MR. BURKE BEGINS TO MAKE THINGS MOVE IN PLAINTON
It was not long before Mr. Burke began to be a very important personage
in Plainton. It was generally known that he intended to buy land and
settle in the neighborhood, and as he was a rich man, evidently
inclined to be liberal in his expenditures, this was a matter of great
interest both in social and business circles.
He often drove out to survey the surrounding country, but when he was
perceived several times standing in front of an old house at the corner
of the street near Mrs. Cliff's residence, it was supposed that he might
have changed his mind in regard to a country place, and was thinking of
building in the town.
He was not long considered a stranger in the place. Mrs. Cliff
frequently spoke of him as a valued friend, and there was reason to
believe that in the various adventures and dangers of which they had
heard, Mr. Burke had been of great service to their old friend and
neighbor, and it was not unlikely that his influence had had a good deal
to do with her receipt of a portion of the treasure discovered by the
commander of the expedition.
Several persons had said more than once that they could not see why Mrs.
Cliff should have had any claim upon this treasure, except, perhaps, to
the extent of her losses. But if she had had a friend in camp,--and Mr.
Burke was certainly a friend,--it was easy to understand why he would do
the best he could, at a time when money was so plenty, for the benefit
of one whom he knew to be a widow in straitened circumstances.
So Mr. Burke was looked upon not only as a man of wealth and superior
tastes in regard to food and personal comfort, but as a man of a liberal
and generous disposition. Furthermore, there was no pride about him.
Often on his return from his drives, his barouche and pair, which Mr.
Williams had obtained in Harrington for his guest's express benefit,
would stop in front of Mrs. Cliff's modest residence; and two or three
times he had taken that good lady and Willy Croup to drive with him.
But Mrs. Cliff did not care very much for the barouche. She would have
preferred a little phaeton and a horse which she could drive herself. As
for her horse and the two-seated wagon, that was declared by most of the
ladies of the town to be a piece of absolute extravagance. It was used
almost exclusively by Willy, who was known to deal with shops in the
most distant part of the town in order that she might have an excuse, it
was said, to order out that wagon and have Andrew Marks to drive her.
Of course they did not know how often Mrs. Cliff had said to herself
that it was really not a waste of money to keep this horse, for Willy
was no longer young; and if she could save her any weary steps, she
ought to do it, and at the same time relieve a little the congested
state of her income.
Moreover, Mr. Burke was not of an unknown family. He was quite willing
to talk about himself, especially to Mr. Williams, as they sat and
smoked together in the evening, and he said a good deal about his
father, who had owned two ships at Nantucket, and who, according to his
son, was one of the most influential citizens of the place.
Mr. Williams had heard of the Burkes of Nantucket, and he did not think
any the less of the one who was now his guest, because his father's
ships had come to grief during his boyhood, and he had been obliged to
give up a career on shore, which he would have liked, and go to sea,
which he did not like. A brave spirit in poverty coupled with a liberal
disposition in opulence was enough to place Mr. Burke on a very high
plane in the opinions of the people of Plainton.
Half a mile outside the town, upon a commanding eminence, there was a
handsome house which belonged to a family named Buskirk. These people
were really not of Plainton, although their post-office and railroad
station were there. They were rich city people who came to this country
place for the summer and autumn, and who had nothing to do with the town
folks, except in a limited degree to deal with some of them.
This family lived in great style, and their coachman and footman in knee
breeches, their handsome horses with docked tails, the beautiful grounds
about their house, a feebly shooting fountain on the front lawn, were a
source of anxious disquietude in the mind of Mrs. Cliff. They were like
the skeletons which were brought in at the feasts of the ancients.
"If I should ever be obliged to live like the Buskirks on the hill," the
good lady would say to herself, "I would wish myself back to what I used
to be, asking only that my debts be paid."
Even the Buskirks took notice of Mr. Burke. In him they thought it
possible they might have a neighbor. If he should buy a place and build
a fine house somewhere in their vicinity, which they thought the only
vicinity in which any one should build a fine house, it might be a very
good thing, and would certainly not depreciate the value of their
property. A wealthy bachelor might indeed be a more desirable neighbor
than a large family.
The Buskirks had been called upon when they came to Plainton a few years
before by several families. Of course, the clergyman, Mr. Perley, and
his wife, paid them a visit, and the two Misses Thorpedyke hired a
carriage and drove to the house, and, although they did not see the
family, they left their cards.
After some time these and other calls were returned, but in the most
ceremonious manner, and there ended the social intercourse between the
fine house on the hill and the town.
