Animating his kindly emotions by this apt quotation, Peter turned to the house. The Corporal now broke silence: the sight of the money had not been without an effect upon him as well as the landlord.
Warm day, Sir:your health. Oh! forgot you emptied jugbaugh! You said you were not now in his Majestys service: beg pardonwere you ever?
Why, once I was; many years ago.
Ah!and what regiment? I was in the forty-second. Heard of the forty-second? Colonels name, Dysart; captains, Trotter; corporals, Bunting, at your service.
I am much obliged by your confidence, said the Traveller drily. I dare say you have seen much service.
Service! Ah! may well say that;twenty-three years hard work: and not the better for it! A man that loves his country is titled to a pensionthats my mind!but the world dont smile upon corporalsaugh!
Here Peter re-appeared with a fresh supply of the October, and an assurance that the cold meat would speedily follow.
I hope yourself and this gentleman will bear me company, said the Traveller, passing the jug to the Corporal; and in a few moments, so well pleased grew the trio with each other, that the sound of their laughter came loud and frequent to the ears of the good housewife within.
The traveller now seemed to the Corporal and mine host a right jolly, good-humoured fellow. Not, however, that he bore a fair share in the conversationhe rather promoted the hilarity of his new acquaintances than led it. He laughed heartily at Peters jests, and the Corporals repartees; and the latter, by degrees, assuming the usual sway he bore in the circle of the village, contrived, before the viands were on the table, to monopolize the whole conversation.
The Traveller found in the repast a new excuse for silence. He ate with a most prodigious and most contagious appetite; and in a few seconds the knife and fork of the Corporal were as busily engaged as if he had only three minutes to spare between a march and a dinner.
This is a pretty, retired spot, quoth the Traveller, as at length he finished his repast, and threw himself back on his chaira very pretty spot. Whose neat old-fashioned house was that I passed on the green, with the gable-ends and the flower-plots in front?
Oh, the Squires, answered Peter; Squire Lesters an excellent gentleman.
A rich man, I should think, for these parts; the best house I have seen for some miles, said the Stranger carelessly.
Richyes, hes well to do; he does not live so as not to have money to lay by.
Any family?
Two daughters and a nephew.
And the nephew does not ruin him. Happy uncle! Mine was not so lucky, said the Traveller.
Sad fellows we soldiers in our young days! observed the Corporal with a wink. No, Squire Walters a good young man, a pride to his uncle!
So, said the pedestrian, they are not forced to keep up a large establishment and ruin themselves by a retinue of servants?Corporal, the jug.
Nay! said Peter, Squire Lesters gate is always open to the poor; but as for shew, he leaves that to my lord at the castle.
The castle, wheres that?
About six miles off, youve heard of my Lord, Ill swear.
Ah, to be sure, a courtier. But who else lives about here? I mean, who are the principal persons, barring the Corporal and yourself, Mr. EelpryI think our friend here calls you.
Dealtry, Peter Dealtry, Sir, is my name.Why the most noticeable man, you must know, is a great scholard, a wonderfully learned man; there yonder, you may just catch a glimpse of the tall what-dye-call-it he has built out on the top of his house, that he may get nearer to the stars. He has got glasses by which Ive heard that you may see the people in the moon walking on their heads; but I cant say as I believe all I hear.
You are too sensible for that, Im sure. But this scholar, I suppose, is not very rich; learning does not clothe men now-a-dayseh, Corporal?
And why should it? Zounds! can it teach a man how to defend his country? Old England wants soldiers, and be dd to them! But the mans well enough, I must own, civil, modest
And not by no means a beggar, added Peter; he gave as much to the poor last winter as the Squire himself.
Indeed! said the Stranger, this scholar is rich then?
So, so; neither one nor tother. But if he were as rich as my lord, he could not be more respected; the greatest folks in the country come in their carriages and four to see him. Lord bless you, there is not a name more talked on in the whole county than Eugene Aram.
What! cried the Traveller, his countenance changing as he sprung from his seat; what!Aram!did you say Aram? Great God! how strange!
