THE JOURNEY.
Love, hope, and joy, fair pleasure's smiling train;
Hate, fear, and grief, the family of pain;
These mixed with art and to due bounds confined,
Make and maintain the balance of the mind;
The lights and shades whose well-accorded strife
Give all the strength and color to our life
--_Pope_.
Ishmael's ride up to the city was, upon the whole, as much enjoyed
as the ride down had been. It is true that, in the first instance,
he had been going to see Bee; and now he was coming away from her;
but he had passed one whole day and two pleasant evenings in her
society, and he could live a long time on the memory of that visit.
He soon struck into his old direct path, and calling at the same
places where he had changed horses on his journey down, he re-
changed them on his way up.
At Horsehead, where he stopped to take tea, he recovered his
favourite brown horse Jack, which was in excellent condition and
carried him swiftly the rest of the way to Washington.
It was ten o'clock when he drew rein at the door of his office,
dismounted, and rang.
The professor opened the door.
"Well, Morris, all right here?" was Ishmael's cheerful greeting.
"All right, sir, now that you have come. We have been a little
anxious within the last hour or two, sir; especially the judge, who
is here."
"Judge Merlin here?"
"Yes, sir. He came over to wait for you. And the two young gentlemen
are also here, sir. They came back after tea. I heard them say to
the judge that they thought it quite likely you would have some last
things to say to them to-night, and so they would wait."
"Quite right. Morris. Now take my horse around to the stables and
then return as fast as you can," said Ishmael, as he passed the
professor and entered the office.
The judge and the two young clerks occupied it.
The former was walking up and down the floor impatiently. The latter
were seated at their desks.
The judge turned quickly to greet his young friend.
"Oh, Ishmael, I am so relieved that you have come at last. I have
been very anxious for the last few hours."
"Why so, sir?" inquired Ishmael, as he shook hands with the old man.
"Did you not know that I would be punctual when I gave you my word
to that effect?"
"Oh, yes; but there are such things as accidents, you know, and an
accident would have been very awkward on the eve of a voyage. And
you are late, you are late, you see!"
"Yes," said Ishmael, as he passed on to speak to his young clerks
and thank them for their thoughtfulness in waiting.
Then, while divesting himself of his greatcoat, he explained to the
judge the cause of his short delay--the detour he had made to bid
good-by to his old friends, Hannah and Reuben. By the time he had
done this, and seated himself, the professor returned from the
livery stables; but he only reported the safe delivery of the horse
and then passed through the office into the house.
In a few minutes he returned, saying:
"Mr. Worth, the ladies bid me say that they had kept supper waiting
for you, and they hope you will do them the favor to come in and
partake of it, as it is your last evening at home for some time. And
they will also be very much gratified if your friends will come and
sup with you on this occasion."
"Will you come, judge? And you, too, gentlemen?" inquired Ishmael,
turning to his companions, who all three bowed assent.
"Return to the ladies and say that I thank them very much for their
kindness, and that we will come with pleasure," he said to the
professor.
And then with a smile and a bow, and a request to be excused for a
few minutes, Ishmael passed into his bedroom to make some little
change in his toilet for the evening.
When he rejoined his friends they went into the supper-room, where
they found an elegant and luxurious feast laid; and the two fair old
ladies, in their soft, plain, gray mousseline dresses and delicate
lace caps, waiting to do the honors. These maiden ladies, with their
refinement, intelligence, and benevolence, had completely won the
affections of Ishmael, who loved them with a filial reverence.
There was no one else present in the room except themselves and a
waiter.
"My dear Mr. Worth," said the elder lady, approaching and taking his
hand, "we hear that you are going to Europe. How sudden, and how we
shall miss you! But we hope that you will have a pleasant time."
"Yes, indeed!" joined in her sister, coming up to shake hands; "we
do so! and I am sure in church, yesterday, when we came to that part
of the litany in which we pray for 'all who travel by land or by
water,' I thought of you and bore you up on that prayer. And I shall
continue to do it until you get back safe."
"And so shall I," added the elder.
"Thank you! thank you!" said Ishmael, fervently shaking both their
hands. "I am sure if your good wishes and pious prayers can effect
it, I shall have a pleasant and prosperous voyage."
"That you will," they simultaneously and cordially responded.
