Peskiwanchow Tavern--Bad Water--A Scrimmage and Timotheus--The
Wigglers--Pure Water and Philosophy--Archæology and Muggins--Mrs.
Thomas and Marjorie--Dromore--Rawdon's Insolence and Checks--On the
Road and Tramp's Song--Maguffin and the Pole-cart.
"Ere's this beastly 'ole of a Peskiwanchow," said Mr. Rawdon as the
pedestrians came to a rather larger clearing than usual, prominent in
which was the traditional country tavern.
"Is it clean?" asked Wilkinson.
"Well, there hain't hany pestilence that walketh hin darkness there, not
to my knowledge; though they say hif you keep your lamp lit hall night,
they won't come near you; but then, the blessed lamp brings the
mosquitoes, don't you see?"
Mr. Wilkinson did see, but was glad of the information, as the look of
the hotel was not reassuring.
"Ullo, Matt!" cried his new friend to the coatless landlord. "I'm back,
you see, hand 'ave brought you a couple of guests. Look sharp with
supper, for we're hall 'ungry as 'awks."
The ham which they partook of, with accompanying eggs and lukewarm
potatoes, was very salt, so that in spite of his three cups of tea
Wilkinson was thirsty. He went to the bar, situated in the only common
room, except the dining-room, in the house, and asked for a glass of
water. A thick, greenish fluid was handed to him, at which, as he held
it to the light, he looked aghast. Adjusting his eye-glass, he looked
again, and saw not only vegetable and minute animal organisms, but also
unmistakable hairs.
"Where do you get this water?" he asked in a very serious tone.
"Out of the well," was the answer.
"Are you aware that it is one mass of animal and vegetable impurities,
and that you are liable to typhoid and every other kind of disease as
the natural effect of drinking such filth?"
The landlord stared, and then stammered that he would have the well
cleaned out in the morning, not knowing what sort of a health officer
was before him. But the crowd at the bar said it was good enough for
them, as long as the critters were well killed off with a good drop of
rye or malt. Wilkinson asked for a glass of beer, which came out sour
and flat. "See me put a head on that," said the landlord, dropping a
pinch of soda into the glass and stirring it in with a spoon. The
schoolmaster tried to drink the mixture, but in vain; it did not quench
the thirst, but produced a sickening effect. He felt like a man in a
strange land, like a wanderer in the desert, a shipwrecked mariner. Oh,
to be on the _Susan Thomas_, with miles of pure water all round! Or even
at home, where the turning of a tap brought all Lake Ontario to one's
necessities.
"Is there no other water than this about?" he asked in despair.
"Wy, yees," answered Matt; "thay's the crick a ways down the track, but
it's that black and masshy I guess you wouldn't like it no better."
"Well, get us some from there, like a good man, to wash with if we
cannot drink it, and have it taken up to our room," for it had appeared
that the two pedestrians were to inhabit a double-bedded apartment.
"'Ere, you Timotheus, look spry and go down to the crick and fetch a
pail of water for No. 6."
A shambling man, almost a hobbledehoy, of about twenty five, ran out to
obey the command, and, when he returned from No. 6, informed Wilkinson
civilly that the water was in his room. Something in his homely but
pleasant face, in his shock head and in his voice, seemed familiar to
the dominie, yet he could not place his man; when Coristine came along
and said, "You've got a brother on the _Susan Thomas_, haven't you, and
his name is Sylvanus?" The young man shuffled with his feet, opened a
mouth the very counterpart of "The Crew's," and answered: "Yes, mister,
he's my oldest brother, is Sylvanus; do you happen to know Sylvanus?"
"Know him?" said the unblushing lawyer, "like a brother; sailed all over
Lake Simcoe with him."
The lad was proud, and went to his menial tasks with a new sense of the
dignity of his family. He was called for on all sides, and appeared to
be the only member of the household in perpetual request; but, though
many liberties were taken with him personally, none were taken with his
name, which was always given in full, "Ti-mo-thé-us!" Wilkinson was too
tired, thirsty and generally disgusted to do anything but sit, as he
never would have sat elsewhere, on a chair tilted against the wall.
Coristine would fain have had a talk with "The Crew's" brother, but that
worthy was ever flitting about from bar-room to kitchen, and from well
to stable; always busy and always cheerful.
The Grinstun man came swaggering up after treating all hands at the bar
to whisky, in which treat the pedestrians were included by invitation,
declined with thanks, and suggested a game of cards--any game they
liked--stakes to be drinks; or, if the gents preferred it, cigars.
Coristine somewhat haughtily refused, and Wilkinson, true to his
principles, but in a more conciliatory tone, said that he did not play
them. He was obliged, therefore, to get the landlord, Matt, and a couple
of bar-room loafers to take hands with him.
