AMONG THE SAVAGES.
At this moment it became a very nice point to perceive what was really
honest and right, and then to carry it out with all that fearless
alacrity, which in such cases I find to be, as it were, constitutional
to me. My high sense of honour would fain persuade me to keep in
strictest secrecy that which (so far as I could judge) was not, or might
not have been, intended for my eyes, or ears, or tongue. On the other
hand, my still higher sense of duty to my employer (which is a most
needful and practical feeling), and that power of loyalty which descends
to me, and perhaps will die with me, as well as a strong, and no less
ancestral, eagerness to be up to the tricks of all mysterious beings--I
do not exaggerate when I say that the cut-water of my poor mind knew not
which of these two hands pulled the stronger oar.
In short, being tired, and sleepy, and weary, and worn out with want of
perceiving my way, although I smoked three pipes all alone (not from the
smallest desire for them, but because I have routed the devil thus many
and many a night I know--as the priests do with their incense; the
reason of which I take to be, that having so much smoke at home, he
shuns it when coming for change of air--growing dreamy thus), I said,
with nobody to answer me, "I will tumble into my berth, as this dirty
craft has no room for hammocks; and, between Parson and Captain, I will
leave my dreams to guide me."
I played with myself, in saying this. No man ever should play with
himself. It shows that he thinks too troublesomely; and soon may come,
if he carries it on, almost to forget that other people are nothing,
while himself is everything. And if any man comes to that state of mind,
there is nothing more to hope of him.
I was not so far gone as that. Nevertheless, it served me right (for
thinking such dreadful looseness) to have no broad fine road of sleep,
in the depth whereof to be borne along, and lie wherever wanted; but
instead of that to toss and kick, with much self-damage, and worst of
all, to dream such murder that I now remember it. What it was, belongs
to me, who paid for it with a loss of hair, very serious at my time of
life. However, not to dwell upon that, or upon myself in any way--such
being my perpetual wish, yet thwarted by great activity--let it be
enough to say that Parson Chowne in my visions came and horribly stood
over me.
Therefore, arising betimes, I hired a very fine horse, and, manning him
bravely, laid his head east and by south, as near as might be, according
to our binnacle. But though the wind was abaft the beam, and tide and
all in his favour, and a brave commander upon his poop, what did he do
but bouse his stem, and run out his spanker-driver, and up with his
taffrail, as if I was wearing him in a thundering heavy sea. I resolved
to get the upper hand of this uncalled-for mutiny; and the more so
because all our crew were gazing, and at the fair I had laid down the
law very strictly concerning horses. I slipped my feet out of the
chains, for fear of any sudden capsize, and then I rapped him over the
catheads, where his anchor ought to hang. He, however, instead of doing
at all what I expected, up with his bolt-sprit and down with his
quarter, as if struck by a whale under his forefoot. This was so far
from true seamanship, and proved him to be so unbuilt for sailing, that
I was content to disembark over his stern, and with slight concussions.
"Never say die" has always been my motto, and always will be: nailing my
colours to the mast, I embarked upon another horse of less than half the
tonnage of that one who would not answer helm. And this craft, being
broken-backed, with a strange sound at her port-holes, could not under
press of sail bowl along more than four knots an hour. And we adjusted
matters between us so, that when she was tired I also was sore, and
therefore disembarked and towed her, until we were both lit for sea
again. Therefore it must have been good meridian when I met Parson
Chowne near his house.
This man was seldom inside his own house, except at his meal-times, or
when asleep, but roving about uncomfortably, seeing to the veriest
trifles, everywhere abusing or kicking everybody. And but for the
certainty of his witchcraft (ninefold powerful, as they told me, when
conferred upon a parson), and the black strength of his eyes, and the
doom that had befallen all who dared to go against him, the men about
the yards and stables told me--when he was miles away--that they never
could have put up with him; for his wages were also below their deserts.
He came to me from the kennel of hounds, which he kept not for his own
pleasure so much as for the delight of forbidding gentlemen, whenever
the whim might take him so, especially if they were nobly accoutred,
from earning at his expense the glory of jumping hedges and ditches.
