BETTER THOUGHTS AND DEEDS.
I left the house more to conceal my own emotions than for any other
reason. I had been imprudent. My father was not only dependent upon
Colonel Wimpleton for the excellent situation he held, which had
enabled him to live well, to give me a good education, and to save
money to buy his place, though there was a mortgage on the little
estate that would expire in a few days; so far as liberality in
financial matters was concerned, no one could find any fault with the
magnate of Centreport.
I was accused of a crime--not merely of a piece of mischief, as the
colonel was pleased to regard it, but of a crime whose penalty was
imprisonment. By merely admitting the truth of the charge, I could
escape all disagreeable consequences, and retain for my father and
myself the favor of the mighty man in whose smile we had prospered and
grown rich. Doubtless, in the worldly sense, I had been very imprudent.
It would have been safer for me not to deny the accusation, and not to
resent the hard names applied to me.
As a matter of policy, I had always permitted Waddie to have his own
way in his dealings with me. If he ordered me to do anything, I did it.
If he called me names, I did not retort upon him. It galled me sorely
to permit the puppy to ride over me in this manner; to be insulted,
kicked, and cuffed at his royal pleasure; but while it was simply a
sacrifice of personal pride, or even of self-respect, it did not so
much matter. When, however, Waddie and his father wished to brand me
as a criminal, and to browbeat me because I would not confess myself
guilty of a deed in which I had no hand, my nature revolted. In my
indignation, I had made use of some expressions which I had better not
have used, and which I should not have used if I had not been suffering
under the weight of that sad day’s trials.
I did not care for myself under the displeasure of the mighty man. My
mother was a timid woman, and the cloud of misfortunes which was rising
over us filled her with dismay. The displeasure of Colonel Wimpleton,
the loss of the money, and above all the fear that my father would
return to his old habits, were terrors enough for one day, and I wept
for her. But what could I do? To confess myself guilty of a crime when
I was innocent was the greatest wrong I could do to her and to myself.
I would not do that, whatever else I did; and there was no other way to
win back the favor of the colonel.
After I had cooled off, I returned to the house, and found my mother
more calm than I expected. She had resumed her work; but she looked
very sad and troubled. My two sisters had gone to the village, and as
yet knew nothing of the misfortunes that were settling down upon our
house.
“Wolfert, I am sorry you were so rash,” said my mother, as I seated
myself in the kitchen.
“I am sorry myself; but I don’t think it would have made any difference
with the colonel if I had been as gentle as a lamb,” I replied.
“Perhaps it would.”
“The colonel wished me to take upon my shoulders the blame, or part of
it, of blowing up the canal boat. Nothing less than that would have
satisfied them. You can’t wonder that I was mad, after what you heard
him say to me. I have eaten dirt before the colonel and his son for
years, and I don’t think we have made anything by it; but whether we
have or not, I won’t be called a villain and a scoundrel, or confess a
thing I didn’t do.”
“Mr. Wimpleton is a very powerful man in Centreport,” added my mother,
shaking her head in deprecation of any rash steps.
“I know he is, mother; and I will do anything I can to please him,
except sell my own soul; and he hasn’t got money enough to buy that.
I’m not going to put my nose into the dirt for him.”
“He may ruin us, Wolfert.”
“What can he do?”
“He can discharge your father.”
“Father can get as much wages in another place as he can here. Perhaps
he will be wanted on the Ruoara, now Christy has run away.”
“But his house is here, and he meant to stay in Centreport. Besides,
Mr. Wimpleton can turn us out of the house if we don’t pay the money,
which will be due in a few days.”
“I hope Mr. Mortimer will catch Christy, and get the money. If he
don’t, there is a man in town who offered thirty-five hundred dollars
for the place; and that is more than it cost, and father won’t lose
anything.”
“You don’t know Mr. Wimpleton, Wolfert. He is a terrible man when he
is offended. If the place were sold at auction, as it would be, he has
influence enough to prevent any one from bidding on it; and your father
might lose every cent he has left in the world.”
“What would you have me do, mother?” I asked, rising from my chair,
considerably excited. “Shall I say that I helped Waddie blow up the
canal boat?”
“No, certainly not, Wolfert, unless you did help him.”
“Do you think I did, mother?”
“No, I can’t think so, after what you have said.”
“I had nothing more to do with it than you had.”
“But you can be a little more gentle with him.”
