If I am not wholly without self-reproach when I bring my reader into
uncongenial company, and make him pass time with Major M'Cormick he had
far rather bestow upon a pleasanter companion, I am sustained by the
fact--unpalatable fact though it be--that the highway of life is not
always smooth, nor its banks flowery, and that, as an old Derry woman
once remarked to me, “It takes a' kind o' folk to mak' a world.”
Now, although Colonel Hunter did drive twelve weary miles of road with
the Major for a fellow-traveller,--thanks to that unsocial conveniency
called an Irish jaunting-car,--they rode back to back, and conversed
but little. One might actually believe that unpopular men grow to feel
a sort of liking for their unpopularity, and become at length delighted
with the snubbings they meet with, as though an evidence of the amount
of that discomfort they can scatter over the world at large; just, in
fact, as a wasp or a scorpion might have a sort of triumphant joy in the
consciousness of its power for mischief, and exult in the terror caused
by its vicinity.
“Splendid road--one of the best I ever travelled on,” said the Colonel,
after about ten miles, during which he smoked on without a word.
“Why wouldn't it be, when they can assess the county for it? They're on
the Grand Jury, and high up, all about here,” croaked out the Major.
“It is a fine country, and abounds in handsome places.” “And well
mortgaged, too, the most of them.” “You 'd not see better farming than
that in Norfolk, cleaner wheat or neater drills; in fact, one might
imagine himself in England.”
“So he might, for the matter of taxes. I don't see much difference.”
“Why don't you smoke? Things look pleasanter through the blue haze of a
good Havannah,” said Hunter, smiling.
“I don't want them to look pleasanter than they are,” was the dry
rejoinder.
Whether Hunter did or did not, he scarcely liked his counsellor, and,
re-lighting a cigar, he turned his back once more on him.
“I'm one of those old-fashioned fellows,” continued the Major, leaning
over towards his companion, “who would rather see things as they are,
not as they might be; and when I remarked you awhile ago so pleased with
the elegant luncheon and Miss Polly's talents for housekeeping, I was
laughing to myself over it all.”
“How do you mean? What did you laugh at?” said Hunter, half fiercely.
“Just at the way you were taken in, that's all.”
“Taken in?--taken in? A very strange expression for an hospitable
reception and a most agreeable visit.”
“Well, it's the very word for it, after all; for as to the hospitable
reception, it was n't meant for us, but for that tall Captain,--the
dark-complexioned fellow,--Staples, I think they call him.”
“Captain Stapylton?”
“Yes, that's the man. He ordered Healey's car to take him over here; and
I knew when the Dills sent over to Mrs. Brierley for a loan of the two
cut decanters and the silver cruet-stand, something was up; and so I
strolled down, by way of--to reconnoitre the premises, and see what old
Dill was after.”
“Well, and then?”
“Just that I saw it all,--the elegant luncheon, and the two bottles of
wine, and the ginger cordials, all laid out for the man that never
came; for it would seem he changed his mind about it, and went back to
head-quarters.”
“You puzzle me more and more at every word. What change of mind do you
allude to? What purpose do you infer he had in coming over here to-day?”
The only answer M'Cormick vouchsafed to this was by closing one eye and
putting his finger significantly to the tip of his nose, while he said,
“Catch a weasel asleep!”
“I more than suspect,” said Hunter, sternly, “that this half-pay life
works badly for a man's habits, and throws him upon very petty and
contemptible modes of getting through his time. What possible business
could it be of yours to inquire why Stapylton came, or did not come here
to-day, no more than for the reason of _my_ visit?”
“Maybe I could guess that, too, if I was hard pushed,” said M'Cormick,
whose tone showed no unusual irritation from the late rebuke. “I was in
the garden all the time, and heard everything.”
“Listened to what I was saying to Miss Dill!” cried Hunter, whose voice
of indignation could not now be mistaken.
“Every word of it,” replied the unabashed Major. “I heard all you said
about a short acquaintance--a few hours you called it--but that your
heart was bent upon it, all the same. And then you went on about India;
what an elegant place it was, and the fine pay and the great allowances.
And ready enough she was to believe it all, for I suppose she was
sworn at Highgate, and would n't take the Captain if she could get the
Colonel.”
By this time, and not an instant earlier, it flashed upon Hunter's mind
that M'Cormick imagined he had overheard a proposal of marriage; and
so amused was he by the blunder, that he totally drowned his anger in a
hearty burst of laughter.
“I hope that, as an old brother-officer, you 'll be discreet, at all
events,” said he, at last. “You have not come by the secret quite
legitimately, and I trust you will preserve it.”
“My hearing is good, and my eyesight too, and I mean to use them both as
long as they 're spared to me.”
“It was your tongue that I referred to,” said Hunter, more gravely.
“Ay, I know it was,” said the Major, crankily. “My tongue will take care
of itself also.”
