i have marked in this rough sketch the salient p intsintrajah brookes career


probably we shall one day find his life narrated in full detail


but from this rapid outline thereader even ifhe have not already acquaihted himself with some of the white rajahs proceedingsmay perceive what an ex traordinary course of adventure his hais been


we maj say of him ai ofbother great men who have mnourited the eleita tion of success he has woni the prize


but has hlie not risked the loss of life and property


has he not arrived at the goal after running t e garuntlet of unnutm lereddangers fatigues anxieties and ptivation he has and who is there among his enemies that uossesses the same courage or ability


chapteb iv


we have now passing a few proliroinanot to intro duce the reader to a party at supper


we cared not to particularise the persons as they arrived we preferred to shew them at one irlance and there they sit in one of the largest rooms ot t lie best house or the hyacinth estate decorously ranged at a tablo bearing the where withal to claim attention of even tho fastidious eater


fortunately for the cook every man had bis workingday appetite about him and ni


ilisli remained unbonoured


from sirloin to blackpudding every claimant met with due attention


had the feeders supped in the ark they would liavo thought no tiling beneath their notice


how ever wo are glad that on the present occasion the supper was found worthy of llio partakors for how nrlv in these poor respectable dnys these miserable timci f melancholy and propriety do wo see such character brought together tulle of cabinet dinners giro


u vagabond suppers


iut the reader judge


we earnestly solicit his attention to tho illustrious person witban enormous partly bald hoad at tho top of tho table


there is one very long look of black hair brought down the forehead which m its longitude scorns an if the owner wore a pigtail tho wrong way


the forehead is tolerably umplo nay we havo seen a rouim worse with statesman written on it the eyebrows slightly nrched over largo rolling black eyes imparting a very distinguished sturo to tlio possessor


the nose prominent roman rhtiuk hones high j mouth inreo and complexion of saddleleather


and the chin of this head for there is no neck is witlini two inches of the table and about thirty from the ground


it seems ns though a giant hud been decapitated and his head only nut in tno chair to do the honours of ihu feast


this hoad however has a body albeit as happens with much genius unworthy of its greatness


and there is a in orvals a frank kind smile breaking through the melancholy of the huge checks that swa gsnernl porapoy for it is no loss a parson to bo a eiiiiil


fellow


moreovor


there i an air in his mode


of


handing his snuefbox right and loft that proclaims afc lonst tlie lighter graces of tho gentlomun


at this however tho reader is not called upon to be surprised gonoml


pompoy inconsequence of his extreme littlepess having in his time been patronised by all tub courts of europe


unfortunately in two or throe iimtahucit when lie was in tho full blaeoot fortune smallor men supplaiitud him and he was com pelled from time to tinu to tako a more roinor ground until fortune dopbsitnd ulm in tho box of a show man whence ho had emerged to preside on tho present


occasion


indued ho was tho groat man with the tenant of tho hyacinth ostate i nothing was to ba done withoutt the general who to say the truth was at onco tno


bssence of goodbrbodlnc and the soul of liberality


prenezvous dxi tabae t said tho president wwi jfucious smile prbttcrihg ao opened powterbox toagen tleman on his right who was no other than young hya cinth roused from a study by the courteous solicitude


the king of france hasnt such at least he had nt said the general smiling on his guest for it was by


potnpeys special though accidental introduction that hyacinth obtained a view of the rttotley scene before him


toe young man on leaving peppercorn had passed through two streets when he heard the shrill cries of as he thought a child in danger he followed the noise and overtook a drunken porter carrying on his head a basket whence the sound proceeded


hyacinth forced the man to sot down his load when out sprang the general ignominiovsly caught up by the bacchanal who endeavoured to excuse his cruelty by stating that he had promised a plaything to his children


the general drew hu sword and breathed blood and murder


hyacinth restrained the warrior in his vengeance and his wrath a little subsided he insisted that his preserver should accompany him to a place whore at least he would find a good supper and a hearty welcome


smiling at the adventure hyacinth consented and to his aetonishmpnt was led by the fields into the very house in which be was born


again wliat was his surprise to find at the table the old man peppercorn sat or rather wriggled on the generals left whom he bad left so passionately


to hyacinth all was mystery but he was determined to seek it out


peppercorn to do him justice ate on the present occa sion as with a practised appetite


ho too though sadly perplexed by his unprofitable tenants was excited by a itrtnge curiosity to see further into their habits


here vu an accident i the rich inndlord the guest of vaga bonds and mendicants in his now dilapidated mansion mited face to face with his wronged nephew who but for the chance which brought him to tho same board bad gone supperless to bed next to peppercorn was a hardworking worthy person with gray hair and chalky lackadaisical face who that he might havo ample room for his meals at home would do nothing when abroad to the wonder and compassion of the multitude but vomit pebble pins mils and other small ware


and the honest people perceiving that he could swallow stones never failed to press upon him money to buy bread


opposite to tho stoneeater and noxt to hyacinth was a famous pnsturemnater who would disguise and degrade hii anatomy in a thousand ways for which he rarely failed to meet with public compensation


his principal feat however was the snake trick for he would cast himself upon the earth and move along it in undulations m quickly and as lithely as the living reptile


we once knew a minister to throw him a guinea from the window of his drawingroom in pure admiration of his peculiar notion


whenever his other tricks failed he began to creep and success was certain


a little lower down was a bankrupt schoolmaster


as


he refused to birch the few pupils he got together they were one by one withdrawn from him by anxious parents who allowed that he was a good sort of a roan but very uninformed in fact quite ignorant of the propor end of scholarship for coma time the pedagogue starved in sileut magnanimity


at length however ho took another pupil one with no father or mother to govern master or disciple he took a pig


the which sagacious and therefore much scandalised animal ho taught to draiv


my card desired to tell a lady whether she were maid or wife or


when site would cease to be either to point out the initial of a lovers nnmiw to grunt for the king nd be silent for the pretender or to grunt for the pre nftdpr and bo silent for the king a the politics of tho party might be


these with otbor accomplishments on too jpart of the hog brought the tutor more tangible rood than it would have been wise for him to bopo from pipod youth


nearly fronting the schoolmaster was a great theoreti cal philanthropist who had reduced himself to the pang of hunger by expending his patrimony in the printing of tracts that should disabuse the human mind of nil its vices and weaknesses saving it from its own evils and the snares of others and should at once and for over destroy tho empiric in overy shape and colour


ho for tunately rescued himself from starvation by marrying the widow of a mountebank vending her late husbands in ventions on a most respectable stage assisted by one of the best paid jackpuddings of the day


not far from tho philanthropic mountebank was a great navigutor


for many many yeurs ho had to his own satisfaction convinced tho world of the existence of a northwest passage ho had baftvever turned his genius for discovery to a more profitable channel and faithfully told the whereabouts of lost spoons stolen linen and strayed cattle


further down tho table was a philosophic visionary who spent all his inheritance in preaching agaiut the outward vanities of life the paintings and the trappings and the false heeling finery of sophistication


he brought himself to rags but in a lucky hour hit upon an expedient that in somn way restored him for it was he who origu nnted the custom of gilding gingerbread


the last person we shalf especially notice started as a sort ol saint


he wns willing to turn hermit for life to live upon pulso and water and never look upon tho face never hear tho voice of u female


he afterwards became


the contented husband of the woman with the beard


a second barbara urseline to be viewed for a penny at every fair in the country


there is hardly a saddor feeling than that


which arises from a contrast of our early ennobling


nspirntionx our proud vauntings of invulnerability mid our trumpet v tongucd defiance of all threats and blandishments to win us from the one great purpose of our soul with our final miserable realities our low confessions of weakness


our small voiced defence of tho fear or tho wile that hns tempted us from tho highway which we thought would lead toll things


how few aro thoro who starling in youth animated by great motives do not at thirty seem to havo suffered a second fall i whatangelpurposch


did they woo and what hugrealities havo they married


what kachaels have they thought to serve for


and what leuhs has the morning duwncd upon


but wo arn among vagabonds it may bo said and this


strain is a little out ol place


by your leave no


there is to our roindmure matter for sweet and bitter melancholy in the flaunting tawdry of a cany than in tho embroidered suit of a fino gentleman morettstuff pregnant with more curious and touching contrast in the fantastic rags of your truo vagabond than in tho sleek garments of tho roan of all proprieties


we have not particularised ono third of tho suppercaters and yet even those we havo named may they not contrasting their original motives with their


settled habits be compared with at least fifty


of our acquaintance albeit we admit no similitude


to our immaculate selves


but wo have done


gentlemen said the gonerol taking a jug of ale noverlot us forget what is duo to our landlord


pep percorn unconsciously drew himself upright


ho is a most excellent person and may ho never have worsn tenants


there was a general growl of applauso


a knocking upou the tablo and thon a derisive cry of our landlord i


i


r


gome sir you dont drink said pompey to hyacinth j our landlord


i pray excuse we i i happen to know tho gentle man said tho visitor


t


what


cried peppercorn unconscious of the word


you do


was tho loud interrogative and nllilooked upon rhyucinth nil a spvinrthocampto bo straightway delivered up to tho enotny


tliis question wasi imme diatcfiy foilowofi


by glances of reproach


attho gonoral who declared that hewould answer with his head for the honor of his guest


all very fine haiti


tho stonowmter in a low voioe to peppercorn take my word for it and he slapped


isaac emphatically on the thigh wo roust all lit tho games up


peppercorn tliough wondering at the assuranoe of


hyacinth i throw a look of entreaty over to him at this dnstant however there was a loud knocking at tho street door


every man sprang to his feet and etared for in tformation iu the fooo of his fellow


