CHAPTER XXX.
FRANKLY SPEAKING.
Supposing a man to be engaged--as he often must be even now, when thegeneral boast of all things is, that they have done themselves bymachinery--in the useful and interesting work of sinking a well, by hisown stroke and scoop; and supposing that, when he is up to his hips, andhas not got a dry thread upon him, but reeks and drips, like a sprawlingjelly-fish--at such a time there should drop upon him half a teaspoonfulof water from the bucket he has been sending up--surely one might expectthat man to accept with a smile that little dribble, even if heperceives it.
Alas, he does nothing of the kind! He swears, and jumps, as if he werein a shower-bath of vitriol, then he shouts for the ladder, drags hisdrenched legs up, and ascends for the purpose of thrashing his mate, whohas dared to let a drop slip down on him. Such is the case; and noratepayer who has had to delve for his own water (after being robbed bysewage-works) will fail to perceive the force of it.
Even so (if it be lawful to compare small things with great), even so ithas been, and must be for ever, with a young man over head and ears inlove, and digging in the depths of his own green gault. He throws backhis head, and he shovels for his life; he scorns the poor fellows whoare looking down upon him; and he sends up bucketfuls of his ownspooning, perhaps in the form of gravelly verse. The more he getswaterlogged the deeper is his glow, and the bowels of the earth are asgoldbeaters' skin to him. But let anybody cast cold water, though it bebut a drop, on his fervid frozen loins, and up he comes with both fistsclenched.
These are the truths that must be cited, in explanation of the sadaffair next to be recorded--the quarrel between two almost equally finefellows,--Dr. Jemmy Fox to wit, and Master Frank Gilham. These two hadnaturally good liking for each other. There was nothing very marvellousabout either of them; although their respective mothers perceived aheavenful of that quality. But they might be regarded as fair specimensof Englishmen--more wonderful perhaps than admirable in the eyes ofother races. If it were needful for any one to make choice between them,that choice would be governed more by points of liking, than of merit.Both were brave, straightforward, stubborn, sensible, andself-respecting fellows, a little hot-headed sometimes perhaps, butnever consciously unjust.
It seemed a great pity, that such a pair should fall away fromfriendship, when there were so many reasons for goodwill and amity; notto mention gratitude--that flower of humanity, now extinct, through thenumber of its cuttings that have all damped off. Jemmy Fox indeed hadcherished a small slip of that, when Gilham stood by him in his firstdistress; but unhappily the slightest change of human weather isinevitably fatal to our very miffy plant.
Young as he was, Frank Gilham had been to market already too many times,to look for offal value in gratitude, and indeed he was too generous toregard it as his due; still his feelings of friendship, and ofadmiration for the superior powers of the other, were a little aggrievedwhen he found himself kept at a distance, and avoided, for reasons whichhe understood too well. So when he heard that young Dr. Fox had returnedfrom that visit to his father, he rode up to _Old Barn_, to call uponhim, and place things upon a plainer footing.
Jemmy received him in a friendly manner, but with his mind made up toput a stop to any nonsense concerning his sister Christie, if Gilhamshould be fool enough to afford him any opening. And this the youngyeoman did without delay, for he saw no good reason why he should bemade too little of.
"And how did you leave Miss Fox?" he asked, as they took their chairsopposite the great fireplace, in the bare room, scientific with a skullor two, and artistic with a few of Christie's water-colour sketches.
"I had no difficulty in leaving her," Jemmy answered, with a very poorattempt at wit, which he intended to be exasperating.
"How was she, I mean? I dare say you got away, without thinking much ofanybody but yourself." Frank Gilham was irritated, as he deserved to be.
"Thank you; well, I think upon the whole," Jemmy Fox drawled out hiswords, as if his chin were too slack to keep them going, and he strokedit in a manner which is always hateful; "yes, I think I may say upon thewhole, that she was quite as well as can be expected. I hope you can saythe same of your dear mother."
