartment smoking and praying at inter vals all night long


at break of day he went into his house took some hot coffee and prepared some little matters for his own departure from the premises


mildred house stood on an eminence west from the shores of the irish sea


it commanded therefore trie first rays of the rnorning which often display such uncom mon splendor in a sea view at sunrise


on the morning of marias departure nature seemed to smile with unwonted serenity and brightness


the varied foliage of do main the nearer bloom of the orchard and garden the refreshing perfume of the shrubbery and the invigorating rays of a vernal sun now about halfanhour high all conspired to give an appearance of sanc tion to the determination of the discarded orphan who with the anxious michael in charge of a few remembrances of the past and a few conveniences for the future was directing her footsteps towards the fisher mans hut


the daley family were found astir on their arrival and johnny was gone to his boat


mrs daley dropped a low curtsey declared how glad they all were to see her and the children rah for their several caresses before maria could occupy a seat


it was not long before henry was per ceived by the little boy daley coming towards the house


he entered


maria rose blushed trembled


and ere she could advance a single step henry had caught her hand kissed it pressed it to his bosom and wept


her appearance associated itself with the impression that she was a perse cuted orphan and henrys whole man was bending to purposes of revenge


he could scarce refrain from anathematizing dowd


he supported her to the door then to a seat then sat down beside her


his eye rested for a moment on michael


the old man caught the look and immediately be gan to weep aloud


oh mr elverton


oh miss maria you see me cry and you think me an ould fool but i niver niver niver thought there was such a villian in this earth


i thought i knew enough before but last night


oh last night


how shall i tell you


last night believe me he had a plot to to murther her


it seemed as if the lungs of the poor old man had made their last effort so peculiar was his emphasis on the word murther


he buried his face in his hands and in something like a dying groan he uttered oh


oh


murder


exclaimed hedry starting upon his feet


murder whom


the distressed michael pointed with his finger for he felt bb if he would choke


michael said the persecuted girl what in the name of heaven do you mean


your uncle gasped the old man mr dowd that god almighty save us here he fell on his kness


i was going to curse him he suddenly rose and resumed with more calmness and with that extraor dinary rise and fall of cadence so peculiar to the irish peasantry when sorrowing and sympathizing with their dead


he com menced in a rising tone


your uncle last night contrived a plot against your life your otott dear life misxmaria


thought i was draming so i did but no


i have seen the man who was employed to do it my dear miss maria


and he told me all about it


michael you frighten me said the palpitating girl but you have been dream ing you knew i was leaving mildred and your anxiety produced troubled slumberb


yes yes michael observed old daley you have been dreaming you see


certainly added mrs daley you were only dreaming michael


come michael said henry rather inclined to take another view you will tell us the whole of the dream


turning to each one as he addressed them with trembling distinctiveness replied mr elverton miss maria joseph


mrs daley i was not dreaming at all for how can a man dream that doesnt go to sleep


i neither went to bed nor did i doze the whole blissed night


i walked and prayed so did furnent miss marias bedroom till the day broke out and would you call that draming


i saw the man i spoke with him and he with roe


i know him well


he hid betid promised money from tmisther dowd for a deed he done twelve years ago to wrong miss maria out of the mildred property which to my ownknow was left her by will of her own dear father my ould master god bliss us


his name is brog he absconded before mfi mildred was buried god save you miss mildred


he had always repented had never seen your uncle miss since that fatal day till yesterday when he determined to try for the money


dowd thought said brog to me with execrable villainy that was the word to engage me to murther an inno cent young lady the fool as he called him


and he gave me the money one hundred and fifty guineas in gold


here it is said he ill not have it its not mine its miss mildreds


give it to her


tell her to keep but of his way


to go directly and ill watch him said he


he bid god bliss me and said farewell and was lost in the dark in a moment


here michael displayed the bag and aded


in rather a triumphant tone will ybu call that dram ing and he cast the gold into marias lap


the agitated maria now fainted


henry supported her in his arms and looked fright fully wild


michael took one of her hands and exclaimed the villain


mrs daley ran loudly weeping for water


old daley stood up reclining on his stick looked up to heaven and said lord have mercy on us


at the same moment johnny daley returned from his fishing


speak to me for heavens sake maria my love said henry in a low voice


not dying surely


oh my god revive her


a being with the name of man to be so cruel


oh that she would look on me my very soul it is henrv elverton that bbeaks


maria


the unhappy orphan gradually opened her eyes until in full glare they rested on vacancy then as by strong effort she seem ed to fix them on each one around her


for a moment she seemed to recognise henry on whom she faintly smiled then gazing on michael a thick film gathered over the pupil the lids gradually fell and she sank


again like lead on the bosom of her lover


johnny daley suggested that she should be carried to bed and left to the care of his wife observing that it was but a swoon and that she would be less likely to be ex cited afresh on leyiving when she found only mrs daley with her


henry gently lifted her in his arms and the fishermans wife led the way into the bedroom


it was some time


before maria could be pronounced recovered


henry michael and daley took a walk on the beach when the old man recounted the particulars as to the forgery of the will and his recognition of the fugitive clerk in the person of the sailorman who left him the bag of money at the same time handing


henryr his sons letter which stated that he still had the will that he was about to become the captain of a ship to be chartered at trieste for new york and dublin and that in fifteen months he should see dowd and set all mildred right


fto be continued


j


ro


whats to bb done with england


a mr riley in the nation irish news paper gravely recommends the irish to con quer england and then to get rid of the trouble of keeping her advises that she should be divided into four parts one to the sultan one to the czarone tb america and one to the pope


chapter vii


nellys troubles


the hope of work and good wages which had led joe appleshaw to london proved to be at least for some time quite illusory


the great contractor for whom ned bingly worked had his com plement of men and till a vacancy


occurred or a new job was commenced joe stood little chance of employment


but thoroughly zealous in his friends behalf ned bingley spoke to many about him praised his sterling honesty and in dustry as well as sought in many direc tions when his own days work was done those who might know of a job or speak in the poor fellows behalf


but this without result


for full a fortnight the appleshaws re mained at nixs lodging bingley paying the rent and getting trust for food for them


but in spite of this hearty proof of friendship the poor familys life was wretched not so much because of poverty or disappointment for to both they had served a bitter apprenticeship but on account of the miserable home and its contaminations which necessity made theirs


joe was better off than nelly


accompanied by little dick if the weather was fine he was out all day seeking work i at wharves warehouses docks and shops i but she who had her children to take j care of and no other place of refuge had j to bear these evils rn all their unmitigated bitterness


for in countless respects the lodging was worse by day than by night


its relay of guests consisted for the most part of those whose occupation would not bear the light and if there were a few whose callings were ostensible or honest they were in a minority


thus the night prowlers and night workers flocking to the lodging just as those who had occupied it through the night took their departure for the day there was as it


were an endless stream of occupantsan i endless babel of tongues that was never still


the huge cinderheaped fireplace was or more less always surrounded by a motley crowd on his top eternally hissed like an ever angry snake the great j fryingpan the mighty iron kettle seemed like the witches caldron to be ever seething minor pots and kettles were ever on the hob an array of toasting forks and sticks with divers eatables theron from a herring or sprat up ascendingly to the fragmentary dainties of some lordships larder were ever being brandished before the bars and on a line beneath the broken mantel shelf a mass of soddened frowsy rags mostly swung


with this relay of guests the beds were ever occupied the rooms unaired and cleanliness in any way im possible


thus the day was in all respects worse than the hight in nixs lodgings


the guests were of a still more degraded class the moral and physical atmosphere if that were possible more deadly and what night tenderly hid of squalor dilapidation vice dirt and wretchedness stood out in all their inten sity in such little daylight as streamed into this filthy den


as to nix and the woman who might or might not be his wifetheir life was an extraordinary one


always ubiquitous always astir for it was a mystery at what hours they took their rest always shut up in that pestiferous littly nook where they had eseonced themselves they seemed to follow an unvarying iound of eating drinking and taking money


the man never went abroad the woman rarely and that at night time her errand usually to buy some luxurious dainty for supper or some tawdry piece of finer for herself


if lodger were more plentiful than usualif the harvest reaped of degradation were abundant then mrs nix surely sallied forth to purchase flash ribbons earrings of length and weight if not intrinsicness and brooches of huge circumference