cuaprter xxxvi


as the single gentleman after some weeks occu pation of his lodgings still declined to correspond by word or gesture either with nbr


brass or his sister sally but invariably chose richard swiveller as his channel of communication and as he proved himself in all respects a highly desirable inmate paying for everything beforehand giving very little trouble making no noise and keeping early hours mr richard imperceptibly rose to an important position in the family as one who had influence over this mysterious lodger and could negotiate with him for good or evil when nobody else durst approach his person


if the truth must be told even mr swivellers approaches to the single gentleman were of a very distant kind and met with small encouragement but as he never returned from a monosyllabic con ferencewith the unknown without quoting such expressions as swiveller i know i can rely upon you have no hesitation in saying swiveller that i entertain a regard for yoe


swiveller you are my friend and will stand by me i am sure with many other short speeches of the same familiar and confiding kipnd purporting to have been ad dressed by the single gentleman to himself and to form thestaple of their ordinary discourse neither mr irass nor miss sally for a moment questiotied tlto extent of his influeqce but accorded to him their fullest and most unqualified belief


dbt quite apart from and independent of


this source of popularity mr swiveller had another whih promised to be equally enduring and to lighten his position considerably


he found favour in the eyes of miss sally brass


let not the light scorners of female fascination eredt their ears to listen to a new tale of love whichshlall servo theri for a jest for miss brass however accurately formed to be beloved wis not of the loving kind that amiable virgin havingclung


to the skirts of the law from her earliest youth having sustained herself by theiraid as it wereitihirilrst running alone hadi mnsiftahieda irm lgrasp upqn them ever since had passedher life in a kind of legal childhood she had been remarkable wien a tender prattler for an uacommon talent in counterfeiting the walk and manner of a bailif in which ciharac


ter she had learned to tap her little playfellows on the shoulder and carry thlem off to imaginary spong


inghouses with a correctness of imitation which was the surprise and delight of all who witnessed her performances and which was only to be exceeded by her exquisite manner of putting an execution into her dolls house and taking an exact inventory of the chairs and tables


these artless sports had naturally soothed and cheered the decline of her widowed father a most exemplary gentleman called old foxey by his friends from his extreme sagacity who encouraged them to the utmost and whose chief regret as he drew near houndsditclh churchyard was that his daughter could not take out an attorneys certificate and hold a place upon the roll


filled with tills affectionate and touching sorrow he had solemnly confided her to his son sampson as an invaluable auxiliary and from the old gentlemans decease to the period of which we treat miss sally brass had been the prop and pillar of his business


it is obvious that having devoted herself front infancy to this one pursuit and study miss sally could know but little of the world otherwise than in connexion with the law and that from a lady gifted with such high tastes proficiency in those gentler and softer arts in which women usually excel was scarcely to be looked for


mliss sallys accomplishments were all of a masculine and strictly legal kind


they began with the practice of an attorney and they ended with it


site was in a state of lawful innocence so to speak


the law had been her nurse and as bandylegs or such physical defor


mities in children are held to be the consequence of bad nursing so if in a mind so beautiful any moral twist or handiness could be found miss sally brasss nurse was alone to blame


it was upon this lady then that mr swiveller burst in full freshness as something new and hitherto undreamed of lighting up the office with scraps of song and merriment conjuring with inkstands and boxes of wafers catching three oranges in one hand balancing stools upon his chin and penknives upon his nose and constantly performing a hundred other feats of equal ingenuity for with such unbendings did richard in amr


brasss absence relieve the tedium of his confinement


these social qualities which miss sally first discovered by accident gradually made such an impression upon her that she would entreat mr swiveller to relax as though she were not by which alr


swiveller nothing loth would readily consent to do


by these means a friendship sprung up between them


mr swiveller gradually came to look upon her as her brother sampson did and as he would have looked upon any other clerk


he imparted to her the mystery of going the odd man or plain newmarket for fruit gingerbeer baked potatoes or even a modest quencher of which mliss brass did not scruple to partake


he would often persuade her to undertake his share of writing in addition to her own nay lihe would sometimes reward her with a hearty slap on the back and protest she was a devilish good fellow a jolly dog and soforth all of wvlich compliments mliss sally would receive in entire good part and with perfect satisfaction


one circumstance troubled air


swivellers nind very much and that was that the small servant always remained somewhere in the bowels of the earth under bevis marks and never came to the surface unless the single gentleman rang his bell when she would answerit and immediately disappear again


she never went out or came into the office or had a clean face or took off the coarse apron or looked out of any one of the windows or stood at the streetdoor for a breath of air or had any rest or enjoyment whatever


nobody ever came to see her nobody spoke of her nobody cared about her


mr brass had said once that lie believed site was a lovechild which means anything but a child of love and that was all the information richard swiveller could obtain


its of no use asking the dragon thought dick one day as he sat contemplating the features of miss sally brass


i suspect if i asked any questions on that head our alliance would be at an end


wonder whether she is a dirgon by the bye or some thing in the mermaid way


she has rather a scaly appearance


but mermaids are fond of looking at themselves in the glass which she cant be


and they have a habit of ebmbing their hair which she hasnt


no shes a dragon


where are you going old fellow said dick aloud as bliss sally wiped her pen as usual odtfhe green dress and uprose from her seat


to dinner answered the dragon


to dinner i thought dick thats another circumstance


i dont believe thatsmall servant ever has anything to eat


sammy wont be home said miss brass


stop till i come back


i shant be long


dick nodded and followed miss brass with his eyes to the door and with his eyes to a little back parlour where she and her brother took her meals


now said dick walking up and down with his hands in his pockets id give sometlhingif i had itto know how they use that child and where they keep her


miy mother must have been a very inquisitive woman i have no doubt pm marked with a note of interrogation somewhere


my feelings i smother but thou hast been the cause of tlhis anguish myupon my word said mlr


swivellbi checking himself and falling thoughltfullyitaolthe clients chair i should like to know how theyiase her


after running on in this way for some time ilr


swiveller softly opeped the obmice doorwith the intention of darting across the street for a glass of themild porter


at that moment he cauglht a parting glimpse df the biown headdress of miss brass flittingdown the kitchen stairs


auli by joveli bthought dick sites going to feed the servant


now or never first peeping over the handrali and allowilig the henaddress to disappear in the darkness below ihe groped his way down and arrived at the door of a backkitched immediately after miss brabs had enteredthe same bearing in her hand a cold leg of mutton


it was a verydark miserable place very low and very damp the walls disfigured by a thou sand rents and blotches


tiheo water was trlckling out of a leaky butt and a most vwretchiedoat was lapping up thledrops with the sickly eagoeriesas of starivation


the grate which was a wide one was wound and screwed up tight so as tohold hno mnore than a little thin nandwich of fire


everything was locked up a tite coalcellar the candlebox the saltbox the meatsafe were all padlocked


there was nothing that a beetle could have lunched upon


the pinched and meagre aspect of the place would have killed a chamelion


lie would have known at the first mouthful that the air was not eatable and must have given up the ghost in despair


the small servant stood with humility in the presence of miss sally and hung her head


are you there said miss sally


yes maam was the answer in a weak voice


go further away from the leg of mutton or youll be picking it i know said miss sally


the girl withdrew into a corner while miss brass took a key from her pocket and opening the safe brought from it a dreary waste of cold potatoes looking as eatable as stonehenge


this she placed before the small servant ordering her to sit down before it and then taking up a great carvingknife made a mighty show of sharpening it upon the carvingfork


do you see this said miss brass slicing off about two square inches of cold mutton after all this preparation and holding it out on the point of the fork


the small servant looked hard enough at it with her hungry eyes to see every shred of it small as it was and answered yes


there dont you ever go and say retorted miss sally that you had no meat item


there eat it up


this was soon done


now do you want any more said miss sally


the hungry creature answered with a faint no


they were evidently going through an established form


youve been helped once to meat said bliss brass summing up the facts you have had as much as you can eat youre asked if you want any mone and you answer no


i then dont you ever go and say you were allowanced mind that


with those words miss sally put the meat away and locked the safe and then drawing near to the small servant overlooked her while she finished her potatoes


it was plain that some extraordinary grudge was working in miss brasss gentle breast and that it was this which impelled her without the smallest present cause to rap the child with the blade of the knife now on her hand now on her head and now on her back as if she found it quite impossible to stand so close to her without administering a few knocks


but mr swiveller was not a little surprised to see his fellow clerk after walking slowly back wards towards the door as if she were trying to withdraw herself from the room but could not accomplish it dart suddenly forward and fallingon the small servant give her some hard blows with her clenched hand


the victim cried but in a subdued manner as if she feared to raise her voice and miss sally comforting herself with a pinch of snuff ascended the stairs just as richard had safely reached the ollice


to be continued


tieler ilutnplircp wlocrt personal adventures of master humphrey


tiib old curiosity siopccihaptrb xxxi


the proposed expedition being one of paramount importance mlrs


jarley adjusted nells bonnet with her own hands and declaring that she certainly did look very pretty and reflected credit on the establish ment dismissed her with many commendations and certain needful directions as to the turnings on the right which she was to take and the turnings on the left which she was to avoid


lhus instructed nell had no dilficulty in finding out miss monflatherss boarding and day establishment which was a large house with a high wall and a large gardengate with a large brass plate and a small grating through which miss monflatiherss parlourmaid inspected all visitors before admitting them for nothing in the shape of a manno not even a milkmanwas suf fered without special licence to pass that gate


even the taxgatherer who was stout and wore spectacles and a broadbrimmed hat had the taxes handed through the grating


