"The decreet's oot the morn, Mr Fairly, against that man Simmins,"
quoth an equivocal-looking gentleman, with a stick under his arm, a
marvellously shabby hat, a rusty black coat, waistcoat pinned up to
the throat, and followed out by a battered stock, glazed and greasy,
with its edges worn to the bone; and thus making an unseemly
exhibition of the internal composition of said article of wearing
apparel. No shirt, or at least none visible; countenance bearing
strong marks of dissipation; voice loud and ferocious; look equivocal.
Such was the personage who conveyed the information above recorded to
Mr Fairly; and, considering the very particular nature of that
information, together with certain other little circumstances
thereafter following, the reader will be at no great loss, we should
suppose, to guess both the nature of his profession and the purpose of
his call. In case, however, he should not, we beg to inform him that
the speaker was one of those meritorious enforcers of the law, called,
in Scotland, messengers--in England, bailiffs.
Mr Fairly, again--the person spoken to--was a fashionable tailor in a
certain city not a hundred miles from Arthur's Seat. He was a little,
active man, sharp and keen as a razor; and altogether a
dangerous-looking customer to those who found it inconvenient to
settle his demands in due time; he was, in short, the dread and terror
of dilatory payers. In such cases, he hung out the black flag, and
gave no quarter. He was, in truth, just as merciless a tailor as ever
cut cloth, and well were his savage propensities known to, and much
were they respected by, a certain class of his customers--meaning
those who stuck too long on the left-hand side of his ledger--the
fatal ledger. Such, then, was our other interlocutor, Mr Fairly. We
have only to add, that the scene which we have opened was in a certain
parlour in that gentleman's house, and then to proceed with the
conference which this necessary digression has interrupted.
"The decreet's oot the morn, Mr Fairly, against that man Simmins,"
said his visiter, Mr John Howison; "what do ye mean to do? Are we to
incarcerate?"
It was a needless question; for Fairly incarcerated everybody, right
and left, in such circumstances, sparing neither sex nor age.
"Incarcerate!" he repeated, with a ferocious emphasis. "Surely,
surely. Nab the scoundrel. Don't give him a minute beyond his time.
Let me see what were the articles again." And he proceeded to turn
over the leaves of his ominous ledger. "Ay, a surtout, extra superfine
Saxony blue, richly braided, &c. &c., L4:15s., due 21st December, and
this is the 19th January. A month past date! Nab him, Howison. Nab the
villain, and we'll give him six months of the cage, at any rate, and
that'll be some satisfaction."
Howison grinned a grin, partly of satisfaction at the prospect of a
job, and partly of approval of his employer's wit. "But I don't know
the chap exactly," said the former. "I only saw him once."
"Oh, that's easily sorted," replied Fairly. "Although you don't know
him, you may know my surtout, which he constantly wears--having no
other coat, I verily believe, to his back. Here, see, here is the
neighbour of it." And he ran into a back apartment, whence he shortly
returned with a very flashy article of the description he referred to,
and, expanding it before Howison, bade him mark its peculiarities.
"Sir," he said, "it's one of a thousand. The only one of the same cut
and fashion in the whole city. _That_ I know. I would pick it out,
blind, from amongst a million."
Howison having carefully scanned the garment, declared that he was
ready to take his chance of recognising his man--other circumstances
corroborating--by its particular cut and adornments; and, in truth, he
needed have little hesitation about the matter; for, indeed, the
surtout was, as Fairly had said, one of a thousand. It was altogether
a very marked sort of article, especially in the department of
braiding, that being singularly rich and voluminous; and if, as its
maker had also said, it had not its fellow in the town (barring, of
course, the duplicate which he was now exhibiting), there could be no
difficulty whatever in identifying the devoted debtor.
Matters being thus arranged, the messenger, after having obtained
Simmins' address, took leave of his employer, with full authority to
visit the unhappy owner of the surtout with the utmost vengeance of
the law, and with a promise on his own part that he would duly inform
the latter of his subsequent proceedings in the case--meaning thereby,
that, so soon as the bird was caged, he would give due intimation
thereof.
Leaving the process just detailed at the point to which we have
brought it, we beg to introduce the reader to another personage who
figures in our little drama: this is Mr Jacob Merrilees, a student of
medicine, a gentlemanly young man, of limited means, but fair
prospects, and, withal, talented and promising. He was at this moment
pursuing his studies at the college of ----, and was making a progress
in professional learning that augured well for his future success in
the world. But, with this part of his history we have little or
nothing to do--our interest in him being on a totally different
account.
Talented, however, as our young friend was, he had, like other men,
his little weaknesses; one in particular--but it was a natural and a
harmless one--this was a rather excessive fastidiousness on the score
of dress. He loved, of all things, to be smartly attired; and was
thus, upon the whole, something of a dandy in his way. Unfortunately
for poor Jacob, however, this was a taste which he was not always able
to indulge in to the extent he could have wished. His circumstances,
or rather his father's penuriousness, prevented it; and the
consequence was, that he frequently found himself considerably below
his own standard of perfection in the article toggery. It is true,
that one less particular in this matter would hardly have agreed with
him; but such were his own feelings on the subject, and that was
enough.