if dainties were wanting she went forth in quest of them though on this errand more rarely than on others for the cadgers frequentiiig the lodging had usually something left unsold at evening time and thus a bargain in fish flesh or fowl usually graced the nixs table


if do such sacrifice were offered then the woman sallied forth with dish or basket for the finest piece of fresh salmon the primest fowl or the freshest oysters money could procure


for a few days nelly strove with with hearty zeal to fight some of the countless evils around her but they proved her master


she asked for water and could get none she repeated her question as to where it could be found and got laughed at


on those days it ran for a little while into the filthy butt in the cellar she patiently waited a long time previously to its coming with the usual result of procuring no more than a pitcherfull so dense would be the crowd of slipshod claimants and so unceremo nious and rude their behaviour to each other


then as a last resource she tried to beg water from the neighbours but an oath or rebuff was the usual reward


occasionally she met with civility and had her wants supplied but it was sad work at best


thus the children had to go comparatively dirty and their clothes remain unwashed both matters causing infinite distress to their cleanly thrifty mother whose duty to her little children had hitherto greatly honoured her


through all her days of poverty sickness and misfortune they had never been neglected they had rested on beds which could not have been excelled in cleanliness though coarse and poor and their little patched garments had been washed in the running brook and had dried scented by fragrant winds or by the gorse or fern on which they lay


but there were sadder and more pregnant evils than even this of enforced uncleanliness


do what she would nelly could not always prevent her children playing with others that frequented the lodgings


with her baby to attend to she could not for ever be on the watch and thus her chil dren soon found companions and inca pable of distinguishing between good and evij laughed as merrily and were as much amused at games plainly imitative of criminal or brutalizing acts as at things more befitting innocence alad childhood


then too their ears were ever ready to listen to the coarse jest the vile song the blasphemous oath and a few days of this sort of companionship soon proved how easy it is to corrupt and facile the imitative power in children


to obviate what she might of these evils


kelly took refuge in a cornrof the great kitchen and hung an old blanket she had brought with her as a sort of screen before her little family but lured by the merry voices of the children on the other side they would creep under or round it and be merry too before she was aware


at other times when busy in some occu pation for herself or family which she did not wish the staring throng to wit ness sh would find herself suddenly exposed and made the jest of the room by some hulking fellow fresh perhaps from a night robbery or by a girl as shameless jerking the blanket off the nails which held it and so bringing her screen about her feet


it was natural she should feel annoyed vexed and angry but who cared in such a place as this


where the more cruel and brutal the act the more rich the jest


some few not quite lost to all kindly feeling or sense of de cency would cry shame


or join nelly in an appeal to mrs nix


but as a matter of course there was neither re dress to be had nor prevention effected j for those who enjoyed cruelty at anothers expense were in large majority and neither nix nor the woman liked any one who by decency or gentleness made the hideous sin around look still blacker in its dye


in fact both landlord and landlady took a strange dislike to the comely peasant woman and whilst the latter with that perversity which is so characteristic of innate viciousness strove by such annoyances as it lay in her power to effect to and to the misery of this unholy home the former told poor nelly when she made complaint or sought redress that pretences o being better than tother folks didnt suit there and that if she minded a bit olarking to go elsewhere as the place wasnt a church and didnt want a parson mealy mouthed folks musnt come to nixs lodgings


yet amidst the depravity and license of this unhallowed den glimpses of better thingstraces of the divinity which will at times show itself in natures the most lost and abandoned in their low estatewere far from being absent


there was little nance who taking a liking to nelly and her children cleaved to them with a strange deep love there was lugi the little italian boy and his pet monkey bernardo a poor fellow who sold plaster casts about the streets and a woman of about sixty whom no body knew by any other name than that of bet


the latter hiding her past history in her own breast betrayed in part what it must have been by manners and conrersatiou which still bore traces of refinement and education when she was not soddened by drink


this was too often the case but when even in a degree sober nothing could exceed her protecting kindness to nelly and the children


she had need of this such as it was in its poor way for the baby which had been pining for several days fell very ill


hitherto it had been the brightest and strongest of little creatures and as nelly truly said had never been ailing an hour since its birth


but now the shadows of a sadder fate began to close around it


it had been used to the pure air of the open down to roll on the green sward to be washed in water fresh from the rip pling brook now suddeuly deprived of these and brought within the influence of an atmosphere so deadly and pestife rous as that of n ixs lodging no wonder that it soon began to pine droop and refuse its food


though of course igno rant of this evil in its full extent and sure results a mothers natural instincts as well as the depression and nausea it created in herself made nelly sure that the cause ot the childs sickness was the impure air


so she sought to modify the evil as far as she could by carrying it often to the door or up and down the narrow culdesac but of course without result as the atmosphere in such a place and in such vicinity was as deadly without as within


she would havt taken it elsewhere had she known of au j openspace but those about her in theil ignorance or wilfulness told her that there were miles and miles of streets tc pass before she would come to the parks and theil she had her other children anc her few possessions to take care of


th latter if left w uld have been stolen ai mrs nix in that spirit of viciousnes before alluded to refused to ensure thei safety by guardianship even for a singl hour


ay said a haggard halfclad woman putting her head far out of a window as nelly walked to and fro in the culdesac with her babe you may hush it and coax it and say what you like to itits ri doomed


all the babies in this place j i die


ive seen four carried out of nixs at once


ive lost all i hadthats nine on em first and lastand a good job too for theyre better off


and i aint to work for emso it ll be the best for thee


saying this with that brutal callousness which sin and misery engen i der she closed the window like one of j those hideous prophets of the old time of


j the plague


nelly did not think so but hushed her baby still more tenderly


at first she sought to cure it by such simple remedies as most mothers know t of and which had made her hitherto her i childrens only physician but now as the baby grew worse she made inquiry for a doctor


she found that there was the parish surgeon as well as others who gave advice gratis though to one of the latter she must take the child as nix did not like the parish doctor to come to his house for that gentleman would not attend especially at night without the guardianship of the police with whom nix was at mortal enmity


resolving to take the child next morning and hoping her husband might be able to stay and take care of the other children and their few effects during her absence nelly on this particular afternoon fell from over weariness i uto a brief doze as the baby also at rest nestled in her arms


the house was unusually still for though full of people most of them were in bed whilst the few that remained in the kitchen were either occupied by their calling as poor bernardo who watched by the children sat moulding relievoes or else halfasleep crouched by the fire or table


she was aroused from this short repose by the entrance of little nance who having been at an adjacent ragged school all day came quietly to nellys side as was her custom


is baby better she asked as she slid her small thin ugly hand into that of nellys for nance was a little thin old fashioned creature with not a trace of childhood about her


i dunna know answered nelly rousing herself its slep a bit ye see


but i fear its mighty bad itll take nothing not even its tity that it loves so


i wonder what i can do for it its bad indeed when it cant suck


saying this she burst into tears


ill tell ye said little nance with a sage look of thoughtfulness very painful to see in one so young there were a woman here that had just as ill and she got a cake a square sweet cakei j ist know the sort o ones when i see em and sop it in water and that it eat when it would nothin else


now there be lots an em in holborn and if id a penny why m ive one interrupted nelly saying this she begau feeling in her pocket but it seemed hard to he found


and ill run off suggested the child and be back rarely quick


though she searched everywhere nelly could not find her only penny it was safe at noon when she had sent little buth and jim for some bread for dinner now it was gone by what means she could not imagine as her sleep had been so light a one and none but her children had been near her she felt sure


she was conscious of one of them coming to her side whilst she slept and she there fore questioned them


im sure it warnt me mother said little ruth for ive bin watching the image man this great while but jim went away though for what i dont know


is elly at this called the little fellow to her ut he stoutly denied having been near his mothers pockets


disregarding this she felt beneath his pinafore and about his clothes at which bernardo un derstanding the matter from these signs though he did not the language looked quietly up from his work and pointed to the boy


so you did take the penny did you said nelly in her great anger forgetting the baby who thus disturbed awoke with fearful screams the image man says you did


im sure i didnt mother replied the child doggedly im sure i didnt


i hope thee hasnt jim said nelly with a mothers inclination to think her child free from sin for my troubles are sore enough just now the lord knows j without thinking that thee hast learned thieving in this horrid place


