THE HEIRESS.
Trust me, Clara Vere de Vere,
From yon blue heavens above us bent,
The grand old gardener and his wife
Smile at the claims of long descent,
Howe'er it be, it seems to me,
'Tis only noble to be good;
Kind hearts are more than coronets,
And simple faith than Norman blood.
--_Tennyson_.
Almost any other youth than Ishmael Worth would have died of such
injuries as he had sustained. But owing to that indestructible vitality
and irrepressible elasticity of organization which had carried him
safely through the deadly perils of his miserable infancy, he survived.
About the fourth day of his illness the irritative fever of his wounds
having been subdued, Judge Merlin was admitted to see and converse with
him.
Up to this morning the judge had thought of the victim only as the
overseer's nephew, a poor, laboring youth about the estate, who had got
hurt in doing his duty and stopping Miss Merlin's runaway horses; and he
supposed that he, Judge Merlin, had done his part in simply taking the
suffering youth into his own house and having him properly attended to.
And now the judge went to the patient with the intention of praising his
courage and offering him some proper reward for his services--as, for
instance, a permanent situation to work on the estate for good wages.
And so Judge Merlin entered the sick-chamber, which was no longer
darkened, but had all the windows open to admit the light and air.
He took a chair and seated himself by the bedside of the patient, and
for the first time took a good look at him.
Ishmael's handsome face, no longer distorted by suffering, was calm and
clear; his eyes were closed in repose but not in sleep, for the moment
the judge "hemmed" he raised his eyelids and greeted his host with a
gentle smile and nod.
Judge Merlin could not but be struck with the delicacy, refinement, and
intellectuality of Ishmael's countenance.
"How do you feel yourself this morning, my lad?" he inquired, putting
the usual commonplace question.
"Much easier, thank you, sir," replied the youth, in the pure, sweet,
modulated tones of a highly-cultivated nature.
The judge was surprised, but did not show that he was so, as he said:
"You have done my daughter a great service; but at the cost of much
suffering to yourself, I fear, my lad."
"I consider myself very fortunate and happy, sir, in having had the
privilege of rendering Miss Merlin any service, at whatever cost to
myself," replied Ishmael, with graceful courtesy.
More and more astonished at the words and manner of the young workman,
the judge continued:
"Thank you, young man; very properly spoken--very properly: but for all
that, I must find some way of rewarding you."
"Sir," said Ishmael, with gentle dignity, "I must beg you will not speak
to me of reward for a simple act of instinctive gallantry that any man,
worthy of the name, would have performed."
"But with you, young man, the case was different," said the judge
loftily.
"True, sir," replied our youth, with sweet and courteous dignity, "with
me the case was very different; because, with me, it was a matter of
self-interest; for the service rendered to Miss Merlin was rendered to
myself."
"I do not understand you, young man," said the judge haughtily.
"Pardon me, sir. I mean that in saving Miss Merlin from injury I saved
myself from despair. If any harm had befallen her I should have been
miserable; so you perceive, sir, that the act you are good enough to
term a great service was too natural and too selfish to be praised or
rewarded; and so I must beseech you to speak of it in that relation no
more."
"But what was my daughter to you that you should risk your life for her,
more than for another? or that her maimed limbs or broken neck should
affect you more than others?"
"Sir, we were old acquaintances; I saw her every day when I went to Mr.
Middleton's, and she was ever exceedingly kind to me," replied Ishmael.
"Oh! and you lived in that neighborhood?" inquired Judge Merlin, who
immediately jumped to the conclusion that Ishmael had been employed as a
laborer on Mr. Middleton's estate; though still he could not possibly
account for the refinement in Ishmael's manner nor the excellence of his
language.
"I lived in that neighborhood with my Aunt Hannah until Uncle Reuben
married her, when I accompanied them to this place," answered Ishmael.
"Ah! and you saw a great deal of Mr. Middleton and--and his family?"
"I saw them every day, sir; they were very, very kind to me."
"Every day! then you must have been employed about the house," said the
judge.
An arch smile beamed in the eyes of Ishmael as he answered:
"Yes, sir, I was employed about the house--that is to say, in the
schoolroom."
"Ah! to sweep it out and keep it in order, I suppose; and, doubtless,
there was where you contracted your superior tone of manners and
conversation," thought the judge to himself, but he replied aloud:
"Well, young man, we will say no more of rewards, since the word is
distasteful to you; but as soon as you can get strong again, I should be
pleased to give you work about the place at fair wages. Our miller wants
a white boy to go around with the grist. Would you like the place?"
"I thank you, sir, no; my plans for the future are fixed; that is, as
nearly fixed as those of short-sighted mortals can be," smiled Ishmael.
