MR. GUSHER IS INTRODUCED TO MATTIE.
The Reverend Warren Holbrook was left in the farm-house to further
develop the discovery, and lift the great enterprise into popularity
among the confiding people in that portion of the country. The rest of
the party, including Gusher, returned to the boat near sundown and set
off for Nyack, the sturdy oarsmen singing a merry song. There in the
bottom of the boat was the bucket containing the black sand and
discolored dollars--the capital stock of the great Kidd Discovery
Company--which Chapman and Gusher affected to guard with particular
care.
They reached Nyack the next day about noon, looking fatigued and
careworn, for they had enjoyed but little sleep since leaving. During
their absence all sorts of wild rumors had been circulated concerning
the object of the expedition. Imagination had made some of its highest
flights, and even found a relative of Kidd, who was to join the
expedition a few miles up the river, and who possessed the power to make
the devil surrender sounding-rock--in case he proved obstinate and
refused to acknowledge Hanz's authority. Titus Bright's inn was the
place where all the wisdom of the settlement concentrated of a night.
And it was here that all the various features of the great expedition
were discussed over ale and cider. Sundry honest Dutchmen shook their
heads suspiciously, and declared no good would come of it if Chapman got
his finger in. Others said it was all clear enough now where Hanz
Toodleburg got his dollars and his doubloons. It was no wonder that he
was so much better off than his neighbors. Another declared that he had
more than once told Hanz he would never get to heaven, and that secret
on his mind.
When the boat reached the landing a number of persons were gathered
there, all anxious to know what success had attended the expedition, and
what discoveries had been made concerning Kidd's money. News that the
expedition had returned soon spread over Nyack, and the town was greatly
agitated. The arrival of Gusher, a gentleman of such distinguished
personal appearance, tended still further to increase the agitation, and
to give wing to wilder rumors. Hanz was received with salutations of
welcome, for every one seemed glad to see him back. But where this
foreign-looking gentleman came from, and what was his history, were
questions they confounded their wits over without finding a satisfactory
solution.
Considerable ado was now made in getting the bucket and its contents on
shore, which was done with as much care and ceremony as if every grain
of black sand it contained had been gold. And when a number of the coins
had been exhibited to the bystanders, and the genuineness of the metal
they were made of shown to be beyond doubt, the boatmen ran a pole
through the handle and carried it on their shoulders up the road,
creating such a sensation in turn that they were followed by a curious
and astonished crowd, which seemed to increase at every step.
The effect was exactly what Chapman wanted. He had the precious treasure
carried to his house and deposited, while Hanz and the boatmen proceeded
to their homes, stopping at Bright's inn on the way, where they gave a
marvellous account of their expedition and what they had discovered.
The portly figure of Mrs. Chapman, arrayed in her best millinery, stood
in the door ready to welcome her dear husband and Mr. Gusher, who had
proceeded in advance of the crowd.
"Allow me to welcome you to my house--such as it is, Mr. Gusher," said
she, making a low courtesy, and then extending her fat, waxy hand. Mr.
Gusher bowed in return, and received the hand formally.
"Madam, I am so very happy to have ze pleazure to zee you in your own
house," replied Mr. Gusher, raising his hand to his heart, then lifting
his hat and making another formal bow.
"I am sure you will forego all ceremony, Mr. Gusher, and make yourself
at home. We are plain, unpretending people, and like to receive our
friends in a plain, unpretending manner," resumed Mrs. Chapman,
escorting her guest into the parlor, and begging him to be seated. "It
seems so very long since we met in New York, Mr. Gusher. I never shall
forget that visit, made so pleasant by your kindness. I have spoken of
you so often, Mr. Gusher, to my daughter, that we both feel as if we
were well acquainted with you--"
"Madam," interrupted Mr. Gusher, again putting his hand to his heart and
making a formal bow, "you do me so many compliments as I don't deserve.
I have anticipated ze pleazure and ze honor so much to zee your
daughter. I am zure I shall be delight wiz her. If I shall speak Englis
so well as you, then I shall be so happy. Then I makes myself agreeable
to your daughter, I am so sure." Mr. Gusher was indeed quite embarrassed
at the number of compliments Mrs. Chapman seemed inclined to bestow on
him.