Now, as he came towards me, or rather beckoned for me to come to him, I
saw that the other truly eminent parson, the Reverend John Rambone, was
with him, and giving advice about the string at the back of a young
dog's tongue. Although this man was his greatest friend, Master Chowne
treated him no better than anybody else would fare; but signed to the
mate of the hounds, or whatever those fox-hunters call their chief
officer, to heed every word of what Rambone said. Because these two
divines had won faith, throughout all parishes and hundreds: Chowne for
the doctrine of horses; and for discipline of dogs, John Rambone.
His Reverence fixed a stern gaze upon me, because I had not hurried
myself--a thing which I never do except in a glorious naval action--and
then he bade me follow him. This I did; and I declare even now I cannot
tell whither he took me. For I seemed to have no power, in his presence,
of heeding anything but himself: only I know that we passed through
trees, and sate down somewhere afterwards. Wherever it was, or may have
been, so far as my memory serves, I think that I held him at bay some
little. For instance, I took the greatest care not to speak of the fair
young lady; inasmuch as she might not have done all she did, if she had
chanced to possess the knowledge of my being under the willow-tree. But
Parson Chowne, without my telling, knew the whole of what was done; and
what he thought of it none might guess in the shadowy shining of his
eyes.
"You have done pretty well on the whole," he said, after asking many
short questions; "but you must do better next time, my man. You must not
allow all these delicate feelings, chivalry, resolute honesty, and
little things of that sort, to interfere thus with business. These
things do some credit to you, Llewellyn, and please you, and add to your
happiness, which consists largely with you (as it does with all men) in
conceit. But you must not allow yourself thus to coquet with these
beauties of human nature. It needs a rich man to do that. Even add my
five shillings to your own four, and you cannot thus go to Corinth."
I had been at Corinth twice, and found it not at all desirable; so I
could not make out what his Reverence meant, except that it must be
something bad; which at my time of life should not be put into the mind
even by a clergyman. But what I could least put up with was, the want of
encouragement I found for all my better feelings. These seemed to meet
with nothing more than discouragement and disparagement, whereas I knew
them to be sound, substantial, and solid; and I always felt upon going
to bed what happiness they afforded me. And if the days of my youth had
only passed through learned languages, Latin and Greek and Hebrew, I
doubt whether even Parson Chowne could have laid his own will upon me
so.
"Supposing, then, that your Reverence should make it ten," I answered;
"with my own four, that would be fourteen."
"I can truly believe that it would, my man. And you may come to that, if
you go on well. Now go into the house and enjoy yourself. You Welshmen
are always hungry. And you may talk as freely as you like; which is your
next desire. Every word you say will come back to me; and some of it may
amuse me. If you have no sense you have some cunning. You will know what
things to speak of. And be sure that you wait until I come back."
This was so wholly below and outside of the thing which I love to
reconcile with my own constitution (having so long been respected for
them, as well as rewarded by conscience), that I scarcely knew where or
who I was, or what might next come over me. And to complete my
uncomfortable sense of being nobody, I heard the sound of a galloping
horse downhill as wild as could be, and found myself left as if all the
ideas which I was prepared to suggest were nothing. However, that was
not my loss, but his; so I entered the house, with considerable hope of
enjoying myself, as commanded. For this purpose I have always found it,
in the house of a gentleman, the height of luck to get among three young
women and one old one. The elderly woman attends to the cooking, which
is not understood by the young ones, or at any rate cannot be much
expected; while, on the other hand, the young ones flirt in and out in a
pleasant way, laying the table and showing their arms (which are of a
lovely red, as good as any gravy); and then if you know how to manage
them well, with a wholesome deference to the old cook, and yet an
understanding--while she is basting, and as one might almost say, behind
her back--a confidential feeling established that you know how she
treats those young ones, and how harshly she dares to speak, if a coal
comes into the dripping-pan, and in casting it out she burns her face,
and abuses the whole of them for her own fault; also a little shy
suggestion that they must put up with all this, because the old cook is
past sweethearting time, and the parlour-maid scarcely come to it,
accompanied by a wink or two, and a hint in the direction of the
stables--some of the very noblest dinners that ever I made have been
thus introduced. But what forgiveness could I expect, or who would
listen to me, if I dared to speak in the same dinner-hour of the goodly
kitchen at Candleston Court, or even at Court Ysha, and the place that
served as a sort of kitchen, so far as they seemed to want one, at this
Nympton Rectory? A chill came over every man, directly he went into it;
and he knew that his meat would be hocks and bones, and his gravy (if
any) would stand cold dead. However, I made the best of it, as my manner
is with everything; and though the old stony woman sate, and seemed to
make stone of every one, I kept my spirits up, and became (in spite of
all her stoppage) what a man of my knowledge of mankind must be among
womankind. In a word, though I do not wish to set down exactly how I
managed it, in half an hour I could see, while carefully concealing it,
that there was not a single young woman there without beginning to say
to herself, "Should I like to be Mrs Llewellyn?" After that, I can have
them always. But I know them too well, to be hasty. No prospects would
suit me, at my time of life, unless they came after some cash in hand.