in her pain and great trouble she said these last words incautiously for they were everheard by mrs nix who stood listening behind the old serge curtain of the eyry


if it aint good enough for thee then why dont thee and thy brats troop


she cried as she pushed her red and bloated visage between the curtain and the door stall this aint no place for saints i tell thee for if the child take a bit to prigging i cant see what barm theres int childer will be childer


but i do replied kelly weeping bitterly me and mine have always been honest till now i dare say laughed the beldame ironically tm much too cuteto blieve in vartuer o peoples own boasting


and j ist let me tell you what you think i dont know that if youd a penny to move with youd be off


so the sooner you be the better or i tell you what bingleys debts already a pretty heavy un and shant run on much fudder t can tell ee


when the virago had finished this harangue she retreated into the shades of the eyry and bean rattling the tea things for she bad just made purchase of a quart of shrimps twopennyworth of water cresses a pound of fresh butter and a hot loaf as provi sion for that delectable meal


literature


the ministers wooing


a talk o new kkoiakd by mri u j stjwe


continued from the age of june


cuaptbb iv


theological tea


at the call of her mother mary bnrried into the best room with a strange discomposure of spirit she had never felt before


from childhood hor love for junes had been so deep equable and interne th it it had never disturbed her with thrills and yearnings it had grown up in sisterly calm ness and quietly expanding hid laici possession of her whole nature without her once dreaming of its pswor


but this last interview seemed to have struck some great nerve of her being aud calm as she usually was from habit principle and good health she shivered and trembled a she heard hisretrcating footstop nnd saw the orchard grass fly back from under his feet


it was as if each step trod on a nerve as if the very sound ot the rustling grass was stirring sometling living and sensitive iu her soul


and etrangesl of all n vague impression of guilt hovered over her


had she done anything wrong


sbedidnot ask him there she had not spoken love to him no she had only talked to him of his sjul aud how she would gve hers for his


oh so willingly ond that was not love it was only what dr h said christians must always feel


uhild what have you been doing v said aunt katy who sat in full flowing chintz petticoat and epotlesi dimity fhort gown with her company knitting work in her hands j your cheeks are as red as peonies nave you been crying


what s the matter


thero is the deacons wife mother said mary turning oonfusedly and darting to the entry door


inter mrs twitchel a soft pillowy little eldjrly lady whose whole air and dress reminded one of a sack of feathers tied in the middle with a string


a largo comfortable pocket hung upon the side disclosed her knittingwork ready for operation and sho zealously cleansed herself with a checked handkerchief from the dust which hud accumulated during her ride in the old onehoss shay answering tho hospitable saluta tion of katy scudder in that plaintive motherly voice which belongs to certain nice old ladies who appear to live iu a state of mild chronic compas sion for the sius and sorrows of this mortal life generally


why yes missscudder im pretty tolable


i keep goin and goin


thats my ay


is a tellin the deacon this morniu i didnt see bow i vat to come here this afternooa but then i did want to see miss scudder and talk a litte about that precious sermon sunday


how is the doctor


blessed man


well his reward must be great in heaven if not on earth as i was a tellin the dea eoa and he says to me says he potly we mustnt be nunworshippers


there dear to mary


dont trouble yourself about inv bonuet it ant my sunday one but i thought twould do


sayts i to cerinthy ann miss scuddcr wont mind cause her beared set on better things


i alwayb like to drop a word in season to ce rinthy ann cause shes clean took up with vanity and dress


oh dear


oh doar me


so different from your i blessed daughter alise scudder


i well its a great bleein to becillod in ones youth like suinuel and timjthy but then wo doesnt know the lords ways somotimts


i gets clean discouraged with my children but then agin i dont know none ou us dots


cer inthy ann is one of the most master hands to turn off work she takes hold and goes along like a woman and nobody never knows when that gal finds the time to do all she does do and i dout kuow uothin what i should do without her


deacon was saying if ever bhe was called shed be a martha aud not a mary but then shes dread ful opposed to the doctrines


oh dear me


oh


dear me


i somehow they seem to rile her all aj and she was alellin me yesterday when she was a hangiu out clothes that fho never should get re conciled to decrees end lection ciuo she cant see it things is certain how folk is to help emselves


says i cerinthy ann fo ks ant to help themselves they u to submit unconditional


aud


she jest bl iiumed down the clothes basket and went into the house


whcu mrs twitchel began to talk it flowed r steady stream as when one turni a faucet that never ceases running till some hand turns i


bick again and the occasion that out the flood short at present was toe entrance of mrs brown


mr simeon llrown was a thriving shipowner of newport who lived in a large house owned seve ral negroservauts and a span of horses and affected some state and style in his worldly appear ance


a passion for metaphysical orthodoxy had drawn simeon to the congregation ol dr n nnd his wife of course stood by right iu a high paee there


she was a tall angular somewhat hud favored body dressed in a style rather above the simple habiis cf her neighbors and her whole air spoke the great woman who in right t f


her thou sands expected to have her say in all that wis going on in the world whether she understood it or not


ou her enlrance mld little mrs twitchel flpd irora tne cusutoned rookiugchak and stood with the quivering air of one wh feels she has no business to be anywhere ia tho world until mrs browns bonnet was taken an she was seated when mrs twitchel subided into a corner and rattled her knittiugneed es to conceal her emo tion


new england has beea called the land of equa lity but what land upon earth is wholly so


even rhe mites in a bit of cheese naturalists


av have great tumblings and strivingi about posi tion and rank he who has ten pounds will nlways be a nobleman io him who haa but one lot him strive manfully as he may and therefore let ui fcrgive meek little mrs twitchel f meltinginto nothing in her own eyes when mrt brown came iu and let us forgive viri brown that she sat down in th rocking chair with an easy grandeur m oue who thought it her duty to be atttbl and mont to bt it v a howeve rather dilficut for mrs brown with her money houpe negroes and all to patronise mrs kity scudder who was one of thoso women whose natures sretns to sit on thrones an who dispense patronage and favor by an inborn right and apti tude whatever be their social advantages


it wa one of mrsirowis trials of life this secret strang quality in her neighbor who stood apparcn ly so far below her in worldly goojs


even the quia positive s ylo of mrs iiatya knitting mide her ner vous it wa an implication of in lependence of her sway and though ou the preent occasion every customary courtesy wa


bestowed the still felt as sho always did when mrs katya guest a secret un easiness


shu mentally contracted tlie neat litle parlour with its white sanded floor aud muslin i ourtains with her own grand front room which boasted the then uncommon luxuries of turkey carpet and persian rug and wondered if mrs kaly did really feel as cool and eaiy in recovi ig her as she appeared


you must not understand that this was what mrs brown supposed herself to be thinking about oh no


by no means


all the little mean work of our nature is generally done in a small dark closet just a little back of the subject we are talk ing about on which subject we suppose ourselves of course to be thinking of course wo are think ing of it how else coud we talk about it


the subjeot iu discussion and what mrs brown supposed to be iu her own thoughts was the last sundays sermon on the doctrine of ontiro disinterested benevolence iu which good doctor h had proclaimed to the citizens of new port their duty of being so wholly absorbed iu the general good of the univerjo as even to acqui esce in their own dual and eternal destruction if the greater good of tho whole might thereby be accompliabcd


well now dear me said mrs twitchel while her knitting needles troted contentedly to the monrnful tone ol her voice i was tellin the deacon if wo only could get there


sotnetimo


i think i get a little way but then ogin i dont know but the deacon hss quite down he doni eo no evidences ii himself


sometimes he says he don t feel as if he ought to keep his place in un church but then agin he dont know


he keeps aturnin and tiirniu out over in his mind aud atryin himself this way and that way and he says he dont see nothin bat


whats selfish no way


member one night last winter after the dea cod got


warm in bed there come a rap at the door and who should it bu but old benlah ward wautin to see tbe deacon twas her boy the sent uud he said beulah was sick and hadnt no more wood nor candles


now i knowd the deacon had carried thut crittcr hall a cord of wood if he had one stirjk since thankj givin and id sjnt hor two o my best moulds of candles nice ones that cerinthy ann run when wo killed a crittur but nothin would do but tbe deacon must get right out his warm bed and dress himself and hitch up his team to carry over some wood to beulab