"Wilks, my dear boy, get out your draft-board and I'll play you a game,"
said Coristine.
The board was produced, the flat, cardboard chessmen turned upside down,
and the corner of a table, on which a few well-thumbed newspapers lay,
utilized for the game. The players were so interested in making moves
and getting kings that, at first, they did not notice the talk of the
card players which was directed against them; for Matt, being called
away to his bar, was replaced by a third loafer. Gradually there came to
their ears the words, "conceited, offish, up-settin', pedlars, tramps,
pious scum," with condemnatory and other adjectives prefixed, and then
they knew that their characters and occupations were undergoing
unfavourable review. Mr. Rawdon was too "hail fellow well met" with the
loafers to offer any protest. He joined in the laugh that greeted each
new sally of vulgar abuse, and occasionally helped his neighbours on by
such remarks as, "We musn't be too 'ard on 'em, they hain't used to such
company as hus," which was followed by a loud guffaw. Wilkinson was
playing badly, for he felt uncomfortable. Coristine chewed his
moustache and became red in the face. The landlord looked calmly on. At
last the card players, having had their third drink since the game
began, came over to the little table. One of the roughest and
worst-tongued of the three picked up a pile of dirty newspapers, looked
at one of them for a moment, pshawed as if there was nothing in them,
and threw the pile down with a twist of his hand fair on to the
draft-board, sweeping it half off the table and all the cardboard men to
the floor. In a moment Coristine was up, and laid hold of the fellow by
the shoulder. Pale but resolute, the schoolmaster, who had done physical
duty by unruly boys, stood beside him. The working geologist and the
landlord, Matt, looked on to see the fun of a fight between two city men
and three country bullies.
"Get down there," said Coristine to his man, trembling with indignation,
"get down there, and pick up all these chessmen, or I'll wring your neck
for you." The fellow made a blow at him with his free hand, a blow that
Coristine parried, and then the Irishman, letting go of his antagonist's
arm, gave him a sounding whack with all the might of his right fist,
that sent him sprawling to the ground.
"Pile in on 'im, boys!" cried the prostrate ruffian, who had lost a
tooth and bled freely at the nose. The other two prepared to pile, when
the schoolmaster faced one of them, and kept him off. It is hard to say
how matters would have gone, had not a tornado entered the bar room in
the shape of Timotheus. How he did it, no one could tell, but, in less
than two minutes, the two standing bullies and the prostrate one were
all outside the tavern door, which was locked behind them. Peace once
more reigned in the hotel, and it was in order for Matt and the Grinstun
man to congratulate Coristine on his knock down blow. He showed no
desire for their commendation, but, with his friend, whom Timotheus
helped to pick up the chessmen, retired to his room. The Crew's brother
had disappeared before he had had a chance to thank him.
Before retiring for the night, the lawyer was determined to be upsides
with Mr. Rawdon. He asked his roomfellow if he had any writing
materials, and was at once provided with paper, envelopes, and a
fountain pen.
"I hope I'm not depriving you of these, Wilks, my dear," he said, when
the party thus addressed almost threw himself upon his neck, saying,
"Corry, my splendid, brave fellow, everything I have is at your absolute
disposal, 'supreme of heroes--bravest, noblest, best!'" for he could not
forget his Wordsworth. Coristine wrote to the clerk of the municipality
of Flanders, to know where Miss Jewplesshy or Do Please-us had a lot,
and whether the taxes on it had been paid. He directed him to answer to
his office in Toronto, and also wrote to his junior, instructing him how
to act upon this reply. These letters being written and prepared for the
post, he and the dominie read together out of the little prayer book,
left the window open and the lamp burning, and went to bed. Before they
fell asleep, they heard the barking of a dog. "It's that poor brute,
Muggins," said Coristine; "I'll go, and let him in, if that brute of a
master of his won't." So, in spite of Wilkinson's remonstrances, he
arose and descended the stairs to the bar-room. Nobody was there but
Timotheus sleeping in a back tilted chair. He slipped quietly along in
his bare feet, but Timotheus, though sleeping, was on guard. The Crew's
brother awoke, soon as he tried the door, and in a moment, was on his
back. "It's I, my good Timotheus," said the lawyer, and at once the grip
relaxed. "I want to let that poor dog, Muggins, in." Then Timotheus
unlocked the door, and Coristine whistled, and called "Hi Muggins,
Muggins, Muggy, Mug, Mug, Mug, Mug!" when the mongrel came bounding in,
with every expression of delight. Coristine warmly thanked The Crew's
brother, pressed a dollar on his acceptance, and then retired to No. 6.
Muggins followed him, and lay down upon the rag carpet outside that
apartment, to keep watch and ward for the rest of the night, entirely
ignoring his owner, the Grinstun man.