Having mentioned the little weakness above alluded to--if, indeed, it
can be called a weakness--it becomes our duty to show cause for having
called the reader's attention to it. This duty, then, we will
forthwith discharge; but we must be allowed to do so in our own way.
We have said that our friend Merrilees was making rapid progress in
his professional education; he was so, but he was advancing with no
less celerity in another and fully more congenial study--namely, the
study of love. What fair maiden, in the eyes of Jacob Merrilees, could
compete with Miss Julia Willoughby? None. She was peerless! She was
the fairest of the fair! Miss Julia Willoughby, then, was the chosen
of Jacob's heart; but he had yet no assurance that his tender feelings
towards her were reciprocated. Little else than the ordinary
courtesies of society had yet passed between them, although these were
certainly rapidly melting into more familiar intercourse. Still, as we
said before, Jacob could not positively fix on the precise position
which he held in the affections of Miss Julia Willoughby. He was still
in a state of uncertainty; for no particular mark of favour had yet
been bestowed upon him by the coy fair one. Judge, then, good reader,
of the joyous feelings of the enamoured Jacob Merrilees, when he
received the following note, written on glazed pink paper, sealed with
the impression of a heart pierced by an arrow--said heart being
supported by two pigeons--and folded into something of the fashion of
a love-knot. Judge, then, good reader, we say, of his feelings on
receiving this precious billet, the first palpable hint of his
acceptability with which he had ever been favoured by his fair
inamorato:--
"DEAR MR MERRILEES,--Would you make one of a party to visit the
wax-work to-morrow? I should be happy if you could. There will be
several young ladies of my acquaintance with us, and one or two
gentlemen. We propose meeting at our house. Hour, twelve of the
clock precisely. It _will particularly gratify me_, if you can make
it convenient to be one of the party," &c. &c.
"JULIA WILLOUGHBY."
"Dear, delightful creature!" exclaimed Jacob, in an ecstasy of
rapture, and kissing the delicious document with the fervour and
enthusiasm of a rapt and devoted love. "Make it convenient?" he
exclaimed, with expressive energy. "Ay, that I will, adored and
beloved Julia! although ten thousand difficulties were in my way. All
engagements, all considerations, all duties, light of my life, idol of
my adoration, must give way to thy slightest wish. It will
particularly gratify thee!" he exclaimed, with a laugh of wild
ecstasy. "Will it, will it?--oh! will it? Then am I a happy man
indeed!" and he began to pace the room with the light rapid step of
sudden and excessive joy.
In this process Jacob had indulged for several minutes, without
adverting, as he usually did, in similar circumstances, to the
representation of his own handsome person in a large mirror, which
hung on one side of the apartment. As his fervour, however, began to
abate, he threw glances at the glass _en passant_, and, with every
turn, these glances became more earnest, and of longer duration, until
he at length fairly planted himself before the faithful reflector, in
order to submit his person to a thorough and deliberate inspection.
The survey was perfectly satisfactory to Jacob; and he was turning
away, highly gratified by its results, when his eye fell on the sleeve
of his coat. "Ha," said Jacob, "getting scuffy, by all that's
annoying. Had no idea. Won't do, won't do--that's clear. Can never go
through the streets with Julia and her fair bevy of acquaintances in
such a coat as this--never, never, never."
And, in great perplexity at the discovery he had made, Jacob flung
himself down in a chair, and, with his hand placed on his forehead,
began to think profoundly on the means of remedying the evil of a
shabby coat. The time was too short to admit of his providing a new
one; and, indeed, although it had been longer, this was an experiment
on his tailor on which he could hardly have ventured, that gentleman
having lately shown symptoms of restiveness which were by no means
encouraging. What was to be done then?
"I have it!" said Jacob, starting up: "I will borrow a coat for the
nonce from my friend, Bob Simmins. He will supply me with the
desiderated garment."
No sooner conceived than executed. Down Jacob immediately sat, and
forthwith indited the following billet to his friend Bob:--
"DEAR BOB,--Being invited for to-morrow to a party, at which there
is to be a large infusion of the fair sex, and finding after a
careful inspection, that my coat is not in the most healthy
condition, might I request the favour of your lending me a
corresponding piece of toggery for the occasion, if you have such
an article to spare, and said article be of a kind creditable to
the wearer.
"We are about a size, I think, and can therefore calculate on a
fit. Yours truly, JACOB MERRILEES."
Having written this note, Jacob forthwith sealed it, and put it into
the hands of the maid-servant, with a request that she would see to
its immediate delivery. The request was complied with. In ten minutes
after, the girl was in the presence of the redoubted Bob Simmins; for
redoubted he was, Bob being one of the most dashing fellows of his
time, nevertheless of a rigid adherence to the praiseworthy rule of
never paying a copper to anybody for anything.