says i father you kn iw youll be down with the rheumatis lor this be sides beuluh is real agravatin


i know th trades off what we send her to the store for rum


and you never get no thanks


she speeds cau


i wo hab done for her we always must uud mor


we do more we mav do


and says he to me


says ho thats jest the way we sarves the lord pilly and what if he shouldnt hear us when we call on him in our troubles


so i shet up and the next day he was down with the rhenmatis


aod celinlhy ann fays bhe well father now hope youll own youj have got some disinterested benevolence says she and the deacon he thouglu it over a spoil and then he says im fraid its all selfish


im jest nmakin a righteousness of it


and cerinthy ann she come out declarin that the best folks never had no comfort in religion and for ber part she didnt mean to trouble her head about it but have jest as good a time as she could while shes young cause if she was lected to be saved she would bo and if sho want slu couldnt help it any how


mr brown says he came on to dr hs ground years ago said mrs brown giving a nervous twitch to her yarn and speaking in a sharp hard didactic voice which mado little mrs twitchel give a gentle quiver and look humble and apologcnc


mr browns a master thinker theres pothiuf pleases that man better than a bard doctrine he says you cant get em too hard for him


he dont and any difficulty in bringing his mind up he jusi reasons it out all plain and he says peoplehave no need to be in tha dark and thats my opinion


if folks know they ought to come up to anything why dont they v he says anil i say so too


mr scudder used to say that it took great af flictions to bring his mind lo that place said mtb icaty


he used to say that an old paper maker told him once that paper that was shaken only one way in tho making would tear across the other and the best paper had to be shakeu every way and so he said we couldnt tell till we had been turned and shaken and tried every way where we should tear


mrs twitchel responded to this sentiment with a gentle series of groans such as were her general expression of approbation ewaying herself back ward and forward while mrj brown gave a son of toss and snort and said tbat for her part tht always thought people knew what they did know but she guessed she was mistaken


the conversation was here interupted by tlie civilities attendant on the reception of mrs jonef a broad buxom hearty soul who bad come on horseback from a farm about three miles distant


smiling with rosy content she presented mis katy a small pot of golden butter the result of her forenoons churning


there aro some people bo evidently broadly and heartily of this world that their comlug into a room always materialises the conversation


we wish to be understood that we meau no disparaging re


i flection on such persons they are as neccssary to make lip a world as cabbages to make up a garden the great healthy principles of cheeriulnees and animal life seem to exist in them in tho gross they are wedges and ingots of solid contented vitality


certain kinds of virtues and christian graces thrive in such people as the first crop of corn does in the bottom lands of tbe ohio


mrp j jnes was a church member a regular church goer and planted her comely person plump in front of dr ii


every sunday and listened to bis searching aud discriminating sermons with broad honest smiles of satisfaction


those keen ditiuctionr as to motives those awful warnings and urgent ex postulations wbioh nude poor deacon twitchel weep she listened to with great round satitfled eyes making to all and after all tho same remade that it wa good and she liked it and tho doctor was a good man and on the present oc casion she announced her pot of butler as one fruit of her reflections after the last discourse


toil see she said as i was asettin in tbo spring hoae this mortiin aworkin my butler i says to dinah im goin to carry a pot of this down to alias scudder for tbe doctor i got so mcch good out of his sundays sermon


and dinah the says to me says she law misa jones i thought you was asleep for sartin


but i wasic


only i forgot to take any carraway seed in the raornin and bo i kinder missed it you know it livens one up


but i never lost myself so bu what i kinder heerd him goin on on sort o likn and it bounded all sort o good and so i thought of the doctor today


well im sure said aunt katy this will be a treat we all know about your butter mrs jones


i shaut thiuk cf putting any of mine on lablo tonight im sure


law now dont i said mrs jones


why you relly make mo ashamed mrs scudder


to be snre folks does like our butler and it ahviyf fetches a pretty good pricp het very proud ont


i tell him he oughtnt to be we oughtnt to be proud of anything


and now mrs kty giving a look at the old clock told mary it was time to set the teatable and forthwith there was a gentle movement of expectancy


the little nu hogauy teatable opened its brown wings and from a drawer came forth tho snowy damask covering


it was etiquette on such occasions to compliment every article of the establishment successively as it appeared so the deacons wife began at the tablecloth


well i do declare miss scudder boafs us all in her tablecloths she said taking up a corner of the damask admiringly and mrs jones forth with jumped up and seized the other coruer


vvhy this ere must havo come from the om country


its the most beautiflest thing i ever did i bee


its my own spinning replied mrs katy with conscious dignity


there wa an irish weaver came tonewport the year before i was married who wove bsauifully just the old country pat tern and id been spitiuiug some uncommonly fine fl ix then


i remember mr scudder used to read to me while i was spinning and aunt kity lookej afar as one whose thoughts are in the past and dropped out tho lant words with a little sigh unconsciously as to herself


wall now i must say said mrs jones this goeb quite beyond me


i thought i could spin some but i shant never dare to show mine


im sure mrs jones your towels that you had out bleatlrng this spring were wonderful sairi aunt katy


but i dout pretend to donuch now she continued btraighteuiug her trim figure


im getingold you know wj must let the young folks tike up these things


mary spins better now than ever did vary hand out those napkins


aud so marys napkins passed from hand to hand


well well said mrs twitchel to mary its easy to see that your linenchest will be pretty full by the time he comjs along wont it miss jones and mrs twitchel looked pleamntly facetious as elderly ladies generally do when suggesting i such possibilities to j ounger ones


how i stood for the dbeep daily bubghs


from ulackicoods edinburgh magazine


chapeb li


dreepdaily s a beautiful little town embosomed in an aniphiilieufre of hills which have such a win ning way with the clouds thal the summits are seldom visible


dreepdaily if shoaled in arabia would be deemed a paradise


ah round it the vegetation is long and lithe and luxuriant the trees keep their verdure late and the rush of the nellies is amazing


how the inhabitants contrive lo live is lo me a maller ot mystery


there is no particular trade or culling exercised ia the place ou busy hum of uriiauns or clunking of hammer or machinery


round the suburbs indeed lhere ure rows of mean looking collages each with its strapping lass io the national short gown at ibe door from the interior of which resounds hie boom of the weavers shuttle


there is also one factory at a lillie distance but w hen you reach the lowu itself all is supereuiiuently silent


in fine weather crowd of urchins of both sexes ure seen sunuing themselves on the quaint looking oilits of stepb by which hie doors usually on he second story me approached and as you survey ibe s warms ol barelegged and flaxenhaired infantry you cantiot help wondering in your henri what has become of the adult population


it is only towards evening thut the seniors appear


then you may find them either congregated on the bridge dis cussing politics and polemic or lounging iii the little square io affectionate vicinity lo the public house or leaning over tbe windows in their shirt sleeves iu he tranquil enjoyment ufa pipe


in short the earea and the bustle of the world et en in this railroad age seem to have fallen liulitly on the pacific burgbeis of dreepdaily


according to ibeir own account the iowa was once a peculiar favourite of royalty


it boasts of a charter from king da id ibu firstand there is un old ruin in ibe neighbour hood which is said to have been a pulace of that redoubled monarch


it may be so fur there is no uciouniiog for constitutions but had i been king david i certainly should have preferred a place where hieyounger brunches of tbe family would have beenless liable lo the accident of catarrh


dreepdaily in the olden time was among the losest of all tbe burghs


ils reprsentation had a fixed price which as always rigorously exacted und punctually paid uudlor httlfa yeur theretiflei the corporation made merry thereon


tbe reform lilliytfrererorewus by m


popular io iho council


a number of discontented radicals and of small householders who hitherto had been excluded from participation in the good things of the slate now gol upon hie roll and seemed determined for ti time to carry matters with a high band and lo return a member of iheirown


ami doubtless ibey would have succeeded had not hie sumebpirit been abroad in the sister burghs of druuthieluw and kittleweem which for some especial reaon or oilier known doubtless lo lord johu russell but utterly unintelligible to the rest of mankind were though situated in different counties associated with dreepdaily in the return of their future member