Peter, not a little startled by the abruptness and vehemence of his guest, stared at him with open mouth, and even the Corporal took his pipe involuntarily from his lips.
What! said the former, you know him, do you? youve heard of him, eh?
The Stranger did not reply, he seemed lost in a reverie; he muttered inaudible words between his teeth; now he strode two steps forward, clenching his hands; now smiled grimly; and then returning to his seat, threw himself on it, still in silence. The soldier and the clerk exchanged looks, and now outspake the Corporal.
Rum tantrums! What the devil, did the man eat your grandmother?
Roused perhaps by so pertinent and sensible a question, the Stranger lifted his head from his breast, and said with a forced smile, You have done me, without knowing it, a great kindness, my friend. Eugene Aram was an early and intimate acquaintance of mine: we have not met for many years. I never guessed that he lived in these parts: indeed I did not know where he resided. I am truly glad to think I have lighted upon him thus unexpectedly.
What! you did not know where he lived? Well! I thought all the world knew that! Why, men from the univarsities have come all the way, merely to look at the spot.
Very likely, returned the Stranger; but I am not a learned man myself, and what is celebrity in one set is obscurity in another. Besides, I have never been in this part of the world before!
Peter was about to reply, when he heard the shrill voice of his wife behind.
Why dont you rise, Mr. Lazyboots? Where are your eyes? Dont you see the young ladies.
Dealtrys hat was off in an instant,the stiff Corporal rose like a musquet; the Stranger would have kept his seat, but Dealtry gave him an admonitory tug by the collar; accordingly he rose, muttering a hasty oath, which certainly died on his lips when he saw the cause which had thus constrained him into courtesy.
Through a little gate close by Peters house Madeline and her sister had just passed on their evening walk, and with the kind familiarity for which they were both noted, they had stopped to salute the landlady of the Spotted Dog, as she now, her labours done, sat by the threshold, within hearing of the convivial group, and plaiting straw. The whole family of Lester were so beloved, that we question whether my Lord himself, as the great nobleman of the place was always called, (as if there were only one lord in the peerage,) would have obtained the same degree of respect that was always lavished upon them.
Through a little gate close by Peters house Madeline and her sister had just passed on their evening walk, and with the kind familiarity for which they were both noted, they had stopped to salute the landlady of the Spotted Dog, as she now, her labours done, sat by the threshold, within hearing of the convivial group, and plaiting straw. The whole family of Lester were so beloved, that we question whether my Lord himself, as the great nobleman of the place was always called, (as if there were only one lord in the peerage,) would have obtained the same degree of respect that was always lavished upon them.
Dont let us disturb you, good people, said Ellinor, as they now moved towards the boon companions, when her eye suddenly falling on the Stranger, she stopped short. There was something in his appearance, and especially in the expression of his countenance at that moment, which no one could have marked for the first time without apprehension and distrust: and it was so seldom that, in that retired spot, the young ladies encountered even one unfamiliar face, that the effect the strangers appearance might have produced on any one, might well be increased for them to a startling and painful degree. The Traveller saw at once the sensation he had created: his brow lowered; and the same unpleasing smile, or rather sneer, that we have noted before, distorted his lip, as he made with affected humility his obeisance.
How!a stranger! said Madeline, sharing, though in a less degree, the feelings of her sister; and then, after a pause, she said, as she glanced over his garb, not in distress, I hope.
No, Madam! said the stranger, if by distress is meant beggary. I am in all respects perhaps better than I seem.
There was a general titter from the Corporal, my host, and his wife, at the Travellers semi-jest at his own unprepossessing appearance: but Madeline, a little disconcerted, bowed hastily, and drew her sister away.
A proud quean! said the Stranger, as he re-seated himself, and watched the sisters gliding across the green.
All mouths were opened against him immediately. He found it no easy matter to make his peace; and before he had quite done it, he called for his bill, and rose to depart.