“In order to make its task the easier, then,” said Hunter, speaking in
a slow and serious voice, “let me tell you that your eaves-dropping
has, for once at least, misled you. I made no proposal, such as you
suspected, to Miss Dill. Nor did she give me the slightest encouragement
to do so. The conversation you so unwarrantably and imperfectly
overheard had a totally different object, and I am not at all sorry you
should not have guessed it. So much for the past. Now one word for the
future. Omit my name, and all that concerns me, from the narrative with
which you amuse your friends, or, take my word for it, you 'll have
to record more than you have any fancy for. This is strictly between
ourselves; but if you have a desire to impart it, bear in mind that I
shall be at my quarters in Kilkenny till Tuesday next.”
“You may spend your life there, for anything I care,” said the Major.
“Stop, Billy; pull up. I'll get down here.” And shuffling off the car,
he muttered a “Good-day” without turning his head, and bent his steps
towards a narrow lane that led from the high-road.
[Illustration: 242]
“Is this the place they call Lyrath?” asked the Colonel of the driver.
“No, your honor. We're a good four miles from it yet.”
The answer showed Hunter that his fellow-traveller had departed in
anger; and such was the generosity of his nature, he found it hard not
to overtake him and make his peace with him.
“After all,” thought he, “he 's a crusty old fellow, and has hugged
his ill-temper so long, it may be more congenial to him now than a
pleasanter humor.” And he turned his mind to other interests that more
closely touched him. Nor was he without cares,--heavier ones, too, than
his happy nature had ever yet been called to deal with. There are
few more painful situations in life than to find our advancement--the
long-wished and strived-for promotion--achieved at the cost of some
dearly loved friend; to know that our road to fortune had led us across
the fallen figure of an old comrade, and that he who would have been the
first to hail our success is already bewailing his own defeat. This was
Hunter's lot at the present moment. He had been sent for to hear of a
marvellous piece of good-fortune. His name and character, well known in
India, had recommended him for an office of high trust,--the Political
Resident of a great native court; a position not alone of power and
influence, but as certain to secure, and within a very few years, a
considerable fortune. It was the Governor-General who had made choice
of him; and the Prince of Wales, in the brief interview he accorded
him, was delighted with his frank and soldierlike manner, his natural
cheerfulness, and high spirit. “We 're not going to unfrock you,
Hunter,” said he, gayly, in dismissing him. “You shall have your
military rank, and all the steps of your promotion. We only make you a
civilian till you have saved some lacs of rupees, which is what I hear
your predecessor has forgotten to do.”
It was some time before Hunter, overjoyed as he was, even bethought him
of asking who that predecessor was. What was his misery when he heard
the name of Ormsby Conyers, his oldest, best friend; the man at whose
table he had sat for years, whose confidence he had shared, whose heart
was open to him to its last secret! “No,” said he, “this is impossible.
Advancement at such a price has no temptation for me. I will not accept
it” He wrote his refusal at once, not assigning any definite reasons,
but declaring that, after much thought and consideration, he had
decided the post was one he could not accept of. The Secretary, in
whose province the affairs of India lay, sent for him, and, after much
pressing and some ingenious cross-questioning, got at his reasons.
“These may be all reasonable scruples on your part,” said he, “but they
will avail your friend nothing. Conyers must go; for his own interest
and character's sake, he must come home and meet the charges made
against him, and which, from their very contradictions, we all hope to
see him treat triumphantly: some alleging that he has amassed untold
wealth; others that it is, as a ruined man, he has involved himself in
the intrigues of the native rulers. All who know him say that at the
first whisper of a charge against him he will throw up his post and come
to England to meet his accusers. And now let me own to you that it is
the friendship in which he held you lay one of the suggestions for your
choice. We all felt that if a man ill-disposed or ungenerously minded to
Conyers should go out to Agra, numerous petty and vexatious accusations
might be forthcoming; the little local injuries and pressure, so sure to
beget grudges, would all rise up as charges, and enemies to the fallen
man spring up in every quarter. It is as a successor, then, you can best
serve your friend.” I need not dwell on the force and ingenuity with
which this view was presented; enough that I say it was successful, and
Hunter returned to Ireland to take leave of his regiment, and prepare
for a speedy departure to India.
Having heard, in a brief note from young Conyers, his intentions
respecting Tom Dill, Hunter had hastened off to prevent the possibility
of such a scheme being carried out. Not wishing, however, to divulge the
circumstances of his friend's fortune, he had in his interview with the
doctor confined himself to arguments on the score of prudence. His next
charge was to break to Fred the tidings of his father's troubles, and
it was an office he shrunk from with a coward's fear. With every mile
he went his heart grew heavier. The more he thought over the matter the
more difficult it appeared. To treat the case lightly, might savor of
heartlessness and levity; to approach it more seriously, might seem a
needless severity. Perhaps, too, Conyers might have written to his son;
he almost hoped he had, and that the first news of disaster should not
come from him.
That combination of high-heartedness and bashfulness, a blended temerity
and timidity,--by no means an uncommon temperament,--renders a man's
position in the embarrassments of life one of downright suffering. There
are operators who feel the knife more sensitively than the patients. Few
know what torments such men conceal under a manner of seeming slap-dash
and carelessness. Hunter was of this order, and would, any day of his
life, far rather have confronted a real peril than met a contingency
that demanded such an address. It was, then, with a sense of relief he
learned, on arrival at the barracks, that Conyers had gone out for
a walk, so that there was a reprieve at least of a few hours of the
penalty that overhung him.