each of these places bad a separate interest and started a separate man so that amidst ibis conflict of liberalism the old member for dreepdaily a conservative again slipped into his place


tbe consequence was that the three burglis were involved in u desperate feud


lu these days flitre lived in dreepdaily one latence linklater more commonly known by the name of tod lowrie who exercised the lespeclable functions of a wiiter und a inessengcralatnis


lowrie was a remarkably acute individual of hie gilbert gloasin school by no means scrupulous in bis dealings but of singular plausibility and courage


he had started in life as a kudical but finding that thal line did not pay well lie bud piudently subsided into a whig and iu that capacity hud acquired a sort of local noioi iety


he bud contrived moreover to gain a tolerable footing iii droulliieluw and in hie course of lime became intimately acquainted with the circumstances of ii inhabitants aud under the plea of agency had contrived lo worm hie greater part of their title deeds into his keeping


it then occurred to lowrie thal notwithstanding the discordant situation of hie burghs something might be done to efltct a uuiou under ins uno especial chiefiuiiisdiip


nut that be cured in hi heart one farthing abnul


hie representado tyrian and trojan weic iii reality tile same to bimbul he saw thal the gain of these burgh would bo of immense udvuntage io his party and he determined that the advantage should be balanced by u corres ponding profit to himself


accordingly he began quietly to look to the slate of the neglected register lodged objections lo all cliims giveu in by parties upon whom be could not depend smuggled a sufficient number of his own clients uud adherents opou the roll and in the course of three years whs able to intimate to au eminent whig partisan ibut he laurence linklater held iu his owu bauds the representation of the dreepdaily burghs could turn the election either way lie pleased aud was open to reasonable term


the result was that mr linklater was promoted to a very lucrative county office and moreover that the whole patronage of the district was thereafter observed to flow through the lsurentian channel


ol course all those who could claim kith or kindred willi lowrie were provided fur io the first instance but there were struy crumbs still going und in no one ease could even a guugersbip be obtained without the adhesion of au additional vole


either the applicant must be ready to sell his independent or if thal were dime already lo pervert the politics of a relative a whig member was relumed al hie next election by an immense majority and for some timo linklater reigned supreme iu hie govern ment of dreepdaily and drouthielaw


but death whit h tpares no governors knocked al the door of linklater


a urteil of pirlanpie after hie triumphant termination of a lawsuit threw the burghs into a slate of anarchy


lowrie was gathered unto bis father sod lhere was uo one lo reign iu uis stead


at least there was no apparent ruler


every ona observed that the stream of patronage and of local jobbing still flowed on as copiously as before but nobody could discover by what band it was now directed


suspicion fastened ils yes for some lime upon provost biokie bul tbe vehement denials of that gentleman though not in themselves conclu si ve at last gained credence from the fact ibat a situatioo which he bud solicited from government fur his nephew was given lu another person


awful rumours began to circuale uf the esistence of a secret juola


each mau regarded his neigh bour with intense suspicion and distrust because for anything lie knew that neighbour might be a member of the terrible tribunal by means of which all tbe affairs of the community wer regulated and a ingle illlimed word might absolutely prove bis ruin


such indeed in one instance was the case


in an evil hour for himself an independent towncouncillor thought fit to denounce the clique as an unconstitutional and tyrannical body and lo lahls a motion for an inquiry as lo its nature members and proceedings


so strong was the general aturra that he could not even find a seconder


but the maller did not stop lhere


the rash meddler hud drawn upon himself the vengeance of a remorseless foe


his business began to fall off rumours of the most malignant description were circulated regarding his character two of lils relatives who held situations were di missed without warning and without apology his credit was assailed io every quarter and io less than sis months after be bad made that most unfor tunate harangue the name of thomas grill baker io dreepilsily wa seen to figure in the gaselte


so fell grill a martyr and if any one mourned for bim it was in secret and the profoundest awe


such was ihe political stale of mailer at tbe lime when i rude down the principal street of dreepduily


i need hardly say that i did not know a single soul in ihe burgh in that respect indeed there was entire reciprocity on both sides or the requisition referred to io my address was a felicitous fiction by mcorkindale


i stopped before a substantial blufflooking house the lower part of which was occupied as a shop und a scroll above informed me thut the proprietor was waller binkie grocer


a short squat mun with an oleaginous face and remarkihly bushy eyebrows was in the act of neighing out u pennyworth of sweeties lo a little girl as i entered


is the provost of dreepdaily within asked i ise warrant hes thal was the reply hue my dear theres a bugar almond iye into tbe bargain


gae your waua hame nuo and tell jour millier that ive some gi and new tea


weel sir what was yon wanting f


i wish particularly to speak to the provost


wee then speuk aw od be straightway squalled himself before his ledger


i beg your pardon sir


have i really the bunour of addressing walter binkie the provost of this burgh


bul if ye come on council mallere yere lang nliint the hour


im just sleppin up lo deauer aud i never do business after that


but perhaps you will allow me i ill allow nae mansirto interrupt my leisure


if ere anting ony thing gang lo the town clerk permit we one momentmy name is dun sbunncr


eh hat cried the provost bounding from bis stool apeak lower or the lud will hear ye


are ye the gentleman thats stanuiofor the burrows


the same


lordaake


what for did ye no say that afore jims


i say jims


look after the shop


come this way sir up the stair and lake cure ye dinna stumble on that loom cask o saul i followed the provost up a kind of corkscrew stair until we emerged upon a landingplace in his own proper domicile


we entered the diningroom


it was showily furnished wilban enormous um of paper roses in the grate two stuffed parroquets upon the mantelpiece a flamingo coloured carpet enormous worsted bellpulls and a couple of pur


imita by some peripatetic follower of vandyke one of them representing the provost in his civic costume ii it j the other bearing nome likeness to a fut female in a turban with a cairngorm brooch about the size of a platter un her breast and no i want of carmine on the space dedicated to the j cheeks


the provost locked the door and then clapped his ear lo the keyhole


he next approached the window drew down the blinds so as effectually lo prevent any opposite scrutiny aud motioned me to a seat


and so yere mr dunsbunner said be


ob man but ive been wearyin to see you i indeed i you flatter me very much


nae flattery mr dumsbunnernaoel im a plain hunest man thats a and naebody can say that wattie binkie has blawn in their lug


and sue yere coruiu forrard for the burrows t


its a bauld thing sira bauld thing and a greut honour ye seek


no thut i think ye winna do honour lo it but its a great trust for sae young a man a heavy responsibility as a body may say to hang upon a callauts shoiitbers


i hope mr biukie that my future conduct may show illili i chu at least act up to my professions


nie doubt sirim uo tnisduiiblin ye and to say the truth ye profess weel


ite read y er address sir and like j er principles theyre the lench auld whig aneekeep aweean to ourselves ami bund a guile grup


but wbus bringing ye forrard


wim signed j er requisition


no hie kitlleweera folk i hopethal wad be a sair thing against ye why nocertainly no


the fact is mr binkie that i have no seen the requisition


lu contents were communicated by a third purly ou whom i have the most perfect reliance aud as i understood lhere was some delicacy


io ibe matter i did not think it proper to insist upon a sight of ihe signatures


the provost gave a long whistle


i see it nool he said i see it


i krnt there was something gannon forbye tbe common


yere a lucky mun mr dunsbunner and yere election isas ure as wuu


yeve been spoken toby them


ye ken oi upon my word i do not understand ay ii


yere licht lo be cautious


weel i wat


hey ire kittle cuttle to ride the water on


but vvbu vtusf sirha uasl


je necdutt be feared of mei ken how to keep a secret


itenlly mr biukie exiept through a third parly as i have told you ulreutl i have bad no communication with any one


weel ihey art closetheres nae denyin ibat


but ye surely inuun hue some inkling o the men them thats nluut ihe screen je ken


indeed i have uol


but stuyif you allude lo the clique whttbl sir nheesi cried the provost in an ugilitted tone of voice


gutlesakc ink care what ye myye dinna ken wha may heur ye


ye hue upoken a old thal i hatenu heardthis


mo ii y a day without shaking in my blioon


ay speuk ceevily o the dellye dtuna


ken how weel ye may be ucquutiut i surely sir llieiecuu be nu harm in mentioning the


