This laconic epistle met with as cordial a reception as if it had been
couched in the terms of passion and genius. Mr. Appleby at once visited
Mr. Pickle, the marriage settlement was determined, and the day
appointed for the wedding,--to which everybody of any fashion in the
neighbourhood was invited. Among these were Commodore Trunnion and
Lieutenant Hatchway, two retired seamen, and the sole companions of the
bridegroom.
In due time a fine boy was born, who was christened by the name of
Peregrine, the Commodore assisting at the ceremony as godfather. On Mrs.
Pickle assuming the management of household affairs, Miss Grizzle
directed her operations upon the Commodore, whom she was resolved to
captivate and enslave, in spite of his well-known distrust of matrimony.
Mr. Pickle had early learnt the singular character of his neighbour
Trunnion from a loquacious publican at whose house he was accustomed to
call. "The Commodore and your worship," said he, "will in a short time
be hand in glove; he has a power of money and spends it like a prince;
though, to be sure, he is a little humoursome, and swears roundily,
though I'll be sworn he means no more harm than a sucking babe. Lord
have mercy upon us! he's been a great warrior in his time, and lost an
eye and a heel in the service. Then he does not live like any other
Christian landman; but keeps garrison in his house, as if he were in the
midst of his enemies, and makes his servants turn out in the night,
watch and watch, as he calls it, all the year round. His habitation is
defended by a ditch, over which he has laid a drawbridge, and planted
his court-yard with pateroes continually loaded with shot, under the
direction of one Mr. Hatchway, who had one of his legs shot away, while
he acted as lieutenant on board the Commodore's ship; and now being on
half pay, lives with him as his companion. The Lieutenant is a very
brave man, a great joker, and, as the saying is, hath got the length of
his commander's foot; though he has another favourite in the house,
called Tom Pipes, that was his boatswain's mate, and now keeps the
servants in order. Tom is a man of few words, but an excellent hand at a
song, concerning the boatswain's whistle, husslecap, and
chuck-farthing--there is not such another pipe in the country. So that
the Commodore lives very happy in his own manner; though he be sometimes
thrown into perilous passions and quandaries, and exceedingly afflicted
with goblins that disturb his rest. Bless your honour's soul, he is a
very oddish kind of a gentleman. I don't think he would marry the Queen
of Sheba. Lackaday! sir, he won't suffer his own maids to speak in the
garrison, but turns them into an outhouse before the watch is set."
However, Hatchway entered spiritedly into Miss Grizzle's cause by
working on the fears of the Commodore. He prevailed upon Pipes to get up
on the top of the chimney belonging to the Commodore's chamber at
midnight, and to hollow through a speaking-trumpet, "Trunnion! turn out
and be spliced, or lie still and be damned!" By this, and other
stratagems, Trunnion's obstinacy was overcome. He wiped the sweat from
his forehead, and heaving a piteous groan yielded to the remonstrances
of Hatchway in these words: "Well, since it must be so, I think we must
e'en grapple. But 'tis a hard case that a fellow of my years should be
compelled, d'ye see, to beat up to windward all the rest of his life,
against the current of his own inclination."
Things being brought to this bearing, Miss Grizzle's heart dilated with
joy; the parson was persuaded to perform the ceremony in the garrison,
which all that day was adorned with flags, and at night illuminated by
the direction of Hatchway.
_II.--The Commodore Takes Peregrine Under His Own Care_
Having no hopes of propagating his own name, the Commodore, through his
friendly intercourse with Mr. Gamaliel, contracted a liking for
Peregrine, who, by this time entered the third year of his age, was a
very handsome, healthy, and promising child, with a certain oddity of
disposition for which he had been remarkable even from his cradle.
Almost all his little childish satire was levelled against the
Commodore, but in this he might have been influenced by the example and
instruction of Mr. Hatchway, who delighted in superintending the first
essays of his genius.
One day when the Commodore had chastised the child by a gentle tap with
his cane, Peregrine fell flat on the floor as if he had been deprived of
all sense and motion, to the terror and amazement of the striker; and
having filled the whole house with confusion and dismay, opened his
eyes, and laughed heartily at the success of his own imposition.
A few years later, when Mrs. Pickle decided to send Peregrine to a
boarding-school, her husband not venturing to make the least objection,
the Commodore interested himself so much in behalf of his favourite, as
to fit him out at his own charge, and accompany him in person to the
place of his destination. In less than a twelvemonth the boy was
remarkable for the brightness of his parts, and the Commodore received
with transport an account of his proficiency, and forthwith communicated
the happy tidings to the parents.
Mr. Gamaliel Pickle heard them with a sort of phlegmatic satisfaction,
and the child's mother observed that the truth was always exaggerated by
schoolmasters. Mrs. Pickle being by this time blessed with a daughter,
her affection was otherwise engrossed.
A change of master at the school made the Commodore resolve to fetch the
boy away. He went directly to visit Mrs. Pickle, and desired she would
permit him to take his godson under his own care.
This lady, whose family was now increased by another son, had not seen
Perry during the course of four years, and with regard to him was
perfectly weaned of maternal fondness; she therefore consented to the
Commodore's request with great condescension, and a polite compliment on
the concern he had all along manifested for the welfare of the child.