The louts from the stables and kennels poured in, some of them very
"degustin" (as my Bardie used to say), nevertheless the girls seemed to
like them; and who was I, even when consulted, to pretend to say
otherwise? In virtue of what I had seen, among barbarous tribes and
everywhere, and all my knowledge of ceremonies, and the way they marry
one another, it took me scarcely half an hour (especially among poor
victuals) to have all the women watching for every word I was prepared
to drop. Although this never fails to happen, yet it always pleases me;
and to find it in Parson Chowne's kitchen go thus, and the stony woman
herself compelled to be bitten by mustard for fear of smiling, and two
or three maids quite unfit to get on without warm pats on their
shoulder-blades, and the dogs quite aware that men were laughing, and
that this meant luck for them if they put up their noses; it was not for
me to think much of myself; and yet how could I help doing it?
In the midst of this truly social joy, and natural commune over
victuals, and easing of thought to suit one another in the courtesies of
digestion; and just as the slowest amongst us began to enter into some
knowledge of me, in walked that great Parson Rambone, with his hands
behind his back, and between them a stout hunting-crop. The maidens
seemed to be taken aback, but the men were not much afraid of him.
"What a rare royster you are making! Out by the kennel I heard you.
However can I write my sermons?"
"Does your Reverence write them in the kennel?" Thus the chief huntsman
made inquiry, having a certain privilege.
"Clear out, clear out," said Rambone, fetching his whip toward all of
us; "I am left in authority here, and I must have proper discipline. Mrs
Steelyard, I am surprised at you. Girls, you must never go on like this.
What will his Reverence say to me? Come along with me, thou villain
Welshman, and give me a light for my pipe, if you please."
It was a sad thing to behold a man of this noble nature, having gifts of
everything (whether of body, or heart, or soul), only wanting gift of
mind; and for want of that alone, making wreck of all the rest. I let
him lead me; while I felt how I longed to have the lead of him. But that
was in stronger hands than mine.
"Come, and I'll show thee a strange sight, Taffy," he said to me very
pleasantly, as soon as his pipe was kindled; "only I must have my horse,
to inspire them with respect for me, as well as to keep my distance.
Where is thy charger, thou valiant Taffy?"
I answered his Reverence that I would rather travel afoot, if it were
not too far; neither could he persuade me, after the experience of that
morning, to hoist my flag on an unknown horse, the command of which he
offered me. So forth we set, the Parson on horseback, and in very high
spirits, trolling songs, leaping hedges, frolicking enough to frighten
one, and I on foot, rather stiff and weary, and needing a glass of grog,
without any visible chance of getting it.
"Here, you despondent Taffy; take this, and brighten up a bit. It is
true you are going to the gallows; but there's no room for you there
just now."
I saw what he meant, as he handed me his silver hunting-flask, for they
have a fashion about there of hanging bad people at cross ways, and
leaving them there for the good of others, and to encourage honesty. And
truly the place was chosen well; for in the hollow not far below it,
might be found those savage folk, of whom I said something a good while
ago. And I did not say then what I might have said; because I felt
scandalised, and unwilling to press any question of doubtful doings upon
thoroughly accomplished people. But now I am bound, like a hospital
surgeon, to display the whole of it.
"Take hold of the tail of my horse, old Taffy," said his Reverence to
me; "and I will see you clear of them. Have no fear, for they all know
me."
By this time we were surrounded with fifteen or twenty strange-looking
creatures, enough to frighten anybody. Many fine savages have I seen--on
the shores of the Land of Fire, for instance, or on the coast of Guinea,
or of the Gulf of Panama, and in fifty other places--yet none did I ever
come across so outrageous as these were. They danced, and capered, and
caught up stones, and made pretence to throw at us; and then, with
horrible grimaces, showed their teeth and jeered at us. Scarcely any of
the men had more than a piece of old sack upon him; and as for the
women, the less I say, the more you will believe it. My respect for
respectable women is such that I scarcely dare to irritate them, by not
saying what these other women were as concerns appearance. And yet I
will confine myself, as if of the female gender, to a gentle hint that
these women might have looked much nicer, if only they had clothes on.