Frank Gilham knew that he was challenged to the combat; and he cameforth, as the duty is, and the habit of an Englishman.
"This is not the first time you have been rude to me;" he said. "And Iwon't pretend not to know the reason. You think that I have been guiltyof some presumption, in daring to lift my eyes to your sister."
"To tell you the truth," replied Fox getting up, and meeting hissteadfast gaze steadfastly; "you have expressed my opinion, better thanI could myself have put it."
"It is not the sort of thing one can argue about," said the other, alsorising; "I know very well that she is too good for me, and has the rightto look ever so much higher. But for all that, I have a perfect right toset my heart upon her; especially considering--considering, that I can'thelp it. And if I do nothing to annoy her, or even to let her know ofmy presumption, what right have you to make a grievance of it?"
"I have never made a grievance of it. I simply wish you to understand,that I do not approve of it."
"You have a perfect right to disapprove; and to let me know that you doso. Only it would have been more to your credit, if you had done it inan open manner, and in plain English; instead of cutting me, or at anyrate dropping my acquaintance. I don't call that straightforward."
"The man is a jackass. What rot he talks! Look here, my fine fellow. Howcould I speak to you about it, before you acknowledged your infatuation?Could I come up to you in the street, and say--'Hi there! You are inlove with my sister, are you? If you want to keep a sound skin, you'llhaul off.' Is that the straightforward course I should have taken?"
"Well, there may be something in the way you put it. But I would leaveit to anybody, whether you have acted fairly. And why should I haul off,I should like to know. I won't haul off, for fifty of you. Because Ihave got no money, I suppose! How would you like to be ordered to hauloff from Miss Waldron, in case you were to lose your money, or anythingwent against you? Instead of hauling off, I'll hold on--in my own mind,at any rate. I don't want a farthing of the money of your family. Iwould rather not have it,--dirty stuff, what good is it? But I tell youwhat--if your dear sister would only give me one good word, I would snapmy fingers at you, and everybody. I know I am nothing at all. However, Iam quite as good as you are; though not to be spoken of, in the sameweek with her. I tell you, I don't care twopence for any man, or all themen in the world put together--if only your sister thinks well of me. Sonow, you know what you may look out for."
"All this is very fine; but it won't do, Gilham." Fox thought he saw hisway to settle him. "Surely you are old enough to see the folly ofgetting so excited. My sister will very soon be married to Sir HenryHaggerstone--a man of influence, and large fortune. And you--, well tosome lady, who can see your value, through a ball of glass, as you do.That power is not given to all of us; but on no account would Idisparage you. And when this little joke is over, you will come, and begmy pardon; and we shall be hearty friends again."
"Sir Henry Haggerstone!" Gilham replied, in a tone of contempt, whichwould justly have astonished that exemplary baronet. "Not she! Why,that's the old codger that has had three wives--fiddles, andfiddlesticks, I'm not afraid of him! But just tell me one thing now,upon your honour. Would you object to me, if she liked me, and I had ahundred thousand pounds?"
"Well, no, I don't know that I should, Mr. Gilham."
"Then, Dr. Fox, you would sell your sister, for a hundred thousandpounds. And if she likes to put a lower price upon herself, what righthave you to stop her?"
"I tell you, Gilham, all this is childish talk. If Christie has beenfool enough to take a fancy to you, it is your place, as a man ofhonour, to bear in mind how young she is; and to be very careful thatyou do nothing to encourage it."
"But there is no chance of such luck. Has it ever seemed likely to you,my dea
r Jemmy, that she--that she even had any idea----"
"A great deal too much, I am afraid. At least, I don't mean to say thatexactly--but at any rate--well, enough to place you on your honour."
"And upon my honour I will be--not to neglect any shadow of a chance,that turns up in my favour. But I can never believe it, Jemmy; she isever so much too lofty, and too lovely, and too clever--did anybody eversee such fingers, and such eyes, and such a smile, and such a voice? Andaltogether----"
"Altogether a pack of rubbish. The sooner you order your horse, thebetter. I can't have you raving here, and fetching all the parish up thehill."