As the Buskirks drove to Harrington to church, they did not care about
the Perleys, and although they seemed somewhat inclined to cultivate the
Thorpedykes, who were known to be of such an excellent old family, the
Thorpedykes did not reciprocate the feeling, and, having declined an
invitation to tea, received no more.
But now Mr. Buskirk, who had come up on Saturday to spend Sunday with
his family, actually called on Mr. Burke at the hotel. The wealthy
sailor was not at home, and the city gentleman left his card.
When Mr. Burke showed this card to Mrs. Cliff, her face clouded. "Are
you going to return the visit?" said she.
"Oh yes!" answered Burke. "Some of these days I will drive up and look
in on them. I expect they have got a fancy parlor, and I would like to
sit in it a while and think of the days when I used to swab the deck.
There's nothin' more elevatin', to my mind, than just that sort of
thing. I do it sometime when I am eatin' my meals at the hotel, and the
better I can bring to mind the bad coffee and hard tack, the better I
like what's set before me."
Mrs. Cliff sighed. She wished Mr. Buskirk had kept away from the hotel.
As soon as Mrs. Cliff had consented to the erection of the new
dining-room on the corner lot,--and she did not hesitate after Mr. Burke
had explained to her how easy it would be to do the whole thing almost
without her knowing anything about it, if she did not want to bother
herself in the matter,--the enterprise was begun.
Burke, who was of an active mind, and who delighted in managing and
directing, undertook to arrange everything. There was no agreement
between Mrs. Cliff and himself that he should do this, but it pleased
him so much to do it, and it pleased her so much to have him do it, that
it was done as a thing which might be expected to happen naturally.
Sometimes she said he was giving her too much of his time, but he
scorned such an idea. He had nothing to do, for he did not believe that
he should buy a place for himself until spring, because he wanted to
pick out a spot to live in when the leaves were coming out instead of
when they were dropping off, and the best fun he knew of would be to
have command of a big crew, and to keep them at work building Mrs.
Cliff's dining-room.
"I should be glad to have you attend to the contracts," said Mrs. Cliff,
"and all I ask is, that while you don't waste anything,--for I think it
is a sin to waste money no matter how much you may have,--that you will
help me as much as you can to make me feel that I really am making use
of my income."
Burke agreed to do all this, always under her advice, of course, and
very soon he had his crew, and they were hard at work. He sent to
Harrington and employed an architect to make plans, and as soon as the
general basis of these was agreed upon, the building was put in charge
of a contractor, who, under Mr. Burke, began to collect material and
workmen from all available quarters.
"We've got to work sharp, for the new building must be moored alongside
Mrs. Cliff's house before the first snowstorm."
A lawyer of Plainton undertook the purchase of the land and, as the
payments were to be made in cash, and as there was no chaffering about
prices, this business was soon concluded.
As to the Barnard family, Mr. Burke himself undertook negotiations with
them. When he had told them of the handsome lot on another street, which
would be given them in exchange, and how he would gently slide their
house to the new location, and put it down on any part of the lot which
they might choose, and guaranteed that it should be moved so gently that
the clocks would not stop ticking, nor the tea or coffee spill out of
their cups, if they chose to take their meals on board during the
voyage; and as, furthermore, he promised a handsome sum to recompense
them for the necessity of leaving behind their well, which he could not
undertake to move, and for any minor inconveniences and losses, their
consent to the change of location was soon obtained.
Four days after this Burke started the Barnard house on its travels. As
soon as he had made his agreement with the family, he had brought a man
down from Harrington, whose business it was to move houses, and had put
the job into his hands. He stipulated that at one o'clock P.M. on the
day agreed upon the house was to begin to move, and he arranged with the
mason to whom he had given the contract for preparing the cellar on the
new lot, that he should begin operations at the same hour.
He then offered a reward of two hundred dollars to be given to the mover
if he got his house to its destination before the cellar was done, or to
the mason if he finished the cellar before the house arrived.
The Barnards had an early dinner, which was cooked on a kerosene stove,
their chimney having been taken down, but they had not finished washing
the dishes when their house began to move.
Mrs. Cliff and Willy ran to bid them good-bye, and all the Barnards, old
and young, leaned out of a back window and shook hands.
Mr. Burke had arranged a sort of gang-plank with a railing if any of
them wanted to go on shore--that is, step on terra firma--during the
voyage. But Samuel Rolands, the mover, heedful of his special prize,
urged upon them not to get out any oftener than could be helped, because
when they wished to use the gang-plank he would be obliged to stop.
There were two boys in the family who were able to jump off and on
whenever they pleased, but boys are boys, and very different from other
people.