more obdurate than gate of adamant or brass this gate of miss mon flatherss frowned on all mankind


the very butcher respected it as a gate of mystery and left off whistling when he rang the bell


as nell approached the awful door it turned slowly upon its hinges with a creaking noise and forth from the solemn grove beyond came a long file of young ladies two and two all with open books in their hands and some with parasols like wise


and last of the goodly procession came miss monflathers bearing herself a parasol of lilac silk and supported by two smiling teachers each mortally envious of the other and devoted unto miss men lathers


confused by the looks and whispers of the girls nell stood with downcast eyes and suffered the procession to pass on until mliss monflathers bringing up the rear approached her when she curtseyed and presented her little packet on receipt whereof miss monflathers commanded that the line should halt


youre the wax work child are you not said miss monflathers


yes maam replied nell colouring deeply for the young ladtes had collected about tier and she was the centre on which all eyes were fixed


and dont you think you must be a very wicked little child said miss lonflathers who was of rather uncertain temper and lost no opportunity of impressing moral truths upon the tender minds of the young ladies to be a wax work child at all


poor nell had never viewed her position in this light and not knowing what to say remained silent blushing more deeply than before


dont you know said miss monflathers that its very naughty and unfeminine and a perversion of the properties wisely and benignantly transmitted to us with expansive powers to be roused from their dormant state through the medium of cultivation


the two teachers murmured their respectful ap proval of this home thrust and looked at nell as though they would have said that there indeed miss monflathers had hit very hard


then they smiled and glanced at miss monflathers and then their eyes meeting they exchanged looks which plainly said that each considered herself smiler in ordinary to miss monflathers and regarded the other as having no right to smile and that her so doing was an act of presumption and impertinence


dont you feel how naughty it is of you re sumed bliss monflathers to be a wax work child when you might have the proud consciousness of assisting to the extent of your infant powers the manufactures of your country of improving your mind by the constant contemplation of the steam engine and of earning a comfortable and indepen dent subsistence of from twoandnuepence to three shillings per week


dont you know that tilhe harder you are at work thi happier you are


how doth the little murmured one of the teachers in quotation from doctor watts


eli said miss monflathers turning smartly round


who said that


of course the teacher who had not said it indi cated the rival who had whom bliss monflathers frowningly requested to hold her peace by that means throwing the informing teacher into raptures of joy


file little busy bee said miss monflathers drawing hersif uip is applicable only to genteel children


in books or work or healthful play is quite right as far as they are concerned and the work means painting on velvet fancy needlework or embroidery


in such cases as these pointing to nell with her parasol and in the case of all poor peoples children we should read it thus


in work work work


in work alway let ny first years be past that imay give for evry day


some good account at last


a deep hum of applause rose not only from the two teachers but from all the pupils who were equally astonished to hear miss monflathers impro vising after this brilliant style for although she had been long known as a politician shite had never ap peared before as an original poet


just then some body happened to discover that nell was crying and all eyes were again turned towards her


there were indeed tears in her eyes and drawing out her handkerchief to brush them away shle hap


pened to let it fall


before she could stoop to pick tt up one young lady of about fifteen or sixteen who had been standing a little apart from the others as though she had no recognised place among them sprang forward and put it in her hand she was gliding timidly away again when she was arrested by the governess


it was miss edwards who did that i know said miss monflathers predictively


now i am sure that was itiss edwards


it was miss edwards and every body said it was miss edwards and miss edwards herself admitted that it was


is it not said miss monflathers putting down her parasol to take a severer view of the offender a most remarkable tihing miss edwards that you have an attachment to the lower classes which always draws you to their sides or rather is it not a most extraordinary thing that all i say and do will not wean you from propensities vwhich your original station in life have unhappily rendered habitual to you you extremely vulgarminded girl


i really intended no harm maamn said a sweet voice


it wras a momentary impulse indeed


an impulsoei repeated miss mlonflathers scornfully


i wonder that you presume to speakof impulses to moboth the teachers assented i am astonislhed bothl the teachers were astonished suppose it is an impulse which induces you to take the part of every grovelling and debased person that comes in your wvaybothl tile teachers sup posed so too


but i would have you knowmiss edwards resumed the governess in a tone of increased severity that you catinot be permittedif it be only for the sake of preserving a proper eamnple and decorum in titls establishlmentthat you cannot be permitted and tlhat you shall not be permitted to fly n thie face of your superiors in thlisexceedingly gross manner


if you have no reason toteel a becoming pride before warwork children there are young ladies here who have and you must either defer to those young ladies or leave the establishment miss edwards


this young lady being motherless and poor was apprenticteed at the schooltaught for nothing teaching others what she learnt for nothingboarded for nothinglodged for nothingand set down and rated as somtething immeasurably less than nothing by all the dwellersin the houase


the servantsiaids felt hier inferiority for they were better treated free to come and go and regarded in their stations with much more respect


the teachers were ifilnitely


superior for they had paid to go to school in their time and were paid now


rthe pupils cared little for a companian who had no grand stories to tell pfout home no friends to come with posthorses aud be received in all humility with cake and wine by the governess no deferential servant to attend and bear her home for thie holidays nothing genteel to talk about and nothing to display


but why was miss monllathers always vexed and irritalted with the poor apprenticehow did that come to pass why


the gayest feather in bliss monflatherss cap and the briglhtest glory of miss monflatherss school was a baronets daughterthe real live daughter of a real live baronetwho by some extraordinary reversal of the laws of nature was not only plain in features but dull in intellect while the poor appren


tice had both a ready wit and a handsome face and figure


it seemsincredible


here was miss edwards who only paid a small premium which had been spent long ago every day outshining and excelling the baronets daughter who learned all the extras or was taught them all and whose halfyearly bill came to double that of any other young ladys in the school making no account of the honour and repu


tation of her pupilage


therefore and because she was a dependant bliss monflathers had a great dis like to miss edwards and was spiteful to her and aggravated by her and when she had compassion on little nell verbally fell upon and maltreated her as we have already seen


you will not take the air to day miss edwards said miss monflathers


have the goodness to retire to your own room and not to leave it without permission


the poor girl was moving hastily away when she was suddenly in nautical phrase brought to by a subdued shriek from miss monflathers


she has passed me without any salute i cried the governess raising her eyes to the sky


she has actually passed me without the slightest acknow ledgment of my presence the young lady turned and curtsied


nell could see that she raised her dark eyes to the face of her superior and that their expression and that of her whole attitude for the instant was one of mute but most touching appeal against this ungenerous usage


mliss monflathers only tossed her head in reply and the great gate closed upon a bursting heart


as for you you wicked child said bliss mon flathers turning to nell tell your mistress that if she presumes to take the liberty of sending to me any more i will write to the legislative authorities and have her put in the stocks or compelled to do penance in a white sheet and you may depend upon it that you shall certainly experience the treadmill if you dare to come here again


now ladies on


the procession filed off two and two with the books and parasols and bliss tlonflathers calling the baronets daughter to walk with her and smooth her ruffled feelings discarded the two teacherswho by this time had exchanged their smiles for looks of sympathyand left them to bring up the rear and hate each other a little more for being obliged to walk together


to be continued


itttbtr uttlnpllrrrg floctt


o


persaonal adventures of master humpphrey


tire oid cultinsity shiopctiaptr xxil


the remainder of that day and the whole of the next was a busy time for the nubblcs family to to whom everything connected with kits outfit and departure was matter of as great moment as if hie had been about to penetrate into the interior of africa or to take a cruise round the world


it would be diflicult to suppose that there ever was a box which was opened and shut so many times within fourandtwenty hours as that which con tained his wardrobe and necessaries and certainly there never was one which to two small eyes pre sented such a mine of clothing as this mighty chest with its three shirts and proportionate allowance of stockings and pocket handkerchiefs disclosed to the astonished vision of little jacob


at last it was conveyed to the carriers at whose house at finchley kit was to find it next day and the box being gone thete remained but two questions for consi


deration firstly whether the carrier would lose or dishonestly feign to lose the box upon the road and secondly whether kits mother perfectly under stood how to take care of herself in the absence of her son


i dont think theres hardly a chance of his really losing it but carriers are under great tempta


tion to pretend they lose things no doubt said mrs nubbles apprehensively in reference to the first point


no doubt about it returned kit with a serious look upon my word mother i dont think it was right to trust it to itself


somebody ought to have gone with it im afraid


we canthelp it now said his mother but it was foolish and wrong


people oughtnt to be tempted


kit inwardly resolved that he would never tempt a carrier any more save with an empty box and having formed this christian determination he turned his thoughts to the second question


you know you must keep up your spirits mo ther and not be lonesome because im not at home


i shall very often be able to look in when i come into town i dare say and i shall send you a letter sometimes and when the quarter comes round i can get a holiday of course and then see if we dont take little jacob to the play and let him know what oysters means


i hope plays maynt be sinful kit but im amost afraid said nubbles


i know who has been putting that in your head rejoined her son disconsolately thats little bethel again


now i say mother pray dont take to going there regularly for if i was to see your goodhumoured face that has always made home cheerful turned into a grievious one and the baby trained to look grievious too and to call itself a young sinner bless its heart and a child of the devil which is calling its dead father names if i was to see this and to see little jacob looking grievious likewise i should so takeit to heart that im sure i should go and list for a soldier and run my head on purpose against the first cannonball i saw coming my way


oh kit dont talk like that


i would indeed mother and unless you want to make me feel very wretched and uncomfortable youll keep that bow on your bonnet which youd more than half a mind to pull off last week