"I am a sensible man, Jemmy Fox. I know a noble thing, when I see it.You are too small of nature, and too selfish for such perception. Butyou may abuse me, to your heart's content. You will never get a harshword in reply; after what you have told me. Because there must be goodin you, or you would never have such a sister. I shall take my owncourse now; without the smallest consideration for your crotchets. Nowdon't make any mistake about that. And as for honour--clearlyunderstand, that I shall pitch it to the Devil."
"Well, don't come here with any more of your raving. And don't expect meto encourage you. You have been a good fellow--I don't mind sayingthat--until you took this infernal craze."
"Oh, I won't trouble you; never you fear. You are doing what you thinkright, no doubt; and you are welcome to do your worst. Only there is onething I must say. I know that you are too much of a man, to belie me toyour sister, or run me down, behind my back. Shake hands, Jemmy, beforeI go; perhaps we shall never shake hands again."
"Get somebody to leave you that hundred thousand pounds," said Fox, ashe complied with this request; "and then we'll shake hands all day long,instead of shaking fists at each other."
"Jem Crow said to his first wife's mother, What right have you to be anybody's brother?"
Gilham responded, being in high spirits, with this quotation from thatpiece of negro doggerel, with which all England was at that time crazed.And thus they parted, with a neutral smile; and none the less perhaps,for that each of them perceived that the parting would prove a long one.
"What will Nicie have to say about all this? I shall not be contenteduntil I know;" said Fox to himself, when his visitor was gone; "I have agreat mind to go and get my riding-gaiters. That blessed mother of herscan scarcely growl at me, if I call to-day; considering how long I havebeen away. I seem to knock under to everybody now. I can't think whathas come over me."
When a man begins to think that of himself, it shows that he is gettingpugnacious, and has not found his proper outlet. The finest thing forhim is a long ride then; or a long walk, if he has only two legs. Foxwas shaking down upon his merits, but still a little crusty withhimself, and therefore very much so with every one outside it, when hispretty mare pulled up, to think about the water she was bound to walkthrough at Priestwell.
This is one of the fairest hamlets to be found in England. There arehouses enough to make one think of the other people that live in them;but not so many as to make it certain that a great many people will benasty. You might expect, if you lived there, to know something abouteverybody in the place; and yet only to lift up your hands, and smile,when they did a thing you were too wise to do. The critical inhabitantin such a place--unless he is very wicked--must be happy. He falls intoa habitude of small smiles; "many a mickle makes a muckle"--if that bethe right way to quote it, which it isn't--however, the result is allthe same, he knows what he is about, and it leads him to smile twentytimes, for one smile he would have had in town.
All these things were producing a fine effect upon the character of Dr.Gronow. By head and shoulders, without standing up for himself for asingle moment, he was the biggest man at Priestwell; in knowledge of theworld, in acquaintance with books, in power to give good advice, and tohelp the people who took it--the largest. And after the many hotcontentions of his life, and the trouble in being understood (where thegame never pays for the candle) here he was taken at his ownappraisement, after liberal prepayment.
He was not a bad man, take him all in all; though inclined by nature tobe many-angled, rather than many-sided. And now, as he stood on theplank that goes over the brook where the road goes under it, he wasabout as happy as the best of men can be. The old Doctor in truth was asfull of delight--though his countenance never expressed it--as the youngDoctor was of dejection. And why? For the very noble reason, that thewiser man now had his fly-rod in hand, fly-book in pocket, creel onback, and waterproof boots upon stiff but sturdy legs. And, main pointof all--he was just setting forth; his return must be effected perhapsin quite another pair of shoes.