The trumpet-call for the mess had just sounded as Conyers gained the
door of the Colonel's quarters, and Hunter taking Fred's arm, they
crossed the barrack-square together.
“I have a great deal to say to you, Conyers,” said he, hurriedly; “part
of it unpleasant,--none of it, indeed, very gratifying--”
“I know you are going to leave us, sir,” said Fred, who perceived the
more than common emotion in the other's manner. “And for myself, I own I
have no longer any desire to remain in the regiment. I might go further,
and say no more zest for the service. It was through your friendship for
me I learned to curb many and many promptings to resistance, and when
_you_ go--”
“I am very sorry,--very, very sorry to leave you all,” said Hunter,
with a broken voice. “It is not every man that proudly can point to
seven-and-twenty-years' service in a regiment without one incident to
break the hearty cordiality that bound us. We had no bickerings, no
petty jealousies amongst us. If a man joined us who wanted partisanship
and a set, he soon found it better to exchange. I never expect again
to lead the happy life I have here, and I 'd rather have led our bold
squadrons in the field than have been a General of Division.” Who could
have believed that he, whose eyes ran over, as he spoke these broken
words, was, five minutes after, the gay and rattling Colonel his
officers always saw him, full of life, spirit, and animation, jocularly
alluding to his speedy departure, and gayly speculating on the
comparisons that would be formed between himself and his successor? “I'm
leaving him the horses in good condition,” said he; “and when Hargrave
learns to give the word of command above a whisper, and Eyreton can ride
without a backboard, he 'll scarcely report you for inefficiency.” It
is fair to add, that the first-mentioned officer had a voice like a
bassoon, and the second was the beau-ideal of dragoon horsemanship.
It would not have consisted with military etiquette to have asked
the Colonel the nature of his promotion, nor as to what new sphere of
service he was called. Even the old Major, his contemporary, dared not
have come directly to the question; and while all were eager to hear
it, the utmost approach was by an insinuation or an innuendo. Hunter was
known for no quality more remarkably than for his outspoken frankness,
and some surprise was felt that in his returning thanks for his health
being drank, not a word should escape him on this point; but the anxiety
was not lessened by the last words he spoke. “It may be, it is more than
likely, I shall never see the regiment again; but the sight of a hussar
jacket or a scarlet busby will bring you all back to my memory, and you
may rely on it, that whether around the mess-table or the bivouac fire
my heart will be with you.”
Scarcely had the cheer that greeted the words subsided, when a deep
voice from the extreme end of the table said,--
“If only a new-comer in the regiment, Colonel Hunter, I am too proud
of my good fortune not to associate myself with the feelings of my
comrades, and, while partaking of their deep regrets, I feel it a duty
to contribute, if in my power, by whatever may lighten the grief of our
loss. Am I at liberty to do so? Have I your free permission, I mean?”
“I am fairly puzzled by your question, Captain Stapylton. I have not
the very vaguest clew to your meaning, but, of course, you have my
permission to mention whatever you deem proper.”
“It is a toast I would propose, sir.”
“By all means. The thing is not very regular, perhaps, but we are not
exactly remarkable for regularity this evening. Fill, gentlemen, for
Captain Stapylton's toast!”
“Few words will propose it,” said Stapylton. “We have just drank Colonel
Hunter's health with all the enthusiasm that befits the toast, but in
doing so our tribute has been paid to the past; of the present and the
future we have taken no note whatever, and it is to these I would now
recall you. I say, therefore, bumpers to the health, happiness, and
success of Major-General Hunter, Political Resident and Minister at the
Court of Agra!”
“No, no!” cried young Conyers, loudly, “this is a mistake. It is my
father--it is Lieutenant-General Conyers--who resides at Agra. Am I not
right, sir?” cried he, turning to the Colonel.
But Hunter's face, pale as death even to the lips, and the agitation
with which he grasped Fred's hand, so overcame the youth that with a
sudden cry he sprang from his seat, and rushed out of the room. Hunter
as quickly followed him; and now all were grouped around Stapylton,
eagerly questioning and inquiring what his tidings might mean.
“The old story, gentlemen,--the old story, with which we are all more or
less familiar in this best of all possible worlds: General Hunter
goes out in honor, and General Conyers comes home in--well, under a
cloud,--of course one that he is sure and certain to dispel. I
conclude the Colonel would rather have had his advancement under other
circumstances; but in this game of leap-frog that we call life, we must
occasionally jump over our friends as well as our enemies.”
“How and where did you get the news?”
“It came to me from town. I heard it this morning, and of course I
imagined that the Colonel had told it to Conyers, whom it so intimately
concerned. I hope I may not have been indiscreet in what I meant as a
compliment.”
None cared to offer their consolings to one so fully capable of
supplying the commodity to himself, and the party broke up in twos or
threes, moodily seeking their own quarters, and brooding gloomily over
what they had just witnessed.