"Nyack is so dull and stupid--so very dull, Mr. Gusher. We only endure
it, you know. And there are so few nice people in it--so very few we
care about associating with," resumed this fat, fussy woman, giving her
head a toss and extending her hands. "A few, a very few nice people have
come up from the city--we find them very agreeable society, quite a
relief. We intend to set up a residence in the city. How delightful to
look forward to the day. We can then live in a style more agreeable to
our taste."
"Oh! madam," rejoined Mr. Gusher, "I am sure you must be very happy.
Your house is so very elegant. I should be so happy in zis house.
(Pardon, madam, I cannot speak Englis so well.) And zen, wiz your
beautiful daughter." Mr. Gusher placed his hand to his heart again,
bowed his head gracefully, and assumed a sentimental air. "Oh, I shall
be so happy to have my home like zis. And your beautiful daughter--she
would sing to me, and she would play me sweet music, and read to me some
poetry. You shall zee I am so proud of ze poetry--"
"How very kind of you," interrupted Mrs. Chapman, bowing
condescendingly; "how very kind of you, to pay my daughter this high
compliment. And, then, coming from so distinguished a foreigner. Indeed,
Mr. Gusher, I have had a mother's responsibility in educating my
daughter up to the highest requisitions of society. Then she's only a
young, thoughtless girl yet, you know. Indeed, Mr. Gusher, if it was not
that she is so intellectual--I say this out of respect to her father,
whose intellectual qualities she inherits--I should feel alarmed about
her. Indeed I should. She is so much admired. And there is nothing
spoils a young, ardent girl so much as admiration."
Chapman now entered the room and suggested that Mr. Gusher, their guest,
must be very much fatigued after so arduous an expedition. Mr. Gusher
was thereupon shown to his room, and left to his own contemplations. In
truth, he was glad enough to escape in this way from a continuation of
this fussy woman's compliments. He had, however, created in his mind a
beautiful picture of Mattie, with oval face, fair complexion, soft blue
eyes, flowing golden hair, and a form that Diana might have envied, and
a voice so sweet in song. As to her parents, they knew nothing of him,
(perhaps it was well they did not); and he knew nothing of them. There
was a mystery overhanging the means by which he had been brought in
contact with these peculiar people. But the more he revolved the
beautiful picture of Mattie over in his mind the more his anxiety to see
her increased.
Mr. Gusher rested for two hours, and then re-appeared in the parlor, so
exquisitely dressed and made up. Every hair on his head seemed to have
been curled so exactly. The gentleman had evidently taken great pains to
get himself up in a style that should be faultless. I may mention, also,
that Mr. Gusher regarded himself as a very valuable ornament in the
atmosphere of fashionable society--just such a nice young man as an
ambitious woman just setting up in society would require at least a
dozen of to make her first reception a success.
Mrs. Chapman and Mattie were already in the parlor, waiting to receive
Mr. Gusher, "My dear sir!" exclaimed Mrs. Chapman; "you are looking so
much improved. I hope you are rested? And now, sir, allow me to present
you to my daughter--Miss Mattie, my only daughter. This is Mr. Gusher,
my daughter. You have heard me speak of Mr. Gusher so often." Mattie
blushed and looked confused, then courtesied in a cold and formal
manner.
"I am so glad to make you my compliments," said Mr. Gusher, making one
of his best bows, and moving backward with a shuffling motion, "I am so
glad to make you my friend," he continued, bowing and placing his right
hand on his heart. Mattie's beauty was quite up to the picture Mr.
Gusher had drawn of it in his imagination. But her manner was so cold
and formal that it not only disappointed but annoyed him. Instead of an
ardent, impressible, romantic and even demonstrative girl, bubbling over
with warmth and vivacity, here she was, as cold and formal as a charity
school matron of forty summers.
"I hope, sir, that you will find your visit to Nyack pleasant," she
replied, tossing her long, golden curls bewitchingly over her fair, full
shoulders with her right hand, then motioning Mr. Gusher to be seated
"Nyack is a very dull place, though. I am sure you will not find much in
it to interest you. My mother tells me you are to make but a very short
stay. I don't wonder you are anxious to get back, sir--"
Mrs. Chapman was at this time in a state of great alarm lest Mattie
should say something not strictly within the rules of propriety. She
shook her head and cast a significant glance at Mattie, then raised the
fore-finger of her right hand to her lips, admonishingly.
"My daughter has not heard of the great enterprise yourself and my dear
husband are engaged in--"
[Illustration: "I am so glad to make you my compliments!" said Mr.
Gusher, making one of his best bows. Page 128.]
