'Tis a dull thing to travel like a mill horse,
Still in the place he was born in, round and blinded.
_Beaumont and Fletcher_.
A novel-maker may claim a privilege which his betters must forego. So,
in the teeth of dramatic unities, let the story leap a chasm of some
two years.
Not that the void was a void to Morton. His nature spurred him into
perpetual action; but his wanderings were over at length; and he and
Meredith sat under the porch of Morton's house, a few miles from town.
The features of the latter were swarthy from exposures, while those of
his friend were somewhat pale, and had the expression of one
insufferably bored.
"Colonel, you are the luckiest fellow I know. Here you have been
following the backbone of the continent from Darien to the head of the
Missouri, mixing yourself up with Spaniards and Aztecs, poking sticks
into the crater of Popocatapetl, and living hand and glove with
Blackfeet and Assinnaboins, while I have been doing penance among
bonds and mortgages, and title deeds and leases. My father has thrown
up responsibility and gone to Europe--and so has every body else--and
left all on my shoulders."
"Your time will come."
"I hope so."
"But what news is there?"
"Nothing."
"What, nothing since I went away?"
"The old story. You know it as well as I. Now and then, a new
engagement came out. Mrs. A. approved it, and Mrs. B. didn't; and then
characters were discussed on both sides. Something has been said of
the balls, the opera, and what not; with the usual talk about the
wickedness of the democrats and the fanaticism of the abolitionists."
"You appear to have led a gay life."
"Very!--we need a war, an invasion,--something of the sort. It would
put life into us, and rid us of a great deal of nonsense. You were
born with a stimulus in yourself, and can stand this stagnant sort of
existence; but I need something more lively."
"Then go with me on my next journey."
"Are you thinking of another already? Rest in peace, and thank Heaven
that you have come home in a whole skin."
"I have done the North American continent; but there are four more
left, not to mention the islands."
"And you mean to see them all?"
"Certainly."
"Your science is a convenient hobby. It carries you wherever you fancy
to go."
"You could not do better than go with me."
"I know it; but, if wishes were horses---- I am training Dick to take
my place. I am a model elder brother to that youngster in the way of
cultivating his mind and morals; and when I have him up to the mark, I
shall gain a year's furlough for my pains. But when is your next
journey to begin--next week?"
"No, I mean to pin myself down here, and dig like a mole, for the next
ten months, at least."
"If I had not had ocular proof of what a determined dig you can be, I
should set down your studies as mere humbug."
"But I wish to hear the news."
"I would tell it willingly, if I knew any."
"Have the Primroses come home from Europe yet?"
"Yes."
"And the Everills?"
"I believe not."
"Nor the Leslies, I suppose."
"For a reasonably sensible and straightforward fellow, you have a
queer way of making inquiries. You question like a lady's letter, with
the pith in the postscript. You ask after the Primroses and the
Everills, a stupid, priggish set, for whom you care nothing, as
earnestly as if you were in love with them, and then grow indifferent
when you come to the Leslies, whom you like."
"Did I?" said Morton, in some discomposure; "I ask their pardon. Have
they come home?"
"Not yet, but I believe they mean to come as soon as they have staid
their year out."
"And that will be very soon--early in the spring, or sooner."
"Now I think of it, I made the acquaintance, a few evenings ago, of a
person who, I believe, is a relation or connection of yours--Miss
Fanny Euston."
"O, yes, she is my third, fourth, or fifth cousin, or something of
that sort; but I have not seen her since she was ten years old. She
was a great romp, then, and very plain."
"That last failing is cured. She has grown very handsome."
"The first failing ought to be cured, too, by this time."
"I am not so clear on that point. She is a girl with an abundance of
education, and a good deal of a certain kind of accomplishment--music,
and so on--but no breeding at all. If she had had the training of good
society, she would have been one of a thousand. As it is she cares for
nobody, and does and says whatever comes into her mind, without the
least regard to consequences or appearances."
"Does she affect naturalness, independence, and all that?"
"No, she affects nothing. The material is admirable. It only needs to
be refined, polished, and toned down. It's unlucky, colonel, but in
this world every thing worth having is broken in pieces and mixed with
something that one doesn't want. It's an even balance, good and bad;
there's no use in going off into raptures about any thing. One thing
is certain, though; this cousin of yours has character enough to
supply material for a dozen Miss Primroses, without any visible
diminution."
"I should like to see her. I'll go to-morrow."
"You'd better. But now tell me something more about your journey."
And, in reply to his friend's questions, Morton proceeded to relate
such incidents as had befallen him.