no under that name mr dunshunnerno under that name ami no bete


i wadna ca ihem that on tin lap of bennevis without a grue


ay and sue tilly ure ni je are they


weel they are a queer bet


you know the parlies then mr binkie


i ken nae muir hoot llieru lliuu i ken whaur to find the car ems o hie easi wind


whether they ure three or llireelly or a bonder surpasses my knowledge bul they hae got the secret o the fern seed and walk uhoul invisible


it is athegellier a great mystery bul doubtless you will obtain a glimpse


in the meantime since ye come from that quarter i mu bound to obey


you are very kind i am sure mr binkie


may i nek then your ooiuiou of mailers a ibey stand at present


our present member mr wbisllerigg will no land again


hes got some plaee or itlier up in london and my cerlie be worked weel for ii i there naebody else tannin forbye that mau poaclelbaile and bedisna verra weel ken bul


he is liiaisel


if its ariebt yonder continued the provost jeikiug his thumb over bis lefl shoulder yere as gude us elected


as it would itae heen extremely impolitic for me under preseut circumstances to huve disclaimed all connection with a hotly which exercised nu influ ence so marked and decided i allowed provost binkie to remain under the illusion thal i was the chosen candidate of the clique


in fact i had mude up my mind that i should become so at any cost so soon as it vouchsafed to disclose itself and appear before my longingeye


i therefore lauoched at once into practical detail in ihe discussion of which ihe provost exhibited both shrewdness and good will


he professed his readiness at once lo become chairman of my committee drew out a list of ibe most influential persons in the burgh to whom i ought immediately to apply and gave me much information regarding ihe politics of ibe other places


from what be said i gathered that with the aid of lite clique i was sure of dreepdaily and droulbielawas lo ibe electors of kettle weera they were in his opioion a wbeen dirt whom it would be useless to consol


and hopeless lo conciliai


i certainly bad no previous idea ibat the bulk of tbe electors bad so lillie to say in the choice of their own representative


when i ven tured io hint at the remote possibility of a revolt tbe provost indignantly exclaimed they daunia sirthey daurna for tbe lives of them do it


i set them up indeed i let me see ony man that wad venture to vote against hi town connell and hieand them and i ii make a clsao sweep of bim out of dreepdaily


i nothing in short could bave been more satlsfac lory than this statement


whilst we were conversing together i heard of a sudden a jingling lu the next upariment a if some very aged and decrepid harpsichord wer being exorcised into ibe unusual effort of a lune


i glanced enquiringly to the door but the provest look oo notice of my look


in a utile lime bow ever there was a short preliminary cough aud a female voice of considerable compass took up the following strain


i remember ibe words not more from their singularity than from the introduction which ibey were the prelude i beard a we bird singing clear in the tight tight month o june what garrd ye buy when stocks ware high and sell when shares were doun


gin ye bae played me faute my luve


in simmer mang the rain when sillers scant and scarce at yule ill pay ye back again i


o bonny were the midland halves when credit was sue tree


i


but wac betide the southron loon that sold time halves to me


i i declare upon hie word of a railway director that i was never more takeu aback in my life


attached as i have been from youth to the scottish ballad poetry i never yet had heard a ditty of this peculiar stamp which struck me as a happy com bination of lender fancy with the stenier realities of hie exchange


provost binkie smiled us ho remarked ray amazement


it is only my daughter maggie mr dunshuu ner he said


puir thing i its little she has here to amuse her and sae she whiles wtiles tbao


kimi osangs hersel


shes weel up to the rail roads for ye keu


i was an auld gleomutchkin holder


indeed i was that song miss binkies own compositiontasked i with considerable interest


at weel ii is that and mair too


maggie baud your skirling fyere interrupting me and tha gentleman


i beg on no account mr binkie that i may bo allowed to interfere with your daughters amuse ment


indeed it is full lime that i were betaking myself to the hotel unless you will honour me so far as to introduce me to miss binkie


deil a bit o you gangs lo ibe hotel tonight replied the hospitable provost


you bide where you are to denner and bed and well bae a com fortable crack over mailers io hie evening


maggie i como ben lass and speak to mr duusbunner


miss binkie wbol am strongly of opinion was all the while conscious of ibe presence of a stranger now entered from the adjoioiog room


she was really a pretty girl tall with lively sparkling eyes and a profusion of dark hair which she wore in tbo somewhat exploded shape of ringlets


i was not prepared for such au apparition and i daresay blushed as i paid my compliments


margaret biukie however bad no sort of mauvaise honte about her


she had received ber final polish in u glasgow boardingschool and did decided credit lo the seminary in which the operation had been performed


al all events


she was ibe reverse of eli fur in less thnn a quarter of an hour we were rattling away as though we hud been acquainted from childhood and to say the truth i found my self getting into something like a strong flirtation


old biukie grinned a delighted smile and went out lo superintend the decauting of a bottle of port


i need not


i lhinkexpaliate upon lue dinner which followed


tbe hotchpotch was unexceptionable the salmon curdy and the lamb rousted without a fault and if the redarmed hebe who attended waa somewhat awkward in ber motions sha was at least zealous to a degree


the provest got iuto high feather and kepi plying me perpetually with wine


when ibe cloth was removed he drauk with all formality lo my success aud as margaret binkie with a laugh did due honour to the toas i could not do less than indulge io a little flight of fancy as i proposed ibe ladies and in connexion with them tbe flower of dreepdailya sentiment which waa acknowledged with a blusb


after miss binkie retired the provost grew more and more convivial


he would not enter into busi ness but regaled me with numerous anecdotes of bis past exploits and of the lives and conversation of hi compatriots in the tuwn councilsome of whom appeared from his description to be very facetious individuals indeed


more particularly lie dwelt upon the good qualities and importance of a certain mr thomas gills belter known lo bia friends and kinsfolk by life lobrtauel of toddy tam und recommended me by all means to cultivate the acquaintance of that personage


but however otherwise loquacious nothing would persuade the provost to launch out upon the subject of the clique


he really seemed to entertain as profound a terror of that budy as ever huguenot did of the inquisition and he cut me short at last by ejacu lating sae nae mair ont mr dunshunnersae nae mair ont i ii iii talking on time things


ye dinna ken what the clique i nor wbaur ills


bat this i ken thal they are every where and a aboot us tbey bear every tbiog that passes in this house and i whiles suspect tbst mysie the servant lass is naethiug else than une o them in petticoats i moro than this i could not elicit


after we bad finished a considerable quantum of port we adjourned to the drawingroom and tea over miss biukie sang to me several of her own songs whilst the provost snored upon the sofa


both the songs and the singer were clever the situation was interesting and somehow or other i found my fingers more titan once in contact with maggies as i turned over the leaves of the music


at last the provost rose with a sterloracioua grunt


i thought this might be tbe signal for retir ing to rest but such were not ibe habits of dreep duily


salt herrings and finnan haddocks wera produced along wiih the hot water and accompanf


meuts and i presume it was rather late before my host conducted me to my chamber


if i dreamed al all that night it most have been of margaret binkie


chapter iii


in our next


mr


caudles breakfast talk


chapter iv


showing how caudle having lost money at cards determines to abridge the house expenses


i dont know how it is my dear but when i remember that theres only you and myselfjust two of us and i eat and drink next to nothingand when i see what other people do with half our money i do think you might be a little more careful


im sure i spend no money on myselfnone


nobody can be more watchful of every sixpence but of course a man can save but little when he knows or that is when he fears he knows that everythings going to waste at home


besides its a womans placeparticu larly a womans placeto save


women were designed for it


economy is one of the noblest virtues bound up with matri mony


there can be very little real love mrs caudle where economys neg lected


a woman cant truly care for a mans heart unless she has an equal re gard for his pocket the things go to gether and always did from the first


no mrs caudle i did not lose at my whist club last nightthat is only next to nothing in other words nothing to speak of


now thats like your sex


you always set about hunting for some foolish shabby motive for whatever your husbands complain about


because i lose at cards i dont want to getthe money back out of your cupboard


no i want to save money that should i be taken from youand life at all times is uncertain mrs caudleyou might be left snug and comfortablethats my ob ject


but i never knew any woman yet except one rest her sainted soul


who had the mind or the generosity to allow a truly noble motive to what her husband should do that is if it went against herself