Houses had been moved in Plainton before, but never had any inhabitants
of the place beheld a building glide along upon its timber course with,
speaking comparatively, the rapidity of this travelling home.
Most of the citizens of the place who had leisure, came at some time
that afternoon to look at the moving house, and many of them walked by
its side, talking to the Barnards, who, as the sun was warm, stood at an
open window, very much excited by the spirit of adventure, and quite
willing to converse.
Over and over they assured their neighbors that they would never know
they were moving if they did not see the trees and things slowly passing
by them.
As they crossed the street and passed between two houses on the opposite
side, the inhabitants of these gathered at their windows, and the
conversation was very lively with the Barnards, as the house of the
latter passed slowly by.
All night that house moved on, and the young people of the village
accompanied it until eleven o'clock, when the Barnards went to bed.
Mr. Burke divided his time between watching the moving house, at which
all the men who could be employed in any way, and all the horses which
could be conveniently attached to the windlasses, were working in
watches of four hours each, in order to keep them fresh and
vigorous,--and the lot where the new cellar was being constructed,
where the masons continued their labors at night by the light of
lanterns and a blazing bonfire fed with resinous pine.
The excitement caused by these two scenes of activity was such that it
is probable that few of the people of the town went to bed sooner than
the Barnard family.
Early the next morning the two Barnard boys looked out of the window of
their bedroom and saw beneath them the Hastings' barnyard, with the
Hastings boy milking. They were so excited by this vision that they
threw their shoes and stockings out at him, having no other missiles
convenient, and for nearly half an hour he followed that house, trying
to toss the articles back through the open window, while the cow stood
waiting for the milking to be finished.
On the evening of the third day after its departure from its original
position, the Barnard house arrived on the new lot, and, to the disgust
of Samuel Rolands, he found the cellar entirely finished and ready for
him to place the house upon it. But Mr. Burke, who had been quite sure
that this would be the result of the competition, comforted him by
telling him that as he had done his best, he too should have a prize
equal to that given to the mason. This had been suggested by Mrs. Cliff,
because, she said, that as they were both hard-working men with
families, and although the house-mover was not a citizen of Plainton, he
had once lived there, she was very glad of this opportunity of helping
them along.
As soon as this important undertaking had been finished, Mr. Burke was
able to give his sole attention to the new dining-room on the corner
lot. He and the architect had worked hard upon the plans, and when they
were finished they had been shown to Mrs. Cliff. She understood them in
a general way, and was very glad to see that such ample provisions had
been made in regard to closets, though she was not able to perceive with
her mind's eye the exact dimensions of a room nineteen by twenty-seven,
nor to appreciate the difference between a ceiling twelve feet high, and
another which was nine.
However, having told Mr. Burke and the architect what she wanted, and
both of them having told her what she ought to have, she determined to
leave the whole matter in their hands. This resolution was greatly
approved by her sailor friend, for, as the object of the plan of
construction was to relieve her of all annoyance consequent upon
building operations, the more she left everything to those who delighted
in the turmoil of construction, the better it would be for all.
Everything had been done in the plans to prevent interference with the
neatness and comfort of Mrs. Cliff's present abode. The door of the new
dining-room was so arranged that when it was moved up to the old house,
it would exactly fit against a door in the latter which opened from a
side hall upon a little porch. This porch being removed, the two doors
would fit exactly to each other, and there would be none of the dust and
noise consequent upon the cutting away of walls.
So Mrs. Cliff and Willy lived on in peace, comfort, and quiet in their
old home, while on the corner lot there was hammering, and banging, and
sawing all day. Mr. Burke would have had this work go on by night, but
the contractor refused. His men would work extra hours in consideration
of extra inducements, but good carpenter work, he declared, could not be
done by lantern light.
The people of Plainton did not at all understand the operations on the
corner lot. Mr. Burke did not tell them much about it, and the
contractor was not willing to talk. He had some doubts in regard to the
scheme, but as he was well paid, he would do his best. It had been
mentioned that the new building was to be Mrs. Cliff's dining-room, but
this idea soon faded out of the Plainton mind, which was not adapted to
grasp and hold it.
Consequently, as Mr. Burke had a great deal to do with the building, and
as Mrs. Cliff did not appear to be concerned in it at all, it was
generally believed that the gentleman at the hotel was putting up a
house for himself on the corner lot. This knowledge was the only
conclusion which would explain the fact that the house was built upon
smooth horizontal timbers, and not upon a stone or brick foundation. A
man who had been a sailor might fancy to build a house something as he
would build a ship in a shipyard, and not attach it permanently to the
earth.