can you suppose theres any harm in looking as cheerful and being as cheerful as our poor circumstances will permit i do i see anything in the way im made which calls upon me to be a snivelling solemn whispering chap sneaking about as if i couldnt help it and expressing myself in a most unpleasant snuffle


on the contrary dont i see every reason why i shouldnt


just hear this


ha ha hal ant that as natral as walking and as good for the health


ha ha ha


ant that as natral as a sheeps bleatirg or a pigs grunting or a horses neighing or a birds singing


isnt it mother


there was something contagious in kits laugh for his mother who had looked grave before first subsided into a smile and then fell to joining in it heartily which occasioned kit to say that he knew it was natural and to laugh the more


kit and his mother laughing together in a pretty loud key woke the baby who finding that there was something very jovial and agreeable in progress was no sooner in its mothers arms than it began to kick and laugh most vigorously


this new illustration of his argu ment so tickled kit that be fell backward in his chair in a state of exhaustion pointing at the baby and shaking his sides till he rocked again


after recovering twice or thrice and as often relapsing he wiped his eyes and said grace and a very cheer ful meal their scanty supper was


with more kisses and hugs and tears than many joung gentlemen who start upon their travels and leave wellstocked homes behind them would deem within the bounds of probability if matter so low could be herein set down kit left the house at an early hour next morning and set out to walk to finchley feeling a sufficient pride in his appear ance to have warranted his excommunication from little bethlel from that time forth if he had ever been one of that mournful congregation


lest anybody should feel a curiosity to know how kit was clad it may be briefly remarked that he wore no livery but was dressed in a coatof pepper andsalt with waistcoat of canary colour and nether garments of iron grey besides these glories he shone in the lustre of a new pair of boots and an extremely stiff and shiny bat which on being struck anywhere with the knuckles sounded like a drum


and in this attire rather wvondering that be attracted so little attention and attributing the circumstance to the insensibility of those who got up early he sade his way towards abel cottage


without encountering any more remarkable ad venture on the road than meeting a lad in a brimless hat the exact counterpart of his old one on whom be bestowed half the sixpence he possessed kit ar rived in course of time at the carriers house where to the lasting honour of human nature he found the box in safety


receiving from the wife of this im maculate man a direction to mlr


garlands ite took the box upon his shoulder and repaired thithler di rectly


to be sure it was a beautiful little cottage with a thatched roof and little spires at the gable ends and pieces of stained glass in some of the windows al most as large as pocketbooks


on one side of the house was a little stable just the size for the poney with a little room over it just the size for kit


white curtains were fluttering and birds in cages that looked as bright as if they were made of gold were singing at the windows plants were arranged on either side of the path and clustered about the door and the garden was bright with flowers in full bloom which shed a sweet odour all round and had a charming and elegant appearance


everything within the house and without seemed to be the per faction of neatness and order


in tile garden there was not a weed to be seen and to judge from some dapper gardeningtools a basket and a pair of gloves ahich were lying in one of the walks old mar garland had been at work in it that very morning


kit looked about him and admired and looked again and this a great many times before he could make up his mind to turn his head another way and ring the bell


there was abundance of time to look about him again though when he had rung it for nobody came so after ringing twice or thrice he sat down upon his box and waited


he rung the bell a great many times and yet no body came


but at last as he was sitting upon the box thinking about giants castles and princesses tied up to pegs by the hair of their heads and dra gons bursting out from behind gates and other inci dents of the like nature common in storybooks to youths of low degree on their first visit to strange houses the door was gently opened and a little ser vant girl


very tidy modest and demure but very pretty too appeared


i suppose youre christopher sir said tile ser vant girl


kit got off the box and said yes lie was


im afraid youve rung a good many times perhaps she rejoined but we couldnt hear you because weve been catching the pony


kit rather wondered what this meant but as he couldnt stop there asking questions he shouldered the box again and followed the girl into the hall where through a backdoor he descried mr garland leading whisker in triumph up the garden after that selfwilled poney had as he afterwards learned dodged the family round a small paddock in tlhe rear for one hour and threequarters


the old gentleman received him very kindly and so did the old lady whose previous good opinion of himrr was greatly enhanced by his wiping his boots on the mat until the soles of his feet burnt again


he was then taken into the parlour to be inspected in his new clothes and when he had been surveyed several times and had afforded by his appearance unlimited satisfaction he was taken into the stable where the pony received him with uncommon com plaisance and thence into the little chamber he bad already observed which was very clean and comfortable and thence into the garden in which the old gentleman told himn he would be taught to employ himself and where he told him besides what great things he meant to do to make him com fortable and happy if he found he deserved it


all these kindnesses kit acknowledged with various ex pressions of gratitude and so many touches of the new hat that the brim suffered considerably


when the old gentleman had said all he had to say in the way of promise and advice and kit had said all he had to say in the way of assurance and thankfulness he was handed over again to the old lady who sum moning the little servantgirl whose name was bar bara instructed her to take him down stairs and give him something to eat and drink after his walk


down stairs therefore kit went and at the bot tom of the stairs there was such a kitchen as was never before seen or heard of out of a toyshop window with everything in it as bright and glowing and as precisely ordered too as barbara herself


and in this kitchen kit sat himself down at a table as white as a tablecloth to eat cold meat and drink small ale and use his knife and fork the more awkwardly because there was an unknown barbara looking on and observing him it did not appear however that there was any thing remarkably tremendous about this strange barbara who having lived a very quiet life blushed very much and was quite as embarrassed and un certain what she ought to say or do as kit could possibly be


when be had sat for some little time attentive to the ticking of the sober clock he ven


tured to glance curiously at the dresser and there among the plates and dishes were barbaras little workbox with a sliding lid to shut in the balls of cotton and barbaras prayerbook and barbaras hymnbook and barbaras bible


barbaras little lookingglass hung in a good light near the window and barbaras bonnet was on a nail behind the door


from all these mute signs and tocens of her pre


sence he naturally glanced at barbara herself who sat as mute as they shelling peas into a dish and just when kit was looking at her eyelashes and wonderingquite in the simplicity of his heart what colour her eyes might be it perversely hap


pened that barbara raised her head a little to look at him when boths pair of eyes were hastily with drawn and kit leant over his plate and barbara over her peashells each in extreme confusion at having been detected by the other


to be continued


the church officethe door of the abbey church was always open


this usage is nearly common to every catholic place of worship in towns of any size and it contains an affecting appeal to the passenger to remember the being in whose honour the temple has been raised


the custom is in general turned to account equally by the pious and the inquisitive the amateur of the arts and the worshipper of god and it is to be regretted that thle former more especially when they belong to a different persuasion or sect should not oftener remember that their taste becomes bad when it is indulged at the expense of that reverence which should mark all the conduct of man in the immediate presence of his creator


it was not unusual for monks of all orders to quit their pallets on extraor dinary occasions and to break the stillness of night with the music and service of the altar


when the spirit comes thus fresh from repose and in a dispo sition suited to the object into the immediate pre sence of the deity incense and praise so free from the dross of humanty must come nearer to that high purity whichl adorns the worship of angels than any other that can ascend from man since it is at such a moment that all least feel the burthen of their corporeal adjunct


even in the daily parochial duty the good caiholics still observe an uniformity and rigidity of practice that are unknown even in this land of puritan origin


the church bell is heard in every village with the first dawn of light at indicated hours all within hearing of its sound are admo nished to recall their thoughts from earth by ad dressing a prayer to god and with the close of day the flock is once again summoned to the fold at the service of vespers


these are beautiful and touching memorials of our duties and when prac


tised in sincerity cannot fail to keep the mind in better subjection to the great authority that directs all our destiniesthe lheidenmauer by cooper


trlb scottisi ristlsbilthis an cient emblem of scots pugnacity with its motto nemo ms impuse lacessit is represented of various species on royal bearings coins and coats of armour so that there is some dilfficulty in saying whichl is the genuine original thistle


lthe origin of the national badge itself is thus handed down by tra dition when the danes invaded scotland it was deemed unwarlike to attack an enemy in thie pitch darkness of nighit instead of a pitched battle by day but on one occasion the invaders resolved to avail themselves of this stratagem and in order to prevent their tramp from being heard they marched barefooted


they had thus neared the scottish force unobserved when a dane unluckily stepped with ihis naked foot upon a superb prickly thistle and in stinctively uttered a cry of pain which discovered the assault to tire scots who ran to their arms and defeated the foe with a terrible slaughter


the thistle was inmmediately adopted as ithe insignia of scotland


affilctionswhon we have once known real afflction the mind becomes sensitive to thb touch of every minor sorrow


widows and orphans have tears to stied where the happy can see but little cause for grief


ithe raindrop touching the colourless pebble brings foith the form andti colours swhich htave lain hidden in the sunshine even so a trifling sorrow recalls the memory of grief lying dormant but not exttact in the heart it bidls thie forms and images of affliction rise again in all tlheir fresh reality


the comic history of england


continued from our last


chapter vii


the uncivil wars


charles i came to the throne after his father had died in one of those shivering fits to which he was liable and which his physicians dignified with the name of a tertian ague


his father escaped being blown up with gunpowder but his fathers son that is himself was blown up with kingly prerogative to such a degree that it led to a general bursting forth of rebellion


riding the high horse is a disease generally fatal to kings who attempt it with a snaffle


to do so with effect the people ought to be curbed up with one of swains double action triple lever bits which makes no more of smashing a jaw bone than the breaking of a nut


charles tried to ride the english but the english rode rusty


john bull is very much like a donkey the more you wollops him the more he wont go and a british parliament who are content when they please to lick the hand that beats them and to fawn and gloze upon kings and queens as if they were little less than gods and goddesses when their dander is up stick up their bristles like a hedgehog at a terrier and wont stand any mouth although it comes in the shape of a royal speech