"Why, yes, mother, I have," interrupted Mattie; "did'nt Mr. Toodleburg
and father go up the river to buy up all the vegetables for the New York
market?"
"Oh, horrors! horrors! Why, my daughter, what put such a strange thought
in your head? Think of it. Your intellectual father going into the
vegetable business--and with a common old Dutchman! Oh, horrors, my
daughter! What could have put such a thought in your head?" The fat,
fussy woman affected to be overcome, and raised her hands in the very
agony of distress.
"My daughter, Mr. Gusher, has a way of talking so at times. A little
satirical, you know--inherits it from her father."
"My mother has spoken of you frequently, Mr. Gusher. I almost felt
acquainted with you before you arrived. You do business in the city, she
says. The weather is so very bad, I am sure you will not enjoy such a
dull place as this," said Mattie, turning to Mr. Gusher and resuming the
conversation, cold and emotionless.
"No, no, miss," rejoined Mr. Gusher, smiling; "I am zure I shall be so
happy wiz you. Wiz you to zay so many good zings to me, my heart shall
be in ze paradise." Here Mr. Gusher made a bow, and pressed his hand to
his heart. "Wiz you for ze bird of zat paradise, oh, I shall be so
happy."
"Then you and father are going into business, Mr. Gusher? I do hope you
will be successful. If you can only get father to stick to business,"
resumed Mattie. "He is smart at inventing new religions, and other
things. Mother, (here she turned to her mother, who was in a state of
great alarm,) how many new religions has father invented? I know how
many churches he has built--"
"My daughter, my daughter!" exclaimed the impatient and perplexed woman.
"Such things as churches don't interest Mr. Gusher. Mr. Gusher moves in
distinguished society, and goes to a fashionable church."
"Oh, yes, madam, I go to ze very fazionable church. I go to zee ze
ladies, and to enjoy ze sentiment of ze music. Zen I shall enjoy myself
wiz your daughter more as well in your house. I shall do zat. Your
daughter, she shall zing to me, and she shall play to me, and she shall
read to me some poetry. I am so much love ze poetry."
"Truly, Mr. Gusher, I should make but very poor work in entertaining you
by singing or playing," replied Mattie; "and as for poetry, I never had
any taste for it. Father made me read Pilgrim's Progress until it has
got to be a favorite book with me. Did you ever read it, Mr. Gusher? It
is very interesting."
"Nevare, nevare!" returned Mr. Gusher, shaking his head and extending
his hands. "I nevare read ze book of ze Progress Pilgrim. I read ze book
what describe to me ze paradise of ze heart--love." How very
aggravating, thought Mr. Gusher. Instead of a girl with a whole volume
of poetry in her soft blue eyes, here was one whose very nature seemed
devoid of sentiment. Still there was something in this cold and reserve
manner, this indifference to Mr. Gusher's attractions, that tended to
excite his ambition, for he was excessively vain.
"Your dear mother say I go to ze fazionable church. Yes, I go to ze
fazionable church. I zee so many nice ladies, so many beautiful ladies,
all my friends; and za make me so many compliments. Oh, yes, Miss
Chapman, I have so many beautiful young ladies for my friend in ze
church."
"I don't see how it can be otherwise, Mr. Gusher," returned Mattie,
bestowing a look of admiration on him. "I am sure you would have a
great many admirers if you lived in Nyack. But, then, you would not
think of living in such a dull place."
"You do me so much honor, miss," rejoined Mr. Gusher, rising and making
a bow. "I hope it shall be my honor to count Miss Chapman--what shall I
say?--well, I will say as one of my so good friends."
"Indeed, Mr. Gusher, I have no such ambition. You have so many beautiful
friends now. You would not, I am sure, condescend to include a simple
country girl like me among them. I assure you, Mr. Gusher, I am not
ambitious."
"You will have discovered by this time," said Mrs. Chapman, rising and
making a low courtesy, "that my daughter delights in being eccentric.
Oh, sir, she says a great many things she never means. She has got
ambition enough. She would'nt be a Chapman if she had'nt."
Dinner was now announced. "I shall be so happy to escort you," said Mr.
Gusher, nearly doubling himself in a bow, and extending his arm.
Mattie hesitated for a moment, blushed, and seemed confused. "Please,
Mr. Gusher," she said, bowing and extending her right hand, "escort my
dear mother." Here was an awkward situation. Mr. Gusher's knowledge of
etiquette was for once put on trial by a plain, simple-hearted country
girl. But his offer was intended only as a compliment, and surely, he
thought, the girl would accept it in that light.