"And now permit me to introduce my friends: Judge Merlin, Mr. Smith,
Mr. Jones."
The gentlemen bowed and the ladies courtesied, and they presently
sat down to supper. The conversation turned on the projected voyage.
"Judge, you will have an unexpected fellow-passenger--an old
friend," said Ishmael.
"Ah! who is he?" sighed the judge, who never spoke now without a
sigh.
"Mr. Brudenell is going over in the 'Oceana.'"
"Indeed! What takes him over?"
"I do not know; unless it is the desire of seeing his mother and
sisters. He did not tell me, and I did not ask him. In fact, we had
so short a time together there was no opportunity."
"Oh! you have seen him? Where did you meet him? And where is he
now?"
"I met him at the Beacon, en route for Washington. He left there
this morning, to embark on the 'Errand Boy,' which expects to reach
the city to-morrow, in time for the express train North."
"Ah! coming by the 'Errand Boy,' is he? That's a risk, under all the
circumstances, for the 'Errand Boy' is sometimes three or four hours
behind time. And if he should miss the early train to-morrow morning
he can never be in time to meet the Boston steamer, that is certain.
Why couldn't he have dashed up on horseback with you?"
"I fancy, sir, he was not strong enough to bear such a forced ride
as I was obliged to undertake."
As it was eleven o'clock when they arose from the supper-table the
judge almost immediately took his leave, having previously arranged
with Ishmael to join him at his hotel the next morning, to proceed
from there to the station.
The two young clerks remained longer, to go over certain documents
with their employer, and receive his final instructions. When they
had departed, Ishmael went into his bedroom, where he found the
professor waiting for him.
"At last!" said the latter, as his master entered.
"What, Morris, you up yet? Do you know what time it is?" demanded
Ishmael, in surprise.
"Yes, sir; it is two o'clock in the morning."
"Then you know you ought to have been in bed, hours ago."
"Law, Mr. Worth--I couldn't have slept, sir, if I had gone to bed.
I'm rising sixty years old, but I am just as much excited over this
voyage to England as if I was a boy of sixteen. To think I shall see
St. Paul's Cathedral, sir! Aint the thought of that enough to keep a
man's eyes open all night? And to think it is all through you, young
Ish--Mr. Worth. If it wasn't for you, I might be vegetating on, in
that cabin, in old St. Mary's, with no more chance of improving my
mind than the cattle that browse around it. God bless you, sir!"
"Ah, professor, if at your age I have such a fresh, young, evergreen
heart, and such an aspiring, progressive spirit as yours, I shall
think the Lord has blessed me. But now go to bed, old friend, and
recruit your strength for the journey. Though 'the spirit is
willing, the flesh is weak,' you know. The soul is immortal, but the
body is perishable; so you must take care of it."
"Yes, sir, I will, just because you tell me. But I want to show you
first what preparations I have made for the voyage, to see if you
approve them. You see, sir, when you went off to St. Mary's so
sudden, and left me to pack up your clothes, it just struck me that
there must be many things wanted on a sea-voyage as is not wanted on
land; but of course I didn't know exactly what they were. So after
cogitating a while, I remembered that the judge had been to Europe
several times, and would know all about it, and so I just made bold
to go and ask him. And he told me what you would require. And I went
and got it, sir. Please, look here," said the professor, raising the
lid of a trunk.
"You are very thoughtful, Morris. You are a real help to me," said
Ishmael, smiling.
"You see, here are the warm, fine, dark flannel shirts, to be worn
instead of linen ones on the voyage. And here is a thick woolen
scarf. And here is your sea cap. And oh, here is your sea suit--of
coarse pepper and salt. And if you believe me, sir, I went and gave
the order to your tailor on Saturday morning, and told him the
necessity for haste, and he sent the clothes home before twelve
o'clock at night. I'm only afraid they'll hang like a bag on you,
sir, as the tailor had nothing but your business suit to measure
them by, though, to be sure, the fit of a sea suit isn't much
matter, sir."
"Certainly not. You are a treasure to me, Morris; but if you do not
go to bed now and recruit your strength, my treasure may be
endangered."
"I'm going now, sir; only I want to call your attention to the books
I have put into your trunk, sir. I thought as we could only take a
very few, I had better put in the Bible, and Shakspeare, and Milton,
sir."
"An admirable selection, Morris. Good-night, dear old friend."