There was a pail of swamp water in the middle of the room, at the bottom
of which lay some little black things. As this water became warm, these
little fellows began to rise and become frolicksome. Like minute
porpoises or dolphins, they joined in the mazy dance, and rose higher
and higher. All night long, by the light of the kerosene lamp, they
indulged in silent but unceasing hilarity. The snores of the sleepers,
the watchful dream-yaps of Muggins, did not affect them. They were bound
to have a good time, and they were having it. Morning came, and the sun
stole in through the window. Then, the wiggler grew tired, and came,
like many tired beings, to the top. For a time he was quiescent, but
soon the sun's rays gave force to the inner impulse which "rent the veil
of his old husk," and transformed it into a canoe or raft, containing a
draggle-tailed-looking creature with a big head and six staggery legs.
Poising itself upon the raft, the outcome of the wiggler sunned its
crumplety wings, till "like gauze they grew," and then all of it, a
whole pailful of it, made for the sleepers, to help its more mature
relations, which had come in through the open window to the light, to
practice amateur phlebotomy upon them. The pedestrians awoke to feel
uncomfortable, and rub and scratch their faces, heads, necks, and hands.
"It's clean devoured I am, Wilks," cried Coristine. "The plagues of
Egypt have visited us," replied the dominie. So, they arose and dressed
themselves, and descended to the noisome bar-room. There they found
Timotheus, awake and busy, while, at their heels, frisking about and
looking for recognition, was their night guard Muggins. Timotheus
informed them that he had already been out probing the well with a pike
pole, and had brought up the long defunct bodies of a cat and a hen,
with an old shoe and part of a cabbage, to say nothing of other things
as savoury. They decided to take no more meals cooked with such water in
that house, paid their bill to Timotheus, buckled on their knapsacks,
and, with staff in hand, sallied forth into the pure outside air of the
morning. Coristine ran over to the store in which the post office was
kept, and posted his two letters. There was no sign of Matt, the
landlord, of Mr. Rawdon, or of their assailants of the night before.
Muggins, however, followed them, and no entreaties, threats, or stones
availed to drive the faithful creature back to his master and the hotel
where he slept.
The pedestrians passed the black, sluggish creek, out of which the
wigglers had come, and struck into a country, flat but more interesting
than that they had left behind them. After they had gone a couple of
miles they came to a clear running stream, in which they had a splendid
wash, that tended to allay the irritation of the mosquito bites. Then
they brought forth the remains of their biscuits and cheese, and partook
of a clean meal, which Coristine called a good foundation for a smoke,
Muggins sitting upon his hind legs and catching fragments of captain's
biscuits and whole gingersnaps in his mouth, as if he had never done
anything else. It was very pleasant to sit by the brook on that bright
July morning, after the horrors of the Peskiwanchow tavern, to have
clean food and abundance of pure water. As the dominie revelled in it,
he expressed the opinion that Pindar was right when he said "ariston men
hudor," which, said the lawyer, means that water is the best of all the
elements, but how would Mr. Pindar have got along without earth to walk
on, air to breathe, and fire to cook his dinner?
"I'm no philosopher, Wilks, like you, but it seems to me that perfection
is found in no one thing. If it was, the interdependence of the universe
would be destroyed; harmony would be gone, and love, which is just the
highest harmony, be lost. That's just why I couldn't be a unitarian of
any kind. As Tennyson says, 'one good custom would corrupt the world.'"
"Pardon me, Corry, he does not say that, but makes Arthur say:--
God fulfils himself in many ways,
Lest one good custom should corrupt the world."
"Better and better! but that's what the churches don't see, nor the
politicians, nor the socialists, nor the prohibitionists, nor the
scientists, nor anybody else hardly, it seems to me. When a man's got
two eyes to see with, why should he shut one and keep out half the view?
This 'ariston men hudor' idea--I'm not arguing against temperance, for
it's temperate enough we are both--but this one thing is best notion
would bring the beautiful harmonious world into dull, dead uniformity.
There's a friend of mine that studies his Bible without any reference to
the old systems of theology, and finds these old systems have made some
big mistakes in interpreting its sayings, when a newspaper blockhead
comes along and says if he won't conform let him go out of the church.
There's a one-eyed man for you, an ecclesiastical Polyphemus! Our
politicians are just the same, without a broad, liberal idea to clothe
their naked, thieving policies with. And the scientists! some of them
stargazing, like Thales, so that they fall into the ditch of disrepute
by failing to observe what's nearer home, and others, like Bunyan's man
in Interpreter's house, so busy with the muckrake that they are ignorant
of the crown held over their heads. Now, you and I are liberal and
broad, we can love nature and love God too, we can admire poetry and put
our hands to any kind of honest work; you can teach boys with your
wonderful patience, and, with your pluck, knock a door in, and stand up,
like a man, to fight for your friend. But, Wilks, my boy, I'm afraid
it's narrow we are, too, about the women."