But the poor little "piccaninies," as the niggers call them these poor
little devils were far worse off than any hatch of negroes, or Maroons,
or copper-colours anywhere in the breeding-grounds. Not so much from any
want of tendance or clean management, which none of the others ever got;
but from difference of climate, and the moisture of their native soil.
These little creatures, all stark naked, seemed to be well enough off
for food, of some sort or another, but to be very badly off for want of
washing and covering up. And their little legs seemed to be growing
crooked; the meaning of which was beyond me then; until I was told that
it took its rise from the way they were forced to crook them in, to lay
hold of one another's legs, for the sake of natural warmth and comfort,
as the winter-time came on, when they slept in the straw all together. I
believe this was so; but I never saw it.
The Reverend John Rambone took no other notice of these people than to
be amused with them. He knew some two or three of the men, and spoke of
them by their nicknames, such as "Browny," or "Horse-hair," or "Sandy
boy;" and the little children came crawling on their bellies to him.
This seemed to be their natural manner of going at an early age: and
only one of all the very little children walked upright. This one came
to the Parson's horse, and being still of a tottery order, laid hold of
a fore-leg to fetch up his own; and having such moorage, looked up at
the horse. The horse, for his part, looked down upon him, bending his
neck, as if highly pleased; yet with his nostrils desiring to snort, and
the whole of his springy leg quivering, but trying to keep quiet, lest
the baby might be injured. This made me look at the child again, whose
little foolish life was hanging upon the behaviour of a horse. The rider
perceived that he could do nothing, in spite of all his great strength
and skill, to prevent the horse from dashing out the baby's brains with
his fore-hoof, if only he should rear or fret. And so he only soothed
him. But I, being up to all these things, and full for ever of presence
of mind, slipped in under the hold of the horse, as quietly as possible,
and in a manner which others might call at the same time daring and
dexterous, I fetched the poor little fellow out of his dangerous
position.
"Well done, Taffy!" said Parson Jack; "I should never have thought you
had sense enough for it. You had a narrow shave, my man."
For the horse, being frightened by so much nakedness, made a most sudden
spring over my body, before I could rise with the child in my arms; and
one of his after-hoofs knocked my hat off, so that I felt truly thankful
not to have had a worse business of it. But I would not let any one
laugh at my fright.
"A miss is as good as a mile, your Reverence. Many a cannon-ball has
passed me nearer than your horse's hoof. Tush, a mere trifle! Will your
Reverence give this poor little man a ride?" And with that I offered him
the child upon his saddlebow, naked, and unwashed, and kicking.
"Keep off, or you shall taste my horsewhip. Keep away with your dirty
brat--and yet--oh, poor little devil! If I only had a cloth with me!"
For this parson was of tender nature, although so wild and reckless; and
in his light way he was moved at the wretched plight of this small
creature, and the signs of heavy stripes upon him. Not all over him, as
the Parson said, being prone to exaggerate; but only extending over his
back, and his hams, and other convenient places. And perhaps my jacket
made them smart, for he roared every time I lifted him. And every time I
set him down, he stared with a wistful kind of wonder at our clothes,
and at the noble horse, as if he were trying to remember something.
"Where can they have picked up this poor little beggar?" said Parson
Jack, more to himself than to me: "he looks of a different breed
altogether. I wonder if this is one of Stoyle's damned tricks." And all
the way back he spoke never a word, but seemed to be worrying with
himself. But I having set the child down on his feet, and dusted my
clothes, and cleaned myself, followed the poor little creature's toddle,
and examined him carefully. The rest of the children seemed to hate him,
and he, to shrink out of their way almost; and yet he was the only fine
and handsome child among them. For in spite of all the dirt upon it, his
face was honest, and fair, and open, with large soft eyes of a dainty
blue, and short thick curls of yellow hair that wanted combing sadly.
And though he had rolled in muddy places, as little wild children always
do, for the sake of keeping the cold out, his skin was white, where the
mud had peeled, and his form lacked nothing but washing.