The Priestwell water flows into the Perle from the north, some half milehigher up than the influx of Susscot brook from the south, and it usedto be full of bright stickles and dark hovers, peopled with many abouncing trout. For a trout of a pound is a bouncer there; and ahalf-pounder even is held a comely fish; and sooth to say, the angler isnot so churlish as to fail of finding joy in one of half that size. Nota sign of Spring was on the earth as yet, and very little tidings of itin the air; but any amount was in the old man's heart, as he listened tothe warbling of the brook, and said to himself that he should catch,perhaps, a fish. He was going to fish downwards, as he always did, forhe never liked to contradict the water. At the elbow of the stream washis own willow-tree, at the bottom of his lawn, and there a big fishlived--the Dr. Gronow of the liquid realm, who defied the Dr. Gronow ofthe dry land. Ha, why not tackle him this very afternoon, and ennoblethe opening day thereby; for the miserable floods, and the longsnow-time, and the shackling of the stream is over; no water-colourartist could have brought the stickles to a finer fishing tint; and lo,there is a trout upon the rise down there, tempted by the quiver of areal iron-blue!
With these thoughts glowing in his heart, and the smoke of his pipemaking rings upon the naked alder-twigs, he was giving his flies thelast titivating touch--for he always fished with three, though two wereone too many--when he heard a voice not too encouraging.
"I say, Doctor, if you don't look out, you'll be certain to get bogged,you know."
"Don't care if I do;" replied the Doctor, whisking his flies around hishead, and startling _Perle_ with the flash of his rod.
"You had better go home," continued Jemmy, "and let the banks dry up abit, and some of your fish have time to breed again. Why, the floodsmust have washed them all down into the Perle; and the Perle must havewashed them all down into the sea."
"That shows how much you know about it. I have got a most splendidpatent dodge, at the bottom of my last meadow. I'll show it to you somefine day, if you are good. It is so constructed that it keeps all mytrout from going down into the Perle, and yet it lets all the Perletrout come up to me; and when they are up, they can't get back again ofcourse. And the same thing reversed, at the top of my grounds. I expectto have more fish than pebbles in my brook. And nobody can see it,that's the beauty of it. But mind, you mustn't say a word about it,Jemmy. People are so selfish!"
"Of course, I won't; you may trust me. But when you have got everybodyelse's fish in your water, can you get them out of it? I know nothing atall about it. But to make any hand at angling, is it not the case thatyou must take to it in early life? Look at Pike, for instance. What ahand he is! Never comes home without a basketful. He'll be here againnext week, I believe."
Fox knew well enough that Dr. Gronow hated the very name of Pike.
"I am truly sorry to hear it. I am sure it must be high time for thatlad to go to College. Penniloe ought to be sent to prison, for keepingsuch a poacher. But as for myself, if I caught too many, I should notenjoy it half so much, because I should think there was no skill in it."
"Well, now, I never thought of that. And _pari ratione_ if we save toomany of our patients, we lay ourselves open to the charge of luck."
"No fear for you, Jemmy. You are not a lucky fellow. Come in and have atalk with me, by and by. I want to hear the last news, if there is any."
/> "Yes, there is some. But I must tell you now, or never. For I have toride round through Pumpington. And I came this way on purpose, to getthe benefit of your opinion."
"But, my dear fellow, it gets dark so soon;" Dr. Gronow looked wistfullyat his flies. "Well, if you won't be more than five minutes, I will putan iron-blue on, instead of a Half-Kingdon. But don't be longer than youcan help. You are the only man in the parish I would stop for."
Omitting all description, except of persons, Fox told the elder doctorwhat he had learned at the mouth of the Mendip mine, and at the _SmokingLimekiln_, as well as what he knew of Harvey Tremlett from Mr.Penniloe's account, reminding him also of Joe Crang's description, andshowing how well it tallied.