liberty and equalitywhich mean no qualitywere the watchwords of those times


a strange fever seized every one to be mastereverything seemed to change places


the cart wanted to draw the horsethe pig to ring the butcherthe client to take in the lawyer the laymen to preach instead of the clergy and schoolboys to phlebottomise schoolmasters in short there was such a set in of hot water such a storm a brewing such a pretty how dye do and such a getting up stairs and such a turning the house out of the windows that the whole nation was topsyturvy higledy pigledy and hodgepodgefied


there was no other remedy for this fever than bleeding and so the nation fought against itself and in the end of the beginning king charles for being a blockhead had his head brought to the block on the th of january and every th of january every king in christendom gets up with a crick in his neck


king charles is called the martyr because he died for the church


it was a notion of his which might certainly be of great use in the present daythat wherever a church was placed every thing else needs must follow as for instance there is a churchthat is the first thinga foundation where there is a church there must be a parson a clerk a sexton a nurse to bring the children to the font


thus we account for four houses


an inn is required on the road


this produces a smith a saddler a butcher and a brewer


the parson the clerk the sexton the butcher the smith the saddler and the brewer require a baker a tailor a shoemaker and a carpenter


they soon learn to eat plum pudding and a grocer follows


the grocers wife and the parsons wife contend for a superiority in dress whence flows a millinerand with her a mantua maker


a barber is introduced to curl the par sons wig and to shave the smith on a saturday night and a stationer to furnish the ladies with paper for sentimental correspondence postage being so cheap and curling their hair


an exciseman is sent to guage the casks and a schoolmaster discovers that the ladles cannot spell


a hatter a hosier and a linendraper follow by degrees and as children are born they begin to cry out for rattles and gingerbread


thc parson becomes idle aud gouty and gets a curate and the curate has a school of twenty children a wife and eight or nine more and then it becomes necessary to have an increase of shoe makers grocers and tailors


in the meantime a neighbouring apothecary hearing with indig nation that there is a community living without physic places three blue bottles in a window when on a sudden the parson the butcher the innkeeper and the grocers wife become bilious and nervous and the children get water on the head and convulsions


they are bled and blis tered till a physician considers it politic to settle the inhabitants become worse and worse every day and an undertaker is established


the butcher having called the tailor pricklouse snip to prove his manhood knocks him down with his goose


upon this a lawyer is called in and a lawyers clerk and these finding an opening set all the village together by the ears


thus a village is raised and soon becomes a town and the town in due course a city and has a mayor aldermen commoncouncilmen and live


ry a county assembly assizes and the gallows


when we contemplate the working of this beautiful system which had charles lived would have been carried out we ought indeed to keep the th of january as a fast and always feel our national greatness going on very slow


the settler ciiaiteh ix


ride nom


st ielies


ok leaving llie hospitable host of st he liers brook handy again availed himself of the guidance of bis young friend who ap peared intimately acquainted with every part of tbe country as lie purposed de scending as far as possible by the led bank rather than follow tlie great road which lie was given to understand presented no objects of great attraction except at one point called harpers hill so named after a government surveyor who having become blind in tbe service had retired to a grant of land vvliicl


he had selected there


the first part of the route lay across tlie plain in front of st helters house to muscle brook where there were two or tbree rude huts built of slabs and covered with birk stripped from the gigantic forest trees with which the country is covered


this said the young man is tiie famous town of musclebrook


why the go vernment should have stuck a town berc i cannot imagine when they possessed correct information in the reports of their own sur veyors as to tlie existence of a much better site it little higher up the river at a place called aberdeen where tbe great road crosses the river by an excellent ford prac ticable at nil times except during extraor dinary floods and where teams coming down from the country usually ball


passing through the estate of edinglassie they ascended a mountain range and vben tliey had reached the top the young man said we must part company shortly here is tbe marked line


my route lies us you knotv tbe right there is mount arthur again follow this line of marked trees until you reach tbe hunter and then you will have an open road all tlie way down to slailland


i think replied handy i should prefer keeping on this side as llie ground appears so much more commanding


but you may have some difficulty observed tbe young man in finding tlie old line wlucii we left on cross ing musclebrook the day is not far ad vanced and you will be able to determine as you proceed


handy thanked him for bis attention and expressed a hope that the acquaintance might be continued


they then parted the young nan dash ing through the open forest in gallant style leaving handy to thread bis way along a line marked only by notches in lbe bark of ome trees at considerable distance from each other


if be once turned bis eye from lbe indistinct line of marks be was likely to become bewildered but wbith much care lie succeeded in following them for some distance and then lost them alto gether


in this dilemma he observed two branches or spurs of the mountain one of which appareully of easy descent stretched in the direction he wished to take


pro ceeding down this spur he soon came upon a sheep station and there learnt that at the point where he had lost the line of marks the road turned abruptly to the right so that unless he had been aware of this fict it would have been almost impos sible for him to have followed it any farther by placing three marked trees in a line as be bad done so long as the line continued tolerably straight


he was now in a gently undulated country between the two lines and hav ing halted half an hour at the station he continued on his solitary journey


cross ing falbrook near which was a public house and a blacksmiths shop and in a paddock about half a mile in front a sur veyors lent thither lie repaired ibr the purpose of obtaining further information respecting the road which lay all the way through open forest country with high mountains on his left


under the direction of the surveyor who was working in his tent his men being out collecting their rations handy continued on the left bank of the river and after riding a feiv miles came upon a stud of fine young horses ci the english and arab blood and a little farther on to a splendid farm close to he bank of the river which he crossed nearly in front of the cottige by a convenient ford


rich plains of open forest country lay along each bank of the river at about three miles from which he reached the great road where it had been cleared of its tim ber to nearly the full width of one hundred feet and presented a noble avenue formed by the opening through tlie forest of gigan tic gum trees varying occasionally by the featheryleaved mimosa wilh its goldcu blossoms but the road itself was the natural surface soil of the country which at that season of tbe year appeared tole rably firm


riding along the great road he was overtaken by person breaking in a young horse ol whom lie enquired il there were a mr george newland residing in the neighbourhood as be intended in case of a favourable reception to stay with him for the night having brought letters from his relatives at whinsley


the man pointed out the road he should take and left him


it was then near sunset


he had a deep watercourse called a creek to cross and to ride over a great deal of un occupied hilly country thinly timbered except on his left hand where on the im mediate margin of the river he had crossed the forest appeared thick and entangled but it was all unmarked by any road or clue to habitation


after riding up and down tbe hills for some time in some de gree of perplenity for the sun had already set ana while he was hesitating a moment as to his course be beard aloud shout end immediately afterwards was approach by a person mounted on a grey cob horse who called to him very earnestly as he rode up to come out of the way if he had any regard for his life


handy was suffi denfjy on the alert in obeying the summons without knowing to what immediate danger he was exposed but he was soon unde ceived by rash of tattle sweeping like a torrent towards the spot where he had taken hia momentary stand they were followed on their flanks by two rough looking horsemen and in rear by a fair youth mounted also on a grey horse and riding like a young turk with his heels tucked into the sides of his gallant steed and brandishing over his heat


a huge stockwhip tbe thong of which looked like the pennant of a manofwar as he whirled it in the air and then gave with it a clang which echoed in the surrounding woops


head them down he sang out in a musical voice to a man on his left bank who immediately swept round to wards their front with loud vociferations and smacks of his whip


in this way they were manoeuvred to tbe opening of a highly fenced and capacious stockyard


handy and the stranger who had cautioned him followingatashortdistance


upon handys enquiring the way to mr newlands rebi dence the stranger whose countenance was one of perpetual sunshine radiating in smiles called tlie youth and desired him in an affectionate tone of voice to conduct the gentleman to tbe house as he himself was busy witlt the cattle at thai moment


qtt went the youngster and handy at a handacanler and after crossing one or two watercourses and pulling down some slip rails arrived in about ten minutes at a ca pacious farmyard where the youth called oui mr a man to come rouna to the front and take the horses


you are then saitl handy the son ol mr ncwlands


yes sir aid the youth it is my father who sent me home wilh you he will be in presently


he then conducted him to the interior and presented him to his mother a lady of pleasing countenance and mild manners who received him politely and retired to give some directions with respect to her household affairs


in a short time the master of the house entered and after apologising for not making himself known to him in the field for if i had said he i must have neglected my business with the cattle he conducted him a small apartment oppo site the diningroom which he informed him was his dormitory as long as he should honor them with his company


on return ing to the dining room handy found lite table spread and there was no lack of the substantial to fortify the inner man


you will have but rough fare said his host for we iiave nothing here but what we produce except our groceries and clothing and the wool pays for them


but your wine asked handy do you grow lliat


yes replied the host you will get no other though i have no doubt thai on the banks of the loire it is produced much cheaper than we can grow it still we have it genuine and you must give me your opinion of it


handy found it excellent much resembling tbe wine grown near coblenlz and of two or tbree varieties


in the course of conversation handy ex pressed his surprise that although in the course of his ride he had met with every civility and attention and had not ob served any glaring marks of immorality even among the people of the lower classes the impressions in england were generally so unfavourable towards this country which lie attributed to an avidity on the part of the people at hoxe for the horrible aod disgusting parts of a picture as if tlie age of hogarth were returned


i and he alluded particularly lo a book that had recently been published in london the perusal of which had deterred many respectable per sons from emigrating lo a country which was represented lo be a sink of iniquity and corruption


there is no doubt replied his host that llie cases mentioned in that book are true but il is nol the whole truth