Trunnion having obtained this permission, that very afternoon dispatched
the lieutenant in a postchaise to the school, from whence in two days he
returned with our young hero; who, being now in the eleventh year of his
age, was remarkable for the beauty of his person. His godfather was
transported with his arrival, and in the afternoon conducted him to the
house of his parents.
Strange to tell, no sooner was Peregrine presented to his mother, than
she eyed him with tokens of affliction and surprise, and bursting into
tears, exclaimed that her child was dead, and this was no other than an
impostor whom they brought to defraud her sorrow. Trunnion was
confounded at this unaccountable passion, which had no other foundation
than caprice and whim; and Gamaliel himself was so disconcerted and
unsettled in his own belief, which began to waver, that he knew not how
to behave towards the boy, whom his godfather immediately carried back
to the garrison, swearing all the way that Perry should never cross
their threshold again with his goodwill. Thus exiled from his father's
house, the young gentleman was left entirely to the disposal of the
Commodore, whose affection for him daily increased.
_III.--First Acquaintance with Miss Emilia Gauntlet_
At the age of twelve Peregrine was sent to Winchester School. A
clergyman named Jacob Jolter was engaged as tutor to superintend the
boy's education, and Tom Pipes, at his own petition, put into livery,
and appointed footman to the young squire. Mr. Pickle approved of the
plan, though he durst not venture to see the boy; so much was he
intimidated by his wife, whose aversion to her firstborn became every
day more inveterate and unaccountable. Her second son, Gam, now in the
fourth year of his age, had been rickety from the cradle, and as the
deformity increased, the mother's fondness was augmented. Though she no
longer retained the notion of Perry being an impostor, she would not
suffer him to approach his father's house, and broke off all commerce
with her sister-in-law and the Commodore because they favoured the poor
child.
Her malice, however, was frustrated by the love and generosity of
Trunnion, who, having adopted him as his own son, equipped him
accordingly.
At school, Peregrine, after two years of mischievous pranks, fixed his
view upon objects which he thought more worthy of his attention than
practical joking. Having contracted intimacies with several youths older
than himself, they, pleased with his address, introduced him into
parties of gallantry; and Peregrine soon found he was by nature
particularly adapted for succeeding in adventures of this kind.
Being one evening at the ball which is always given at the time of the
races, Peregrine was struck with admiration at the beauty of a young
lady, who seemed to be of his own age. He begged she would do him the
honour to walk a minuet with him, and she frankly complied with his
request. If he was charmed with her appearance, he was quite ravished
with her discourse, which was sensible, spirited, and gay. Her mother,
who was present, thanked him for his civility, and he received a
compliment of the same nature from the young lady's brother.
When the company broke up, Peregrine obtained permission to visit her at
her habitation about sixteen miles from Winchester, and was also
informed by her mother that her name was Miss Emilia Gauntlet. He
assured Mrs. Gauntlet that he should not neglect this invitation, and
having learned that his Emilia (for so he already called her) was the
only daughter of a deceased field officer, he set out early one morning
for the village where his charmer lived. He was received with
demonstrations of regard and affection by Emilia and her mother; but his
absence produced great disturbance at Winchester, and finally the
Commodore, having been informed of his nephew's disappearance,
dispatched Hatchway, who traced the truant to the village where he had
taken up his abode, and persuaded him to return to the school.
Shortly afterwards Peregrine was summoned to attend his uncle, and in a
few days arrived with Mr. Jolter and Pipes at the garrison, which he
filled with joy and satisfaction. From a comely boy he was now converted
into a most engaging youth, already taller than a middle-sized man. The
Commodore, who assumed justly the whole merit of his education, was as
proud of the youth's improvements as if he had actually been his own
offspring; but Peregrine could not help feeling the injury he suffered
from the caprice of his mother, and foreseeing the disagreeable
situation he would find himself in if any sudden accident should deprive
him of the Commodore, he therefore accompanied his uncle one evening to
the Club and presented himself to his father, begging pathetically to
know how he had incurred his displeasure.
Mr. Gamaliel was never so disconcerted as at this rencontre. His own
disposition was perfectly neutral, but he was so strongly impressed with
the terror of his wife, that he answered in a peevish strain, "Why, good
now, child, what would you have me to do? Your mother can't abide you."
"If my mother is so unkind, I hope you will not be so unjust," said
Peregrine, tears of indignation starting from his eyes. Before Mr.
Pickle could reply, the Commodore interposed, and Gamaliel at length
surrendered. He acquiesced in the justice of his friend's observations,
and, taking his son by the hand, promised to favour him for the future
with his love and fatherly protection.
But this laudable resolution did not last. Mrs. Pickle, having made him
disclose what had happened, he sustained a most severe rebuke for his
simplicity and indiscretion, and humbled himself so far as to promise to
annul the condescensions he had made, and for ever renounce the
ungracious object of her disgust. This undertaking was punctually
performed in a letter to the Commodore, which Mrs. Pickle herself
dictated: "Sir,--Whereas my good nature being last night imposed upon, I
was persuaded to promise I know not what to that vicious youth whose
parent I have the misfortune to be; I desire you will take notice that I
revoke all such promises, and shall never look upon that man as my
friend, who will henceforth in such a cause solicit,