"Come, come, Corry, that subject, you know--"
"All right, not another word," interposed the lawyer, laughing and
springing to his feet; "let us jog along
A village schoolmaster was he,
With hair of glittering grey;
As blithe a man as you could see
On a spring holiday.
And on that morning, through the grass,
And by the streaming rills,
We travelled merrily, to pass
A day among the hills."
"When did you take to Wordsworth, Corry?"
"Oh, many a time, but I refreshed my memory with that yesterday, when I
came across the tear in the old man's eye."
"It is most appropriate, for there, on the right, are actual hills."
As the travellers approached the rising ground, which the dominie had
perceived, the lawyer remarked that the hillocks had an artificial look.
"And they are undoubtedly artificial," replied Wilkinson.
"This is the township of Nottawasaga, once inhabited by the Tobacco
tribe of the Hurons, who had many villages, and grew tobacco and corn,
besides making beads, pipes, and other articles, for sale or barter.
They made their pipes out of the Trenton sandstone. A great many village
sites and ossuaries have been found in the township, the latter
containing thousands of skeletons. They have all been opened up by the
settlers for the sake of the copper kettles and other objects buried in
them. These long, narrow hillocks are earthworks, the foundation of a
rude fortification or palisade round a village. The Archæological
Reports of the Canadian Institute contain very full and interesting
accounts of the explorations made in this very region. We are on
historic ground, Corry."
"Poor old Lo!" ejaculated the lawyer, "whatever is that dog after? Hi,
Muggins, Muggins!"
But Muggins would not leave the earthwork into which he was digging with
rapidly moving forepaws. As Coristine remarked, it was a regular
Forepaugh's circus. When the pedestrians came up to him, he had a large
hole made in apparently fresh dug earth, and had uncovered a tin box,
japanned above. This the pair disinterred with their walking-sticks,
amid great demonstrations from the terrier. The lawyer opened it
judicially, and found it to contain a lot of fragments of hard
limestone, individually labelled. Looking over these, his eye rested on
one marked P.B. Miss Du Plessis, lot 3, concession 2, township of
Flanders. Others were labelled T. Mulcahy, S. Storch, R. McIver, O.
Fish, with their lots, concessions and townships, and the initials F.M.
and P.
"What is the import of this?" asked the schoolmaster.
"Import or export, it's the Grinstun man, the owner of this sagacious
dog, that buried this box till he had time to bring a waggon for it.
These are samples of grindstone rock, and, if I am not a Dutchman, F
means fair, M, middling, P, poor, and P.B., prime boss, and that is Miss
Du Plessis. Gad! we've got her now, Jewplesshy, Do Please, Do Please-us,
are just Du Plessis. It's a pleasant sort of name, Wilks, my boy?"
"What are you going to do with this treasure trove, might I ask?"
inquired the dominie.
"Bury it," replied the lawyer.
"I trust you will make no unfair use of the information it contains,
part of which was confided to me privately, and under seal of secrecy,
by Mr. Rawdon?"
"Now, Wilks, howld your tongue about that. I ask you no questions, you
tell me no lies nor anything else. If you think I'm going to see a girl
cheated, just because she is a girl, you don't know your friend. But
you do, you honest old Wilks, don't you now?"
"Very well, only remember I breathed no hint of this in your ear."
"All right, old man," answered Miss Du Plessis' self-constituted
advocate, as he shovelled the earth in over the tin box. "Muggins, you
rascal, if you dig that up again, I'll starve you to death."
The pedestrians deserted the archæological find, and trudged away into
the north west.
"Wilks, my dear, I feel like the black crow," said Coristine, as they
journeyed along the pleasant highway.
"Like what?" asked the dominie, adjusting his eye-glass.
"Like the crow, don't you know?
Said one black crow unto his mate,
What shall we do for grub to ate?
Faith, it'll be an awful thing if we're going to die of starvation in
the wilderness."
"I thought you were a botanist, Corry?"
"So I am, in a small way."
"Then, what bushes are those in that beaver meadow?"
In another minute, the lawyer, closely followed by Muggins, was in the
meadow, exclaiming "Vaccinium Canadense! Come on, Wilks, and have a
feast." Muggins was eating the berries with great satisfaction, and
Coristine kept him company. The dominie also partook of them, remarking:
"This is the whortleberry, or berry of the hart, vulgarly called the
huckleberry, although huckle means a hump, which is most inappropriate."
"That reminds me of a man with a hump, though there wasn't much heart to
him," said Coristine, his mouth full of fruit. "He undertook to write on
Canada after spending a month here. He said the Canadians have no fruit
but a very inferior raspberry, and that they actually sell bilberries in
the shops. As a further proof of their destitution, he was told that
haws and acorns are exposed for sale in the Montreal markets. Such a
country, he said, is no place for a refined Englishman. I don't wonder
my countrymen rise up against the English."
