Bramble's Method of Education proves very effective--He also points
out a Position in which you may prefer your Enemies to your
Friends!
The house of Philip Bramble was situated on the further side of a road
which ran along the shore, just above the shingle beach. It was a large
cottage on one floor, the street door entering at once into its only
sitting-room. It was furnished as such tenements usually are, with a
small dresser and shelves for crockery, and a table and chairs of cherry
wood; on the broad mantelpiece, for the fireplace was large, were
several brass candlesticks, very bright, ranged with foreign
curiosities, and a few shells; half a dozen prints in frames ornamented
the walls; and on large nails drove into the panels, wherever a space
could be found, were hung coats, P-jackets, and other articles of dress,
all ready for the pilot to change whenever he came on shore wet to the
skin. Everything was neat and clean: the planks of the floor were white
as snow, yet the floor itself was sanded with white sand, and there were
one or two square wooden boxes, also filled with sand, for the use of
those who smoked. When I add that, opposite to the fireplace, there was
a set of drawers of walnut wood, with an escritoire at the top, upon
the flat part of which were a few books neatly arranged, and over it an
old-fashioned looking-glass, divided at the sides near to the frame into
sections, I believe that I have given a catalogue of the whole
furniture. When I followed Bramble into the room, a little girl of about
nine or ten years old ran into his arms, as he stooped down to receive
her. She was a pretty child, with a very fair skin and rosy cheeks, her
hair and eyes of a very dark brown, almost approaching to black; but she
was not, in my opinion, near so pretty as my sister Virginia. As Bramble
kissed her, she exclaimed, "Oh, father, I am so glad you are come home!
Mrs. Maddox has been in bed ever since you left; her leg is very bad
indeed."
"Whew!" whistled Bramble, "I'm sorry to hear that of the old lady; and
how have you got on without her assistance?"
"Why, don't you think I'm very tidy, father?" said she, looking round
the room.
"Yes, Bessy, you are very tidy; and it's a pleasure to come home to a
tidy clean house. Here is a companion for you. I told you he was coming,
and you know his name."
"It's Tom Saunders, isn't it, father?"
"Yes, that's his name, for want of a better--so I leave you to make
friends, while I go up and see the poor old lady."
"You look cold and pale, are you not well?" was the first question of
little Bessy.
"I'm cold, and not very well," replied I; "I have not been used to
knocking about on board ship."
"Very true; I forgot you had never been at sea before. Come to the fire,
then, and sit in father's big chair."
"I never knew that your father had been married. I thought Peter
Anderson said that he was a bachelor."
"And so he is," replied Bessy. "I'm not his daughter, although I call
him father."
"Indeed! then whose daughter are you? and who is the old lady upstairs?"
"The old lady upstairs is the widow of the pilot with whom father served
his time. Her husband was lost at sea, and she keeps father's house.
Father picked me up at sea, and has taken care of me ever since."
"Then you don't remember your own parents?"
"No, I recollect nothing till I found myself in this house. Father says
I'm a Dutchman, because it was a Dutch ship or a Dutch boat which I was
taken out of."
"And how long was that ago?"
"Nine years ago. I am now, I believe, about ten years old."
Bessy then catechised me relative to my own family, and I had not
answered all her questions when Bramble came downstairs.
"Bessy, dear, we must have the doctor to look at that leg again. I'm
afeard that it will never get well. Missus is too old to shake it off."
"Shall I go now, father?"
"Yes, child, go now, for she's in great pain with it; and Tom, you go
with Bessy and take care of her. But, before you go, give me some 'baccy
and the odds and ends."
As soon as Bessy had put the tobacco-pipes, some spirits, a rummer and
water on the table, and the spittoon at his feet, she put on her bonnet,
and off we set to the doctor's house, about half a mile distant. I was
soon on intimate terms with Bessy: there was something so frank and
winning about her, such perfect honesty of character, that it was
impossible not to like her. We delivered our message, returned home,
and, being very tired, I was glad to go to bed. Bessy showed me my room,
which was very comfortable, and as soon as I laid my head on the pillow
I was fast asleep.
I was awakened the next morning by a knocking at the door by little
Bessy; it was broad daylight, and I dressed myself and went downstairs,
where I found her very busy putting everything in order.
"It was I knocked," said little Bessy; "I thought you would like to come
and help me."
"And so I will," replied I; "what shall I do?"
"Oh, there's plenty to do now that Mrs. Maddox is ill, and you and
father are come back--almost too much for a little girl like me. Will
you go to the pump and fetch the pails full of water, for they are too
heavy for me?"