Well! said he, as he tendered his hand to the Corporal, we may meet again, and enjoy together some more of your good stories. Meanwhile, which is my way to thisthisthis famous scholarsEhem?
Why, quoth Peter, you saw the direction in which the young ladies went; you must take the same. Cross the stile you will find at the rightwind along the foot of the hill for about three parts of a mile, and you will then see in the middle of a broad plain, a lonely grey house with a thingumebob at the top; a servatory they call it. Thats Master Arams.
Thank you.
And a very pretty walk it is too, said the Dame, the prettiest hereabouts to my liking, till you get to the house at least; and so the young ladies think, for its their usual walk every evening!
Humph,then I may meet them.
Well, and if you do, make yourself look as Christian-like as you can, retorted the hostess.
There was a second grin at the ill-favoured Travellers expense, amidst which he went his way.
An odd chap! said Peter, looking after the sturdy form of the Traveller. I wonder what he is; he seems well edicatedmakes use of good words.
What sinnifies? said the Corporal, who felt a sort of fellow-feeling for his new acquaintances brusquerie of manner;what sinnifies what he is. Served his country,thats enough;never told me, by the by, his regiment;set me a talking, and let out nothing himself;old soldier every inch of him!
He can take care of number one, said Peter. How he emptied the jug; and my stars! what an appetite!
Tush, said the Corporal, hold jaw. Man of the worldman of the world,thats clear.
CHAPTER III.
A DIALOGUE AND AN ALARM.A STUDENTS HOUSE
A fellow by the hand of Nature marked,
Quoted, and signed, to do a deed of shame.
He is a scholar, if a man may trust
The liberal voice of Fame, in her report.
Myself was once a student, and indeed
Fed with the self-same humour he is now.
The two sisters pursued their walk along a scene which might well be favoured by their selection. No sooner had they crossed the stile, than the village seemed vanished into earth; so quiet, so lonely, so far from the evidence of life was the landscape through which they passed. On their right, sloped a green and silent hill, shutting out all view beyond itself, save the deepening and twilight sky; to the left, and immediately along their road lay fragments of stone, covered with moss, or shadowed by wild shrubs, that here and there, gathered into copses, or breaking abruptly away from the rich sod, left frequent spaces through which you caught long vistas of forestland, or the brooklet gliding in a noisy and rocky course, and breaking into a thousand tiny waterfalls, or mimic eddies. So secluded was the scene, and so unwitnessing of cultivation, that you would not have believed that a human habitation could be at hand, and this air of perfect solitude and quiet gave an additional charm to the spot.
But I assure you, said Ellinor, earnestly continuing a conversation they had begun, I assure you I was not mistaken, I saw it as plainly as I see you.
What, in the breast pocket?
Yes, as he drew out his handkerchief, I saw the barrel of the pistol quite distinctly.
Indeed, I think we had better tell my father as soon as we get home; it may be as well to be on our guard, though robbery, I believe, has not been heard of in Grassdale for these twenty years.
Yet for what purpose, save that of evil, could he in these peaceable times and this peaceable country, carry fire arms about him. And what a countenance! Did you note the shy, and yet ferocious eye, like that of some animal, that longs, yet fears to spring upon you.
Upon my word, Ellinor, said Madeline, smiling, you are not very merciful to strangers. After all, the man might have provided himself with the pistol which you saw as a natural precaution; reflect that, as a stranger, he may well not know how safe this district usually is, and he may have come from London, in the neighbourhood of which they say robberies have been frequent of late. As to his looks, they are I own unpardonable; for so much ugliness there can be no excuse. Had the man been as handsome as our cousin Walter, you would not perhaps have been so uncharitable in your fears at the pistol.
Nonsense, Madeline, said Ellinor, blushing, and turning away her face;there was a moments pause, which the younger sister broke.
We do not seem, said she, to make much progress in the friendship of our singular neighbour. I never knew my father court any one so much as he has courted Mr. Aram, and yet, you see how seldom he calls upon us; nay, I often think that he seeks to shun us; no great compliment to our attractions, Madeline.