"Good-night, sir; but please take notice I have put in a chess board
and set of chessmen."
"All right, professor. Good-night," repeated Ishmael
"Yes, sir; good-night! And there's a first-rate spy-glass, as I
thought you'd like to have to see distant objects."
"Thank you, professor. Good-night!" reiterated Ishmael, scarcely
able to restrain his laughter.
"Good-night, sir. And there's some--well, I see you're laughing at
me."
"No, no, professor! or, if I was, it was in sympathy and pleasure;
not in derision--Heaven forbid! Your boyish interest in this voyage
is really charming to me, professor. But you must retire, old
friend; indeed you must. You know we will have plenty of time to
look over these things when we get on board the steamer," said
Ishmael, taking the old man's hand, cordially shaking it, and
resolutely dismissing him to rest.
And Ishmael himself retired to bed and to sleep, and being very much
fatigued with his long ride, he slept soundly until morning.
Though the professor was too much excited by the thoughts of his
voyage to sleep much, yet he was up with the earliest dawn of
morning, moving about softly in his master's room, strapping down
the trunks and laying out traveling clothes and toilet apparatus.
The kind old maiden ladies also bestirred themselves earlier than
usual this morning, that their young favorite should enjoy one more
comfortable breakfast before he left.
And so when Ishmael was dressed and had just dispatched the
professor to the stand to engage a hack to take them to the station,
and while he was thinking of nothing better in the way of a morning
meal than the weak, muddy coffee and questionable bread and butter
of the railway restaurant, he received a summons to the dining room,
where he found his two hostesses presiding over a breakfast of Mocha
coffee, hot rolls, buckwheat cakes, poached eggs, broiled salmon,
stewed oysters, and roast partridges.
Our young man had a fine healthy appetite of his own, and could
enjoy this repast as well as any epicure alive; but better than all
to his affectionate heart was the motherly kindness that had brought
these two delicate old ladies out of their beds at this early hour
to give him a breakfast.
They had their reward in seeing how heartily he ate. There was no
one at the table but himself and themselves; and they pressed the
food upon him, reminding him how long a journey he would have to
make before he could sit down to another comfortable meal.
And when Ishmael had breakfasted and thanked them, and returned to
his rooms to tie up some last little parcels, they called in the
professor, who had now come back, and they plied him with all the
luxuries on the breakfast table.
And when to their great satisfaction the old man had made an
astonishing meal and risen from the table, they beckoned him
mysteriously aside and gave a well-filled hamper into his charge,
saying:
"You know, professor, it is a long journey from Washington to
Boston, and in going straight through you can't get anything fit to
eat on the road; and so we have packed this hamper for your master.
There's ham sandwiches and chicken pie, and roast partridges and
fried oysters, and French rolls and celery, and plenty of pickles
and pepper and salt and things. And I have put in some plates and
knives and napkins, all comfortable."
The professor thanked them heartily on the part of his master; and
took the hamper immediately to the hack that was standing before the
door.
Ishmael had already caused the luggage to be carried out and placed
on the hack, and now nothing remained to be done but to take leave
of the two old ladies. He shook hands with them affectionately, and
they blessed him fervently. And as soon as he had got into the hack
and it had driven off with him, they turned and clasped each other
around the neck and cried.
Truly Ishmael's good qualities had made him deeply beloved.
When the hack reached the hotel, Ishmael found Judge Merlin, all
greatcoated and shawled, walking up and down before the door with
much impatience. His luggage had been brought down.
"You see I am in time, judge."
"Yes, Ishmael. Good morning. I was afraid you would not be, however.
I was afraid you would oversleep yourself after your hard ride. But
have you breakfasted?"
"Oh, yes! My dear old friends were up before day to have breakfast
with me."
"I tell you what, Ishmael, they are really two charming old ladies,
and if ever I get right again and spend another winter in this city,
I will try to get them to take me to board. They would make a home
for a man," said the judge.
While they were talking the porters were busy putting Judge Merlin's
luggage upon Ishmael's hack.
"You have not heard whether the 'Errand Boy' has reached the wharf?"
inquired Ishmael.
"Not a word. There has been no arrival here this morning from any
quarter, as I understand from the head waiter."
"I am really afraid Mr. Brudenell will miss the train."