"My advice can be given in a word; and that is 'Not a word;'" answeredGronow, forgetting his flies for the moment. "Not a word to any one, butMockham the magistrate; and not even to him, until needful.Shrove-Tuesday, you say, is the date of the Fair. Don't apply for yourwarrant, until that morning, if you can get it then without delay. Onlyyou must make sure that Mockham will be at home to issue it, and youmust have Joe Crang there quietly, and gag him somewhere for the rest ofthe day--perhaps a little opiate in his beer. You see it is of the firstimportance that not a word should leak out about your intention ofnabbing those fellows at the Fair, until you are down upon them; foryour birds would never come near the trap. It is perfectly amazing howsuch things spread, faster than any bird can fly; for the whole worldseems to be in league against the law. There is plenty of time for us totalk it over, between this and then, if you only keep it close. Ofcourse you have not mentioned it to anybody yet."
"Not to a soul. I had sense enough for that. But I might have done sobefore long, if I had missed meeting you to-day. Shall I not tell evenPenniloe? He has known everything hitherto."
"Certainly not yet. He is quite safe of course, so far as mere intentiongoes; but he might make a slip, and he is a nervous man. For his ownsake, he had better not have this upon his mind. And his ideas are soqueer. If he were questioned, I feel sure that he would not even tell awhite lie; but be frightfully clumsy, and say, 'I refuse to answer.'Better tell the whole truth than do that; for suspicion is shrewder thancertainty."
"But I don't like concealing it from him at all. I fear he will be hurt,when he comes to know it; because we have acted together throughout, andthe matter so closely concerns his parish."
"Have no fear, Jemmy. I'll make that all right. We will tell him aboutit on the day of action, and let him know that for his own sake only, Ipersuaded you to keep it from him. Why, that fellow's daughter is in hishouse, and a wonderfully clever imp, they say. And I am not at all surethat he would not preach about it. He thinks so much more of people'ssouls, than of their parts that are rational."
"Very well then, for his own sake, I won't say a word to him about it.You are right; it would make him miserable to have such a shindy so longin prospect. For it will be a rare fight, I can tell you. The fellow isas big as an elephant almost; and my namesake, Jem Kettel, is a stuggyyoung chap, very likely to prove a tough customer. And then there willbe Timberlegs, whoever he may be."
"All right, Jemmy, we will give a good account of them. Mind _v._ Matteralways wins the verdict. But let me congratulate you upon your luck. Wemust get to the bottom of this strange affair now, if we can only nabthose fellows."
"I should hope so. But how do you think it will prove? Who will bedetected as the leading villain? For these rogues have only been hiredof course."
"Well, I own myself puzzled, Jemmy, worse than ever. Until this lastnews of yours, I was inclined to think that there had been some strangemistake all through, while the good Colonel slept still undisturbed. Butnow it appears that I must have been wrong. And I hardly like to tellyou my last idea, because of your peculiar position."
"I know what you mean, and I thank you for it;" Fox replied with a rapidglance. "But to my mind that seems the very reason why I should knoweverything."
"Well, if you take it so, friend Jemmy, as my first theory is now provedwrong, my second one is that Lady Waldron knows more about this matterthan anybody else. She has always shown herself hostile to you, so thatmy idea cannot shock you, as otherwise it might. Are you angry with me?"
"Not in the least; though I cannot believe it, thereby returning goodfor evil; for she was quick enough to believe it--or feign to doso--about me. There are things that tend towards your conclusion. I amsorry to acknowledge that there are. And yet, until it is positivelyproved, I will not think it possible. She is no great favourite of mine,you know, any more than I am of hers. Also, I am well aware that womendo things a man never would believe; and some women don't mind doinganything. But I cannot persuade myself that she is one of that sort. Shehas too much pride to be a hypocrite."
"So I should have thought. But against facts, where are you? ShroveTuesday will tell us a thing or two however. That is a very nice mare ofyours. I know nothing of horses, but judge them by their eyes; thoughtheir legs are the proper study. Good-bye, my boy! Perhaps I shall amazeyou with a dish of trout to-morrow. They are always in very finecondition here."