you cant help itpoor things


nevertheless when a man is depriving himself of every little enjoy ment that he may lay by something for a rainy day it is harda little hard i thinkto have a woman spend what you do in housekeeping


now mrs caudle be rational and for the thousandth time let me beg of you not to cry


you only waste your trouble and your tears


both are thrown away upon me im not one of the peo ple i tell you again to be melted with a little soft water


my expenses that is your expenses are dreadful


your gro cers billand when i never taste sugar in my teais preposterous enough to ruin a man often thousand a year


what


j take sugar in my grog and so do my friends


scarcely anynothing to speak of not worth naming


and then look at your butcher for the last fortnight


well


i know i wont eat cold joints


i had enough of them with my firstthat is i cant bear em


besides with half the money you have a cold joints an insult to any man


and finally mrs caudlefor you know i hate this talk at breakfast its a meal of all others i like to enjoy when i canfinally i have made a calculation and in the next month come what will your cupboard must do with ten pounds less


its for your good i tell you when im gone and ten pounds i must have of you


chapter


v shwlng how caudle came home very late and very vinous he complains of want of sympathy


the old story mrs caudle


sulky again


but so it is with women of no intellect they can never properly sym pathise with a man you make the tea as if you were making poison and all be cause i kept you upjust a little last night


ha


i only wish you had half what i have upon my mind


what


you wouldnt have half what i had in my head


indeed


i know what you mean but i only wish you had


youd have a little more sympathy for what i have to go through as i say you dont know whats on my mind


women who have to sit quietly busking before the fire all day sewingwomen in their snug homes know nothing of what their hus bands have to go through in the world slaving and wearing as i may say their very souls out


i only wish id been a woman


oh you neednt sigh mrs caudle youve all the best of it from the beginning


for how can you tell when your husband is doing all he can to seem happy and delighted at homewhat


you never see him in such a state


you might if youd eyes like any other wo man


i say how can you tell at the very time that hes fullrunning over i may say with smiles and affability and good temperhow can you tell that his brain isnt being torn into bits and all to make his wife happy and comfortable at her own fireside


i must say it i only wish youd my anxieties sometimes just for half a day thats all youd have more sympathymrscaudlea little more sympathy


there you go on agaiu with your womans arguments


if i had so much on my mind i neednt stay out so late


how can you possibly tell what it is that detains me


if i chose like some men to tell my wife everything and so worry you and make you unhappy with nil sorts of anxietiesthen indeed i might have a little more tenderness from you


but precisely because i wish to keep you in cloverprecisely because i wont let you be worried by worldly mattersyou think ive nothing to con tend with


ila


mrs caudlei cant help saying itif you only knew what was on my mind


what do you know what wine will do or wont do


besides id taken but a poor halfpint of the very weakest sherry last night


only halfapint


but when im harrassed you ought to know how a little tells upon me


i was not intoxicated mrs caudle i was merely intensely anxious


and if youd any sympathy youd know it


yes a woman with sympathy would have felt for me would have turned a face upon mea face beaming with love and com fortand not have been all night making up looks of thunder to come to breakfast with


im going out now and i shall take the key so dont sit up again


i pro mised to sup at doubledays tonight and you dont know whats on my mind


punch


literature the story of a feather


by douglas serrets a story from punch chapter xi continued from our last


domestic happiness of the earl and countess blushrose


peculation


by lord tootles maid


you come in good time my lord said the countess with icy speech in excellent time for mr inglewoods eloquence


i am always happy to listen to mr inglewood said the earl politely bowing towards the wife of his bosom


his lordship then graciously smiled upon his chaplain and drawing a chair ceremoniously seated himself as though resigned to a long discourse


this formality somewhat abashed the worthy chaplain but there was another circumstance which increased his confusion


he knew that for the past week the wedded couple had not once met and the feigned civility interchanged between them gave certain omen of a rising storm


their general bearing was that of polished indifference but when either of them was stung into extreme politeness hostilities were sure to follow


the earl could have loved his wife nay when he married he did love her but she had chilled him into coldness


her excelling beauty had fascinated him but too late he found that he had sacrificed his dearest hopes to a statue


the countess was that most terrible but happily that rarest evil of creation a selfish woman


supremely arrogant in her personal charms her lookingglass presented her with all the external world contained whilst selfselfself sang to her soul a neverending lullaby


would to god cried her husband as one day he looked upon her fatal loveliness with moistening eyes would to god she could change that face for a heart


she would not have bartered one days bloom of it for the maternal pride of a cornelia


and now mr inglewood said the earl now for your household sermon


i see bow it is he continued marking the discomfort of the chaplain keenly observing too the cloudy brow of the countess i see how it is as usual you have been discoursing to her ladyship


here inglewood inwardly shivered for he knew by fatal experience how his lordshipotherwise kind and considerate towards himdelighted to play him off in his churchmans character against the countess


it was to the earls thinking an exquisite touch of policy to correct his wifecorrect did i say


no the earl had no such desperate thought but to punish the partner of his fortunes with the rod of the church


the earl i say considered this to be a stroke of fine policy some folks may call it conjugal cowardice


my lord said inglewood determined to make an effort to extricate himself i will defer my suitfor indeed it was a suit i had to urge and not a sermonuntil tomorrow


certainly not mr inglewood cried her ladyship affect ing a distrustful glance towards her husband


proceed i beg of you


i assure you my lord mr inglewood was talk ing very charminglyvery much


so when you interrupted us


i am sure he had something of importance to communicate something that you doubtless ought to heari beg he will continue


all this was said with meaning inquisitive eyes and in a tone of suppressed suffering so admirably did the unfeeling wife act jealousyso perfectly did her very heart lessness assume a heart


at once his lordship knew that he was reserved for some mysterious mischief and so resolved to make the first attack


poor inglewoodpoor chaplain


and hehe was to be the sentient shuttlecock struck in cruel sport from wire to hus bandfrom husband back to wife


at that moment how did his heart yearn for the paradise of a welsh curacy


her ladyship mr inglewood cried the earl quickly for the first time in his life getting the advance speech of his wife and valorously determining to keep it her ladvship for all she may affect towards yourselfhas i know the greatest veneration for your worth your honesty


she loves plainspeaking dearly though perhaps it might be impolitic at all times to avow it


still mr inglewood you must not be too ascetic with her ladyship you must be a little indul gent


you must not wage such a deadly crusade against piquet


i know what you have said of a woman gamester i have listened with great edification to your description of the terrible sect have really shuddered at the frightful picture at the anatomy i may say you have prepared from what for all good purpose has ceased to livea lady gambler nevertheless my dear mr inglewoodand here his lordship wreaked such cordi ality upon his remonstrancenevertheless you must not con found a casual instance with a custom you must not consider her ladyship a hopeless idolater of painted paper if now and thento give wings to a heavy hourshe takes a hand or so


really you must not mr inglewood


thus spoke his lord ship and in the vanity of his masculine heart he thought he had achieved a wondrous triumph over the woman he had vowed to love and cherish


the lady however who had as strongly sworn proved herself at least an equal match for the man she loved honoured and obeyed


as for inglewood he sat with his lips glued together


the polite vehemence of the earl had kept him silent now her ladyship was about to speak and he knew that nought remained for him but to suffer


with what scorching softness in ber eyeswith what bitter selfcomplacencywith what an obtrusive sense of martyrdom did the countess blushrose carefully construct a handful of inuendoes every one of them enough to wound a womans peace for ever


im sure my lordif a man could be killed by music the mortal melody of her ladyships welleducated voice had cer tainly slain her husband im sure that is i hope i am always a patient listener to mr inglewood


i know the good ness that prompts him the conscience that animates every word i know his devotion to the high and abstract character as i think i have heard you call ityou see my lord how i treasure all your syllablesyes the high and abstract character of his functioni know his regard for the familyhis especial consideration for ourselves and therefore from him can bear anything


nevertheless my lord as i was saying to mr inglewood when you enteredthat is i was about to sayi would not have him scold you as i know he does


he must not take upon common reportthe world is so censorious the world so delights to destroy wedded confidencewhat i never can believe at least not all of it