it would be easy in a country like this or indeed in auy country to make a selection of particular cases to suit par ticular purposes but in a fair picture there must be lights as well as shadows


the work you refer to is a work of darkness and therefore cannot be true and the peo ple of england if they really wish be acquainted wilh the character of a country must reject all onesided statements for it appears lo me rather hard that after being made the cesspool of society we should be dented the credit of the little virtue that may be found amongst us


from what have seen replied handy i have no hesitation in stating that this country has been most foully calumniated and of all places where i have travelled i have met with nonelliat holds out stronger induce ments to seule with ones family than new south wales


cunkino of tnn tomtit


a corres pondent of the gardener chronicle says my gardener tells me that a shrobbery at the bottom c


my kitchen garden abounds with tbe family jit and that he observes them come down on the roof of my wooden bee house and tap upon it until a bee coues out when master tit pounces upon it and eats it up


spanish demnitiojj of vaoabosbb


the following curious account of a part of the classification of tbe vagabond punishment bill is given by one of tbe madrid journals in this bill malefactors are divided into four teen clasbeb namely ladroues del truuo satteadorebdecomiuos robbers on the high way espadistas those who commit robberra by means of false keys sameros persons who give information to thieves ns to where money and other property may be found and the means of gettrmr possession of it ebiam pistas those who take impressions of lockb in wax liadruiias de la media women who eteol in shops warehouses c which they enter underpretenceof mating purchases viandac tas women who accost men in the streets and cajole them into placeb where they can oe robbed ieristos the purchasers of stolen ar t cles j latlrunes del alraco tliose who coinnvt robberies without violence ladrones d la socieiiad secrcta those who without taking any part in robberies or showing themselves m them contrive have their baretjy threat ening if ilis withheld to denounce the odeiia unjumia o tornado del dos who pick pockets of handkerchiefs or other trifling arti cles in cases of crowd pastelleros penani who sell false itwellerv or other false article for real who throw on tbe ground a counterfeit coin imitating gold and when they see any persons pick it up cry halves and olitmii good coins forbad letardisuis swindler ui different kinds


monederces iolsos comers ulsifioadedores y ejueiidedoresdedocumentw de estauo forgers of public documents


laumceston


frlnlcafor ihc proprietor or uir dmrtim


mm of lrunneilnii laonceilon


mthe irinllnfrosrm at i uttonfcnieriterlri uriunilrktuirilili


publliaea liihau iuruui rt


scmioneiy vtvntom in iwaobmuwi fo ldthuiot dtamltr ii js


literature


a tale of two cities


in three books


by charles dickens


continued from the age of november th


book the secondthe golden thread


chapter vicontinued


although the doctors daughter had known nothing of the country of her birth she appeared to have innately derived from it that ability to make much of little means which is one of its most useful and most agreeable characteristics


simple as the furniture was it was set off by so many little adornments of no value but for their taste and fancy that its effect was delightful


the dis position of everything in the rooms from the largest object to the least the arrangement of colors the elegant variety and contrast obtained by thrift in trifles by delicate hands clear eyes and good sense were at once so pleasant in them selves and so expressive of their originator that as mr lorry stood looking about him the very chairs and tables seemed to ask him with some thing of that peculiar expression which he knew so well by this time whether he approved


there were three rooms on a floor and the doors by which they communicated being put open that the air might pass freely through them all mr lorry smilingly observant of that fanciful resemblance which he detected all around him walked from one to another


the first was the best room and in it were lucias birds and flowers and books and desk and worktable and box of watercolors the second was the doctors consultingroom used also as the diningroom the third changingly speckled by the rustle of the planetree in the yard was the doctors bedroom and there in a corner stood the disused shoemakers bench and tray of tools much as it had stood on the fifth floor of the dismal house by the wineshop in the suburb of saint antoine in paris


i wonder said mr lorry pausing in his look ing about that he keeps that reminder of his sufferings by hira


and why wonder at that was the abrupt inquiry that made him start


it proceeded from mips props the wild red woman strong ol hand whose acquaintance be had first made at the royal george hotel at dover and had since improved


i should have thought


mr lorry began


pooh


youd have thought said misaprosa and mr lorry left off


how do you do v inquired that ladv then bharply and yet as if to exprea that she bore him i no malicq


i am prelty well i thank you answered mr lorry with meekness how are you v nothing to boast of said miss pross


indeed


ah indeed said miss pross


i am very muoh put about my ladybird


indeed v for gracious sake say something else besides iudeed or youll fidget me to death said miss pross whose character disassociated itom stature was shortness


really then said mr lorry as an amend ment


lleally is bad enough returned miss press but belter


yes i am very much put out


may i ask the cause


i do not want dozens of people who are not at all worthy of ladybird to come here looking after her said miss pross


do drzen come for that purpose


hundreds said miss pross


it was characteristic of this lady as ot soirto other people before her time and since that hen ever her original proposition was questioned she exaggerated it


dear me said mr lorry ts the safest remark he could think of


i have lived with the darling or the darling has lived with me and paid mo for it which fhe certainly should never have done you may take your affidavit if i could havo afforded to keep cither myself or her for nothing since shn w ten yeara old


and its really very hard said miss pross


not seeing with precision what was very hard mr lorry shook his head using that important part of himself as a sort of fiiry cloak that would fit anything


all sorts of people who are not in the least degree worthy of tho pot aro nlwaya turning up said miss pross


whan you


bsgbn it


began it miss press


didnt you p who brought hqir father to life t oh


if that was beginning it said mr lorry


it wasnt ending it i suppose


i say when you began it it was hard enough not that i have any fault to find with doctor manette except that he is not worthy of such a daughter which is no imputation on him for it was not to be expected that anybody should bo under any circumstances


but it really is doubly and trebly hard to have crowds and multitudes of people turning up after him i could have forgiven him to take lady birds affections awaygfrom me


mr lorry knew miss pross to be very jealou but he also knew her by this time to be beneath the surfaco of her eccentricity one of those unael firh creatures found only among women who will for pure love and admiration bind themselves willing slavee to youth when they have lost it to beauty that they never had to accomplish ments hat tbey were never fortunate enough to gain to bright hopes that never shone upon their own sombre lives


he knew euough of the world to know that there is nothing in it better than the faithful service of tbe heart so rendered and so free from any mercenary taint he had such ar exalted respect for it that in tho retributive ar rangements mado by his own mind we all make fiuch arrangements more or leps he stationed miss pross much nearer to the lower angels than many ladies immeasurably better got up both by nature and art who had balances at tellsonp


there never was nor will be but one man worthy of ladybird said miss pross


and that was my brother solomon if he hadnt made a mis take in life


here agtin


mr lorrys inquiries into miss presss personal history had established tbe fact that her brother solomon was a heartless scoun drel who had stripped her of everything she pos sessed as a stake to speculate with and had aban doned her in her poverty for evermore with no touch of compunction


miss prosss fidelity of belief in solomon deducting a mere trifle for this flight mistake was quite a serious matter with mr lorry and had its weight in his good opinion of her


as we happen to be alone for the moment and are both people of business he said when they had got back to the drawing room and had sat down there in friendly relations let me ask you does iho doctor in talking with lucie never re fer to the bhoemaking time yet


never


and yet keeps that bench ond those tools beside him


ah returned mis pross shaking her head


but i dont say he dont refer to it within him self


do you believe that he thinks of it much t


i do said mies prose


do you imagine


mr lorry had begut when miss pross took him up ihort with never imagine anything


have no imagina tion at all


i stand corrected do yoa suppose you go so far as to suppose sometimes now and then said miss pross


do you suppose mr lorry went on with a laughing twinkle in his bright eye as it looked kindly at htr that doctor manette has any theory of nis own preserved through all those years relative to the cause of hia being so op pressed perhaps even to the dame of his oppres sor


i dont suppose anything about it but what ladybird tells me


and that is


j that phe thinks ho has


now dont be angry at my asking all these questions because i am a mere dull man of busi ness and you are a woman of business


dull


miss pross inquired with placidity


rather wishing his modest adjective away


mr lorry replied no no no surely not


to re turn to business is it not remarkable that doc tor manette unquestiona ly innocent of any crime as wo are well assured he is should never touh upon that question i will not say with me though he had business relations with me many years ago and we are now intimate i will say


with tho fair daughter to whom he is so devotedly ntlached and who is so devotedly attached to him


believe me miss pros i dunt approach the topic with you out of curiosity but out of zealous inter est


well


to the best of my understanding and bads tho best youll tell me said miss prose softened by the tone of the apology he is afraid of the whole subjeot


afraid


its plain enough i should think why ho may be


its a dreadful remembrance


besides that his loss of himpelf grow out of it


not knowing how he lost himself or how he recovered himself he may never feel certain of not losing himself again


that alone wouldnt make the subject pleasant i should think


it was a profounder remark than mr lorry had looked for


true said he and fearful to reflect upon


yet a donbt lurks in my mind miss pross whether it is good for doctor manette to havo that euppraabiotrnl ways shut up within him


indeed it is this doubt and the uneasiness it sumetimes causes me that has led me to our present confi dence


cant be helped said miss pross shaking her head


touch that string and he instantly changes for the worse


better leave it alone


in short must loave it tilone like or no like


some times he gels ifp in the dead of the night and will be heard by us overhead there walking up and down walking up and down ia his room


lady bird has learnt to know then that his mind is walking up nnd down walking np and down in his old prison


she hurries to him and they go on to gether walking up and down walking up and down until he is composed


but he never says a word f the true reapon of his restlessness to her and fhe finds it best not to hint at it to him