"Ah, indeed!" exclaimed the judge, raising his eyebrows, "and may I, as
one interested in your welfare, inquire what those plans may be?"
"Certainly, sir, and I thank you very much for the interest you express,
as well as for all your kindness to me." Ishmael paused for a moment and
then added:
"On the first of September I shall open the Rushy Shore schoolhouse, for
the reception of day pupils."
"Whe-ew!" said the judge, with a low whistle, "and do you really mean to
be a schoolmaster?"
"For the present, sir, until a better one can be found to fill the
place; then, indeed, I shall feel bound in honor and conscience to
resign my post, for I do not believe teaching to be my true vocation."
"No! I should think not, indeed!" replied Judge Merlin, who of course
supposed the overseer's nephew, notwithstanding the grace and courtesy
of his speech and manner, to be fit for nothing but manual labor. "What
ever induces you to try school-keeping?" he inquired.
"I am driven to it by my own necessities, and drawn to it by the
necessities of others. In other words, I need employment, and the
neighborhood needs a teacher--and I think, sir, that one who
conscientiously does his best is better than none at all. Those are the
reasons, sir, why I have taken the school, with the intention of keeping
it until a person more competent than myself to discharge its duties
shall be found, when I shall give it up; for, as I said before, teaching
is not my ultimate vocation."
"What is your 'ultimate vocation,' young man? for I should like to help
you to it," said the judge, still thinking only of manual labor in all
its varieties; "what is it?"
"Jurisprudence," answered Ishmael.
"Juris--what?" demanded the judge, as if he had not heard aright.
"Jurisprudence--the science of human justice; the knowledge of the laws,
customs, and rights of man in communities; the study above all others
most necessary to the due administration of justice in human affairs,
and even in divine, and second only to that of theology," replied
Ishmael, with grave enthusiasm.
"But--you don't mean to say that you intend to become a lawyer?"
exclaimed the judge, in a state of astonishment that bordered on
consternation.
"Yes, sir; I intend to be a lawyer, if it please the Lord to bless my
earnest efforts," replied the youth reverently.
"Why--I am a lawyer!" exclaimed the judge.
"I am aware that you are a very distinguished one, sir, having risen to
the bench of the Supreme Court of your native State," replied the youth
respectfully.
The judge remained in a sort of panic of astonishment. The thought in
his mind was this: What--you? you, the nephew of my overseer, have you
the astounding impudence, the madness, to think that you can enter a
profession of which I am a member?
Ishmael saw that thought reflected in his countenance and smiled to
himself.
"But--how do you propose ever to become a lawyer?" inquired the judge,
aloud.
"By reading law," answered Ishmael simply.
"What! upon your own responsibility?"
"Upon my own responsibility for a while. I shall try afterwards to
enter the office of some lawyer. I shall use every faculty, try every
means and improve every opportunity that Heaven grants me for this end.
And thus I hope to succeed," said Ishmael gravely.
"Are you aware," inquired the judge, with a little sarcasm in his tone,
"that some knowledge of the classics is absolutely necessary to the
success of a lawyer?"
"I am aware that a knowledge of the classics is very desirable in each
and all of what are termed the 'learned professions'; but I did not
know, and I do not think, that it can be absolutely necessary in every
grade of each of these; but if so, it is well for me that I have a fair
knowledge of Latin and Greek," replied Ishmael.
"What did you say?" inquired the judge, with ever-increasing wonder.
Ishmael blushed at the perception that while he only meant to state a
fact, he might be suspected of making a boast.
"Did you say that you knew anything of Latin and Greek?" inquired the
judge, in amazement.
"Something of both, sir," replied Ishmael modestly.
"But surely you never picked up a smattering of the classics while
sweeping out Middleton's family schoolroom!"
"Oh, no, sir!" laughed Ishmael.
"Where then?"
Ishmael's reply was lost in the bustling entrance of Doctor Jarvis, whom
Judge Merlin arose to receive.
The doctor examined the condition of his patient, found him with an
accession of fever, prescribed a complete repose for the remainder of
the day, left some medicine with directions for its administration, and
departed. The judge accompanied the doctor to the door.
"That is a rather remarkable boy," observed Judge Merlin, as they went
out together.
"A very remarkable one! Who is he?" asked Doctor Jarvis.
"The nephew of my overseer, Reuben Gray. That is absolutely all I know
about it."
"The nephew of Gray? Can it be so? Why, Gray is but an ignorant boor,
while this youth has the manners and education of a gentleman--a
polished gentleman!" exclaimed the doctor, in astonishment.
"It is true, and I can make nothing of it," said Judge Merlin, shaking
his head.
"How very strange," mused the doctor, as he mounted his horse, bowed and
rode away.