and therefore my lord i say he must not scold you


has the reader watched a wellgrown kitten with its maiden mouse


has he seen how that velvetcoated playful creature having first crushed its victims loins with all its teeth drops it and now crouching apart with serene assurance that the miserable wretch cannot escape watches with sweet forbearance its writhings and its strugglings the very hopelessness of its agony to get away


how the said kittenits claws humanely sheathed they having already done their workputs forth one paw and now tapa the mouse on one sidenow on the other and turns it over and overand all in playall in the prettiest sport


if the reader has seen this sure i am he can find a parallel in wife and husband to puss and mouse


no mr inglewood continued her ladyshiphis lord ship has i know his faults still he is not the unscrupulous libertine madam


exclaimed his lordship firing at the word and then turnlng fiercely round upon his chaplain mr ingle wood what is this


mr inglewood in patient amazement looked at the wedded pair then asked what my lord


am i sir indebted to your insinuations for this character


is it thus in my own house you fulfil a mission of peace


i protest my lord stammered inglewood i protest i oh mr inglewood is a plain speaker cried the coun tess delighted at the success of her artifice


and then so faithful so vivid an artist too


i am sure i am delighted with the portrait that as you tell me my lord mr inglewood has passed off for me


it must have been so grateful to a husband so flattering to his wife


and then it is so comfortable to have at ones elbow a kind remembrancer of ones little faults


not that i want toknow all your lordships treasonsand even if if i did mr inglewood it so good he would never tell me all


the chaplain was by nature and selfdiscipline a meek forbearing man but he was full of generous impulses and the implied slander of her ladyship was too much for his patience he therefore committed a great breach of decorum for ere her ladyship had well concluded her sentence mr inglewood brought down his clenched fist upon the table with such a re port that the countess leapt in her chair with a slight shriek


mr inglewood exclaimed the astonished earlyou for get yourself


do you know sir what you are


yes my lord replied inglewood with sudden calmness no longer your chaplain


i entered your lordships service as a minister of peace i will notno my lord will notto suit the fickle humours of the great be made a scapegoat and a firebrand


i am no longer sir your servant


come come said the really goodnatured nobleman not so hasty air


inglewood


spoil not your hopes in life by a piece of temper


my hopes in this life my lord said inglewood are a quiet conscience health and a cordial faith let them make what mistakes they will in my fellowcreatures


of these three hopes it may please god to deprive me of one never theless twowhilst my reason lastsmust and shall remain with me


mr inglewoodi have been wrong i confess as much and my lord replied inglewood firmly yet respectfullyi have been wrong and by quitting your service can make the only reparation due to myself understand me my lordto myself


i now know my place it must be my own house my own roofthough wind and snow drive through it my own hearth though with scarce a log to warm it my own time that i may work to know the mystery within me


i thank you my lord with all my heart i thank you for this relief from bondage


you intended kindly by me but i feel it my lordi should dwarf and wither under your patronage i should never grow to be a man


you know best said the earl resuming his dignity


i would not by my favours blight a giant


come come said the earl smilingly you are a young mana very young man


let us talk of this tomorrow


my lord answered inglewood i have made my election i am free


yet my lord let me leave your house a peace maker


then turning to the countess he said will your ladyship grant me a moments hearing


for what i have to say must interest you


her ladyship nodded dignified assent


i would plead for a weak and foolish woman


she has betrayed her trust


yet i believe twas pride a vain and foolish pride no deep sinthat beguiled her


what womans this asked the earl


one beneath your roof my lord


one of your tenants daughters hired to tend your child


this morning ten thousand pardons my lady cried an elderly hard featured woman bursting into the apartment but flesh and blood cant bear to have such doings made nothing of


if susan isnt packed off nobodys safe


i knew his reverence here wanted to talk her offbutii beg your pardon my lady for breaking inbut every bodys character must suffer


here the ancient dame with her apron corner carefully dis lodged a small tear from either eye


whats the matter mrs pillowwhat has susan done asked the countess


stolen halfayard of lace from his lordships cap answered mrs pillow


not stolennot stolenshrieked a girl as she rushed in and with streaming eyes fell at the feet of the countess


i never had a thiefs thoughtnever nurse said twas of no usenone and i only took it to remember me of that sweet childi love it dearer than my own fleshto remember it when i should be old and baby be a man


the girl with clasped hands looked with passionate grief in the face of the countess


her ladyship rose and fanning her cheek with menew from the princes coronetsaid send the culprit from the house and instantly


the girl fell prostrate on the floor


mr inglewood followed the countess with his eyes as still waving me to and fro she walked from the room


god teach you better mercy


he said in a low voice and then stooped down to raise the heart stricken offender


to be continued


chiapter xxii


twilight had given place to night some hours and it was high noon in those quarters of the town in which the world condescended to dwellthe world being then as now of very limited dimen sions and easily lodgedwhen mr chester reclined upon a sofa in his dressing room in the temple entertaining himself with a book


he was dressing as it seemed by easy stages and having performed half the journey was taking a long rest


completely attired as to his legs and feet in the trimmest fashion of the day he had yet the remainder of his toilet to perform


the coat was stretched like a refined scarecrow on its sepa rate horse the waistcoat was displayed to the best advantage the various ornamental articles of dress were severally set out in most alluring order and yet heo lay dangling his legs between the sofa and the ground as intent upon his book as if there were nothing but bed before him


upon my honour he said at length raising his eyes to the ceiling with the air of a man who was reflecting seriously on what he had read upon my honour the most masterly composition the most delicate thoughts the finest code of mora lity and the most gentlemanly sentiments in the universe


ah ned ned if you would but form your mind by such precepts we should have but one common feeling on every subject that could possibly arise between us i this apostrophe was addressed like the rest of his remarks to empty air for edward was not present and the father was quite alone


mly lord chesterfield he said pressing his hand tenderly upon the book as he laid it down if i could iave profited by your genius soon enough to have formed my son on the model you have left to all wise fathers both he and i would have been rich men


shakspeare was undoubtedly very fine in his way milton good though prosy


lord bacon deep and decidedly knowing but the writer who should be his countrys pride is my lord chesterfield


he became thoughtful again and the toothpick was in requisition


i thought i was tolerably accomplished as a man of the world he continued i flattered myself that i was pretty well versed in all those little arts and graces which distinguish men of the world from boors and peasants and separate their character from those intensely vulgar sentiments which are called the national character


apart from any natural prepossession in mny own favour i be


lieved i was


still in every page of this enlight ened writer find some captivating hypocrisy which has never occurred to me before or some superlative piece of selfishness to which i was utterly a stranger


i should quite blush for myself before this stu pendous creature if remembering his precepts one might blush at anything


an amazing manl a noblerman indeed


sayking or queen may make a lord but only the devil himselfand the graces can make a chesterfield


men who are lioroughly false and hollow seldom try to hide those vices from themselves and yet in the very act of avowing them they lay claim to the virtues they feign most to despise


i for say they this is honesty this is truth


all mankind are like us but they have not the candour to avow it


the more they affesct to dedy ilhe existence of any sincerity in the world the more they would be tliougllt to possess it in its boldest shape and this is an unconscious compliment to truth on the part of these philosophers which will turn the laugh against them to the day of judgment


flmr


chesterb having extolled his favourite author as above recited tookup the book bgain in the eicess of his admirationand was composing himsell for a further perusal of itssublime morality when ht was disturbed by a noise at the outer door occa sibned as it seemed by the endeuvours of his setvant ton obstruct the entrance of some unwelcome visitor a a late hour for an importunate creditor he said raising his eyebrows with atindolent an ex


pression of wonder as if the noise were in the street and one with which he had tint the smallest personal concern


much after their accustomed time


tiho usual pretence i suppose


no doubt a heavy payment to make up tomorrow


poor fellow he loses time and time is money as the good proverb says


i never found it out though


well


what now


you know i ams not at home


a man sir replied the servant who was to the full as cool and negligent in his way as his master has brought ihomn the ridingwhip you lost i the other day


i told him you were out but lie t said lie was to wait while i brought it in and wouldnt go till i did


he was quite right returned his master anml youre a blockhead possessing no judgment or dis cretion whatever


tfell him to come in and see that he rubs iis shoes for exactly five minutes first


the man laid the whip on a chair and withdrew