"You forget, Corry, that I am English, and proud of my descent from the
Saxon Count Witikind."
"Beg your pardon, Wilks, but you're a good Englishman, and I never
dreamt your progenitor was that awful heathen:--
Save us, St. Mary, from flood and from fire,
From famine and pest, and Count Witikind's ire.
As the Englishmen said, there is no need to hask 'ow the hell got into
your name."
"Corry, this is most unseemly. I wonder you are not ashamed to speak
thus, with that innocent dog beside you."
"O, dad, he's heard worse things than that; haven't you now, Muggins?
Trust him to live with a cad of a Grinstun man, and not to pick up bad
language."
"Ullo, there, you dog-stealers!" fell upon the ears of the berry-pickers
like a thunder clap. They looked up, and saw a neat waggonette, drawn by
a team of well-kept bay horses, in which, on a back seat, sat Mr. Rawdon
and a little girl with long fair hair. On the front seat were two
well-dressed women, one of whom was driving; the other wore a widow's
cap, and had a gentle, attractive face. The waggon stopped for them to
come on to the road, which, leaving their berries, they did, taking off
their hats to the ladies as they approached.
"We did all we could, Mr. Rawdon, to make your dog go back to the hotel,
but he insisted on following us," said Wilkinson, apologetically.
"All very fine, my beauty, you 'ooked 'im and got 'im to shew you ware
this 'ere box was. I'm hup to your larks, and you such a hinnocent too!"
Wilkinson was indignant, and denied having anything to do with the box.
"Be careful what you say, Mr. Rawdon," said Coristine, "I'm a lawyer,
and may make a case, if you are not judicious in your language."
"Oh come hoff, I don't mean no 'arm; it's just my fun. 'Ave you any
hobjection to give these 'ere gents a lift, Mrs. Thomas?"
"None, whatever," replied the lady who was driving.
"Then, if you don't mind, I'll get hin halongside hof your sister hin
front, hand leave them to keep company with little Marjorie 'ere," said
the working geologist; and climbed over into the front seat outside of
the attractive widow. Still, the pedestrians hesitated, till Mrs.
Thomas, a by no means uncomely woman, said: "Get in, gentlemen, we shall
be pleased to have your company." This decided them. They sprang into
the waggon, one on each side of the little girl called Marjorie. The
horses trotted along, and Muggins hovered about them, with an occasional
ecstatic bark.
"I like you and your little dog," said Marjorie to Coristine, who
replied: "God bless you for a little darling." After this interchange of
confidence, they became great friends. Wilkinson found himself somewhat
left out, but the Grinstun man threw him an odd bone, now and then, in
the shape of a geological remark, keeping clear, however, of
grindstones.
"What's your name, Marjorie?" asked the lawyer.
"My name is Marjorie," she replied.
"Yes, but what's your other name?"
"Marjorie Carmichael."
"Is that your father's name?"
"No, my papa's name is Captain Thomas."
"And has he got a ship on Lake Simcoe?"
"Yes, how did you know? He's got a ship, and a lumber yard, and a saw
mill, and a farm, and a lot of things. Saul is on the farm, and Mr.
Pratt works the mill, and Gudgeon looks after the yard, and Sylvanus is
on the boat."
"Who is Saul?"
"He's the father of Sylvanus and Timotheus. Only Timotheus doesn't work
for us. He wouldn't say his catechism on Sundays, so Saul said he had to
go. I don't wonder he wouldn't say his catechism, do you? It speaks
about God's getting awful angry and cursing. God doesn't get angry with
little boys and girls and curse them, does he, Mr. What's your name?"
"My name is Coristine, but the name my little sister would have called
me, if I had had a little sister like you, would be Eugene. No, I never
read that God cursed any little girls and boys, nor anybody, not even
the devil."
"And he's very very bad, isn't he? My cousin Marjorie Carruthers, that
I'm called after, says Timotheus should have learned his catechism; but
she doesn't think God curses children. Then I said he oughtn't to learn
what isn't true."
"O my darlint, but it's right you are. I wish I had you up on the dais
at the Synod, to teach the bishops and all the clergy. Is she a nice
little girl, your cousin Marjorie?"
"She's nice, but she isn't little, not a single bit. She lives away away
in Toronto, and teaches school. Now, put your head down and I'll whisper
something in your ear."
Coristine put his head down beside the long, fair curls, and Marjorie
whispered, pointing a finger at the same time towards the widow: "That's
my Aunt Marjorie, and she's Marjorie's mother."
"Where is cousin Marjorie now!"