Turning nervously to Mrs. Chapman he extended his arm, saying: "Pardon,
madam, pardon. You will understand?"
"Oh, certainly, Mr. Gusher," returned the ponderous woman. "You are so
very kind--so very kind, Mr. Gusher."
Never before had Mr. Gusher escorted a woman of such ponderous
circumference. Mattie followed, her roguish smiles indicating that she
enjoyed what she considered a joke played at Mr. Gusher's expense. The
picture presented by the meeting of such extremes was indeed a ludicrous
one.
I will not weary the reader with a description of or explain a family
dinner such as that generally spread by the Chapmans, nor with the many
apologies made by Mrs. Chapman that they had not something better to set
before so distinguished a guest as Mr. Philo Gusher. Chapman was already
seated at the table, busy with a huge fork and carving-knife.
"We don't stand on ceremony here," said he. "Our visitors are always
welcome, and expected to make themselves at home. (Pointing with the
carving-knife to opposite sides of the table.) Take seats, take seats,
now," he concluded.
Mrs. Chapman made a motion to seat Mattie on Mr. Gusher's left, an honor
she did not seem to appreciate, for she insisted on taking a seat
opposite--her proper place.
When dinner was over Mr. Gusher escorted Mattie back into the parlor.
"You shall understand me better, miz, I am sure you shall, as we get
better acquainted. And now you shall zing to me, and play me some
music," said he, opening the piano and arranging the stool and music.
"You will zee I shall make myself agreeable," he repeated two or three
times, then extending his hand. But instead of accepting it Mattie
returned a cold, formal bow, and proceeded to the piano unaided.
"The truth is, Mr. Gusher," said Mattie, running her fingers up and down
the keys, and looking up archly in Mr. Gusher's face, "I am only taking
lessons, and can't play or sing so as to interest you."
"Excuse, miz. You want I pay you ze compliment. Well, I shall do zat
when I hear ze music."
The fair girl now tossed her golden curls back over her shoulders, and
began singing one of the most solemn and melancholy of pieces, to her
own accompaniment. Her voice was indeed full of sweetness, and she could
sing with some skill and effect; but she was just at this time more
inclined to play on Mr. Gusher's feelings than to do justice to her
musical talent.
"There's something sweet and touching in this melancholy music, I like
it, Mr. Gusher," she said, pausing and looking up in his face
tantalizingly; "don't you?"
Mr. Gusher shook his head disapprovingly, and shrugged his shoulders.
"No, no, miz; I nevare like ze funeral music. I go to ze funeral of my
friend wiz music like zat."
"I am very sorry to hear you say so, Mr. Gusher. I play it whenever
mother will let me. And I enjoy it so much. Reminds me of a dear young
friend now far away."
"Now, miz, I makes my discovery," returned Mr. Gusher, turning over a
leaf of the music, and looking enquiringly into Mattie's face. "Zat
young friend, so far away, wiz his memory so near ze heart. Well, I
shall think no more of zat. You shall zee I shall make my compliments,
and shall cut out zat one young friend what is so far away. You shall
zing me some grand music, so full of ze love, and ze poetry, so as my
heart shall lift up wiz joy." Here Mr. Gusher flourished his hands and
executed several waltzing steps, as an expression of how his feelings
were excited by music.
Mattie turned suddenly around to witness this peculiar exhibition, when
Tite's letter fell from her bosom to the floor.
"Ze revelation! Ze re-ve-la--what shall I say? If I only speak ze Englis
so good as you, now!" exclaimed Gusher, affecting a loud laugh. And
stooping down quickly, he attempted to seize the missive. Mattie was too
quick for him. Regaining possession of it she restored it carefully to
her bosom, an expression of joy and triumph lighting up her countenance.
Disappointment now took possession of Mr. Gusher's feelings. His manner
indicated what his heart felt. Never before had his expectations and his
ambition been so lowered, or his vanity so exposed. He had expected to
find a beautiful, simple-minded country girl, ready with hand and heart
to become a willing captive to his charms. And yet he had failed to make
the slightest impression on her. Nor was that all. Her heart and her
thoughts were evidently engaged in another direction. What, he enquired
of himself, could her mother have meant by the encouragement she gave
him to visit her home and see her daughter? His curiosity to find out
who it was that held such possession of this beautiful girl's affections
was now excited to the highest pitch.