"If he does he will miss the voyage also. But we must not risk such
a misfortune. Get in, boy, get in!" said the judge, hastily entering
the hack.
Ishmael followed his example. The professor climbed up to a seat
beside the driver and the hack moved off. They reached the railway
station just in time. In fact they had not a moment to lose.
They had just got seated in the cars, and were expecting the signal
whistle to shriek out every instant, when Ishmael, who was seated
nearest the window, saw a gentleman in a great-coat, and with his
shawl over his arm, and his umbrella and hat-box in his hand,
hurrying frantically past.
"There is Mr. Brudenell now!" he exclaimed with pleasure, as he
tapped upon the window to attract that gentleman's attention.
Mr. Brudenell looked up, nodded quickly, and darted on, and the next
moment hurried in at the end door of the car and came down to them
just as the signal whistle shrieked out and the train started.
Ishmael reserved the seat in front of himself and the judge, and
invited Mr. Brudenell to take it.
The latter gentleman dropped into his place and then held out his
hand to greet his fellow-passengers.
"So you are going with us to England. I am very glad of it," said
the judge, though in fact he looked very pale and worn, as if he
never could be glad again in this world.
"Yes," said Mr. Brudenell, "I am very glad indeed to be of your
party. Good-morning, Worth!"
"Good-morning, sir! You were very fortunate to catch the train."
"Very! I was within half a minute of missing it. I had a run for it,
I assure you."
"I beg your pardon, sir! Have you breakfasted?" here inquired the
professor, in all the conscious importance of carrying a hamper.
"Ah, professor! how do you do? You are never going to Europe?"
exclaimed Mr. Brudenell, in surprise.
"Yes, sir. I go wherever my master leads, sir. Mr. Worth and his
humble servant will never be separated till death do them part. But
about your breakfast, sir?"
"Why, truly, no, I have not breakfasted, unless a cup of suspicious-
looking liquid called coffee, drunk at the railway table, could be
called breakfast."
The professor sat his hamper on his knees, opened it, and began to
reveal its hidden treasures.
Ishmael laughed, expressed his surprise, and inquired of Morris what
cook shop he patronized.
And then the professor explained the kind forethought of the old
ladies who had provided these luxuries for his journey.
"I declare I will live with them if they will let me, if ever I
spend another winter in Washington! One could enjoy what is so often
promised, so seldom given--'the comforts of a home'--with those old
ladies," said the judge fervently.
Mr. Brudenell made a very satisfactory meal off half a dozen French
rolls, a roasted partridge and a bottle of claret. And then while he
was wiping his mouth and the professor was repacking the hamper and
throwing the waste out of the window, Judge Merlin turned to Mr.
Brudenell, and, with an old man's freedom, inquired:
"Pray, sir, may I ask, what procures us the pleasure--and it is
indeed a great pleasure--of your company across the water?"
A shade of the deepest grief and mortification fell over the face of
Herman Brudenell, as bending his head to the ear of his questioner,
and speaking in a low voice, he replied:
"Family matters, of so painful and humiliating a nature as not to be
discussed in a railway car, or scarcely anywhere else, in fact."
"Pardon me," said the judge, speaking in the same low tone; "some
malignant star must reign. Had you asked the same question of me,
concerning the motives of my journey, I might have truly answered
you in the very same words."
And the old man groaned deeply; while Ishmael silently wondered what
the family matters could be of which Mr. Brudenell spoke.
A modern railway journey is without incident or adventure worth
recording, unless it be an occasional disastrous collision. No such
calamity befell this train. Our travelers talked, dozed, eat, and
drank a little through their twenty-four hours' journey. At noon
they reached Philadelphia, at eve New York, at midnight Springfield,
and the next morning Boston.
It was just sunrise as they arose and stretched their weary limbs
and left the train. They had but an hour to spare to go to a hotel
and refresh themselves with a bath, a change of clothes, and a
breakfast before it was time to go on board their steamer.
They were the last passengers on board. Fortunately, at this season
of the year there are comparatively but few voyagers. The best
staterooms in the first cabin, to use a common phrase, "went a-
begging."
And Judge Merlin, Mr. Brudenell, and Ishmael were each accommodated
with a separate stateroom "amidships."
The professor was provided with a good berth in the second cabin.
There were about thirty other passengers in the first cabin, as many
in the second, and quite a large number in the steerage.