"She's up at Uncle Carruthers', along with Miss Du Plessis. Do you know
Miss Du Plessis? Oh, she's lovely, and, do you know?--put down your head
again--that ugly little man sitting by Auntie says he's going to marry
her. Isn't it too bad?"
"Infernal little beast! O, my dear Marjorie, I beg your pardon. I was
thinking of that rascal of a mosquito on your hand--there, he's dead!
Yes, it would be too bad, but she'll never marry such a man as that."
"Perhaps she'll have to, because she's very poor, and he says he's going
to make heaps and heaps of money. People shouldn't marry for money,
should they?"
"No, dear, they should marry for love, if they marry at all. Will you
marry me when you grow to be a young lady?"
"No, you'll be too old then. Put your head down. You go and take away
Miss Du Plessis from that naughty, bad little man, and I'll love you, O,
ever so much.'
"But perhaps she won't have me."
"Oh, yes she will, because you would look very nice if you would take
that black stuff that scratched me off your face."
"I will, I'll get a clean shave at Collingwood this very night."
"Then I'll get Auntie to write to Marjorie and tell her that my own
Prince Charming, with a clean shave, is coming to take Cecile away from
the ugly little rich man that says: 'An' 'ow is my young friend?' Won't
that be nice?"
"Oh, please don't tell your aunt to write that."
"But I will, so there!"
The waggonette was now in the midst of a rather pretty village situated
on a branch of the Nottawasaga River, and came to a stand still opposite
the post office.
"If you gentlemen have business in the village, you can get out here,"
said Mrs. Thomas, "but, if not, we shall be pleased to have you dine
with us."
The pedestrians thought of their last tavern experience, and felt
disposed to accept the hospitable invitation, but Marjorie clinched
their resolution by saying: "Eugene is coming to dinner with me, and his
friend may come too," at which everybody laughed. The waggon moved on
for another half mile, and then stopped in front of a pretty and
commodious frame house, painted white, with red-brown doors and window
frames and green shutters. Porch and verandah were covered with Virginia
creeper, climbing roses and trumpet honeysuckle. Mr. Rawdon looked after
himself, but Wilkinson and Coristine helped the ladies and the little
girl to dismount, while an old man with a shock head, evidently Saul,
took the horses round. Muggins greeted the whole party with a series of
wiggles and barks, whereupon the Grinstun man gave him a savage kick
that sent the dog away yelping.
"I said you were a naughty, bad, cruel man to my own self and to people
I like," said Marjorie with indignation, "but now I say it right out to
you, and for everybody to hear that wants to--a nasty, ugly, cruel
little man!"
The working geologist was very angry and got very red in the face. Had
he dared, he would probably have kicked the girl too. Policy compelled
him to keep his temper outwardly, so he turned it off with a laugh, and
said: "You don't know that little beast has I do, Marjorie, or you
wouldn't go hand take 'is part. Of all the hungrateful, treacherous,
sneakin', bad-'earted curs that ever gnawed a bone, 'e's the
top-sawyer."
"I don't believe it," answered Marjorie stoutly, and with all the
license allowed to a late and only child.
When the ladies took off their bonnets and rejoined their guests in the
parlour, the pedestrians were much struck with their appearance and
demeanour, especially in the case of Mrs. Carmichael, than whom no lady
could have been more gentle mannered and gracious. She had evidently had
enough of Mr. Rawdon, for she turned in the most natural way to
Wilkinson and engaged him in conversation on a variety of topics. The
schoolmaster found her a charming talker and an interested listener.
Marjorie and Coristine sat on a sofa with Muggins between them, while
the working geologist banged about some photographs on a centre table.
At dinner, to which Mrs. Thomas soon summoned them, Coristine had the
post of honour with Marjorie to his right. Mrs. Carmichael sat at the
foot of the table with Wilkinson by her side, and Rawdon was at Mrs.
Thomas' left. While doing justice to an excellent repast, the lawyer
informed his hostess that he was not an entire stranger to her family,
and gave an account of his passage in the _Susan Thomas_ from Belle
Ewart to Barrie. He also referred to Sylvanus and Timotheus, and dwelt
upon the excellent service rendered by the latter. The Grinstun man
disliked the turn things were taking, as he felt himself out in the
cold, for the widow absorbed the dominie, and Marjorie would not look at
him.
When dessert came on the table, he turned to the schoolmaster and rudely
interrupted his conversation, saying: "Look 'ere, Mr. Favosites
Wilkinsonia, I don't see as you've hany call to keep hall the widder's
talk to yourself. I move we change places," and he rose to effect the
change.
"Really," said Wilkinson, with offended dignity, "I am not accustomed to
anything of that description at a dinner party where there are ladies;
but, if it's Mrs. Carmichael's desire that we should interchange seats,
I am ready to comply."