in silence they go walking np and down together walking up and down together till hr love and oompany have brought him to himsolf


notwithstanding mibs prosss denial of her own imagination there was a perception of the pain of being monotonously haunted by one sad idea in her repetition of the phrase walking up and down which testified to her possessing such a thing


the corner has been mentioned as a wonderful corner for echoes j it had began to echo so resound ingly to the tread of coming feet that it seemed as though the very mention of that weary pacing to and fro had set it going


here they are


said miss pros rising to break up the conference aud now wejshall have hun dreds of people pretty soon


it was such a ourious corner in its accoustical properties such a peculiar ear of a place that ab


mr lorry stood at the ope window looking for the father and daughterwhose stepsheheard he fancied they would never approach


not only would tho echoes die away as though the steps had gone but echoes of other steps that never came would be heard in their stead and would die away for good wbon they seemed olose at hand


however father and daughter did at last appear and miss pross was ready at the street door to receive them


mies pross was a pleasant sight albeit wild and red and grim taking off hor darlings bonnet when she came upstairs and touching it up with the ends of her handkerchief and blowing the dust off it and folding her mantle ready for laying by and emoothing hoi rich hair witbgas much pride as she could possibly have taken in her own hair


it


she hod been the vainest and bandomsbt of women


her darling was a pleasaut sight too embracing her and thanking her and protesting against her taking so muoh trouble for her which last she only dared to do playfully or mis pross sorely hurt would have retired to her own chamber and cried


the doctor was a pleasant sight too looking ou at them and telllug iliss


pross how she spoilt lucie in accents and with eyes that had as much spoiling in them as mis pross lmd and would have had inoro if it were possible


mr lorry wab a pleasant sight too beaming at all this in hia little wig and thanking his bachelor stars for having lighted bin in his declining years to a home


but no hundreds ol people cme to see the sights aud mr lorry looked in vain for the fullilmcnt of miss prossa predic fadinni time nnd still no hundreds of people


in tho arrangements of the little house hold miss pross took oharge of tho lower regions aud always acquitted herself marvellously


her dinners of a very modest quality were so well cooked and so well nerved and so neat in their contrivances half english and half french that nothini couvd liu


better


mips prosss fnend thipbeiugof tlie thoroughly practical kind she bud nivflgttd soliqul the adjiiccutpvoviucesj in bearch ot impovemd french who tempted by shillings and hiilfajwwiis would impart culinary mysteries to heram


these depayed sons and daughters of gaul jwii had acquired such wonder ful urt that the wpfiiw and girl who fo mel the stall of domestics regarded her as quite a sorce ress oi cinderellas godmother i who woult jend out cor a lowl a rabbit u vegetable or two from i tbe garden and change them into anything ehe pleased


onsundays mm proi a dined at the doctors table but on other days persisted in taking her meals at unknown periods either in the lower regions or in her own room on tha second tlcor a blue chamber to which no oae but her ltdybird ever gained ad mittance


oa this occasion mits pross tespondlng to ladybirds pleasant face aid pleasant elforts to please her uubent exceedingly eotho dinner wi very pleasant too


it was an oppressive day and after dinner lucie proposed that the wine should bo carried out under the planetree and they bhould bit thera in the air


as everything turned upon her and re volved about her they went out under the plane tiee and she carried the wine down for tha ppcoial benefit of mr lorry


she had in stalled herself somo time before ai mr lorrys cupbearer and while they eat under the planetree talking she kept his glass re plenished


mysterious backs and ends of bouses peeped at them as they talked and the plane frea whispered to them in its own way above their heads


still the hundreds of people did not present themselves


mr darnay presented himself whila tbey were bitting under tbe planetreo but he was only one


doctor manette received him kindly and so did lucie


but


miss pross suddenly became afflicted with a twitching in the head and body and retired into tbe house


she was not unfrequently tha victim of this disorder and she called it in fami liar conversation a fit of the jerks


the doctor was in hia best condition and looked specially young


tho resemblance between him and lucie was very strong at euch times and as they eat side by side she leaning his shoulder and he resting his arm on the back of her chair it was very agreeable to trace the likenefs


he bad been talking all day on in any eubjecti and with unubual vivacity


pray dootor ma nette said mr darnay as they bat under ths plane tree and he ssid it in tho natural pursuit of the topis in hand which happened to bs the old buildings of london have you seen much of the tower lucie and i have been there but only casu ally


we have seon enough of it to know that it teems with interest little more


i have been there ab you remember said darnay with a smile though reddening a little angrily in another obaracter and not in a cha racter that gives facilities for seeing much of it


they fold me curious thing when i was there


what was that


lucie aked


in making some alterations the workmen camo upon an old dungeon which had been for many years built up aud forgotten


every stone of it inner wall wan covered with inscriptions which had been carved by prisoners dates name com plaints aud prayers


upon a corner stone in an angle of the wall one prisoner who seemed to have gone to execution had cut ab his last work three letters


they were done with some very pour in strument and hurriedly with an unsteady hand


at first they were read as d i c but on being more carefully examined the labt letter was found to be g


there was no record or legend of any prisoner with thobe initials and many fruitless guesses were made what tho name could havo been


at length it wos suggested that the lottera were not initials but the complete word dio


the floor was examined very carefully under the inscription and in the earth beneath a stone or tile or some fragment of paving were found tao ashes of a paper mingled with the ashes of a small leathern case or bag


what the unknown prisoner had written will never be tend but he had written something and hidden it away to keep it from the gaoler


my father


exclaimed lucie you are ill


he had enddenly started up with his hand to hia head


his manner and his look quite terrified them a no my dear not ill


thore are large drops of rain falling and they made me start


we had better go in


he recovered himself almost instantly


rain was really falling in large drops and he showed the back of his hand with raindrops on it


but lie aaid not a single word in reference to the dis covery that had been told of and aa they went into the house the business eye of mr lorry cither detected or fancied it detected on his face as it turned towards charles darnay the same singular look that hid been upon it when it turned towards him in the passages of the court house


he recovered himself so quickly however that mr lorry had doubts of his business eye


the arm of the golden giant in the hall was not more steidy than he was when he stopped undor it to remark to them that he was not yet proof against slight surprises if he ever would bo and that tho rain had startled bim


teatime ond miss pross making tea with an other fit of the jerks upon her and yet no huudreds of people


mr carton had lounged in but he made only two


the night was so very sultry that although they bat with doors and windows open they were over powered by heat


when the tea table was done with they all moved to one of the windows and looked out into the heavy twilight


lucie sat by her father darnay sat beside her carton leaned against a window


the curtains were long and white and some of the thundergubts that whirled into the corner caught them up to the ceiling and waved them like spectral wings


the raindrops aro btill falling large heivy and few said doctor manette


it cjmes slowly


it comes surely said carton


they spoke low as people watchidg and waiting mostly do aa people in a dark rooin watching and waiting for lightning always do


there was n great hurry in the streets of people speeding away to got shelter before the storm broke the wonderful corner for echoes resounded with the echoes of footstepb coming and going yet not a footstep was there


a multitude of people and yet aeolitudo said darnay when they had listened for a whilo


is it not impressive mr dirnay uked lucie


sometimes i have sat here of an evening until i have fancied but even the shade of a foolish fancy makes me shudder tonight when all is so black and solemn


let us shudder too


we jmay know what


it


st it will seem nothing to yon


such whima are only impressive fts wo originate thom i think thay are not to bo communicated


i have sometimes bat alone here of an evening listening until i have made tho eohoes out to be the echoes of all the footsteps that are coming baudby into our lived


there is a great crowd ooming one day into our lives if that bo bo sydney carton btruck in in his moody way


the footsteps were incessant nnd the hurry of them became more and more rapid


the oorner echoed and reechoed with the tread of feet some as it aeemed under the windows boine ob it seemed in the room some coming some going some breaking off some stopping altogether all in the distant streets and not one within sight


are all these footsteps destined to come to all of us miss manette or are we to divide thom among ub t


i dont know mr darnay i told you it was a foolish fancy but you asked for it


when i havo yielded myself to it i have been alone and then i have imagined them the footsteps of the people who are to come into my life and my fathers


i take them into mine i said carton


i ask no questions and make no stipulations


thre is a great crowd bearing down upon us miss manette and i see them i


by tbe lightning


he added the last words after there had been a vivid flabh which had shown him lounging in the window


and i henr them ho added again after a peal of thunder


here they come fast flerae and furious


it was the rush and roar of rain that ho typified aud it stopped him for no voice could bo heard in it


a memorablo storm of thunder aud lightning broko with that sweep of water and there was not a momouts interval in crabb and firo aud rain until after tbe moon rose at miduight


the great bell of saint pauls was striking ono in the cleared air when mr lorry escorted by jerry highbooted ani bearing a lantern set forth on his return passage to clerkenwoll


there were solitary patches of read on the way between soho and clerkenwell and mr lorry mindful of foot pads always retained jerry for this sorvice though it waa usually performed a good two hours earlier


what a night it has been i almost a night jerry said mr lorry to bring tho dead out of their graves


i never sse tho night myslf master nor yet i dont expect to it what would do tlut answered jerry


good night mr carton said tho man of busi ness


good night mr darnay


shall we ever eo such a night agaio together


perhapf


perhaps seo the great crowd of pioplo


willi its tush and roar bearing down upon thtin tor


the portland guardian and normanby general advertiser


published every monday wednesday friday to protect our rightsnot to infringe upon those of others


wednesday november


adventures and observations in australia


by alister macalister gent chapter v preliminary notifications concluded


on the morning after my exertions on behalf of miss amelia and the parson i was on deck before the steward announced breakfast