“And let him browbeat and bully me as much as he pleases? I think,
mother, if I stand up squarely for my own rights, he will respect me
all the more. For my own part, I am about tired of Centreport, for
all the people bow down and toady to Colonel Wimpleton. If he takes
snuff, everybody sneezes. All the fellows treat Waddie as though he
was a prince of the blood. I have been ashamed and disgusted with
myself a hundred times after I have let him bully me and put his foot
on my neck. I have been tempted to thrash him, a dozen times, for his
impudence; and if I didn’t do so, it was not because I didn’t want to.”
“You must try to have a Christian spirit, Wolfert,” said the mother,
mildly.
“I do try to have a Christian spirit, mother. I haven’t anything
against Waddie or his father. If I could do a kindness to either one of
them this minute, I would do it. But I don’t think a fellow must be a
milksop in order to be a Christian. I don’t think the gospel requires
me to be a toady, or even to submit to injustice when I can help
myself. I don’t ask to be revenged, or anything of that sort; I only
desire to keep my head out of the dirt. I am going to try to be a man,
whatever happens to me.”
“If you will only be a Christian, Wolfert, I can ask no more.”
“I will try to be; but do you think yourself, mother, that I ought to
stand still and allow myself to be kicked?”
“You must not provoke your enemies.”
“I will not, if I can help it; but I think it is pretty hard to keep
still when you are called a rascal and a villain. If you think I ought
to confess that I helped blow up the canal boat when I did not, I
will”--
I was going to say I would do it, but the words choked me, and I could
not utter them.
“I don’t wish you to say so, Wolfert.”
“Then I am satisfied; and I will try to be gentle while they abuse me.”
At this moment Waddie Wimpleton bolted into the room, without taking
the trouble to announce himself beforehand.
“My father says you must come up and see him at once,” said the scion
in his usual bullying and offensive tone.
“Where is he?” I asked, as quietly as I could speak, under the
influence of my good mother’s lesson.
“At the house. Where do you suppose he is?” pouted Waddie. “And he
says, if you don’t come, he’ll send a constable after you.”
“What does he want of me?”
“None of your business what he wants. All you’ve got to do is to go.”
“If I conclude to go, I will be there in a few moments,” I added.
“If you conclude to go!” exclaimed Waddie. “Well, that is cool! Do you
mean to say you won’t go?”
“No, I don’t mean to say that.”
“Well, I want to know whether you are going or not,” demanded the scion.
“Shall I go, mother?” I asked, appealing to her.
“I think you had better go, Wolfert.”
“Then I will go.”
“You had better,” continued Waddie, who could not help bullying even
after his point was gained.
The gentlemanly young man left the house, and my mother admonished me
again not to be saucy, and to return good for evil. I hoped I should
be able to do so. If I failed, it would not be for the want of a good
intention. I walked up the road towards the mansion of the great man,
thinking what I should say, and how I could best defend myself from the
charge which was again to be urged against me. The situation looked
very hopeless to me as I jumped over the fence in the grove, through
which there was a path which led to the house of the colonel.
“Here he is,” said Waddie, accompanying the remark with a yell not
unlike an Indian war-whoop.
I halted and turned around. Behind me stood the scion of the great
house of Centreport, with a club in his hand, and attended by half a
dozen of the meanest fellows of the Institute, armed in like manner.
They had been concealed behind the fence; and of course I instantly
concluded that the colonel’s message was a mere trick to decoy me into
the grove.
“Do you wish to see me?” I asked as coolly as I could; and the
circumstances under which we appeared to meet were not favorable to a
frigid demeanor.
“Yes, I want to see you,” replied Waddie, moving up to me, and
flourishing his stick. “You must settle my account before you see my
governor.”
“What do you want of me?” I demanded, as I edged up to a big tree,
which would protect me from an assault in the rear.
“You told my father I was the biggest liar in town,” blustered Waddie.
“I’m going to give you the biggest licking for it you ever had in your
life.”
“Go in, Waddie!” shouted Sam Peppers. “We’ll stand by, and see fair
play.”
“Are you ready to take your licking?” bullied Waddie, who did not seem
to be quite ready to commence the operation.
“No, I am not,” I answered, quietly; and I never spoke truer words in
my life.
“You called me the biggest liar in town--didn’t you?”
“I did.”
“Have you anything to say about it?”
“I have,” I replied, still moved by the gentle words of gospel wisdom
which my mother had spoken to me.
“If you have, say it quick.”
“I was angry when I spoke the words, and I am sorry for uttering them.”
“Ha, ha! humph!” yelled the half-dozen ruffians in concert.
“Get down on your knees and beg my pardon, then,” said Waddie.
“No, I will not do that,” I replied, firmly.