Mrs. Carmichael evidently did not relish being called "the widder," nor
the society of Mr. Rawdon, for she answered, "Certainly not, Mr.
Wilkinson," and resumed her conversation with him. The baffled geologist
turned to the hostess, while Marjorie engaged Coristine's attention, and
in a petulant way stated his case. "You know the kind of man I ham, Mrs.
Thomas, I'm a man of haction. I strike wen the hiron's 'ot. By good
luck, I went back to Peskiwanchow last night, though it is a beastly
'ole, and got letters hat the post hoffice this mornin'. My hagent, at
Toronto says, Mrs. Do Please-us is pretty badly hout for want of chink,
hand that the girl's ready to jump hat hany reasonable hoffer. Now, hall
I say his, give a man a chance. If she's the stunner they say she his,
I'll marry her hinside of a week and make a lady of 'er, and hallow the
hold 'ooman a pound a week, yes, I'll go has 'igh has thirty shillin',
that's seven dollars and a 'arf. You get me a hinvite or give me a
hintroduction to your brother's 'ouse in Flanders, and get the widder to
back it hup with a good word to 'er daughter that's Miss Do Please-us's
bosom friend, and I'll give the capting the contrack to carry hall the
grinstuns shipped to Lake Simcoe ports." Then, sinking his voice to a
whisper, he continued, "I'll do one better; I'll show you ware there's
has fine a quarry of buildin' stun hon your farm 'ere has can be got
hanyware in Canidy. Then, wot's to 'inder your 'avin the best 'ouse
twixt 'ere and Collinwood?" This last stroke of policy carried his
point, and secured him the promise of an introduction, but Mrs. Thomas
could not promise for her sister. All the time, Coristine, who could not
help overhearing, twisted his moustache fiercely, and, under his breath,
called the geologist a contemptible and unspeakable little cad.
Shortly afterwards, much to Marjorie's grief, the pedestrians put on
their knapsacks and grasped their sticks for the road. They warmly
thanked their hostess and her accomplished sister for their kind
hospitality, and for the exceedingly pleasant hours they had spent in
their company. They were cordially invited to call any time when they
were near the village, and especially when the captain was at home, as
he would never forgive himself for missing this treat. Marjorie kissed
her Eugene, telling him to be a good boy, and remember what he had
promised her about "you know who." "Ullo young 'ooman," said the
Grinstun man, "you had ort to save one of them for yours
haffectionately," at which the small lady was so indignant that she
threatened to box his ugly big ears. "O Marjorie, how rude! whatever
will these gentlemen from Toronto think!" Coristine could not bear to
leave his little friend in disgrace, without a word of comfort, so he
said: "Pardon me, Mrs. Thomas, for saying that the rudeness did not
originate with Marjorie," for which the child gave him a grateful
glance. "You had better keep your dog in, Mr. Rawdon," called out
Wilkinson, "or he will be after us again." The little man ran down the
garden walk to get a farewell kick at his property, but Muggins,
foreseeing danger, ran out of the gate, which old Saul held open for
him. "You can keep the beastly cur, I don't want 'im, hungrateful,
treacherous, long legged, 'airy brute," the last two adjectives being
put in for Coristine's benefit, as allusions to his height and his
moustache.
"Come back, Mr. Wilkinson," called Mrs. Carmichael. The dominie
returned, and had a large fragrant rose pinned by fair hands to his
button hole, blushing violently all the time. "You come back too,
Eugene, but don't let Muggy in or he'll be kicked," cried Marjorie, who,
on her favourite's return, gave him another parting salute and pinned
two roses on his coat. Muggins waited for them till they closed the gate
finally behind them, lifted their hats three times, and began their
afternoon's journey.
"That Mrs. Carmichael," remarked Wilkinson, "is one of the most
intelligent and lady-like women I ever met, and she is wonderfully well
read in the poets, Corry."
"I thought that subject was tabooed between us, Wilks?"
"Oh no, my dear fellow, I have no objection to the sex in a Platonic
way."
"Dad, but it wasn't very platonic you looked when the pretty widow was
fastening that button hole for you. Was she talking about her daughter
at the schools?"
"Not a word; she did not even hint that she had a daughter. She must
have been very young when the doctor married her."
"Well, that's one thing we have to thank that howling cad of a Grinstun
man for. I'm real sorry I missed having a chat with Saul about the
catechism."
"What is that!" So the lawyer related his conversation with Marjorie,
and Wilkinson said, "Really, Corrie, as an educationist, I must say you
do wrong to encourage such pertness in so young a child."
"Pertness is it? It's nature's own cleverness in the sweet little lass.
Wilks, I'd give a good deal to have that little sunbeam or one like her
with me all the time."
"Adopt one," suggested the schoolmaster.