i felt somewhat languid and lowspirited but was not otherwise unwell and was walking slowly up and down the quarterdeck looking in the direction of madeira which was still in sight the ship having made very little way during the night when i was joined by the surgeon


he came up to me rubbing his hands and expressing lively satisfaction at my being able to leave my berth so early and hav ing felt my pulse he assured me that a few glasses of sherry taken within twenty four hours would render me as strong as an elephant


he then intimated that he had a word for my private ear and taking me aside asked if i had any particular wish to have a nearer view of madeira for you must know he said i have been more than once ashore in this european sanitarium and never without being highly delighted in one way or another and i can assure you though it be a dirty hole it contains some right good fellows with whom a reasonable man might spend a comfortable and perhaps profitable


i see you are a sharp bold good natured kind of which something might be made but in order to play the game of real life successfully we must occasionally cast


our most attractive looks quit our potential marriage and meet and study men as they move and speak and sex in their own several and appropriate


under my guidance a bit of life may be seen in the island yonder which may after wards be useful to you


and you will have the pleasure for the next fifty years of relating to all your friends the information which a twelve hours visit may afford you on the moral sexual and physical features of one of the most singular and interesting spots to be found on the map of the world


i knew the surgeon to be a low dissipated blackguard but he had more than once shown me respectful and kindly attentions and i felt persuaded however desirous he might himself be to visit madeira that he at the same time sin


cerely wished to afford me gratification yet i could by no means see how what he proposed could be accomplished as we were doing all that we possibly could to leave the island behind us


i had no wish to be introduced to the life he hinted at


but i had a natural desire to see more of a place of which i had both read and heard about


and answered that however strong my wish might be to pass a few hours in funchal and its neighbourhood it was useless speaking farther on the matter that was perfectly impracticable


he told me to leave the impracticability to him and enjoined me to exercise a prudent silence at the breakfast table and on no account whatever to contradict any statement he might make


he insisted on my giving him my word of honor to this effect which i smilingly did without having the most distant idea of the scene which was about to follow


the summons of the steward called us to breakfast which was uncheered by the presence of our lady passengers


i entered the cabin and took my usual seat but the surgeon stood in the doorway his right hand catching his chin and his eyes cast on the floor as if he were deeply engaged in endeavouring mentally to solve some difficult mathematical problem


he soon attracted the attention of every one at table but the captain was the first to speak and in a voice of evident alarm


the following brief dialogue ensued which none of us attempted to interrupt by question but which was like to be swallowed up by in voluntary and incontrolable sic bursts of laughter on the part of some of us what ho doctor you look as if you had seen the ghost of your grandmother


nothing serious eh


the parson isnt dead is he


no captain the parson will live to bring more trouble on the ship


some thing much worse has happened


much worse


out with it man and dont stand staring there like a sucking donkey


of course i must report but i am ex ceedingly sorry to state that we have got alarming cutureous disease among the females in the steerage


will you explain doctor never heard of such a disease in my life


is it worse than fever or scurvy


o a thousand times more trouble some


the poor afflicted wretch never obtains a moments ease


we call it in simple and medical language an abrasive cuticle


and do you call this an explanation doctor


precisely so


i have put it you see in plain english instead of latin that you may fully understand it


i may ob serve however that it is particularly in fectious and that stout people i mean very stout people are the greatest suf ferers


i beg your pardon captain but you need not be looking so anxiously at your corporation


i should be sorry if i frightened you


you are stout yes rather stout certainly but i should say under sixteen stone


do not allow yourself to be afraid sir fear is most pernicious in any disease and should you happen to be attacked you know you may depend upon my exerting my utmost skill on your behalf


thanks for your kind intentions but i would rather not need the service your refer to


the question is what is to be done in the meantime


yes true that is the question and to come to the point immediately in hand i suppose you have got preserved cabbage on board


if so we shall soon have a clean ship


preserved cabbage


never heard of such a thing


we have lots of pickled cabbage and preserved soups meat and fish


that is very unfortunate mr hunks very unfortunate indeed as it lays me under the painful necessity as surgeon superintendent of this ship with a view to the safety of those placed under my charge to request that we put back to madeira for the necessary and indispensable vegetables


nay do not get excited


if you are willing to run the risk of proceeding after being fairly warned you are welcome to do so but you will be pleased in that case to relieve me of all responsibility


never have i beheld such an impersonation of fear and rage as the captain exhibited at these words


he started from his seat hurled the sugarbowl at the head of the unoffending steward who was on attendance capsized the teapot and with a discharge of fearful imprecations rushed on deck and half a minute afterwards we heard him bawling at the top of his voice tack about ship


on the afternoon of that same day we were lying to in the bay about a mile off funchal


the surgeon requested the captain to allow me to accompany him ashore


to this the latter whose passion had by this time considerably subsided consented and the more readily when he understood i could pull good car


madeira looks best at a distance


the country behind the capital rises rapidly and consists of black rocks of lava intermingled with plantations of the most brilliant verdure which contrasting with the white houses of the town form a beautiful and romantic land scape


i cannot say that i admired the old castle on the loo rock and the various forts and batteries which guard the place and which i was told were more formidable in appearance than reality


nor did i admire the town on a close inspection


the streets are narrow and filthy and only a few of the better class of houses have glass windows


there are many churches and convents plain unat tractive buildings


i believe the only one of these deserving of particular note is the cathedral the beams and roof of which are of cedar


the population of the town at the time of my visit amounted to eleven thousand one half of whom seemed to be beggars


and a more importunate and clamorous order of mendicants is perhaps to be found no where save in italy or ireland


the surgeon gave the seamen who had helped to pull us ashore a few shillings and told them he would send down the cabbage and that they might enjoy them selves but to sleep on board the boat and be ready for an early start to the ship in the morning


as we proceeded into the town with which he seemed to be familiar i very simply asked if there was any truth at all in the story he had given the captain and if the cabbage was so urgently needed


yes he replied there is truth so far as the disease is concerned


some of the girls have got the itch which i can assure you is no joke but bother the cabbage that is all gammon however we shall none of us be the worse for fresh vegetablesbut here we are at my old friends establishment and we entered a kind of inn or wineshop which had the distinction of having glass in the windows


the landlord received the surgeon with a hearty welcome as if he were an intimate of long standing and showed us into his best room which to tell the trurth was rather meanly furnished and not particularly clean


as the surgeon said he had private business to transact which would detain him where he was i williingly accepted the offer of a waiter who could speak english to point out to me the notabilities of the town and neighbourhood


if the town was greatly offensive from the filth and beggary which it presented it was also greatly interesting from the entire novelty of every thing around me


but i was perfectly enchanted with the environs


with the rich and varied vegetation stretching in some places far up the moun tains which in the distance rose majesti cally to a height of five thousand feet


indeed i have never looked upon scenery which presented in the same limits so much of the beautiful the sublime and the picturesque


i returned to the inn highly gratified with my excursion and found the surgeon with two men dressed like gentlemen seated at a table on which were wine fruit dice and cards


they were just arranging a new game at cards when i entered and helping themselves to wine of which after being introduced to the strangers i partook


i sat and watched the game for some time


at last i felt a strong desire to play and insisted to try my hand on a heavy bet


in vain the surgeon remonstrated play i would and play i did and lost


i cannot tell exactly what happened immediately after this


i recollet of a sensation as of the room whirling round and tossing up and down at the same time


my next recollection was being awakened in bed by the surgeon who told me to rise and dress as he was about to start for the ship without delay


i rose reluct antly and complained of a violent headache


you made a mistake he said last night you took the drugged wine before i observed you but there is no great harm done


you will soon be all right


you have to thank me that matters are no worse


had i not stood your friend instead of losing a few shillings you would have been cleaned out


it has fared differently with me


i have been in luck and have sixty guineas richer than when i came ashore


when we reached the boat we found one of the sailors dead drunk and the other two very jovial


we were on board of the ship before sox in the morning and fortunately for all of us captain joseph hunks had after we left him donned his wetnightcap and we saw nothing of him till under a strong and favourable wind we had left madeira two hun


dred and fifty miles behind us


when he be came visible the surgeon informed him that the ship was now clean with the exception of a few trifling cases of itch and the poor man was amusingly extravagant in his expres sion of thankfulness


we had very favourable weather for eight or ten days after leaving madeira and the pas singers enjoyed themselves on the lonely even ing with dance and song


we had then a succession of squalls


they came very sud deny and generally went off as suddenly


these squalls however give warning of their approach


the sky becomes more or less clouded at the point from whence they pro ceed and the dark and troubled waters driven by the blast are distinctively seen rap idly advancing till they break in their fury upon the vessel


in the meantime all is bustle and activity to meet with as much preparedness as possible the coming shock which is occasi onally severally felt more especially of the pre parations to receive it have not been completed


in this case the dread powers of air and ocean throw the expectant ship almost on her beam ends and induce in the minds of the most courageous anything but a comfortable sensa sion


there is however in the view of the coming blast in the lively and energetic ef forts put forth to meet it and in the wild un ceremonious assault much of the truly sub lime and a moment of peril may well be endured for the elevating feelings which those inspire


for about eight days the sailors were en gaged almost without intermission in changing the position of the sails owing to calm and squalls continually following each other


at this time i caught a dark swallow on deck and regarded with deep interet the little trembling wanderer


it was much tired with its long flight


i laid it down gently and watched it for more than five minutes when it took wing and pursued its adventrous way may the tired wanderer on the ocean of life find it his need a restingplace like the poor swallow


we had sighted tristan dacunha and proposed to pass on within a few miles of it