"Adopt one," replied the lawyer with a bitter laugh, "adopt one for
Mrs. Marsh to look after? No, when I've a house of my own and a good
housekeeper, and more time to spend on a child, I'll think over the
hint."
The pair tramped steadily on, though the sun was hot, for there was a
pleasant breeze, and the scenery became bolder and more picturesque.
They came to rising ground, at the foot of which lay a fertile valley,
and beyond it the Blue Mountains. Gazing across at them, the dominie
exclaimed:--
Yon azure ridge,
Is it a perishable cloud--or there
Do we behold the frame of Erin's coast?
"No, Wilks, no! Erin's away on the confines of Wellington and Peel, and
we are on those of Simcoe and Grey."
"Slight man, did you not perceive that I quoted poetry, and that the
allusion is to your native isle?"
"Faith. I wish the real Erin was over there; it's the old lady would be
in my arms as fast as I could run across. But this place deserves a
song, so here goes:--
Though down in yonder valley
The mist is like a sea,
Though the sun be scarcely risen,
There's light enough for me.
For, be it early morning,
Or be it late at night,
Cheerily ring our footsteps,
Right, left, right.
We wander by the woodland
That hangs upon the hill;
Hark! the cock is tuning
His morning clarion shrill;
And hurriedly awaking
From his nest amid the spray,
Cheerily now, the blackbird,
Whistling, greets the day.
For be it early morning, etc.
We gaze upon the streamlet,
As o'er the bridge we lean;
We watch its hurried ripples
We mark its golden green.
Oh, the men of the north are stalwart,
And the norland lasses fair;
And cheerily breathes around us
The bracing norland air.
We smoke our black old meerschaums,
We smoke from morn till night,
While cheerily ring our footsteps,
Right, left, right."
"Well done, Corry! I thought at first it was your own composition, but
I see it is an English song."
"Yes, it came out long ago as 'The Tramp's Song' in _Sharpe's Magazine_,
where I found it, and changed moor and moorland to north and norland, as
better suited to our purpose. It's a good song."
"What kind of vehicle is that just in front of us?"
"It's a pole on four wheels drawn by a team of oxen, and I'm going to
make a triumphant entry into Collingwood on it. The driver is a negro,
as black as my boots--were." Coristine soon overtook the remarkable
vehicle, and accosted the driver, telling him that he had ridden on
horses, donkeys, mules, and once each on a cow, a camel and an elephant;
in all sorts of carriages, carts and waggons, even to a gun carriage,
but never on a pole behind an ox team. Had he any objections to letting
him and his friend get aboard? The coloured gentleman showed a fine set
of ivory, and said he had no dejections in the leas', and guessed the
oxen didn't hab none. "The po-ul," he remarked, "is thar, not foh ridin'
on, but ter keep the axles apaht, so's ter load on bodes and squab
timbah. If yoh's that way inclined, the po-ul aint a gwine ter break
frew, not with yoh dismenshuns. Guess the oxen doan hab ter stop fer yoh
bof ter git aboahd?"
"Not a bit," said Coristine, as he jumped on the pole behind the driver.
"Come on, Wilks, it's a cross between the tight rope and the tiller of
the _Susan Thomas_." But the dominie refused to be charmed or inveigled
into a position of peril or ridicule.
"Yoh best take this yeah feed-bag ter save yoh pants and fezz'etate the
keepin' of yoh ekilibroom," said the courteous darkey, as he handed the
lawyer one of the bags that formed his own cushion.
"Wilks, with a feed-bag under you, riding on a rail is just heavenly."
"If it was a rai-ul, you'd know it mighty soon, boss, fer rai-uls is
angulish and shahp and hahd on the pants, but a po-ul is rounded and
smoove. How are yoh comin' along?"
"In great shape, Mr. ----"
"Maguffin, sah, is my applenashun. Tobias Mortimah Magrudah Maguffin.
The low down folks around, they teenames me Tobe and Toby, that's the
shanty men and mill hans. But when I goes whar they's a meetin' of the
bruddren, it's Mistah Maguffin, ebery time."
The pole cart, as Coristine called it, was going down hill, now, and the
oxen began to run.
"Hole on tight, Mistah, them cattle's too lazy to stop runnin' befoh
they gits to the determination ob this dercliverty," called the driver;
and the lawyer held on in spite of frantic cries from his companion.
"Come off, Coristine, come off, and do not make an object of yourself
before the whole town." Coristine held on till the bottom of the hill
was reached. Then he shook hands with his coloured brother, returned him
the feed bag, and waited for Wilkinson. In friendly converse they
entered the town of Collingwood, and put up at a clean and comfortable,
almost fashionable, hotel. There, for the night, they may be left in
safety, with this remark, that Coristine fulfilled his promise to the
little girl, and got a clean shave before retiring.